Seawater intrusion below glaciers may be reaching a tipping point (or have even passed it) suggesting we could be about to see a significant sea level rise.

Aha, say the sceptics, this is 'may' and 'could'... we want the facts.

The problem is that approach to the climate is what has got us where we are... climate scientists have been warning us for years, and their estimates/fears have been largely borne out, the sceptics claims, not so much!

#climate #sea

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/25/newly-identified-tipping-point-for-ice-sheets-could-mean-greater-sea-level-rise

Newly identified tipping point for ice sheets could mean greater sea level rise

Small increase in temperature of intruding water could lead to very big increase in loss of ice, scientists say

^{Damian Carrington (The Guardian)}

Around 50 years ago, our rulers chose to begin a massive project, essentially conducting a unique scientific experiment, one with potentially foreseen but possibly unpredictable outcomes.

They decided to go all out in (1) extracting fuels buried deep in the Earth, energy from the sun stored via photosynthesis and animal metabolism over a span of 500 million years as coal, oil, and gas, and then (2) burning all of this they could find in the brief period of a few decades.

Our rulers were warned by scientists that their project involved serious risk, but they figured the power they could gain and the money they could make was worth any cost. They didn't care about the negative consequences, and/or foolishly believed that future technologies (still a fantasy in the year 2024) would somehow be able to fix whatever problems their actions caused.

And now, guess what — we're seeing signs that this experiment might be out of control. Feedback loops are kicking in, causing "natural" emissions which could trigger cascading effects, breaking down the ecosystem. It also appears that Earth's climate is more sensitive to greenhouse gases than first believed. Yet our rulers *still* continue to recklessly burn fossil fuels, always drilling and fracking for more, hungry for power and compelled by greed.

#History #Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual

This is something I'd like a read on from an actual #climate scientist. Have we really underestimated CO2's global warming potential? Seems unlikely as a characteristic of CO2 by itself, but could be some kind of broader world system interaction. What's going on here: is this one of the mysterious popular articles that appear and fade, or not?

https://mstdn.social/@knittingknots2/112671921242684224

Here's a reminder of where we are now compared to where we need to be.

As mentioned in my previous post (https://climatejustice.social/@breadandcircuses/112671714655278802), fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions are at record highs. Yet scientists have repeatedly warned that we *must* rapidly reduce emissions or face climate breakdown and ecosystem collapse.

Look at the second graph below. We should have taken action years ago. By 2030, our emissions need to be 48% lower than in 2019. But instead, they keep going up, year after year. We're already halfway to 2030 and have made zero progress.

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual

Holy wow

Meanwhile, the 5th bullet down: "Nearly 2 million people stranded as second wave of devastating floods hits Bangladesh in less than a month"

#climate #heat #hajj #Bangladesh #flood

You and I will never again live in a time free from killer heatwaves and other extreme climate emergencies.

It's so disgusting to me that this is where we're at. 😡 But this is where we're at.

Please be careful!!

#Weather #HeatWave #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateEmergency

BT Tower lit up as global landmarks show climate stripes

Climate stripes showing Earth's rapid warming are being displayed on landmarks all around the world for Show Your Stripes Day 2024

https://www.reading.ac.uk/news/2024/University-News/BT-Tower-lit-up-as-global-landmarks-show-climate-stripes

#London #UK #MassExtinction #pollution #ecology #environment #climate

Minnesota highway projects will need to consider climate impacts in planning

The state legislature expanded a 2023 law that will now require all major highway projects to account for and mitigate climate impacts before qualifying for state funding

https://energynews.us/2024/06/21/minnesota-highway-projects-will-need-to-consider-climate-impacts-in-planning/

#Minnesota #USA #US #MassExtinction #pollution #ecology #environment #climate

Minnesota highway projects will need to consider climate impacts in planning

An expanded 2023 law requires all major highway projects to account for and mitigate climate impacts before getting state funding.

^{Frank Jossi (Energy News Network)}

How does heat kill? It confuses your brain. It shuts down your organs. It overworks your heart

https://apnews.com/article/deadly-heat-wave-body-climate-change-b70e6ff98a81e80d9b99ed088e6de3d6

#MassExtinction #pollution #ecology #environment #climate

How does heat kill? It confuses your brain. It shuts down your organs. It overworks your heart.

When dangerous heat waves strike, what happens inside the human body can become a life-or-death battle decided by just a few degrees. Raising a person's ordinary core temperature by just 7 degrees Fahrenheit puts them at high risk of death.

^{SETH BORENSTEIN (AP News)}

Rise in gas flaring hurting climate change efforts, World Bank warns

The amount of gas flared worldwide in 2023 rose by nine billion cubic meters to 148 bcm, its highest level since 2019, a World Bank report has said

https://punchng.com/rise-in-gas-flaring-hurting-climate-change-efforts-world-bank-warns/

#MassExtinction #pollution #ecology #environment #climate

Rise in gas flaring hurting climate change efforts, World Bank warns

The amount of gas flared worldwide in 2023 rose by nine billion cubic meters to 148 bcm, its highest level since 2019, a World Bank report has said.

^{Agency Report (Punch Newspaper)}

Today is #ShowYourStripes day — every year on the summer solstice!

Get your local US stripes here: https://climatecentral.org/graphic/2024-warming-stripes

And get your international #WarmingStripes here: https://showyourstripes.info

#History #Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

BIG WRONG ASSUMPTION

The CO2 we have in the atmosphere now, even with no more CO2 added, is RAISING temperature, a closed window.

This much CO2 doesn't mean THIS TEMPERATURE, this much CO2 means this % of warming per year.

NO ADDED CO2 means warmer next year, and next year.

We have to REMOVE billions of tons of CO2 before it STOPS WARMING.

Adding More is MADNESS
Screaming into the dark madness.

We must build the non-carbon energy like tanks and ships for war.

Or We Dont Make It.

#Climate

Under 'historic' settlement, #Hawaii agrees to decarbonize the state's transportation - land, sea, air - by 2045. Young activists forced the agreement.

#climate #news

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/20/hawaii-youth-climate-activists-win

Youth activists win ‘unprecedented’ climate settlement in Hawaii

State’s transport department given a 2045 deadline to fully decarbonize and achieve zero emissions under agreement

^{Dharna Noor (The Guardian)}

Climate change is making the massive heat wave hitting the northeast and midwest an estimated 1.5 to 2 times more likely than otherwise, according the #Climate Central's Climate Shift analysis.

https://www.climatecentral.org/tools/climate-shift-index

Approximately 1% of all Atlantans applied for an e-bike in the first 12 hours the program went live.

Atlanta is a cycling city forced to drive due to racist highway segregation, disinvestment, and corruption. Political will + infrastructure must catch up.

Apply now until 6/23: https://atlantaregional.org/what-we-do/mobility-services/atlanta-e-bike-rebate-program/

#atlanta #bike #climate #urbanism #news

Atlanta E-Bike Rebate Program - ARC

Learn more about the Atlanta E-Bike Rebate Program that is expected to launch June 16, 2024. Sign up for email notifications to know when rebate applications will be accepted.

^{Atlanta Regional Commission}

Remember how we fixed a hole in the ozone layer 40 years ago?

StarLink: Hold my beer

“SpaceX's Starlink May Be Keeping the Ozone From Healing, Research Finds”

#space #climate #ozone #starlink

https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-starlink-ozone-healing

SpaceX's Starlink May Be Keeping the Ozone From Healing, Research Finds

SpaceX's growing Starlink megaconstellation could be hindering the Earth's ozone layer from healing itself, researchers find.

^{Victor Tangermann (Futurism)}

Today, there are around 1.31 billion personal vehicles (cars, trucks, and SUVs) in the world. Of those, only about 2% are hybrid or electric. The other 98% are ICE vehicles burning gasoline/petrol.

By 2050, it’s estimated we’ll have about 2.21 billion vehicles in the world. That’s a HUGE number, almost 70% greater than today.

But how many of those will be electric? Instead of only 2%, it’s expected they will increase to around 31% of the total.

That sounds great! More EVs is a good thing, right?

Well, if 31% are EVs in 2050, that means the other 69% will *still* be ICE vehicles burning gas/petrol. So the number of cars and trucks and SUVs burning fossil fuels will go UP from 1.28 billion now to about 1.52 billion by 2050.

That’s… not so good.

We don’t *need* more cars, more traffic, more congestion, more pollution, more road damage, and more CO2 emissions.

What we need is:

- More bicycles

- More electric bikes

- More pedestrians

- More mass transit

- More light rail

NOT MORE CARS!!

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual

This massive Truck, 45 tons of Truck, is electric, and it MAKES more ENERGY than it uses.

Because it goes up to get filled, and comes back down full.

"In this case, the Swiss e-dumper will generate an estimated 10% surplus with each trip it makes, essentially becoming an "energy plus" vehicle instead of a net consumer of electricity."

Part of the work day: charging things OFF the Truck.

SCIENCE

Humanity is BLOOMING, maturing, arriving at civilization.

https://www.treehugger.com/worlds-largest-electric-vehicle-will-generate-more-electricity-it-uses-4854805

#climate

This photo isn’t shared to highlight that wind turbines can provide livestock much needed shade.

This photo is shared to highlight the importance of trees.

#nature #climate #environment #climatechange #tree #trees #earth #renewables #renewableenergy #animals #animal

This is what capitalism gets us...

"Creating a throw-away culture: How companies ingrained plastics in modern life"
_____________________________

In 1956, the plastics industry learned about a new way to boost sales — and profits. At the industry’s annual conference in New York, Lloyd Stouffer, the editor of an influential trade magazine, urged executives to stop emphasizing plastics’ durability. Stouffer told the companies to focus instead on making a lot of inexpensive, expendable material. Their future, he said, was in the trash can.

Companies got the message. They realized they could sell more plastic if people threw more of it away.

In a 1963 report for another plastics conference in Chicago, Stouffer congratulated the industry for filling dumps and garbage cans with plastic bottles and bags.

“The happy day has arrived,” Stouffer wrote, “when nobody any longer considers the plastic package too good to throw away.”
_____________________________

FULL ARTICLE -- https://www.npr.org/2024/06/09/nx-s1-4942415/disposable-plastic-pollution-waste-single-use-recycling-climate-change-fossil-fuels

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #Capitalism #Pollution

NY Times: Their Florida ‘Paradise’ Keeps Flooding, but Some Can’t Afford a Solution

In the Shore Acres neighborhood of St. Petersburg, rising water has become a constant threat. Many residents cannot afford to elevate their homes or move.

(Gift Article)

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/us/florida-flooding-st-petersburg.html?u2g=i&unlocked_article_code=1.x00.gO6u.C8aVBaNxx8Px&smid=url-share

#climate #climateemergency #Florida #FLwx #StPetersberg

Climate crisis = forced immigration.

Have you noticed that the politicians who say there are "waves" and "invasions" of immigrants are the same politicians who refuse to fight the climate crisis that is causing mass migration that can only get much much worse?

#immigration #climate #climatecrisis

We are witnessing a slow-motion catastrophe…
______________________________

Across the globe, insect populations have seen a steep decline.

According to a meta-analysis of 16 studies, insect populations have declined by about 45% in just the last 40 years.

The large-scale death of insects poses huge threats not only to the ecosystems they exist in but also to much of our agriculture, as insects pollinate about 75% of global crops.

Two driving causes of the marked fall off are climate change and habitat loss.
______________________________

SEE -- https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/environment/2023/07/13/researchers-study-the-global-decline-of-insect-populations-#

#Insects #Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #BioDiversity

This sounds -- not good.

"Almost four out of every 10 #journalists covering the #climate crisis and environment issues have been threatened as a result of their work, with 11% subjected to physical violence, according to groundbreaking new research.

Despite the breadth and magnitude of the problems, 39% of journalists surveyed reported having #SelfCensored – mostly due to fear of repercussions from “those undertaking illegal activities” or the government."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/05/climate-crisis-journalists

Nearly half of journalists covering climate crisis globally received threats for their work

Groundbreaking new research also reports that 11% of surveyed have faced physical violence in their reporting

^{Nina Lakhani (The Guardian)}

Anti-camping ordinances and sweeps are pushing unhoused people into increasingly marginal spaces, exposed to extreme weather.

Officials in cities like Ontario, #California, can be hostile, by, for example, removing park gazebos.

But CA is prone to cycles of drought and heavy rainfall. And when the rain hits, like it did in Nov. 2022, it can be fatal to people living around culverts and drainage.

#Climate #housing

https://www.hcn.org/issues/56-6/californias-homelessness-and-climate-crises-leave-unhoused-communities-vulnerable-to-floods/

California’s homelessness and climate crises leave unhoused communities vulnerable to floods

Seeking shelter, people are living in flood control channels and other flood-prone places.

^{Erin Rode (High Country News)}

THREAD: This might sound crazy, but in Ursula von der Leyen's official schedule, which you can view online, there wasn’t a single meeting with environmental activists listed at any time in the past year. What we did find, in the past 4 months alone, were 3 separate meetings with farming groups.

#eu #europe #lobbying #power #influence #farming #agriculture #climate #environment

🚨
The massive heat dome over the western US is another symptom of human caused #climate change.

It's hotter, earlier, and more extreme than without #climatechange.

Forecasters expect temperatures to be 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.

10 to 20 Degrees.
🌡️🔥

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqlle2v2dpxo

Heat wave brings dangerous weather to western US

More than 34 million Americans in the western US are under excessive heat advisories this week.

^{Ana Faguy (BBC News)}

How come #NigelFarage gets to turn up out of nowhere and decree that this is now “the immigration election”‽

Ordinary voter here, and I don’t give a tinker’s toss about #immigration. I’d much prefer this to be “the climate change election”, please. If you agree, give this a RT. ♻️

#UKpolitics #UKpol #R4today #ClimateChange #climate #farage

Large areas of the planet are becoming uninhabitable.

#climate #ClimateCollapse #environment

Climatologist Claudia Sheinbaum is doing extremely well in today's Presidential election in Mexico.

Very very early election results. Less than 1% counted.

#climate #klima #climat

3rd June 2024. Happy UK Earth Overshoot Day everybody. 😢

There. Is. No. Planet. B.

If everyone in the world had the same carbon emissions as us in the UK we would need a Planet C to provide us with all the resources we need for our unsustainable lifestyles.

#ClimateDiary #EarthOvershoot #Climate #UKPolitics

Take a look at the link. When is your nation’s Earth Overshoot Day?

https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.org/newsroom/country-overshoot-days/

never thought i’d find so much agreement with the wsj editorial board

#climate #media #environment