It's a bit warm/ wet/ cold outside

[shaolin_monkey]

It's pretty bloody hot in Cardiff today.  It's likely because we're sat on the fringes of a massive heat anomaly in Siberia.




Apologies for the shitty pic, but you get the idea.  Over the last few months there have been areas in the Arctic Circle 10 deg C higher than average, and in many cases well above frozen! 

It's currently causing waves of alarm, and causing some headlines, although not enough given the sheer scale/enormity, and threat of the anomaly. This is so far from normal it is freaking a shitload of scientists out. Also, it is wiping out flora and fauna, plus bringing wildfire season forward in a big way.

Here are a couple of articles which explain what is happening.

Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/05/22/siberia-heat-wave/


The Barent Observer:

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic-ecology/2020/05/red-alert-northern-siberia-heat-shocks-threaten-life-tundra


Eye on the Arctic

https://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arctic/2020/05/26/red-alert-for-northern-siberia-as-heat-shocks-threaten-tundra-life/




Climate change, folks. It is right here, right now. We've been relatively lucky compared to many parts of the world so far, even considering the extreme weather events such as the extraordinary precipitation at the start of the year, and the record-breaking warm winter, and heatwave last summer.

Our 'luck' is about to run out.

[IndigoPrime]

Honestly, I had no idea what was going on until I saw your picture. I'd assumed we were caught between the usual battle of northern air and African/Spanish air, with the jet stream having for once got stuck above Scotland rather than across the Channel. That this is hot air coming across from Siberia is terrifying.

I've been enjoying the weather, but noticing May has been dry as a bone in this area. We had a couple of torrential downpours, but that was about it. It also felt like we had no spring. It was like a switched flickered between winter and summer a few times and then settled on the latter.

[shaolin_monkey]

Aye. It seems winter might now just be a really wet autumn in January.

[IndigoPrime]

It was very cold around here. It's been years since we had the heating on deep into May. Still, normal service reportedly resumes next week as we head into a drab June.

[shaolin_monkey]

I did not see 29,000 tons of diesel spilled into a river causing a state of emergency and an ecological catastrophe on my 2020 bingo card.

So you know that climate change that's been going on? The Arctic warming up faster than any other place on the planet? Arctic permafrost melting?

Well, it turned that the melting permafrost caused subsidence, which caused a super-tank of diesel to collapse in on itself, spilling all this crud, wiping out entire ecosystems in two rivers.

And everyone was too scared to tell Putin - he found out via social media!!!

I supposed that's what you get for being a bloodthirsty dictator in one of the largest petro-states in the world. You reap what you sow.

Not that any of that helps the populations that rely on those rivers for drinking water and food, or all the dead flora and fauna.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-52915807

[IndigoPrime]

Yeah, but it's going to be 12°C max here on Saturday and so obviously global warming has stopped or something.</notseriousobv>

[shaolin_monkey]

Ha! US Senator Jim Inhoe nailed that look in 2015 when he declared climate change a hoax because he was able to bring a snowball into the Senate from outside.

He simultaneously showed his complete ignorance, and gave scientists an opportunity to explain that as the world heats up there will still be cold days, just a lot less of them than the previous 1000 year average.  Oh, and more hotter days. 

Plus we had the opportunity to learn about a sluggish jet stream caused by climate change, the big lazy loops of which allows weather patterns to remain static in places a lot longer (such as cold snaps, but of course also heatwaves, such as the one we experienced last year) when normally the stream would push these weather patterns overland quite quickly.

https://news.yahoo.com/cold-weather-warming-climate-true-210928421.html

[shaolin_monkey]

If you fancy some good vibes this weekend, this film may be worth a watch.  It talks of all the positive action being taken towards the year 2040.

It hopefully will make a change from all the climate doom and gloom, so I'm going to give it a whirl.  We need to be working towards something after all, and constant pessimism isn't helping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-rTQ443akE&t=5s

[shaolin_monkey]

"Our data indicate that beyond global species extinctions Earth is experiencing a huge episode of population declines and extirpations, which will have negative cascading consequences on ecosystem functioning and services vital to sustaining civilization. We describe this as a "biological annihilation" to highlight the current magnitude of Earth's ongoing sixth major extinction event."


https://www.pnas.org/content/114/30/E6089

[JayzusB.Christ]

Being an unfashionable lefty snowflake, I recently listened to an interview with Noam Chomsky where he started by describing Trump as the worst criminal that ever lived. I thought something along the lines of 'Ah, come on now, he's a gobshite but steady on, Chompers,' but then he explained his rationale.

Trump is gleefully contributing to a forthcoming global catastrophe.  He knows full well it's happening and he doesn't give a fuck; in fact he's actively trying to stop attempts to curb it.  He has the potential to more irreparable damage than anybody else in history and he is happy to do so.  (I know, it's not just him, but he is the most prominent offender and of any prominent offender, one of the least concerned.)  He has a young son and grandchildren and he doesn't even give a fuck about their future.  So yeah, I see where Noam Chomsky is coming from.

[shaolin_monkey]

Absolutely. He's set us back at least a decade.

In fact Prof. Michael Mann will shortly be releasing a book about how Trump has brought us to the brink, and how we wrestle the environment away from the right-wing folk of his ilk, the petro-barons and other money monsters like Trump who would see our planet turned to dust for greater shareholder value.

" A renowned climate scientist shows how fossil fuel companies have waged a thirty-year campaign to deflect blame and responsibility for climate change onto the individual, and offers a battle plan for how we can save the planet.

Recycle. Fly less. Eat less meat. These are some of the tactics that we've been told can slow climate change. But most of these recommendations are a result of a multi-pronged marketing campaign that has succeeded in placing the responsibility for fixing climate change squarely on the shoulders of individuals.

Fossil fuel companies have followed the example of other industries deflecting blame (think "guns don't kill people, people kill people") or greenwashing (think of the beverage industry's "Crying Indian" commercials of the 1970s). Meanwhile, they've blocked efforts to regulate or price carbon emissions, run PR campaigns aimed at discrediting viable alternatives, and have abdicated their responsibility in fixing the problem they've created. The result has been disastrous for our planet.

In The New Climate War, Mann argues that all is not lost. He draws the battle lines between the people and the polluters--fossil fuel companies, right-wing plutocrats, and petrostates. And he outlines a plan for forcing our governments and corporations to wake up and make real change, including:

a common-sense, attainable approach to carbon tax-- an overhaul of the flawed Green New Deal;
allowing renewable energy to compete fairly against fossil fuels
debunking the false narratives and arguments that have worked their way into the climate debate and driven a wedge between even those who support climate change solutions
how to combat climate doomism

With immensely powerful vested interests aligned in defense of the fossil fuel status quo, the societal tipping point won't happen without the active participation of citizens everywhere aiding in the collective push forward. This book will reach, inform, and enable citizens everywhere to join this battle for our planet."


https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B088T55MMR/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_b088t55mmr

[Funt Solo]

The people who think coronavirus is caused by 5G

A BBC video-article about 5G/covid conspiracy theories. It seems that no amount of evidence or logic can sway people who've gone down the rabbit hole.

[Funt Solo]

Coronavirus: Face mask exemption cards and other US claims fact-checked

Infuriatingly, Covid has become a party political issue, with conspiracy theory fueled nonsense leading to attempts to circumvent new face mask laws.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

This is very much out of the alt-right's playbook. Over politicise an issue so they can shut down/easily withdraw from discussions for being "too political".

[Funt Solo]

Just realized my previous two posts are in the wrong thread - I managed to mix up "Death By Climate" with "Death By Pandemic". Oops.