My new business cards arrived last week - the ones which have "Tipping Point, A Robert Spire Thriller," printed on them. I put a few in my wallet, thinking, you never know, they might come in handy.
Coming to the end of another weekend in the middle of July, i'm looking out of the window and i ask myself, where is our summer? It's the middle of July, but the weather is lousy. Mind you, in the UK it's supposed to be a scorching 27 degrees Celsius today...wow! Not bad for the middle of summer. Mid-summers day was like mid-winter. So what's going on?
Are we just having another bad summer? Have we already had our summer? The weather in April and May was fantastic. Or, is something more sinister going on? Could it be the dreaded G.W word, I'm talking about global warming, you know, climate change.
I recall years ago...I'm thinking back to the 1970s and early 1980s when we used to have long hot summers and cold, snowy winters here in the UK, but no more. Summer is usually wet, what we have of it usually appears in April and May, and at Christmas time, well now you can wear a T-shirt and not catch a chill!
Not only that, but there's not a day that goes by without a story in the news about global warming causing melting ice caps, rising sea levels, Arctic methane release, melting the Arctic, ocean acidification, increasing co2 levels - yes they measure these from Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii and deforestation. These are just some of the consequences.
The planet appears to be doomed. Not only that, but today i find out that an NEO or Near Earth Object, an asteroid in this case will pass within 7500 miles of the Earth on Monday 27th June! This thing was only discovered recently, and will pass within Earth's geosynchronous satellite population before accelerating back out to space, pretty close eh? And that's not the only one. These things are zipping by all the time. What about all the others that haven't been discovered yet?
So, with this all in mind, I decided i needed a drink. I went out to a local bar and was enjoying a few drinks when an attractive red-head came up to me. She asked, "Have you got a light please?"
I looked into her green eyes and thought, damn, would have been a good time to have a pack of cigarettes, or at least a lighter with me, even though i don't smoke. I said, "sorry, no," but quickly remembered an old booklet of matches i had in my pocket. "Actually, i have," i said, handing her the booklet. "But you shouldn't smoke you know, its bad for you, and bad for the planet."
"What do you mean?" She asked, looking amused.
"Global warming," I joked.
"I used to think that was rubbish," she said, "but now i really do think something is going on, i mean look at the weather, middle of summer and its terrible!"
I couldn't help joining her for a cigarette, wanting to chat more about the topic, so followed her outside. After two cigarettes - which i felt extremely guilty about - and a depressing chat about saving planet Earth from the perils of global warming and asteroid collision, she said to me;
"So, if the is Earth doomed, who can save us, the X-Men, The Green Lantern, Transformers?"
I said, "They are all comic book heroes, but Robert Spire would certainly have a go."
"Robert Spire?" She said. "Who's he?"
I pulled out my wallet and handed her my card.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Saturday, 25 June 2011
Crikey...! Newly Discovered Asteroid Skims Earth Monday 27th June 2011
New Mexico robotic telescopes have picked up a newly discovered asteroid which will zoom by Earth at 7500 miles distant Monday 27th June. NASA says it poses no threat to Earth however. How many more undiscovered space rocks are out there?
Tipping Point Thriller - Out Now On Kindle
Environmental lawyer Robert Spire's life is turned upside down following the death of UK climatologist Dr. Dale Stanton after he discovers he has been appointed as an executor in his will. A second climatologist drops dead in San Francisco...could the deaths be linked?
Fast paced action-thriller with an environmental theme, Tipping Point introduces Robert Spire in his first adventure. Time is ticking...the stakes are global...ecological disaster looms.
Fast paced action-thriller with an environmental theme, Tipping Point introduces Robert Spire in his first adventure. Time is ticking...the stakes are global...ecological disaster looms.
Monday, 20 June 2011
Tipping Point Thriller
Two dead climatologists...A ruthless female Russian assassin...A joint US/French geoengineering experiment to seed the Arctic Ocean...An unexpected appointment in a will turns environmental lawyer Robert Spire's life upside down. Time is ticking...The stakes are global...disaster looms.
TIPPING POINT THRILLER - OUT NOW AMAZON KINDLE.
TIPPING POINT THRILLER - OUT NOW AMAZON KINDLE.
Worlds Oceans At Tipping Point
Scientists discover that the Worlds oceans are at a tipping point and that marine species are at a high risk of entering an extinction phase, spelling disaster for humanity...
Sunday, 19 June 2011
Tipping Point
New thriller Tipping Point revolves around a plot to geo-engineer the Arctic Ocean with an experimental iron sulphate in order to reduce or slow global warming in the region by increasing the Arctic's albedo - ability to reflect light.
The plot follows Robert Spire, environmental lawyer as he investigates the death of UK climatologist Dr Dale Stanton who mysteriously drops dead whilst working on a project looking into the Atlantic Ocean's Thermohaline Circution.
Out now on Kindle.
The plot follows Robert Spire, environmental lawyer as he investigates the death of UK climatologist Dr Dale Stanton who mysteriously drops dead whilst working on a project looking into the Atlantic Ocean's Thermohaline Circution.
Out now on Kindle.
Scientists Reveal Geoengineering Ideas To Tackle Global Warming
Reflecting the sun's light back into space and using iron filings in the world's oceans are some of the ideas...
Saturday, 18 June 2011
April - USA Hit By Extreme Weather.
US scientists say that the weather extremes experienced in the USA during April 2011, never before seen in one month... a combination of tornadoes, wildfires, flooding and drought have all hit...
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Tipping Point Thriller - Kindle Book.
Disaster looms in the Arctic, An eminent climatologist drops dead in his London apartment, followed by a second in San Francisco. Appointed executor and lawyer, Robert Spire is about to have his life turned upside down…
Tipping Point Thriller, just released on the Kindle at £2.99. The book follows Robert Spire as he is tasked by his client to find a home to a large legacy left to global warming organisations. The action takes place in Wales, London, San Francisco, Paris and the Arctic as Spire hunts for clues to the climatologists deaths.
Tipping Point Thriller, just released on the Kindle at £2.99. The book follows Robert Spire as he is tasked by his client to find a home to a large legacy left to global warming organisations. The action takes place in Wales, London, San Francisco, Paris and the Arctic as Spire hunts for clues to the climatologists deaths.
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Tipping Point
"Simon Rosser's scientific and psychological thriller "Tipping Point" is one of the best I have read in the past decade. He has a gift for fluent narrative, realistic characterisation and for creating settings that come vividly to life for the reader. He blends tension and suspense very successfully against the contemporary background of global warming and its sinister implications.
-Author, TV presenter and Priest Lionel Fanthorpe -
-Author, TV presenter and Priest Lionel Fanthorpe -
Tipping Point Thriller
Tipping Point thriller now available on Amazon Kindle.
Ecological disaster looms in the Arctic. Two eminent climatologists mysteriously drop dead on both sides of the Atlantic. Appointed executor and environmental lawyer Robert Spire sets out to investigate, but soon realises his life is in danger as he uncovers a conspiracy with far reaching global implications...
Robert Spire is contacted by Doris Stanton, mother of the late UK climatologist Dr. Dale Stanton, with a request he finds a suitable home for her dead son's legacy - a large sum left to global warming organisations.
He sets off to Southampton's oceanography centre to investigate. The task seems pretty much solved; until a second climatologist drops dead in California, whilst attending a climate change conference.
Spire's investigations take him from Wales and London to San Francisco, Paris and finally the Arctic, where he joins French climatologist, Professor Francois Trimaud on a joint US/French expedition to seed the Arctic Ocean with an experimental substance, with the aim of preventing the Arctic's ice from melting further and slowing global warming in the region.
Spire soon discovers that someone wants the climatologists silenced at all costs. Time is ticking... the stakes are global... environmental disaster looms...
"Simon Rosser's scientific and psychological thriller "Tipping Point" is one of the best I have read in the past decade. He has a gift for fluent narrative, realistic characterisation and for creating settings that come vividly to life for the reader. He blends tension and suspense very successfully against the contemporary background of global warming and its sinister implications.
-Author, TV presenter and Priest Lionel Fanthorpe -
Ecological disaster looms in the Arctic. Two eminent climatologists mysteriously drop dead on both sides of the Atlantic. Appointed executor and environmental lawyer Robert Spire sets out to investigate, but soon realises his life is in danger as he uncovers a conspiracy with far reaching global implications...
Robert Spire is contacted by Doris Stanton, mother of the late UK climatologist Dr. Dale Stanton, with a request he finds a suitable home for her dead son's legacy - a large sum left to global warming organisations.
He sets off to Southampton's oceanography centre to investigate. The task seems pretty much solved; until a second climatologist drops dead in California, whilst attending a climate change conference.
Spire's investigations take him from Wales and London to San Francisco, Paris and finally the Arctic, where he joins French climatologist, Professor Francois Trimaud on a joint US/French expedition to seed the Arctic Ocean with an experimental substance, with the aim of preventing the Arctic's ice from melting further and slowing global warming in the region.
Spire soon discovers that someone wants the climatologists silenced at all costs. Time is ticking... the stakes are global... environmental disaster looms...
"Simon Rosser's scientific and psychological thriller "Tipping Point" is one of the best I have read in the past decade. He has a gift for fluent narrative, realistic characterisation and for creating settings that come vividly to life for the reader. He blends tension and suspense very successfully against the contemporary background of global warming and its sinister implications.
-Author, TV presenter and Priest Lionel Fanthorpe -
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Arctic and Greenland Ice Melt Accelerate
The ice in Greenland and the Arctic is melting faster than expected, perhaps raising sea levels by as much as 5 feet this century, a new report finds...
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Melting ice-sheets fuelling sea level rise - warns NASA.
Melting ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland could overtake mountain glaciers as the main contributors to rising sea levels, US scientists say.
A study lasting nearly 20 years has revealed that huge amounts of melted ice are pouring into the oceans...read more.
A study lasting nearly 20 years has revealed that huge amounts of melted ice are pouring into the oceans...read more.
Melting glaciers
Mountain glaciers found to be melting at record rates...
"The glaciers have lost a lot less ice up until 30 years ago than had been thought. The real killer is that the rate of loss has gone up 100 times above the long-term average. It's scary," said Professor Glasser, who carried out the study with the University of Exeter and Stockholm University.
"The glaciers have lost a lot less ice up until 30 years ago than had been thought. The real killer is that the rate of loss has gone up 100 times above the long-term average. It's scary," said Professor Glasser, who carried out the study with the University of Exeter and Stockholm University.
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Extreme Rain Link To Global Warming
Scientists running sophisticated computer models are beginning to link increased greenhouse gasses - caused by man's burning of fossil fuels - with increased rainfall events.
"The British study focused on flooding in England and Wales in the fall of 2000. The disaster cost more than $1.7 billion in insured damages and was the wettest autumn for the region in more than 230 years of record-keeping. Researchers found that global warming more than doubled the likelihood of that flood occurring."
"The British study focused on flooding in England and Wales in the fall of 2000. The disaster cost more than $1.7 billion in insured damages and was the wettest autumn for the region in more than 230 years of record-keeping. Researchers found that global warming more than doubled the likelihood of that flood occurring."
Amazon Drought Link To Global Warming
The trees and vegetation of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil soak up massive amounts of CO2 - a greenhouse gas responsible for global warming - but also release massive amounts when they die. Two major droughts there in 2005 and 2010 have caused the Amazon to be a source of CO2 not a sink, potentially fueling further global warming.
"The combined emissions caused by the two droughts were probably enough to have canceled out the carbon absorbed by the forest over the past 10 years, the study found."
"The combined emissions caused by the two droughts were probably enough to have canceled out the carbon absorbed by the forest over the past 10 years, the study found."
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Wet Weather And Floods - Global Warming Or Not?
2010 is likely to be on par with the warmest years on record, and whilst a warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor, La Nina is likely to be the cause of the latest Australian floods.
"Scientists have emphasised that none of the three extreme weather events occurring now can be linked directly to global warming. Two of them, the floods in Australia and Sri Lanka, may be connected with a naturally occurring climatic phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean, called La Niña, whereas the landslides in Brazil are the result of heavy, localised downpours falling on badly constructed homes built precariously on steep hillsides.
It is almost certain that La Niña is behind the Queensland floods. La Niña, which means "little girl", is a change in the Pacific Ocean where a body of relatively cold water wells up over the equatorial region, causing a corresponding build-up of warm water in the western regions near Indonesia and Australia.
This warm water usually dissipates to the east in non-La Niña years. This year, however, is the strongest La Niña since 1974, and the warm water around Australia and Indonesia, with nowhere to escape, has generated heavy rain clouds that have burst over Queensland.
In 1974, when Queensland also suffered heavy flooding, La Niña was stronger then than at any time on record. Sri Lanka remained dry that time, but this time there is evidence that some of the warm moist air has blown further west, just nudging Sri Lanka into torrential downpours, according to Adam Scaife, head of long-range forecasting at the Met Office.
"Rainfall is expected to increase in a warmer world but in this case it's linked with the La Niña cycle. It's a natural cycle and we don't expect it to change in the future. This is not a climate-change issue, it's La Niña, and it's happened before and will happen again," Dr Scaife said.
Equally, the rain around Rio is associated with a typical weather system in the South Atlantic. Here the issue has centred on the lack of urban planning." Independent newspaper.
"Scientists have emphasised that none of the three extreme weather events occurring now can be linked directly to global warming. Two of them, the floods in Australia and Sri Lanka, may be connected with a naturally occurring climatic phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean, called La Niña, whereas the landslides in Brazil are the result of heavy, localised downpours falling on badly constructed homes built precariously on steep hillsides.
It is almost certain that La Niña is behind the Queensland floods. La Niña, which means "little girl", is a change in the Pacific Ocean where a body of relatively cold water wells up over the equatorial region, causing a corresponding build-up of warm water in the western regions near Indonesia and Australia.
This warm water usually dissipates to the east in non-La Niña years. This year, however, is the strongest La Niña since 1974, and the warm water around Australia and Indonesia, with nowhere to escape, has generated heavy rain clouds that have burst over Queensland.
In 1974, when Queensland also suffered heavy flooding, La Niña was stronger then than at any time on record. Sri Lanka remained dry that time, but this time there is evidence that some of the warm moist air has blown further west, just nudging Sri Lanka into torrential downpours, according to Adam Scaife, head of long-range forecasting at the Met Office.
"Rainfall is expected to increase in a warmer world but in this case it's linked with the La Niña cycle. It's a natural cycle and we don't expect it to change in the future. This is not a climate-change issue, it's La Niña, and it's happened before and will happen again," Dr Scaife said.
Equally, the rain around Rio is associated with a typical weather system in the South Atlantic. Here the issue has centred on the lack of urban planning." Independent newspaper.
Monday, 3 January 2011
2010 Record For Natural Disasters
"Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 — the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined...."
Friday, 24 December 2010
Link Between Global Warming and Cold, Snowy, UK Winters
Scientists believe there could be a link between the melting Arctic ice and freezing weather in UK and Northern Europe, as wind and air patterns are altered.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
2010 Hottest Year Globally
It is possible the position might change when the final figures for November and December have been factored in, although analysis has already shown that November temperatures for the world were running at "near record levels", the WMO said.
Releasing the figures at the UN Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico, the WMO said the global combined sea surface and land surface air temperature for 2010 (January-October) "is currently estimated at 0.55C (0.99F) above the 1961-1990 annual average of 14C (57.2F)".
It added: "At present, 2010's nominal value is the highest on record, just ahead of 1998 (January-October anomaly 0.53C) and 2005 (0.52C)."
The WMO's official judgement is cautious, saying merely that "the year 2010 is almost certain to rank in the top three warmest years since the beginning of instrumental climate records in 1850."
However, even if this year's final position is not beyond doubt, it is already certain that the past decade is the hottest 10-year period in the instrumental record. "Over the 10 years from 2001 to 2010, global temperatures have averaged 0.46°C above the 1961-90 average, 0.03°C above the 2000-09 mean, and the highest value yet recorded for a 10-year period," the WMO said - The Independent.
Releasing the figures at the UN Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico, the WMO said the global combined sea surface and land surface air temperature for 2010 (January-October) "is currently estimated at 0.55C (0.99F) above the 1961-1990 annual average of 14C (57.2F)".
It added: "At present, 2010's nominal value is the highest on record, just ahead of 1998 (January-October anomaly 0.53C) and 2005 (0.52C)."
The WMO's official judgement is cautious, saying merely that "the year 2010 is almost certain to rank in the top three warmest years since the beginning of instrumental climate records in 1850."
However, even if this year's final position is not beyond doubt, it is already certain that the past decade is the hottest 10-year period in the instrumental record. "Over the 10 years from 2001 to 2010, global temperatures have averaged 0.46°C above the 1961-90 average, 0.03°C above the 2000-09 mean, and the highest value yet recorded for a 10-year period," the WMO said - The Independent.
2010 Officially Hottest Year On Record
Despite being one of the coldest winters in the UK for many years, 2010 has been half a degree Celsius warmer globally than the 30 year average, equal to 1998, which was the warmest year since records began. In 1998, El Nino actually made the world warmer, whereas 2010 has been influenced by La Nina, which should have had a cooling effect. The data is supported by The UK Met Office, The US National Weather Service and NASA.
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
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