Greenland's melting ice sheet has passed the point of no return, scientists say (excerpt): USA Today

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Greenland's ice sheet dumps more than 280 billion metric tons

Even if global warming were to stop today, the ice sheet would continue shrinking.

of melting ice into the ocean each year.
 
•  Even if global warming were to stop today, the ice sheet would continue shrinking.
• Scientists analyzed 40 years of satellite data from more than 200 large glaciers draining into the ocean.

Greenland's melting ice sheet has passed the point of no return. 

In fact, glaciers on the island have shrunk so much that even if global warming were to stop today, the ice sheet would continue shrinking, a new study suggests.

"Glacier retreat has knocked the dynamics of the whole ice sheet into a constant state of loss," study co-author Ian Howat, an earth scientist from Ohio State University, said in a statement. "Even if the climate were to stay the same or even get a little colder, the ice sheet would still be losing mass."

This "tipping point" means the snowfall that replenishes the ice sheet each year cannot keep up with the ice that is flowing into the ocean from melting glaciers.

Doyle Rice

USA TODAY

Updated August 18, 2020 

 

Read the original story 

 

Related:If you thought July was hot, you were right: It was one of Earth's hottest months ever recorded (excerpt): USA Today

California begins rolling blackouts as state faces worst heat in 70 years (excerpt): SMH

Extreme heat has caused Californian fires and blackouts

"As many as 2 million Californians were plunged into darkness over a four-hour span late Friday in the state's first rolling blackouts since the 2001 energy crisis - and that was just day one.

America's west coast is set to have its hottest two weeks in 70 years, putting even more strain on power grids after California imposed its first rolling blackouts since 2001.

Excessive heat warnings and watches stretch from the Pacific Coast inland to Montana, Utah and Arizona, according to the National Weather Service. Sacramento is forecast to be 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) by Tuesday. Pasadena could hit 108."

"The sudden and largely unannounced outages in California are a stark reminder of the fragility of power grids in the face of extreme weather. Searing heat has gripped cities around the globe in recent weeks, including Brussels, Paris and New York."

Read the SMH story 

Related:  Climate Change will bring more severe storms.

#extremeheat, #cambio-climatico, #气候变化, #California, energy, #jailclimatecriminals,  

Climate Change will bring more severe storms.

"Although scientists are uncertain whether climate change will lead to an increase in the number of hurricanes, warmer ocean temperatures and higher sea levels are expected to intensify their impacts."
 https://www.c2es.org/content/hurricanes-and-climate-change/

Queensland: Cyclone Debbie caused massive damage to crops.

How can we prepare for more severe storms? 

"How to Build Resilience

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one way to reduce the risk of the strongest storms in the future. Communities can also bolster their resilience to the impacts of hurricanes by:

• Preserving coastal wetlands, dunes, and reefs to absorb storm surges.
• Replenishing beaches and improve infrastructure that affords coastal protection, such as seawalls.
• Elevating vulnerable buildings to reduce flood damage.
• Designing structures to be resilient to high winds and flying debris.
• Enacting policies that discourage development in vulnerable areas.
• Preparing prior to a storm’s arrival by boarding windows, clearing property of potential flying debris, and having an evacuation plan."    https://www.c2es.org/content/hurricanes-and-climate-change/

For Government::

• strengthen regulations to prevent further development and new infrastructure on susceptible coastlines

• ensure emergency services are well prepared and supported financially

• support people in developing emergency plans

• ensure the vulnerable can access support

• financially support smaller nations unable to prepare sufficiently for storms

Vision Ecobricks Intro Movie-- A 2 minute Introduction: Video

A brilliant idea ... and there are more ideas for making and using ecobricks on YouTube.

Ecobricks

4.33K subscribers

There is a solution to plastic pollution. In the Northern Philippines, inspired by our ancestral traditions where there is no concept of "waste" we've developed Vision Ecobricks-- a no-politician, no-machine, no-money way to go zero-waste... again.

If you thought July was hot, you were right: It was one of Earth's hottest months ever recorded (excerpt): USA Today

Heat is dangerous

"Story Highlights

• July 2020 tied with July 2016 as the second-hottest month ever recorded for the planet Earth.
• July 2020 also marked the 427th-consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average
• Experts say this is a sure sign of human-caused climate change.

Last month was a scorcher worldwide. 

July 2020 tied with July 2016 as the second-hottest month ever recorded for the planet Earth, according to a report released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

Only July 2019 was hotter, and only by a fraction of a degree. 

"The July 2020 global land and ocean surface temperature was 1.66

Heatwaves kill

degrees above the 20th-century average of 60.4 degrees, tying with 2016 as the second-highest temperature in the 141-year record," NOAA said. "Last month was only 0.02 of a degree F shy of tying the record-hot July of 2019."

July 2020 also marked the 44th-consecutive July and the 427th-consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average, according to NOAA.

Heat kills

Experts say this is a sure sign of human-caused climate change: 

"The trend of record heat continues – a trend which we’ve shown in past publications can only be explained by the warming impact of fossil fuel burning," said Penn State University meteorologist Michael Mann."

Go to complete USA Today story

by Doyle Rice

USA TODAY

Related: World's three hottest Julys happened in the last five years: Reuters (excerpt)

#carbon, #climatechange, #fossilfuelcompanies, #heatwaves, #jailclimatecriminals, 

Why COVID deniers and climate skeptics paint scientists as alarmist (excerpt): Grist

Climate Change Denial Tactics

By Kate Yoder on Aug 13, 2020 

 

 

In an interview with Fox News last month, President Donald Trump called Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, an “alarmist,” using a pejorative straight from the playbook of those who deny the science behind climate change. Fauci rejected the characterization, describing himself as a “realist.”

For anyone paying attention to arguments about climate change over recent decades, Trump’s comment sounded awfully familiar: Scientists are alarmists, everything’s a hoax, and hysteria abounds.

 Michael Mann, a climatologist at Penn State University, wrote an op-ed for Newsweek this week drawing parallels between his experience and Fauci’s during COVID-19. Science deniers have lobbied attacks on the two public figures, he explained, sending death threats, calling them names, and questioning their expertise.
So what do terms like alarmist and hysteria really mean, where did they come from, and how can people respond to such accusations?"

"The strategies used to dismiss the threats of climate change and coronavirus follow a similar pattern, and they’re employed by many of the same people. It starts with denying the problem exists, as Naomi Oreskes, a professor of history at Harvard who studies disinformation, has explained. Then, people trying to obstruct action deny the severity of the predicament, say it’s too hard or too expensive to fix, and complain that their freedom is under threat. Denying the science requires dismissing what scientists are saying, and the easiest way to do that is by questioning their motives, impartiality, and rationality.

“If we don’t trust scientists or medical experts because we see them as alarmist or hysterical or as contributing overreaction, then we don’t trust the info they’re giving us,” said Emma Frances Bloomfield, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas."

Read the complete Grist article by Kate Yoder

See also:

'Two global health emergencies': doctors group backs green stimulus: The Age

climate deniers, Trump, COVID-19, #cambio-climatico, #climatecrisis, #climatecriminals, #corporations, #criminales-climáticos-de-la-cárcel, #

The Green New Deal Is Cheap, Actually (excerpt): Rolling Stone

Green New Deal: Rolling Stone

By Tim Dickinson  April 6 2020

Decarbonizing will cost trillions of dollars, but it’s an investment that will have big return — for the economy and the environment

Opposition to the Green New Deal is often framed as a matter of cost. President Trump’s re-election campaign blasted the “radical” plan, claiming it would “cost trillions of dollars, wreck our economy, and decimate millions of energy jobs.” 

But science shows that the costs of unchecked global temperature rise are far higher than transitioning to clean energy — which will, in fact, boost the economy. 

“Everybody thinks, ‘Oh, you have to spend a huge amount of money,’” says Mark Jacobson, a civil and environmental engineering professor at Stanford University. “Well, yeah, there’s an upfront cost, but this is something that pays itself back.”

The coronavirus crisis is changing the world’s comfort levels with massive expenditures. Fresh on the heels of a $2.2 trillion economic rescue package, President Trump has begun calling for another $2 trillion infrastructure package to create jobs. Across the political spectrum, politicians are anticipating that the economy will need something approximating a New Deal to spring back to life after the pandemic subsides. And climate advocates are making the case that we can use this disaster response to invest in renewable energy, to ward off an even more dangerous crisis down the line.

The price of not acting on climate change is staggering.