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Downpours have brought flooding to parts of northern England, forcing people to leave their homes as more than a month’s worth of rain fell in 24 hours
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18561142
Indeed, weird weather here in the UK (even by our standards), and the worst summer I can remember. Nearly everybody in my office has been talking about it. Last year was similar. Very short warm spells, which just fizzle away to weeks of cool and wet conditions. Probably due to what’s happening in the Arctic.
Has anyone heard of any recent measurements of the AMOC? Has it been slowing recently?
Between the big melt of the Arctic sea ice(much of which is floating out through the Fram Straits into the Atlantic), continued melting of Greenland ice sheet, increased flow of rivers flowing into the Arctic, and increased rainfall, one would expect that at some point a big pool of fairly fresh water would end up interfering with the THC there. (I know there have been false alarms on this in the past, but that doesn’t mean the real thing could never occur–a slow down at least, probably not a total stoppage.)
I’m especially interested in studies and assessments on sea ice decline impacts on the northern hemisphere. Maybe someone has a few handy links for me?
I’m curious about the effects as well, being an inhabitant of the northern hemisphere.
Has Dr. Jennifer Francis published a paper corresponding to her talk to AGU as discussed here?
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/12/17/391462/our-extreme-weather-arctic-changes-to-blame/
That would be a good paper as a piece of the climate change puzzle due to sea ice loss. Also, there is Lawrence, et al, 2008, which you probably already know about, but I still find it to be troubling considering the rapid ice loss event (RILE) as described in the paper may be coming to fruition.
http://www.colorado.edu/geography/class_homepages/geog_4271_f10/readings/week_10_lawrence_et_al_2008.pdf
Thanks otter,
i’m busy right now with something else though i just asked into the round here.
I think that one of the unknown unknowns we missing atm is summer polar air intrusion ..
Possibly the opposite to this:
Global Warming. Winter Weirding.
http://climatecrocks.com/2011/01/06/global-warming-winter-weirding/
Evidence for long-lived polar vortex air in the mid-latitude summer
stratosphere from in situ laser diode CH4 and H2O measurements http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/5/1467/2005/acp-5-1467-2005.pdf
To conclude, there are several lines of evidences from the balloon measurements (low CH4 concentration values, hydrogen budget) and from the modelling (advection calculations, intrusion of high-PV polar air) to support the hypothesis of polar vortex debris subsisting in the mid-latitudes summer stratosphere until end of June.
I have a question or two for the audience.
What are some of the most effective causes for donation as related to climate change prevention, awareness, or resiliency? I am getting my budget together, and I am considering “tithing” a percentage of my income to charities every year. Also, getting rid of superfluous expenditures such cable TV, less stuff, etc.
Also, what is the most effective organization to devote my time towards for volunteer work? I was looking for something that consistently puts grassroots pressure on the media or gov’t officials to address climate change. This would help me get into a more rigorous mode of contacting my congressman, etc.
Thanks for suggestions on those fronts.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that I was considering CARE for one of my charity donations. Anybody vouch for them?
http://www.careclimatechange.org/
Also, as far as volunteering, I have been kind of on the fringes of 350.org for a while (mailing list, etc). Is there anything specific I can do for 350 (or other groups)?.
That looks like a topic worthy of an investigative reporter who knows how to set up a spread sheet or two.
You ‘only’ listed “prevention, awareness, or resiliency,” which are quite a lot.
Consider that large-scale emergency response and refugee/immigration are climate change action categories that don’t fit fully into resiliency.
Ah yes, the Red Cross or somebody similar may be a good annual donation in that case. We are indeed in times where natural disasters may play an increasingly important role in human existence on this planet. Thanks for the suggestion.
Have you heard of IATP?
WWF (internationa) is pretty good, too.
Sierra Club has had some success at fighting new coal in the US.
A bit more radical is Greenpeace.
All of these have their problems. Look at their websites as well as press coverage critical of their decisions.
I haven’t heard of IATP, and it seems a web search turns up some various interpretations for that acronym. Could you clarify?
Do check out Oxfam. No org has better credentials.
Oh, great suggestion. Oxfam covers the poor whether affected by a climate related event or not.
Climate Science Legal Defense Fund
(Just struck me: in a more sane world the CSLDF would be some sort of joke but in our world it’s actually necessary. How weird.)
Yes! I gave a donation to them last year, and they ought to make my list for this year given the “shoot the messenger” environment still exists.
I don’t know where i would spent money on in particular. But this one caught my attention (I rather fund something smaller).
PRODUCE 200% MORE FOOD EVERY CROP SEASON IF THEY MIX THEIR SOIL WITH SPECIALLY-DESIGNED CHARCOAL http://biochar.be/biochar/item/how-one-startup-sold-6000-worth-of-charcoal-on-kickstarter.html
It is about time somebody made a readily available soil improver with biochar at an affordable price. I’ve been looking for some for my little plot for some time
Any time President Obama could simply speak to environmental matters, Obama turns away. Obama is a fine conservative Republican.
It is an essential feature of his programming. If his Masters decide he deserves a second term, which I am beginning to doubt, then he will follow orders as loyally as before.
You realy have it in for the Obamney twins, but one is worse than the other.
Some people really amaze me with their short memory. And 1 of Obama ended so far.
I fail to see how Obama is worse then Romney. The last time a GOP’ler was in charge we had 2 new wars and major giveaways for the oil industry (among others). During Bush’s 8 year term it was taking care of many positions in the government to block any kind of progress in the future (today).
Romney is worse than Obama, It is just that I am not at all impressed with Obama. I cheered when he was elected I believed in yes we can. Little did I realize it was yes we can, but we are not going to try very hard.
Actually Romney is a scary prospect. Perhaps his task is to make us feel happy about getting Obama back.
The late Nobel Economics Prize winner Elinor Ostrom has an interesting piece on the Rio+20 summit. It relates to her work on a polycentric approach to addressing climate change:
http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2012/06/14/3524371.htm
Thanks – One Elinor Ostrom quote strikes me as exceptionally succinct and relevant for many issues involved in climate change. I have been saying something like it regarding regulation of hydrofracking.
Ostrom:
“Decades of research demonstrate that a variety of overlapping policies at city, subnational, national, and international levels is more likely to succeed than are single, overarching binding agreements. Such an evolutionary approach to policy provides essential safety nets should one or more policies fail.”
No, sustainable development is not an oxymoron.
Correct, but “sustainable growth” is. To quote Prof. Albert Bartlett of the University of Colorado, “The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function.”
It’s important to make that distinction, though. If there is no such thing as sustainable development, then we are truly screwed.
“RIO DE JANEIRO—Environment Minister Peter Kent says Canada must stop the spread of “misinformation” on the environment by ecologists with an ideological agenda.
It’s the latest example of strained relations between Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government and the environmental movement.”
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1215599–peter-kent-says-at-un-conference-in-rio-de-janeiro-that-canada-must-counter-misinformation-on-environment
What sad way to draw the wrong kind of attention. Ideological agenda showing rather badly.
We have the same situation here with our new generation of Rightwing state regimes. The ‘Environment’ Ministers are all ferociously anti-environment, anti-life, pro-business and pro-development. Business is groveled to, and environmental organisations, even the most venerable and polite, are vilified and abused. Environmental law and protection is being gutted, scientists abused and ignored and every redneck moron is accorded the status of ‘commonsense thinker’. Even iconic features, like the Great Barrier Reef, worth billions in tourist dollars, are being attacked, so great being the hatred of life and of the environmental movement that even cold hard cash is sacrificed to hatred in action. One bright spot is that, in order to survive as a species, we must have the long delayed and morally unavoidable confrontation with Rightwing evil. That has been put off for tens of thousands of years as they have desecrated the planet and debauched our species, but can no longer be avoided, or we will all disappear, the good and the vile.
I’m listening to the soundtrack music of Bear McCreary of the 2003 TV series Battlestar Galactica (BSG) this morning, a series which has a dim view of human nature, with a dark pervasive mood of sadness and resignation. Even if the Republicans weren’t a problem, most of the world is not serious (including China and India) about the climate issue in a manner that really matters.
Economics trumps climate, … until it doesn’t. Change won’t happen until there’s real economic pain associated with it. By then it may be too late. We may have reached to the tipping point and moved on to a new climate regime. The human race thins out. Survivors migrate to the north. The remnants struggle to build a new civilization on a very different earth (like BSG). But it will continue (unless the planet turns to Venus). It is part of cyclical reincarnational themes “this has happened and it will happen again”, the cycle of birth, death, and rise of civilizations. That’s my “hope” for the day.
“Lessons are repeated until learned.”
If the species survives long enough to learn the lessons, the cycle can be broken. So we’re not locked in to a “cyclical reincarnational theme” at all. Like a teen needing to crash the car a couple times, we just have to learn the lessons.
(And then we can move on to the next lessons)
Stay Away from Negative Thoughts to Improve Problem Solving Ability
A new research suggests that keeping away from tendency to brood even for a small amount of time will help you to increase problem-solving ability http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20120622/10408/negative-thoughts-rumination-depression-problem-solving.htm
Credo Action often has petitions on matters related to climate.
I’ll attempt posting a link here and hope this comment doesn’t disappear into the m-queue forever as so many of my attempts to post suffer:
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/blm_climate_change/?r_by=42232-958509-GJms0lx&rc=confemail
Newser reports that a US National Research Council study released Friday says sea levels may rise up to 55 inches over rest of century:
http://www.newser.com/story/148756/sea-levels-rising-way-faster-than-we-thought.html?utm_so
Listen up people, please 3 billion move now to higher ground? While moving and establishing new home do not create Co2 in the process.
And i bet that the positive greenhouse gas feedback from flooded soils will be a major factor too.
I’m going to say something positive.
Inventors are the firefighters of climate change. We need to drive the cost of solar products down, until the fossil fuel industry goes the way of the whale oil industry. Goal two is then to economically sequester much of the existing atmospheric carbon dioxide for about 2500 years or so.
Now for a tougher question: where do climate change inventors come from? Why do they invent?
The traditional pro-business answer is that all inventors invent to become rich, or to have a chance of becoming rich. That’s one possible answer, but in our crony capitalism economy it’s not logical. Some cretin with a bought government on his side can almost always defeat an inventor with monopolistic business tactics, and inventions are so easily stolen these days.
So you need to answer the question yourself: where do climate change inventors come from? Why do they invent?
At this time, you will find most climate change inventors operating out of the goodness of their hearts. Most of them are self-supported by day jobs and by being tightwads. Invention is an expensive process for them.
What can you do? Well, you can become an inventor yourself. It requires brains, a technical education and perseverance, but lots of people have some brains these days.
There’s no four year program in inventing anywhere on earth. At this time, inventors are all self-educated. If you want to succeed at stopping climate change, you need to educate climate change inventors.
Actually, you need to look all the way through the product development mechanism, so that inventors that your community trained and that your community supports invent solar products that your community uses.
What if you aren’t (a) gifted with just the right intellectual tools and (b) as fanatical as the most dedicated monastic Christians all of your life, so that you can invent? In that case, maybe you should work with one of these people so that they have the resources to go forward.
An ABET accredited engineering degree should have a component that is dedicated to the design process, although it is not as heavily stressed as the straight technical material. Engineers are probably the closest to inventors by training that one can get, but I concede that we sometimes languish in an innovation environment while gaining experience in industry and academia as well. Nevertheless, innovation is a cornerstone that will help us improve considerably in our quest for zero emissions.
Senoir design projects are required in ABET accredited programs.
Yep, and generally split into two courses, where one is a writing component (requirements specs, system specs, design specs) and the other is a prototype build. I don’t know of any program in the USA anyway that stresses the concepts learned in those courses to any degree in the rest of the science/technical curriculum. My freshman year science classes were catered towards engineers and did have some pretty well-crafted design problems, though.
Being positive is great, but not at the expense of reason. Clean tech and energy inventions are wonderful, but if we simply carry on business-as-usual in all other respects, they are mere stop gaps. Let’s not happy-think ourselves to destruction!
Most important things we need to invent:
1. Social constructs for zero (or negative) population growth; Ideally new ways of living that provide as much satisfaction as having children faster than the replacement rate.
2. An alternative economic system (to replace capitalism) that does not demand constant economic growth for people to feel happy.
If we can’t solve non-stop population growth and non-stop economic growth, no amount of clean tech will save us.
True that. The political debate should be about solutions such as those you describe, but in America at least we are mired by those who deny there is any scientific backing (or it was all faked somehow).
So, the low hanging fruit from a political perspective will be technology deployment, particularly in the electrical sector. I suppose the goal is to deploy wedges the best we can in the most timely fashion we can. We need more sustained action, too. We need people at town hall meetings grilling gov’t officials on climate change response.
Residential traffic noise linked to heart attacks http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/159782155.html#!page=1&pageSize=10&sort=newestfirst
Tropical Storm Debby threatens Louisiana, Texas
Oil companies shut Gulf operations, evacuate workers
* Debby expected to strengthen into hurricane, hit Texas
* Storm warnings posted for parts of Louisiana http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/06/24/storm-gulf-idINL2E8HN2HO20120624
Firefighters struggle with major blazes in Western U.S. states
(Reuters) – Firefighters in Western U.S. states struggled to contain out-of-control wind-stoked wildfires on Saturday as summer temperatures mounted, and a fresh blaze consumed more homes in Colorado even as Utah allowed 2,500 evacuees back for the night. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/24/us-usa-wildfires-idUSBRE85L1DD20120624
Injection Wells: The Poison Beneath Us
Over the past several decades, U.S. industries have injected more than 30 trillion gallons of toxic liquid deep into the earth, using broad expanses of the nation’s geology as an invisible dumping ground.
No company would be allowed to pour such dangerous chemicals into the rivers or onto the soil. But until recently, scientists and environmental officials have assumed that deep layers of rock beneath the earth would safely entomb the waste for millennia.
There are growing signs they were mistaken. http://www.propublica.org/article/injection-wells-the-poison-beneath-us
“In 10 to 100 years we are going to find out that most of our groundwater is polluted,” said Mario Salazar, an engineer who worked for 25 years as a technical expert with the EPA’s underground injection program in Washington. “A lot of people are going to get sick, and a lot of people may die.”
People getting sick and dying (hopefully not too quickly, and with generous insurance, needless to say) is good for business, for the medical-industrial complex and for GNP growth. Capitalism recycles everything into money, eventually, particularly human lives.
Salazar Approves First-Ever Commercial Solar Energy Project on American Indian Trust Lands
The U.S. Department of the Interior issued the following news release:
As part of the Obama Administration’s all of the above approach to American energy, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today approved a 350-megawatt solar energy project on tribal trust land of the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians (Tribe) in Clark County, Nevada. The project marks a milestone as the first-ever, utility-scale solar project approved for development on tribal lands, and is one of the many steps the administration has taken to help strengthen tribal communities.
The project is also the 31st utility-scale renewable energy project that Interior has approved since 2009 as part of a Department-wide effort to advance smart development of renewable energy on our nation’s public lands. Prior to 2009, there were no solar energy projects permitted on public lands; today’s approval brings the total to 17 solar projects, 6 wind farms, and 8 geothermal plants. If built by the companies, the renewable energy projects approved by this administration will provide approximately 7,200 megawatts of power to communities across the West, or enough to power nearly 2.5 million homes. These achievements build on the historic expansion of renewable energy under President Obama, with energy from sources like wind and solar doubling since the President took office.
“This trailblazing project is part of the President’s commitment to help build strong, sustainable tribal communities by supporting safe and responsible renewable energy development,” Secretary Salazar said. “Tribal lands hold great renewable energy potential, and smart development of these resources has the power to strengthen tribal economies, create jobs and generate clean electricity for communities across Indian Country.” http://www.power-eng.com/news/2012/06/23/salazar-approves-first-ever-commercial-solar-energy-project-on-american-indian-trust-lands.html
Latest Update and Question: Financial Transactions Tax
I just read that the leaders of the four largest Eurozone countries (Germany, France, Spain, Italy) have agreed to push for a financial transactions tax in the Eurozone. David Cameron’s (UK) government opposes such a tax in the UK UNLESS OTHER COUNTRIES WITH MAJOR FINANCIAL MARKETS (good example: U.S.) ALSO ADOPTS ONE.
Thus, this is one of those classic cases where a very good idea could conceivably be implemented — given what these folks are now on the record saying — unless it all falls apart because they say that the “other guy” won’t do it.
Put another way, the four largest Eurozone countries have now said they support it, and Cameron has said or implied (it seems) that he’d support it IF other major financial markets would, so that leaves us with this question: What is Obama’s stance?
Indeed, what is CAP’s stance, and can CAP help to raise this issue and make it clear, publicly, that there are no excuses now, because if everybody does it, the argument that some markets will be disadvantaged (relatively speaking) will go away.
Thanks,
Jeff
CP is the last place that I’d expect to read this good news. Definitely a money maker whose time has come. Five or six years ago it was thought to be impossible to charge such a tax, forcing millionaires to simply move to markets without the tax.
Promoting pro-environmental action in climate change deniers
A sizeable (and growing) proportion of the public in Western democracies deny the existence of anthropogenic climate change. It is commonly assumed that convincing deniers that climate change is real is necessary for them to act pro-environmentally. However, the likelihood of ‘conversion’ using scientific evidence is limited because these attitudes increasingly reflect ideological positions. An alternative approach is to identify outcomes of mitigation efforts that deniers find important. People have strong interests in the welfare of their society, so deniers may act in ways supporting mitigation efforts where they believe these efforts will have positive societal effects. In Study 1, climate change deniers (N=155) intended to act more pro-environmentally where they thought climate change action would create a society where people are more considerate and caring, and where there is greater economic/technological development. Study 2 (N=347) replicated this experimentally, showing that framing climate change action as increasing consideration for others, or improving economic/technological development, led to greater pro-environmental action intentions than a frame emphasizing avoiding the risks of climate change. To motivate deniers’ pro-environmental actions, communication should focus on how mitigation efforts can promote a better society, rather than focusing on the reality of climate change and averting its risks.
More at the Journal Nature Climate Change: http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate1532.html
We tried not ” focusing on the reality of climate change and averting its risks” for the last few years. How has that worked out?
This is the second Nature Climate Change article I’ve posted in about a month. I didn’t post them because I necessarily agree with them. I just want to read thoughtful reactions.
Nature is a great science journal. Is its “Climate” cousin any good? Are these papers good (social) science? Why are these articles/letters there? Are the editors pushing some types of research or results? If we love the Journal Nature when it confirms our beliefs, how should we react to it when it doesn’t? Etc.
I loaned a friend a book today who was interested in the general area of sustainability. Of the three I had on hand, Lester Brown’s “Plan B 4.0″, Jonathan Koomey’s “ColdCash, Cool Climate”, & Paul Gilding’s “The Great Disruption” he chose the latter. My question is, if you are going to recommend a book to someone willing to move beyond what the MSM provides on climate and sustainability, what’s a good book to start with?
Al Gore’s “Our Choice” makes both an excellent coffee table book and a primer on techniques to mitigate climate change. It has awesome pictures and graphs, all very easy to grasp for a layman to climate science as well as engineering.
I thought “The Great Disruption” was an excellent one as well, but warn the newbies to the topic about the gut check in that book. Gilding’s assertion that humanity won’t really get started mitigating climate change until we go down the path of losing a billion or so people was a gut check to me, anyway. I’m still not sure what to think of that assertion.
I reviewed my budget for the year so far and donated to Climate Progress (Think Progress), Climate Science Defense Fund, Skeptical Science, and Climate Crocks so far. Do great things, boys and girls!
Sea surge + SLR to 5 feet: take a look at a US east coast mapped projection:
http://sealevel.climatecentral.org/surgingseas/place/states/NC#show=cities¢er=6/35.183/-79.861&surge=5
And my comments don’t go at the end. Why?
My intemperate remarks were addressed to a fellow who seems to have disappeared. Please do not assume that I have lost the plot and am denouncing any of the esteemed contributors still present above.
Last night my lovely daughter informed me that I have developed Late Onset Tourette’s Disorder. I’ll spare you my barely-controlled response.