You know how wind-generated electricity was supposed to be 'greener' than the regularly-generated stuff, and would help to 'save the planet', and all those good things? Not so fast. The Telegraph reports:
Wind farms can cause climate change, according to new research, that shows for the first time the new technology is already pushing up temperatures.
Usually at night the air closer to the ground becomes colder when the sun goes down and the earth cools.
But on huge wind farms the motion of the turbines mixes the air higher in the atmosphere that is warmer, pushing up the overall temperature.
Satellite data over a large area in Texas, that is now covered by four of the world's largest wind farms, found that over a decade the local temperature went up by almost 1C as more turbines are built.
This could have long term effects on wildlife living in the immediate areas of larger wind farms.
It could also affect regional weather patterns as warmer areas affect the formation of cloud and even wind speeds.
. . .
The study, published in Nature, found a “significant warming trend” of up to 0.72C (1.37F) per decade, particularly at night-time, over wind farms relative to near-by non-wind-farm regions.
There's more at the link.
So a much-hyped technology that was supposed to help stave off global warming is instead contributing to it, at least on a local scale! All those birds are dying for no good reason! For a brief, delirious moment, I thought I could actually hear environmentalists weeping, and wailing, and gnashing their teeth. Isn't the irony too delicious for words?
Peter
6 comments:
Gimme more nuclear, man. Nuclear's about the greenest power source available to this planet, when the whole mining/power production/exhaust/waste resolution picture is taken into account!
Yes, it is delish! Love it. And, yes, those poor little birdies died for nothing. Where is PETA when we need them!
I can hear them whining as well! "But... but... I meant well!"
Apparently, the giant fans were supposed to move with the wind but not move the air themselves. Or something like that.
LittleRed1
?? One (1) degree Centigrade? Sheesh. I seem to recall from my wasted youth (it was the 70's, dude, leave me alone) that when der Vikings hit Nova Scotia, they called it "Vineland the Good" cause of all the wild grapes they found to make cheap wine with (Vikings, dude, lookin'fer Thunderbird). Grapes don't grow there now, I'm told. Too cold a climate. Strikes me a little warming (longer growing seasons) could be a GOOD thing...... JohninMd(help)
But the wind moves the turbines, and not the other way around.
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