Global 'Warning'

The Arctic is now the fastest warming place on the planet. As it heats it is melting the sea ice. The melting of Arctic sea ice decreases the amount of reflective surface. Dark water absorbs more heat which:

• melts more surface ice
• warms the ocean depths, potentially releasing methane hydrates
• slows the jet stream down
• heats the air over the Arctic which raises the tropopause which displaces the polar vortex

Each one of these actions creates a positive feedback system.

We were warned in 1988…

Global Warming Has Begun, Expert Tells Senate
New York Times June 1988

Congress was warned about the need to reduce carbon emissions in 1988. James Hansen, then director of NASA’s Institute for Space Studies, told Congress that they must consider ways to slow Climate Change...

Hansen was an early herald of potential Climate Change disaster and has continued to issue alarms about ice sheet collapse, sea level rise, the slowing of ocean-current circulation and super storms.

In 2007, Tim Flannery issued another warning about the Arctic…

Oh, this is, for me, the most disturbing thing. You know, the ice cap at the North Pole has been there for three million years. You know, walrus, polar bears, many unique species have evolved in that wonderful environment. And, of course, (the ice cap at the North Pole) it’s an absolutely essential regulator of earth’s climate. It reflects a vast amount of heat, of energy, back into space, that doesn’t then heat our planet.

 What we've seen, starting in the 1970s, but particularly since 2005, is a rapid melting of that ice cap. And it’s possible now that as early as 2013 there will be no polar ice cap in summer, and that will change the world, if -- that is, if that happens. We cannot -- I just hope that that will not happen, that we’ve got a long good timeframe to act. But all indications are it’s melting with unprecedented rapidity.

James Hansen stated his concerns again in 2012…

Climate Citizen December 2012

The thesis that Hansen has put forward for several years is that Ice Sheet collapse is a non-linear process: that with the inclusion of amplifying climate feedbacks it is likely to follow an exponential rate of acceleration - a doubling rate. It might be a 10 year doubling time, or less. This will lead to extensive sea level rise, perhaps on the order of 5 meters in this century.

In 2016, Hansen and 16 other scientists published a paper with the shocking conclusion that Climate Change was happening faster than expected...

Scientists Warn of Perilous Climate Shift Within Decades, Not Centuries
NY Times March 2016

The basic claim of the paper is that by burning fossil fuels at a prodigious pace and pouring heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, humanity is about to provoke an abrupt climate shift.

Specifically, the authors believe that fresh water pouring into the oceans from melting land ice will set off a feedback loop that will cause parts of the great ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica to disintegrate rapidly.

The 2016 paper said, “that the concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have been accelerating in recent years.” To me, methane is the most worrisome...

Is Climate Change causing an exponential rate of Ice sheet Mass Loss...
Climate Citizen December 2012

Methane is a very strong greenhouse gas, 21 to 25 times as strong as carbon dioxide over a 100 year period. But for a shorter period under 20 years it (methane) can be 100 times the strength of CO2. This is a really powerful feedback mechanism in the short-term.

Arctic sea ice is melting now in areas where it has been the thickest for thousands of years, up to 5 meters thick. As the sea ice melts, there is a loss of reflective surface. The sea heats up, absorbing up to 94% of the sun’s energy versus 10% when it is covered by ice...

The once-thickest Arctic sea ice has gone
Arctic News August 2018

A further huge danger is that, as warming of the Arctic Ocean continues, heat will reach methane hydrates on the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean, causing them to get destabilized and release methane.

Meanwhile, for the first time in human history, mean global methane levels as high as 1900 ppb have been recorded.

Fast forward to 2018...

Degrading Plastic Emits Methane and Could be Responsible for Climate Change
The Green Optimistic July 2018

The study found that some of the most used plastics under sunlight release methane and ethylene in the atmosphere. The amounts of gases released are small. However, the astonishing amount of plastic waste could still contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change over time.
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the research team tested polycarbonate, acrylic, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, high-density polyethylene and low-density polyethylene (LDPE). These materials are used commonly in food packaging, textile, and other plastic goods. Polyethylene, the most popular material out of plastics, was releasing the biggest amounts of greenhouse gases.

Additionally, they found out that the longer the LDPE is exposed to sunlight, the greater the emissions from it.

Paul Beckwith July 2018
[video:https://youtu.be/C3irArpE_FU]

Methane leaks offset much of the climate change benefits of natural gas, study says
Washington Post June 2018

The U.S. oil and gas industry emits 13 million metric tons of methane from its operations each year — nearly 60 percent more than current estimates and enough to offset much of the climate benefits of burning natural gas instead of coal, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.

The higher volumes of natural gas leaking from across the industry’s supply chain would be enough to fuel 10 million homes and would be worth an estimated $2 billion, the researchers said.
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“Natural gas losses are a waste of a limited natural resource, increase global levels of surface ozone pollution, and significantly erode the potential climate benefits of natural gas use,” the study’s authors wrote.

They added that, over 20 years, the climate effects of emitting 13 million metric tons of methane annually “roughly equals” the carbon dioxide emissions from all U.S. coal-fired power plants operating in 2015.

HOT AIR NEWS ROUNDUP
UN Scientific Paper Suggests Capitalism Has to Die in Order for the Planet to Be Saved
Gritpost August 28, 2018

Capitalism and global sustainability are incongruous with one another, according to a recent paper for the UN’s 2019 Global Sustainable Development Report.

The team of researchers from various academic institutions throughout Finland who wrote the report gave a sobering assessment of the planet’s future if the current economic order continues unabated. Namely, that all rich Western countries have based their societies on an abundance of cheap energy, which the scientists say is no longer a reality.

“Economies have used up the capacity of planetary ecosystems to handle the waste generated by energy and material use,” the paper reads. “[D]ominant economic theories as well as policy-related economic modeling rely on the presupposition of continued energetic and material growth. The theories and models anticipate only incremental changes in the existing economic order. Hence, they are inadequate for explaining the current turmoil.”

Scientists argued that worsening climate change is having a drastic impact on ecosystems and biodiversity, and that symptoms of unchecked capitalism like rising inequality, unemployment, and debt are also contributing to the destabilization of society.

China and the Planetary Environment, Climate Change
Global Research August 28, 2018

China has the worst air quality of any country, containing the majority of the world’s most polluted cities. It is estimated that up to two million Chinese die each year as a result of consistent exposure to poisonous aerial fumes. Furthermore, China has significant water contamination problems with about 40% of the nation’s rivers suffering extensive pollution, due to agricultural and industrial waste.

China is the world’s biggest consumer of coal, last year burning over four times as much coal as second-place India, and more than five-fold that of the US. China is also clear in the distance as the world’s greatest coal producer. In addition, the Chinese are the biggest oil importers on earth and are the second largest consumers of oil (behind the US), while the country is the fourth greatest guzzler of gas. As we enter the end of the second decade of the 21st century, it is astonishing that China continues relying so heavily upon fossil fuels – tendencies which should have been seriously addressed and reduced many years before.

Trends so far in 2018 reveal China’s rising consumption of a variety of fossil fuels. Three months ago, the non-governmental organization Greenpeace outlined that,

“China’s carbon emissions have accelerated since the beginning of the year [2018]… Led by increased demand for coal, oil and gas, China’s carbon emissions for the first three months of 2018 were 4% higher than they were for the same period in 2017… Big spending on energy intensive industries persisted through 2017, meaning China has been backsliding on the climate progress it made earlier this decade, and the rest of the world must redouble efforts simply to ensure global carbon emissions don’t climb dramatically”.

Dramatic surge in China carbon emissions signals climate danger
Unearthed May 30, 2018

China’s carbon emissions growth has accelerated since the beginning of the year, leading to warnings that the country could be headed for its largest annual increase in climate pollution since 2011.

Led by increased demand for coal, oil and gas, China’s CO2 emissions for the first three months of 2018 were 4% higher than they were for the same period in 2017, according to an Unearthed analysis of new government figures.

Analysts have suggested the country’s carbon emissions could rise this year by 5% — the largest annual increase in seven years, back when the airpocalypse was at its peak.

Abrupt, Irreversible Climate Change
Guy McPherson August 22, 2018
[video:https://youtu.be/dD1jZxerJRk?t=385]

California Releases New Climate Science, Planning Tools to Prepare for Climate Change Impacts
Global Climate Action Summit August 27, 2018

Warning that two-­‐thirds of Southern California’s beaches could completely disappear and the average area burned by wildfires could nearly double by 2100, the State of California today released California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment, which details new science on the devastating impacts of climate change and provides planning tools to support the state’s response.
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In addition, a report set for release in early September will highlight how California can better integrate climate impacts in design processes for critical infrastructure. The report by a working group established by AB 2800 (Quirk) of 2016 reflects the expertise of multiple scientific and engineering disciplines to help design and construct infrastructure to withstand higher temperatures, more frequent and intense storms, drought, wildfires and sea-­‐level rise.

Climate change is melting the French Alps, say mountaineers
Guardian August 24, 2018

“Global climate change has serious and directly observable consequences in high mountains,” says Vincent Neirinck from Mountain Wilderness, a campaign group that works to preserve mountain environments around the world.

One of the consequences of climate change is the ongoing retreat of glaciers.

“In the Alps, the glacier surfaces have shrunk by half between 1900 and 2012 with a strong acceleration of the melting processes since the 1980s,” says Jacques Mourey, a climber and scientist who is researching the impact of climate change on the mountains above Chamonix.
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“The Mer de Glace is now melting at the rate of around 40 metres a year and has lost 80m in depth over the last 20 years alone,” says glaciologist Luc Moreau.

A Whole Lot of the Planet Is on Fire Right Now
Live Science August 23, 2018

North and South America, as well as Australia, have had widespread — and sometimes record-setting —wildfires this year, NASA officials said, as a result of warming temperatures and droughts linked to climate change, as well as forest mismanagement in some areas.

'Apocalyptic threat': dire climate report raises fears for California's future
The Guardian July 27, 2018

City heatwaves could lead to two to three times as many deaths by 2050, the report says. By 2100, without a reduction in emissions, the state could see a 77% increase in the average area burned by wildfires. The report also warns of erosion of up to 67% of its famous coastline, up to an 8.8F (4.9C) rise in average maximum temperatures, and billions of dollars in damages.

The North Fork Mono tribe chairman, Hon Ron Goode, who also contributed to the assessment, said it was the first time the state’s native population had been included in the report, despite the fact that native Californians were among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

But before colonization, Goode said, the native population would not have been so vulnerable, because it was more mobile and could nimbly adapt to changes in the climate. “They knew how to move around and where to go and let something rest,” he said. “Now, it’s different. We’re locked into our reservations; rancherias; allotment lands. We can’t just run away – those are our lands and that’s it.”

French nuclear production reduced by 3.1 GW due to heatwave
Reuters August 3, 2018

(French utility) EDF, which operates the 58 nuclear reactors that cover around 75 percent of France’s electricity needs, extended outages at the 900 megawatt (MW) Bugey 2 and St. Alban 1 nuclear reactors until Aug. 11.

Production was reduced by 665 MW at the 900 MW Bugey 3, and by 300 MW at its 900 MW Fessenheim 2 reactor.

Drought reveals ancient ‘hunger stones’ in European river
AP August 23, 2018

The low water levels in the river that begins in the Czech Republic then crosses Germany into the North Sea has exposed stones on the river bed whose appearances in history used to warn people that hard times were coming.

The Point of No Return: Climate Change Nightmares Are Already Here: The worst predicted impacts of climate change are starting to happen — and much faster than expected
Rolling Stone August 5, 2018

Historians may look to 2015 as the year when shit really started hitting the fan. Some snapshots: In just the past few months, record-setting heat waves in Pakistan and India each killed more than 1,000 people. In Washington state’s Olympic National Park, the rainforest caught fire for the first time in living memory. London reached 98 degrees Fahrenheit during the hottest July day ever recorded in the U.K.; The Guardian briefly had to pause its live blog of the heat wave because its computer servers overheated. In California, suffering from its worst drought in a millennium, a 50-acre brush fire swelled seventyfold in a matter of hours, jumping across the I-15 freeway during rush-hour traffic. Then, a few days later, the region was pounded by intense, virtually unheard-of summer rains. Puerto Rico is under its strictest water rationing in history as a monster El Niño forms in the tropical Pacific Ocean, shifting weather patterns worldwide.

On July 20th, James Hansen, the former NASA climatologist who brought climate change to the public’s attention in the summer of 1988, issued a bombshell: He and a team of climate scientists had identified a newly important feedback mechanism off the coast of Antarctica that suggests mean sea levels could rise 10 times faster than previously predicted

Global warming is changing the jet stream, increasing extreme weather events
About Climate Change August 27, 2018

..the scientists said the jet stream — the high atmospheric winds that influence our weather — is making bigger north-south swings due to the impact of global warming, setting the stage for weather systems to linger and become more extreme.
[video:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/62/Aerial_Su...
...noted Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University. “It’s because these perturbations in the jet stream have a hemispheric scale. And we see extreme weather all around the Northern Hemisphere like we are seeing this July.”

These big swings in the jet stream lead to persistent extreme weather events, Mann added, like prolonged periods of extreme heat, unprecedented wildfires, drought, and floods.

Sweden's reindeer at risk of starvation after summer drought
Guardian August 22, 2018

Sweden’s indigenous Sami reindeer herders are demanding state aid to help them cope with the impact of this summer’s unprecedented drought and wildfires, saying their future is at risk as global warming changes the environment in the far north.

The owners are asking for emergency funding to help pay for supplementary fodder as a replacement for winter grazing lands that could take up to 30 years to recover from the summer’s drought and fires.

“We are living with the effects of climate change,” Niila Inga, chair of the Swedish Sami Association, told the SVT news agency. “The alarm bells are ringing. We face droughts, heatwaves, fires. This is about the survival of the reindeer, and of Sami culture, which depends on them.”

The owners are warning that without help some of their herds may not survive the year.

Paul Beckwith: "I declare a global climate change emergency to claw back up the rock face to attempt to regain system stability, or face an untenable calamity of biblical proportions."

Kevin Hester: "There is no past analogue for the rapidity of what we are baring witness to. There has been a flood of articles ... 2C is no longer attainable and that we are heading for dangerous climate change"

Guy McPherson: "The recent and near-future rises in temperature are occurring and will occur at least an order of magnitude faster than the worst of all prior Mass Extinctions. Habitat for human animals is disappearing throughout the world, and abrupt climate change has barely begun."

me… We need to turn on a dime at mach nine!

Enjoy!