Friday 29th of March 2024

thinning from below

whisky

Arctic sea ice has hit a record low for its maximum extent in winter, which scientists said was a result of climate change and abnormal weather patterns.

The US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) said on Thursday that at its peak the ice covered just over 14.5m sq km of the northern seas. This was 130,000 sq km smaller than the previous lowest maximum in 2011.

The peak occurred on 25 February, which the NSIDC’s senior research scientist Ted Scambos said was “very early but not unprecedented”.

Climate change is driving declining ice coverage in the Arctic, with a recent study finding it has also become significantly thinner, down 65% since 1975.

Scambos said northern oceans have progressively warmed because of climate change. This winter, the warmer seas combined with mild weather to create exceptionally poor conditions for the annual freeze.

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/19/arctic-sea-ice-extent-hits-record-low-for-winter-maximum

 

bad news...

On Wednesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that Earth’s global temperature for February was among the hottest ever measured. So far, 2015 is tracking above record-warm 2014—which, when combined with the newly resurgent El Niño, means we’re on pace for another hottest year in history.

In addition to the just-completed warmest winter on record globally (despite the brutal cold and record snow in the eastern U.S.), new data on Thursday from the National Snow and Ice Data Center show that this year’s peak Arctic sea ice reached its lowest ever maximum extent, thanks to “an unusual configuration of the jet stream” that greatly warmed the Pacific Ocean near Alaska.

But here’s the most upsetting news. It’s been exactly 30 years since the last time the world was briefly cooler than its 20th-century average. Every single month since February 1985 has been hotter than the long-term average—that’s 360 consecutive months.

More than just being a round number, the 30-year streak has deeper significance. In climatology, a continuous 30-year stretch of data is traditionally what’s used to define what’s “normal” for a given location. In a very real way, we can now say that for our given location—the planet Earth—global warming is now “normal.” Forget debating—our climate has officially changed.

read more: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/03/19/thirty_years_

 

The United Nations is warning of a big rise in the demand for water due to competing global demands.

The UN's World Water Development Report says based on current trends, the planet faces a 40 percent shortfall in water supplies by 2050.

By then, it is predicting that two thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities, with demand for water expected to increase by 55 percent.

As well as urbanisation and population growth, the report singles out climate change, pollution and increased demands made by agriculture, energy and industry, concluding: "Water directly influences our future, so we need to change the way we assess, manage and use this resource in the face of ever-rising demand."

So how is the world managing its most precious resource? And should water be viewed as a global responsibility? 

read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2015/03/thirsty-world-global-responsibility-150320183149713.html

 

TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwan is facing its worst drought in over a decade after the lowest rainfall in nearly 70 years, forcing some major cities to turn off the taps as authorities introduce emergency rationing, officials said Friday.

Water supplies to households and businesses in northern Taoyuan city and most of New Taipei City - the island's largest municipality - will be cut off for two days a week from the beginning of April, the government said.

"The water supply situation is urgent as Taiwan had the lowest rainfall last autumn and winter since 1947," the economics affairs ministry said in a statement, adding the dry spell is forecast to continue.

"We may have delayed or no monsoon rains at all... We urge the public to cooperate during this difficult time." Parts of the vast Shihmen Dam in Taoyuan have dried up, leaving boats washed up in what is now a muddy crater.

- See more at: http://www.stasiareport.com/node/3604167#sthash.h9UbgT2N.9Gjbl4Up.dpuf

 

good news...

Rooftops on new buildings built in commercial zones in France must either be partially covered in plants or solar panels, under a law approved on Thursday.

Green roofs have an isolating effect, helping reduce the amount of energy needed to heat a building in winter and cool it in summer.

They also retain rainwater, thus helping reduce problems with runoff, while favouring biodiversity and giving birds a place to nest in the urban jungle, ecologists say.

The law approved by parliament was more limited in scope than initial calls by French environmental activists to make green roofs that cover the entire surface mandatory on all new buildings.

The Socialist government convinced activists to limit the scope of the law to commercial buildings.

The law was also made less onerous for businesses by requiring only part of the roof to be covered with plants, and giving them the choice of installing solar panels to generate electricity instead.

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/20/france-decrees-new-rooftops-must-be-covered-in-plants-or-solar-panels

the prince should talk to turdy...

The Prince of Wales has described how the world faces the challenges of an economic system with enormous shortcomings, and an environmental crisis that threatens us all.

His words of warning came on Friday at the end of his four-day tour of America when he gave a speech on health and the environment following a symposium in Louisville, Kentucky.

Earlier that day the heir to the throne was praised as “the greatest” by Louisville’s most famous son, renowned boxer Muhammad Ali

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/21/economic-system-has-enormous-shortcomings-says-prince-charles

May be the prince should go and tell our own Turd to fade into the sunset, the background or hell.  

See also: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-19/clarke-and-dawe-does-australia-need-a-government/6332758

beetlemania and mouse turds...

There is an eerie feel to this grove of lodgepole pines that I can't quite put my finger on as entomologist Diana Six tromps ahead of me, hatchet in hand, scanning the southwestern Montana woods for her target. But as she digs the blade into a towering trunk, it finally hits me: the smell. There's no scent of pine needles, no sharp, minty note wafting through the brisk fall air.

Six hacks away hunks of bark until she reveals an inner layer riddled with wormy passageways. "Hey, looky!" she exclaims, poking at a small black form. "Are you dead? Yeah, you're dead." She extends her hand, holding a tiny oval, maybe a quarter of an inch long. Scientists often compare this insect to a grain of rice, but Six prefers mouse dropping: "Beetle in one hand, mouse turd in another. You can't tell them apart." She turns to the next few trees in search of more traces. Pill-size holes pock their ashen trunks—a sign, along with the missing pine scent, of a forest reeling from an invasion.

These tiny winged beetles have long been culling sickly trees in North American forests. But in recent years, they've been working overtime. Prolonged droughts and shorter winters have spurred bark beetles to kill billions of trees in what's likely the largest forest insect outbreak ever recorded, about 10 times the size of past eruptions. "A doubling would have been remarkable," Six says. "Ten times screams that something is really going wrong."

Mountain pine, spruce, piñon ips, and other kinds of bark beetles have chomped 46 million of the country's 850 million acres of forested land, from the Yukon down the spine of the Rocky Mountains all the way to Mexico. Yellowstone's grizzly bears have run out of pinecones to eat because of the beetles. Skiers and backpackers have watched their brushy green playgrounds fade as trees fall down, sometimes at a rate of 100,000 trunks a day. Real estate agents have seen home prices plummet from "viewshed contamination" in areas ransacked by the bugs. And the devastation isn't likely to let up anytime soon. As climate change warms the North American woods, we can expect these bugs to continue to proliferate and thrive in higher elevations—meaning more beetles in the coming century, preying on bigger chunks of the country.

read more: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/03/bark-pine-beetles-climate-change-diana-six

"not involved" politician but still scuttling sciences...

Climate change has become a bitter point of political contention in Mr Rubio's home state. Politically, Florida is dominated by the conservative north of the state, while the more progressive southern areas are already being hit by sea level rises. Some groups in the south are even calling for secession from the north, while the Republican governor, Rick Scott, has ordered the state's Department of Environmental Protection to stop using the terms climate change or global warming in correspondence or during meetings.

On Thursday the White House sought to push forward its action on climate change even further, with President Barack Obama signing an executive order instructing federal agencies – the nation's largest energy consumers – to cut their emissions by 40 per cent over the next decade, a move that would cut 21 million metric tons of emissions, equivalent to 4.2 million cars off the road for a year. 

But as Democrats use what levers of power they still have at their disposal to respond to climate change, Congressional Republicans prove equally agile in seeking new ways to shut them down.

A proposed budget made public by the Republican Party this week would prevent the CIA and the Department of Defence from spending money on climate research.

And even as the fight over climate science intensifies, the battleground keeps broadening.

Congressman Lamar Smith, the new Republican chairman of the House committee on science, space, and technology, has made something of a specialty of going through the research grants of the National Science Foundation with a sharp political eye.

His staff sift through grant proposals looking for targets to cull, often those that might generate a good headline for Mr Smith.

A recent story in Science Insider describes how Mr Smith's staff go to extraordinary "and some say bizarre" lengths to cherry-pick details from applications to discredit scientific research.

Two other potential Republican candidates, Rand Paul, a Congressman and ophthalmologist, and Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor, have questioned vaccinations.

While the trench warfare in DC demonstrates how widespread suspicion of science and research has become in parts of the Republican Party, it was a comment made by another leading presidential contender during a visit to London recently that revealed how deep the gulf had become.

Visiting London in February, Scott Walker, the Governor of Wisconsin - the man who many view as a viable bridge between the Republican Party's libertarian, Tea Party and establishment factions – was asked if he believed in evolution.

"I am going to punt on that one," Mr Walker told his shocked British interviewer. "That's a question a politician shouldn't be involved in one way or another. I am going to leave that up to you."

read more : http://www.smh.com.au/world/republican-frostiness-toward-modern-science-gathers-pace-20150321-1m3nq4.html

 

Furiously reading the bible in order to denigrate sciences... I like that...

REPUBLICANS ARE F#@$%&* IDIOTS !

China weather bureau warns over global warming...

 

China weather bureau warns over global warming


22 March 2015

Last updated at 19:24 GMT

The head of China's weather bureau has warned that the country faces serious problems as a result of climate change.

Zheng Guogang has admitted that it is already raising significant issues.

It is a rare for a Chinese official to be so open on the subject.

Michael Bristow reports.

 

see more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32010505

 

China is sourcing its energy from about 20 per cent renewable, which is far more than many Western countries — especially Australia — are doing. 

 

the quadrant — porkies galore...

One could be forgiven for being stupid in trusting the Quadrant, that awful CONservative magazine published for people like Turdy Abbott to plunge into the pool of denialism. Denialism about climate change and global warming that is... 

On the day of the release of the movie Merchant of Doubt, one has also to account for fully fledged denialists. Of course the Quadrant tells us:

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This paper is based on research and analyses by Dr Tom Quirk, whose charts and notes can be found here

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Of course when you try to go and check the important charts and lovely notes, you get a warning that the PAGE CANNOT BE FOUND... I did expect this... But it could be only a quirk of the internet or someone may have goofed in the link.

First the Quadrant wrtiers of the article at: start with this prophecy:

 

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I start with a quote from a newspaper report on changes to the climate:

“The Arctic ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report … yesterday from … Bergen, Norway. …fishermen, seal hunters and explorers all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard of temperatures in the Arctic zone … Within a few years it is predicted that due to the ice melt the sea will rise and make most coastal cities uninhabitable”. 

You might think that this alarming prediction is from the latest report by the  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In fact it was a prophesy made in November, 1922, and published inThe Washington Post. But it was typical of the kind of doom and gloom prophesies that the end of the world is nigh which have been common throughout history – but have not, of course, been realised.

don't bother reading this at: http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2013/07/refuting-the-myths-of-climate-change/

 

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Gus again: So what to make of this? Nothing... In fact, even in 1922, the consensus of scientific analysis was that the planet was going towards an Ice Age within 5,000 to 15,000 years hence. The article in the Washington Post was only about ONE YEAR of observation, which to say the least was out of the norms, so this "prediction" was not about global warming but about what would happen should the trend continues... ONE YEAR of recording does not make a trend. 

The point is that CLIMATE FLUCTUATES. Nothing new here. some years are warmer than others. And while the Arctic was basking in "warmth" in 1922, it could be that the southern hemisphere was freezing its tits off. It is recorded that by 1959, the plan was to build a major dam between Greenland and Norway (prediction 1959: self-driving cars and fishy walls by 1984) to stop the ice coming south from the incoming ice age. This plan was supposed to have been "finished" by 1984... 

1984 was not a date plucked out of thin air, it was chosen to counteract the doom of the novel by H G Wells and show that we would all be comfortable and bored rather than being pecked by Big Brother...

The point is that one year does not make a trend, though it is likely that the "recorded" events of 1922 were a warning of things to come NONETHELESS. Since then, the earth surface temperature has kept climbing... Thirty years is considered a trend. Since 1922, we're approaching more than 90 years of warming and MORE PRECISE scientific calculations tell us that by 2100 the sea level will have risen by 45 centimetres MINIMUM (up to six metres in the worse case scenario). But the warming trend won't stop in 2100. by 2150, the surface temperature of this planet due to anthropogenic CO2 would have climbed another few degrees. 

The record of past Aeons shows that CO2 and warming of the surface of this planet are in step. 

The Quadrant is a rubbish magazine where true science is rubbished and shitty fakery is king... 

Abbott and Baird are both denialists. They are the perfect readers for this rubbish magazine. Unfortunately, they also control the future of Australia. As they both believe in god, may he/she/it open their eyes to the horrors of their stupid idiotic ways...

Australia deserves better than that. Thank you god (thank god I am an atheist, though sometimes I'd hope he/she/it would kick a few believers in the arse).

See also: http://yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/19279

and: http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/8985


turdguard muckanism...

The final element of the Abbott government’s Direct Action climate change policy will at best mean major polluters continue business as usual and at worst lead to significant increases in their greenhouse gas emissions according to the Climate Institute thinktank.

The framework for the final part of Direct Action scheme – the so-called “safeguards mechanism” – confirms it will allow big polluters to buy carbon credits if they exceed new baselines for their greenhouse emissions, but also that it will set those baselines at levels that ensure few companies will have to.

An issues paper on the “safeguards” released Thursday confirmed the policy could become a “baseline and credit” emissions trading scheme, but said at the outset that emissions baselines would “reflect the highest level of reported emissions for a facility over the historical period 2009-10 to 2013-14”. 

Baselines for new projects would be set “at a level to encourage facilities to achieve and maintain best practice”.

“This places no real responsibility on the largest emitters in Australia to reduce their emissions,” said the Climate Institute’s Erwin Jackson.

“In theory it could set real limits on emissions and in theory it could become a baseline and credit scheme, but there is no indication from the government they would be prepared to do that.”

 

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/26/direct-action-set-up-to-allow-large-rise-in-emissions-says-climate-institute

advice from david suzuki...

 

We simply must do more to shift away from fossil fuels and, despite what the naysayers claim, we can. We can even get partway there under our current systems. Market forces often lead to innovation in clean energy development. But in addressing the very serious long-term problems we’ve created, we may have to challenge another “impossibility”: changing our outmoded global economic system. As economist and Earth Institute director Jeffrey Sachs wrote in a recent Guardian article,

'At this advanced stage of environmental threats to the planet, and in an era of unprecedented inequality of income and power, it’s no longer good enough to chase GDP. We need to keep our eye on three goals — prosperity, inclusion, and sustainability — not just on the money.'

Relying on market capitalism encourages hyper-consumption, planned obsolescence, wasteful production and endless growth. Cutting pollution and greenhouse gas emissions requires conserving energy as well as developing new energy technologies. Along with reducing our reliance on private automobiles and making buildings and homes more energy-efficient, that also means making goods that last longer and producing fewer disposable or useless items so less energy is consumed in production.

read more: https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/david-suzuki-who-says-a-better-world-is-impossible-,7533

 

liquefaction of antarctica...

Antarctica’s icy edges are melting 70 percent faster in some places than they were a decade ago, according to a new study in the journal Science.

These massive ice shelves serve as a buffer between the continent’s ice-sheet system and the ocean. As they disintegrate, more and more ice will slip into the sea, raising sea levels by potentially huge amounts.

This study is just the latest bit of horrible news from the bottom of the world. Last year, we found out that the West Antarctic ice sheet was in terminal collapse, which could raise sea levels by 10 to 15 feet over a few hundred years. Then, earlier this month, we learned that an enormous glacier on the other side of the continent is in the same state, and could contribute about the same amount to sea-level rise.

This latest research, from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, reinforces those findings, adding to the evidence that the continent’s future looks quite grim. Using satellite data, researchers found that “ice-shelf volume change accelerated from negligible loss” between 1994 and 2003 to “rapid loss” between 2003 and 2012. Within a century, a number of ice sheets, which are vanishing by dozens of feet per year, could completely disappear.

http://grist.org/news/antarctica-is-basically-liquefying/

rorting the RET...

The Federal Opposition is calling on the Government to immediately exempt emissions-intensive industries from the renewable energy target (RET) to secure jobs in those sectors.

The major parties are locked in a stand-off over lowering the target but agree on giving emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries (EITEs) like aluminium an exemption.

The Government has been under pressure from members of its own backbench to legislate the exemption before those industries are liable under the RET for another year.

Labor has advice from the Parliamentary Library that it could be done through regulation immediately and then tabled when Parliament resumes.

"The assistance rate for some or all EITEs could be changed to 100 per cent by amending regulation 22ZA," the advice states.

"The Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act would not necessarily need to be amended: the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Regulations could be amended to provide that exemption."

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-02/opposition-urges-ret-exemption-for-select-industries/6366520

 

Hey Labor gummies! The point of the RET is to be effective, not to be diluted to zero... The Aussie dollar is plunging faster than a speeding bullet and despite this the industrial sector in Aussieland is still shrinking. What's happening ? Even during the days of Julia when the dollar was higher than a tall building, manufacturing industries were struggling but stayed afloat... Hey why don't the aluminium industry invest some cash into creating some solar farms and some wind turbine farms nearby — considering that this industry is burning electricity as if there was no tomorrow...

7th, february, 2098 — more bad news

Paris (AFP) - The glaciers of western Canada, one of the world's most picturesque mountain regions, are likely to largely melt away over just three generations, scientists said on Monday.

By 2100, the glaciers of Alberta and British Columbia are set to shrink by 75 percent in area compared to 2005 levels, and by 70 percent in volume, according to their predictions.

But in two out of the three regions that were studied, the decline could be even more dramatic -- over 90 percent.

The loss will hit many sectors, from agriculture, forestry and tourism to ecosystems and water quality, the investigators warned.

The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, was headed by Garry Clarke, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

"The disappearance of (the) glaciers... will be a sad loss for those who are touched by the beauty of Canada’s mountain landscapes," Clarke told AFP.

"When the glaciers have gone, we lose the important services they provide: a buffer against hot, dry spells in late summer that keeps headwater streams flowing and cool, and sustains cool-water aquatic species."

http://news.yahoo.com/canada-glaciers-shrink-70-2100-151317100.html