It's a bit warm/ wet/ cold outside

[shaolin_monkey]

And therein lies the problem: often you can't stockpile. How do you stockpile cauliflower?

Someone jokingly suggested making a ton of piccalilli, but there may be some legs in that. Pickling seasonal produce may be a way to ensure we have a yearly supply. To late for cauliflower though - hopefully it'll recover next season.

[shaolin_monkey]

Climate Change Denial: A Measured Response

https://youtu.be/RLqXkYrdmjY

Yeah, seen that. Very funny. Loved the bit where he responds to that dickhead senator and asks how people can sell their houses and move inland when they're underwater.

[Dandontdare]

It's OK if your nation is underwater - there's still fruit out there: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-17/fiji-slams-australia-deputy-pm-for-climate-forum-fruit-comment/11424444

[TordelBack]

Meanwhile, an Irish property developer (who 10 years ago went under to the tune of €100 millon, some of it owed to me, only to be bailed out by the taxpayer, also me) proposes building 65,000 homes on land reclaimed from the sea, in an area where residents successfully lobbied to have their new flood defences *lowered* by a foot because it spoiled the view from their cars.

Our children are going to die screaming in fire and flood and foot riot, and these people are going to watch from their air conditioned mountain retreats and say we should just have got ourselves better jobs.

[TordelBack]

And now I'm arguing elsewhere with an Irish lad who doesn't 'believe' in sea level rise, but from his TL appears to believe every conspiracy theory going.  We. Are. F**ked.

[Hawkmumbler]

There was an interesting series of articles I read about how the alt-right utilize meme culture to integrate antisemitic conspiracy theories and science denial to softly propagate far right conspiracies.

[shaolin_monkey]

Someone asked previously for some links to making your own cleaning products. Basically, stock up on bicarb and white vinegar. We use the bicarb for general cleaning, and white vinegar as a fabric conditioner.

More here:

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/tips/a24885/make-at-home-cleaners/

[shaolin_monkey]

This 50 minute talk by Earth Systems Scientist and member of the Australian Climate Board, Professor Will Steffan, is one of the clearest, most understandable, and engaging I have seen. He presents the facts plainly, calmly, and without hyperbole or alarmism.

That said, the facts speak for themselves.

Please take the time to watch it. It'll help you wrap your head around how we got here in the first place, what different degrees of warming will mean for civilisation, and explains clearly such things as the carbon budget, and tipping points.

The latter half is the REALLY interesting stuff.

https://youtu.be/OzQsjuzr3_M

[radiator]

Climate Change Denial: A Measured Response

https://youtu.be/RLqXkYrdmjY

Yeah, seen that. Very funny. Loved the bit where he responds to that dickhead senator and asks how people can sell their houses and move inland when they're underwater.

That's Ben Shapiro - not a senator, but very much a dickhead. He's probably best known in the UK for making an absolute fool of himself while getting interviewed by Andrew Neil a couple of months ago.

https://youtu.be/6VixqvOcK8E

[JOE SOAP]

Listening to Ben Shapiro is like a bee going in and out of earshot.

[shaolin_monkey]

Awful news about the Amazon rainforest up in flames 80% more than usual, as a result of forest clearance for ranching and warmer climate exacerbating the risk of wildfires.

We absolutely need the Amazon intact if we stand any chance of keeping warming under control.  It is one of the biggest carbon sinks on land - without it, CO2 goes up.  When it burns, that's also gigatons of CO2 entering the atmosphere.

If you watched the vid I posted above, you'll understand how the Amazon could be one tipping point that could cause a Tipping Cascade - like dominoes going over, one climate disaster set off after another. 

The low summer ice at the Arctic is one such tipping point that has basically already tipped - scientists are predicting sea ice during summer is unlikely to be a thing going forward.

Anyway, it's easy to fall into anger and despair over it, so I'm posting this article that has some advice at the bottom to turn some of the negative emotion around the Amazon burning into positive action:

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/the-amazon-rainforest-is-on-fire-what-we-know-so-far-and-how-you-can-help/

[The Legendary Shark]

Drying Atmosphere Spurs Decline in
Vegetation Growth.

[The Legendary Shark]

Amazonia in Flames – Brazil's Bolsonaro Is a World Criminal – Encouraging Jungle Burning for Private Exploitation of Freed Land.


African jungles also seem to be on fire, but few people are talking about that.

[shaolin_monkey]

There are wildfires springing up everywhere. There always are this time of year, but pretty much every country where wildfires are common are saying this year the extreme weather is causing significant increases.

And, of course, there are some countries who are experiencing a spate of wildfires, where this ISN'T the norm.

The Arctic

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/arctic-circle-wildfires-climate-change-greenland-alaska-siberia-photographs-a9015851.html


Siberia (Putin has FINALLY declared a state of emergency)

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2019/huge-wildfires-in-russias-siberian-province-continue


Canada

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Alberta_wildfires


Alaska, and many other US states

https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/08/21/us/wildfires-in-12-states-alaska-mckinley-fire/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2F


Australia

https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/03/04/australia/australia-fires-intl/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2F


New Zealand

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/10/new-zealand-wildfires-set-to-worsen-as-thousands-flee


Indonesia

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-49444325


Germany

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2019/06/27/530631.htm


Spain

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/27/hundreds-of-firefighters-tackle-blaze-in-north-east-spain


Bolivia

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/26/bolivia-wildfires-brazil-amazon


Greece

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cxng76w24ekt/greece-wildfires


And Africa, as mentioned above:

https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/fires-burning-angola-congo-amazon-maps-190827012619287.html


This 11 minute interview with Prof. Michael Mann is worth a listen - cuts through the hyperbole about the Amazon and presents the cold hard facts.

https://t.co/71S0AFd7vZ


The long and short of it is, wildfires are likely to become more frequent and ferocious as the climate changes.

This is one of those tipping points I mentioned previously. As we all know, forests are carbon sinks. When they burn they release the carbon, and of course there are less trees to absorb CO2. This adds to the warming effect, which in turn exacerbates wildfires further, burning more trees, releasing more CO2, and not being able to draw down as much CO2, which adds to the warming effect, etc etc etc. You see where this is going.

[shaolin_monkey]

Oh man, check this out. This is what scientists are up against. Every. Single. Day.

Respected scientist Brian Cox debates with an Australian Senator who disputes man-made climate change.

Things can only get better! 🤞

https://youtu.be/lf3TGmaLXow