Climate change issues, prevention, adaptation 8
Esto es una continuación del tema Climate change issues, prevention, adaptation 7.
Este tema fue continuado por Climate change issues, prevention, adaptation 9.
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1margd
California Has A New Idea For Homes At Risk From Rising Seas: Buy, Rent, Retreat
Nathan Rott | March 21, 2021
A thin strip of sand is all that stands between multimillion-dollar homes on the Southern California coast and a rising Pacific Ocean. A state bill aims to buy, then rent out such properties until they're no longer habitable...
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/21/978416929/california-has-a-new-idea-for-homes-at-...
Nathan Rott | March 21, 2021
A thin strip of sand is all that stands between multimillion-dollar homes on the Southern California coast and a rising Pacific Ocean. A state bill aims to buy, then rent out such properties until they're no longer habitable...
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/21/978416929/california-has-a-new-idea-for-homes-at-...
2margd
California Has A New Idea For Homes At Risk From Rising Seas: Buy, Rent, Retreat
Nathan Rott | March 21, 2021
A thin strip of sand is all that stands between multimillion-dollar homes on the Southern California coast and a rising Pacific Ocean. A state bill aims to buy, then rent out such properties until they're no longer habitable...
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/21/978416929/california-has-a-new-idea-for-homes-at-...
Nathan Rott | March 21, 2021
A thin strip of sand is all that stands between multimillion-dollar homes on the Southern California coast and a rising Pacific Ocean. A state bill aims to buy, then rent out such properties until they're no longer habitable...
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/21/978416929/california-has-a-new-idea-for-homes-at-...
3margd
See NYT's gorgeous animated version of the Gulf Stream, one of the mightiest rivers you will never see, carrying far more water than all the world’s freshwater rivers combined:
In the Atlantic Ocean, Subtle Shifts Hint at Dramatic Dangers
The warming atmosphere is causing an arm of the powerful Gulf Stream to weaken, some scientists fear.
Moises Velasquez-Manoff and Jeremy White
...a spate of studies, including one published last week, suggests this northern portion of the Gulf Stream and the deep ocean currents it’s connected to may be slowing.
The consequences could include faster sea level rise along parts of the Eastern United States and parts of Europe, stronger hurricanes barreling into the Southeastern United States, and perhaps most ominously, reduced rainfall across the Sahel, a semi-arid swath of land running the width of Africa that is already a geopolitical tinderbox.
...The consequences could include faster sea level rise along parts of the Eastern United States and parts of Europe, stronger hurricanes barreling into the Southeastern United States, and perhaps most ominously, reduced rainfall across the Sahel, a semi-arid swath of land running the width of Africa that is already a geopolitical tinderbox....
...if past is prologue, a drastically altered AMOC could certainly shift rainfall patterns, scientists said, making parts of Europe and Northern Africa drier, and areas in the Southern hemisphere wetter. Changing ocean currents might affect marine ecosystems that people rely on for food and livelihood.
A changing Gulf Stream could also accelerate sea-level rise along parts of the Atlantic coast of the United States. In 2009 and 2010, when the stream inexplicably weakened by 30 percent, the Northeast saw seas rise at a rate unprecedented in the entire roughly 100-year record of tide gauges.
And if water in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic becomes warmer because that heat is no longer shunted north, the expanding reservoir of energy could strengthen hurricanes, something that scientists at the National Oceanography Centre in the United Kingdom argue is already happening. Hurricanes derive their energy from heat in the water.
Finally, in a perverse twist, a shutdown of the AMOC could exacerbate global heating. The ocean absorbs nearly one-third of human carbon dioxide emissions. But the sinking of salty, dense water — the overturning portion of the AMOC — is critical to that absorption. So, if the AMOC stops or greatly slows, and that water stops sinking, the accumulation of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere could accelerate.
Then there are those consequences that fall in the category of “global weirding.”
Scientists at the U.K.’s National Oceanography Centre have somewhat counterintuitively linked the cold blob in the North Atlantic with summer heat waves in Europe. In 2015 and 2018, the jet stream, a river of wind that moves from west to east over temperate latitudes in the northern hemisphere, made an unusual detour to the south around the cold blob. The wrinkle in atmospheric flow brought hotter-than-usual air into Europe, they contend, breaking temperature records.
...lots of natural variability...a system of currents that’s far more complex than once envisioned.
...scientists currently...suspect the AMOC can work like a climate switch. They’re watching it closely. Some argue that it’s already changing, others that it’s too soon to tell...Dr. (Susan Lozier, a physical oceanographer and dean at the College of Sciences at Georgia Tech) “But there is a consensus that if we continue to warm the atmosphere, it will slow.”
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/02/climate/atlantic-ocean-climate-ch...
In the Atlantic Ocean, Subtle Shifts Hint at Dramatic Dangers
The warming atmosphere is causing an arm of the powerful Gulf Stream to weaken, some scientists fear.
Moises Velasquez-Manoff and Jeremy White
...a spate of studies, including one published last week, suggests this northern portion of the Gulf Stream and the deep ocean currents it’s connected to may be slowing.
The consequences could include faster sea level rise along parts of the Eastern United States and parts of Europe, stronger hurricanes barreling into the Southeastern United States, and perhaps most ominously, reduced rainfall across the Sahel, a semi-arid swath of land running the width of Africa that is already a geopolitical tinderbox.
...The consequences could include faster sea level rise along parts of the Eastern United States and parts of Europe, stronger hurricanes barreling into the Southeastern United States, and perhaps most ominously, reduced rainfall across the Sahel, a semi-arid swath of land running the width of Africa that is already a geopolitical tinderbox....
...if past is prologue, a drastically altered AMOC could certainly shift rainfall patterns, scientists said, making parts of Europe and Northern Africa drier, and areas in the Southern hemisphere wetter. Changing ocean currents might affect marine ecosystems that people rely on for food and livelihood.
A changing Gulf Stream could also accelerate sea-level rise along parts of the Atlantic coast of the United States. In 2009 and 2010, when the stream inexplicably weakened by 30 percent, the Northeast saw seas rise at a rate unprecedented in the entire roughly 100-year record of tide gauges.
And if water in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic becomes warmer because that heat is no longer shunted north, the expanding reservoir of energy could strengthen hurricanes, something that scientists at the National Oceanography Centre in the United Kingdom argue is already happening. Hurricanes derive their energy from heat in the water.
Finally, in a perverse twist, a shutdown of the AMOC could exacerbate global heating. The ocean absorbs nearly one-third of human carbon dioxide emissions. But the sinking of salty, dense water — the overturning portion of the AMOC — is critical to that absorption. So, if the AMOC stops or greatly slows, and that water stops sinking, the accumulation of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere could accelerate.
Then there are those consequences that fall in the category of “global weirding.”
Scientists at the U.K.’s National Oceanography Centre have somewhat counterintuitively linked the cold blob in the North Atlantic with summer heat waves in Europe. In 2015 and 2018, the jet stream, a river of wind that moves from west to east over temperate latitudes in the northern hemisphere, made an unusual detour to the south around the cold blob. The wrinkle in atmospheric flow brought hotter-than-usual air into Europe, they contend, breaking temperature records.
...lots of natural variability...a system of currents that’s far more complex than once envisioned.
...scientists currently...suspect the AMOC can work like a climate switch. They’re watching it closely. Some argue that it’s already changing, others that it’s too soon to tell...Dr. (Susan Lozier, a physical oceanographer and dean at the College of Sciences at Georgia Tech) “But there is a consensus that if we continue to warm the atmosphere, it will slow.”
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/02/climate/atlantic-ocean-climate-ch...
4margd
Should Solar Geoengineering Be a Tool to Slow Global Warming, or is Manipulating the Atmosphere Too Dangerous?
A new National Academies report is focusing attention on the controversial possibility of cooling the climate by reflecting sunlight away from Earth.
Bob Berwyn | March 26, 2021
...so urgent that the United States, in cooperation with other countries and under strict rules, should study the possibility of temporarily cooling the planet through solar geoengineering, a report released Thursday by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine says.
The report focuses on adding reflective particles to the upper atmosphere to bounce the sun’s heat back to space, brightening low-altitude clouds over the ocean to make them more reflective or thinning wispy cirrus clouds so that they trap less heat on the surface of the planet.
Supporting research into those possibilities shouldn’t be equated with actually implementing them, the NAS committee members involved with the report emphasized, adding that such studies should not detract from the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions. And scientists “need to be open to terminating” geoengineering research if findings indicate that such manipulations of the atmosphere would carry undue risk of dangerous consequences, they said.
“It’s kind of surreal to even be talking about this,” said Ambuj Sagar, who studies science and technology policy at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and was part of the committee that compiled the report. “You can’t be doing climate policy without thinking about geoengineering, and the more you get into it, the more complex it is. It raises all kinds of issues with international politics and governance.”
But if greenhouse gas emissions don’t start dropping fast, people in 10 or 20 years will need sound science to decide if they want to pull the solar engineering emergency brake, said Peter Irvine, who studies solar geoengineering at University College London and was not involved in the new report.
The Academies’ report recommends a research budget of $100 million to $200 million for the next five years, as a “minor part of the overall U.S. research portfolio related to climate change.” For now, it says, research should not be focused on a path toward deployment, but on understanding how solar geoengineering fits with all the options for responding to climate change.
Solar geoengineering only makes sense in tandem with cutting emissions, because solar geoengineering doesn’t actually address the buildup of greenhouse gases that warms the climate. It only masks some of the symptoms for as long as the measures are active. Temperatures would rebound dangerously fast when atmospheric manipulation ends. A 2015 report from the Academies concluded that geoengineering is no substitute for emissions reductions, and that none of the proposed interventions are ready for deployment....
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26032021/should-solar-geoengineering-be-a-too...
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News Release
New Report Says U.S. Should Cautiously Pursue Solar Geoengineering Research to Better Understand Options for Responding to Climate Change Risks
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine | March 25, 2021
https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2021/03/new-report-says-u-s-should-cautio...
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pdf, etc.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Reflecting Sunlight: Recommendations for Solar Geoengineering Research and Research Governance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25762 . https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25762/reflecting-sunlight-recommendations-for-solar-...
A new National Academies report is focusing attention on the controversial possibility of cooling the climate by reflecting sunlight away from Earth.
Bob Berwyn | March 26, 2021
...so urgent that the United States, in cooperation with other countries and under strict rules, should study the possibility of temporarily cooling the planet through solar geoengineering, a report released Thursday by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine says.
The report focuses on adding reflective particles to the upper atmosphere to bounce the sun’s heat back to space, brightening low-altitude clouds over the ocean to make them more reflective or thinning wispy cirrus clouds so that they trap less heat on the surface of the planet.
Supporting research into those possibilities shouldn’t be equated with actually implementing them, the NAS committee members involved with the report emphasized, adding that such studies should not detract from the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions. And scientists “need to be open to terminating” geoengineering research if findings indicate that such manipulations of the atmosphere would carry undue risk of dangerous consequences, they said.
“It’s kind of surreal to even be talking about this,” said Ambuj Sagar, who studies science and technology policy at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and was part of the committee that compiled the report. “You can’t be doing climate policy without thinking about geoengineering, and the more you get into it, the more complex it is. It raises all kinds of issues with international politics and governance.”
But if greenhouse gas emissions don’t start dropping fast, people in 10 or 20 years will need sound science to decide if they want to pull the solar engineering emergency brake, said Peter Irvine, who studies solar geoengineering at University College London and was not involved in the new report.
The Academies’ report recommends a research budget of $100 million to $200 million for the next five years, as a “minor part of the overall U.S. research portfolio related to climate change.” For now, it says, research should not be focused on a path toward deployment, but on understanding how solar geoengineering fits with all the options for responding to climate change.
Solar geoengineering only makes sense in tandem with cutting emissions, because solar geoengineering doesn’t actually address the buildup of greenhouse gases that warms the climate. It only masks some of the symptoms for as long as the measures are active. Temperatures would rebound dangerously fast when atmospheric manipulation ends. A 2015 report from the Academies concluded that geoengineering is no substitute for emissions reductions, and that none of the proposed interventions are ready for deployment....
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26032021/should-solar-geoengineering-be-a-too...
-------------------------------------------------------------
News Release
New Report Says U.S. Should Cautiously Pursue Solar Geoengineering Research to Better Understand Options for Responding to Climate Change Risks
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine | March 25, 2021
https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2021/03/new-report-says-u-s-should-cautio...
-------------------------------------------------------------
pdf, etc.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Reflecting Sunlight: Recommendations for Solar Geoengineering Research and Research Governance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25762 . https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25762/reflecting-sunlight-recommendations-for-solar-...
5margd
Climate change is making Kyoto's cherry blossoms bloom the earliest in 1,200 years
Amanda Yeo | March 31, 2021
Cherry blossoms in Kyoto, Japan reached peak bloom on March 26 this year — the earliest the event has occurred in 1,200 years of records....
According to over 1,000 years of records previously compiled by Osaka Prefecture University professor Yasuyuki Aono, Kyoto's cherry blossoms had consistently flowered around April 10 to 17 for over a millennium. Unfortunately, this window has since moved forward. The Washington Post reports that Japan's most famous flowers have been trending toward blooming earlier each spring, with scientists attributing the phenomenon to increasing global temperatures.
And this year, the peak has shifted all the way into the previous month.
"The Kyoto Cherry Blossom record is incredibly valuable for climate change research because of its length and the strong sensitivity of flowering to springtime temperatures," Columbia University research scientist Benjamin Cook told the Post, noting that warmer temperatures typically mean cherry blossoms bloom earlier.
Cherry blossoms are so sensitive to temperature that trees in Tokyo even bloomed in autumn after typhoons prompted warmer weather in 2018. Meanwhile, Aono estimated that Kyoto has warmed by 6.1 degrees Fahrenheit (3.4 degrees Celsius) since 1820...
https://mashable.com/article/cherry-blossom-kyoto-japan-climate-change/
Amanda Yeo | March 31, 2021
Cherry blossoms in Kyoto, Japan reached peak bloom on March 26 this year — the earliest the event has occurred in 1,200 years of records....
According to over 1,000 years of records previously compiled by Osaka Prefecture University professor Yasuyuki Aono, Kyoto's cherry blossoms had consistently flowered around April 10 to 17 for over a millennium. Unfortunately, this window has since moved forward. The Washington Post reports that Japan's most famous flowers have been trending toward blooming earlier each spring, with scientists attributing the phenomenon to increasing global temperatures.
And this year, the peak has shifted all the way into the previous month.
"The Kyoto Cherry Blossom record is incredibly valuable for climate change research because of its length and the strong sensitivity of flowering to springtime temperatures," Columbia University research scientist Benjamin Cook told the Post, noting that warmer temperatures typically mean cherry blossoms bloom earlier.
Cherry blossoms are so sensitive to temperature that trees in Tokyo even bloomed in autumn after typhoons prompted warmer weather in 2018. Meanwhile, Aono estimated that Kyoto has warmed by 6.1 degrees Fahrenheit (3.4 degrees Celsius) since 1820...
https://mashable.com/article/cherry-blossom-kyoto-japan-climate-change/
6margd
Intact Plant Fossils Discovered Beneath Greenland’s Ice Sheet After Lucky Find of Ice Cores Drilled by U.S. Military in 1966
University of Copenhagen | Mar 31, 2021
...For the first time ever, researchers have found fossils under Greenland’s ice sheet that are so large and well preserved that they can be seen with the naked eye. The fossils reveal several million years of details about climate and plant life in Greenland according to the UCPH researcher behind the discovery...
https://scitechdaily.com/intact-plant-fossils-discovered-beneath-greenlands-ice-...
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“A multimillion-year-old record of Greenland vegetation and glacial history preserved in sediment beneath 1.4 km of ice at Camp Century” by Andrew J. Christ, Paul R. Bierman, Joerg M. Schaefer, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, Jørgen P. Steffensen, Lee B. Corbett, Dorothy M. Peteet, Elizabeth K. Thomas, Eric J. Steig, Tammy M. Rittenour, Jean-Louis Tison, Pierre-Henri Blard, Nicolas Perdrial, David P. Dethier, Andrea Lini, Alan J. Hidy, Marc W. Caffee and John Southon, 15 March 2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2021442118
University of Copenhagen | Mar 31, 2021
...For the first time ever, researchers have found fossils under Greenland’s ice sheet that are so large and well preserved that they can be seen with the naked eye. The fossils reveal several million years of details about climate and plant life in Greenland according to the UCPH researcher behind the discovery...
https://scitechdaily.com/intact-plant-fossils-discovered-beneath-greenlands-ice-...
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“A multimillion-year-old record of Greenland vegetation and glacial history preserved in sediment beneath 1.4 km of ice at Camp Century” by Andrew J. Christ, Paul R. Bierman, Joerg M. Schaefer, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, Jørgen P. Steffensen, Lee B. Corbett, Dorothy M. Peteet, Elizabeth K. Thomas, Eric J. Steig, Tammy M. Rittenour, Jean-Louis Tison, Pierre-Henri Blard, Nicolas Perdrial, David P. Dethier, Andrea Lini, Alan J. Hidy, Marc W. Caffee and John Southon, 15 March 2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2021442118
7margd
Mostly climate, but also introduced species (Asian carp) in this short series of case histories:
"Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future Hardcover" by Elizabeth Kolbert
Book Review:
Can we engineer our way out of the planetary problems we’ve engineered our way into?
Ken Caldeira | 15 March, 2021
...Science and technology have brought us this far, but they have also contributed to the current mess in which we find ourselves, so it is only sensible to be skeptical of our ability to engineer ourselves out of this predicament. Most of the researchers with whom Kolbert spoke shared this perspective. Their efforts, rather than being evidence of unmitigated techno-optimism, were “the best solutions that anyone could come up with, given the circumstances.” Nevertheless, one senses that if we do get out of this mess, it will be because of the efforts of scientists and technologists who are searching for solutions during a time when humanity seems an implacable force and nature an immovable object.
https://blogs.sciencemag.org/books/2021/03/15/under-a-white-sky/
"Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future Hardcover" by Elizabeth Kolbert
Book Review:
Can we engineer our way out of the planetary problems we’ve engineered our way into?
Ken Caldeira | 15 March, 2021
...Science and technology have brought us this far, but they have also contributed to the current mess in which we find ourselves, so it is only sensible to be skeptical of our ability to engineer ourselves out of this predicament. Most of the researchers with whom Kolbert spoke shared this perspective. Their efforts, rather than being evidence of unmitigated techno-optimism, were “the best solutions that anyone could come up with, given the circumstances.” Nevertheless, one senses that if we do get out of this mess, it will be because of the efforts of scientists and technologists who are searching for solutions during a time when humanity seems an implacable force and nature an immovable object.
https://blogs.sciencemag.org/books/2021/03/15/under-a-white-sky/
8margd
Over a third of Antarctic ice shelf could collapse as climate change warms the Earth
Chelsea Gohd | 4/11/2021
Over a third of the Antarctic ice shelf is at risk of collapsing as Earth continues to warm.
In a new study,* scientists at the University of Reading have found that as climate change continues, if Earth's global temperature rises to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels, about 193,000 square miles (500,000 square kilometers) of the Antarctic ice shelves could collapse into the sea. Ice shelves are permanent floating slabs of ice attached to coastline, and the collapse of these shelves could significantly raise global sea levels, the researchers suggest...
https://www.space.com/antarctic-ice-shelf-collapse-as-earth-warms
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* E. Gilbert and C. Kittel. 2021. Surface melt and runoff on Antarctic ice shelves at 1.5°C, 2°C and 4°C of future warming. Geophysical Research Letters. First published: 08 April 2021 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091733 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020GL091733
This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process
Plain Language Summary
Whether Antarctic ice shelves are gaining or losing ice at the surface – their surface mass balance (SMB) – depends on many factors. To understand future Antarctic ice shelf SMB requires complex computer models, and until now, few studies using these models have been done. Here, we use the high‐resolution MAR model to explore how ice shelf SMB changes under warming scenarios of 1.5°C, 2°C and 4°C above pre‐industrial temperatures. Our results show that warming causes SMB to decrease because high temperatures produce meltwater, which then runs off the ice shelves, and that this effect is larger for greater levels of warming. Antarctic ice shelves may contribute to rising sea levels in future because larger amounts of melt and runoff increase their vulnerability to ‘hydrofracturing’, a process whereby ice shelves crack and disintegrate. Limiting future warming will reduce the number of ice shelves that will be susceptible to collapse via this mechanism.
Abstract
The future surface mass balance (SMB) of Antarctic ice shelves has not been constrained with models of sufficient resolution and complexity. Here, we force the high‐resolution Modèle Atmosphérique Régional (MAR) with future simulations from four CMIP models to evaluate the likely effects on the SMB of warming of 1.5°C, 2°C and 4°C above pre‐industrial temperatures. We find non‐linear growth in melt and runoff which causes SMB to become less positive with more pronounced warming. Consequently, Antarctic ice shelves may be more likely to contribute indirectly to sea level rise via hydrofracturing‐induced collapse, which facilitates accelerated glacial discharge. Using runoff and melt as indicators of ice shelf stability, we find that several Antarctic ice shelves (Larsen C, Wilkins, Pine Island and Shackleton) are vulnerable to disintegration at 4°C. Limiting 21st century warming to 2°C will halve the ice shelf area susceptible to hydrofracturing‐induced collapse compared to 4°C.
Chelsea Gohd | 4/11/2021
Over a third of the Antarctic ice shelf is at risk of collapsing as Earth continues to warm.
In a new study,* scientists at the University of Reading have found that as climate change continues, if Earth's global temperature rises to 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels, about 193,000 square miles (500,000 square kilometers) of the Antarctic ice shelves could collapse into the sea. Ice shelves are permanent floating slabs of ice attached to coastline, and the collapse of these shelves could significantly raise global sea levels, the researchers suggest...
https://www.space.com/antarctic-ice-shelf-collapse-as-earth-warms
----------------------------------------------------------
* E. Gilbert and C. Kittel. 2021. Surface melt and runoff on Antarctic ice shelves at 1.5°C, 2°C and 4°C of future warming. Geophysical Research Letters. First published: 08 April 2021 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091733 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020GL091733
This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process
Plain Language Summary
Whether Antarctic ice shelves are gaining or losing ice at the surface – their surface mass balance (SMB) – depends on many factors. To understand future Antarctic ice shelf SMB requires complex computer models, and until now, few studies using these models have been done. Here, we use the high‐resolution MAR model to explore how ice shelf SMB changes under warming scenarios of 1.5°C, 2°C and 4°C above pre‐industrial temperatures. Our results show that warming causes SMB to decrease because high temperatures produce meltwater, which then runs off the ice shelves, and that this effect is larger for greater levels of warming. Antarctic ice shelves may contribute to rising sea levels in future because larger amounts of melt and runoff increase their vulnerability to ‘hydrofracturing’, a process whereby ice shelves crack and disintegrate. Limiting future warming will reduce the number of ice shelves that will be susceptible to collapse via this mechanism.
Abstract
The future surface mass balance (SMB) of Antarctic ice shelves has not been constrained with models of sufficient resolution and complexity. Here, we force the high‐resolution Modèle Atmosphérique Régional (MAR) with future simulations from four CMIP models to evaluate the likely effects on the SMB of warming of 1.5°C, 2°C and 4°C above pre‐industrial temperatures. We find non‐linear growth in melt and runoff which causes SMB to become less positive with more pronounced warming. Consequently, Antarctic ice shelves may be more likely to contribute indirectly to sea level rise via hydrofracturing‐induced collapse, which facilitates accelerated glacial discharge. Using runoff and melt as indicators of ice shelf stability, we find that several Antarctic ice shelves (Larsen C, Wilkins, Pine Island and Shackleton) are vulnerable to disintegration at 4°C. Limiting 21st century warming to 2°C will halve the ice shelf area susceptible to hydrofracturing‐induced collapse compared to 4°C.
9margd
Out of Trump’s Shadow, World Bank President Embraces Climate Fight
David Malpass, who was met with skepticism when he got the job in 2019, has become increasingly vocal about the risk of climate change.
Alan Rappeport | April 9, 2021
WASHINGTON — At a panel discussion this past week, David Malpass, the World Bank president, described climate change as an “immense” issue for the globe and talked about the need for nations to transition away from coal.
“A lot of countries have coal miners that are dependent on coal, and yet the world knows that there needs to be a way to a better future on that,” Mr. Malpass said during a conversation with Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and Kristalina Georgieva, the head of the International Monetary Fund, at the annual spring meetings of the I.M.F. and the World Bank.
Such a comment from Mr. Malpass, who was selected for the job by former President Donald J. Trump, would have been startling just a year or two ago. These days, with the Biden administration seeing climate change as an existential threat, Mr. Malpass has refashioned himself as an environmentalist, giving speeches about “green growth” and a net-zero carbon future.
The transformation reflects the changing political winds in Washington — one that could have important consequences if the World Bank can resume its central role in the fight against climate change, which stalled during the Trump years...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/us/politics/david-malpass-world-bank-climate....
David Malpass, who was met with skepticism when he got the job in 2019, has become increasingly vocal about the risk of climate change.
Alan Rappeport | April 9, 2021
WASHINGTON — At a panel discussion this past week, David Malpass, the World Bank president, described climate change as an “immense” issue for the globe and talked about the need for nations to transition away from coal.
“A lot of countries have coal miners that are dependent on coal, and yet the world knows that there needs to be a way to a better future on that,” Mr. Malpass said during a conversation with Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and Kristalina Georgieva, the head of the International Monetary Fund, at the annual spring meetings of the I.M.F. and the World Bank.
Such a comment from Mr. Malpass, who was selected for the job by former President Donald J. Trump, would have been startling just a year or two ago. These days, with the Biden administration seeing climate change as an existential threat, Mr. Malpass has refashioned himself as an environmentalist, giving speeches about “green growth” and a net-zero carbon future.
The transformation reflects the changing political winds in Washington — one that could have important consequences if the World Bank can resume its central role in the fight against climate change, which stalled during the Trump years...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/us/politics/david-malpass-world-bank-climate....
10margd
How Debt and Climate Change Pose ‘Systemic Risk’ to World Economy
With dozens of countries struggling to manage both staggering debt and mounting climate disasters, some financial leaders are calling for green debt relief.
FSomini Sengupta | April 7, 2021
...Belize, Fiji and Mozambique. Vastly different countries, they are among dozens of nations at the crossroads of two mounting global crises that are drawing the attention of international financial institutions: climate change and debt.
They owe staggering amounts of money to various foreign lenders. They face staggering climate risks, too. And now, with the coronavirus pandemic pummeling their economies, there is a growing recognition that their debt obligations stand in the way of meeting the immediate needs of their people — not to mention the investments required to protect them from climate disasters.
The combination of debt, climate change and environmental degradation “represents a systemic risk to the global economy that may trigger a cycle that depresses revenues, increases spending and exacerbates climate and nature vulnerabilities,” according to a new assessment by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and others... It comes after months of pressure from academics and advocates for lenders to address this problem.
The bank and the I.M.F., whose top officials are meeting this week, are planning talks in the next few months with debtor countries, creditors, advocates and ratings agencies to figure out how to make new money available for what they call a green economic recovery. The goal is to come up with concrete proposals before the international climate talks in November and ultimately, to get buy-in from the world’s wealthiest countries, including China, which is the largest single creditor country in the world...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/07/climate/debt-climate-change.html
With dozens of countries struggling to manage both staggering debt and mounting climate disasters, some financial leaders are calling for green debt relief.
FSomini Sengupta | April 7, 2021
...Belize, Fiji and Mozambique. Vastly different countries, they are among dozens of nations at the crossroads of two mounting global crises that are drawing the attention of international financial institutions: climate change and debt.
They owe staggering amounts of money to various foreign lenders. They face staggering climate risks, too. And now, with the coronavirus pandemic pummeling their economies, there is a growing recognition that their debt obligations stand in the way of meeting the immediate needs of their people — not to mention the investments required to protect them from climate disasters.
The combination of debt, climate change and environmental degradation “represents a systemic risk to the global economy that may trigger a cycle that depresses revenues, increases spending and exacerbates climate and nature vulnerabilities,” according to a new assessment by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and others... It comes after months of pressure from academics and advocates for lenders to address this problem.
The bank and the I.M.F., whose top officials are meeting this week, are planning talks in the next few months with debtor countries, creditors, advocates and ratings agencies to figure out how to make new money available for what they call a green economic recovery. The goal is to come up with concrete proposals before the international climate talks in November and ultimately, to get buy-in from the world’s wealthiest countries, including China, which is the largest single creditor country in the world...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/07/climate/debt-climate-change.html
11margd
The US was also negotiating vaccines with Brazil. Hope not connected to the Amazon.
Biden is correct though that the time for (most) niceties is behind us for forseeable future.
(Wish places like Scotland would re-forest. Shocked recently to learn that it still has a remnant of its ancient rain forest: https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/blog/reforestation-in-norway-showing-whats-p... )
Biden in Risky Talks to Pay Brazil to Save Amazon
Activists fear billion-dollar climate deal will bolster Bolsonaro and reward illegal forest clearance, but US says action can’t wait.
Jonathan Watts | April 13, 2021
The US is negotiating a multi-billion dollar climate deal with Brazil that observers fear could help the reelection of president Jair Bolsonaro and reward illegal forest clearance in the Amazon.
That is the concern of Indigenous groups, environmental campaigners and civil society activists, who say they are being shut out of the most important talks on the future of the rainforest since at least 1992.
Senior US officials are holding weekly online meetings about the Amazon before a series of big international conferences. Ministers and ambassadors from Britain and Europe are also involved. But rather than those who know forest protection best, their Brazilian interlocutor is Bolsonaro’s environment minister, Ricardo Salles, who has overseen the worst deforestation in more than a decade.
Salles is asking for a billion dollars every 12 months in return for which, he says, forest clearance would be reduced by 30 to 40 percent. Without the extra foreign cash, he says Brazil will not be able to commit to a reduction target.
Only a third of the money would go directly to forest protection, with the rest being spent on “economic development” to provide alternative livelihoods for those who rely on logging, mining, or agriculture in the Amazon. This has prompted worries that Salles will channel cash to the strongly Bolsonarist constituency of farmers and land-grabbers, rewarding them for invading, stealing, and burning forest...
https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/biden-risky-talks-p...
Biden is correct though that the time for (most) niceties is behind us for forseeable future.
(Wish places like Scotland would re-forest. Shocked recently to learn that it still has a remnant of its ancient rain forest: https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/blog/reforestation-in-norway-showing-whats-p... )
Biden in Risky Talks to Pay Brazil to Save Amazon
Activists fear billion-dollar climate deal will bolster Bolsonaro and reward illegal forest clearance, but US says action can’t wait.
Jonathan Watts | April 13, 2021
The US is negotiating a multi-billion dollar climate deal with Brazil that observers fear could help the reelection of president Jair Bolsonaro and reward illegal forest clearance in the Amazon.
That is the concern of Indigenous groups, environmental campaigners and civil society activists, who say they are being shut out of the most important talks on the future of the rainforest since at least 1992.
Senior US officials are holding weekly online meetings about the Amazon before a series of big international conferences. Ministers and ambassadors from Britain and Europe are also involved. But rather than those who know forest protection best, their Brazilian interlocutor is Bolsonaro’s environment minister, Ricardo Salles, who has overseen the worst deforestation in more than a decade.
Salles is asking for a billion dollars every 12 months in return for which, he says, forest clearance would be reduced by 30 to 40 percent. Without the extra foreign cash, he says Brazil will not be able to commit to a reduction target.
Only a third of the money would go directly to forest protection, with the rest being spent on “economic development” to provide alternative livelihoods for those who rely on logging, mining, or agriculture in the Amazon. This has prompted worries that Salles will channel cash to the strongly Bolsonarist constituency of farmers and land-grabbers, rewarding them for invading, stealing, and burning forest...
https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/biden-risky-talks-p...
12margd
New feature on Google Earth shows you the astonishing effects of climate change (0:38)
Google’s newest feature was made from 24 million satellite images.
Christian Spencer | April 15, 2021
A new video feature on Google Earth app can pull up four decades worth of satellite imagery, showing how devastating climate change has affected the planet.
The glaciers, beaches, forests, whatever one has on their minds can be viewed in vivid details on how the world around is changing...
On Thursday, the new feature is being touted as Google Earth's most significant update in the past five years.
According to Google, the tool was a complex project, getting its information from 24 million satellite images taken every year from 1984 to 2020. The project was a collaborative piece with several government agencies worldwide, including NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the European Union...Carnegie Mellon University
...There will be a storytelling mode that will highlight 800 different places in 2D and 3D. Through YouTube, a Google product, videos will be available as well.
https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/climate-change/548571-new-fe...
Google’s newest feature was made from 24 million satellite images.
Christian Spencer | April 15, 2021
A new video feature on Google Earth app can pull up four decades worth of satellite imagery, showing how devastating climate change has affected the planet.
The glaciers, beaches, forests, whatever one has on their minds can be viewed in vivid details on how the world around is changing...
On Thursday, the new feature is being touted as Google Earth's most significant update in the past five years.
According to Google, the tool was a complex project, getting its information from 24 million satellite images taken every year from 1984 to 2020. The project was a collaborative piece with several government agencies worldwide, including NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the European Union...Carnegie Mellon University
...There will be a storytelling mode that will highlight 800 different places in 2D and 3D. Through YouTube, a Google product, videos will be available as well.
https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/climate-change/548571-new-fe...
13margd
US, China agree to cooperate on climate crisis with urgency
HYUNG-JIN KIM
...The two countries “are committed to cooperating with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the seriousness and urgency that it demands,” the statement said.
China is the world’s biggest carbon emitter, followed by the United States. The two countries pump out nearly half of the fossil fuel fumes that are warming the planet’s atmosphere...
...China is the world’s biggest coal user...
Biden has invited 40 world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, to the April 22-23 summit. The U.S. and other countries are expected to announce more ambitious national targets for cutting carbon emissions ahead of or at the meeting, along with pledging financial help for climate efforts by less wealthy nations....
While Kerry was still in Shanghai, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng signaled Friday that China is unlikely to make any new pledges at next week’s summit.
...On whether Xi would join the summit, Le said “the Chinese side is actively studying the matter.”...
The joint statement said the two countries “look forward to” next week’s summit....
Biden...had the United States rejoin the historic 2015 Paris climate accord in the first hours of his presidency...
...The summit aims to relaunch global efforts to keep rising global temperatures to below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) as agreed in the Paris accord.
According to the U.S.-China statement, the two countries would enhance “their respective actions and cooperating in multilateral processes, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.”...both countries also intend to develop their respective long-term strategies before the Glasgow conference and take “appropriate actions to maximize international investment and finance in support of” the energy transition in developing countries.
Xi announced last year that China would be carbon-neutral by 2060 and aims to reach a peak in its emissions by 2030. In March, China’s Communist Party pledged to reduce carbon emissions per unit of economic output by 18% over the next five years, in line with its goal for the previous five-year period...
Biden has pledged the U.S. will switch to an emissions-free power sector within 14 years, and have an entirely emissions-free economy by 2050. Kerry is also pushing other nations to commit to carbon neutrality by then.
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-climate-shanghai-climate-change-john-kerry-...
HYUNG-JIN KIM
...The two countries “are committed to cooperating with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the seriousness and urgency that it demands,” the statement said.
China is the world’s biggest carbon emitter, followed by the United States. The two countries pump out nearly half of the fossil fuel fumes that are warming the planet’s atmosphere...
...China is the world’s biggest coal user...
Biden has invited 40 world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, to the April 22-23 summit. The U.S. and other countries are expected to announce more ambitious national targets for cutting carbon emissions ahead of or at the meeting, along with pledging financial help for climate efforts by less wealthy nations....
While Kerry was still in Shanghai, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng signaled Friday that China is unlikely to make any new pledges at next week’s summit.
...On whether Xi would join the summit, Le said “the Chinese side is actively studying the matter.”...
The joint statement said the two countries “look forward to” next week’s summit....
Biden...had the United States rejoin the historic 2015 Paris climate accord in the first hours of his presidency...
...The summit aims to relaunch global efforts to keep rising global temperatures to below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) as agreed in the Paris accord.
According to the U.S.-China statement, the two countries would enhance “their respective actions and cooperating in multilateral processes, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.”...both countries also intend to develop their respective long-term strategies before the Glasgow conference and take “appropriate actions to maximize international investment and finance in support of” the energy transition in developing countries.
Xi announced last year that China would be carbon-neutral by 2060 and aims to reach a peak in its emissions by 2030. In March, China’s Communist Party pledged to reduce carbon emissions per unit of economic output by 18% over the next five years, in line with its goal for the previous five-year period...
Biden has pledged the U.S. will switch to an emissions-free power sector within 14 years, and have an entirely emissions-free economy by 2050. Kerry is also pushing other nations to commit to carbon neutrality by then.
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-climate-shanghai-climate-change-john-kerry-...
14margd
Floodplains aren’t separate to a river — they’re an extension of it. It’s time to change how we connect with them
April 4, 2021 4.36pm EDT
Melissa Parsons Senior Lecturer, Geography and Planning, University of New England
Martin Thoms Professor of Physical Geography, University of New England
Dramatic scenes of flood damage to homes, infrastructure and livelihoods have been with us on the nightly news in recent weeks. Many will be feeling the pain for years to come, as they contend with property damage, financial catastrophe and trauma.
But what if, for a moment, we removed the humans and their structures from these tragic images — what would we see?
We would see a natural process of river expansion and contraction, of rivers doing exactly what they’re supposed to do from time to time. We’d see them exceeding what we humans have deemed to be their boundaries and depositing sediment across their floodplains. We’d see reproductive opportunities for fish, frogs, birds and trees. The floods would also enrich the soils. Floods can be catastrophic for humans, but they are a natural part of an ecosystem from which we benefit.
These scenes clearly depict the intersection of humans and nature, and it’s not working out well for either side.
What is a floodplain?
Humans benefit from floodplains
The perils of living on floodplains
Balancing the social with the ecological
https://theconversation.com/floodplains-arent-separate-to-a-river-theyre-an-exte...
April 4, 2021 4.36pm EDT
Melissa Parsons Senior Lecturer, Geography and Planning, University of New England
Martin Thoms Professor of Physical Geography, University of New England
Dramatic scenes of flood damage to homes, infrastructure and livelihoods have been with us on the nightly news in recent weeks. Many will be feeling the pain for years to come, as they contend with property damage, financial catastrophe and trauma.
But what if, for a moment, we removed the humans and their structures from these tragic images — what would we see?
We would see a natural process of river expansion and contraction, of rivers doing exactly what they’re supposed to do from time to time. We’d see them exceeding what we humans have deemed to be their boundaries and depositing sediment across their floodplains. We’d see reproductive opportunities for fish, frogs, birds and trees. The floods would also enrich the soils. Floods can be catastrophic for humans, but they are a natural part of an ecosystem from which we benefit.
These scenes clearly depict the intersection of humans and nature, and it’s not working out well for either side.
What is a floodplain?
Humans benefit from floodplains
The perils of living on floodplains
Balancing the social with the ecological
https://theconversation.com/floodplains-arent-separate-to-a-river-theyre-an-exte...
15margd
The U.S. Has a New Climate Goal. How Does It Stack Up Globally?
Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich | April 22, 2021
How Pledges to Cut Emissions Compare
(graph UK, US, EU, Canada, Japan, Australia--vs 2005, 1990)
Trajectories for the World’s Largest Emitters
(graphs of US, EU, India, China, 1990-2030)
The U.S. Still Had the Highest Per-person Emissions in 2019
...looking at emissions per person tells a different story about which country is doing the most. Currently, the United States uses far more fossil fuels per person than almost any other country in the world, although China is quickly narrowing the gap.
If every country were to meet its stated climate goals, America’s per capita emissions would decline and converge with China’s by 2030, the Rhodium Group estimated. But both countries’ per capita emissions would still be twice that of Europe’s and nearly four times that of India’s...
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/04/22/climate/new-climate-pledge.html
---------------------------------------------------------------
Margd's report card of vegan cheese & butter:
Kite Hill Chive Cream Cheese Style (spread)--yes
Miyokos Creamery Cheese Cultured Vegan Farmhouse Cheddar Block--
softens but doesn't melt with heat, puffs in microwave, pleasant umami but-not-quite-cheddar taste
Miyoko's European Style Cultured Vegan Butter--melts at room temp, excellent butter taste for frying morels
White House dances around a big contributor to climate change: agriculture
RYAN MCCRIMMON | 04/22/202
...the White House hasn’t set any specific targets yet for agriculture, which accounts for 10 percent of all U.S. emissions, according to the EPA. Those discharges mostly stem from fertilizers, livestock and manure.
...The administration has steered clear of discussing stricter environmental regulations that could scare off the largely conservative farm sector, as well as the rural lawmakers that Biden will need to advance many of his environmental goals. Farmers have been slow to wake up to the reality of climate change, though increasingly extreme weather of late has hammered farm country and forced a reckoning...
...So far, the Biden administration is leaning heavily toward awarding financial bonuses for farmers, ranchers and foresters who retool their operations to suck carbon from the atmosphere. The White House blueprint specifically calls for “incentives” to reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions through new farm practices and technologies.
...An especially thorny topic that could draw huge resistance from farmers and ranchers is what to do about methane emissions from cows (dairy and beef) and other livestock...methane emissions can be addressed by helping livestock producers adopt innovations, such as feed additives that cut the amount of methane belched out by cows, or technology to capture noxious gases from manure pits and convert them into an energy source...
Industry groups say farmers are stepping up efforts to limit the climate impact of their operations...
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/22/climate-change-biden-agriculture-484351
Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich | April 22, 2021
How Pledges to Cut Emissions Compare
(graph UK, US, EU, Canada, Japan, Australia--vs 2005, 1990)
Trajectories for the World’s Largest Emitters
(graphs of US, EU, India, China, 1990-2030)
The U.S. Still Had the Highest Per-person Emissions in 2019
...looking at emissions per person tells a different story about which country is doing the most. Currently, the United States uses far more fossil fuels per person than almost any other country in the world, although China is quickly narrowing the gap.
If every country were to meet its stated climate goals, America’s per capita emissions would decline and converge with China’s by 2030, the Rhodium Group estimated. But both countries’ per capita emissions would still be twice that of Europe’s and nearly four times that of India’s...
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/04/22/climate/new-climate-pledge.html
---------------------------------------------------------------
Margd's report card of vegan cheese & butter:
Kite Hill Chive Cream Cheese Style (spread)--yes
Miyokos Creamery Cheese Cultured Vegan Farmhouse Cheddar Block--
softens but doesn't melt with heat, puffs in microwave, pleasant umami but-not-quite-cheddar taste
Miyoko's European Style Cultured Vegan Butter--melts at room temp, excellent butter taste for frying morels
White House dances around a big contributor to climate change: agriculture
RYAN MCCRIMMON | 04/22/202
...the White House hasn’t set any specific targets yet for agriculture, which accounts for 10 percent of all U.S. emissions, according to the EPA. Those discharges mostly stem from fertilizers, livestock and manure.
...The administration has steered clear of discussing stricter environmental regulations that could scare off the largely conservative farm sector, as well as the rural lawmakers that Biden will need to advance many of his environmental goals. Farmers have been slow to wake up to the reality of climate change, though increasingly extreme weather of late has hammered farm country and forced a reckoning...
...So far, the Biden administration is leaning heavily toward awarding financial bonuses for farmers, ranchers and foresters who retool their operations to suck carbon from the atmosphere. The White House blueprint specifically calls for “incentives” to reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions through new farm practices and technologies.
...An especially thorny topic that could draw huge resistance from farmers and ranchers is what to do about methane emissions from cows (dairy and beef) and other livestock...methane emissions can be addressed by helping livestock producers adopt innovations, such as feed additives that cut the amount of methane belched out by cows, or technology to capture noxious gases from manure pits and convert them into an energy source...
Industry groups say farmers are stepping up efforts to limit the climate impact of their operations...
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/22/climate-change-biden-agriculture-484351
16margd
Make diamonds, not CO2! :/
Microbes are siphoning massive amounts of carbon from Earth’s tectonic plates
Raleigh McElvery | Apr. 22, 2021
A few kilometers below our feet lies a hidden world of microbes whose chemical reactions are shaping the long-term habitability of the planet. A new study suggests some of these microbes are siphoning off massive amounts of carbon as it enters Earth, using it to fuel their own sunless ecosystems. The carbon, prevented from being buried even deeper in Earth, will eventually escape back into the atmosphere—where it could help warm the planet. Researchers say the microbes represent an overlooked factor in efforts to balance Earth’s deep carbon cycle.
...These microbes could be sequestering 2% to 22% of the carbon previously thought to reach the deep mantle, the researchers report today in Nature Geoscience. By keeping carbon close to the surface, where it is likely to eventually percolate up and re-enter the atmosphere, the microbes may be helping warm the planet over the long term, although this would require additional research to confirm.
Two percent may not have much of an effect on the deep carbon cycle, says Oliver Plümper, an expert in rock-fluid interactions at Utrecht University who was not involved in the study. But 22% would be “quite exciting.” He says this calculation constitutes an important piece to the puzzle of the deep carbon cycle, and it could impact projections of how stable Earth’s climate will remain in the long term—and how long the planet is likely to be habitable...
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/04/microbes-are-siphoning-massive-amounts-c...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Katherine M. Fullerton et al. 2021. Effect of tectonic processes on biosphere–geosphere feedbacks across a convergent margin.
Nature Geoscience (22 April 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00725-0
Abstract
The subsurface is among Earth’s largest biomes, but the extent to which microbial communities vary across tectonic plate boundaries or interact with subduction-scale geological processes remains unknown. Here we compare bacterial community composition with deep-subsurface geochemistry from 21 hot springs across the Costa Rican convergent margin. We find that cation and anion compositions of the springs reflect the dip angle and position of the underlying tectonic structure and also correlate with the bacterial community. Co-occurring microbial cliques related to cultured chemolithoautotrophs that use the reverse tricarboxylic acid cycle (rTCA) as well as abundances of metagenomic rTCA genes correlate with concentrations of slab-volatilized carbon. This, combined with carbon isotope evidence, suggests that fixation of slab-derived CO2 into biomass may support a chemolithoautotrophy-based subsurface ecosystem. We calculate that this forearc subsurface biosphere could sequester 1.4 × 109 to 1.4 × 1010 mol of carbon per year, which would decrease estimates of the total carbon delivered to the mantle by 2 to 22%. Based on the observed correlations, we suggest that distribution and composition of the subsurface bacterial community are probably affected by deep tectonic processes across the Costa Rican convergent margin and that, by sequestering carbon volatilized during subduction, these chemolithoautotrophic communities could in turn impact the geosphere.
Microbes are siphoning massive amounts of carbon from Earth’s tectonic plates
Raleigh McElvery | Apr. 22, 2021
A few kilometers below our feet lies a hidden world of microbes whose chemical reactions are shaping the long-term habitability of the planet. A new study suggests some of these microbes are siphoning off massive amounts of carbon as it enters Earth, using it to fuel their own sunless ecosystems. The carbon, prevented from being buried even deeper in Earth, will eventually escape back into the atmosphere—where it could help warm the planet. Researchers say the microbes represent an overlooked factor in efforts to balance Earth’s deep carbon cycle.
...These microbes could be sequestering 2% to 22% of the carbon previously thought to reach the deep mantle, the researchers report today in Nature Geoscience. By keeping carbon close to the surface, where it is likely to eventually percolate up and re-enter the atmosphere, the microbes may be helping warm the planet over the long term, although this would require additional research to confirm.
Two percent may not have much of an effect on the deep carbon cycle, says Oliver Plümper, an expert in rock-fluid interactions at Utrecht University who was not involved in the study. But 22% would be “quite exciting.” He says this calculation constitutes an important piece to the puzzle of the deep carbon cycle, and it could impact projections of how stable Earth’s climate will remain in the long term—and how long the planet is likely to be habitable...
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/04/microbes-are-siphoning-massive-amounts-c...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Katherine M. Fullerton et al. 2021. Effect of tectonic processes on biosphere–geosphere feedbacks across a convergent margin.
Nature Geoscience (22 April 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00725-0
Abstract
The subsurface is among Earth’s largest biomes, but the extent to which microbial communities vary across tectonic plate boundaries or interact with subduction-scale geological processes remains unknown. Here we compare bacterial community composition with deep-subsurface geochemistry from 21 hot springs across the Costa Rican convergent margin. We find that cation and anion compositions of the springs reflect the dip angle and position of the underlying tectonic structure and also correlate with the bacterial community. Co-occurring microbial cliques related to cultured chemolithoautotrophs that use the reverse tricarboxylic acid cycle (rTCA) as well as abundances of metagenomic rTCA genes correlate with concentrations of slab-volatilized carbon. This, combined with carbon isotope evidence, suggests that fixation of slab-derived CO2 into biomass may support a chemolithoautotrophy-based subsurface ecosystem. We calculate that this forearc subsurface biosphere could sequester 1.4 × 109 to 1.4 × 1010 mol of carbon per year, which would decrease estimates of the total carbon delivered to the mantle by 2 to 22%. Based on the observed correlations, we suggest that distribution and composition of the subsurface bacterial community are probably affected by deep tectonic processes across the Costa Rican convergent margin and that, by sequestering carbon volatilized during subduction, these chemolithoautotrophic communities could in turn impact the geosphere.
17margd
Climate crisis has shifted the Earth’s axis, study shows
Massive melting of glaciers has tilted the planet’s rotation, showing the impact of human activities
Damian Carrington | Fri 23 Apr 2021
...new research shows that since the 1990s, the loss of hundreds of billions of tonnes of ice a year into the oceans resulting from the climate crisis has caused the poles to move in new directions.
The scientists found the direction of polar drift shifted from southward to eastward in 1995 and that the average speed of drift from 1995 to 2020 was 17 times faster than from 1981 to 1995.
Since 1980, the position of the poles has moved about 4 metres in distance.
...Gravity data from the Grace satellite, launched in 2002, had been used to link glacial melting to movements of the pole in 2005 and 2012, both following increases in ice losses. But Deng’s research breaks new ground by extending the link to before the satellite’s launch, showing human activities have been shifting the poles since the 1990s, almost three decades ago.
The research, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, showed glacial losses accounted for most of the shift, but it is likely that the pumping up of groundwater also contributed to the movements.
Groundwater is stored under land but, once pumped up for drinking or agriculture, most eventually flows to sea, redistributing its weight around the world. In the past 50 years, humanity has removed 18tn tonnes of water from deep underground reservoirs without it being replaced...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/23/climate-crisis-has-shifted-t...
--------------------------------------------------------
S. Deng et al. 2021. Polar Drift in the 1990s Explained by Terrestrial Water Storage Changes. Geophysical Research Letters (22 March 2021) https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL092114 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020GL092114
Abstract
Secular polar drift underwent a directional change in the 1990s, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, polar motion observations are compared with geophysical excitations from the atmosphere, oceans, solid Earth, and terrestrial water storage (TWS) during the period of 1981–2020 to determine major drivers. When contributions from the atmosphere, oceans, and solid Earth are removed, the residual dominates the change in the 1990s. The contribution of TWS to the residual is quantified by comparing the hydrological excitations from modeled TWS changes in two different scenarios. One scenario assumes that the TWS change is stationary over the entire study period, and another scenario corrects the stationary result with actual glacier mass change. The accelerated ice melting over major glacial areas drives the polar drift toward 26°E for 3.28 mas/yr after the 1990s. The findings offer a clue for studying past climate‐driven polar motion.
Plain Language Summary
The Earth's pole, the point where the Earth's rotational axis intersects its crust in the Northern Hemisphere, drifted in a new eastward direction in the 1990s, as observed by space geodetic observations. Generally, polar motion is caused by changes in the hydrosphere, atmosphere, oceans, or solid Earth. However, short‐term observational records of key information in the hydrosphere (i.e., changes in terrestrial water storage) limit a better understanding of new polar drift in the 1990s. This study introduces a novel approach to quantify the contribution from changes in terrestrial water storage by comparing its drift path under two different scenarios. One scenario assumes that the terrestrial water storage change throughout the entire study period (1981–2020) is similar to that observed recently (2002–2020). The second scenario assumes that it changed from observed glacier ice melting. Only the latter scenario, along with the atmosphere, oceans, and solid Earth, agrees with the polar motion during the period of 1981–2020. The accelerated terrestrial water storage decline resulting from glacial ice melting is thus the main driver of the rapid polar drift toward the east after the 1990s. This new finding indicates that a close relationship existed between polar motion and climate change in the past.
Massive melting of glaciers has tilted the planet’s rotation, showing the impact of human activities
Damian Carrington | Fri 23 Apr 2021
...new research shows that since the 1990s, the loss of hundreds of billions of tonnes of ice a year into the oceans resulting from the climate crisis has caused the poles to move in new directions.
The scientists found the direction of polar drift shifted from southward to eastward in 1995 and that the average speed of drift from 1995 to 2020 was 17 times faster than from 1981 to 1995.
Since 1980, the position of the poles has moved about 4 metres in distance.
...Gravity data from the Grace satellite, launched in 2002, had been used to link glacial melting to movements of the pole in 2005 and 2012, both following increases in ice losses. But Deng’s research breaks new ground by extending the link to before the satellite’s launch, showing human activities have been shifting the poles since the 1990s, almost three decades ago.
The research, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, showed glacial losses accounted for most of the shift, but it is likely that the pumping up of groundwater also contributed to the movements.
Groundwater is stored under land but, once pumped up for drinking or agriculture, most eventually flows to sea, redistributing its weight around the world. In the past 50 years, humanity has removed 18tn tonnes of water from deep underground reservoirs without it being replaced...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/23/climate-crisis-has-shifted-t...
--------------------------------------------------------
S. Deng et al. 2021. Polar Drift in the 1990s Explained by Terrestrial Water Storage Changes. Geophysical Research Letters (22 March 2021) https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL092114 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020GL092114
Abstract
Secular polar drift underwent a directional change in the 1990s, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, polar motion observations are compared with geophysical excitations from the atmosphere, oceans, solid Earth, and terrestrial water storage (TWS) during the period of 1981–2020 to determine major drivers. When contributions from the atmosphere, oceans, and solid Earth are removed, the residual dominates the change in the 1990s. The contribution of TWS to the residual is quantified by comparing the hydrological excitations from modeled TWS changes in two different scenarios. One scenario assumes that the TWS change is stationary over the entire study period, and another scenario corrects the stationary result with actual glacier mass change. The accelerated ice melting over major glacial areas drives the polar drift toward 26°E for 3.28 mas/yr after the 1990s. The findings offer a clue for studying past climate‐driven polar motion.
Plain Language Summary
The Earth's pole, the point where the Earth's rotational axis intersects its crust in the Northern Hemisphere, drifted in a new eastward direction in the 1990s, as observed by space geodetic observations. Generally, polar motion is caused by changes in the hydrosphere, atmosphere, oceans, or solid Earth. However, short‐term observational records of key information in the hydrosphere (i.e., changes in terrestrial water storage) limit a better understanding of new polar drift in the 1990s. This study introduces a novel approach to quantify the contribution from changes in terrestrial water storage by comparing its drift path under two different scenarios. One scenario assumes that the terrestrial water storage change throughout the entire study period (1981–2020) is similar to that observed recently (2002–2020). The second scenario assumes that it changed from observed glacier ice melting. Only the latter scenario, along with the atmosphere, oceans, and solid Earth, agrees with the polar motion during the period of 1981–2020. The accelerated terrestrial water storage decline resulting from glacial ice melting is thus the main driver of the rapid polar drift toward the east after the 1990s. This new finding indicates that a close relationship existed between polar motion and climate change in the past.
18margd
Cows, too?
Halting the Vast Release of Methane Is Critical for Climate, U.N. Says
A major United Nations report will declare that slashing emissions of methane, the main component of natural gas, is far more vital than previously thought.
Hiroko Tabuchi | April 24, 2021
..larger than earlier estimates.
...the fossil fuel industry...hold(s) the greatest potential to cut its methane emissions at little or no cost...expanding the use of natural gas is incompatible with keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a goal of the international Paris Agreement.
The reason methane would be particularly valuable in the short-term fight against climate change: While methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, it is also relatively short-lived, lasting just a decade or so in the atmosphere before breaking down. That means cutting new methane emissions today, and starting to reduce methane concentrations in the atmosphere, could more quickly help the world meet its midcentury targets for fighting global warming...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/24/climate/methane-leaks-united-nations.html
Halting the Vast Release of Methane Is Critical for Climate, U.N. Says
A major United Nations report will declare that slashing emissions of methane, the main component of natural gas, is far more vital than previously thought.
Hiroko Tabuchi | April 24, 2021
..larger than earlier estimates.
...the fossil fuel industry...hold(s) the greatest potential to cut its methane emissions at little or no cost...expanding the use of natural gas is incompatible with keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a goal of the international Paris Agreement.
The reason methane would be particularly valuable in the short-term fight against climate change: While methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, it is also relatively short-lived, lasting just a decade or so in the atmosphere before breaking down. That means cutting new methane emissions today, and starting to reduce methane concentrations in the atmosphere, could more quickly help the world meet its midcentury targets for fighting global warming...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/24/climate/methane-leaks-united-nations.html
19margd
After SCOTUS hears Mahanoy Area School District (the case of the cursing cheerleader's freedom of speech),
it will hear a case about a disputed natural gas pipeline in New Jersey that could have broad ramifications for the industry
because it may affect the extent to which states can block pipeline construction.
https://scotusblog.com/2021/04/eminent-domain-sovereign-immunity-and-a-controver...
- SCOTUSblog @SCOTUSblog | 9:37 AM · Apr 28, 2021:
it will hear a case about a disputed natural gas pipeline in New Jersey that could have broad ramifications for the industry
because it may affect the extent to which states can block pipeline construction.
https://scotusblog.com/2021/04/eminent-domain-sovereign-immunity-and-a-controver...
- SCOTUSblog @SCOTUSblog | 9:37 AM · Apr 28, 2021:
20margd
Hongbo Duan et al. 2021. Assessing China’s efforts to pursue the 1.5°C warming limit. Science 23 Apr 2021: Vol. 372, Issue 6540, pp. 378-385 DOI: 10.1126/science.aba8767 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6540/378
Change in the air
The 2016 Paris Agreement set the ambitious goals of keeping global temperature rise this century below 2°C, or even better, 1.5°C above preindustrial levels. Substantial interventions are required to meet these goals, particularly for industrialized countries. Duan et al. projected that China will need to reduce its carbon emissions by more than 90% and its energy consumption by almost 40% to do its share in reaching the 1.5°C target. Negative emission technology is an essential element of any plan. China's accumulated economic costs by 2050 may be about 3 to 6% of its gross domestic product.
Abstract
Given the increasing interest in keeping global warming below 1.5°C, a key question is what this would mean for China’s emission pathway, energy restructuring, and decarbonization. By conducting a multimodel study, we find that the 1.5°C-consistent goal would require China to reduce its carbon emissions and energy consumption by more than 90 and 39%, respectively, compared with the “no policy” case. Negative emission technologies play an important role in achieving near-zero emissions, with captured carbon accounting on average for 20% of the total reductions in 2050. Our multimodel comparisons reveal large differences in necessary emission reductions across sectors, whereas what is consistent is that the power sector is required to achieve full decarbonization by 2050. The cross-model averages indicate that China’s accumulated policy costs may amount to 2.8 to 5.7% of its gross domestic product by 2050, given the 1.5°C warming limit.
Change in the air
The 2016 Paris Agreement set the ambitious goals of keeping global temperature rise this century below 2°C, or even better, 1.5°C above preindustrial levels. Substantial interventions are required to meet these goals, particularly for industrialized countries. Duan et al. projected that China will need to reduce its carbon emissions by more than 90% and its energy consumption by almost 40% to do its share in reaching the 1.5°C target. Negative emission technology is an essential element of any plan. China's accumulated economic costs by 2050 may be about 3 to 6% of its gross domestic product.
Abstract
Given the increasing interest in keeping global warming below 1.5°C, a key question is what this would mean for China’s emission pathway, energy restructuring, and decarbonization. By conducting a multimodel study, we find that the 1.5°C-consistent goal would require China to reduce its carbon emissions and energy consumption by more than 90 and 39%, respectively, compared with the “no policy” case. Negative emission technologies play an important role in achieving near-zero emissions, with captured carbon accounting on average for 20% of the total reductions in 2050. Our multimodel comparisons reveal large differences in necessary emission reductions across sectors, whereas what is consistent is that the power sector is required to achieve full decarbonization by 2050. The cross-model averages indicate that China’s accumulated policy costs may amount to 2.8 to 5.7% of its gross domestic product by 2050, given the 1.5°C warming limit.
21margd
Researchers estimate that half of the population in the Middle East and North Africa (600 million people),
will face “annually recurring super-extreme” and “ultra-extreme” heat waves by 2100...
Extreme heat waves may surpass 60°C in climate change hot spots
Researchers warn that “ultra-extreme” heat events could become commonplace by 2050 in the Middle East and North Africa.
0:53 ( https://twitter.com/weathernetwork/status/1389025665853313024 )
- The Weather Network @weathernetwork | 9:15 PM · May 2, 2021
will face “annually recurring super-extreme” and “ultra-extreme” heat waves by 2100...
Extreme heat waves may surpass 60°C in climate change hot spots
Researchers warn that “ultra-extreme” heat events could become commonplace by 2050 in the Middle East and North Africa.
0:53 ( https://twitter.com/weathernetwork/status/1389025665853313024 )
- The Weather Network @weathernetwork | 9:15 PM · May 2, 2021
22margd
Reaching Back To The New Deal, Biden Proposes A Civilian Climate Corps
Nathan RottScott DetrowMay 11, 20215:00 AM ET
at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., September 27, 2018. (photo by Allison Shelley)
Nathan Rott
Headshot of , 2018
Scott Detrow
7-Minute Listenhttps://www.npr.org/2021/05/11/993976948/reaching-back-to-the-new-deal-biden-proposes-a-civilian-climate-corps
23margd
In A Landmark Case, A Dutch Court Orders Shell To Cut Its Carbon Emissions Faster
Jeff Brady | May 26, 202111:08 AM ET
Climate change activists have won a big legal victory against oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. A Dutch court ruled Wednesday that the company must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030, based on 2019 levels.
The case could set a precedent for similar lawsuits against huge oil companies that operate across the globe.
"Our hope is that this verdict will trigger a wave of climate litigation against big polluters, to force them to stop extracting and burning fossil fuels," said Sara Shaw from Friends of the Earth International.
The 2030 goal affirmed by the court is more ambitious than Shell's target of becoming "a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050." Shell argues the 2050 goal is in line with the Paris climate accord. But The Hague District Court determined Shell's plans were not adequate...
https://www.npr.org/2021/05/26/1000475878/in-landmark-case-dutch-court-orders-sh...
Jeff Brady | May 26, 202111:08 AM ET
Climate change activists have won a big legal victory against oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. A Dutch court ruled Wednesday that the company must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030, based on 2019 levels.
The case could set a precedent for similar lawsuits against huge oil companies that operate across the globe.
"Our hope is that this verdict will trigger a wave of climate litigation against big polluters, to force them to stop extracting and burning fossil fuels," said Sara Shaw from Friends of the Earth International.
The 2030 goal affirmed by the court is more ambitious than Shell's target of becoming "a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050." Shell argues the 2050 goal is in line with the Paris climate accord. But The Hague District Court determined Shell's plans were not adequate...
https://www.npr.org/2021/05/26/1000475878/in-landmark-case-dutch-court-orders-sh...
24margd
Battle Brews Over Banning Natural Gas to Homes
Cities are considering measures to phase out gas hookups amid climate concerns, spurring some states to outlaw such prohibitions
May 31, 2021
A growing fight is unfolding across America as cities concerned about climate change consider phasing out natural gas for home cooking and heating.
Major cities including San Francisco, Seattle, Denver and New York have either enacted or proposed measures to ban or discourage the use of the fossil fuel in new homes and buildings, two years after Berkeley, Calif., passed the first such prohibition in the U.S. in 2019.
The bans in turn have led Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas and Louisiana to enact laws outlawing such municipal prohibitions in their states before they can spread. Ohio is considering a similar measure.
The outcome of the battle has the potential to reshape the future of the utility industry, and demand for natural gas, which the U.S. produces more of than any other country...aim is to fully electrify new homes and buildings as solar and wind proliferates...
https://www.wsj.com/articles/battle-brews-over-banning-natural-gas-to-homes-1162...
Cities are considering measures to phase out gas hookups amid climate concerns, spurring some states to outlaw such prohibitions
May 31, 2021
A growing fight is unfolding across America as cities concerned about climate change consider phasing out natural gas for home cooking and heating.
Major cities including San Francisco, Seattle, Denver and New York have either enacted or proposed measures to ban or discourage the use of the fossil fuel in new homes and buildings, two years after Berkeley, Calif., passed the first such prohibition in the U.S. in 2019.
The bans in turn have led Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas and Louisiana to enact laws outlawing such municipal prohibitions in their states before they can spread. Ohio is considering a similar measure.
The outcome of the battle has the potential to reshape the future of the utility industry, and demand for natural gas, which the U.S. produces more of than any other country...aim is to fully electrify new homes and buildings as solar and wind proliferates...
https://www.wsj.com/articles/battle-brews-over-banning-natural-gas-to-homes-1162...
25margd
Study blames climate change for 37% of global heat deaths
SETH BORENSTEIN | 5/31/2021
More than one-third of the world’s heat deaths each year are due directly to global warming, according to the latest study to calculate the human cost of climate change.
But scientists say that’s only a sliver of climate’s overall toll — even more people die from other extreme weather amplified by global warming such as storms, flooding and drought — and the heat death numbers will grow exponentially with rising temperatures.
Dozens of researchers who looked at heat deaths in 732 cities around the globe from 1991 to 2018 calculated that 37% were caused by higher temperatures from human-caused warming, according to a study Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.
That amounts to about 9,700 people a year from just those cities, but it is much more worldwide, the study’s lead author said...
https://apnews.com/article/climate-climate-change-science-environment-and-nature...
-----------------------------------------------------------
A. M. Vicedo-Cabrera et al. 2021. The burden of heat-related mortality attributable to recent human-induced climate change.
Nature Climate Change (May 31, 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01058-x
Abstract
Climate change affects human health; however, there have been no large-scale, systematic efforts to quantify the heat-related human health impacts that have already occurred due to climate change. Here, we use empirical data from 732 locations in 43 countries to estimate the mortality burdens associated with the additional heat exposure that has resulted from recent human-induced warming, during the period 1991–2018. Across all study countries, we find that 37.0% (range 20.5–76.3%) of warm-season heat-related deaths can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change and that increased mortality is evident on every continent. Burdens varied geographically but were of the order of dozens to hundreds of deaths per year in many locations. Our findings support the urgent need for more ambitious mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize the public health impacts of climate change.
SETH BORENSTEIN | 5/31/2021
More than one-third of the world’s heat deaths each year are due directly to global warming, according to the latest study to calculate the human cost of climate change.
But scientists say that’s only a sliver of climate’s overall toll — even more people die from other extreme weather amplified by global warming such as storms, flooding and drought — and the heat death numbers will grow exponentially with rising temperatures.
Dozens of researchers who looked at heat deaths in 732 cities around the globe from 1991 to 2018 calculated that 37% were caused by higher temperatures from human-caused warming, according to a study Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.
That amounts to about 9,700 people a year from just those cities, but it is much more worldwide, the study’s lead author said...
https://apnews.com/article/climate-climate-change-science-environment-and-nature...
-----------------------------------------------------------
A. M. Vicedo-Cabrera et al. 2021. The burden of heat-related mortality attributable to recent human-induced climate change.
Nature Climate Change (May 31, 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01058-x
Abstract
Climate change affects human health; however, there have been no large-scale, systematic efforts to quantify the heat-related human health impacts that have already occurred due to climate change. Here, we use empirical data from 732 locations in 43 countries to estimate the mortality burdens associated with the additional heat exposure that has resulted from recent human-induced warming, during the period 1991–2018. Across all study countries, we find that 37.0% (range 20.5–76.3%) of warm-season heat-related deaths can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change and that increased mortality is evident on every continent. Burdens varied geographically but were of the order of dozens to hundreds of deaths per year in many locations. Our findings support the urgent need for more ambitious mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize the public health impacts of climate change.
26margd
Biden administration suspends oil and gas leases in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Juliet Eilperin and Joshua Partlow | June 1, 2021
The Biden administration on Tuesday suspended oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge...
The move by the Interior Department, which could spark a major legal battle, dims the prospect of oil drilling in a pristine and politically charged expanse of Alaskan wilderness that Republicans and Democrats have fought over for four decades. The Trump administration auctioned off the right to drill in the refuge’s coastal plain — home to hundreds of thousands of migrating caribou and waterfowl as well as the southern Beaufort Sea’s remaining polar bears — just two weeks before President Biden was inaugurated.
Now the Biden administration is taking steps to block those leases, citing problems with the environmental review process. In Tuesday’s Interior Department order, Secretary Deb Haaland said that a review of the Trump administration’s leasing program in the wildlife refuge found “multiple legal deficiencies” including “insufficient analysis” required by environmental laws and a failure to assess other alternatives. Haaland’s order calls for a temporary moratorium on all activities related to those leases in order to conduct “a new, comprehensive analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the oil and gas program.”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/06/01/arctic-national-wi...
Juliet Eilperin and Joshua Partlow | June 1, 2021
The Biden administration on Tuesday suspended oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge...
The move by the Interior Department, which could spark a major legal battle, dims the prospect of oil drilling in a pristine and politically charged expanse of Alaskan wilderness that Republicans and Democrats have fought over for four decades. The Trump administration auctioned off the right to drill in the refuge’s coastal plain — home to hundreds of thousands of migrating caribou and waterfowl as well as the southern Beaufort Sea’s remaining polar bears — just two weeks before President Biden was inaugurated.
Now the Biden administration is taking steps to block those leases, citing problems with the environmental review process. In Tuesday’s Interior Department order, Secretary Deb Haaland said that a review of the Trump administration’s leasing program in the wildlife refuge found “multiple legal deficiencies” including “insufficient analysis” required by environmental laws and a failure to assess other alternatives. Haaland’s order calls for a temporary moratorium on all activities related to those leases in order to conduct “a new, comprehensive analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the oil and gas program.”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/06/01/arctic-national-wi...
27margd
Russia is to lose its permafrost, minister of natural resources warns
Olga Gertcyk | 13 May 2021
Northern territories ‘will become arable farmland in 20-to-30 years', and will have to adapt - fast.
...If true, an enormous amount of new agricultural land could come Russia’s way: but how easy it would be to convert this to viable farmland is hard to know.
Russia has a vast Arctic zone, spreading about four million square kilometres along its northern border from the west to the extreme east.
Almost 60% is permafrost, which means that the mainland’s subsoil underneath the frozen layer has never been studied.
Russian permafrost area is also the world’s biggest reservoir of organic carbon, which converts into a greenhouse gas including methane once it thaws.
‘Comprising up to 500 gigaton of organic matter like roots of ancient grass, bushes and trees, plus the remains of animals - this is permafrost in Yakutia alone, and by its estimated weight it is heavier than all currently growing Earth's biomass,’ said Nikita Zimov, director of the Russian North-Eastern Scientific Station near the port town of Chersky in the extreme north of Yakutia.
Back at the end of 2019, Russia’s Ministry for Development of Far East and Arctic estimated the country’s annual loss due to thawing permafrost at an astonishing 50 to 150 billion roubles ($676 million to $2.03 billion).
Thawing permafrost threatens numerous buildings and infrastructure in the Arctic, warned deputy minister of natural resources Alexander Krutikov.
‘The scale is very serious indeed, as pipes are blowing up, piles are collapsing’, he said.
Another warning about the upcoming large-scale thawing of permafrost came from a group of Russian experts who follow the effects of changing climate.
Even if the global warming will be contained at a level significantly lower than 2 degrees Celsius, still three to four metres of permafrost will thaw by 2100’, they said in the report.
Should the emission of greenhouse gas continue to grow, then up to 70 percent of the permafrost can be lost, the experts said.
https://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/russia-is-to-lose-its-permafrost-min...
Olga Gertcyk | 13 May 2021
Northern territories ‘will become arable farmland in 20-to-30 years', and will have to adapt - fast.
...If true, an enormous amount of new agricultural land could come Russia’s way: but how easy it would be to convert this to viable farmland is hard to know.
Russia has a vast Arctic zone, spreading about four million square kilometres along its northern border from the west to the extreme east.
Almost 60% is permafrost, which means that the mainland’s subsoil underneath the frozen layer has never been studied.
Russian permafrost area is also the world’s biggest reservoir of organic carbon, which converts into a greenhouse gas including methane once it thaws.
‘Comprising up to 500 gigaton of organic matter like roots of ancient grass, bushes and trees, plus the remains of animals - this is permafrost in Yakutia alone, and by its estimated weight it is heavier than all currently growing Earth's biomass,’ said Nikita Zimov, director of the Russian North-Eastern Scientific Station near the port town of Chersky in the extreme north of Yakutia.
Back at the end of 2019, Russia’s Ministry for Development of Far East and Arctic estimated the country’s annual loss due to thawing permafrost at an astonishing 50 to 150 billion roubles ($676 million to $2.03 billion).
Thawing permafrost threatens numerous buildings and infrastructure in the Arctic, warned deputy minister of natural resources Alexander Krutikov.
‘The scale is very serious indeed, as pipes are blowing up, piles are collapsing’, he said.
Another warning about the upcoming large-scale thawing of permafrost came from a group of Russian experts who follow the effects of changing climate.
Even if the global warming will be contained at a level significantly lower than 2 degrees Celsius, still three to four metres of permafrost will thaw by 2100’, they said in the report.
Should the emission of greenhouse gas continue to grow, then up to 70 percent of the permafrost can be lost, the experts said.
https://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/russia-is-to-lose-its-permafrost-min...
28margd
G7 to agree tough measures on burning coal to tackle climate change
Dulcie Lee & Joseph Lee | June 13, 2021
The G7 group will promise to move away from coal plants, unless they have technology to capture carbon emissions.
...The G7 will end the funding of new coal generation in developing countries and offer up to £2bn ($2.8bn)to stop using the fuel. Climate change has been one of the key themes at the three-day summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall...
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-57456641
Dulcie Lee & Joseph Lee | June 13, 2021
The G7 group will promise to move away from coal plants, unless they have technology to capture carbon emissions.
...The G7 will end the funding of new coal generation in developing countries and offer up to £2bn ($2.8bn)to stop using the fuel. Climate change has been one of the key themes at the three-day summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall...
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-57456641
29margd
The Record Temperatures Enveloping The West Are Not Your Average Heat Wave
Eric Westervelt | June 19, 2021
...this record-setting heat wave's remarkable power, size and unusually early appearance is giving meteorologists and climate experts yet more cause for concern about the routinization of extreme weather in an era of climate change.
These sprawling, persistent high-pressure zones popularly called "heat domes" are relatively common in later summer months. This current system is different.
"It's not only unusual for June, but it is pretty extreme even in absolute terms," says Daniel Swain, climate scientist at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. "It would be a pretty extreme event for August," Swain says, when these typically occur.
This heat dome's reach is remarkable, too: It has set record highs stretching from the Great Plains to coastal California. And these aren't just records for that specific date or month, but in a few spots, they are records for the singularly hottest day in the entire period of record, sometimes stretching back 100 to 150 years. "That's a pretty big deal," Swain says.
"It's unusual in that it's more intense in terms of the maximum temperature," says Alison Bridger, a professor in the Meteorology and Climate Science department at San Jose State University. "And how widespread the impact is."
For example, Palm Springs, Calif., recently hit 123 degrees, equaling its highest recorded temperature...
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/19/1008248475/the-record-temperatures-enveloping-the...
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground Temperatures Hit 118 Degrees in the Arctic Circle
The ongoing climate crisis is not going to spare Siberia.
Isaac Schultz | 6/22/2021
Newly published satellite imagery shows the ground temperature in at least one location in Siberia topped 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius) going into the year’s longest day. It’s hot Siberia Earth summer, and it certainly won’t be the last...
https://gizmodo.com/ground-temperatures-hit-118-degrees-in-the-arctic-circl-1847...
Eric Westervelt | June 19, 2021
...this record-setting heat wave's remarkable power, size and unusually early appearance is giving meteorologists and climate experts yet more cause for concern about the routinization of extreme weather in an era of climate change.
These sprawling, persistent high-pressure zones popularly called "heat domes" are relatively common in later summer months. This current system is different.
"It's not only unusual for June, but it is pretty extreme even in absolute terms," says Daniel Swain, climate scientist at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. "It would be a pretty extreme event for August," Swain says, when these typically occur.
This heat dome's reach is remarkable, too: It has set record highs stretching from the Great Plains to coastal California. And these aren't just records for that specific date or month, but in a few spots, they are records for the singularly hottest day in the entire period of record, sometimes stretching back 100 to 150 years. "That's a pretty big deal," Swain says.
"It's unusual in that it's more intense in terms of the maximum temperature," says Alison Bridger, a professor in the Meteorology and Climate Science department at San Jose State University. "And how widespread the impact is."
For example, Palm Springs, Calif., recently hit 123 degrees, equaling its highest recorded temperature...
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/19/1008248475/the-record-temperatures-enveloping-the...
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground Temperatures Hit 118 Degrees in the Arctic Circle
The ongoing climate crisis is not going to spare Siberia.
Isaac Schultz | 6/22/2021
Newly published satellite imagery shows the ground temperature in at least one location in Siberia topped 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius) going into the year’s longest day. It’s hot Siberia Earth summer, and it certainly won’t be the last...
https://gizmodo.com/ground-temperatures-hit-118-degrees-in-the-arctic-circl-1847...
30margd
No causal link at this point but could be / will be in future (?)
Miami condo collapse prompts questions over role of climate change
Experts suggest vulnerability of south Florida to rising seas could lead to destabilization of further buildings
Oliver Milman | 29 Jun 2021
...The disaster has highlighted the precarious situation of building and maintaining high-rise apartments in an area under increasing pressure from sea-level rise. Experts say that while the role of the rising seas in this collapse is still unclear, the integrity of buildings will be threatened by the advance of salty water that pushes up from below to weaken foundations.
“When this building was designed 40 years ago the materials used would not have been as strong against salt water intrusion, which has the potential to corrode the concrete and steel of the foundations,” said Zhong-Ren Peng, professor and director of the University of Florida’s International Center for Adaptation Planning and Design. “Cracks in the concrete allows more sea water to get in, which causes further reactions and the spreading of cracks. If you don’t take care of it, that can cause a structure failure.”
The geography of the area can also prove challenging for construction.
Champlain Towers South was built near the coast of what is a narrow barrier island flanked by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Biscayne Bay on the other. Such barrier islands naturally shift position over time due to the pounding ocean, requiring a certain amount of engineering to keep them fixed in place.
Most of south Florida is just a few feet above sea level at a time when the region is experiencing a rapid increase in sea level, due to the human-caused climate crisis. Compounding this problem, the region sits upon limestone, a porous rock that allows rising seawater to bubble up from below.
This scenario means that Miami residents have become used to flooded car garages and water seeping up from drains on to roads, even on sunny days. The city is planning to build a major new sea wall to keep the ocean at bay but there is no simple defense against water rising from underfoot, placing the foundations of buildings at risk of being gnawed away by seawater...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/29/miami-condo-collapse-questions-c...
Miami condo collapse prompts questions over role of climate change
Experts suggest vulnerability of south Florida to rising seas could lead to destabilization of further buildings
Oliver Milman | 29 Jun 2021
...The disaster has highlighted the precarious situation of building and maintaining high-rise apartments in an area under increasing pressure from sea-level rise. Experts say that while the role of the rising seas in this collapse is still unclear, the integrity of buildings will be threatened by the advance of salty water that pushes up from below to weaken foundations.
“When this building was designed 40 years ago the materials used would not have been as strong against salt water intrusion, which has the potential to corrode the concrete and steel of the foundations,” said Zhong-Ren Peng, professor and director of the University of Florida’s International Center for Adaptation Planning and Design. “Cracks in the concrete allows more sea water to get in, which causes further reactions and the spreading of cracks. If you don’t take care of it, that can cause a structure failure.”
The geography of the area can also prove challenging for construction.
Champlain Towers South was built near the coast of what is a narrow barrier island flanked by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Biscayne Bay on the other. Such barrier islands naturally shift position over time due to the pounding ocean, requiring a certain amount of engineering to keep them fixed in place.
Most of south Florida is just a few feet above sea level at a time when the region is experiencing a rapid increase in sea level, due to the human-caused climate crisis. Compounding this problem, the region sits upon limestone, a porous rock that allows rising seawater to bubble up from below.
This scenario means that Miami residents have become used to flooded car garages and water seeping up from drains on to roads, even on sunny days. The city is planning to build a major new sea wall to keep the ocean at bay but there is no simple defense against water rising from underfoot, placing the foundations of buildings at risk of being gnawed away by seawater...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/29/miami-condo-collapse-questions-c...
31margd
Amazon Rainforest Suffers Huge Losses (24:06)
Bloomberg Markets and Finance | Jun 25, 2021
The world is losing its forests at an alarming rate. 2020 was the worst year for Amazon Rainforest loss in over a decade. But, there's a right way and a wrong way to protect and restore the Earth's green spaces. So from the importance of diverse reforestation projects to our investigation into the legitimacy of some of America's largest carbon offset projects, this edition of Bloomberg Green focuses on the realities of reforestation. Plus: advocates against ecocide - the lawyers looking to make crimes against the environment on par with crimes against humanity. (Presented by FedEx)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJHv0NX92oo&list=PLqq4LnWs3olXwON9HOW4Ud-9e7...
Bloomberg Markets and Finance | Jun 25, 2021
The world is losing its forests at an alarming rate. 2020 was the worst year for Amazon Rainforest loss in over a decade. But, there's a right way and a wrong way to protect and restore the Earth's green spaces. So from the importance of diverse reforestation projects to our investigation into the legitimacy of some of America's largest carbon offset projects, this edition of Bloomberg Green focuses on the realities of reforestation. Plus: advocates against ecocide - the lawyers looking to make crimes against the environment on par with crimes against humanity. (Presented by FedEx)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJHv0NX92oo&list=PLqq4LnWs3olXwON9HOW4Ud-9e7...
32margd
How Weird Is the Heat in Portland, Seattle and Vancouver? Off the Charts.
Aatish Bhatia, Henry Fountain and Kevin Quealy | June 29, 2021
(lotsa charts and graphs, e.g., https://twitter.com/JessePesta/status/1409857550724567045/photo/1)
Extreme temperatures are getting more common
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/29/upshot/portland-seattle-vancouver...
_____________________________________________________
New GOP-only caucus explicitly acknowledges climate change, but keeps fossil fuels on its list of solutions
Rashika Jaipuriar Sarah Bowman | 6/25/2021
The new Conservative Climate Caucus reflects a changing wave in the GOP — and a break from Trump.
The new caucus explicitly acknowledges climate change.
Solutions from the caucus include continued reliance on fossil fuels and private innovation.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/25/utah-congressman-introdu...
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Methane vote shows limits of Republican climate caucus
Kelsey Brugger and Nick Sobczyk | June 30, 2021
Dozens of House Republicans signed up last week for a new Conservative Climate Caucus intended to engage members on the issue and trumpet the GOP's newfound respect for climate science. Two days later, nearly all of them opposed a measure to curb methane emissions...
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063736147
Aatish Bhatia, Henry Fountain and Kevin Quealy | June 29, 2021
(lotsa charts and graphs, e.g., https://twitter.com/JessePesta/status/1409857550724567045/photo/1)
Extreme temperatures are getting more common
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/29/upshot/portland-seattle-vancouver...
_____________________________________________________
New GOP-only caucus explicitly acknowledges climate change, but keeps fossil fuels on its list of solutions
Rashika Jaipuriar Sarah Bowman | 6/25/2021
The new Conservative Climate Caucus reflects a changing wave in the GOP — and a break from Trump.
The new caucus explicitly acknowledges climate change.
Solutions from the caucus include continued reliance on fossil fuels and private innovation.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/25/utah-congressman-introdu...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Methane vote shows limits of Republican climate caucus
Kelsey Brugger and Nick Sobczyk | June 30, 2021
Dozens of House Republicans signed up last week for a new Conservative Climate Caucus intended to engage members on the issue and trumpet the GOP's newfound respect for climate science. Two days later, nearly all of them opposed a measure to curb methane emissions...
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063736147
33margd
Anthony Adragna @AnthonyAdragna | 2:22 PM · Jun 30, 2021:
Senior Exxon lobbyist captured on video names 11 senators "crucial" to company:
Capito, Manchin, Sinema, Tester, Hassan, Barrasso, Cornyn, Daines, Coons, Kelly and Rubio.
Calls Manchin "Kingmaker" and says speaks with office weekly.
Revealed: ExxonMobil’s lobbying war on climate change legislation
A senior ExxonMobil lobbyist has been captured on camera revealing how the oil giant is using its power and influence to water down US climate legislation.
Alex Thomson | June 30, 2021
https://www.channel4.com/news/revealed-exxonmobils-lobbying-war-on-climate-chang...
Senior Exxon lobbyist captured on video names 11 senators "crucial" to company:
Capito, Manchin, Sinema, Tester, Hassan, Barrasso, Cornyn, Daines, Coons, Kelly and Rubio.
Calls Manchin "Kingmaker" and says speaks with office weekly.
Revealed: ExxonMobil’s lobbying war on climate change legislation
A senior ExxonMobil lobbyist has been captured on camera revealing how the oil giant is using its power and influence to water down US climate legislation.
Alex Thomson | June 30, 2021
https://www.channel4.com/news/revealed-exxonmobils-lobbying-war-on-climate-chang...
34lriley
#33–Manchin and Sinema are kind of kingmaker’s. To get anything through the Senate everything is going to get watered down by them and all that basically is to the benefit of McConnell.
35margd
Fire clouds spark 710,117 lightning strikes in western Canada in 15 hours
Amy Graff | July 1, 2021
The North American Lightning Detection Network detected 710,177 lightning events across British Columbia and northwestern Alberta in about 15 hours, between 3 p.m. on June 30 and 6 a.m. on July 1.
...The majority of the strikes in western Canada were the result of pyrocumulonimbus clouds forming over the (47) wildfires tearing across western Canada, which has also suffered from a sweltering heat wave in the past week.
...These massive, mushroom-shaped clouds of hot, smoky air towering thousands of feet into the sky are caused by a natural source of heat such as a wildfire or volcano... Rising warm air from the fire carries water vapor, ash and smoke up into the atmosphere, forming clouds.
...Neil Lareau...a professor of atmospheric sciences in the department of physics at the University of Nevada at Reno..."Every year it’s one upping the year before, which is really horrifying," he said.
https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/pyrocumulonimbus-British-Columbia-lightni...
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Western Canada burns and deaths mount after world’s most extreme heat wave in modern history
It's not hype or exaggeration to call the past week's heat wave the most extreme in world weather records.
Bob Henson and Jeff Masters | July 1, 2021
...Never in the century-plus history of world weather observation have so many all-time heat records fallen by such a large margin than in the past week’s historic heat wave in western North America. The only heat wave that compares is the great Dust Bowl heat wave of July 1936 in the U.S. Midwest and south-central Canada. But even that cannot compare to what happened in the Northwest U.S. and western Canada over the past week.
“This is the most anomalous regional extreme heat event to occur anywhere on Earth since temperature records began. Nothing can compare,” said weather historian Christopher Burt, author of the book “Extreme Weather.”
Pointing to Lytton, Canada, he added, “There has never been a national heat record in a country with an extensive period of record and a multitude of observation sites that was beaten by 7°F to 8°F.”
International weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera (@extremetemps) agrees. “What we are seeing now is totally unprecedented worldwide,” said Herrera, who tweeted on June 30, “It’s an endless waterfall of records being smashed.”...
https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/07/western-canada-burns-and-deaths-mount...
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ETA:
B.C. records 486 sudden deaths, almost triple the usual number, during heat wave
Number likely to increase as more reports filed, chief coroner says
CBC News | Jun 30, 2021
Canada Hunts For Survivors Of A Fire That Destroyed A Small Town
The Associated Press | July 2, 2021
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/02/1012698892/canada-hunts-for-survivors-of-a-fire-t...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sudden-deaths-heat-wave-b-c-1.60...
Amy Graff | July 1, 2021
The North American Lightning Detection Network detected 710,177 lightning events across British Columbia and northwestern Alberta in about 15 hours, between 3 p.m. on June 30 and 6 a.m. on July 1.
...The majority of the strikes in western Canada were the result of pyrocumulonimbus clouds forming over the (47) wildfires tearing across western Canada, which has also suffered from a sweltering heat wave in the past week.
...These massive, mushroom-shaped clouds of hot, smoky air towering thousands of feet into the sky are caused by a natural source of heat such as a wildfire or volcano... Rising warm air from the fire carries water vapor, ash and smoke up into the atmosphere, forming clouds.
...Neil Lareau...a professor of atmospheric sciences in the department of physics at the University of Nevada at Reno..."Every year it’s one upping the year before, which is really horrifying," he said.
https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/pyrocumulonimbus-British-Columbia-lightni...
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Western Canada burns and deaths mount after world’s most extreme heat wave in modern history
It's not hype or exaggeration to call the past week's heat wave the most extreme in world weather records.
Bob Henson and Jeff Masters | July 1, 2021
...Never in the century-plus history of world weather observation have so many all-time heat records fallen by such a large margin than in the past week’s historic heat wave in western North America. The only heat wave that compares is the great Dust Bowl heat wave of July 1936 in the U.S. Midwest and south-central Canada. But even that cannot compare to what happened in the Northwest U.S. and western Canada over the past week.
“This is the most anomalous regional extreme heat event to occur anywhere on Earth since temperature records began. Nothing can compare,” said weather historian Christopher Burt, author of the book “Extreme Weather.”
Pointing to Lytton, Canada, he added, “There has never been a national heat record in a country with an extensive period of record and a multitude of observation sites that was beaten by 7°F to 8°F.”
International weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera (@extremetemps) agrees. “What we are seeing now is totally unprecedented worldwide,” said Herrera, who tweeted on June 30, “It’s an endless waterfall of records being smashed.”...
https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/07/western-canada-burns-and-deaths-mount...
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ETA:
B.C. records 486 sudden deaths, almost triple the usual number, during heat wave
Number likely to increase as more reports filed, chief coroner says
CBC News | Jun 30, 2021
Canada Hunts For Survivors Of A Fire That Destroyed A Small Town
The Associated Press | July 2, 2021
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/02/1012698892/canada-hunts-for-survivors-of-a-fire-t...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sudden-deaths-heat-wave-b-c-1.60...
36margd
Can Dustbowl 2 be far behind?
It’s Some of America’s Richest Farmland. But What Is It Without Water?
Somini Sengupta | June 28, 2021
A California farmer decides it makes better business sense to sell his water than to grow rice. An almond farmer considers uprooting his trees to put up solar panels. Drought is transforming the state, with broad consequences for the food supply.
...huge transformation up and down California’s Central Valley, the country’s most lucrative agricultural belt, as it confronts both an exceptional drought and the consequences of years of pumping far too much water out of its aquifers. Across the state, reservoir levels are dropping and electric grids are at risk if hydroelectric dams don’t get enough water to produce power...
...California’s $50 billion agricultural sector supplies two-thirds of the country’s fruits and nuts and more than a third of America’s vegetables — the tomatoes, pistachios, grapes and strawberries that line grocery store shelves from coast to coast...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/climate/california-drought-farming.html
It’s Some of America’s Richest Farmland. But What Is It Without Water?
Somini Sengupta | June 28, 2021
A California farmer decides it makes better business sense to sell his water than to grow rice. An almond farmer considers uprooting his trees to put up solar panels. Drought is transforming the state, with broad consequences for the food supply.
...huge transformation up and down California’s Central Valley, the country’s most lucrative agricultural belt, as it confronts both an exceptional drought and the consequences of years of pumping far too much water out of its aquifers. Across the state, reservoir levels are dropping and electric grids are at risk if hydroelectric dams don’t get enough water to produce power...
...California’s $50 billion agricultural sector supplies two-thirds of the country’s fruits and nuts and more than a third of America’s vegetables — the tomatoes, pistachios, grapes and strawberries that line grocery store shelves from coast to coast...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/climate/california-drought-farming.html
37margd
We need new cards for Hellscape Bingo 2021...
A Gas Leak Caused A Fire In The Gulf Of Mexico And The Videos Are Unreal
"Oh cool they've opened the portal to Hell."
Stephanie K. Baer | July 2, 2021,
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/skbaer/ocean-water-fire-video-gulf-of-mexic...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
0:11 ( https://twitter.com/blkahn/status/1411073985765314560 )
0:17 ( https://twitter.com/blkahn/status/1411074599803142146 )
A Gas Leak Caused A Fire In The Gulf Of Mexico And The Videos Are Unreal
"Oh cool they've opened the portal to Hell."
Stephanie K. Baer | July 2, 2021,
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/skbaer/ocean-water-fire-video-gulf-of-mexic...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
0:11 ( https://twitter.com/blkahn/status/1411073985765314560 )
0:17 ( https://twitter.com/blkahn/status/1411074599803142146 )
38margd
"37.0% (range 20.5–76.3%) of warm-season heat-related deaths can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change and that increased mortality is evident on every continent"
A. M. Vicedo-Cabrera et al. 2021. The burden of heat-related mortality attributable to recent human-induced climate change. Nature Climate Change volume 11, pages 492–500 (2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01058-x
Abstract
Climate change affects human health; however, there have been no large-scale, systematic efforts to quantify the heat-related human health impacts that have already occurred due to climate change. Here, we use empirical data from 732 locations in 43 countries to estimate the mortality burdens associated with the additional heat exposure that has resulted from recent human-induced warming, during the period 1991–2018. Across all study countries, we find that 37.0% (range 20.5–76.3%) of warm-season heat-related deaths can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change and that increased mortality is evident on every continent. Burdens varied geographically but were of the order of dozens to hundreds of deaths per year in many locations. Our findings support the urgent need for more ambitious mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize the public health impacts of climate change.
A. M. Vicedo-Cabrera et al. 2021. The burden of heat-related mortality attributable to recent human-induced climate change. Nature Climate Change volume 11, pages 492–500 (2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01058-x
Abstract
Climate change affects human health; however, there have been no large-scale, systematic efforts to quantify the heat-related human health impacts that have already occurred due to climate change. Here, we use empirical data from 732 locations in 43 countries to estimate the mortality burdens associated with the additional heat exposure that has resulted from recent human-induced warming, during the period 1991–2018. Across all study countries, we find that 37.0% (range 20.5–76.3%) of warm-season heat-related deaths can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change and that increased mortality is evident on every continent. Burdens varied geographically but were of the order of dozens to hundreds of deaths per year in many locations. Our findings support the urgent need for more ambitious mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize the public health impacts of climate change.
39margd
Bird morphology, now dragonfly pigmentation...
Male dragonflies lose their 'bling' in hotter climates
Washington University in St. Louis | July 5, 2021
...Many dragonflies have patches of dark black pigmentation on their wings that they use to court potential mates and intimidate rivals.
"Beyond its function in reproduction, having a lot of dark pigmentation on the wings can heat dragonflies up by as much as 2 degrees Celsius, quite a big shift!" (Michael Moore at Washington University in St. Louis) said, noting that would roughly equal a 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit change. "While this pigmentation can help dragonflies find mates, extra heating could also cause them to overheat in places that are already hot."
...compared species with hotter versus cooler geographic ranges, or compared populations of the same species that live in warmer areas versus cooler areas, the researchers saw the same thing: male dragonflies nearly always responded to warmer temperatures by evolving less wing pigmentation.
...male dragonflies spotted in warmer years tended to have less wing pigmentation than male dragonflies of the same species in cooler years
...(risk is that) females may no longer recognize males of their own species....
https://phys.org/news/2021-07-male-dragonflies-bling-hotter-climates.html
----------------------------------------------------------
Michael P. Moore el al., "Sex-specific ornament evolution is a consistent feature of climatic adaptation across space and time in dragonflies," PNAS (2021). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2101458118
Male dragonflies lose their 'bling' in hotter climates
Washington University in St. Louis | July 5, 2021
...Many dragonflies have patches of dark black pigmentation on their wings that they use to court potential mates and intimidate rivals.
"Beyond its function in reproduction, having a lot of dark pigmentation on the wings can heat dragonflies up by as much as 2 degrees Celsius, quite a big shift!" (Michael Moore at Washington University in St. Louis) said, noting that would roughly equal a 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit change. "While this pigmentation can help dragonflies find mates, extra heating could also cause them to overheat in places that are already hot."
...compared species with hotter versus cooler geographic ranges, or compared populations of the same species that live in warmer areas versus cooler areas, the researchers saw the same thing: male dragonflies nearly always responded to warmer temperatures by evolving less wing pigmentation.
...male dragonflies spotted in warmer years tended to have less wing pigmentation than male dragonflies of the same species in cooler years
...(risk is that) females may no longer recognize males of their own species....
https://phys.org/news/2021-07-male-dragonflies-bling-hotter-climates.html
----------------------------------------------------------
Michael P. Moore el al., "Sex-specific ornament evolution is a consistent feature of climatic adaptation across space and time in dragonflies," PNAS (2021). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2101458118
40margd
>32 margd: contd.
More than a billion seashore animals may have cooked to death in B.C. heat wave, says UBC researcher
Shoreline temperatures above 50 C and low tides led to mass deaths of mussels, clams, sea stars
Alex Migdal | Jul 05, 2021
...Carpeting the sea rocks were tens of thousands of mussels, clams, sea stars and snails, emitting a putrid odour that hung thick in the heat...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/intertidal-animals-ubc-research-...
___________________________________________________
ETA: sockeye salmon, too...having migrated into freshwater streams to spawn :(
Like in ‘Postapocalyptic Movies’: Heat Wave Killed Marine Wildlife en Masse
An early estimate points to a huge die-off along the Pacific Coast, and scientists say rivers farther inland are warming to levels that could be lethal for some kinds of salmon.
Catrin Einhorn | July 9, 2021
Dead mussels and clams coated rocks in the Pacific Northwest, their shells gaping open as if they’d been boiled. Sea stars were baked to death. Sockeye salmon swam sluggishly in an overheated Washington river, prompting wildlife officials to truck them to cooler areas.
The combination of extraordinary heat and drought that hit the Western United States and Canada over the past two weeks has killed hundreds of millions of marine animals and continues to threaten untold species in freshwater, according to a preliminary estimate and interviews with scientists...
More than a billion seashore animals may have cooked to death in B.C. heat wave, says UBC researcher
Shoreline temperatures above 50 C and low tides led to mass deaths of mussels, clams, sea stars
Alex Migdal | Jul 05, 2021
...Carpeting the sea rocks were tens of thousands of mussels, clams, sea stars and snails, emitting a putrid odour that hung thick in the heat...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/intertidal-animals-ubc-research-...
___________________________________________________
ETA: sockeye salmon, too...having migrated into freshwater streams to spawn :(
Like in ‘Postapocalyptic Movies’: Heat Wave Killed Marine Wildlife en Masse
An early estimate points to a huge die-off along the Pacific Coast, and scientists say rivers farther inland are warming to levels that could be lethal for some kinds of salmon.
Catrin Einhorn | July 9, 2021
Dead mussels and clams coated rocks in the Pacific Northwest, their shells gaping open as if they’d been boiled. Sea stars were baked to death. Sockeye salmon swam sluggishly in an overheated Washington river, prompting wildlife officials to truck them to cooler areas.
The combination of extraordinary heat and drought that hit the Western United States and Canada over the past two weeks has killed hundreds of millions of marine animals and continues to threaten untold species in freshwater, according to a preliminary estimate and interviews with scientists...
41margd
Trouble in Alaska? Massive oil pipeline is threatened by thawing permafrost
The slope of permafrost where an 810-foot section of the pipeline is secured has started to shift as it thaws, causing braces holding up the pipeline to twist and bend.
David Hasemyer | July 11, 2021
...Thawing permafrost threatens to undermine the supports holding up an elevated section of the (Trans-Alaska Pipeline, one of the world’s largest oil pipelines), jeopardizing its structural integrity and raising the potential of an oil spill in a delicate and remote landscape.
The slope of permafrost where an 810-foot section of the pipeline is secured has started to shift as it thaws, causing several of the braces holding up the pipeline to twist and bend.
This appears to be the first instance that pipeline supports have been damaged by “slope creep” caused by thawing permafrost...
...The extent of ecological damage from another spill would depend on the amount of oil spilled, how deep it saturated the soil and whether the plume reached water sources. But any harm from an oil spill would likely be greater than in most other landscapes because of the fragile nature of the Alaskan land and water...
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trouble-alaska-massive-oil-pipeline-threate...
The slope of permafrost where an 810-foot section of the pipeline is secured has started to shift as it thaws, causing braces holding up the pipeline to twist and bend.
David Hasemyer | July 11, 2021
...Thawing permafrost threatens to undermine the supports holding up an elevated section of the (Trans-Alaska Pipeline, one of the world’s largest oil pipelines), jeopardizing its structural integrity and raising the potential of an oil spill in a delicate and remote landscape.
The slope of permafrost where an 810-foot section of the pipeline is secured has started to shift as it thaws, causing several of the braces holding up the pipeline to twist and bend.
This appears to be the first instance that pipeline supports have been damaged by “slope creep” caused by thawing permafrost...
...The extent of ecological damage from another spill would depend on the amount of oil spilled, how deep it saturated the soil and whether the plume reached water sources. But any harm from an oil spill would likely be greater than in most other landscapes because of the fragile nature of the Alaskan land and water...
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trouble-alaska-massive-oil-pipeline-threate...
42margd
Europe Rolls Out Vision for a Carbonless Future, but Big Obstacles Loom
An ambitious blueprint to reduce emissions 55 percent by 2030 promises tough haggling among 27 states, industry and the European Parliament.
Steven Erlanger | July 14, 2021
...The United States has promised to reduce emissions 40 to 43 percent over the same period. Britain, which will host COP-26, the international climate talks, in November, has pledged a 68 percent reduction. China, the world’s largest emitter of carbon, has said only that it aims for emissions to peak by 2030...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/world/europe/climate-change-carbon-green-new-...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/climate/eu-border-carbon-tax.html
An ambitious blueprint to reduce emissions 55 percent by 2030 promises tough haggling among 27 states, industry and the European Parliament.
Steven Erlanger | July 14, 2021
...The United States has promised to reduce emissions 40 to 43 percent over the same period. Britain, which will host COP-26, the international climate talks, in November, has pledged a 68 percent reduction. China, the world’s largest emitter of carbon, has said only that it aims for emissions to peak by 2030...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/world/europe/climate-change-carbon-green-new-...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/climate/eu-border-carbon-tax.html
43margd
HOT ZONES: URBAN HEAT ISLANDS
Research brief (10 p)
Climate Central | July 14, 2021
... About 85% of the U.S. population lives in metropolitan areas.
...Neighborhoods in a highly-developed city can experience mid-afternoon temperatures that are 15°F to 20°F hotter than nearby tree-lined communities or rural areas with fewer people and buildings.
...adapted the Sangiorgio model to estimate how urban heat island intensity varies across U.S. cities.
The primary contributions to the intensity score are (in order of contribution):
• Albedo {reflection}
• Percentage of greenery
• Population density
• Building height
• Average width of streets and irregularity of the city...
The cities with the five highest scores are New Orleans, Newark, N.J., New York City, Houston and San Francisco. Yet each city has its own unique layout, showing that the overall heat island effect is composed of different elements in each city.
Cities in the Midwest and Northeast, such as New York, Newark, Boston, Chicago, Providence, Detroit and Cleveland have more compact, historically built-out environments, with taller buildings. These factors add to the intensity of their urban heat island footprint. Cities like Houston and Fresno, Calif., scored higher due to the large percentage of impermeable surfaces that make up their city’s topography...
https://medialibrary.climatecentral.org/uploads/general/2021_UHI_Report.pdf
Research brief (10 p)
Climate Central | July 14, 2021
... About 85% of the U.S. population lives in metropolitan areas.
...Neighborhoods in a highly-developed city can experience mid-afternoon temperatures that are 15°F to 20°F hotter than nearby tree-lined communities or rural areas with fewer people and buildings.
...adapted the Sangiorgio model to estimate how urban heat island intensity varies across U.S. cities.
The primary contributions to the intensity score are (in order of contribution):
• Albedo {reflection}
• Percentage of greenery
• Population density
• Building height
• Average width of streets and irregularity of the city...
The cities with the five highest scores are New Orleans, Newark, N.J., New York City, Houston and San Francisco. Yet each city has its own unique layout, showing that the overall heat island effect is composed of different elements in each city.
Cities in the Midwest and Northeast, such as New York, Newark, Boston, Chicago, Providence, Detroit and Cleveland have more compact, historically built-out environments, with taller buildings. These factors add to the intensity of their urban heat island footprint. Cities like Houston and Fresno, Calif., scored higher due to the large percentage of impermeable surfaces that make up their city’s topography...
https://medialibrary.climatecentral.org/uploads/general/2021_UHI_Report.pdf
44margd
The photos...
Flood Deaths Are Rising In Germany And Officials Blame Climate Change
Scott Neuman, Esme Nicholson, Nicole Werbeck | July 16, 2021
https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2021/07/16/1016796637/germany-belgium-f...
______________________________________
ETA
The maps...
The Extent of Flooding in the Hardest-Hit Areas of Europe
Weiyi Cai, Taylor Johnston, Eleanor Lutz and Tim WallaceJuly 17, 2021
Deadly floods swept through parts of Europe this week, destroying buildings and killing more than 100 people. Floods of this size have not been seen in 500 or even 1,000 years, according to meteorologists and German officials.
Some towns that reported damage from flooding
NETHERLANDS
Rhine River
BELGIUM
GERMANY
Meuse River
Ahrweiler District
FRANCE
A preliminary analysis of satellite imagery shows wide areas of flooding along rivers in western Germany and neighboring countries. The analysis compared satellite images from July 15 to images acquired during June and July in the past two years to show areas that were inundated that would not normally be at this time of year. ...
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/07/17/world/europe/europe-flood-map.htm...
Flood Deaths Are Rising In Germany And Officials Blame Climate Change
Scott Neuman, Esme Nicholson, Nicole Werbeck | July 16, 2021
https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2021/07/16/1016796637/germany-belgium-f...
______________________________________
ETA
The maps...
The Extent of Flooding in the Hardest-Hit Areas of Europe
Weiyi Cai, Taylor Johnston, Eleanor Lutz and Tim WallaceJuly 17, 2021
Deadly floods swept through parts of Europe this week, destroying buildings and killing more than 100 people. Floods of this size have not been seen in 500 or even 1,000 years, according to meteorologists and German officials.
Some towns that reported damage from flooding
NETHERLANDS
Rhine River
BELGIUM
GERMANY
Meuse River
Ahrweiler District
FRANCE
A preliminary analysis of satellite imagery shows wide areas of flooding along rivers in western Germany and neighboring countries. The analysis compared satellite images from July 15 to images acquired during June and July in the past two years to show areas that were inundated that would not normally be at this time of year. ...
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/07/17/world/europe/europe-flood-map.htm...
45margd
Can Civilization Survive What’s Coming?
The new IPCC report on climate change will fill you with existential dread — rightfully so
Jeff Goodell |
...A (2018) report* from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the gold standard of climate science, outlines in frightfully stark terms what it would take to keep the earth’s temperature below 1.5 C of warming, which is the threshold for avoiding catastrophic climate change like the collapse of rain forests and coral reefs, rapid melting of the ice sheets that would swamp coastal cities around the world and heat extremes that could lead to millions of climate refugees.
Here’s what this (2018) IPCC report says, in a nutshell: To avoid blowing through the 1.5 C target, nations of the world need to cut carbon pollution as fast as humanly possible. To be more precise, nations of the world need to get to zero carbon emissions by 2050...
...the (2018) IPCC report tells us that the world we all grew up in — and the world our parents and grandparents grew up in — is gone forever. There is no going back. We are plunging into a rapidly changing world, one that is unlike anything humans have experienced before, and those changes will only accelerate in the coming years. We know this to be true, as surely as we know the sun will rise tomorrow.
What’s still unclear is what, if anything, we are prepared to do about it.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/can-earth-survive-climate-ch...
________________________________________________
* This Summary for Policymakers should be cited as:
IPCC, 2018: Summary for Policymakers. In: Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor, and T. Waterfield (eds.). World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 32 pp.
I Introduction
A Understanding Global Warming of 1.5°C*
B Projected Climate Change, Potential Impacts and Associated Risks
C Emission Pathways and System Transitions Consistent with 1.5°C Global Warming
D Strengthening the Global Response in the Context of Sustainable Development and Efforts to Eradicate Poverty
+ Core Concepts Central to this Special Report
...
The new IPCC report on climate change will fill you with existential dread — rightfully so
Jeff Goodell |
...A (2018) report* from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the gold standard of climate science, outlines in frightfully stark terms what it would take to keep the earth’s temperature below 1.5 C of warming, which is the threshold for avoiding catastrophic climate change like the collapse of rain forests and coral reefs, rapid melting of the ice sheets that would swamp coastal cities around the world and heat extremes that could lead to millions of climate refugees.
Here’s what this (2018) IPCC report says, in a nutshell: To avoid blowing through the 1.5 C target, nations of the world need to cut carbon pollution as fast as humanly possible. To be more precise, nations of the world need to get to zero carbon emissions by 2050...
...the (2018) IPCC report tells us that the world we all grew up in — and the world our parents and grandparents grew up in — is gone forever. There is no going back. We are plunging into a rapidly changing world, one that is unlike anything humans have experienced before, and those changes will only accelerate in the coming years. We know this to be true, as surely as we know the sun will rise tomorrow.
What’s still unclear is what, if anything, we are prepared to do about it.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/can-earth-survive-climate-ch...
________________________________________________
* This Summary for Policymakers should be cited as:
IPCC, 2018: Summary for Policymakers. In: Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor, and T. Waterfield (eds.). World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 32 pp.
I Introduction
A Understanding Global Warming of 1.5°C*
B Projected Climate Change, Potential Impacts and Associated Risks
C Emission Pathways and System Transitions Consistent with 1.5°C Global Warming
D Strengthening the Global Response in the Context of Sustainable Development and Efforts to Eradicate Poverty
+ Core Concepts Central to this Special Report
...
46lriley
The issue is that there are too many right wingers worldwide who refuse to believe the science on climate change. Too many worldwide also of the wealthy who will always put profit above anything else. One day South Florida after more condos have collapsed is going to be underwater. No more New Orleans probably either.
47margd
The clock is ticking. Individuals can do a bit, but governments must lead. We must empower them to do so...
48jjwilson61
It's hard to believe that the super wealthy don't care about their children and grandchildren. Do they think that their wealth will protect their families from total ecological collapse?
51margd
It’s Not a Border Crisis. It’s a Climate Crisis.
There was a time when rural Guatemalans never left home. But back-to-back hurricanes, failed crops and extreme poverty are driving them to make the dangerous trek north to the U.S. border.
SABRINA RODRIGUEZ | 07/19/2021
...In Alta Verapaz and Huehuetenango, a mountainous region close to the Guatemala-Mexico border, in 15 percent of households displaced by the hurricanes here, at least one family member migrated or attempted to migrate in the past five years, according to a survey conducted by the International Organization for Migration. One of their top five motives, the survey found: fleeing from natural disasters and climate change.
...Climate change, in the coming years, will only continue to exacerbate an already dire situation for millions of Guatemalans, analysts say. In the long term, the number of people in the region displaced by climate change is only expected to grow dramatically — leading many to migrate to more urban areas in Guatemala or head north to Mexico or the U.S. in search of jobs, money and security.
...Migration as a result of climate-fueled displacement isn’t just happening in Guatemala — or the rest of Central America for that matter. As many as 143 million people could be displaced in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia by 2050 due to climate-related factors, according to World Bank estimates. In all three regions, people are confronting challenges, such as decreased crop productivity, rising sea levels and water shortages...
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/07/19/guatemala-immigration-climate-...
There was a time when rural Guatemalans never left home. But back-to-back hurricanes, failed crops and extreme poverty are driving them to make the dangerous trek north to the U.S. border.
SABRINA RODRIGUEZ | 07/19/2021
...In Alta Verapaz and Huehuetenango, a mountainous region close to the Guatemala-Mexico border, in 15 percent of households displaced by the hurricanes here, at least one family member migrated or attempted to migrate in the past five years, according to a survey conducted by the International Organization for Migration. One of their top five motives, the survey found: fleeing from natural disasters and climate change.
...Climate change, in the coming years, will only continue to exacerbate an already dire situation for millions of Guatemalans, analysts say. In the long term, the number of people in the region displaced by climate change is only expected to grow dramatically — leading many to migrate to more urban areas in Guatemala or head north to Mexico or the U.S. in search of jobs, money and security.
...Migration as a result of climate-fueled displacement isn’t just happening in Guatemala — or the rest of Central America for that matter. As many as 143 million people could be displaced in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia by 2050 due to climate-related factors, according to World Bank estimates. In all three regions, people are confronting challenges, such as decreased crop productivity, rising sea levels and water shortages...
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/07/19/guatemala-immigration-climate-...
52margd
Thousands of scientists warn climate tipping points ‘imminent’
Researchers say ‘overexploitation of the Earth’ has seen many of its ‘vital signs’ deteriorate to record levels.
28 Jul 2021
Thousands of scientists have repeated calls for urgent action to tackle the climate emergency, warning that several tipping points are now imminent.
The researchers, part of a group of more than 14,000 scientists who have signed on to an initiative declaring a worldwide climate emergency, said in an article published in the journal BioScience on Wednesday that governments had consistently failed to address “the overexploitation of the Earth”, which they described as the root cause of the crisis....
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/28/thousands-of-scientists-declare-worldwi...
Researchers say ‘overexploitation of the Earth’ has seen many of its ‘vital signs’ deteriorate to record levels.
28 Jul 2021
Thousands of scientists have repeated calls for urgent action to tackle the climate emergency, warning that several tipping points are now imminent.
The researchers, part of a group of more than 14,000 scientists who have signed on to an initiative declaring a worldwide climate emergency, said in an article published in the journal BioScience on Wednesday that governments had consistently failed to address “the overexploitation of the Earth”, which they described as the root cause of the crisis....
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/28/thousands-of-scientists-declare-worldwi...
532wonderY
Floods in London are the latest sign big cities aren't ready for climate change
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/26/europe/london-flooding-infrastructure-climate-int...
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/26/europe/london-flooding-infrastructure-climate-int...
54margd
Nuclear power’s reliability is dropping as extreme weather increases
A comprehensive analysis shows that warmer temperatures aren't the only threat.
K. E. D. Coan | 7/24/2021
...it's not just hot weather that puts these plants at risk—it's the full range of climate disturbances.
Heat has been one of the most direct threats, as higher temperatures mean that the natural cooling sources (rivers, oceans, lakes) are becoming less efficient heat sinks. However, this new analysis shows that hurricanes and typhoons have become the leading causes of nuclear outages, at least in North America and South and East Asia. Precautionary shutdowns for storms are routine, and so this finding is perhaps not so surprising. But other factors—like the clogging of cooling intake pipes by unusually abundant jellyfish populations*—are a bit less obvious.
Overall, this latest analysis** calculates that the frequency of climate-related nuclear plant outages is almost eight times higher than it was in the 1990s. The analysis also estimates that the global nuclear fleet will lose up to 1.4 percent—about 36 TWh—of its energy production in the next 40 years and up to 2.4 percent, or 61 TWh, by 2081-2100...
Heat, storms, drought
Retrofitting for extreme weather
https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/07/climate-events-are-the-leading-cause-of-...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Invertebrate jellyfish, often invasive species in freshwater, have an advantage in waters acidified by CO2. Greater range as waters warm. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/nov/0...
** Ali Ahmad. 2021. Increase in frequency of nuclear power outages due to changing climate. Nature Energy | VOL 6 | July 2021 | 755–762 | www.nature.com/natureenergy https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00849-y https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-021-00849-y.epdf
A comprehensive analysis shows that warmer temperatures aren't the only threat.
K. E. D. Coan | 7/24/2021
...it's not just hot weather that puts these plants at risk—it's the full range of climate disturbances.
Heat has been one of the most direct threats, as higher temperatures mean that the natural cooling sources (rivers, oceans, lakes) are becoming less efficient heat sinks. However, this new analysis shows that hurricanes and typhoons have become the leading causes of nuclear outages, at least in North America and South and East Asia. Precautionary shutdowns for storms are routine, and so this finding is perhaps not so surprising. But other factors—like the clogging of cooling intake pipes by unusually abundant jellyfish populations*—are a bit less obvious.
Overall, this latest analysis** calculates that the frequency of climate-related nuclear plant outages is almost eight times higher than it was in the 1990s. The analysis also estimates that the global nuclear fleet will lose up to 1.4 percent—about 36 TWh—of its energy production in the next 40 years and up to 2.4 percent, or 61 TWh, by 2081-2100...
Heat, storms, drought
Retrofitting for extreme weather
https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/07/climate-events-are-the-leading-cause-of-...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Invertebrate jellyfish, often invasive species in freshwater, have an advantage in waters acidified by CO2. Greater range as waters warm. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/nov/0...
** Ali Ahmad. 2021. Increase in frequency of nuclear power outages due to changing climate. Nature Energy | VOL 6 | July 2021 | 755–762 | www.nature.com/natureenergy https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00849-y https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-021-00849-y.epdf
55margd
"...adding 4,434 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2020—equivalent to the lifetime emissions of 3.5 average Americans—causes one excess death globally in expectation between 2020-2100..."
Cutting Carbon Pollution Quickly Would Save Millions of Lives, Study Finds
Rebecca Hersher | July 29, 2021
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/29/1021247014/cutting-carbon-pollution-quickly-would...
--------------------------------------------------------
R. Daniel Bressler. 2021. The mortality cost of carbon. Nature Communications volume 12, Article number: 4467 (July 29, 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24487-w
Abstract
Many studies project that climate change can cause a significant number of excess deaths. Yet, in integrated assessment models (IAMs) that determine the social cost of carbon (SCC) and prescribe optimal climate policy, human mortality impacts are limited and not updated to the latest scientific understanding. This study extends the DICE-2016 IAM to explicitly include temperature-related mortality impacts by estimating a climate-mortality damage function. We introduce a metric, the mortality cost of carbon (MCC), that estimates the number of deaths caused by the emissions of one additional metric ton of CO2. In the baseline emissions scenario, the 2020 MCC is 2.26 × 10‒4 low to high estimate −1.71× 10‒4 to 6.78 × 10‒4 excess deaths per metric ton of 2020 emissions. This implies that adding 4,434 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2020—equivalent to the lifetime emissions of 3.5 average Americans—causes one excess death globally in expectation between 2020-2100. Incorporating mortality costs increases the 2020 SCC from $37 to $258 −$69 to $545 per metric ton in the baseline emissions scenario. Optimal climate policy changes from gradual emissions reductions starting in 2050 to full decarbonization by 2050 when mortality is considered.
Cutting Carbon Pollution Quickly Would Save Millions of Lives, Study Finds
Rebecca Hersher | July 29, 2021
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/29/1021247014/cutting-carbon-pollution-quickly-would...
--------------------------------------------------------
R. Daniel Bressler. 2021. The mortality cost of carbon. Nature Communications volume 12, Article number: 4467 (July 29, 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24487-w
Abstract
Many studies project that climate change can cause a significant number of excess deaths. Yet, in integrated assessment models (IAMs) that determine the social cost of carbon (SCC) and prescribe optimal climate policy, human mortality impacts are limited and not updated to the latest scientific understanding. This study extends the DICE-2016 IAM to explicitly include temperature-related mortality impacts by estimating a climate-mortality damage function. We introduce a metric, the mortality cost of carbon (MCC), that estimates the number of deaths caused by the emissions of one additional metric ton of CO2. In the baseline emissions scenario, the 2020 MCC is 2.26 × 10‒4 low to high estimate −1.71× 10‒4 to 6.78 × 10‒4 excess deaths per metric ton of 2020 emissions. This implies that adding 4,434 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2020—equivalent to the lifetime emissions of 3.5 average Americans—causes one excess death globally in expectation between 2020-2100. Incorporating mortality costs increases the 2020 SCC from $37 to $258 −$69 to $545 per metric ton in the baseline emissions scenario. Optimal climate policy changes from gradual emissions reductions starting in 2050 to full decarbonization by 2050 when mortality is considered.
562wonderY
“The animals are on fire.” Turkey.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/31/world/turkey-wildfires-manavgat-six-dead-intl/ind...
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/31/world/turkey-wildfires-manavgat-six-dead-intl/ind...
57margd
Uh oh...
A critical ocean system may be heading for collapse due to climate change, study finds
'The consequences of a collapse would likely be far-reaching.’
Sarah Kaplan | August 5, 2021
...Scientists haven’t directly observed the (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation) AMOC slowing down. But the new analysis, published Thursday in the journal Nature Climate Change, draws on more than a century of ocean temperature and salinity data to show significant changes in eight indirect measures of the circulation’s strength.
These indicators suggest that the AMOC is running out of steam, making it more susceptible to disruptions that might knock it out of equilibrium, says study author Niklas Boers, a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Science in Germany.
If the circulation shuts down, it could bring extreme cold to Europe and parts of North America, raise sea levels along the U.S. East Coast and disrupt seasonal monsoons that provide water to much of the world.
“This is an increase in understanding … of how close to a tipping point the AMOC might already be,” said Levke Caesar, a climate physicist at Maynooth University who was not involved in the study.
Boers’s analysis doesn’t suggest exactly when the switch might happen. But “the mere possibility that the AMOC tipping point is close should be motivation enough for us to take countermeasures,” Caesar said. “The consequences of a collapse would likely be far-reaching.”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/08/05/change-ocean-colla...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Niklas Boers . 2021. Observation-based early-warning signals for a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Nature Climate Change volume 11, pages 680–688 (5 Aug 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01097-4
Abstract
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a major ocean current system transporting warm surface waters toward the northern Atlantic, has been suggested to exhibit two distinct modes of operation. A collapse from the currently attained strong to the weak mode would have severe impacts on the global climate system and further multi-stable Earth system components. Observations and recently suggested fingerprints of AMOC variability indicate a gradual weakening during the last decades, but estimates of the critical transition point remain uncertain. Here, a robust and general early-warning indicator for forthcoming critical transitions is introduced. Significant early-warning signals are found in eight independent AMOC indices, based on observational sea-surface temperature and salinity data from across the Atlantic Ocean basin. These results reveal spatially consistent empirical evidence that, in the course of the last century, the AMOC may have evolved from relatively stable conditions to a point close to a critical transition.
A critical ocean system may be heading for collapse due to climate change, study finds
'The consequences of a collapse would likely be far-reaching.’
Sarah Kaplan | August 5, 2021
...Scientists haven’t directly observed the (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation) AMOC slowing down. But the new analysis, published Thursday in the journal Nature Climate Change, draws on more than a century of ocean temperature and salinity data to show significant changes in eight indirect measures of the circulation’s strength.
These indicators suggest that the AMOC is running out of steam, making it more susceptible to disruptions that might knock it out of equilibrium, says study author Niklas Boers, a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Science in Germany.
If the circulation shuts down, it could bring extreme cold to Europe and parts of North America, raise sea levels along the U.S. East Coast and disrupt seasonal monsoons that provide water to much of the world.
“This is an increase in understanding … of how close to a tipping point the AMOC might already be,” said Levke Caesar, a climate physicist at Maynooth University who was not involved in the study.
Boers’s analysis doesn’t suggest exactly when the switch might happen. But “the mere possibility that the AMOC tipping point is close should be motivation enough for us to take countermeasures,” Caesar said. “The consequences of a collapse would likely be far-reaching.”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/08/05/change-ocean-colla...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Niklas Boers . 2021. Observation-based early-warning signals for a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Nature Climate Change volume 11, pages 680–688 (5 Aug 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01097-4
Abstract
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a major ocean current system transporting warm surface waters toward the northern Atlantic, has been suggested to exhibit two distinct modes of operation. A collapse from the currently attained strong to the weak mode would have severe impacts on the global climate system and further multi-stable Earth system components. Observations and recently suggested fingerprints of AMOC variability indicate a gradual weakening during the last decades, but estimates of the critical transition point remain uncertain. Here, a robust and general early-warning indicator for forthcoming critical transitions is introduced. Significant early-warning signals are found in eight independent AMOC indices, based on observational sea-surface temperature and salinity data from across the Atlantic Ocean basin. These results reveal spatially consistent empirical evidence that, in the course of the last century, the AMOC may have evolved from relatively stable conditions to a point close to a critical transition.
58TheToadRevoltof84
Este miembro ha sido suspendido del sitio.
59kiparsky
>58 TheToadRevoltof84: What does "Climate Hysteria" mean?
60TheToadRevoltof84
Este miembro ha sido suspendido del sitio.
61kiparsky
>60 TheToadRevoltof84: we're all going to die in 12 years
I don't know of anyone who is making this claim. Can you provide an example?
The presumptions and modeled science as linked to eternity and back again, above, are mostly ridiculous hysterics.
Since you don't identify any specific claim as being "hysterics", there's nothing to argue with here. However, if you're claiming that science that contradicts your ideological presumptions is necessarily wrong, it seems unlikely that it's worth the effort to argue with you.
The fact that climate change is real is no debate
I'm not sure whether this is a sincere statement or if this is listed as one of your examples of "climate hysteria". Whichever is the case, there is in fact no debate about climate change. It's happening, it's caused by human activity, and we're experiencing the results of it today.
These are facts which are no more in dispute than, say, the claim that Newtonian mechanics adequately describes the motions of the macro-scale objects in the solar system.
I don't know of anyone who is making this claim. Can you provide an example?
The presumptions and modeled science as linked to eternity and back again, above, are mostly ridiculous hysterics.
Since you don't identify any specific claim as being "hysterics", there's nothing to argue with here. However, if you're claiming that science that contradicts your ideological presumptions is necessarily wrong, it seems unlikely that it's worth the effort to argue with you.
The fact that climate change is real is no debate
I'm not sure whether this is a sincere statement or if this is listed as one of your examples of "climate hysteria". Whichever is the case, there is in fact no debate about climate change. It's happening, it's caused by human activity, and we're experiencing the results of it today.
These are facts which are no more in dispute than, say, the claim that Newtonian mechanics adequately describes the motions of the macro-scale objects in the solar system.
62TheToadRevoltof84
Este miembro ha sido suspendido del sitio.
63kiparsky
>62 TheToadRevoltof84: Do you read your own links?
The poll found that "that 48% of Likely U.S. Voters agree that the United States has only 12 years to aggressively fight climate change or else there will be disastrous and irreparable damage to the country and the world. 40% disagree, while 11% are undecided."
Yes, all of the models suggest that we're approaching a tipping point, and that the next decade is critical. However, this does not say or even suggest that anyone in the world believes that "the world will end in twelve years". It says that 2/3 of the people polled believe that significant action must be taken in the near term to prevent major harm, and that is correct. It does not say that that anyone believes that the major harm will land on us on some particular day in 2031, it says that they believe if we continue in our current course for another 12 years, we will have locked in irreparable damage.
I believe you should watch the videos
Sorry, that's not the way this game is played. You make the claim, you make the case. I'm not going to sit around watching whatever garbage you think I should watch. Life's too short to listen to idiots blather.
The poll found that "that 48% of Likely U.S. Voters agree that the United States has only 12 years to aggressively fight climate change or else there will be disastrous and irreparable damage to the country and the world. 40% disagree, while 11% are undecided."
Yes, all of the models suggest that we're approaching a tipping point, and that the next decade is critical. However, this does not say or even suggest that anyone in the world believes that "the world will end in twelve years". It says that 2/3 of the people polled believe that significant action must be taken in the near term to prevent major harm, and that is correct. It does not say that that anyone believes that the major harm will land on us on some particular day in 2031, it says that they believe if we continue in our current course for another 12 years, we will have locked in irreparable damage.
I believe you should watch the videos
Sorry, that's not the way this game is played. You make the claim, you make the case. I'm not going to sit around watching whatever garbage you think I should watch. Life's too short to listen to idiots blather.
64TheToadRevoltof84
Este miembro ha sido suspendido del sitio.
65kiparsky
>64 TheToadRevoltof84: I'm not sure what that's meant to mean, but the science is quite clear on this: we are in the middle of a climate calamity and have to take strong action, and soon, if we want to avoid a climate catastrophe.
If you think that's hysteria, you probably need to read more of the science and watch less of those videos.
If you think that's hysteria, you probably need to read more of the science and watch less of those videos.
66prosfilaes
Let's see: PragerU, a right-wing think tank that brands itself a university, versus a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
>62 TheToadRevoltof84: Climate change isn't a threat that will be affected by legislation and the impact due to human activity is not possible to quantify.
That statement is incoherent. If the impact due to human activity is not possible to quantify, then you can't judge whether or not it will be affected by legislation. It's pretty standard corporate bull; nobody has show that this chemical is dangerous (e.g. tetraethyllead, which was well known to be dangerous in large doses when we started putting it in gasoline) so we'll keep using it until nobody is buying that claim anymore.
>62 TheToadRevoltof84: Climate change isn't a threat that will be affected by legislation and the impact due to human activity is not possible to quantify.
That statement is incoherent. If the impact due to human activity is not possible to quantify, then you can't judge whether or not it will be affected by legislation. It's pretty standard corporate bull; nobody has show that this chemical is dangerous (e.g. tetraethyllead, which was well known to be dangerous in large doses when we started putting it in gasoline) so we'll keep using it until nobody is buying that claim anymore.
67margd
Ryan Struyk (CNN) @ryanstruyk | 2:23 PM · Aug 5, 2021:
Americans on whether climate change is an emergency via new Quinnipiac poll:
94% Democrats
82% Black
79% under 35 years
69% women
66% Northeast
65% West
62% Midwest
61% all Americans
56% South
54% White
53% men
19% Republicans
Americans on whether climate change is an emergency via new Quinnipiac poll:
94% Democrats
82% Black
79% under 35 years
69% women
66% Northeast
65% West
62% Midwest
61% all Americans
56% South
54% White
53% men
19% Republicans
68TheToadRevoltof84
Este miembro ha sido suspendido del sitio.
69kiparsky
>68 TheToadRevoltof84:
So you assert as a certain fact that
Climate change is not an existential threat at this time
but also that
we do not have enough data to know what is happening.
Do you not see the problem with yoking those two claims together in the same sentence?
So you assert as a certain fact that
Climate change is not an existential threat at this time
but also that
we do not have enough data to know what is happening.
Do you not see the problem with yoking those two claims together in the same sentence?
70margd
Scientists expected thawing wetlands in Siberia’s permafrost. What they found is ‘much more dangerous.’
A 2020 heat wave unleashed methane emissions from prehistoric limestone in two regions stretching 375 miles, study says
Steven Mufson | August 2, 2021
Scientists have long been worried about what many call “the methane bomb” — the potentially catastrophic release of methane from thawing wetlands in Siberia’s permafrost.
But now a study by three geologists says that a heat wave in 2020 has revealed a surge in methane emissions “potentially in much higher amounts” from a different source: thawing rock formations in the Arctic permafrost.
The difference is that thawing wetlands releases “microbial” methane from the decay of soil and organic matter, while thawing limestone — or carbonate rock — releases hydrocarbons and gas hydrates from reservoirs both below and within the permafrost, making it “much more dangerous” than past studies have suggested.
...The concentrations of methane were elevated by about 5 percent, (Nikolaus Froitzheim, the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Bonn) said. Further tests showed the continued concentration of methane through the spring of 2021 despite the return of low temperatures and snow in the region.
“We would have expected elevated methane in areas with wetlands,” Froitzheim said. “But these were not over wetlands but on limestone outcrops. There is very little soil in these. It was really a surprising signal from hard rock, not wetlands.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/08/02/climate-change-hea...
-------------------------------------------------------------
Nikolaus Froitzheim et al. 2021. Methane release from carbonate rock formations in the Siberian permafrost area during and after the 2020 heat wave. PNAS August 10, 2021 118 (32) e2107632118; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2107632118 https://www.pnas.org/content/118/32/e2107632118
Abstract
Anthropogenic global warming may be accelerated by a positive feedback from the mobilization of methane from thawing Arctic permafrost. There are large uncertainties about the size of carbon stocks and the magnitude of possible methane emissions. Methane cannot only be produced from the microbial decay of organic matter within the thawing permafrost soils (microbial methane) but can also come from natural gas (thermogenic methane) trapped under or within the permafrost layer and released when it thaws. In the Taymyr Peninsula and surroundings in North Siberia, the area of the worldwide largest positive surface temperature anomaly for 2020, atmospheric methane concentrations have increased considerably during and after the 2020 heat wave. Two elongated areas of increased atmospheric methane concentration that appeared during summer coincide with two stripes of Paleozoic carbonates exposed at the southern and northern borders of the Yenisey-Khatanga Basin, a hydrocarbon-bearing sedimentary basin between the Siberian Craton to the south and the Taymyr Fold Belt to the north. Over the carbonates, soils are thin to nonexistent and wetlands are scarce. The maxima are thus unlikely to be caused by microbial methane from soils or wetlands. We suggest that gas hydrates* in fractures and pockets of the carbonate rocks in the permafrost zone became unstable due to warming from the surface. This process may add unknown quantities of methane to the atmosphere in the near future.
* WaPo: "...gas hydrates...are crystalline solids of frozen water that contain huge amounts of methane. Unstable at normal sea-level pressure and temperatures, gas hydrates can be dangerously explosive as temperatures rise. | The study said that gas hydrates in the Earth’s permafrost are estimated to contain 20 gigatons of carbon. That’s a small percentage of all carbon trapped in the permafrost, but the continued warming of gas hydrates could cause disruptive and rapid releases of methane from rock outcrops..."
______________________________________________________
ETA: How Worried Should You Be About a Key Atlantic Current Collapsing?
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation could be at risk. But don't freak out quite yet. (About it, anyways. Climate change is still a nightmare.)
Brian Kahn and Molly Taft | 8/7/2021
https://gizmodo.com/how-worried-should-you-be-about-a-key-atlantic-current-18474...
A 2020 heat wave unleashed methane emissions from prehistoric limestone in two regions stretching 375 miles, study says
Steven Mufson | August 2, 2021
Scientists have long been worried about what many call “the methane bomb” — the potentially catastrophic release of methane from thawing wetlands in Siberia’s permafrost.
But now a study by three geologists says that a heat wave in 2020 has revealed a surge in methane emissions “potentially in much higher amounts” from a different source: thawing rock formations in the Arctic permafrost.
The difference is that thawing wetlands releases “microbial” methane from the decay of soil and organic matter, while thawing limestone — or carbonate rock — releases hydrocarbons and gas hydrates from reservoirs both below and within the permafrost, making it “much more dangerous” than past studies have suggested.
...The concentrations of methane were elevated by about 5 percent, (Nikolaus Froitzheim, the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Bonn) said. Further tests showed the continued concentration of methane through the spring of 2021 despite the return of low temperatures and snow in the region.
“We would have expected elevated methane in areas with wetlands,” Froitzheim said. “But these were not over wetlands but on limestone outcrops. There is very little soil in these. It was really a surprising signal from hard rock, not wetlands.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/08/02/climate-change-hea...
-------------------------------------------------------------
Nikolaus Froitzheim et al. 2021. Methane release from carbonate rock formations in the Siberian permafrost area during and after the 2020 heat wave. PNAS August 10, 2021 118 (32) e2107632118; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2107632118 https://www.pnas.org/content/118/32/e2107632118
Abstract
Anthropogenic global warming may be accelerated by a positive feedback from the mobilization of methane from thawing Arctic permafrost. There are large uncertainties about the size of carbon stocks and the magnitude of possible methane emissions. Methane cannot only be produced from the microbial decay of organic matter within the thawing permafrost soils (microbial methane) but can also come from natural gas (thermogenic methane) trapped under or within the permafrost layer and released when it thaws. In the Taymyr Peninsula and surroundings in North Siberia, the area of the worldwide largest positive surface temperature anomaly for 2020, atmospheric methane concentrations have increased considerably during and after the 2020 heat wave. Two elongated areas of increased atmospheric methane concentration that appeared during summer coincide with two stripes of Paleozoic carbonates exposed at the southern and northern borders of the Yenisey-Khatanga Basin, a hydrocarbon-bearing sedimentary basin between the Siberian Craton to the south and the Taymyr Fold Belt to the north. Over the carbonates, soils are thin to nonexistent and wetlands are scarce. The maxima are thus unlikely to be caused by microbial methane from soils or wetlands. We suggest that gas hydrates* in fractures and pockets of the carbonate rocks in the permafrost zone became unstable due to warming from the surface. This process may add unknown quantities of methane to the atmosphere in the near future.
* WaPo: "...gas hydrates...are crystalline solids of frozen water that contain huge amounts of methane. Unstable at normal sea-level pressure and temperatures, gas hydrates can be dangerously explosive as temperatures rise. | The study said that gas hydrates in the Earth’s permafrost are estimated to contain 20 gigatons of carbon. That’s a small percentage of all carbon trapped in the permafrost, but the continued warming of gas hydrates could cause disruptive and rapid releases of methane from rock outcrops..."
______________________________________________________
ETA: How Worried Should You Be About a Key Atlantic Current Collapsing?
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation could be at risk. But don't freak out quite yet. (About it, anyways. Climate change is still a nightmare.)
Brian Kahn and Molly Taft | 8/7/2021
https://gizmodo.com/how-worried-should-you-be-about-a-key-atlantic-current-18474...
71TheToadRevoltof84
Este miembro ha sido suspendido del sitio.
72kiparsky
>71 TheToadRevoltof84: You don't? I'll give you a hint: the second clause asserts that we cannot make assertions about climate change, and the first clause is an assertion about climate change.
73TheToadRevoltof84
Este miembro ha sido suspendido del sitio.
74kiparsky
>73 TheToadRevoltof84: If "we don't have enough data to know what is happening" how can you assert that "it is not an existential threat"? It's incoherent.
And then you say "it is not an existential threat at the moment" which suggests that you think it could be an existential threat... so you believe it threatens to be an existential threat? Bah. Go sit in a dark room for a little while and think about what you actually think. It's coming out all in a mess. (It's funny, the last guy I remember having this argument with on this board had the same problem... but he got tossed out by the management, just before you showed up, so I'm sure that's just a coincidence)
Anyway, the fact is you're wrong on both counts. There is plenty of data, it all points to the clear fact that the last century's rise in atmospheric CO2 and other greenhouse gases is entirely anthropogenic, and that that rise is the direct cause of the last century's rise in global temperature. As for the "existential threat", you're going to have to define that. What constitutes an "existential threat" in your view? I'm pretty sure we can satisfy you on that count as well, but I'd like to know where your goalposts are at the start of the game.
And then you say "it is not an existential threat at the moment" which suggests that you think it could be an existential threat... so you believe it threatens to be an existential threat? Bah. Go sit in a dark room for a little while and think about what you actually think. It's coming out all in a mess. (It's funny, the last guy I remember having this argument with on this board had the same problem... but he got tossed out by the management, just before you showed up, so I'm sure that's just a coincidence)
Anyway, the fact is you're wrong on both counts. There is plenty of data, it all points to the clear fact that the last century's rise in atmospheric CO2 and other greenhouse gases is entirely anthropogenic, and that that rise is the direct cause of the last century's rise in global temperature. As for the "existential threat", you're going to have to define that. What constitutes an "existential threat" in your view? I'm pretty sure we can satisfy you on that count as well, but I'd like to know where your goalposts are at the start of the game.
75TheToadRevoltof84
Este miembro ha sido suspendido del sitio.
76kiparsky
>75 TheToadRevoltof84: I don't think 100 years of inconsistent thermometer readings really qualify.
Okay, so you don't believe in climate science at all?
Okay, so you don't believe in climate science at all?
77margd
I'm not following the trilling, except second hand. There are lots and lots of consistent data sets.
Some fun ones:
A couple decades ago Ohio DNR reversed a decision to cancel daily water temperature readings from their old hatchery building in Lake Erie, after hearing that climate scientists were finding the data set very useful indeed!
Another interesting data set, though not so old, includes the many betting contests in small towns on when cars parked on ice will sink. Apparently records were kept!
Some fun ones:
A couple decades ago Ohio DNR reversed a decision to cancel daily water temperature readings from their old hatchery building in Lake Erie, after hearing that climate scientists were finding the data set very useful indeed!
Another interesting data set, though not so old, includes the many betting contests in small towns on when cars parked on ice will sink. Apparently records were kept!
78prosfilaes
>75 TheToadRevoltof84: I think you must agree, we are alive now and any changes occurring currently are nothing we can prove as untenable to earth and life no matter how much we pretend to know about prior millenia.
Level of evidence demanded: proof
Consequences demanded: untenable to earth and life
That's insane. Literally; anyone living that way in their personal lives would be dead in short order. Nuclear testing: sure. Nuclear testing on cities: why not? Two tests can't count as proof, and even those tests don't indicate it's untenable to life as a whole.
Again, it's like tetraethyllead all over. We knew it was poison. Did it immediately kill people in small doses? No, so let's put it in tens of millions of cars on the road.
Level of evidence demanded: proof
Consequences demanded: untenable to earth and life
That's insane. Literally; anyone living that way in their personal lives would be dead in short order. Nuclear testing: sure. Nuclear testing on cities: why not? Two tests can't count as proof, and even those tests don't indicate it's untenable to life as a whole.
Again, it's like tetraethyllead all over. We knew it was poison. Did it immediately kill people in small doses? No, so let's put it in tens of millions of cars on the road.
79TheToadRevoltof84
Este miembro ha sido suspendido del sitio.
80margd
Thousands Are Evacuated As Fires Rampage Through Forests In Greece
The Associated Press | August 7, 2021
...Greek and European officials also have blamed climate change for a large number of summer fires burning through southern Europe, from southern Italy to the Balkans, Greece and Turkey.
...Massive fires also have been burning across Siberia in Russia's north for weeks, while hot, bone-dry, gusty weather has also fueled devastating wildfires in California...
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/07/1025756256/thousands-are-evacuated-as-fires-rampa...
The Associated Press | August 7, 2021
...Greek and European officials also have blamed climate change for a large number of summer fires burning through southern Europe, from southern Italy to the Balkans, Greece and Turkey.
...Massive fires also have been burning across Siberia in Russia's north for weeks, while hot, bone-dry, gusty weather has also fueled devastating wildfires in California...
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/07/1025756256/thousands-are-evacuated-as-fires-rampa...
81bnielsen
>79 TheToadRevoltof84: 떗僞뾲ⴍ쏭䛈栚悴厔犬Ј穌⇙꿆ﳗ㧉Ί垶▁䶌䥥護횏䎽?
82TheToadRevoltof84
Este miembro ha sido suspendido del sitio.
83margd
Why OSHA won't protect workers from climate change
ARIEL WITTENBERG and ZACK COLMAN | 08/08/2021
...the Occupational Safety and Health Administration responsible for protecting laborers from workplace hazards has ignored three recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it create a much-needed floor, a temperature level above which conditions are deemed inherently unsafe for worker safety. OSHA has also denied similar petitions from occupational and environmental groups.
A four-month investigation by POLITICO and E&E News found that the agency’s reluctance has extended through nine administrations, with bureaucracy and lack of political will combining to continually kick the can down the road...
The Biden White House is more receptive and has included in its published regulatory agenda that OSHA will begin exploring the possibility of creating a heat standard in October.
But POLITICO and E&E News found that any effort faces major hurdles around monitoring heat and setting national standards. Differences in the temperature and humidity levels at which individuals and even regions of the country experience illnesses, and a lack of resources to factor in building conditions, make tracking health impacts difficult. For instance, many of today’s structures were built with materials unsuited for the current climate, actually heating up and then retaining heat to bake indoor workers long after a heat wave has passed.
Those types of variables, combined with global warming, have left a far larger range of workers vulnerable to heat stress as heat waves become hotter, last longer and are more frequent...
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/08/osha-climate-change-effects-workforce-h...
ARIEL WITTENBERG and ZACK COLMAN | 08/08/2021
...the Occupational Safety and Health Administration responsible for protecting laborers from workplace hazards has ignored three recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it create a much-needed floor, a temperature level above which conditions are deemed inherently unsafe for worker safety. OSHA has also denied similar petitions from occupational and environmental groups.
A four-month investigation by POLITICO and E&E News found that the agency’s reluctance has extended through nine administrations, with bureaucracy and lack of political will combining to continually kick the can down the road...
The Biden White House is more receptive and has included in its published regulatory agenda that OSHA will begin exploring the possibility of creating a heat standard in October.
But POLITICO and E&E News found that any effort faces major hurdles around monitoring heat and setting national standards. Differences in the temperature and humidity levels at which individuals and even regions of the country experience illnesses, and a lack of resources to factor in building conditions, make tracking health impacts difficult. For instance, many of today’s structures were built with materials unsuited for the current climate, actually heating up and then retaining heat to bake indoor workers long after a heat wave has passed.
Those types of variables, combined with global warming, have left a far larger range of workers vulnerable to heat stress as heat waves become hotter, last longer and are more frequent...
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/08/osha-climate-change-effects-workforce-h...
84margd
We are a weedy species...
Can we save the planet by shrinking the economy?
The “degrowth” movement to fight the climate crisis offers a romantic, utopian vision. But it’s not a policy agenda.
Kelsey Piper | Aug 3, 2021
...Mainstream climate and environmental policy has developed over the years with a certain assumption — that we can get rid of the bad things while still preserving the good things. That is, it’s sought to figure out how to reduce carbon emissions, preserve ecosystems, and save endangered species while continuing to improve material living conditions for everyone in the world
The degrowth movement, as it’s called, argues that humanity can’t keep growing without driving humanity into climate catastrophe. The only solution, the argument goes, is an extreme transformation of our way of life — a transition away from treating economic growth as a policy priority to an acceptance of shrinking GDP as a prerequisite to saving the planet
...Degrowth’s proponents argue that to save Earth, humans need to shrink global economic activity, because at our current levels of consumption, the world won’t hit the IPCC target of stabilizing global temperatures at no more than 1.5 degrees of warming. The degrowth movement argues that climate change should prompt a radical rethinking of economic growth, and policymakers serious about climate change should try to build a livable world without economic growth fueling it.
...two problems with it: It doesn’t add up — and it would be nearly impossible to implement...
...“If we are to avert catastrophic warming, we have to lower carbon emissions by a factor of two within the next 10 years. I find it highly implausible that capitalism/market economics will be abandoned by the world on that time frame,” Pennsylvania State University climatologist Michael Mann told me. “That means we have to act on the climate crisis within the framework of the current system.” ...
How to fight climate change while building good human societies...
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22408556/save-planet-shrink-economy-degrowth
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Masai Women Are Leading a Solar Revolution With Help From Their Donkeys
Groups of women in Kenya are hauling solar devices on donkeys from village to village, providing light and power to homes along the way.
David McNair | Jul 13, 2015· 1 MIN READ
...groups of Masai women are leading a renewable energy revolution. Hauling solar devices on donkeys from village to village, they’re transforming the lives of locals with light and power, thanks to a program launched by renewable energy developer Green Energy Africa.* The women are provided with energy-efficient lights, solar panels, and rechargeable batteries at a discount, which they in turn sell for a profit. They are also trained to help install the panels and lights at individual homes. To date, 200 women are participating across five village groups; together, they’ve installed solar-powered units in more than 2,000 homes...
http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/07/13/maasai-women-solar-power-donkeys/
* https://green-energy-africa.com
Can we save the planet by shrinking the economy?
The “degrowth” movement to fight the climate crisis offers a romantic, utopian vision. But it’s not a policy agenda.
Kelsey Piper | Aug 3, 2021
...Mainstream climate and environmental policy has developed over the years with a certain assumption — that we can get rid of the bad things while still preserving the good things. That is, it’s sought to figure out how to reduce carbon emissions, preserve ecosystems, and save endangered species while continuing to improve material living conditions for everyone in the world
The degrowth movement, as it’s called, argues that humanity can’t keep growing without driving humanity into climate catastrophe. The only solution, the argument goes, is an extreme transformation of our way of life — a transition away from treating economic growth as a policy priority to an acceptance of shrinking GDP as a prerequisite to saving the planet
...Degrowth’s proponents argue that to save Earth, humans need to shrink global economic activity, because at our current levels of consumption, the world won’t hit the IPCC target of stabilizing global temperatures at no more than 1.5 degrees of warming. The degrowth movement argues that climate change should prompt a radical rethinking of economic growth, and policymakers serious about climate change should try to build a livable world without economic growth fueling it.
...two problems with it: It doesn’t add up — and it would be nearly impossible to implement...
...“If we are to avert catastrophic warming, we have to lower carbon emissions by a factor of two within the next 10 years. I find it highly implausible that capitalism/market economics will be abandoned by the world on that time frame,” Pennsylvania State University climatologist Michael Mann told me. “That means we have to act on the climate crisis within the framework of the current system.” ...
How to fight climate change while building good human societies...
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22408556/save-planet-shrink-economy-degrowth
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Masai Women Are Leading a Solar Revolution With Help From Their Donkeys
Groups of women in Kenya are hauling solar devices on donkeys from village to village, providing light and power to homes along the way.
David McNair | Jul 13, 2015· 1 MIN READ
...groups of Masai women are leading a renewable energy revolution. Hauling solar devices on donkeys from village to village, they’re transforming the lives of locals with light and power, thanks to a program launched by renewable energy developer Green Energy Africa.* The women are provided with energy-efficient lights, solar panels, and rechargeable batteries at a discount, which they in turn sell for a profit. They are also trained to help install the panels and lights at individual homes. To date, 200 women are participating across five village groups; together, they’ve installed solar-powered units in more than 2,000 homes...
http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/07/13/maasai-women-solar-power-donkeys/
* https://green-energy-africa.com
85margd
‘Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.’ UN climate report warns of ‘code red for humanity.’
Associated Press | Aug. 9, 2021
...The authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which calls climate change clearly human-caused and “unequivocal,” makes more precise and warmer forecasts for the 21st century than it did last time it was issued in 2013.
Each of five scenarios for the future, based on how much carbon emissions are cut, passes the more stringent of two thresholds set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. World leaders agreed then to try to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since the late 19th century because problems mount quickly after that. The limit is only a few tenths of a degree hotter than now because the world has already warmed nearly 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) in the past century and a half.
Under each scenario, the report said, the world will cross the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming mark in the 2030s, earlier than some past predictions. Warming has ramped up in recent years, data shows.
The 3,000-plus-page report from 234 scientists said warming is already accelerating sea level rise, shrinking ice and worsening extremes such as heat waves, droughts, floods and storms. Tropical cyclones are getting stronger and wetter, while Arctic sea ice is dwindling in the summer and permafrost is thawing. All of these trends will get worse, the report said...Some harm from climate change...are “irreversible for centuries to millennia”...
...The report described five different future scenarios based on how much the world reduces carbon emissions. They are: a future with incredibly large and quick pollution cuts; another with intense pollution cuts but not quite as massive; a scenario with moderate emissions; a fourth scenario where current plans to make small pollution reductions continue; and a fifth possible future involving continued increases in carbon pollution.
In five previous reports, the world was on that final hottest path, often nicknamed “business as usual.” But this time, the world is somewhere between the moderate emissions path and the small pollution reductions scenario because of progress to curb climate change...
...While calling the report “a code red for humanity,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres kept a sliver of hope that world leaders could still somehow prevent 1.5 degrees of warming, which he said is “perilously close.”
The report said ultra-catastrophic disasters, commonly called “tipping points,” like ice sheet collapses and the abrupt slowdown of ocean currents are “low likelihood” but cannot be ruled out. The much talked-about shutdown of Atlantic ocean currents, which would trigger massive weather shifts, is something that’s unlikely to happen in this century...
...In a new move, scientists emphasized how cutting airborne levels of methane, a powerful but short-lived gas that has soared to record levels, could help curb short-term warming...
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/there-will-be-nowhere-to-run-nowhere-to-hide-u...
Associated Press | Aug. 9, 2021
...The authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which calls climate change clearly human-caused and “unequivocal,” makes more precise and warmer forecasts for the 21st century than it did last time it was issued in 2013.
Each of five scenarios for the future, based on how much carbon emissions are cut, passes the more stringent of two thresholds set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. World leaders agreed then to try to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since the late 19th century because problems mount quickly after that. The limit is only a few tenths of a degree hotter than now because the world has already warmed nearly 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) in the past century and a half.
Under each scenario, the report said, the world will cross the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming mark in the 2030s, earlier than some past predictions. Warming has ramped up in recent years, data shows.
The 3,000-plus-page report from 234 scientists said warming is already accelerating sea level rise, shrinking ice and worsening extremes such as heat waves, droughts, floods and storms. Tropical cyclones are getting stronger and wetter, while Arctic sea ice is dwindling in the summer and permafrost is thawing. All of these trends will get worse, the report said...Some harm from climate change...are “irreversible for centuries to millennia”...
...The report described five different future scenarios based on how much the world reduces carbon emissions. They are: a future with incredibly large and quick pollution cuts; another with intense pollution cuts but not quite as massive; a scenario with moderate emissions; a fourth scenario where current plans to make small pollution reductions continue; and a fifth possible future involving continued increases in carbon pollution.
In five previous reports, the world was on that final hottest path, often nicknamed “business as usual.” But this time, the world is somewhere between the moderate emissions path and the small pollution reductions scenario because of progress to curb climate change...
...While calling the report “a code red for humanity,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres kept a sliver of hope that world leaders could still somehow prevent 1.5 degrees of warming, which he said is “perilously close.”
The report said ultra-catastrophic disasters, commonly called “tipping points,” like ice sheet collapses and the abrupt slowdown of ocean currents are “low likelihood” but cannot be ruled out. The much talked-about shutdown of Atlantic ocean currents, which would trigger massive weather shifts, is something that’s unlikely to happen in this century...
...In a new move, scientists emphasized how cutting airborne levels of methane, a powerful but short-lived gas that has soared to record levels, could help curb short-term warming...
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/there-will-be-nowhere-to-run-nowhere-to-hide-u...
86TheToadRevoltof84
Este miembro ha sido suspendido del sitio.
87margd
>85 margd: contd.
5 takeaways from the major new U.N. climate report*
Henry Fountain | Aug. 9, 2021
1 Human influence has unequivocally warmed the planet.
2 Climate science is getting better and more precise.
3 We are locked into 30 years of worsening climate impacts no matter what the world does.
4 Climate changes are happening rapidly.
5 There is still a window in which humans can alter the climate path.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/09/climate/un-climate-report-takeaways.html
---------------------------------------
* Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Working Group 1--The Physical Science Basis
Sixth Assessment Report (2021)
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/
Headline Statements from the Summary for Policymakers
9 August 2021 (subject to final copy-editing)
A. The Current State of the Climate
A.1 It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.
Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have
occurred.
A.2 The scale of recent changes across the climate system as a whole and the present state
of many aspects of the climate system are unprecedented over many centuries to many
thousands of years.
A.3 Human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in
every region across the globe. Evidence of observed changes in extremes such as
heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, and tropical cyclones, and, in particular, their
attribution to human influence, has strengthened since the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5).
A.4 Improved knowledge of climate processes, paleoclimate evidence and the response of the
climate system to increasing radiative forcing gives a best estimate of equilibrium climate
sensitivity of 3°C, with a narrower range compared to AR5.
B. Possible Climate Futures
B.1 Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least the mid-century under all
emissions scenarios considered. Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded
during the 21st century unless deep reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) and other
greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades.
B.2 Many changes in the climate system become larger in direct relation to increasing global
warming. They include increases in the frequency and intensity of hot extremes, marine
heatwaves, and heavy precipitation, agricultural and ecological droughts in some regions,
and proportion of intense tropical cyclones, as well as reductions in Arctic sea ice, snow
cover and permafrost.
B.3 Continued global warming is projected to further intensify the global water cycle, including
its variability, global monsoon precipitation and the severity of wet and dry events.
B.4 Under scenarios with increasing CO2 emissions, the ocean and land carbon sinks are
projected to be less effective at slowing the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere.
B.5 Many changes due to past and future greenhouse gas emissions are irreversible for
centuries to millennia, especially changes in the ocean, ice sheets and global sea level.
C. Climate Information for Risk Assessment and Regional Adaptation
C.1 Natural drivers and internal variability will modulate human-caused changes, especially at
regional scales and in the near term, with little effect on centennial global warming. These
modulations are important to consider in planning for the full range of possible changes.
C.2 With further global warming, every region is projected to increasingly experience
concurrent and multiple changes in climatic impact-drivers. Changes in several climatic
impact-drivers would be more widespread at 2°C compared to 1.5°C global warming and
even more widespread and/or pronounced for higher warming levels.
C.3 Low-likelihood outcomes, such as ice sheet collapse, abrupt ocean circulation changes,
some compound extreme events and warming substantially larger than the assessed very
likely range of future warming cannot be ruled out and are part of risk assessment.
D. Limiting Future Climate Change
D.1 From a physical science perspective, limiting human-induced global warming to a specific
level requires limiting cumulative CO2 emissions, reaching at least net zero CO2
emissions, along with strong reductions in other greenhouse gas emissions. Strong, rapid
and sustained reductions in CH4 emissions would also limit the warming effect resulting
from declining aerosol pollution and would improve air quality.
D.2 Scenarios with low or very low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (SSP1-1.9 and SSP1-
2.6) lead within years to discernible effects on greenhouse gas and aerosol
concentrations, and air quality, relative to high and very high GHG emissions scenarios
(SSP3-7.0 or SSP5-8.5). Under these contrasting scenarios, discernible differences in
trends of global surface temperature would begin to emerge from natural variability within
around 20 years, and over longer time periods for many other climatic impact-drivers (high
confidence).
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/#SPM
5 takeaways from the major new U.N. climate report*
Henry Fountain | Aug. 9, 2021
1 Human influence has unequivocally warmed the planet.
2 Climate science is getting better and more precise.
3 We are locked into 30 years of worsening climate impacts no matter what the world does.
4 Climate changes are happening rapidly.
5 There is still a window in which humans can alter the climate path.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/09/climate/un-climate-report-takeaways.html
---------------------------------------
* Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Working Group 1--The Physical Science Basis
Sixth Assessment Report (2021)
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/
Headline Statements from the Summary for Policymakers
9 August 2021 (subject to final copy-editing)
A. The Current State of the Climate
A.1 It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.
Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have
occurred.
A.2 The scale of recent changes across the climate system as a whole and the present state
of many aspects of the climate system are unprecedented over many centuries to many
thousands of years.
A.3 Human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in
every region across the globe. Evidence of observed changes in extremes such as
heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, and tropical cyclones, and, in particular, their
attribution to human influence, has strengthened since the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5).
A.4 Improved knowledge of climate processes, paleoclimate evidence and the response of the
climate system to increasing radiative forcing gives a best estimate of equilibrium climate
sensitivity of 3°C, with a narrower range compared to AR5.
B. Possible Climate Futures
B.1 Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least the mid-century under all
emissions scenarios considered. Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded
during the 21st century unless deep reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) and other
greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades.
B.2 Many changes in the climate system become larger in direct relation to increasing global
warming. They include increases in the frequency and intensity of hot extremes, marine
heatwaves, and heavy precipitation, agricultural and ecological droughts in some regions,
and proportion of intense tropical cyclones, as well as reductions in Arctic sea ice, snow
cover and permafrost.
B.3 Continued global warming is projected to further intensify the global water cycle, including
its variability, global monsoon precipitation and the severity of wet and dry events.
B.4 Under scenarios with increasing CO2 emissions, the ocean and land carbon sinks are
projected to be less effective at slowing the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere.
B.5 Many changes due to past and future greenhouse gas emissions are irreversible for
centuries to millennia, especially changes in the ocean, ice sheets and global sea level.
C. Climate Information for Risk Assessment and Regional Adaptation
C.1 Natural drivers and internal variability will modulate human-caused changes, especially at
regional scales and in the near term, with little effect on centennial global warming. These
modulations are important to consider in planning for the full range of possible changes.
C.2 With further global warming, every region is projected to increasingly experience
concurrent and multiple changes in climatic impact-drivers. Changes in several climatic
impact-drivers would be more widespread at 2°C compared to 1.5°C global warming and
even more widespread and/or pronounced for higher warming levels.
C.3 Low-likelihood outcomes, such as ice sheet collapse, abrupt ocean circulation changes,
some compound extreme events and warming substantially larger than the assessed very
likely range of future warming cannot be ruled out and are part of risk assessment.
D. Limiting Future Climate Change
D.1 From a physical science perspective, limiting human-induced global warming to a specific
level requires limiting cumulative CO2 emissions, reaching at least net zero CO2
emissions, along with strong reductions in other greenhouse gas emissions. Strong, rapid
and sustained reductions in CH4 emissions would also limit the warming effect resulting
from declining aerosol pollution and would improve air quality.
D.2 Scenarios with low or very low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (SSP1-1.9 and SSP1-
2.6) lead within years to discernible effects on greenhouse gas and aerosol
concentrations, and air quality, relative to high and very high GHG emissions scenarios
(SSP3-7.0 or SSP5-8.5). Under these contrasting scenarios, discernible differences in
trends of global surface temperature would begin to emerge from natural variability within
around 20 years, and over longer time periods for many other climatic impact-drivers (high
confidence).
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/#SPM
88kiparsky
Turns out that an organization developed a model back in 1982, which predicted a global temperature rise of one degree C over forty years. Which is what happened, to a pretty startling degree of precision.
That organization was the noted leftist alarmist bunch of eco-crazies called Exxon.
Is anyone still confused about the science here?
In case anyone's confused by all the words, here it is as a comic:
That organization was the noted leftist alarmist bunch of eco-crazies called Exxon.
Is anyone still confused about the science here?
In case anyone's confused by all the words, here it is as a comic:
892wonderY
A clip article from 1912 in both Australia and New Zealand papers predicted global warming.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/100645214
Snopes confirms this is true.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/1912-article-global-warming/
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/100645214
Snopes confirms this is true.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/1912-article-global-warming/
902wonderY
Greenland suspends oil exploration because of climate change.
https://apnews.com/article/europe-business-climate-environment-and-nature-climat...
Global warming means that retreating ice could uncover potential oil and mineral resources which, if successfully tapped, could dramatically change the fortunes of the semiautonomous territory of 57,000 people.
“The future does not lie in oil. The future belongs to renewable energy, and in that respect we have much more to gain,” the Greenland government said in a statement.
https://apnews.com/article/europe-business-climate-environment-and-nature-climat...
Global warming means that retreating ice could uncover potential oil and mineral resources which, if successfully tapped, could dramatically change the fortunes of the semiautonomous territory of 57,000 people.
“The future does not lie in oil. The future belongs to renewable energy, and in that respect we have much more to gain,” the Greenland government said in a statement.
91margd
This town is the first in America to ban new gas stations – is the tide turning?
Dominic Rushe | Tue 17 Aug 2021
...In March, Petaluma in Sonoma county (CA) became the first city in the US to ban future gas station construction or any new pumps on existing sites.
...there are an estimated 168,000 stations across the country.
Every gallon of gasoline sold adds 9kg (20lb) of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. In 2019 Americans consumed 142bn gallons of gasoline, producing 1.278bn tonnes (1.4bn tons) of CO2.
The number of gas stations is declining – there were more than 200,000 in 1994 – but the size of gas stations is increasing as “mom and pop” stops give way to massive fueling sites owned by supermarket chains hoping to lure in shoppers with cheap gas.
Electric charging presents an existential threat to those gas stations. About 80% of EV charging is done at home, and it currently takes at least 20 minutes to fast charge an EV, far longer than anyone would ever want to spend in a gas station.
...The long-term shift to electric and a mass closures of gas stations will create toxic “brown sites” across the country. A typical gas station can spill up to 100 gallons of gasoline annually, according to Coltura, an environmental activism group, poisoning groundwater and making repurposing the sites expensive and difficult. As gas stations disappear these poisoned plots will present an environmental problem of monumental proportions...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/17/end-american-gas-station-ban
Dominic Rushe | Tue 17 Aug 2021
...In March, Petaluma in Sonoma county (CA) became the first city in the US to ban future gas station construction or any new pumps on existing sites.
...there are an estimated 168,000 stations across the country.
Every gallon of gasoline sold adds 9kg (20lb) of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. In 2019 Americans consumed 142bn gallons of gasoline, producing 1.278bn tonnes (1.4bn tons) of CO2.
The number of gas stations is declining – there were more than 200,000 in 1994 – but the size of gas stations is increasing as “mom and pop” stops give way to massive fueling sites owned by supermarket chains hoping to lure in shoppers with cheap gas.
Electric charging presents an existential threat to those gas stations. About 80% of EV charging is done at home, and it currently takes at least 20 minutes to fast charge an EV, far longer than anyone would ever want to spend in a gas station.
...The long-term shift to electric and a mass closures of gas stations will create toxic “brown sites” across the country. A typical gas station can spill up to 100 gallons of gasoline annually, according to Coltura, an environmental activism group, poisoning groundwater and making repurposing the sites expensive and difficult. As gas stations disappear these poisoned plots will present an environmental problem of monumental proportions...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/17/end-american-gas-station-ban
92margd
How water shortages are brewing wars
Sandy Milne | 16th August 2021
Unprecedented levels of dam building and water extraction by nations on great rivers are leaving countries further downstream increasingly thirsty, increasing the risk of conflicts...
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210816-how-water-shortages-are-brewing-wars
____________________________________________
US: Southwest Drought
Federal government declares water shortage at Lake Mead for the first time
Matthew Marani • August 20, 2021
...the declaration of the shortage will trigger cuts in water supply across the region; first Arizona farmers will be cut off, then smaller reductions will be rolled out for Nevada as well as Mexico. Since the inexorable decline of Lake Mead will likely continue unabated, further cuts are expected to impact the tens of millions of people who rely on the reservoir and river for water...
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210816-how-water-shortages-are-brewing-wars
Sandy Milne | 16th August 2021
Unprecedented levels of dam building and water extraction by nations on great rivers are leaving countries further downstream increasingly thirsty, increasing the risk of conflicts...
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210816-how-water-shortages-are-brewing-wars
____________________________________________
US: Southwest Drought
Federal government declares water shortage at Lake Mead for the first time
Matthew Marani • August 20, 2021
...the declaration of the shortage will trigger cuts in water supply across the region; first Arizona farmers will be cut off, then smaller reductions will be rolled out for Nevada as well as Mexico. Since the inexorable decline of Lake Mead will likely continue unabated, further cuts are expected to impact the tens of millions of people who rely on the reservoir and river for water...
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210816-how-water-shortages-are-brewing-wars
93margd
Pakistan’s mission to plant 10 billion trees across the country, in photos
A province first pledged to plant 1 billion trees in 2015. The initiative was so successful
that the country is now in the midst of a 'Ten Billion Tree Tsunami’ to fight climate change.
Tik Root | Aug. 20, 2021
...The program addresses Pakistan’s history of deforestation as the country confronts the realities of climate change in the form of hotter temperatures, melting Himalayan glaciers and intensifying monsoon rains.
...Malik Amin Aslam, Pakistan’s federal minister for climate change,...explained, (Direct planting) accounts for about 40 percent of the program’s new trees. Hundreds of thousands of people across Pakistan are working to nurture and plant 21 species, from the chir pine to the deodar — the national tree.
The other 60 percent come from assisted regeneration, in which community members are paid to protect existing forests so that trees can propagate and thrive. Protectors are known as “nighabaan,” and 11 individuals lost their lives fighting the “timber mafia” between 2016 and 2018, according to Aslam.
...The latest tree “tsunami” appears to be on pace. The rate of new trees has gone up tenfold since the initiative began, Aslam said. He expects another 500 million trees by the end of this year, with a goal of around 3.2 billion by 2023. If the current ruling party — Movement for Justice — is reelected, the aim is to hit 10 billion trees by 2028...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2021/pakistan-tree-...
A province first pledged to plant 1 billion trees in 2015. The initiative was so successful
that the country is now in the midst of a 'Ten Billion Tree Tsunami’ to fight climate change.
Tik Root | Aug. 20, 2021
...The program addresses Pakistan’s history of deforestation as the country confronts the realities of climate change in the form of hotter temperatures, melting Himalayan glaciers and intensifying monsoon rains.
...Malik Amin Aslam, Pakistan’s federal minister for climate change,...explained, (Direct planting) accounts for about 40 percent of the program’s new trees. Hundreds of thousands of people across Pakistan are working to nurture and plant 21 species, from the chir pine to the deodar — the national tree.
The other 60 percent come from assisted regeneration, in which community members are paid to protect existing forests so that trees can propagate and thrive. Protectors are known as “nighabaan,” and 11 individuals lost their lives fighting the “timber mafia” between 2016 and 2018, according to Aslam.
...The latest tree “tsunami” appears to be on pace. The rate of new trees has gone up tenfold since the initiative began, Aslam said. He expects another 500 million trees by the end of this year, with a goal of around 3.2 billion by 2023. If the current ruling party — Movement for Justice — is reelected, the aim is to hit 10 billion trees by 2028...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2021/pakistan-tree-...
94margd
>93 margd: Pakistan Planted trees. Here's what 60 yrs of neglect achieved in UK experiment:
Monks Wood Wilderness: 60 years ago, scientists let a farm field rewild – here’s what happened
Richard K Broughton | July 22, 2021
...A rewilding study before the term existed, it shows how allowing land to naturally regenerate can expand native woodland and help tackle climate change and biodiversity loss.
...A shrubland of thorn thickets emerged after the first ten to 15 years. Dominated by bramble and hawthorn, its seeds were dropped by thrushes and other berry-eating birds. This thicket protected seedlings of wind-blown common ash and field maple, but especially English oak, whose acorns were planted by Eurasian jays (and maybe grey squirrels too) as forgotten food caches. It’s thought that jays were particularly busy in the Monks Wood Wilderness, as 52% of the trees are oaks.
The intermediate shrubland stage was a suntrap of blossom and wildflowers. Rabbits, brown hares, muntjac deer and roe deer were all common, but the protective thicket meant there was no need for fencing to prevent them eating the emerging trees. Those trees eventually (40-50 yrs, 400 tress per hectare) rose up and closed their canopy above the thicket, which became the woodland understorey.
The result is a structurally complex woodland with multiple layers of tree and shrub vegetation, and accumulating deadwood as the habitat ages. This complexity offers niches for a wide variety of woodland wildlife, from fungi and invertebrates in the dead logs and branches, to song thrushes, garden warblers and nuthatches which nest in the ground layer, understorey and tree canopy.
...The result is a structurally complex woodland with multiple layers of tree and shrub vegetation, and accumulating deadwood as the habitat ages. This complexity offers niches for a wide variety of woodland wildlife, from fungi and invertebrates in the dead logs and branches, to song thrushes, garden warblers and nuthatches which nest in the ground layer, understorey and tree canopy.
...The Monks Wood experiment benefited from the field lying close to an ancient woodland, which meant an ample supply of seeds and agents for their dispersal – jays, rodents, and the wind. Such rapid colonisation of the land would be unlikely in more remote places, or where deer are superabundant.
...The UK is one of the least forested places in Europe, with just 13% forest cover compared to an average of 38% across the EU. Only half of the UK’s forest is native woodland, which sustains a wide variety of indigenous species. The rest is dominated by non-native conifer plantations grown for timber.
...woodland stores more carbon than any other habitat except peatlands...
...And as the canopy grows taller, more plant and animal species are arriving, such as marsh tits and purple hairstreak butterflies – mature woodland specialists that have made a home here as the habitat gradually converges with the ancient woodland nearby...
https://theconversation.com/monks-wood-wilderness-60-years-ago-scientists-let-a-...
Monks Wood Wilderness: 60 years ago, scientists let a farm field rewild – here’s what happened
Richard K Broughton | July 22, 2021
...A rewilding study before the term existed, it shows how allowing land to naturally regenerate can expand native woodland and help tackle climate change and biodiversity loss.
...A shrubland of thorn thickets emerged after the first ten to 15 years. Dominated by bramble and hawthorn, its seeds were dropped by thrushes and other berry-eating birds. This thicket protected seedlings of wind-blown common ash and field maple, but especially English oak, whose acorns were planted by Eurasian jays (and maybe grey squirrels too) as forgotten food caches. It’s thought that jays were particularly busy in the Monks Wood Wilderness, as 52% of the trees are oaks.
The intermediate shrubland stage was a suntrap of blossom and wildflowers. Rabbits, brown hares, muntjac deer and roe deer were all common, but the protective thicket meant there was no need for fencing to prevent them eating the emerging trees. Those trees eventually (40-50 yrs, 400 tress per hectare) rose up and closed their canopy above the thicket, which became the woodland understorey.
The result is a structurally complex woodland with multiple layers of tree and shrub vegetation, and accumulating deadwood as the habitat ages. This complexity offers niches for a wide variety of woodland wildlife, from fungi and invertebrates in the dead logs and branches, to song thrushes, garden warblers and nuthatches which nest in the ground layer, understorey and tree canopy.
...The result is a structurally complex woodland with multiple layers of tree and shrub vegetation, and accumulating deadwood as the habitat ages. This complexity offers niches for a wide variety of woodland wildlife, from fungi and invertebrates in the dead logs and branches, to song thrushes, garden warblers and nuthatches which nest in the ground layer, understorey and tree canopy.
...The Monks Wood experiment benefited from the field lying close to an ancient woodland, which meant an ample supply of seeds and agents for their dispersal – jays, rodents, and the wind. Such rapid colonisation of the land would be unlikely in more remote places, or where deer are superabundant.
...The UK is one of the least forested places in Europe, with just 13% forest cover compared to an average of 38% across the EU. Only half of the UK’s forest is native woodland, which sustains a wide variety of indigenous species. The rest is dominated by non-native conifer plantations grown for timber.
...woodland stores more carbon than any other habitat except peatlands...
...And as the canopy grows taller, more plant and animal species are arriving, such as marsh tits and purple hairstreak butterflies – mature woodland specialists that have made a home here as the habitat gradually converges with the ancient woodland nearby...
https://theconversation.com/monks-wood-wilderness-60-years-ago-scientists-let-a-...
95margd
Our species and/or civilization is dead if this beautiful landscape ever sees light of day?
6 mysterious structures hidden beneath the Greenland ice sheet
Stephanie Pappas | Aug 29, 2021
https://www.space.com/landscapes-hidden-greenland-ice-sheet
Tipping The Icebergs: What Losing The Greenland Ice Sheet Means For The Planet (9:22)
Peter O'Dowd & Allison Hagan | August 30, 2021
...Greenland is roughly three times the size of Texas and contains enough water in ice to raise sea levels by about 24 feet. The ice sheet, which is 10,000 feet thick in some areas, impacts the entire planet’s climate and sea levels...
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/08/30/greenland-icebergs-sea-levels
6 mysterious structures hidden beneath the Greenland ice sheet
Stephanie Pappas | Aug 29, 2021
https://www.space.com/landscapes-hidden-greenland-ice-sheet
Tipping The Icebergs: What Losing The Greenland Ice Sheet Means For The Planet (9:22)
Peter O'Dowd & Allison Hagan | August 30, 2021
...Greenland is roughly three times the size of Texas and contains enough water in ice to raise sea levels by about 24 feet. The ice sheet, which is 10,000 feet thick in some areas, impacts the entire planet’s climate and sea levels...
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/08/30/greenland-icebergs-sea-levels
96margd
How Should the Fed Deal With Climate Change?
Neil Irwin | Aug. 26, 2021
...Using a broader range of evidence from both the United States and Europe, two political scientists at the University of Connecticut, Lyle Scruggs and Salil Benegal, found that a decline in climate concern in that period (2010 & 2011, after Great Recession) was driven significantly by worse economic conditions, which increased worry about more immediate issues. In times of scarcity, people tend to think less of policies with long-term payoffs.
...If a central bank can achieve consistent prosperity, this research suggests, it may change some political dynamics on aggressive climate action. Prosperity could support branches of government that have more explicit responsibility for curtailing greenhouse gases, building out clean energy capacity, or helping communities adapt to more extreme weather.
Not everyone who studies public opinion on climate agrees.
Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, attributes the decline in concern about climate change in the early 2010s not to the weak economy, but to widening political polarization and a pivot of conservative media toward climate change denialism...
...A paper published this summer by Michael T. Kiley, a Fed staff member, analyzed how temperature variations affect economic performance. It concluded that climate change may not change the typical rate of growth in the economy over time, but could make severe recessions more common. A major crop failure, for example, would lower G.D.P. directly and could simultaneously create economic ripple effects such as bank failures.
... a dispiriting possibility: As the planet gets hotter, it could make it harder to keep the economy on an even keel. But the worse the economy performs, the more toxic and dysfunctional climate politics may become.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/26/upshot/fed-climate-change-analysis.html
Neil Irwin | Aug. 26, 2021
...Using a broader range of evidence from both the United States and Europe, two political scientists at the University of Connecticut, Lyle Scruggs and Salil Benegal, found that a decline in climate concern in that period (2010 & 2011, after Great Recession) was driven significantly by worse economic conditions, which increased worry about more immediate issues. In times of scarcity, people tend to think less of policies with long-term payoffs.
...If a central bank can achieve consistent prosperity, this research suggests, it may change some political dynamics on aggressive climate action. Prosperity could support branches of government that have more explicit responsibility for curtailing greenhouse gases, building out clean energy capacity, or helping communities adapt to more extreme weather.
Not everyone who studies public opinion on climate agrees.
Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, attributes the decline in concern about climate change in the early 2010s not to the weak economy, but to widening political polarization and a pivot of conservative media toward climate change denialism...
...A paper published this summer by Michael T. Kiley, a Fed staff member, analyzed how temperature variations affect economic performance. It concluded that climate change may not change the typical rate of growth in the economy over time, but could make severe recessions more common. A major crop failure, for example, would lower G.D.P. directly and could simultaneously create economic ripple effects such as bank failures.
... a dispiriting possibility: As the planet gets hotter, it could make it harder to keep the economy on an even keel. But the worse the economy performs, the more toxic and dysfunctional climate politics may become.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/26/upshot/fed-climate-change-analysis.html
972wonderY
“… if you drink water from the public supply, take medicine produced by federally funded research and development, entrust your children to a public school or your parents to a nursing home, or simply enjoy the occasional convenience of a bridge that does not fall, you might take an interest in that infrastructure bill.
At $1 trillion, it offers a modest down payment on our collective needs — shoring up the roads and bridges like those that my family and I will use to return home whenever the power comes back on and schools reopen. Take an interest though, too, in the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package Congress is also considering, which gets a little closer to the scale of the problems before us.“ - Andy Horowitz
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/31/opinion/hurricane-ida-climate-change.html
At $1 trillion, it offers a modest down payment on our collective needs — shoring up the roads and bridges like those that my family and I will use to return home whenever the power comes back on and schools reopen. Take an interest though, too, in the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package Congress is also considering, which gets a little closer to the scale of the problems before us.“ - Andy Horowitz
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/31/opinion/hurricane-ida-climate-change.html
98margd
To Avoid Extreme Disasters, Most Fossil Fuels Should Stay Underground, Scientists Say
Lauren Sommer | September 9, 2021
With tens of thousands of people displaced by floods, wildfires and hurricanes this summer, researchers warn that the majority of untapped fossil fuels must remain in the ground to avoid even more extreme weather.
Fossil fuel producers should avoid extracting at least 90% of coal reserves and 60% of oil and gas reserves by 2050, according to a study published in Nature*, to limit global temperature rise to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. Even then, that gives the planet only a 50% chance of avoiding a climate hotter than that...
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/09/1035250142/to-avoid-extreme-disasters-most-fossil...
--------------------------------------------------------
* Dan Welsby et al. 2021. Unextractable fossil fuels in a 1.5 °C world. Nature volume 597, pages 230–234 (8 Sept 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03821-8
Abstract
Parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement pledged to limit global warming to well below 2 °C and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C relative to pre-industrial times. However, fossil fuels continue to dominate the global energy system and a sharp decline in their use must be realized to keep the temperature increase below 1.5 °C... Here we use a global energy systems model...to assess the amount of fossil fuels that would need to be left in the ground, regionally and globally, to allow for a 50 per cent probability of limiting warming to 1.5 °C. By 2050, we find that nearly 60 per cent of oil and fossil methane gas, and 90 per cent of coal must remain unextracted to keep within a 1.5 °C carbon budget. This is a large increase in the unextractable estimates for a 2 °C carbon budget...particularly for oil, for which an additional 25 per cent of reserves must remain unextracted. Furthermore, we estimate that oil and gas production must decline globally by 3 per cent each year until 2050. This implies that most regions must reach peak production now or during the next decade, rendering many operational and planned fossil fuel projects unviable. We probably present an underestimate of the production changes required, because a greater than 50 per cent probability of limiting warming to 1.5 °C requires more carbon to stay in the ground and because of uncertainties around the timely deployment of negative emission technologies at scale.
Lauren Sommer | September 9, 2021
With tens of thousands of people displaced by floods, wildfires and hurricanes this summer, researchers warn that the majority of untapped fossil fuels must remain in the ground to avoid even more extreme weather.
Fossil fuel producers should avoid extracting at least 90% of coal reserves and 60% of oil and gas reserves by 2050, according to a study published in Nature*, to limit global temperature rise to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. Even then, that gives the planet only a 50% chance of avoiding a climate hotter than that...
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/09/1035250142/to-avoid-extreme-disasters-most-fossil...
--------------------------------------------------------
* Dan Welsby et al. 2021. Unextractable fossil fuels in a 1.5 °C world. Nature volume 597, pages 230–234 (8 Sept 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03821-8
Abstract
Parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement pledged to limit global warming to well below 2 °C and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C relative to pre-industrial times. However, fossil fuels continue to dominate the global energy system and a sharp decline in their use must be realized to keep the temperature increase below 1.5 °C... Here we use a global energy systems model...to assess the amount of fossil fuels that would need to be left in the ground, regionally and globally, to allow for a 50 per cent probability of limiting warming to 1.5 °C. By 2050, we find that nearly 60 per cent of oil and fossil methane gas, and 90 per cent of coal must remain unextracted to keep within a 1.5 °C carbon budget. This is a large increase in the unextractable estimates for a 2 °C carbon budget...particularly for oil, for which an additional 25 per cent of reserves must remain unextracted. Furthermore, we estimate that oil and gas production must decline globally by 3 per cent each year until 2050. This implies that most regions must reach peak production now or during the next decade, rendering many operational and planned fossil fuel projects unviable. We probably present an underestimate of the production changes required, because a greater than 50 per cent probability of limiting warming to 1.5 °C requires more carbon to stay in the ground and because of uncertainties around the timely deployment of negative emission technologies at scale.
992wonderY
I’ve seen this photo montage several times; it hits me more powerfully each time.
https://mobile.twitter.com/rwclimate/status/1415970922859749376
Artist is Isaac Cordal
https://mobile.twitter.com/rwclimate/status/1415970922859749376
Artist is Isaac Cordal
100margd
>99 2wonderY: "like"
House Panel Expands Inquiry Into Climate Disinformation by Oil Giants
Hiroko Tabuchi
Sept. 16, 2021
The House Oversight Committee has widened its inquiry into the oil and gas industry’s role in spreading disinformation about the role of fossil fuels in causing global warming, calling on top executives from Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP and Royal Dutch Shell, as well as the lobby groups American Petroleum Institute and the United States Chamber of Commerce, to testify before Congress next month.
...The committee had initially focused on Exxon after a senior lobbyist at the oil giant was caught in a secret video recording, made public in July, saying that Exxon had fought climate science through “shadow groups” and had targeted influential senators in an effort to weaken President Biden’s climate agenda...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/16/climate/exxon-oil-disinformation-house-probe....
House Panel Expands Inquiry Into Climate Disinformation by Oil Giants
Hiroko Tabuchi
Sept. 16, 2021
The House Oversight Committee has widened its inquiry into the oil and gas industry’s role in spreading disinformation about the role of fossil fuels in causing global warming, calling on top executives from Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP and Royal Dutch Shell, as well as the lobby groups American Petroleum Institute and the United States Chamber of Commerce, to testify before Congress next month.
...The committee had initially focused on Exxon after a senior lobbyist at the oil giant was caught in a secret video recording, made public in July, saying that Exxon had fought climate science through “shadow groups” and had targeted influential senators in an effort to weaken President Biden’s climate agenda...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/16/climate/exxon-oil-disinformation-house-probe....
101margd
Countries Promised To Cut Greenhouse Emissions, The UN Says They Are Failing
Dan Charles | September 17, 2021
..."We need about a 45 to 50 percent decrease by 2030 to stay in line with what the science shows is necessary," says Rachel Cleetus, policy director for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Yet according to a new report issued by the UN on Friday, the NDCs submitted so far actually will allow global emissions to keep rising, increasing by 16 percent by 2030, compared to 2010 levels. According to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, meeting the more ambitious target of a 2.7 degree Fahrenheit temperature rise would require eliminating fossil fuels almost entirely by 2050...
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/17/1038294582/countries-are-breaking-their-climate-p...
------------------------------------------------
Conference of the Parties...to the Paris Agreement, Third session
Glasgow, 31 October to 12 November 2021
Nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement
Synthesis report by the secretariat (42 p)
Sept 17, 2021
https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/cma2021_08_adv_1.pdf
Dan Charles | September 17, 2021
..."We need about a 45 to 50 percent decrease by 2030 to stay in line with what the science shows is necessary," says Rachel Cleetus, policy director for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Yet according to a new report issued by the UN on Friday, the NDCs submitted so far actually will allow global emissions to keep rising, increasing by 16 percent by 2030, compared to 2010 levels. According to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, meeting the more ambitious target of a 2.7 degree Fahrenheit temperature rise would require eliminating fossil fuels almost entirely by 2050...
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/17/1038294582/countries-are-breaking-their-climate-p...
------------------------------------------------
Conference of the Parties...to the Paris Agreement, Third session
Glasgow, 31 October to 12 November 2021
Nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement
Synthesis report by the secretariat (42 p)
Sept 17, 2021
https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/cma2021_08_adv_1.pdf
102margd
Karl Stevens' New Yorker cartoon, Sept 17, 2021:
https://www.facebook.com/newyorker/photos/a.430906773868/10158574980743869/
https://www.facebook.com/newyorker/photos/a.430906773868/10158574980743869/
103margd
Scots could plant a few trees, as well as stop burning peat. Sure, the vistas are beautiful, but Norwegians are allowing THEIR forests to return, showing what's possible in Scotand: https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/blog/reforestation-in-norway-showing-whats-p...
Scotland ‘needs to stop peat-burning to reach net zero by 2045’
A conservation charity said peatlands are key centres of carbon storage and when burned can rapidly release stored carbon.
PA Media | 10/1/2021
Current “muirburn” practices, the controlled burning of vegetation in moorland areas, typically to promote new growth, are “incompatible” with the Scottish Government’s climate ambitions, said the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland (RSPB).
The conservation charity said peatlands are key centres of carbon storage and when burned can rapidly release stored carbon, whereas healthy wet peatlands continually store the atmosphere-damaging element.
Peatland is estimated to cover nearly a quarter of Scotland, and last year the Scottish Government announced £250m over 10 years for restoring peatlands, with a target of restoring 250,000 hectares of degraded peatland by 2030...
In November 2020, then-rural affairs minister Mairi Gougeon said in a statement to parliament: “In future muirburn will only be permitted under licence from NatureScot, regardless of the time of year it is undertaken.
“And there will be a statutory ban on burning on peatland, except under licence for strictly limited purposes such as habitat restoration.”
The RSPB welcomed this commitment but said it urgently needed to be brought in by this time next year.
October 1 is the start of the muirburn season, which runs until April 15, NatureScot said...
https://news.stv.tv/scotland/scotland-needs-to-stop-peat-burning-to-reach-net-ze...
Scotland ‘needs to stop peat-burning to reach net zero by 2045’
A conservation charity said peatlands are key centres of carbon storage and when burned can rapidly release stored carbon.
PA Media | 10/1/2021
Current “muirburn” practices, the controlled burning of vegetation in moorland areas, typically to promote new growth, are “incompatible” with the Scottish Government’s climate ambitions, said the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland (RSPB).
The conservation charity said peatlands are key centres of carbon storage and when burned can rapidly release stored carbon, whereas healthy wet peatlands continually store the atmosphere-damaging element.
Peatland is estimated to cover nearly a quarter of Scotland, and last year the Scottish Government announced £250m over 10 years for restoring peatlands, with a target of restoring 250,000 hectares of degraded peatland by 2030...
In November 2020, then-rural affairs minister Mairi Gougeon said in a statement to parliament: “In future muirburn will only be permitted under licence from NatureScot, regardless of the time of year it is undertaken.
“And there will be a statutory ban on burning on peatland, except under licence for strictly limited purposes such as habitat restoration.”
The RSPB welcomed this commitment but said it urgently needed to be brought in by this time next year.
October 1 is the start of the muirburn season, which runs until April 15, NatureScot said...
https://news.stv.tv/scotland/scotland-needs-to-stop-peat-burning-to-reach-net-ze...
104margd
Climate change killed 14% of the world’s coral reefs in a decade, study finds
“We can reverse losses, but we have to act now,” a U.N. official warned.
Ellen Francis | Oct 5, 2021
...The world already lost 14 percent of its coral between 2009 and 2018 — or what amounts to more than all the coral now living in Australia’s reefs — scientists with the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network found.
They blamed rising sea surface temperatures: While local factors like too much fishing, pollution and construction on the coast play a role, coral bleaching has done the most harm.
That’s what happens when the water becomes so warm that corals evict the algae that they shelter in return for food. The corals turn white if their colorful partners stay away for too long, and over time, they can starve to death.
A severe case of this in 1998, the first mass global bleaching event, killed 8 percent of the world’s coral alone.
Data from over 40 years and 73 countries fed the analysis, with backing from the United Nations, which described it as the most sweeping of its kind so far. It highlights damage in reefs in South Asia, Australia, the Pacific and other regions.
Still, with Tuesday’s warnings came some hope: The underwater ecosystems have bounced back in the past when they faced less pressure. This means the world can still rescue many if it steps in fast enough to curb emissions, according to the researchers...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/10/05/climate-change-kil...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sixth Status of Corals of the World: 2020 Report
https://gcrmn.net/2020-report/
Executive Summary
https://gcrmn.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Executive-Summary-with-Forewords.pd...
“We can reverse losses, but we have to act now,” a U.N. official warned.
Ellen Francis | Oct 5, 2021
...The world already lost 14 percent of its coral between 2009 and 2018 — or what amounts to more than all the coral now living in Australia’s reefs — scientists with the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network found.
They blamed rising sea surface temperatures: While local factors like too much fishing, pollution and construction on the coast play a role, coral bleaching has done the most harm.
That’s what happens when the water becomes so warm that corals evict the algae that they shelter in return for food. The corals turn white if their colorful partners stay away for too long, and over time, they can starve to death.
A severe case of this in 1998, the first mass global bleaching event, killed 8 percent of the world’s coral alone.
Data from over 40 years and 73 countries fed the analysis, with backing from the United Nations, which described it as the most sweeping of its kind so far. It highlights damage in reefs in South Asia, Australia, the Pacific and other regions.
Still, with Tuesday’s warnings came some hope: The underwater ecosystems have bounced back in the past when they faced less pressure. This means the world can still rescue many if it steps in fast enough to curb emissions, according to the researchers...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/10/05/climate-change-kil...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sixth Status of Corals of the World: 2020 Report
https://gcrmn.net/2020-report/
Executive Summary
https://gcrmn.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Executive-Summary-with-Forewords.pd...
105margd
South Pole posts most severe cold season on record, an anomaly in a warming world
Jason Samenow and Kasha Patel (The Washington Post) | Oct. 1, 2021
...The average temperature at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station between April and September, a frigid minus-78 degrees (minus-61 Celsius), was the coldest on record, dating back to 1957. This was 4.5 degrees lower than the most recent 30-year average.
...The extreme cold over Antarctica helped push sea ice levels surrounding the continent to their fifth-highest level on record in August...
...The current temperatures are still some distance from the coldest ever observed on the continent. In 1983, (Russia’s Vostok Station) plummeted to minus-129 degrees (minus-89.6 Celsius). Satellites have detected temperatures as low as minus-144 degrees (minus-98 Celsius).
...Scientists credited a very strong polar vortex, or a ring of strong winds in the stratosphere, surrounding Antarctica for the intensity of the cold.
...Whether the vortex is strong or weak depends on a cycle known as Southern Annular Mode (SAM). Right now, the mode is in its positive phase and the vortex is intense.
“Basically, the winds in the polar stratosphere have been stronger than normal, which is associated with shifting the jet stream toward the pole,” wrote Amy Butler, an atmospheric scientist at NOAA in a message. “This keeps the cold air locked up over much of Antarctica.”...the strong polar vortex not only makes it very cold over Antarctica, but accelerates processes that lead to stratospheric ozone depletion, which in turn can strengthen the vortex even more. This year’s ozone hole over Antarctic is much bigger than average at around 24 million square kilometers, a reflection of the vortex’s strength.
...Scientists stressed the record cold over the South Pole in no way refutes or lessens the seriousness of global warming. Antarctica is notorious for its wild swings in weather and climate which can run counter to global trends.
Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the University of Colorado, wrote in an email that...Antarctic...sea ice, which was close to a record high at the end of August tanked to “to one of the lowest extents for this time of year that we’ve seen” by the end of September.
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/south-pole-posts-most-severe-cold-seas...
Jason Samenow and Kasha Patel (The Washington Post) | Oct. 1, 2021
...The average temperature at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station between April and September, a frigid minus-78 degrees (minus-61 Celsius), was the coldest on record, dating back to 1957. This was 4.5 degrees lower than the most recent 30-year average.
...The extreme cold over Antarctica helped push sea ice levels surrounding the continent to their fifth-highest level on record in August...
...The current temperatures are still some distance from the coldest ever observed on the continent. In 1983, (Russia’s Vostok Station) plummeted to minus-129 degrees (minus-89.6 Celsius). Satellites have detected temperatures as low as minus-144 degrees (minus-98 Celsius).
...Scientists credited a very strong polar vortex, or a ring of strong winds in the stratosphere, surrounding Antarctica for the intensity of the cold.
...Whether the vortex is strong or weak depends on a cycle known as Southern Annular Mode (SAM). Right now, the mode is in its positive phase and the vortex is intense.
“Basically, the winds in the polar stratosphere have been stronger than normal, which is associated with shifting the jet stream toward the pole,” wrote Amy Butler, an atmospheric scientist at NOAA in a message. “This keeps the cold air locked up over much of Antarctica.”...the strong polar vortex not only makes it very cold over Antarctica, but accelerates processes that lead to stratospheric ozone depletion, which in turn can strengthen the vortex even more. This year’s ozone hole over Antarctic is much bigger than average at around 24 million square kilometers, a reflection of the vortex’s strength.
...Scientists stressed the record cold over the South Pole in no way refutes or lessens the seriousness of global warming. Antarctica is notorious for its wild swings in weather and climate which can run counter to global trends.
Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the University of Colorado, wrote in an email that...Antarctic...sea ice, which was close to a record high at the end of August tanked to “to one of the lowest extents for this time of year that we’ve seen” by the end of September.
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/south-pole-posts-most-severe-cold-seas...
106margd
How many climate disasters will today's children face? Scientists release estimate
Thomson Reuters · Posted: Sep 28, 2021
...Children will, on average, suffer seven times more heat waves and nearly three times more droughts, floods and crop failures due to fast-accelerating climate change, found a report from aid agency Save the Children.
Those in low- and middle-income countries will bear the brunt, with Afghan children likely to endure up to 18 times as many heat waves as their elders, and children in Mali likely to live through up to 10 times more crop failures...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/children-climate-change-1.6191898
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wim Thiery Stefan et al. 2021 Intergenerational inequities in exposure to climate extremes. Science • 8 Oct 2021 • Vol 374, Issue 6564 • pp. 158-160 • DOI: 10.1126/science.abi7339 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abi7339
Abstract
Under continued global warming, extreme events such as heat waves will continue to rise in frequency, intensity, duration, and spatial extent over the next decades... Younger generations are therefore expected to face more such events across their lifetimes compared with older generations. This raises important issues of solidarity and fairness across generations that have fueled a surge of climate protests led by young people in recent years and that underpin issues of intergenerational equity raised in recent climate litigation. However, the standard scientific paradigm is to assess climate change in discrete time windows or at discrete levels of warming..., a “period” approach that inhibits quantification of how much more extreme events a particular generation will experience over its lifetime compared with another. By developing a “cohort” perspective to quantify changes in lifetime exposure to climate extremes and compare across generations (see the first figure), we estimate that children born in 2020 will experience a two- to sevenfold increase in extreme events, particularly heat waves, compared with people born in 1960, under current climate policy pledges. Our results highlight a severe threat to the safety of young generations and call for drastic emission reductions to safeguard their future.
Thomson Reuters · Posted: Sep 28, 2021
...Children will, on average, suffer seven times more heat waves and nearly three times more droughts, floods and crop failures due to fast-accelerating climate change, found a report from aid agency Save the Children.
Those in low- and middle-income countries will bear the brunt, with Afghan children likely to endure up to 18 times as many heat waves as their elders, and children in Mali likely to live through up to 10 times more crop failures...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/children-climate-change-1.6191898
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wim Thiery Stefan et al. 2021 Intergenerational inequities in exposure to climate extremes. Science • 8 Oct 2021 • Vol 374, Issue 6564 • pp. 158-160 • DOI: 10.1126/science.abi7339 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abi7339
Abstract
Under continued global warming, extreme events such as heat waves will continue to rise in frequency, intensity, duration, and spatial extent over the next decades... Younger generations are therefore expected to face more such events across their lifetimes compared with older generations. This raises important issues of solidarity and fairness across generations that have fueled a surge of climate protests led by young people in recent years and that underpin issues of intergenerational equity raised in recent climate litigation. However, the standard scientific paradigm is to assess climate change in discrete time windows or at discrete levels of warming..., a “period” approach that inhibits quantification of how much more extreme events a particular generation will experience over its lifetime compared with another. By developing a “cohort” perspective to quantify changes in lifetime exposure to climate extremes and compare across generations (see the first figure), we estimate that children born in 2020 will experience a two- to sevenfold increase in extreme events, particularly heat waves, compared with people born in 1960, under current climate policy pledges. Our results highlight a severe threat to the safety of young generations and call for drastic emission reductions to safeguard their future.
107margd
>103 margd: contd.
Fires reported on peatlands across Northern England’s national parks
Emma Howard and Christopher Deane | Oct 12, 2021
More than 100 fires have been reported on Northern England’s carbon-rich peatlands – mostly in national parks – just weeks before the government is set to host COP26, a landmark international climate change summit held in Glasgow.
Heather is deliberately burned on grouse-shooting estates in the winter months to maintain the ecosystem for grouse hunting, a British field sport.
The 109 fires, all reported by activists for the group Wild Moors since Thursday evening, have been lit in spite of a partial government ban in England and Wales, which came into force in May. The vast majority of the fires have been set on shallow peatlands, which are not covered by the ban. Multiple fires often occur on the same estate.
Unearthed has verified several of the fires – on the North York moors – where we recorded drone footage, but have not verified the full dataset. We have also spot-checked some of the co-ordinates provided by volunteers against government peatland maps.
The UK’s peatlands are its biggest natural terrestrial carbon store and are also globally significant as they are home to 13% of the world’s blanket bog, a rare type of peatland found in the British uplands. Restoring them must be a “top priority” if the UK is to reach net zero emissions by 2050, according to a report published in April by the government’s conservation watchdog...
https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/10/12/fires-peatlands-england-national-par...
----------------------------------------------------------------
BREAKING | Take a look at our latest drone footage revealing the scale of deliberate burning on peatlands across northern England's national parks.
1:20 ( https://twitter.com/UE/status/1447906363171033092 )
- Unearthed @UE8:45 AM · Oct 12, 2021
Fires reported on peatlands across Northern England’s national parks
Emma Howard and Christopher Deane | Oct 12, 2021
More than 100 fires have been reported on Northern England’s carbon-rich peatlands – mostly in national parks – just weeks before the government is set to host COP26, a landmark international climate change summit held in Glasgow.
Heather is deliberately burned on grouse-shooting estates in the winter months to maintain the ecosystem for grouse hunting, a British field sport.
The 109 fires, all reported by activists for the group Wild Moors since Thursday evening, have been lit in spite of a partial government ban in England and Wales, which came into force in May. The vast majority of the fires have been set on shallow peatlands, which are not covered by the ban. Multiple fires often occur on the same estate.
Unearthed has verified several of the fires – on the North York moors – where we recorded drone footage, but have not verified the full dataset. We have also spot-checked some of the co-ordinates provided by volunteers against government peatland maps.
The UK’s peatlands are its biggest natural terrestrial carbon store and are also globally significant as they are home to 13% of the world’s blanket bog, a rare type of peatland found in the British uplands. Restoring them must be a “top priority” if the UK is to reach net zero emissions by 2050, according to a report published in April by the government’s conservation watchdog...
https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/10/12/fires-peatlands-england-national-par...
----------------------------------------------------------------
BREAKING | Take a look at our latest drone footage revealing the scale of deliberate burning on peatlands across northern England's national parks.
1:20 ( https://twitter.com/UE/status/1447906363171033092 )
- Unearthed @UE8:45 AM · Oct 12, 2021
108margd
The truth about the environmental paw print of dogs (and cats) — and how to reduce it
Sep 30, 2021 / Ceri Perkins
Buy cheaper food with a lower overall meat content.
Notably, dogs are better able to digest starches, an ability thought to be tied to three key genes: AMY2B, MGAM and SGLT1. While wolves, coyotes and jackals typically have just two copies of AMY2B, domestic dogs tend to have at least five times that — some with as many as 22 copies.
In fact, while cats are considered “obligate carnivores” — meaning that their diet requires nutrients found only in animal flesh — modern dogs are such omnivores that plant-based foods, including non-meat protein sources such as yeast, insects and (soon!) lab-grown protein, are realistic and healthy alternatives.
eliminate non-essential purchases.
Buy local so that you can pick up supplies yourself, on foot. If you need to order for delivery, buy in bulk
consider a small breed
https://ideas.ted.com/the-environmental-impact-of-dogs-and-cats-and-how-to-reduc...
______________________________________________________________
Composting Dog Waste (11p)
USDA
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_035763.pdf
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(On our property, I trowel doggy doo into treed area. She's small. There's one of her--and she's far outnumbered by coyotes, foxes, possums, raccoons, vultures, etc., all of which more likely to deposit parasites and pathogens than she is!)
Sep 30, 2021 / Ceri Perkins
Buy cheaper food with a lower overall meat content.
Notably, dogs are better able to digest starches, an ability thought to be tied to three key genes: AMY2B, MGAM and SGLT1. While wolves, coyotes and jackals typically have just two copies of AMY2B, domestic dogs tend to have at least five times that — some with as many as 22 copies.
In fact, while cats are considered “obligate carnivores” — meaning that their diet requires nutrients found only in animal flesh — modern dogs are such omnivores that plant-based foods, including non-meat protein sources such as yeast, insects and (soon!) lab-grown protein, are realistic and healthy alternatives.
eliminate non-essential purchases.
Buy local so that you can pick up supplies yourself, on foot. If you need to order for delivery, buy in bulk
consider a small breed
https://ideas.ted.com/the-environmental-impact-of-dogs-and-cats-and-how-to-reduc...
______________________________________________________________
Composting Dog Waste (11p)
USDA
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_035763.pdf
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(On our property, I trowel doggy doo into treed area. She's small. There's one of her--and she's far outnumbered by coyotes, foxes, possums, raccoons, vultures, etc., all of which more likely to deposit parasites and pathogens than she is!)
109margd
Gas shortages: what is driving Europe’s energy crisis?
Supply shortfalls and an over-reliance on volatile imports are contributing to record prices
David Sheppard | Oct 11, 2021
If you live in continental Europe or the UK the natural gas that heats your home this October is costing at least five times more than it did a year ago. The reasons are varied: among them are earthquakes in the Netherlands, China’s attempt to clean up its air and Russian president Vladimir Putin’s power politics. But the impact is clear. The record prices being paid by suppliers in Europe and shortfalls in gas supply across the continent have stoked fears of an energy crisis should the weather be even marginally colder than normal. Households are already facing steeper bills while some energy intensive industries have started to slow production, denting the optimism around the post-pandemic economic recovery.
And while some in the gas industry believe the price surge is a temporary phenomenon, caused by economic dislocations owing to coronavirus, many others say it highlights a structural weakness in a continent that has become too reliant on imported gas...
But the long-term target of creating net zero economies in the UK and Europe has also sapped investors’ willingness to put money into developing supplies of a fossil fuel they believe could be largely obsolete in 30 years...
The gas industry used to operate almost entirely on point-to-point pipelines that kept regional competition to a minimum. The rapid growth of the LNG industry means seaborne cargoes have now created something more akin to a global market similar to oil...
European governments argue that “volatile” gas prices reinforce the need to accelerate towards renewable energy. But there are concerns that the problems could trigger a backlash against renewables if consumers start to believe the price of the energy transition is too high....
The world’s oil consumption remains relatively stable throughout the year with only small fluctuations between the seasons. Gas demand, however, is far stronger each winter owing to its role in domestic heating...The industry manages these cycles in various ways. The chief one is storage — pumping gas underground during the low-demand summer months that can then be called on when the weather turns cold. The other is access to swing supplies that can rise or reduce as needed. One of the big problems the UK and Europe faces, however, is that the main sources of these supplies are not working as they once did, creating the conditions for more volatile gas prices...
https://www.ft.com/content/72d0ec90-29e3-4e95-9280-6a4ad6b481a3
Supply shortfalls and an over-reliance on volatile imports are contributing to record prices
David Sheppard | Oct 11, 2021
If you live in continental Europe or the UK the natural gas that heats your home this October is costing at least five times more than it did a year ago. The reasons are varied: among them are earthquakes in the Netherlands, China’s attempt to clean up its air and Russian president Vladimir Putin’s power politics. But the impact is clear. The record prices being paid by suppliers in Europe and shortfalls in gas supply across the continent have stoked fears of an energy crisis should the weather be even marginally colder than normal. Households are already facing steeper bills while some energy intensive industries have started to slow production, denting the optimism around the post-pandemic economic recovery.
And while some in the gas industry believe the price surge is a temporary phenomenon, caused by economic dislocations owing to coronavirus, many others say it highlights a structural weakness in a continent that has become too reliant on imported gas...
But the long-term target of creating net zero economies in the UK and Europe has also sapped investors’ willingness to put money into developing supplies of a fossil fuel they believe could be largely obsolete in 30 years...
The gas industry used to operate almost entirely on point-to-point pipelines that kept regional competition to a minimum. The rapid growth of the LNG industry means seaborne cargoes have now created something more akin to a global market similar to oil...
European governments argue that “volatile” gas prices reinforce the need to accelerate towards renewable energy. But there are concerns that the problems could trigger a backlash against renewables if consumers start to believe the price of the energy transition is too high....
The world’s oil consumption remains relatively stable throughout the year with only small fluctuations between the seasons. Gas demand, however, is far stronger each winter owing to its role in domestic heating...The industry manages these cycles in various ways. The chief one is storage — pumping gas underground during the low-demand summer months that can then be called on when the weather turns cold. The other is access to swing supplies that can rise or reduce as needed. One of the big problems the UK and Europe faces, however, is that the main sources of these supplies are not working as they once did, creating the conditions for more volatile gas prices...
https://www.ft.com/content/72d0ec90-29e3-4e95-9280-6a4ad6b481a3
110margd
Joe Manchin’s Dirty Empire
Daniel Boguslaw | September 3 2021
...(US Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.,)’s claim that climate pollution would be worsened by the elimination of fossil fuels — or by the resolution’s actual, more incremental climate provisions — is highly dubious, if not outright false. What would unquestionably be impacted, however, is Manchin’s own personal wealth.
Though Manchin’s motivations are often ascribed to the conservative, coal-friendly politics of West Virginia, it is also the case that the state’s senior senator is heavily invested in the industry — and owes much of his considerable fortune to it.
For decades, Manchin has profited from a series of coal companies that he founded during the 1980s. His son, Joe Manchin IV, has since assumed leadership roles in the firms, and the senator says his ownership is held in a blind trust. Yet between the time he joined the Senate and today, Manchin has personally grossed more than $4.5 million from those firms, according to financial disclosures. He also holds stock options in Enersystems Inc., the larger of the two firms, valued between $1 and $5 million.
Those two companies are Enersystems Inc. and Farmington Resources Inc., the latter of which was created by the rapid merging of two other firms, Manchin’s Transcon and Farmington Energy in 2005. Enersystems purchases low-quality waste coal from mines and resells it to power plants as fuel, while Farmington Resources provides “support activities for mining” and holds coal reserves in the Fairmont area. Over the decades, whether feeding tens of thousands of tons of dirty waste coal into the power plants in northern West Virginia or subjecting workers to unsafe conditions, Manchin’s family coal business has almost entirely avoided public scrutiny.
...The Intercept found that Enersystems sold coal from mines that not only violated the Clean Water Act but also served as dumping grounds for carcinogenic coal ash. Enersystems has also sold coal to an energy producer pumping acid mine drainage into the mine system running below the greater Fairmont area...
https://theintercept.com/2021/09/03/joe-manchin-coal-fossil-fuels-pollution/
________________________________________________
#joemanchinsenatorforsale (2:19)
Don Winslow Films
https://twitter.com/donwinslow/status/1450400477925892102
Don Winslow: "We found so much vile and provable corruption in Manchin's life and his families life that we could not fit it all into one video. So this is just Part 1."
_________________________________________________
Manchin Reportedly Headlining Texas Fundraiser Hosted Mostly By GOP Donors
Andrew Solender | Jul 16, 2021
The event’s hosts include executives at Texas-based oil and gas companies, including ConocoPhillips and the pipeline companies Kinder Morgan and Enterprise Products, according to an invitation published by the Texas Tribune.
Most of the hosts have donated heavily to Republican candidates in recent cycles – including former President Donald Trump – with some giving exclusively to the GOP, according to Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by Forbes.
One outlier in the group is Bill White, a Democratic donor and former mayor of Houston who now serves as chairman of the financial advisory firm Lazard Houston.
The makeup of the group epitomizes progressive criticism of Manchin’s admitted friendliness with the oil industry, which reached a fever pitch earlier this month after an ExxonMobil lobbyist singled out Manchin as an ally with open lines of communication.
The fundraiser also offers a rare glimpse into the 73-year-old senator’s plans for his political future: he has not declared publicly whether he will run for reelection in 2024, though he said in May returning home to West Virginia is “not a bad option.”
...Crucial Quote
“Senator Manchin is the Chair of the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. More importantly he is a longtime friend, since his days as Governor of West Virginia,” the invitation tells potential donors, adding, “Let’s stand up for Joe, our Bipartisan Senate Leader for Energy.”...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2021/07/16/manchin-reportedly-headli...
Daniel Boguslaw | September 3 2021
...(US Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.,)’s claim that climate pollution would be worsened by the elimination of fossil fuels — or by the resolution’s actual, more incremental climate provisions — is highly dubious, if not outright false. What would unquestionably be impacted, however, is Manchin’s own personal wealth.
Though Manchin’s motivations are often ascribed to the conservative, coal-friendly politics of West Virginia, it is also the case that the state’s senior senator is heavily invested in the industry — and owes much of his considerable fortune to it.
For decades, Manchin has profited from a series of coal companies that he founded during the 1980s. His son, Joe Manchin IV, has since assumed leadership roles in the firms, and the senator says his ownership is held in a blind trust. Yet between the time he joined the Senate and today, Manchin has personally grossed more than $4.5 million from those firms, according to financial disclosures. He also holds stock options in Enersystems Inc., the larger of the two firms, valued between $1 and $5 million.
Those two companies are Enersystems Inc. and Farmington Resources Inc., the latter of which was created by the rapid merging of two other firms, Manchin’s Transcon and Farmington Energy in 2005. Enersystems purchases low-quality waste coal from mines and resells it to power plants as fuel, while Farmington Resources provides “support activities for mining” and holds coal reserves in the Fairmont area. Over the decades, whether feeding tens of thousands of tons of dirty waste coal into the power plants in northern West Virginia or subjecting workers to unsafe conditions, Manchin’s family coal business has almost entirely avoided public scrutiny.
...The Intercept found that Enersystems sold coal from mines that not only violated the Clean Water Act but also served as dumping grounds for carcinogenic coal ash. Enersystems has also sold coal to an energy producer pumping acid mine drainage into the mine system running below the greater Fairmont area...
https://theintercept.com/2021/09/03/joe-manchin-coal-fossil-fuels-pollution/
________________________________________________
#joemanchinsenatorforsale (2:19)
Don Winslow Films
https://twitter.com/donwinslow/status/1450400477925892102
Don Winslow: "We found so much vile and provable corruption in Manchin's life and his families life that we could not fit it all into one video. So this is just Part 1."
_________________________________________________
Manchin Reportedly Headlining Texas Fundraiser Hosted Mostly By GOP Donors
Andrew Solender | Jul 16, 2021
The event’s hosts include executives at Texas-based oil and gas companies, including ConocoPhillips and the pipeline companies Kinder Morgan and Enterprise Products, according to an invitation published by the Texas Tribune.
Most of the hosts have donated heavily to Republican candidates in recent cycles – including former President Donald Trump – with some giving exclusively to the GOP, according to Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by Forbes.
One outlier in the group is Bill White, a Democratic donor and former mayor of Houston who now serves as chairman of the financial advisory firm Lazard Houston.
The makeup of the group epitomizes progressive criticism of Manchin’s admitted friendliness with the oil industry, which reached a fever pitch earlier this month after an ExxonMobil lobbyist singled out Manchin as an ally with open lines of communication.
The fundraiser also offers a rare glimpse into the 73-year-old senator’s plans for his political future: he has not declared publicly whether he will run for reelection in 2024, though he said in May returning home to West Virginia is “not a bad option.”
...Crucial Quote
“Senator Manchin is the Chair of the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. More importantly he is a longtime friend, since his days as Governor of West Virginia,” the invitation tells potential donors, adding, “Let’s stand up for Joe, our Bipartisan Senate Leader for Energy.”...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2021/07/16/manchin-reportedly-headli...
111margd
Russia allows methane leaks at planet’s peril
Steven Mufson, Isabelle Khurshudyan, Chris Mooney, Brady Dennis, John Muyskens and Naema Ahmed | Oct. 19, 2021
...Many countries and companies have long misrepresented or simply miscounted how much fossil fuel-based methane they have let escape into the air.
Now, new satellites devoted to locating and measuring greenhouse gases are orbiting Earth, with more on the way. These sentinels in the sky are auguring an era of data transparency as their patrons seek to safeguard the planet by closing the gap between the amount of methane that scientists know is in the atmosphere versus what is reported from the ground — industry by industry, pipeline by pipeline, leak by leak.
Satellites can provide real time evidence of massive, unreported methane leaks — and who is responsible for them. That information can help officials hold the polluting companies accountable or expose governments that hide or ignore dangerous emissions that are warming the world.
Today, the second-biggest natural gas producer is Russia, fed by the prolific Yamal region, followed by Iran and its Persian Gulf gas fields. Next come China, Canada and Qatar, with its flotilla of liquefied natural gas tankers. The United States, bolstered by horizontal fracking in the Permian Basin across west Texas and eastern New Mexico, remains the world’s largest natural gas producer.
...Scientists say that rapidly cutting methane “is very likely to be the most powerful lever” to slow the rate of warming. But they have also documented a disturbing and surprising spike in atmospheric concentrations in recent years that they have not yet pinned down.
The methane mystery has also drawn the attention of climate negotiators, who will converge in Glasgow with methane near the top of the agenda. Ahead of those talks, the United States and Europe launched a Global Methane Pledge that aims to reduce methane emissions nearly a third by 2030. Dozens of nations, including nine of the world’s top 20 emitters, have signed onto the effort — but so far, Russia has not.
Given Russia’s sprawling oil and gas industry, climate summit watchers say persuading President Vladimir Putin to plug his nation’s leaking pipelines and dial back plans to grow natural gas exports will be important...
European regulators are planning to open a new front in trade wars, imposing import taxes to penalize companies that sell natural gas in Europe while leaving behind a trail of leaked methane.
...Capturing methane in the oil and gas sector is technologically simple, usually cheap and can reward companies that currently dump gas into the atmosphere. Cutting carbon dioxide in the energy sector, by contrast, is a massive undertaking; it would require, for example, owners of the world’s 1.4 billion cars to go electric.
The International Energy Agency, part of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, has said oil and gas companies could cut methane emissions by 75 percent using currently available technology. That matters, because time is running short...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2021/russia-green...
Steven Mufson, Isabelle Khurshudyan, Chris Mooney, Brady Dennis, John Muyskens and Naema Ahmed | Oct. 19, 2021
...Many countries and companies have long misrepresented or simply miscounted how much fossil fuel-based methane they have let escape into the air.
Now, new satellites devoted to locating and measuring greenhouse gases are orbiting Earth, with more on the way. These sentinels in the sky are auguring an era of data transparency as their patrons seek to safeguard the planet by closing the gap between the amount of methane that scientists know is in the atmosphere versus what is reported from the ground — industry by industry, pipeline by pipeline, leak by leak.
Satellites can provide real time evidence of massive, unreported methane leaks — and who is responsible for them. That information can help officials hold the polluting companies accountable or expose governments that hide or ignore dangerous emissions that are warming the world.
Today, the second-biggest natural gas producer is Russia, fed by the prolific Yamal region, followed by Iran and its Persian Gulf gas fields. Next come China, Canada and Qatar, with its flotilla of liquefied natural gas tankers. The United States, bolstered by horizontal fracking in the Permian Basin across west Texas and eastern New Mexico, remains the world’s largest natural gas producer.
...Scientists say that rapidly cutting methane “is very likely to be the most powerful lever” to slow the rate of warming. But they have also documented a disturbing and surprising spike in atmospheric concentrations in recent years that they have not yet pinned down.
The methane mystery has also drawn the attention of climate negotiators, who will converge in Glasgow with methane near the top of the agenda. Ahead of those talks, the United States and Europe launched a Global Methane Pledge that aims to reduce methane emissions nearly a third by 2030. Dozens of nations, including nine of the world’s top 20 emitters, have signed onto the effort — but so far, Russia has not.
Given Russia’s sprawling oil and gas industry, climate summit watchers say persuading President Vladimir Putin to plug his nation’s leaking pipelines and dial back plans to grow natural gas exports will be important...
European regulators are planning to open a new front in trade wars, imposing import taxes to penalize companies that sell natural gas in Europe while leaving behind a trail of leaked methane.
...Capturing methane in the oil and gas sector is technologically simple, usually cheap and can reward companies that currently dump gas into the atmosphere. Cutting carbon dioxide in the energy sector, by contrast, is a massive undertaking; it would require, for example, owners of the world’s 1.4 billion cars to go electric.
The International Energy Agency, part of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, has said oil and gas companies could cut methane emissions by 75 percent using currently available technology. That matters, because time is running short...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2021/russia-green...
112margd
The world is banking on giant carbon-sucking fans to clean our climate mess. It's a big risk.
Ivana Kottasová |October 20, 2021
...Orca (Iceland) is a depressing symbol of just how bad things have become, but equally, it could be the tech that helps humanity claw its way out of the crisis.
"We, as humans, have disturbed the balance of the natural carbon cycle. So it's our job to restore the balance," said Edda Aradóttir, a chemical engineer and the CEO of Carbfix. "We are assisting the natural carbon cycle to find its previous balance, so for me, at least, this makes total sense — but we have to use it wisely"...
It opened last month and currently removes about 10 metric tons of CO2 every day, which is roughly the the same amount of carbon emitted by 800 cars a day in the US. It's also about the same amount of carbon 500 trees could soak up in a year.
It's a fine start, but in the grand scheme of things, its impact so far is miniscule. Humans emit around 35 billion tons of greenhouse gas a year through the cars we drive and flights we take, the power we use to heat our homes and the food — in particular the meat — that we eat, among other activities...
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/20/world/carbon-capture-storage-climate-iceland-intl...
Ivana Kottasová |October 20, 2021
...Orca (Iceland) is a depressing symbol of just how bad things have become, but equally, it could be the tech that helps humanity claw its way out of the crisis.
"We, as humans, have disturbed the balance of the natural carbon cycle. So it's our job to restore the balance," said Edda Aradóttir, a chemical engineer and the CEO of Carbfix. "We are assisting the natural carbon cycle to find its previous balance, so for me, at least, this makes total sense — but we have to use it wisely"...
It opened last month and currently removes about 10 metric tons of CO2 every day, which is roughly the the same amount of carbon emitted by 800 cars a day in the US. It's also about the same amount of carbon 500 trees could soak up in a year.
It's a fine start, but in the grand scheme of things, its impact so far is miniscule. Humans emit around 35 billion tons of greenhouse gas a year through the cars we drive and flights we take, the power we use to heat our homes and the food — in particular the meat — that we eat, among other activities...
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/20/world/carbon-capture-storage-climate-iceland-intl...
113margd
How Russia Is Cashing In on Climate Change
Global warming may pose grave dangers around the world, but as one tiny Russian town on the Arctic Ocean shows, it can also be a ticket to prosperity.
Andrew E. Kramer | Oct. 22, 2021
...Arable land is expanding, with farmers planting corn in parts of Siberia where it never grew before. Winter heating bills are declining, and Russian fishermen have found a modest pollock catch in thawed areas of the Arctic Ocean near Alaska.
Nowhere do the prospects seem brighter than in Russia’s Far North, where rapidly rising temperatures have opened up a panoply of new possibilities, like mining and energy projects. Perhaps the most profound of these is the prospect, as early as next year, of year-round Arctic shipping with specially designed “ice class” container vessels, offering an alternative to the Suez Canal.
The Kremlin’s policy toward climate change is contradictory. It is not a significant issue in domestic politics. But ever mindful of Russia’s global image, President Vladimir V. Putin recently vowed for the first time that Russia, the world’s fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases and a prodigious producer of fossil fuels, would become carbon neutral by 2060...
...Across the Russian Arctic, a consortium of companies supported by the government is midway through a plan to invest 735 billion rubles, or about $10 billion, over five years developing the Northeast Passage, a shipping lane between the Pacific and Atlantic that the Russians call the Northern Sea Route. They plan to attract shipping between Asia and Europe that now traverses the Suez Canal, and to enable mining, natural gas and tourism ventures...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/22/world/europe/russia-arctic-climate-change-put...
Global warming may pose grave dangers around the world, but as one tiny Russian town on the Arctic Ocean shows, it can also be a ticket to prosperity.
Andrew E. Kramer | Oct. 22, 2021
...Arable land is expanding, with farmers planting corn in parts of Siberia where it never grew before. Winter heating bills are declining, and Russian fishermen have found a modest pollock catch in thawed areas of the Arctic Ocean near Alaska.
Nowhere do the prospects seem brighter than in Russia’s Far North, where rapidly rising temperatures have opened up a panoply of new possibilities, like mining and energy projects. Perhaps the most profound of these is the prospect, as early as next year, of year-round Arctic shipping with specially designed “ice class” container vessels, offering an alternative to the Suez Canal.
The Kremlin’s policy toward climate change is contradictory. It is not a significant issue in domestic politics. But ever mindful of Russia’s global image, President Vladimir V. Putin recently vowed for the first time that Russia, the world’s fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases and a prodigious producer of fossil fuels, would become carbon neutral by 2060...
...Across the Russian Arctic, a consortium of companies supported by the government is midway through a plan to invest 735 billion rubles, or about $10 billion, over five years developing the Northeast Passage, a shipping lane between the Pacific and Atlantic that the Russians call the Northern Sea Route. They plan to attract shipping between Asia and Europe that now traverses the Suez Canal, and to enable mining, natural gas and tourism ventures...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/22/world/europe/russia-arctic-climate-change-put...
114margd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaTgTiUhEJg
Don't Choose Extinction (2:31)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | Premiered Oct 27, 2021
The world spends an astounding US$423 billion annually to subsidize fossil fuels for consumers – oil, electricity that is generated by the burning of other fossil fuels, gas, and coal. This is four times the amount being called for to help poor countries tackle the climate crisis, one of the sticking points ahead of the COP26 global climate conference next week, according to new UN Development Programme (UNDP) research.
The amount spent directly on these subsidies could pay for COVID-19 vaccinations for every person in the world, or pay for three times the annual amount needed to eradicate global extreme poverty. When indirect costs, including costs to the environment, are factored into these subsidies, the figure rises to almost US$6 trillion, according to data published recently by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Instead, UNDP’s analysis highlights that these funds, paid for by taxpayers, end up deepening inequality and impeding action on climate change.
The main contributor to the climate emergency is the energy sector which accounts for 73 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Fossil fuel subsidy reforms would contribute to reducing CO2 emissions and benefit human health and well-being, and they are a first step towards correctly pricing energy – one that reflects the ‘true’ and full cost of using fossil fuels to society and the environment.
But UNDP’s analysis shows that fossil fuel subsidy reforms can also be unfair and harmful for households and society if they are poorly designed. While fossil fuel subsidies tend to be an unequalising tool - as the lion’s share of the benefits concentrate among the rich - these subsidies also represent an important portion of poor peoples’ incomes that otherwise must be paid for energy consumption. Fossil fuel subsidies’ removal thus could easily become an income- and energy-impoverishing strategy. This contributes to making fossil fuels reform difficult, and imposes a key barrier to transitioning to clean and renewable energy sources.
The Don’t Choose Extinction campaign features a collective intelligence platform, the Global Mindpool, to help tackle the most important issues of our time. Linking insights from around the world - on the climate emergency, the crisis in nature and inequality – the Global Mindpool will support UNDP to better inform and equip policy makers in government, civil society, and the private sector.
For more information on the ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’ campaign, visit www.dontchooseextinction.com
UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet.
Don't Choose Extinction (2:31)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | Premiered Oct 27, 2021
The world spends an astounding US$423 billion annually to subsidize fossil fuels for consumers – oil, electricity that is generated by the burning of other fossil fuels, gas, and coal. This is four times the amount being called for to help poor countries tackle the climate crisis, one of the sticking points ahead of the COP26 global climate conference next week, according to new UN Development Programme (UNDP) research.
The amount spent directly on these subsidies could pay for COVID-19 vaccinations for every person in the world, or pay for three times the annual amount needed to eradicate global extreme poverty. When indirect costs, including costs to the environment, are factored into these subsidies, the figure rises to almost US$6 trillion, according to data published recently by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Instead, UNDP’s analysis highlights that these funds, paid for by taxpayers, end up deepening inequality and impeding action on climate change.
The main contributor to the climate emergency is the energy sector which accounts for 73 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Fossil fuel subsidy reforms would contribute to reducing CO2 emissions and benefit human health and well-being, and they are a first step towards correctly pricing energy – one that reflects the ‘true’ and full cost of using fossil fuels to society and the environment.
But UNDP’s analysis shows that fossil fuel subsidy reforms can also be unfair and harmful for households and society if they are poorly designed. While fossil fuel subsidies tend to be an unequalising tool - as the lion’s share of the benefits concentrate among the rich - these subsidies also represent an important portion of poor peoples’ incomes that otherwise must be paid for energy consumption. Fossil fuel subsidies’ removal thus could easily become an income- and energy-impoverishing strategy. This contributes to making fossil fuels reform difficult, and imposes a key barrier to transitioning to clean and renewable energy sources.
The Don’t Choose Extinction campaign features a collective intelligence platform, the Global Mindpool, to help tackle the most important issues of our time. Linking insights from around the world - on the climate emergency, the crisis in nature and inequality – the Global Mindpool will support UNDP to better inform and equip policy makers in government, civil society, and the private sector.
For more information on the ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’ campaign, visit www.dontchooseextinction.com
UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet.
115margd
Biden Administration Moves to Limit Methane, a Potent Greenhouse Gas
The new rule was announced at a U.N. summit where the United States is facing skepticism about its commitment to climate change.
Lisa Friedman | Nov. 2, 2021
The Biden administration said Tuesday that it would heavily regulate methane, a potent greenhouse gas that spews from oil and natural gas operations and can warm the atmosphere 80 times as fast as carbon dioxide in the short term.
For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency intends to limit the methane coming from roughly one million existing oil and gas rigs across the United States. The federal government previously had rules that aimed to prevent methane leaks from oil and gas wells built since 2015, but they were rescinded by the Trump administration. Mr. Biden intends to restore and strengthen them...
Mr. Biden has set an aggressive target of cutting the emissions produced by the United States this decade about 50 percent below 2005 levels, but legislation to help him meet that goal is stalled in Congress. That leaves the administration to rely on regulations and other executive action.
The White House on Tuesday is announcing other new climate initiatives, including a plan to protect tropical forests and a push to speed up clean technology, according to senior administration officials who briefed journalists on Monday.
The centerpiece, however, is the proposed regulation on methane. On Monday, in a speech to world leaders in Glasgow, Mr. Biden said that 70 countries had joined a coalition led by the United States and European Union to cut global methane levels at least 30 percent by 2030...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/02/climate/biden-methane-climate.html
The new rule was announced at a U.N. summit where the United States is facing skepticism about its commitment to climate change.
Lisa Friedman | Nov. 2, 2021
The Biden administration said Tuesday that it would heavily regulate methane, a potent greenhouse gas that spews from oil and natural gas operations and can warm the atmosphere 80 times as fast as carbon dioxide in the short term.
For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency intends to limit the methane coming from roughly one million existing oil and gas rigs across the United States. The federal government previously had rules that aimed to prevent methane leaks from oil and gas wells built since 2015, but they were rescinded by the Trump administration. Mr. Biden intends to restore and strengthen them...
Mr. Biden has set an aggressive target of cutting the emissions produced by the United States this decade about 50 percent below 2005 levels, but legislation to help him meet that goal is stalled in Congress. That leaves the administration to rely on regulations and other executive action.
The White House on Tuesday is announcing other new climate initiatives, including a plan to protect tropical forests and a push to speed up clean technology, according to senior administration officials who briefed journalists on Monday.
The centerpiece, however, is the proposed regulation on methane. On Monday, in a speech to world leaders in Glasgow, Mr. Biden said that 70 countries had joined a coalition led by the United States and European Union to cut global methane levels at least 30 percent by 2030...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/02/climate/biden-methane-climate.html
116margd
"Trees are often cut down to create grazing land to feed the world's hunger for meat"
(Sure glad I was consuming a taco of Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo as I read this article! Yum!
Though it did contain some dairy...Greek yoghurt and a sprinkling of shredded cheese...)
COP26: World leaders promise to end deforestation by 2030
Georgina Rannard & Francesca Gillett | Nov 2, 2021
More than 100 world leaders have promised to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, in the COP26 climate summit's first major deal.
Brazil - where stretches of the Amazon rainforest have been cut down - was among the signatories on Tuesday.
The pledge includes almost £14bn ($19.2bn) of public and private funds.
Experts welcomed the move, but warned a previous deal in 2014 had "failed to slow deforestation at all" and commitments needed to be delivered on...
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59088498
(Sure glad I was consuming a taco of Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo as I read this article! Yum!
Though it did contain some dairy...Greek yoghurt and a sprinkling of shredded cheese...)
COP26: World leaders promise to end deforestation by 2030
Georgina Rannard & Francesca Gillett | Nov 2, 2021
More than 100 world leaders have promised to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, in the COP26 climate summit's first major deal.
Brazil - where stretches of the Amazon rainforest have been cut down - was among the signatories on Tuesday.
The pledge includes almost £14bn ($19.2bn) of public and private funds.
Experts welcomed the move, but warned a previous deal in 2014 had "failed to slow deforestation at all" and commitments needed to be delivered on...
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59088498
117margd
If you want action on climate change, start with yourself
It’s time to show world leaders in Glasgow the power of individual activism
Henry Mance | 11/5/2021
...Nearly one-quarter of Britons say they’d be willing never to fly for leisure, but only 8 per cent say they’re doing it. Half say they’d limit their meat and dairy intake to three meals a week, but only 14 per cent say they’re doing that.
...As Leo Tolstoy wrote, “everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
...Your decisions matter. A return flight from London to New York melts three square metres of Arctic summer sea ice. If you reduce your emissions, others will follow.
Behavioural change can be the springboard for new technologies...
...If you don’t live your principles, your activism will be undermined by charges of hypocrisy.
...our behaviour sets the parameters for politics...smoking...use of wild animals in circuses...
...“Do the things which lie nearest to you but which are difficult to do,” Henry Thoreau wrote in his diary in 1852...
https://www.ft.com/content/9b2466b7-1ef7-493d-83ea-a75a3687a7b6
It’s time to show world leaders in Glasgow the power of individual activism
Henry Mance | 11/5/2021
...Nearly one-quarter of Britons say they’d be willing never to fly for leisure, but only 8 per cent say they’re doing it. Half say they’d limit their meat and dairy intake to three meals a week, but only 14 per cent say they’re doing that.
...As Leo Tolstoy wrote, “everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
...Your decisions matter. A return flight from London to New York melts three square metres of Arctic summer sea ice. If you reduce your emissions, others will follow.
Behavioural change can be the springboard for new technologies...
...If you don’t live your principles, your activism will be undermined by charges of hypocrisy.
...our behaviour sets the parameters for politics...smoking...use of wild animals in circuses...
...“Do the things which lie nearest to you but which are difficult to do,” Henry Thoreau wrote in his diary in 1852...
https://www.ft.com/content/9b2466b7-1ef7-493d-83ea-a75a3687a7b6
118margd
Quebec pledges to transition all government vehicles to zero-emission by 2040 at COP26
The Canadian Press | 11/7/2021
Quebec says it plans to transition to electric vehicles for all government departments and ensure all its institutional buildings become zero-emission producers over the next 19 years as it looks to speed up its shift to green energy.
The province previously announced plans to switch to electric cars, SUVs, vans, minivans and some heavy-duty vehicles by 2030, but today’s announcement added all other vehicles to the list with a longer timeline for the full transition.
Environment Minister Benoit Charette made the latest promise today at the United Nations COP26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland, saying the goal is to have the entire provincial government fleet consist of zero-emissions vehicles by 2040...
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-quebec-pledges-to-transition-all-...
--------------------------------------------------
eric denhoff* @EDenhoff | 4:03 PM · Nov 7, 2021
Totally meaningless. Almost 20 years! If there’s a climate emergency, it would be terribly easy to achieve this in well under a decade, it just costs more. You can do cars & buses now. Light duty shortly. Heavy duty in 5 years. #cdnpoli
* eric denhoff @EDenhoff
Former Alta. & BC Deputy Minister, Chief Fed. Negotiator. Award Winning Journalist. Best selling author.
”I read every one of his tweets”-Charles Adler.
--------------------------------------------------
Catherine McKenna* @cathmckenna | 6:15 AM · Nov 8, 2021:
I don't get this. Why don't all governments transition to all zero-emission vehicles now?
At least everything that is purchased should be ZEV. And accelerate retirement of old stock.
Governments need to drive clean growth now & stimulate market. Enough about 2050, 2040, 2030.
*Catherine McKenna @cathmckenna | 6:15 AM · Nov 8, 2021:
Scaling climate & nature solutions & #WomenLeadingonClimate. Fmr Flag of Canada Minister of Environment & Climate Change, Infrastructure. Media jade@studentenergy.org
---------------------------------------------------
margd: Broke DH's heart to give up his Roadmaster for $3500 rebate ~2009 (US). Dealer poured something in engine to seize it up, so couldn't be used again...
The Canadian Press | 11/7/2021
Quebec says it plans to transition to electric vehicles for all government departments and ensure all its institutional buildings become zero-emission producers over the next 19 years as it looks to speed up its shift to green energy.
The province previously announced plans to switch to electric cars, SUVs, vans, minivans and some heavy-duty vehicles by 2030, but today’s announcement added all other vehicles to the list with a longer timeline for the full transition.
Environment Minister Benoit Charette made the latest promise today at the United Nations COP26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland, saying the goal is to have the entire provincial government fleet consist of zero-emissions vehicles by 2040...
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-quebec-pledges-to-transition-all-...
--------------------------------------------------
eric denhoff* @EDenhoff | 4:03 PM · Nov 7, 2021
Totally meaningless. Almost 20 years! If there’s a climate emergency, it would be terribly easy to achieve this in well under a decade, it just costs more. You can do cars & buses now. Light duty shortly. Heavy duty in 5 years. #cdnpoli
* eric denhoff @EDenhoff
Former Alta. & BC Deputy Minister, Chief Fed. Negotiator. Award Winning Journalist. Best selling author.
”I read every one of his tweets”-Charles Adler.
--------------------------------------------------
Catherine McKenna* @cathmckenna | 6:15 AM · Nov 8, 2021:
I don't get this. Why don't all governments transition to all zero-emission vehicles now?
At least everything that is purchased should be ZEV. And accelerate retirement of old stock.
Governments need to drive clean growth now & stimulate market. Enough about 2050, 2040, 2030.
*Catherine McKenna @cathmckenna | 6:15 AM · Nov 8, 2021:
Scaling climate & nature solutions & #WomenLeadingonClimate. Fmr Flag of Canada Minister of Environment & Climate Change, Infrastructure. Media jade@studentenergy.org
---------------------------------------------------
margd: Broke DH's heart to give up his Roadmaster for $3500 rebate ~2009 (US). Dealer poured something in engine to seize it up, so couldn't be used again...
119margd
Tuvalu looking at legal ways to be a state if it is submerged
Stefica Nicol Bikes | Nov 2, 2021
SYDNEY, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Tuvalu is looking at legal ways to keep its ownership of its maritime zones and recognition as a state even if the Pacific island nation is completely submerged due to climate change, its foreign minister said on Tuesday.
"We're actually imagining a worst-case scenario where we are forced to relocate or our lands are submerged," the minister, Simon Kofe, told Reuters in an interview.
"We're looking at legal avenues where we can retain our ownership of our maritime zones, retain our recognition as a state under international law. So those are steps that we are taking, looking into the future," he said.
Images of Kofe recording a speech to the United Nations COP26 climate summit standing knee-deep in the sea have been widely shared on social media over recent days, pleasing the tiny island nation which is pushing for aggressive action to limit the impact of climate change...
https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/tuvalu-looking-legal-ways-be-state-if-it-is...
Stefica Nicol Bikes | Nov 2, 2021
SYDNEY, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Tuvalu is looking at legal ways to keep its ownership of its maritime zones and recognition as a state even if the Pacific island nation is completely submerged due to climate change, its foreign minister said on Tuesday.
"We're actually imagining a worst-case scenario where we are forced to relocate or our lands are submerged," the minister, Simon Kofe, told Reuters in an interview.
"We're looking at legal avenues where we can retain our ownership of our maritime zones, retain our recognition as a state under international law. So those are steps that we are taking, looking into the future," he said.
Images of Kofe recording a speech to the United Nations COP26 climate summit standing knee-deep in the sea have been widely shared on social media over recent days, pleasing the tiny island nation which is pushing for aggressive action to limit the impact of climate change...
https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/tuvalu-looking-legal-ways-be-state-if-it-is...
120margd
COP26 climate deal includes historic reference to fossil fuels but doesn't meet urgency of the crisis
Angela Dewan, Amy Cassidy, Ingrid Formanek and Ivana Kottasová | November 13, 2021
Nearly 200 nations reached a climate agreement on Saturday at COP26 with an unprecedented reference to the role of fossil fuels in the climate crisis, even after an 11th-hour objection from India* that watered down the language around reducing the use of coal (changing the text to a phasing "down" of coal as opposed to a phasing "out").
...the text doesn't reflect the urgency expressed by international scientists in their "code red for humanity" climate report published in August. Rather, it defers more action on reducing fossil fuel emissions to next year. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported the world needs to roughly halve emissions over the next decade.
The text also includes language around moving away from fossil fuel subsidies.
Sharma earlier told delegates he was "infinitely grateful" for "keeping 1.5 alive," referring to his overarching goal to contain global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Scientists say that limit is critical to avoid worsening impacts of the climate crisis and to steer away from catastrophic climate change.
At the center of the agreement is a request for countries to come to the COP27 talks in Egypt at the end of next year with updated plans for slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, putting accelerated pressure on nations to keep enhancing their ambitions. Before this agreement, countries were required to do that by 2025.
...There was progress on adaptation money -- a doubling of finance by 2025 from 2019 levels. But firm language on a loss-and-damage fund was ultimately dropped. A US official told CNN the country was opposed to it, while a source told CNN the EU was also resisting....
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/13/world/cop26-agreement-final-climate-intl/
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* New Delhi to shut schools, construction sites (for four days) as pollution worsens
Suchitra Mohanty and Swati Bhat | Nov 13, 2021
https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-top-court-says-new-delhi-air-pollutio...
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Europe (5)--half of ten worst-air cities are European(!)
India and Pakistan (4)--top two, though equivalent of next 5 or 6...
China (1)--surprised that just one Chinese city in top 10--and it was #8.
* Here are the ten cities with the worst air quality indicators and pollution rankings, according to IQAir:
1. Delhi, India (AQI: 556)
2. Lahore, Pakistan (AQI: 354)
3. Sofia, Bulgaria (AQI: 178)
4. Kolkata, India (AQI: 177)
5. Zagreb, Croatia (AQI: 173)
6. Mumbai, India (AQI: 169)
7. Belgrade, Serbia (AQI: 165)
8. Chengdu, China (AQI: 165)
9. Skopje, North Macedonia (AQI: 164)
10. Krakow, Poland (AQI: 160)
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/among-world-s-10-most-polluted-cities-...
Angela Dewan, Amy Cassidy, Ingrid Formanek and Ivana Kottasová | November 13, 2021
Nearly 200 nations reached a climate agreement on Saturday at COP26 with an unprecedented reference to the role of fossil fuels in the climate crisis, even after an 11th-hour objection from India* that watered down the language around reducing the use of coal (changing the text to a phasing "down" of coal as opposed to a phasing "out").
...the text doesn't reflect the urgency expressed by international scientists in their "code red for humanity" climate report published in August. Rather, it defers more action on reducing fossil fuel emissions to next year. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported the world needs to roughly halve emissions over the next decade.
The text also includes language around moving away from fossil fuel subsidies.
Sharma earlier told delegates he was "infinitely grateful" for "keeping 1.5 alive," referring to his overarching goal to contain global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Scientists say that limit is critical to avoid worsening impacts of the climate crisis and to steer away from catastrophic climate change.
At the center of the agreement is a request for countries to come to the COP27 talks in Egypt at the end of next year with updated plans for slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, putting accelerated pressure on nations to keep enhancing their ambitions. Before this agreement, countries were required to do that by 2025.
...There was progress on adaptation money -- a doubling of finance by 2025 from 2019 levels. But firm language on a loss-and-damage fund was ultimately dropped. A US official told CNN the country was opposed to it, while a source told CNN the EU was also resisting....
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/13/world/cop26-agreement-final-climate-intl/
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* New Delhi to shut schools, construction sites (for four days) as pollution worsens
Suchitra Mohanty and Swati Bhat | Nov 13, 2021
https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-top-court-says-new-delhi-air-pollutio...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Europe (5)--half of ten worst-air cities are European(!)
India and Pakistan (4)--top two, though equivalent of next 5 or 6...
China (1)--surprised that just one Chinese city in top 10--and it was #8.
* Here are the ten cities with the worst air quality indicators and pollution rankings, according to IQAir:
1. Delhi, India (AQI: 556)
2. Lahore, Pakistan (AQI: 354)
3. Sofia, Bulgaria (AQI: 178)
4. Kolkata, India (AQI: 177)
5. Zagreb, Croatia (AQI: 173)
6. Mumbai, India (AQI: 169)
7. Belgrade, Serbia (AQI: 165)
8. Chengdu, China (AQI: 165)
9. Skopje, North Macedonia (AQI: 164)
10. Krakow, Poland (AQI: 160)
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/among-world-s-10-most-polluted-cities-...
121margd
Trams, Cable Cars, Electric Ferries: How Cities Are Rethinking Transit
Somini Sengupta | Oct. 3, 2021
Urban transportation is central to the effort to slow climate change. It can’t be done by just switching to electric cars. Several cities are starting to electrify mass transit.
...According to C40, a coalition of around 100 urban governments trying to address climate change, transportation accounts for a third of a city’s carbon dioxide emissions, on average, outstripping other sources like heating, industry and waste.
...At the moment, only 16 percent of city buses worldwide are electric.
...Bringing back the trams...The trams are not universally liked. Critics point out they are noisy, rattling along crowded streets day and night. They’re slower than subways, and in the era of car-shares and electric scooters, old-fashioned. Tram fans point out that they are cheaper and faster to build than subways.
...Electric ferries in the fjords (margd: also BC and Ontario)
...Gondolas with Wi-Fi in the sky (Bogotá)...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/03/climate/cities-public-transit-electric-tram-f...
Somini Sengupta | Oct. 3, 2021
Urban transportation is central to the effort to slow climate change. It can’t be done by just switching to electric cars. Several cities are starting to electrify mass transit.
...According to C40, a coalition of around 100 urban governments trying to address climate change, transportation accounts for a third of a city’s carbon dioxide emissions, on average, outstripping other sources like heating, industry and waste.
...At the moment, only 16 percent of city buses worldwide are electric.
...Bringing back the trams...The trams are not universally liked. Critics point out they are noisy, rattling along crowded streets day and night. They’re slower than subways, and in the era of car-shares and electric scooters, old-fashioned. Tram fans point out that they are cheaper and faster to build than subways.
...Electric ferries in the fjords (margd: also BC and Ontario)
...Gondolas with Wi-Fi in the sky (Bogotá)...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/03/climate/cities-public-transit-electric-tram-f...
122margd
Age of electric: Why Ontario rinks are slowly ditching their old ice resurfacers
Manufacturers say interest in electric models has shot up, but uncertainties remain
Trevor Pritchard · CBC News · Posted: Nov 16, 2021
Not new tech
Several communities switching
Unanswered questions
...quieter...
For starters, it's not clear what would happen if one were to catch fire inside an enclosed arena, Piché said. Firefighters, he noted, have had challenges dealing with similar situations involving electric vehicles on the road.
...more research is needed into the environmental impact of producing and disposing of the batteries
...(indoor) air quality ... carbon footprint...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/electric-ice-resurfacers-zambonis-1.623335...
Manufacturers say interest in electric models has shot up, but uncertainties remain
Trevor Pritchard · CBC News · Posted: Nov 16, 2021
Not new tech
Several communities switching
Unanswered questions
...quieter...
For starters, it's not clear what would happen if one were to catch fire inside an enclosed arena, Piché said. Firefighters, he noted, have had challenges dealing with similar situations involving electric vehicles on the road.
...more research is needed into the environmental impact of producing and disposing of the batteries
...(indoor) air quality ... carbon footprint...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/electric-ice-resurfacers-zambonis-1.623335...
123margd
This U.S. city just voted to decarbonize every single building
Following a common council vote, Ithaca, N.Y., (pop 30,000) is set to be the first city in the country to electrify its buildings with the help of BlocPower
...The decarbonization effort is officially called the Efficiency Retrofit and Thermal Load Electrification Program. Building improvements could range from swapping natural gas and propane cooking stoves with electric induction cooktops to installing solar panels.
Timur Dogan, a professor at Cornell University, which is located in Ithaca and is consulting with the city on the project, said researchers are working on modeling to help inform what buildings to tackle first. But the program is broadly slated to unfold in two phases — the first covering 1,600 buildings and then another 4,400.
The goal, Luis Aguirre-Torres (Ithaca’s director of sustainability) said, is to reach full building decarbonization by 2030 and have the first phase done in the next three years. Baird said that may take closer to four or five years but is certainly achievable. He pointed to BlocPower’s work in Brooklyn as proof, saying that the company retrofitted more than 1,000 apartments there in under two years...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2021/11/03/ithaca-new-york-deca...
Following a common council vote, Ithaca, N.Y., (pop 30,000) is set to be the first city in the country to electrify its buildings with the help of BlocPower
...The decarbonization effort is officially called the Efficiency Retrofit and Thermal Load Electrification Program. Building improvements could range from swapping natural gas and propane cooking stoves with electric induction cooktops to installing solar panels.
Timur Dogan, a professor at Cornell University, which is located in Ithaca and is consulting with the city on the project, said researchers are working on modeling to help inform what buildings to tackle first. But the program is broadly slated to unfold in two phases — the first covering 1,600 buildings and then another 4,400.
The goal, Luis Aguirre-Torres (Ithaca’s director of sustainability) said, is to reach full building decarbonization by 2030 and have the first phase done in the next three years. Baird said that may take closer to four or five years but is certainly achievable. He pointed to BlocPower’s work in Brooklyn as proof, saying that the company retrofitted more than 1,000 apartments there in under two years...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2021/11/03/ithaca-new-york-deca...
124margd
"1°C of warming yielding a 22 to 25% increase in risk" of wildfire in California’s Sierra Nevada.
"We estimate that by the 2040s, fire number will increase by 51 ± 32%, and burned area will increase by 59 ± 33%."
Aurora A. Gutierrez et al. 2021. Wildfire response to changing daily temperature extremes in California’s Sierra Nevada. Science Advances • 17 Nov 2021 • Vol 7, Issue 47 • DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe6417 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abe6417
Abstract
Burned area has increased across California, especially in the Sierra Nevada range. Recent fires there have had devasting social, economic, and ecosystem impacts. To understand the consequences of new extremes in fire weather, here we quantify the sensitivity of wildfire occurrence and burned area in the Sierra Nevada to daily meteorological variables during 2001–2020. We find that the likelihood of fire occurrence increases nonlinearly with daily temperature during summer, with a 1°C increase yielding a 19 to 22% increase in risk. Area burned has a similar, nonlinear sensitivity, with 1°C of warming yielding a 22 to 25% increase in risk. Solely considering changes in summer daily temperatures from climate model projections, we estimate that by the 2040s, fire number will increase by 51 ± 32%, and burned area will increase by 59 ± 33%. These trends highlight the threat posed to fire management by hotter and drier summers.
Map-Sierra Nevada fire perimeters, 2001-2020 ( https://twitter.com/ScienceMagazine/status/1463402042710532097/photo/1 )
"We estimate that by the 2040s, fire number will increase by 51 ± 32%, and burned area will increase by 59 ± 33%."
Aurora A. Gutierrez et al. 2021. Wildfire response to changing daily temperature extremes in California’s Sierra Nevada. Science Advances • 17 Nov 2021 • Vol 7, Issue 47 • DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe6417 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abe6417
Abstract
Burned area has increased across California, especially in the Sierra Nevada range. Recent fires there have had devasting social, economic, and ecosystem impacts. To understand the consequences of new extremes in fire weather, here we quantify the sensitivity of wildfire occurrence and burned area in the Sierra Nevada to daily meteorological variables during 2001–2020. We find that the likelihood of fire occurrence increases nonlinearly with daily temperature during summer, with a 1°C increase yielding a 19 to 22% increase in risk. Area burned has a similar, nonlinear sensitivity, with 1°C of warming yielding a 22 to 25% increase in risk. Solely considering changes in summer daily temperatures from climate model projections, we estimate that by the 2040s, fire number will increase by 51 ± 32%, and burned area will increase by 59 ± 33%. These trends highlight the threat posed to fire management by hotter and drier summers.
Map-Sierra Nevada fire perimeters, 2001-2020 ( https://twitter.com/ScienceMagazine/status/1463402042710532097/photo/1 )
125margd
Flawed Climate Models? Arctic Ocean Started Getting Warmer Decades Earlier Than We Thought
University of Cambridge | November 25, 2021
An international group of researchers reconstructed the recent history of ocean warming at the gateway to the Arctic Ocean in a region called the Fram Strait, between Greenland and Svalbard.
Using the chemical signatures found in marine microorganisms, the researchers found that the Arctic Ocean began warming rapidly at the beginning of the last century as warmer and saltier waters flowed in from the Atlantic – a phenomenon called Atlantification – and that this change likely preceded the warming documented by modern instrumental measurements. Since 1900, the ocean temperature has risen by approximately 2 degrees Celsius, while sea ice has retreated and salinity has increased.
...the first historical perspective on Atlantification of the Arctic Ocean and reveal a connection with the North Atlantic that is much stronger than previously thought. The connection is capable of shaping Arctic climate variability, which could have important implications for sea-ice retreat and global sea level rise as the polar ice sheets continue to melt...
https://scitechdaily.com/flawed-climate-models-arctic-ocean-started-getting-warm...
------------------------------------------------
Tommaso Tesi et al. 2021. Rapid Atlantification along the Fram Strait at the beginning of the 20th century. Science Advances • 24 Nov 2021 • Vol 7, Issue 48 • DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj2946 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abj2946
Abstract
The recent expansion of Atlantic waters into the Arctic Ocean represents undisputable evidence of the rapid changes occurring in this region. Understanding the past variability of this “Atlantification” is thus crucial in providing a longer perspective on the modern Arctic changes. Here, we reconstruct the history of Atlantification along the eastern Fram Strait during the past 800 years using precisely dated paleoceanographic records based on organic biomarkers and benthic foraminiferal data. Our results show rapid changes in water mass properties that commenced in the early 20th century—several decades before the documented Atlantification by instrumental records. Comparison with regional records suggests a poleward expansion of subtropical waters since the end of the Little Ice Age in response to a rapid hydrographic reorganization in the North Atlantic. Understanding of this mechanism will require further investigations using climate model simulations.
University of Cambridge | November 25, 2021
An international group of researchers reconstructed the recent history of ocean warming at the gateway to the Arctic Ocean in a region called the Fram Strait, between Greenland and Svalbard.
Using the chemical signatures found in marine microorganisms, the researchers found that the Arctic Ocean began warming rapidly at the beginning of the last century as warmer and saltier waters flowed in from the Atlantic – a phenomenon called Atlantification – and that this change likely preceded the warming documented by modern instrumental measurements. Since 1900, the ocean temperature has risen by approximately 2 degrees Celsius, while sea ice has retreated and salinity has increased.
...the first historical perspective on Atlantification of the Arctic Ocean and reveal a connection with the North Atlantic that is much stronger than previously thought. The connection is capable of shaping Arctic climate variability, which could have important implications for sea-ice retreat and global sea level rise as the polar ice sheets continue to melt...
https://scitechdaily.com/flawed-climate-models-arctic-ocean-started-getting-warm...
------------------------------------------------
Tommaso Tesi et al. 2021. Rapid Atlantification along the Fram Strait at the beginning of the 20th century. Science Advances • 24 Nov 2021 • Vol 7, Issue 48 • DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj2946 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abj2946
Abstract
The recent expansion of Atlantic waters into the Arctic Ocean represents undisputable evidence of the rapid changes occurring in this region. Understanding the past variability of this “Atlantification” is thus crucial in providing a longer perspective on the modern Arctic changes. Here, we reconstruct the history of Atlantification along the eastern Fram Strait during the past 800 years using precisely dated paleoceanographic records based on organic biomarkers and benthic foraminiferal data. Our results show rapid changes in water mass properties that commenced in the early 20th century—several decades before the documented Atlantification by instrumental records. Comparison with regional records suggests a poleward expansion of subtropical waters since the end of the Little Ice Age in response to a rapid hydrographic reorganization in the North Atlantic. Understanding of this mechanism will require further investigations using climate model simulations.
126margd
Warmer waters + change in Atlantic currents(= reduced flushing of Gulf of St Lawrence?)
Nutrient pollution always a factor, of course, but I don't think it's significantly above historical levels(?)
Marine species in St.Lawrence Estuary endangered by rapid drop in levels of oxygen
McGill News | 26 Nov2021
Concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the deep waters of the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary (LSLE) have dropped by over 50% over the past two years. The consequences for many marine species, who depend on oxygen to survive, are potentially very serious. A compilation of historical data reveals that dissolved oxygen concentrations in the deep waters of the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary decreased by about 50% during the fifty years between 1934 and 1985. And then remained fairly constant until 2019, when the situation changed dramatically. The scientists believe that changes in ocean circulation in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, probably due to climate change, are among the causes of hypoxia (lack of adequate levels of oxygen to maintain life) that are now being seen in the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary.
On three succeeding research cruises, the most recent being in October 2021, scientists from McGill University, Concordia University, l’Institut des sciences de la mer (ISMER) in Rimouski, the Réseau Québec Maritime (RQM), and the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR), report that the level of dissolved oxygen at depths of over 250 metres in the LSLE are now at less than 10% saturation. At these concentrations, many fish, including cod, cannot survive over extended periods of time and the composition of the benthic community, such as crustaceans and molluscs, is strongly modified. If oxygen concentrations decrease further, the water could become devoid of oxygen (anoxic) and all macrofauna (fish, and benthic organisms) would simply disappear.
If this were to occur, the bottom waters could become enriched in toxic heavy metals and dissolved sulfides. The upwelling of these waters, at the head of the Laurentian Channel near Tadoussac, would also potentially have a disastrous impact on the marine fauna that proliferates in the surface water of this region...
https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/marine-species-stlawrence-estuary-e...
Nutrient pollution always a factor, of course, but I don't think it's significantly above historical levels(?)
Marine species in St.Lawrence Estuary endangered by rapid drop in levels of oxygen
McGill News | 26 Nov2021
Concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the deep waters of the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary (LSLE) have dropped by over 50% over the past two years. The consequences for many marine species, who depend on oxygen to survive, are potentially very serious. A compilation of historical data reveals that dissolved oxygen concentrations in the deep waters of the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary decreased by about 50% during the fifty years between 1934 and 1985. And then remained fairly constant until 2019, when the situation changed dramatically. The scientists believe that changes in ocean circulation in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, probably due to climate change, are among the causes of hypoxia (lack of adequate levels of oxygen to maintain life) that are now being seen in the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary.
On three succeeding research cruises, the most recent being in October 2021, scientists from McGill University, Concordia University, l’Institut des sciences de la mer (ISMER) in Rimouski, the Réseau Québec Maritime (RQM), and the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR), report that the level of dissolved oxygen at depths of over 250 metres in the LSLE are now at less than 10% saturation. At these concentrations, many fish, including cod, cannot survive over extended periods of time and the composition of the benthic community, such as crustaceans and molluscs, is strongly modified. If oxygen concentrations decrease further, the water could become devoid of oxygen (anoxic) and all macrofauna (fish, and benthic organisms) would simply disappear.
If this were to occur, the bottom waters could become enriched in toxic heavy metals and dissolved sulfides. The upwelling of these waters, at the head of the Laurentian Channel near Tadoussac, would also potentially have a disastrous impact on the marine fauna that proliferates in the surface water of this region...
https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/marine-species-stlawrence-estuary-e...
127margd
Loss of ancient grazers triggered a global rise in fires
Yale University | November 25, 2021
From 50,000 years to 6,000 years ago, many of the world's largest animals, including such iconic grassland grazers as the woolly mammoth, giant bison, and ancient horses, went extinct. The loss of these grazing species triggered a dramatic increase in fire activity in the world's grasslands...*
...South America lost the most grazers (83% of all species), followed by North America (68%). These losses were significantly higher than in Australia (44%) and Africa (22%).
...Grassland ecosystems across the world were transformed after the loss of grazing-tolerant grasses due to the loss of herbivores and increase in fires. New grazers, including livestock, eventually adapted to the new ecosystems.
That's why scientists should consider the role of grazing livestock and wild grazers in fire mitigation and climate change, the authors said. "This work really highlights how important grazers may be for shaping fire activity," (senior author Carla Staver, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences) said. "We need to pay close attention to these interactions if we want to accurately predict the future of fires."
https://phys.org/news/2021-11-loss-ancient-grazers-triggered-global.html
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* Allison Karp, Global response of fire activity to late Quaternary grazer extinctions, Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abj1580. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abj1580
Abstract
Fire activity varies substantially at global scales because of the influence of climate, but at broad spatiotemporal scales, the possible effects of herbivory on fire activity are unknown. Here, we used late Quaternary large-bodied herbivore extinctions as a global exclusion experiment to examine the responses of grassy ecosystem paleofire activity (through charcoal proxies) to continental differences in extinction severity. Grassy ecosystem fire activity increased in response to herbivore extinction, with larger increases on continents that suffered the largest losses of grazers; browser declines had no such effect. These shifts suggest that herbivory can have Earth system–scale effects on fire and that herbivore impacts should be explicitly considered when predicting changes in past and future global fire activity.
Yale University | November 25, 2021
From 50,000 years to 6,000 years ago, many of the world's largest animals, including such iconic grassland grazers as the woolly mammoth, giant bison, and ancient horses, went extinct. The loss of these grazing species triggered a dramatic increase in fire activity in the world's grasslands...*
...South America lost the most grazers (83% of all species), followed by North America (68%). These losses were significantly higher than in Australia (44%) and Africa (22%).
...Grassland ecosystems across the world were transformed after the loss of grazing-tolerant grasses due to the loss of herbivores and increase in fires. New grazers, including livestock, eventually adapted to the new ecosystems.
That's why scientists should consider the role of grazing livestock and wild grazers in fire mitigation and climate change, the authors said. "This work really highlights how important grazers may be for shaping fire activity," (senior author Carla Staver, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences) said. "We need to pay close attention to these interactions if we want to accurately predict the future of fires."
https://phys.org/news/2021-11-loss-ancient-grazers-triggered-global.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Allison Karp, Global response of fire activity to late Quaternary grazer extinctions, Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abj1580. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abj1580
Abstract
Fire activity varies substantially at global scales because of the influence of climate, but at broad spatiotemporal scales, the possible effects of herbivory on fire activity are unknown. Here, we used late Quaternary large-bodied herbivore extinctions as a global exclusion experiment to examine the responses of grassy ecosystem paleofire activity (through charcoal proxies) to continental differences in extinction severity. Grassy ecosystem fire activity increased in response to herbivore extinction, with larger increases on continents that suffered the largest losses of grazers; browser declines had no such effect. These shifts suggest that herbivory can have Earth system–scale effects on fire and that herbivore impacts should be explicitly considered when predicting changes in past and future global fire activity.
128margd
Climate tipping points: The Arctic is a bellwether for irreversible change
Kimberley R. Miner | 11/26/21
...The term “tipping point” is often applied to a moment of critical change in human history. In ecology, tipping points describe small changes that, over time, force an irreversible change. Yearly lows of sea ice and a startling increase in permafrost thaw in a warming climate signal that the tipping point has already been crossed. We have already lost the frozen Arctic.
At this critical moment of loss, we must use the Arctic tipping point as a hard lesson — as ecosystems worldwide approach tipping points.
Small tipping points expand through ecosystems...
A bellwether for future change...
...Our fragile Arctic must be the first and last system to cross a permanent tipping point.
Around the world, ecosystem tipping points loom as wildfire, human land use and biodiversity loss exponentially increase and magnify climate impacts. Expanding ocean dead zones, coral reef bleaching and rainforest loss are emblematic of system collapses — and are slowly combining to create global tipping points. There is very little time to alter the trajectory of Earth's ecosystems, halting climate-driven collapse. To protect the Earth's incredible diversity and stability, we must acknowledge that climate change is already permanently changing the planet — and we have little time to change course.
https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/583115-climate-tipping-points-the...
Kimberley R. Miner | 11/26/21
...The term “tipping point” is often applied to a moment of critical change in human history. In ecology, tipping points describe small changes that, over time, force an irreversible change. Yearly lows of sea ice and a startling increase in permafrost thaw in a warming climate signal that the tipping point has already been crossed. We have already lost the frozen Arctic.
At this critical moment of loss, we must use the Arctic tipping point as a hard lesson — as ecosystems worldwide approach tipping points.
Small tipping points expand through ecosystems...
A bellwether for future change...
...Our fragile Arctic must be the first and last system to cross a permanent tipping point.
Around the world, ecosystem tipping points loom as wildfire, human land use and biodiversity loss exponentially increase and magnify climate impacts. Expanding ocean dead zones, coral reef bleaching and rainforest loss are emblematic of system collapses — and are slowly combining to create global tipping points. There is very little time to alter the trajectory of Earth's ecosystems, halting climate-driven collapse. To protect the Earth's incredible diversity and stability, we must acknowledge that climate change is already permanently changing the planet — and we have little time to change course.
https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/583115-climate-tipping-points-the...
129margd
Interactive maps: "In the last 6 years, 50% of US states had monthly county-level temperatures higher than anything seen since 1895, when the US started collecting this data."
Climate in the United States
Data Updated Oct 2021
The United States has experienced a wide variety of extreme weather over the last 125 years, impacting people, communities, and geographies. Track monthly data on how counties experience severe weather, including precipitation and temperature.
https://usafacts.org/issues/climate
Climate in the United States
Data Updated Oct 2021
The United States has experienced a wide variety of extreme weather over the last 125 years, impacting people, communities, and geographies. Track monthly data on how counties experience severe weather, including precipitation and temperature.
https://usafacts.org/issues/climate
130margd
Rising From the Antarctic, a Climate Alarm
Wilder winds are altering currents. The sea is releasing carbon dioxide. Ice is melting from below.
By HENRY FOUNTAIN and JEREMY WHITE | Dec 16, 2021
ancient water upwelling
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/13/climate/antarctic-climate-change....
----------------------------------------------------
Antarctic ice shelf could crack, raise seas by feet within decade, scientists warn
Thwaites is the widest glacier in the world and has doubled its rate of melt within the last 30 years, a researcher said.
Tim Fitzsimons | Dec 15, 2021
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/antarctic-ice-shelf-crack-raise-seas...
Wilder winds are altering currents. The sea is releasing carbon dioxide. Ice is melting from below.
By HENRY FOUNTAIN and JEREMY WHITE | Dec 16, 2021
ancient water upwelling
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/13/climate/antarctic-climate-change....
----------------------------------------------------
Antarctic ice shelf could crack, raise seas by feet within decade, scientists warn
Thwaites is the widest glacier in the world and has doubled its rate of melt within the last 30 years, a researcher said.
Tim Fitzsimons | Dec 15, 2021
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/antarctic-ice-shelf-crack-raise-seas...
131margd
Not just Ice Man and artifacts--permafrost reveals lost ecosystems:
Ancient DNA found in soil samples reveals mammoths, Yukon wild horses survived thousands of years longer than believed
McMaster University | News Release 8-Dec-2021
HAMILTON, Dec. 8, 2021 — Mere spoonsful of soil pulled from Canada’s permafrost are opening vast windows into ancient life in the Yukon, revealing rich new information and rewriting previous beliefs about the extinction dynamics, dates and survival of megafauna like mammoths, horses and other long-lost life forms.
...Scientists also stress the need to gather and archive more permafrost samples, which are at risk of being lost forever as the Arctic warms.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/937153
-----------------------------------------------------------
Tyler J Murchie et al. 2021. Collapse of the mammoth-steppe in central Yukon as revealed by ancient environmental DNA.Nature Communications volume 12, Article number: 7120 (Dec 8, 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27439-6
Abstract
The temporal and spatial coarseness of megafaunal fossil records complicates attempts to to disentangle the relative impacts of climate change, ecosystem restructuring, and human activities associated with the Late Quaternary extinctions. Advances in the extraction and identification of ancient DNA that was shed into the environment and preserved for millennia in sediment now provides a way to augment discontinuous palaeontological assemblages. Here, we present a 30,000-year sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) record derived from loessal permafrost silts in the Klondike region of Yukon, Canada. We observe a substantial turnover in ecosystem composition between 13,500 and 10,000 calendar years ago with the rise of woody shrubs and the disappearance of the mammoth-steppe (steppe-tundra) ecosystem. We also identify a lingering signal of Equus sp. (North American horse) and Mammuthus primigenius (woolly mammoth) at multiple sites persisting thousands of years after their supposed extinction from the fossil record.
Ancient DNA found in soil samples reveals mammoths, Yukon wild horses survived thousands of years longer than believed
McMaster University | News Release 8-Dec-2021
HAMILTON, Dec. 8, 2021 — Mere spoonsful of soil pulled from Canada’s permafrost are opening vast windows into ancient life in the Yukon, revealing rich new information and rewriting previous beliefs about the extinction dynamics, dates and survival of megafauna like mammoths, horses and other long-lost life forms.
...Scientists also stress the need to gather and archive more permafrost samples, which are at risk of being lost forever as the Arctic warms.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/937153
-----------------------------------------------------------
Tyler J Murchie et al. 2021. Collapse of the mammoth-steppe in central Yukon as revealed by ancient environmental DNA.Nature Communications volume 12, Article number: 7120 (Dec 8, 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27439-6
Abstract
The temporal and spatial coarseness of megafaunal fossil records complicates attempts to to disentangle the relative impacts of climate change, ecosystem restructuring, and human activities associated with the Late Quaternary extinctions. Advances in the extraction and identification of ancient DNA that was shed into the environment and preserved for millennia in sediment now provides a way to augment discontinuous palaeontological assemblages. Here, we present a 30,000-year sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) record derived from loessal permafrost silts in the Klondike region of Yukon, Canada. We observe a substantial turnover in ecosystem composition between 13,500 and 10,000 calendar years ago with the rise of woody shrubs and the disappearance of the mammoth-steppe (steppe-tundra) ecosystem. We also identify a lingering signal of Equus sp. (North American horse) and Mammuthus primigenius (woolly mammoth) at multiple sites persisting thousands of years after their supposed extinction from the fossil record.
132margd
The Siberian Times @siberian_times | 8:57 AM · Dec 6, 2021:
About 140 permafrost thaw monitoring points to appear in Russian Arctic by '25. Over 40% of buildings and structures in the Arctic bear the signs of deformation due to the permafrost thaw in the cryolithic zone. Picture* shows a deformed building in Yakutsk
*Image-damaged building ( https://twitter.com/siberian_times/status/1467855665829867522 )
---------------------------------------------------------------
About 140 permafrost thaw monitoring points to appear in the Arctic by 2025
30 November 2021
Over 40 percent of buildings and structures in the Arctic bear the signs of deformation due to the permafrost thaw in the cryolithic zone. There are plans to construct 140 monitoring points by 2025 to track changes in the permafrost.
“Permafrost degradation causes substantial losses in hydrocarbon production, technical accidents and road pavement damage,” said Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Anopriyenko.
At a Federation Council meeting on the Clean Arctic public federal project, the official underscored that the permafrost thaw remained a pressing problem that affects the economic development of the Arctic...
https://arctic.ru/amp/climate/20211130/998891.html
_________________________________________________
2021 Arctic Report Card: image highlights
NOAA Communications | December 14, 2021 Updated December 17, 2021
NOAA’s 2021 Arctic Report Card documents the numerous ways that climate change continues to fundamentally alter this once reliably frozen region, as increasing heat and the loss of snow and ice drive its transformation into a warmer, less frozen, and more uncertain future...
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/2021-arctic-report-c...
----------------------------------------------------------------
NOAA Press Release:
...Some of this year’s significant findings include:
The October-December 2020 period was the warmest Arctic autumn on record dating back to 1900. The average surface air temperature over the Arctic this past year (October 2020-September 2021) was the 7th warmest on record. The Arctic continues to warm more than twice as fast as the rest of the globe.
The snow-free period across the Eurasian Arctic during summer 2020 was the longest since at least 1990. June 2021 snow cover in Arctic North America was below the long-term average for the 15th consecutive year. June snow cover in Arctic Europe has been below average 14 of the last 15 years.
Following decades of relative stability, the Greenland ice sheet has now lost mass almost every year since 1998, with record ice loss in 2012 and 2019. In August, rainfall was observed at the Greenland ice sheet’s 10,500-foot summit for the first time ever.
The volume of post-winter sea ice in the Arctic Ocean in April 2021 was the lowest since records began in 2010. The amount of older, biologically important multiyear sea ice at the end of summer 2021 was the second-lowest since records began in 1985.
The total extent of sea ice in September 2021 was the 12th lowest on record. All 15 of the lowest minimum extents have occurred in the last 15 years. The substantial decline in Arctic ice extent since 1979 is one of the most iconic indicators of climate change.
The loss of sea ice has enabled shipping and other commercial and industrial activities to push deeper into the Arctic, in all seasons, resulting in more garbage and debris collecting along the shore and more noise in the ocean, which can interfere with the ability of marine mammals to communicate.
Some of the fastest rates of ocean acidification around the world have been observed in the Arctic Ocean. Two recent studies indicate a high occurrence of severe dissolution of shells in natural populations of sea snails, an important forage species, in the Bering Sea and Amundsen Gulf...
https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/arctic-report-card-climate-change-transforming...
About 140 permafrost thaw monitoring points to appear in Russian Arctic by '25. Over 40% of buildings and structures in the Arctic bear the signs of deformation due to the permafrost thaw in the cryolithic zone. Picture* shows a deformed building in Yakutsk
*Image-damaged building ( https://twitter.com/siberian_times/status/1467855665829867522 )
---------------------------------------------------------------
About 140 permafrost thaw monitoring points to appear in the Arctic by 2025
30 November 2021
Over 40 percent of buildings and structures in the Arctic bear the signs of deformation due to the permafrost thaw in the cryolithic zone. There are plans to construct 140 monitoring points by 2025 to track changes in the permafrost.
“Permafrost degradation causes substantial losses in hydrocarbon production, technical accidents and road pavement damage,” said Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Anopriyenko.
At a Federation Council meeting on the Clean Arctic public federal project, the official underscored that the permafrost thaw remained a pressing problem that affects the economic development of the Arctic...
https://arctic.ru/amp/climate/20211130/998891.html
_________________________________________________
2021 Arctic Report Card: image highlights
NOAA Communications | December 14, 2021 Updated December 17, 2021
NOAA’s 2021 Arctic Report Card documents the numerous ways that climate change continues to fundamentally alter this once reliably frozen region, as increasing heat and the loss of snow and ice drive its transformation into a warmer, less frozen, and more uncertain future...
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/2021-arctic-report-c...
----------------------------------------------------------------
NOAA Press Release:
...Some of this year’s significant findings include:
The October-December 2020 period was the warmest Arctic autumn on record dating back to 1900. The average surface air temperature over the Arctic this past year (October 2020-September 2021) was the 7th warmest on record. The Arctic continues to warm more than twice as fast as the rest of the globe.
The snow-free period across the Eurasian Arctic during summer 2020 was the longest since at least 1990. June 2021 snow cover in Arctic North America was below the long-term average for the 15th consecutive year. June snow cover in Arctic Europe has been below average 14 of the last 15 years.
Following decades of relative stability, the Greenland ice sheet has now lost mass almost every year since 1998, with record ice loss in 2012 and 2019. In August, rainfall was observed at the Greenland ice sheet’s 10,500-foot summit for the first time ever.
The volume of post-winter sea ice in the Arctic Ocean in April 2021 was the lowest since records began in 2010. The amount of older, biologically important multiyear sea ice at the end of summer 2021 was the second-lowest since records began in 1985.
The total extent of sea ice in September 2021 was the 12th lowest on record. All 15 of the lowest minimum extents have occurred in the last 15 years. The substantial decline in Arctic ice extent since 1979 is one of the most iconic indicators of climate change.
The loss of sea ice has enabled shipping and other commercial and industrial activities to push deeper into the Arctic, in all seasons, resulting in more garbage and debris collecting along the shore and more noise in the ocean, which can interfere with the ability of marine mammals to communicate.
Some of the fastest rates of ocean acidification around the world have been observed in the Arctic Ocean. Two recent studies indicate a high occurrence of severe dissolution of shells in natural populations of sea snails, an important forage species, in the Bering Sea and Amundsen Gulf...
https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/arctic-report-card-climate-change-transforming...
133margd
Mike Hudema @MikeHudema | 11:22 PM · Dec 27, 2021:
This is Clione limacina, better known as the sea angel, hovering under the ice in the White Sea in Russia.
#Nature holds so many wonders beyond our belief. Protect it in all its forms.
0:16 ( https://twitter.com/MikeHudema/status/1475683455732260873 )
This is Clione limacina, better known as the sea angel, hovering under the ice in the White Sea in Russia.
#Nature holds so many wonders beyond our belief. Protect it in all its forms.
0:16 ( https://twitter.com/MikeHudema/status/1475683455732260873 )
134margd
Gorgeous photos. Sad story.
The Fading Ways of Indigenous Arctic Hunters
Ben Taub | December 28, 2021
Ragnar Axelsson’s portraits from Greenland reveal the effects of climate change on ice floes, sled dogs, and a traditional culture.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/the-fading-ways-of-indigenous-arct...
The Fading Ways of Indigenous Arctic Hunters
Ben Taub | December 28, 2021
Ragnar Axelsson’s portraits from Greenland reveal the effects of climate change on ice floes, sled dogs, and a traditional culture.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/the-fading-ways-of-indigenous-arct...
135margd
More gorgeous photos. Another sad story...
Bearing Witness to Svalbard’s Fragile Splendor
Photographs and Text by Marcus Westberg | Dec. 6, 2021
To visitors, the Norwegian archipelago can seem both ethereal and eternal. But climate change all but guarantees an eventual collapse of its vulnerable ecosystem...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/06/travel/svalbard-climate-change-tourism.html
Bearing Witness to Svalbard’s Fragile Splendor
Photographs and Text by Marcus Westberg | Dec. 6, 2021
To visitors, the Norwegian archipelago can seem both ethereal and eternal. But climate change all but guarantees an eventual collapse of its vulnerable ecosystem...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/06/travel/svalbard-climate-change-tourism.html
136margd
Kenya’s worst drought in decades creates humanitarian crisis (7:23)
PBS Jan 14, 2022
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/kenyas-worst-drought-in-decades-creates-humani...
PBS Jan 14, 2022
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/kenyas-worst-drought-in-decades-creates-humani...
137ZacharyBond
Este usuario ha sido eliminado por spam.
138margd
Rep. Katie Porter @RepKatiePorter | 6:34 PM · Jan 20, 2022:
Taxpayers subsidize oil and gas drilling to the tune of $660 billion per year.
Meanwhile, weather-related disasters intensified by climate change cost us billions each year to clean up.
It doesn't seem like propping up polluters is the wisest use of taxpayer dollars to me...
1:46 ( https://twitter.com/RepKatiePorter/status/1484308441711607810 )
Taxpayers subsidize oil and gas drilling to the tune of $660 billion per year.
Meanwhile, weather-related disasters intensified by climate change cost us billions each year to clean up.
It doesn't seem like propping up polluters is the wisest use of taxpayer dollars to me...
1:46 ( https://twitter.com/RepKatiePorter/status/1484308441711607810 )
1392wonderY
>138 margd: Ya think!? I hate that we subsidize those big rich corporations anyway.
140margd
Why oil and gas heating bans for new homes are a growing trend
Emily Chung | Jan 30, 2022
With growing push toward electric heating, gas industry touts carbon-neutral gas
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/bans-fossil-fuel-heating-homes-1.6327113
Emily Chung | Jan 30, 2022
With growing push toward electric heating, gas industry touts carbon-neutral gas
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/bans-fossil-fuel-heating-homes-1.6327113
141margd
If we wait for the governments, it'll be too little, too late;
if we act as individuals, it'll be too little;
but if we act as communities, it might just be enough, just in time.
-Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition movement, a radically hopeful and community-driven approach to creating societies independent of fossil fuel.
TED: Transition to a world without oil (16:24)
Rob Hopkins | July 2009
https://www.ted.com/talks/rob_hopkins_transition_to_a_world_without_oil
if we act as individuals, it'll be too little;
but if we act as communities, it might just be enough, just in time.
-Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition movement, a radically hopeful and community-driven approach to creating societies independent of fossil fuel.
TED: Transition to a world without oil (16:24)
Rob Hopkins | July 2009
https://www.ted.com/talks/rob_hopkins_transition_to_a_world_without_oil
1422wonderY
>141 margd: Excellent!
143margd
How a humble mushroom could save forests and fight climate change
Paul W. Thomas | February 7, 2022
https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2022/02/how-a-humble-mushroom-could-...
------------------------------------------------------------
Paul W.Thomas and Luis-BernardoVazquezc. 2022. A novel approach to combine food production with carbon sequestration, biodiversity and conservation goals. Science of The Total Environment Volume 806, Part 3, 1 February 2022, 151301.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151301 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969721063798
Highlights
• Land use conflict is the key driver of unsustainable deforestation rates.
• Novel cultivation of ectomycorrhizal fungi may reduce this conflict.
• Highly valued Lactarius indigo is distributed in the neotropics and nearctic.
• Cultivation by afforestation yields protein levels comparable to livestock farming.
• Linking carbon sequestration, food production, biodiversity and conservation goals.
Abstract
Land use conflict is a major contributor to unsustainable deforestation rates, with agriculture being the primary driver. Demand for agricultural output is forecast to increase for years to come and the associated deforestation is a key driver in global declines of biodiversity. Moreover, deforestation is contributing to instability of agricultural production systems and reduces our ability to mitigate anthropogenically driven climate change. There is urgency in reducing this land use conflict and the cultivation of ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) may provide a partial solution.
As an example, here we focus on Lactarius indigo, an edible and historically appreciated species with distribution in the Neotropics and Nearctic. Exploring the geographic spread and associated climate preferences, we describe how cultivation of this species can be combined with forest-based biodiversity and conservation goals. Detailing a full methodology, including mycelium production and how to create trees that may produce the fungus, we explore potential benefits. Combing data from the emerging field of EMF cultivation with nutritional studies, we show that a protein production of 7.31 kg per hectare should be possible, exceeding that of extensive pastoral beef production. In contrast to commercial agriculture, L. indigo cultivation may enhance biodiversity, contribute to conservational goals and create a net sink of greenhouse gases whilst at the same time producing a similar or higher level of protein per unit area than the most common agriculture use of deforested land. With such startling and clear benefits, we call for urgent action to further the development of such novel food production systems.
Paul W. Thomas | February 7, 2022
https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2022/02/how-a-humble-mushroom-could-...
------------------------------------------------------------
Paul W.Thomas and Luis-BernardoVazquezc. 2022. A novel approach to combine food production with carbon sequestration, biodiversity and conservation goals. Science of The Total Environment Volume 806, Part 3, 1 February 2022, 151301.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151301 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969721063798
Highlights
• Land use conflict is the key driver of unsustainable deforestation rates.
• Novel cultivation of ectomycorrhizal fungi may reduce this conflict.
• Highly valued Lactarius indigo is distributed in the neotropics and nearctic.
• Cultivation by afforestation yields protein levels comparable to livestock farming.
• Linking carbon sequestration, food production, biodiversity and conservation goals.
Abstract
Land use conflict is a major contributor to unsustainable deforestation rates, with agriculture being the primary driver. Demand for agricultural output is forecast to increase for years to come and the associated deforestation is a key driver in global declines of biodiversity. Moreover, deforestation is contributing to instability of agricultural production systems and reduces our ability to mitigate anthropogenically driven climate change. There is urgency in reducing this land use conflict and the cultivation of ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) may provide a partial solution.
As an example, here we focus on Lactarius indigo, an edible and historically appreciated species with distribution in the Neotropics and Nearctic. Exploring the geographic spread and associated climate preferences, we describe how cultivation of this species can be combined with forest-based biodiversity and conservation goals. Detailing a full methodology, including mycelium production and how to create trees that may produce the fungus, we explore potential benefits. Combing data from the emerging field of EMF cultivation with nutritional studies, we show that a protein production of 7.31 kg per hectare should be possible, exceeding that of extensive pastoral beef production. In contrast to commercial agriculture, L. indigo cultivation may enhance biodiversity, contribute to conservational goals and create a net sink of greenhouse gases whilst at the same time producing a similar or higher level of protein per unit area than the most common agriculture use of deforested land. With such startling and clear benefits, we call for urgent action to further the development of such novel food production systems.
144margd
Climate in the United States (Maps, Graphs)
Data Updated Dec 2021
The United States has experienced a wide variety of extreme weather over the last 125 years, impacting people, communities, and geographies. Track monthly data on how counties experience severe weather, including precipitation and temperature...
https://usafacts.org/issues/climate
Data Updated Dec 2021
The United States has experienced a wide variety of extreme weather over the last 125 years, impacting people, communities, and geographies. Track monthly data on how counties experience severe weather, including precipitation and temperature...
https://usafacts.org/issues/climate
145margd
The race is on to save the Great Salt Lake. Will it be enough?
The shrinking of the lake poses serious economic and health risks. A dry lakebed could send arsenic-laced dust into the air that millions breathe.
AP | Feb 3, 2022
SALT LAKE CITY — The largest natural lake west of the Mississippi is shrinking past its lowest levels in recorded history, raising fears about toxic dust, ecological collapse and economic consequences. But the Great Salt Lake may have some new allies: conservative Republican lawmakers.
The new burst of energy from the GOP-dominated state government comes after lake levels recently hit a low point during a regional megadrought worsened by climate change. Water has been diverted away from the lake for years, though, to supply homes and crops in Utah. The nation’s fastest-growing state is also one of the driest, with some of the highest domestic water use.
This year could see big investment in the lake that’s long been an afterthought, with Gov. Spencer Cox proposing spending $46 million and the powerful House speaker throwing his weight behind the issue. But some worry that the ideas advancing so far at the state Legislature don’t go far enough to halt the slow-motion ecological disaster...
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/race-great-salt-lake-will-enough-rcn...
The shrinking of the lake poses serious economic and health risks. A dry lakebed could send arsenic-laced dust into the air that millions breathe.
AP | Feb 3, 2022
SALT LAKE CITY — The largest natural lake west of the Mississippi is shrinking past its lowest levels in recorded history, raising fears about toxic dust, ecological collapse and economic consequences. But the Great Salt Lake may have some new allies: conservative Republican lawmakers.
The new burst of energy from the GOP-dominated state government comes after lake levels recently hit a low point during a regional megadrought worsened by climate change. Water has been diverted away from the lake for years, though, to supply homes and crops in Utah. The nation’s fastest-growing state is also one of the driest, with some of the highest domestic water use.
This year could see big investment in the lake that’s long been an afterthought, with Gov. Spencer Cox proposing spending $46 million and the powerful House speaker throwing his weight behind the issue. But some worry that the ideas advancing so far at the state Legislature don’t go far enough to halt the slow-motion ecological disaster...
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/race-great-salt-lake-will-enough-rcn...
146margd
World’s glaciers contain less ice than thought, researchers find
Reuters | Feb 7, 2022
...The revised estimate reduces global sea level rise by 3 inches if all glaciers were to melt. But it raises concern for some communities that rely on seasonal melt from glaciers to feed rivers and irrigate crops. If glaciers contain less ice, water will run out sooner than expected....
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/worlds-glaciers-contain-less-ice-tho...
----------------------------------------------------------
Romain Millan et al. 2022. Ice velocity and thickness of the world’s glaciers. Nature Geoscience volume 15, pages 124–129 (7 Feb 2022) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00885-z
Abstract
The effect of climate change on water resources and sea-level rise is largely determined by the size of the ice reservoirs around the world and the ice thickness distribution, which remains uncertain. Here, we present a comprehensive high-resolution mapping of ice motion for 98% of the world’s total glacier area during the period 2017–2018. We use this mapping of glacier flow to generate an estimate of global ice volume that reconciles ice thickness distribution with glacier dynamics and surface topography. The results suggest that the world’s glaciers have a potential contribution to sea-level rise of 257 ± 85 mm, which is 20% less than previously estimated. At low latitudes, our findings highlight notable changes in freshwater resources, with 37% more ice in the Himalayas and 27% less ice in the tropical Andes of South America, affecting water availability for local populations. This mapping of glacier flow and thickness redefines our understanding of global ice-volume distribution and has implications for the prediction of glacier evolution around the world, since accurate representations of glacier geometry and dynamics are of prime importance to glacier modelling.
Reuters | Feb 7, 2022
...The revised estimate reduces global sea level rise by 3 inches if all glaciers were to melt. But it raises concern for some communities that rely on seasonal melt from glaciers to feed rivers and irrigate crops. If glaciers contain less ice, water will run out sooner than expected....
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/worlds-glaciers-contain-less-ice-tho...
----------------------------------------------------------
Romain Millan et al. 2022. Ice velocity and thickness of the world’s glaciers. Nature Geoscience volume 15, pages 124–129 (7 Feb 2022) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00885-z
Abstract
The effect of climate change on water resources and sea-level rise is largely determined by the size of the ice reservoirs around the world and the ice thickness distribution, which remains uncertain. Here, we present a comprehensive high-resolution mapping of ice motion for 98% of the world’s total glacier area during the period 2017–2018. We use this mapping of glacier flow to generate an estimate of global ice volume that reconciles ice thickness distribution with glacier dynamics and surface topography. The results suggest that the world’s glaciers have a potential contribution to sea-level rise of 257 ± 85 mm, which is 20% less than previously estimated. At low latitudes, our findings highlight notable changes in freshwater resources, with 37% more ice in the Himalayas and 27% less ice in the tropical Andes of South America, affecting water availability for local populations. This mapping of glacier flow and thickness redefines our understanding of global ice-volume distribution and has implications for the prediction of glacier evolution around the world, since accurate representations of glacier geometry and dynamics are of prime importance to glacier modelling.
147margd
Climate change: IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report warns of ‘irreversible’ impacts of global warming
Matt McGrath | Feb 28, 2022
Many of the impacts of global warming are now simply "irreversible" according to the UN's latest assessment.
But the authors of a new report say that there is still a brief window of time to avoid the very worst.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that humans and nature are being pushed beyond their abilities to adapt...
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60525591
(I'll link here when report released.)
Matt McGrath | Feb 28, 2022
Many of the impacts of global warming are now simply "irreversible" according to the UN's latest assessment.
But the authors of a new report say that there is still a brief window of time to avoid the very worst.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that humans and nature are being pushed beyond their abilities to adapt...
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60525591
(I'll link here when report released.)
148margd
Peter Gleick 🇺🇸 (Nat'l Acad Sci) @PeterGleick | 1:54 AM · Mar 8, 2022
The massive flooding in Australia right now isn't getting the attention it deserves because of other terrible news,
but this is #climatechange combined with the failure of the government to respond.
As climate disasters pile up, we're simply not prepared.
Quote Tweet
Ketan Joshi@KetanJ0 | 10:17 PM · Mar 7, 2022
https://twitter.com/KetanJ0/status/1501034314506850305
The footage of the floods in NSW (New South Wales) is just stunning. It's all so reminiscent of the 2019/20 bushfires,
except now it's happening in the tail-end of a pandemic and the start of a war.
0:24 ( https://abc.net.au/news/2022-02-28/lismore-flood-emergency-levee-breaks-largest-... )
The massive flooding in Australia right now isn't getting the attention it deserves because of other terrible news,
but this is #climatechange combined with the failure of the government to respond.
As climate disasters pile up, we're simply not prepared.
Quote Tweet
Ketan Joshi@KetanJ0 | 10:17 PM · Mar 7, 2022
https://twitter.com/KetanJ0/status/1501034314506850305
The footage of the floods in NSW (New South Wales) is just stunning. It's all so reminiscent of the 2019/20 bushfires,
except now it's happening in the tail-end of a pandemic and the start of a war.
0:24 ( https://abc.net.au/news/2022-02-28/lismore-flood-emergency-levee-breaks-largest-... )
149margd
Fifty Shades of Whey (freelance reporter) @davenewworld_2 | 6:45 AM · Mar 10, 2022:
Lawmakers in Florida just approved a bill that would eliminate incentives for going solar. Power companies usually give a monetary credit to homeowners for any excess solar energy collected, but this new bill allows companies to steal that excess from people without compensation.
CS/CS/HB 741: Net Metering
...Provides terms for public utility net metering programs after specified date; provides schedule of reductions to net metering rate designs that apply to customers with net metering applications that are approved after specified dates; authorizes certain customers who own or lease renewable generation to remain under net metering rules that initially applied to those customers for specified time; authorizes public utilities to petition for approval of certain fixed charges designed to meet specified purposes; provides conditions under which rules must be initiated if penetration rate of customer-owned or leased renewable generation meets specified threshold; authorizes public utilities to recover specified lost revenues upon meeting certain requirements.
Effective Date: 7/1/2022...
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/741
Lawmakers in Florida just approved a bill that would eliminate incentives for going solar. Power companies usually give a monetary credit to homeowners for any excess solar energy collected, but this new bill allows companies to steal that excess from people without compensation.
CS/CS/HB 741: Net Metering
...Provides terms for public utility net metering programs after specified date; provides schedule of reductions to net metering rate designs that apply to customers with net metering applications that are approved after specified dates; authorizes certain customers who own or lease renewable generation to remain under net metering rules that initially applied to those customers for specified time; authorizes public utilities to petition for approval of certain fixed charges designed to meet specified purposes; provides conditions under which rules must be initiated if penetration rate of customer-owned or leased renewable generation meets specified threshold; authorizes public utilities to recover specified lost revenues upon meeting certain requirements.
Effective Date: 7/1/2022...
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/741
150margd
Manchin's Coal Corruption Is So Much Worse Than You Knew
The senator from West Virginia is bought and paid for by Big Coal. With his help the dying industry is pulling one final heist — and the entire planet may pay the price
Jeff Goodell | January 10, 2022
...The truth is, Manchin is best understood as a grifter from the ancestral home of King Coal. He is a man with coal dust in his veins who has used his political skills to enrich himself, not the people of his state. He drives an Italian-made Maserati, lives on a houseboat on the Potomac River when he is in D.C., pals around with corporate CEOs, and has a net worth of as much as $12 million. More to the point, his wealth has been accumulated through controversial coal-related businesses in his home state, including using his political muscle to keep open the dirtiest coal plant in West Virginia, which paid him nearly $5 million over the past decade in fees for coal handling, as well as costing West Virginia electricity consumers tens of millions of dollars in higher electricity rates (more about the details of this in a moment). Virginia Canter, who was ethics counsel to Presidents Obama and Clinton, unabashedly calls Manchin’s business operations “a grift.” To Canter, Manchin’s corruption is even more offensive than Donald Trump’s. “With Trump, the corruption was discretionary — you could choose to pay thousands of dollars to host an event at Mar-a-Lago or not,” Canter tells me. In contrast, Manchin is effectively taking money right out of the pockets of West Virginians when they pay their electric bills. They have no say in it. “It’s one of the most egregious conflicts of interest I’ve ever seen.”...
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/joe-manchin-big-coal-wes...
The senator from West Virginia is bought and paid for by Big Coal. With his help the dying industry is pulling one final heist — and the entire planet may pay the price
Jeff Goodell | January 10, 2022
...The truth is, Manchin is best understood as a grifter from the ancestral home of King Coal. He is a man with coal dust in his veins who has used his political skills to enrich himself, not the people of his state. He drives an Italian-made Maserati, lives on a houseboat on the Potomac River when he is in D.C., pals around with corporate CEOs, and has a net worth of as much as $12 million. More to the point, his wealth has been accumulated through controversial coal-related businesses in his home state, including using his political muscle to keep open the dirtiest coal plant in West Virginia, which paid him nearly $5 million over the past decade in fees for coal handling, as well as costing West Virginia electricity consumers tens of millions of dollars in higher electricity rates (more about the details of this in a moment). Virginia Canter, who was ethics counsel to Presidents Obama and Clinton, unabashedly calls Manchin’s business operations “a grift.” To Canter, Manchin’s corruption is even more offensive than Donald Trump’s. “With Trump, the corruption was discretionary — you could choose to pay thousands of dollars to host an event at Mar-a-Lago or not,” Canter tells me. In contrast, Manchin is effectively taking money right out of the pockets of West Virginians when they pay their electric bills. They have no say in it. “It’s one of the most egregious conflicts of interest I’ve ever seen.”...
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/joe-manchin-big-coal-wes...
151margd
Speaking of Water: Documenting Water Conflict with Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute (19:28)
Circle of Blue | Mar 17, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbgurcnEsn0
Map-global conflicts ( https://twitter.com/PeterGleick/status/1504572330638340122/photo/1 )
Circle of Blue | Mar 17, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbgurcnEsn0
Map-global conflicts ( https://twitter.com/PeterGleick/status/1504572330638340122/photo/1 )
Este tema fue continuado por Climate change issues, prevention, adaptation 9.
