September 2026 post. Wildfires and Warming, and a nuclear Threat
Some of you might have noticed my concentration on nuclear bombs, and lack of criticism of other things nuclear. This is not some kind of technological myopia, but the result of taking a wide view of the problems we have created, and now need to take urgent steps to alleviate. First, here are some here are some thoughts:
Here’s what I wrote about the situation back near the beginning of Silly Old Blogger:
The warming is slow, but it’s getting faster: If steps are not taken to reverse the trend and slow it down it might trigger a process called thermal runaway, which I won’t go into detail about now, because the latest science about this says that it’s unlikely, but it’s something to keep a wary eye on, because, if it happened, it could be worse than nuclear destruction of our civilisation, it could mean a barren, rocky Earth, too hot for any kind of life.
Given that most of this increase is caused by us burning huge amounts of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), alternative energy supplies are urgently needed. I believe nuclear has an important part to play in achieving this.
It is unfortunate that nuclear power for electricity generation and naval ship propulsion has been unfairly compared to the immense destruction wrought by the bombs, when in fact these first two have a good safety record and cannot be compared to the bombs, which are, of course, specifically designed to cause maximum destruction.
So before you decide to take part in the next “No Nuclear” demo think about where medical treatments for serious conditions such as cancers would be without the dozen or so radioactive treatments that rely on nuclear reactors for their production. Be aware also of the fickle nature of solar and wind power that need massive storage schemes to provide power to the electricity grids when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow. So lets focus our protests on where they will do the most good, and revive the anti-war cry of “Ban the Bomb”
Meanwhile as I have been writing this, the European wildfires haven’t gone away, just moved to the South and East a bit, destroying forests and releasing an estimated 27 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere so far this year, barely enough to measure, my friend AI. told me, still not welcome, considering the small but relentless rise in global temperature.
But CO2 emissions are only part of the picture, the looking backward part, the forests are gone, and will take a long time to grow back (if they ever do) and much of the land might be used for housing, for example, if the human tide keeps rising, and other uses that don’t form such a useful part of the life cycle as the trees they replace did.
Heightened tension in Europe
Speaking of “Ban the Bomb” Just as some of us who try to make sense of the various, often conflicting news from Europe, the Middle East, and other major trouble spots were starting to relax a bit, disturbing statements attributed to Russia’s President Putin to the effect that Russia might use nuclear weapons in Ukraine have set the world on edge.
These would typically be relatively small devices, used mainly against missile launching sites, airports, large ships, and concentrations of troops, not the much more destructive “City Busters” but a big fear is that a comparatively small scale use of these could easily escalate to full-scale nuclear war. We can do little to stop leaders from making these threats but should use every opportunity to ask our leaders to publicly express our concerns at this kind of behaviour which is too dangerous in a nuclear armed world.
Hoping for some happier news next month,
Silly Old Blogger
Silly Old Blogger 