In the realm of modern-day alarmism, no term is more popular, or more malleable, than ‘climate change.’ As evidenced by Jacopo Prisco’s recent CNN piece, it seems the phrase can be attached to virtually any phenomenon with even the slightest hint of thermal irregularity. Prisco introduces us to a novel climate change culprit: the ground beneath our cities, which, we’re told, is being deformed by so-called ‘underground climate change.’
As per the findings of a study conducted in Chicago, the heating of the ground under urban areas is being labelled as ‘underground climate change.’ A term as grandiose as it is vague, ‘underground climate change’ describes the ground’s reaction to the heat released by buildings and subterranean transportation systems. This, we’re warned, could have an impact on the functionality of our built infrastructure, causing such potentially ‘significant’ outcomes as distortion, tilting, and cracking of structures.
The casual misappropriation of the term ‘climate change’ in this instance is indeed notable. The phenomenon being studied here is essentially an effect of urban heat, with no real relation to the commonly understood climate change involving greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. As David Archer, professor of geophysical sciences, aptly puts it,
“Calling it climate change seems like a bit of a coattail thing.”
An alarm is also sounded for a ‘silent hazard.’ Rotta Loria points to older buildings, designed with outdated approaches, as key contributors to ‘underground climate change.’ However, this connection seems less about an impending environmental crisis and more about highlighting architectural deficiencies.
In a turn towards optimism, Rotta Loria asserts that modern buildings, with their better insulation and energy efficiency standards, are unlikely to exacerbate this underground heating. The proposed solution? Apply thermal insulation to existing structures and deploy geothermal technologies to harness waste heat. Such propositions seem rather disconnected from the proclaimed issue of ground deformation.
A particularly enlightening comment comes from David Toll, a professor of engineering, who assures that
“for the Chicago Loop, we now know that these thermal movements…are not large enough to be of concern.”
A sobering reminder that despite the sensationalist undertones of the study, its findings indicate little cause for alarm.
This misapplication of the term ‘climate change’ is emblematic of a broader issue. The catch-all usage of the phrase, is diluting its original meaning, sowing unnecessary panic and misdirecting our attention from real problems. If we continue to label every minor environmental inconvenience as ‘climate change,’ we’re merely crying wolf and detracting from the significance of actual global concerns. We ought to be careful in our lexicon; after all, when everything is climate change, nothing is climate change.
HT/KN
https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-023-00092-1
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When your “scientific theory” is said to cause both A and not A (floods – droughts, cooling – warming, more snow – less snow) it is really a religion and not a scientific theory.
Hallelujah, brother!
Yup. “Climate Change” works in mysterious ways. But the sacred texts have luckily been deciphered by the high priests and the prophecy is ‘settled’: we must give them money and power to appease “Climate Change” and atone for the sin of breathing (CO2 ‘pollution) or the end is nigh!
If a matter is settled for all time, it’s not science or even philosophy; the correct term is Dogma.
I would have to disagree.
Belief systems, or religion, are not by definition contradictory. The logic you present in your comment, and which AGW proponents often promote, is.
Yes, religion can be ridiculous while being consistent.
Climate alarmism is a complete bag of crap.
Or like describing the Trudeau government, if everything is a priority then nothing is.
The strange things on which Leftists fixate – very telling. Things are really so good in our modern lives, they have nothing much legit to whine about – so they fixate on the universal bogeyman – CLIMATE CHANGE and then they fixate on it, they want to use it as a tool, to create a Marxist utopia, but of course all they ever created were dystopias.
Human beings are biologically programmed to look for danger. It’s hard-wired into our DNA because our survival depended upon recognizing danger before it was too late.
But biology has not kept up with civilization. Because physical danger is such a small part of our lives, people are now subconsciously seeking things to fear.
The misappropriation and mis application of language is a sure sign of insecurity.
Or widespread and systemic propaganda!
Communists and Fascists would be proud. When the ends are ‘saving humanity’, any means whatsoever are justified in their minds.
Clima-Changeâ„¢ !
UN FCCC was framework convention on climate change. It set up the IPCC to study anthropogenic causes and create alarm.
IPCC has warned about CAGW—catastrophic anthropogenic global warming.
But the IPCC predicted catastrophes did not occur.
So C was dropped, simplifying to AGW,
But then the globe stopped warming (pauses). No GW, whoops.
So became climate change again.
But that is meaningless, since on sufficiently long time scales the climate is always changing. We are still warming out of the LIA that followed the MWP.
So the alarmists meant to imply on short time scales caused by man.
Except there is no observational evidence for this—no change in weather extremes (>F2 tornadoes, ACE), no trends in precipitation, no large scale trends in heat waves (all noted here recently)—despite ever increasing Keeling curve CO2.
The climate change disconnect to reality continues to grow.
Good analysis, except the “Keeling curve” is not much of a curve and no hockey stick. Keeling and his son are the only researchers generating this “curve” which sits on the side of an active volcano and directly above a rapidly developing CO2-spewing holiday island. The alarmists love the “curve” because it goes up and up. They never mention that Keeling insisted that his way to measure CO2 was the only way. Sorry, folks, this is not the way science is done. We measure and we sample and we measure again in as many places and ways that we can. If its a world-wide phenomenon, then we better sample world-wide and measure every which way there is to measure.
G’Day Ronald,
“…we better sample world-wide…”
Atmospheric carbon dioxide is being monitored worldwide. Just where the reports are – I don’t know.
I do recall many years ago reading that there were measuring stations on both the east and west coasts of the US. Why did it stick in my mind? The west coast readings were higher in CO2 ppm than the east coast readings. (In the current vernacular: WTF.)
We never hear from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory I and II.
Why is that?
They ought to have all kinds of data on CO2, where it’s at, how much is there, those kinds of things.
But we never hear anything from the OCO-2 people. A mystery!
probably good news – does anyone believe the boy who cried wolf any more
No chance!
Publish or Perish.
They saw a potential concern. They studied it. They found it wasn’t a problem in the end. But at least they now know that.
How would anyone else know that if they can’t get published? And “Relax, it’s all OK” does not get published.
Bur Climate Change is a big deal. This got published.
Good for them.
I wonder if they got a grant and it depended on mentioning “Climate Change”?
It has reached the insanity level of stupid yet many still fall for the chronic we are in grave danger fearmongering after 35 freaking years….. INCREDIBLE!
yet the next morning for 98% of the world it is just the usual weather we have seen before thinking about breakfast and getting the rest of sleepiness out of our eyes and legs.
I find it’s mainly children that fall for it. People who have experienced weather patterns come and go ‘dire warnings’ in media for decades can’t be foolish enough to believe it.
There are, however, the small subset of grownups that want to believe their little slice of history is somehow more important than everything that came before or ever will. These are the same religious nutcases that have been predicting a ‘god’s wrath’ and the ‘end of the world soon’ since before recorded history. They’ve just found a shiny new scientific god.
I’ve read somewhere that the human brain does not fully develop until around the age of 25 years. This is why the young folks, under that age, should be questioned regarding their proclamations and blathering about “climate change”, and most anything else. A few develop a full brain earlier, but the religions, including the climate ideology, take advantage of the majority and use them to further their cause of grifting for funds to push the agenda of the climate hucksters. Just sayin’.
CC jumped the shark years ago and the alarmists attempts to invigorate the useful idiots is making their narrative less believable the more they try to hype it. It’s become a joke.
No term generates more funding than “climate change”
The silent impact of underground climate change on civil infrastructure
https://www.nature.com/articles/s44172-023-00092-1
This work is further supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2046586.
BINGO!
https://new.nsf.gov/funding
How We Make Funding Decisions
Funding at NSF
https://new.nsf.gov/funding/merit-review
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CNN is blabbering again. There are no underground temperature data sets.
The temperature six feet under is most important.
I thought it was all ball bearings these days.
Balls, if not ball-bearings…
Couple of hours ago I was watching a video about that, if you’re quick it might still ne here:
https://www.wunderground.com/video/top-stories/the-silent-hazard-of-underground-climate-change
Yes and no, but ‘heat‘ is NOT the problem.
The problem with soils everywhere is when they dry out.
I tried to explain that about the collapsing of Hemsby )Norfolk coast UK) into the sea and also recently Rolling Hills, suburb of LA = where seemingly a ‘ravine’ opened up and swallowed a dozen or so houses.
The only really safe sort of soil to build upon would be ‘sharp’ soil – as you see/get in ‘Sharp Sand’ from the builders merchant.
= where the particles are very rough/broken and the sharp edges of each ‘particle’ lock themselves together
As you see in ‘ballast’ under railway tracks = sharp sand in pieces the size your fist
Silt is sometimes good but depends on the particle size.
Coarse is good, It’s ;sharp’ basically.
Very fine (Loess) is awful, if it gets wet it turns into a combination of Treacle meets-Axle Grease and your house, home or office-block will simply slide away down the nearest hill
Worst soil ever for building on is Clay, simply exactly because of its immense capacity for water. ##
Clay expands contracts, sticks to things, doesn’t stick, bakes rock-hard and will also dissolve entirely in water.
Treat Clay with huuuuuge respect and be very aware what you’re doing with it
Next to worse than Clay is ‘desert sand’
Those rounded/polished grains have all the properties of water when dry and not much improved when wet.
(What thse muppets have stumbled upon is a major part of the Urban Heat Island)
## Take a fist-size lump of Clay and take it apart to see the Mica ‘grains’ ‘crystals’ that are in there. Mica makes flat and incredibly thin crystals, you can pick them out and lay them on your table.
You will need a table of 200 acres in extent. How much water will stick to that?
Good for fixing The Climate though – just how much soil-nutrition will attach to that acreage and how much heat energy in any/all water attached likewise.
Immensely fertile stuff and good for growing Buffalo Fodder
A good description of railway ballast, Peta, which explains why the South-Eastern Railway use of beach shingle for ballast led to the disastrous 1927 Sevenoaks de-railment in which many died.
LOL..
When the soils around here dry out, they become like concrete.. pick-axes just bounce off.
“Underground climate change”.
Obviously all the fracking for oil and gas is allowing some of the 1,000,000s of degree heat at the Earth’s core to seep up to just below the surface.
Just ask Al Gore.
Lots of plans to sequester CO2 by injecting it into the ground.
Did this study just kill all those subsidies?
Alternating current is an electrical climate change 🙂
By the same token, just yesterday an article here quoted someone as saying that “temperature extremes are becoming the new normal.” I thought, if extremes are normal, then what qualifies them as extreme anymore?
Story tip: Can someone please explain ‘underground climate (the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period) change’?
Another major US city is sinking, and this time it’s due to ‘underground climate change’ | Live Science
Not with that link – that link is just highlighting the effects of UHI. UHI as a microclimate is a different kettle of fish entirely!
In case some missed the play on words …
https://youtu.be/GYmHYQPaHaw