RSA - All time record temperatures
07 December 2015
Cape Town: 42.4
Robben Island: 40.8
Paarl: 41.9
Robertson: 41.2
Riversdale: 40.8
Worcester: 38.9
Langebaan: 41.5
Clanwilliam: 43.2
Vredendal: 43.9
Lamberts Bay: 40.8
Malmesbury: 44.4
Porterville: 41.8
The above temperatures are in °C not Fahrenheit
All time high temperatures measured in many towns and cities - Is it a once - of occurrence or will it happen again? This is only the seventh day of our official Summer. Are we going to wait another year or ten to find out or are we going to act now. We did measure some extraordinary high temperatures last year as well but it seems that the events are not isolated anymore this year.
Extreme weather has become the norm over the last decade and the increase of the number of incidents over the last two years seem to be logarithmic.
What I do know for certain is that it is becoming impossible to sleep without at least a fan blowing at full blast directly onto one's body.
The minimum temperature measured in our bedroom on 07/12/2015 was 27 °C - All the windows open and the ceiling fan plus a floor unit blowing at full blast.
I am aware that a fan will not cool the air but the floor unit was sited in front of a window to increase ventilation from outside.
These measures are already causing sinusitis, INCREASED ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION, muscle cramps etc.
Multiply the power consumption with the million or so electric fans running at full blast 24/7 and you end up with an additional power consumption of 12 MW per 24 hour cycle assuming that the average fan consumes 0.5 kW/h.
This power has to be produced by burning coal, at least 1.5 times the consumption to allow for transmission losses, generation losses and so forth.
This in turn leads to more pollution - this leads to higher temperatures, this leads to more fans, air conditioners etc. to be run for longer periods of time.
If one assumes that the above calculations are very conservative and could probably be doubled or trebled to arrive at the actual consumption (Only for the RSA), we will probably be able to shut down a fair sized power plant (24 to 36 Megawatt) if temperatures returned to normal.
Planet wide one could extrapolate the consumption of additional electricity just for cooling down, to be in the region of about 87 500 000 000 Kw X US$ 0.13 per kWh = US$ 113 750 000 000.00 - This amount can buy a lot of solar panels, wind farms etc. and will probably make the US totally solar powered within ten years, give or take. Once the US leads, other countries that still have huge carbon footprints will follow. ISO standards could be applied more widely to get rid of the remaining coal and oil consumers.
I realize that the concept seems overly simplistic and that calculations may be skewed by a few billion or so but the idea is to get people to think further than switching on a fan or an air conditioner.
One thing is certain, we are not going to Mars or Jupiter or any other solar system soon. We really need to take care of this planet.
I believe people are deliberately made to think of other planets as an option when this one becomes polluted and overheated to the extent that it will not be able to support human life anymore. If we are not even able to maintain a perfect planet, how can we even contemplate moving to another.
Google the cost of placing one astronaut on the ISS an then think what a mass exodus to Mars would likely cost. Trip to ISS - a few hours - Trip to Mars - three years.
Mars is actually not an option, It has no atmosphere, no water, dust storms that last for years, UV Radiation that is off the charts, extremely high and low temperatures etc. etc. Humans will simply not be able to live there without life support systems.
Once all the fossil fuels are burnt, the powers to be will start to consider other energy sources as viable, not before. Oil, coal and natural gas are great revenue generators - why kill the goose that lays golden eggs. Let it die of natural causes they say. What they are not saying is that the golden goose may kill us before it reaches the end of it's lifetime.
SEE - Mars, here we come
Robben Island: 40.8
Paarl: 41.9
Robertson: 41.2
Riversdale: 40.8
Worcester: 38.9
Langebaan: 41.5
Clanwilliam: 43.2
Vredendal: 43.9
Lamberts Bay: 40.8
Malmesbury: 44.4
Porterville: 41.8
The above temperatures are in °C not Fahrenheit
All time high temperatures measured in many towns and cities - Is it a once - of occurrence or will it happen again? This is only the seventh day of our official Summer. Are we going to wait another year or ten to find out or are we going to act now. We did measure some extraordinary high temperatures last year as well but it seems that the events are not isolated anymore this year.
Extreme weather has become the norm over the last decade and the increase of the number of incidents over the last two years seem to be logarithmic.
What I do know for certain is that it is becoming impossible to sleep without at least a fan blowing at full blast directly onto one's body.
The minimum temperature measured in our bedroom on 07/12/2015 was 27 °C - All the windows open and the ceiling fan plus a floor unit blowing at full blast.
I am aware that a fan will not cool the air but the floor unit was sited in front of a window to increase ventilation from outside.
These measures are already causing sinusitis, INCREASED ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION, muscle cramps etc.
Multiply the power consumption with the million or so electric fans running at full blast 24/7 and you end up with an additional power consumption of 12 MW per 24 hour cycle assuming that the average fan consumes 0.5 kW/h.
This power has to be produced by burning coal, at least 1.5 times the consumption to allow for transmission losses, generation losses and so forth.
This in turn leads to more pollution - this leads to higher temperatures, this leads to more fans, air conditioners etc. to be run for longer periods of time.
If one assumes that the above calculations are very conservative and could probably be doubled or trebled to arrive at the actual consumption (Only for the RSA), we will probably be able to shut down a fair sized power plant (24 to 36 Megawatt) if temperatures returned to normal.
Planet wide one could extrapolate the consumption of additional electricity just for cooling down, to be in the region of about 87 500 000 000 Kw X US$ 0.13 per kWh = US$ 113 750 000 000.00 - This amount can buy a lot of solar panels, wind farms etc. and will probably make the US totally solar powered within ten years, give or take. Once the US leads, other countries that still have huge carbon footprints will follow. ISO standards could be applied more widely to get rid of the remaining coal and oil consumers.
I realize that the concept seems overly simplistic and that calculations may be skewed by a few billion or so but the idea is to get people to think further than switching on a fan or an air conditioner.
One thing is certain, we are not going to Mars or Jupiter or any other solar system soon. We really need to take care of this planet.
I believe people are deliberately made to think of other planets as an option when this one becomes polluted and overheated to the extent that it will not be able to support human life anymore. If we are not even able to maintain a perfect planet, how can we even contemplate moving to another.
Google the cost of placing one astronaut on the ISS an then think what a mass exodus to Mars would likely cost. Trip to ISS - a few hours - Trip to Mars - three years.
Mars is actually not an option, It has no atmosphere, no water, dust storms that last for years, UV Radiation that is off the charts, extremely high and low temperatures etc. etc. Humans will simply not be able to live there without life support systems.
Once all the fossil fuels are burnt, the powers to be will start to consider other energy sources as viable, not before. Oil, coal and natural gas are great revenue generators - why kill the goose that lays golden eggs. Let it die of natural causes they say. What they are not saying is that the golden goose may kill us before it reaches the end of it's lifetime.
SEE - Mars, here we come
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