{"id":263358,"date":"2023-06-22T15:14:06","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T13:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=263358"},"modified":"2023-06-22T15:14:09","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T13:14:09","slug":"swiss-lemmings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=263358","title":{"rendered":"Swiss Lemmings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guest Post By Willis Eschenbach<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turns out that lemmings have nothing on humans when it comes to following the next guy over the cliff. When I was a kid and I wanted to do something, I\u2019d tell my mom \u201cBut mom, the other kids are doing it!\u201d <\/em>And her reply was invariably \u201cIf your friends were jumping off a cliff, do you think you should jump off too?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, these days more often than not the answer seems to be \u201cAbsolutely, it\u2019s the only way to save the planet!\u201d<\/em> \u2026 here\u2019s the latest<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Swiss voters support climate bill as scientists warn about melting glaciers<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

June 19, 20233:22 AM ET<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By The Associated Press<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

Matthias Huss, a glaciologist and head of the Swiss measurement network \u2018Glamos\u2019, for ETH (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) walks up to the Rhone Glacier near Goms, Switzerland, Friday, June 16, 2023.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthias Schrader\/AP<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BERLIN \u2014 A majority of Swiss citizens on Sunday voted in favor of a bill aimed at introducing new climate measures to sharply curb the rich Alpine nation\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

BERLIN \u2014 A majority of Swiss citizens on Sunday voted in favor of a bill requiring them to follow the Germans who are jumping off an Alpine cliff \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

(In passing, let me say how impressed I am with the composition and the subtle message of the photo of the Swiss glaciologist carrying his Cross on the way to Golgotha \u2026 but I digress \u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let\u2019s look at what the real effects of this Swiss climate bill might be. And rather than guessing about the future climate, let\u2019s examine the past. For the purposes of this discussion, suppose that Switzerland had never emitted a single molecule of CO2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What difference would that have made to the 2023 temperature?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get an idea of the scope of the question, here\u2019s the record of the Swiss CO2 emissions since 1850, from the\u00a0CO2 database<\/a>\u00a0maintained by\u00a0Our World In Data<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Figure 1. Swiss CO2 emissions since 1858.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looks pretty impressive, right? Emissions peaked in 1973, ran basically flat until about 2010, and have been dropping since then. The Swiss have been successful in reducing their emissions from the peak. What\u2019s not to like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To answer that question, let\u2019s put Swiss and World CO2 emissions on the same graph. Figure 2 shows that result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Figure 1. CO2 emissions, Switzerland and the rest of the world, since 1858. Note that this is the exact same Swiss data shown in Figure 1.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ooogh \u2026 the grand Swiss accomplishment doesn\u2019t seem too impressive out here in the real world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that as a prelude, let\u2019s answer my question posed above, viz, if Switzerland had never emitted a single molecule of CO2, what difference would that have made to the 2023 temperature?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do that, we need to calculate how much the atmospheric concentration of CO2 goes up for each gigatonne (109<\/sup>\u00a0tonnes) of CO2 emitted. For that, we need to look at the cumulative sum of CO2 emitted versus the atmospheric concentration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Figure 3. Relationship between atmospheric CO2 and cumulative CO2 emissions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This relationship allows us to go back to the Swiss emissions data and calculate how much they\u2019ve added to the atmospheric CO2. Once we know that, then per the IPCC figures, a doubling of atmospheric CO2 leads to a 3\u00b0C temperature change. Using those relationships, here\u2019s the calculated temperature change from the Swiss emissions since 1858.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Figure 4. Calculated temperature change from Swiss emissions since 1858<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hmmm \u2026 call me crazy, but I\u2019m thinking that 0.0037\u00b0C is not making much difference to the Swiss glaciers \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Swiss know well, the temperature drops with increasing elevation. It\u2019s cold up there because the air cools at a rate of 1\u00b0C per 100 meters of additional elevation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the total Swiss emission-caused warming since 1858 is about the difference in temperature between your foot and your calf \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder how many Swiss voters would have voted to spend more than 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.357 billion US) for such a pitifully small effect if they had been given this information before the election?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sigh \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Here on the northern California coast, after endless foggy days, spring has finally arrived. In June. Of course, the grass is growing overtime, so I\u2019m headed out to sharpen the lawnmower blade and do battle with our couple of acres of overgrown fields.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Despite all our sorrows, despite the insanity and corruption of the powers that be \u2026 life is good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My best wishes to you and yours,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

w.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PS\u2014Re Lemmings:<\/strong> Yes, I know that the story about the lemmings is just a Disney myth. From the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

For the 1958 Disney nature film White Wilderness, filmmakers eager for dramatic footage staged a lemming death plunge, pushing dozens of lemmings off a cliff while cameras were rolling. The images\u2014shocking at the time for what they seemed to show about the cruelty of nature and shocking now for what they actually show about the cruelty of humans\u2014convinced several generations of moviegoers that these little rodents do, in fact, possess a bizarre instinct to destroy themselves.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And My Usual:<\/strong> When you comment, please quote the exact words<\/em><\/strong> you are discussing. I grow tired of people asking me to defend their misinterpretation of what I wrote. Thanks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Turns out that lemmings have nothing on humans when it comes to following the next guy over the cliff. When I was a kid and I wanted to do something, I\u2019d tell my mom\u00a0\u201cBut mom, the other kids are doing it!\u201d\u00a0And her reply was invariably\u00a0\u201cIf your friends were jumping off a cliff, do you think you should jump off too?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":263371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818076,691820419],"class_list":{"0":"post-263358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-co2","9":"tag-swiss-co2-emissions","11":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0blind-leading-blind-1024x767-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C767&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-16vI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":248447,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=248447","url_meta":{"origin":263358,"position":0},"title":"Brian O\u2019Hara\u2019s Letter To The Telegraph","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"18\/03\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"If the answer is, \u2018I don\u2019t know\u2019, then why are they taking the Country, and its population Soviet style, over the cliff like Lemmings?","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-694.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-694.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-694.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-694.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-694.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":205892,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=205892","url_meta":{"origin":263358,"position":1},"title":"About those chalk white cliffs","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"26\/06\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The English Channel and the coast of Sussex England We should not rely on estimates of human CO2 from fossil fuels to calculate atmospheric CO2.\u00a0 These data can only be used for the very broadest estimate of trend direction.\u00a0 This is not meant as a critique of the long and\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0co2-analysis-v-temp-ernst-george-beck.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0co2-analysis-v-temp-ernst-george-beck.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0co2-analysis-v-temp-ernst-george-beck.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":238624,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=238624","url_meta":{"origin":263358,"position":2},"title":"Coastal Erosion? 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