25 Comments

I'm dealing with the change in weather here in Sweden too. We had an exceptionally cold spring and summer with intermittent heat bursts. So the vegetables that did manage to grow in the cold suddenly struggled with drought and heat. Not much of our harvest this year. It's hard to find plants that are able to deal with both.

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Oh dear, sorry to hear that! You must have really interesting growing conditions in a good summer - tons of daylight, no? But that doesn’t help with late frosts and/or drought of course. Do you do any growing under cover (glasshouse or similar)? I don’t. No space. But that would give you protection from cold snaps at least!

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Indeed. The sun in the summer is great. It allows me to grow decently even without a South facing side. I bought some glass house toppers for my high beds when it was cold. But then I think it got too hot in them so my radishes ended up being all leaves no radish, and other stuff didn't make it at all. I'm figuring out now when to close and when to keep them open. Some salad cucumbers are doing nicely in them now. That leaves just the army of snails to defeat 😅

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Toppers are a great idea! I’m sure once you’ve figured out how to get the best out of them they’ll make a huge difference. As for the slugs, I think you need to wave the white flag - it’s an unwinnable battle!

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Well. We are used to extreme heatwaves here in Florida USA! It happens every summer. I feel like I'm living in The Day of the Triffids. Help!

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A lot of people in Britain probably think of the Florida climate as being totally dreamy, but I guess it is also known for experiencing some fairly extreme weather events! Heat, humidity, and powerful storms. Good luck with the rest of the summer!

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This year, in an effort to reduce the amount of heat flooding into my apartment through south facing windows, I built a planter box just outside at window height and planted tomatoes in the spring. The effect was very noticeable. By mid June the plants had reached the top of the window, and during the heat waves my flat was cooler than my neighbours (we are both nerdy and have a multitude of temp and air indoor sensors).

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Green insulation, in the truest sense! Smart move - and glad to see the data (however small the sample size!) backed up your hypothesis. Plus, delicious tomatoes to boot, which you don’t get with shop-bought insulation! Ivy (or any evergreen climber) is another hugely helpful one: helps keep buildings cool in summer, and warm in winter. AND it looks lovely (if kept in check)

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It's true! We're situated in the Roaring 40's (latitude) so his book is right.

Protecting a garden from wind is a nightmare!

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I bet! Is salt an issue too? Or are you far enough away from the coast for that not to be an added problem? Either way, fair dinkum!

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Stay cool over there, Dan! We've been treated to an extra hot, extra dry summer in Pittsburgh too! Thankfully, all these native shrubs/flowers that I planted over the past couple years are faring okay.

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Glad to hear it, Boaz! That’s a relief. The striking thing over here for me has been the street weeds - they’re all dying/dead. Flopped over or shrivelled up or crusty brown. Quite impressive to see the pioneers, the survivors, struggling so much. But they’ll be back… and in greater numbers!

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I'm new to your blog, and thoroughly enjoying it! Not so much the weather! I am a hydrangea fanatic and I spend my days mumbling and grumbling about the heat!

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Thanks so much for your comment Sue - so pleased to hear that you’re enjoying The Earthworm! I wish you and your hydrangeas all the best, now and in future!

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Thanks, I'll likely need the good wishes.

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Great post!

I live in Tasmania, Australia. A so-called temperate place, but summers are becoming hotter and more humid, winters colder and wetter, weather-events seem like they are on steroids. Your Krakow picture says it all really. Microclimates rule.

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Thanks Prue, glad it resonated with you. I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting Tasmania, sadly, but sounds like the climate isn’t a million miles away from ours here in England. According to my son’s current favourite book - Santa’s Aussie Holiday - Tasmania is quite windy? I don’t see any reason to distrust a picture book aimed at toddlers!

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"Extreme heatwaves are the new normal"

When was the last one, please? "New normal" is NOT science, but if it is "the new normal" then it's happening all the time.

Over to you, can't wait.

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No. Let me.

2003 then previously 1976.

Normal? Uh?

1976 - 2003 - 2022

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/07/21/the-european-heat-wave-and-global-warming/

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2 days of hot weather and WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE.

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New normal. Don’t want to get into semantics, but “new” does imply that something has not happened before. Because it is… new. What I think is pretty clear by the phrase “new normal” is that something is not a one-off, but can be expected to continue or reoccur in future.

And no, we’re not all going to die because of 2 days of hot weather - though actually excess deaths do increase during heatwaves. But many of our plants will die. Out of interest, are you going to leave multiple climate change denial comments on every post? If so, I’d actually rather you didn’t bother subscribing, grateful as I am for your support.

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1976. 10 week extreme heatwave, with 23 c degrees every day somewhere.

We're in a major Grand Solar Minimum. Characterised by long term cooling, with extreme cold and heat as well.

Why? Because in a GSM, the jet stream (oop North) moves South and takes on a much more irregular pattern, characterised by long periods of blocking. ie. static weather.

You show me whatever is happening has not happened before, and I'll buy you a pint. This is NOTHING to do with CO2. More to do with deliberately whipped up govt and media hysteria, most especially the long lost BBC.

And also such as this...

https://theirishsentinel.com/2022/07/16/net-zero-global-warming-alarm-based-on-temperatures-measured-next-to-airport-runways-with-hot-jet-engines-and-tarmac/

"About one half of all land surface temperature measurements used to show global warming and promote the command-and-control Net Zero agenda are taken near or adjacent to airport runways. This amazing fact from research by Professor Ross McKitrick casts further serious doubt on the validity of three major global temperature datasets, including the one compiled by the Met Office, which continue to show higher global temperatures compared with other reliable measurements made by satellites and meteorological balloons."

Ever wondered why the Met office's "record" heat are ALWAYS at Heathrow. Anyone knows who has been there in the summer that it is a heat trap, concrete, tarmac, jet engines, reflecting and amplifying heat.

Also "recorded". The CET is the longest temperature record in the word. Beezer. 300 years. In terms of the Holocene, that is 3% ergo statistically insignificant. The Greenland ice cap, the best proxy for NH temperatures shows clearly that the Holocene is following the pattern of the previous 3 Ice Ages,

1. 2K years rapid warming out of the Ice Age

2. Gradual warming...

3. Interspersed with warm periods

4. Each cooler than the previous one.

Ever wondered how the Vikings FARMED on Greenland

When did people stop being able to think and research independently?

If anyone can find papers that prove two aspects of the current insanity, I'll buy them a beer

1. Proof positive (not consensus, that is NOT science) of the HYPOTHESIS that CO2 is a temperature dial (hint - the Eemian was 2 to 3 degrees warmer than now. With much lower atmospheric CO2.

2.Cue Karl Popper and his "null hypothesis". Which in climate is that natural variability that drive it. Disprove that and you have a case.

Find me the papers?

I'll also add that the IPCC (not a scientific body, rather tasked on guiding policy for governments, with no sceptics allowed near it [Scepticism drives science forwards, Well, once upon a time]) have stated clearly and correctly that climate is a

non-linear, open ended, chaotic system which renders long term forecasting impossible.

The models as a mess. Not validated, not initialised - i.e. if not set up to mirror climate at the time the model is run, any results are meaningless. And output projections (they do NOT produce data) controlled by what is input in parameters.

https://www.climatedepot.com/2022/06/27/5142330/

"The weaknesses of computer climate models – in particular their exaggeration of global warming’s impact – have long been denied or downplayed by modelers. But in a recent about-face published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, a group of prominent climate scientists tell us it’s time to “recognize the ‘hot model’ problem.”

The admission that some models predict a future that gets too hot too soon has far-reaching implications, not only for climate science, but also for worldwide political action being considered to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Widespread panic about an unbearably hot future is largely a result of overblown climate model predictions."

https://principia-scientific.org/top-nasa-climate-modeler-admits-predictions-mathematically-impossible/

https://notrickszone.com/2019/08/29/nasa-we-cant-model-clouds-so-climate-models-are-100-times-less-accurate-than-needed-for-projections/

https://www.mpg.de/research/sun-activity-high

"The Sun is more active now than over the last 8000 years

An international team of scientists has reconstructed the Sun's activity over the last 11 millennia and forecasts decreased activity within a few decades

OCTOBER 28, 2004

The activity of the Sun over the last 11,400 years, i.e., back to the end of the last ice age on Earth, has now for the first time been reconstructed quantitatively by an international group of researchers led by Sami K. Solanki from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany). The scientists have analyzed the radioactive isotopes in trees that lived thousands of years ago. As the scientists from Germany, Finland, and Switzerland report in the current issue of the science journal "Nature" from October 28, one needs to go back over 8,000 years in order to find a time when the Sun was, on average, as active as in the last 60 years. Based on a statistical study of earlier periods of increased solar activity, the researchers predict that the current level of high solar activity will probably continue only for a few more decades."

See how that coincides with the now ended late 20th C Warm Period,.

Sorry guys

You've been suckered and your wallets emptied for the nonsense of renewable energy. When we can build a wind turbine with energy solely from wind turbines, we may have an economically acceptable alternative. In the mean time, unbelievable pollution in 3rd world countries where the rare metals needed for these and EV batteries is simply economic imperialism. Innit? Indeed, there is not even Molybdenum to make batteries for the EVs we will "need" in the UK

Beyond stupid.

Not to mention what the BBC and government NEVER mention or warn about .

https://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h2740

"Cold weather kills far more people than hot weather, study shows"

"Cold weather is associated with nearly 20 times more deaths than hot weather, shows an international study that analysed more than 74 million deaths in 13 countries"

Sigh...

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Think we’re just going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I’m not going to address every single one of your points, because I don’t have the time or energy, and actually, I don’t have the expertise or Google doc full of links and quotes either. What I can say is that the only person being duped around here, I’m afraid, is you, who is swallowing whole all the climate change denial nonsense pedalled, promoted and funded by people, organisations and governments with powerful vested interests. Oh, and scepticism is not what drives science forward - a commitment to probe, ask questions, and formulate proof based on evidence and empirical data is what drives science forward. Which is why science and 99.9% of scientists agree that manmade climate change is a thing, it’s real, and it can be mitigated, if not reversed. You can either be part of the change, or you can fan the flames and watch the world burn. Sounds like you’ve made your choice, which is a shame.

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Hard, suffering from ideological possession, I understand. Me, I'm an empiricist who relies on science

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