Something to keep in mind…
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of the Arctic
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atmosphere and ocean
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is driving broad change in the environmental system
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in predicted and, also, in unexpected ways.
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Arctic Report Card
The Arctic Report Card has been issued annually since 2006. It is a peer-reviewed report with “reliable and concise environmental information on different components of the Arctic environmental system relative to historical records.”
It focuses on the following areas: oceans, weather, satellites, research and fisheries.
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COP24
Countries around the world finally adopted the guidelines of the Paris agreement, agreeing to continue the path on confronting climate change and emissions reductions. “It is so decided,” said Michal Kurtyka, conference president and Poland’s environmental envoy, in announcing the passing of the Paris Agreement rulebook at 9:58 pm local time on Saturday at the Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Katowice, Poland.
Reaching agreement was challenging because 197 counties had to come to consensus…
At the 11th hour, ministers managed to break a deadlock between Brazil and other countries over the accounting rules for the monitoring of carbon credits, deferring the bulk of that discussion to next year, but missing an opportunity to send a signal to businesses to speed up their actions.
Still, exhausted ministers managed to bridge a series of divides to produce a 156-page rulebook – which is broken down into themes such as how countries will report and monitor their national pledges to curb greenhouse gas emissions and update their emissions plans.
However…
Climate action groups slammed the outcome of the 24th annual Conference of the Parties (COP24) in Katowice, Poland on Saturday, calling the agreement reached by about 200 diplomats and negotiators “barely adequate” as a plan to ensure that countries will follow through with their emissions reduction pledges.
And indeed, corporations did push their narrative to the forefront…
[The] United Nations organizers of the event censored references to “fossil fuel corporations” and their “dirty energy” infrastructure in environmental groups’ videos before they were greenlighted to be projected onto massive screens on the walls of the event venue in Katowice, Poland.
“While we’re being silenced, the same coal, oil, and gas companies responsible for the crisis are allowed to plaster the halls with their logos and propaganda,”
Climate Protests
Ted Talk by Greta Thunberg December 19, 2018
[VIDEO]
The Australian youth continue the Climate protests…
Schools out: striking students build momentum for disruption in 2019
Super Forest December 14, 2018
Today, thousands of German students are striking across at least fourteen cities as part of a global climate strike, they are demanding that their government initiate an immediate coal phase-out and ramp up action to tackle climate change. At the same time striking Polish students have entered the UN climate negotiations in Katowice
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From Greece to Italy people are rising up to halt the construction of the Southern Gas Corridor, a carbon bomb designed to carry fossil gas from the Caspian Sea to southern Europe.
Hundreds of Activists Stage Sit-in Against Big Polluters on Final Day of COP24 U.N. Climate Talks
Democracy Now December 14, 2018
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the U.N. climate summit in Katowice, Poland, on Friday, demanding bolder action from world leaders on climate change. The action was organized by the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice. Demonstrators filled the staircase inside the conference center holding banners reading “Which side are you on?” and “People Not Polluters” and “System change not climate change.
Australia: Thousands protest climate change and new Adani coal mine
WSWS December 10, 2018
Thousands of people, including hundreds of high school and university students, took part in protests across Australia last Saturday, in opposition to ongoing environmental destruction, including the creation of a new coal mine in central Queensland by global mining company Adani.
The rally in Melbourne was attended by more than 5,000 people, while around 1,500 took part in Sydney. Smaller protests were held in the Queensland cities of Brisbane and Cairns. They took place a week after 15,000 high school students participated in a “climate strike,”
Climate change activists vow to step up protests around world
Guardian December 14, 2018
“You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes. We have run out of excuses and we are running out of time. We have come here to let you know that change is coming, whether you like it or not. The real power belongs to the people.”
Members of the Extinction Rebellion (XR) movement said there was a rising tide of protest.
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XR branches have been set up in 35 countries, organisers said. US protesters aim to organise a day of action on 26 January 2019, and international activists are planning a global week of action from 15 April 2019.
The Extinction Rebellion’s Direct-Action Climate Activism Comes to New York
The Intercept December 15, 2018
Drawing inspiration from the civil rights movement, Occupy Wall Street, and HIV/AIDS protest group ACT UP, Extinction Rebellion makes clear demands, among them that the government must “tell the truth about the climate” and “enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025.” But it also aims to acknowledge and draw on the intense emotions that come with the environmental calamity that’s upon us. “Even while resolving to limit the damage, we can mourn,” is how Gail Bradbrook, one the organization’s founders in England, puts it.
HOT AIR NEWS ROUNDUP
Paul Beckwith: Global Methane numbers rise Literally Off-the-Charts
• They swamped out the colour scheme used in the map legend,
• Causing saturation in large red blobs with little detail.
• The colour legend was shifted by 100 ppb to more clearly show the detailed structure of where methane was being emitted.
Part 1
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Part 2
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Discovery of recent Antarctic ice sheet collapse raises fears of a new global flood
Science December 18, 2018
Some 125,000 years ago, during the last brief warm period between ice ages, Earth was awash. Temperatures during this time, called the Eemian, were barely higher than in today’s greenhouse-warmed world. Yet proxy records show sea levels were 6 to 9 meters higher than they are today, drowning huge swaths of what is now dry land.
Scientists have now identified the source of all that water: a collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Glaciologists worry about the present-day stability of this formidable ice mass. Its base lies below sea level, at risk of being undermined by warming ocean waters, and glaciers fringing it are retreating fast. The discovery, teased out of a sediment core and reported last week at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union
Great graphics…
The 3 Highest-Volume U.S. Rainfall Events on Record Have Happened in the Past 3 Years
Wunderground December 8, 2018
Preliminary research by precipitation expert Dr. Kenneth Kunkel of the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, announced in September, found that the three highest-volume rainfall events in the U.S. in the last 70 years have occurred since 2016: Hurricane Harvey in Texas/Louisiana in 2017, Hurricane Florence in North Carolina in 2018, and a March 2016 storm in Louisiana. It is highly unusual to get three such extreme events in one three-year period, and the odds of this occurring were increased by global warming, which boosts the amount of water vapor in the air and increases the frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation events.
After 30 Years Studying Climate, Scientist Declares: “I’ve Never Been as Worried as I Am Today”
Common Dreams December 13, 2018
“I’ve worked on this for 30 years and I’ve never been as worried as I am today,” Schellnhuber declared during the COP24 climate summit in Poland, arguing that even the language commonly used to describe the changing state of the climate doesn’t sufficiently convey the enormity of the crisis.
“Global warming doesn’t capture the scale of destruction. Speaking of hothouse Earth is legitimate,” added Schellnhuber, who co-authored a “terrifying” study warning that humanity may be just 1°C away from irreversible planetary catastrophe.</blockquote >
Waste of Energy – Burning garbage? Chicken poop? Your state could be getting renewable energy from nasty sources.
Waste of Energy – Burning garbage? Chicken poop? Your state could be getting renewable energy from nasty sources.
Grist December 12, 2018
the energy Wheelabrator creates from burning as much as 2,250 tons of trash each day is considered renewable. Thus, the company gets subsidies — an estimated $3.4 million in 2015 — from utility companies and ratepayers as a result of the state’s renewable energy policy.
In a statement to Grist, Wheelabrator says the facility “adheres and exceeds strict federal and state air regulations established by both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Maryland Department of the Environment.”
Trash incineration isn’t the only polluting industry that Maryland considers a renewable energy source. Poultry litter incineration and paper mill-waste burning are also lumped in alongside wind and solar energy, according to the state’s plan.
As Grassroots Momentum Surges, Over 300 Local Officials From 40 States Declare Support for Green New Deal
Common Dreams December 14, 2018
The decision by dozens of mayors, state legislators, and city council members to back a Green New Deal comes as people in the United States and around the world are pressuring their leaders to abandon incremental approaches to the climate crisis and adopt ambitious policies that are in line with the latest science.
Citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) October report—which said humanity must cut carbon emissions in half by 2040 to avert planetary catastrophe—the local officials’ open letter urges political leaders to recognize that “we are in a climate emergency.”
A video with presentations by climate-change heavy weights discussing post-glacial bounce, the effects of ozone, the permafrost seal of methane, submarine earthquakes, the slowing of the gulf stream, the fresh water seal of southern ocean and more…
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This is a travesty…
Canada won’t perform an environmental review of most new oilsands projects. Here’s why.
The Narwhal December 18, 2018
The future of development in Alberta’s oilsands lies in underground, steam-assisted operations that represent some of the country’s fastest growing greenhouse gas emissions. These projects have never been subject to federal environmental reviews and that’s not expected to change with Ottawa’s new-and-improved assessment rules
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In-situ oilsands operations are incredibly greenhouse gas-intensive — requiring copious quantities of natural gas, often obtained from fracking, to produce the steam that’s injected underground.
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Back in 2012, the Harper government radically overhauled the country’s environmental assessment processes and introduced the use of a “project list” to determine whether a project — like a dam, power plant or oilsands mine — would be subject to a federal review.
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The current federal government’s solution, Bill C-69, a new and controversial impact assessment bill currently under debate in the Senate,
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The contents of that list remain undisclosed to the public. But from the get-go Environment Minister Catherine McKenna indicated in-situ oilsands projects would be exempt from the list.
Long, excellent read…
Hurricane Michael Cost This Military Base About $5 Billion, Just One of 2018’s Weather Disasters
Inside Climate News December 18, 2018
the base was being ripped apart by 155 mile-per-hour winds that left it littered with the twisted metal of torn-away rooftops and hangars. …the price tag for damage at Tyndall Air Force Base was about $5 billion,
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In a 2015 report, the Forest Service wrote: “The agency is at a tipping point. Climate change has led to fire seasons that are now on average 78 days longer than in 1970. The U.S. burns twice as many acres as three decades ago and Forest Service scientists believe the acreage burned may double again by mid-century.” Last year, the service had surpassed $2 billion in firefighting expenses by September
Long article with lots of charts…
Climate change: The massive CO2 emitter you may not know about
BBC December 17, 2018
Not only does the production of Portland cement involve quarrying – causing airborne pollution in the form of dust – it also requires the use of massive kilns, which require large amounts of energy.
The actual chemical process of making cement also emits staggeringly high levels of CO2.
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In 2016, world cement production generated around 2.2 billion tonnes of CO2 – equivalent to 8% of the global total. More than half of that came from the calcination process.
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In 2016, world cement production generated around 2.2 billion tonnes of CO2 – equivalent to 8% of the global total. More than half of that came from the calcination process.
This is an old article but it has a usable list of Climate Breakdown unknowns…
What Are the “Unknown Unknowns” of Global Warming
Think Progress October 1, 2018
• Accelerated release of the methane hydrates
• Rapid collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet
• Dramatic shift in ocean circulation patterns
• Runaway greenhouse effect
• The drying of the Northern peatlands (bogs, moors, and mires).
• The Amazon becoming a carbon source
Beijing’s air pollution just got worse again
Unearthed December 17, 2018
Meanwhile the 28 cities surrounding Beijing, like Tianjin and Zhengzhou, have seen a 4% rise, in contrast to a target to cut levels by 3%.
These early indications that the region’s air is becoming more toxic again following a loosening of controls on industrial output and an increase in coal burning that has also driven a rise in CO2 emissions.
It follows a rising trend in industrial output since summer 2016, prompted by financial stimulus that the government launched in response to a downturn in traditional heavy industry.
2017’s Extreme Heat, Flooding Carried Clear Fingerprints of Climate Change
Inside Climate News December 10, 2018
This was the seventh annual compilation of this kind of research by the American Meteorological Society, published in the group’s peer-reviewed Bulletin. Its editors said this year’s collection displays their increased confidence in the attribution of individual weather extremes to human causes—namely the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
“A warming Earth is continuing to send us new and more extreme weather events every year,” said Jeff Rosenfeld, the Bulletin’s editor-in -chief. “Our civilization is increasingly out of sync with our changing climate.”
Martin Hoerling, a NOAA researcher who edited this year’s collection, said the arrival of these damages has been forecast for nearly 30 years, since the first IPCC report predicted that “radical departures from 20th century weather and climate would be happening now.”
Climate Adaption
Changes in agriculture could cut sector non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions by up to 50 percent
PHYS ORG December 17, 2018
The agricultural sector is the world’s largest source of non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions, and IIASA-led research has found that changing agricultural practices and a shift in diet away from meat and dairy products could reduce the sector’s emissions by up to 50% by 2050, compared to a situation without mitigation efforts.
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Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture currently make up 10-12% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, and the percentage is growing, largely thanks to the increased use of synthetic fertilizers and growing ruminant herds. Since 1990, emissions have increased by a third, but the data shows that production is up by 70%, so agriculture is becoming more efficient over time. If the world is to meet the 1.5°C climate stabilization target set out under the Paris Agreement, however, these emissions will need to fall.
Major Investors Pressure Exxon to Set CO2 Reduction Targets
EcoWatch December 17, 2018
The world’s largest oil company is being pressured by major shareholders to take action on climate change.
Institutional investors with an estimated $1.9 trillion under management, led by the New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) and the Church Commissioners of England (CCE), filed a shareholder resolution calling on ExxonMobil to set targets for lowering its greenhouse gas emissions, covering emissions from both its operations and the use of its products
Startup firm uses recycled PET panels to make durable homes
Plastic News December 13, 2018 h/t lookout
JD Composites Inc., a Canadian startup company, is constructing a concept house using PET foam made from more than 500,000 recycled plastic bottles.
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The startup company’s plan diverts waste from landfills and creates jobs. Initially, five to 10 full-time positions have been created but another 20-25 jobs may need to be filled by 2020.
California Revs Up Emissions Reductions, Requires All New Buses to Be Electric by 2029
Union of Concerned Scientists December 14, 2018
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted unanimously to require all new transit buses in the state be battery or fuel cell electric beginning in 2029. It is the first statewide policy in the country that requires full electrification of a vehicle class. Based on typical bus turnover rates, this standard will ensure nearly 14,000 buses on California roads will be zero-emission by 2040.
As Grassroots Momentum Surges, Over 300 Local Officials From 40 States Declare Support for Green New Deal
Common Dreams December 14, 2018
The decision by dozens of mayors, state legislators, and city council members to back a Green New Deal comes as people in the United States and around the world are pressuring their leaders to abandon incremental approaches to the climate crisis and adopt ambitious policies that are in line with the latest science.
Citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) October report—which said humanity must cut carbon emissions in half by 2040 to avert planetary catastrophe—the local officials’ open letter urges political leaders to recognize that “we are in a climate emergency.”
100 Cities Agree: 100% Clean Energy For All
Siera Club December 5, 2018
100 cities and towns across the United States have committed to transition to 100% clean, renewable energy for all, as Cincinnati, Ohio joins the ranks of communities ready for 100% as city #100. The momentum that propelled us toward this milestone reflects the breadth of support for clean energy, and the accomplishment of reaching 100 belongs to everyone.
Good article…
Sydney and Melbourne vow to ditch coal power
Climate Change News December 13, 2018
The country’s two largest cities joined an international coalition of states, regions, cities and businesses who have committed to ending coal power generation.
Australia is the fourth largest coal producer in the world. Its federal government is known for its fierce support for the sector and signalled on Wednesday that it would use taxpayer money to underwrite new coal plants.
Neither city provided a specific end date for coal. Sydney has committed to a 100% renewable supply by 2035.
Participatory Development: A Humanitarian Alternative to Migration
Global Research December 11, 2018
Climate change, development and migration are part of an inextricably linked nexus. The Environmental Justice Foundation predicts that up to 10% of the world’s population could be at risk of forced displacement due to climatic hazards by 2050. At the GFMD conference, the EuroMedA Foundation, who hosted a side event entitled “ A Euro-African Approach to Migration” highlighted that key issues set to face Africa will be desertification, drought and food insecurity, risks that are only going to worsen. Climate change can also compound existing, or create new political and economic issues in at-risk countries and further drive migratory patterns, with the distinct possibility of turning plans for “Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration” on its head.
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many migrants prefer not to be migrants, but instead seek the sustainable development of their origin communities. Involving local community members in the decision-making processes reveals key contextual insights into the priority initiatives that will enhance the wellbeing of their communities: these are highly viable and implementable because the projects respond to their self-defined needs, and are therefore most likely to be sustainable.
Wildlife & the Environment
As Seas Warm, Galápagos Islands Face a Giant Evolutionary Test
NYT December 18, 2018
As climate change warms the world’s oceans, these islands are a crucible. And scientists are worried. Not only do the Galápagos sit at the intersection of three ocean currents, they are in the cross hairs of one of the world’s most destructive weather patterns, El Niño, which causes rapid, extreme ocean heating across the Eastern Pacific tropics.
Research published in 2014 by more than a dozen climate scientists warned that rising ocean temperatures were making El Niño both more frequent and more intense. Unesco, the United Nations educational and cultural agency, now warns the Galápagos Islands are one of the places most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
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But sometimes the cool Humboldt Current suddenly slows.
The ocean waters start warming rapidly, heating up as much as 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, within months. Storms begin to strike the islands with rain and flash floods. And, as if overnight, the Galápagos become warmer: It is the start of El Niño, Spanish for “the boy child,” a reference coined by Peruvian fisherman because the changes can occur around Christmas.
“The Galápagos marine system is analogous to a roller coaster,” said Jon D. Witman, a professor of biology at Brown University who studies coral ecosystems in the Galápagos, noting that the spikes of hot temperatures were followed by spells of falling temperatures, known as La Niña.
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When sea temperatures rise, the sardine population around Isabela Island drops. In the 1982 El Niño, nearly every large adult male fur seal died of starvation. Most of the sea lion pups born that year died as well because parents couldn’t feed their young, according to a study by Fritz Trillmich, a behavioral ecologist.
Southwest forest trees will grow much slower in the 21st century
PHYS ORG December 18, 2018
Southwest forests may decline in productivity on average as much as 75 percent over the 21st century as climate warms, according to a University of Arizona-led research report published in Nature Communications on Dec. 17.
The new estimate is better than previous ones because it is based on a new database of information on the growth of trees under average conditions, according to the research team. Previous estimates were based on a database that included many trees growing in marginal conditions.
Artificial Islands to Host Wildlife in the Middle of the Netherlands
The Green Optimist December 16, 2018
built corridors and islands (the Marker Wadden) using silt, a sedimentary formation halfway between clay and sand, which was dug out of the lake. The main island is intended to open to tourists, who can visit at safe distances from the birds. The rest of the islands are reserved for wildlife- birds like egrets and herons, and some 127 species of plants are reported to have settled on the area already.
Climate change: Arctic reindeer numbers crash by half
Science Daily December 12, 2018
The population of wild reindeer, or caribou, in the Arctic has crashed by more than half in the last two decades.
A new report on the impact of climate change in the Arctic revealed that numbers fell from almost 5 million to around 2.1 million animals.
The report was released at the American Geophysical Research Union meeting.
It revealed how weather patterns and vegetation changes are making the Arctic tundra a much less hospitable place for reindeer.
Excellent aricle. Please check it out…
Arctic’s 2nd-Warmest Year Puts Wildlife, Coastal Communities Under Pressure
Inside Climate News December 11, 2018
Rising temperatures, melting ice and thawing permafrost threaten ecosystems and communities across the far north with direct impacts like toxic algae outbreaks, harm to fisheries and caribou herds, and coastal erosion.
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“We are now witnessing transformation of Arctic waters in that region to Atlantic waters, and this warm/salty water is not allowing the winter ice to form,” said Stroeve, who didn’t work on this Arctic Report Card but did work on a previous edition. “If this entire region becomes an extension of the Atlantic, this may start to pose an irreversible change.” Stroeve said the cumulative Arctic changes affect ocean circulation, fisheries, and add moisture to the atmosphere, perhaps increasing the likelihood of winter rain-on-snow events that put caribou, reindeer and musk oxen at risk.
Climate Studies
This report, mentioned above, is released annually. Many more highlights are listed in the report…
Arctic Report Card
NOAA December 6, 2018
• Surface air temperatures in the Arctic continued to warm at twice the rate relative to the rest of the globe. Arctic air temperatures for the past five years (2014-18) have exceeded all previous records since 1900.
• In the terrestrial system, atmospheric warming continued to drive broad, long-term trends in declining terrestrial snow cover, melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet and lake ice, increasing summertime Arctic river discharge, and the expansion and greening of Arctic tundra vegetation.
• Despite increase of vegetation available for grazing, herd populations of caribou and wild reindeer across the Arctic tundra have declined by nearly 50% over the last two decades.
• In 2018 Arctic sea ice remained younger, thinner, and covered less area than in the past. The 12 lowest extents in the satellite record have occurred in the last 12 years.
Pliocene and Eocene provide best analogs for near-future climates
PNAS December 10, 2018
Our study suggests that climates like those of the Pliocene will prevail as soon as 2030 CE and persist under climate stabilization scenarios. Unmitigated scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions produce climates like those of the Eocene, which suggests that we are effectively rewinding the climate clock by approximately 50 My, reversing a multimillion year cooling trend in less than two centuries.
The long dry: global water supplies are shrinking
PHYS ORG December 13, 2018
A global study has found a paradox: our water supplies are shrinking at the same time as climate change is generating more intense rain. And the culprit is the drying of soils, say researchers, pointing to a world where drought-like conditions will become the new normal, especially in regions that are already dry.
The study – the most exhaustive global analysis of rainfall and rivers – was conducted by a team led by Professor Ashish Sharma at Australia’s UNSW (University of New South Wales) in Sydney. It relied on actual data from 43,000 rainfall stations and 5300 river monitoring sites in 160 countries, instead of basing its findings on model simulations of a future climate, which can be uncertain and at times questionable.
New study says scientific basis for EPA’s Endangerment Finding is stronger than ever
PHYS ORG December 13, 2018
The Science paper includes 16 authors from 15 different organizations. It assesses how the scientific evidence has changed in the nine years since the finding was issued, with a specific focus on climate change impacts for public health, air quality, agriculture, forestry, water resources, sea level rise, energy, infrastructure, wildlife, ocean acidification, social instability, and the economy.
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“Our understanding of how global warming influences the odds of heat waves, droughts, heavy precipitation, storm surge flooding, and wildfires has increased dramatically in the last decade, as has our understanding of the related impacts, such as how hot conditions affect mental health, violence, and economic productivity.”
More Glaciers in East Antarctica Are Waking Up
NASA December 10, 2018
scientists have long considered the eastern half of the continent to be more stable than West Antarctica. Now new maps of ice velocity and elevation show that a group of glaciers spanning one-eighth of the East Antarctic coast have been losing some ice over the past decade.
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a NASA project called Inter-mission Time Series of Land Ice Velocity and Elevation, or ITS_LIVE. The new initiative is using new computing tools and multiple satellite missions to assemble a 30-year record of changes in the surface elevation of glaciers, ice sheets, and ice shelves, and a detailed record of variations in ice velocity.
Mediterranean UNESCO World Heritage at risk from coastal flooding and erosion due to sea-level rise
Nature October 16, 2018
UNESCO World Heritage sites (WHS) located in coastal areas are increasingly at risk from coastal hazards due to sea-level rise. In this study, we assess Mediterranean cultural WHS at risk from coastal flooding and erosion under four sea-level rise scenarios until 2100.
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Here we show that of 49 cultural WHS located in low-lying coastal areas of the Mediterranean, 37 are at risk from a 100-year flood and 42 from coastal erosion, already today.
Melting Discovered in East Antarctic Region Holding Ice ‘Equivalent to Four Greenlands’
EcoWatch December 12, 2018
The observations were enabled by maps of the height and velocity of East Antarctic glaciers made possible by a new NASA project called Inter-mission Time Series of Land Ice Velocity and Elevation (ITS_LIVE). Using these maps, Walker discovered that the surface height of four glaciers in Vincennes Bay—Vanderford Glacier, Adams Glacier, Bond Glacier and Underwood Glacier—had decreased by around nine feet since 2008. Before that, there was no noticeable change, NASA explained in a press release
Global Warnings
Paul Beckwith: “I declare a global climate change emergency to claw back up the rock face to attempt to regain system stability, or face an untenable calamity of biblical proportions.”
Kevin Hester: “There is no past analogue for the rapidity of what we are baring witness to. There has been a flood of articles … 2C is no longer attainable and that we are heading for dangerous climate change”
Guy McPherson: “The recent and near-future rises in temperature are occurring and will occur at least an order of magnitude faster than the worst of all prior Mass Extinctions. Habitat for human animals is disappearing throughout the world, and abrupt climate change has barely begun.”
Magi Amma: We need to turn on a dime at mach nine!
