“Scientists deliver ‘final warning’ on climate crisis: act now or it’s too late.
“Scientists have delivered a “final warning” on the climate crisis, as rising greenhouse gas emissions push the world to the brink of irrevocable damage that only swift and drastic action can avert.”
“Inland New South Wales sweltered through record-breaking March temperatures on Sunday as fires burned across the state…
“Wagga Wagga recorded its hottest March temperatures yet on Sunday, hitting 39.9C [103.8F]… Records in the area go back 80 years. Temperatures hit between 0.5 and 1.5 degrees higher than previous March records in Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo and many other locations on and west of the ranges [Canberra sees latest 35C / 95F on record].”
“‘All this here will kill this river’: traditional owners grieve for the Darling-Baaka after mass fish death…
““The Baaka is our culture; to see the fish like this and to smell the fish is just unbelievable,” says Malyangapa Barkandji woman Denise O’Donnell. “The whole of Australia should be fighting for this river – all the rivers. It makes me sick to see it like this, it makes me cry. It’s very heartbreaking.””
“Residents in flood-ravaged Gulf of Carpentaria enter second month without work.
“Residents cut off by floods in parts of the Gulf of Carpentaria are entering their second month of employment shortages while businesses record mass cancellations for the upcoming tourist season… Carpentaria Shire mayor Jack Bawden said people had not worked “for a long time”.”
“Cyclone Gabrielle: The New Zealand flood victims too scared to go home…
“”Cyclone Gabrielle… struck within weeks of unprecedented flooding in New Zealand’s biggest city, Auckland, when an entire summer’s worth of rain fell in a single day… “[When] people are sleeping with lifejackets by the door, you know it’s bad,” said displaced West Auckland resident Morgan Allen. “The anxiety has reached peak levels.””
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-64940342
“Marine heatwaves negatively impact blue whale habitat in South Taranaki Bight…
“Marine heatwaves were responsible for the bleaching and mass-killing of sponges in the Southland fiords, but a new study conducted by US scientists showed marine heatwaves damaged the blue whale population by reducing the available amount of krill…”
“Argentina soy crop forecast slashed to smallest on record.
“drought of biblical proportions in Argentina is showing no signs of letup, with soybean plants getting baked to a crisp on the Pampas farm belt. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange has slashed its forecast for the crop by another 14 percent to 25 million metric tons…”
“California faces even more flooding as 12th atmospheric river heads towards the coastline.
“Evacuations are underway once again in central California as yet another atmospheric river is poised to hit the state, bringing another round of snow and rain to an area that has already suffered from significant flooding this year.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/california-faces-even-more-flooding-142721202.html
“Large-scale grass removals ramp up as Las Vegas valley water crisis deepens.
“Country clubs, businesses, and homeowners are rallying behind efforts to get rid of water guzzling grass. The push to decrease water use across the valley comes as Lake Mead is predicted to hit a new all-time low come April.”
“Rare! On 20th March no stations in United States (Lower 48) managed to reach 80F/27C.
“Highest was 79F in 4 stations of California and 1 station of Florida. For a 20 March that’s very unusual.
“In mid winter it can surely happen, but that late It’s not easy to see it.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1638003245481115650
“Forecasters fear rapid snowmelt in the Midwest could turn into major flooding this spring…
“It’s crazy to think the Mississippi River could end up overflowing its banks when just last fall, parts of the river were at record low levels. How quickly the tables can turn.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/20/weather/midwest-spring-flood-outlook-wxn
“AFRICA: Mountain forests disappearing at an alarming rate.
“According to a new study published on March 17, 2023… at least 78.1 million hectares, or 7.1 percent of the total of these ecosystems, disappeared between 2000 and 2018. The situation in Africa is of particular concern, given the climatic role played by its mountain forests.”
https://www.afrik21.africa/en/africa-mountain-forests-disappearing-at-an-alarming-rate/
“Flood kills at least two in southwestern Cameroon…
“According to David Mafani Namange, mayor of Buea council, the flood was triggered by several hours of heavy rain Saturday which carried away cars and debris and inundated the basement and ground floors of some buildings, turning roads into rivers.”
https://www.azernews.az/region/207743.html
“Record heat wave in South Africa with temperatures still rising above 40C [104F].
“Records with 37.7C at Ouestad at 953m asl and highest March Minimums on records with 23.1C at Richard Bay and 21.6C at Nieuwoudtville yesterday.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1637813626236026882
“Malawi president declares half of country damaged by cyclone…
“In an exclusive interview, the president asked for help from the international community and said the structural destruction was vast. “This demonstrates that climate change issues are real and we are standing right in the path of it,” said Chakwera, who added that the climate crisis had the potential to keep “a national like Malawi in perpetual poverty”.”
“An estimated 43,000 people died during the longest drought on record in Somalia last year, with half of the victims likely to have been children, according to a new report.
“The figure, released by the World Health Organisation and the United Nations children’s agency, is the first official death toll announced in a drought which has affected much of the country.”
“Dozens of camps for displaced people in northwestern Syria have been damaged by flooding after a heavy storm hit the region late on Saturday.
“Torrential rain overnight in the western countryside of Idlib province damaged hundreds of shelters, many of which were recently set up to house the survivors of two February 6 earthquakes. Roads were also impassable in some areas…”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/19/423
“Islamabad’s vanishing forests.
“The changes in Earth’s resources in Islamabad have significantly impacted weather patterns and natural disasters, such as urban flooding and forest fires. As a result of climate change, there is a possibility that these hazards will become more frequent and severe in the future.”
https://www.dawn.com/news/1743153
“Climate change: The Pakistani communities still under water six months after historic floods.
“Six months after the wettest August in 60 years, parts of southern Pakistan are still flooded. In fact, the Red Cross claimed in December 25% of the country still was. It’s an astonishing figure and one barely believable until you see it for yourself.”
“At Least 10 Killed In Balochistan Floods [Pakistan], Rescue Operation Underway.
“At least 10 people have been swept away in a flood in the Awaran and Zhob areas of Balochistan due to the heavy rainfall on Sunday, reported Dawn. According to the disaster management officials, of those 10 people who died in the Balochistan flash floods…”
“Unprecedented hailstorm dashes mango farmers’ hopes in Telangana.
“The widespread hailstorm in the last two-three days has dashed the hopes of mango farmers in several districts of Telangana [India]. With hailstorms damaging the mango trees at the flowering stage, the farmers in several districts are in a quandary.”
“Thai authorities urge caution after hailstorm in northern province.
“Thai authorities on Sunday told the public to beware of falling debris or branches after hail storms hit the northern part of the country and hundreds of homes were damaged. Footage on social media showed the impact of severe wind and hail in the northern province of Chiang Mai.”
“First update of the East Asia Heat Wave: Today the temperature rose to 37.0C [98.6F] at Yuanyang in China but this is just the appetizer of what it’s coming from 21 to 24 March.
“Hundreds of records will fall across China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Koreas and Japan.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1637792322103418881
“World’s biggest single eradication operation aims to remove mice from Marion island [southern Indian Ocean]…
“Mice accidentally introduced on to the remote island by 19th-century seal hunters have thrived in warmer and drier conditions over the past 30 years, devastating the island’s invertebrates and plants, and then devouring the chicks and even adults of ground- and burrow-nesting seabirds.”
“Global warming increases the frequency of fall heatwaves…
““As unprecedented high temperatures during fall are occurring more frequently, it is necessary to provide an accurate prediction of their near-term occurrences and also prepare corresponding adaptation measures to minimize associated damages in all socioeconomic fields,” concluded co-author Seung-Ki Min…”
https://www.earth.com/news/global-warming-increases-the-frequency-of-fall-heatwaves/
“‘Exceptional’ surge in methane emissions from wetlands worries scientists.
“Methane emissions from wetlands have risen faster this century than in even the most pessimistic climate scenarios, new research finds. From the Arctic to the tropics, wetlands encompass around 6% of the planet’s surface. These waterlogged soils are the planet’s largest natural source of methane…”
https://www.carbonbrief.org/exceptional-surge-in-methane-emissions-from-wetlands-worries-scientists/
You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an “Economic” thread.
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Is this the final, final warning? Or just the final warning. It seems that every report is the last straw, which likely makes people just ignore it. Reminds me during the pandemic when hospitals were on the “brink of collapse” but smehow never actually collapsed. Somehow it seems we’ll just keep getting these “final warning” threats.
I had the same thought, Elsa! Decades of “final warnings” LOL. Which climate deniers often point out. Ironically, of course, we really are in the process of being scr*wed!
I must admit it’s late for me, but I’m boycotting the Guardian on Australian news last couple of weeks 🤪 They have been reporting rubbish on *everything* lately.
Although the scale of the mass fish-kill on the western Darling was gob-smacking. So large!
On other news streams, the IPCC report is headlines here too with the almost laughable Greens doing their favourite political “dance”, (they hold almost ‘balance of power’ votes in the Upper House) by threatening to hold up the current emission-reduction Draft legislation unless the government commits to “no new gas or coal” etc.
As if that is even an option?
I also note the IPCC report didn’t mention oil?
And “there’s still time” repeated again.
I don’t believe it, I think we have passed critical ‘tipping points’ already, and there is no hope for the 1.5C limit. While industrial emission reductions may still be a little helpful,eg in air quality .. it’s too late. Even if it were possible to achieve the level of reductions the IPCC recommended – because It’s gone beyond industrial emissions, Increasing “natural” emissions from deforestation, desertification, oceans and those massive underground sources of methane are on an escalating runaway course.
“I don’t believe it, I think we have passed critical ‘tipping points’ already, and there is no hope for the 1.5C limit…”
Rain, I agree. I’ve mentally disengaged from the IPCC reports and the increasingly absurd COP’s. Even if there were still time, the energy requirements of civilisation are incompatible with the required cuts in emissions, and orchestrated de-growth looks to me like a mirage.
I agree, Rain, it is getting rather tiresome of the IPCC and their repeatedly final warnings that are mute points in the public realm…
The response….well, we are transitioning to clean energy and creating an ev grid for our electric cars and have plans for electric planes and biodiesel trucks…what more can we ask for?
Never mind the overshoot of the human population continues upwards in spite of the pandemic and so called vaccine kill rate…
In my mind the only thing will change the situation is when we are forced without any other choice.
Case in point, aviation travel is still expanding in China and India and here in the United States it is hard to find an airport without expansion growth projects.
The right hand and the left hand are working in opposite manners..
Too late to change the outcomes…we have been repeatedly warned over and over again but individually and collectively we aim for maximum…but rust never sleeps….
Maybe we should go out and join a protest march and get arrested… sarcasm
Yet another IPCC report always makes me think of a Tintin book… ‘The mysterious star’.
It’s about the ‘end of the world’ and then there’s this crazy prophet-like scientist walking around with a gong who starts shouting it all out on the street… ‘ repent before it’s too late’. Nobody cares and why should you care about the ‘tipping points’ that are scattered every year by the IPCC with the motto ‘it’s not too late yet’ …. “ding dong ding dong”….
In the Netherlands, with a somewhat vacuous government that is fully committed to the wind turbine/hydrogen combination, this is yet another great opportunity to now unveil their mega plan for a hydrogen plant at sea! It will be the largest hydrogen hub in the world that poor little country…. Sure so the polder people are always just ‘the greatest in the world’.
This then all has to be converted into Ammonia to make it transportable…. That then has to be transported by trien. All life threatening and especially if you put the ‘exponential factor’ on it.
There are currently 1500 heavily secured ammonia trains running through the Netherlands from ‘somewhere to somewhere’. Nothing can go wrong….drives right through residential areas in metropolitan centres….
Under the government’s totally botched plans, 115,000 ammonia trains would then eventually have to rumble through the little country day in day out to eh…. what actually? ….. oh yes the world must be saved from its CO2 doom.
Talk about tipping points…. I breathlessly read the dramatic comprehensive article on Pakistan. See then you are talking about ‘ something’.
Glad I’ve had more opportunities in my life. What sad desolation, the problems for humanity are multiple and repenting does not help….
https://nos.nl/artikel/2468179-eerste-grote-groene-waterstoffabriek-op-zee-in-nederland-een-goed-idee
I would assume that a lot of the individual scientists involved in the report are starting to conclude we’re a bit stuffed but either peer review weeds out those sentiments or they keep quiet because they fear being accused of “doomism”.
They’ve rather drawn a line in the sand, collectively, with this latest report though. If there is a subsequent report and humanity has not mended its ghg-spewing ways, they will have to admit the horse has bolted or backtrack and lose such credibility as they have. Neither of those sound like good options.
Nothing is easier to ‘ erase’ than a line in the sand….
I know that ‘ experimentally’ and ‘peer-reviewed’.
I was born right by the North Sea with the sound of ebb and flow and my sand castles disappearing before my eyes no matter how hard I tried…. “This time I will succeed…..”
But yes then came my father to take me reluctantly on his bike through the dunes home….he knew better 🙂
Unfortunately, the only place you will hear scraps of Climatastrophe truths are in these damn comments sections. (This is not true in most other debates, like COVID, where the experts seem relatively sane).
No one in the public arena, with a job of any kind, wants to notice the 50 years of epic futility, or wants to state the mechanism that enforces de-fossil fuelization, across the board. For a long time, this brute fact was unutterable even in comments sections, but, due to many factors, including your brave work, at least some folks can say: shit’s toast, fam.
Thank you for the validation, Martin. We are in a heap of trouble.