Very many thanks to this month’s kind sponsor, John Bee, who wishes me to exhort, “Go Steelers!”
“‘A harbinger of what’s to come:’ NASA satellites show massive drop in global freshwater levels…
Since 2015, our planet’s lakes, rivers and aquifers have lost 290 cubic miles (1,200 cubic km) of fresh water, the equivalent of emptying Lake Erie two and a half times… the freshwater levels have yet to recover — and may never come back.”
“‘The 12-month moving-average global temp continues to be near record warm at 1.64 °C above the 1850-1900 average.’
“Global warming has accelerated!”
https://x.com/LeonSimons8/status/1859926783551848615
“How hot is 2024?
“Here is a graphic showing the number of days (by day of the year) that the global mean surface temperature broke 15.5°C (60°F).”
https://bsky.app/profile/climatecasino.net/post/3lbk33khpxs2z
“More climate trivia — here is a graph showing the single hottest day of each year, 1940 – 2024.
“The only two years breaking 17.0°C are 2023 and 2024, with 2024 the hottest of them all. There appears to be a trend.”
https://bsky.app/profile/climatecasino.net/post/3lbk5w6zmt222
“Carbon Levels Soar As Natural Sinks Reach Their Breaking Point…
“…fires and droughts led to substantial vegetation loss, weakening the land ecosystem’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide. This was further compounded by a particularly strong El Niño, which historically reduces the carbon absorption capacity in the Tropics.””
https://scitechdaily.com/carbon-levels-soar-as-natural-sinks-reach-their-breaking-point/
“Could UK have the lowest oilseed rape planted area since the 80s?
“…A 17% decline in the oilseed rape planted area is forecast for next year. This could be its lowest area in the UK for 42 years. The final area could be even lower depending on damage from pests.”
“Spain’s floods force some UK sellers to buy oranges from southern hemisphere…
“Some British retailers and wholesalers have been forced to switch to sourcing oranges from South Africa and South America early after last month’s “catastrophic” floods in eastern Spain left farmers struggling to harvest and ship their crops.”
“Spectacular turnaround in Western Europe: For example, Paris is having full winter conditions with snow but, with the hot air moving up from Morocco, will have a night min. temperature around +16C on Monday, typical of July!
“Hundreds of records of late November warmest nights will fall.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1859962801273606339
“Depression Caetano results in November snow records in Switzerland…
“The heavy snowfall has led to record snow cover for November in various places in German-speaking Switzerland. In Lucerne, 42 centimetres of fresh snow were measured, in Glarus 36 centimetres and in Zurich and Basel 28 centimetres each.”
“For the first time since records began, the Czech Republic’s average annual temperature is expected to surpass 10 degrees Celsius.
“If November and December maintain average conditions, the annual average will reach 10.3°C—0.6°C higher than 2023.”
https://praguemorning.cz/czechia-likely-to-record-warmest-year-in-history/
“This summer marked the hottest on record in the Aegean, Ionian and Cretan seas, with water temperatures surpassing 28 Celsius in extensive areas.
“Scientists have documented a significant, long-term rise in sea temperatures, averaging an increase of 0.59C per decade.”
“Summer never ends in the Canary Islands.
“Every day, until the end of the month, we will see temperatures up to 30/35C [95F], typical of mid summer with locally very hot nights as well. The same in Morocco. Very warm with tropical nights also in Madeira.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1859590086335058069
“A Nigerian reserve, once a stronghold for chimps, is steadily losing its forest to farming…
“Oluwa is situated in the humid tropics, where nearly all fires are caused by human disturbance such as slash-and-burn agriculture …unlike ecosystems such as boreal forests that evolved hand-in-hand with fire, humid tropical forests are not adapted to fire and less likely to naturally recover.”
“South Sudan: Conflict and flooding fuels food crisis with 30% more children to face malnutrition.
““Large swathes of South Sudan are currently under water… Earlier this year, schools were closed across the country as scorching temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) threatened the lives of millions of school-going children.”
“Endless record heat in Middle East.
“Today the scorcher reached the Iranian coast with an exceptional 37.3C [99.1F] at Bandar Lengeh, a new record of highest temperature for November. The record heat will go on for any foreseeable future and will break all records for December as well.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1860012145146233328
“Tajikistan: Over 1,000 Glaciers Have Melted in 30 Years (Minister)…
““Over the past 30 years, out of 14,000 glaciers in Tajikistan, more than 1,000 glaciers of vital importance to the entire region have disappeared,” stated Daler Djouma, the Tajik Minister of Energy and Water Resources, at an event held at COP29 in Baku, as reported on the ministry’s website.”
https://al24news.com/en/tajikistan-over-1000-glaciers-have-melted-in-30-years-minister/
“Afghanistan: Caught between climate change and global indifference…
“In 2024, Afghanistan experienced severe flooding that devastated vital agricultural land in the northern provinces, and hundreds of people were killed. Before this, the country was ravaged by drought for three consecutive years.”
“Climate breakdown. Location Guangdong, China; Disaster Extreme rainfall, 2024. This is Jie’s story…
“”Over the past few years, I’ve become very aware of how the weather is affecting agriculture. The changes have been quite drastic. This spring, there was a lot of rain. With constant rain, there’s not enough sunlight so the seeds would get mouldy.””
“Typhoon Yagi disrupts Vietnam’s Tet crop supply, driving up prices.
“Super typhoon Yagi, striking Northern Vietnam in early September, affected traditional craft villages in Hanoi, notably impacting the peach and kumquat gardens in the Nhat Tan, Phu Thuong, and Tu Lien wards of Tay Ho District.”
“Bandung’s Cisunggala River Dam Collapses After Heavy Rains [Java, Indonesia]…
“Several areas remain inundated. In Bojongosang Village, floodwaters reached depths of 50-110 centimeters, while in Bojongsari Village, the depth ranged from 30-80 centimeters.”
https://en.tempo.co/read/1944347/bandungs-cisunggala-river-dam-collapses-after-heavy-rains
“Preparing for climate chaos in Timor-Leste, one of the world’s most vulnerable nations…
“In Orlalan, the evacuation process during a disaster follows a meticulous five-step plan. First, national authorities issue an early warning of the impending danger. Community leaders then meet to assess escape routes and identify safe shelters.”
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/11/1157226
“Temperatures have soared about 15C above average as a heatwave moves through southeastern parts of Australia…
““Coonawarra in southeastern South Australia had its warmest November day, it got to 37.8C on Friday… places like Mount Gambier, Ballarat and at Essendon Airport around Melbourne Creek all [set] records for the warmest November night.”
“Climate Change: Australia’s Great Barrier sees hottest sea surface temperatures on record.
“PROF. TERRY HUGHES James Cook University “Everyone I know who studies coral bleaching for a living is upset and affected by this.””
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-11-21/VHJhbnNjcmlwdDgxOTU4/index.html
“Elephant seal colonies in Argentina face long recovery after ‘catastrophic’ avian flu…
“The 300-kilometer (186-mile) coastline of the Valdés Peninsula, a popular breeding area for southern elephant seals, saw 17,400 of the 18,000 pups die at the end of last year, according to a December 2023 study in Marine Mammal Science.”
“Serious flooding reported in Mesitas del Colegio [Colombia]…
“Serious emergencies were reported on the night of Wednesday, November 20 due to torrential downpours that fell in the municipality of El Colegio, popularly known as Mesitas, where a river overflowed and, in addition, there was a collapse in the sewage system…”
https://www.infobae.com/colombia/2024/11/21/reportan-graves-inundaciones-en-mesitas-del-colegio/
“The city of La Ceiba, in the Caribbean of Honduras, is once again facing a serious flooding crisis, after the first cold front of the season generated intense rains in the region.
“During the early hours of Thursday, rainfall caused rivers and streams to overflow, affecting numerous neighborhoods and nearby communities.”
https://www.elpais.hn/video-la-ceiba-intransitable-por-inundaciones-en-sus-calles/
“CARIBBEAN RECORD HEAT – record warm nights in Honduras with 2 minimums in a row >27C [80.6F] at Roatan Island.
“Hottest November night on record at Tela with a minimum of 25.7C. Record heat in the Caribbeans will go on into December.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1859688238602125350
“Cuban agriculture reels as Hurricane Rafael worsens food shortages…
“Cuban farmer Leonardo Abreu… lost beans, yucca, mango and avocado trees and an almost unfathomable number of bananas. Fences, too. His power lines are down, his generator broken. He has not had electricity for two weeks. He has no water to irrigate crops.”
“Here is the anomaly chart for Gulf of Mexico sea surface temps… 4.2 standard deviations above the 1982-2011 mean…
“Yikes!!!”
https://bsky.app/profile/climatecasino.net/post/3lbkzzmhdgs25
“Historic storm breaks Santa Rosa’s all-time three-day rainfall record [California]…
“As of 4 p.m. Friday, 12.47 inches had fallen on Santa Rosa since a massive atmospheric river barged into the North Bay early Wednesday. That volume of precipitation, said Rick Canepa, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, was the most since the service began keeping records on June 1, 1902.”
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/record-rain-santa-rosa-atmospheric-river/
“Flash Drought Gripping US Threatens to Raise Food Prices in 2025…
“A flash drought that has taken hold of much of the US is threatening to push beef prices higher and could damage winter wheat crops across the Great Plains… ‘It meets the criteria of a flash drought,” Mark Svoboda said. “It really is the textbook definition of a rapidly intensifying drought.””
“Oklahoma shatters record for November tornadoes.
“So far in the month of November, 23 tornadoes have been recorded in Oklahoma. That’s nearly double the original record set in 1958. It’s possible that record will continue to grow, as tornado surveys are still ongoing.”
“Pennsylvania sees record wildfires this fall…
““We have already had more wildfires this fall than we had in the spring and we have burned almost three times the amount of acres this fall than we had in the springtime of this year,” Stelter said.”
“Lake St. Clair water temps: Almost hard to believe how warm it is…
“The current water temperatures on Lake St. Clair are blowing away the previous warm water record for mid-November… Lake St. Clair currently has the largest anomaly of surface water temperatures on the Great Lakes system.”
“Montreal Headed for Its Warmest Fall on Record…
“Meteorological fall, which runs from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30, has been exceptionally warm for much of the eastern half of Canada… Quebec is no exception. Temperatures have run several degrees above seasonal for much of November…”
“Cop29: $250bn climate finance offer from rich world an insult, critics say…
“Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez, Panama’s climate envoy, told the Guardian: “This is definitely not enough. What we need is at least $5tn a year, but what we have asked for is just $1.3tn.”
“Islam, nature, and climate change: faith-inspired solutions for a greener future…
“At Cop29, religious climate change activists are taking part in a “Faith Pavilion”, organised by the Muslim Council of Elders, a UAE based organisation, with a programme of workshops, plenary sessions and speeches offering spiritual, moral and ethical perspectives on climate action.”
“Proclaiming Jesus Christ in a time of climate crisis…
“If we regularly meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist personally, interpersonally and cosmically, then I think we will be ready and very willing to take up our responsibility for God’s creation and our common home.”
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2024/11/22/cameli-laudato-si-climate-christology-249172
“Zen meets sustainability: Shaolin abbot champions Buddhist wisdom to combat climate crisis.
“Shi Yongxin, abbot of China’s Shaolin Temple, emphasised the need to shift humanity’s values and behaviours, promoting simplicity, respect for nature and “spiritual environmentalism” as key to achieving harmony with the planet.”
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Zen meets sustainability..
Okay.
Doom Wizard, Zen qualities like mindfulness, groundedness and a sense of connection with the flow of nature are all good antidotes to that gnawing sense of want and insufficiency that has caused humans to do so much harm to the planet.
However, it is hard enough for individual humans to transcend their personal conditioning, status anxiety etc. and achieve that kind of maturity, so I’m not holding out any hope for some mass transformation of consciousness. We’re all kind of locked in to a global economy that has its own momentum and emergent agenda now anyway, so…
Not Buddhist but I did like this prophetic quote from the Dao De Jing, written over 2000 years ago:
In harmony with the Tao,
the sky is clear and spacious,
the earth is solid and full,
all creature flourish together,
content with the way they are,
endlessly repeating themselves,
endlessly renewed.
When humanity interferes with the Tao,
the sky becomes filthy,
the earth becomes depleted,
the equilibrium crumbles,
creatures become extinct.
Hilarious! That cracked me up!
The continued march of religion in a dying species is a wonder to behold.
Martin, I wonder if it will even see a bit of a renaissance as times get tougher and human impotence becomes increasingly obvious.
Anyone else see the brotherhood between transformational adaptation (COP) and effective altruism?
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/30/ai-debate-culture-clash-dc-silicon-valley-00133323
Mad Hatter, both concepts are new to me. Effective Altruism sounds good in theory, ie maximising efficacy of charitable spending, if I understand it correctly, but it all sounds very politicised now.
I can’t find a concise, universally accepted definition of transformational adaptation. I’d suggest they are just clever-sounding buzzwords to help policy-makers keep justifying their own existence, if I were feeling cynical. 😂
“All professions are conspiracies against the laity,” as George Bernard-Shaw said.
Affective altruism means helping humans 1000’s if years into the future, even if it means letting humans suffer/die now.
I first came across it in Supremacy by Parmy Olson, very interesting origin story of AI, the initial ideals of helping humanity and now the mess of manipulation and power that it has become. Available on Bortowbox from my library.
Transformational adaptation came up at the COP, again some airy fairy plan to do naff all now in favour of vaguely doing something in the future. Just to try and make us think they have a handle on it 🤣
Mad Hatter, it looks like long-termism kind of grew out of the Effective Altruism movement. I see the link you are drawing with Transformational Adaptation now.
“Longtermism is the idea that we should prioritize positively influencing the long-term future of humanity — hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years from now. The idea emerged out of effective altruism (EA), a broader social movement dedicated to wielding reason and evidence to do the most good possible for the most people…
“Tech billionaires like Elon Musk take it to extremes, working to colonize Mars as “life insurance” for the human species because we have “a duty to maintain the light of consciousness” rather than going extinct.”
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23298870/effective-altruism-longtermism-will-macaskill-future
The COP29 president Mukhtar Babayev says ‘Time is not on our side’, as the UN’s climate talks is on verge of collapse.
“Time is not on our side” How profound. Can we hit the snooze button?
I imagine they will claim the carbon trading deal as a victory and we will roll on to COP30 in Belem, where delegates will apparently be sleeping on cruise ships:
“Plagued by pollution and violence, is the COP30 host city [Belem] ready to take over from Baku? …Three major hotels are under development, but that won’t provide enough rooms, so organisers plan to get cruise ships that can house up to 5,000 people.”
https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/11/22/plagued-by-pollution-and-violence-is-the-cop30-host-city-ready-to-take-over-from-baku
Some amazing comments written under this article
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/nov/23/spanish-villages-people-forced-to-buy-back-own-drinking-water-drought-flood
Example comment: “These companies that extract(steal) the water from our rivers, streams and springs are the work of the devil. In California, Nestle has been stealing our water for decades even during sever drought they keep pumping and in my host country of Chile, almost all the water is owned by foreigners. I never buy anything from Nestle who pollutes the world with single use plastic bottles. Boycott those companies and raise awareness in your cities and towns to these parasites that show up and rob your water and turn around and sell it back to you. They pay pennies for acres of clean water that would make a Central Valley farmer in California blush and vend it back for a 1,000,000 percent profit. Enough is enough!”
“Nestlé is to separate its water and “premium beverages” activities into a global stand-alone business from the start of next year. The move is part of a wider plan Nestlé presented today (19 November) at the company’s capital markets day to “fuel and accelerate growth”.”
https://www.just-drinks.com/news/nestle-to-spin-off-water-business-in-attempt-to-fuel-growth/
Growth … Streuth
What’s on Deck for Climate Change? by Robert Hunziker
https://dissidentvoice.org/2024/11/whats-on-deck-for-climate-change/
“Experts on climate change are at a loss for words and at a loss for understanding how and why the climate change issue, which is negatively impacting planetary ecosystems, is largely ignored. The proof of this is found at the celebrated UN climate conferences, where talk is cheap, like COP29 held in oil-rich Azerbaijan. These are annual events with a long history of poor results. This frustrating stagnation has been ongoing for over 30 years.
Meanwhile, climate denialists, including the entire Republican Party, have brainwashed the public that climate change is not all that it’s cracked out to be, “no worries, it’s a hoax, ignore the radical leftists, ignore science, and oh, yes, they are communists.””
Thank you, Edward.
“For decades we’ve known fossil fuels can be completely replaced by renewables …in Dr. Carter’s words: “It is time to panic: Yes, panic.””
It must be tormenting to believe that there is a fix for climate change but that it is not being implemented because people are too oblivious or greedy to do so. I’d be running around tearing out my hair, too.
Um, there’s these things called transnational corporations, either private or state-owned, and they own virtually everything in our global supersystem, so you’d better account for their power in any description of any damn thing.
But to say so is like being the boy pointing out the emperor’s lack of clothes.
Even Andreas Malm and Wim Cantor in their new book “Overshoot” document all the fakery and phoniness in Big Oil and IPCC histories, but somehow want to conjure a global slashing of emissions nonetheless.
Keeping under 1.5 means magical guillotine work on entireties of these massively entrenched industries and their banking, technical, and social providers. Keeping under 2.0 means only a little less of a complete guillotine, but there is not the slightest prospect or means to even start that.
Profits are up. Projects are in the pipeline all over the world. Paychecks flow to the associates every second. And time’s running out. Only dummies and psychopaths gravitate toward electoral office.
Put those facts together, and what’s that spell?
Breaking News!
Economics & environmental destruction are completely unaffected by political parties & their voters. Tariffs, fiat currency, appear out of thin air.
This species has hit rock bottom & still continues it’s desire to fall farther.
How’s those personal choices working out?
Demonic forces would say of Earth, Oh look, we’ve discovered a wonderful potential hell realm, such high potential entropy, quick, let us wallow a while in it’s desolation and despair a time; and breath in the stench of its selfish dwellers., absorb their fear and feed on their lust and hate of each other, before their owner returns.
I keep an open mind on such matters, Kadmon.
It’s the best thing about you Panopticon
This climate activist says AI is ‘useless, unsustainable and has no benefit to society’ BY Joseph Boyle and AFP November 14, 2024 at 9:05 AM EST
https://fortune.com/europe/2024/11/14/this-climate-activist-says-ai-is-useless-unsustainable-no-benefit-to-society/
She implored tech bosses to embrace the circular economy, which relies on reusing and recycling rather than creating products that end up being junked.
But one year on, Microsoft, Google and others have unleashed an endless stream of energy-gobbling AI products.
They have rushed to reopen nuclear plants, pledged to build many more data centres — and crashed through their climate targets.
…Shit is going to get so bad so fast. The food chain is going to break. We will see mass malnourishment if not mass starvation,” she said.
The power grid, too, will break down.
Against this background, products like cars and new clothes are superfluous.
“You can’t have cars in the long term. It doesn’t matter if they’re electric or not. They’re unsustainable,” she said.
“We can’t be producing 80 billion garments of clothing a year in a low carbon future.”
Thanks. Spot on. But, almost no one believes her.
I posted this at Our Finite World and the only dismissal was the circular economy. Gail thinks using less energy doesn’t work until it doesn’t…Oh well, it’s nice to dream
“Shit is going to get so bad so fast.”
What can I do to speed it up?
I grew up having to walk downhill with two empty buckets to the well, draw water to fill the buckets & walk uphill with full buckets,no shower. Used an outhouse, always seemed to have enough magazines & other paper to finish the job. The lighting was a single wire with a pull chain hanging from the center of the ceiling. A man would come by in a open sided school bus with shelves of produce & other items for those that couldn’t make it to town more than once or twice a month. My grandmother had neighbors that lived in a house with a dirt floor.
I’m looking forward to the 1st Worlders’ crying & gnashing of teeth. Spoiled brats!
Some Baby Boomers are bad to the bone. 😉
TR, that was one of your most memorable replies, thank you.
I remember being a Baby Boomer myself, my relative talking about living on a dirt floor in the “Old Country” with the farm animals to keep from freezing in the winter.
Now we have cats and dogs to fill in that role.
We are spoiled rotten to the bobe