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Uh-oh. There’s a funny thing about that insane experiment being conducted by our rulers.

Although many scientists have done their best to warn what could happen if such reckless burning of fossil fuels didn’t stop, it turns out now that those scientists might not have fully understood all that was happening.

It seems their models were not good enough. The problem, you see, is even more difficult than they realized…
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Fifty years into the project of modeling Earth’s future climate, we still don’t really know what’s coming. Some places are warming with more ferocity than expected. Extreme events are taking scientists by surprise.

Right now, as the bald reality of climate change bears down on human life, scientists are seeing more clearly the limits of our ability to predict the exact future we face. The coming decades may be far worse, and far weirder, than the best models anticipated.

Some variables are missing from climate models entirely. Trees and land are major sinks for carbon emissions, and that this fact might change is not accounted for in climate models. But it is changing: Trees and land absorbed much less carbon than normal in 2023, according to research published last October. In Finland, forests have stopped absorbing the majority of the carbon they once did, and recently became a net source of emissions.

The interactions of the ice sheets with the oceans are also largely missing from models, despite the fact that melting ice could change ocean temperatures which could have significant knock-on effects. Changing ocean-temperature patterns are currently making climate modelers at NOAA rethink their models of El Niño and La Niña; the agency initially predicted that La Niña’s cooling powers would kick in much sooner than it now appears they will.

While models struggle to capture the world we live in now, the planet is growing more alien to us, further from our reference ranges, as the climate keeps changing. If given unlimited time, science could probably develop models that more fully captured what we’re watching play out. But by then it would be too late to do anything about it.
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The above is just a few excerpts from a long and very informative article. I suggest reading the whole thing.

FULL ARTICLE -- https://archive.ph/sl6bA

#History #Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis
Screenshot from top of linked article. Headline says: "Climate models can't explain what's happening to Earth. Global warming is moving faster than the best models can keep a handle on." Below this is an image of a globe of Earth mounted on a stand, with regions of the planet showing dark red coloration to indicate rapid warming.


Several decades ago, the rulers of our society chose to begin a massive project, essentially conducting a unique scientific experiment with potentially foreseen but possibly unpredictable outcomes.

They decided to go all out in: (1) extracting fuels buried deep in the Earth, energy from the sun stored via photosynthesis and animal metabolism over a span of 500 million years as coal, oil, and gas; and (2) burning all this fuel they could find in the brief period of a few decades.

Our rulers were warned by scientists that their project involved serious risk, but they figured the power they could gain and the money they could make was worth any cost. They didn't care about the negative consequences, and/or foolishly believed that imaginary future technologies would somehow be able to fix whatever problems their actions caused.

And now, guess what — we're seeing signs that this experiment might be out of control. Feedback loops are kicking in, causing "natural" emissions which could trigger cascading effects, breaking down the ecosystem. It also appears that Earth's climate is more sensitive to greenhouse gases than first believed. Yet our rulers *still* continue to recklessly burn fossil fuels, always drilling and fracking for more, hungry for power and compelled by greed.

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#History #Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis
Smoke billowing into the air from a steel factory in China. Photograph: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images


#lafires #environment #climatechange
#climatecrisis

ONLY WHEN THE LAST TREE IS CUT DOWN

ONLY WHEN THE LAST RIVER IS POISONED

ONLY WHEN THE LAST FISH IS CAUGHT

THEN YOU WILL REALIZE THAT YOU CAN NEITHER EAT NOR DRINK MONEY.

(unknown, adapted)


I see the fires in LA as the burning of the old world. #Hollywood is the single most recognizable cultural thing of the 20th century, and along with everything else in the last few years, it's going down in flames.

Very sorry for the people who are losing their homes, but the amount of homelessness in LA tells me that others lost their home years earlier already, and no one batted an eye.

#civilization #humanity #la #lafires #losangeles #fires #fire #culture #climatechange #movies #environment


‘Apocalyptic’: Albertans living in California share their stories of fleeing the inferno
Calgarians living in the Los Angeles area describe apocalyptic scenes as wildfires continue to burn uncontrolled, destroying thousands of homes.
#wildfire #disaster #evacuation #California #LosAngeles #Environment #Fire #Albertafires #Californiafires
https://globalnews.ca/news/10951551/los-angeles-wildfires-albertans/


‘Apocalyptic’: Albertans living in California share their stories of fleeing the inferno
Calgarians living in the Los Angeles area describe apocalyptic scenes as wildfires continue to burn uncontrolled, destroying thousands of homes.
#wildfire #disaster #evacuation #California #LosAngeles #Environment #Fire #Albertafires #Californiafires
https://globalnews.ca/news/10951551/los-angeles-wildfires-albertans/


‘Apocalyptic’: Albertans living in California share their stories of fleeing the inferno
Calgarians living in the Los Angeles area describe apocalyptic scenes as wildfires continue to burn uncontrolled, destroying thousands of homes.
#wildfire #disaster #evacuation #California #LosAngeles #Environment #Fire #Albertafires #Californiafires
https://globalnews.ca/news/10951551/los-angeles-wildfires-albertans/


‘Apocalyptic’: Albertans living in California share their stories of fleeing the inferno
Calgarians living in the Los Angeles area describe apocalyptic scenes as wildfires continue to burn uncontrolled, destroying thousands of homes.
#wildfire #disaster #evacuation #California #LosAngeles #Environment #Fire #Albertafires #Californiafires
https://globalnews.ca/news/10951551/los-angeles-wildfires-albertans/


‘Apocalyptic’: Albertans living in California share their stories of fleeing the inferno
Calgarians living in the Los Angeles area describe apocalyptic scenes as wildfires continue to burn uncontrolled, destroying thousands of homes.
#wildfire #disaster #evacuation #California #LosAngeles #Environment #Fire #Albertafires #Californiafires
https://globalnews.ca/news/10951551/los-angeles-wildfires-albertans/


Of almost 24,000 species worldwide, 24 per cent are at high risk of becoming extinct, primarily because of water pollution including sewage spills

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08375-z

http://archive.today/2025.01.08-220840/https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/salmon-among-quarter-of-freshwater-species-threatened-with-extinction-j7q977c5r

#Water #Pollution #Fish #Environment
Photo: an Atlantic Salmon,


Theoretically, it is still possible that all the leaders of major governments could jointly choose to enact radical degrowth policies — but a realistic look at the world today makes it clear how unlikely that would be.

No matter how much we want it, how loudly we yell, or how hard we protest, I can’t see that happening.

So what’s the alternative?

Since I began posting regularly here at Mastodon a year and a half ago, many people have asked in comments: What can we do? What actions can we take?

My answer has always been that the most important steps you can take are personal and local. No, I don’t mean just lowering your carbon footprint, although of course that’s a good idea. I mean beginning to make the big changes now on a local level that are coming to us, sooner or later, whether we like it or not.

We must simplify. We *will* simplify, at some point, so why not start now? Be an example. Find others who want to change, and join with them. Build a community. Create co-ops, clothing and furniture exchanges, neighborhood gardens, seed libraries, tool libraries, and establish teaching and training sessions.

Develop systems of sharing resources — such as low-carbon transportation, small-scale solar or wind power, engineering know-how, financial assistance, medical expertise, and more. The possibilities are endless.

You can do this. We can do it. Together, we will change our world.

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateAction #Degrowth


Russia-Installed Officials Declare Oil-Spill Emergency In Occupied Sevastopol

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-oil-spill-sevastopol-crimea-ukraine/33263407.html

#ENVIRONMENT #OILSPILL #RUSSIA #KEWLNEWS #PRESS


How Congolese climate activists stopped a ‘carbon bomb,’ for now

After constant campaigning and mounting global condemnation, the Congolese government has temporarily canceled a dangerous oil and gas auction

https://wagingnonviolence.org/2025/01/how-congolese-climate-activists-stopped-a-carbon-bomb-for-now/

#Congo #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #GlobalBurning #ClimateDestruction #ClimateSuicide #MassExtinction #pollution #ecology #environment #climate #ClimateStrike


#EPA Report Finds That Formaldehyde Presents an “Unreasonable Risk” to Public Health


The report was published weeks after a ProPublica investigation found that the chemical causes more cancer than any other toxic air pollutant and can trigger asthma, miscarriages and fertility problems.

#News #PublicHealth #Health #Pollution #Cancer #Environment

https://propub.li/4fIZP60


‘Extraordinary longevity’: great whales can live a lot longer than we thought – if we leave them alone

The report comes in the wake of news that Iceland wants to kill more fin whales, the second-largest animal on Earth, and Japan wants to resume hunting them.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/02/great-whales-longevity-lifespans-centuries-hunting-study-finds

#Whales #Iceland #Japan #Hunting #Conservation #Environment
Photo of whale underwater (naturally) : with caption A fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) off the Azores. The species has been found to live for half as long again as previously thought. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/Alamy


Take a trip back a few years and watch the movie Billy Jack. I saw it when it came out in theatres in '71.
There is so much in it that pertains with what is still going on in society today.
It's about the
#environment
#racism
#underdogs
#victims
#heroes
#injustice
and so much more.
It's easy to see the #Republican attitudes of the 70's and the similarities of today's #Republicans.
#Racism was as ugly then as it is now.
The changes we wanted never came true for us.
WTF happened?


The #plastic paradox: How plastics went from #elephant saviors to eco-villains

Do the benefits of plastics outweigh the costs?

January 23, 2024

"It was 1869, and something needed to be done.

"With the price of #ivory skyrocketing, billiard ball manufacturers were scrambling for an alternative. The prized material derived from #ElephantTusks was being used to craft such things as knife handles, piano keys, dice, dominoes, chessmen, and yes, billiard balls. Now, with elephants growing scarce from overhunting, the wonder material was becoming difficult to procure and unreasonably expensive. After all, one tusk would yield just four or five balls. Leading pool table manufacturer Phelan and Collender offered $10,000 ($225,000 today) to any inventor who could discover a replacement for ivory.

"Albany inventor John Wesley Hyatt answered the call, molding together camphor, nitrocellulose, and alcohol under extreme pressure. His concoction, called #celluloid, was one of the first synthetic plastics. While Hyatt’s creation proved an unwieldy material for billiard balls — insufficiently durable and mildly explosive when struck — it inspired others to formulate something better. A few decades later, American chemist Leo Baekeland came up with the petroleum-derived #Bakelite. It became the first commercially successful synthetic plastic, and very likely saved elephants from extinction.

"More than a century later, this story has morphed into an intriguing irony…With their creation, plastics probably saved countless species — both plants and animals — from extinction. Derived from byproducts of #FossilFuel production, which had previously gone unused, the invention of synthetic plastics meant that humans no longer had to pillage the living #NaturalWorld to produce various products for a technologically advancing global society. Fast-forward to today: Plastics are demonized for eroding the environment and endangering human health, prompting many to wonder if we’d be better off without them."

Read more / listen:
https://bigthink.com/the-present/plastics-costs-benefits-paradox/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

#Health #Plastic
#Toxic #ToxicChemicals #Environment #Microplastic #Pollution #Paradox


A Sierra Club and Greenpeace report estimates that air pollution from currently operating LNG facilities nationwide causes $957 million in health costs and 60 premature deaths a year. https://www.texasobserver.org/brownsville-lng-pr-elected-officials/

#environment #pollution #OilAndGas #energy #ClimateChange #news #politics #USpol #GulfCoast


Amid Arizona’s data center boom, many Native Americans live without power -

As data centers drain US power grids, a fierce battle is being waged for electricity.

On Navajo Nation land, many are on the losing end. #Indigenous #ai #arizona #environment #climate https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/23/arizona-data-centers-navajo-power-aps-srp/


The EPA announced over $735 million to assist in the purchase of over 2,400 zero-emission vehicles across 27 states, three Tribal Nations, and one U.S. Territory through its first-ever Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program #environment #renewables #climate #ClimateChange https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-announces-over-735m-selections-clean-heavy-duty-vehicles


By #Voting for #Democrats We Make Our Lives Better!

The EPA announced a $319 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan to the City of Portland, serving Oregon’s Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties. The loan supports construction of the new Bull Run Treatment Projects to meet federal and state safe drinking water standards, and it will help protect the public health of nearly 1 million residents. #portland #oregon #climate #water #environment https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-319m-wifia-loan-improvements-critical-drinking-water-system-oregon


For more than 30 years, scientists have warned that unless fossil fuel use is reduced to a minimum, Earth's climate and environment will be damaged beyond repair.

We're caught in a battle between the need for a livable planet versus Business As Usual.

Guess which side is winning...
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The world’s coal use is expected to reach a fresh high of 8.7 billion tonnes this year, and remain at near-record levels for years.

There has been record production of coal and power generation from coal since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine inflated global gas market prices, according to the International Energy Agency.

The IEA said the coal rebound, after a slump during the global Covid pandemic, means consumption of the fossil fuel is now on track to rise to a new peak of 8.77 billion tonnes by the end of the year – and could remain at near-record levels until 2027.

The Paris-based agency blamed power plants for the growing use of coal over the last year, particularly in China which consumes 30% more of the polluting fuel than the rest of the world put together.

Coal demand in China is expected to grow by 1% in 2024 to reach 4.9 billion tonnes, which is another record, according to the IEA. India is expected to see demand grow by more than 5% to 1.3 billion tonnes, a level previously reached only by China.
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FULL STORY -- https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/18/coal-use-to-reach-new-peak-and-remain-at-near-record-levels-for-years

#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual
Screenshot from top of linked article. Headline says: "Coal use to reach new peak – and remain at near-record levels for years." Below this is an aerial photo of smokestacks at a coal power plant spewing emissions into the atmosphere.


Today's air quality for Phoenix, Arizona is unhealthy for people with lungs.

Where's the EPA and state department of environmental control when you need them?

Or Captain Planet. If he's still around.

#Environment #Climate
A photo collage. There are three photos and one mobile screenshot. The photos are arranged vertically. The top and middle photos are of a desert landscape. The sky is blue and dusty. The bottom photo is of a city landscape. The sky is blue and dust filled with dust and smoke. The screenshot shows the current weather, 23C, and air quality index, 105.


How have global temperatures changed over the past 144 years?

Start at the top, then slowly scroll down…

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis
Chart showing monthly global temperature anomalies from 1880 through 2024, compared to the 1880 to 1920 average. Cooler temperatures are shown with a blue background and higher temperatures with a red background. For the first 100 years or so, temperatures are mostly cooler than average. Then around 1980 it starts getting warmer until the months within the past two years are all dark red.


Who needs a roof when you can use balcony solar for apartments


The photograph shows a woman standing on a balcony, holding a cup. The balcony is attached to a building with old-style architecture, featuring decorative moulding above the windows and a mix of light beige and dark teal colours on the façade. In the foreground is a black solar panel that looks almost like a privacy screen that extends the length of the balcony. Plants are visible in pots both on the balcony and in the background growing along the building's exterior wall.
Lots of people, especially city dwellers and renters, don’t have rooftops where they can install solar panels to generate some of the electricity they use in their daily lives. Community solar offers a partial solution for some, but it is not available everywhere. In Germany, more than 1.5 million people have installed Balkonkraftwerke, which translates as “balcony power plants.” Almost every apartment has a balcony with a railing to keep folks from tumbling into the street below. If it gets any sun exposure during the day, balcony solar panels can be mounted to those railings to make electricity that helps power a home.

It may not be as much power as a rooftop system but is still around 300 W which does offset electricity costs a bit, and there is a battery to also store excess energy.

What is different from a rooftop system is that it is easily portable, so you can take it with if you move, or even if you go off camping. If you live in an area subject to hail, then these are easy to take inside when you need to. It usually also does not require professional electricians to install it.

And as far as the electricity grid goes, in Germany there are already more than 500,000 of these installations, so that adds up to quite a saving anyway on the grid side.

See https://cleantechnica.com/2024/12/21/germany-embraces-balkonkraftwerke-balcony-solar-for-apartments
#Blog, #balconysolar, #environment, #solarenergy, #technology


Environmental groups including Extinction Rebellion have held regular protests outside Barclays' London headquarters to demand it stop funding oil and gas and instead throw its weight behind the energy transition. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2024/12/19/companies/barclays-target-uk-climate-activists/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #barclays #oil #coal #environment #climatechange #uk


Many people think of the ocean like a bathtub — turn on the faucet, and water levels rise everywhere. As the planet warms and ice melts, they assume that the ocean might act in the same way.

Sea level rise, however, is very uneven. Thanks to a complex set of factors, water levels are not rising at the same speed everywhere. And these factors have made the U.S. South particularly vulnerable

https://archive.ph/JrlRc

#USA #US #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #pollution #ecology #environment #climate


Montana’s Supreme Court recently upheld a landmark climate ruling that said the state was violating residents’ constitutional right to a clean environment by allowing oil, gas and coal projects without regard for climate change. The state’s defense argued that reducing greenhouse gases would have no effect on a global scale. The court countered by asking: “If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?”
@AssociatedPress reports:

https://flip.it/uRiSfs

#Science #ClimateChange #Environment #EnvironmentalJustice


Government of modern times in the UK persist in assuming that just because they have legislated, something will happen'.

And as increasing amounts of evidence about the (human) harm of wood smoke, even in relatively rural areas emerges we see the numbers

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/19/just-four-fines-issued-for-wood-burning-complaints-in-a-year-in-england

#Environment #PublicHealth #UKPolitics


To be fair to Tanya Plibersek, she did come to an agreement with the Greens on more effective environmental law reform that would’ve passed in the Senate. It was blocked by politicians scared of #fossilfuels politicians.

As environmental law currently exists, she doesn’t have a legal basis to refuse the approval. #environment #law

#vote for environment / #climate #climateaction oriented independents or Greens #auspol we need a Labor minority govt