Your Weather, Our Weather (1 Viewer)

[Huntn]

Since June we (East Texas) have been running mid 90s to low 100sF (32-40C) with with hear indexes about 110F, lows of 85F (29C) at night. A high pressure dome of heat parked over the Central US bringing no rain (at least to Texas) for several weeks and high temps. Comparing F to C. I prefer the spread of F over C, but consider I grew up with F. A recent trip to Corpus Christi we saw large large fields of immature brown/dead corn.
An alarming report is that the Oceans are turning green (more plant matter growing) due to the rise of temps, sharks are reported as dying. Another report said that El Niño usually causes a reduction of Atlantic hurricane activity, but with oceans heating up, that may change.

I never thought I would be living in such a transitional period for the Earth. We have been warned for 40 years, yet as a species, we just blunder along until we are smacked upside the head.

 

[brandon]

Insurance companies just bailing is an issue that needs addressing

I don't know how you force a for-profit business to operate in a sector it deems unprofitable.

It's more like insurance will need a public option that's not terrible.

Or we'll just have to stop building homes on the coast (as someone who lives about a mile from the gulf).

 

[nolaspe]

Who feels like losing a few million neurons...

 

[Huntn]

Insurance companies just bailing is an issue that needs addressing

This is a sticky wicket for State Govts and the citizens of those States and by association the Federal Govt and the mindless cut taxes crowd.

 

[Huntn]

Who feels like losing a few million neurons...

My god, the woman is a head in the sand, imbecile, preaching to morons. I wish we could send this group off to their own planet to trash and not make the rest of us suffer STUPID.

 

[BullSheetBuddha]

What climate change?

"More rain fell in one day then over the past 40 years."

 

[Huntn]

What climate change?

"More rain fell in one day then over the past 40 years."

No joking matter but I can see both Religion and the Environmental realists with all the extreme weather shirt going on, calling this the End Times, but for starkly different reasons. One based on religious fantasy and the other based Environmental reality. The idea we pissed God off is primitive and it avoids our role and responsibility in the environmental mayhem.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Earth’s life support systems have been so damaged that the planet is “well outside the safe operating space for humanity”, scientists have warned.

Their assessment found that six out of nine “planetary boundaries” had been broken because of human-caused pollution and destruction of the natural world. The planetary boundaries are the limits of key global systems – such as climate, water and wildlife diversity – beyond which their ability to maintain a healthy planet is in danger of failing.


The broken boundaries mean the systems have been driven far from the safe and stable state that existed from the end of the last ice age, 10,000 years ago, to the start of the industrial revolution. The whole of modern civilisation arose in this time period, called the Holocene.

The assessment was the first of all nine planetary boundaries and represented the “first scientific health check for the entire planet”, the researchers said. Six boundaries have been passed and two are judged to be close to being broken: air pollution and ocean acidification. The one boundary that is not threatened is atmospheric ozone, after action to phase out destructive chemicals in recent decades led to the ozone hole shrinking.

The scientists said the “most worrying” finding was that all four of the biological boundaries, which cover the living world, were at, or close to, the highest risk level. The living world is particularly vital to the Earth as it provides resilience by compensating for some physical changes, for example, trees absorbing carbon dioxide pollution.

The planetary boundaries are not irreversible tipping points beyond which sudden and serious deterioration occurs, the scientists said. Instead, they are points after which the risks of fundamental changes in the Earth’s physical, biological and chemical life support systems rise significantly. The planetary boundaries were first devised in 2009 and updated in 2015, when only seven could be assessed.……..

She said the Earth could be thought of as a patient with very high blood pressure: “That does not indicate a certain heart attack, but it does greatly raise the risk.”

The assessment, which was published in the journal Science Advancesand was based on 2,000 studies, indicated that several planetary boundaries were passed long ago. The boundary for biosphere integrity, which includes the healthy functioning of ecosystems, was broken in the late 19th century, the researchers said, as destruction of the natural world decimated wildlife. The same destruction, particularly the razing of forests, means the boundary for land use was broken last century.

Climate models have suggest the safe boundary for climate change was surpassed in the late 1980s. For freshwater, a new metric involving both water in lakes and rivers and in soil, showed this boundary was crossed in the early 20th century.…….

Earth ‘well outside safe operating space for humanity’, scientists find

First complete ‘scientific health check’ shows most global systems beyond stable range in which modern civilisation emerged

www.theguardian.com

 

[BullSheetBuddha]

No joking matter but I can see both Religion and the Environmental realists with all the extreme weather shirt going on, calling this the End Times, but for starkly different reasons. One based on religious fantasy and the other based Environmental reality. The idea we pissed God off is primitive and it avoids our role and responsibility in the environmental mayhem.

Interesting point.

 

[SFIDC3]

Interesting point.

Absolutely true....IMO....."it's God's will"!!!!!!! Forking morons.....

 

[Huntn]

Earth’s life support systems have been so damaged that the planet is “well outside the safe operating space for humanity”, scientists have warned.

Their assessment found that six out of nine “planetary boundaries” had been broken because of human-caused pollution and destruction of the natural world. The planetary boundaries are the limits of key global systems – such as climate, water and wildlife diversity – beyond which their ability to maintain a healthy planet is in danger of failing.


The broken boundaries mean the systems have been driven far from the safe and stable state that existed from the end of the last ice age, 10,000 years ago, to the start of the industrial revolution. The whole of modern civilisation arose in this time period, called the Holocene.

The assessment was the first of all nine planetary boundaries and represented the “first scientific health check for the entire planet”, the researchers said. Six boundaries have been passed and two are judged to be close to being broken: air pollution and ocean acidification. The one boundary that is not threatened is atmospheric ozone, after action to phase out destructive chemicals in recent decades led to the ozone hole shrinking.

The scientists said the “most worrying” finding was that all four of the biological boundaries, which cover the living world, were at, or close to, the highest risk level. The living world is particularly vital to the Earth as it provides resilience by compensating for some physical changes, for example, trees absorbing carbon dioxide pollution.

The planetary boundaries are not irreversible tipping points beyond which sudden and serious deterioration occurs, the scientists said. Instead, they are points after which the risks of fundamental changes in the Earth’s physical, biological and chemical life support systems rise significantly. The planetary boundaries were first devised in 2009 and updated in 2015, when only seven could be assessed.……..

She said the Earth could be thought of as a patient with very high blood pressure: “That does not indicate a certain heart attack, but it does greatly raise the risk.”

The assessment, which was published in the journal Science Advancesand was based on 2,000 studies, indicated that several planetary boundaries were passed long ago. The boundary for biosphere integrity, which includes the healthy functioning of ecosystems, was broken in the late 19th century, the researchers said, as destruction of the natural world decimated wildlife. The same destruction, particularly the razing of forests, means the boundary for land use was broken last century.

Climate models have suggest the safe boundary for climate change was surpassed in the late 1980s. For freshwater, a new metric involving both water in lakes and rivers and in soil, showed this boundary was crossed in the early 20th century.…….

Earth ‘well outside safe operating space for humanity’, scientists find

First complete ‘scientific health check’ shows most global systems beyond stable range in which modern civilisation emerged

www.theguardian.com

The Great Filter: A possible solution to the Fermi Paradox

There are many major hurdles to becoming an interplanetary species, but one might be tougher than the rest.

www.astronomy.com

Apologies for being repetitive, but we’ve told for 50 years, plenty of time to fix, but it would have required a serious attitude and a willingness to toss out conventional economic mechanisms, and band together to beat this threat to our existence. The bottom line is that we were unable to take it seriously, being self made prisoners to our economies, sitting on our piles of $$$, hoping either the info was wrong, or we as individuals would be dead before serious actually had to be taken or consequences be faced. My guess is it will have to take a billion or two dead, before any serious reaction, action takes place. Which brings me back to the Fermi Paradox.

And by then it might be too late, or maybe what the Earth needs is billions of less humans infecting it? The sad thing is to kill off the Humans will have done much to degrade the planet.

 

[Optimus Prime]

The Great Filter: A possible solution to the Fermi Paradox

There are many major hurdles to becoming an interplanetary species, but one might be tougher than the rest.

www.astronomy.com

Apologies for being repetitive, but we’ve told for 50 years, plenty of time to fix, but it would have required a serious attitude and a willingness to toss out conventional economic mechanisms, and band together to beat this threat to our existence. The bottom line is that we were unable to take it seriously, being self made prisoners to our economies, sitting on our piles of $$$, hoping either the info was wrong, or we as individuals would be dead before serious actually had to be taken or consequences be faced. My guess is it will have to take a billion or two dead, before any serious reaction, action takes place. Which brings me back to the Fermi Paradox.

And by then it might be too late, or maybe what the Earth needs is billions of less humans infecting it? The sad thing is to kill off the Humans will have done much to degrade the planet.

 

[Booker]

When you read stuff like that article it's hard not to think that the eventual endgame is we'll simply damage the planet too much to support the climate and biodiversity needed for humans to survive, or least we'll damage it enough to drastically reduce the population to the point the impact of our activity is neutralized.

You'd like to think that we'll find solutions to minimize our footprint before we get there (more clean, renewable energy, less plastics in favor of more recyleable products), but with a significant portion of the population wanting to believe what we're witnessing is a hoax things will probably have to get worse before they have a chance to get better.

 

[Optimus Prime]

The vast majority of the environmental projects most frequently used to offset greenhouse gas emissions appear to have fundamental failings suggesting they cannot be relied upon to cut planet-heating emissions, according to a new analysis.

The global, multibillion-dollar voluntary carbon trading industry has been embraced by governments, organisations and corporations including oil and gas companies, airlines, fast-food brands, fashion houses, tech firms, art galleries and universities as a way of claiming to reduce their greenhouse gas footprint.

It works by carbon offset credits being tradable “allowances” or certificates that allows the purchaser to compensate for 1 ton of carbon dioxide or the equivalent in greenhouse gases by investing in environmental projects that claim to reduce carbon emissions.

But there is mounting evidence suggesting that many of these offset schemes exaggerate climate benefits and underestimate potential harms.

In a new investigation, the Guardian and researchers from Corporate Accountability, a non-profit, transnational corporate watchdog, analysed the top 50 emission offset projects, those that have sold the most carbon credits in the global market.

According to our criteria and classification system:

• A total of 39 of the top 50 emission offset projects, or 78% of them, were categorised as likely junk or worthless due to one or more fundamental failing that undermines its promised emission cuts.
• Eight others (16%) look problematic, with evidence suggesting they may have at least one fundamental failing and are potentially junk, according to the classification system applied.
• The efficacy of the remaining three projects (6%) could not be determined definitively as there was insufficient public, independent information to adequately assess the quality of the credits and/or accuracy of their claimed climate benefits.
• Overall, $1.16bn (£937m) of carbon credits have been traded so far from the projects classified by the investigation as likely junk or worthless; a further $400m of credits bought and sold were potentially junk.……..

Revealed: top carbon offset projects may not cut planet-heating emissions

Majority of offset projects that have sold the most carbon credits are ‘likely junk’, according to analysis by Corporate Accountability and the Guardian

www.theguardian.com

 

[MT15]

This seems to be the latest moronic talking point among Rs. They think it’s clever I suppose.

 

[Optimus Prime]

One in six species is at risk of being lost in Great Britain, according to a comprehensive analysis by leading wildlife scientists.

Bird species such as turtle doves had the most worrying results in the report, with 43% at risk of extinction, but other much loved creatures such as the hazel dormouse, the lady’s slipper orchid and the european eel also now face an uncertain future.

The report argues that this is largely a result of human activities such as causing habitat loss, accelerating diseases such as avian flu via factory farming, and burning fossil fuels, which has altered the climate.

The State of Nature report, published on Wednesday, features work from 60 research and conservation organisations based on data from monitoring schemes and biological recording centres, to provide a benchmark for the status of the UK’s wildlife. Previous editions were published in 2013, 2016 and 2019.

On Thursday, environment groups including the Wildlife Trusts, Greenpeace, Butterfly Conservation and Plantlife will be protesting outside the government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, calling for greater protections for the natural world.

Since 1970, the abundance of the species studied in the report has declined on average by 19%, and nature continues to be in freefall. Amphibians and reptiles are also at risk, with 31% facing an uncertain future, and 28% of fungi and lichen species under threat.

Twenty-six per cent of terrestrial mammals in Great Britain are facing extinction. There have also been declines in the distributions of more than half (54%) of flowering plant species…….

One in six species at risk of extinction in Great Britain, say wildlife experts

State of Nature report paints bleak picture of wildlife in UK but says conservation methods are yielding results

www.theguardian.com

 

[Huntn]

This seems to be the latest moronic talking point among Rs. They think it’s clever I suppose.

Put a fork in the human species, we’re probably done.

 

[Optimus Prime]

More than 40% of Antarctica’s ice shelves have shrunk since 1997 with almost half showing “no sign of recovery”, a study has found, linking the change to the climate breakdown.

Scientists at the University of Leeds have calculated that 67tn tonnes of ice was lost in the west while 59tn tonnes was added to the east between 1997 and 2021, resulting in a net loss of 7.5tn tonnes.

Warm water on the western side of Antarctica has been melting ice, whereas in the east, ice shelves have either stayed the same or grown as the water is colder there.

The ice shelves sit at the end of glaciers and slow their rate of flow into the sea. When they shrink, glaciers release larger amounts of freshwater into the sea which can disrupt the currents of the Southern Ocean.

Dr Benjamin Davison, an expert in Earth observation and the study’s lead, said: “There is a mixed picture of ice-shelf deterioration, and this is to do with the ocean temperature and ocean currents around Antarctica.…….

Antarctica has lost 7.5tn tonnes of ice since 1997, scientists find

Study finds more than 40% of ice shelves have shrunk, with millions of tonnes of freshwater entering ocean

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

A legal loophole has allowed the US Environmental Protection Agency to strike pollution from clean air tallies in more than 70 counties, enabling local regulators to claim the air was cleaner than it really was for more than 21 million Americans.

Regulators have exploited a little-known provision in the Clean Air Act called the “exceptional events rule” to forgive pollution caused by “natural” or “uncontrollable” events – including wildfires – on records used by the EPA for regulatory decisions, a new investigation from the California Newsroom, MuckRock and the Guardian reveals.

In addition to obscuring the true health risks of pollution and swerving away from tighter control on local polluters, the rule threatens the potency of the Clean Air Act, experts argue, at a time when the climate crisis is posing an unprecedented challenge to the health of millions of Americans.

Where the EPA – the US agency monitoring air quality – has agreed to exclude bad air days from analysis, “we may have a sort of stable, relatively rosy picture when it comes to our regulatory world in terms of air-quality trends,” said Vijay Limaye, a climate and health epidemiologist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a non-profit advocacy group.

The truth is more complicated, and the air dirtier.

“The true conditions on the ground in terms of the air that people are breathing in, day after day, week after week, year after year, is increasingly an unhealthy situation,” Limaye said.

For the summer of 2023, more than 20 states so far, from Wyoming to Wisconsin to North Carolina, have flagged air-quality readings that were far higher than normal. Most of these days came in June, as skies in the midwest and eastern US were blanketed with Canadian wildfire smoke.

We pored over thousands of pages of regulatory documentation, correspondence and contracts, and analyzed hard-to-find public data to better understand how local regulators make use of the exceptional events rule, as global heating sparksextreme wildfires more often.

We found that, since 2016, when the EPA last revised the guidance on exceptional events:

• Local regulators in 21 states filed requests with the agency to forgive pollution and, in 20 of those states, had them approved.
• In total, local regulators made note of almost700 exceptional events. The EPA agreed to adjust the data on 139 of them.
• The adjustments came in more than 70 counties across 20 states. The affected areas stretched from the forested Oregon coast to the Ohio rust belt, from the craggy Rhode Island coastline down to the bayous of Louisiana.
• In more than half of the states where exceptional events were forgiven, industry lobbyists and business interests pressed to make that happen, sometimes as the only public voice in the regulatory process. Also, to protect the status quo, some regulators spent millions of taxpayer dollars doing research for and making exceptional events requests, sometimes working hand in hand with industry stakeholders.…..

Revealed: how a little-known pollution rule keeps the air dirty for millions of Americans

Major investigation shows local governments are increasingly exploiting a loophole in the Clean Air Act, leaving more than 21 million Americans with air that’s dirtier than they realize

www.theguardian.com