400 Parts Per Million and Rising

Those who measure the atmospheric carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa have recorded in March 2013 a monthly average concentration of 397.34 parts per million compared with  394.45 ppm which was recorded in March 2012.  The April figures are not yet our but in May the average concentration exceeded 400 ppm, which level of concentration the earth has not experienced for more than 5 million years. It is, in my view, certain that the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration will average more than 400 ppm by the end of this year.

We are, as humans, moving into a new place.

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/#mlo

The English Must follow where the Scots Lead

Three ago I attended a meeting of Energy Action Scotland as a guest speaker at their annual conference on a cold rainy night in Scotland in November. Energy Action Scotland is a highly deserving charity which campaigns to end fuel poverty in Scotland. The issue of fuel poverty is very important throughout the British Isles, but nowhere more important than in the northern parts of these islands where winters are longer and colder and where you need more money to heat your home to the same standard as those of us who live in places like London, where I live.

Climate Change and Health

Two news stories recently published have inked climate change and health. The first relates to a known problem caused by heat waves and extreme cold. In very cold conditions and in very hot conditions the human heart us under more stress than usual. This is well known and well documented. However, studies at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine studied the weather to see if it had any link to some 84,000 patients admitted to hospital with heart attacks between 2003 and 2006. They found that a reduction of 1⁰ Celsius in average temperature meant an additional 2% in the numbers of people being admitted to hospital with heart attacks. Those affected were mainly aged between 70 and 80 years old and although the 2% increase may not be significant (except to the people affected) it may point to some correlation with which medics were not previously aware.

Problems with climate change numbers

There are lots of numbers being bandies around to do with climate change. It can be hard to make sense of them, especially when policy makers spout figures in support of the policies that they have made or those that they propose. It is easy to be fooled by climate change numbers, and there are problems with climate change numbers.