#ClimateEmergency

#ClimateCrisis #ClimateJustice #ArtForChange #ClimateAction #Defiance #WorkInProgress #Artivism #ClimateEmergency #GlobalSouth #Impressionism #ArtistsForClimate

Work in progress: "DEFIANCE!" (#oilpainting 50x50cm)

This portrait represents the strength, urgency, and heartache of the climate justice movement. A young activist stands steadfast amidst a world on the brink. Her face radiates defiance, her dignity undiminished as she fights for a future that seems to be slipping away.

The vibrant oranges in the background, laced with haunting hints of red and blue, evoke a world on fire, reflecting the climate crisis we face. The figures and crumbling buildings at the bottom of the painting whisper a stark warning - we must act now, or face the consequences.

Just like Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring', she wears a blue scarf - a symbol of hope in a seemingly hopeless situation. She is a beacon of resilience in the face of adversity, a symbol of the global south bearing the brunt of a crisis they did little to cause.

This is a call to action, a wake-up call to the world. We must defy apathy, defy dismissal, defy destruction. Together, we can turn the tide.

Join the movement. Share the message.

Tim Jones

https://www.timjonesbooks.co.nz/2023/06/04/there-is-no-mercy-in-insurance/

News that insurance companies are considering refusing to insure houses in flood-prone areas reminded me of “Written Off”, a poem from my 2016 collection New Sea Land. There is no mercy in insurance...

#ClimateEmergency #climatepoetry #nzpoetry #poetry

#climate #climatechange #climateemergency #solar

Fellows, I need a bit of wisdom right now- With the rapit developments in solar energy, perhaps can we rotate the emmission levels towards the goal of zero and maybe even negative with the skin of our teeth if we bare and take the worst years while doing so? They say it is much cheaper than gas, oil and coal, so perhaps we can expect a huge boom on renewable energy in coming years, or am I being a too much of an optimist with no ground?

With #Alberta burning, the province put an arsonist in charge. https://www.nationalobserver.com/newsletters/zero-carbon/2023/06/02/arsonist-pyrocene

#abpoli #AbLeg #AbElxn #wildfires #climateEmergency

1. Neu-Kelte 💙💛🌻

This is your personal invitation to discuss the draft of the Nua-Celtic Manifesto with me on https://zotum.net/profile/ncm.
We need #degrowth, a #DonutEconomy and #SystemChange to #Conviviality in a #CaringEconomy of #Partnerism within #planetboundaries🙏
#FridaysForFuture #ClimateEmergency #ClimateJustice #MotherEarth #LifesBetterWithTrees #ClimateCrisis #CapitalismKills #TaxTheRich #MakePollutersPay #BetterWithForests #ClimateActionNow #greedflation

What I would tell your students is that when it comes to the #ClimateEmergency - It is not hopeless & they are not helpless! I believe that Gen-Z may become the saviors of planet earth.

This must see short film: “Wake Up, Freak Out – then Get a Grip” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnyLIRCPajM tells us that “preventing run-away Global Warming is the single most important task in all of human history - and it is up to us to do it. If we don’t then everything else we have achieved in our lives will become meaningless”!

The United nation says: “Everyone can help limit climate change. From the way we travel, to the electricity we use, the food we eat, and the things we buy, we can make a difference.” https://www.un.org/en/actnow/ten-actions

It’s up to us – WE,THE PEOPLE to save planet Earth by becoming #ClimateConsumers who actively mitigate global warming by our daily choices of who we donate to, vote for, invest/divest/bank in; what we buy, eat, drive/pedal; to degasifying & electrifying everything; reduce, reuse, recycle; & consume less. https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2018/12/27/35-ways-reduce-carbon-footprint/

Greta Thunberg @gretathunberg says - “Politicians are not coming to the rescue of planet Earth” https://www.newstatesman.com/environment/2022/10/greta-thunberg-guest-edit-politicians-rescue-planet & “Saving the world is voluntary…we need billions of #climate activists” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/08/greta-thunberg-climate-delusion-greenwashed-out-of-our-senses

Robert Reich @rbreich Says “A handful of billionaires now have unprecedented control over banking, the food we eat, the health care we can access and, now, the information we receive…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_sjfchNsiM&t=15s

William Stanley Jevons said: “Value is created by the consumer, not the producer… the consumer is the ‘ultimate regulator of demand’” - https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/11/how-humans-became-consumers/508700/

🕬 Boosts appreciated.

Adrian Segar

And @Allstate has joined @StateFarm: now neither will write new homeowner, condominium, and commercial insurance policies in California.

Yet another concrete consequence of our #ClimateEmergency.

#ClimateChangeIsReal
https://t.co/WVRKmznpLu via @sfchronicle

Kevin Russell

#ClimateIsCarbonbFuels #ClimateEmergency #Tricks #fakes #CaptureJoke #trudeau #canpoli #fires #storms

@AnneENConnor

No of course this is a distraction designed by the "burn more carbon conspiracy" of oil stockholders and bribed politicians.

Its purpose, is so you let them burn more carbon, all of it is distraction, from the climate assault.

Climate isn't a problem, or a crisis. It is a many decades long assault. The harmed, victims of crime.

Image of a towering monster of an oil executive destroying the hills of forests of California, billions in homes, animal life, food.

Written over the image is:
CLIMATE CHANGE
IS NOT A CRISIS
IT IS AN ASSAULT

#Climateemergency e informazione.
Come vendere la stessa notizia "il #fotovoltaico supera il #carbone" in due prospettive.

Due fonti rispettabili, ma due toni diversi.

https://twitter.com/johnrhanger/status/1664961435011612673?s=20

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency

It's not just about hotter days, and more use of the AC...
______________________________

Two climate scientists have issued a dire warning about the consequences the planet might face if humans do not limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Professors Johan Rockstrom of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and David King, chair of the Centre for Climate Repair at the University of Cambridge, have said that failure to limit the temperature rise could lead to the collapse of life on the planet.

The remarks were made at the Innovation Zero Congress in London last week, where experts from various fields gathered to discuss climate change.

Professor Rockstrom and Professor King spoke at length about the need to take stringent actions if we wish to avoid a catastrophe.

Prof. Rockstrom said: "There's one conclusion without any uncertainty whatsoever, and that is that a 2.5°C global mean surface temperature rise is a disaster. It's something that humanity has absolutely no evidence that we can cope with. It would actually exceed the warmest temperature on Earth over the past four million years."

"There would be a collapse of all the big biomes on planet Earth – the rainforest, many of the temperate forests – abrupt thawing of permafrost, we will have complete collapse of marine biology, we will have a shift of large parts of the habitability on Earth," he further added.
______________________________

A collapse of all the big biomes. Tipping points. Loss of human habitability.

That's at 2.5°C, and we're currently on track for probably 3°C this century, if not more. Civilization is in deep trouble.

FULL ARTICLE -- https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/climate-change-can-cause-collapse-life-earth-claim-scientists-1716246

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #Drought #Africa #Asia #China

For most of us in the Global North, climate change might be an inconvenience... less rain than we'd like, or maybe more rain than we need, a few unexpectedly hot days, some random cold days...

It can be a bother, and if we're aware of what's really happening, it can also be worrisome, though mostly in an abstract way.

But for much of the Global South, there's nothing abstract about the climate crisis. It's right here and right now.
______________________________

Communities in the Horn of Africa are suffering the impacts of five consecutive poor rainy seasons. This drought has surpassed previous horrific events in 2010-2011 and 2016-2017 in both duration and severity, leaving large swathes of Somalia, southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, and northern and eastern Kenya facing the most prolonged drought on record in the Horn of Africa.

Over 13.2 million livestock — which pastoralist families rely upon for sustenance and livelihoods — have already died across the region. This translates to the loss of more than 180 million litres of milk since the drought began, leaving over 1.4 million children under age 5 across the region without a daily glass of milk, with severe consequences for their nutrition.

Across the Horn of Africa, the drought has driven alarming levels of malnutrition for children and women, threatening their lives and their futures. More than 4.3 million children are expected to be acutely malnourished.
______________________________

Africa is being pummelled by the existing, ongoing, increasing climate emergency, as are large parts of Asia...
______________________________

Countries across Asia have been hit by another round of extreme heat that has toppled seasonal temperature records throughout the region, raising concerns about their ability to adapt to a rapidly changing climate.

After punishing heat waves struck large parts of the continent in April, temperatures spiked again in late May, normally the start of the cooler monsoon season.

The heat wave in Vietnam, expected to last well into June, has already forced authorities to turn off street lights and ration electricity as air conditioning demand threatened to overwhelm the power grid.

Heat waves rolling through parts of eastern and southern China are set to continue, as climate and weather experts warn that hot weather globally is projected to become “more extreme”.

Last week, Shanghai recorded its hottest May day in 100 years as the mercury soared to 36.7°C, surpassing the previous temperature by a full degree.

Swathes of southern China are expected to endure temperatures of more than 35°C in the next week, with temperatures in some areas exceeding 40°C, forecasters have predicted.

"We can't say that these are events that we need to get used to, and adapt to, and mitigate against, because they are only going to get worse as climate change progresses," said Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a climate scientist with the University of New South Wales in Australia.
______________________________

These conditions are only going to get *worse* as the climate crisis progresses.

We are in an emergency, right here and right now. Our house is on fire. Maybe it's time we started doing something!

AFRICA STORY -- https://reliefweb.int/report/ethiopia/horn-africa-drought-regional-humanitarian-overview-call-action-revised-26-may-2023

ASIA STORY -- https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/asia-climate-woes-mount-heat-shatters-may-records-2023-06-01/

CHINA STORY -- https://inews.co.uk/news/world/china-weather-heatwaves-world-record-breaking-year-2382498

Hot sun rising over an unnamed city, sky tinted a fiery orange.

Fiona Grahame Orkney News Ltd

Firefighters Urge for “serious investment in our fire services” Amidst Rise in Wildfires #climateemergency #wildfires
https://theorkneynews.scot/2023/06/03/firefighters-urge-for-serious-investment-in-our-fire-services-amidst-rise-in-wildfires/

three firefighters with breathing equipment on tackling the fire in Cannich

João Costa 💚🌻🇺🇦🇵🇹🇬🇧🇪🇺

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/02/dont-look-up-director-adam-mckay-to-triple-donations-to-just-stop-oil

"The Hollywood director of #Netflix film #DontLookUp has pledged to triple donations to #JustStopOil over the weekend"

McKay said “The scientific reality is we will hit 1.5C of #GlobalHeating in the next 18-24 months, which should greatly alarm each and every person on this planet. I stand with those taking action to defend the #climate, to wake up the world’s sleeping governments to the terrifying scale of the catastrophe we are now living through."

#ClimateEmergency

Calgary Climate Hub

#yyc #abpoli #Alberta #ClimateChange #SethKlein

So what did this #AlbertaElection tell us about our #ClimateEmergency awareness? Nothing good. The closest we came to discussing Emergency Marker #1 was an attack on mission critical funding of the #NetZeroBy2035 energy grid upgrade

/4

Reads: "Emergency Marker #1 - Spend What It Takes To Win."

"Is the government willing and ready to budget and spend what’s necessary?"

Vegalicious :vegan:

#environment #veganism #meatconsumption #climateemergency

How meat eating also contributes to killing planet earth 🌎. #govegan for the animals and everyone’s future!

More than 800m Amazon trees felled in six years to meet beef demand
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/02/more-than-800m-amazon-trees-felled-in-six-years-to-meet-beef-demand

Aure Free Press

https://news.yahoo.com/world-wheat-supply-risk-dangerous-110000229.html

Extreme heat waves and drought due to climate change have the potential to shock the global food supply and send prices soaring, according to a new study.
#News #climate #climatechange #weather #ClimateEmergency #GlobalWarming

#Books #Bookstodon #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #ClimateAction

I haven't read this book yet, but it looks good...
____________________________

Overwhelmed by climate anxiety? Transform your angst into action to become the hero humanity needs!

A lifeline for those suffering from climate anxiety, "Facing the Climate Emergency" combines expertise in clinical psychology and disruptive climate activism to help readers transform their fear and grief into courage and heroism.

The second edition of this beloved, radical self-help book provides:

‣ An updated analysis of the context of the climate movement including COVID-19, the hunger crisis, growing political unrest, and more

‣ An unflinching analysis of the accelerating impacts of climate change and what they mean for each of us, personally

‣ Concrete strategies for tackling climate anxiety, including welcoming painful feelings and using them to catalyze change

‣ Inspiring profiles of ordinary people sounding the alarm by gluing themselves to priceless works of art, blocking transportation corridors, and shutting down fossil fuel infrastructure
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MORE INFO -- https://climateawakening.org/facing-the-climate-emergency-second-edition/

Book cover -- Facing the Climate Emergency, Second Edition: How to Transform Yourself with Climate Truth

By Margaret Klein Salamon

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #ClimateAction

I suppose it's no surprise that reading and learning and then passing on all the important information I can find about the climate and environmental crisis often leaves me feeling anxious and depressed.

But I'm not the only one...
____________________________

A wave of eco-anxiety, an invisible yet potent tsunami of concern, is rippling through the minds of our younger generation. According to a 2021 study presented in The Lancet, an unsettling 62% of young individuals confessed to being haunted by climate-change-induced anxiety, with a substantial 59% being very or extremely worried, while an overwhelming 84% acknowledged a moderate level of worry at the very least.

Geographical borders do not confine this unease; it's a global epidemic that infiltrates the rhythm of everyday life, with more than 45% stating that climate change apprehensions cast a shadow on their daily functioning.

The trigger of anxiety is not climate truth; it's the unsettling silence of inaction echoing against that truth. It's the chorus of climate denial, the procrastination of crucial actions, and the peddling of half-measure solutions that amplify mental distress, especially among the young generation.

The remedy for climate anxiety aligns perfectly with the answer to our climate crisis: immediate, unyielding, collective action on climate change.

Young people, pioneers of hope and resilience, are already stepping up to the plate. And following their lead are the older generations who are recalibrating their priorities, dedicating their twilight years to bringing about change, as highlighted by initiatives like the Third Act.

The missing jigsaw piece in this picture is unequivocal action from government leaders and industry behemoths. We must systematically dismantle the fossil fuel industry to guarantee our current generation, and all those who follow, the chance of a fulfilling, safe life.

However, the journey towards a climate-secure future is strewn with obstacles. Fierce resistance from industry, seemingly more committed to their shareholders than the survival of our species, particularly the fossil fuel conglomerates and their banking benefactors, steepens our path forward.

To navigate this challenge, we must take care of our mental well-being here and now.
_____________________________

FULL ARTICLE -- https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/climate-anxiety-climate-emergency

Andy_S_64🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

#ClimateEmergency #ClimateCrisis

Water scarcity issues expected to escalate rapidly across #Scotland🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 👀

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-65786868

Andy_S_64🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

#ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency

What is it with #Conservatives and their addiction to child lung wrecking filthy fossil fuel created #pollution?

Could it be they’re duty bound to defend and promote the burning of filthy fossil fuels because their major donors are filthy fossil fuel corporations?

Surely not…

https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,douglas-ross-calls-for-low-emission-zone-exemption-for-glasgow-charity

Aure Free Press

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/other/near-record-warm-atlantic-is-a-worry-as-hurricane-season-begins/ar-AA1bZUzD?PC=EMMX01

Near-record warm Atlantic is a worry as hurricane season begins
#climate #climatechange #weather #ClimateEmergency #GlobalWarming #climatecrisis

ErNandy

4 days ago

The number of flying insects have decreased by 76% in only 27 years in protected areas.

This declining number will not just harm wildlife but also food production 🐝 🐝
Pollinators like bees are crucial to our biodiversity!

#ClimateChange
#deforestation
#RenewableEnergy
#environment #EndFossilCrimes #ClimateCrisis #Science #warming #Nature #climate #ClimateEmergency #climatecrisis #wildlife #ClimateAction #photo #photography #GlobalWarming #pollution #mangrove #news #biodiversity #earth

Picture: The number of flying insects have decreased by 76% in only 27 years in protected areas.

Petra van Cronenburg

4 days ago

Do read this story. This woman lives today. She lives in #ClimateDesaster, and survived one of these #wildfires that become more and more the new "normal". She talks about a new "everyday life": https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/05/31/Post-Wildfire-Parenting/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_content=053123-3&utm_campaign=editorial #ClimateEmergency #ClimateDiary #Lytton #Canada

Bill Orcutt

4 days ago

@Radical_EgoCom

Here are a couple of clues about the climate emergency!

When it comes to the #ClimateEmergency - It is not hopeless & we, the people are not helpless!

This must see short film: “Wake Up, Freak Out – then Get a Grip” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnyLIRCPajM tells us that “preventing run-away Global Warming is the single most important task in all of human history - and it is up to us to do it. If we don’t then everything else we have achieved in our lives will become meaningless”!

The United nation says: “Everyone can help limit climate change. From the way we travel, to the electricity we use, the food we eat, and the things we buy, we can make a difference.” https://www.un.org/en/actnow/ten-actions

It’s up to us – WE,THE PEOPLE to save planet Earth by becoming #ClimateConsumers who actively mitigate global warming by our daily choices of who we donate to, vote for, invest/divest/bank in; what we buy, eat, drive/pedal; to degasifying & electrifying everything; reduce, reuse, recycle; & consume less. https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2018/12/27/35-ways-reduce-carbon-footprint/

Greta Thunberg @gretathunberg says - “Politicians are not coming to the rescue of planet Earth” https://www.newstatesman.com/environment/2022/10/greta-thunberg-guest-edit-politicians-rescue-planet & “Saving the world is voluntary…we need billions of #climate activists” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/08/greta-thunberg-climate-delusion-greenwashed-out-of-our-senses

Robert Reich @rbreich Says “A handful of billionaires now have unprecedented control over banking, the food we eat, the health care we can access and, now, the information we receive…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_sjfchNsiM&t=15s

William Stanley Jevons said: “Value is created by the consumer, not the producer… the consumer is the ‘ultimate regulator of demand’” - https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/11/how-humans-became-consumers/508700/

🕬 Boosts appreciated.

#Politics #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #CO2 #Emissions #ClimateJustice

We presently face the most radical of challenges to the continuation of a livable biosphere — and indeed to humanity’s existence as a species — and therefore I believe the most radical response is justified and is urgently required.

First: Nationalize and then shut down the fossil fuel industry, the airlines, and the factory farms. The US military budget also must be deeply slashed, as they are the world's biggest single source of institutional emissions.

When I say shut down all those industries, I don't mean literally overnight. I realize of course that we can't stop burning fossil fuels instantly. I'm suggesting, however, a very rapid reduction, something on the order of 20% per year, meaning after five years we are down to zero. TRUE zero, not the phony greenwashed “net-zero.”

Second: Confiscate all previous financial holdings from fossil fuel corporations, their executives and their major investors, and dedicate a portion of those funds to easing the transition for employees of the shuttered industries. The remaining funds can help countries in the Global South raise standards of living without expanding use of fossil fuels.

Third: Let the dust settle, see where we are with emissions, and maybe then consider deploying some solar geoengineering techniques, but only as a last resort.

Now, you might be concerned that many people would suffer and have to endure hardships if and when we shut down the fossil fuel industry and the airlines and the factory farms — and you’re right, they would.

However, that’s almost nothing compared to how many people will suffer and how great their hardships will be in the next few decades if we DON’T do all those things now.

Would this plan be easy to accomplish? No, not at all. Would it cause inconvenience and misery? Yes, certainly. Real change comes at a real cost.

Sorry to say it, but the choice we face is between a very bad outcome and a very VERY bad outcome.

Text:
If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
What's so hard about that?
So— why are we still burning carbon?
Why not just stop?

#Books #Bookstodon #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency

It should be obvious that we are living in a climate emergency. It’s already here. Changes are happening everywhere, faster and faster, all around us.

The stable climate system of the past 10,000 years — the only environment human civilization has ever known — is rapidly breaking down. It will get much worse before it gets better. That’s a certainty.

But how much worse could it get? Will civilization collapse? Are we past the point of no return? What kind of future can our children expect?

There’s a book I hope you will read. It’s called “Our Final Warning: Six Degrees of Climate Emergency.” Widely regarded as the most thorough and well-researched popular explanation of global warming and its potential impacts, I like to call this both the best and the worst book you can read on the subject.

BEST because of its content, its organization, and its readable style — but WORST because after you’ve really learned where we could be heading, you will probably never be the same.

At one degree Celsius above baseline – the world we are now living in – vast wildfires scorch California and Australia, while monster hurricanes devastate coastal cities. At two degrees the Arctic ice cap melts away, and coral reefs disappear from the tropics. At three, the world begins to run out of food, threatening millions with starvation. At four, large areas of the globe are too hot for human habitation, erasing entire nations and turning billions into climate refugees. At five, the planet is warmer than for the last 55 million years, while at six degrees a mass extinction of unparalleled proportions sweeps the planet, even raising the threat of the end of all life on Earth.

These escalating consequences can still be avoided, but time is running out. If governments fail to act — and act quickly — we risk triggering tipping points that could push global climate chaos out of humanity’s control.

GET THE BOOK -- https://bookshop.org/search?keywords=OUR+FINAL+WARNING%3A+Six+Degrees+of+Climate+Emergency

Irena

@lkanies Why all this flying? Have you not heard of climate crisis?
#ClimateEmergency #FlightFree

Julie Webgirl

#CovidIsNotOver #SchoolShootings #ClimateEmergency #Disasters
#WeAreOnOurOwn #TheyAreNotComingToHelp #JustYourLuckYoullSurvive

@w7voa

I have zero faith in any #preparedness nor response this or any other administration has to any #emergency.

Preparedness:

None

Response:

"Thoughts and prayers"

and

"Learn to live with it"

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #CO2 #Emissions

Nothing new to see here. Business As Usual is working just fine.

Four panel editorial cartoon. First panel shows a hot sun. Caption says: The planet is experiencing the worst heat on record. Second panel shows a forest fire. Caption says: The worst wildfires on record. Third panel shows dried-out cropland. Caption says: The worst droughts on record. Fourth panel shows big factories with smoke spewing out. Caption says: The worst response to it on record.

#History #Politics #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #CO2 #Emissions

Why are we suddenly in a climate emergency? Didn't anyone see this coming?

Well, yes and no. It's complicated.

if you'd like to understand how we got to where we are now, I'm going to suggest the article linked below. It's a long, complex, and potentially depressing read, but wow, is it good — deeply researched, extremely informative, and highly convincing.

We are where we are because over the past 50 years too many mistakes were made, a few untimely accidents happened, and because capitalism deliberately made it easy for almost everyone to ignore the warning signs.

"What Went Wrong: Understanding Our Current Climate Paradigm"

Link -- https://archive.is/LrOOO
Alternate link -- https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fsmokingtyger.medium.com%2Fthe-crisis-report-24-e7ea14f453fb

From 1980 to 1988, Ronald Reagan (pictured) was President of the United States. From 1988 to 1992, Reagan's VP, George H.W. Bush (pictured) was President. Both of them had ties to the oil and gas industries and the fossil fuel elites.

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #CO2 #Emissions

From bad to worse.

In April, I wrote a few posts about new scientific research revealing how Antarctic ice melt was beginning to affect ocean circulation – with potentially disastrous consequences. (See -- https://climatejustice.social/@breadandcircuses/110231295703516012)

Now we have an update from the scientists who published that original study, and their warning is stark...
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Antarctic Alarm Bells: Observations reveal deep ocean currents are slowing earlier than predicted.

Antarctica drives a global network of ocean currents called the “overturning circulation” that redistributes heat, carbon, and nutrients around the globe. The overturning is crucial to keeping Earth’s climate stable. It’s also the main way oxygen reaches the deep ocean.

But there are signs this circulation is slowing down, and it’s happening decades earlier than predicted. This slowdown has the potential to disrupt the connection between the Antarctic coasts and the deep ocean, with profound consequences for Earth’s climate, sea level, and marine life.

Our new measurements show the overturning circulation has slowed by almost a third (30%) and deep ocean oxygen levels are declining. This is happening even earlier than climate models predicted.

Ice loss from Antarctica is expected to continue, even accelerate, as the world warms. We are almost certain to cross the 1.5℃ global warming threshold by 2027.

More ice loss will mean more freshening, so we can anticipate the slowdown in circulation and deep oxygen losses will continue.

The consequences of a slowdown will not be limited to Antarctica. The overturning circulation extends throughout the global ocean and influences the pace of climate change and sea level rise. It will also be disruptive and damaging for marine life.

Our research provides yet another reason to work harder – and faster – to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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"Decades earlier than predicted"‼

It's no exaggeration, we truly are in a climate emergency.

FULL ARTICLE -- https://theconversation.com/antarctic-alarm-bells-observations-reveal-deep-ocean-currents-are-slowing-earlier-than-predicted-206289

Chris Alemany 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸 🌱

We appear to be playing a scary climate change bingo where we see how many provinces in Canada can have mass evacuations due to wildfires in one month.

“14,000 evacuated, state of emergency declared as Halifax-area wildfire burns on - Global News
#climateChange #CanPoli #NSPoli #Wildfires #ClimateChaos #ClimateEmergency
https://apple.news/Agg7Ww4YPQIK0F7YQ859KgA

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #Biodiversity #Extinction

The remarkable diversity of life on our planet is in grave danger, with research indicating that nearly *half* of all animal species are currently in decline...
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Over the past several decades, it has become clear that global biodiversity has been declining due to human activities including conversion of habitat, use of pesticides and herbicides, and more recently, climate change. It is not known how many species are extinct due to such activities, but scientists have been trying to track species at highest risk of disappearing.

Now a trio of macro-biologists and life scientists has determined that the modern "sixth mass extinction" event is going to be even worse than prior research has shown.

They found that 48% of species have declining populations, and just 3% have rising populations. They also found evidence showing that 33% of species currently classified as non-threatened are actually spiraling toward extinction.

The team concludes that the planet is approaching a mass extinction event far graver than prior research has suggested.
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FULL ARTICLE -- https://phys.org/news/2023-05-anthropocene-sixth-mass-extinction-event.html

Bar graph shows: Percentage of species per taxonomic group which have decreasing, stable, increasing or unknown/unassessed population trends. Each group is represented by a silhouette from left to right; mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fishes, and insects. Data were sourced from the IUCN Red List (www.iucnredlist.org).

Laux Myth (aka Martin)

@jai_oh @AliceMarshall @novid
In the home remedy department, I found a way to keep my old house cooler by wrapping cardboard panels in tin foil to set in windows. It you reflect the light, it does not heat up the house and you can take down on cool days and evenings to let in modest light and cool air. #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency

Darn, cannot find the photos. Just more flexible than taping up the foil.

emmadavidson

Finally, last night we marched through the CBD, blocking intersections for around ten minutes while we danced to Highway to Hell and then dramatically “died” on the ground. When we got to the corner of Swanston and Collins, a band on the back of a truck played for a half hour Oz Rock dance party.

In photos: me, Violet Coco, Aiv Puglielli, Mat Morgan

Images by Julian Meehan
#xr #xrVIC #xrAustralia #melbourne #naarm #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #protest #auspol

Emma and Violet Coco smiling and holding signs. Emma wears a JK-47 t-shirt, Violet wears an Occupy 4 Climate XR t-shirt

Aiv Puglielli holding a sign that reads “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” and wearing a t-shirt with “No more coal & gas” on it

Mat Morgan marching in a crowd and smiling

emmadavidson

Home after a full weekend of protest action with friends in Naarm / Melbourne. Started with an XR slow march in the CBD… along with Blinky the koala, Ms Bee Have the bee, and Rupert Murdoch.

Images by Matt Hrkac
#xr #xrVIC #xrAustralia #melbourne #naarm #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #protest #auspol

People walking down a street with red smoke everywhere

Giant bee sculpture in the middle of a climate change protest march with lots of XR flags

Person wearing a giant head that looks like Rupert Murdoch

Giant sculpture of a partly decomposed koala with skeletal arms and red eyes in the middle of a protest march

Cory Doctorow's linkblog

https://doctorow.medium.com/ideas-lying-around-33a28901a7ae

Nonfiction, demifiction and fiction

#LostCause #ClimateEmergency #NewsCrisis

Likewise with my new series of detailed proposals for the Electronic Frontier Foundation to end Big Tech’s predation upon the news. The ongoing mass-extinction event for journalism is a crisis, and any moments of stability are merely lulls between calamities. These proposals are intended to be “ideas lying around,” for the coming widening gyre of crises.

My next novel, The Lost Cause, is a tale of a semi-utopian society that has confronted the polycrisis that has spun out of the climate emergency. It’s not just a cracking yarn — it’s also a flythrough of a society where the emergency is confronted and the forces that gave rise to it are halted and thrown into reverse.

Ragna

13.37 er wordt in de zon onder de waterstralen gedanst.
Met @rinske en @Lemonandpeach sta ik even in de schaduw onder de bomen.
#EndTheAgeOfOil #ClimateCrisis
#ClimateEmergency #A12
#StopFossieleSubsidies
#StopFossileSubsidies
#ExtinctionRebellion
#ErlsHoopWantlkHebHet
#VoorDeToekomst
#klimaatblokkade

#Ocean #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #Pollution #Capitalism

Headline at the Guardian:

"Is it too late to halt deep-sea mining? Meet the activists trying to save the seabed"

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/21/is-it-too-late-to-halt-deep-sea-mining-the-activists-trying-to-save-the-seabed
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If mining companies are given the go-ahead to exploit the ocean depths, the environmental cost will be devastating.

Miners hope to drill into hydrothermal vents (those iconic deep-sea chimneys), and also extract metals from mountains protruding from the seabed. Most commonly explored, however, and likely to be the first mining undertaken, are what’s known as polymetallic nodules: lumps of metals and minerals mixed with all sorts of sediment, which sit on the ocean floor.

This mining will see hordes of large mining machines moving along the seafloor like bulldozing combine harvesters, scooping up nodules and whatever else is in their path.

“Everything around them will be disturbed,” says Dr Diva Amon, a deep-sea biologist. “The top 10cm for certain, home to the majority of life on the seafloor. That means huge amounts of habitat and animals will be lost.” Out the back, water, sediment and shredded wildlife will be pumped out, wreaking havoc. Everything else collected will be pumped through a network of pipes up to a ship on the surface. “Here the nodules will be separated from other materials like water, sediment, and likely crumbled pieces of metal that will be spewed out into the ocean as waste.”
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Pacific Island activists: Uncle Sol Kaho’ohalahala, flanked by Alanna Smith and Jonathan Mesulam.

#Ocean #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency

Yesterday, 25 May 2023 — For only the third time in recorded history, we had the highest average world air temperature, the lowest global sea ice extent, and the highest average ocean temperature, all on the same day.

And this is just the beginning of the dubious and destructive record-setting events we will see in the months and years ahead.

Continue to work and hope for the best, but definitely *prepare* for the worst.

Average world air temperature, showing highest level ever for May 25

Global sea ice extent, showing lowest level ever for May 25

Average world ocean temperature, showing highest level ever for May 25

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #Degrowth

If plans to 'electrify everything' are carried out worldwide, the tonnage of metal extracted and processed in the next 15 years alone will exceed ALL the tonnage humans produced from the start of the Bronze Age (~3300 BCE) until today.

That's just one stunning factoid from an excellent article by Stan Cox, posted at Resilience...
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There is still time to temper somewhat the ecological devastation and human suffering that will come with catastrophic heating. Deployment of technology alone, however, won’t suffice.

History and research tell us that a buildup of new energy capacity won’t flush oil and fossil gas out of the system. For example, electricity generation from wind, solar, and biofuel sources has soared 50-fold since 2000, but the share of the world’s primary energy provided by fossil fuels fell only slightly during that time, from 87% to 85%. Even then, most of that puny shift was due to an increase in production of hydroelectric power, a well-known source of ecological and humanitarian problems.

Weaning the world’s rich economies off fossil fuels will require adaptation to a much smaller energy supply. Attempting to replicate the high-energy economies of the fossil-fuel era using non-fossil energy sources would require extensive plunder of the Earth’s resources, compounding the problems that are coming with climate change.

Globally, mining and processing of metallic ores has doubled just since 2000, and is responsible for a whopping 10% of total world energy consumption. Now, if plans to “electrify everything” are carried out worldwide, the tonnage of metal extracted and processed in the next 15 years alone will exceed the tonnage that humans have produced during the 5,000 years since the start of the Bronze Age.

If the world plows ahead with building this metal-clad energy empire and accepting its ecological and human impacts, it won’t be adequate to secure the future indefinitely.

An analysis conducted for the Geological Survey of Finland found that the quantity of batteries required to electrify the world’s vehicles and also provide the world’s power grids with enough batteries for backup storage would exhaust all known lithium, cobalt, and nickel reserves several times over. A new, destructive surge in mineral exploration and opening of new mines around the world would be necessary.

And the need for metal will never end. Decade after decade, billions of tons of batteries will go dead and need to be replaced.
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"Green Growth" is not the answer. We need *system change* and degrowth!

FULL ARTICLE -- https://www.resilience.org/stories/2023-05-19/the-old-future-is-gone-and-technology-wont-bring-it-back/

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency

For anyone still pinning their hopes on a bright future of techno-fantastic Green Growth, a hard look at the real world proves it's all a dream that can never come true...
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Copper is at the heart of everything electric. It is no exaggeration to say that our entire “renewable, clean, green” future hinges upon its uninterrupted supply.

In fact, according to a recently released report, in order to transform the world economy to using electricity alone we would need to mine more copper than what we did during the course of our entire written history. This is not to mention the fact that this amount of material would only cover the build-out of the *first* generation of wind and solar power plants (together with the many electric engines, batteries, inverters, transformers etc) needed for the change. So where do we get all that copper from?

This is an extremely important question. Why? Well, because if it turns out that the proposed “clean, green, renewable” Technutopia is physically unattainable, then we would immediately need to start working on an alternative, a Plan B if you like, before we cook ourselves or run out of the materials which could be used for a better purpose than to maintain an industrial civilization eating this planet alive.

Our global reserves of copper amount to some 880 million tons. However, a transition to an energy system powered by a combination of “renewables”, nuclear, and hydro would require us to mine 4575 million tons — some five times the amount we have located so far.

Considering 2019 production levels, and presuming we would magically discover the missing amount, we would need 189 years to mine the required amount of copper for that first generation. If those magic reserves are nowhere to be found, though, it would still take us 36 years to mine all the copper we have — allowing us to replace a mere 20% of our energy production from fossil fuels.
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This thorough and sobering article (which I'll link below) then goes on to describe the "rather dirty business of mining," before finishing with...
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Some inconvenient conclusions:

1. We neither have the copper reserves nor the mining capacity to replace our current fossil fuel infrastructure.

2. Even if we had, we wouldn’t have enough cheap and abundant fuel (diesel), sulfuric acid, and water to process it.

3. As a result, we would be able to get to a maximum 20% replacement of our fossil fuel infrastructure, presuming that peak oil and geopolitics do not throw a monkey-wrench into the process.

This implies that we will have to do with less (much much less) energy as fossil fuels — and copper — leave us during the coming decades. We are talking about an 80% drop, and it really doesn’t matter at all if the remaining 20% comes from the last drops of fossil fuels or the last grams of copper available to build “renewables”. Both solutions are (were) a limited-time offer on this planet.
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FULL ARTICLE -- https://thehonestsorcerer.medium.com/the-copper-conundrum-3b98704602c8

Heavy machinery inside an open-pit copper mine.