Special sponsor for August 2024 is Cassandra Mountain. Many thanks!
“This year will likely end up being the warmest in the last 100,000+ years.
“Through August 19th, 2024 is 1.59°C above the 1850-1900 IPCC baseline.”
[Prof Eliot Jacobson; graph shows global 2m surface temp 1940 to 2024].
https://x.com/EliotJacobson/status/1826710392271503830
“Mega-tsunami risk on the rise as glacial melt drives landslides [Greenland]…
“Just under a year ago, the east coast of Greenland was hit by a megatsunami. Triggered by a large landslide entering the uninhabited Dickson Fjord, the resulting tsunami was 200 metres high – equivalent to more than 40 double-decker buses.”
“UK weather latest: Watch tents fly across festival as 73mph winds hit UK – with weather warning in place.
“Wind speeds of up to 73mph have been recorded in parts of Wales as Storm Lilian sweeps across the UK. Leeds Festival has been forced to shut three stages due to the bad weather. Tens of thousands without power.”
“Fire chiefs call for legal duty to respond to extreme weather in England…
“The National Fire Chiefs Council urged ministers to impose a statutory duty in England to respond to severe weather-related incidents in order to ensure there is the right equipment, training and budget to deal with them.”
“Extreme weather and geopolitics to send UK energy bills up 10%.
“British energy regulator Ofgem on Friday raised its price cap on household energy bills by 10% from Oct. 1 to an annual level of 1,717 pounds ($2,250.64), a jump blamed on severe weather events and conflicts such as the war in Ukraine.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/extreme-weather-geopolitics-send-uk-energy-bills-up-10-2024-08-23/
“The development of a Tesla gigafactory near Berlin has resulted in about 500,000 trees being felled, according to satellite analysis.
“The building of the German factory has been highly controversial and attracted significant protests, as well as prompting a debate about the trade-offs involved in developing a green economy.”
“Austria’s Hallstätter Glacier now doomed to melt entirely due to climate change.
“Austrian authorities are saying that the Hallstätter Glacier is now beyond saving, having lost one-third of its mass since 2006, Die Presse news website reported… As glaciologist Klaus Reingruber further pointed out, the rocks exposed by the receding glacier will only hasten its melting.”
https://tvpworld.com/81790826/austrian-glacier-doomed-to-melt-completely-due-to-climate-change
“Thunderstorms sweep vehicles away in Austrian ski resort village.
“Clean-up efforts are now underway, involving 350 personnel from fire brigades and aid organizations. Two streams overflowed, triggering a massive mudslide that buried cars and buildings, though fortunately, no one was injured.”
https://www.euronews.com/2024/08/19/st-antons-night-of-fury-the-mudslide-disaster
“Guinness, prosecco, pálinka: Climate change is a serious threat to Europe’s most beloved tipples…
“Heavy rains, droughts and storms exacerbated by climate change are putting making the production of traditional alcoholic drinks more difficult… From prosecco in Italy to Guinness in Ireland, here are the drinks in danger from climate change.”
“Europe’s wineries battle to survive as extreme heat hurts production…
“This year’s wine harvest is in full swing on the perennially popular Greek island of Santorini, but for local winemaker Yiannis Paraskevopoulos, the prospects do not look good.”
“Bulgaria: Drought, rising temperatures main causes of drinking water supply problems – officials…
“It noted that according to national weather bureau data, 2024 was the third dry and hot year in a row in Bulgaria. The month of June was the hottest since 1930, and this year’s drought was also the longest, lasting more than three months.”
“Wildfire in Russia’s Karachayevo-Cherkessia Forces Hundreds to Evacuate.
“A large wildfire in the North Caucasus republic of Karachayevo-Cherkessia has quickly spread over the past two days, prompting the evacuation of almost 250 people at a popular nature reserve, regional authorities said Friday.”
“Climate crisis in Türkiye: Addressing rising threat of extreme weather…
“The climate crisis in Türkiye is escalating, with heat-related deaths expected to rise sharply… Positioned in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin – a region particularly vulnerable to climate change –Türkiye is at the forefront of this emerging threat.”
“A new study published in Population Studies looks at the impact of extreme temperatures on fertility across Spain between 2010 and 2019, covering some of the hottest years since records began…
“The study suggests that climate change may be altering the seasonal distribution of births and affect fertility rates in Spain which is already experiencing low fertility and rapid population ageing.”
https://www.ndph.ox.ac.uk/news/the-impact-of-extreme-heat-on-fertility-rates-across-spain
“Fires rage for eighth day on Portuguese tourist island as EU sends help.
“The European Union sent two water bombing planes from Spain to the Portuguese island of Madeira on Thursday to help efforts to put out a wildfire that has been raging for eight days.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/madeira-fires-portugal-spain-weathers-b2600258.html
“Climate change seriously hampers the strawberry industry in Egypt”.
“Climate change is hitting North Africa harder than anywhere else in the world. In Egypt, climate change is manifesting in many forms and impacting several crops, one of the most sensitive being strawberries.”
“This year’s rainy season has been particularly devastating so far for the population of Niger.
“Since August 19, flooding across the country – exacerbated by climate change – has forced 353,000+ people from their homes, washed out roads, and tragically killed 217 and wounded 200.”
https://www.care.org/news-and-stories/press-releases/care-statement-on-recent-flooding-in-niger/
“Nigeria floods kill dozens amid mounting fears over rainy season.
“Flooding in northern Nigeria has killed at least 30 people and devastated huge amounts of farmland. Jigawa state is especially hard hit.”
“Elephants, hippos to be culled for meat in drought-hit Namibia.
“Namibia will harvest hundreds of animals including elephants, hippos and zebras in its drought-stricken national parks, easing strain on grazing while using the meat to feed vulnerable communities.”
“Climate Change Wreaks Havoc On Seasonal Farming Crops Agriculture [South Africa]…
“The agriculture sector is vital for economic growth… South Africa produces 10% of the global citrus production. But climate-induced changing weather patterns threaten the outlook for certain crop yields in 2024.”
“Czech tourist arrested over video detailing Zimbabwe’s electricity crisis released on bail…
“Lukas Slavia was arrested in southern Zimbabwe while recording a video in which he talked about electricity and water shortages in the southern African nation. He faces charges of spreading falsehoods with the intention of inciting public unrest.”
“Zambia Rejects 156% Power-Price Rise as Drought Deepens Cuts…
“Zambia’s energy regulator refused the state power utility’s proposal to increase electricity tariffs by as much as 156% to cover the cost of emergency supplies, citing the negative impact it would have on inflation and jobs.”
“Dhahran, Saudi Arabia recorded a heat index of 134°F (56.7°C) at midnight tonight.
“This is near the upper limit of human survivability.”
https://x.com/US_Stormwatch/status/1826793539487105340
“Floods sweep away everything in their path in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
“Cars being swept away by water after heavy rains in the Saudi Medina are circulating on social networks. The recording captures desperate people trying to escape from their vehicles after being trapped inside them.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1980YKfBQq8
“Balochistan torrential rains claim 22 lives including children [Pakistan]…
“…102 acres of crops and 35 kilometers of roads have been affected by the flash floods. The PDMA report also stated that seven bridges have been damaged, and 131 livestock have perished due to the heavy rains.”
https://arynews.tv/balochistan-torrential-rains-claim-22-lives-including-children/
“Delhi on course for new August rain record.
“In 2012, August saw a total of 22 days where rain was recorded in Delhi – a record that this year’s August is likely to cross… In comparison, the first five months were the driest for Delhi since 2018.”
“Record broken again at Mumbai INDIA – today 33.7C [92.7F] eclipses the August record of 33.6C which was set just few days ago.
“Records are falling all the way from Japan to North Africa.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1826629621401747583
“Bangladesh’s Worst Floods in Decades Leave 5 Million Stranded…
“About five million people in Bangladesh were stranded by floods in low-lying areas, as strong currents washed away river embankments… The devastating floods are the latest setback for the country of 170 million people, recently besieged with deadly political protests and violence.”
“Unprecedented Floods Fuel Bangladesh-India Tension.
“Amid a surge in anti-India sentiment, Bangladeshis accuse India of opening the floodgates of a dam without warning, and demand better transboundary river management.”
https://thediplomat.com/2024/08/unprecedented-floods-fuel-bangladesh-india-tension/
“Nepal says China withholds “essential” info on bursting Himalayan glacial lakes…
“The Chinese government’s failure to provide information about the state of its Himalayan glacial lakes is endangering mountain-dwellers in neighbouring flood-prone Nepal, according to a senior government official.”
“Extreme Heat Wave: Heat wave brings record-breaking temperatures to eastern China.
“Shanghai “Shanghai, along with neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang, have been hit by over 40-degree Celsius temperatures over the past several days. Today, the Shanghai Meteorological Center Station has upgraded its heat alert from orange to red.”
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-08-23/VHJhbnNjcmlwdDgwNDI3/index.html
“EXTRAORDINARY HEAT IN JAPAN Near 40C again.
“Thousands of records have been falling every single day of the summer; 10 more monthly records today, seven of which are all time… Record heat will go on also all September with deadly dew points and nights which never cool.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1826912289737306377
“Record rainfall floods Tokyo for the second day in a row.
“In the Japanese capital, Tokyo, streets and subways were submerged. Around 100 millimeters of rain fell in one hour in Minato-ku… The intense downpour, caused by unstable atmospheric conditions, overwhelmed the city’s drainage systems.”
https://www.africanews.com/2024/08/22/record-rainfall-floods-tokyo-for-the-second-day-in-a-row/
“Typhoon Shanshan expected to approach Japan from Tuesday [this could be a Cat 4/5 monster]…
“The agency forecasts that the typhoon will develop to the very strong level south of Japan on Tuesday. It may approach western through eastern Japan without losing most of its power.”
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240824_09/
“Torrential rain causes severe flooding, sweeps cars away in Vietnam’s mountainous province.
“Heavy rain caused severe flooding in parts of Thai Nguyen Province, northern Vietnam on Thursday, swamping streets and sweeping cars away for dozens of meters.”
“Bangkok again! After breaking the records in the southern part (Pilot station), North (Don Muang), now East Bangkok (Bang Na) also set a record of August hottest day with 37.7C (tied from…2023).
“All regions of Thailand have broken heat records this month (and the past 15).”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1826994524943438074
“Landslides across Phuket due to heavy rain have killed at least 10 people, including eight foreigners, and damaged more than 50 houses, authorities said on Friday.
“Heavy downpours in several areas across the island province from 1am on Friday led to flash floods and landslides.”
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2852618/landslides-kill-10-in-phuket
“Cars damaged and swept by flood in Langkawi [Malaysia]…
“A car was swept into the river while several other vehicles parked near the Langkawi Cable Car attraction here were damaged by strong currents from a flash flood of 0.5 metre depth following a heavy downpour here.”
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/08/23/cars-damaged-and-swept-by-flood-in-langkawi
“Parts of Kuala Lumpur have been affected by flash floods after heavy rain this evening, which is expected to worsen traffic congestion around the city.
“Some of these waterlogged roads are said to be nearly impassable for vehicles. Netizens also shared videos of the flash floods in Sentul, Jalan Tun Razak and Jalan Tun Ismail.”
https://www.msn.com/en-my/news/national/flash-floods-hit-kl-after-heavy-rain/ar-AA1peVsO
“Oodnadatta has just registered the highest winter temperature ever recorded in South Australia as the mercury soars close to 40°C in central Australia.
“An unseasonably hot air-mass caused the temperature to reach 38.5°C in Oodnadatta at 3:23pm ACST on Friday… beating the previous record of 36.5°C, also from Oodnadatta on August 12, 1946.”
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/south-australias-hottest-winter-day-on-record/1889783
“‘Humanity is failing’: official report warns our chance to save the Great Barrier Reef is fast closing.
“The Great Barrier Reef will continue to deteriorate, largely to climate change, and the window to secure its future is rapidly closing. That is the sobering conclusion of a major new report into the state of the reef.”
“SOUTH AMERICA HEAT WAVE – 11th day >40 [104F] in winter and more records broken:
“BRAZIL TMIN 27.9 Macapa; BOLIVIA: 39.5 Cobija (again!); 36.2 Concepcion (yesterday); Tmin 24.8C Trinidad… A pause is on the way before a much worse heat wave which can see up to 43C for 10+ days.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1827093331064557860
“Brazil’s Sao Paulo state said that wildfire outbreaks were affecting or closing in on 30 of its cities on Friday evening, adding two people had died in an industrial plant trying to hold back the flames.
“The cities have been affected by dry, hot weather in recent days, the government said in a statement.”
“Tarapoto again! 39.2C [102.6F] in this PERUVIAN town broke its record of hottest August day after breaking those of all 2024 months and all second half of 2023 months several times each one.
“Together with Cobija and Puerto Suarez of Bolivia, they are the world’s most record breaking stations.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1827127377282920782
“HISTORIC CARIBBEAN / SOUTH AMERICA HEAT WAVE:
“INSANE MINIMUMS 29.9 [85.8F] Grand Cayman is HOTTEST NIGHT IN HISTORY OF GRAND CAYMAN; Min 29.1 Roatan HONDURAS HOTTEST AUGUST NIGHT IN HISTORY; BOLIVIA TMINS 24.2 San Borja,25.0 Riberalta,23.9 Rurrenabaque also hottest in August.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1826702111956193566
“The Gulf is now the hottest it’s been in the modern record, according to Brian McNoldy, a climatologist at the University of Miami…
“The warm waters along the Gulf Coast are part of what draws people to the region and its many beaches. But there is such a thing as too warm — and the Gulf of Mexico has reached that point.”
https://www.vox.com/climate/368324/hurricane-season-2024-gulf-mexico-ocean-warming
“HISTORIC HEAT IN TEXAS:
“Record high MINIMUMS 87F [30.6C] at Sweetwater and several all time hottest nights (San Angelo, San Antonio) and monthly (Del Rio); 85 San Angelo; 85 Snyder; 84 Breckenbridge; 84 Del Rio,Arlington, Forth Worth NAS,Laughlin. OKLAHOMA is also sizzling with 114F!”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1827110814781702205
“Recent extreme temperatures in the Panhandle have caused several issues for those with electric vehicles.
““So, in battery electric vehicles, fully electric vehicles, the Lithium-ion batteries in them are designed to perform ideally in 68 to 86 degrees,” said Street Toyota General Manager Cory Dupriest. With temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, electric vehicle owners may see a 30% decrease in battery power.”
https://www.newschannel10.com/2024/08/23/record-breaking-heat-taking-toll-electric-vehicles/
“US delivery workers swelter in record heat – many without AC in their vans…
“Each morning, Seth Pacic packs his cooler full of ice, water jugs and hydrating foods such as pickles and grapes. He straps frozen cooling packs to his wrists, hangs another around his neck and ensures he has powdered sports drinks and a battery-operated fan on hand.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/23/ups-delivery-workers-air-conditioning
“Wells, Minnesota likely to break its own record for rainfall this year…
“Much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin have seen more then their fair-share of rainfall this year. But no part of Minnesota has been hit harder than Faribault County… Wells will almost assuredly break its own record.”
“Exceptionally high temperatures in Nunavut [Arctic Canada[, it’s never been so warm so late in the month in some places.
“27.3°C [81.1F] Arviat [dew point 18°C]; 22.2°C Baker Lake; 20.9°C Iqaluit; 18.4°C Gjoa Haven; 16.7°C Pangnirtung; 31.4°C Churchill, MB (Hx 40, dew point 21°C0>”
https://x.com/ThierryGooseBC/status/1826386084152095216
“Tipping Points – Where Things Stand…
“There are two major risks to the planetary system: 1) buffering capacity 2) crossing tipping points. And both are moving in the wrong direction much faster than anybody thought possible.”
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/08/23/tipping-points-where-things-stand/
“Doomist or realist? Meet the scientist [Jem Bendell] who says the climate collapse has already begun…
“Science communicators suggesting that the world still had time to arrest climate change were either plain wrong or for some reason unable to speak a truth he saw clearly. Large scale societal collapse was not just likely, but inevitable.”
“Exploring children’s despair in the face of climate change.
“Interventions targeting children’s eco-anxiety have focused on fostering hope, however this is disconnected from children’s need to explore and express despair regarding the climate crisis. Adults can help by acknowledging and discussing these emotions with children.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/s44271-024-00130-4
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You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back on Monday with an ”Economic” thread.
Jim Bendell the deep adaptation guy who works with the WEF techo criminals who are destroying the planet crowd. Dr Hansen must realize that 1850 bs moving lines to keep things within 1.5 degrees to if he is calling out Mann and has access to the full data set but can’t publish it without getting fired for telling the truth. At this point things are heating up so rapidly it can’t be ignored because it aint gradual warming anymore. Infrastructure being destroyed on a daily basis isn’t helping either. The censorship is getting so bad they can’t keep track of their own lies which keep moving on a daily basis. We will see how much longer the empire can hold together let alone civilization.
I’m very aware of Jem Bendell as a personage in the climate/eco-collapse doomosphere, but I must admit I haven’t read a lot of his stuff and I don’t have a sense of him as a person.
It looks like he left the WEF in 2017 to write his influential “Deep Adaptation” paper, and now runs retreats and teaches permaculture in Bali, so perhaps he is no longer moving in techno-criminal circles. He did, apparently, deal with some very, er, noteworthy individuals back in the day though:
“On the 11th September 2012, Melanie Walker of the Gates Foundation introduced me, on email, to Jeffrey Epstein.”
https://johnmenadue.com/why-i-am-not-on-the-epstein-list/
Sure peaceful protests of throwing tomatoes juice on art is productive against the world’s cabal? and replace systems with what? Sounds like he is trying to distance himself from this stuff that has been exposed for what it is but really replacing with whet type of system? More bs in my opinion as usual. Sorry i don’t buy his bs
I couldn’t read the words “green economy” in the same sentence without retching. When will people get it that the only “green” economy is one without humans in it? Otherwise, wasteland by Tuesday.
“This is near the upper limit of human survivability.”
Oh, well, there you go! Problem solved!
“green economy”
It’s oxymoronic, like “sustainable growth”. Modern industrial civilisation is inherently unsustainable and fundamentally incompatible with a healthy biosphere, as far as I can see.
Elephants, hippos to be culled for meat in drought-hit Namibia
Hmmm, not if there are many of these left in the wild, we need to call them and provide meat to communities in need…win, win,
Soon there won’t be any left at all in the wild..next to be culled and to be turned into food fodder…let me guess…👬🐕🙀
That is one aspect to all this that is not address as it should be; the devasting impact on the natural world and its vastly reduced habitat.
Yes , I agree with Heather, the censorship is tight.
Bush-meat is not the only motive for culling elephants in Namibia, sadly – they are also regarded as unwanted competition for resources:
“In Southern and Eastern Africa, the population grew from 312 million in 1994 to 633 million in 2021 according to the United Nations Population Fund. That growth has seen humans occupy more land area and increasingly encroach on wildlife habitats. Settlements and farms have also cut roaming wildlife off from water or food sources.
“As a result, humans and elephants are coming into more frequent contact and are clashing over the same resources… Climate change has also caused more elephants to wander further than they once would have – and to more unpredictable places – to seek scarce food and water.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/4/13/elephant-in-the-room-why-botswana-namibia-want-fewer-of-the-gentle-giants
I’m still waiting for the massive destructive event that will change the mindset of the masses to – Stop what you are doing. Wait! Too late! Reason, logic & critical thinking are dead.
“‘Humanity is failing’
Tell me something I didn’t know since 1964.
I’ll tell 8 billion something they are incapable of understanding. Don’t protect the habitat & suffer the collateral damage. I can’t understand why they can’t understand. “A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma”
Not Safe For Anyone: Overpopulation. No one cares now, but they will.
Those events have been occurring frequently. Any extreme record broken by a huge amount I find disturbing. From near my area, the 2022 Lismore flood is an example. Aye only ~150 years of records, but +2m? I wonder if any one has checked the No.s but I’d imagine the previous 2 records may have changed from 1:100 to 1:50 events.
That Saudi Arabia midnight temperature seems like a taste of the future. People will tolerate single random events, but a pattern will see Nordic countries as an attractive option. Turning “it” around will be like pulling the handbrake on a huge ship to induce a slide
Anyway TR, this link you posted this week I highly recommend to other site visitors. Corey has excellent insights. Thanks for sharing. His insights temper my despair.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJwsJhFK98o
Phoenix heat isn’t ceasing at night, either
August 23, 20246:19 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
KJZZ News By Katherine Davis-Young
Phoenix has set a record for the most nights with a low temperature of 90 degrees or higher. Climate change is accelerating the number of hot nights more quickly than hot days.
Phoenix, where daytime temperatures have climbed as high as 119 degrees this summer, has set a new heat record for temps at night. This summer the city’s had more nights than ever where the low temperature – the low – is 90 degrees or higher. KJZZ’s Katherine Davis-Young reports.
CERVENY: Back before 2000, we would have basically five or less days in which the temperature didn’t go below 90.
DAVIS-YOUNG: Thirty-seven nights this summer have already been that hot. The urban heat island effect is partly to blame. As Phoenix’s population has boomed, the metro area has been paved over with more and more heat-trapping concrete. But Cerveny thinks the spike in the number of 90-degree nights over the last few years has more to do with greenhouse gas emissions.
CERVENY: Carbon dioxide traps in the heat that’s collected during the day, and therefore, we get hotter during the night. So it’s one of the clear indications that we have that climate change is going on.
DAVIS-YOUNG: And round-the-clock heat creates serious health risks, especially for unsheltered people, says Dr. Nick Staab, assistant medical director for Maricopa County Public Health.
NICK STAAB: It just doesn’t give the body enough time to recover from those really high temperatures that we’re experiencing during the day.
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/23/nx-s1-5055858/phoenix-heat-isnt-ceasing-at-night-either
Thanks, VPK. I have long wondered why anyone would live in Phoenix. Cool nights are such a lovely reprieve from hot summer days. I can’t imagine such hot nights. But, that’s what air conditioning is for, right? Hahahahahah silly me.
“Phoenix has set a record for the most nights with a low temperature of 90 degrees or higher.”
I can’t help myself. 😉
Sam Kinnison – We have deserts in America but you don’t have to live
there, assholes.
Sam the Man, ironic that’s the very area where he died….reports have it he talked to the Great Spirit before he passed on to the other side
Sadly I wonder if many people add 2 degrees to their current temperature to understand the risks. It’s time for communicating the urgency of our species’ situation. Life support system failure Will Robinson? I can’t see our species disappearing, but a massively reduced footprint.
From the Counterpunch article:
“ As far back as 3,000,000 years the planet never exceeded 2C. We’ve been living in “The Corridor of Life.” It’s all we’ve got.”
Thanks again Harry, The Guardian is my preferred local mainstream media and I never stumbled across the tsunami article.
You are welcome, Sean.
I’ve been reading Bendell since his Deep Adaptation paper came out. He headlined for Extinction Rebellion too. But he is not a scientist, at least not a physical one. He’s a management prof now in self imposed exile from preaching corporate sustainablity. I must admit I was very surprised to finally read that he had been YGL, young global leader, so designated by the WEF, and he attended Davos at least once. That doesn’t make him incorrigible, maybe he was a fifth columnist!
Ian, who knows! 😂 I instinctively warm to anyone I feel is speaking plainly about our eco/climate predicament because there is so little of that going on.
I watched a recent documentary about Jem, shot at his new Buddhist retreat in Bali.
He came right out and said Bali wasn’t his first choice. He would have preferred staying in the UK, but who can afford to start a new Buddhist retreat there? So, not exactly “self-imposed exile”, just “more affordable”. Then he whinged about his allergies acting up…
He also hasn’t stopped preaching, just changed his tune from “corporate sustainability” (Must. Not. Retch.) to “Love. Truth. Courage.”
I retch every time anyone talks about anything spiritual they believe in, with no proof. Do delusional minds count as evidence?
I retched & succeded!
More fun with Bangladesh. Five million stranded by floods:
“People had no time to save anything,” Ali said. “Entire villages, all of the families who lived in them, and everything they owned. Homes, livestock, farmlands, fisheries have all been washed away.”
Wow! Gail Tverberg at Our Finite World has gone full “Lifeboat Ethics” on us.
Her latest post lays out an incredibly bleak view of the near future, economically at least.. She then speculates about what the most practical response could be. Turns out her money is on Trump.
Increasing tariffs and avoiding wars, which are presumably Trump’s policies, will “insulate” us from collapse. Whereas capping food prices, giving debt-fueled money to poor people, starting a war with China, and subsidizing various bright green vomits, presumably Kamala’s policies, will only make things much worse.
She then stretches her sci-fi wings and speculates that Trump voters will split the country in two. Kamala gets to keep the coasts. Everything else plus Mexico goes to Trump.
I wonder what they’re smoking down there in NZ…?
“, will “insulate” us from collapse.” I feel so much better now!
Whatever it is they are smoking, I’ll pass. Grow your own if possible.
Think I’ll change my handle to, Crotchety Old Hippie Codger. 😉
Found a recent TED talk that makes Guy McPherson look like a prophet. Look for “The Tipping Points of Climate Change — and Where We Stand | Johan Rockström”
– The climate crisis is accelerating. We had 0.18degC of warming per decade from 1970 to 2010. But then from 2014 onwards it abruptly jumps to 0.26degC per decade.
– If we continue on this path we will blow past 2degC above baseline in 20 years. Then we will hit 3degC by 2100.
– He then shows the famous “great acceleration” chart. Our ecological overshoot clearly shooting for the moon, starting right around 1950.
– Economically, we are seeing bigger and bigger “invoices” being sent by the Earth System to human societies all over the world. Droughts, floods, storms, heatwaves, wildfires. On every continent. 1000’s of deaths. 100’s of billions in dollars. Just in 2023! Make that trillions, with a ‘T’, by 2050.
– All of it happening at the official current global mean temp of only 1.2degC above baseline, now kissing 1.5degC. And here we are headed for 2.7degC in only 70 years!
– For the last 10,000 years Earth has been at 14degC on average, give or take 0.5degC. For the last 3 million years Earth has never exceeded 2degC above that baseline. The coldest it ever got was -5degC, Ice Age. The “corridor of life”.
– Wait! There’s more. Buffering capacity. Tipping points. Both going in the wrong direction.
– Buffering capacity is the Earth System’s ability to dampen shocks and stress. Carbon sinks, for example. About half of our carbon emissions have been soaked up by intact land and ocean sinks. The crisis we are feeling now is only half as bad as it could be.
– Forests suck up about 30% of our carbon emissions. Or at least they used to. More evidence all the time that forests across Canada and Europe are losing their carbon uptake ability. Part of the Amazon has already tipped and is no longer a carbon sink at all, but now a carbon source!
– Oceans have been sucking up about 90% of the excess heat trapped by our carbon emissions. Or at least they used to. We thought sea-surface temps were well understood, then 2023 happened. Off the charts. Literally. A full 0.4degC above anything seen since at least the 70’s. Still going strong in 2024 and scientists, as usual, are baffled.
– Are we pushing the Earth outside the “safe zone” of Holocene-like temps? A self-reinforcing and unstoppable slide into the hell of a “hothouse” Earth? If we cross the big tipping points, things like melting ice-sheets, failing ocean currents, dying coral reefs, and dying rainforests, then we already know the answer: Yes.
– If we push these things too far then we already know they will eventually flip over into a new self-amplifying state that is double-plus un-fun for Humans.
– We have identified 16 of these Earth System tipping points and they are all going in the wrong direction. Yes, much uncertainty in the estimates, but at least five of those systems are likely to tip at temps of about 1.5degC above baseline. About where we are right now.
– About 20 years ago a similar risk assessment by the IPCC gave 6degC above baseline before things might get ugly. Now? It has zoomed up to 2degC, or less. The more we learn about the Earth System the higher the risks become.
– Wait! It gets worse. The Amazon, for example. If we hit 1.5degC above baseline and lose 20-25% of forest cover it is estimated the whole thing will tip irreversibly to a dry savanna. Where are we now? 1.2degC and 17% deforestation. Very close.
– Can we avoid plunging into the abyss? If we had wanted a 50% chance to stay under 1.5degC(!) then it is estimated we had a “carbon budget” of about 2,800Gt of CO2. We’ve already burned through 2,600Gt of that. Not much left. Running out of time.
– Buckle-up folks. We know with 100% certainty that we are going to overshoot 1.5degC above baseline, in 5 to 10 years time (at most!). More floods. More droughts. More heatwaves. More wildfires. More storms. More disease. This means that 2023, the hottest year on record, will look mild by comparison.
– Predictably, he then blathers on and on and on about “rapid transitions” and “healthy planets”, even after openly admitting it is the most dire situation of his entire professional career.
Whatever. We be cooked. And a lot sooner than most people expected.
I watched the video, much more of an impact to listen to him….thank you for the link.
Only good thing is I’m old