Climate change issues, prevention, adaptation 9
Esto es una continuación del tema Climate change issues, prevention, adaptation 8.
Este tema fue continuado por Climate change issues, prevention, adaptation 10.
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1margd
Looking to Reduce Emissions, Apparel Makers Turn to Their Factories in the Developing World
Phil McKenna | March 8, 2022
...While fashion brands have made great strides in reducing emissions from their stores, offices and distribution centers in the U.S. and other developed countries, these emissions make up only a tiny fraction of the fashion industry’s overall emissions, emissions that by some accounts rival that of global shipping and aviation combined.
The solar projects (on factory roofs) are also significant because they are happening in an industry with outsized and rapidly growing emissions that is struggling to rein in its pollution. Emissions from the industry are increasing each year despite ambitious pledges by brands and retailers to reduce them. At the same time, consumers and environmental advocacy groups are increasingly vocal about the need for these companies to clean up their acts...
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/08032022/sustainable-fasion-developing-countr...
Phil McKenna | March 8, 2022
...While fashion brands have made great strides in reducing emissions from their stores, offices and distribution centers in the U.S. and other developed countries, these emissions make up only a tiny fraction of the fashion industry’s overall emissions, emissions that by some accounts rival that of global shipping and aviation combined.
The solar projects (on factory roofs) are also significant because they are happening in an industry with outsized and rapidly growing emissions that is struggling to rein in its pollution. Emissions from the industry are increasing each year despite ambitious pledges by brands and retailers to reduce them. At the same time, consumers and environmental advocacy groups are increasingly vocal about the need for these companies to clean up their acts...
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/08032022/sustainable-fasion-developing-countr...
2margd
Heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles alarm climate scientists
Antarctic areas reach 40C above normal at same time as north pole regions hit 30C above usual levels
Fiona Harvey | 20 Mar 2022
...At this time of year, the Antarctic should be rapidly cooling after its summer, and the Arctic only slowly emerging from its winter, as days lengthen. For both poles to show such heating at once is unprecedented.
...The danger is twofold: heatwaves at the poles are a strong signal of the damage humanity is wreaking on the climate; and the melting could also trigger further cascading changes that will accelerate climate breakdown...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/20/heatwaves-at-both-of-earth-p...
Antarctic areas reach 40C above normal at same time as north pole regions hit 30C above usual levels
Fiona Harvey | 20 Mar 2022
...At this time of year, the Antarctic should be rapidly cooling after its summer, and the Arctic only slowly emerging from its winter, as days lengthen. For both poles to show such heating at once is unprecedented.
...The danger is twofold: heatwaves at the poles are a strong signal of the damage humanity is wreaking on the climate; and the melting could also trigger further cascading changes that will accelerate climate breakdown...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/20/heatwaves-at-both-of-earth-p...
3margd
Nikos Tsafos (Chr CSIS Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability) @ntsafos | 2:23 PM · Mar 19, 2022:
https://twitter.com/ntsafos/status/1505248550975938560
Will Russia's invasion of Ukraine accelerate Europe's energy transition?
You bet.
Here is a running tally 🧵
"The Netherlands will significantly ramp up the building of offshore wind farms in coming years, doubling the planned capacity by 2030, in a bid to meet climate goals and reduce its dependence on Russian gas." (Reuters)
"From April 15 until end 2022, France will increase by 1,000 euros ($1,102) the subsidy for 'virtuous' residential heating and will scrap subsidies for new gas heater installations." (Reuters)
"(Belgian) Energy minister Tinne Van der Straeten presented a note to core cabinet members on Wednesday, which broadcaster RTBF said referred to a bill to be approved by the end of March extending the lives of the two newest reactors by up to 10 years." (Reuters)
"As the Ukraine conflict rages, Italy's cabinet has approved six new wind farms to be built on land, from Sardinia to Basilicata, and has committed to unlocking 'several tens of gigawatts of offshore wind power'." (Reuters)
"Sources said changes to (UK) planning rules that would make it easier to build windfarms are likely to be announced as part of the new energy strategy." (Guardian)
"The act would see Germany suspend cuts to subsidies for new solar panels on roofs this year and increase solar tenders to 20 gigawatts by 2028 from about five gigawatts now, keeping them at that level until 2035, the ministry said."..."Germany would also boost tender volumes for onshore wind energy to 10 gigawatts (GW) annually by 2027 from about two gigawatts now and keep them at that level through to 2035." (Reuters)
"The German government will ditch plans to lobby for key exemptions in EU car and van CO2 target legislation and formally back a mandate that only zero-emission vehicles can be sold from 2035..." (Politico)
"The German government will funnel an extra €200 billion into climate protection." (Not all of this is new money.) (Euractiv)
"The European Commission has doubled its objective for home-grown biomethane production to 35 billion cubic metres per year by 2030 as part of efforts to bolster the bloc against a looming energy crisis, according to a new communication." (Euractiv)
-------------------------------------------
Markus Gansterer @Marsterer
Austrian ministers for finance and energy @magnusbrunner and @lgewessler just announced additional 250 million€ funding for renewables. "Each solar power plant brings us closer to energy independence"
https://twitter.com/ntsafos/status/1505248550975938560
Will Russia's invasion of Ukraine accelerate Europe's energy transition?
You bet.
Here is a running tally 🧵
"The Netherlands will significantly ramp up the building of offshore wind farms in coming years, doubling the planned capacity by 2030, in a bid to meet climate goals and reduce its dependence on Russian gas." (Reuters)
"From April 15 until end 2022, France will increase by 1,000 euros ($1,102) the subsidy for 'virtuous' residential heating and will scrap subsidies for new gas heater installations." (Reuters)
"(Belgian) Energy minister Tinne Van der Straeten presented a note to core cabinet members on Wednesday, which broadcaster RTBF said referred to a bill to be approved by the end of March extending the lives of the two newest reactors by up to 10 years." (Reuters)
"As the Ukraine conflict rages, Italy's cabinet has approved six new wind farms to be built on land, from Sardinia to Basilicata, and has committed to unlocking 'several tens of gigawatts of offshore wind power'." (Reuters)
"Sources said changes to (UK) planning rules that would make it easier to build windfarms are likely to be announced as part of the new energy strategy." (Guardian)
"The act would see Germany suspend cuts to subsidies for new solar panels on roofs this year and increase solar tenders to 20 gigawatts by 2028 from about five gigawatts now, keeping them at that level until 2035, the ministry said."..."Germany would also boost tender volumes for onshore wind energy to 10 gigawatts (GW) annually by 2027 from about two gigawatts now and keep them at that level through to 2035." (Reuters)
"The German government will ditch plans to lobby for key exemptions in EU car and van CO2 target legislation and formally back a mandate that only zero-emission vehicles can be sold from 2035..." (Politico)
"The German government will funnel an extra €200 billion into climate protection." (Not all of this is new money.) (Euractiv)
"The European Commission has doubled its objective for home-grown biomethane production to 35 billion cubic metres per year by 2030 as part of efforts to bolster the bloc against a looming energy crisis, according to a new communication." (Euractiv)
-------------------------------------------
Markus Gansterer @Marsterer
Austrian ministers for finance and energy @magnusbrunner and @lgewessler just announced additional 250 million€ funding for renewables. "Each solar power plant brings us closer to energy independence"
4margd
Peter Bernath et al. 2022. Wildfire smoke destroys stratospheric ozone. Science • 17 Mar 2022 • Vol 375, Issue 6586 • pp. 1292-1295 • DOI: 10.1126/science.abm5611 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm5611
Fired up
Large wildfires can produce ascending atmospheric plumes of such great intensity that they inject smoke and other combustion products into the stratosphere. Bernath et al. show that compounds transported into the stratosphere by the Black Summer Australian fires in 2019–2020 caused extreme perturbations in stratospheric gas composition that have the potential to destroy ozone. As climate change causes severe wildfires to become more frequent, their effects on the global ozone budget will grow. —HJS
Abstract
Large wildfires inject smoke and biomass-burning products into the mid-latitude stratosphere, where they destroy ozone, which protects us from ultraviolet radiation. The infrared spectrometer on the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment satellite measured the spectra of smoke particles from the “Black Summer” fires in Australia in late 2019 and early 2020, revealing that they contain oxygenated organic functional groups and water adsorption on the surfaces. These injected smoke particles have produced unexpected and extreme perturbations in stratospheric gases beyond any seen in the previous 15 years of measurements, including increases in formaldehyde, chlorine nitrate, chlorine monoxide, and hypochlorous acid and decreases in ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and hydrochloric acid. These perturbations in stratospheric composition have the potential to affect ozone chemistry in unexpected ways.
Fired up
Large wildfires can produce ascending atmospheric plumes of such great intensity that they inject smoke and other combustion products into the stratosphere. Bernath et al. show that compounds transported into the stratosphere by the Black Summer Australian fires in 2019–2020 caused extreme perturbations in stratospheric gas composition that have the potential to destroy ozone. As climate change causes severe wildfires to become more frequent, their effects on the global ozone budget will grow. —HJS
Abstract
Large wildfires inject smoke and biomass-burning products into the mid-latitude stratosphere, where they destroy ozone, which protects us from ultraviolet radiation. The infrared spectrometer on the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment satellite measured the spectra of smoke particles from the “Black Summer” fires in Australia in late 2019 and early 2020, revealing that they contain oxygenated organic functional groups and water adsorption on the surfaces. These injected smoke particles have produced unexpected and extreme perturbations in stratospheric gases beyond any seen in the previous 15 years of measurements, including increases in formaldehyde, chlorine nitrate, chlorine monoxide, and hypochlorous acid and decreases in ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and hydrochloric acid. These perturbations in stratospheric composition have the potential to affect ozone chemistry in unexpected ways.
5margd
Forest fight
Germany invented “scientific” forestry. But a huge dieback triggered by climate change has ignited a fierce debate over how the nation should manage its trees
Gabriel Popkin | 2 Dec 2021
...Since 2018, more than 300,000 hectares of Germany’s trees—more than 2.5% of the country’s total forest area—have died because of beetles and drought fueled by a warming climate. The massive dieback has shocked the public. And it has raised hard questions about how a country renowned for inventing “scientific” forestry more than 3 centuries ago should manage forests so they can continue to produce wood and protect ecosystems in the face of destablizing climate shifts.
Everyone agrees that new approaches are needed, but no one, it seems, can agree on what those should be. Some advocates want Germany’s government and forest industry to stop promoting the widespread planting of commercially valuable trees such as Norway spruces, and instead encourage landowners to allow forests to regenerate on their own. Others say that to meet economic, environmental, and climate goals, Germany must double down on tree planting—but using more resilient varieties, including some barely known in Germany today.
The stakes are high: Germany’s forest products sector generates some €170 billion annually and employs more than 1.1 million people. If its wood supplies dwindle, pressure could grow to log forests elsewhere around the world. Declining forests could also imperil efforts to replace building materials that generate huge emissions of greenhouse gases, such as concrete and steel, with potentially climate-friendlier wood...
https://www.science.org/content/article/germany-s-trees-are-dying-fierce-debate-...
Germany invented “scientific” forestry. But a huge dieback triggered by climate change has ignited a fierce debate over how the nation should manage its trees
Gabriel Popkin | 2 Dec 2021
...Since 2018, more than 300,000 hectares of Germany’s trees—more than 2.5% of the country’s total forest area—have died because of beetles and drought fueled by a warming climate. The massive dieback has shocked the public. And it has raised hard questions about how a country renowned for inventing “scientific” forestry more than 3 centuries ago should manage forests so they can continue to produce wood and protect ecosystems in the face of destablizing climate shifts.
Everyone agrees that new approaches are needed, but no one, it seems, can agree on what those should be. Some advocates want Germany’s government and forest industry to stop promoting the widespread planting of commercially valuable trees such as Norway spruces, and instead encourage landowners to allow forests to regenerate on their own. Others say that to meet economic, environmental, and climate goals, Germany must double down on tree planting—but using more resilient varieties, including some barely known in Germany today.
The stakes are high: Germany’s forest products sector generates some €170 billion annually and employs more than 1.1 million people. If its wood supplies dwindle, pressure could grow to log forests elsewhere around the world. Declining forests could also imperil efforts to replace building materials that generate huge emissions of greenhouse gases, such as concrete and steel, with potentially climate-friendlier wood...
https://www.science.org/content/article/germany-s-trees-are-dying-fierce-debate-...
6margd
In a First, an Ice Shelf Collapses in East Antarctica
Scientists say a period of unusual weather, combined with record-low sea ice, led to the disintegration of the Conger ice shelf.
Henry Fountain | March 25, 2022
...(At least) the two glaciers behind the Conger sheet are small, and even if they were to accelerate, would have minimal effect on sea level, on the order of fractions of an inch over a century or two, said Ted Scambos, a senior researcher at the Earth Science and Observation Center at the University of Colorado Boulder....
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/25/climate/east-antarctica-ice-shelf-collapse.ht...
Scientists say a period of unusual weather, combined with record-low sea ice, led to the disintegration of the Conger ice shelf.
Henry Fountain | March 25, 2022
...(At least) the two glaciers behind the Conger sheet are small, and even if they were to accelerate, would have minimal effect on sea level, on the order of fractions of an inch over a century or two, said Ted Scambos, a senior researcher at the Earth Science and Observation Center at the University of Colorado Boulder....
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/25/climate/east-antarctica-ice-shelf-collapse.ht...
7margd
Stopping Climate Change Is Doable, but Time Is Short, U.N. Panel Warns
Brad Plumer and Raymond Zhong | April 4, 202
A major new scientific report* offers a road map for how countries can limit global warming, but warns that the margin for error is vanishingly small.
The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of experts convened by the United Nations, warns that unless countries drastically accelerate efforts over the next few years to slash their emissions from coal, oil and natural gas, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, will likely be out of reach by the end of this decade.
That’s the threshold beyond which scientists say the dangers of global warming — including worsening floods, droughts, wildfires and ecosystem collapse — grow considerably. Humans have already heated the planet by an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius since the 19th century, largely by burning fossil fuels for energy.
But the task is daunting: Holding warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius would require nations to collectively reduce their planet-warming emissions roughly 43 percent by 2030 and to stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere altogether by the early 2050s, the report found. By contrast, current policies by governments are only expected to reduce global emissions by a few percentage points this decade. Last year, fossil fuel emissions worldwide rebounded to near-record highs after a brief dip as a result of the coronavirus pandemic...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/04/climate/climate-change-ipcc-un.html
--------------------------------------------------------
* IPCC Sixth Assessment Report
Mitigation of Climate Change
The Working Group III report provides an updated global assessment of climate change mitigation progress and pledges, and examines the sources of global emissions. It explains developments in emission reduction and mitigation efforts, assessing the impact of national climate pledges in relation to long-term emissions goals.
Summary for Policymakers
Technical Summary
Full Report
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/
Brad Plumer and Raymond Zhong | April 4, 202
A major new scientific report* offers a road map for how countries can limit global warming, but warns that the margin for error is vanishingly small.
The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of experts convened by the United Nations, warns that unless countries drastically accelerate efforts over the next few years to slash their emissions from coal, oil and natural gas, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, will likely be out of reach by the end of this decade.
That’s the threshold beyond which scientists say the dangers of global warming — including worsening floods, droughts, wildfires and ecosystem collapse — grow considerably. Humans have already heated the planet by an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius since the 19th century, largely by burning fossil fuels for energy.
But the task is daunting: Holding warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius would require nations to collectively reduce their planet-warming emissions roughly 43 percent by 2030 and to stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere altogether by the early 2050s, the report found. By contrast, current policies by governments are only expected to reduce global emissions by a few percentage points this decade. Last year, fossil fuel emissions worldwide rebounded to near-record highs after a brief dip as a result of the coronavirus pandemic...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/04/climate/climate-change-ipcc-un.html
--------------------------------------------------------
* IPCC Sixth Assessment Report
Mitigation of Climate Change
The Working Group III report provides an updated global assessment of climate change mitigation progress and pledges, and examines the sources of global emissions. It explains developments in emission reduction and mitigation efforts, assessing the impact of national climate pledges in relation to long-term emissions goals.
Summary for Policymakers
Technical Summary
Full Report
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/
82wonderY
Industrial agriculture is resulting in dead soils that can’t hold the carbon anymore. I’m watching the documentary Kiss the Ground on Netflix.
9margd
>8 2wonderY: It would be great if interruption in availability of industrial fertilizers resulted in a rethink of current practices, and not just starvation...
________________________________________________
Science Magazine @ScienceMagazine | 11:00 AM · Apr 5, 2022:
A new modeling study from @ScienceAdvances finds #ClimateChange could dramatically increase risk of extreme rainfall after wildfires in the western United States. https://fcld.ly/urh99y2
Maps--predictions of extreme precipitation following wildfires
https://twitter.com/ScienceMagazine/status/1511358040464928770/photo/1
Danielle Touma et al. 2022. Climate change increases risk of extreme rainfall following wildfire in the western United States.
Science Advances • 1 Apr 2022 • Vol 8, Issue 13 • DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm0320 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abm0320
Abstract
Post-wildfire extreme rainfall events can have destructive impacts in the western United States. Using two climate model large ensembles, we assess the future risk of extreme fire weather events being followed by extreme rainfall in this region. By mid-21st century, in a high warming scenario (RCP8.5), we report large increases in the number of extreme fire weather events followed within 1 year by at least one extreme rainfall event. By 2100, the frequency of these compound events increases by 100% in California and 700% in the Pacific Northwest in the Community Earth System Model v1 Large Ensemble. We further project that more than 90% of extreme fire weather events in California, Colorado, and the Pacific Northwest will be followed by at least three spatially colocated extreme rainfall events within five years. Our results point to a future with substantially increased post-fire hydrologic risks across much of the western United States.
________________________________________________
Science Magazine @ScienceMagazine | 11:00 AM · Apr 5, 2022:
A new modeling study from @ScienceAdvances finds #ClimateChange could dramatically increase risk of extreme rainfall after wildfires in the western United States. https://fcld.ly/urh99y2
Maps--predictions of extreme precipitation following wildfires
https://twitter.com/ScienceMagazine/status/1511358040464928770/photo/1
Danielle Touma et al. 2022. Climate change increases risk of extreme rainfall following wildfire in the western United States.
Science Advances • 1 Apr 2022 • Vol 8, Issue 13 • DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm0320 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abm0320
Abstract
Post-wildfire extreme rainfall events can have destructive impacts in the western United States. Using two climate model large ensembles, we assess the future risk of extreme fire weather events being followed by extreme rainfall in this region. By mid-21st century, in a high warming scenario (RCP8.5), we report large increases in the number of extreme fire weather events followed within 1 year by at least one extreme rainfall event. By 2100, the frequency of these compound events increases by 100% in California and 700% in the Pacific Northwest in the Community Earth System Model v1 Large Ensemble. We further project that more than 90% of extreme fire weather events in California, Colorado, and the Pacific Northwest will be followed by at least three spatially colocated extreme rainfall events within five years. Our results point to a future with substantially increased post-fire hydrologic risks across much of the western United States.
10margd
#7 contd.
Global emissions must peak in just three years to stay below 1.5°C
A major report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that the window for avoiding more than 1.5°C of global warming has almost closed, with immediate and drastic cuts the only way to stay below the target
Adam Vaughan | t 4 April 2022
...humanity’s emissions must peak within just three years to avoid breaching the important limit...
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2314731-global-emissions-must-peak-in-just-...
Global emissions must peak in just three years to stay below 1.5°C
A major report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that the window for avoiding more than 1.5°C of global warming has almost closed, with immediate and drastic cuts the only way to stay below the target
Adam Vaughan | t 4 April 2022
...humanity’s emissions must peak within just three years to avoid breaching the important limit...
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2314731-global-emissions-must-peak-in-just-...
11margd
46 C = 115 F. 49 C = 120 F. Pakistanis and Indians will suffer this for a week!
Extreme Temperatures Around The World @extremetemps | 12:34 PM · Apr 23, 2022
Unfortunately for Indians and Pakistanis the extreme heat is not over and it will just get worse in few days:
An incoming potentially deadly heat wave will see the temperatures soaring up to 48-49C in Pakistan and 46-47C in India. Stay tuned.
Map-temp forecast Pakistan & India Apr 23-30, 2022
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1517904633859133448/photo/1
Extreme Temperatures Around The World @extremetemps | 12:34 PM · Apr 23, 2022
Unfortunately for Indians and Pakistanis the extreme heat is not over and it will just get worse in few days:
An incoming potentially deadly heat wave will see the temperatures soaring up to 48-49C in Pakistan and 46-47C in India. Stay tuned.
Map-temp forecast Pakistan & India Apr 23-30, 2022
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1517904633859133448/photo/1
12margd
(Also posted at zoonoses thread.)
Scientists Warn That Climate Change Could Spark the Next Major Pandemic
Georgetown University Medical Center | April 30, 2022
...the first comprehensive assessment of how climate change will restructure the global mammalian virome. The work focuses on geographic range shifts—the journeys that species will undertake as they follow their habitats into new areas. As they encounter other mammals for the first time, the study projects they will share thousands of viruses.
Map: In 2070, human population centers in equatorial Africa, south China, India, and Southeast Asia will overlap with projected hotspots of cross-species viral transmission in wildlife. ...
They argue that these shifts provide greater opportunity for viruses such as Ebola or coronaviruses to emerge in new places, making them more difficult to track, and into new types of animals, making it easier for viruses to jump across a “stepping stone” species into humans...
https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-warn-that-climate-change-could-spark-the-nex...
--------------------------------------------------
Colin J. Carlson et al. 2022. “Climate change increases cross-species viral transmission risk”. Nature, 28 April 2022. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04788-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04788-w
Scientists Warn That Climate Change Could Spark the Next Major Pandemic
Georgetown University Medical Center | April 30, 2022
...the first comprehensive assessment of how climate change will restructure the global mammalian virome. The work focuses on geographic range shifts—the journeys that species will undertake as they follow their habitats into new areas. As they encounter other mammals for the first time, the study projects they will share thousands of viruses.
Map: In 2070, human population centers in equatorial Africa, south China, India, and Southeast Asia will overlap with projected hotspots of cross-species viral transmission in wildlife. ...
They argue that these shifts provide greater opportunity for viruses such as Ebola or coronaviruses to emerge in new places, making them more difficult to track, and into new types of animals, making it easier for viruses to jump across a “stepping stone” species into humans...
https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-warn-that-climate-change-could-spark-the-nex...
--------------------------------------------------
Colin J. Carlson et al. 2022. “Climate change increases cross-species viral transmission risk”. Nature, 28 April 2022. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04788-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04788-w
13margd
Mangroves can capture 5X CO2 as do tropical rainforests.
(Shrimp farms, esp in se Asia, destroy acres of mangroves as they move every few years to escape disease...)
Mangroves have "superpowers" against climate change. Scientists are racing to save them.
2:22 ( https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1519299571691753472 )
-- NBC News @NBCNews | 8:56 AM · Apr 27, 2022
(Shrimp farms, esp in se Asia, destroy acres of mangroves as they move every few years to escape disease...)
Mangroves have "superpowers" against climate change. Scientists are racing to save them.
2:22 ( https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1519299571691753472 )
-- NBC News @NBCNews | 8:56 AM · Apr 27, 2022
14margd
Wow.
8News WRIC Richmond @8NEWS | 2:00 PM · May 10, 2022
A second home has collapsed on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, just hours after another house fell into the ocean on the Outer Banks. https://trib.al/uHsjYwj
1:23 ( https://twitter.com/SpecNews1ILM/status/1524102053425041408 )
2 Outer Banks houses collapse in 1 day
Brian Reese | May 10, 2022
https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/another-house-collapses-in-rodanthe-on-outer...
https://trib.al/uHsjYwj
8News WRIC Richmond @8NEWS | 2:00 PM · May 10, 2022
A second home has collapsed on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, just hours after another house fell into the ocean on the Outer Banks. https://trib.al/uHsjYwj
1:23 ( https://twitter.com/SpecNews1ILM/status/1524102053425041408 )
2 Outer Banks houses collapse in 1 day
Brian Reese | May 10, 2022
https://www.wric.com/news/u-s-world/another-house-collapses-in-rodanthe-on-outer...
https://trib.al/uHsjYwj
152wonderY
>14 margd: I hope those are vacation homes and not primary residences.
16margd
>15 2wonderY: Sounds like some folks are caught between the bridge and residences. Must be quite a storm!
As students several of us lived one summer in cottage on sand cliff on Lake Erie. There was a manhole cover in the water below, and we lost a small tree that summer. There were photos of some houses hanging half off the cliff. NOTHING like Outer Banks today though. I wonder if our little cottage still exists...
As students several of us lived one summer in cottage on sand cliff on Lake Erie. There was a manhole cover in the water below, and we lost a small tree that summer. There were photos of some houses hanging half off the cliff. NOTHING like Outer Banks today though. I wonder if our little cottage still exists...
17margd
NowThis @nowthisnews | 12:23 AM · May 10, 2022:
HOLY COW: Methane emissions from burping cows have been detected from space for the first time🤯🐮
Scientists Measure Methane Emissions From Space
1:00 ( https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1523881263345684482 )
HOLY COW: Methane emissions from burping cows have been detected from space for the first time🤯🐮
Scientists Measure Methane Emissions From Space
1:00 ( https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1523881263345684482 )
18margd
Canada ranks dead last among G7 on climate progress: Earth Index
Shawn McCarthy, Corporate Knights | 19 May 2022
...Among the 10 most developed G20 countries assessed by Corporate Knights’ Earth Index analysis, “Canada was the worst performing country of the whole group in 2019,” said Ralph Torrie, Corporate Knights’ director of research. And Canada’s performance between 2016 and 2019 was second worst to Russia in terms of making the emission reductions needed to meet its own targets...
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/canada-ranks-last-climate-progress/
Shawn McCarthy, Corporate Knights | 19 May 2022
...Among the 10 most developed G20 countries assessed by Corporate Knights’ Earth Index analysis, “Canada was the worst performing country of the whole group in 2019,” said Ralph Torrie, Corporate Knights’ director of research. And Canada’s performance between 2016 and 2019 was second worst to Russia in terms of making the emission reductions needed to meet its own targets...
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/canada-ranks-last-climate-progress/
19margd
If countries striving to achieve climate commitments adopt measures to restrict upstream oil and gas production, they could face legal and financial risk, a new Science Policy Forum highlights:
Kyla Tienhaara Rachel et al. 2022. Investor-state disputes threaten the global green energy transition.
Science 5 May 2022 Vol 376, Issue 6594 pp. 701-703 DOI: 10.1126/science.abo4637 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo4637
Abstract
To limit global warming to below 1.5°C, governments will have to simultaneously curb demand for fossil fuels and limit supply... However, efforts to limit supply will affect asset holders, particularly in the upstream (exploration and production) and midstream (transportation and storage) portions of the supply chain. Demands for compensation will ensue, and when the companies involved are foreign, legal claims may be brought to international arbitration in a process known as investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) (see the first figure). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently acknowledged that ISDS cases could lead to states refraining from, or delaying, measures to phase out fossil fuels... Here, we illustrate legal and financial risks associated with limiting oil and gas production and argue that governments should take steps to prevent fossil fuel investors from accessing ISDS.
Kyla Tienhaara Rachel et al. 2022. Investor-state disputes threaten the global green energy transition.
Science 5 May 2022 Vol 376, Issue 6594 pp. 701-703 DOI: 10.1126/science.abo4637 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo4637
Abstract
To limit global warming to below 1.5°C, governments will have to simultaneously curb demand for fossil fuels and limit supply... However, efforts to limit supply will affect asset holders, particularly in the upstream (exploration and production) and midstream (transportation and storage) portions of the supply chain. Demands for compensation will ensue, and when the companies involved are foreign, legal claims may be brought to international arbitration in a process known as investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) (see the first figure). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently acknowledged that ISDS cases could lead to states refraining from, or delaying, measures to phase out fossil fuels... Here, we illustrate legal and financial risks associated with limiting oil and gas production and argue that governments should take steps to prevent fossil fuel investors from accessing ISDS.
20margd
Cross-posted in zoonoses:
Colin J. Carlson et al. 2022. Climate change increases cross-species viral transmission risk. Nature (28 April 2022) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04788-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04788-w
unedited version of manuscript
Abstract
At least 10,000 virus species have the capacity to infect humans, but at present, the vast majority are circulating silently in wild mammals... However, climate and land use change will produce novel opportunities for viral sharing among previously geographically-isolated species of wildlife... In some cases, this will facilitate zoonotic spillover—a mechanistic link between global environmental change and disease emergence. Here, we simulate potential hotspots of future viral sharing, using a phylogeographic model of the mammal-virus network, and projections of geographic range shifts for 3,139 mammal species under climate change and land use scenarios for the year 2070. We predict that species will aggregate in new combinations at high elevations, in biodiversity hotspots, and in areas of high human population density in Asia and Africa, driving the novel cross-species transmission of their viruses an estimated 4,000 times. Because of their unique dispersal capacity, bats account for the majority of novel viral sharing, and are likely to share viruses along evolutionary pathways that will facilitate future emergence in humans. Surprisingly, we find that this ecological transition may already be underway, and holding warming under 2 °C within the century will not reduce future viral sharing. Our findings highlight an urgent need to pair viral surveillance and discovery efforts with biodiversity surveys tracking species’ range shifts, especially in tropical regions that harbor the most zoonoses and are experiencing rapid warming.
Colin J. Carlson et al. 2022. Climate change increases cross-species viral transmission risk. Nature (28 April 2022) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04788-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04788-w
unedited version of manuscript
Abstract
At least 10,000 virus species have the capacity to infect humans, but at present, the vast majority are circulating silently in wild mammals... However, climate and land use change will produce novel opportunities for viral sharing among previously geographically-isolated species of wildlife... In some cases, this will facilitate zoonotic spillover—a mechanistic link between global environmental change and disease emergence. Here, we simulate potential hotspots of future viral sharing, using a phylogeographic model of the mammal-virus network, and projections of geographic range shifts for 3,139 mammal species under climate change and land use scenarios for the year 2070. We predict that species will aggregate in new combinations at high elevations, in biodiversity hotspots, and in areas of high human population density in Asia and Africa, driving the novel cross-species transmission of their viruses an estimated 4,000 times. Because of their unique dispersal capacity, bats account for the majority of novel viral sharing, and are likely to share viruses along evolutionary pathways that will facilitate future emergence in humans. Surprisingly, we find that this ecological transition may already be underway, and holding warming under 2 °C within the century will not reduce future viral sharing. Our findings highlight an urgent need to pair viral surveillance and discovery efforts with biodiversity surveys tracking species’ range shifts, especially in tropical regions that harbor the most zoonoses and are experiencing rapid warming.
21margd
House Republicans unveil energy and climate plan that would boost fossil fuels, hydropower
Emma Newburger | Jun 3 2022
...The strategy provides a broad overview of how the party would address high energy prices but doesn’t set specific greenhouse gas emission targets. It calls for ramping up fossil fuel production and liquefied natural gas exports, as well as streamlining the permitting process for major infrastructure projects, according to The Washington Post, which first reported the plan.
The agenda also endorses legislation to expand hydropower, one of the oldest and largest sources of renewable energy, and condemns policies that increase U.S. demand for critical minerals mined from China, which are necessary for electric vehicle and renewable energy production. In a document introducing the road map, House Republicans cited Department of Energy statistics showing that only 3% of the more than 80,000 dams in the U.S. currently generate electricity.*
This week’s plan takes a vastly different approach to addressing climate change than the Biden administration’s agenda, which involves slashing emissions in half by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
The GOP plans to unveil the six policy areas of their plan, called “Unlock American Resources,” “American Innovation,” “Let America Build,” “Beat China and Russia,” “Conservation with a Purpose” and “Build Resilient Communities,” over the next two months.
The road map also comes after the House last year passed more than $500 billion in climate investments as part of the president’s Build Back Better Act. That legislation is still stalled in the Senate after opposition from Republicans and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Every Republican in Congress has opposed the funding, contending it would exacerbate the worst inflation the U.S. has seen in decades...
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/03/house-republicans-energy-and-climate-plan-pushes...
* Small-town dams are being removed to restore hydrodynamics and connectivity. Larger dams such as Moses Saunders Dam have decimated American Eel in L Ontario, and blocked salmon from their spawning grounds. In the west,
"Journalists reporting on the status and future of the Colorado River are increasingly using the phrase “dead pool.” It sounds ominous. And it is."
"Dead pool occurs when water in a reservoir drops so low that it can’t flow downstream from the dam. The biggest concerns right now in the United States are Lake Powell, behind Glen Canyon Dam on the Utah-Arizona border, and Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border. These two reservoirs, the largest in the U.S., provide water for drinking and irrigation and hydroelectricity to millions of people in Nevada, Arizona, and California..."
https://scitechdaily.com/what-is-dead-pool-it-sounds-ominous-and-it-is/
Eastern US buys some C-free electricity from massive hydropower works in n Quebec.
Emma Newburger | Jun 3 2022
...The strategy provides a broad overview of how the party would address high energy prices but doesn’t set specific greenhouse gas emission targets. It calls for ramping up fossil fuel production and liquefied natural gas exports, as well as streamlining the permitting process for major infrastructure projects, according to The Washington Post, which first reported the plan.
The agenda also endorses legislation to expand hydropower, one of the oldest and largest sources of renewable energy, and condemns policies that increase U.S. demand for critical minerals mined from China, which are necessary for electric vehicle and renewable energy production. In a document introducing the road map, House Republicans cited Department of Energy statistics showing that only 3% of the more than 80,000 dams in the U.S. currently generate electricity.*
This week’s plan takes a vastly different approach to addressing climate change than the Biden administration’s agenda, which involves slashing emissions in half by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
The GOP plans to unveil the six policy areas of their plan, called “Unlock American Resources,” “American Innovation,” “Let America Build,” “Beat China and Russia,” “Conservation with a Purpose” and “Build Resilient Communities,” over the next two months.
The road map also comes after the House last year passed more than $500 billion in climate investments as part of the president’s Build Back Better Act. That legislation is still stalled in the Senate after opposition from Republicans and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Every Republican in Congress has opposed the funding, contending it would exacerbate the worst inflation the U.S. has seen in decades...
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/03/house-republicans-energy-and-climate-plan-pushes...
* Small-town dams are being removed to restore hydrodynamics and connectivity. Larger dams such as Moses Saunders Dam have decimated American Eel in L Ontario, and blocked salmon from their spawning grounds. In the west,
"Journalists reporting on the status and future of the Colorado River are increasingly using the phrase “dead pool.” It sounds ominous. And it is."
"Dead pool occurs when water in a reservoir drops so low that it can’t flow downstream from the dam. The biggest concerns right now in the United States are Lake Powell, behind Glen Canyon Dam on the Utah-Arizona border, and Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border. These two reservoirs, the largest in the U.S., provide water for drinking and irrigation and hydroelectricity to millions of people in Nevada, Arizona, and California..."
https://scitechdaily.com/what-is-dead-pool-it-sounds-ominous-and-it-is/
Eastern US buys some C-free electricity from massive hydropower works in n Quebec.
22margd
CO2 at record levels not seen in over 4 million years
Scott Sutherland | Jun. 8, 2022
CO2 concentrations have never been as high as they are now, during the entire existence of humans on this planet, and also going back millions of years.
...On June 3, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography announced that the average CO2 concentration for the entire month of May had reached 420.78 ppm — the highest recorded monthly average for carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa since measurements began in 1958. Based on their own instruments at that location, NOAA reported a monthly average of 420.99 ppm...
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/climate/causes/carbon-dioxide-mauna-lo...
Scott Sutherland | Jun. 8, 2022
CO2 concentrations have never been as high as they are now, during the entire existence of humans on this planet, and also going back millions of years.
...On June 3, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography announced that the average CO2 concentration for the entire month of May had reached 420.78 ppm — the highest recorded monthly average for carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa since measurements began in 1958. Based on their own instruments at that location, NOAA reported a monthly average of 420.99 ppm...
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/climate/causes/carbon-dioxide-mauna-lo...
23margd
Your Kids Are Not Doomed
Ezra Klein | June 5, 2022
...Climate models force us to confront vast expanses of future suffering that, if they were ongoing around us, we might fail to see. As my colleague David Wallace-Wells — a father of two and the author of “The Uninhabitable Earth,” as well as a must-read newsletter — wrote to me, “What looks like apocalypse in prospect often feels more like grim normality when it arrives in the present.” Oof.
This is no mere abstraction or prediction. The evidence that we ignore mass suffering is all around us. We are ignoring it right now, just as we did yesterday, and just as we will tomorrow. “An estimated 20 million people died of Covid, and now we’re over it. What do we make of that?” Wallace-Wells wrote to me. “Ten million people a year are dying of air pollution. What do we make of that? And what does it tell us about climate change, which is quite unlikely (as I wrote in my big piece on pollution*) to ever kill as many as now die from particulates?”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/05/opinion/climate-change-should-you-have-kids.h...
* Vol. 43 No. 23 · 2 December 2021
Ten Million a Year
David Wallace-Wells on polluted air
(David Wallace-Wells is an editor-at-large at New York magazine and the author of The Uninhabitable Earth: A Story of the Future.)
...There’s a further incentive for individual governments to prioritise the addressing of pollution. The benefits of decarbonisation – chiefly that it limits temperature rise – are distributed globally, which in practice means that local actors wait and see how quickly others are moving before moving themselves. Air pollution changes the calculus: for one thing, it’s actually under the control of local and national governments. It’s also a significant burden on public health, which if alleviated offers immediate benefits every government should want to seize.
Warming may well destabilise societies: it’s certainly not out of the question. But the damage done by air pollution isn’t hypothetical, and it’s happening at a much bigger scale. According to the WHO, extreme heat killed at least 166,000 people around the world between 1998 and 2017 – 8700 a year. Air pollution killed about a thousand times more. Other estimates are higher, but even the highest – the Lancet’s half a million heat-related deaths per year – is just a twentieth of the toll of air pollution. Earlier this year, Madagascar was said to be on the brink of the world’s first ‘climate famine’, with 30,000 on the verge of starvation. In the same country, Unicef estimates, more than 40,000 already die each year from the effects of air pollution. The Climate Impact Lab recently published a comprehensive accounting of the ‘global mortality consequences for climate change’. The lab, a consortium of environmental scientists and economists from a wide range of US institutions, is known for being at the alarm-raising vanguard of the serious research on the effects of warming. Their highest estimate for the end of this century – assuming an implausibly high emissions scenario called RCP8.5 – was for an annual death toll from climate change of 73 deaths per 100,000 people. Today, air pollution is killing up to 126 per 100,000. In a more plausible scenario, the report projects fewer than 20 deaths per 100,000.
Perhaps, like me, you have spent the last five years in a state of panic about climate change. Perhaps it has inflamed your politics, and your sense of self. It should...
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v43/n23/david-wallace-wells/ten-million-a-year
Ezra Klein | June 5, 2022
...Climate models force us to confront vast expanses of future suffering that, if they were ongoing around us, we might fail to see. As my colleague David Wallace-Wells — a father of two and the author of “The Uninhabitable Earth,” as well as a must-read newsletter — wrote to me, “What looks like apocalypse in prospect often feels more like grim normality when it arrives in the present.” Oof.
This is no mere abstraction or prediction. The evidence that we ignore mass suffering is all around us. We are ignoring it right now, just as we did yesterday, and just as we will tomorrow. “An estimated 20 million people died of Covid, and now we’re over it. What do we make of that?” Wallace-Wells wrote to me. “Ten million people a year are dying of air pollution. What do we make of that? And what does it tell us about climate change, which is quite unlikely (as I wrote in my big piece on pollution*) to ever kill as many as now die from particulates?”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/05/opinion/climate-change-should-you-have-kids.h...
* Vol. 43 No. 23 · 2 December 2021
Ten Million a Year
David Wallace-Wells on polluted air
(David Wallace-Wells is an editor-at-large at New York magazine and the author of The Uninhabitable Earth: A Story of the Future.)
...There’s a further incentive for individual governments to prioritise the addressing of pollution. The benefits of decarbonisation – chiefly that it limits temperature rise – are distributed globally, which in practice means that local actors wait and see how quickly others are moving before moving themselves. Air pollution changes the calculus: for one thing, it’s actually under the control of local and national governments. It’s also a significant burden on public health, which if alleviated offers immediate benefits every government should want to seize.
Warming may well destabilise societies: it’s certainly not out of the question. But the damage done by air pollution isn’t hypothetical, and it’s happening at a much bigger scale. According to the WHO, extreme heat killed at least 166,000 people around the world between 1998 and 2017 – 8700 a year. Air pollution killed about a thousand times more. Other estimates are higher, but even the highest – the Lancet’s half a million heat-related deaths per year – is just a twentieth of the toll of air pollution. Earlier this year, Madagascar was said to be on the brink of the world’s first ‘climate famine’, with 30,000 on the verge of starvation. In the same country, Unicef estimates, more than 40,000 already die each year from the effects of air pollution. The Climate Impact Lab recently published a comprehensive accounting of the ‘global mortality consequences for climate change’. The lab, a consortium of environmental scientists and economists from a wide range of US institutions, is known for being at the alarm-raising vanguard of the serious research on the effects of warming. Their highest estimate for the end of this century – assuming an implausibly high emissions scenario called RCP8.5 – was for an annual death toll from climate change of 73 deaths per 100,000 people. Today, air pollution is killing up to 126 per 100,000. In a more plausible scenario, the report projects fewer than 20 deaths per 100,000.
Perhaps, like me, you have spent the last five years in a state of panic about climate change. Perhaps it has inflamed your politics, and your sense of self. It should...
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v43/n23/david-wallace-wells/ten-million-a-year
24margd
Burning planet: why are the world’s heatwaves getting more intense?
Fiona Harvey, Ashifa Kassam in Madrid, Nina Lakhani in Phoenix, and Amrit Dhillon in New Delhi | 18 Jun 2022
In March, the north and south poles had record temperatures. In May in Delhi, it hit 49C. Last week in Madrid, 40C. Experts say the worst effects of the climate emergency cannot be avoided if emissions continue to rise
...To induce a heatwave at one pole may be regarded as a warning; heatwaves at both poles at once start to look a lot like climate catastrophe.
Since then, weather stations around the world have seen their mercury rising like a global Mexican wave.
...A study published last month showed that the south Asian heatwave was made 30 times more likely to happen by human influence on the climate.
Vikki Thompson, climate scientist at the University of Bristol’s Cabot Institute, explained: “Climate change is making heatwaves hotter and last longer around the world. Scientists have shown that many specific heatwaves are more intense because of human-induced climate change. The climate change signal is even detectable in the number of deaths attributed to heatwaves.”
Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, said heatwaves in Europe alone had increased in frequency by a factor of 100 or more, caused by human actions in pouring greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. “Climate change is a real game changer when it comes to heatwaves: they have increased in frequency, intensity and duration across the world,” she said...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/18/burning-planet-why-are-the-worlds-...
Fiona Harvey, Ashifa Kassam in Madrid, Nina Lakhani in Phoenix, and Amrit Dhillon in New Delhi | 18 Jun 2022
In March, the north and south poles had record temperatures. In May in Delhi, it hit 49C. Last week in Madrid, 40C. Experts say the worst effects of the climate emergency cannot be avoided if emissions continue to rise
...To induce a heatwave at one pole may be regarded as a warning; heatwaves at both poles at once start to look a lot like climate catastrophe.
Since then, weather stations around the world have seen their mercury rising like a global Mexican wave.
...A study published last month showed that the south Asian heatwave was made 30 times more likely to happen by human influence on the climate.
Vikki Thompson, climate scientist at the University of Bristol’s Cabot Institute, explained: “Climate change is making heatwaves hotter and last longer around the world. Scientists have shown that many specific heatwaves are more intense because of human-induced climate change. The climate change signal is even detectable in the number of deaths attributed to heatwaves.”
Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, said heatwaves in Europe alone had increased in frequency by a factor of 100 or more, caused by human actions in pouring greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. “Climate change is a real game changer when it comes to heatwaves: they have increased in frequency, intensity and duration across the world,” she said...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/18/burning-planet-why-are-the-worlds-...
25margd
Extreme heat seems never stopping in China. Today Jiazhou in Henan Province had a minimum temperature of 30.5C hottest June night on records. Max. temperatures will rise to 43-44C next days in Henan and to deadly 46-48C in Xinjiang. Hot also in South Korea with 37C.
Map ( https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1539533653423935488/photo/1 )
- Extreme Temperatures Around The World @extremetemps | 5:00 AM · Jun 22, 2022
Map ( https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1539533653423935488/photo/1 )
- Extreme Temperatures Around The World @extremetemps | 5:00 AM · Jun 22, 2022
26margd
Germany Pushes for G-7 Reversal on Fossil Fuels in Climate Blow
Europe faces energy fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine
Pledge to end public financing of such fuels came recently
Alberto Nardelli, Chiara Albanese, and Jess Shankleman | June 25, 2022
Germany is pushing for Group of Seven nations to walk back a commitment that would halt the financing of overseas fossil fuel projects by the end of the year... That would be a major reversal on tackling climate change as Russia’s war in Ukraine upends access to energy supplies.
...would see the G-7 “acknowledge that publicly supported investment in the gas sector is necessary as a temporary response to the current energy crisis.”
The caveat in the proposal is that such funding is done “in a manner consistent with our climate objectives and without creating lock-in effects.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-25/germany-pushes-for-g-7-revers...
Europe faces energy fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine
Pledge to end public financing of such fuels came recently
Alberto Nardelli, Chiara Albanese, and Jess Shankleman | June 25, 2022
Germany is pushing for Group of Seven nations to walk back a commitment that would halt the financing of overseas fossil fuel projects by the end of the year... That would be a major reversal on tackling climate change as Russia’s war in Ukraine upends access to energy supplies.
...would see the G-7 “acknowledge that publicly supported investment in the gas sector is necessary as a temporary response to the current energy crisis.”
The caveat in the proposal is that such funding is done “in a manner consistent with our climate objectives and without creating lock-in effects.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-25/germany-pushes-for-g-7-revers...
27margd
In the end, Trump Court decision constraining EPA regulation may be the most consequential. One can't exercise voting, reproductive, gun rights, worry about famine or nukes, in a fried planet... 2022 midterms may be last opportunity to put in a Congress that can legislate action to save the planet.
SCOTUSblog @SCOTUSblog | 10:03 AM · Jun 30, 2022:
The Supreme Court sharply curtails the authority of the EPA to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions that cause climate change. In a 6-3 ruling, the court sides with conservative states and fossil-fuel companies in adopting a narrow reading of the Clean Air Act.
Here is the opinion from John Roberts in West Virginia v. EPA:
https://supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1530_n758.pdf (89p).
The three liberal justices dissent.
____________________________________________________
Josh Chafetz (Georgetown Law) @joshchafetz | 12:55 PM · Jun 30, 2022:
Nothing in the Constitution requires Congress to pay for Supreme Court clerks.
Or secretaries.
Or air conditioning.
_____________________________________________________
The Supreme Court Tries to Overrule the Climate
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-supreme-court-tries-to-overrule...
_____________________________________________________
Neil Gorsuch’s mother once ran the EPA. It didn’t go well.
Brady Dennis and Chris Mooney | February 1, 2017
Anne Gorsuch, served as President Ronald Reagan’s first Environmental Protection Agency administrator and the first female leader in the agency’s history. But her short, tumultuous tenure was marked by sharp budget cuts, rifts with career EPA employees, a steep decline in cases filed against polluters and a scandal over the mismanagement of the Superfund cleanup program that ultimately led to her resignation in 1983....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/02/01/neil-gorsuc...
______________________________________________________
Jonathan Alter @jonathanalter | 4:22 PM · Jul 1, 2022:
...author (of books on FDR, Obama and Carter); MSNBC analyst; documentary filmmaker; columnist; SiriusXm co-host...
...and John Roberts' father was general manager of Bethlehem Steel in Burns Harbor, IN on Lake Michigan when Bethlehem was belching pollution into the air and fighting hard to destroy the Indiana Dunes. (The remains are now a national park). I know because I grew up there.
SCOTUSblog @SCOTUSblog | 10:03 AM · Jun 30, 2022:
The Supreme Court sharply curtails the authority of the EPA to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions that cause climate change. In a 6-3 ruling, the court sides with conservative states and fossil-fuel companies in adopting a narrow reading of the Clean Air Act.
Here is the opinion from John Roberts in West Virginia v. EPA:
https://supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1530_n758.pdf (89p).
The three liberal justices dissent.
____________________________________________________
Josh Chafetz (Georgetown Law) @joshchafetz | 12:55 PM · Jun 30, 2022:
Nothing in the Constitution requires Congress to pay for Supreme Court clerks.
Or secretaries.
Or air conditioning.
_____________________________________________________
The Supreme Court Tries to Overrule the Climate
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-supreme-court-tries-to-overrule...
_____________________________________________________
Neil Gorsuch’s mother once ran the EPA. It didn’t go well.
Brady Dennis and Chris Mooney | February 1, 2017
Anne Gorsuch, served as President Ronald Reagan’s first Environmental Protection Agency administrator and the first female leader in the agency’s history. But her short, tumultuous tenure was marked by sharp budget cuts, rifts with career EPA employees, a steep decline in cases filed against polluters and a scandal over the mismanagement of the Superfund cleanup program that ultimately led to her resignation in 1983....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/02/01/neil-gorsuc...
______________________________________________________
Jonathan Alter @jonathanalter | 4:22 PM · Jul 1, 2022:
...author (of books on FDR, Obama and Carter); MSNBC analyst; documentary filmmaker; columnist; SiriusXm co-host...
...and John Roberts' father was general manager of Bethlehem Steel in Burns Harbor, IN on Lake Michigan when Bethlehem was belching pollution into the air and fighting hard to destroy the Indiana Dunes. (The remains are now a national park). I know because I grew up there.
28margd
>4 margd: "Large wildfires can produce ascending atmospheric plumes of such great intensity that they inject smoke and other combustion products into the stratosphere. Bernath et al. show that compounds transported into the stratosphere by the Black Summer Australian fires in 2019–2020 caused extreme perturbations in stratospheric gas composition that have the potential to destroy ozone. As climate change causes severe wildfires to become more frequent, their effects on the global ozone budget will grow."
Discovery reveals large, year-round ozone hole over tropics
Alison Bosman | 5 July 2022
(Qing-Bin Lu, U Waterloo, paper in AIP Advances)
https://www.earth.com/news/discovery-reveals-large-year-round-ozone-hole-over-tr...
Discovery reveals large, year-round ozone hole over tropics
Alison Bosman | 5 July 2022
(Qing-Bin Lu, U Waterloo, paper in AIP Advances)
https://www.earth.com/news/discovery-reveals-large-year-round-ozone-hole-over-tr...
29margd
Methane much more sensitive to global heating than previously thought – study
Greenhouse gas has undergone rapid acceleration and scientists say it may be due to atmospheric changes
Kate Ravilious | 5 Jul 2022
...The predominant way in which methane is “mopped up” is via reaction with hydroxyl radicals (OH) in the atmosphere.
“The hydroxyl radical has been termed the ‘detergent’ of the atmosphere because it works to cleanse the atmosphere of harmful trace gases,” said (Simon Redfern, an earth scientist at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore). But hydroxyl radicals also react with carbon monoxide, and an increase in wildfires may have pumped more carbon monoxide into the atmosphere and altered the chemical balance. “On average, a carbon monoxide molecule remains in the atmosphere for about three months before it’s attacked by a hydroxyl radical, while methane persists for about a decade. So wildfires have a swift impact on using up the hydroxyl ‘detergent’ and reduce the methane removal,” said Redfern.
... published in the journal Nature Communications, suggest global heating is four times more influential in accelerating methane emissions than previously estimated, with rising temperatures helping to produce more methane (by speeding up microbe activity in wetlands for example), while at the same time slowing down the removal of methane from the atmosphere (with increasing numbers of wildfires reducing the availability of hydroxyl radicals in the upper atmosphere). “I...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/05/global-heating-causes-methan...
---------------------------------------------------------
Chin-Hsien Cheng & Simon A. T. Redfern. 2022. Impact of interannual and multidecadal trends on
methane-climate feedbacks and sensitivity. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | (2022) 13:3592 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31345-w | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31345-w.pdf
Greenhouse gas has undergone rapid acceleration and scientists say it may be due to atmospheric changes
Kate Ravilious | 5 Jul 2022
...The predominant way in which methane is “mopped up” is via reaction with hydroxyl radicals (OH) in the atmosphere.
“The hydroxyl radical has been termed the ‘detergent’ of the atmosphere because it works to cleanse the atmosphere of harmful trace gases,” said (Simon Redfern, an earth scientist at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore). But hydroxyl radicals also react with carbon monoxide, and an increase in wildfires may have pumped more carbon monoxide into the atmosphere and altered the chemical balance. “On average, a carbon monoxide molecule remains in the atmosphere for about three months before it’s attacked by a hydroxyl radical, while methane persists for about a decade. So wildfires have a swift impact on using up the hydroxyl ‘detergent’ and reduce the methane removal,” said Redfern.
... published in the journal Nature Communications, suggest global heating is four times more influential in accelerating methane emissions than previously estimated, with rising temperatures helping to produce more methane (by speeding up microbe activity in wetlands for example), while at the same time slowing down the removal of methane from the atmosphere (with increasing numbers of wildfires reducing the availability of hydroxyl radicals in the upper atmosphere). “I...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/05/global-heating-causes-methan...
---------------------------------------------------------
Chin-Hsien Cheng & Simon A. T. Redfern. 2022. Impact of interannual and multidecadal trends on
methane-climate feedbacks and sensitivity. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | (2022) 13:3592 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31345-w | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31345-w.pdf
30margd
A Drowning World: Kenya’s Quiet Slide Underwater
Carey Baraka | 17 March 2022
Kenya’s great lakes are flooding, in a devastating and long-ignored environmental disaster that is displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
...In October 2021, the (Kentan) government finally released the report. While allowing for the possibility that tectonic activity was partly responsible, it stated that greater levels of rainfall, caused by the climate crisis, was the main cause. Other forms of human interference with the environment – such as deforestation – had also led to landslides and increased water runoff, which had in turn contributed to the rising water levels. The report noted that nearly 400,000 Kenyans had been displaced, and that they required “urgent humanitarian assistance”...
The impact was particularly severe around Lakes Victoria, Naivasha and Baringo, which support densely populated areas...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/17/kenya-quiet-slide-underwater-great...
Carey Baraka | 17 March 2022
Kenya’s great lakes are flooding, in a devastating and long-ignored environmental disaster that is displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
...In October 2021, the (Kentan) government finally released the report. While allowing for the possibility that tectonic activity was partly responsible, it stated that greater levels of rainfall, caused by the climate crisis, was the main cause. Other forms of human interference with the environment – such as deforestation – had also led to landslides and increased water runoff, which had in turn contributed to the rising water levels. The report noted that nearly 400,000 Kenyans had been displaced, and that they required “urgent humanitarian assistance”...
The impact was particularly severe around Lakes Victoria, Naivasha and Baringo, which support densely populated areas...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/17/kenya-quiet-slide-underwater-great...
31margd
Be kind. Offer delivery people and garbage men water and maybe a wet cloth / bandanna on these hot days:
‘Sending drivers out to die’: UPS workers demand heat safety amid record temps
Adiel Kaplan | July 31, 2022
...The Teamsters issued a public letter last week outlining a series of steps it says UPS should take immediately to improve the safety of its drivers, given the weather. They include providing fans in every truck (rather than by request), cooling neck towels, consistent supplies of water and ice, more breathable uniforms and hiring more drivers to reduce workload...
https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/sending-drivers-die-ups-workers-demand-he...
‘Sending drivers out to die’: UPS workers demand heat safety amid record temps
Adiel Kaplan | July 31, 2022
...The Teamsters issued a public letter last week outlining a series of steps it says UPS should take immediately to improve the safety of its drivers, given the weather. They include providing fans in every truck (rather than by request), cooling neck towels, consistent supplies of water and ice, more breathable uniforms and hiring more drivers to reduce workload...
https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/sending-drivers-die-ups-workers-demand-he...
32margd
Hallelujah! Hope it's enough and in time to address climate change--in partnership with other countries.
U.S. Senate approves bill to fight climate change, cut drug costs in win for Biden
Richard Cowan, David Morgan and Rose Horowitch | August 7, 2022
...The legislation is aimed at reducing carbon emissions and shifting consumers to green energy...
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-democrats-fend-off-amendments-430-bln...
U.S. Senate approves bill to fight climate change, cut drug costs in win for Biden
Richard Cowan, David Morgan and Rose Horowitch | August 7, 2022
...The legislation is aimed at reducing carbon emissions and shifting consumers to green energy...
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-democrats-fend-off-amendments-430-bln...
33Molly3028
https://www.theday.com/nation/20220811/the-wests-most-important-water-supply-is-...
The West’s most important water supply is drying up. Soon, life for 40 million people who depend on the Colorado River will change
The last time entire sections of Lake Powell were this dry, the place was actually called Glen Canyon. That was before the completion of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, which flooded the canyon and created the reservoir.
The reservoir’s water is receding because the Colorado River is drying. Climatologists aren’t sure when, or if, Powell will ever fill again. Rather, they expect conditions to worsen.
The West’s most important water supply is drying up. Soon, life for 40 million people who depend on the Colorado River will change
The last time entire sections of Lake Powell were this dry, the place was actually called Glen Canyon. That was before the completion of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, which flooded the canyon and created the reservoir.
The reservoir’s water is receding because the Colorado River is drying. Climatologists aren’t sure when, or if, Powell will ever fill again. Rather, they expect conditions to worsen.
34margd
Ever-more-likely megaflood in California could cost $1,000,000,000,000...
Not sure if that figure includes loss of 25% of US food supply.
Penny-wise and pound-foolish, we are.
Peter Gleick 🇺🇸 @PeterGleick | 8:13 PM · Aug 13, 2022:
Climate, water, energy. Science communication. National Academy of Sciences. MacArthur Fellow. Birds. Mandolin. 2018 Carl Sagan Prize.
I'll be on @KCBS shortly to discuss the new study showing that the risk of a California megaflood doubles with climate change. Such a disaster could cost literally a trillion dollars -- the most costly disaster in human history.
The worst disaster in CA history was NOT the 1906 earthquake. It was the 1861/2 megaflood that turned the Central Valley into an inland sea, destroyed 1 of 8 houses, 1/4 of the state's economy, and killed thousands. Climate change doubles the risk of such a megaflood recurring.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Xingying Huang and Daniel L. Swain. 2022. Climate change is increasing the risk of a California megaflood. Science Advances 12 Aug 2022 Vol 8, Issue 32 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq0995 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abq0995
Abstract
Despite the recent prevalence of severe drought, California faces a broadly underappreciated risk of severe floods. Here, we investigate the physical characteristics of “plausible worst case scenario” extreme storm sequences capable of giving rise to “megaflood” conditions using a combination of climate model data and high-resolution weather modeling. Using the data from the Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble, we find that climate change has already doubled the likelihood of an event capable of producing catastrophic flooding, but larger future increases are likely due to continued warming. We further find that runoff in the future extreme storm scenario is 200 to 400% greater than historical values in the Sierra Nevada because of increased precipitation rates and decreased snow fraction. These findings have direct implications for flood and emergency management, as well as broader implications for hazard mitigation and climate adaptation activities.
Not sure if that figure includes loss of 25% of US food supply.
Penny-wise and pound-foolish, we are.
Peter Gleick 🇺🇸 @PeterGleick | 8:13 PM · Aug 13, 2022:
Climate, water, energy. Science communication. National Academy of Sciences. MacArthur Fellow. Birds. Mandolin. 2018 Carl Sagan Prize.
I'll be on @KCBS shortly to discuss the new study showing that the risk of a California megaflood doubles with climate change. Such a disaster could cost literally a trillion dollars -- the most costly disaster in human history.
The worst disaster in CA history was NOT the 1906 earthquake. It was the 1861/2 megaflood that turned the Central Valley into an inland sea, destroyed 1 of 8 houses, 1/4 of the state's economy, and killed thousands. Climate change doubles the risk of such a megaflood recurring.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Xingying Huang and Daniel L. Swain. 2022. Climate change is increasing the risk of a California megaflood. Science Advances 12 Aug 2022 Vol 8, Issue 32 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq0995 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abq0995
Abstract
Despite the recent prevalence of severe drought, California faces a broadly underappreciated risk of severe floods. Here, we investigate the physical characteristics of “plausible worst case scenario” extreme storm sequences capable of giving rise to “megaflood” conditions using a combination of climate model data and high-resolution weather modeling. Using the data from the Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble, we find that climate change has already doubled the likelihood of an event capable of producing catastrophic flooding, but larger future increases are likely due to continued warming. We further find that runoff in the future extreme storm scenario is 200 to 400% greater than historical values in the Sierra Nevada because of increased precipitation rates and decreased snow fraction. These findings have direct implications for flood and emergency management, as well as broader implications for hazard mitigation and climate adaptation activities.
35margd
An "Extreme Heat Belt" will soon emerge in the U.S., study warns
Andrew Freedman | 15 Aug 2022
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/15/extreme-heat-belt-global-warming
________________________________________________________
Highlights From "Hazardous Heat"
First Street Foundation | August 15, 2022
BACKGROUND
New research from First Street Foundation analyzes the the prevalence of increasing extreme temperatures and dangerous heat wave events throughout the contiguous United States, with a key finding being the incidence of heat that exceeds the threshold of the National Weather Service’s (NWS) highest category for heat, called “Extreme Danger” (Heat Index above 125°F) is expected to impact about 8 million people this year, and grows to impact about 107 million people in 2053, an increase of 13 times over 30 years. This increase in “Extreme Danger Days” is concentrated in the middle of the country, in areas where there are no coastal influences to mitigate extreme temperatures.
The First Street Foundation Extreme Heat Model (FSF-EHM) was built using datasets from the US Federal Government, augmented with publicly available and third party data sources, and existing research and expertise on heat modeling. The model estimates localized heat risk at a 30-meter resolution across the United States today and 30 years into the future, creating a high- precision, climate-adjusted heat model that provides insights at a property level. Its analysis combines high-resolution measurements of land surface temperatures, canopy cover, impervious surfaces, land cover, and proximity to water to calculate the current heat exposure, and then adjusts for future forecasted emissions scenarios. This allows for the determination of the number of days any property would be expected to experience dangerous levels of heat.
...NATIONAL OVERVIEW
The model highlights the local impacts of climate change by identifying the seven hottest days expected for any property this year, and calculates how many of those days would be experienced in 30 years. The most severe shift in local temperatures is found in Miami-Dade County where the 7 hottest days, currently at 103°F, will increase to 34 days at that same temperature by 2053. Across the country, on average, the local hottest 7 days are expected to become the hottest 18 days by 2053.
In the case of extreme heat, the model finds 50 counties, home to 8.1 million residents, that are expected to experience temperatures above 125°F in 2023, the highest level of the National Weather Services’ heat index. By 2053, 1,023 counties are expected to exceed this temperature, an area that is home to 107.6 million Americans and covers a quarter of the US land area. This emerging area, concentrated in a geographic region the Foundation calls the “Extreme Heat Belt,” stretches from the Northern Texas and Louisiana borders to Illinois, Indiana, and even into Wisconsin.
Across the country, Dangerous Days – days exceeding the 100°F threshold from the National Weather Service – occur more commonly in the southern half of Contiguous United States and impact a greater number of properties in Florida and Texas. Currently, the top 20 counties across the United States expected to experience the greatest number of Dangerous Days annually are located in Texas, California, Arizona, and Florida. Topping the list this year with 109 days above the heat index temperature of 100°F is Starr County, TX. The other top four counties with over 100 Dangerous Days are in Texas and California.
https://firststreet.org/research-lab/published-research/article-highlights-from-...
------------------------------------------------------------------
Download report ( https://report.firststreet.org/heat )
The 6th National Climate Risk Assessment: Hazardous Heat
This report highlights the impact of increasing temperatures at a property level, and how the frequency, duration, and intensity of extremely hot days will change over the next 30 years from a changing climate. It includes a high-level overview of the methodology behind the First Street Foundation Extreme Heat Model, a summary of heat risk across the nation, and a series of state pages which summarize and provide insight into new findings about extreme heat risk.
Andrew Freedman | 15 Aug 2022
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/15/extreme-heat-belt-global-warming
________________________________________________________
Highlights From "Hazardous Heat"
First Street Foundation | August 15, 2022
BACKGROUND
New research from First Street Foundation analyzes the the prevalence of increasing extreme temperatures and dangerous heat wave events throughout the contiguous United States, with a key finding being the incidence of heat that exceeds the threshold of the National Weather Service’s (NWS) highest category for heat, called “Extreme Danger” (Heat Index above 125°F) is expected to impact about 8 million people this year, and grows to impact about 107 million people in 2053, an increase of 13 times over 30 years. This increase in “Extreme Danger Days” is concentrated in the middle of the country, in areas where there are no coastal influences to mitigate extreme temperatures.
The First Street Foundation Extreme Heat Model (FSF-EHM) was built using datasets from the US Federal Government, augmented with publicly available and third party data sources, and existing research and expertise on heat modeling. The model estimates localized heat risk at a 30-meter resolution across the United States today and 30 years into the future, creating a high- precision, climate-adjusted heat model that provides insights at a property level. Its analysis combines high-resolution measurements of land surface temperatures, canopy cover, impervious surfaces, land cover, and proximity to water to calculate the current heat exposure, and then adjusts for future forecasted emissions scenarios. This allows for the determination of the number of days any property would be expected to experience dangerous levels of heat.
...NATIONAL OVERVIEW
The model highlights the local impacts of climate change by identifying the seven hottest days expected for any property this year, and calculates how many of those days would be experienced in 30 years. The most severe shift in local temperatures is found in Miami-Dade County where the 7 hottest days, currently at 103°F, will increase to 34 days at that same temperature by 2053. Across the country, on average, the local hottest 7 days are expected to become the hottest 18 days by 2053.
In the case of extreme heat, the model finds 50 counties, home to 8.1 million residents, that are expected to experience temperatures above 125°F in 2023, the highest level of the National Weather Services’ heat index. By 2053, 1,023 counties are expected to exceed this temperature, an area that is home to 107.6 million Americans and covers a quarter of the US land area. This emerging area, concentrated in a geographic region the Foundation calls the “Extreme Heat Belt,” stretches from the Northern Texas and Louisiana borders to Illinois, Indiana, and even into Wisconsin.
Across the country, Dangerous Days – days exceeding the 100°F threshold from the National Weather Service – occur more commonly in the southern half of Contiguous United States and impact a greater number of properties in Florida and Texas. Currently, the top 20 counties across the United States expected to experience the greatest number of Dangerous Days annually are located in Texas, California, Arizona, and Florida. Topping the list this year with 109 days above the heat index temperature of 100°F is Starr County, TX. The other top four counties with over 100 Dangerous Days are in Texas and California.
https://firststreet.org/research-lab/published-research/article-highlights-from-...
------------------------------------------------------------------
Download report ( https://report.firststreet.org/heat )
The 6th National Climate Risk Assessment: Hazardous Heat
This report highlights the impact of increasing temperatures at a property level, and how the frequency, duration, and intensity of extremely hot days will change over the next 30 years from a changing climate. It includes a high-level overview of the methodology behind the First Street Foundation Extreme Heat Model, a summary of heat risk across the nation, and a series of state pages which summarize and provide insight into new findings about extreme heat risk.
36margd
Centuries-old warnings emerge from riverbed as Europe faces historic drought
Aspen Pflughoeft | Updated August 12, 2022
Water levels have dropped in major rivers across Europe as the region suffers under a historic drought. In those dry riverbeds, centuries-old warning messages have emerged, locals report. The “horrifying” boulders are known as “Hungersteine,” or “Hunger Stones” ...
One of these stones is embedded in the Elbe River, which runs from the mountains of Czechia through Germany to the North Sea,...The stone, dating back to a drought in 1616, is once again visible in the dry riverbed, Hernández-Morales said. The warning reads, “Wenn du mich seehst, dann weine” – “If you see me, weep.”
“Hunger stones” like this one were used as “hydrological landmarks” across central Europe, NPR reported when the stones last surfaced during a 2018 drought. These stones are “chiselled with the years of hardship and the initials of authors lost to history,” a team of Czech researchers wrote in a 2013 study. “The basic inscriptions warn of the consequences of drought. It expressed that drought had brought a bad harvest, lack of food, high prices and hunger for poor people.” The stones commemorate historic droughts, the researchers said...
https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article264446131.html
Aspen Pflughoeft | Updated August 12, 2022
Water levels have dropped in major rivers across Europe as the region suffers under a historic drought. In those dry riverbeds, centuries-old warning messages have emerged, locals report. The “horrifying” boulders are known as “Hungersteine,” or “Hunger Stones” ...
One of these stones is embedded in the Elbe River, which runs from the mountains of Czechia through Germany to the North Sea,...The stone, dating back to a drought in 1616, is once again visible in the dry riverbed, Hernández-Morales said. The warning reads, “Wenn du mich seehst, dann weine” – “If you see me, weep.”
“Hunger stones” like this one were used as “hydrological landmarks” across central Europe, NPR reported when the stones last surfaced during a 2018 drought. These stones are “chiselled with the years of hardship and the initials of authors lost to history,” a team of Czech researchers wrote in a 2013 study. “The basic inscriptions warn of the consequences of drought. It expressed that drought had brought a bad harvest, lack of food, high prices and hunger for poor people.” The stones commemorate historic droughts, the researchers said...
https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article264446131.html
37margd
The Arctic Is Warming Four Times Faster Than the Rest of the Planet
Chelsea Harvey | August 12, 2022
One study after another is coming to the same conclusion: the Arctic is heating up much faster than earlier research suggested
...Arctic amplification is not a simple thing...It’s also not likely to last forever.
Some of the feedback processes driving rapid Arctic warming may taper off. Melting sea ice is a prime example.
Large areas of ice are still disappearing and contributing to the Arctic’s swiftly rising temperatures. But eventually, enough ice will vanish that the feedback process will naturally slow down.
“It’s very unlikely that this large Arctic amplification will last for long,” (Alexey Karpechko, a scientist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute and a co-author of the new study) said. “Definitely by midcentury we should get lower values, because by that time, we have already lost quite a lot of sea ice.”
If Arctic amplification does slow down in the future, it’s not exactly a cause for celebration. The Arctic region will have fundamentally changed and temperatures will have already risen dramatically. The region will also likely continue on warming — just, perhaps, not at four times the global average...
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-arctic-is-warming-four-times-fast...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mika Rantanen et al. 2022. The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the globe since 1979. (Nature) Communications Earth & Environment volume 3, Article number: 168 (11 August 2022) https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00498-3#Sec6
Abstract
In recent decades, the warming in the Arctic has been much faster than in the rest of the world, a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification. Numerous studies report that the Arctic is warming either twice, more than twice, or even three times as fast as the globe on average. Here we show, by using several observational datasets which cover the Arctic region, that during the last 43 years the Arctic has been warming nearly four times faster than the globe, which is a higher ratio than generally reported in literature. We compared the observed Arctic amplification ratio with the ratio simulated by state-of-the-art climate models, and found that the observed four-fold warming ratio over 1979–2021 is an extremely rare occasion in the climate model simulations. The observed and simulated amplification ratios are more consistent with each other if calculated over a longer period; however the comparison is obscured by observational uncertainties before 1979. Our results indicate that the recent four-fold Arctic warming ratio is either an extremely unlikely event, or the climate models systematically tend to underestimate the amplification.
Chelsea Harvey | August 12, 2022
One study after another is coming to the same conclusion: the Arctic is heating up much faster than earlier research suggested
...Arctic amplification is not a simple thing...It’s also not likely to last forever.
Some of the feedback processes driving rapid Arctic warming may taper off. Melting sea ice is a prime example.
Large areas of ice are still disappearing and contributing to the Arctic’s swiftly rising temperatures. But eventually, enough ice will vanish that the feedback process will naturally slow down.
“It’s very unlikely that this large Arctic amplification will last for long,” (Alexey Karpechko, a scientist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute and a co-author of the new study) said. “Definitely by midcentury we should get lower values, because by that time, we have already lost quite a lot of sea ice.”
If Arctic amplification does slow down in the future, it’s not exactly a cause for celebration. The Arctic region will have fundamentally changed and temperatures will have already risen dramatically. The region will also likely continue on warming — just, perhaps, not at four times the global average...
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-arctic-is-warming-four-times-fast...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mika Rantanen et al. 2022. The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the globe since 1979. (Nature) Communications Earth & Environment volume 3, Article number: 168 (11 August 2022) https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00498-3#Sec6
Abstract
In recent decades, the warming in the Arctic has been much faster than in the rest of the world, a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification. Numerous studies report that the Arctic is warming either twice, more than twice, or even three times as fast as the globe on average. Here we show, by using several observational datasets which cover the Arctic region, that during the last 43 years the Arctic has been warming nearly four times faster than the globe, which is a higher ratio than generally reported in literature. We compared the observed Arctic amplification ratio with the ratio simulated by state-of-the-art climate models, and found that the observed four-fold warming ratio over 1979–2021 is an extremely rare occasion in the climate model simulations. The observed and simulated amplification ratios are more consistent with each other if calculated over a longer period; however the comparison is obscured by observational uncertainties before 1979. Our results indicate that the recent four-fold Arctic warming ratio is either an extremely unlikely event, or the climate models systematically tend to underestimate the amplification.
38margd
Ignition confirmed in a nuclear fusion experiment for the first time
Karmela Padavic-Callaghan | 11 August 2022
A 2021 experiment achieved the landmark milestone of nuclear fusion ignition, which data analysis has now confirmed – but attempts to recreate it over the last year haven’t been able to reach ignition again
...An analysis has confirmed that an experiment conducted in 2021 created a fusion reaction energetic enough to be self-sustaining, which brings it one step closer to being useful as a source of energy...
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2333346-ignition-confirmed-in-a-nuclear-fus...
Karmela Padavic-Callaghan | 11 August 2022
A 2021 experiment achieved the landmark milestone of nuclear fusion ignition, which data analysis has now confirmed – but attempts to recreate it over the last year haven’t been able to reach ignition again
...An analysis has confirmed that an experiment conducted in 2021 created a fusion reaction energetic enough to be self-sustaining, which brings it one step closer to being useful as a source of energy...
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2333346-ignition-confirmed-in-a-nuclear-fus...
39margd
1912! 1896!
Fact check: A 1912 article about burning coal and climate change is authentic
McKenzie Sadeghi | 14 Aug 2022
...The text in the article originates from a March 1912 report in the magazine Popular Mechanics titled, “Remarkable Weather of 1911: The Effect of the Combustion of Coal on the Climate – What Scientists Predict for the Future.”
...according to The New York Times...In an April 1896 paper titled, "On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground," Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist, suggested a link between carbon dioxide levels and temperature.
Our rating: True
The claim that an article from 1912 warned coal consumption can have a negative impact on climate is TRUE, based on our research. The article first appeared in Popular Mechanics in March 1912, then was republished in other newspapers that same year.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/08/13/fact-check-yes-1912-art...
Fact check: A 1912 article about burning coal and climate change is authentic
McKenzie Sadeghi | 14 Aug 2022
...The text in the article originates from a March 1912 report in the magazine Popular Mechanics titled, “Remarkable Weather of 1911: The Effect of the Combustion of Coal on the Climate – What Scientists Predict for the Future.”
...according to The New York Times...In an April 1896 paper titled, "On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground," Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist, suggested a link between carbon dioxide levels and temperature.
Our rating: True
The claim that an article from 1912 warned coal consumption can have a negative impact on climate is TRUE, based on our research. The article first appeared in Popular Mechanics in March 1912, then was republished in other newspapers that same year.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/08/13/fact-check-yes-1912-art...
40bnielsen
>39 margd: I remember seeing the Arrhenius article for sale ages (i.e. 30 years) ago at a second hand bookshop in Copenhagen. How can this be a surprise to anyone?
42margd
>41 2wonderY: I think I remember that one! A biologist I worked with used to say in 1990s that we were living in a golden time--generally but also in his biz. Looking back the 1990s were a turning point.
43alco261
>41 2wonderY: The earliest mention of human impact on climate I can recall was an article back in the late 1950's or early 1960's in the Saturday Review of Literature with (I think) the title - The Homegrown Thunderstorms of LaPorte, Indiana. The article described the very strong correlation between the level of industrial activity in Chicago and the frequency/timing of the storms.
I was just a kid but I remember being very interested in the article and, at the time, wondering if there were any other situations like that on the planet.
I was just a kid but I remember being very interested in the article and, at the time, wondering if there were any other situations like that on the planet.
44margd
Which EVs Qualif for the New Electric Vehicle Tax Credit? It’s Complicated.
Keith Barry | August 9, 2022. Updated August 17, 2022
The Inflation Reduction Act changes which new EVs get a tax break and for the first time includes a credit for used-EV buyers...
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/electric-vehicles-that-qualify-...
Keith Barry | August 9, 2022. Updated August 17, 2022
The Inflation Reduction Act changes which new EVs get a tax break and for the first time includes a credit for used-EV buyers...
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/electric-vehicles-that-qualify-...
45margd
The world's rivers are drying up from extreme weather. See how 6 look from space
Natalie Croker, Renée Rigdon, Judson Jones, Carlotta Dotto and Angela Dewan | August 20, 2022
Colorado River
Yangtze River
Rhine River
River Po (Italy)
Loire River
Danube River
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/20/world/rivers-lakes-drying-up-drought-climate-cmd-...
Natalie Croker, Renée Rigdon, Judson Jones, Carlotta Dotto and Angela Dewan | August 20, 2022
Colorado River
Yangtze River
Rhine River
River Po (Italy)
Loire River
Danube River
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/20/world/rivers-lakes-drying-up-drought-climate-cmd-...
46margd
Extreme heat is slamming the world's three biggest economies all at once
Julia Horowitz | August 18, 2022
...Extreme heat and drought conditions are battering the United States, Europe and China, compounding problems for workers and businesses at a time when economic growth is already slowing sharply and adding to upward pressure on prices.
In China's Sichuan province, all factories have been ordered shut for six days to conserve power. Ships carrying coal and chemicals are struggling to make their usual trips along Germany's Rhine river. And people living on America's West Coast have been asked to use less electricity as temperatures soar.
...The extent of the pain could depend on how long the heatwaves and lack of rain last. But in countries like Germany, experts warn there's little relief in sight, and companies are preparing for the worst.
...The global economy was already under pressure. Europe is at high risk of a recession as energy prices soar, stoked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. High inflation and aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve jeopardize growth in the United States. China is grappling with the consequences of harsh coronavirus lockdowns and a real estate crisis.
...Extreme weather could exacerbate "existing pinch points" along supply chains, a major reason inflation has been difficult to bring down, (Ben May, director of global macro research at Oxford Economics) said...
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/18/business/heatwave-global-economy/index.html
Julia Horowitz | August 18, 2022
...Extreme heat and drought conditions are battering the United States, Europe and China, compounding problems for workers and businesses at a time when economic growth is already slowing sharply and adding to upward pressure on prices.
In China's Sichuan province, all factories have been ordered shut for six days to conserve power. Ships carrying coal and chemicals are struggling to make their usual trips along Germany's Rhine river. And people living on America's West Coast have been asked to use less electricity as temperatures soar.
...The extent of the pain could depend on how long the heatwaves and lack of rain last. But in countries like Germany, experts warn there's little relief in sight, and companies are preparing for the worst.
...The global economy was already under pressure. Europe is at high risk of a recession as energy prices soar, stoked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. High inflation and aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve jeopardize growth in the United States. China is grappling with the consequences of harsh coronavirus lockdowns and a real estate crisis.
...Extreme weather could exacerbate "existing pinch points" along supply chains, a major reason inflation has been difficult to bring down, (Ben May, director of global macro research at Oxford Economics) said...
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/18/business/heatwave-global-economy/index.html
47margd
Peter Gleick 🇺🇸 @PeterGleick | 12:36 AM · Aug 23, 2022:
Climate, water, energy. Science communication. National Academy of Sciences. MacArthur Fellow. Birds. Mandolin. 2018 Carl Sagan Prize.
A reminder that for years the Saudis overdrafted their own groundwater to grow wheat in the desert until it was gone. Then they used $$$ desalinated water until they found out they could just overdraft Arizona groundwater for far less money. And Arizona let them.
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OP ED
Saudi firm has pumped Arizona groundwater for years without paying. Time to pony up
Opinion: The State Land Department unlawfully allowed Fondomonte to pump unlimited amounts of groundwater at no cost. That must stop.
Bruce Babbitt and Robert Lane | 11 Aug, 2022
...in 2015 ...the State Land Department began leasing land to Fondomonte at an annual rental of just $25 per acre.
However, the 2015 lease in addition allowed Fondomonte to pump unlimited amounts of groundwater at no cost whatever.
...How much should the state be charging for this water? The Arizona Constitution, Article 10, Section 4, requires that land leases and “products of land” … “shall be appraised at their true value.”
The appropriate method for determining true value is hiding in plain sight. The Central Arizona Project sells water to customers throughout Maricopa County for $242 per acre foot delivered through the project canal that passes just south of Butler Valley.
Add these figures, and Fondomonte should have been paying $5.42 million per year for each of the last seven years.
What should be done to clean up this scandal? First, Gov. Doug Ducey should instruct the State Land Department to void the lease and restore Butler Valley to its intended use as a groundwater reserve for the future.
Second, Gov. Ducey should instruct the attorney general to collect past due rentals of about $38 million to be held in trust for the benefit of Arizona school children.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2022/08/11/saudi-firm-fodomonte-pa...
Climate, water, energy. Science communication. National Academy of Sciences. MacArthur Fellow. Birds. Mandolin. 2018 Carl Sagan Prize.
A reminder that for years the Saudis overdrafted their own groundwater to grow wheat in the desert until it was gone. Then they used $$$ desalinated water until they found out they could just overdraft Arizona groundwater for far less money. And Arizona let them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
OP ED
Saudi firm has pumped Arizona groundwater for years without paying. Time to pony up
Opinion: The State Land Department unlawfully allowed Fondomonte to pump unlimited amounts of groundwater at no cost. That must stop.
Bruce Babbitt and Robert Lane | 11 Aug, 2022
...in 2015 ...the State Land Department began leasing land to Fondomonte at an annual rental of just $25 per acre.
However, the 2015 lease in addition allowed Fondomonte to pump unlimited amounts of groundwater at no cost whatever.
...How much should the state be charging for this water? The Arizona Constitution, Article 10, Section 4, requires that land leases and “products of land” … “shall be appraised at their true value.”
The appropriate method for determining true value is hiding in plain sight. The Central Arizona Project sells water to customers throughout Maricopa County for $242 per acre foot delivered through the project canal that passes just south of Butler Valley.
Add these figures, and Fondomonte should have been paying $5.42 million per year for each of the last seven years.
What should be done to clean up this scandal? First, Gov. Doug Ducey should instruct the State Land Department to void the lease and restore Butler Valley to its intended use as a groundwater reserve for the future.
Second, Gov. Ducey should instruct the attorney general to collect past due rentals of about $38 million to be held in trust for the benefit of Arizona school children.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2022/08/11/saudi-firm-fodomonte-pa...
48margd
NowThis @nowthisnews | 4:15 PM · Aug 25, 2022:
A pilot project that covers canals with solar panels could save California water and help the state decarbonize. Project Nexus is set to launch in mid-October, covering a 500-foot portion of canal in Hickman, CA, and a mile in Ceres, CA.
CA Experiments Covering Canals With Solar Panels
A pilot project that covers canals with solar panels could save California water and help the state decarbonize
0:16 ( https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1562896414849523712 )
A pilot project that covers canals with solar panels could save California water and help the state decarbonize. Project Nexus is set to launch in mid-October, covering a 500-foot portion of canal in Hickman, CA, and a mile in Ceres, CA.
CA Experiments Covering Canals With Solar Panels
A pilot project that covers canals with solar panels could save California water and help the state decarbonize
0:16 ( https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1562896414849523712 )
49margd
"It's the most extreme heat event ever recorded in world history. For more than 70 days, the intense heat has blasted China's population, factories and fields. Lakes and rivers have dried up. Crops have been killed. Factories have been closed."
Extreme China heatwave could lead to global chaos and food shortages
Jamie Seidel | 27 Aug, 2022
Cars. Batteries. Solar panels. Food. Global shortages and soaring prices are almost certain as China's seemingly never-ending heatwave sears on.
It's the most extreme heat event ever recorded in world history. For more than 70 days, the intense heat has blasted China's population, factories and fields. Lakes and rivers have dried up. Crops have been killed. Factories have been closed.
More than 900 million people across 17 Chinese provinces are subjected to record-breaking conditions. From Sichuan in the southwest to Shanghai in the east, temperatures have been topping 40C...
"There is nothing in world climatic history which is even minimally comparable to what is happening in China," weather historian Maximiliano Herrera told New Scientist. "This combines the most extreme intensity with the most extreme length with an incredibly huge area all at the same time."...
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/extreme-china-heatwave-could-lead-to-global-cha...
Extreme China heatwave could lead to global chaos and food shortages
Jamie Seidel | 27 Aug, 2022
Cars. Batteries. Solar panels. Food. Global shortages and soaring prices are almost certain as China's seemingly never-ending heatwave sears on.
It's the most extreme heat event ever recorded in world history. For more than 70 days, the intense heat has blasted China's population, factories and fields. Lakes and rivers have dried up. Crops have been killed. Factories have been closed.
More than 900 million people across 17 Chinese provinces are subjected to record-breaking conditions. From Sichuan in the southwest to Shanghai in the east, temperatures have been topping 40C...
"There is nothing in world climatic history which is even minimally comparable to what is happening in China," weather historian Maximiliano Herrera told New Scientist. "This combines the most extreme intensity with the most extreme length with an incredibly huge area all at the same time."...
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/extreme-china-heatwave-could-lead-to-global-cha...
502wonderY
Pakistan floods: One third of country is under water - minister https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62712301
"Literally, one-third of Pakistan is underwater right now, which has exceeded every boundary, every norm we've seen in the past," Ms Rehman told AFP news agency.
…
"Village after village has been wiped out. Millions of houses have been destroyed," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday after flying over the area in a helicopter.
…
Almost half of the country's cotton crop has been washed away and vegetable, fruit, and rice fields have sustained significant damage, he (Planning Minister Ahsan Iqba) said.
"Literally, one-third of Pakistan is underwater right now, which has exceeded every boundary, every norm we've seen in the past," Ms Rehman told AFP news agency.
…
"Village after village has been wiped out. Millions of houses have been destroyed," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday after flying over the area in a helicopter.
…
Almost half of the country's cotton crop has been washed away and vegetable, fruit, and rice fields have sustained significant damage, he (Planning Minister Ahsan Iqba) said.
512wonderY
Spain's olive oil producers devastated by worst ever drought https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62707435
"Look at them," he says in desperation. "They ought to be bursting with olives now, close to the harvest. But they're empty. And this is the crop that should produce the oil in supermarkets next year."
The fertile plains full of olive trees that stretch across southern Spain have made this country the world's biggest producer of olive oil, accounting for around half of the global supply.
But devastated by its worst drought ever recorded, Spain's so-called "green gold" is becoming rarer. This year's yield is down by around a third already - and there's still no sign of rain.
"Look at them," he says in desperation. "They ought to be bursting with olives now, close to the harvest. But they're empty. And this is the crop that should produce the oil in supermarkets next year."
The fertile plains full of olive trees that stretch across southern Spain have made this country the world's biggest producer of olive oil, accounting for around half of the global supply.
But devastated by its worst drought ever recorded, Spain's so-called "green gold" is becoming rarer. This year's yield is down by around a third already - and there's still no sign of rain.
522wonderY
https://gizmodo.com/china-drought-august-2022-photos-1849452198
In Hubei, the government said 17 million acres of crops had been damaged or lost due to the drought. Xinhua reported that the drought was affecting some 36,700 hectares (90,690 acres) of land. On Tuesday, government agencies issued a warning that the crucial autumn grain harvest was under “severe threat” from the drought.
…
In addition to problems with the Yangtze, on Friday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said that at least 66 rivers in 34 provinces in the country’s southwest had dried up. Last week, state media reported that fire trucks have had to deliver drinking water and irrigation water to villages outside the city of Chongqing. The Sichuan government said some 819,000 people could have shortages of drinking water, while the province of Hubei on Saturday declared a drought emergency.
Some 80% of Sichuan Province’s power comes from hydropower, and some reservoirs are at half capacity this month, the Sichuan Provincial Department of Economics and Information Technology said.
In Hubei, the government said 17 million acres of crops had been damaged or lost due to the drought. Xinhua reported that the drought was affecting some 36,700 hectares (90,690 acres) of land. On Tuesday, government agencies issued a warning that the crucial autumn grain harvest was under “severe threat” from the drought.
…
In addition to problems with the Yangtze, on Friday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said that at least 66 rivers in 34 provinces in the country’s southwest had dried up. Last week, state media reported that fire trucks have had to deliver drinking water and irrigation water to villages outside the city of Chongqing. The Sichuan government said some 819,000 people could have shortages of drinking water, while the province of Hubei on Saturday declared a drought emergency.
Some 80% of Sichuan Province’s power comes from hydropower, and some reservoirs are at half capacity this month, the Sichuan Provincial Department of Economics and Information Technology said.
53margd
New Research Forecasts More Dire Sea Level Rise as Greenland’s Ice Melts
Elena Shao | Aug. 29, 2022
...The melting of the Greenland ice sheet could eventually raise global sea levels by at least 10 inches even if humans immediately stop burning the fossil fuels that are warming the planet to dangerous levels...“committed” sea-level rise, a measure that takes into account the warming that has already occurred...earlier research, which has been based on computer modeling and has generally predicted much lower losses of ice from the Greenland ice sheet...for example, projects somewhere between two and five inches of sea-level rise by 2100...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/29/climate/greenland-ice-sea-levels.html
------------------------------------------------------
Jason E. Box et al. 2022. Greenland ice sheet climate disequilibrium and committed sea-level rise. Nature Climate Change (29 August 2022) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01441-2
Abstract
...We find that Greenland ice imbalance with the recent (2000–2019) climate commits at least 274 ± 68 mm SLR (sea level rise) from 59 ± 15 × 103 km2 ice retreat, equivalent to 3.3 ± 0.9% volume loss, regardless of twenty-first-century climate pathways. This is a result of increasing mass turnover from precipitation, ice flow discharge and meltwater run-off. The high-melt year of 2012 applied in perpetuity yields an ice loss commitment of 782 ± 135 mm SLR, serving as an ominous prognosis for Greenland’s trajectory through a twenty-first century of warming.
Elena Shao | Aug. 29, 2022
...The melting of the Greenland ice sheet could eventually raise global sea levels by at least 10 inches even if humans immediately stop burning the fossil fuels that are warming the planet to dangerous levels...“committed” sea-level rise, a measure that takes into account the warming that has already occurred...earlier research, which has been based on computer modeling and has generally predicted much lower losses of ice from the Greenland ice sheet...for example, projects somewhere between two and five inches of sea-level rise by 2100...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/29/climate/greenland-ice-sea-levels.html
------------------------------------------------------
Jason E. Box et al. 2022. Greenland ice sheet climate disequilibrium and committed sea-level rise. Nature Climate Change (29 August 2022) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01441-2
Abstract
...We find that Greenland ice imbalance with the recent (2000–2019) climate commits at least 274 ± 68 mm SLR (sea level rise) from 59 ± 15 × 103 km2 ice retreat, equivalent to 3.3 ± 0.9% volume loss, regardless of twenty-first-century climate pathways. This is a result of increasing mass turnover from precipitation, ice flow discharge and meltwater run-off. The high-melt year of 2012 applied in perpetuity yields an ice loss commitment of 782 ± 135 mm SLR, serving as an ominous prognosis for Greenland’s trajectory through a twenty-first century of warming.
54margd
Jackson, Miss., shows how extreme weather can trigger a clean-water crisis
Brady Dennis and Sarah Kaplan | August 31, 2022
...The crumbling water infrastructure in Jackson — where roughly 150,000 residents were under a boil water notice even before heavy rainfall and river flooding overwhelmed the system this weekend — has been plagued by decades of underinvestment and deferred maintenance.
But it also portends what could soon happen in other U.S. communities, as climate change’s worsening impacts push under-resourced and overburdened water systems to the brink.
Generations-old sewers are routinely overwhelmed by bigger storms. Algae blooms and excess sediment may contaminate reservoirs amid high temperatures and prolonged drought. Rising sea levels can stymie septic systems and cause saltwater to leach into wells. When wildfires destroy water mains and spread chemical contamination, it may take months for drinking water to become safe again.
... A 2019 study reported in the Annals of the American Association of Geographers found that Black, Latino, Native American and Alaska Native households are disproportionately likely to be “plumbing poor.”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/08/31/jackson-water-cris...
Brady Dennis and Sarah Kaplan | August 31, 2022
...The crumbling water infrastructure in Jackson — where roughly 150,000 residents were under a boil water notice even before heavy rainfall and river flooding overwhelmed the system this weekend — has been plagued by decades of underinvestment and deferred maintenance.
But it also portends what could soon happen in other U.S. communities, as climate change’s worsening impacts push under-resourced and overburdened water systems to the brink.
Generations-old sewers are routinely overwhelmed by bigger storms. Algae blooms and excess sediment may contaminate reservoirs amid high temperatures and prolonged drought. Rising sea levels can stymie septic systems and cause saltwater to leach into wells. When wildfires destroy water mains and spread chemical contamination, it may take months for drinking water to become safe again.
... A 2019 study reported in the Annals of the American Association of Geographers found that Black, Latino, Native American and Alaska Native households are disproportionately likely to be “plumbing poor.”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/08/31/jackson-water-cris...
552wonderY
>54 margd: This should trigger water harvesting projects. They would at least have water for washing.
56margd
>55 2wonderY: And flushing!
In addition to rainwater, a shallow well with a hand pump might be possible in some locations--for flushing at least? First couple years when we were building our summer place, we had a well and we had a septic system: put a handpump on well (which was deep, so could brush teeth and washed up at wellhead) and installed flush toilet in outhouse frame directly into septic tank. Involved some hauling of buckets (UP a hill), but SO much more pleasant than the alternative (regular outhouse)!
In addition to rainwater, a shallow well with a hand pump might be possible in some locations--for flushing at least? First couple years when we were building our summer place, we had a well and we had a septic system: put a handpump on well (which was deep, so could brush teeth and washed up at wellhead) and installed flush toilet in outhouse frame directly into septic tank. Involved some hauling of buckets (UP a hill), but SO much more pleasant than the alternative (regular outhouse)!
57margd
Poor people left holding the bag... Richer residents move out to suburbs... Politicians love to build stuff, not to maintain it... With maintenance problems popping up throughout the country, how will we find money to address climate change, the biggest maintenance issue of all?
Jackson water crisis deepens as state deploys National Guard
Emmanuel Felton and Molly Hennessy-Fiske | September 1, 2022
...150,000 residents, plus 30,000 out-of-town workers.
...(Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba) said the city had been warning of problems for three years, saying that “it is not a matter of if the systems will fail, but when.”
“It certainly has been an accumulation of challenges and divestment over years, more than three decades. …” he said. “We’re happy to have the state aboard. We’ve been going it alone for far too long.” He said state and federal assistance will be necessary, calling the broken water system a “problem which is not within the city’s capacity to meet,” given fixes would cost an estimated $2 billion...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/01/jackson-mississippi-water-crisi...
Jackson water crisis deepens as state deploys National Guard
Emmanuel Felton and Molly Hennessy-Fiske | September 1, 2022
...150,000 residents, plus 30,000 out-of-town workers.
...(Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba) said the city had been warning of problems for three years, saying that “it is not a matter of if the systems will fail, but when.”
“It certainly has been an accumulation of challenges and divestment over years, more than three decades. …” he said. “We’re happy to have the state aboard. We’ve been going it alone for far too long.” He said state and federal assistance will be necessary, calling the broken water system a “problem which is not within the city’s capacity to meet,” given fixes would cost an estimated $2 billion...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/01/jackson-mississippi-water-crisi...
58margd
Cataraqui Conservation @CataraquiCA | 11:30 AM · Sep 2, 2022:
Cataraqui Conservation is an environmental protection and advisory agency for the Cataraqui Region (Kingston), ON, CAN.
Unimaginable.
This extreme European summer is normal in 15 years!
An extreme summer in the 2030s is normal in the 2040s.
From the 2050s summers will be deadly and horrific.
Can we please act now and avoid this terrible future?
There is so much we can still do!
Graph-mean Euro temp, 1850-2100
https://twitter.com/CataraquiCA/status/1565723725206458369/photo/1
Cataraqui Conservation is an environmental protection and advisory agency for the Cataraqui Region (Kingston), ON, CAN.
Unimaginable.
This extreme European summer is normal in 15 years!
An extreme summer in the 2030s is normal in the 2040s.
From the 2050s summers will be deadly and horrific.
Can we please act now and avoid this terrible future?
There is so much we can still do!
Graph-mean Euro temp, 1850-2100
https://twitter.com/CataraquiCA/status/1565723725206458369/photo/1
59margd
HEAT.gov
(US) National Integrated Heat Health Information System
July 2022
Heat.gov serves as the premier source of heat and health information for the nation to reduce the health, economic, and infrastructural impacts of extreme heat.
16% of people in the U.S. are currently under active National Weather Service extreme heat advisories, watches, and warnings: 55,263,246 (6 Sept 2022).
...Heat.gov was created in collaboration with Esri, a geographic information system company. The website is hosted on Esri’s cloud-based geospatial platform, which allows easy access to a range of features, such as localized heat information, links to heat tools across the federal government, and an interactive map of the NOAA and NIHHIS urban heat island mapping campaigns. The site supports open data access, enabling communities and planners to integrate federal heat information into their own decision-making.
https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2022/07/biden-administration-launch...
_________________________________________
This Hot Summer Is One of the Coolest of the Rest of Our Lives
Andrea Thompson | August 31, 2022
Heat waves broke temperature records around the world this past summer, but it will still be one of the coolest summers of the next few decades
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/this-hot-summer-is-one-of-the-coolest...
(US) National Integrated Heat Health Information System
July 2022
Heat.gov serves as the premier source of heat and health information for the nation to reduce the health, economic, and infrastructural impacts of extreme heat.
16% of people in the U.S. are currently under active National Weather Service extreme heat advisories, watches, and warnings: 55,263,246 (6 Sept 2022).
...Heat.gov was created in collaboration with Esri, a geographic information system company. The website is hosted on Esri’s cloud-based geospatial platform, which allows easy access to a range of features, such as localized heat information, links to heat tools across the federal government, and an interactive map of the NOAA and NIHHIS urban heat island mapping campaigns. The site supports open data access, enabling communities and planners to integrate federal heat information into their own decision-making.
https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2022/07/biden-administration-launch...
_________________________________________
This Hot Summer Is One of the Coolest of the Rest of Our Lives
Andrea Thompson | August 31, 2022
Heat waves broke temperature records around the world this past summer, but it will still be one of the coolest summers of the next few decades
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/this-hot-summer-is-one-of-the-coolest...
60margd
Doomsday Glacier “Holding On by Its Fingernails” – Spine-Chilling Retreat Could Raise Sea Levels by (3 to) 10 Feet
University of South Florida | September 7, 2022
...For the first time, scientists mapped in high-resolution a critical area of the seafloor in front of the glacier, providing them with a window into how fast Thwaites retreated and moved in the past...The glacier is about the size of Florida....
...The research team documented more than 160 parallel ridges that were created, like a footprint, as the glacier’s leading edge retreated and bobbed up and down with the daily tides.
...the rate of Thwaites’ retreat that scientists have documented more recently is small compared to the fastest rates of change in its past, said (lead author marine geophysicist Alastair Graham at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science).
...At some point in the last 200 years, over a duration of less than six months, the front of the glacier lost contact with a seabed ridge and retreated at a rate of more than 2.1 kilometers per year (1.3 miles per year). This is twice the rate documented using satellites between 2011 and 2019.
...“Thwaites is really holding on today by its fingernails, and we should expect to see big changes over small timescales in the future–even from one year to the next–once the glacier retreats beyond a shallow ridge in its bed,” said marine geophysicist and study co-author Robert Larter from the British Antarctic Survey...
...According to the United Nations, roughly 40 percent of the human population lives within 60 miles of the coast...
https://scitechdaily.com/doomsday-glacier-holding-on-by-its-fingernails-spine-ch...
Reference: “Rapid retreat of Thwaites Glacier in the pre-satellite era” by Alastair G. C. Graham, Anna Wåhlin, Kelly A. Hogan, Frank O. Nitsche, Karen J. Heywood, Rebecca L. Totten, James A. Smith, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Lauren M. Simkins, John B. Anderson, Julia S. Wellner and Robert D. Larter, 5 September 2022, Nature Geoscience.
DOI: 10.1038/s41561-022-01019-9
University of South Florida | September 7, 2022
...For the first time, scientists mapped in high-resolution a critical area of the seafloor in front of the glacier, providing them with a window into how fast Thwaites retreated and moved in the past...The glacier is about the size of Florida....
...The research team documented more than 160 parallel ridges that were created, like a footprint, as the glacier’s leading edge retreated and bobbed up and down with the daily tides.
...the rate of Thwaites’ retreat that scientists have documented more recently is small compared to the fastest rates of change in its past, said (lead author marine geophysicist Alastair Graham at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science).
...At some point in the last 200 years, over a duration of less than six months, the front of the glacier lost contact with a seabed ridge and retreated at a rate of more than 2.1 kilometers per year (1.3 miles per year). This is twice the rate documented using satellites between 2011 and 2019.
...“Thwaites is really holding on today by its fingernails, and we should expect to see big changes over small timescales in the future–even from one year to the next–once the glacier retreats beyond a shallow ridge in its bed,” said marine geophysicist and study co-author Robert Larter from the British Antarctic Survey...
...According to the United Nations, roughly 40 percent of the human population lives within 60 miles of the coast...
https://scitechdaily.com/doomsday-glacier-holding-on-by-its-fingernails-spine-ch...
Reference: “Rapid retreat of Thwaites Glacier in the pre-satellite era” by Alastair G. C. Graham, Anna Wåhlin, Kelly A. Hogan, Frank O. Nitsche, Karen J. Heywood, Rebecca L. Totten, James A. Smith, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Lauren M. Simkins, John B. Anderson, Julia S. Wellner and Robert D. Larter, 5 September 2022, Nature Geoscience.
DOI: 10.1038/s41561-022-01019-9
61margd
World on brink of five ‘disastrous’ climate tipping points, study finds
Damian Carrington | 8 Sep 2022
...a major study shows five dangerous tipping points may already have been passed due to the 1.1C of global heating caused by humanity to date.
These include the collapse of Greenland’s ice cap, eventually producing a huge sea level rise, the collapse of a key current in the north Atlantic, disrupting rain upon which billions of people depend for food, and an abrupt melting of carbon-rich permafrost.
At 1.5C of heating, the minimum rise now expected, four of the five tipping points move from being possible to likely, the analysis said. Also at 1.5C, an additional five tipping points become possible, including changes to vast northern forests and the loss of almost all mountain glaciers.
In total, the researchers found evidence for 16 tipping points, with the final six requiring global heating of at least 2C to be triggered, according to the scientists’ estimations. The tipping points would take effect on timescales varying from a few years to centuries...
Greenland ice sheet collapse
West Antarctic ice sheet collapse
Tropical coral reef die-off
Northern permafrost abrupt thaw
Barents Sea ice loss
Labrador Sea current collapse
Mountain glaciers loss
West African monsoon shift
East Antarctic glacier collapse
Amazon rainforest dieback
Northern permafrost collapse
Atlantic current collapse
Northern forests dieback - south
Northern forests expansion - north
Arctic winter sea ice collapse
East Antarctic ice sheet collapse
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/08/world-on-brink-five-climate-...
------------------------------------------------------------------
David I. Armstrong McKay et al. 2022. Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points. Science (9 Sep 2022) Vol 377, Issue 6611. DOI: 10.1126/science.abn7950 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn7950
STRUCTURED ABSTRACT
...RESULTS
We identify nine global “core” tipping elements which contribute substantially to Earth system functioning and seven regional “impact” tipping elements which contribute substantially to human welfare or have great value as unique features of the Earth system (see figure {map w 16 CTPs / Climate Tipping Points, at link}). Their estimated CTP thresholds have significant implications for climate policy: Current global warming of ~1.1°C above pre-industrial already lies within the lower end of five CTP uncertainty ranges. Six CTPs become likely (with a further four possible) within the Paris Agreement range of 1.5 to less than 2°C warming, including collapse of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, die-off of low-latitude coral reefs, and widespread abrupt permafrost thaw. An additional CTP becomes likely and another three possible at the ~2.6°C of warming expected under current policies.
CONCLUSION
Our assessment provides strong scientific evidence for urgent action to mitigate climate change. We show that even the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to well below 2°C and preferably 1.5°C is not safe as 1.5°C and above risks crossing multiple tipping points. Crossing these CTPs can generate positive feedbacks that increase the likelihood of crossing other CTPs. Currently the world is heading toward ~2 to 3°C of global warming; at best, if all net-zero pledges and nationally determined contributions are implemented it could reach just below 2°C. This would lower tipping point risks somewhat but would still be dangerous as it could trigger multiple climate tipping points.
Damian Carrington | 8 Sep 2022
...a major study shows five dangerous tipping points may already have been passed due to the 1.1C of global heating caused by humanity to date.
These include the collapse of Greenland’s ice cap, eventually producing a huge sea level rise, the collapse of a key current in the north Atlantic, disrupting rain upon which billions of people depend for food, and an abrupt melting of carbon-rich permafrost.
At 1.5C of heating, the minimum rise now expected, four of the five tipping points move from being possible to likely, the analysis said. Also at 1.5C, an additional five tipping points become possible, including changes to vast northern forests and the loss of almost all mountain glaciers.
In total, the researchers found evidence for 16 tipping points, with the final six requiring global heating of at least 2C to be triggered, according to the scientists’ estimations. The tipping points would take effect on timescales varying from a few years to centuries...
Greenland ice sheet collapse
West Antarctic ice sheet collapse
Tropical coral reef die-off
Northern permafrost abrupt thaw
Barents Sea ice loss
Labrador Sea current collapse
Mountain glaciers loss
West African monsoon shift
East Antarctic glacier collapse
Amazon rainforest dieback
Northern permafrost collapse
Atlantic current collapse
Northern forests dieback - south
Northern forests expansion - north
Arctic winter sea ice collapse
East Antarctic ice sheet collapse
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/08/world-on-brink-five-climate-...
------------------------------------------------------------------
David I. Armstrong McKay et al. 2022. Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points. Science (9 Sep 2022) Vol 377, Issue 6611. DOI: 10.1126/science.abn7950 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn7950
STRUCTURED ABSTRACT
...RESULTS
We identify nine global “core” tipping elements which contribute substantially to Earth system functioning and seven regional “impact” tipping elements which contribute substantially to human welfare or have great value as unique features of the Earth system (see figure {map w 16 CTPs / Climate Tipping Points, at link}). Their estimated CTP thresholds have significant implications for climate policy: Current global warming of ~1.1°C above pre-industrial already lies within the lower end of five CTP uncertainty ranges. Six CTPs become likely (with a further four possible) within the Paris Agreement range of 1.5 to less than 2°C warming, including collapse of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, die-off of low-latitude coral reefs, and widespread abrupt permafrost thaw. An additional CTP becomes likely and another three possible at the ~2.6°C of warming expected under current policies.
CONCLUSION
Our assessment provides strong scientific evidence for urgent action to mitigate climate change. We show that even the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to well below 2°C and preferably 1.5°C is not safe as 1.5°C and above risks crossing multiple tipping points. Crossing these CTPs can generate positive feedbacks that increase the likelihood of crossing other CTPs. Currently the world is heading toward ~2 to 3°C of global warming; at best, if all net-zero pledges and nationally determined contributions are implemented it could reach just below 2°C. This would lower tipping point risks somewhat but would still be dangerous as it could trigger multiple climate tipping points.
62margd
Dialogist @JimBarrett | 8:30 AM · Sep 8, 2022:
Recovering academic
#BurningMan created an art installation one can see from space. It's called INSANITY and included tens of thousands of people burning thousands of gallons of gas while spending up to 13 hours trying to exit the festival in 110 degree heat.
Aerial photo ( https://twitter.com/JimBarrett/status/1567852793406410753/photo/1 )
Recovering academic
#BurningMan created an art installation one can see from space. It's called INSANITY and included tens of thousands of people burning thousands of gallons of gas while spending up to 13 hours trying to exit the festival in 110 degree heat.
Aerial photo ( https://twitter.com/JimBarrett/status/1567852793406410753/photo/1 )
63margd
Peter Kalmus @ClimateHuman | 12:37 AM · Sep 10, 2022:
NASA climate scientist
I'm terrified by what we're seeing this summer, and by knowing how fast it's getting worse, and by how there's not really a ceiling on how bad it can get, and by how almost everyone still pretends business as usual can go on. Those who are not terrified don't have a clue.
NASA climate scientist
I'm terrified by what we're seeing this summer, and by knowing how fast it's getting worse, and by how there's not really a ceiling on how bad it can get, and by how almost everyone still pretends business as usual can go on. Those who are not terrified don't have a clue.
64margd
>61 margd: contd.
Jason Hickel @jasonhickel | 4:17 AM · Sep 9, 2022:
Professor at ICTA-UAB and Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE • Author of THE DIVIDE and LESS IS MORE
This is a critically important new study. It shows that exceeding 1.5 degrees will likely trigger five tipping points, including Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheet collapse. We need radical climate policy to prevent this. https://theguardian.com/environment/20
Table--16 tipping points at degrees warming
https://twitter.com/jasonhickel/status/1568151499007459329/photo/1
Not a single high-income country is on track for 1.5 degrees. Those that are reducing emissions are doing it far too slowly. Existing government policies have us headed for 3.2 degrees, which will likely trigger at least 9 tipping points. We need much more urgent action.
If we are serious about limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees, which is a core demand of social movements particularly in the global South, we need to consider just degrowth pathways in the core economies.
-----------------------------------------------------
Lorenz T. Keyßer & Manfred Lenzen et al. 2021. 1.5 °C degrowth scenarios suggest the need for new mitigation pathways. Nature Communications volume 12, Article number: 2676 (11 May 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22884-9
Abstract
1.5 °C scenarios reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) rely on combinations of controversial negative emissions and unprecedented technological change, while assuming continued growth in gross domestic product (GDP). Thus far, the integrated assessment modelling community and the IPCC have neglected to consider degrowth scenarios, where economic output declines due to stringent climate mitigation. Hence, their potential to avoid reliance on negative emissions and speculative rates of technological change remains unexplored. As a first step to address this gap, this paper compares 1.5 °C degrowth scenarios with IPCC archetype scenarios, using a simplified quantitative representation of the fuel-energy-emissions nexus. Here we find that the degrowth scenarios minimize many key risks for feasibility and sustainability compared to technology-driven pathways, such as the reliance on high energy-GDP decoupling, large-scale carbon dioxide removal and large-scale and high-speed renewable energy transformation. However, substantial challenges remain regarding political feasibility. Nevertheless, degrowth pathways should be thoroughly considered.
Jason Hickel @jasonhickel | 4:17 AM · Sep 9, 2022:
Professor at ICTA-UAB and Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE • Author of THE DIVIDE and LESS IS MORE
This is a critically important new study. It shows that exceeding 1.5 degrees will likely trigger five tipping points, including Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheet collapse. We need radical climate policy to prevent this. https://theguardian.com/environment/20
Table--16 tipping points at degrees warming
https://twitter.com/jasonhickel/status/1568151499007459329/photo/1
Not a single high-income country is on track for 1.5 degrees. Those that are reducing emissions are doing it far too slowly. Existing government policies have us headed for 3.2 degrees, which will likely trigger at least 9 tipping points. We need much more urgent action.
If we are serious about limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees, which is a core demand of social movements particularly in the global South, we need to consider just degrowth pathways in the core economies.
-----------------------------------------------------
Lorenz T. Keyßer & Manfred Lenzen et al. 2021. 1.5 °C degrowth scenarios suggest the need for new mitigation pathways. Nature Communications volume 12, Article number: 2676 (11 May 2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22884-9
Abstract
1.5 °C scenarios reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) rely on combinations of controversial negative emissions and unprecedented technological change, while assuming continued growth in gross domestic product (GDP). Thus far, the integrated assessment modelling community and the IPCC have neglected to consider degrowth scenarios, where economic output declines due to stringent climate mitigation. Hence, their potential to avoid reliance on negative emissions and speculative rates of technological change remains unexplored. As a first step to address this gap, this paper compares 1.5 °C degrowth scenarios with IPCC archetype scenarios, using a simplified quantitative representation of the fuel-energy-emissions nexus. Here we find that the degrowth scenarios minimize many key risks for feasibility and sustainability compared to technology-driven pathways, such as the reliance on high energy-GDP decoupling, large-scale carbon dioxide removal and large-scale and high-speed renewable energy transformation. However, substantial challenges remain regarding political feasibility. Nevertheless, degrowth pathways should be thoroughly considered.
65margd
How much US electricity comes from wind power?
Almost 10% of US electricity comes from wind farms.
USA Facts | August 9, 2022. Updated August 25, 2022
...In total, renewable energy sources contribute 20% of electricity in the US. The leading source of electricity generation is natural gas, which produces almost twice as much electricity as all renewables combined (38%)...
https://usafacts.org/articles/how-much-us-electricity-comes-from-wind-power/
Almost 10% of US electricity comes from wind farms.
USA Facts | August 9, 2022. Updated August 25, 2022
...In total, renewable energy sources contribute 20% of electricity in the US. The leading source of electricity generation is natural gas, which produces almost twice as much electricity as all renewables combined (38%)...
https://usafacts.org/articles/how-much-us-electricity-comes-from-wind-power/
66margd
David Gelles @dgelles | 3:42 PM · Sep 14, 2022:
Climate reporter and former Corner Office columnist at @NYTimes. Author of NYT bestseller ‘The Man Who Broke Capitalism.'
🚨EXCLUSIVE: Yvon Chouinard, who founded the outdoor apparel maker Patagonia and became a reluctant billionaire with his unconventional spin on capitalism, has given away the company. All Patagonia’s profits will now be used to fight climate change.🧵
In a move with no precedent in the business world, Chouinard, along with his family, have forfeited all their shares in Patagonia, a company valued at about $3 billion, renouncing their status as one of the wealthiest families in the US.
·
“Hopefully this will influence a new form of capitalism that doesn’t end up with a few rich people and a bunch of poor people,” Yvon told me. “We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet.”
Details of the years-long process, interviews with the board, other executives and more in the exclusive inside story of how Yvon Chouinard decided to give away the store.
Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company
Yvon Chouinard has forfeited ownership of the company he founded 49 years ago. The profits will now be used to fight climate change.
David Gelles | 14 Sept 2022
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouin...
Climate reporter and former Corner Office columnist at @NYTimes. Author of NYT bestseller ‘The Man Who Broke Capitalism.'
🚨EXCLUSIVE: Yvon Chouinard, who founded the outdoor apparel maker Patagonia and became a reluctant billionaire with his unconventional spin on capitalism, has given away the company. All Patagonia’s profits will now be used to fight climate change.🧵
In a move with no precedent in the business world, Chouinard, along with his family, have forfeited all their shares in Patagonia, a company valued at about $3 billion, renouncing their status as one of the wealthiest families in the US.
·
“Hopefully this will influence a new form of capitalism that doesn’t end up with a few rich people and a bunch of poor people,” Yvon told me. “We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet.”
Details of the years-long process, interviews with the board, other executives and more in the exclusive inside story of how Yvon Chouinard decided to give away the store.
Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company
Yvon Chouinard has forfeited ownership of the company he founded 49 years ago. The profits will now be used to fight climate change.
David Gelles | 14 Sept 2022
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouin...
67margd
air canada just bought a fleet of 30 electric planes that can fly 200km in all-electric mode
extremely cool
Photo ( https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/1571126071457521665 )
- ian bremmer @ianbremmer |9:17 AM · Sep 17, 2022
Carl Bildt @carlbildt:
And designed and manufactured in Sweden.
extremely cool
Photo ( https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/1571126071457521665 )
- ian bremmer @ianbremmer |9:17 AM · Sep 17, 2022
Carl Bildt @carlbildt:
And designed and manufactured in Sweden.
68margd
Another pathogen creeps north: dengue fever in France.
(Upside say some, is that vaccine for dengue fever may finally be developed...)
Dengue : comment expliquer le nombre record de cas qui ont été détectés en France depuis le début de l'année 2022 ?
{Google translation: Dengue fever: how to explain the record number of cases that have been detected in France since the start of 2022?}
17/09/2022
Les autorités sanitaires françaises ont dénombré pas moins de 41 cas autochtones de dengue en France signe que le moustique-tigre prolifère dans le pays. Selon Santé Publique France, de nouveaux cas d'infections pourraient survenir dans les jours à venir.
{French health authorities have counted no less than 41 autochthonous {indigenous rather than descended from migrants or colonists} cases of dengue fever in France, a sign that the tiger mosquito is proliferating in the country. According to Public Health France, new cases of infections could occur in the days to come.}
..."les conditions climatiques actuelles favorables à la multiplication des moustiques avec chaleur et pluies"...
{"the current climatic conditions favorable to the multiplication of mosquitoes with heat and rain"}
https://www.ladepeche.fr/2022/09/17/dengue-comment-expliquer-le-nombre-record-de...
(Upside say some, is that vaccine for dengue fever may finally be developed...)
Dengue : comment expliquer le nombre record de cas qui ont été détectés en France depuis le début de l'année 2022 ?
{Google translation: Dengue fever: how to explain the record number of cases that have been detected in France since the start of 2022?}
17/09/2022
Les autorités sanitaires françaises ont dénombré pas moins de 41 cas autochtones de dengue en France signe que le moustique-tigre prolifère dans le pays. Selon Santé Publique France, de nouveaux cas d'infections pourraient survenir dans les jours à venir.
{French health authorities have counted no less than 41 autochthonous {indigenous rather than descended from migrants or colonists} cases of dengue fever in France, a sign that the tiger mosquito is proliferating in the country. According to Public Health France, new cases of infections could occur in the days to come.}
..."les conditions climatiques actuelles favorables à la multiplication des moustiques avec chaleur et pluies"...
{"the current climatic conditions favorable to the multiplication of mosquitoes with heat and rain"}
https://www.ladepeche.fr/2022/09/17/dengue-comment-expliquer-le-nombre-record-de...
69margd
The US officially commits to global pact to drop planet-heating refrigerants
Justine Calma / @justcalma | Sep 22, 2022
...Even though it’s taken years for the US to officially get on board, the Biden administration has already moved to phase out HFCs as part of its efforts to limit climate change and boost domestic manufacturing. The stimulus bill passed in 2020 included provisions that essentially pushed the US to meet the goals of the Kigali Amendment anyway. It tasked the EPA with developing rules to reduce HFC production and consumption by 85 percent over 15 years.
There are alternative refrigerants that don’t pose the same environmental problems, and US lawmakers expected the new mandate to drop HFCs to create 150,000 jobs while generating close to $39 billion in economic benefits over seven years. Consumers likely won’t notice much of a difference since the rule doesn’t completely eradicate HFCs nor require consumers to get rid of their old appliances. New appliances that use different refrigerants will generally look and function the same as the old ones...
https://twitter.com/Seeker/status/1572974998196834305
Justine Calma / @justcalma | Sep 22, 2022
...Even though it’s taken years for the US to officially get on board, the Biden administration has already moved to phase out HFCs as part of its efforts to limit climate change and boost domestic manufacturing. The stimulus bill passed in 2020 included provisions that essentially pushed the US to meet the goals of the Kigali Amendment anyway. It tasked the EPA with developing rules to reduce HFC production and consumption by 85 percent over 15 years.
There are alternative refrigerants that don’t pose the same environmental problems, and US lawmakers expected the new mandate to drop HFCs to create 150,000 jobs while generating close to $39 billion in economic benefits over seven years. Consumers likely won’t notice much of a difference since the rule doesn’t completely eradicate HFCs nor require consumers to get rid of their old appliances. New appliances that use different refrigerants will generally look and function the same as the old ones...
https://twitter.com/Seeker/status/1572974998196834305
70margd
Edgar McGregor @edgarrmcgregor | 3:24 AM · Sep 24, 2022:
Climatology senior @SJSU {San Jose State U}
Maybe
the strongest storm to hit western Alaska,
the strongest heatwave to hit California, and
the strongest storm to hit Canada
all happening in the same month on one continent isn't a coincidence....
Climatology senior @SJSU {San Jose State U}
Maybe
the strongest storm to hit western Alaska,
the strongest heatwave to hit California, and
the strongest storm to hit Canada
all happening in the same month on one continent isn't a coincidence....
71margd
Managed retreat v. throwing good money after bad...Good money--yours and mine--that could be used to reduce emissions.
FL insurance industry is facing crisis--may force managed retreat, even if DeSantis doesn't?
Already banks are conditioning mortgages in areas likely to be lost as oceans rise.
Peter Gleick 🇺🇸 @PeterGleick | 4:58 PM · Sep 30, 2022:
Climate, water, energy. Science communication. National Academy of Sciences. MacArthur Fellow. Birds. Mandolin. 2018 Carl Sagan Prize.
It's not just Florida. There are only 2 options for the many areas now threatened with unavoidable increases in sea level:
Planned, incremental retreat over years, or
Unplanned, catastrophic, rapid destruction in days.
It's not like we don't know what is coming...
FL insurance industry is facing crisis--may force managed retreat, even if DeSantis doesn't?
Already banks are conditioning mortgages in areas likely to be lost as oceans rise.
Peter Gleick 🇺🇸 @PeterGleick | 4:58 PM · Sep 30, 2022:
Climate, water, energy. Science communication. National Academy of Sciences. MacArthur Fellow. Birds. Mandolin. 2018 Carl Sagan Prize.
It's not just Florida. There are only 2 options for the many areas now threatened with unavoidable increases in sea level:
Planned, incremental retreat over years, or
Unplanned, catastrophic, rapid destruction in days.
It's not like we don't know what is coming...
72margd
The 1,644 MW of solar installed on K-12 schools offsets the greenhouse gas emissions equal to more than 1 million round-trip flights from NYC to LA. Read our latest report for more info.
Schools Are Converting To Clean Energy
https://hubs.ly/Q01m_Zyd0?twclid=2qjxzag0wunfcqkvf4duzcbvx
generation180.org
- Generation180 @Gen_180 | 7:00 AM · Sep 26, 2022
Schools Are Converting To Clean Energy
https://hubs.ly/Q01m_Zyd0?twclid=2qjxzag0wunfcqkvf4duzcbvx
generation180.org
- Generation180 @Gen_180 | 7:00 AM · Sep 26, 2022
73margd
Peter Kalmus @ClimateHuman | 5:11 PM · Oct 8, 2022:
NASA climate scientist. Revoking fossil fuel's social license. Arrested for protecting Earth.
It's not about "the environment." Stop using this phrase. It's about whether life on Earth collapses into a shadow of its former magnificence. It's about whether humankind thrives and evolves, or descends into a long and brutal dark age on a less habitable planet.
NASA climate scientist. Revoking fossil fuel's social license. Arrested for protecting Earth.
It's not about "the environment." Stop using this phrase. It's about whether life on Earth collapses into a shadow of its former magnificence. It's about whether humankind thrives and evolves, or descends into a long and brutal dark age on a less habitable planet.
74margd
Steven Donziger @SDonziger | 7:02 PM · Oct 12, 2022:
BREAKING: Sickening evidence of another climate disaster. Video shows a mass die-off of 65,000 salmon before they could spawn in just one creek in Canada.👇
0:25 ( https://twitter.com/SDonziger/status/1580333180766126080 )
Drought Kills Tens of Thousands of Salmon in a Single Canadian Creek
Low water levels and high temperatures have led to masses of rotting fish clogging the Neekas river, before the salmon could spawn the next generation.
Lauren Leffer | Saturday 8:00AM
...More than 65,000 salmon have died before they could spawn in just one Canadian stream. The die-off of two species, mostly pink and some chum salmon, hints at a potentially devastating season for the fish, local people, and the wider ecosystem throughout the region.
Researchers from Simon Fraser University came upon the mass fish calamity in the Neekas river in British Columbia’s remote Central Coast on September 29. The waterway is near the community of Bella Bella, within Indigenous Heiltsuk Nation Territory. The full video shows a 360 degree view of the carnage...
https://gizmodo.com/salmon-die-off-canada-neekas-drought-1849630271
BREAKING: Sickening evidence of another climate disaster. Video shows a mass die-off of 65,000 salmon before they could spawn in just one creek in Canada.👇
0:25 ( https://twitter.com/SDonziger/status/1580333180766126080 )
Drought Kills Tens of Thousands of Salmon in a Single Canadian Creek
Low water levels and high temperatures have led to masses of rotting fish clogging the Neekas river, before the salmon could spawn the next generation.
Lauren Leffer | Saturday 8:00AM
...More than 65,000 salmon have died before they could spawn in just one Canadian stream. The die-off of two species, mostly pink and some chum salmon, hints at a potentially devastating season for the fish, local people, and the wider ecosystem throughout the region.
Researchers from Simon Fraser University came upon the mass fish calamity in the Neekas river in British Columbia’s remote Central Coast on September 29. The waterway is near the community of Bella Bella, within Indigenous Heiltsuk Nation Territory. The full video shows a 360 degree view of the carnage...
https://gizmodo.com/salmon-die-off-canada-neekas-drought-1849630271
75margd
Map is terrifying. Hope not an accurate prediction...
Benjamin Ramm @BenjaminRamm | 6:00 AM · Oct 16, 2022:
Founder of Honeydew and author of High Definition: A Vision of Our Psychedelic Future (September 2023)
Yesterday, I attended a conference at which an influential financier shared this unpublished map. Look at it. The estimated death toll is 2-3 *billion*; the timeframe is 20-30 years (previously: 50). Segments of the elite have simply 'written off' large parts of the Global South.
Map ( https://twitter.com/BenjaminRamm/status/1581585963868119042/photo/1 )
Benjamin Ramm @BenjaminRamm | 6:00 AM · Oct 16, 2022:
Founder of Honeydew and author of High Definition: A Vision of Our Psychedelic Future (September 2023)
Yesterday, I attended a conference at which an influential financier shared this unpublished map. Look at it. The estimated death toll is 2-3 *billion*; the timeframe is 20-30 years (previously: 50). Segments of the elite have simply 'written off' large parts of the Global South.
Map ( https://twitter.com/BenjaminRamm/status/1581585963868119042/photo/1 )
76margd
Climate Pledges Are Falling Short, and a Chaotic Future Looks More Like Reality
Max Bearak | Oct. 26, 2022
...Just 26 of 193 countries that agreed last year to step up their climate actions have followed through with more ambitious plans. The world’s top two polluters, China and the United States, have taken some action but have not pledged more this year, and climate negotiations between the two have been frozen for months.
Without drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the report said, the planet is on track to warm by an average of 2.1 to 2.9 degrees Celsius, compared with preindustrial levels, by 2100.
That’s far higher than the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) set by the landmark Paris agreement in 2015, and it crosses the threshold beyond which scientists say the likelihood of catastrophic climate impacts significantly increases...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/26/climate/un-climate-pledges-warming.html
Max Bearak | Oct. 26, 2022
...Just 26 of 193 countries that agreed last year to step up their climate actions have followed through with more ambitious plans. The world’s top two polluters, China and the United States, have taken some action but have not pledged more this year, and climate negotiations between the two have been frozen for months.
Without drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the report said, the planet is on track to warm by an average of 2.1 to 2.9 degrees Celsius, compared with preindustrial levels, by 2100.
That’s far higher than the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) set by the landmark Paris agreement in 2015, and it crosses the threshold beyond which scientists say the likelihood of catastrophic climate impacts significantly increases...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/26/climate/un-climate-pledges-warming.html
77margd
The Lancet Countdown
Tracking the connections between public health and climate change
2022
KEY MESSAGES
A persistent fossil fuel addiction is amplifying the health impacts of climate change, and compounding the concurrent energy, cost-of-living, food, and COVID-19 crises we face.
Governments and companies continue to prioritise the fossil fuels above, and to the detriment, of peoples’ health, jeopardising a liveable future.
The world faces a critical juncture. A health-centred, aligned response to the compounding crises can still deliver a future where people can not only survive, but thrive.
https://www.lancetcountdown.org/
--------------------------------------------------------
Doctors decry 'record profits' for fossil fuel companies as climate change weighs on global health
Evan Bush | Oct. 25, 2022, 10:30 PM UTC
Nearly 100 authors contributed to The Lancet's annual report on climate change and health, which detailed how heat waves, drought and air pollution are killing thousands.
...Heat-related deaths worldwide have increased by about 68% since the beginning of the millennium, according to data comparing 2000-04 to 2017-21, when the issue was made worse by Covid-19. Extreme heat was linked to 98 million cases of hunger worldwide. In the U.S., heat-related deaths for people over age 65 are estimated to have increased by about 74% during that same time period.
Tiny particles released into the air as pollution during fossil fuel use were responsible for 1.2 million deaths in 2020. About 11,840 U.S. deaths were attributable to particulate air pollution, according to (Dr. Renee Salas, an emergency medical physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School).
Changes in temperature, precipitation and population since the 1950s have increased the transmissibility of diseases spread by mosquitoes, with dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika all up by roughly 12%. In the U.S., the transmissibility of dengue fever was about 64% higher.
Climate change is taking a toll on mental health. “There’s strong evidence that climate change is associated with more depression, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety,” said Natasha K. DeJarnett, a lead author of the U.S. policy brief and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Louisville....
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/doctors-decry-record-profits-fossil-...
Tracking the connections between public health and climate change
2022
KEY MESSAGES
A persistent fossil fuel addiction is amplifying the health impacts of climate change, and compounding the concurrent energy, cost-of-living, food, and COVID-19 crises we face.
Governments and companies continue to prioritise the fossil fuels above, and to the detriment, of peoples’ health, jeopardising a liveable future.
The world faces a critical juncture. A health-centred, aligned response to the compounding crises can still deliver a future where people can not only survive, but thrive.
https://www.lancetcountdown.org/
--------------------------------------------------------
Doctors decry 'record profits' for fossil fuel companies as climate change weighs on global health
Evan Bush | Oct. 25, 2022, 10:30 PM UTC
Nearly 100 authors contributed to The Lancet's annual report on climate change and health, which detailed how heat waves, drought and air pollution are killing thousands.
...Heat-related deaths worldwide have increased by about 68% since the beginning of the millennium, according to data comparing 2000-04 to 2017-21, when the issue was made worse by Covid-19. Extreme heat was linked to 98 million cases of hunger worldwide. In the U.S., heat-related deaths for people over age 65 are estimated to have increased by about 74% during that same time period.
Tiny particles released into the air as pollution during fossil fuel use were responsible for 1.2 million deaths in 2020. About 11,840 U.S. deaths were attributable to particulate air pollution, according to (Dr. Renee Salas, an emergency medical physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School).
Changes in temperature, precipitation and population since the 1950s have increased the transmissibility of diseases spread by mosquitoes, with dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika all up by roughly 12%. In the U.S., the transmissibility of dengue fever was about 64% higher.
Climate change is taking a toll on mental health. “There’s strong evidence that climate change is associated with more depression, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety,” said Natasha K. DeJarnett, a lead author of the U.S. policy brief and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Louisville....
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/doctors-decry-record-profits-fossil-...
78margd
A remarkable and swift decline in soil moisture in the Mississippi River valley. Map by @KarklisCarto using @NASA_SPoRT data:
6 mo. diff in relative soil moisture, US
https://twitter.com/capitalweather/status/1585371333973934080/photo/1
- Capital Weather Gang @capitalweather | 4:42 PM · Oct 26, 2022
D.C.-area and worldwide weather news from the Washington Post
6 mo. diff in relative soil moisture, US
https://twitter.com/capitalweather/status/1585371333973934080/photo/1
- Capital Weather Gang @capitalweather | 4:42 PM · Oct 26, 2022
D.C.-area and worldwide weather news from the Washington Post
79margd
Humans have experienced climate-driven social upheaval in the past, e,g, 14,500 years ago after the glaciers retreated in Britain (below). 70,000 years ago, our species almost went extinct in a genetic bottleneck that marks all of us: https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/10/22/163397584/how-human-beings-almo...
Oldest British DNA reveals mass immigrations after last ice age
Genetic material recovered from two caves suggests climate change brought into new cultures and lifestyles
Andrew Curry | 24 Oct 2022
Both caves date to the Paleolithic, a turbulent time that followed the end of the last ice age. As the climate warmed, open tundra quickly gave way to thick forests. Melting ice sheets opened up new areas for human habitation, including what is today Great Britain, which was then connected by a land bridge to mainland Europe.
A genetic analysis from two English caves, published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution suggests that as the landscape changed, populations shifted, too, with groups bringing new cultural practices, diets, and hunting strategies with them while replacing or pushing out previous populations...
https://www.science.org/content/article/oldest-british-dna-reveals-mass-immigrat...
Oldest British DNA reveals mass immigrations after last ice age
Genetic material recovered from two caves suggests climate change brought into new cultures and lifestyles
Andrew Curry | 24 Oct 2022
Both caves date to the Paleolithic, a turbulent time that followed the end of the last ice age. As the climate warmed, open tundra quickly gave way to thick forests. Melting ice sheets opened up new areas for human habitation, including what is today Great Britain, which was then connected by a land bridge to mainland Europe.
A genetic analysis from two English caves, published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution suggests that as the landscape changed, populations shifted, too, with groups bringing new cultural practices, diets, and hunting strategies with them while replacing or pushing out previous populations...
https://www.science.org/content/article/oldest-british-dna-reveals-mass-immigrat...
80margd
From the glass half-full folks:
Beyond Catastrophe
A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View
David Wallace-Wells | 26 Oct 2022
...Now, with the world already 1.2 degrees hotter, scientists believe that warming this century will most likely fall between two or three degrees. (A United Nations report released this week ahead of the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, confirmed that range.) A little lower is possible, with much more concerted action; a little higher, too, with slower action and bad climate luck. Those numbers may sound abstract, but what they suggest is this: Thanks to astonishing declines in the price of renewables, a truly global political mobilization, a clearer picture of the energy future and serious policy focus from world leaders, we have cut expected warming almost in half in just five years.
...Matthew Huber of Purdue University, the climate scientist who helped introduce the idea of a temperature and humidity limit to human survival ... describes himself as considerably less worried than he used to be, though he believes, drawing on inferences from the deep history of the planet, that a future of two degrees warming is less likely than a world of three. “Some of my colleagues are looking at three degrees and going, oh, my God, this is the worst thing ever — we’re failing!” he says. “And then someone like me is saying, well, I used to think we were heading to five. So three looks like a win.”
A very bruising win...
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/10/26/magazine/climate-change-warming-w...
Beyond Catastrophe
A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View
David Wallace-Wells | 26 Oct 2022
...Now, with the world already 1.2 degrees hotter, scientists believe that warming this century will most likely fall between two or three degrees. (A United Nations report released this week ahead of the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, confirmed that range.) A little lower is possible, with much more concerted action; a little higher, too, with slower action and bad climate luck. Those numbers may sound abstract, but what they suggest is this: Thanks to astonishing declines in the price of renewables, a truly global political mobilization, a clearer picture of the energy future and serious policy focus from world leaders, we have cut expected warming almost in half in just five years.
...Matthew Huber of Purdue University, the climate scientist who helped introduce the idea of a temperature and humidity limit to human survival ... describes himself as considerably less worried than he used to be, though he believes, drawing on inferences from the deep history of the planet, that a future of two degrees warming is less likely than a world of three. “Some of my colleagues are looking at three degrees and going, oh, my God, this is the worst thing ever — we’re failing!” he says. “And then someone like me is saying, well, I used to think we were heading to five. So three looks like a win.”
A very bruising win...
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/10/26/magazine/climate-change-warming-w...
81margd
“Let’s fight for zero deforestation,” Lula says in first speech as president-elect. “Brazil is ready to resume its leading role in the fight against the climate crisis, protecting all our biomes, especially the Amazon Forest.”
- jonathanwatts jonathanwatts | 9:18 PM · Oct 30, 2022
Global environment editor, the Guardian. Formerly Latin America & East Asia
- jonathanwatts jonathanwatts | 9:18 PM · Oct 30, 2022
Global environment editor, the Guardian. Formerly Latin America & East Asia
822wonderY
‘We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator,’ UN chief warns
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/we-are-on-a-highway-to-climate-hell-with-ou...
Guterres’ dire warnings on Monday came as world leaders gathered in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh for the UN’s annual COP conference, and a day after provisional findings from a UN study revealed that the last eight years have been the warmest on record.
As the preliminary report was released on Sunday, Guterres described it as a “chronicle of climate chaos” that detailed the catastrophic speed of climate change.
...
The organization said on Sunday that since COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, last year, only 29 out of 194 countries had come forward with tightened national plans.
...
According to the latest statistics from Our World in Data, China, the U.S. and India are the world’s biggest polluters, being the countries responsible for the biggest proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019.
The organization’s figures also show that in 2020, China was responsible for a third of global CO2 emissions, while the U.S. was responsible for 13.5%.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/we-are-on-a-highway-to-climate-hell-with-ou...
Guterres’ dire warnings on Monday came as world leaders gathered in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh for the UN’s annual COP conference, and a day after provisional findings from a UN study revealed that the last eight years have been the warmest on record.
As the preliminary report was released on Sunday, Guterres described it as a “chronicle of climate chaos” that detailed the catastrophic speed of climate change.
...
The organization said on Sunday that since COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, last year, only 29 out of 194 countries had come forward with tightened national plans.
...
According to the latest statistics from Our World in Data, China, the U.S. and India are the world’s biggest polluters, being the countries responsible for the biggest proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2019.
The organization’s figures also show that in 2020, China was responsible for a third of global CO2 emissions, while the U.S. was responsible for 13.5%.
83margd
What Happens If Everest Melts? (5:43)
BBC Earth | 15 Dec 2022
Research into one of our most iconic peaks is uncovering an alarming reality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyAKX_jYnvI
BBC Earth | 15 Dec 2022
Research into one of our most iconic peaks is uncovering an alarming reality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyAKX_jYnvI
84margd
margd: globally, freshwater ecosystems are more endangered than marine or terrestrial...
Prof Jamie Woodward @Jamie_Woodward_ | 4:59 PM · Dec 19, 2022
Iron released from degrading permafrost is turning Alaska’s rivers orange
An Unmistakable Stain in America’s Most Pristine Rivers
Climate change is rusting Alaska’s waterways.
Emily Schwing | 18 Dec 2022
Dozens of once crystal-clear streams and rivers in Arctic Alaska are now running bright orange and cloudy—and in some cases, they may be becoming more acidic...
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/12/alaska-rivers-rust-climate-c...
Prof Jamie Woodward @Jamie_Woodward_ | 4:59 PM · Dec 19, 2022
Iron released from degrading permafrost is turning Alaska’s rivers orange
An Unmistakable Stain in America’s Most Pristine Rivers
Climate change is rusting Alaska’s waterways.
Emily Schwing | 18 Dec 2022
Dozens of once crystal-clear streams and rivers in Arctic Alaska are now running bright orange and cloudy—and in some cases, they may be becoming more acidic...
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/12/alaska-rivers-rust-climate-c...
85margd
Of course, one couldn't power the world, Europe, and Germany from a distance in n Africa (?), but good news for the world that such a relatively small bit of land (or roofs?) would be needed.
The total area of solar panels it would take to power the world, Europe, and Germany.
This map is from Nadine May’s thesis
(source, read first: http://ow.ly/ga7Z50xBrRU) *
Map ( https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1607744351047942147/photo/1 )
- Massimo @Rainmaker1973 | 9:24 AM · Dec 27, 2022
Astronomy, astronautics, meteorology, physics. Engineer, trying to build the big picture of #science via selected & curated pics, videos & links
* Nadine May 2005. Eco-balance of a Solar Electricity Transmission from North Africa to Europen (Diploma Thesis). TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF BRAUNSCHWEIG Faculty for Physics and Geological Sciences, Braunschweig, 17th August 2005. 186 p. https://www.dlr.de/tt/Portaldata/41/Resources/dokumente/institut/system/projects...
The total area of solar panels it would take to power the world, Europe, and Germany.
This map is from Nadine May’s thesis
(source, read first: http://ow.ly/ga7Z50xBrRU) *
Map ( https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1607744351047942147/photo/1 )
- Massimo @Rainmaker1973 | 9:24 AM · Dec 27, 2022
Astronomy, astronautics, meteorology, physics. Engineer, trying to build the big picture of #science via selected & curated pics, videos & links
* Nadine May 2005. Eco-balance of a Solar Electricity Transmission from North Africa to Europen (Diploma Thesis). TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF BRAUNSCHWEIG Faculty for Physics and Geological Sciences, Braunschweig, 17th August 2005. 186 p. https://www.dlr.de/tt/Portaldata/41/Resources/dokumente/institut/system/projects...
86margd
Temperatures on Greenland haven’t been this warm in at least 1,000 years, scientists report
Rachel Ramirez | January 18, 2023
...between 2001 and 2011, it was on average 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than it was during the 20th century.
...“Greenland is the largest contributor currently to sea level rise,” Maria Hörhold, lead author of the study and a glaciologist with the Alfred Wegener Institute, told CNN. “And if we keep on going with the carbon emissions as we do right now, then by 2100, Greenland will have contributed up to 50 centimeters to sea level rise and this will affect millions of people who live in coastal areas.” ...
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/world/greenland-ice-sheet-warming-climate/index.h...
---------------------------------------------------------------
M. Hörhold e al.2023. Modern temperatures in central–north Greenland warmest in past millennium. Nature volume 613, pages 503–507 (18 January 2023) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05517-z
Abstract
The Greenland Ice Sheet has a central role in the global climate system owing to its size, radiative effects and freshwater storage, and as a potential tipping point... Weather stations show that the coastal regions are warming..., but the imprint of global warming in the central part of the ice sheet is unclear, owing to missing long-term observations. Current ice-core-based temperature reconstructions... are ambiguous with respect to isolating global warming signatures from natural variability, because they are too noisy and do not include the most recent decades. By systematically redrilling ice cores, we created a high-quality reconstruction of central and north Greenland temperatures from ad 1000 until 2011. Here we show that the warming in the recent reconstructed decade exceeds the range of the pre-industrial temperature variability in the past millennium with virtual certainty ... and is on average 1.5 ± 0.4 degrees Celsius (1 standard error) warmer than the twentieth century. Our findings suggest that these exceptional temperatures arise from the superposition of natural variability with a long-term warming trend, apparent since ad 1800. The disproportionate warming is accompanied by enhanced Greenland meltwater run-off, implying that anthropogenic influence has also arrived in central and north Greenland, which might further accelerate the overall Greenland mass loss.
Rachel Ramirez | January 18, 2023
...between 2001 and 2011, it was on average 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than it was during the 20th century.
...“Greenland is the largest contributor currently to sea level rise,” Maria Hörhold, lead author of the study and a glaciologist with the Alfred Wegener Institute, told CNN. “And if we keep on going with the carbon emissions as we do right now, then by 2100, Greenland will have contributed up to 50 centimeters to sea level rise and this will affect millions of people who live in coastal areas.” ...
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/world/greenland-ice-sheet-warming-climate/index.h...
---------------------------------------------------------------
M. Hörhold e al.2023. Modern temperatures in central–north Greenland warmest in past millennium. Nature volume 613, pages 503–507 (18 January 2023) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05517-z
Abstract
The Greenland Ice Sheet has a central role in the global climate system owing to its size, radiative effects and freshwater storage, and as a potential tipping point... Weather stations show that the coastal regions are warming..., but the imprint of global warming in the central part of the ice sheet is unclear, owing to missing long-term observations. Current ice-core-based temperature reconstructions... are ambiguous with respect to isolating global warming signatures from natural variability, because they are too noisy and do not include the most recent decades. By systematically redrilling ice cores, we created a high-quality reconstruction of central and north Greenland temperatures from ad 1000 until 2011. Here we show that the warming in the recent reconstructed decade exceeds the range of the pre-industrial temperature variability in the past millennium with virtual certainty ... and is on average 1.5 ± 0.4 degrees Celsius (1 standard error) warmer than the twentieth century. Our findings suggest that these exceptional temperatures arise from the superposition of natural variability with a long-term warming trend, apparent since ad 1800. The disproportionate warming is accompanied by enhanced Greenland meltwater run-off, implying that anthropogenic influence has also arrived in central and north Greenland, which might further accelerate the overall Greenland mass loss.
87brone
When did clean-burning, cheap and abundant natural gas become the equivalent of dirty coal? did prized natural gas that had granted America's wishes of energy independence, reduced polution, and inexpensive electricity become overnight a pariah fuel whose extraction is a war against nature? Which lawmakers, which laws, which votes of the people declared natural gas development and pipelines near criminal? John do you know who I am Kerry (nickname in Ma.) Lands in Switzerland (private Jet) and promptly tells all the globalists that the cure for climate disaster is "Money,money, money, ect, Next on the elitist stage comes the man who invented the internet also arrriving in a private jet Al Gore who has made millions as a guru for the climateiacs, and what does Saint Albert say to all the globalists we are select beings like extraterrestrials we have to save the planet today we cant wait, the expendables don't get it, I wonder what this crowd had for dinner (cooked on gas stoves ) ya think?....AMDG....
88margd
We're not exactly practising the stewardship that authors of the Bible had in mind, methinks. Much less Native Americans who kept the future's Seventh Generation in mind... W.W.J.D.?
89brone
>88 margd: "we're" speak for yourself I've been as youse guys call it green forever. Now if Kerry, Gore, Soros , Klaus, and the rest of the climate gurus rowed across the ocean or even flew coach and on reaching their destinations went to the EWF meeting by public transportation instead of the stereotypical black bran new gas powered suvs,I would have been impressed, but seeing how arrogant they are, I'll tell you what me and millions of others have in mind is to resist these elitist snobs and the sychophants who fall down and adore them some author of the bible you mention said, "Do not worship false gods"....AMDG....
90lriley
Extracting natural gas from the earth through fracking is terrible for the environment. Is there really any question left about that? It is particularly bad as per water resources.
91margd
Wind Turbines Taller Than the Statue of Liberty Are Falling Over
Breakdowns of towers and blades have bedeviled manufacturers in the US and Europe.
Ryan Beene and Josh Saul | January 23, 2023
...The instances are part of a rash of recent wind turbine malfunctions across the US and Europe, ranging from failures of key components to full collapses. Some industry veterans say they’re happening more often, even if the events are occurring at only a small fraction of installed machines. The problems have added hundreds of millions of dollars in costs for the three largest Western turbine makers, GE, Vestas Wind Systems and Siemens Energy’s Siemens Gamesa unit; and they could result in more expensive insurance policies—a potential setback for the push to abandon fossil fuels and fight climate change.
...With builders designing blades as long as a football field to capture more wind energy, developers can install fewer turbines to generate the same amount of power...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-23/wind-turbine-collapses-punctu...
Breakdowns of towers and blades have bedeviled manufacturers in the US and Europe.
Ryan Beene and Josh Saul | January 23, 2023
...The instances are part of a rash of recent wind turbine malfunctions across the US and Europe, ranging from failures of key components to full collapses. Some industry veterans say they’re happening more often, even if the events are occurring at only a small fraction of installed machines. The problems have added hundreds of millions of dollars in costs for the three largest Western turbine makers, GE, Vestas Wind Systems and Siemens Energy’s Siemens Gamesa unit; and they could result in more expensive insurance policies—a potential setback for the push to abandon fossil fuels and fight climate change.
...With builders designing blades as long as a football field to capture more wind energy, developers can install fewer turbines to generate the same amount of power...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-23/wind-turbine-collapses-punctu...
92prosfilaes
>87 brone: The problems with natural gas are well known; you could dispute or minimize them, but you'd rather toss out empty rhetoric.
93brone
>92 prosfilaes: The only problem I ever had with natural gas was to make sure I shut it off....JMJ....
94brone
>90 lriley: Extracting colbalt from rocks by children less than ten in Africa for batteries made in China is particulary bad imagine the water that child drinks....JMJ....
95brone
>91 margd: Windmills are a disaster, mechanical malfunctions, destruction of pristine coastline after it took us 50 years to clean it up, dead, sea, native,and migratory birds floating everywhere not a word from the Audubon society or the sierra club, turn on the spikets and get rid of this chinese manufactured hotair....AMDG....
96prosfilaes
>94 brone: Cf. >93 brone:. You care about what happens to other people only when it supports your political causes, I see.
97lriley
>94 brone: If you want to go after the corporations that profit from child exploitation that's fine with me. I would sign up for that. I suspect that loads of Americans and pretty much 99% of conservatives and libertarians have no problem with this at all especially if it feeds their investment and/or retirement portfolios. All that is well and good but on the scale of damage to the environment extracting cobalt (not colbalt) doesn't really compare to the damage that oil and gas producers are doing with their drilling and fracking. On that matter I was very happy when NYS banned fracking some years ago. Right across the border in Pennsylvania though they not only rip off people all the time but quite often if they poison their wells they destroy their property values and they have fancy law firms to make sure farmers and small town home owners will ever make any headway against them if they even try to take them to court. Nobody wants a property to live that's got such water issues. Maybe I shouldn't worry that much about the rurals that live in northern Pa. though---they're like 90% conservatives who were sold on the idea they could make a lot of money for pretty much doing nothing. I could just as easily say 'sucks to be them'. It was their own ignorance and greed.
It's typical in #93 you only see your own narrow anecdotal side of this. I wouldn't expect anything more.
It's typical in #93 you only see your own narrow anecdotal side of this. I wouldn't expect anything more.
98brone
>97 lriley: You guys are very cranky 93 was not an anedote it was a goofy joke yikes....AMDG....
99prosfilaes
>98 brone: Yikes, how dare we expect someone who cares about truth to respond to questions of about the accuracy of what they're saying, instead of making a goofy joke to avoid real discussion of facts.
100kiparsky
This poem by Kay Ryan comes to mind from time to time.
The Niagara River
Kay Ryan
As though
the river were
a floor, we position
our table and chairs
upon it, eat, and
have conversation.
As it moves along,
we notice—as
calmly as though
dining room paintings
were being replaced—
the changing scenes
along the shore. We
do know, we do
know this is the
Niagara River, but
it is hard to remember
what that means.
101brone
The New York Times "Gas stoves shows potential health risks including links to childhood asthma even quoting Richard Trumka of the US Consumer Product Safety Commision saying "studies on the Science from gas stoves causes brain damage "and he somehow gives us another trendy term of calling inanimate objects racist as Trumka is quoted as saying "gas stoves are racist" must be because most of them are the color of white ya think? When an actual environmental disaster does occur, and a small rural community is left to fend for themselves for weeks with no help from FEMA Thier excuse being it wasn't natural, toxic World War 1 type chemicals flowing into the waterways I guess ya could say isn.t natural. when the boobs finally get there, they execute a "control" burn which releases a toxic cloud thousands of feet into the air they then check their computers and say the now rainbow-colored streams with dead fish and drinking water is safe and before the get back on the EPA bus to Georgetown they declare the air is perfectly safe, claiming they saved fly over country....AMDG
102margd
France tears down beach apartment block as rising sea bites
Reuters | Feb. 17, 2023
When it was built at the end of the 1960s on one of France's most glorious Atlantic coastlines, the beach was over 200 metres away...with beaches disappearing at a rate of about 2.5 metres per year in past decades, Soulac-sur-Mer suffered some of the fastest coastal erosion in France. By 2010, the ocean was lapping at the dune on which ( the four storey, 80-flat) Le Signal was built...
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/climate/impacts/france-tears-down-beac...
Reuters | Feb. 17, 2023
When it was built at the end of the 1960s on one of France's most glorious Atlantic coastlines, the beach was over 200 metres away...with beaches disappearing at a rate of about 2.5 metres per year in past decades, Soulac-sur-Mer suffered some of the fastest coastal erosion in France. By 2010, the ocean was lapping at the dune on which ( the four storey, 80-flat) Le Signal was built...
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/climate/impacts/france-tears-down-beac...
103brone
Speaking of gas stoves the Vatican has given its faithful a new Lentin discipline this year, we are all urged to refrain from the use of fossil fuels especially gas stoves, now all of youse guys who hate the church must be impressed with this decree as catholics are admonished by their leader to meditate on their "ecological sins" in the meantime the climate scammers are flying around the world in private jets attending banquets. Not one of whom showed up at a million-ton chemical spill which is now leaking into the Mississippi. But that's blue-collar flyover territory, why they might have to breath the air and stay in a local holiday inn, besides there are no runways nearby to land our private jets, oh one last thing they voted for Trump....JMJ....
104prosfilaes
>103 brone: a million-ton chemical spill
Looking it up, there were 300,000 gallons of chemicals in the derailed tanks, which is about 3 million pounds of chemicals. But, hey, who cares about the truth?
Looking it up, there were 300,000 gallons of chemicals in the derailed tanks, which is about 3 million pounds of chemicals. But, hey, who cares about the truth?
105kiparsky
>103 brone: Your concern for the people harmed by the industrial disaster in Ohio is laudable. Can we expect that you'll now be joining the call by leftists, including environmentalists and union activists, for better regulation of commercial train operations and for environmental justice, and that you'll be supporting calls for improved infrastructure to prevent accidents of this sort?
106brone
>104 prosfilaes: The truth is they got all mixed up and were set on fire, not your average 4 alarmer. sorry I was off by 2million tons, what's a couple of extra pounds leaking into the Ohio river anyway it doesn't affect the coastal elite....AMDG....
107brone
>105 kiparsky: I am actually a paid up member of the international Transit Union. Marty Walsh Biden's choice for labor Secretary and I were in the same Laborers Union Local 223. I also supervised the laying of new tracks for the subway system in Boston. My point all along has been why 113billion to aid a European war when we can't run trains on improved tracks, Trains were my business a Train does not move unless it has proper "train Orders". I have written hundreds of train orders and have never had an accident, most train accidents are caused by human mistakes, neglecting signals, impairment drugs or booze, not reading switches properly is probably the main cause of derailments, not being on the scene in Ohio I can't tell the cause. Sometimes I can tell the cause by ordinary pictures taken at the scene. My son is the leading detective investigating any and all train mishaps and he has been at it ten rears. As far as politics leftists, rightists, who cares do the right thing I am neither I told you all before I am a Traditional Catholic, you know those racist, supremist the FBI likes to infiltrate. Our Masses are in Latin they must think we are foreign agents too....JMJ....
108kiparsky
>107 brone: Heh. I was a member of Teamsters 223 about a lifetime ago back in Oregon. (Also AFM 99, around the same time)
Honestly, if you're around Boston I'd probably not talk a lot about laying tracks for the flammables, not until that slowdown list gets a lot shorter. I'm a big public transportation fan, but when I talk to folks, they're getting a bit testy right now. I know, it's not your doing, it was Charlie Baker, but still, people get cranky in these parts.
when we can't run trains on improved tracks
Just gonna say, Obama's infrastructure bill would have dealt with a lot of that a while back. If Republicans hadn't been dead set on blocking anything he proposed, you'd have a lot of better track right now - and also, a lot of folks would have got union wages to fix that stuff. You might not be left or right, but if you want what you say you want, you probably want to get to work on making sure Republicans don't win elections. That's not left or right, it's just getting shit done.
Honestly, if you're around Boston I'd probably not talk a lot about laying tracks for the flammables, not until that slowdown list gets a lot shorter. I'm a big public transportation fan, but when I talk to folks, they're getting a bit testy right now. I know, it's not your doing, it was Charlie Baker, but still, people get cranky in these parts.
when we can't run trains on improved tracks
Just gonna say, Obama's infrastructure bill would have dealt with a lot of that a while back. If Republicans hadn't been dead set on blocking anything he proposed, you'd have a lot of better track right now - and also, a lot of folks would have got union wages to fix that stuff. You might not be left or right, but if you want what you say you want, you probably want to get to work on making sure Republicans don't win elections. That's not left or right, it's just getting shit done.
109brone
I also in me young days was in local 25 teamsters, dangerous days. I know every nook, cranny, niche, every power section, third rail, and catenary I have driven, we call operated every vehicle the T had. From PCC's Presidential commission Streetcars, LRV's, RTL Rapid Transit, Trackless Trollies, to driving a bus all over the metropolitan area, by the time I retired I was the coordinator of all construction contractors doing business with the T, Ray Flynn, Kevin White, Tom Menino, Mike Dukakis, Bulger, Finneran, Timilty, I knew them all but one of em grew up on the streets of Boston I tell you this not to brag these hot shots I mention above were just like me the sons of Catholic Immigrants and democrats, no such thing as an Irish republican or an Italian republican, So if my Traditional Catholic values are interpreted as right wing what can I say? I am what I am....AMDG....PS even Barney Frank I knew he hit on me more than once....
110kiparsky
>109 brone: no such thing as an Irish republican
I know what you mean, but I laughed all the same. Reminds me of a story my friend Mikey told me about coming from Cavan to the States years ago. He says he went into a bank to open an account, and the teller asked him "And would you like to set up a regular monthly IRA contribution while you're here?"
He said he walked out thinking "Jesus the lads have got their shit together over here."
I know what you mean, but I laughed all the same. Reminds me of a story my friend Mikey told me about coming from Cavan to the States years ago. He says he went into a bank to open an account, and the teller asked him "And would you like to set up a regular monthly IRA contribution while you're here?"
He said he walked out thinking "Jesus the lads have got their shit together over here."
112margd
‘Very precarious’: Europe faces growing water crisis as winter drought worsens
Multiple governments warn of critical water shortages as heatwaves and lack of rain leave river systems depleted
Jon Henley in Paris, Sam Jones in Madrid, Angela Giuffrida in Rome, and Philip Oltermann in Berlin | 4 Mar 2023
...A study published in January by Graz University of Technology in Austria, whose scientists used satellite data to analyse groundwater reserves, concluded that Europe has been in drought since 2018 and its water situation was now “very precarious”...
https://www.theguardian.com/weather/2023/mar/04/very-precarious-europe-faces-gro...
-------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Data Shows Sustained Severe Drought in Europe
01/25/2023 | TU Graz news | Research
By Falko Schoklitsch
https://www.tugraz.at/en/tu-graz/services/news-stories/media-service/singleview/...
Multiple governments warn of critical water shortages as heatwaves and lack of rain leave river systems depleted
Jon Henley in Paris, Sam Jones in Madrid, Angela Giuffrida in Rome, and Philip Oltermann in Berlin | 4 Mar 2023
...A study published in January by Graz University of Technology in Austria, whose scientists used satellite data to analyse groundwater reserves, concluded that Europe has been in drought since 2018 and its water situation was now “very precarious”...
https://www.theguardian.com/weather/2023/mar/04/very-precarious-europe-faces-gro...
-------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Data Shows Sustained Severe Drought in Europe
01/25/2023 | TU Graz news | Research
By Falko Schoklitsch
https://www.tugraz.at/en/tu-graz/services/news-stories/media-service/singleview/...
113margd
NASA space mission takes stock of carbon dioxide emissions by countries
Sally Younger | 7 March 2023
{maps}
https://phys.org/news/2023-03-nasa-space-mission-stock-carbon.html
Sally Younger | 7 March 2023
{maps}
https://phys.org/news/2023-03-nasa-space-mission-stock-carbon.html
114margd
The creeping threat of the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt
Visible from space, an explosion of harmful seaweed now stretches like a sea monster across the ocean...
Zan Barberton | 7 March 2023
...Vast fields of sargassum, a brown seaweed, have bloomed in the Atlantic Ocean. Fed by human activity such as intensive soya farming in the Congo, the Amazon and the Mississippi, which dumps nitrogen and phosphorus into the ocean, the sargassum explosion is by far the biggest seaweed bloom on the planet. The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, as it’s known, is visible from space, stretching like a sea monster across the ocean, with its nose in the Gulf of Mexico and its tail in the mouth of the Congo.
...A sargassum landing event is a spectacular phenomenon. Vast rafts arrive without warning, often in calm sunny weather at the height of tourist season, smothering miles of coastline in golden seaweed, which piles up, sometimes metres high, turning brown and fetid as it rots.
The first places to really feel the impact of sargassum were the Windward Islands in the Caribbean.
...Sargassum assaults harm coastal wildlife and fish, and interfere with vital infrastructure, including water and power supplies. In addition, the hydrogen sulphide released when it decays has been shown to cause a range of human health problems, from mild headaches or eye irritation to unconsciousness and worse, while a 2022 paper has linked it to an increased risk of serious pregnancy complications in women living on the coast.
Wildlife is affected when sargassum blocks light to the seabed in shallower waters, while newly hatched turtles are unable to crawl to the sea over mountains of rotting seaweed.
Sargassum blooms fluctuate: it is most abundant in summer when the sea is calm and blue, before storms break up and scatter the golden mats. But also clear from the data, is that it is growing inexorably, fed by the climate crisis. Increased sea surface temperatures, upwelling and changing currents have combined with nutrients caused by human activity such as sewage and soya farming in the basins of the great rivers of North and South America, and Africa. Sand blown from the Sahara also brings with it iron and other essential minerals...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/07/great-atlantic-sargassum-bel...
Visible from space, an explosion of harmful seaweed now stretches like a sea monster across the ocean...
Zan Barberton | 7 March 2023
...Vast fields of sargassum, a brown seaweed, have bloomed in the Atlantic Ocean. Fed by human activity such as intensive soya farming in the Congo, the Amazon and the Mississippi, which dumps nitrogen and phosphorus into the ocean, the sargassum explosion is by far the biggest seaweed bloom on the planet. The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, as it’s known, is visible from space, stretching like a sea monster across the ocean, with its nose in the Gulf of Mexico and its tail in the mouth of the Congo.
...A sargassum landing event is a spectacular phenomenon. Vast rafts arrive without warning, often in calm sunny weather at the height of tourist season, smothering miles of coastline in golden seaweed, which piles up, sometimes metres high, turning brown and fetid as it rots.
The first places to really feel the impact of sargassum were the Windward Islands in the Caribbean.
...Sargassum assaults harm coastal wildlife and fish, and interfere with vital infrastructure, including water and power supplies. In addition, the hydrogen sulphide released when it decays has been shown to cause a range of human health problems, from mild headaches or eye irritation to unconsciousness and worse, while a 2022 paper has linked it to an increased risk of serious pregnancy complications in women living on the coast.
Wildlife is affected when sargassum blocks light to the seabed in shallower waters, while newly hatched turtles are unable to crawl to the sea over mountains of rotting seaweed.
Sargassum blooms fluctuate: it is most abundant in summer when the sea is calm and blue, before storms break up and scatter the golden mats. But also clear from the data, is that it is growing inexorably, fed by the climate crisis. Increased sea surface temperatures, upwelling and changing currents have combined with nutrients caused by human activity such as sewage and soya farming in the basins of the great rivers of North and South America, and Africa. Sand blown from the Sahara also brings with it iron and other essential minerals...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/07/great-atlantic-sargassum-bel...
115margd
Canada's Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa is closed because of a lack of ice
Emma Jacobs | March 14, 2023
Heard on Morning Edition | 3-Minute Listen
Ottawa's beloved skating canal has failed to ice over properly for the first time in its history. Scientists are trying to figure out how to sustain the tradition as global temperatures rise.
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/14/1163301524/canadas-rideau-canal-skateway-in-ottaw...
Emma Jacobs | March 14, 2023
Heard on Morning Edition | 3-Minute Listen
Ottawa's beloved skating canal has failed to ice over properly for the first time in its history. Scientists are trying to figure out how to sustain the tradition as global temperatures rise.
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/14/1163301524/canadas-rideau-canal-skateway-in-ottaw...
116margd
There will be wars... :( Rather than addressing the underling problem of climate change, we will fight, I'm afraid...
e.g., China needs water for area around Beijing. Lake Baikal is just across the border...
Global fresh water demand will outstrip supply by 40% by 2030, say experts
Landmark report urges overhaul of wasteful water practices around world on eve of crucial UN summit
Fiona Harvey | 16 Mar 2023
...Many governments still do not realise how interdependent they are when it comes to water, according to Rockstrom. Most countries depend for about half of their water supply on the evaporation of water from neighbouring countries – known as “green” water because it is held in soils and delivered from transpiration in forests and other ecosystems, when plants take up water from the soil and release vapour into the air from their leaves...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/17/global-fresh-water-demand-ou...
---------------------------------------------------
Turning the Tide: A Call to Collective Action
By the Global Commision on the Economics of Water
A seven-point call to collective action
First, we must manage the global water cycle as a global common good, to be protected collectively and in the interests of all.
Second, we must adopt an outcomes-focused, mission-driven approach to water encompassing all the key roles it plays in human well-being.
Third, we must cease underpricing water.
Fourth, we must phase out some USD 700 billion of subsidies in agriculture and water each year, which tend to generate excessive water consumption and other environmentally damaging practices.
Fifth, we should establish Just Water Partnerships (JWPs) to enable investments in water access, resilience and sustainability in low- and middle-income countries, using approaches that contribute to both national development goals and the global common good.
Sixth, we must move ahead on the opportunities that can move the needle significantly in the current decade.
Seventh, underpinning all our efforts, we must reshape multilateral governance of water, which is currently fragmented and not fit for purpose.
https://turningthetide.watercommission.org/
e.g., China needs water for area around Beijing. Lake Baikal is just across the border...
Global fresh water demand will outstrip supply by 40% by 2030, say experts
Landmark report urges overhaul of wasteful water practices around world on eve of crucial UN summit
Fiona Harvey | 16 Mar 2023
...Many governments still do not realise how interdependent they are when it comes to water, according to Rockstrom. Most countries depend for about half of their water supply on the evaporation of water from neighbouring countries – known as “green” water because it is held in soils and delivered from transpiration in forests and other ecosystems, when plants take up water from the soil and release vapour into the air from their leaves...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/17/global-fresh-water-demand-ou...
---------------------------------------------------
Turning the Tide: A Call to Collective Action
By the Global Commision on the Economics of Water
A seven-point call to collective action
First, we must manage the global water cycle as a global common good, to be protected collectively and in the interests of all.
Second, we must adopt an outcomes-focused, mission-driven approach to water encompassing all the key roles it plays in human well-being.
Third, we must cease underpricing water.
Fourth, we must phase out some USD 700 billion of subsidies in agriculture and water each year, which tend to generate excessive water consumption and other environmentally damaging practices.
Fifth, we should establish Just Water Partnerships (JWPs) to enable investments in water access, resilience and sustainability in low- and middle-income countries, using approaches that contribute to both national development goals and the global common good.
Sixth, we must move ahead on the opportunities that can move the needle significantly in the current decade.
Seventh, underpinning all our efforts, we must reshape multilateral governance of water, which is currently fragmented and not fit for purpose.
https://turningthetide.watercommission.org/
117margd
Sounds like a case in which Neil Gorsuch might join the liberal justices? So if one other conservative justice sides with the Navajo, they might just get water? COVID toll sure pointed up their need for it...
CASE PREVIEW
As drought persists in the west, justices to consider Navajo Nation’s rights to Colorado River
Matthew L.M. Fletcher | Mar 17, 2023
Thirty percent of Navajo Nation citizens have no running water. Navajos use 8-10 gallons of water a day, about a tenth of what the average American uses. Meanwhile, the water level at Lake Powell, the massive reservoir created by the Glen Canyon Dam on the Utah-Arizona border, is at historic lows, threatening its ability to generate power. The federal government has ordered the seven Colorado River states to reduce their water usage by one-fifth. After 23 years of drought, the desert southwest is in a water crisis.
...The Navajo Nation reservation is about the size of Ireland or West Virginia, with large portions bordered by the Colorado River. Yet, the Navajo Nation does not have water rights to the main stem of the river. Over one hundred years ago, the Supreme Court found that the creation of Indian reservations arising from Indian land cession treaties in the arid west necessarily created Indian reserved water rights. These rights, known as Winters rights after the 1908 decision, ensure that a reservation has enough water to maintain its land.
...the early- to mid-20th century, a time when the United States asserted the power to make decisions for tribal nations on what water rights to claim. The United States never brought the Navajo Nation’s claim to water from the main stem of the Colorado River. Under Winters, Navajo water rights are likely to be enormous. They have been the elephant in the room of Colorado River water apportionment for a century.
Two decades ago, before the southwest water crisis reached its current state of urgency, the Navajo Nation sued the United States to require the government to assess Navajo water needs and develop a plan to meet those needs. After years of litigation and negotiation, the Nation prevailed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The federal government and the states of Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada, which intervened below, successfully sought Supreme Court review...
https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/03/as-drought-persists-in-the-west-justices-to-c...
CASE PREVIEW
As drought persists in the west, justices to consider Navajo Nation’s rights to Colorado River
Matthew L.M. Fletcher | Mar 17, 2023
Thirty percent of Navajo Nation citizens have no running water. Navajos use 8-10 gallons of water a day, about a tenth of what the average American uses. Meanwhile, the water level at Lake Powell, the massive reservoir created by the Glen Canyon Dam on the Utah-Arizona border, is at historic lows, threatening its ability to generate power. The federal government has ordered the seven Colorado River states to reduce their water usage by one-fifth. After 23 years of drought, the desert southwest is in a water crisis.
...The Navajo Nation reservation is about the size of Ireland or West Virginia, with large portions bordered by the Colorado River. Yet, the Navajo Nation does not have water rights to the main stem of the river. Over one hundred years ago, the Supreme Court found that the creation of Indian reservations arising from Indian land cession treaties in the arid west necessarily created Indian reserved water rights. These rights, known as Winters rights after the 1908 decision, ensure that a reservation has enough water to maintain its land.
...the early- to mid-20th century, a time when the United States asserted the power to make decisions for tribal nations on what water rights to claim. The United States never brought the Navajo Nation’s claim to water from the main stem of the Colorado River. Under Winters, Navajo water rights are likely to be enormous. They have been the elephant in the room of Colorado River water apportionment for a century.
Two decades ago, before the southwest water crisis reached its current state of urgency, the Navajo Nation sued the United States to require the government to assess Navajo water needs and develop a plan to meet those needs. After years of litigation and negotiation, the Nation prevailed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The federal government and the states of Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada, which intervened below, successfully sought Supreme Court review...
https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/03/as-drought-persists-in-the-west-justices-to-c...
118margd
Millions of dead fish wash up amid heat wave in Australia
Associated Press | March 19, 2023
...The Department of Primary Industries said the fish deaths were likely caused by low oxygen levels as floods recede, a situation made worse by fish needing more oxygen because of the warmer weather. {Warm water can dissolve less O2 than cold.}
Police have established an emergency operations centre in Menindee to coordinate a massive cleanup this week...the immediate focus was to provide a clean water supply to residents.
...State agencies also started to release higher-quality water where possible to boost dissolved oxygen levels in the area...
https://triblive.com/news/world/millions-of-dead-fish-wash-up-amid-heat-wave-in-...
Associated Press | March 19, 2023
...The Department of Primary Industries said the fish deaths were likely caused by low oxygen levels as floods recede, a situation made worse by fish needing more oxygen because of the warmer weather. {Warm water can dissolve less O2 than cold.}
Police have established an emergency operations centre in Menindee to coordinate a massive cleanup this week...the immediate focus was to provide a clean water supply to residents.
...State agencies also started to release higher-quality water where possible to boost dissolved oxygen levels in the area...
https://triblive.com/news/world/millions-of-dead-fish-wash-up-amid-heat-wave-in-...
119margd
Humanity at the climate crossroads: highway to hell or a livable future?
Damian Carrington | 20 Mar 2023
The choice in the new IPCC report is stark: what we do in the next few years will determine our fate for millennia
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/20/humanity-at-climate-crossroa...
------------------------------------------------
AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023
The IPCC finalized the Synthesis Report for the Sixth Assessment Report during the Panel's 58th Session held in Interlaken, Switzerland from 13 - 19 March 2023.
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/
Damian Carrington | 20 Mar 2023
The choice in the new IPCC report is stark: what we do in the next few years will determine our fate for millennia
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/20/humanity-at-climate-crossroa...
------------------------------------------------
AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023
The IPCC finalized the Synthesis Report for the Sixth Assessment Report during the Panel's 58th Session held in Interlaken, Switzerland from 13 - 19 March 2023.
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/
120margd
Scientists Discover Intense Heatwaves Lurking at The Bottom of The Ocean
Clare Watson | 20 March 2023
...new modeling led by researchers at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows that marine heatwaves can unfold deep underwater, too – sometimes in tandem with heatwaves that ripple across the ocean surface or else when there is no detectable warming signal above.
The new analysis, of continental shelf waters surrounding North America, also finds these so-called bottom marine heatwaves can be more intense and last longer than hot spells at the ocean surface, though it varies from coast to coast...
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-discover-intense-heatwaves-lurking-at-th...
-------------------------------------------------------
Dillon J. Amaya et al. 2023. Bottom marine heatwaves along the continental shelves of North America. Nature Communications volume 14, Article number: 1038 (13 March 2023) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36567-0
Abstract
Recently, there has been substantial effort to understand the fundamental characteristics of warm ocean temperature extremes—known as marine heatwaves (MHWs). However, MHW research has primarily focused on the surface signature of these events. While surface MHWs (SMHW) can have dramatic impacts on marine ecosystems, extreme warming along the seafloor can also have significant biological outcomes. In this study, we use a high-resolution (~8 km) ocean reanalysis to broadly assess bottom marine heatwaves (BMHW) along the continental shelves of North America. We find that BMHW intensity and duration varies strongly with bottom depth, with typical intensities ranging from ~0.5 °C–3 °C. Further, BMHWs can be more intense and persist longer than SMHWs. While BMHWs and SMHWs often co-occur, BMHWs can also exist without a SMHW. Deeper regions in which the mixed layer does not typically reach the seafloor exhibit less synchronicity between BMHWs and SMHWs.
Clare Watson | 20 March 2023
...new modeling led by researchers at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows that marine heatwaves can unfold deep underwater, too – sometimes in tandem with heatwaves that ripple across the ocean surface or else when there is no detectable warming signal above.
The new analysis, of continental shelf waters surrounding North America, also finds these so-called bottom marine heatwaves can be more intense and last longer than hot spells at the ocean surface, though it varies from coast to coast...
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-discover-intense-heatwaves-lurking-at-th...
-------------------------------------------------------
Dillon J. Amaya et al. 2023. Bottom marine heatwaves along the continental shelves of North America. Nature Communications volume 14, Article number: 1038 (13 March 2023) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36567-0
Abstract
Recently, there has been substantial effort to understand the fundamental characteristics of warm ocean temperature extremes—known as marine heatwaves (MHWs). However, MHW research has primarily focused on the surface signature of these events. While surface MHWs (SMHW) can have dramatic impacts on marine ecosystems, extreme warming along the seafloor can also have significant biological outcomes. In this study, we use a high-resolution (~8 km) ocean reanalysis to broadly assess bottom marine heatwaves (BMHW) along the continental shelves of North America. We find that BMHW intensity and duration varies strongly with bottom depth, with typical intensities ranging from ~0.5 °C–3 °C. Further, BMHWs can be more intense and persist longer than SMHWs. While BMHWs and SMHWs often co-occur, BMHWs can also exist without a SMHW. Deeper regions in which the mixed layer does not typically reach the seafloor exhibit less synchronicity between BMHWs and SMHWs.
121margd
The Greenland Ice Sheet is close to a melting point of no return, says new study
American Geophysical Union | 27 March 2023
..."The first tipping point is not far from today's climate conditions, so we're in danger of crossing it," said Dennis Höning, a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research who led the study. "Once we start sliding, we will fall off this cliff and cannot climb back up." ...
https://phys.org/news/2023-03-greenland-ice-sheet.html
-----------------------------------------------------------
Dennis Höning et al, Multistability and Transient Response of the Greenland Ice Sheet to Anthropogenic CO2 Emissions, Geophysical Research Letters (27 March 2023). DOI: 10.1029/2022GL101827 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022GL101827
Plain Language Summary
With ongoing carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, the atmosphere heats up, which has dramatic consequences for the ice sheets on Earth. In this study, we focus on the Greenland ice sheet (GIS), which holds so much ice that a complete melting would cause the global sea level to rise by 7 m. However, future mass loss of the GIS is challenging to predict because it is a non-linear function of temperature and occurs over long timescales. For this reason, we use CLIMBER-X, which is a coupled model of the whole Earth system. We find that the GIS features two critical volume thresholds, whose crossing would imply extensive further mass loss so that it would be difficult for the ice to grow back, even in thousands of years. Near these critical ice volumes, the mass loss rates are particularly high, and differences in the total carbon dioxide emission have a large impact. In summary, if cumulative emissions larger than 1,000 Gt carbon are released into the atmosphere, the GIS will shrink below a critical threshold and mass loss will inevitably continue until a substantial part of the ice sheet has melted.
American Geophysical Union | 27 March 2023
..."The first tipping point is not far from today's climate conditions, so we're in danger of crossing it," said Dennis Höning, a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research who led the study. "Once we start sliding, we will fall off this cliff and cannot climb back up." ...
https://phys.org/news/2023-03-greenland-ice-sheet.html
-----------------------------------------------------------
Dennis Höning et al, Multistability and Transient Response of the Greenland Ice Sheet to Anthropogenic CO2 Emissions, Geophysical Research Letters (27 March 2023). DOI: 10.1029/2022GL101827 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022GL101827
Plain Language Summary
With ongoing carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, the atmosphere heats up, which has dramatic consequences for the ice sheets on Earth. In this study, we focus on the Greenland ice sheet (GIS), which holds so much ice that a complete melting would cause the global sea level to rise by 7 m. However, future mass loss of the GIS is challenging to predict because it is a non-linear function of temperature and occurs over long timescales. For this reason, we use CLIMBER-X, which is a coupled model of the whole Earth system. We find that the GIS features two critical volume thresholds, whose crossing would imply extensive further mass loss so that it would be difficult for the ice to grow back, even in thousands of years. Near these critical ice volumes, the mass loss rates are particularly high, and differences in the total carbon dioxide emission have a large impact. In summary, if cumulative emissions larger than 1,000 Gt carbon are released into the atmosphere, the GIS will shrink below a critical threshold and mass loss will inevitably continue until a substantial part of the ice sheet has melted.
122margd
Double-digit growth in heat pump sales confirms world’s sustainable shift
Arab News | April 02, 2023
As the world looks to sustainable heating, global sales of heat pumps recorded double-digit growth of 11 percent in 2022, a trend seen for the second year in a row, driven by increased policy support and incentives.
...Europe, for instance, had a record year in heat pump sales in 2022, with more than 40 percent growth over the previous year, according to the International Energy Agency.
In Europe, sales of air-to-water versions compatible with standard radiators and underfloor heating systems surged by more than 50 percent.
Meanwhile, pump purchases in the US surpassed those of gas furnaces.
However, despite a general economic slump, sales in China, the world's largest heat pump market, remained stable.
To achieve all existing national energy and climate targets worldwide, IEA said heat pumps will need to provide roughly 20 percent of global heating needs in buildings by 2030. If new installations continue to increase at the same rate as they did over the last two years, the target is almost there, it added.
However, heat pumps cover approximately 10 percent globally of the heating needs in buildings today when employed as the primary heating technology. This equates to over 100 million households, implying that heat pumps now service one in every ten homes that require major heating.
Many more families, however, use heat pumps only for part of the winter or as a supplement to heating in locations where they are primarily used for cooling buildings, IEA’s report added.
If the world wants to attain net zero emissions by 2050, IEA said sales must increase by more than 15 percent annually this decade. Energy efficiency retrofits must also be accelerated to guarantee that new heat pumps installed in existing buildings are as efficient and not excessive as possible.
This will reduce consumers' upfront and operating expenses and lessen the strain on power systems, especially when combined with smart controls for flexible operation.
Heat pump installations continue to focus on new buildings and existing single-family houses. If strong growth is to continue, multistory housing buildings and commercial spaces must be prioritized.
The IEA believes global emissions will peak in 2025 as surging energy prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine propel investment in renewables.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2279896/business-economy
Arab News | April 02, 2023
As the world looks to sustainable heating, global sales of heat pumps recorded double-digit growth of 11 percent in 2022, a trend seen for the second year in a row, driven by increased policy support and incentives.
...Europe, for instance, had a record year in heat pump sales in 2022, with more than 40 percent growth over the previous year, according to the International Energy Agency.
In Europe, sales of air-to-water versions compatible with standard radiators and underfloor heating systems surged by more than 50 percent.
Meanwhile, pump purchases in the US surpassed those of gas furnaces.
However, despite a general economic slump, sales in China, the world's largest heat pump market, remained stable.
To achieve all existing national energy and climate targets worldwide, IEA said heat pumps will need to provide roughly 20 percent of global heating needs in buildings by 2030. If new installations continue to increase at the same rate as they did over the last two years, the target is almost there, it added.
However, heat pumps cover approximately 10 percent globally of the heating needs in buildings today when employed as the primary heating technology. This equates to over 100 million households, implying that heat pumps now service one in every ten homes that require major heating.
Many more families, however, use heat pumps only for part of the winter or as a supplement to heating in locations where they are primarily used for cooling buildings, IEA’s report added.
If the world wants to attain net zero emissions by 2050, IEA said sales must increase by more than 15 percent annually this decade. Energy efficiency retrofits must also be accelerated to guarantee that new heat pumps installed in existing buildings are as efficient and not excessive as possible.
This will reduce consumers' upfront and operating expenses and lessen the strain on power systems, especially when combined with smart controls for flexible operation.
Heat pump installations continue to focus on new buildings and existing single-family houses. If strong growth is to continue, multistory housing buildings and commercial spaces must be prioritized.
The IEA believes global emissions will peak in 2025 as surging energy prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine propel investment in renewables.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2279896/business-economy
123margd
NOAA, communities to map heat inequities in 14 states, 1 international city
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | April 4, 2023
This summer, NOAA and citizen scientists will map the hottest parts of 18 communities in 14 states across the country and in one international city. Identifying these hotspots, called urban heat islands, helps local decision-makers take actions to reduce the health impacts of extreme heat, which often target the most vulnerable.
Now in its seventh year, the NOAA Urban Heat Island (UHI) mapping campaign addresses extreme heat, the number one weather-related cause of death in the U.S. for the last three decades. Urban heat islands — areas with few trees and more pavement that absorbs heat — can be up to 20 degrees fahrenheit hotter than nearby neighborhoods with more trees, grass and less black asphalt...
Communities chosen for the 2023 program are: Chicago, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Asheville, North Carolina; Framingham and Brockton, Massachusetts; Johnson County and Wyandotte County, Kansas, which includes the Kansas City suburbs; Wilmington, Delaware; Toledo, Ohio; Little Rock, Arkansas; Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Sedona, Arizona; Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Washington County, Oregon, outside of Portland. In addition, NOAA is working with local groups and the Pan-American Health Organization on an international heat island mapping campaign in Santiago, Chile. This will be the third NOAA-funded international campaign. Campaigns were completed in Freetown, Sierra Leone and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil earlier this year...
https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/noaa-communities-to-map-heat-inequities-in-14-...
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | April 4, 2023
This summer, NOAA and citizen scientists will map the hottest parts of 18 communities in 14 states across the country and in one international city. Identifying these hotspots, called urban heat islands, helps local decision-makers take actions to reduce the health impacts of extreme heat, which often target the most vulnerable.
Now in its seventh year, the NOAA Urban Heat Island (UHI) mapping campaign addresses extreme heat, the number one weather-related cause of death in the U.S. for the last three decades. Urban heat islands — areas with few trees and more pavement that absorbs heat — can be up to 20 degrees fahrenheit hotter than nearby neighborhoods with more trees, grass and less black asphalt...
Communities chosen for the 2023 program are: Chicago, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Asheville, North Carolina; Framingham and Brockton, Massachusetts; Johnson County and Wyandotte County, Kansas, which includes the Kansas City suburbs; Wilmington, Delaware; Toledo, Ohio; Little Rock, Arkansas; Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Sedona, Arizona; Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Washington County, Oregon, outside of Portland. In addition, NOAA is working with local groups and the Pan-American Health Organization on an international heat island mapping campaign in Santiago, Chile. This will be the third NOAA-funded international campaign. Campaigns were completed in Freetown, Sierra Leone and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil earlier this year...
https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/noaa-communities-to-map-heat-inequities-in-14-...
124margd
Russia chairs UN Security Council this month. UAE’s fossil fuel boss will preside over Cop28. What next?? RFK Jr. leads WHO? :(
Revealed: UAE plans huge oil and gas expansion as it hosts UN climate summit
Exclusive: UAE’s fossil fuel boss will be the president of Cop28, making a mockery of the summit, say campaigners
Damian Carrington | 4 Apr 2023
The United Arab Emirates, which is hosting this year’s UN climate summit, has the third biggest net zero-busting plans for oil and gas expansion in the world... Its plans are surpassed only by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The CEO of the UAE’s national oil company, Adnoc, has been controversially appointed president of the UN’s Cop28 summit in December, which is seen as crucial with time running out to end the climate crisis. But Sultan Al Jaber is overseeing expansion to produce oil and gas equivalent to 7.5bn barrels of oil, according to new data, 90% of which would have to remain in the ground to meet the net zero scenario set out by the International Energy Agency...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/04/revealed-uae-plans-huge-oil-...
Revealed: UAE plans huge oil and gas expansion as it hosts UN climate summit
Exclusive: UAE’s fossil fuel boss will be the president of Cop28, making a mockery of the summit, say campaigners
Damian Carrington | 4 Apr 2023
The United Arab Emirates, which is hosting this year’s UN climate summit, has the third biggest net zero-busting plans for oil and gas expansion in the world... Its plans are surpassed only by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The CEO of the UAE’s national oil company, Adnoc, has been controversially appointed president of the UN’s Cop28 summit in December, which is seen as crucial with time running out to end the climate crisis. But Sultan Al Jaber is overseeing expansion to produce oil and gas equivalent to 7.5bn barrels of oil, according to new data, 90% of which would have to remain in the ground to meet the net zero scenario set out by the International Energy Agency...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/04/revealed-uae-plans-huge-oil-...
125margd
Peter Gleick 🇺🇸 @PeterGleick | 4:06 PM · Apr 5, 2023:
Official account for Dr. Peter Gleick. Co-founder Pacific Institute. Climate, water. Carl Sagan Public Communications Award.
Just half? I don't know one that isn't subject to regular ad hominem abuse.
Quote Tweet
Professor Mark Maslin @ProfMarkMaslin · 12h
#ClimateChange Professor @ucl , irector of @rezatec, author of #HumanPlanet, #CradleOfHumanity, #HowToSaveOurPlanet, member of @ClimateCrisisAG...
Half of climate scientists surveyed by @Global_Witness have faced online abuse
Most had their credibility (81%) or work (91%) attacked
34% of female scientist had personal characteristics targeted
It has got worse since @elonmusk took over Twitter
https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/global-hating/
Official account for Dr. Peter Gleick. Co-founder Pacific Institute. Climate, water. Carl Sagan Public Communications Award.
Just half? I don't know one that isn't subject to regular ad hominem abuse.
Quote Tweet
Professor Mark Maslin @ProfMarkMaslin · 12h
#ClimateChange Professor @ucl , irector of @rezatec, author of #HumanPlanet, #CradleOfHumanity, #HowToSaveOurPlanet, member of @ClimateCrisisAG...
Half of climate scientists surveyed by @Global_Witness have faced online abuse
Most had their credibility (81%) or work (91%) attacked
34% of female scientist had personal characteristics targeted
It has got worse since @elonmusk took over Twitter
https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/global-hating/
126margd
Ed Hawkins @ed_hawkins | 10:25 AM · Apr 4, 2023:
Climate scientist, NCAS/University of Reading | MBE | Warming Stripes: http://ShowYourStripes.info
85 years ago.
In April 1938, @GuyCallendar published his seminal paper showing that Earth’s land areas had warmed over the previous 50 years.
He also suggested that man-made CO₂ emissions had caused around half of the observed warming.
85 years ago.
G. S. Callendar 1938. The artificial production of carbon dioxide and its influence on temperature. Royal Meteorological Society. First published: April 1938. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49706427503 https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/qj.49706427503
Photo ( https://twitter.com/ed_hawkins/status/1643258570870276097/photo/1 )
Climate scientist, NCAS/University of Reading | MBE | Warming Stripes: http://ShowYourStripes.info
85 years ago.
In April 1938, @GuyCallendar published his seminal paper showing that Earth’s land areas had warmed over the previous 50 years.
He also suggested that man-made CO₂ emissions had caused around half of the observed warming.
85 years ago.
G. S. Callendar 1938. The artificial production of carbon dioxide and its influence on temperature. Royal Meteorological Society. First published: April 1938. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49706427503 https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/qj.49706427503
Photo ( https://twitter.com/ed_hawkins/status/1643258570870276097/photo/1 )
127margd
Carbon dioxide removal is not a current climate solution — we need to change the narrative
Drastically reduce emissions first, or carbon dioxide removal will be next to useless.
David T. Ho | 04 April 2023
...We must stop talking about deploying CDR as a solution today, when emissions remain high — as if it somehow replaces radical, immediate emission cuts...The scale of the challenge is immense. We must slow the carbon clock to a crawl before we can turn it back.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00953-x
Drastically reduce emissions first, or carbon dioxide removal will be next to useless.
David T. Ho | 04 April 2023
...We must stop talking about deploying CDR as a solution today, when emissions remain high — as if it somehow replaces radical, immediate emission cuts...The scale of the challenge is immense. We must slow the carbon clock to a crawl before we can turn it back.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00953-x
128margd
Brian Brettschneider @Climatologist49 | 12:05 AM · Apr 11, 2023
Alaska. PhD climatologist.
https://twitter.com/Climatologist49/status/1645639059698749440
This map shows how many of the 4 seasons show an increasing or decreasing rate of precipitation over the last 50 years. Any increase or decrease counts.
Map, N America ( https://twitter.com/Climatologist49/status/1645639059698749440/photo/1 )
This is the monthly version, which shows how many of the 12 calendar months have an increasing precipitation trend. Any magnitude of increase counts.
Map, N America ( https://twitter.com/Climatologist49/status/1645649598223114240/photo/1 )
Alaska. PhD climatologist.
https://twitter.com/Climatologist49/status/1645639059698749440
This map shows how many of the 4 seasons show an increasing or decreasing rate of precipitation over the last 50 years. Any increase or decrease counts.
Map, N America ( https://twitter.com/Climatologist49/status/1645639059698749440/photo/1 )
This is the monthly version, which shows how many of the 12 calendar months have an increasing precipitation trend. Any magnitude of increase counts.
Map, N America ( https://twitter.com/Climatologist49/status/1645649598223114240/photo/1 )
129margd
Sea levels rising rapidly in southern U.S., study finds
Ben Adler ·Senior Editor | April 10, 2023
... sea levels along the Gulf Coast and the southern Atlantic Coast have risen an average of 1 centimeter per year since 2010. That translates to nearly 5 inches over the last 12 years, and it is about double the rate of average global sea-level rise during the same time period.
The Journal of Climate study found that the hurricanes that have recently hammered the Gulf Coast, including Michael in 2018 and Ian — which was blamed in the deaths of 109 Floridians last year — had a more severe impact because of higher sea levels.
A study by scientists with the University of Miami, NOAA, NASA and other institutions, which has not yet undergone peer review, found that the Southeastern sea-level rise accounted for “30%-50% of flood days in 2015-2020.”
“In low-lying coastal regions, an increase of even a few centimeters in the background sea level can break the regional flooding thresholds and lead to coastal inundation,” the study said.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/sea-levels-rising-rapidly-in-southern-us-study-finds-...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sonke Dangendorf et al. 2023. Acceleration of U.S. Southeast and Gulf coast sea-level rise amplified by internal climate variability. Nature Communications volume 14, Article number: 1935 (2023) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-37649-9
Jianjun Yin et al. 2023. Rapid Decadal Acceleration of Sea Level Rise along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts during 2010-2022 and Its Impact on Hurricane-Induced Storm Surge. American Meteorological Society. Online Publication: 02 Mar 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0670.1 https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/aop/JCLI-D-22-0670.1/JCLI-D-22-0... Page(s):1–38
Ben Adler ·Senior Editor | April 10, 2023
... sea levels along the Gulf Coast and the southern Atlantic Coast have risen an average of 1 centimeter per year since 2010. That translates to nearly 5 inches over the last 12 years, and it is about double the rate of average global sea-level rise during the same time period.
The Journal of Climate study found that the hurricanes that have recently hammered the Gulf Coast, including Michael in 2018 and Ian — which was blamed in the deaths of 109 Floridians last year — had a more severe impact because of higher sea levels.
A study by scientists with the University of Miami, NOAA, NASA and other institutions, which has not yet undergone peer review, found that the Southeastern sea-level rise accounted for “30%-50% of flood days in 2015-2020.”
“In low-lying coastal regions, an increase of even a few centimeters in the background sea level can break the regional flooding thresholds and lead to coastal inundation,” the study said.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/sea-levels-rising-rapidly-in-southern-us-study-finds-...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sonke Dangendorf et al. 2023. Acceleration of U.S. Southeast and Gulf coast sea-level rise amplified by internal climate variability. Nature Communications volume 14, Article number: 1935 (2023) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-37649-9
Jianjun Yin et al. 2023. Rapid Decadal Acceleration of Sea Level Rise along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts during 2010-2022 and Its Impact on Hurricane-Induced Storm Surge. American Meteorological Society. Online Publication: 02 Mar 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0670.1 https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/aop/JCLI-D-22-0670.1/JCLI-D-22-0... Page(s):1–38
130kiparsky
>127 margd: The solution, if we find one (which I am starting to doubt), will be multimodal. Yes, the solution must involve getting to zero emissions - not "net zero" but actually to zero, or close enough to make no real difference. But it will also involve both biological and chemical CO2 removal and solar geo. These are not replacements for zero emissions, but they're necessary adjuncts to it.
My view is, we need to stop saying "this, not that" and start saying "yes, and". Yes, deploying CO2 removal today isn't going to change the outcome, but it does mean that we get better at CO2 removal as we iterate on it, and we're going to need that.
My view is, we need to stop saying "this, not that" and start saying "yes, and". Yes, deploying CO2 removal today isn't going to change the outcome, but it does mean that we get better at CO2 removal as we iterate on it, and we're going to need that.
131margd
I worry that we won't discipline ourselves, it will come down to the wire, and, desperate, we'll accept the promises of technology with expensive price tag. Politicians love to buy THINGS...not to do the hard stuff...
132kiparsky
>131 margd: I'm sorry to say this, but it already has come down to the wire. We're not looking at whether there will be a catastrophe, we're looking at how bad the catastrophe will be.
I'm familiar with the argument from "moral hazard" - that developing technical approaches to the problem will give some sort of implicit permission to delay what you refer to as "the hard stuff" - but that argument supposes that if we withhold technical solutions, then people will choose to change their behavior - "to do the hard stuff", as you put it. We've run that experiment for decades, and here we are.
Frankly, we're out of time. Technical solutions take time to develop, they require cycles of iteration to reach their effective potential, and the longer we delay that development cycle, the more people will die. To not develop carbon-capture and solar geo now is to give up on humanity. Which, frankly, seems like a rational move given our species' track record, but it's not one I'm ready to take.
I'm familiar with the argument from "moral hazard" - that developing technical approaches to the problem will give some sort of implicit permission to delay what you refer to as "the hard stuff" - but that argument supposes that if we withhold technical solutions, then people will choose to change their behavior - "to do the hard stuff", as you put it. We've run that experiment for decades, and here we are.
Frankly, we're out of time. Technical solutions take time to develop, they require cycles of iteration to reach their effective potential, and the longer we delay that development cycle, the more people will die. To not develop carbon-capture and solar geo now is to give up on humanity. Which, frankly, seems like a rational move given our species' track record, but it's not one I'm ready to take.
133lriley
Part of the cynic in me wonders that DeSantis in Florida wants to be POTUS because he doesn't want to be around when half of his state is underwater. He'll lie about climate in the meantime but he'll point his finger in blame at whatever successor is Governor there when the big reveal comes down the road that everyone is fucked and the damage is irreversible.
134margd
Biden approves Alaska gas exports as critics condemn another ‘carbon bomb’
Energy department gives green light to exports from liquefied natural gas program, after Willow project approved last month
The Guardian | 14 Apr 2023
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/14/biden-alaska-lng-liquefied-natur...
__________________________________
Climate Defiance @ClimateDefiance | 7:13 PM · Apr 14, 2023;
We will blockade the White House Correspondents Dinner. https://www.climatedefiance.org/
There is no easy way to talk about this but today Joe Biden approved a $38,700,000,000 gas project in Alaska.
This includes 807 miles of pipeline, a gas treatment plant, a liquefaction facility, & a LNG terminal that would process 20,000,000 metric tons of gas per year. (1/9)🧵
These 20,000,000 metric tons of gas would yield an astonishing 50,000,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide when the gas is burned - spewed into the atmosphere year after year for the lifetime of this project.
This project would have a larger carbon footprint than Willow (2/9)
For perspective: this project alone would single-handedly cause the state's fossil fuel emissions to skyrocket by 30%. (3/9)
Any gas that leaks - and a lot of it would leak - will be emitted as methane, which is 28-86 times stronger than carbon as a greenhouse gas (4/9)
This gas would not even be used in the U.S. (not that that would justify it) but rather will be exported to Asia. (5/9)
This project locks in fossil fuel extraction and combustion not for years but for decades. And this is at a key moment when leading scientific bodies are saying fossil fuel emissions must drop in half *this* decade. (6/9)
Specifically, the expected lifespan of this project is at least 30 years. Over the project's entire lifespan, it would emit 2,000,000,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. (7/9)
The impact on wildlife would also be devastating. Alaska has the largest and vastest tracks of untouched lands, and yet this project would necessitate building 489 new roads through it. (8/9)
This is not unpleasant, this is unbearable. We need mass-turnout, nonviolent direct uprisings to resist this.
On 4/29 we will blockade the White House Correspondents Dinner.
The President will be there. And so will we...
Energy department gives green light to exports from liquefied natural gas program, after Willow project approved last month
The Guardian | 14 Apr 2023
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/14/biden-alaska-lng-liquefied-natur...
__________________________________
Climate Defiance @ClimateDefiance | 7:13 PM · Apr 14, 2023;
We will blockade the White House Correspondents Dinner. https://www.climatedefiance.org/
There is no easy way to talk about this but today Joe Biden approved a $38,700,000,000 gas project in Alaska.
This includes 807 miles of pipeline, a gas treatment plant, a liquefaction facility, & a LNG terminal that would process 20,000,000 metric tons of gas per year. (1/9)🧵
These 20,000,000 metric tons of gas would yield an astonishing 50,000,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide when the gas is burned - spewed into the atmosphere year after year for the lifetime of this project.
This project would have a larger carbon footprint than Willow (2/9)
For perspective: this project alone would single-handedly cause the state's fossil fuel emissions to skyrocket by 30%. (3/9)
Any gas that leaks - and a lot of it would leak - will be emitted as methane, which is 28-86 times stronger than carbon as a greenhouse gas (4/9)
This gas would not even be used in the U.S. (not that that would justify it) but rather will be exported to Asia. (5/9)
This project locks in fossil fuel extraction and combustion not for years but for decades. And this is at a key moment when leading scientific bodies are saying fossil fuel emissions must drop in half *this* decade. (6/9)
Specifically, the expected lifespan of this project is at least 30 years. Over the project's entire lifespan, it would emit 2,000,000,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. (7/9)
The impact on wildlife would also be devastating. Alaska has the largest and vastest tracks of untouched lands, and yet this project would necessitate building 489 new roads through it. (8/9)
This is not unpleasant, this is unbearable. We need mass-turnout, nonviolent direct uprisings to resist this.
On 4/29 we will blockade the White House Correspondents Dinner.
The President will be there. And so will we...
135prosfilaes
Carbon sequestering is insane with using fossil fuels for power; thermodynamics means you'll spend more energy putting it back in the ground than it gave you. Actual starting of carbon sequestering while we're burning fossil fuels for electricity is burning money. We're probably going to have to counter balance planes burning carbon-based fuels, but we're not even close to just using it where its portability matters.
136margd
Sounds desperate (and futile) to me... Apologies to future generations, if they be.
Startups aim to soak CO2 from air, turn it into concrete
Susanna Twidale, Valerie Volcovici, Simon Jessop and Peter Henderson | April 18, 2023:
Nine or more applications seen; goal in a few years is four hubs
All bidding for slice of $3.5 bln in govt grants
Climeworks bids for three sites; plans 100 hires by 2025
Unproven tech, talent shortage, costs — all challenges
April 18 (Reuters) - The world is failing to cut carbon emissions fast enough to avoid disastrous climate change, a dawning truth that is giving life to a technology that for years has been marginal – pulling carbon dioxide from the air.
Leading the charge, the U.S. government has offered $3.5 billion in grants to build the factories that will capture and permanently store the gas - the largest such effort globally to help halt climate change through Direct Air Capture (DAC) and expanded a tax credit to $180/tonne to bolster the burgeoning technology.
The sums involved dwarf funding available in other regions, such as Britain which has pledged up to 100 million pounds ($124 million) for DAC research and development. That compares with $12 billion in federal spending to drive demand for personal and commercial electric vehicles, Boston Consulting Group estimated.
While bids for the U.S. DAC hub funding were due on March 13, the government and some companies have yet to fully disclose details about the applications, many of which Reuters is reporting for the first time. The Energy Department expects to announce winning bids this summer...
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/facing-brutal-climate-math-us-bets-billions-dir...
Startups aim to soak CO2 from air, turn it into concrete
Susanna Twidale, Valerie Volcovici, Simon Jessop and Peter Henderson | April 18, 2023:
Nine or more applications seen; goal in a few years is four hubs
All bidding for slice of $3.5 bln in govt grants
Climeworks bids for three sites; plans 100 hires by 2025
Unproven tech, talent shortage, costs — all challenges
April 18 (Reuters) - The world is failing to cut carbon emissions fast enough to avoid disastrous climate change, a dawning truth that is giving life to a technology that for years has been marginal – pulling carbon dioxide from the air.
Leading the charge, the U.S. government has offered $3.5 billion in grants to build the factories that will capture and permanently store the gas - the largest such effort globally to help halt climate change through Direct Air Capture (DAC) and expanded a tax credit to $180/tonne to bolster the burgeoning technology.
The sums involved dwarf funding available in other regions, such as Britain which has pledged up to 100 million pounds ($124 million) for DAC research and development. That compares with $12 billion in federal spending to drive demand for personal and commercial electric vehicles, Boston Consulting Group estimated.
While bids for the U.S. DAC hub funding were due on March 13, the government and some companies have yet to fully disclose details about the applications, many of which Reuters is reporting for the first time. The Energy Department expects to announce winning bids this summer...
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/facing-brutal-climate-math-us-bets-billions-dir...
137margd
Great Lakes cyanobacteria (aka bluegreen algae) produce a toxin. Good to hear that there may be more helpful species...
Volcanic microbe eats CO2 ‘astonishingly quickly’, say scientists
Discovery of carbon-capturing organism in hot springs could lead to efficient way of absorbing climate-heating gas
Damian Carrington | 19 Apr 2023
...The new microbe, a cyanobacteria, was discovered in September in volcanic seeps near the Italian island of Vulcano, where the water contains high levels of CO2...
Dr Braden Tierney, at Weill Cornell Medical College and Harvard Medical School, said: “Our lead collaborator at Harvard isolated this organism that grew astonishingly quickly, compared to other cyanobacteria.”
“The project takes advantage of 3.6bn years of microbial evolution,” he said. “The nice thing about microbes is that they are self-assembling machines. You don’t have that with a lot of the chemical approaches to CO2 capture.”
The new microbe had another unusual property, Tierney said: it sinks in water, which could help collect the CO2 it absorbs.
But the microbe was not a silver bullet, Tierney said. “There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to climate change and carbon capture. There will be circumstances where the tree is going to outperform microbes or fungi. But there will also be circumstances where you really want a fast-growing aquatic microbe that sinks,” he said. That might include large, carbon-capturing ponds, he said. The microbe might also be able to produce a useful bioplastic...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/19/volcanic-microbe-eats-co2-as...
Volcanic microbe eats CO2 ‘astonishingly quickly’, say scientists
Discovery of carbon-capturing organism in hot springs could lead to efficient way of absorbing climate-heating gas
Damian Carrington | 19 Apr 2023
...The new microbe, a cyanobacteria, was discovered in September in volcanic seeps near the Italian island of Vulcano, where the water contains high levels of CO2...
Dr Braden Tierney, at Weill Cornell Medical College and Harvard Medical School, said: “Our lead collaborator at Harvard isolated this organism that grew astonishingly quickly, compared to other cyanobacteria.”
“The project takes advantage of 3.6bn years of microbial evolution,” he said. “The nice thing about microbes is that they are self-assembling machines. You don’t have that with a lot of the chemical approaches to CO2 capture.”
The new microbe had another unusual property, Tierney said: it sinks in water, which could help collect the CO2 it absorbs.
But the microbe was not a silver bullet, Tierney said. “There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to climate change and carbon capture. There will be circumstances where the tree is going to outperform microbes or fungi. But there will also be circumstances where you really want a fast-growing aquatic microbe that sinks,” he said. That might include large, carbon-capturing ponds, he said. The microbe might also be able to produce a useful bioplastic...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/19/volcanic-microbe-eats-co2-as...
1382wonderY
Saudi company draws unlimited Arizona ground water to grow alfalfa amid drought while neighbors' wells run dry. It's illegal to grow alfalfa in Saudi Arabia because it uses so much water. The alfalfa is shipped to Saudi Arabia. The farms are on land leased from the state at $25/acre and include unlimited water rights.
https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/saudi-company-fondomonte-arizona-ground-...
https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/saudi-company-fondomonte-arizona-ground-...
139margd
Extreme weather is nearly universal experience: AP-NORC poll
HANNAH FINGERHUT | 22 April 2023
...about 8 in 10 U.S. adults say that in the past five years they have personally felt the effects of extreme weather, such as extreme heat or drought, according to the new poll. Most of them – 54% of the public overall – say what they experienced was at least partly a result of climate change...
NOAA uses weather disasters that cost $1 billion as a measure of climate change and it how hits people. Last year there were 18 of those events, costing more than $165 billion in total and killing 474 people. That included Hurricane Ian and an ongoing drought in the West.
These types of weather events hit the nation on average once every 82 days in the 1980s, but are now smacking the country at a rate of slightly more than once every two weeks, Spinrad said.
...The poll shows about three-quarters of U.S. adults say recent extreme weather events have had at least some influence on their beliefs about climate change...
https://apnews.com/article/poll-climate-change-extreme-weather-221a56606f54f8dac...
HANNAH FINGERHUT | 22 April 2023
...about 8 in 10 U.S. adults say that in the past five years they have personally felt the effects of extreme weather, such as extreme heat or drought, according to the new poll. Most of them – 54% of the public overall – say what they experienced was at least partly a result of climate change...
NOAA uses weather disasters that cost $1 billion as a measure of climate change and it how hits people. Last year there were 18 of those events, costing more than $165 billion in total and killing 474 people. That included Hurricane Ian and an ongoing drought in the West.
These types of weather events hit the nation on average once every 82 days in the 1980s, but are now smacking the country at a rate of slightly more than once every two weeks, Spinrad said.
...The poll shows about three-quarters of U.S. adults say recent extreme weather events have had at least some influence on their beliefs about climate change...
https://apnews.com/article/poll-climate-change-extreme-weather-221a56606f54f8dac...
140margd
El Nino is forming--could be a doozy?
Scientists Warn of Extreme Impacts Due to Potential Double Whammy of Record Sea Temperatures and El Niño
TWC India Edit Team | 25 April 2023
...Over the past few years, ocean temperatures have steadily increased, despite the Pacific being firmly under the influence of the cooling La Niña phase. In fact, scientists revealed in January that the oceans had been at record-warm temperatures for the past four years. Then, climatologists noticed that the global sea surface temperature reached a new high in the middle of March.
Another worrying new study has shown that our planet has accumulated almost as much heat in the last 15 years as it did in the previous 45 years, with almost all of the extra energy going into the oceans.
To add fuel to the fire, weather models indicate that El Niño could begin to develop this summer. The transition to El Niño is usually accompanied by an spike in global temperatures, bringing with it effects like high heat, hazardous tropical cyclones, and a serious threat to delicate coral reefs.
...we might suffer the following real-world consequences, according to a BBC report:
• The heating could result in the loss of marine species since more frequent and intense marine heat waves lead to mass mortality of sea life. This is especially damaging for coral reefs.
• Rise in heat in the upper ocean surface could result in more extreme weather, with hurricanes and cyclones picking up extra energy and becoming more long-lasting and intense.
• Warm water takes up more space owing to thermal expansion. This can significantly accelerate the melting of glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica and cause sea-level rise and coastal flooding.
• Oceans absorb nearly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, but warming will reduce their ability to absorb CO2. And if the oceans take up less CO2 in future, more will accumulate in the atmosphere, further warming the air and oceans.
https://weather.com/en-IN/india/climate-change/news/2023-04-26-record-sea-temper...
_________________________________________
El Nino and La Nina: global weather:
El Nino event is coming in 2023. How is it forecast to emerge, and what does it mean for seasonal weather and the next Winter season?
Andrej Flis | 11/01/2023
La Nina is breaking down, and an El Nino event is forecast to emerge in 2023. Returning after several years, an El Nino can completely change the weather patterns for the weather seasons in 2023 and 2024, especially during the Winter season...
https://www.severe-weather.eu/long-range-2/el-nino-event-2023-seasonal-weather-c...
Scientists Warn of Extreme Impacts Due to Potential Double Whammy of Record Sea Temperatures and El Niño
TWC India Edit Team | 25 April 2023
...Over the past few years, ocean temperatures have steadily increased, despite the Pacific being firmly under the influence of the cooling La Niña phase. In fact, scientists revealed in January that the oceans had been at record-warm temperatures for the past four years. Then, climatologists noticed that the global sea surface temperature reached a new high in the middle of March.
Another worrying new study has shown that our planet has accumulated almost as much heat in the last 15 years as it did in the previous 45 years, with almost all of the extra energy going into the oceans.
To add fuel to the fire, weather models indicate that El Niño could begin to develop this summer. The transition to El Niño is usually accompanied by an spike in global temperatures, bringing with it effects like high heat, hazardous tropical cyclones, and a serious threat to delicate coral reefs.
...we might suffer the following real-world consequences, according to a BBC report:
• The heating could result in the loss of marine species since more frequent and intense marine heat waves lead to mass mortality of sea life. This is especially damaging for coral reefs.
• Rise in heat in the upper ocean surface could result in more extreme weather, with hurricanes and cyclones picking up extra energy and becoming more long-lasting and intense.
• Warm water takes up more space owing to thermal expansion. This can significantly accelerate the melting of glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica and cause sea-level rise and coastal flooding.
• Oceans absorb nearly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, but warming will reduce their ability to absorb CO2. And if the oceans take up less CO2 in future, more will accumulate in the atmosphere, further warming the air and oceans.
https://weather.com/en-IN/india/climate-change/news/2023-04-26-record-sea-temper...
_________________________________________
El Nino and La Nina: global weather:
El Nino event is coming in 2023. How is it forecast to emerge, and what does it mean for seasonal weather and the next Winter season?
Andrej Flis | 11/01/2023
La Nina is breaking down, and an El Nino event is forecast to emerge in 2023. Returning after several years, an El Nino can completely change the weather patterns for the weather seasons in 2023 and 2024, especially during the Winter season...
https://www.severe-weather.eu/long-range-2/el-nino-event-2023-seasonal-weather-c...
141margd
The Great Electrician Shortage
Going green will depend on blue-collar workers. Can we train enough of them before time runs out?
David Owen | April 24, 2023
...The Inflation Reduction Act includes billions in tax credits and direct funding for a long list of climate-friendly projects, but all of them depend on the availability of workers who can execute and maintain them. ...According to a recent report published by Associated Builders and Contractors, a trade group, job openings in the construction industry averaged three hundred and ninety thousand a month in 2022, and the shortfall was made more ominous by the fact that roughly a quarter of existing workers are older than fifty-five.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/dept-of-energy/the-great-electrician-shortage
Going green will depend on blue-collar workers. Can we train enough of them before time runs out?
David Owen | April 24, 2023
...The Inflation Reduction Act includes billions in tax credits and direct funding for a long list of climate-friendly projects, but all of them depend on the availability of workers who can execute and maintain them. ...According to a recent report published by Associated Builders and Contractors, a trade group, job openings in the construction industry averaged three hundred and ninety thousand a month in 2022, and the shortfall was made more ominous by the fact that roughly a quarter of existing workers are older than fifty-five.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/dept-of-energy/the-great-electrician-shortage
142margd
DW News @dwnews | 5:33 AM · Apr 30, 2023:
An unusually early heatwave is expected to break April records in Spain, leaving residents to worry about what awaits them once summer actually begins.
1:20 ( https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1652606976361152514 )
DW News @dwnews | 10:20 PM · Apr 29, 2023:
It's not even summer yet, and the flow of Italy's Po River is already as low as it was last June — during the hottest and driest conditions in 70 years.
1:18 ( https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1652498183098888192 )
An unusually early heatwave is expected to break April records in Spain, leaving residents to worry about what awaits them once summer actually begins.
1:20 ( https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1652606976361152514 )
DW News @dwnews | 10:20 PM · Apr 29, 2023:
It's not even summer yet, and the flow of Italy's Po River is already as low as it was last June — during the hottest and driest conditions in 70 years.
1:18 ( https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1652498183098888192 )
143margd
Another part of the world--Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia--where drought may exacerbate conflict over a river, maybe war:
Why This Circle Could Spark Africa’s Biggest War (35:15)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-O8Da5oowo
Meanwhile on the other side of the African continent, Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania are choosing cooperation over conflict--the Senegal River Basin Developmental Authority (about 13:00 in video)
Egypt's Dam Problem: The Geopolitics of the Nile (17:05)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=,
Why This Circle Could Spark Africa’s Biggest War (35:15)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-O8Da5oowo
Meanwhile on the other side of the African continent, Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania are choosing cooperation over conflict--the Senegal River Basin Developmental Authority (about 13:00 in video)
Egypt's Dam Problem: The Geopolitics of the Nile (17:05)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=,
144margd
These are the places most at risk from record-breaking heat waves as the planet warms
Laura Paddison (CNN) | April 25, 2023
Dangerous, record-breaking heat waves are set to increase as the climate crisis intensifies, and they will be particularly devastating in countries and regions that are least prepared for them...Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Central America -- including Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua...
https://www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-environment/these-are-the-places-most-at-risk...
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Vikki Thompson et al. 2023. The most at-risk regions in the world for high-impact heatwaves (Article). Nature Communications volume 14, Article number: 2152 (25 April 2023) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-37554-1
Abstract
Heatwaves are becoming more frequent under climate change and can lead to thousands of excess deaths. Adaptation to extreme weather events often occurs in response to an event, with communities learning fast following unexpectedly impactful events. Using extreme value statistics, here we show where regional temperature records are statistically likely to be exceeded, and therefore communities might be more at-risk. In 31% of regions examined, the observed daily maximum temperature record is exceptional. Climate models suggest that similar behaviour can occur in any region. In some regions, such as Afghanistan and parts of Central America, this is a particular problem - not only have they the potential for far more extreme heatwaves than experienced, but their population is growing and increasingly exposed because of limited healthcare and energy resources. We urge policy makers in vulnerable regions to consider if heat action plans are sufficient for what might come.
OPEN ACCESS
Laura Paddison (CNN) | April 25, 2023
Dangerous, record-breaking heat waves are set to increase as the climate crisis intensifies, and they will be particularly devastating in countries and regions that are least prepared for them...Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Central America -- including Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua...
https://www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-environment/these-are-the-places-most-at-risk...
-----------------------------------------------------
Vikki Thompson et al. 2023. The most at-risk regions in the world for high-impact heatwaves (Article). Nature Communications volume 14, Article number: 2152 (25 April 2023) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-37554-1
Abstract
Heatwaves are becoming more frequent under climate change and can lead to thousands of excess deaths. Adaptation to extreme weather events often occurs in response to an event, with communities learning fast following unexpectedly impactful events. Using extreme value statistics, here we show where regional temperature records are statistically likely to be exceeded, and therefore communities might be more at-risk. In 31% of regions examined, the observed daily maximum temperature record is exceptional. Climate models suggest that similar behaviour can occur in any region. In some regions, such as Afghanistan and parts of Central America, this is a particular problem - not only have they the potential for far more extreme heatwaves than experienced, but their population is growing and increasingly exposed because of limited healthcare and energy resources. We urge policy makers in vulnerable regions to consider if heat action plans are sufficient for what might come.
OPEN ACCESS
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New study shows non-optimal temperature is a significant contributor to cardiovascular disease burden globally
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center | 2 May 2023
...Issam Motairek, MD, a research fellow at UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute who also contributed to the study said, "The study's findings demonstrate the importance of understanding the relationship between temperature and cardiovascular disease burden, especially in the context of global climate change. By identifying the populations most at risk, we can design targeted interventions to reduce the impact of non-optimal temperatures on public health."
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-non-optimal-temperature-significant-contr...
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Sadeer Al-Kindi et al, Cardiovascular Disease Burden Attributable to Non-Optimal Temperature: Analysis of the 1990-2019 Global Burden of Disease. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (28 April 2023). DOI: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwad130 https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad...
ABSTRACT
...Results
In 2019, non-optimal temperature contributed to 1,194,196 ... CVD deaths and 21,799,370 ... DALYs (disability-adjusted life years). Low temperature contributed to 1,104,200 ... CVD deaths and 19,768,986 ... DALYs. High temperature contributed to 93,095 ... CVD deaths and 2,098,989 ... DALYs. Between 1990 and 2019, CVD deaths related to non-optimal temperature increased by 45% ..., low temperature by 36% ..., and high temperature by 600% ... Non-optimal temperature and high temperature-related CVD deaths increased more in countries with low income than countries with high income.
Conclusion
Non-optimal temperatures are significantly associated with global CVD deaths and DALYs, underscoring the significant impact of temperature on public health.
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center | 2 May 2023
...Issam Motairek, MD, a research fellow at UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute who also contributed to the study said, "The study's findings demonstrate the importance of understanding the relationship between temperature and cardiovascular disease burden, especially in the context of global climate change. By identifying the populations most at risk, we can design targeted interventions to reduce the impact of non-optimal temperatures on public health."
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-non-optimal-temperature-significant-contr...
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sadeer Al-Kindi et al, Cardiovascular Disease Burden Attributable to Non-Optimal Temperature: Analysis of the 1990-2019 Global Burden of Disease. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (28 April 2023). DOI: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwad130 https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad...
ABSTRACT
...Results
In 2019, non-optimal temperature contributed to 1,194,196 ... CVD deaths and 21,799,370 ... DALYs (disability-adjusted life years). Low temperature contributed to 1,104,200 ... CVD deaths and 19,768,986 ... DALYs. High temperature contributed to 93,095 ... CVD deaths and 2,098,989 ... DALYs. Between 1990 and 2019, CVD deaths related to non-optimal temperature increased by 45% ..., low temperature by 36% ..., and high temperature by 600% ... Non-optimal temperature and high temperature-related CVD deaths increased more in countries with low income than countries with high income.
Conclusion
Non-optimal temperatures are significantly associated with global CVD deaths and DALYs, underscoring the significant impact of temperature on public health.
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Catastrophic risks are converging. It’s time for researchers to step out of their silos.
Kayla Lucero-Matteucci | May 1, 2023
...The benefits of the study of catastrophic and existential risks...cross-disciplinary approach to reducing catastrophic and existential risks to humanity are numerous.
First, such an approach improves research by making optimal use of limited resources and sharing insights, failures, and lessons across areas of risk...
Second, an interdisciplinary approach to catastrophic risks acknowledges that individual risks are part of a web in which each strand has implications for all others...
Third, the cognitive and emotional weight of daunting challenges is smaller when shared...
https://thebulletin.org/2023/05/catastrophic-risks-are-converging-its-time-for-r...
Kayla Lucero-Matteucci | May 1, 2023
...The benefits of the study of catastrophic and existential risks...cross-disciplinary approach to reducing catastrophic and existential risks to humanity are numerous.
First, such an approach improves research by making optimal use of limited resources and sharing insights, failures, and lessons across areas of risk...
Second, an interdisciplinary approach to catastrophic risks acknowledges that individual risks are part of a web in which each strand has implications for all others...
Third, the cognitive and emotional weight of daunting challenges is smaller when shared...
https://thebulletin.org/2023/05/catastrophic-risks-are-converging-its-time-for-r...
147margd
Floods and landslides kill hundreds in DR Congo
DW | 8 May 2023
Floods hit villages of the eastern Kalehe territory earlier this week, causing rivers to overflow. Villages were submerged, with landslides causing destruction...At least 401 people have so far died...
...United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres ... "This is yet another illustration of accelerating climate change and its disastrous impact on countries that have done nothing to contribute to global warming" ...
https://www.dw.com/en/dr-congo-flood-death-toll-mounts-almost-400-killed/a-65542...
DW | 8 May 2023
Floods hit villages of the eastern Kalehe territory earlier this week, causing rivers to overflow. Villages were submerged, with landslides causing destruction...At least 401 people have so far died...
...United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres ... "This is yet another illustration of accelerating climate change and its disastrous impact on countries that have done nothing to contribute to global warming" ...
https://www.dw.com/en/dr-congo-flood-death-toll-mounts-almost-400-killed/a-65542...
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Study: A third of the West’s burned forests can be traced to fossil fuel companies
The research could advance court cases seeking to hold polluters accountable for climate-fueled disasters.
Kate Yoder | 16 May 2023
...While a century of fire suppression and other land management choices contribute to the severity, climate change is a key factor fueling these fires, roughly doubling the acreage burned over the last 40 years. A new study takes this connection one step further, making the case that a significant chunk of burned forests — nearly 20 million acres — can be traced back to major fossil fuel companies....
https://grist.org/accountability/study-a-third-of-the-wests-burned-forests-can-b...
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Ask a Scientist: Calling Out the Companies Responsible for Western Wildfires
Elliott Negin | May 16, 2023
https://blog.ucsusa.org/elliott-negin/calling-out-the-companies-responsible-for-...
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Kristina A Dahl et al 2023 Environ. Res. Lett. 18 064011 DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/acbce8 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/acbce8
Abstract
Increases in burned forest area across the western United States and southwestern Canada over the last several decades have been partially driven by a rise in vapor pressure deficit (VPD), a measure of the atmosphere's drying power that is significantly influenced by human-caused climate change. Previous research has quantified the contribution of carbon emissions traced back to a set of 88 major fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers to historical global mean temperature rise. In this study, we extend that research into the domain of forest fires. We use a global energy balance carbon-cycle model, a suite of climate models, and a burned area (BA) model to determine the contribution of emissions traced to the major carbon producers to the long-term increase in VPD during 1901–2021 and to cumulative forest fire area during 1986–2021 in the western US and southwestern Canada. Based on climate model data, we find that emissions traced to these carbon producers contributed 48% (interquartile range (IQR) 38%–63%) of the long-term rise in VPD between 1901 and 2021. BA modeling indicates that these emissions also contributed 37% (IQR 26%–47%) of the cumulative area burned by forest fires between 1986 and 2021 in the western US and southwestern Canada. The increase in VPD in this region is linked to both increased fire activity and the region's current and prolonged megadrought. As loss and damage from these hazards mounts, this research can inform public and legal dialogues regarding the responsibility carbon producers bear for addressing past, present, and future climate risks associated with fires and drought in the western US and southwestern Canada.
The research could advance court cases seeking to hold polluters accountable for climate-fueled disasters.
Kate Yoder | 16 May 2023
...While a century of fire suppression and other land management choices contribute to the severity, climate change is a key factor fueling these fires, roughly doubling the acreage burned over the last 40 years. A new study takes this connection one step further, making the case that a significant chunk of burned forests — nearly 20 million acres — can be traced back to major fossil fuel companies....
https://grist.org/accountability/study-a-third-of-the-wests-burned-forests-can-b...
---------------------------------------------------------
Ask a Scientist: Calling Out the Companies Responsible for Western Wildfires
Elliott Negin | May 16, 2023
https://blog.ucsusa.org/elliott-negin/calling-out-the-companies-responsible-for-...
---------------------------------------------------------
Kristina A Dahl et al 2023 Environ. Res. Lett. 18 064011 DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/acbce8 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/acbce8
Abstract
Increases in burned forest area across the western United States and southwestern Canada over the last several decades have been partially driven by a rise in vapor pressure deficit (VPD), a measure of the atmosphere's drying power that is significantly influenced by human-caused climate change. Previous research has quantified the contribution of carbon emissions traced back to a set of 88 major fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers to historical global mean temperature rise. In this study, we extend that research into the domain of forest fires. We use a global energy balance carbon-cycle model, a suite of climate models, and a burned area (BA) model to determine the contribution of emissions traced to the major carbon producers to the long-term increase in VPD during 1901–2021 and to cumulative forest fire area during 1986–2021 in the western US and southwestern Canada. Based on climate model data, we find that emissions traced to these carbon producers contributed 48% (interquartile range (IQR) 38%–63%) of the long-term rise in VPD between 1901 and 2021. BA modeling indicates that these emissions also contributed 37% (IQR 26%–47%) of the cumulative area burned by forest fires between 1986 and 2021 in the western US and southwestern Canada. The increase in VPD in this region is linked to both increased fire activity and the region's current and prolonged megadrought. As loss and damage from these hazards mounts, this research can inform public and legal dialogues regarding the responsibility carbon producers bear for addressing past, present, and future climate risks associated with fires and drought in the western US and southwestern Canada.
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DW News @dwnews | 6:48 AM · May 24, 2023:
Thousands of people in Spain's drought-stricken towns have been forced to rely on truck deliveries for drinking water as reservoirs run dry.
1:20 ( https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1661323360624623616 )
Thousands of people in Spain's drought-stricken towns have been forced to rely on truck deliveries for drinking water as reservoirs run dry.
1:20 ( https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1661323360624623616 )
150margd
Will climate change cut off the Panama Canal?
Dirk Kaufmann | 29 May 2023
To see the economic consequences of global warming look no further than the Panama Canal. There, water levels are down because of less rain in Central America. Experts fear ordinary consumers may end up paying the price.
...climate change appears to be threatening this route. Every time the canal's locks are opened, millions of liters of fresh water flow into the sea. As a consequence, the water level in the canal drops. It is eventually replaced by more water flowing in. However now residents, conservationists and meteorologists are all observing a decrease in rainfall in Central America as a result of climate change. Which means less water for the canal. And if the fresh water that flows out of the canal's locks can no longer be replaced, then large ships will find it increasingly difficult to pass through...
...Normal operating draft for the canal is 15.24 meters. At the start of May, authorities put out an draft adjustment advisory for the Neo-Panamax locks — the term refers to size limits of some of the largest ships going through the canal — based on projected water levels. Starting May 24, the largest ships that transit the canal will be limited to drafts of up to 13.56 meters. A week later on May 30, that will be reduced again to 13.4 meters.
...Trade experts fear a disruption to supply chains and longer transport times that will affect prices.
... (possible) solutions ... include water-saving sluices that would collect freshwater in basins so it can be reused. To this end, possibilities are being examined to develop and exploit other water sources near the canal. The construction of reservoirs and saltwater desalination plants are also being considered.
Until long-term solutions are found for the Panama Canal, the economist sees other ways of dealing with the water shortage in Central America. "Reducing the load is certainly the easiest way for shipping companies. And the use of smaller ships is possible too."
Stamer also sees other alternatives. "The transport route from Asia through the Panama Canal to the US' east coast can be partially rerouted through the Suez Canal," he said. "Alternatives are less well established on the route between Europe and the US' west coast. But a combination of the above measures with a greater use of air or land transport across the US is conceivable.
https://www.dw.com/en/will-climate-change-cut-off-the-panama-canal-and-global-su...
Dirk Kaufmann | 29 May 2023
To see the economic consequences of global warming look no further than the Panama Canal. There, water levels are down because of less rain in Central America. Experts fear ordinary consumers may end up paying the price.
...climate change appears to be threatening this route. Every time the canal's locks are opened, millions of liters of fresh water flow into the sea. As a consequence, the water level in the canal drops. It is eventually replaced by more water flowing in. However now residents, conservationists and meteorologists are all observing a decrease in rainfall in Central America as a result of climate change. Which means less water for the canal. And if the fresh water that flows out of the canal's locks can no longer be replaced, then large ships will find it increasingly difficult to pass through...
...Normal operating draft for the canal is 15.24 meters. At the start of May, authorities put out an draft adjustment advisory for the Neo-Panamax locks — the term refers to size limits of some of the largest ships going through the canal — based on projected water levels. Starting May 24, the largest ships that transit the canal will be limited to drafts of up to 13.56 meters. A week later on May 30, that will be reduced again to 13.4 meters.
...Trade experts fear a disruption to supply chains and longer transport times that will affect prices.
... (possible) solutions ... include water-saving sluices that would collect freshwater in basins so it can be reused. To this end, possibilities are being examined to develop and exploit other water sources near the canal. The construction of reservoirs and saltwater desalination plants are also being considered.
Until long-term solutions are found for the Panama Canal, the economist sees other ways of dealing with the water shortage in Central America. "Reducing the load is certainly the easiest way for shipping companies. And the use of smaller ships is possible too."
Stamer also sees other alternatives. "The transport route from Asia through the Panama Canal to the US' east coast can be partially rerouted through the Suez Canal," he said. "Alternatives are less well established on the route between Europe and the US' west coast. But a combination of the above measures with a greater use of air or land transport across the US is conceivable.
https://www.dw.com/en/will-climate-change-cut-off-the-panama-canal-and-global-su...
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First Martian life likely broke the planet with climate change, made themselves extinct
Ben Turner | October 13, 2022
...roughly 3.7 billion years ago. At the time, atmospheric conditions were similar to those that existed on ancient Earth during the same period.
...The model suggests that the reason life thrived on Earth and was doomed on Mars is because of the gas compositions of the two planets, and their relative distances from the sun. Being farther away from our star than Earth, Mars was more reliant on a potent fog of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen, to maintain hospitable temperatures for life. So as ancient Martian microbes ate hydrogen (a potent greenhouse gas) and produced methane (a significant greenhouse gas on Earth but less potent than hydrogen) they slowly ate into their planet’s heat-trapping blanket, eventually making Mars so cold that it could no longer evolve complex life.
As Martian surface temperatures dropped from a tolerable range between 68 and 14 degrees (10 to 20 degrees Celcius) Fahrenheit to a punishing minus 70 F (minus 57 C), the microbes fled deeper and deeper into the warmer crust of the planet — burrowing more than 0.6 mile (1 kilometer) deep only a few hundred million years after the cooling event.
...Traces of methane have been detected on Mars’ sparse atmosphere by satellites, as well as in the form of ‘alien burps’ spotted by NASA’s Curiosity rover, which could be evidence that the microbes still exist.
The scientists believe their findings suggest that life may not be innately self-sustaining in every conducive environment it pops up in, and that it can easily wipe itself out by accidentally destroying the foundations for its own existence....
https://www.livescience.com/mars-microbes-made-themselves-extinct-climate-change
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Boris Sauterey et al. 2022. Early Mars habitability and global cooling by H2-based methanogens. Nature Astronomy Vol 6 Nov 2022. 1263-1271. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-022-01786-w.epdf
Ben Turner | October 13, 2022
...roughly 3.7 billion years ago. At the time, atmospheric conditions were similar to those that existed on ancient Earth during the same period.
...The model suggests that the reason life thrived on Earth and was doomed on Mars is because of the gas compositions of the two planets, and their relative distances from the sun. Being farther away from our star than Earth, Mars was more reliant on a potent fog of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen, to maintain hospitable temperatures for life. So as ancient Martian microbes ate hydrogen (a potent greenhouse gas) and produced methane (a significant greenhouse gas on Earth but less potent than hydrogen) they slowly ate into their planet’s heat-trapping blanket, eventually making Mars so cold that it could no longer evolve complex life.
As Martian surface temperatures dropped from a tolerable range between 68 and 14 degrees (10 to 20 degrees Celcius) Fahrenheit to a punishing minus 70 F (minus 57 C), the microbes fled deeper and deeper into the warmer crust of the planet — burrowing more than 0.6 mile (1 kilometer) deep only a few hundred million years after the cooling event.
...Traces of methane have been detected on Mars’ sparse atmosphere by satellites, as well as in the form of ‘alien burps’ spotted by NASA’s Curiosity rover, which could be evidence that the microbes still exist.
The scientists believe their findings suggest that life may not be innately self-sustaining in every conducive environment it pops up in, and that it can easily wipe itself out by accidentally destroying the foundations for its own existence....
https://www.livescience.com/mars-microbes-made-themselves-extinct-climate-change
------------------------------------------------------
Boris Sauterey et al. 2022. Early Mars habitability and global cooling by H2-based methanogens. Nature Astronomy Vol 6 Nov 2022. 1263-1271. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-022-01786-w.epdf
152margd
Why Ecologists Are Haunted by the Rapid Growth of Ghost Forests
Jim Morrison, Smithsonian Magazine
A study in North Carolina of dying trees may represent a foreboding preview of what may come to coastal ecosystems worldwide.
...As the ocean intrudes and saltwater rises, it kills trees and creates these ghost forests—bare trunks, and stumps, ashen tombstones marking a once-thriving coastal ecosystem. In North Carolina, pine, red maple, sweetgum and bald cypress forests are being replaced by saltmarsh. Eventually, that saltmarsh will be replaced by open water, a shift that leads to significant and complex costs to the environment and the local economy. The loss of forests will reduce carbon storage, further fueling climate change, and the agriculture industry, timber interests will suffer as saltwater moves inland...
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/why-ecologists-are-haunted-by-the-rapid-growt...
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Emily A. Ury et al. 2021. Rapid deforestation of a coastal landscape driven by sea-level rise and extreme events.
Ecological Applications Volume 31, Issue 5 (04 April 2021). https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.2339
Abstract
Climate change is driving ecological shifts in coastal regions of the world, where low topographic relief makes ecosystems particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise, salinization, storm surge, and other effects of global climate change. The consequences of rising water tables and salinity can penetrate well inland, and lead to particularly dramatic changes in freshwater forested wetlands dominated by tree species with low salt tolerance. The resulting loss of coastal forests could have significant implications to the coastal carbon cycle. We quantified the rates of vegetation change including land loss, forest loss, and shrubland expansion in North Carolina’s largest coastal wildlife refuge over 35 yr. Despite its protected status, and in the absence of any active forest management, 32% (31,600 hectares) of the refuge area has changed landcover classification during the study period. A total of 1,151 hectares of land was lost to the sea and ~19,300 hectares of coastal forest habitat was converted to shrubland or marsh habitat. As much as 11% of all forested cover in the refuge transitioned to a unique land cover type—“ghost forest”—characterized by standing dead trees and fallen tree trunks. The formation of this ghost forest transition state peaked prominently between 2011 and 2012, following Hurricane Irene and a 5-yr drought, with 4,500 ± 990 hectares of ghost forest forming during that year alone. This is the first attempt to map and quantify coastal ghost forests using remote sensing. Forest losses were greatest in the eastern portion of the refuge closest to the Croatan and Pamlico Sounds, but also occurred much further inland in low-elevation areas and alongside major canals. These unprecedented rates of deforestation and land cover change due to climate change may become the status quo for coastal regions worldwide, with implications for wetland function, wildlife habitat, and global carbon cycling.
Jim Morrison, Smithsonian Magazine
A study in North Carolina of dying trees may represent a foreboding preview of what may come to coastal ecosystems worldwide.
...As the ocean intrudes and saltwater rises, it kills trees and creates these ghost forests—bare trunks, and stumps, ashen tombstones marking a once-thriving coastal ecosystem. In North Carolina, pine, red maple, sweetgum and bald cypress forests are being replaced by saltmarsh. Eventually, that saltmarsh will be replaced by open water, a shift that leads to significant and complex costs to the environment and the local economy. The loss of forests will reduce carbon storage, further fueling climate change, and the agriculture industry, timber interests will suffer as saltwater moves inland...
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/why-ecologists-are-haunted-by-the-rapid-growt...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Emily A. Ury et al. 2021. Rapid deforestation of a coastal landscape driven by sea-level rise and extreme events.
Ecological Applications Volume 31, Issue 5 (04 April 2021). https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.2339
Abstract
Climate change is driving ecological shifts in coastal regions of the world, where low topographic relief makes ecosystems particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise, salinization, storm surge, and other effects of global climate change. The consequences of rising water tables and salinity can penetrate well inland, and lead to particularly dramatic changes in freshwater forested wetlands dominated by tree species with low salt tolerance. The resulting loss of coastal forests could have significant implications to the coastal carbon cycle. We quantified the rates of vegetation change including land loss, forest loss, and shrubland expansion in North Carolina’s largest coastal wildlife refuge over 35 yr. Despite its protected status, and in the absence of any active forest management, 32% (31,600 hectares) of the refuge area has changed landcover classification during the study period. A total of 1,151 hectares of land was lost to the sea and ~19,300 hectares of coastal forest habitat was converted to shrubland or marsh habitat. As much as 11% of all forested cover in the refuge transitioned to a unique land cover type—“ghost forest”—characterized by standing dead trees and fallen tree trunks. The formation of this ghost forest transition state peaked prominently between 2011 and 2012, following Hurricane Irene and a 5-yr drought, with 4,500 ± 990 hectares of ghost forest forming during that year alone. This is the first attempt to map and quantify coastal ghost forests using remote sensing. Forest losses were greatest in the eastern portion of the refuge closest to the Croatan and Pamlico Sounds, but also occurred much further inland in low-elevation areas and alongside major canals. These unprecedented rates of deforestation and land cover change due to climate change may become the status quo for coastal regions worldwide, with implications for wetland function, wildlife habitat, and global carbon cycling.
Este tema fue continuado por Climate change issues, prevention, adaptation 10.
