The true cost of extreme weather
[climate meets economy]
It’s an amount so large it’s almost impossible to comprehend. It represents the estimated tab for 371 weather and climate disasters in the US since 1980 that topped $1 billion in damage. On the list are many of the country’s most destructive tropical cyclones, droughts, and severe storms, the most recent being Hurricane Idalia.
They’re the events we can remember — and many more we likely can’t because so many more disasters have been breaking into the billion-dollar club in recent years. Decade to decade, costly extreme weather events are increasing in both frequency and intensity as greenhouse gases build up in our atmosphere.
https://www.businessinsider.com/what-climate-change-crisis-extreme-weather-is-costing-you-2023-9
The heat is still extreme in Middle East, specially exceptional in Iraq with temperatures yesterday exceeding 47C in Basra.
The capital Baghdad reached 44C with similar temperatures next few days.
It’s the hottest end of September in Iraqi history.
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1705544610246807843
Wildfires turn Canada’s vast forests from carbon sink into super-emitter
Emissions from Canada’s record-breaking wildfire season are probably triple the country’s annual carbon footprint, experts warn, as climate systems reach a “tipping point”. The trajectory of the country’s wildfires has raised questions about how Canada can better tackle the blazes – and whether the issue is a global problem as nations race to reduce the volume of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/22/canada-wildfires-forests-carbon-emissions
Multiple Ecosystems In Hot Water After Marine Heatwave
A study published today in Global Change Biology, led by researchers at UC Santa Barbara, found that while California’s network of marine protected areas (MPAs) provide many social and ecological benefits, they are not resilient to the effects of ocean warming. MPAs are locations in the ocean where human activities such as fishing are restricted to conserve and protect marine ecosystems, habitats, species and cultural resources.
https://www.edhat.com/news/multiple-ecosystems-in-hot-water-after-marine-heatwave
1.5 million people asked to conserve water in Seattle because of statewide drought
An unusually dry summer along with a forecast of ongoing dry conditions, including a potential delay in sustained autumn rains, have prompted concerns about having sufficient water for people and fish, the utility said.
Drought sparks drinking water concerns as saltwater creeps up Mississippi River
The New Orleans mayor, LaToya Cantrell, signed an emergency declaration for the city on Friday amid concerns about saltwater from the the Gulf of Mexico that has been creeping up the drought-hit Mississippi River in Louisiana.
The declaration came amid concerns the saltwater, which is impacting the river because it is at such low levels, could impact the drinking water of thousands of residents in the next few weeks
Cattle graze in dry reservoirs as drought grips Istanbul
Cattle now graze and sunflowers grow in the dried lakebed of the Terkos Dam outside Istanbul, where a drought this year has reduced water levels in the reservoirs of Turkey’s largest city to their lowest in nearly a decade.
In the 11 months to September, Turkey’s northwest received 23% less precipitation than average, according to the Turkish State Meteorological Service. In August alone, it was 74% lower than average, and down 90% from last year.
Arctic Lakes Are Carbon Banks. What Happens When They Heat Up?
Of course, one unusual year doesn’t amount to a trend. And no two lakes act the same: it’s their net gain or loss that determines overall carbon budget. But these lakes’ quick response to the change in weather could offer a peek over the horizon. If, in a warmer, wetter Arctic, lakes that normally store carbon switch to exhaling it into our already overloaded atmosphere, “this is obviously going to have a positive feedback effect on the climate system,” Bogard says.
Increased lake emissions could speed Arctic landscape thaw, fueling yet more emissions and more thaw. The impacts would be felt across the globe.
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2023/09/arctic-lakes-carbon-sequestration-warming-science/
A known risk: How carbon stored underground could find its way back into the atmosphere
Generous federal tax credits are driving the onrush of carbon capture and storage projects being proposed in the U.S. But like a game of whack-a-mole, there’s a chance the planet-warming emissions could seep back up into the atmosphere after they are injected underground.
A landslide in Sweden causes a huge sinkhole on a highway and 3 are injured when cars crash
A landslide in western Sweden caused a huge sinkhole on a major highway to Norway early Saturday, and three people were injured when their cars and a bus skidded off the road, police said.
The cause for the landslide wasn’t immediately known. Swedish media said the area has seen substantial construction activities involving blasting and excavation work. A large amount of rain also has fallen in the past few days.
https://apnews.com/article/sweden-landslide-highway-sinkhole-2e84cdd22780979324e304e8808a4aa7
Extensive methane gas leakage from the deepest seabed of the Baltic Sea discovered
“We know that methane gas can bubble out from shallow coastal seabeds in the Baltic Sea, but I have never seen such an intense bubble release before and definitely not from such a deep area,” says Christian Stranne.
https://phys.org/news/2023-09-extensive-methane-gas-leakage-deepest.html
Revealed: top carbon offset projects may not cut planet-heating emissions
Majority of offset projects that have sold the most carbon credits are ‘likely junk’, according to analysis by Corporate Accountability and the Guardian
The vast majority of the environmental projects most frequently used to offset greenhouse gas emissions appear to have fundamental failings suggesting they cannot be relied upon to cut planet-heating emissions, according to a new analysis.
Biden’s Words on Climate Change Don’t Match His Actions
Biden could argue that keeping energy prices low and avoiding antagonizing domestic oil producers will help win him a second term, during which he could do much more for the climate. Any of his Republican rivals would almost certainly do much less. Still, sending mixed signals about the emergency isn’t helping to end it.
Former climate scientist Patrick Brown recently accused his colleagues of overhyping the threat of climate change to get published. He was wrong; scientists typically take great pains to avoid doing that. But occasionally presidents and other people do exaggerate. There’s no need to overhype the threat: Climate change truly is an emergency. Action will go much further than hyperbole.
[LOL HELLO, PREDICAMENT! Please tell Mark Gongloff there is no solution!]
[Washington Post]
You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back on Monday with an “Economy” thread.
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Thank you for keeping the project going. You’re all doing important work here.
Much appreciated, Regan! It’s quite a project, but psychologically rewarding. You and all of us here are witnesses.
Thank you for keeping the blog going. I doubt there is anywhere else that attempts a global holistic view of our current predicament.
You’re welcome, Bry. Thank you for your kind comment. We try!
Kali,
Thank you so much for jumping in and doing this great work. Between this and indi.ca I feel greatly humbled in the mighty face of Gaia. As largish multi-cellular mammalian organisms we might find ourselves unsupported at the levels we’ve attained in the near future!
Thanks for your comment and your support, Craig. Glad to know you value our work here. I agree with your assessment about humans’ future. I hope today you find a moment of glad grace (Keats).