What World Under Climate Change

[Tyger]

The desire to do and the ingenuity to do so, regarding re-configuring our energy modus operandi, is resulting in a new world coming.

How solar power and electric cars could make suburban living awesome again
LINK: How solar power and electric cars could make suburban living awesome again - The Washington Post

 

[Tyger]

New study forecasts big increases in extreme weather from human-caused global warming - April 28, 2015
LINK: New study forecasts big increases in extreme weather from human-caused global warming

TEXT: "The name of the study by Erich M. Fischer and Reto Knutti is a mouthful—"Anthropogenic contribution to global occurrence of heavy-precipitation and high-temperature extremes." Translation: global warming is causing weather extremes. Just as scientists have been predicting for at least a quarter century. While this isn't the first study to make such a connection between extreme weather events and global warming, Fischer and Knutti are the first to forecast how those extremes may be transformed by future global warming. Not a pretty picture.

"The authors acknowledge that it is challenging to tie a specific extreme weather event to human-caused global warming effects. This is so in part because of deficiencies in climate models and observational uncertainty. But the study's authors are confident of their fresh methodology. They used "computer analyses of what the climate would be like if the Industrial Revolution had never happened," Justin Gillis reports:

"The moderate global warming that has already occurred as a result of human emissions has quadrupled the frequency of certain heat extremes since the Industrial Revolution, scientists reported Monday, and they warned that a failure to bring greenhouse gases under control could eventually lead to a 62-fold increase in such heat blasts.

"The planetary warming has had a more moderate effect on intense rainstorms, the scientists said, driving up their frequency by 22 percent since the 19th century. Yet such heavy rains could more than double later this century if emissions continue at a high level, they said.

"Many people point out that weather extremes are nothing new, and Fischer agrees. But, as he points out in an interview about the study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, "[T]he odds have changed, and we get more of them.”

"He and Knutti conclude: Already today 75% of the moderate hot extremes and about 18% of the moderate precipitation extremes occurring worldwide are attributable to warming, of which the dominant part is extremely likely to be anthropogenic. The fraction increases nonlinearly with further warming such that the probability of hot extremes at 2°C, for example, is double that at 1.5°C global warming. With every degree of warming it is the rarest and the most extreme events—and thereby the ones with typically the highest socio-economic impacts—for which the largest fraction is due to human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, tropical island nations, "which typically have high vulnerability and low adaptive capacities," face the worst impacts. For now."​

 

[Tyger]

Article summarizing the same study as cited above -

Hotter and Wetter: Report Finds Global Warming Driving Extreme Weather: Rarest and most extreme weather events, which have the highest socio-economic and human impacts, will become increasingly familiar due to human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. - April 27, 2015
LINK: Hotter and Wetter: Report Finds Global Warming Driving Extreme Weather | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

TEXT: "It's not just your imagination. The punishing heat waves, record snowfall, and 500-year floods, which seem to be occurring with increasing frequency, are doing just that, thanks to global warming.

"According to a study (pdf) published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, these extreme weather events are clearly attributed to human-induced climate change and will only worsen as average temperatures tick higher and higher.

"According to report authors Dr. Erich Markus Fischer and Reto Knutti, both with the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, under present-day warming of 0.85° Celsius, the likelihood of a "moderate hot extreme" occurring is 75 percent greater than in pre-industrial times.

"However, because warming increases non-linearly, under the projected warming of 2° Celsius—widely considered the threshold for the worst effects of climate change—the probability of a "hot extreme" is more than five times greater than current levels. "This result," the authors note, "has strong implications for the discussion of different mitigation targets in climate negotiations, where differences between targets are small in terms of global temperatures but large in terms of the probability of extremes."

"Furthermore, according to the study, roughly 18 percent of current precipitation extremes occurring worldwide are attributable to "anthropogenic," or human-caused, warming. This rises to roughly 40 percent under 2° Celsius. Put another way, an extreme precipitation event expected once every 10,000 days, or 30 years, in pre-industrial conditions, is expected every 10 to 20 years at 2° warming.

"While the study focuses primarily on daily events, the authors note that with increased warming, the probability of "5-day, 15-day, or 31-day temperature and precipitation extremes increase even faster with rising temperatures." "People can argue that we had these kinds of extremes well before human influence on the climate—we had them centuries ago," the New York Times quoted Fischer as saying. "And that’s correct. But the odds have changed, and we get more of them."

"Commenting on the difficulty of attributing a particular weather event to human-induced global warming, the authors continue: In a broader context, the approach here is reminiscent of medical studies, where it is not possible to attribute a single fatality from lung cancer to smoking. Instead, a comparison of the lung-cancer-related mortality rate in smokers with the rate in non-smokers may allow attribution of the excess mortality to smoking. Likewise, no single weather event exclusively results from anthropogenic influence in a deterministic sense but arises from complex interactions of atmospheric dynamics, local boundary layer and land-surface interaction and potential anomalous sea-ice and ocean conditions. Warmer temperatures may influence some of those factors and favor extreme events to happen, and thus the probability of such events increases because of warming.

"In fact, it is the "rarest and most extreme weather events"—which the study notes typically have the "highest socio-economic impacts"—that will become increasingly familiar due to human-induced greenhouse gas emissions."​

 

[Tyger]

A CHANGE OF SCENERY
Satellite imagery captures humanity’s dramatic impact on the earth’s surface.
LINK: This time lapse shows just how much humans are altering the planet

TEXT: "For more than 40 years, NASA (and, since 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey) has enlisted Landsat satellites to continuously document our home planet—kind of like an extreme, orbital version of the selfie stick. This unbroken record, consisting of millions of images of the earth’s surface, helps scientists track environmental changes over time.

The above [and below] video by Vox strings together pictures taken from 1972 to 2014 to show how deforestation, water use, urban sprawl, electricity, and climate change have dramatically altered certain landscapes. Though the footage focuses on just five areas on this big planet, human activity has had a visible impact on countless others—and the stories that emerge from the Landsat program’s data often aren’t pretty. I think we can all agree that the earth deserves a better set of before-and-after shots."​

At 2:00 Climate Change shows up.....

5 human activities you can see from space

TEXT: "Published on May 1, 2015: Satellites have been watching us for 40 years. Here's what their images reveal."

 

[Tyger]

I generally don't like posting graphics, but this graphic is just too good to miss. Of course, this is not good.

CLIMATE RUNNING AMOC
A new study suggests that melting ice is slowing the seas’ important thermohaline currents.
Study says climate change is messing with the ocean's circulation. That's not good.

PHOTO:NASA

TEXT: "Thermohaline circulation (n.): deep ocean current driven by variations in salinity and temperature.

"I used to love watching the weather forecast when I was a kid, because I thought it was a cartoon. There were lots of colorful arrows going every which way and a man waving his arms like a snake charmer. I had no idea what any of it meant.

"Suddenly, I know more than I ever wanted to. A major study released in the journal Nature Climate Change warned that those arrows, and the ocean currents they represent, might be changing rapidly—with the potential to alter regional climates faster than anyone expected.

"The story begins with a stream of water called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which runs from the tropics south of the equator to the North Atlantic. Oceanographers describe it as a conveyor belt because of the looping pattern in which the water flows. Warm tropical water stays near the surface as it heads north because warm water is, generally speaking, less dense than cold water. When it reaches the North Atlantic, the water gets cold and some of it freezes. Very little of the salt winds up in the sea ice, causing the surrounding water to become more saline. Both processes—the cooling and intensified saltiness—increase the water's density. The cold, salty water then sinks toward the bottom and eventually moves southward along the lower rung of the conveyor belt.

"Since variations in temperature and salinity are responsible for the difference in density that powers the conveyor belt, scientists refer to the AMOC and similar currents as thermo- (heat) haline (salt). [See video in link regarding this.]

"Oceanographers have always known that the speed of the AMOC’s conveyor belt changes, but they hadn’t detected a trend—until now. In this week’s bombshell study, Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research and his colleagues charted the strength of the AMOC going back more than a thousand years, by measuring climate changes known to be related to the power of the current. At 15 percent to 20 percent slower, the AMOC, they concluded, is weaker today than at any time in the past millennium.

"That weakening is probably both a cause and an effect of climate change. The Greenland ice sheet is shedding hundreds of gigatons every year. The melting process adds freshwater into the North Atlantic, which offsets the salination process. Less salt makes the water sink more slowly, which, in turn, slows the conveyor belt.

"A snail-like AMOC is a big problem. Remember, the AMOC doesn’t just transport water—it moves heat around the planet. This current keeps the water around New York and Boston cool, which slows the rise of sea levels in those cities (because cold water takes up less space than warm water). If the current slows, that could change. Rising seas on the East Coast is just one of many possible consequences, which could also include impacts on fisheries.

"Rahmstorf’s study is the first of its kind, so his conclusions are up for debate (hopefully among scientists rather than senators). For now, keep your eyes on those arrows in the weather forecast.
​

Exquisite animation -

NASA: The Thermohaline Circulation (The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt) [720p]

TEXT: "Uploaded on Oct 15, 2009: "The oceans are mostly composed of warm salty water near the surface over cold, less salty water in the ocean depths. These two regions don't mix except in certain special areas. The ocean currents, the movement of the ocean in the surface layer, are driven mostly by the wind. In certain areas near the polar oceans, the colder surface water also gets saltier due to evaporation or sea ice formation. In these regions, the surface water becomes dense enough to sink to the ocean depths. This pumping of surface water into the deep ocean forces the deep water to move horizontally until it can find an area on the world where it can rise back to the surface and close the current loop. This usually occurs in the equatorial ocean, mostly in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. This very large, slow current is called the thermohaline circulation because it is caused by temperature and salinity (haline) variations.

"This animation shows one of the major regions where this pumping occurs, the North Atlantic Ocean around Greenland, Iceland, and the North Sea. The surface ocean current brings new water to this region from the South Atlantic via the Gulf Stream and the water returns to the South Atlantic via the North Atlantic Deep Water current. The continual influx of warm water into the North Atlantic polar ocean keeps the regions around Iceland and southern Greenland mostly free of sea ice year round.

"The animation also shows another feature of the global ocean circulation: the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The region around latitude 60 south is the the only part of the Earth where the ocean can flow all the way around the world with no land in the way. As a result, both the surface and deep waters flow from west to east around Antarctica. This circumpolar motion links the world's oceans and allows the deep water circulation from the Atlantic to rise in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the surface circulation to close with the northward flow in the Atlantic.

"The color on the world's ocean's at the beginning of this animation represents surface water density, with dark regions being most dense and light regions being least dense (see the animation Sea Surface Temperature, Salinity and Density). The depths of the oceans are highly exaggerated to better illustrate the differences between the surface flows and deep water flows. The actual flows in this model are based on current theories of the thermohaline circulation rather than actual data. The thermohaline circulation is a very slow moving current that can be difficult to distinguish from general ocean circulation. Therefore, it is difficult to measure or simulate.

"This animation first depicts thermohaline surface flows over surface density, and illustrates the sinking of water in the dense ocean near Iceland and Greenland. The surface of the ocean then fades away and the animation pulls back to show the global thermohaline circulation."

​

 

[Tyger]

One in six species could be wiped out by climate change, study says - May 1, 2015
LINK: One in six species could be wiped out by climate change, study says - LA Times

TEXT: "About one in six species now alive on the planet could become extinct as a result of climate change, according to a study published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science. If present trends continue, the Earth’s temperature will wind up 4.3 degrees Celsius higher than it was before the onset of the industrial era. Should that scenario come to pass, as many as 16% of species around the world would be at risk of dying out, the study says.

"Author Mark Urban, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Connecticut, based his calculation on a meta-analysis of 131 previous studies that made predictions about how multiple species would fare in a warmer world. Although the studies focused on different species in different parts of the world and used different modeling techniques to make their forecasts, Urban’s statistical methods found that none of those variables mattered as much as “the level of future climate change.” For instance, the current risk of global extinction is 2.8%, Urban wrote. But the hotter the Earth gets, the more that risk rises. If the world is somehow able to stick to its target of making sure temperatures rise only 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the global extinction risk would rise to 5.2%.

"In the more realistic scenario that the Earth warms by 3 degrees Celsius, an estimated 8.5% of species would be projected to become extinct. And if things continue the way they are, the global extinction risk would nearly double, to 16%, Urban wrote. That’s one out of every six species gone. The average of all the scenarios is that 7.9% of species will become extinct as a direct result of climate change, according to the study.

"The extinction risk isn’t the same in all areas of the globe, Urban found. It appears to be lowest in North America, where about 5% of species are likely to disappear. (That figure could be higher or lower depending on how much temperatures rise.) Europe is a close second, with 6% of species at risk. At the other end of the spectrum, South America could lose 23% of its species. That continent is particularly vulnerable because it has a lot of creatures that live in small ranges. If changing climate conditions make their homes uninhabitable, there’s nowhere for them to go where they can find equivalent conditions.

"In Australia and New Zealand, as many as 14% of species could disappear, Urban wrote. As in South America, the animals that live Down Under have the misfortune of inhabiting niche environments with no ready alternatives. The fact that they live on islands further limits their ability to seek comfort by moving into new ranges. The analysis also revealed that the faster Earth’s temperature rises, the more species will die out as a result. If temperatures rise more gradually, animals will have more time to adapt — and better odds for success. “Extinction risks from climate change are expected not only to increase but to accelerate for every degree rise in global temperatures,” Urban wrote. “The signal of climate change-induced extinctions will become increasingly apparent if we do not act now to limit future climate change.”

"Urban noted that the species that go extinct aren’t the only ones that will be forced to reckon with climate change. “Even species not threatened directly by extinction could experience substantial changes in abundances, distributions, and species interactions,” he wrote. That “could affect ecosystems and their services to humans.”

"The 131 studies that were used to make these estimates did not take into account such complex factors as the way climate change may prompt species to change they way they interact with each other. Nor did they attempt to predict how species might evolve to adapt to their new realities."

Still, the results offer a “sobering estimate of climate change-induced biodiversity loss,” wrote University of Washington biologist Janneke Hille Ris Lambers in a commentary that accompanies Urban’s report.

The study is only one of many that makes the case that “climate change will have enormous impacts on the organisms with which we share our planet,” she wrote. Despite the uncertainties inherent in making these kinds of predictions, she added, “we should not wait … before taking action, preferentially by curbing emissions.”
​

 

[Tyger]

New cities - the future is going to be so exciting. I wish I could see it. I will to an extent, of course, but I mean really far in, like until 2100. Sure, there is going to be the challenge of the shifting climate, but sustainability is creating new gardens of living. It's going to be a new re-shaped world - more conscious. I have a passion for architecture and have been following the changes in architectural design and urban planning. Very exciting.

How Landscape Architects Are Leading the way in Sustainable Cities
LINK: How Landscape Architects Are Leading the way in Sustainable Cities

TEXT: "With sustainable cities being one of the key terms in the 21st century, we take a closer look at the role that the landscape architect has to play in it all. When we think of sustainability we think of living in a remote natural area with solar panels, on-site sewage treatment, a large vegetable garden and maybe even some livestock. Pretty sustainable hey? Maybe not. In fact, one of the leading causes of climate change is due to people seeking escaping the city in search of nature. By living on the outskirts of the city, we increase our carbon footprint through commuting and encroach further and further into the natural environment. Thus, in order to think sustainably we need to realise that our dense inner cities are not the problem, but, in fact, the solution!

"With this in mind, one would think then that the sustainable cities equal “green buildings”. While architects and engineers have great progress in these fields recently, their efforts only address a very small portion of the problem. The same goes for re-using, reducing and recycling: everyone should be doing this, but it won’t necessarily save the world.

"Sustainable Cities: Landscape Architects to Save the World
"This is where the landscape architect comes in. We have the ability to not only begin to make cities more liveable, but also have the ability to understand the complex relationship between the city and the natural environment. Our holistic approach allows us to see the city as an organism where urban density and natural processes can come together to create a sustainable solution.

"Green Infrastructure: One of the ways in which landscape architects address this problem is by bringing nature into the city, satisfying the human need to connect with the natural environment. This is, however, not about creating green parks where people in the city and escape into nature, but involves creating green networks and habitats.

"This concept has been implemented in a dramatic scale by the landscape architectural firm, Field Operations, in the High Line project in New York where the disused elevated railway was turned into a green public park. This shifted the concept of a traditional urban park, allowing nature to become part of the urban fabric.

"Landscape Urbanism: Landscape architects have, in fact, become such important role players in the future of sustainable city-making that we have had to introduce a new concept of “landscape urbanism”. This concept allows landscape (and not architecture) to become the building block of contemporary urban form while incorporating aspects such as ecology and process. Michael van Valkenburch and Associates have embraced this concept and have not only shown how landscape architecture can create ecologically functioning sites, but how landscape and processes can be experienced.

Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy | A Micro-Documentary

TEXT: "Published on Oct 16, 2013: Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy presents Brooklyn Bridge Park: A Micro Documentary. This micro doc examines the community activism behind the inception of Brooklyn Bridge Park and the burgeoning movement that led to the development of one of the most innovative public-private endeavors that New York City has seen. This doc also displays the breadth of free events and activities that the Conservancy continues to produce for the public."

"Their recent project, Brooklyn Bridge Park, focussed on the emotional power of social connection with the Hudson River while providing sustainable design solutions, creating habitat and increasing economic value.

"Sustainable Urban Drainage: Water is a critical aspect of sustainability as our planet’s water quality and quantity is slowly diminishing. This is of even more importance in the context of the city due to an increase in hardened surfaces and pollutants. Concepts such as SUDS (sustainable urban drainage) have addressed this issue, but its implementation often fails to fully address the larger context.

"Landscape architects, however, have taken this approach and have begun to extend it into the complex realm of public space combined with ecological preservation. Qunli Wetland Park by Turenscape has demonstrated this by not only implementing SUDS principles and cleaning stormwater, but have managed to rehabilitate a wetland while creating an active and beautiful green public space.

"Sustainable Urban Rivers: Most great cities have been built around rivers and water bodies with the result that many urban rivers have been suffocated by urban development through canalisation or piped systems. Landscape architects have begun to lead the way in the rehabilitation of these rivers as important environment, recreational and economic assets.

"A dramatic example of this is in Seoul where landscape architects from SeoAhn Total Landscape day-lighted the Cheonggyecheon Stream from beneath a major highway. The result is an increase in biodiversity by 639%, a reduction of pollution by 35%, flood protection for up to a 200-year flood and the creation of a beautiful public space.

2 Cheonggyecheon River history and restoration

TEXT: "Published on Nov 19, 2014: A complex, expensive greenway was constructed in Seoul, Korea. It spanned the city and involved removing an expressway yet was completed in 2-1/2 years. Provides flood protection for up to a 200-year flood event and can sustain a flow rate of 118mm/hr."

Text: "Increased overall biodiversity by 639% between the pre-restoration work in 2003 and the end of 2008 with the number of plant species increasing from 62 to 308, fish species from 4 to 25, bird species from 6 to 36, aquatic invertebrate species from 5 to 53, insect species from 15 to 192, mammals from 2 to 4, and amphibians from 4 to 8.

"Reduces the urban heat island effect with temperatures along the stream 3.3° to 5.9°C cooler than on a parallel road 4-7 blocks away. This results from the removal of the paved expressway, the cooling effect of the stream, increased vegetation, reduction in auto trips, and a 2.2-7.8% increase in wind speeds moving through the corridor.

"Reduced small-particle air pollution by 35% from 74 to 48 micrograms per cubic meter. Before the restoration, residents of the area were more than twice as likely to suffer from respiratory disease as those in other parts of the city. Contributed to 15.1% increase in bus ridership and 3.3% in subway ridership in Seoul between 2003 and the end of 2008. Increased the price of land by 30-50% for properties within 50 meters of the restoration project. This is double the rate of property increases in other areas of Seoul. Increased number of businesses by 3.5% in Cheonggyecheon area during 2002-2003, which was double the rate of business growth in downtown Seoul; increased the number of working people in the Cheonggyecheon area by 0.8%, versus a decrease in downtown Seoul of 2.6%. Attracts an average of 64,000 visitors daily. Of those, 1,408 are foreign tourists who contribute up to 2.1 billion won ($1.9 million USD) in visitor spending to the Seoul economy."

"Planting a City: Landscape architects have also begun to find unique ways to introduce nature into the built environments. Vegetation in the city not only improves streetscapes but also creates a natural habitat, reduces of the heat island effect of built infrastructure, improves air quality and can even increase food security through growing edibles. One of the greatest examples of this is the Millennium Park in Chicago by landscape architect Terry Guen. The park is, in fact, a 24.5-acre roof garden and sits above a parking lot and railway, making it the largest roof garden in the world.

"So instead of feeling guilty about living in the city we should embrace the potential of the sustainable city. We should learn to live in close proximity to one another and should allow the landscape architect to guide city making in a way that will potentially save the world."
​

 

[Tyger]

Two points - sort of. Lot more below than two, I think.

- SOTT Media who compiles these monthly summaries of extreme weather world-wide (linked below) does so for it's own reasons, to give proof of a coming Ice Age. (I believe there is also a background religious patter, though I may be wrong). In any event, these aspects do not impact the value of the summaries which I think are fascinating just on their own.

- There is so much a-float out there regarding the science/un-science/re-science/alternate science of Climate Change that it's pretty pointless for non-scientists to think they can adequately debate 'the science'. A lot of dis-information is afoot via a re-mixing of the science, etc.

What I wish to point out is that those actually doing the research are the ones who are indicating man-influenced Climate Change. It is their science research that gets 'reorganized' and re-interpreted by others (who are not actually doing the research). That is not necessarily a bad thing (in some respects this happens all the time) but one needs to be aware of who is doing the actual research, and who is just re-interpreting the supplied data.

- It has always been consistently noted that earth's rising temperature would create extremes in weather - both in precipitation events (which includes snow) and in divergence of temperatures, meaning that - we will have simultaneously 'the coldest temperatures on record' for a region, as well as 'the hottest temperatures on record' for a region. Both will occur. There will be droughts and there will be record precipitation (snow and rain). Both. Averaged out, the earth temperature rise has been steadily increasing.

Now whether you believe or accept the above as accurate is your business - it is the prevailing view stated by Climate Scientists who are doing the research. That is all. Debate here will not 'solve' this. However, an excellent source of all the aspects to the conversation is always Skeptical Science. as with this LINK: The contradictory nature of global warming skepticism

I am aware that some discredit the site (though I have never found any evidence that the site is anything but respected for its solid information on the Climate Change conversation) but it's best to look at the site for oneself and make one's own decision.

As stated many times, this thread is looking at the world under the condition of human caused climate change. That is the given of the thread and is an exploration of what the world will be under that given. No more than that. Therefore it presupposes a change-over in energy reliance in the direction of sustainability, and looks at the consequences of increased warming, and how that will play out. I am merely posting articles I find. Sometimes what I find - that interests me - looks contradictory (and it may be). I am interested in the contradictions as well.

SOTT Earth Changes Summary - April 2015: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, and Meteor Fireballs

TEXT: "Published on May 5, 2015: SOTT Earth Changes Video Summary - April 2015: Extreme Weather and Planetary Upheaval

"Raging wildfires in Siberia destroyed thousands of homes and injured hundreds of people. Late in the month, on the anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident, wildfires broke out within the Chernobyl plant exclusion zone in northern Ukraine. Both the Middle East and China experienced their "worst sandstorms in years", while huge dust storms also brought chaos to parts of both the American and Russian West. There were devastating landslides in Indonesia and Afghanistan, and a slow-moving 'horizontal landslide' in a Siberian town... which was also the setting last month for another bizarre 'exploding crater-hole'.

"Settlements in the 'driest place on Earth', Atacama Desert in Chile, were washed away after being inundated for the second month in a row. Severe flooding also hit drought-plagued Sao Paulo for the 4th time in 6 months, while melting snowpack combined with torrential rain to inundate parts of the US South and eastern Kazakhstan. Inches - and sometimes feet - of hail turned streets into rivers in the US, India, and Australia, where a "once-in-a-decade" storm battered the capital Sydney. The US Midwest saw multiple violent tornado outbreaks, while powerful tornadoes devastated communities in India and Brazil.

"But none of this rocking and rolling was as destructive as the strongest earthquake to hit the Himalayas in over 80 years. The 7.9M quake pretty much destroyed Nepal, set off avalanches that buried Mount Everest's base camp, and killed people in northern India, Bangladesh, and Tibet. The quake's death toll could reach 10,000 people, and has left millions more homeless. The most spectacular event of the month occurred in southern Chile, where Calbuco volcano exploded to life after being dormant for 40 years, spewing lava and ash thousands of feet into the air."

 

[Tyger]

Restoration
Restoration - YouTube
TEXT: "Published on Apr 14, 2015: RESTORATION is the fourth film in Green World Rising,
( http://www.greenworldrising.org ) a series of films aimed at moving the climate debate forward. The film focuses on how nature can protect the Earth from the harmful effects of climate change and how industrial design and science researchers can learn valuable lessons from natural systems. “When we plug into the wisdom of nature and work alongside Earth’s ecosystems, we discover new and exciting innovations. Many are already underway. It is this partnership with nature that will solve our most pressing climate concerns and create the building blocks of a civilization that works alongside nature, not against it,” said Leonardo DiCaprio, Narrator of RESTORATION.

"The film can be seen at greenworldrising.org, where viewers can also take action with resources to contact elected officials and spread the word. "I’m proud that this series moved the needle not only by garnering hundreds of thousands of viewers. It also inspired real action," said Leila Conners, director of the film, which was produced by George DiCaprio, Mathew Schmid, Roee Sharon Peled and Earl Katz, and presented by Thom Hartmann. “There is too much at stake to sit back and do nothing. We must act,” said Conners.

"CARBON debuted as the first film in the Green World Rising series, exploring the effectiveness of the carbon tax and carbon pricing in fighting climate change. LAST HOURS, the second film in the series, describes a science-based climate scenario where a tipping point to runaway climate change is triggered by the release of methane into the atmosphere. The third film, GREEN WORLD RISING, shows how we can be 100% fossil fuel free in a few decades through technological innovation. “Nature has mechanisms which naturally protect us from the negative effects of climate change. So when we harm nature, we harm ourselves. Technology will play a crucial role in averting a climate crisis. Yet many solutions lie right before our eyes. We must partner with nature – both by preserving wildlife and habitats and by appropriating natural systems in new technologies -- to solve these problems,” said Thom Hartmann."

LINK: greenworldrising

Green World Rising

TEXT: "Published on Oct 30, 2014: Green World Rising is the 3rd film in the Green World Rising series. The film shows how we can be 100% off fossil fuels in a few decades. Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, presented by Thom Hartmann, directed by Leila Conners and produced by George DiCaprio, Mathew Schmid, Earl Katz and Roee Sharon Peled. Music composed and performed by Jean-Pascal Beintus. Created by Tree Media with the support of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation."

 

[Gene Steinberg]

And:

NASA: Antarctica's Larsen B Ice Shelf to disappear - CNN.com

 

[Tyger]

Beyond The Tipping Point: Scientists Say It’s Too Late to Stop Ocean Warming: What Does it Mean?
~ July 21, 2015
LINK: Beyond The Tipping Point: Scientists Say It's Too Late to Stop Ocean Warming: What Does it Mean?

TEXT: "This month, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) issued a report entitled “State of the Climate in 2014.” Over 400 scientists from nearly 60 different countries have come to a grim conclusion: no matter what we do to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (primarily CO2, methane and nitrous oxide), ocean temperatures are going to keep rising.

"According to the report, concentrations of greenhouse gases in the planet’s atmosphere are at record levels. Carbon dioxide levels alone are approaching 400 parts per million. At the same time, surface temperatures throughout the world were higher in 2014 than they have been at any time since 1880. It’s not just the western US: countries around the world on every inhabited continent reported high temperatures at record or near-record levels. 90% of this heat is absorbed by the oceans.

"Even if we were able to stop all greenhouse gas emissions tomorrow, the effects on the world’s oceans will last for hundreds – or even thousands – of years. The reason: inertia, the tendency of static forces to remain static and moving forces to remain in motion. Because of its density, water temperatures change quite slowly compared to air temperatures. Correspondingly, water retains its heat for much longer periods of time. Greg Johnson, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explained it to the UK Guardian in mechanical terms: “think of it more like a fly wheel or a freight train. It takes a big push to get it going but it is moving now, and will continue to move long after we…[stop] pushing it.”

"The excess heat stored in the world’s oceans is having dramatic and even catastrophic effects on weather patterns. According to the AMS report:

Drought continued in southeastern Brazil and the western United States. Heavy rain during April–June led to devastating floods in Canada’s Eastern Prairies. Above-normal summer monsoon rainfall was observed over the southern coast of West Africa, while drier conditions prevailed over the eastern Sahel. Generally, summer monsoon rainfall over eastern Africa was above normal, except in parts of western South Sudan and Ethiopia. The south Asian summer monsoon in India was below normal, with June record dry.
​

"At the same time, the Arctic is experiencing record-breaking temperatures. Sea ice starts melting earlier in the spring than ever before in recorded history.

"The report also notes a significant increase in the number of tropical storms. Between 1981 and 2010, the average annual number of hurricanes and typhoons was 82. In 2014, that figure rose to 91.

"Of all the world’s species, homo sapiens has shown itself to be the most adaptable to a wide range of conditions. Unfortunately, very few other species share that ability. Consider the delicate balance of ecosystems; virtually all living things in a given environment play vital roles in maintaining the health of their unique biome.

"Humans may be able to adapt and survive, at least in the short term – but other species will not be as lucky. There is no way to predict the effects of mass extinctions that will surely result from the coming climate disaster brought on by human greed, stupidity and short-sightedness. "​

 

[Tyger]

Warming of oceans due to climate change is unstoppable, say US scientists
Seas will continue to warm for centuries even if manmade greenhouse gas emissions were frozen at today’s levels, say US government scientists
LINK: Warming of oceans due to climate change is unstoppable, say US scientists | Environment | The Guardian

TEXT: "July 15, 2015: The warming of the oceans due to climate change is now unstoppable after record temperatures last year, bringing additional sea-level rise, and raising the risks of severe storms, US government climate scientists said on Thursday.

"The annual State of the Climate in 2014 report, based on research from 413 scientists from 58 countries, found record warming on the surface and upper levels of the oceans, especially in the North Pacific, in line with earlier findings of 2014 as the hottest year on record.

"Global sea-level also reached a record high, with the expansion of those warming waters, keeping pace with the 3.2 ± 0.4 mm per year trend in sea level growth over the past two decades, the report said.

"Scientists said the consequences of those warmer ocean temperatures would be felt for centuries to come – even if there were immediate efforts to cut the carbon emissions fuelling changes in the oceans. “I think of it more like a fly wheel or a freight train. It takes a big push to get it going but it is moving now and will contiue to move long after we continue to pushing it,” Greg Johnson, an oceanographer at Noaa’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, told a conference call with reporters. “Even if we were to freeze greenhouse gases at current levels, the sea would actually continue to warm for centuries and millennia, and as they continue to warm and expand the sea levels will continue to rise,” Johnson said.

"On the west coast of the US, freakishly warm temperatures in the Pacific – 4 or 5F above normal – were already producing warmer winters, as well as worsening drought conditions by melting the snowpack, he said. The extra heat in the oceans was also contributing to more intense storms, Tom Karl, director of Noaa’s National Centers for Environmental Information, said.

"The report underlined 2014 as a banner year for the climate, setting record or near record levels for temperature extremes, and loss of glaciers and sea ice, and reinforcing decades-old pattern to changes to the climate system. Four independent data sets confirmed 2014 as the hottest year on record, with much of that heat driven by the warming of the oceans.

"Globally 90% of the excess heat caused by the rise in greenhouse gas emissions is absorbed by the oceans.

"More than 20 countries in Europe set new heat records, with Africa, Asia and Australia also experiencing near-record heat. The east coast of North America was the only region to experience cooler than average conditions. Alaska experienced temperatures 18F warmer than average. Spring break-up came to the Arctic 20-30 days earlier than the 20th century average. “The prognosis is to expect a continuation of what we have seen,” Karl said.​

 

[Tyger]

SOTT Earth Changes Summary - May 2015: Extreme Weather and Planetary Upheaval

TEXT: "Published on Jun 5, 2015: SOTT 'Earth Changes' video summary of extreme weather events and environmental indicators of 'planetary upheaval' (seismic, volcanic, etc) in May 2015.

"Winter in the northern hemisphere officially ended in March, and yet May 2015 saw heavy snowfalls in parts of Norway, Russia, China and the US. Europe recorded its highest ever (official) May and June temperature - 44°C in Spain - during a brief heatwave, before the mercury plunged to as low as 8°C the following week. Like much of Siberia, northern China went from warm, dry weather - including sandstorms and wildfires - in April, to blizzards by the end of May, while spring snowfall and cold temperature records were broken in Russia.

"There were at least four major tornado outbreaks in the US last month, generating some 460 tornado reports. Will the US break its 2011 record for highest number of tornadoes in one year? With the storms came hail, rain, and snow - lots of it. Texas was inundated with record-breaking rainfall that bought its 3-year-long drought to a chaotic end. There were also destructive tornadoes in New Zealand, Mexico, and Germany, which saw two tornado outbreaks.

"California's record-breaking drought continues, but Los Angeles saw its daily rainfall record smashed in May. Other parts of the US under water were Louisiana, Oklahoma and Alaska, which saw its 'worst flooding in decades', in part due to yet another bizarre spring heatwave. An 'apocalyptic' storm in Moscow flooded streets, while hailstorms turned streets into rivers of ice in Spain, Mexico, and Turkey, where cars were washed away in the coastal city of Izmir. Several huge sinkholes opened up - in the US, Turkey, the Canary Islands and Russia - swallowing gardens, street intersections, golf greens, and cars.

"Another deadly earthquake - officially considered an aftershock - rocked Nepal on May 12th, just three weeks after the country was flattened by its worst seismic event in 80 years. Wolf Volcano in the Galapagos erupted for the first time in decades, followed a couple of days later by an explosive eruption of Mount Shindake in southern Japan. Next up was a magnitude 8.5 earthquake off the Japanese coast, the country's strongest since that magnitude 9.0 earthquake in March 2011.

"Some are asking 'when, if ever, will the climate change'? Our answer to that is: open your eyes; it's changing NOW!"​

 

[Tyger]

SOTT Earth Changes Summary - June 2015: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, and High Strangeness

TEXT: "Published on Jul 9, 2015: SOTT 'Earth Changes' video summary of extreme weather events and environmental indicators of 'planetary upheaval' (seismic, volcanic, etc) in June 2015.

"With the dollar-led global economy on the verge of systemic collapse, increasing chaos in the political and social spheres is mirrored by climate chaos. In June 2015, thousands of wildfires broke out across western North America, with the entire continent on course for its fieriest season in recorded history. June is the peak of tornado season in the US, but the intensity of the storms that brought them was stunning. The worst death toll from a tornado occurred in central China, where a waterspout capsized a cruise ship on the Yangtze River.

"The record May rainfall in Texas and Louisiana... just kept falling out of the sky last month, with the Red River reaching its highest level in 70 years. Parts of southern China saw their worst flooding in over 70 years. Localized flash-flooding struck the world over, not least in Accra, capital of Ghana, where hundreds were killed when a gas station exploded. Tbilisi, Georgia, was similarly impacted when a 'wall of water' washed through, killing 20 people and half the city zoo's animals. Other capitals inundated in deluges last month included Ankara, Bangkok, and Madrid, while Oman saw 5 years' worth of rain... in a single day.

"Intense monsoon rains also killed thousands of wild animals at a sanctuary in India, while thousands of pigs drowned in southern China's floods. Animal die-offs last month included millions of crabs on the Californian coast, and hundreds of thousands of antelope in Kazakhstan. The heatwave that killed thousands in India in May moved into Pakistan last month, where it killed some 1,200 people. In normally hot, dry climates, there were yet more bizarre scenes of inches - and sometimes FEET - of hail trapping cars on roads. While Alaska baked in record hot temperatures, Norway had five times more snow cover than normal for June.

"In addition to auroras and noctilucent clouds being seen much further south than usual, strange objects or lights in the sky were caught on camera, including three objects leaving Earth's atmosphere. Strong seismic activity came in the form of another powerful eruption of Indonesia's Mount Sinabung, while Malaysia was hit with its strongest earthquake since 1976. There is also incredible footage of enormous sinkholes opening up across the US in June, swallowing moving cars, roads, driveways, backyards, and golf greens. And don't miss the eruption of multiple methane-infused mud geysers on another golf course in Canada!"​

 

[ALPHA ROMEO UNIFORM]

GW or Climate Change all parts of Earths cycle through time and connected to our Solar System. More concerned with todays current political affairs and coming wars once more which effect everyone in one way or another.
Dialogues on American Foreign Policy and World Affairs: Senator John McCain & Walter Russell Mead - YouTube

 

[mike]

I tend to have a similar view.
Humanitys voracious hunger for resources is manisfesting itself in myriad destructive ways
If climate change is one of those facets (and im not suggesting it isnt) Its only one aspect from a collection of bite us on the arse results

The Living Planet Report 2014, released September 30, 2014, shows that humanity’s demand on the planet is more than 50 percent larger than what nature can renew, jeopardizing the well-being of humans as well as populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish.
Humanity's Ecological Footprint has more than doubled since 1961, according to the Living Planet Report. At the same time, vertebrate wildlife populations have declined, on average, by more than half in just four decades, as measured by the Living Planet Index.
It would take 1.5 Earths to produce the resources necessary to support humanity’s current Ecological Footprint. This global overshoot means, for example, that we are cutting timber more quickly than trees regrow and releasing CO2 faster than nature can sequester it.
Growth in the Ecological Footprint is largely attributable to the carbon Footprint, which has increased to comprise 53 percent of our Footprint in 2010 from 36 percent in 1961. Carbon emissions (in particular) and food demand are the major drivers of the escalating Footprint. In addition, from 1961 to 2010, the global human population increased from 3.1 billion to 6.9 billion, and the per capita Ecological Footprint increased from 2.5 to 2.6 global hectares.

http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/living_planet_report2/

http://ba04e385e36eeed47f9c-abbcd57...cf1.rackcdn.com/Living_Planet_Report_2014.pdf

 

[Tyger]

GW or Climate Change all parts of Earths cycle through time

Respectfully, such a statement is meaningless in the context of what is currently occurring. Yes, there are cycles but each cycle has been shown to have causes that we can identify, just as we can identify what is causing this current 'cycle'. But, as mentioned, this is not the thread to debate this. Debate at this level is pointless imo.

and connected to our Solar System.

Interesting idea, though without context. Again, we are not debating the science here on this thread, but possible other influences do not discount what we know about the CO2. Even if there are 'solar system' issues (which is pretty 'loose science' at this point, if one can call it 'science' at all - yet), that does not discount the other explanations staring at us. We may be looking at a 'perfect storm' - the confluence of several factors that taken together, drive us over the cliff. It's all complicated for sure but we know enough to know we have a task in front of us.

More concerned with todays current political affairs and coming wars once more which effect everyone in one way or another. Dialogues on American Foreign Policy and World Affairs: Senator John McCain & Walter Russell Mead - YouTube

All that interests me, too, Mainly because the war-mongering is so closely tied to economic interests. It's not going to be easy to 'un-stick' the public from responding to the dog-whistle rhetoric evident in the video you link to above. McCain is expertly laying out all the reasons the electorate should be afraid (in his opinion) - even hauling out Iran, because there is a serious faction that wants war with Iran. Make the public afraid, and then tell them to vote for the candidate who will make them 'safe' by going to war. Where have we heard that before?

But not the thread for politics, either, though it is all certainly in the mix as the 'sign of the times'. An esoteric teacher said at the end of the 1800's that we need to develop the discernment to 'read the signs of our times' - the tendencies, the movements, the overarching progressions. Could anyone have guessed the impact of the auto-mobile in the late 1800's - and that Los Angeles would opt for the car over mass transit and what that would mean? The future comes to us in those kind of unlooked for ways.

We are definitely in the cauldron setting in motion the future. Massive shifts afoot. A bit like times in history when great paradigm shifts took place, like during the Reformation. Same thing now. The ecological disaster I believe we will inevitably adapt to because we must. The scientific paradigm shift that I see looming on many fronts will weave through how we deal with that. Right now digital is all the rage and AI and what not, but much of it may be a fad (of a kind). It's not a simple matter.

Listen to this - LINK: Digital Dark Age - On The Media
Text: "On this week’s episode of On the Media, we’re engaging in some chillingly informed speculation: what would happen if we, as a species, lost access to our electronic records? What if, either by the slow creep of technological obsolescence or sudden cosmic disaster, we no longer could draw from the well of knowledge accrued through the ages? What if we fell into...a digital dark age?"

I think our future will be pre-eminently determined by the changing climate and the rising sea-levels. That will force innovations in city-building - already is. We will have a very different world by 2050 - new kinds of urban planning clustered around sustainable energy. New coastlines for North America (and the US) as well as elsewhere. National boundaries will be less meaningful, but there will be polarization based or rooted in religious extremism versus atheism/materialism. This I do think is (potentially) part of the future: automated war. It's just a matter of our choices.

 

[Angel of Ioren]

GW or Climate Change all parts of Earths cycle through time and connected to our Solar System. More concerned with todays current political affairs and coming wars once more which effect everyone in one way or another.
Dialogues on American Foreign Policy and World Affairs: Senator John McCain & Walter Russell Mead - YouTube

Nope! You are completely wrong with this statement. Pretty much like saying that the sky is green and the moon is made of cheese.

I assume you make this statement based on the fact that you're a climate scientist?

 

[Tyger]

GW or Climate Change all parts of Earths cycle through time and connected to our Solar System. More concerned with todays current political affairs and coming wars once more which effect everyone in one way or another.

What is going to effect more people is the climate changing. Wars are in our power (more or less) to say no to - climate change is beyond us now. It is engaged. No recourse but to manage it. We can choose not to war with each other.

General consensus across the board - no outliers - is that we are well-and-good cooked, literally. Were we to stop CO2 emissions on a dime in the instant, that would be a good thing, but the system is in motion. Inertial forces are in play regardless of human action at this point. The dragon has been waked. We can only manage the situation at this juncture - and we will (imo). We are in the process of trying to figure out what the 'new normal' is and will be. The systems igniting are very complicated. We definitely don't have all the answers.

This is just me but I believe that the sea-level-rise is a given (say goodbye to most of Florida). The East Coast (of the US) by 2100 will be unrecognizable. Really massive cultural/economic changes will engage around 2050 and continue from then on (we are seeing the pre-history of those changes now). Consider: they are going to have to move entire cities, or significant parts of cities (like Miamai, NYC, Boston). Some cities, like Miami, will disappear in total. Inland will be a good place to be - though sea-rise will have some impact anywhere that is on the water. Inland will be filled with all the re-located inhabitants of the emptied cities. (This will be a slow process, complicated by the emergence of desert in the far west of the continental US - including Mexico: Think in terms of Elevation!)

If there are outliers now, it is those who say we are not yet past the tipping point, though, fact is, there are many tipping points, and some we cannot know about except in retrospect. Makes making 'the call' difficult.

One tipping point that is having tremendous consequences even as we speak is the warming of the oceans. (Massive die-offs in the marine food-chain do not bode well for any of us on the planet). That is happening - and 'cooling the oceans' is not going to be fast like cooling on the landmasses. That's the inertial forces that we have set in motion and will be dealing with the consequences for a very, very, very long time. One thing is certain, the world you and I have known is not the world we currently are in, nor what the world will be. We have been finding that our prognostications (computer models) have been too conservative. Sobering, but it means we have a lot of work to do. Never say die. I do believe humankind will figure it out. We have to - the physical world is too important to the spiritual world. ( My bias showing).

 

[Tyger]

BTW, Climate Change is generally recognized as occurring. Even deniers have opted to admit it is occurring with the caveat that it is not, cannot be, human caused. But that the climate is changing is pretty much universally accepted.

The foot dragging in the US Congress is idiosyncratic to the US (and wherever the internet has spread this pov). It is paid for by the oil money, but we now know that even the oil industry has known since 1980 (at least) that what they were doing was shifting/impacting the climate (years before Hansen gave his talk before Congress). There's been some whistle-blowing and a report just came out with all the industry documents. It's basically the tobacco industry redux happening again. I posted the story this past weekend on the Politics of Global Warming thread. Here is the link FYI.

The Climate Deception Dossiers

TEXT: "Published on Jul 14, 2015: Aaron Huertas, Union of Concerned Scientists, joins Thom.

"Thanks to a new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists - we know that the fossil fuel industry never believed the denial science that they've been funding for the last 30 years. The report shows that as early as 1981 - ExxonMobil was having internal discussions about the climate impacts of one particularly large extraction project. That's almost seven years before NASA scientist James Hansen testified about the threat of a warming world to Congress.

"And in 1995 - a memo circulated among companies that said that climate change is caused by burning their products - and that the relevant science is "well established and cannot be denied" So the industry knew that their actions were driving the planet to a crisis - and they did nothing to avoid it. And when scientists and the public cried out - they spread lies to cover their guilt. The simple fact is - we wouldn't be facing such a dire crisis if we had taken action when the companies first knew that burning fossil fuels drives climate change. But what happens now that we know that the companies lied to cover up their systematic abuse of our planet?"​