Survival UK Forums

and after seeing todays storms cause chaos, this being only the latest in record breaking crap weather recently, it certainly changes the social make up of the UK.

In future who on earth is going to want addresses that have details in them such as " By the sea", "Lakeside" "Valley Bottom" " On Tyne / Wear/ Tees / Thames etc, By water, Water mill lane, Riverdene etc etc? todays " must have" addresses for the social climbers are very fast becoming total liabilities.

Tonight up here both Newcastle and Gatesheads riverside apartments etc are flooding, the communities of Port Clarence and Haverton hill are being evacuated. ALL and I mean ALL of the low lying main roads in the Tees valley are closed due to flooding.

Part of coastal Northumberland like parts of Rhyl in Wales that were guareneed they would not flood again in 100 years after floods 30 years ago are again under water.

Just as central London post codes used to be the in vogue addresses for the idle rich and middle classes, those same image concious are now moving out in growing numbers.

If "climate change is real"... of course it's real! The climate is always changing. The problem is, it changes whether we do anything or not. Sorry about that, Prince Charles, but "climate change" (formerly "global warming", formerly "nuclear winter", formerly "the rain/sun/snow/etc. gods are angry") is just pseudo-science dedicated to shearing the cash off of the gullible "sheeple". If you don't want your home/business to flood, don't build your house/factory on a flood plain. Try a hill! Duh!

The climate has always been changing, usually slowly over millions of years, sometimes fairly fast, like the mini-iceages in europe in medieval times. The reason it looks lie scientists are constantly changing their position is because... they are. Thats the scientific method. The crudest, simplistic way of looknig it it would be to say that C02 increase=more heat trapped by atmosphere=increase in temperature. But as more data comes out and as more sophisticated models are developed, I think we are miving closer to the truth, which is a destabilised climate.

We are pumping previosuly sequesterd C02 and other greenhosue gases (as well as other practices like deforestation) back into a series of climate feedback loops. Instead of ticking over at a fairly constant, steady and predicatble rate, we are more likely to see extremes of weather and more natural disasters.

This is not to say that this scientific consesnsus is immune to sabotage, like the people at the UEA who edited data becasue they "knew" they were correct, or politicians who may seize on this to usher in a stronger nanny/police state, painted Green of course.

I hope this doesnt change property buying trends as It's hard enogh to find a suitable retreat property as it is.

FYI if anyone is interested in how these incidents of severe weather are apparently increasing in frequency and ferocity theres a 2 hour special on Nat Geo on Tuesday at 9PM

The Earths climate is like a kettle on a stove, an enclosed environment, while the temperature is low the environment in the kettle is fairly benign, but as the temperature rises and the water begins to boil the environment in the Kettle is gona get far more violent and hostile, personally I think were already beginning to see more hostile weather.

don't think that people have any way to help it or stop it ,its just mother nature ,as for the uk thinking we lead the way in green energy ,what a lot of ass. CHINA USA INDIA burn more crap in one day than we do in a year .its just away for them to bloody tax us more.

I think anyone who dosent think human civilisation is having an effect on the climate is very niave, but what we can do about it is another ball game.

Quote:but what we can do about it is another ball game.

Well, I suppose we can personally prepare. The near-term impacts of climate change may be:
- Reduction in overall crop yield and some acute crop failures
- Less reliable growing conditions in any particular area due to less predictable weather
- Some parts of the world becoming close to uninhabitable, resulting in an upswing in migration
- Some specific locales becoming unwise to live in due to flood risk, tidal surge, etc.
- Migration of some warm-climate disease vectors to temperate climates (e.g. malaria-carrying mosquitoes)

How do we prepare? Well, many of the ideas routinely discussed here would apply; choosing an appropriate location, putting in food reserves, maybe getting off the beaten track, etc. However, I think the main difference is that climate change will lead to a slow and long-lived SHTF rather than an overnight one. Therefore, thinking of a long-term lifestyle change may be more appropriate than considering a bug out location. Also, the traditional idea of a homestead may not work in an uncertain climate.

I would (and have started to) focus on setting up an "earth-ship"; a living environment as far independent of the climate as possible. So, think about growing things under glass. Aquaponics. Self-contained growing systems. Independent and diverse energy systems to power the above (e.g. wind, solar and wood-gas). Building a stock of seeds suitable for different growing conditions. Increasing water storage (to cope with wilder swings between drought and deluge). Farming small-scale livestock (e.g. rabbits).

If one has the opportunity (e.g. if relocating), think about the type of building that would be comfortable in a wide range of temperatures, that would cope well with a very wet climate, and would be good for rainwater capture. This means good insulation and high thermal mass (warm in winter, cool in summer), maybe a storage tank under the floor to store water and provide additional thermal mass. Think about trees and shelter to mitigate extremes of temperature and worst effects of violent storms.

Climate change tends to be associated with extreme weather events and changing temperatures, but I happen to think the first serious "climate shock" most of us will experience will be a food crisis.

If you have land, plant as many trees as you can. Not to "save the planet" but to change the local eco-system. Include fruiting species, and fruiting shrubs so you are relying on perennials rather than annuals for your food source. These will be less susceptible to a weather-induced "crop collapse" in any one year. The trees will enrich the soil and encourage a diversity of wildlife, creating a local eco-system much more resilient to swings in the climate (but not immune).