I'll be surprised if you let this comment through moderation but I have to ask why you quote from the linked report that Norway was warmer than average but neglect to quote that the UK and Spain were cooler than average?
And I'm not saying this study is definitive. It's just one paper and may turn out to be a one-off. Or it may not. However, many of the points made by Juan Cole are single papers which may be corroborated by further studies, or they may not.
Climate sceptics are accused of cherry picking. They won't be convinced by a list that looks full of only cherries.
There are also recent climate change findings that are more hopeful. Some new studies suggest, for example, that the sensitivity of the climate to rises in CO2 may not be so great as previously thought. We need both sides of the story.
There are two questions here: what the impacts would be if temperature went up 4degC and what is the likelihood of the temperature going up 4degC?
The second question merits a single sentence in the whole article: "But in a similar span of years, taking us to about 2060, the world could well experience an increase in global average temperatures of some 4 degrees Centigrade[1]". Wanting to know what "could well" might mean, I went looking for the report referred to.
In similar vein to this article, the report spends a lot words talking about the effects of a 4degC rise but it isn't until page 44 that you find any statement about the probability of this. On page 44 it says there is a "10 percent possibility of this occurring already by the 2070s, assuming emissions follow the medium business-as-usual reference pathway".
Therefore this whole article is about how to avoid the consequences of something that has 10% possibility of occurring.
This can only lead one to wonder why this information has been omitted, as it seems crucially relevant to the debate.
And do you think no one will object to the environmental impact of covering the Scottish highlands with enormous reservoirs and hydroelectric stations? How many villages will need to be flooded and the populations rehoused? How many roads rerouted? I suspect you aren't familiar with the planning system in the UK and the fierceness with which attempts to alter the countryside are opposed.
And what's Scotland going to do when the wind doesn't blow, which is not infrequently? Presumably they'll buy their electricity from the rest of the UK, which will therefore maintain enough coal and gas fired power stations to meet the demand.
There is a single national electricity grid across the whole of mainland Britain. Scotland may generate enough energy from wind power to match its consumption over a year, but that isn't the same as making itself self-sufficient or "getting all it's energy from renewables".
Also, and this is a key point, Scottish consumers will expect to pay the UK average for their electricity, not the far greater cost of electricity produced by offshore turbines. That will be spread across the rest of the UK.
"The framers of the law on torture clearly could just not imagine that US politicians would order it while they are still in this country"
That's a very charitable view. The other interpretation is that the framers of the law intended it only to apply to foreigners and that US nationals committing torture were protected.
I'll be surprised if you let this comment through moderation but I have to ask why you quote from the linked report that Norway was warmer than average but neglect to quote that the UK and Spain were cooler than average?
Who said CO2 emissions were harmless? Not me. If you want a peer reviewed paper with a lower value for climate sensitivity, try Otto et al. (2013) Nature Geoscience. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/news/alex-otto-article
And I'm not saying this study is definitive. It's just one paper and may turn out to be a one-off. Or it may not. However, many of the points made by Juan Cole are single papers which may be corroborated by further studies, or they may not.
Climate sceptics are accused of cherry picking. They won't be convinced by a list that looks full of only cherries.
There are also recent climate change findings that are more hopeful. Some new studies suggest, for example, that the sensitivity of the climate to rises in CO2 may not be so great as previously thought. We need both sides of the story.
There are two questions here: what the impacts would be if temperature went up 4degC and what is the likelihood of the temperature going up 4degC?
The second question merits a single sentence in the whole article: "But in a similar span of years, taking us to about 2060, the world could well experience an increase in global average temperatures of some 4 degrees Centigrade[1]". Wanting to know what "could well" might mean, I went looking for the report referred to.
In similar vein to this article, the report spends a lot words talking about the effects of a 4degC rise but it isn't until page 44 that you find any statement about the probability of this. On page 44 it says there is a "10 percent possibility of this occurring already by the 2070s, assuming emissions follow the medium business-as-usual reference pathway".
Therefore this whole article is about how to avoid the consequences of something that has 10% possibility of occurring.
This can only lead one to wonder why this information has been omitted, as it seems crucially relevant to the debate.
And do you think no one will object to the environmental impact of covering the Scottish highlands with enormous reservoirs and hydroelectric stations? How many villages will need to be flooded and the populations rehoused? How many roads rerouted? I suspect you aren't familiar with the planning system in the UK and the fierceness with which attempts to alter the countryside are opposed.
And what's Scotland going to do when the wind doesn't blow, which is not infrequently? Presumably they'll buy their electricity from the rest of the UK, which will therefore maintain enough coal and gas fired power stations to meet the demand.
There is a single national electricity grid across the whole of mainland Britain. Scotland may generate enough energy from wind power to match its consumption over a year, but that isn't the same as making itself self-sufficient or "getting all it's energy from renewables".
Also, and this is a key point, Scottish consumers will expect to pay the UK average for their electricity, not the far greater cost of electricity produced by offshore turbines. That will be spread across the rest of the UK.
"The framers of the law on torture clearly could just not imagine that US politicians would order it while they are still in this country"
That's a very charitable view. The other interpretation is that the framers of the law intended it only to apply to foreigners and that US nationals committing torture were protected.