#Environment
Global News BC: Dive-bombing crows prompt warning in West Vancouver neighbourhood https://globalnews.ca/news/9755688/dive-bombing-crows-west-vancouver/ #globalnews #britishcolumbia #news #westvancouvercrows #Divebombingcrows #protectivecrows #defensivecrows #swoopingcrows #Environment #Crowattacks #Crowattack #Divebomb #Science #corvid #Birds #Crows
4 #Black #LGBTQ+ #ClimateActivists To #follow
The work of #Black #queer #environmentalactivists reminds us of this #truth, intertwining the #fight for #queer #rights with a commitment to #safeguarding our #planet
#Women #Nonbinary #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Environment #ClimateChange #GayRights #TransRights #Representation #Culture #RoleModels #BlackMastodon https://seattlemedium.com/4-black-lgbtq-climate-activists-to-follow/
@alexip718: "Whether you agree with “#CopCity” or not, to those who are weary, get some sleep; to those pretending to be asleep, we will ratchet up our intensity to cover the misinformation, lack of transparency, and fallout surrounding your decisions."
https://mailchi.mp/35ed798a259f/cop-city-just-got-approved-what-s-next
If ‘Muslim extremists’ did this to #NYC we’d be launching cruise missles by now.
But it’s us. We’re the extremists.
To paraphrase Modest Mouse,
The good times are killing us…
#climate #materialism #environment #wildfires #smoke #ignorance #greed #denial #headinsand
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/hamilton-man-new-york-wildfire-smoke-1.6869679
#Canadians are worried about the rapidly #metastasizing #ClimateCrisis . For good reason. The impacts are hitting harder and faster - like hundreds of #wildfires burning out of control all across our nation right now. Meanwhile, our #emissions of #climate #destabilizing #GreenhouseGases aren't going down enough to stop the #ClimateChaos from growing ever more dangerous.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/06/08/analysis/blindly-accelerating-oncoming-climate-train
#Canada #graphs #measurements #environment #ClimateActionNow #Degrowth
Mary Kelleher knew she was moving into a floodplain and thought she was prepared.
She wasn't ready for dangerous levels of neglect from the government agency meant to protect her region's #rivers. After Tropical Storm Hermine, she knew she had to take action:
https://www.texasobserver.org/mary-kelleher-tarrant-regional-water-board/
Part of our ongoing series on the changing face of #Texas waterways.
(CW: Accidental animal death)
#environment #ClimateChange #democracy #water #flooding #FortWorth #politics #USpol
On Day 2, Baltimore’s air quality worsens as Canadian wildfire smoke sweeps over the region https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2023/06/08/on-day-2-baltimores-air-quality-worsens-as-canadian-wildfire-smoke-sweeps-over-the-region/ #Environment #Baltimore
https://www.wired.com/story/kakhovka-dam-flooding-ukraine/
"The #Kakhovka #Dam Collapse Is an Ecological Disaster
Water surging from the broken Ukrainian dam is killing animals, destroying habitats, and unleashing #pollution. The effects may be irreversible."
Millions under hazy skies as Canadian wildfire smoke spreads
Why we need to respect Earth’s last great wilderness – the ocean 🌊🐟
There are plans to harness our seas to help tackle the effects of the climate emergency. But without understanding and respect a life support system for our planet could be trashed
#ClimateChange
#deforestation #energy #ActNow #environment #ClimateCrisis #Science#Nature #climate #ClimateEmergency #climatecrisis #wildlife #ClimateAction #photo #photography #GlobalWarming #pollution #news #biodiversity
Global News BC: What causes most wildfires in Canada, and why we’re ‘primed’ for a lot more https://globalnews.ca/news/9754882/what-starts-wildfires/ #globalnews #britishcolumbia #news #HowCanadawildfiresstarted #causeofwildfiresCanada #howdowildfiresstart #wildfirestarters #AirQualityIndex #Albertawildfire #Canadawildfires #causeofwildfire #wildfirecauses #WildfireSmoke #Environment #AirQuality #Wildfires #Weather #Canada #ElNino #Fire
Happy #WorldOceanDay! 💙 🌊💚 I loved painting this sea turtle in watercolor.
#art #ocean #environment #artist #watercolor #painting #nature #MastoArt #WorldOceansDay
Wired: The Kakhovka Dam Collapse Is an Ecological Disaster https://www.wired.com/story/kakhovka-dam-flooding-ukraine/ #Tech #wired #TechNews #IT #Technology via @morganeogerbc #Science/Environment #environment #pollution #Science #Ukraine #Ecocide #Russia #flood
Song For the Day
Insightful, funny, clever, and meant to warn.... way back when.
This song is ripe, from the wonderful Tom Lehrer:
POLLUTION
https://youtu.be/7MyiUWAPAnc
~~
"If you visit American city,
You will find it very pretty.
Just two things of which you must beware:
Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air!"
#Pollution #global #climate #AirQuality #hurricanes #wildfires #environment #ecosystem #TomLehrer #GlobalWarming
Europe joins fight against Canada wildfire smoke
Global greenhouse gas emissions at all-time high, study finds
Scientists say world is burning through ‘carbon budget’ that can be emitted while staying below 1.5C
#ClimateChange
#Stopmethaneemissions
#deforestation
#energy
#FossilFuels
#ActNow
#environment #EndFossilCrimes #ClimateCrisis #Science #warming #Nature #climate #gasemissions #ClimateEmergency #climatecrisis #wildlife #ClimateAction #photo #photography #GlobalWarming #pollution #news #biodiversity #earth
STUDY: Presence of airborne microplastics in human lung tissue - “Deleterious health outcomes may be related to the heterogeneous characteristics of these contaminants in the respiratory system following inhalation.” #microplastics #nanoplastics #plastics #plasticpollution #PublicHealth #pollution #environment https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389421010888
The @TheGuardian’s Earth Photos shortlist is up—this one of a fish farm off the coast of Spain. (They look like grapefruit slices, right?)
Full set here:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2023/jun/08/coral-slime-burning-trees-and-hope-earth-photo-2023-shortlist-in-pictures
Saber Squirrelfish are the largest of their kind, and notable for the yellowish tinge to their fins. They grow to just under half meter. The cheek spine on their lower gill cover can inflict a painful wound. Your #Hawaii #sealife #photooftheday
#animals #wildlife #nature #outdoors
#photography #nature #animals #climatechange #wildlife #environment #follow #outdoors #explore #camera #underwater #scubadiving #Visuallyimpaired #Thursday #fish Find me at https://mastodon.online/@hawaiianeye797
My blog post today features my art of Gambel’s Quail chicks along with some fun observations from watching them in our yard!
https://paulaborchardt.substack.com/p/gambels-quail-chicks
#SciArt #SciArtist #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #MastoArt #ArtistsOnMastodon #PerpetualJournal #Substack #blog #blogging #Tucson #SonoranDesert #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #ecology #nature #Spring #Summer #bird #birds #birding #BirdsOfMastodon #quail
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/08/air-quality-record-smoke-hazard-wildfire-worst-day-ever-canada-new-york | Air pollution in US from wildfire smoke is worst in recent recorded history |
"The US experienced its worst toxic air pollution from wildfire smoke in its recent recorded history on Wednesday, researchers have found, with people in New York exposed to levels of pollution more than five times above the national air quality standard." | #environment #wildfires #PublicHealth #Canada #UnitedStates
Even a single act of whistleblowing can make all the difference. With specialist support, we believe a new generation of climate whistleblowers can be the catalysts for the change the world so desperately needs.
* Comment: DeSmog (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeSmog) is an awesome advocacy / watchdog group - one of the leading groups fighting the good fight
#DeSmog #pollution #climate #ClimateChange #pollution #watchdog #EnvironmentalActivism #persagen #environmentalism #EnvirnmentalActivism #environment
My #VermontPublic colleagues launched a new enewsletter today focused on the outdoors & climate change called “Out There.”
It’s an experiment! We are going to send it weekly thru the summer and then gather feedback.
You can subscribe here: https://www.vermontpublic.org/out-there
“Since probably June 2021, on discharge into Lavaca Bay, Formosa has violated their permit 428 times and been penalized over $10 million [for] violations.”
From the archives: Diane Wilson's efforts to force a chemical company to clean up #Texas waters are a reminder that sometimes there are battles we can win. An interview by @delger ... https://www.texasobserver.org/diane-wilson-goldman-environmental-prize-seadrift/
#environment #pollution #Plastics #water #GulfCoast #news #politics #USpol
RT @EESC_LiaisonG: 🧵/Thread
LIVE at @EU_EESC:
📣#ECI needs to be strengthened to increase its political impact.
📣We must guarantee more #financialsupport & #youthinvolvement.
📣Together we fight for #environment & #climate, #socialrights, #democracy & #justice 🇪🇺
#StayTuned Workshops 1&2 👇 https://t.co/Xnzd2Q8pJ3
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/EU_EESC/status/1666750297299902464
Massive #pollution incidents have ballooned in #Texas, with an almost total lack of enforcement in response. In the last 20 years, about 1 billion pounds of "excess" #emissions were released across the state, according to this investigation from @grist and #Science Friday: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-excess-emissions/
(📸 Photo by Mark Felix/ @texastribune)
(repost with alt text)
#ClimateChange #Houston #water #environment #news #politics #USpol #AirQuality
Rebutting Rowan Atkinson's column on EVs:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/08/fact-check-why-rowan-atkinson-is-wrong-about-electric-vehicles
FYI: #Air Quality Aware App built w/ #ArcGIS technology https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/airquality
#AirQuality #environment #pollution #health #healthGIS #EPA #NOAA #GIS #esri #GISchat #WildfireSmoke #wildfiresCanada #ArcGISOnline #LivingAtlas #geospatial #mapstodon
Dire predictions from Umair Haque about where our civilization is going...
_______________________
Phase One: Our living standards peak, after *centuries* of rising. They begin to fall — but it’s a slow, gentle descent, like a glider. Right now, you can maybe keep up, if you struggle, the way most are. You can try to maintain some semblance of yesterday’s living standards by going deeper into debt, or adjusting your consumption basket, or changing your habits here and there, like shopping at cheaper places. But prices are skyrocketing, inflation’s ultra high, interest rates are crippling. We hit our limits of supply at a civilizational level, but demand of course keeps rising.
Phase Two: We cross the threshold of planetary tipping points, on a mega-scale. There’s plenty of evidence that’s already happening, for many of them — from the Amazon, to the boreal forests, to the polar ice. When we cross that threshold, things get much worse. Warming speeds up. That’s when things really begin to fall apart. Inflation. Shortages. Interest rates. Bank failures. Water and food systems just… fail. Living standards begin to crash, hard and fast. That gentle, glider-like descent becomes more like a jumbo jet going into free fall. Where do you keep your money if you don’t know which bank will fail? What do you do when there’s just no food on the shelves? Where do you live if nobody will insure entire regions and states?
So what happens in Phase Three? It’s anybody’s guess, really. Probably, at that point, democracy’s a distant memory, the world’s made of nations which are more like fortresses, mega-weather decimates them regularly, rendering any kind of industrial age living standards a luxury only for the giga rich, and the rest live something much more like people did in the early industrial age. Think of Dickens novels and you get the picture. Then cross them with Orwell and Arendt, because remember, there’s no more democracy. Then cross them with Atwood, because the fanatics take over. And that’s being kind, I think.
That’s a lot. Don’t focus on Phase Three. That’s when we’re deep, deep into Extinction — and through inaction and folly, we’ve let things spiral out of control. Right now? Our job is still trying to prevent Phase Two, runaway warming, tipping points really being hit any harder than they are currently. If we do that, there’s something to salvage. If we don’t, though — well, that’s where we are now.
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The above is just a brief excerpt from a long, convincing, and disturbing essay. I hope you'll read the whole thing.
FULL ARTICLE -- https://archive.is/E4XoV#selection-943.0-971.1
#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #Collapse #Extinction
The other thing to remember as we witness what appears to be a tipping point crossed vs. gradual weather change is this is not just about #energy use and #ghg.
It’s about our consumption of all resources, our cutting and burning of #forests and our ‘development’ of #farmland for our car-centric materialist lifestyle instead of getting real with ourselves.
#CO2 tech is not going to help us if the rest of our behaviour remains atrocious.
This is not good...
______________________________
Greenhouse gas emissions have reached an all-time high, threatening to push the world into unprecedented levels of global heating, scientists have warned.
Only about 250 billion tons of carbon dioxide can now be emitted, to avoid the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere that would raise temperatures by 1.5C. That is down from 500 billion tons just a few years ago, and at current annual rates of greenhouse gas emissions, of about 54 billion tons per year over the past decade, it would run out well before the end of this decade.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/08/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-at-all-time-high-study-finds
______________________________
Wow. At the rate we're going, the world's entire "carbon budget" will be used up less than five years from now.
And that's not even counting the fact that some actual emissions are *excluded* from the official reporting figures submitted by countries.
For example, the decision of whether to report military emissions — and how to calculate them — is left up to individual countries, per the 2015 Paris Accords. So, although research has found that the US military emits more CO2 than entire nations like Portugal and Denmark, and that the Department of Defense accounts for nearly 80% of the federal government’s fuel consumption, there's no guarantee that these figures are counted within the remaining "carbon budget." How much would you bet that the US is underreporting its military emissions? Of course they are.
Plus, it's not only the United States...
___________________________
Across the world, many countries underreport their greenhouse gas emissions in their reports to the United Nations, a Washington Post investigation has found. An examination of 196 country reports reveals a giant gap between what nations declare their emissions to be vs. the greenhouse gases they are sending into the atmosphere.
The gap comprises vast amounts of missing carbon dioxide and methane emissions as well as smaller volumes of powerful synthetic gases. It is the result of questionably drawn rules, incomplete reporting in some countries, and apparently willful mistakes in others — and the fact that in some cases, humanity’s full impacts on the planet are not even required to be reported.
A key area of controversy is that many countries attempt to offset the emissions from burning fossil fuels by claiming that carbon is absorbed by land within their borders. UN rules allow countries, such as China, Russia, and the United States, each to subtract more than half a billion tons of annual emissions in this manner, and in the future could allow these and other countries to continue to release significant emissions while claiming to be “net zero.”
https://archive.is/TOqwn#selection-771.0-771.462
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Bottom line?
It's *worse* than they're telling us. You can't trust the "official" reports. Governments, industries, and the corporate media all have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.
#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #CO2 #Emissions #BusinessAsUsual
Coral slime, burning trees – and hope: Earth Photo 2023 shortlist – in pictures
'From sustainable fisheries to toxic battery waste, these images were chosen because they tell a compelling story about the state of our planet'
#photography #science #environment #GlobalWarming #GlobalHeating #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateBreakdown
Flip-flop boats, ‘trashion’ and the Bag Monster: the art of discarded plastic – in pictures
'Artists from around the world have been using detritus from beaches and waterways to respond to the plight of the marine environment. We showcase their work on World Ocean Day'
Wildfires in Canada, US: How to stay safe if you are affected
Women are routinely killed for their environmental activism, and there isn’t enough data available to help stop it. https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/6/23751071/violence-against-women-environmental-activists-data-research #activism #violenceagainstwomen #environment
This afternoon at Water Operations for Uncertain Futures 2023 #AFPLwouf23, we've taken on the role of various stakeholders and mapped out how we might carry out the #water concept pitches from initiation to adaptation. The takeaways? The considerations involved in shaping #water #futures are #complex and involve many interactions between #society, #environment, #technology, #industry, and #governance. Some things are easy to #adapt and #change – but on the whole, creating #robust and #equitable #systems in this space takes time, conversations, many knowledges, hard choices, and careful planning. And whether we know it or not, we all depend on the care people in this space take in creating robust water futures for us all.
#AFPLwouf23 is the third workshop in the Algorithmic Futures Policy Lab series, which has been made possible with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. ANU Institute for Water Futures and #OneBasinCRC have taken the lead in planning and supporting this workshop. Thanks, also, to the Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU School of Cybernetics, ANU Centre for European Studies, CNRS LAMSADE, and DIMACS Rutgers University.
The content on this post and any material herein reflects only the author’s view. The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency and the European Commission are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
#cybernetics #futures #waterpolicy #Australia #europeanunion
#AYearForArt #ArtMatters #LoveArt #Photography #poetry
#environment #painting #bookbinding
#JohnClare back in the woods.
Spirit of the woods awake
In thy wildest dress appear
Trace with me the curdled brake
Sound thy wildness in my ear
Genius of the woods that dwells
Sweeping boughs & grains among
As I climb thy rough rude dells
Breath thy roughness in my song
How much plastic is in our oceans?
5 years ago, I didn't have many friends who were veggies but I had a few.
Now I have none. All of them have started eating animals again.
Without animal protein alternatives, ie 'fake meat' and 'fake cheese', we're going to have a heck of a time persuading people to reduce or eliminate animal products. I'm talking about growing proteins without the animal.
Omnivores, would you make the switch?
#Food #Environment #ClimateChange #Diet #WhatsOnYourPlate #DietForASmallPlanet
Seems some people have taken to burning some vile plastic garbage at the same time that I usually head out for a walk, it's such a sensory assault for an autistic asthamatic like me that I don't even know where am once I've reached the garden :(
Just another day in a "low cost of living" country where I deserve to be paid less to live here.
#costofliving #tech #environment
Global warming will get worse until annual net carbon emissions plateau. Even then, it won't get better, it will just stop worsening.
And simply adding renewables to the overall mix of available energy sources won't stop the burning of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels have to be specifically banned.
#GlobalWarming #ClimateChange #Climate #Oil #Growth #Environment #FossilFuel #PlannedEconomy #Carbon #Emissions #CO2 #Renewables
Forest recognition for Papua tribe raises hopes for climate
Funny how #Poilievre isn’t going after #Trudeau on his poor (and it is) environmental record. Trudeau is incredibly vulnerable on that file, having only managed to ban plastic drinking straws.
I mean the nation is literally ON FIRE, we’re hotboxing the entire United States, and he’s so tone-deaf PP is on about procedures and growth.
#climate #environment #bigoil #CDNpoli #ONpoli #wildfires #Canada
@Meyerweb
Perhaps worth noting that there were zero regulations on maritime emissions until the Obama administration. Even now they only exist within certain boundaries around US coasts, but they have already saved thousands of lives. We measure the effect by infant mortality, but the pollution kills people of all ages
https://tradetalkspodcast.com/podcast/183-how-the-united-states-cleaned-up-container-ship-pollution/
--
#AirPollution #obama #environment #maritime #shipping #ParticulateMatter
Canada’s record wildfires should be ‘wake-up call’, experts warn
Happy June! Here’s the first art I created for my Tucson Yard Journal series: June, which is hot & dry but we still see lots of bird, mammal, plant & insect activity.
#SciArt #SciArtist #art #illustration #watercolor #painting #sketchbook #NatureJournal #NatureJournaling #MastoArt #ArtistsOnMastodon #Tucson #SonoranDesert #NativePlants #biodiversity #environment #ecosystem #nature #cactus #saguaro #succulent #agave #seedpod #wildflower #Summer #insect #cicada #bird #birds #birding #coyote
Now we're talking
- renewables as mermaids
- cars as vampires
- plastics as witches
#ClimateChange #Storytelling #environment #SocialSciences #EnergyTransition
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629623001603
Across four seasons, correspondent Sergio Chapa explored the 96-mile long Lone Star Hiking Trail, until it became a special escape for him during and after the height of the pandemic. Now, he reflects on how we can preserve this special journey:
https://www.texasobserver.org/lone-star-hiking-trail-houston/
World leaders, scientists, and advocates met last week in Paris for the second round of negotiations toward a global legally binding treaty to drastically reduce plastic waste.
This Vox article provides what seems to be a pretty good overview of what went down and what this could mean for the future.
https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2023/6/7/23743640/plastic-pollution-un-treaty-oceans-waste
“Data shows for the first time that the peak demand for electricity this summer will exceed the amount we can generate from on-demand, dispatchable power, so we will be relying on #renewables to keep the lights on.”
But rather than fix the grid, #Republicans spent their time in the #Texas legislature trying to block renewable #energy:
https://www.texasobserver.org/88th-session-texas-legislature-lgbtq-energy-schools/
#environment #infrastructure #ClimateChange #TXlege #politics #news #USpol #OilAndGas
We've grown used to warnings about dangerous "wet bulb" temperatures in places like India and Southeast Asia, but this is the first time I can recall seeing it in the Caribbean...
_________________________
Parts of Puerto Rico reached a life-threatening heat index of 125 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, driven by a combination of an intense heat dome, El Niño, and climate change.
Puerto Rico is so hot this week that it’s baffling some weather experts, who warn that other parts of the world will likely experience similar extreme heat this year as climate change and an exceptionally strong El Niño drive global temperatures to historic highs.
Florida-based meteorologist Jeff Berardelli warned of “life-threatening heat” in Puerto Rico, with conditions on the island becoming “so hot that some meteorologists are astonished.”
The heat index — which combines temperature with humidity — soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit across much of the territory on Monday, with parts of Puerto Rico reaching a heat index as high as 125 degrees. High humidity combined with high temperatures can be especially dangerous since less sweat can evaporate off your body to cool it off.
Berardelli linked Puerto Rico’s extreme heat spell this week to several overlapping factors, including the formation of a fierce heat dome just east of the island, a strong El Niño weather pattern amplifying heat waves, and other extreme weather and climate change generally making the oceans warmer. Tropical oceans, he said, have warmed roughly 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the Industrial Revolution.
The high temperatures might also be getting impacted by what Berardelli called a “wavy jet stream,” when the fast flowing air current that moves around the upper hemisphere of the planet gets interrupted and wobbles like a spinning top rotating off kilter. It’s the same mechanism that has also caused the polar vortex to shoot down into southern states in the U.S. in recent winters, and scientists believe climate change is playing a role in that interruption.
Ultimately, Berardelli said, Puerto Rico’s heat wave shouldn’t be viewed as an isolated incident, and he warned that other parts of the world should anticipate similar hot spells in the coming months.
“As we go deeper into 2023 and El Niño intensifies, we should expect a stunning year of global extremes which boggle the meteorological mind,” he said. “The base climate has heated due to greenhouse warming and a strong El Niño will push us to limits we have yet to observe.”
_________________________
FULL STORY -- https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06062023/todays-climate-puerto-rico-heat/
#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #Heat #PuertoRico
an excellent article about the water impact of computers & the internet: https://three.compost.digital/every-drop/ by Olu Niyi-Awosusi
#environment #ecology #pollution #tech #water #ClimateChange
Clarence Thomas’ Billionaire Benefactor Tied To SCOTUS Bombshell
The Supreme Court just gutted wetland protections after lobbying by Harlan Crow’s business interests.
Last month, in a 5-4 ruling on Sackett v. EPA SCOTUS dramatically narrowed the scope of the 1972 Clean Water Act ...
* Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sackett_v._Environmental_Protection_Agency
#SCOTUS #SackettVsEPA #CleanWaterAct #environment #ClarenceThomas #HarlanCrow
From the archives: @delger catches up with the elder-statesman of #Climate advocacy, Al Gore, in #Houston, to discuss environmental #racism in the place where that term was born: https://www.texasobserver.org/al-gore-climate-reality-project-houston/
#ClimateChange #OilandGas #environment #news #politics #pollution #Texas #energy #democrats
It's not enough to envision a world where governments take drastic action to reduce emissions, slow global warming, and stabilize the climate. That would be very nice, but it's not enough.
We also need unprecedented cooperation on a worldwide level to insure that *justice* is achieved — mainly for populations in the Global South who are most vulnerable to health risks and property damage from the climate havoc caused by countries and industries in the Global North.
Now, a study has been released quantifying what must be done...
_______________________________
Humans are taking colossal risks with the future of civilization and everything that lives on Earth, a new study shows. Developed by an international science commission engaging more than 40 researchers from across the globe, the scientists deliver the first quantification of safe and just Earth system boundaries on a global and local level for several biophysical processes and systems that regulate the state of the Earth system.
For the first time, safety and justice for humanity on Earth is assessed and quantified for the same control variables regulating life support and Earth stability. Justice, based on avoiding significant harm to people across the world, tightens the Earth system boundaries, providing even less available space for humans on Earth. This is extremely challenging, as the Earth Commission concludes that many of the safe boundaries are already crossed today.
"Safe" boundaries ensure stable and resilient conditions on Earth, and use an interglacial Holocene-like Earth system as a reference point for a healthy planet. A stable and resilient Earth is dominated by balancing feedbacks that cope with and dampen disturbances. Cutting edge science on climate tipping points feature as one major line of evidence to set safe boundaries.
"Just" boundaries minimize human exposure to significant harm. The Commission defines significant harm as: widespread severe existential or irreversible negative impacts on countries, communities, and individuals from Earth system change, such as loss of lives, livelihoods or incomes, displacement, loss of food, water, or nutritional security, chronic disease, injury, or malnutrition.
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FULL ARTICLE -- https://phys.org/news/2023-05-world-safe-planet-quantifying-earth.html
LINK TO PAPER -- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06083-8
#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #CO2 #Emissions #ClimateJustice
Climate Crisis Is on Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment
==
As conditions that best support life shift toward the poles, more than 600 million people are already living outside of a crucial “climate niche,” facing more extreme heat, rising food scarcity and higher death rates.
Greta Thunberg (@gretathunberg), from page 19 of The Climate Book:
"Most people today are living well within the planetary boundaries. It is only a minority of us who have caused this crisis and who keep driving it forward. The widely popular argument that ‘there are too many people’ is a very misleading one. Population does matter, but it is not people who are causing emissions and depleting the Earth, it is what *some* people do. It is some people’s habits and behavior, in combination with our economic structures, that are causing the catastrophe."
GET THE BOOK -- https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/709837/the-climate-book-by-greta-thunberg/
#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #CO2 #Emissions #ClimateJustice
Compare…
(1) What parts of the world, and which people, will suffer most from the effects of global warming?
Versus…
(2) Which countries are doing the most to *increase* the risks that people will suffer from global warming?
Something is very wrong here.
#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #CO2 #Emissions #Health #ClimateJustice
REVEALED: #BP and #Shell bosses among oil execs given £15m for ‘protecting the #environment’
Major oil companies rewarded bosses for hitting #climate targets despite continuing to pump #oil and gas
@FantasticalEconomics @jwcph @breadandcircuses
For what it's worth, I think JW is the one making the most coherent points here, by quite a large margin.
Whatever theoretical claim can be made about technology bettering things is dim when seen in context because it's really clear that markets love an externality, and so if someone bent on growth can say that it's possible that somehow that growth can be compensated for, then that compensation becomes the responsibility of someone else or the market. The problem is that unless people are held to account in that, the theoretical balance that Kyle is claiming has about zero chance of happening. And we have far too little time to be waiting on such miracles.
In practical terms, which is all we can focus on in the extraordinarily limited time humanity has left on earth, it's more correct to say that the theoretical options Kyle sees are just smokescreen that will enable continued ills. Maybe your intent is better, Kyle, but if so it's blinding to to a practical effect that is likely VERY negative.
The problem is simple: We have an addiction to growth. We are practiced at it. We enjoy it. We have developed habits around it. But it is killing us. None of that will be fixed by creating theoretical discussions about how there's a world in which reform is not necessary. There might be such a world. But if we are not making plans to get there, taking steps aggressively that get us there within our window of healthy life, then the theoretical case is irrelevant. We're addicts who have rationalized not quitting.
But also, with every crank of the winch, creating more reliance on tech, we also create potential energy waiting to snap if something goes wrong, something slips, and the system unwinds. If an acre of land can support 10 people but we find tech to have it support 100, that's great but if that acre of land is lost to a storm, let's say, then 100 people will starve, not 10. Every time we rely on tech to help us live past capacity, we up the stakes that way. They noticed a similar thing in airplanes as they figured out how to pack them tighter and tighter: when a crash happens, more die.
So I decided at some point that the test of carrying capacity of the planet is not the steady state on a good day kind of measure, but rather the ability of that system to withstand crashes, the temporary unavailability of parts of it, etc. We are not prepared for disaster. Shareholder capitalism treats robustness and sustainability as economic inefficiencies to be removed because they generally don't show on the quarterly bottom line except as an expenditure with no benefit. It's hard to quantify a counterfactual.
We need metrics not of Gross Domestic Product but of Gross Domestic Sustainability, of getting ourselves to a system that is robust against the kinds of catastrophes that are potentially forseeable to encounter. Economic, political, and weather/climate. A company or product that does not measure up as highly sustainable and robust against potential problems should be taxed very heavily so that the state can make preparations in lieu, so that there is no way for a company to make money by shortcutting sustainability.
Presently the reason people like Trump so much is the sugar high he creates in businesses by allowing them to pretend to profit by eliminating safety and sustainability and other environmental "red tape" that he sees as superfluous. This serves a culture in which profits are regularly harvested from companies into private bank accounts that cannot be drawn back out of when we see what a horror these profiteers have left us. They are racing to suck all the value out of the world before it collapses.
For a brief parable on this, see my 2009 essay "Hollow Support". It's not about climate, but about how markets under shareholder capitalism like to invest and what the consequences of that are:
http://netsettlement.blogspot.com/2009/03/hollow-support.html
#Capitalism #ShareholderCapitalism #HollowSupport #Climate #Consumption #Growth #DeGrowth #Economics #Sustainability #Environment
“When I needed help from my elected officials, they looked the other way. I ran for election so no one would have to experience that at the #water district.”
Flooding and bureaucracy drove Mary Kelleher to run for a powerful North #Texas river agency board, reports correspondent James Russell in our magazine: https://www.texasobserver.org/mary-kelleher-tarrant-regional-water-board/
(CW: Death of animals by misadventure)
(📸 Photo by Gerald Kern)
#environment #river #elections #flooding #democracy #FortWorth #politics #news #USpol #agriculture
How many cars are on our planet today?
How many will there be in 2050?
How many is enough??
#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #CO2 #Emissions #Capitalism
What's it like to become a #vegan, anyway? @naniehurley explains!
The Only Thing I Miss Being a Vegan
https://www.thetaoistonline.org/post/the-only-thing-i-miss-as-a-vegan
I don't think this is the right way to frame this problem.
Our first job is to live long enough that such concerns matter. If we don't do something quickly, we won't have that chance.
That's why I also support the use of nuclear where other tech is not feasible. What matters most is to stop fossil fuels.
If solar panels get us far enough to be worrying about how to replace them, or if nuclear gets us far enough to worry about waste disposal, we'll be in better shape than we are now. There are serious short-term milestones we have to hit to avoid both near-term catastrophes of various kinds and falling over tipping points that lock us into long-term problems in nature itself.
I also think this kind of fearmongering is the kind of stuff you expect to see funded by the oil industry as a reason to delay switching. Any reason for delay favors short-term coal & oil profits but not the survival of the human race.
No one promised us that surviving the Climate Crisis would be easy or even without sacrifice or difficulty. This idea that "oops, this has issues" is a reason not to do it needs to be dispensed with. We can't find the right path by disproving all the others. That will find no paths. There will be issues. But the point is to get the big things done and then to address the issues that remain.
#ClimateCrisis #Climate #Solar #SolarPower #Power #Sustainability #Environment #Society #Planning #Delay #FossilFuels #Nuclear #Waste #WasteDisposal #Carbon
Use this tool before June 14th to automatically email your country's ministers & MEPs to ask them to support the EU's Nature Restoration Law https://environmentalpillar.ie/restorenature/ #environment "This new #EU Nature Restoration law will be critical for the habitats that support wildlife and ecosystems. It is being negotiated in Brussels. This is a ground breaking piece of legislation that would compel governments to restore habitats on land and sea with deadlines that must be reached by 2030, 2040 and 2050."
Over the last 50 years, North America has lost a third of its birds, studies suggest, and most bird species are in decline. https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/06/a-shocking-number-of-birds-are-in-trouble/
'Can you see Orion?' My #sermon for #TrinitySunday considers #humanity's place in the #universe, and our responsibility for the "pale blue dot" which is our only home- planet #earth
#preaching #Christianity #creation #environment #space #science #PaleBlueDot #astronomy #Green #ClimateChange
https://peterwnimmo.co.uk/2023/06/04/can-you-see-orion-sermon-for-trinity-sunday-4-june-2023/
Solarpunk Futures came today! A game to collaboratively imagine futures where we solve problems we confront today.
“This new study challenges the wisdom of moving forward with the high-frequency rail option, and instead presents a strong argument for developing high-speed rail along this corridor instead.” Why not both? Bring the economic, environmental and equity benefits of frequent service to underserved small communities now, while expanding a high-speed rail network. #Canada #PassengerRail #HSR #HighFrequencyRail #3Es #EconomicDevelopment #Environment #Equity @CascadiaRail