[Milliemoo]

OK, maybe I've been thinking about things too much, but aside from all the obvious reasons for us moving to NZ (quality of life, better climate etc) has anyone ever thought of whether NZ will be a safe place to be in the next 50 yrs or so?

I'm thinking about the environment and also the threat of a world war (not meaning to sound melodramatic, but hey it's going to happen sooner or later) and how NZ is placed for dealing with worse case scenarios.

If the ice caps are melting due to global warming and this throws the gulf stream out of whack, doesn't that mean that the UK will be a bit on the snowy side ? OK this may take a few 100 years, but how is global warming going to effect NZ? Will my great great great grand children still have a nice place to live? Will I feel really smug with myself for building a house with solar energy and own water storage etc etc?

Now, I know nobody likes to think about wars, but they are a very real threat. I think the UK is a very vulnerable place to be now and in the future, but how do you think NZ would be placed in a world crisis?

I'd love to hear peoples comments because what I know about these subjects I could right on the back of a postage stamp!

Am I thinking about things too much??? :roll:

Milliemoo ;)

[lynden]

how will the ice caps melting throw the gulf stream out of whack??surely the iceburgs displace the same volume of water whether they are solid or liquid?if you fill a glass with ice cubes then top it up with beer,it does not overflow when the ice cubes melt. as for the future of our grandchildren, we can only do what is best for them now, and they can decide where to live when they get older(just as we are by moving to nz)who knows the uk may be a desireable place to be in 50 years time????? :oops:

[Timbo]

I think you may find that the Gulf stream is slowly cooling and there fore it is not going to have the countering effect on the colder water that is heading south from the melting icebergs etc. Apparently, if the Gulf stream did not continue, then the british isles would be virtually ice bound down as far as Birmingham within 30 years.
It is all "what ifs" though. Like you say, we can only make the informed decision about living elsewhere, based on what we KNOW now.

[Diny]

Linden

Your answer cracked me up !!! I like the way you think and explain things ..... the ice cube in the glass thing made me smile.

PB is forever going on about melting ice caps and this that and the other cooling down.

If the weather folk can't say with any degree of certainty what it's going to be like in 4 days time, I don 't think I'm going to lose too much sleep about what 'might' happen a couple of hundred years down the road.

As for making decisions for our childrens childrens childrens best future. I think it needs to be taken one step at a time.

We're making (what we consider to be) the best decision for them now. I hope we're raising them with enough humanity and foresight to enable them to bring their children up in the same way ... and so on and so forth.

A narrow minded and simplistic way of looking at things maybe - but it works for me.

By the way .... (abit of a blonde question coming up now) .. if we never seem to have snow like we did when we were kids, and we're getting occasional freak summer temperatures of the high 30's, how come Birmingham is going to end up covered in ice? :?

Diny

[Milliemoo]

That's just it, nobody knows!

http://www.whoi.edu/institutes/occi/currenttopics/climatechange_wef.html

Me.....I'm playing it safe and definately moving to NZ! :mrgreen:

Milliemoo ;)

[Timbo]

I am certainly no boffin Diny, but the current science suggests that it is only the effect of the warm water from the Gulf stream that tempers the cold water from melting icebergs that stops us from having severe winters now. I agree that this does seem to be contradicted by the waether patterns that we have been getting, but the met know best dont they?? :no
It has to do with global warming and all that, or so they tell us anyway.
I am with you though. If they cant predict this weeks weather, why should we beleive what they say about 100 years time.
I do think however, that with all the signs around us at the moment (the amount of berrys etc on the trees) we are probably going to get a pretty tough winter by our standards.

[Milliemoo]

Diny, you're completely right of course. We can only do now what we think is best and raise our children accordingly.

Unfortunately not everyone else on the planet is concerned about the environment and people expect and demand so much as consumers without realising/understanding the global and environmental impacts that their choices have. I've only done a small amount of reading on the subject (and a mean a very small amount) but I had no idea how the small/simple decisions we make in our day to day lives impact on so many other issues.

I'm not wanting to bore everyone to tears, but that's what got me thinking about this in the first place. I've made some simple changes to our lifestyle over the last few months, and we both feel so much better for it. When we build our home in NZ there will be an even greater emphasis on creating a lifestyle which is environmentally friendly.

Before you ask, yes my surname is Green .....no really it is! hohoho

Milliemoo ;)

[Graham Barnes]

A Physics teacher writes....

1. Liquid water does not displace the same volume as ice; in fact, the same mass of liquid water takes up a larger volume than solid ice (water is unusual in that it expands on freezing, not shrinks)...hence concerns of water levels rising.

2. Re. UK weather patterns changing; the basic idea is that fresh melt water from the Arctic will interfere with the flow of warm salt water across the Atlantic (salt and fresh water have different densities). It's called the North Atlantic Conveyor. All very realistic, and there are some early indicators that this has started to happen...but it is too early to tell for sure. If it did happen, it would clearly have an effect but so do lots of other factors. We wouldn't freeze over like Moscow though because we are surrounded by water (which moderates our temperatures over the year), not land.

3. Don't forget that there is lots of Antaarctic ice on NZ's doorstep, waiting to melt too! This is likely to have an effect in the S hemisphere...but is probably not researched so much as it does not on the Europe/US's doorstep! Anway, isn't NZ also affected by El Nino like Australia? This is also predicted to increase in frequency over the years.

[lynden]

A BAD PHYSICS STUDENT WRITES


1..exactly my point.....if the frozen water has expanded this must take up more of an area than the when the water was liquid ? and as 95% of an iceberg is below sea level, surely when it melts ,it takes up less room...OR IS IT ME?

(the things we talk about on this forum,,you would think we were intelligent or something!!!!!!!!!)

PS.. :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :? any chance of a spel check facility on this site

[toesonthenose]

I believe your ice cube in a glass analogy is correct for an iceberg. However Antarctica is a continent, with ice miles thick sitting on land, not a big floating iceberg. Same with Greenland, 10,000 feet of ice sitting upon an island. If and when this ice melts is the big question, as this is ice that is not currently floating in the ocean like an iceberg. In my mind there is no doubt of ocean levels rising. The people and cultues of low lying Pacific atolls are being threatened, with the nation of Kiribati already evacuating some atolls which are dissapearing. As far as predicting future climate change, it is uncertain but most experts do forsee higher sea levels, warmer ocean temps, and changes in storm intensity and precipitation amounts worldwide. How mankind responds to this is the larger question to me.

[Timbo]

I hate to say it, but with GWB back in the white house, I cant see the states throwing themselves into the global warming issue for the forseeable future.

[Diny]

Anybody want to chat about Coronation Street? :oops:

Actually I don't watch it but I think if I did I'd understand it alot more than I understand the above postings.

Diny

[Timbo]

Diny. You had best start watching it if you are moving to NZ. From what I hear it is more of a national institution there than it is here. :uhoh

[Milliemoo]

If you haven't seen the Great Barrier Reef yet, I'd go within the next few years. Huge parts of the reef have already been destroyed because of rising sea temps and pollution, so it may not be around in years to come.

Likewise with atolls such as the Maldives. As 'toesonthenose' says, some are dissapearing before our eyes.

Milliemoo ;)

[Milliemoo]

Timbo, I'm a bit concerned about the body bag your posing in front of in your picture :eek

Is there something you want to share with the group ? :mrgreen:

Milliemoo ;)

[Timbo]

This subject is by no means alien to those living in NZ. The issue of sea pollution in particular is a big thing with some down there. They are even starting to suffer the effects of over fishing to one degree or another, which, when you consider the population being so small, is quite astounding.

[bbq]

Timbo, I'm a bit concerned about the body bag your posing in front of in your picture :eek

Is there something you want to share with the group ? :mrgreen:

Milliemoo ;)
:P :clap :P :clap :P -alex

[Timbo]

FOFL. Sorry about that Millimoo, it is in fact a dust sheet covering all the tools and cr** I have to keep indoors due to a certain thieving element in our midst.

[Milliemoo]

Tools you say .....hummmmmmmmm.... have you ever seen a film called 'Shallow Grave'.

Do you/Did you have a flat mate recently?

Milliemoo ;)

[Timbo]

OK I admit it, it`s actually the wife. better move it now as it is starting to niff a bit. I was hoping nobody would spot it...damn. :oops:

[lynden]

anyway,,,,,,,,,back to coronation street,,,did you know they are about 6 weeks behind with the story line in nz,(who started this thread ,,bloody icebergs) :laugh :laugh :laugh

[Milliemoo]

I know what you mean ......

give me a nice cos or romaine any day .....bloody icebergs! :laugh

Milliemoo ;)

[veronica]

Just for those of you who are actively looking for extra things that you have no control over to stress about........
New Zealand has.......

VOLCANOS
EARTHQUAKES
HOLES IN THE OZONE LAYER.

While you are worrying about these and other things please keep an eye out for the bus coming down the road.... there is a thread on the old forum entitled The Big Chill, about these type of sceneros that might be worth reading as most of its on there already.

[StevieD]

Hmm..... red sockor blue sock the decisions we have to make on here :P

[Diny]

You're right what you say about Coronation Street. My inlaws watch it religously and they just look at me like I'm crazy when I can't tell them what's about to happen in it.

I DON'T WATCH IT !!!!!!!!!!!

Diny

[Moorf]

Coronation St? Did someone say Coronation Street??? YAY :P

BUT - sorry to disappoint - it's ALOT more than 6 weeks behind! More like 4-6 months! Evil Tracey has just had her baby here ... I'm not watching it.. honest... :oops: I just catch the odd trailer or two ...

And, with the storyline at the moment, physics is looking pretty damn easy! :laugh

[deebat]

OK, I'm just a silly Yank here, but can someone explain to me in 10 words or less what Coronation Street is? Is it bad television?

[Diny]

Very bad television !!!!

There, I only needed 3 words.

It's a long running soap, about life in Manchester, it centres around the residents of .... well ..err ... Coronation Street.

You'd be amazed at how many people from overseas who've never visited the UK believe that the entire British Isles is one massive Coronation Street and that we all go to 'The Rovers' (local pub) for one of Betty's hotpots or drop in at the Kabin for a barmcake !!!

As for evil Tracey, she spent the first 15 years of her life up in her room.

Sounds crazy? It is.

My best advice ......... steer clear !!!!!

Diny

[Timbo]

Steer Clear....Best advice going I say.
Spot on about people overseas thinking the whole country is one giant coro. though Diny.

[captainxmas]

But then my brother in law (Palmy student) thinks that everybody in Slough is just like David Brent.

mmm... :?

[jo b]

Anyway can't stop as I am really full from one of bettys' Hotpots. So I am going to lie down and listen to me 'taypes' :mrgreen:

i am another non fan of corrie.

Last time I watched it I think Brian Tildsley was still in it.

Jo

[Milliemoo]

"But then my brother in law (Palmy student) thinks that everybody in Slough is just like David Brent."

Yeh I know what you mean ....... It's like the way people think everyone in Scotland's like Rab C Nesbitt!

...........haaaaaaaaaaaaang on a minute!!!!!!!!!!!

:laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh :laugh

Milliemoo
;)

[Diny]

When we lived in Oz, the strangest most frequent question I was asked when they realised I was a Brit:

"What part of London do you come from"

Or of course .... the one that always cracked me up:

My uncle/aunt/cousin/best mate lives in England. His name is Joe Bloggs - do you know him?

Derrrrr.

Diny

[jo b]

Well completely going off topic with something that ideally should be in the lounge but what the heck.

you know I like sharing my funnies with you all well diny you just reminded me of something.

Last year I went to a Northern Soul night in Blackburn where they come from all over the North West. I had had a few drinks too many and didn't think what came out of my mouth (I don't when I am sober either) :laugh

Anyway we got chatting to these chaps ffrom North Wales and I said Ih I used to work with a guy ffrom North Wales his name was ...............................wait for it....................'David Jones'. :oops: The guy looked at me in disbeleif then said laughingly yeah I know a David Jones but then again I know about 50 of them so he could be one of them.

After that I said I think we'd better be going home now.

Jo

[Diny]

Oh good one Jo :nice1