It's a bit warm/ wet/ cold outside

[JayzusB.Christ]

Meanwhile, Australians literally faced down Armageddon - fleeing to beaches under blood red skies, their towns burning up, ash falling everywhere, a choking smog...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-50952253

It's happening in front of our eyes. And still they deny it.

[shaolin_monkey]

Fleeing to the beaches and staring Armageddon in the face.

https://twitter.com/ek_nicholls/status/1212169693005414400?s=21

Fuck me, it must be terrifying. Their summer has just started!

[shaolin_monkey]

Some good news finally - the U.K. generated more energy from renewables than fossil fuels in 2019!

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jan/01/zero-carbon-energy-outstrips-fossil-fuels-in-britain-across-2019

[shaolin_monkey]

I can't remember if I posted this previously?

This excerpt from the Extinction Rebellion book 'This Is Not a Drill' is an insight into maybe why all the money is being funnelled away from us to make the richest 1% in the world even richer.

[shaolin_monkey]

I can't remember if I posted this previously?

This excerpt from the Extinction Rebellion book 'This Is Not a Drill' is an insight into maybe why all the money is being funnelled away from us to make the richest 1% in the world even richer.

Many thanks to Joe Soap, who has provided a link to the full article:

https://onezero.medium.com/survival-of-the-richest-9ef6cddd0cc1

[shaolin_monkey]

[Funt Solo]

That tweet makes sense (and isn't in poor taste at all) if you can manage the cognitive dissonance that lets you place the Australia fires into the box marked "normal".

You do it like this: it's a hot climate, the fires are seasonal and happen each year. The strength and severity of these fires can be explained away easily as the random flux of nature.

You can also do this: the average temperatures aren't rising at all - the people who measure them have been moving the thermometers closer to the ground. (Motive: not specified.) Clearly this has all the hallmarks of a conspiracy theory, but I heard it from a relative in Oz who strictly speaking isn't insane.

Oddly, whilst I believe the Oz fires are a result of global warming caused by human action: I'm finding it difficult to find comprehensive agreement to that in news media (even where they're going and asking experts) - which I assume is to do with scientists being careful about saying things are definitely so when they don't have all the data yet.

[Colin YNWA]

There is considerable problems with saying specifc event a is related to climated change. What we'll see I believe from what I've read, listened to and discussed is we'll get specific event a, b, c, d, e over time period x. Where as previously we'd of had specific event f, g, h over time period x+y.

So I doubt, again from the little I know, that we will get much consenus about specific events happening because of global warm alone. What will probably be said is that the chances of specific event a happening are increased by human created global warming and we will see more of these specific events in a shorter time frame.

I'd assume Shaolin monkey will have said this here as he seems to know enough but worth repeating just in case... and I'm dipping back out to talk about comics.

[shaolin_monkey]

I'd assume Shaolin monkey will have said this here as he seems to know enough but worth repeating just in case... and I'm dipping back out to talk about comics.

Indeed.

Prof. Michael Mann, who is currently studying climate change in Australia,  sums it up nicely here:


"The brown skies I observed in the Blue Mountains this week are a product of human-caused climate change. Take record heat, combine it with unprecedented drought in already dry regions and you get unprecedented bushfires like the ones engulfing the Blue Mountainsand spreading across the continent. It's not complicated."

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/02/australia-your-country-is-burning-dangerous-climate-change-is-here-with-you-now

[shaolin_monkey]

Meanwhile, Jakarta is suffering record rainfall and flooding.

This picture is horribly apt:



https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/world/asia/indonesia-jakarta-rain-floods.html



Why does climate change cause high precipitation and flooding? This link should give you an insight:

https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-what-climate-models-tell-us-about-future-rainfall

[shaolin_monkey]

What will probably be said is that the chances of specific event a happening are increased by human created global warming and we will see more of these specific events in a shorter time frame.

It's worth adding that an extreme weather events not only becomes likely to happen more frequently, but also with greater intensity. And other factors come in to play.

If you recall Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, there were a lot of things at play there which made it so devastating. First up, it was an enormous hurricane due to the energy from warmer water. Secondly, it moved really slowly, which was linked to a sluggish jet stream.

If you recall, the jet stream usually moves around the northern hemisphere really quickly, pushed by warmth rising from the tropics, and cool air from the Arctic. It is normally quite wavy too. This means weather fronts usually are pushed over land reasonably quickly, so we might have rain for a few days and then some sunny spells, then wind, and so on.

However, because the Arctic is warming so quickly compared to the rest of the planet the air coming down is warmer. This is making the jet stream sluggish, and creating wider waves or loops of either warm
or cold weather, and corresponding areas of pressure. For example, recently one half of the US suffered very cold weather, while the other half experienced warmer weather for the time of year, almost as if the continent had been slashed in half vertically. And it was fairly static for a long time. This is because of one of those long sluggish waves we are now seeing of the jet stream.

Coming back to Dorian, not only did you have a higher likelihood of that storm turning up, it was also made more powerful by warmer water temperature, AND it was caught in one of those long lazy loops of the jet stream. This meant it hovered over the Bahamas for DAYS (where normally a hurricane would move through an area quickly) resulting in the absolute devastation we all saw.

So, coming back to Colin's post - agreed - absolutely climate change increases the likelihood of a weather event, but it will also increase the intensity, and when combined with other climate-change related behavioural changes in our atmosphere, it adds up to a whole world of pain which can more often than not be pinned on the way humans are modifying the gaseous make-up of our atmosphere.

[shaolin_monkey]

Ok, one more bit of bad news - bird populations affected worldwide, and UK no different.

However, the RSPB are trying to record the UK numbers, with a view to halting the decline somehow, and this is where you could help. In fact, this could be a fun thing for your whole family to get involved in:

The Big Garden Birdwatch!!!

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/

[Tjm86]

I think the biggest concern with all this is that we have most likely passed the point at which individual minor changes are sufficient.  The hand wringing and mithering of politicians and business leaders quite probably means that quite radical changes are going to be needed by all of us.  This is likely to range from changes to travel habits / holidays all the way through to what and how we feed ourselves.

I know that this is probably going to sound insane but I hope that someone with the guts to make those changes comes along soon.  The consequences of inaction are already starting to stack up and will soon reach the point where even the likes of Trump cannot deny it any longer ...

[shaolin_monkey]

I think the biggest concern with all this is that we have most likely passed the point at which individual minor changes are sufficient.  The hand wringing and mithering of politicians and business leaders quite probably means that quite radical changes are going to be needed by all of us.  This is likely to range from changes to travel habits / holidays all the way through to what and how we feed ourselves.

This is definitely the case, and to be fair probably has been the case for about 40 years or more. Here's a link that shows who the biggest polluters are, and they aren't individuals:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/09/revealed-20-firms-third-carbon-emissions


However, action is still needed from all sides. Everyone has a part to play in this, no matter how small the contribution may seem. Also, individual action becomes community action becomes societal action becomes political action. Consumers have power to influence also.

I know that this is probably going to sound insane but I hope that someone with the guts to make those changes comes along soon.  The consequences of inaction are already starting to stack up and will soon reach the point where even the likes of Trump cannot deny it any longer ...

Yep, we definitely need someone. Could it be you? After all, a revolution starts with one person. Maybe it would be best if we didn't hang around waiting for someone, but created the change ourselves. For example, have you considered joining Extinction Rebellion, a local sustainability group, or broached the subject with your MP?

[The Legendary Shark]

Maybe it would be best if we didn't hang around waiting for someone, but created the change ourselves.

^This. Always and primarily this.^