“To all the global 2 meter surface temperature savants and fake bettors, the planet is back in record territory again, with an average yesterday of 16.949°C [62.508F], once again above the modern record of 16.924°C set last year.
“Will we make it to 17.25°C? The climate casino hopes not.”
https://twitter.com/EliotJacobson/status/1692194308466864561
“The North Atlantic Ocean is 25.2°C [77.4F] for the first time in observational history [and the record high anomaly is starting to increase again].
“Parts of the ocean are starting to exceed thermal tolerance thresholds for present aquatic lifeforms.”
https://twitter.com/LeonSimons8/status/1692555327290388575
“Record-high temperatures in the Gulf of St. Lawrence [Canada] affecting animal life, oceanographers say.
“From great white sharks around Quebec’s Îles-de-la-Madeleine to lobsters conquering new territory, oceanographers say the warming of the Gulf of St. Lawrence is having an impact on the creatures that live in its unique ecosystem.”
https://globalnews.ca/news/9901945/st-lawrence-gulf-climate-change-animals/
“Ireland’s fishermen fear species migration as sea temperatures soar…
“Among trends emerging, he added, were more mackerel being caught by the Icelandic fleet, while his members were catching more species like anchovies and sardines, which are typically found in warmer southern waters, prompting “overall concern”.”
https://phys.org/news/2023-08-ireland-fishermen-species-migration-sea.html
“The spooky mass strandings on Welsh beaches as thousands more fish leap out of the sea.
“Thousands of small fish are continuing to leap out of the water onto Welsh beaches. The latest beach to be engulfed by whitebait that had been washed up on the sand is a beach on the Llŷn Peninsula near Abersoch in north Wales.”
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/spooky-mass-strandings-welsh-beaches-27532759
“Government to hold crisis meeting as France heads into heatwave…
“Meteorologists have even suggested that France could see its most intense heatwave ever — outstripping 2012’s record — with an average temperature of 27 degrees recorded for multiple days across 30 monitoring stations nationwide.”
“Tenerife wildfire: Thousands flee as firefighters battle ‘out of control’ blaze…
“The blaze has already burned at least 6,425 acres. “This is probably the most complicated blaze we have had on the Canary Islands, if not ever, in at least the last 40 years,” said regional leader Fernando Clavijo.”
“Eastern Mediterranean turning tropical, as warming waters force native species out.
“Temperatures in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf of Eilat are reaching near-record highs this year and peaking much earlier than in previous years, experts say, with the former slowly turning tropical.”
“Istanbul’s European side reaches its critical point of water scarcity.
“The Istanbul Water and Sewage Administration (ISKI) has sounded a clarion call for residents on the European side of the city, urging heightened vigilance in water usage as the metropolis grapples with an acute water scarcity crisis.”
“[Turkey] breaks temperature record as wildfires continue.
“As extreme temperatures continue to spiral globally, heatwaves and wildfires have wreaked havoc throughout several parts of Türkiye, especially in the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir, where mercury has shot up to a whopping 49.5 degrees [121.f], breaking the country’s all-time heat record [again, I am not 100% sure about this record]…”
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/country-breaks-temperature-record-as-wildfires-continue-185542
“Coral reef in Gulf of Eilat continues to deteriorate.
“Higher sea temperatures, accumulation of pollutants, extreme storms and disease outbreaks threaten the reef corals in the Gulf of Eilat, monitoring by the Environmental Protection Ministry and the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Studies has found.”
https://www.ynetnews.com/environment/article/b1elsbjnh
“‘Silent threat’: Bahrain to build walls against rising sea.
“…next year, the tiny Gulf state will begin building its coastal defences against sea levels that have begun advancing, by widening beaches, constructing taller sea walls and elevating land. “Bahrain is vulnerable,” Mohamed bin Mubarak bin Daina, Bahrain’s oil and environment minister and special envoy for climate affairs, said in an interview.”
“July 2023 in Russia was the 2nd hottest July on records (tied with 1998, 2012 and 2016) after July 2010.
“Few negative anomalies were present in parts of European Russia and Asian Arctic. Moscow average was 18.5C, 1.2C below normal.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1692521879024619886
“Himachal Pradesh floods: More rain, less snow are turning Himalayas dangerous.
“Torrential rains and unabated construction are frequently triggering disasters in India’s Himalayan region. But an unusual increase in rainfall is making the terrain even more dangerous.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-66519698
“Southestern India and Sri Lanka have been with record heat for weeks and records keep falling:
“Last one was the town of Paramathi, which rose to 40.0C [104F] yesterday and tied its record of the August highest temperature.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1692144252766019967
“India faces record low August rains, threatening summer crops…
“August rainfall, expected to be the lowest since records began in 1901, could dent yields of summer-sown crops, from rice to soybeans, boosting prices and overall food inflation, which jumped in July to the highest since January 2020.”
“August has already become the wettest in 52 years in Dhaka [Bangladesh] although almost half of the month is still to go…
“On August 17, the monthly cumulative rainfall recorded in Dhaka reached 554mm [21.8 inches] with 71mm rain in the 24 hours until 9:00am on the day, exceeding the maximum August rainfall record of 485mm.”
https://www.newagebd.net/article/209769/august-wettest-in-52-years-in-dhaka
“Beijing’s record rain… how heavy was the rain that inundated China’s cities? [nice graphic essay]
“…reports in state media from local monitoring stations show rainfall well in excess of the annual average for some villages. In the populous province of Hebei, one weather station recorded 1,003mm [39.5 inches] of rain over three days, an amount normally seen in more than a year and a half.”
https://www.reuters.com/graphics/CHINA-WEATHER/RAINFALL/zdvxrrgbqvx/index.html
“Japan couldn’t miss a record today: Ueda with 38.4C [101.F] broke its record of highest temperature for August. There is no end in sight to this heat wave which might strengthen again in few days.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1692461535866585561
“More record heat from the Philippines:
“Yesterday the eastern town of Infanta in Luzon, rose to 37.7C [99.9F] breaking its August record of highest temperature and one of its highest temperatures on records for any month.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1692446232218861698
“Never ending record warmth in Queensland, Australia, which has been beating records of high temperatures all the past months.
“Tropical nights in winter last night: 20.1C Sandy Cape; 20.4C Hervey Bay; 17.4C Dalby; Highest Tmins ever recorded in August. 31.5C [88.7F] Yeppoon highest Tmax.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1692469702910410994
“Snake season starts early as unusually high temperatures hit Australia.
“As Australia’s east coast experiences one of its warmest winters on record, snake season appears to have started early. The Australian Reptile Park has issued an “urgent warning” for people to be on the look out for venomous snakes.”
“Another historic record was set few days ago:
“On 14th August the atoll of Nui, Republic of Tuvalu, Oceania had a Min. temperature of 28.7C [83.7F] which is the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in August in the whole Southern Hemisphere.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1692491289055433018
“Pacific island sea levels rising faster than global average, WMO says.
“Sea levels in the South-West Pacific are rising faster than the global average, threatening low-lying islands while heat damages marine ecosystems, the U.N. meteorological agency said on Friday.”
“‘Coral are going to die’: Maui wildfires take toxic toll on marine ecology.
“As the toll from Maui’s catastrophic wildfires continues to climb, experts warn the disaster also poses a grave threat to the coral reefs and delicate ocean ecosystems that surround the devastated town of Lahaina.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/18/hawaii-fires-environmental-harm-coral-reefs-grasses
“South America Braces For Power Hike With Incoming El Niño…
“Hydropower is a fundamental source of electricity for many South American countries, with any drop in generation capabilities likely to trigger increased reliance on coal and natural gas, pushing up power prices for both consumers and industry.”
“Peru is with ridiculous heat this “winter” with record after record in all its regions.
“It’s winter (or supposed to be) but in several areas temperatures are full-summer like. Daytime highs at high elevations like 32.0C [89.6F] at Pacaycasa at 2450m asl and 29.7C at Ayacucho at 2740m.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1692824304931520566
“Heavy rains lashed La Plata in Argentina, causing flooding that affected streets and houses, disrupting the lives of residents.
“Meanwhile, at Buenos Aires Metropolitan Airport, passengers’ flights were affected by the storm that hit the city and the surrounding area. Authorities are monitoring the situation and coordinating assistance.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4rDTYDhe6U
“Historic in Mexico:
“July 2023 had an average temperature of 27.6C [81.7F] which is +2.9C above the 1991-2020 and was the HOTTEST MONTH IN MEXICAN HISTORY ahead of June 2023, the previous month.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1692227289570816414
“The heat event unfolding along the MesoAmerican Reef is literally off the scale – heading towards 20 Degree Heating Weeks.
“A devastating blow to Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, and elsewhere in the Caribbean.”
https://twitter.com/ProfTerryHughes/status/1692144755210129843
“Florida’s coral at severe risk of bleaching after ‘unprecedented’ heat stress…
““The temperatures have clearly been higher than anything ever recorded before,” said Derek Manzello, coordinator of Noaa’s coral reef watch program. “You hear the word ‘unprecedented’ get thrown around a lot but Florida’s corals have never been exposed to this level of heat stress before.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/17/florida-coral-reef-bleaching-heat-ocean-temperatures
“Brutal heat wave coming to central U.S., with excessive heat warning in Texas.
“Dueling heat waves — across Texas and the South, and in the Pacific Northwest to northern Plains — are about to join forces to deliver the hottest stretch of weather this year to the central Plains and parts of the Midwest.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/08/17/heat-wave-texas-excessive-heat-warning/
“Hurricane Hilary heads for US bringing a year’s worth of rain and 145mph winds, forecasters say.
“People in the area, who have been struggling under record-high temperatures this summer, are now bracing for “rare and dangerous flooding”, as California prepares for its first tropical storm in 84 years.”
“Minnesota farmers still assessing damage after hail destroys thousands of acres of crops…
“”Here it’s about as bad as it can get,” said Ryberg. “You take a field that looked like it was going to be average or above average production and now it’s a zero, why that … crop insurance doesn’t make us any money.””
“Canadian wildfire in Kelowna JUMPS lake which emergency services hoped would stop it in its tracks…
“Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes across several sections of Canada after a series of wildfires which threatened to blanket the US in dangerous smog.”
“British Columbia Premier David Eby declared a state of provincial emergency Friday evening, amid a rapidly escalating wildfire crisis.
““We are facing the worst wildfire season in our province’s history — this unprecedented situation has come to a head this evening,” Eby said.”
https://globalnews.ca/news/9905688/bc-wildfire-provincial-update-august-18-2023/
“Canada’s far north speeds up evacuations as fire nears main city…
“Strong winds over the next two days will send the fire, already within just a few kilometers of the city’s perimeter, “in directions we don’t want,” Northwest Territories’ fire information officer Mike Westwick said late Thursday.”
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/canadas-far-north-speeds-evacuations-162657342.html
“New study warns against risks of ‘time-traveling pathogens’…
“As the climate warms, scientists have suggested that “time-traveling pathogens” unleashed by thawing Arctic permafrost may pose a risk to modern ecosystems… lead author Giovanni Strona and coauthor Corey Bradshaw said the findings add yet another layer of concern to the risks from an ever-warming climate.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/18/world/ancient-virus-species-diversity-climate-scn/index.html
“Scientists lament Southern Ocean ‘data desert’, just as climate crisis brings frightening changes.
“A chronic shortage of observations of the vast ocean surrounding Antarctica is hindering more accurate forecasts of the consequences of the climate crisis, a meeting of 300 scientists has concluded.”
“Dead trees around the world are shocking scientists [the brilliant Gail Zawacki would not have been surprised, bless her].
““Even people who are really knowledgeable and who have a lot of experience out in the field were surprised to see how fast these forests were going down the drain,” says Henrik Hartmann, an ecophysiologist at the Julius Kühn Institute Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants in Germany…”
https://knowablemagazine.org/article/food-environment/2023/dead-trees-shocking-scientists
You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back on Monday with an “Economic” thread.
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If look at 4.5 million years of the planet and its history in calendar form humans only appeared in the month of January on the very last day of year at the end of day. Its a blink of an eye geologically speaking and in context of the solar system too billions of years. The last 5 extinctions have happened within the last 500 millions of years of the planet.
Yup, which is why in it’s own right , the coming of the Anthropocene is such an achievement. It’s a clusterfck but pretty remarkable still.
The timescale also makes a film like Koyaanisqatsi such a towering achievement . I wouldn’t say ahead of it’s time, given a man like Von Humboldt , but as a film, that one had such speechless depth and understanding of the human as the industrial cockroach. Haunting haunting film 40 years an me being born then later
Music by Glass.. haunting soundtrack for this century
Lol Harmon – Koyaanisqatsi (1982) is a classic video-art film, but there are others similar in my collection – ‘Manufactured Landscapes’ (2007) and ‘Watermark’ (2013) standout in my memory. Baraka (1993) was probably the most well-known of the technique.
I own a DVD copy of all that you just named somewhere on my attic but none of those later films matched the ominous message image-sound combination, stating in , what we now know , buisiness decade the 80s where the 68 ecology discovery period was cast aside
It’s a combination of elements, even for me as a film buff (nerd) that makes Koyaan truly special
Other film like Cinqiume Saison , Tars Beast, Tree of Life or the way earlier Solyaris do capture some of the same angst , but it’s the pre drone flying footage with Glasses music .. was never matched for me. Plus I was born that year , so I feel added weight from that Anthropocene explosion right there 😉
Recently Aronosfkys Mother was a missed-by-many allegory of antropothemes, The Fountain being more obvious
I almost forgot to mention the imo best movie of this century so far , and a top 3 contender all time , and being all about human history and coming anthropocene : The embrace of the Serpent
The best fusion of Euro filmmaking and investing with modern Latin American filmmaking , that was worth my triple cinema visit
Mexican Post Tenebras Lux not half bad either , although much less Eco focused
Weather weirding doesn’t care what deniers believe. Wildfires’ motto; “Let’s burn some towns!” Floods’ motto: “Let’s flood some towns!”
Anthropogenic Global Warming is going to shake off the Clever Ape like water on a ducks back. When this scum is gone, life will thrive. It may take a few days to recover from the destruction of 8 billion fools.
My crimes are a misdemeanor compared to the felonies of overpopulators.
Well said, TR, and nice metaphor. Too bad we’re taking the ducks and everything else with us!
Okay let me get things right 4.5 billion years and the last month in the year December 31st in the last hours of the day. I blame the heat wave for my mistyping.
Looks like that may ease a bit now, Heather. 🤞
Indi has another winner today:
https://indi.ca/how-climate-change-is-a-massive-computer-error/
He finishes with –
“We simply cannot have this high-growth civilization on a finite planet. We cannot negotiate this, we cannot delay it, we cannot trick the fates that have come. Infinity in general does not play well with computer systems and it’s no different with the cybernetic system we call ‘the climate’. The artificial ecosystem we call ‘the economy’ is now overflowing its bounds and we’re getting feedback in the form of ‘climate change’. We want to basically turn off the error messages and keep going, but this is not possible. A) It’s not physically possible to ‘just switch’ to renewable energy and B) we would just wreak more havoc with more energy. We are a massively coked up civilization and we can’t ‘just switch’ to Coca-Cola without a massive come-down. If we could, we would still be massive assholes that hadn’t learned our lesson.
The first lesson is simply this. Sometimes it’s too late, you’re too stupid, and you just fail. I learned this the hard way when I failed Computer Science 102, and we’ve failed the ‘fight’ against climate change already. We don’t understand the homework, we won’t like the answer if we do get it, and it’s already past due. What we call climate change is a massive runtime error in real-time, in the real world. The now independent (and malevolent) set of programs we call ‘the economy’ is overheating and crashing the entire ecosystem. There’s no particular way around this. The whole thing just has to come to a shuddering halt, catch fire, and — if we’re lucky — start over.”
A short summary for those who think the people of Niger are poor because they are black (they would never admit to thinking that – No, they are poor because “they have overpopulated their country” or some other dogwhistle.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YeNxLgvL6A
Dima is covering the coming war in Niger for those who are interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clCE_MM7BLc
No you are so right Lou, overpopulation isnt a problem at all in Africa , even when African experts started admitting themselves lately it is . Lefty Lou to the rescue , white man bad , etc etc
I won’t defend pure Trumpists in your country by any stretch , but your own analysis is fantasy land as well man .
Anthropocene is humankind’s big failing project , not just the shrinking white little right of your own fantasy politics part of the world .
The danger of guys like you Lou , is you place every little part of geopolitics, fragmented, analyse it separate, until you have culturally nuanced all the West away.
And you rather see every white conservative person dissapeared before you’ll admit that large parts of the muslim world are backward, aggressive, very non woke , just as China is an absolute menace to their neighbours, and all the 2nd and third world have very much their own faults .
Historically as well. Its guys like you that couldn’t accept the thousand year buildup in africa itself , internally slave trading from within Ashanti and Tribal Sahara cultures
You just cant get over your own smugly goodness, holier than right wing people
This weekend I have been following all the fires around the world & the media & blog coverage & I have yet to hear anyone say a word about overpopulation. If these wildfires can’t be extinguished, it going to be exciting to see a supercity burn to the ground. Billy Joel’s ” We Didn’t Start the Fire”, skipped the part about we fanned the flames.
Too bad the Clever Ape never read the Prime Directive: Protect the habitat.
I did my frugal shopping Friday & I am in awe of the morbid obesity & shopping carts full of processed foods. Tattoos & body piercings are second on the “Awe List”.
As my cousin use to say: “Let ’em die dumb.”