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“Big Banks Quietly Prepare for Catastrophic Warming.
“Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and an international banking group have quietly concluded that climate change will likely exceed the Paris Agreement’s 2 degree goal and are examining how to maintain profits.”
“WOW. File this under “unprecedented as far back as observations go.”
“Not only is the 40-45 degrees temperature gradient between Boston and NYC right now something we haven’t seen before… but it’s SNOWING right now in Boston while it’s 80 in NYC! Insane backdoor gradient.” [Matthew Cappucci]
https://x.com/MatthewCappucci/status/1906087523358544095
“Yesterday in New York/La Guardia… 3:51 pm: 79°F/26.1°C; 4:51 pm: 51°F/10.6C… The station dropped 28°F/15.5°C in 1 hour, the greatest since records began! [Thierry Goose]
“…parts of NYC dropped by over 20 degrees in 10 minutes, with one station near the Jersey Shore dropping by **27 degrees** in 10 minutes!” [Tomer Burg on X]
https://x.com/ThierryGooseBC/status/1906376420949192826
“Hundreds of thousands of eastern Canadians face power outages due to ice storm…
““Outages are largely being caused by tree limbs and branches being weighed down from the accumulation of freezing rain,” Hydro One said on its website, noting there is also the risk of flooding for central Ontario.”
“Monday ice update – Arctic sea ice extent is currently the lowest on record (JAXA data).” [Zack Labe]
• about 570,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 970,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 1,540,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 1,920,000 km² below the 1980s mean
https://zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-extentconcentration/
“Arctic Alarm: Thinning Ice Could Tip Global Ocean Currents Into Chaos,
“A major ocean current in the Arctic, the Beaufort Gyre, is changing rapidly due to climate warming—and this could trigger a chain reaction that disrupts the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the system behind the Gulf Stream.”
https://scitechdaily.com/arctic-alarm-thinning-ice-could-tip-global-ocean-currents-into-chaos/
“March 2025 was the sunniest and driest in the Dutch record books…
“The sun shone for a total of 248 hours at the De Bilt weather station near Utrecht, where national records are kept, slightly surpassing the previous record set in 2022. This is almost 100 hours more than the average for March.”
https://www.dutchnews.nl/2025/03/march-2025-was-the-sunniest-and-driest-in-the-dutch-record-books/
“Early heat wave hits Europe—many areas 8°C above normal. Even Scotland will see temps 8°C higher than average this week at some point.
“The UK’s driest March in over 60 years just adds to the extremes being witnessed in this rapidly warming climate.” [Peter Dynes]
https://x.com/PGDynes/status/1906756361523728515
“Serbia: Climate change bringing new diseases to greenhouses.
“Last summer the climate change consequences were visible on almost all fields across Serbia… Due to extremely high outside temperatures, plants need to be regularly cooled. Diseases and pests that were not present in Serbia a decade ago are appearing more frequently.”
“Severe storms cause flooding and destruction on Greek islands of Mykonos and Paros…
“A powerful storm lashed the Greek islands of Paros and Mykonos on Monday, triggering widespread flooding and prompting authorities to close schools and impose a ban on all traffic except emergency vehicles.”
“A violent hailstorm transforms Martano [southern Italy] into a carpet of ice…
“The phenomenon was caused by a self-regenerating thunderstorm , which hit the area relentlessly for hours, generating intense hailstorms and leaving a white blanket on the ground similar to a winter snowfall.”
“Spain’s capital, Madrid, has recorded 920% of its average March rainfall, with 230mm [I believe this made it its wettest month on record; records going back to 1893].
“In stark contrast, other European capitals experienced one of their driest Marches ever.”
https://x.com/WxNB_/status/1906770538707796472
“Morocco’s economic growth slows as drought, locusts deplete farmland.
“The North African country is grappling with a sixth year of drought, the longest in Morocco’s modern history… The drought has severely impacted agriculture, leading to reduced crop yields and a reliance on wheat imports…”
“Locust swarms spread across central and northern Libya…
“According to Al-Tarqi, efforts to combat locust swarms face logistical challenges, in addition to other obstacles that compound the problem. Control is not limited to eliminating locusts; it also requires tracking their eggs.”
https://libyaobserver.ly/news/locust-swarms-spread-across-central-and-northern-libya
“NORTH AFRICA RECORD HEAT:
“Extreme heat continues worse than ever. Yesterday 44.8C [112.6F] at Dosso, NIGER: new record of March highest temperature.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1906344836178829599
“EXTREME HEAT BETWEEN AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST:
“Up to 46C [114.8F] at Bokoro in CHAD. Record heat also in IRAQ, especially at night. Nasiriya had a Min of 22.4C, highest ever in March.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1906779475829998076
“Heatwave cuts strawberry, mango yields in Maharashtra by 50% [India]…
“Heat-induced early ripening has damaged significant crop portions, rendering them unsellable… Mango harvests are also affected, with large fruits developing scars and increased premature fruit drop. Mango blossoms are drying up, reducing production.”
“RECORD HEAT IN INDIAN SUBCONTINENT; Endless record heat all 2025 and it’s just getting worse.
“MARCH HOTTEST NIGHT IN HISTORY TMINS. BANGLADESH: 27 [80.6F] Mongla and Gopalganj; 26.2 Jessore, 26 Feni, 24.8 Sylhet etc… records in almost all stations… INDIA: 27.5 Kolkata Alipore, 27.2 Chandbali.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1906285274050543985
“Nepal farmers abandon fields as severe drought takes toll…
“Farmers, heavily reliant on rainfall and irrigation, have been forced to abandon cultivation as erratic weather patterns and dwindling water sources take their toll. Even the nearby Andheri stream, once a lifeline for irrigation, is slowly drying up due to reduced rainfall.”
https://borneobulletin.com.bn/nepal-farmers-abandon-fields-as-severe-drought-takes-toll/
“Raging wildfires drive pollution surge in Kathmandu…
“Amid widespread wildfires raging across the country, the Kathmandu Valley ranked the world’s most polluted city on Monday afternoon, with PM2.5 levels soaring to 365 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m3), the hazardous level.”
“Climate Change Extends Korea’s Wildfire Risk By 120 Days…
“In North Gyeongsang, particularly around the Sobaek Mountain Range, the risk period reached up to 151 days per year—more than ten times the 14 days recorded before industrialization.”
https://evrimagaci.org/tpg/climate-change-extends-koreas-wildfire-risk-by-120-days-307836
“South Korea’s wildfire-devastated ecosystem may take a century to recover.
“While the recovery varies by the type of living organisms — ranging from fish, marine invertebrates to insects, trees require decades to regrow and forest animals depend on sufficient habitat recovery. Soil restoration takes longer due to complex ecological processes.”
https://asianews.network/south-koreas-wildfire-devastated-ecosystem-may-take-a-century-to-recover/
“Vietnam strengthens forest fire response in Tuyen Quang following March fires…
“Reforestation and recovery plans are underway in fire-affected districts. The Provincial Red Cross has launched support efforts for families of fire victims. Miltary and police units have been instructed to support local firefighting activities.”
“EXCEPTIONAL HEAT ALLOVER THE TROPICS. From the Pacific to the Indian Ocean, March record heat keep falling everywhere. Here some islands:
“THAILAND 36.0 [96.8F] Koh Samui; MALDIVES 33.5 Gan; PALAU Tmin 27.2 Hottest March night in history; MICRONESIA Tmin 27.8 Pohnpei Record broken 8 times!”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1906330571594187165
“Australia Braces for a Deadly Viral Threat Spurred by Cyclone Alfred…
“A common cause of viral encephalitis in many Asian countries, JEV has slowly but surely made its way into northern Australia. It is a zoonotic single-stranded RNA virus transmitted by mosquitos between its amplifying hosts—pigs and waterbirds—and humans.”
“More than 100,000 head of livestock estimated lost during flooding in outback Queensland.
“Early estimates indicate more than 105,348 head of livestock are dead or lost in the ongoing outback Queensland floods. Industry figures say the losses could be “catastrophic” for graziers.”
“Rain records to fall in Queensland with Townsville to set new annual high – in April…
“Rainfall totals at Townsville airport were sitting at 2.35 metres for the year so far, he said, just 50mm shy of the city’s wettest year on record, when 2.4 metres was recorded over a period of 12 months in 2000.”
“EXCEPTIONAL COLD IN ANTARTICA:
“-75.5C [-103.9F] reached in the French-Italian station of Concordia: This is just 0.6C above the world record of lowest temperature ever recorded in March.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1906302934926737424
“Alto Paraguay Regional Government declares emergency due to flooding isolating its territory.
“The Alto Paraguay Departmental Council declared a state of emergency in its territory due to the severe isolation suffered by the populations of that part of the Paraguayan Chaco…”
“Severe Flooding Hits São Paulo And ABC Paulista Region [Brazil].
“Santo André and Mauá were particularly hard hit, with reports of submerged vehicles, halted train services, and widespread chaos as residents struggled to navigate the inundated streets.”
https://evrimagaci.org/tpg/severe-flooding-hits-so-paulo-and-abc-paulista-region-308475
“Emergency in Colombia: Heavy rains cause severe flooding in Cali.
“This Monday, March 31, Cali woke up under a blanket of torrential rains that transformed the city into an emergency situation. The rains have had a devastating impact on urban infrastructure.”
“Recent flooding in Port-de-Paix [Haiti] highlights the urgency of climate disorder and its uneven impacts in Haiti…
“The flooding in Port-de-Paix illustrates what Haitians call “climate disorder”—the unpredictable, unjust, destructive reality of our changing climate. It shows how extreme weather events and climate disasters uniquely burden the lives of Haitian women…”
“The Panama Canal’s other conflict: Water security for the population and the global economy.
“The Panama Canal is one of the most important waterways in the world, with about 7% of global trade passing through… But the same freshwater is also essential for Panama’s many other needs, including drinking water for about 2 million Panamanians…”
“BRUTAL HEAT IN MEXICO:
“46.6C [116F] Gallinas on the 30th (probably more on 31st, max coming later); Monthly records of highest temperature: 42.0C Tuxtla Gutierrez; 36.1C Guadalajara.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1906946800033894562
“A wildfire raging through California’s Eastern Sierra region has scorched 1,000 acres and triggered evacuations across multiple counties.
“The Silver Fire, which ignited on Sunday afternoon near Highway 6 and Silver Canyon Road in Inyo County, is currently zero percent contained…”
“EXTRAORDINARY WARM NIGHT IN EASTERN USA:
“Records of March highest minimums in several areas, including Texas (73F / 23C Del Rio) up north to the DC area with minimums up to 69F! A true summer night. 69 Stafford, 68 Patuxent River, 67 Culpeper, 67 Fredericksburg.”
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/1906517332098523225
“A ‘Broiling’ Hot Summer Is Ahead For Most Of U.S., Forecasts Predict…
“Last year saw one of the hottest summers on record, with a nationwide average temperature of 73.8 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2.5 degrees above normal. It was also Earth’s hottest summer since global records began in 1880, surpassing a 2023 record.”
https://patch.com/us/across-america/broiling-hot-summer-ahead-most-u-s-forecasts-predict
“Yes, your allergies are getting worse. It’s the worst allergy season ever. Again. Just like last year…
“Sneezing and sniffles are some of the sirens of climate change. In fact, because of warming, pollen is now a nearly year-round menace in some parts of the US.”
https://www.vox.com/climate/406499/climate-change-seasonal-allergies-2025-pollen
“The U.S. beekeeping industry is in crisis over the shocking and unexplained deaths of hundreds of millions of bees over the last eight months.
“It’s an unfolding disaster for the industry. Blake Shook, one of the nation’s top beekeepers… said that he’s never seen losses like this. “The data is showing us this is the worst bee loss in recorded history,” Shook told “CBS Saturday Morning.””
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bee-deaths-food-supply-stability-honeybees/
“Butterflies: Magnificent Victims of Intense Climate Change…
“Climate change is altering butterfly habitats, turning their species-rich, mountain refuges into traps, finds new research by U.S. and German scientists.”
https://ens-newswire.com/butterflies-magnificent-victims-of-intense-climate-change/
“Nearly 1 in 3 Studied Fungi Threatened With Extinction From Deforestation, Climate Change…
“Fungi are the second-largest kingdom after animals… They perform a myriad of essential functions that underpin the very foundation of life on our planet, from breaking down complex organic matter… to helping regulate soil erosion and retain moisture, enhancing the soil’s ability to sequester carbon.”
“Global sea surface temperatures continue to be the 2nd hottest on record.
“La Nina?” [Prof Eliot Jacobson] [There is still a somewhat cool patch in the east-central Pacific]
https://bsky.app/profile/climatecasino.net/post/3lljmah5kws2q
“Global warming of more than 3°C this century may wipe 40% off the world’s economy, new analysis reveals… [A broader analysis than most yet still too narrowly focused thus optimistic]
“Previous models have asserted economies in cold parts of the world, such as Russia and Northern Europe, will benefit from warmer global temperatures. However, we found the impact on the global economy was so large, all countries will be badly affected.”
“Reconsidering Sovereignty Amid the Climate Crisis…
“…policymakers should consider new legal options to address climate-induced boundary changes. These may include the creation of fictitious boundaries, collective sovereignty, hybrid citizenship, and corridors for climate displacement.”
https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2025/03/reconsidering-sovereignty-amid-the-climate-crisis
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You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an “Economic” thread.
The first headline mentioning the big banks whispering about profits in a 2°C world is the stuff of pure evil. No question about it.
Isn’t it though. If only it was an april fools post…
That’s corporate psychopathy for you, I guess.
“”Wall Street knows how to run the numbers, and right now the smart money expects warming to exceed 2 degrees, explained Jain, the former investment banker. “These guys are not making assumptions out of the blue,” he said. “They are following the science.””
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/big-banks-quietly-prepare-for-catastrophic-climate-change/
I wonder if they understand how soon that is likely to happen.
The banks have known this for a long time.
While policymakers are still choking on their own climate round tables, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have quietly written off the Paris temperature targets. 1.5°C? A dream. 2°C? Unachievable. The new reality is called 3°C — and there is plenty of money to be made there.
What follows is not indignation, but portfolio optimization. In footnotes and client reports, we read how the air conditioning market can grow by 7% annually. Not in spite of, but thanks to a warming planet. While tropical countries become unlivable and harvests fail, the value of cooling stocks rises. The banks are adjusting their strategy accordingly — and in the meantime are quietly shirking their Net-Zero obligations. The moral theater is making way for Excel.
The bitter truth is that they are following the science. But not to intervene, only to rearrange their positions in time. This is no longer a time of transition, but a time of profitable failure
“…not to intervene, only to rearrange their positions in time.”
This is the sad truth, Zip.
I suppose, as with the insurance industry, there is simply too much money involved for the big banks not to pay attention to the science, even as they publicly vacillate on climate change to curry favour with the new US administration.
The bee death and fungi extinction stories… April Fool’s jokes, I hope!?
Nope.
My heart is so heavy and my head is exploding.
Cassandra, I feel it too as once a beekeeper myself and had to defend myself in local court case to keep them in my backyard. The charge was I was keeping “wild animals” and my defense was they were actually “”domesticated insects”. The judge relented and allowed me to keep my two hives and no more. What propelled my interest in beekeeping was a book my a man Richard Taylor, “The Joys of Beekeeping”…not a “how to” book but a “why to” book.
I moved and gave them to a beekeeper and since then learned it is difficult endeavor nowadays. I do notice honeybees in my yard and smile 😀 that there are some still hanging on….
Just looked up this on Google..
Summary
The populations of many pollinator insects – bees, wasps, and butterflies – are in decline. Many crops rely on pollinators which raises concerns about the future of our food.
Three-quarters of our crops depend on pollinators to some extent, but only one-third of global crop production does. This is because many of our largest producing crops (staples such as cereals) are not dependent on them at all.
Very few crops are completely dependent. Most would see a decline in yields if pollinator insects disappeared, but would not collapse completely. Taking all this in account, studies suggest crop production would decline by around 5% in higher income countries, and 8% at low-to-middle incomes if pollinator insects vanished.
Typical tunnel vision analysis….probably done by the banksters
Anne and Vince, I am sorry you are hurting. ❤
I really feel for those of you who come from an environmentalist/activist background and have fought the good fight with hope in your hearts, only to see our remorseless despoliation of the planet continue unabated.
We have a new Ferengi Rule of Acquisition:
Climate change is good for business.
…
“When the last tree is cut, the last river poisoned, and the last fish dead, we will discover that we can’t eat money…” Maybe not even then.
Goran, I recognised your Native American proverb, of course, but had to Google “Ferengi Rule of Acquisition”:
“The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition are a collection of business proverbs, originating from the fictional Star Trek universe, which are a core part of the Ferengi culture, emphasizing profit and acquisition above all else, eg. “Once you have their money, you never give it back,” or “A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.”” [AI]
We also have a lot in common with Douglas Adams’ fictional proto-humans, the Golgafrinchams, who make the leaf their currency after crash-landing on planet earth… and then start burning down the forests to curb inflation. 😂
https://insidethemagic.net/2025/03/disney-castle-fire-ad1/
Disney parks are failing apart with major infrastructure problems weekly surprised not daily.
Here just one for this week.next week could be sewage problems in Florida
At least Disney’s latest movie, “Snow White…kinda”is breaking all records and will bail them out financially…I got to go and see it myself 🦃.
My goodness, how have we reached a point where even a remake of “Snow White” can be a bitterly divisive cultural flashpoint?
“The US government agency that regulates television says it is opening an investigation into Disney’s diversity and inclusion practices, in the latest sign of pressure being applied to media firms.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62k20l5x24o
Bobby again with what is imo the greatest song of the postwar era:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5al0HmR4to
Oh, what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what’ll you do now, my darling young one?
I’m a-goin’ back out ’fore the rain starts a-fallin’
I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
Where the executioner’s face is always well hidden
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten
Where black is the color, where none is the number
And I’ll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it
Then I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’
But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
Dylan wrote that when he was twenty freakin years old. The price of that early blooming genius was to live in its shadow for the rest of his life. In an interview from the 80s he said he couldn’t write like that anymore. That whatever enabled his twenty y.o self to become the voice of a generation and channel timeless wisdom into achingly beautiful verse just wasn’t there anymore. Personally I think it was the incandescent spirit of the 60s interacting with talent blessed by favourable circumstances. Anyway, the Nobel was 100% deserved.
Vince, it is lyrically exquisite… Dylan may have felt his quality dropped off but he has apparently kept churning out the music – “40 studio albums, 21 live albums, 17 volumes of The Bootleg Series, 44 compilation albums.”
Billy Joel stopped writing music altogether in 1993 for fear that he could not replicate his former brilliance, although I gather that he started again just last year.
I know, so sorry, 😑 don’t do it, but it’s April fool’s day
T is reportedly intent on rewriting an Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 endangerment finding, which found greenhouse gases are a threat to public health and welfare, in order to downplay the negative effects of climate change. He’s working to decimate climate reporting in general. He also wants to muddy the waters by producing a National Climate Assessment written by climate deniers who argue that the impacts of climate change are overstated — or would even be a net positive.
From an article Rolling Stones
We are all April Fools today for allowing the global ruling class to drag us into ecological and financial ruin.
Currently reading Mike Davis’ Prisoners of the American Dream, where he describes how racial divisions, state repression, and labor bureaucracies fragmented worker solidarity, while the two-party system co-opted progressive energy, leaving workers trapped in an illusion of upward mobility.
“American capitalism has been singularly effective in shaping not only the economic conditions but also the ideological horizons of its working class, binding it to a system that denies it power while promising it a future that never arrives.”
We Americans are trapped inside the belly a dying, raging, rotting beast.
Nolan, I fear we all are. The US is certainly running on fumes, though:
“Looking at the economic performance of the United States in recent years, SEEDS analysis reveals that aggregate economic prosperity increased by only 2.2% between 2019 and 2024. This was below the rate of increase in population numbers between those years (+2.5%), such that the average American was slightly less prosperous last year than he or she had been back in pre-pandemic 2019.
“As voters went to the polls in November, though, official data showed that the economy was on course to have grown by 12.5% since 2019, making the average person almost 10% better off. Polls showing very high levels of public economic dissatisfaction and anxiety were disregarded as being contrary to the economic “facts”.
“On this basis, America’s tech-heavy business and political establishment didn’t expect Mr Trump to win, let alone to sweep the board of Presidency, House, Senate and the popular vote.
“For the energy-aware analyst, any disparity between measured prosperity (+2.2%) and reported GDP (+12.5%) requires explanation. In this instance, there were two explanations, and neither was hard to find.
“First, systemic inflation had been severely under-reported. According to the GDP deflator, inflation across the economy compounded at 3.7% annually between 2019 and 2024. But RRCI – the SEEDS measure of comprehensive inflation – put this at 5.7% between those years. Second, most of the reported “growth” in American GDP was sleight-of-hand, created by the spending of vast amounts of money borrowed by the government.”
https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/2025/02/03/298-energy-not-money-the-sequence-unfolds/
How stupid! Celebrating April’s fool when the species have been acting like fools since the first one walked on two legs.
Just heard this.
I haven’t looked at any post or comment, I had to share this.
What innovation comes with every Tesla?
White Power Steering. 😉