The BBC reports today that Greta Thunberg will travel to some climate conferences by sail.
Guest post by Mike Jonas
Greta Thunberg to sail Atlantic for climate conferences
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has accepted a ride across the Atlantic by boat to attend two key climate conferences.
The teenager will make the journey aboard the Malizia II, a high-speed 18-metre (60ft) yacht built to race around the globe.
“We’ll be sailing across the Atlantic Ocean from the UK to New York in mid August,” she tweeted.
Thunberg refuses to fly because of the environmental impact of air travel.
In a Facebook post, Team Malizia said they were “honoured to sail Greta Thunberg emission free across the Atlantic”.
Is Greta Thunberg the first climate activist prepared to abide by their convictions and use “carbon-free” travel? I think she is.
My personal opinion is that Greta should be congratulated for her integrity (just as the others should be condemned for their hypocrisy).
But maybe, just maybe, this story will drive home to people just how ridiculous the whole “carbon-free” idea is.
Greta is fortunate enough to be invited to visit the other side of the Atlantic in a fast racing yacht, because she is famous. That’s the positive part of the story. But let’s go through just a few of the issues arising from this story:
1. It will take a very long time compared with flying, especially if you aren’t famous. At Malizia II’s trans-Atlantic racing speed of 14.5 knots (https://www.yacht-club-monaco.mc/en/route-du-rhum-malizia-ii-finished-5th/), an Atlantic crossing takes a fortnight. Time is money to most people, and especially to businesses.
Want to use your 4-week annual leave or the children’s school holiday to visit relatives on the other side of the Atlantic? Forget it.
2. The Atlantic, just like any large body of water, has severe storms. Even professional competitors in ocean races get sea-sick.
“It’s a feeling that you just want to jump off the side of the boat and end it all. It’s miserable, you don’t feel like doing anything, you get lethargic and you get tired. You loose[sic] interest in anything except in how manky you feel and pretty much each time you move, or change your environment, you end up throwing up.”.
(There’s lots more like that). Greta will be in an ocean racer, and even without a storm I doubt she will enjoy it. What will trans-ocean travel be like in our future “carbon-free” world?
3. …
There really isn’t any point in going on with this – the whole “carbon-free” idea is utterly impractical. In a “carbon-free” world, they are going to have to have all nuclear-powered ships and planes, or the whole world just descends into poverty. How long did they say we had left to go “carbon-free”?
So, while I congratulate Greta on her high ethical standards, maybe be best thing that can come out of this journey is the final realisation that the whole “carbon-free” thing is an exercise in absurdly expensive futility. The cost of going “carbon-free” – if it is actually possible – is clearly many orders of magnitude higher than just adapting to what the climate may or may not do. And bear in mind that China and India and others will do more than enough to guarantee that we will have to adapt to that anyway.
I hope that Greta’s greatest achievement will be getting the message through to the media and the politicians that they have been conned.
I come from a lomg line of Sailing Men and and (Women.) My GR.Grandfather x3 had several Atlantic crossings and lots of experience in the Caribbean. His Wife’ a Barbadian woman sailed most of the time with him. they were nearly killed in a storm off of Pimlico Sound.
I don’t think Greta is going like it when the helmsman yells: “All hands on deck! ” when a stay breaks at the worst possible moment.As in corssing the Columbia bar-happened to me.
She does not strike me as a descendant of Anders Bloodaxe…
When she finally makes it, she will truly be green. The color. from daily vomiting for 2 straight weeks.
A 60 foot boat in 15 foot waves will be “life changing”. When it’s time to sail back, expect a “**** That!” coming out of the precious waifs lips.
We should note that cries to “save the polar bears” have decreased in proportion to their massive increase in population.
Rather than admit the error or flaws in this climate crisis prediction, the strategy is to push forward with new, more convincing marketing schemes to sell the climate crisis product vs objectively comparing the busted projection with what actually happened and using science to adjust/apply with new projections that are not a crisis.
IF it’s a hand built raft with a hand woven sail, I’m impressed. Welcome to the new carbon-free world!
It’ll still consume 5x more fuel for the transit than she would on a jumbo… or were they going to use indian wrist burns and sunlight to cook on a tiny rocking ship?
Malizia II is not made of wood but “composites” which suggests a lot of carbon both in the material and in the manufacture. Ah, the irony…
Golden rule for all sailors wishing to cross the Atlantic, Don’t go across between June and December – it’s hurricane season. Wouldn’t it just be poetic justice if the boat ended up in a hurricane.
What exactly is the point of the conference anyway? According to Greta, we already know all we need to know about what is happening and what we need to do. So what’s the conference going to cover?
We are all going to to die unless we do what a few people want us to do. There we go, summarised the conference, no any of any of it.
Because the conference will use energy and paper and water and…for what benefit?
She’s great! Better if she’d leave her satellite phone (satellites are NOT green!) and the rest of the world can take a much needed vacation from at least one climate activist.
I suspect she has not thought this through. Two or three weeks on a yacht in the Atlantic may well cure her of her obsession with carbon dioxide.
“Is Greta Thunberg the first climate activist prepared to abide by their convictions and use “carbon-free” travel? I think she is.”
There is one other, Prof Kevin Anderson of the UK Tyndall Centre: https://kevinanderson.info/blog/hypocrites-in-the-air-should-climate-change-academics-lead-by-example/
However, no travel is carbon free, as how could any transport vehicle sensibly be made otherwise? We need to un-invent fire.
Of course there is no real possibility that this little girl will cross the ocean in a sailboat.
The whole thing is a publicity stunt.
The Atlantic ocean is unforgiving, and can be dangerous in the extreme. A trans-Atlantic passage in a small boat is nowhere for someone to learn sailing, or even basic boat skills. You can not make a mistake, you can not do anything stupid for the whole time. It is not for beginners.
Eventually, an adult in the room will just say no.
And that will be a quiet end to it.
re: “Eventually, an adult in the room will just say no.”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.
Stay tuned.
Golden rule for all sailors wishing to cross the Atlantic, Don’t go across between June and December – it’s hurricane season.
I’ve raced yachts across and English Channel (mainly at night) as skipper, and it’s hard work even for fit men, She’ll be eating out of a bowl, and when it comes to getting rid of it, then it’s a bucket and chuck it job. Oh, she is soooo going to love that. So, we’er going to put a 16 year old autistic girl on a racing yacht going across the Atlantic in the hurricane season, What could possible go wrong?
Poor Greta. At least she can see CO2.
Who needs satellites? Just plug into Greta’s USB port.
About 12 – 14 years ago there was another girl who wrote a blog called “Remember the Maunder”. She wrote it in response to Al Gores pack of lies. She really studied the science and was a good science communicator. She was in the Anti–AGW camp and was ignored by the press. Do you thing that there is any connection, She packed her blog in before going to university. Anyone know what has happened to her since.
Ponder the Maunder?
It was “ponder the Maunder”, by Kristen Byrnes. Here are some of her essays and an interview on NPR. Very intelligent young lady, unlike this Greta. I believe she went into medicine.
Betcha she flies back….
Nope, Alexandria Ocasio is arranging a scholarship for her at one of the top US universities, and you are welcome to have her, we had enough on this side of Atlantic. 🙂
No way jose. Already I can hear the chants of “Send her back!”
A well planned trip, hurricane season be damned.
I believe that the yacht is owned by prince of Monaco, so Greta will be well looked after.
If you wonder where the yacht’s name comes from, it is named after François (Francesco) Grimaldi “il Malizia” (the thoroughly bad dude) – the first Grimaldi to rule over Monaco
There is just one thing to say …
http://jonova.s3.amazonaws.com/artwork/logo-fun/bbc-greenpeace-med.gif
Thank-you Joanne Nova for showing the truth.
This is a very dangerous undertaking for anyone, especially a child without extensive & serious yachting experience.
She stands a real chance of dying on the trip, do her parents realise that?
Even if the trip completes safely, she will have an awful experince: this isn’t a cruise, it’s a racing yacht. In the Atlantic. And no way off, if she changes her mind half way. Or the crew do.
How will she return?
Another convenient multimilliondallar yacht across the Atlantic – in October?
Or perhaps she’ll just walk across 🙂
This is the pinnacle of virtue signalling by someone, with an expendable payload. A means of transport, it is not.
Someone with serious mental and associated health issues embarking on a two week voyage in a special purpose built racing yacht to cross the Atlantic? What could possibly go wrong with that? There will be support/rescue crews and ships I am sure.
IMO, this is madness in line with the media stunt ‘The Ship of Fools” made a while back.
Unforgettable experience, yes but not one you envisage, the yacht is around the globe racing vessel, its crew is world (top) class.
The articles indicate there will be only a few people on board, unless the list of people they gave was only the important ones.
My understanding is it takes quite a few people to manage one of those craft, but maybe that is only while racing.
Nothing automatic on those sorts of boats.
I think all reporting of Greta’s exploits should be conveyed only by carrier pigeon and horse from now on. None of this new-fangled electricity nonsense.
It’s all about marketing, isn’t it? 😉
That sailing yacht, valued at millions of dollars, is nearly 100% made of petroleum based synthetics that can only be manufactured by high energy processes that require dependable low cost energy.
Without fossil fuels and oil that luxury toy could not exist. Without the wealth generated by low cost reliable energy from coal, natural gas and nuclear power, no one would spend their resources on such a ridiculous trifle as a racing sailboat.
And, climate karma being what it is, Greta (and the adults manipulating this sad disabled child) may learn more about the weather than they can possibly imagine.
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