My brother is visiting friends in Scotland at the moment. 
So far, they’re all OK, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for them.
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This could go here, or in the “good news” thread; heat pumps are outselling gas furnaces in the U.S. From CleanTechnica;
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A yearslong U.S. Justice Department investigation of a global hacking campaign that targeted prominent American climate activists took a turn in a London court this week amid an allegationthat the hacking was ordered by a lobbying firm working for ExxonMobil. Both the lobbying firm and ExxonMobil have denied any awareness of or involvement with alleged hacking.
The hacking was allegedly commissioned by a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm, according to a lawyer representing the U.S. government. The firm, in turn, was allegedly working on behalf of one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, based in Texas, that wanted to discredit groups and individuals involved in climate litigation, according to the lawyer for the U.S. government. In court documents, the Justice Department does not name either company.
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Ideas for rebuilding after climate disasters and using recycled materials for housing:
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Climate change could cause millions more temperature-related deaths in Europe by 2099, study says
A new study debunked theories climate change could be ‘beneficial’ for temperature-related deaths as Europe warms.
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These were never theories, they were whole-cloth lies by venal monsters who wanted to let this happen, and I hate how even now these things are so gentle about that.
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Storm Herminia brings heavy rain and powerful winds to Europe
Weather warnings were in parts of Spain, Portugal, France, the UK, and Ireland as Storm Herminia brought strong winds, heavy rain, and powerful waves.
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Good news and not so good, but less coal is definitely a plus
As a result, the rapid growth of renewables has largely displaced fossil fuel generation—specifically coal—rather than meeting increased demand. Despite the rise in demand, however, the long-term decline in coal has continued in 2024, with generation via coal down by nearly 5 percent. This will mean that this is the first year that wind and solar will combine to outproduce coal. Collectively, they’ll account for roughly 17 percent of the US’s energy production, while coal will only provide about 15 percent.
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Interesting. Here in Oz, coal is getting displaced by solar and wind because coal inflexible. It’s slow to ramp, has limited turn-down (they can’t really be run below 60%), and is very expensive to restart (can take up to 24 hours, and burns a lot of fuel with zero electric production while they’re building up temperature and pressure). So when it’s sunny or windy and electricity spot prices go low, coal generators are faced with a choice: lose money selling power for less than it costs to make it, or shut down and pay for a restart.
Nuclear has very similar operational problems (plus all the extra problems nukes bring). So if coal is being displaced for commercial reasons, then there’s no way to commercially run nuclear.
ETA: also, economics. Solar is now the cheapest electricity humans have ever made. Banks and shareholders notice things like that.
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Impossible! Nuke leccy is too cheap to meter!
Yeah, surprise, surprise…
Back in the 1950ies when FJS was the FRG’s first Atomminister, Our Friend the Atom was the bee’s knees, the wasp’s nipples, the next big thing… in short, The Future™! And any industrial country not jumping on the bandwagon would certainly be left in the dust. Obviously. Inevitably.
So politics decided that nuclear power plants shall be built, and fast.
Thing is, the companies that already produced, distributed and sold electricity and the companies that made the necessary hardware looked into it and came to the conclusion that, all things considered, nuclear power wasn’t really a commercially viable proposition. At least by the metrics they knew at the time. Which included certain liabilities should things go wrong.
So politics pretty much told industry, “Now look here, we want this. How about you build the plants and we build the framework to make it worth your while, mmhkay?”
And industry said “You should have opened with that” and went to work.
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Nearly a quarter of a billion children’s schooling was disrupted by climate crises in 2024 – UNICEF
Education in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Pakistan and the Philippines most severely affected by heatwaves, cyclones, floods and storms
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