“A 1952 Landslide Hints at Early Permafrost Thaw in the Arctic.
““We can look at slopes that are moving today, and we can speculate how they’re going to fail,” Svennevig said. “But the best way is to actually look at what has failed and how.” The team reopened the case of the deadly 1952 landslide and made a surprising discovery: Climate change may have primed the disaster.
““Potentially, this is the first death that we can tie directly to climate change in the Arctic,” Svennevig said.”
https://eos.org/articles/a-1952-landslide-hints-at-early-permafrost-thaw-in-the-arctic
“Southern atmospheric rivers are melting the Arctic sea ice; it may never recover…
“With warmer El Niño conditions expected to return later this year, significantly raising global temperature, the north polar ice cap could break its own record for lowest extent this fall.”
“Supercharged El Niño Could Speed Up Southern Ocean Warming…
“Using the latest climate models, scientists have shown that enhanced El Niño events will likely speed the heating of deep-ocean waters around Antarctica, with the potential for accelerated melting of the continent’s land-held ice.”
https://eos.org/articles/supercharged-el-nino-could-speed-up-southern-ocean-warming
“More than half NSW forests lost since 1750 and logging ‘locking in’ species extinction, study finds.
“More than half of the forests and woodland in New South Wales that existed before European invasion are now gone and more than a third of what’s left is degraded, according to new research… Many species that depended on forests were now being sucked into “an extinction vortex”…”
“Mouse numbers rising in SA as strong rainfall, grain yields create ‘perfect storm’ for plague.
“An expert says a mouse plague could be brewing in regional South Australia, as a result of several years of heavy rainfall and a record-breaking grain crop across the state. Former dryland and sheep farmer, now apiarist, Ian Cass said the mouse plagues of 1993 and 2011 were some of the worst he experienced in his Riverland home.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-24/mouse-plague-warning-sa-riverland-farmers/102135634
“Another avalanche of heat records in Japan.
“124 monthly records fell yesterday,102 of highest Min. temperatures and 22 of highest max. including min. 17.4C and max. 26.0C [78.8F] at Hamamatsu (data since 1883). Japan is totalling nearly 800 monthly heat records broken this month!”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1639456502963396610
“The strong sandstorm sweeping China recently has affected over 560 million people in a wide range of areas, said China’s National Forestry Grassland Administration on Thursday.
“Statistics show that sandstorm weather has swept China four times since March, more than the 3.3 times in 2020 over the same period.”
https://www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2023-03-23/detail-ihcmtmyf9997005.shtml
“Severe hailstorm lashing into the city of Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province yesterday, this is what it looks like from high rise.”
https://twitter.com/Ericwang1101/status/1638795589403172864
“Hottest March day on records for the Southern Thai tourist city of Phuket with 38.0C [100.4F] today.
“There is no end in sight of this heat wave for Thailand and Laos, but further north China, Vietnam and Taiwan will start cooling from tomorrow.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1639273365964828673
“PHUKET: Pa Khlok Municipality has issued a warning and published a set of guidelines on fire safety and fire extinguishing at garbage dumping grounds amid continuing fires in the area.
“The warning was posted after a fire at a landfill which was then followed by two wildfires and one residential fire within two days.”
https://www.thephuketnews.com/warning-issued-amid-continuing-fires-in-pa-khlok-87583.php
“India braces itself for intense heat waves.
“Widespread heat waves in India are anticipated after the country recorded its hottest February since [records began in] 1901. Projections show that a sizable part of South Asia will experience heat stress conditions.”
https://www.dw.com/en/india-braces-itself-for-intense-heat-waves/a-65104034
“Himalayas: The climate time bomb threatening India…
“For the past decade, the region has experienced natural disasters every year: landslides, avalanches, glacier collapses and even “cloudbursts” – sudden storms that can destroy a valley in a few minutes. In 2013, some 10,000 Hindu pilgrims died there during sudden bad weather while praying at a religious site. The bodies of almost 4,000 of them were never found.”
“Pakistan women farmers feel the impact of last year’s floods.
“Last year, monsoon rains unleashed flooding that destroyed wide swaths of agricultural land in Pakistan. Many women who depend on farm work in Sindh province told DW they still cannot earn a living.”
https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-women-farmers-feel-the-impact-of-last-years-floods/video-65109998
“Nearly 14 people have perished with thousands displaced and property destroyed due to flash floods caused by heavy rains in southern Somalia…
“Humanitarian agencies have raised concerns over a likely deterioration of the living conditions, particularly for internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in overcrowded settlements with inadequate shelter.”
“Equatorial Guinea has confirmed another eight cases of the “highly virulent” Marburg virus. Margburg virus causes Ebola-like symptoms… It currently has no vaccine or treatment…
“There are two known current outbreaks of Marburg on the continent with another on the east African country of Tanzania, which this week announced eight cases of Marburg, including five deaths.”
“If Nigeria’s experience on devastation caused by flooding last year is anything to go by, the recent warning by the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Ahmed, about projected severe flooding this year should not be toyed with…
“…the Director-General disclosed that 178 LGAs in 32 states and the FCT had been predicted to experience severe flooding in 2023.”
https://guardian.ng/opinion/heeding-the-flood-warning-in-32-states/
“Morocco and Algeria facing water shortages.
“Recent data from the European satellite Copernicus reveal a severe drought in the Maghreb region, affecting countries of great importance such as Morocco and Algeria. The absence of the liquid element is a serious setback for the population of this area…”
https://atalayar.com/en/content/morocco-and-algeria-facing-water-shortages
“Italy to cut rice output as drought looms for second year…
“Italy cultivates about 50% of the rice produced in the European Union and is the world’s only grower of types most suitable for risotto such as Arborio and Carnaroli. Some 94% of Italy’s crop is grown in the northern regions of Lombardy, around Milan, and Piedmont, around Turin.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italy-cut-rice-output-drought-looms-second-year-2023-03-24/
“Spain’s drought devastates olive oil output, drives world prices up.
“Drought in Spain, the world’s largest olive oil producer, is likely to halve the country’s output this year compared with the previous year, official estimates from the European Commission show, pushing prices up. Spain usually supplies about 40% of the world’s output…”
“Over a thousand people flee as forest fire engulfs 3,000 hectares in Spain…
“Ximo Puig, the president of the Valencia region that incorporates Castellon, told reporters the fire was “very early in the spring, very voracious from the beginning.” Puig added that the effects of climate crisis “are undeniable, so the perspective of firefighting must be considered on an annual basis.””
“Big contrasts again in Europe with the cold turning exceptional in Scandinavia with up to -37.5C [-35.5F] in Finland and -36.8C in Sweden.
“To the contrary, >30C [86F] again in Spain and 27C in Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia. Frosts in the coming days will be a problem for fruits trees in the Balkans.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1639340304971989021
“Amsterdam Airport Cutting Flights Due to Global Warming.
“Government officials in the country announced earlier this month that restrictions would be imposed on all international flights leaving the Netherlands, in order to cut carbon emissions and help achieve climate goals.”
“First Nation residents left living in hotels months after floods [Manitoba, Canada].
“More than 900 evacuees from Peguis First Nation in Manitoba are still unable to return home nearly a year after flood waters ravaged their community. With hundreds of homes still unlivable, many families have been left living in hotels for months on end.”
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2186384451724
“At least 21 dead after tornado-spawning storms roll through Mississippi. One town is ‘gone,’ resident says…
“The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado hit the towns of Silver City as well as Rolling Fork, which one resident described as obliterated following the storm’s devastating path. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Rolling Fork resident Brandy Showah told CNN. “This was a very great small town, and now it’s gone.””
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/25/weather/us-severe-storms-saturday/index.html
“Utah breaks record for state’s largest snowpack ever.
“…the Great Salt Lake has greatly benefited with the epic snowfall totals and has already risen two feet since hitting its historic low set in November 2022 [Very good news, as arsenic, mercury and lead from the increasingly dry lake-bed were at risk of being picked up the by the wind to form poisonous dust clouds].
https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/utah-likely-to-break-record-of-largest-snowpack-ever
“Snowpack in southern Sierra hits all-time record levels. How deep is that?
“As of Friday, the snowpack in the southern Sierra Nevada was at 286% of normal — the highest figure ever, easily eclipsing the region’s benchmark of 263% set in 1969. In a tweet, the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab said this year recently surpassed 1982-83 as the second-snowiest on record since measurements began in 1946.”
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-03-24/snowpack-in-southern-sierra-at-all-time-record
“San Francisco resident spots ‘flying’ couch amid intense weather conditions: ‘Terrified’.
“The San Francisco Bay Area has been dealing with some pretty intense weather conditions lately. Some are even calling it the region’s worst storm season in recent history. For weeks now, residents have endured frosty temperatures, near-constant rain and record-breaking winds…”
“Much of West Coast faces ban to fish salmon amid low stocks.
“…ocean salmon fishing season is set to be prohibited this year off California and much of Oregon for the second time in 15 years after adult fall-run Chinook, often known as king salmon, returned to California’s rivers in near record-low numbers in 2022.”
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/drought-plagued-west-coast-faces-salmon-fishing-ban-98098596
“Rapidly melting glaciers could provoke water crisis in Peru.
“Tropical glaciers are constantly melting due to their geographic location, which makes them more sensitive to temperature increases and other climatic changes, he said. A total of 70 percent of these types of glaciers worldwide are located in Peru… over the past 50 years, Peru has lost 40 percent of its tropical glacier mass.”
https://www.laprensalatina.com/rapidly-melting-glaciers-could-provoke-water-crisis-in-peru/
“Structural collapses, landslides, flooding amid heavy rain in Guayaquil [Ecuador]…
““We’re experiencing a climate event with very strong electrical storms,” said Viteri, adding that this weather event “is going to complicate things a little more, according to information from the National Weather and Hydrology Institute (Inamhi), and could last until Saturday.””
“Another brutal heat wave in Chile with widespread temp. >35C [95F] even at high elevations.
“Some remarkable temperatures yesterday: Huechun (610m asl) 37.3C Central Region; Tranque Lautaro (1135m) 36.1C Atacama Region; Iglesia Colorada (1687m) 32.6C Atacama Region.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1639290606810804226
“UN conference hears litany of water disasters linked to climate crisis.
“Water is at the heart of the climate crisis, with an increasingly dire carousel of droughts, floods and sea level rise felt “making our planet uninhabitable”, the secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, has warned.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/23/water-un-conference-climate-crisis-disasters
“Why climate ‘doomers’ are replacing climate ‘deniers’…
“…a group of people believe that the climate problem cannot, or will not, be solved in time to prevent all-out societal collapse. They are known, colloquially, as climate “doomers.” And some scientists and experts worry that their defeatism — which could undermine efforts to take action — may be just as dangerous as climate denial.”
[If climate change weren’t just one facet of what looks to me like an all-encompassing systemic predicament with our modern way of life inherently unsustainable and fundamentally incompatible with a healthy biosphere, and it could realistically be tackled via carbon capture, vast amounts of solar panels and wind turbines etc. etc. then these charges might hold some water.
But even then, there are still fairly few dyed in the wool doomers and even fewer of those evangelise. Plenty are still engaged in activism, so not at all paralysed or defeatist. I wonder if there is some projection going on with the climate scientists attacking “doomism”, because they themselves suspect on some level that we are up a certain creek without a certain paddle.]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/24/climate-doomers-ipcc-un-report/
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So many things wrong and idiotic in that WaPo cheer-up piece, but the comments section pretty uniformly rips it to shreds.
Of course people needing their paychecks and positions and their children not to disavow them are going to make evidence-free Mr. Rogers propaganda that all will be well, children, all is well.
What “activism” is going well, and where? At the watered-down IPCC headquarters? In missile-building. Moscow or Willow project Washington?
Oh, yeah, at a few art museums. That should do the trick, right?
Climate doomers are not the climate cookers (thanks, auto-correct) That would be the sociopaths in power, plus their public relations NGO employees like Hausfather and Mann.
There are actually a lot of “dyed in the wool doomers,” and they have no problem at r/collapse in “evangelizing.” Some humans have this unfortunate ability to detect bullshit, like the WaPo lie that knowing the IPCC is a conservative, censored milquetoast arrangement is a “conspiracy theory.”
Right on, Martin.
Thank you, Martin – your comment gave me some wry chuckles!
Of course, I agree with your comment 100%. IMO the only reason for an increase in “doomism” is the reality on the ground globally. There is way more reporting on economic crisis/unfolding disaster than on climate, especially in the independent/alternative media where there is little attention paid to the reality of energy issues and almost none to climate. In their world, the Global South is rising and will crush western hegemony. I think they’re right…except for the TEENY TINY issues with energy and climate. 🤦🏻♀️
Thanks as always for your pointed comments, Panopticon.
❤
Like you said , cheer up piece. I knew some people that I consider intelligent still carrying hope in jobs which make some impact, but it’s all very marginal. Those people got tired of me, cant blame them honestly , but I consider myself a dyed in whool , college educated doomer .
Some of the most intelligent , first generation ecologists, when that science came to be in the 1960s were instant doomers.
Back then they were attacked by corporate interests. Now doomers are blasted by some of the green believer crowd , same deal to me. One can deny reality with good or bad intentions perhaps?
Harmon, that is probably a worthwhile distinction to draw. I’m just jaded to the point where I can’t deal with the BS anymore, whether it is coming from the cynical right pretending there are no ecological limits or the delusional left positing some impossible greentopia.
Well, apparently we are facing the initial runup to food prices that Dr James Hansen in his book warned about from the effects of Global Warming and Climate Change.
That will probably shake up the red buttons of many after some will experience the wet bulb from humidity and temperature…doubt folks will be concerned of labelling of deniers, doomers at that time, but still trying to place the blame on someone or something, other than their own society’s structure.
Thanks for the report, we are transition… unfortunately Nate Hagen recent video pointed out society usually reacts to the Money concept…
“Well, apparently we are facing the initial runup to food prices that Dr James Hansen in his book warned about from the effects of Global Warming and Climate Change.”
I haven’t had the chance to ponder his arguments very deeply but Umair Haque has been talking in those terms recently:
“So what’s causing it [inflation]? As I’ve explained recently, climate change is. Crops are failing and rivers drying up. Our civilization’s hitting its limits, and so, of course, prices are rising, and rising fast.”
https://eand.co/we-just-got-our-final-warning-on-climate-change-and-its-terrifying-bdd2db4f61f2
Thank you, that’s a very good writer to follow…spot on Justin
Hello Panopticon
….If climate change was not just one facet of what appears to me to be a comprehensive systems problem, where our modern way of life is inherently unsustainable and fundamentally incompatible with a healthy biosphere, and it could realistically be addressed through carbon capture, large amounts of solar panels and wind turbines etc. etc. etc. then perhaps these charges would make some sense…..
That’s right and it’s much worse ! The climate problem is then also reduced to ‘ reducing carbon emissions. If only we did that then everything would work itself out.
The latter is an extremely clever limitation put on the agenda by Al Gore at the beginning of this century. And everyone has willingly swum into that CO2 sustainability blinkered trap from governments to extinction rebellion.
It’s a discussion I had at ‘ high level’ in those years around the Environment Ball conference in 2007 that was ‘ supposed to save the world’.
The then minister of environment and energy in the Netherlands (Jaqueline Cramer) was and of my best friends along with numerous sustainability job hunters who became managers of nature and climate NGO’ and other leading jobs at universities and government committees and Green parties.
In any case, it ensured that they all ended up in expensive mostly metropolitan lofts, travelled weightily back and forth across the world and in no time proved capable of completely shaping the social discourse to their liking.
I have always found this a mind-boggling conjuring trick that to this day is still agenda item number one from Oil and Gas giants to the minions of extinction rebellion and Greta Thunberg.
I always agitated with them that with this they were apparently deliberately ‘putting the cart before the horse’ because they were ignoring the major problem of the let’s sum it up in one word ‘our finite world’. But yes that is politically unmarketable and moreover it goes against the basic principle/belief of ‘eternal progress and growth’.
In the endless friendly conversations I had with them and climate dazed CO2 activists, that really proved to be an impregnable fortress.
Degrowth and the far too limited resources for their global transition idea and so many other thoughts like the dependence of all their toys up to and including nuclear power plants on fossil fuels ran off them like water that you lightly pat dry after washing your hands….ach we’ll see about that!
And then they looked at me like I was ruining their party for good.
Today I happened to speak to the former minister briefly. She now chairs the committee on building in the Netherlands and has resolved to make the entire construction sector ‘ energy neutral’ by 2030. Concrete and steel in particular are costing her quite a bit of headaches I got the idea.
I let her babble on about the conservative ‘old-fashioned’ sector and what transition actually means, then you hear something 🙂 and then she politely inquires about my ‘energy cooperative’ in my small self-sufficient village and whether I have any tips for her.
Ah well they just keep swimming around like goldfish in the CO2 fishbowl, repeating the word ‘ sustainable’ every other minute… very funny.
We also talked a bit about ‘doomers’ and ‘deniers’….but yes, like the IPCC, they only put Al Gore’s CO2 magic trick on the agenda… and the rest is eh… for later…..
It doesn’t make me gloomy by the way, I’m too busy for that in my world based on semi-autarchy and ‘ recycling’ of anything and everything.
It makes you handy and you work outside a lot and to reassure you nature is powerful.
In the link the energy cooperative I am part of
https://www.ere43.fr/
Thank you Zip! My point more or less.
Zip, yes, I’m afraid the green gravy train is pretty vomit-inducing. A guy I was at school with is Managing Director for Climate Strategy at a major bank… It is an absurdity to me that such a job title even exists.
As for the narrow focus on emissions, David Korowicz has some interesting things to say about why that is (the clip is only four minutes long):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4nAL4HHloA
“Snowpack in southern Sierra hits all-time record levels. How deep is that?”
The mega-flood is coming to California this spring. Everything seems to be lining up to make it happen. It will be something incredible to see.
___________________________
Regarding Harmons comment: “Back then they were attacked by corporate interests. Now doomers are blasted by some of the green believer crowd , same deal to me. One can deny reality with good or bad intentions perhaps?”
I think denial is either a weakness in the mind of the denier, a mental illness – OR – a scheme by someone to control society.
Following the war has put me in constant contact with a lot of right wing types, and universally, they claim that AGW does not exist (which of course is silly). The thing is, that the claim that it does not exist is always framed in the idea that climate mitigation is a scam to exert control over the average person. And, of course that is true.
Are you worried about climate change? Oh, well then you wont mind if we ruin half of the farmers in the Netherlands, and then sell their properties to our rich friends.
Are you worried about climate change? Oh, well then, its OK if we ruin the farmers in SriLanka by making it illegal for them to use fertilizer. One year fertilizer was fine, the next (with no preparation at all) it was illegal.
Are you worried about climate change? Oh, well then, you must become vegan today!
etc.
“Following the war has put me in constant contact with a lot of right wing types, and universally, they claim that AGW does not exist (which of course is silly).”
I think, if we are being charitable, we can observe that a lot of people are just so busy with work, kids, generally keeping their heads above water etc. that they don’t have the time to do their own research and go deeply down these rabbit holes, so they just swallow wholesale the dominant narratives of whichever political group they are affiliated to.
Too much snow is a bad thing when the 12 atmospheric river hit California. Yep 12! The 50-75 year old dams will not hold. I have already read and seen boil water orders, landslides, i am sure roads are a mess. Leaves breaking , add it all up California is in a climate collapse as we speak and it’s tearing apart the infrastructure big time. Everyday i wake up saying omg this is insane.
Heather, right. California is rich by any measure and would be the world’s fifth biggest nation by GDP if it were independent but even its infrastructure has been struggling to cope with these worsening extremes.
I recall the Oroville dam crisis requiring the evacuation of 180,000 people in 2017; PG&E’s crumbling infrastructure contributed to the Paradise Fire in 2018, to the extent where the company was charged with, and admitted to, manslaughter:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/16/pge-california-wildfire-camp-fire-paradise-guilty-plea
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-03-25/eastern-sierra-flooding-threatens-los-angeles-water-lifeline
Here is more infrastructure destruction
So, are my comments always going to be deleted?
Lou, sorry – I’ve just checked and you had three in moderation. I have no idea why they were held up in there. It wasn’t personal, I promise!
Thank you Panopticon.
Lou, all of your comments seemed to be getting caught in moderation. Clearly WordPress considers you a subversive element. 😆 I’ll try to figure out how to get you off the naughty step but for the time being bear with me, as I’ll have to liberate your comments myself as and when I spot them.