"John Hall" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Martin Brown writes:
Incidentally where exactly were these vineyards in Scotland? It has the
smell of an urban legend - it is just far too wet in winter up there
and nothing remotely like a suitable continental climate.

Figure 65 in HH Lamb's "Climate, History and the Modern World" maps the
known medieval vineyard sites in England. I think we can assume that had
any been known in Scotland they would have been shown. (Of course, that
book was written a couple of decades ago, and it is possible that some
may have been discovered more recently.) There are a lot of vineyards
south of 53N (the latitude of The Wash) but only 3 small ones north of
that, and nothing north of 54N(roughly the latitude of Leeds).

The aspect which so many people forget when using this as a
'denialist' argument is the economic one. No-one would dream
of setting up a seriously-sized vineyard in the 21st century without
an expectation that it would be economically viable ... in other
words it would have to provide a substantial crop of usable
grapes in at least 8 years out of ten. Such exigencies did not
apply in the 12th and 13th centuries. You could undoubtedly grow
vines in a walled garden in, say, the Carse o'Gowrie (between
Perth and Dundee) which is widely known for its soft fruit
production, and they would probably have ripened in six
out of ten years in the 1990s, but who in their right mind would
grub up acres of profitable raspberries, loganberries, gooseberries,
etc, to plant a vineyard? (Not for another 30 years anyway).

Philip Eden

In article , "Gavin Staples" writes:

"Jim Webster" wrote in message
...

Whilst there probably are people in global warming denial, there are others
who are perfectly willing to accept that global warming is happening, but
doubt just how much impact humanity is having on the process.


I go along with the idea that warming is taking place but I am sceptical
with regard to the assertions that humans are entirely responsible.



Apologies for being late on this one (chemotherapy), and to answer Jim
and Gavin's sceptism, the evidence for the anthropomorphic contribution
to global warming lies in the increase in atmospheric CO2.

That atmospheric CO2 has increased is undeniable: it is long-lived, well
mixed and subject to direct and indirect measurement. The increase is
more than 30% over the last 100 years.

That CO2 is a greenhouse gas is also undeniable: it is easily shown in a
laboratory and an increase in partial pressure of the magnitude we have
experienced is highly significant.

That the increase is due to human economic activity is demonstrated by the
ratio of carbon isotopes in atmospheric CO2. The proportion of Carbon-12
to the other stable isotope of carbon, in the atmosphere, has been measured
and found to be increasing. The only source of such an isotope is carbon
released from burning fossil fuel (and not wood, for instance).

This change in carbon ratios in atmospheric CO2 ties in with the recent
increase in CO2.



Cheers,

keith






---
Iraq: 6.5 thousand million pounds, 70 UK lives, and counting...
100,000+ civilian casualties, largely of coalition bombing...

In message , Alastair McDonald
k writes

[snip]

We might end up with a lot more yuppies driving around in 4 by 4s and
SUVs (these passenger pickup trucks are even appearing here now!)
burning more fuel and asking for more of Britain to become tarmac.


Having just returned from Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada)
two things were noticeable;

1. 4x4 trucks everywhere, though there may be better reasons for them
over there

2. the expected snow has not appeared and the ski slopes are not all
open

Now whether these two observations are linked is still an item of debate
:-)

On the other hand some of the weather was very interesting indeed.
Particularly the cloud and mist patterns that formed on calm days and
the variation over relatively short distances. For example you would
only have to travel about 100 miles to get well below zero at the same
altitude.

For those who dislike the TV presenters who say things like "brrrrrr,
it's chilly" at least the Canadians had a good excuse when warning for
-46C in Toronto when adding wind chill to a still air temperature of
about -30C. Having experienced -35C (still air) it is indeed a "bit
nippy".
--
Tim
http://www.stopharlownorth.com/