Hot Air
Something to keep in mind…
For every square yard of forest,
27 square yards of leaves and needles blanket the crowns.
…
In addition, each summer, trees use up to 8,500 cubic yards of water per square mile,
which they release into the air through transpiration.
This water vapor creates new clouds that travel farther inland to release their rain.
…
This water pump works so well that the
downpours in some large areas of the world, such as the Amazon Basin,
are almost
as heavy thousands of miles inland as they are on the coast.
…
the whole process breaks down if coastal forests are cleared.
.
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
The time has come the walrus said, to speak of many things...
The death toll keeps going up as they search through neighborhoods. An empty driveway is a good sign, one with one car still parked in it, not so good, two cars… They have floor plans of the houses and look for the bedrooms. They need cadaver dogs because, well, a bone looks just like a rock. It may be too late even for this. Burned beyond decoding DNA.
They want basic items, she said. They don’t even have toothbrushes. The vans full of supplies have already left from Scott’s Valley for Paradise. Empathy, compassion, heartrending pain -- the first help is coming from the heart, from folks who care.
These firestorms caught people, once again, by surprise, by their speed. Hurricane Michael also grew at a breakneck pace. How much of this will it take?
A friend used to joke whenever I complained… "When I was young, I had to pull the bus to school uphill both ways in the snow…" Back then, when we were young. Joking aside, we had school buses then, we had (some) good schools, we could live on a minimum wage job, then… mostly, certainly better than can be done now. We had a lot.
We might have even understood that Climate Breakdown was creating an untenable world, then… Had we known, we might have done something. But we didn’t.
We know now and we must act now. The time has come. The oligarchy should go. Exit stage, whichever way. Who cares.
So, how do we organize? Thoughts?
Yes! Climate Breakdown is to blame for the intense wildfires
Yes, Climate Change is Making Wildfires Worse
State of the Planet November 12, 2018
Three powerful wildfires are blazing in California. By Friday morning, the Camp fire had burned 70,000 acres in 24 hours, destroying Paradise, a community of about 26,000 people north of Sacramento.
Near Los Angeles, the Woolsey and Hill fires have already scorched more than 7,000 acres, resulting in the evacuation of 88,000 homes by Friday morning, according to the Los Angeles Times.
…
A 2016 study co-authored by Williams and John Abatzoglou, a professor of geography at the University of Idaho, found that rising temperatures have doubled the area affected by forest fires in the western United States over the last 30 years.“No matter how hard we try, the fires are going to keep getting bigger…
California's wildfires: 'Everybody is at risk' from smoky conditions, experts say
PHYS ORG November 12, 2018
As a result of the Camp Fire burning near Paradise in Northern California, the entire Bay Area, much of the Central Valley and even Monterey—which is more than 200 miles away from the blaze, as the crow flies—are experiencing unhealthy air quality that began wafting in on seasonal winds just hours after the wildfire sparked Thursday. …
The amount of fine particulate matter registered across the Bay Area on Nov. 9 was the second-highest ever recorded since the metric started being tracked almost 20 years ago, Roselius said. The amount of fine particulate matter registered across the Bay Area on Nov. 9 was the second-highest ever recorded since the metric started being tracked almost 20 years ago, Roselius said.
California fires: what is happening and is climate change to blame?
The Guardian November 12, 2018
Large wildfires require a cocktail of conditions, such as favourable wind speed and direction, fuel, terrain and, of course, ignition, which can be as simple as a trailer throwing up sparks by scraping on a road.
Broadly speaking, however, climate change is making conditions more favourable for wildfires in the American west. Of the 20 largest wildfires in California’s recorded history, 15 have occurred since 2000, at a time when forests have become drier and warmer.
…
“Climate change is increasing the vulnerability of many forests to ecosystem changes and tree mortality through fire, insect infestations, drought and disease outbreaks,” a major climate assessment by the US government states.“Given strong relationships between climate and fire, even when modified by land use and management such as fuel treatments, projected climate changes suggest that western forests in the United States will be increasingly affected by large and intense fires that occur more frequently,”
Demands for 'Real Climate Action' as Death Toll From California Wildfires Hits Grim Record
Common Dreams November 12, 2018
With the Camp Fire raging in nothern California now having claimed the lives of 29 people, it ties the record (pdf) set back in 1933 for the deadliest single wildfire in the state. Having destroyed more than 6,000 structures, it also tops the record for most destructive fire.
It's only 25 percent contained, and is one of several wildfires ravaging the state, as firefighters are also battling the Woolsey Fire in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, the Hill Fire in Ventura County, and the Nurse Fire in Solano County. And, with over 225 people are still unaccounted for, the death toll may rise.
Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to blame the blazes on "poor forest management."
The tweet drew ire from the head of the California firefighters union as well as legendary rocker Neil Young.California Professional Firefighters president Brian K. Rice said in a statement that Trump's "message attacking California and threatening to withhold aid to the victims of the cataclysmic fires is ill-informed, ill-timed, and demeaning to those who are suffering as well as the men and women on the front lines."
Young, whose home was destroyed in the fire, wrote on his Archives site, "We are vulnerable because of climate change; the extreme weather events and our extended drought is part of it." He added, "It really is time for a reckoning with this unfit leader. Maybe our new Congress can help. I sure hope so."
Speaking to the Associated Press, Kristen Thornicke of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany said that while there are multiple factors behind the severity of the fires, "forest management wasn't one of them." AP adds: One reason that scientists know that management isn't to blame is that some areas now burning had fires in 2005 and 2008, so they aren't "fuel-choked closed-canopy forests," [University of Utah fire scientist Philip] Dennison said.
Meteorologists Jeff Masters and Bob Henson pointed Sunday to a Twitter thread from climate scientist Daniel Swain, saying that the posts draw "the links between our evolving climate and California's fire threat."
California’s Wildfire and Climate Change Warnings Are Still Too Conservative, Scientist Says
inside climate news November 13, 2018
"I think what we have been observing has consistently been outpacing what we've been predicting," said LeRoy Westerling, professor of management of complex systems at the University of California, Merced, who modeled the risk of future wildfires as part of the California Climate Change Assessment released in August.
The report estimated that the average area burned by wildfires would increase 77 percent by 2100 and the frequency of extreme wildfires would increase by nearly 50 percent if global greenhouse gas emissions continue at a high rate.
Scientists: Wind, drought worsen fires, not bad management
PHYS ORG November 12, 2018
"The biggest factor was wind," Dennison said in an email. "With wind speeds as high as they were, there was nothing firefighters could do to stop the advance of the fires."
These winds, called Santa Ana winds, and the unique geography of high mountains and deep valleys act like chimneys, fortifying the fires, Thornicke said.
The wind is so strong that fire breaks—areas where trees and brush have been cleared or intentionally burned to deprive the advancing flames of fuel—won't work. One of the fires jumped over eight lanes of freeway, about 140 feet (43 meters), Dennison said.
…
California also has been in drought for all but a few years of the 21st century and is now experiencing its longest drought, which began on Dec. 27, 2011, and has lasted 358 weeks, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor . Nearly two-thirds of the state is abnormally dry.
…
University of Alberta fire scientist Mike Flanigan earlier this year told The Associated Press that the hotter and drier the weather, the easier it is for fires to start, spread and burn more intensely.It's simple, he said: "The warmer it is, the more fire we see."
For every 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit that the air warms, it needs 15 percent more rain to make up for the drying of the fuel, Flannigan said.
HOT AIR NEWS ROUNDUP
On climate change, our plan is to wait for emergency evacuation of the planet
Washington Post November 13, 2018
There are tentative efforts being made to put a few people on Mars to try and survive in a bunker under constant high radiation in sub-frigid temperatures in an atmosphere 100 times thinner than Earth’s. If we make good progress on this endeavor, we will be able to evacuate the population of Earth into space around the year Never.
…
Just as seeing schoolchildren gunned down doesn’t lead us to action on assault rifles, neither does seeing people incinerated to ashes and bones in their houses or cooked alive in their cars lead us to act on the planetary assault rifle of unregulated emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The difference here is that the atmosphere, once fully loaded, will never stop firing at us.
Urging House Democrats to Go Bold on Climate, Group Says Probing Fossil Fuel Giants Must Be a 'Top Priority'
Common Dreams November 12, 2018
"The science is clear: we need climate solutions now, and we don't have a moment to lose," 350.org declared in a petition it plans to send to Congress when it convenes in January. "We're calling on our new Congress to align their policies with science and their priorities with the moral imperative of this moment. We're calling for real climate leadership."
…
"Launch a congressional investigation into ExxonMobil and other fossil fuel corporations for propagating confusion and denial about the scientific truth of climate change and for hiding the risks posed by their business activities to the planet," the petition demands.
Ocasio-Cortez joins climate change sit-in at Pelosi's office
The Hill November 13, 2018
Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined 150 youth activists in a Tuesday sit-in at House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's Capitol Hill office, where the group called for congressional action on climate change.
Warming at 100 Military Sites Across the U.S.
Climate Central November 7, 2018
In mid-October, Hurricane Michael devastated Tyndall Air Force Base in the Florida panhandle, ripping the roofs from buildings, forcing the base’s evacuation, and causing what the Air Force called “catastrophic damage.” A few weeks earlier, a September wildfire forced the evacuation of the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in California. This Veterans Day, it’s worth remembering that the extreme weather that comes with climate change is already affecting the U.S. military here at home.
According to a survey conducted by the Department of Defense between 2013 and 2015, at least one military site in every state has been negatively affected by some type of extreme weather, flooding, or wildfire.
Rising Tides: How Near-Daily Flooding of America’s Shorelines Could Become the Norm
Climate Central October 4, 2018
No hurricane had hit Miami that week. The flooding was the result of a “king tide” — an especially intense high tide brought about by a particular alignment of the moon and sun that usually occurs in the fall and winter. Rain and wind had amplified the tide’s effects.
Minor floods, and the damage and disruption they cause, have grown far more common in the last few decades. As sea levels rise thanks to human-caused climate change and other factors, these floods will become more common still.
Maybe not such a good idea, but interesting nevertheless…
Would flooding the deserts help stop global warming?
NBC News November 11, 2018
Imagine flooding a desert half the size of the Sahara. Using 238 trillion gallons of desalinated ocean water to do the job. Creating millions of 1-acre-square micro-reservoirs to grow enough algae to gobble up all of Earth’s climate-changing carbon dioxide. For an encore: How about spreading the water and fertilizer (the dead algae) to grow a vast new forest of oxygen-producing trees?
…
The startup accelerator that helped finance Airbnb, Dropbox and Reddit asked innovators last month to come forward with specific proposals on desert flooding and three other extreme plans for reducing greenhouse gas concentrations. The existential threat posed by climate change requires research into solutions that the investment firm itself conceded could be “risky, unproven, even unlikely to work.”
Fast-Rising Demand for Air Conditioning Is Adding to Global Warming. The Numbers Are Striking.
inside climate change November 12, 2018
Approximately 1.2 billion window-mounted air conditioning units and other small-scale, room-cooling devices are currently in use worldwide. By 2050, the figure is expected to increase to 4.5 billion, according to RMI.
Many of today's air conditioners use hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), coolants that are short-lived climate pollutants that can leak into the atmosphere at the end of an air conditioner's useful life when the devices are destroyed. HFCs remain in the atmosphere for an average of 14 years and are approximately 1,000 to 3,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.
Koch Industries Lobbies Against Electric Vehicle Tax Credit
Desmog November 9, 2018
Koch Industries is calling for the elimination of tax credits for electric vehicles (EVs), all while claiming that it does not oppose plug-in cars and inviting the elimination of oil and gas subsidies that the petroleum conglomerate and its industry peers receive.
Outgoing Nevada Republican Senator Dean Heller introduced a bill in September that would lift the sales cap on electric vehicles eligible for a federal tax credit, and replace the cap with a deadline that would dictate when the credit would start being phased out.
EPA seeks new truck pollution rules; says air won't suffer
PHYS ORG November 13, 2018
The proposed "Cleaner Trucks Initiative" is drawing expressions of hope but skepticism from some environmental groups, especially because the EPA under President Donald Trump already has proposed relaxing emissions requirements for light passenger cars and trucks by freezing them at 2020 levels.
Andrew Linhardt, the Sierra Club's deputy director for clean transportation, said his group is wary, and it wants to see details. Linhardt said he would favor the adoption of rules that would reduce nitrogen oxide emissions but doubts that the administration wants to do that.
U.S. Judge Halts Keystone XL Oil Pipeline in Blow to Trump, Trudeau
NYT November 13, 2018
The ruling of a U.S. Court in Montana late on Thursday dealt a setback to TransCanada Corp, whose stock fell 1.7 percent in Toronto. Shares of companies that would ship oil on the pipeline also slid.
TransCanada said in a statement it remains committed to building the $8 billion, 1,180 mile (1,900 km) pipeline, but it has also said it is seeking partners and has not taken a final investment decision.
Landmark Children’s Climate Lawsuit Hits New Roadblock
Mother Jones November 9, 2018
A high-profile lawsuit aiming to hold the federal government accountable for not curbing climate change has encountered yet another roadblock. After the Supreme Court permitted the case to proceed last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals delayed the case again on Thursday.
…
On November 2, the Supreme Court vacated Roberts’ previous decision and allowed the case to proceed over the objections of Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch. But the government requested another delay, this time petitioning the district court directly.
This editorial looks at the history of Climate Breakdown inaction…
Climate Change First Became News 30 Years Ago. Why Haven’t We Fixed It?
National Geographic July 2018
Research by an array of scientists and scholars supports a daunting conclusion: Climate change is unlike any environmental problem we’ve ever faced. We can’t “fix” it the way we’ve started to fix smog or the ozone hole, with circumscribed regulations and treaties and limited technological changes. Climate change is too big in space, time, and complexity; the emissions that cause it are too central a consequence of the effort of some 7.5 billion people now, and some 10 billion within several decades, to prosper on Earth.
Climate Adaption
Fight Climate Change in Your Own Garden
Ecowatch November 12, 2018
During World War I, Americans were encouraged to do their part in the war effort by planting, fertilizing, harvesting and storing their own fruits and vegetables. The food would go to allies in Europe, where there was a food crisis. These so-called "victory gardens" declined when WWI ended but resurged during World War II. By 1944, nearly 20 million victory gardens produced about 8 million tons of food.
Today, the nonprofit Green America is trying to bring back victory gardens as a way to fight climate change.
Two important videos on some ways to help the planet. The couple in this 15-minute clip is doing some remarkable and simple things to live sustainably in the city… h/t lookout
[video:https://youtu.be/WeNaMlibiak]
How to grow a salad garden on your porch in the winter… h/t lookout
[video:https://youtu.be/7IXn2t8GLh0]
Good News! The Ozone Layer Is On the Road to Recovery!
Mother Jones November 11, 20018
In a rare piece of good news about the environment—and proof of what concerted global action can achieve—the United Nations announced in a Monday report that the ozone layer, which was significantly damaged over the course of decades by humans, is on the road to recovery.
The city of Honolulu is actually planning ahead...
Hawaii News Now November 13, 2018
City officials to discuss climate change in series of meetings. Video embedded in local news report. Josh Sanbro, the executive director of the office for climate change in Honolulu says:
We are getting dryer. We are losing our tradewinds. We are losing our beaches. Those are the two things that really make Hawaii special and beautiful. The more we do now the better it’s going to be.
Report: New England's Nuclear Plants Will Be Key To Fighting Climate Change
New Hampshire Public Radio November 13, 2018
A new report suggests New Hampshire's Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant will be essential to curbing the effects of climate change in the coming years.
Seabrook and Millstone Station in Connecticut will be the only two nuclear plants left in New England after next year.
…
Broadly, the UCS report suggests that at-risk nuclear plants are likely to be replaced with higher-emission natural gas – or request government bailouts to stay afloat.“New public policies are needed to properly value low-carbon energy and prevent the replacement of nuclear plants with large quantities of natural gas,” the report says.
“Until such policies are in place or natural gas prices rise significantly, owners of economically at risk nuclear reactors will continue asking policymakers for financial assistance,” it continues.
…
Opponents of Seabrook, which is seeking to extend its operating license through 2050, are worried about cracks in the plant's concrete foundations. It's the only nuclear plant in the country known to have the problem, called ASR.
Analysts: Fast-growing African Cities at 'Extreme Risk' from Climate Change
VOA News October 6, 2018
Researchers at U.K.-based Verisk Maplecroft found 84 of the world's 100 fastest-growing cities are at "extreme risk" from the impacts of a warming planet, including 79 in Africa.
…
Fast-rising populations act as "a risk multiplier in lower-income cities with poor public infrastructure and inadequate disaster response mechanisms", with more people putting strain on limited resources, the study said.
…
Companies working in and near these cities will have to contend with direct climate change impacts, ranging from destruction of infrastructure and housing by disasters to worker fatigue or death linked to high temperatures, the analysis said.
Paul Beckwith: It's not your fault, climate change, unless you are an oil company executive
[video:https://youtu.be/Lt5ORKJoH-Q]
Wildlife & the Environment
Climate change is 'escalator to extinction' for mountain birds
BBC November 9, 2018
Having nests raided by predators is a bigger threat for birds flocking to breed than in the past, it shows.
This raises the risk of extinction for birds on Arctic shores, say researchers.
They point to a link with climate change, which may be changing the behaviour and habitat of animals, such as foxes, which steal eggs.
…
Rates of daily nest predation in the Arctic have increased three-fold in the last 70 years. A two-fold increase was found in Europe, most of Asia and North America, while a smaller change was observed in the tropics and Southern Hemisphere.
Climate change: Heatwaves 'halve' male insect fertility
BBC November 13, 2018
Scientists exposed beetles to experimental heatwaves in the laboratory, which resulted in reduced male fertility.
The effects could be passed down to the beetles' offspring.
Further work could shed light on whether climate change is a factor behind mass declines in insect populations, say researchers.
Rainforest destruction from gold mining hits all-time high in Peru
Faster than Expected November 8, 2018
Small-scale gold mining has destroyed more than 170,000 acres of primary rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon in the past five years, according to a new analysis by scientists at Wake Forest University’s Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA).
That’s an area larger than San Francisco and 30 percent more than previously reported.
“The scale of the deforestation is really shocking,” said Luis Fernandez, executive director of CINCIA and research associate professor in the department of biology. “In 2013, the first comprehensive look at Peruvian rainforest lost from mining showed 30,000 hectares. Five years later, we have found nearly 100,000 hectares of deforested landscape.”
Report: Climate change will affect Indiana tourism
The Hearald Bulletin November 13, 2018
"Ticks in January is crazy, right?" Paul Labovitz, superintendent at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, said.
Then a wildfire came this year to the park.
The Dunes, where prescribed fires are conducted to manage vegetation and to prevent unplanned fires, had an unexpected wildfire in February, the first ever for that month. Fire seasons had typically been in summers through November.
"The fire season is almost year-round now," Labovitz said.
Ticks and fires are among small but significant signs that Indiana's climate is changing and will affect tourism to the Hoosier state, researchers said this week.
Climate Studies
New discovery: The Greenland Icesheet emits methane to the atmosphere
U of Copenhagen November 12, 2018
For the first time researchers has documented, that methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is emitted directly to the atmosphere from under the ice and not only from wet permafrost soils. This new knowledge can change the way we measure how much methane is emitted from the land surface in the Arctic.
Rapid melting of Greenland glacier could raise sea level for decades
Science November 12, 2018
Greenland’s remote northeast—and a new study suggests it’s likely to continue its rush to the sea for decades to come.
The vulnerable glacier, part of a broader flow of ice called the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream, shows that yet another region of Greenland is feeling the effects of warming oceans.
…
Compiling airborne and satellite data from six different space agencies—NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the Cana-dian Space Agency, and three European agencies—the team pieced together ice motions in the region over 40 years. “For the first 25 years, the glacier was stable,” Mouginot says. But from 2000 to 2012, it began to move more rapidly; and each year since 2012 it has sped up by about 125 meters per year.
Modest warming risks 'irreversible' ice sheet loss, study warns
PHYS ORG November 12, 2018
Even modest temperature rises agreed under an international plan to limit climate disaster could see the ice caps melt enough this century for their loss to be "irreversible", experts warned Monday. …
"We say that 1.5-2C is close to the limit for which more dramatic effects may be expected from the ice sheets," Frank Pattyn, head of the department of geosciences, Free University of Brussels and lead study author, told AFP.
…
Although scientists predict it would take hundreds of years for them to melt even with huge global temperature increases, Monday's study provides further cause for concern with mankind's only realistic plan to avert runaway warming.Many models of the 1.5-2C scenario allow for the threshold to be breached in the short term, potentially heating the planet several degrees higher, before using carbon capture and other technologies to bring temperatures back into line by 2100.
The study warned against this approach.
New research questions the rate of climate change
Heriot-Watt University November 8, 2018
Researchers previously thought that the rate of erosion on these fossils was significantly slower – hence climate change was slower.
Now the study, published in Nature sheds new light on the how fast climate change is actually happening.
Dr Clayton Magill said: “There are some outstanding gaps in current knowledge about the imminent impacts of climate change on ocean environments and in this study we show that there are still large unknowns in the major sources of fossil carbon on earth.
“We don’t know how much carbon is trapped in the ocean but now we’ve proven the process, it could pose catastrophic threat to earth’s climate.”
Climate change likely caused migration, demise of ancient Indus Valley civilization
Woods Hole November 14, 2018
More than 4,000 years ago, the Harappa culture thrived in the Indus River Valley of what is now modern Pakistan and northwestern India, where they built sophisticated cities, invented sewage systems that predated ancient Rome's, and engaged in long-distance trade with settlements in Mesopotamia. Yet by 1800 BCE, this advanced culture had abandoned their cities, moving instead to smaller villages in the Himalayan foothills. A new study from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found evidence that climate change likely drove the Harappans to resettle far away from the floodplains of the Indus.
Climate change may be dissolving the ocean floor. Here's why we should be worried.
NBC News November 14, 2018, 2018
A study published Oct. 29 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that high levels of carbon dioxide — the heat-trapping greenhouse gas that is a key contributor to Earth's warming climate — have made parts of the North Atlantic Ocean and the Southern Ocean so acidic that the chalky white mineral that makes up the seafloor is dissolving.
Global Warnings
QMS: Time to disconnect greed from the welfare of earth, if survival means anything. I like trees.
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!
Comments
The needle is threaded...
sew away
fly
fly
sky sky fill with wings
[video:https://youtu.be/3oy2qyab6Bk]
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
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Car culture
Is California’s original sin. In addition to convincing the rest of the planet that personal automobiles are a sign of “the good life” it also led to the suburban sprawl that places homes right next to fire prone areas.
Suburban sprawl requires electricity as part of the modern lifestyle, and a number of these fires were started by sparking electrical pylons. The meteorological conditions for these fires are now being predicted with great skill and the obvious response is to shut off power when conditions are dangerous:
Except that ratepayers complain so the utility doesn’t do anything, and now it is being sued for damages and may not have enough insurance. Another bailout, anyone?
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
CA car culture
is unreal. Trains down the middle of freeways would solve a lot of the problem.
Yes pg&e started several of the fires last year too, and we paid for it with rate increases. That's what will happen with this one no doubt.
Really good article on the power line failure. Thank you...
Best morning hawkfish and thanks for coming by.
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
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Goodmorning, Magi. Thanks. The crows outside are harassing
something, probably the local peregrine or this gorgeous red-shouldered hawk that hangs out in the area. I may have head a few coyotes last night, even though this isn't really what one would think of as their normal habitat. That might explain a raical decrease in the seemingly innumeraable bunnies that used to infest the area.
Moving to a new locale today, heading back toward home. where we have a ton of stuff to do in the next few days.
Have a great one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
hi el... We have red-shouldered hawks here too
I once saw a peregrine eat a red shouldered hawk in the grove. The hawks had raised two babies. The peregrine was twice the size of the hawk. I heard the hawk and went to see what was up. It was flying above the peregrine and its prey. The next day there were three adult hawks and four young hawks down the way. So I guess they consolidated families. My birder friend said the hawk must have been harassing the peregrine bc peregrines do not usually eat hawks. Have a good rest of your trip and energy for chores when you return.
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
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Good morning, magi and all ~~
We are on a mission to plant trees on our property. We planted two this year, none last year, but five the year before. We want to continue with at least two-three per year. Once we drill a new well and have water (instead of hauling water), we can really improve the place!
Off topic, I just wanted you all to know that my husband's employer offered him a 401K package yesterday. He brought the stuff home and I was appalled to see that one of the section offerings was military stocks. There's money in our wars! UNBELIEVEBLE! yet - believable. Please check your portfolios to ensure you are not investing in our unending wars. I don't even want to join this 401K, but his employer is generous in his contribution, so here we go!
Have a beautiful day, folks!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Most 401ks have choices
Mine has some Calvert funds, which are pretty clean. But yeah, shades of Jill Stein’s portfolio squabble... what other choices do most of us have?
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
This is an OT and you are on...
topic -- as there is none. (I was told I can do pretty much whatever with it and bc it makes me a little less crazy, I post about Climate Breakdown. LOL. Damned if I do, damned if I don't.)
Thanks for planting trees. It will help. I have a few that will go in the ground in a month or so. And good luck with the 401k. Maybe there are options as HF said. E L had a great essay on getting money out of banks and into credit unions which has spurred me to do so. edit
Have a great one RA...:)
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
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Thanks, magi.
I belong to a credit union - have since the 70's. I don't trust any banks.
Glad I'm not off-topic - I know it's an OT and we can bring up whatever, but I know how important our earth is, so........
Have a good one!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Hi, RA. State forestry
departments usually offer large numbers of tree seedlings dirt cheap. I've done wholesale plantings using a long heavy wedge-shaped tool called a dibble. You shove the dibble in the ground, lean it to create a hole, drop a seedling in, drop the dibble a few inches away and lean it back to close the hole. Just a few motions to plant a seedling. Not all survive, but it's a good way to start a lot of trees.
It's fun to select a variety of trees for multiple purposes: food forest, wildlife value, carbon capture. Trees like osage orange and black locust grow very fast, capture a lot of carbon, and make great wood fuel: like growing solar power. I always plant native species, not imports like Norway maple, which is popular with forestry agencies. However, native ranges are changing with the climate, so it's worth fudging a little. Osage orange was native to the Southwest, I think, but Natives spread them around the country because they're useful.
Sigh. Getting too old to do much of that anymore.
Military money... the whole economy is so tightly bound to military spending, it's very hard to avoid; often, it's invisible. Bombs are the ideal capital investment: blow 'em up, buy some more -- so there's a lot of incentive to participate in the mil economy, albeit indirectly. Since the mil economy is based on wasting resources, it's really not off-topic to bring it up.
Thanks for the info.
Our extension service provides us with trees of all sizes, including seedlings. We are trying to get bigger trees in the ground, as we are both getting older and want to see some progress while we are still alive, lol! We planted a lot of seedlings 25 years ago and only managed to keep one alive. We didn't know what we were doing, but now my spouse works in a greenhouse and we are much more savvy and are able to keep what we've planted alive!
We do have a couple of Osage trees that we planted two years ago - they are bowark trees, which is the same as you are referring to, I believe. We love those trees. They have taken root nicely and are beginning to fill in. they were about 6 feet when we planted them and are about 10 feet now. We planted hawthorns, cottonwood, and ash. We need to plant some pines, as well. It's work, but we are determined!
Thanks, pr!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
about Osage
Yeah, I think bowark's the same. I've read you can make a hedge of them. Make a slurry of the fruit (odd things that we used to call "monkey brains"), dig a shallow trench, and spread the slurry thru the trench. You'll get a nice thorny growth in a line. I made a half-assed try at it, but it got overgrown.
BTW, I've done both the tree tubes (high effort) and fast dibble methods. The tree tubes didn't work well -- Japanese beetles get in, get stuck, and totally defoliate the treelings. I had better luck just dibbling hundreds of seedlings and letting them survive as may.
More about Osage Orange,
Planted in a line, they provide a decent windbreak, and provided a line that was "bull strong, and hog tight", meaning that they worked well as a fence for those two. The wood is a beautiful yellow that is about the hardest there is. There are probably some rare tropical hardwoods that are harder, but Osage is pretty amazing. Good walking stick material as well I think, but who the hell uses those anymore? (Grumpily shambles on....)
And, btw, thank you Maggie so much for the update and news on our current climate. It is very much appreciated, though it makes me want to scream as well...it doesn't have to be this way!
At this point, I'm almost ready to give it over to the trees though. Almost. With our current behavior, we don't deserve this planet.
Speaking of walking sticks
I've been twisting stump sprouts and letting them grow together -- twining two or braiding three -- to make walking sticks. This works best with light soft woods like red maple or tulip tree. It makes a light, strong stick, since the fibers are curved and springy. One of these days I'll sandblast 'em to bring out the grain.
Thanks for the climate summary!
Excellent article recommended by “out of left field”
https://caucus99percent.com/content/climate-and-infernal-blue-wave-strai...
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/13/climate-and-the-infernal-blue-wa...
The links at the end suggest a path to clean energy.
Jimmy, Ron, and Stef look at AOC's participation in the climate protest in Pelosi's office. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT8gW8o3Sxo (20 min)
Have a good one. We've had 4" of rain this week. I wish we could have shared it with CA.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Hey, Lookout ~
did you once post recipes for almond bread or coconut flour bread? I'm interested in trying that. If it wasn't you, I hope the person who posted them reads this and replies! I should have printed those out! Curses!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Good morning lo, a green new deal sounds good...
can it be done is the question...
Jimmy, Ron, and Stef on the climate protest in Pelosi's office: Protests should be mandatory for new congress members. The protestors are forcing her hand to have a bold plan. A green new deal is something that everyone in the dem party should be on board with. Green new deal would eliminate poverty in US. It is about more than carbon -- wants to eliminate poverty.
From the sunrise movement to Pelosi...
Here are the goals the resolution sets for the Green New Deal which “is a historic opportunity to virtually eliminate poverty in the United States and to make prosperity, wealth and economic security available to everyone participating in the transformation.”
(1) 100% of national power generation from renewable sources;
(2) Building a national, energy-efficient, “smart” grid;
(3) Upgrading every residential and industrial building for state-of-the-art energy efficiency, comfort and safety;
(4) Decarbonizing the manufacturing, agricultural and other industries;
(5) Decarbonizing, repairing and improving transportation and other infrastructure;
(6) Funding massive investment in the drawdown and capture of greenhouse gases;
(7) Making “green” technology, industry, expertise, products and services a major export of the United States, with the aim of becoming the undisputed international leader in helping other countries transition to completely carbon neutral economies and bringing about a global Green New Deal.
Thanks for the links and have a very good one...
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Thanks for the OT!
So sad about the wildfires. At least with tornados you can get in a basement.
"Sad" is not even a strong enough word. Great grief. Deep grief.
But here is a pic of the kittens we rescued a couple of weeks ago. They are grateful.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
The firestorm must have
killed a lot of animals. Tragic. But we must keep on. Thanks for the picture of the kitties. So hopeful. They must be so fun at that young age. Sweet. Have a great one.
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great work magi
Great roundup Magi. I would like to see a lot more in the fire coverage about how the most common prevalent habitat in California is chaparral and that this chaparral habitat is a habitat based on regular recurring fires. Which is why it survives it and comes back after it is burnt. One original name for the Los Angeles Bay (now Harbor) from I think the Gabrielinos, meant Bay of Smoke. It is the people moving into fire habitat that is a big part of the problem. Add climate change effects like extreme droughts and kaboom. Being a socal expat that spent years studying nature in that habitat it is still heartbreaking to see, especially the human loss which is unfathomable.
There is really only one major political party in the world that does not believe in man-made climate change. Unfortunately that party is in the most powerful nation in the world, where it has been calling the shots for 4 decades of destruction to the environment. For a quick buck. They all knew better. Which means, evil.
A company did propose a no upfront cost Disneyland type monorail system for LA in the 1960's, it almost went through, it was Chevron/Standard lobbying above all the changed two city council votes and killed the NO MONEY UP FRONT deal for modern public transportation in LA. Yeah the car people were against it too. It is the only place I often heard "you are what you drive". So I had to leave.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
The same people killed the SF Bay Area's mass transit
Up until the early 60's there was a great network of privately owned street cars, trains and ferrys in the Bay Area. The Key System had a station right around the corner from me, from which I could have just hopped on a train to San Francisco or Sacramento. It's an odd shaped building that became a friendly, family owned, mexican food and burger joint. A plaque for the Key system was put outside the restaurant and a local artist drew a great historical mural on the side of the restaurant, with faces of present day locals in place of the passengers and crowds in the mural. Some were soldiers in the background stealing barrels of oil, a reference, I think, to the destruction of the Key System by Goodyear Tires and oil companies as well as the Iraq invasion. With gentrification, that family was priced out of the restaunt and a gourmet, foo-foo burger place sprung up, charging 4 times as much for a fancy, foo-foo burger. The assholes tore down Rocky's mural to refurbish the place. That restaurant had a kitchen fire and now the property is vacant.
Beware the bullshit factories.
It's time to change that
We need a rail system that works. There are remnants of the Key rail system in Berkley that I drive by every time I am there.
Thanks for the info on chaparral. I have seen bits and pieces about it but will grab them from now on for inclusion. Have a good one...
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I meant MSM fire coverage...
Hey Magi, I meant I wish the MSM fire coverage... would talk about the habitat, not your coverage!
You do a GREAT job with this! I thank you very much.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Magi and all, just learned that knucklehead and other online
friends, mostly form Daily Kos, have lost their homes in the California fires by reading mimi's good comment on EB last evening.
According to Beseme of kos, who also lost her home, go fund me campaigns are being set up for these folks; but in a search, i've been unable to discover more news. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/11/14/1811912/-When-Guy-Fieri-show...
Should we create a new diary with info for news as it comes in; knucklehead goes way back on the evening blues and some here were closer to him than i, though we shared a lots of good stuff together, especially laughs.
What can we or should we do as a community?
I've time this afternoon to write a simple essay if you folks feel this is appropriate.
You thoughts appreciated, magi, as you are out there and know the on-the-ground situation.
Thank you.
Has it been confirmed...
that Knucklehead lost his home? If so, what is the confirmation? I think it best to be confirmed of that before making any statements, about Knuck anyway.
Thanks JtC, glad you are here, the info apparently came from
his sister that he is okay, home lost; looking through the long thread for that now on kos, will be back with that when i find it.
News came from brother, not sister, apparently, the threads:
Glen The Plumber
and apparently knucklehead’s house in malibu burned...my only contact source is facebook on which he was never very active...but many of his friends are trying to contact him...no reply or word yet.
Besame Glen The Plumber
November 14 · 02:08:09 PM
I wondered about him. He was intending to move from Malibu but IDK if he actually did so. That his friends IRL are looking for him indicates he hadn’t moved. Let us know if you learn more, please.
side pocket Besame
November 14 · 02:36:02 PM
Fire reached almost to his home several years ago. Hope he got out in time.
Reply
Glen The Plumber Besame
November 15 · 11:32:53 AM
according to his brother he is safe.
:7)
Besame Glen The Plumber
November 15 · 12:00:00 PM
Whew — thanks for letting us know! Doesn’t mean his home was spared and he’s been there long enough to have a life’s worth of stuff. But still, it’s stuff.
kimoconnor Glen The Plumber
November 14 · 09:28:52 PM
Aw damn. I hope he is ok.
Reply
November 14 · 11:06:35 PM
Greengoddess also lost her home.
and this:
Kitsap River 6412093
November 15 · 09:37:04 AM
This is why we started talking in Community Fundraisers about doing a Blogathon for all the Kossacks who have lost their homes to these fires. With knucklehead and Greengoddess, that makes five so far, in four homes. The need will be huge. I know some folks have started a GoFundMe for Besame, or so I was told, but not who or how I can help do a fundraising diary or help/manage a Blogathon. I helped with several back in the days when PDNC was running climate and environmental Blogathons and remember some of what’s needed.
Just sent Glen a kosmail, hoping for a response.
Thanks smiley...
I don't read there anymore. I see confirmation that he is safe, but nothing really firm about his house. I go back 10 years with Knuck and I think it's best to know for sure.
Glen just replied and he included a statement
from knuck's brother saying he's been out of Malibu for some time and is safe.
Glen also read a post from another poster that his home was burned. I suppose on facebook or other social media.
Thanks smiley...
still kind of vague. Too bad his brother didn't give more info.
I think this was for hecate, not for Knucklehead
janis b posted this Well, actually there were some very practical forces involved
Don't shoot me, if I am wrong...
https://www.euronews.com/live
Hi smiley, thank you so much
for getting the information on knucklehead together. I am sure something will come through. I defer to jtc on posting. So happy kh is safe.
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In limbo, waiting for more news about
fundraisers and so on and reading other reports of what's best to do; i see the list of missing people has grown to seven pages. Hate this anticipation as i'm sure all do. Happy JTC was available to respond quickly this afternoon; wasn't sure were to put this news at first, mimi's post last night on the blues was very late on the East Coast, i only caught the news mid-day.
If you want...
to host a fundraiser, please do.
Happy to do whatever, JtC, but, you were wise to
wait for confirmation and in that a fundraiser without hearing directly from knucklehead or a member of his family, would be premature. On kos, they say such a thing is under way, yet i've found no other news thus far.
Snoopy has a good suggestion below that we put up a dedicated essay to the fire with the news so far and everyone can chip in with ways to help out and incoming news. Do you have time to put up a shell essay, we can add to it. Knucklehead has lots of old friends here and i know you are particularly close as is joe.
Thank you.
Well...
I am pretty busy right now, I'm preparing a software update for the site, I'll be taking it down for a couple of hours, probably tomorrow. That'd going to take up much of my time.
Since I don't really visit DKos any more, I think you would be better equipped to do an essay. I'll do what I can to keep it front and center, I can sticky it for a day or so and add a link to it in the sidebar.
I think the best time to do something for Knucklehead is if and when we get direct contact with him, to be sure he gets any proceeds directly, or if he opens a GoFundMe, or something similar, under his name. The same with hecate if we can get direct contact with him and find out what he needs.
Agree, best time is when we know for sure what's up and
better understand the situations of knuck and hecate and others. In the meantime, we can keep a vigil as Snoopy is also doing, watching and inquiring for news best we can.
I'd like you to do an essay on the CA fires
Maybe it could be a sticky and we can add to it as news comes in because people don't have time to read all essays where news is posted and might miss it. If you have time to do one?
We can also post ways to help victims of the fires. I've been keeping an eye on DK for just this information. Very heartbreaking news.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Hi snoopy,
heartbreaking to hear this news today; see above thread between JtC and me. Waiting for more conclusive info about any steps being taken and direct contact from our c99 friends before moving forward in community.
I like your new? sig line and everything that hides behind it
Mental note to myself. Click on the sigline links...
https://www.euronews.com/live
mimi, lol, and thanks a lot
big smile and thanks for clicking. New sig line since I started the hot air OT here. I publish on my website what I publish here with some small editing.
Then send the same thing out to my email list which is getting bigger every week.
For c99, I first type everything in word with some html commands; post it to c99; copy the finished c99 version with html commands back into word. Edit again, a bit, and then post that, via Rocket app to my website. Then... I take the word doc and add a bunch more html and copy that to BB-edit. Edit more in BB-edit and then copy the preview version of BB-edit to mail chimp and yet again, edit that, a small bit, and finally publish the mail chimp version to my slowly growing email list. ag!
My worst nightmare about this whole endeavor was that it would grow to fast I would not keep up. Thank cats, it has grown slowly. However the process is really annoying and I gladly find many distractions to avoid doing it. As I used to say, in the Bernie campaign - I would rather clean toilets than phone bank. This has about the same appeal to me. However, It is getting easier as I am figuring out how to use macros. ug. Probably much too much information but thanks for 'listening'.
and thanks so much for looking at my website. 
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oh my, I admire your stamina and skills, could never
do such thing. I prepare myself to live without the internet. If it weren't for my last loved one I cling to and everything C99p offers me on links and info in the EB and other essays, I would be there already. Now, I can still dream to live happy off-internet like other people dream to live off-grid in the wilderness using their mobile phones to connect every hour or so...
Have to click directly to member's sites and use JtC's left column links to read directly on those sites. Still rely just on the EB's offerings for the most part. Takes already a lot of time to do just reading the EB.
https://www.euronews.com/live
we should all probably do that mimi
be well and take good care...
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