“Elizabeth Kolbert, journalist: ‘It’s possible AI will allow us to communicate with whales, and the first thing I would like to say is that I’m sorry’…
“I think the news is unfortunately that the sixth extinction proceeds apace, that it’s very much unfolding as you would expect when you continue to keep up so much pressure on so many different fronts on the natural world.”
“Here’s how the wildlife trade is fueling disease outbreaks across the globe…
“The global wildlife trade — a massive industry encompassing exotic pets, trophy hunting, materials used in fashion and more — is amplifying the transmission of pathogens between animals and humans, according to findings published Thursday.”
“Red List alarm: Emperor penguins, Antarctic fur seals ‘Endangered’.
“The emperor penguin and Antarctic fur seal have both been uplisted to Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as climate change, shrinking sea-ice and food scarcity drive rapid population collapse across Antarctica.”
“High levels of forever chemicals in Svalbard reindeer.
“PFAS levels had spiked so precipitously that “I thought they must be wrong,” Stavridis said. “To see that the concentrations are so high, maybe even the highest measured in reindeer, that was a not an ah-ha moment, but more like ‘what the heck?’” she said.”
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1122213
“Musician performs inside melting glacier to highlight climate crisis.
“Swiss musician To Athena has performed inside a cave in a melting glacier to highlight accelerating ice loss in the Alps. Scientists say the Morteratsch glacier is shrinking by around 50 metres a year, with the cave itself unlikely to survive another summer as temperatures rise.”
“The Fabra Observatory [Barcelona] records the warmest April night in its history.
“This spring heatwave has few precedents, especially because we have had high temperatures for quite a few consecutive days. In fact, in the country’s longest data series, that of the Fabra Observatory in Barcelona, there is no precedent for a higher minimum in April than that of Friday the 10th.”
“Saudi Arabia suspends in-person classes after torrential rains, floods hit Riyadh.
“Saudi Arabia suspended in-person classes at several schools and universities Sunday after torrential rains and flooding swept through Riyadh and other parts of the kingdom.”
“New Crisis in the Making as Central Asia Lacks Enough Water for Spring Planting.
“Central Asian countries lack sufficient water for spring planting of food crops this year, setting the stage for population flight and even military conflict among themselves and with their neighbors, whose causes and consequences lie far beyond the region.”
“India’s Worrying Plans for Dams on Transboundary Rivers Shared with Bangladesh…
“A cascade of RoR projects can increase the region’s disaster vulnerability potential from erosion, landslide, earthquake and flash floods, said Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of South Asia Network of Dams, Rivers and People.”
“Iran war lands ‘triple blow’ to flood-ravaged Sri Lankans…
“The floods are reported to have caused more destruction in Sri Lanka than the 2004 tsunami, one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gvkpj0024o
“Hong Kong set for week-long heatwave after record-breaking temperatures in March.
“Hong Kong has seen record-breaking heat in March and during winter. “Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said last month.”
“Extreme heat drives up stroke risk in Vietnam.
“Prolonged extreme heat in Vietnam, with temperatures in some localities nearing 42 degrees Celsius in recent days, is increasing stroke risk, while a growing number of young patients is being reported, doctors said.”
https://news.tuoitre.vn/extreme-heat-drives-up-stroke-risk-in-vietnam-103260411175039271.htm
“Extreme Heat Takes Toll on Street Vendors [Cambodia]…
““The weather is very hot, but I have to endure it because I need to support my children who live in Kandal province,” she said. “Previously, my husband helped me sell, but now he stays in the province to take care of our young child.””
https://cambodianess.com/article/extreme-heat-takes-toll-on-street-vendors
“Tropics take the brunt as hotter oceans drive large-scale humid heat waves…
“A recent study found a strong causal link between hotter coastal ocean temperatures and large-scale humid heat waves. Rising sea surface temperatures are driving 50-64% of the increase in large-scale humid heat waves…”
“Floods, power outages and hundreds evacuated as Cyclone Vaianu lashes New Zealand’s North Island…
“Authorities have placed several regions under emergency declarations and issued “red” level wind warnings, which are reserved for only the most extreme weather events.”
“NWS says Sinlaku could become super typhoon as it nears Marianas.
“”Sinlaku could reach super typhoon status (150 mph, high Cat 4) as it nears the region. The expansive wind field will bring increasingly strong gusty winds, heavy to torrential rain, and significantly increasing seas by Monday night,” NWS said Sunday afternoon.”
“Near-Record Sea Temperatures in March Pave Wave for Return of El Niño and Abnormally Hot Year…
“The average sea surface temperature last month was 20.97C, the second-highest value on record for the month, according to the European Union Copernicus Climate Change Service’s (C3S) monthly bulletin published Friday.”
“Hidden ocean feedback loop could accelerate climate change…
“The findings reframe how scientists understand methane production in the ocean. Rather than being a rare or unusual process, methane production in oxygen-rich environments may be widespread in regions where phosphate is limited.”
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-hidden-ocean-feedback-loop-climate.html
“State declares drought emergency over low snowpack.
“The Washington Department of Ecology issued a statewide emergency drought declaration Wednesday due to low snowpack levels potentially threatening the summer water supply.”
“Spring runoff is having an epic fail in southwest Utah, as severe drought returns…
“Everywhere they look in the drought-prone region, water managers and weather forecasters say the amount of water trickling down out of the mountains above St. George and Cedar City has been an epic fail.”
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2026/04/10/spring-runoff-is-nearly/
“North Carolina’s drought has no end in sight.
“The U.S. Drought Monitor’s newly updated map shows that the entire state is in drought and that conditions have become severe in most of the state and extreme in some pockets.”
https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2026/04/10/drought-north-carolina-farming-water-supply-rain-dry
“New York, Washington Set to Swelter Under Record Heat Next Week…
“The looming warmth in the eastern US comes just weeks after an unusual heat wave set records across California and the Southwest, melting the region’s much-needed snow pack and raising the specter of drought and wildfires later this year.”
“New study finds “canary in the coal mine” for the AMOC: a consistent decline of the western overturning circulation, down from 20 to 15 Sv during 2004-2023 at 26° N.
“AMOC “could be at or near a critical tipping point, potentially leading to its collapse”.” [Prof Stefan Rahmstorf]
https://x.com/rahmstorf/status/2042148825540759655
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“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”
– Flannery O’Connor
Another fundamental truth. However, speaking the truth can very easily end you up ostracized, in prison or dead.
>>> North Carolina’s drought has no end in sight.
Be sure not to drop a match as you’re lighting your charcoal Cassandra!
The article includes this obvious observation: Municipalities tend to grow concerned about dwindling drinking water supplies in times of extreme drought.
Ya think? Meh…
And Florida is no better, Flipper,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsmpCVKLuhU
Florida drought 2026, the entire state is under drought for the first time in 25 years.
Florida water crisis as Biscayne Aquifer drops to historic lows and saltwater threatens drinking water for millions.
One hundred percent of Florida is in drought. The Biscayne Aquifer, which supplies drinking water to 2.5 million people in Miami-Dade County, has dropped to the lower 10th percentile of historic levels. Saltwater is advancing through porous limestone toward South Florida’s wellfields. The Everglades have gone bone dry, a 35,000-acre wildfire burned through the Big Cypress National Preserve, and all five of Florida’s water management districts have issued simultaneous water shortage warnings for the first time in history. The dry season does not end until May.
I live here and in my city and surrounding communities a surge in building of condos, apartments , townhouses are being approved without any regard to any concern expect for making money. Already there is gridlock on the roadways and getting worse by the year.
It’s just a matter of time, we are well beyond the point of no return…
Wow, thanks VPK, I knew Florida was dry but didn’t know about the Everglades! And ya, it’s a mad rush to make that last buck.
https://www.evergladesfoundation.org/post/florida-everglades-is-facing-a-huge-crisis-that-is-forcing-alligators-to-get-more-aggressive
https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2026/03/21/florida-drought-everglades-national-park-lake-okeechobee/
Thanks for the added links, Flippr. Most appreciated and just another straw on the overshot camel’s back. Everyone here is oblivious of the crisis. I have to be careful not to be a “Debbie Downer” because it’s too late anyway with the people I socialize with at work. Many have large families and they believe more relatives are a blessing.
Yes,another fine edition Kali
Thanks, Flippr, You gave me a great idea. Right after I roll the cookin’ grill inside, I can throw a lighted stick into the woods. That should take care of my cremation! Which otherwise, probably wouldn’t happen, as by that time nothing related to IC (like crematoriums) will be working and my body would just rot. That would be OK too. Nature’s way.
Even after decades of drought here in California, water restrictions were a ruse by the government (huh?!).
So, I scoop my shower water out: bucket to gallon jugs to toilet cistern/garden. Bath and laundry water going down the drain while using clean sparkling water to defecate/pee into is a crime against nature. Naturally, people regard me with disdain for such ridiculous behavior. (Since I use it to keep the garden alive, I guess they’re right, as it’s literally “for the birds”).
So the five Central Asian countries, i.e. the “Stans” face no water for crops or at some point drinking. Can you say WASF?
As for Elizabeth Kolbert, I am with her about saying I’m sorry – I say it multiple times a day, directed to nature/spirit for how badly we have effed up.
She says ” I’ve never actually measured my own wattage. I think I lead a pretty low-watt life, except that I fly.” LOL. Even without flying, Elizabeth, you (and all of us here) are WAY over the tips of our “sustainable” skis. But I get it – you “have to fly” because of your work. Not pointing fingers – all of us “have to” do a lot of things that destroy our ecosystem. Just *living a western type lifestyle* will do it.
Then the interviewer asks: Do you think it’s possible to avoid climate disaster?
She answers: Just barely.
Because telling the truth would lose her most of her readers.
Sigh. What a world.
When there are plus-8 billion apes on the planet, what we do individually doesn’t mean a damned thing.
MayBe if it’s important to you that’s all that really matters.
Or Is that too Panglossian?
Wicked end-of-winter drought here in northern New England, too. I usually burn brush after pruning my orchard in April, but this year I’ll be lucky to get a permit.
I’m starting lots of seedlings this spring. I have a feeling the food system is f*ckd by the time Fall rolls around.
Food prices are going to at least double because of oil price, but add on lack of fertiliser, physical lack of diesel rather than just the expense, and the hydrologic cycle starting to really hit staple crops rather than just the higher end, and we are probably looking forward to, at best, average global prices tripling over the next 18 months, but realistically that means famine and malnutrition affecting billions more. Gaia’s had enough but she’s lashing out at the wrong people.
I hear you. Citizens of more developed countries cannot afford much higher food prices either. It will collapse western economies too, I think. And we have a GLOBAL economy so bye bye all of it.
How “messed up”is this my friends? Had to share it with you all today..
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now so large it is home to dozens of species of life, complicating cleanup efforts
Eric Ralls
ByEric Ralls
Earth.com staff writer
….”Back in the laboratory, taxonomists went through each piece of plastic and looked for invertebrates – animals without backbones.
They found a wide variety of creatures, such as barnacles, crabs, amphipods, bryozoans, hydroids, and sea anemones.
Altogether they identified 46 different kinds of invertebrates from six major animal groups. Of those 46, 37 were coastal species and 9 were pelagic, which means roughly 80% of the diversity on the debris came from coastal organisms.”
Invertebrates were present on 98% of the objects. Pelagic species showed up on more than 94% of the pieces, and coastal species on a bit over 70%.
On average, each plastic item carried about four to five kinds of organisms, and coastal species were slightly more common than pelagic ones.
“On some species of sea anemones and amphipods they saw tiny juveniles, medium‑sized individuals, and full‑grown adults all living together on the same plastic surface.
That pattern suggests that new generations were growing up on these rafts instead of all arriving at the same time from the coast.”
As Jeff Goldblum says “Life finds a way”
Mind blown
https://wyofile.com/its-incredibly-bad-no-end-in-sight-to-colorado-river-water-crisis/
Colorado river nightmare is here!
Good one, Heather. Seems like it’s all catching up with us. 😱
Me: I am home north now, but expect me to be mostly a lurker on C & E going forward.
The link below doesn’t go far enough explaining the dire effects of China cutting off exports of sulfuric acid. It will affect far more than just copper & silver.
Practically every industry you can think off uses sulfuric acid somewhere in its process or along its complete supply chain. Fertilizers, metals, pharmaceuticals, military, many more.
‐———
https://www.kitco.com/opinion/2026-04-10/chinas-acid-ban-hidden-trigger-silvers-next-squeeze
‐——
Bob Shaw Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?
Great to know you made it, Bob.
Another vital point made about sulfuric acid!!
Mainly lurking henceforth? I’m guessing prepping is taking priority which would make a ton of sense.
I would hate to see the ai hallucinating response to whales but again hold on to your ass when the water and power goes.
The existence of IT workers is one of the main reasons I wouldn’t be adverse a severe famine. IT is a catch-all for misfits and fucks-ups. I’d rather my offspring be sex workers than IT professionals.