How's The Weather Out There...

[ithacaartist]

Originally Posted by rhuff

I don't suppose anyone wants to discuss "Global Warming" with the Boston folks, or some of you guys!!

I don't mind discussing it. Lots of folks confuse "weather" with "climate". You'd think that meteorologists would have the proper take on the situation, but many of them are just as deluded in this way as the general public can be. To get the straight scoop, you want to listen to/read what climatologists are saying!

One of the effects of global warming is that weather patterns change and shift around. The famous polar vortex effect may settle in as a regular winter feature as a result. For every locale that has worsening weather trends, I'll bet there are areas where it's actually becoming more pleasant!

Originally Posted by alvin

American way of living is very inefficient. Each family got a standalone house, having oil trucks running around... and this building structure is majorly wood, not very strong. Heard there would be raining on Sunday, real disaster would be roof collapsing...

Much of the developed world is very inefficient with use of resources. For example, Japan throws away, IIRC, near 40% of its food, most of that for no good reasons at all, just their arbitrary expiration date policies. Americans are almost as bad. Society may trend back to urban dwelling in order to be more efficient in use of fuel, transportation, food, etc., but not, I see it, until it is too cost-prohibitive, aesthetically painful, or logistically impossible to avoid it.

Another thing to consider is that Europeans used up their forests long ago, and what remains is becoming increasingly expensive. As a consequence, the proportion of stone and concrete used in residential construction is much higher in Europe. We Americans, left to human nature alone, will do the same thing unless restrained.

Architectural engineering can properly address all but the most severe/unlikely possibilities presented by snow load, and the roofs that collapse are generally on buildings inappropriately designed for their locale, and buildings that have not been adequately maintained. Otherwise, those concerned will be shoveling roofs! I saw a YouTube of an invention that worked really well for this. It was a 4-sided aluminum box on a pole, with one of those flat plastic sledding mats--the kind that rolls itself up at rest--attached to the rear, bottom edge. When pushed up the roof, the box would chisel/scoop snow as it slid along, and when the blob of snow involved hit the plastic, the latter would unroll under the former's weight and provide a very slippery escape route for the white stuff. Amazingly effective action, much better and faster than dragging it down with a giant hoe on a handle, and way better than climbing up there and doing it old-school with a shovel!