2/10/24 11:19 AM

Yeah, the title is sarcasm.

Rode today in full summer kit for an easy z1 ride- no gloves, no shoe covers, short sleeve jersey, etc. This is the 4th time this week I've ridden outside. Even in good years, February should be completely arctic in this area.

I live close to what is traditionally the snowiest city in the lower 48 and we are on track to have the least snow in any year, by a large margin, since records were kept. This is the latest in a series of increasingly mild winters.

When I was a kid +20' snowbanks were common, now it seems we barely get snow at all. I've taken the snow blower out three times this winter and one of those time I probably didn't really need to because it was going to warm up that day anyway and all melt away.

As much as I enjoy the break from the pain cave, this is pretty concerning as the acceleration of change increases.

2/10/24 12:25 PM

I rode outside today too, but in the 40sF I'm not in shorts or short sleeves. Way low on snow here as well, but high on precipitation, with catastrophic flooding, accelerating sealevel rise, etc.

I've got an EV, solar panels and heat pumps, but a more direct method is to reduce consumption, and riding a bike instead of driving is a great way to do that.

2/11/24 9:55 AM

But, but, but, if we address climate change, the profits of the fossil fuel companies will be affected. Can't have that!

2/11/24 1:30 PM

While we a ducking the sky falling, this caught my eye.

Critical Atlantic Ocean current system is showing early signs of collapse, prompting warning from scientists:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/09/climate/atlantic-circulation-collapse-weather-climate/index.html


Looks like you NorEasters are about to liv up to the term.

2/12/24 8:47 PM

My carbon footprint has gone way down, as I've been working from home for ~5 years. I will never work in an office again, period.

I looked into heat pumps back in the fall and it was a bad joke. I was quoted $19K - $23K for a 36K BTU system with three air handlers. I looked up the price of the hardware and it's ~$7. I had a long talk with the owner of one of the companies and he lamented the overhead cost of running an HVAC company. I can sympathize with him, but there's no way I could ever justify that kind of money considering that my current system costs me less than $1000/year to heat my small house. If I ever decide to do it, I'll get one of the systems designed for DIY installation for around $6K. It ain't rocket science.