Articles of impeachment introduced against RFK Jr.
Articles of Impeachment Introduced Against RFK Jr.
The Democrat accused Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr of turning his back on science.Kate Plummer (Newsweek)
like this
Dodging Icebergs and Storms on the Hunt for an Ocean Tipping Point
Scientists fear warming is driving a collapse in the ocean currents that shape climate far and wide. The ice-choked waters off Greenland might hold the key.
New report warns of critical climate risks in Arab region
An excerpt:
The 22 Arab region countries covered in the WMO’s new State of the Climate report produce about a quarter of the world’s oil, yet directly account for only 5 to 7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions from their own territories. The climate paradox positions the region as both a linchpin of the global fossil-fuel economy and one of the most vulnerable geographic areas.WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said extreme heat is pushing communities in the region to their physical limits. Droughts show no sign of letting up in one of the world’s most water-stressed regions, but at the same time, parts of it have been devastated by record rains and flooding, she added.
New report warns of critical climate risks in Arab region
Foundations of daily life are being pushed to the brink by human-caused warming.Inside Climate News (Ars Technica)
New report warns of critical climate risks in Arab region
An excerpt:
The 22 Arab region countries covered in the WMO’s new State of the Climate report produce about a quarter of the world’s oil, yet directly account for only 5 to 7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions from their own territories. The climate paradox positions the region as both a linchpin of the global fossil-fuel economy and one of the most vulnerable geographic areas.WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said extreme heat is pushing communities in the region to their physical limits. Droughts show no sign of letting up in one of the world’s most water-stressed regions, but at the same time, parts of it have been devastated by record rains and flooding, she added.
New report warns of critical climate risks in Arab region
Foundations of daily life are being pushed to the brink by human-caused warming.Inside Climate News (Ars Technica)
like this
Comparing climate models with observations | The latest generation of climate models shows too much long-term warming but better reproduces recent trends
Comparing climate models with observations
The latest generation of climate models shows too much long-term warming but better reproduces recent trendsZeke Hausfather (The Climate Brink)
Blind Spots in the Climate Movement | too intense a focus on emissions conceals the ongoing harms of expanded land use and the damage caused by "renewable" energy development
A very long essay, but I think worth a read - for solarpunks especially - even if you end up disagreeing with the anti-growth and anti-renewables conclusion.
Tldr: the first blind spot is that land disturbance (such as, for example, turning forests into agricultural land) is the "other leg" of climate change: it disrupts the water cycle, making some areas drier and some areas wetter, leading to, eg, crop failures and natural disasters.
Why don't we hear more about land disturbance as the other leg of climate change? Because capitalism demands growth. Capitalism can "solve" emissions with "green growth" - replacing old fossil fuel power plants with shiny new solar panels, and making a bunch of companies and developers richer in the process. But capitalism can't make more land. It can't solve the land disturbance problem by growing - it can only solve it by not growing. And that capitalism cannot do.
And the second blind spot is the tremendous ecological, environmental, and human harm done by the capitalist growth of "renewable" energy - from the slave children digging rare earths in the Congo to the pristine deserts paved over for giant solar projects. But because we are so single-mindedly focused on cutting emissions, we think "at least renewable energy doesn't produce carbon dioxide, so that's better, right?" And we put a nice green coat of paint on the world-destroying von Neumann machines of capitalism.
So what's the solution?
That being said, personally I propose: Let’s start with the goal of no new energy infrastructure whatsoever from any source, make do with what we have now, and shut down infrastructure from there as we eliminate frivolous use. This is an attainable goal. What are examples of frivolous use? Here’s a few candidates: AI, next day shipping, cheap plastic shit from China, cut flowers imported from South America on airplanes, perishable food shipped halfway around the world, commercial air travel, weed-free mown lawns, streaming movies and music, fast fashion, video game consoles, big screen TVs, f’ing single-use coffee pods, and the list goes on and on and on.
Blind Spots in the Climate Movement - resilience
In the media and in activist circles, Climate Change is generally presented as a problem with one cause—carbon emissions—and one solution: a “green energy transition.Resilience (Resilience.org)
like this
Ir's it like a climate inversion between south north ?
This would be fucked
Yeah, and there's data that it happened in the past. And we are seeing the same signals that happened in the past before the thing stopping happen again. It might have happened naturally but we are artificially inducing it in an accelerated pace, of course.
~~It was one of the major reasons for the heavy and long winters in the dark ages iirc.~~ I didn't recall correctly.
Not the past few, I was remembering wrong that one. Apparently around 500 years it weakens but the last shutdown was 12k years ago:
The most recent evidence of an AMOC shut-down is the Younger Dryas period, which occurred about 12,000 years ago. climate.sun.ac.za/uncategorize…
AMOC shut-down by 2100 – should important new results be used to update an approved IPCC consensus on risk? - School for Climate Studies
Prof Guy Midgley, Director of SU School for Climate Studies Prof Pedro Monteiro, Oceanographer at SU School for Climate Studies Skyla Thornton, Media Intern at the School for Climate Studies The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a…dorette (School for Climate Studies)
When a Road Goes Wrong | Highway projects bring destruction to the rainforest and surrounding ecosystems in South America. One connecting Brazil and Peru is a case in point.
When a Road Goes Wrong - Inside Climate News
Highway projects bring destruction to the rainforest and surrounding ecosystems in South America. One connecting Brazil and Peru is a case in point.Inside Climate News
The Indian Ocean disaster is a climate tragedy — and needs more attention
The Indian Ocean disaster is a climate tragedy — and needs more attention
A region unused to tropical cyclones has had three in a week. The world needs to ask why this happened, not look away.Rochmyaningsih, Dyna
like this
I am not overly surprised by this. The humanitarian response funding has been absolutely gutted this year, and not only by Trump (for example German gov. funding is down by 50% since 2022).
Thus organisations are struggleing to keep the lights on in the many emergency responses they already previously committed to, and have also not yet structurally adjusted, so there is an administrative overhang that further swallows what little funding remains.
And without NGO pushing for it, the shallow self of what journalism has become is totally oblivious to such relatively slow moving disasters. But it also becomes a self-reinforcing death spiral with no media coverage there is little non-government donations, thus further reducing the funds available.
Global Scientists Anticipate Less Reliance on the US in Future Carbon Monitoring
Global Scientists Anticipate Less Reliance on the US in Future Carbon Monitoring - Inside Climate News
With Trump’s budget knife still poised over NOAA’s climate research operations, international researchers see a reduced role for the nation that pioneered CO2 measurement.Inside Climate News
like this
'Scumbag': Texas candidate skewered for running as Republican after fundraising off Dems
'Scumbag': Texas candidate skewered for running as Republican after fundraising off Dems
A Texas candidate for state railroad commissioner sparked fury online after fundraising for her campaign as a Democrat — then filing to run as a Republican.Matthew Chapman (Raw Story)
like this
Why Are Some Democrats Backing MAGA's Anti-LGBTQ+ Censorship?
Some Democrats Are Helping the Trump Admin's Anti-LGBTQ+ Tech Agenda
This op-ed from Fight for the Future, a group organizing around the internet and political power, criticizes Democrats' backing of age verification laws and attacks on Section 230 as enabling a censorious MAGA agenda.Evan Greer and Janus Rose, Fight for the Future (Teen Vogue)
dflemstr likes this.
Los Angeles says so long to coal| The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has stopped receiving any coal-fired power, officials announced Thursday.
I'll note that while California buys electricity generated by burning coal, coal exports using ports in the state continue
Archived copies of the article:
* archive.today
* ghostarchive.org
Los Angeles says so long to coal
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has stopped receiving coal-powered electricity from its last remaining coal source, the Intermountain Power Project in Utah.Hayley Smith (Los Angeles Times)
Carney Defector Says ‘No Way’ Canada Can Meet Climate Goals Now
Ex-minister Steven Guilbeault said the government’s recent policy decisions put its targets for 2030, 2035 and even 2050 out of reach.
60,000 African penguins starved to death after sardine numbers collapsed | Climate crisis and overfishing contributed to loss of 95% of penguins in two breeding colonies in South Africa
60,000 African penguins starved to death after sardine numbers collapsed – study
Climate crisis and overfishing contributed to loss of 95% of penguins in two breeding colonies in South Africa, research findsPhoebe Weston (The Guardian)
like this
Homeowners Sue Oil Companies as Climate Damage Drives up Insurance Rates | The class-action lawsuit is the first of its kind to target Big Oil over rising home insurance costs.
Homeowners Sue Oil Companies as Climate Damage Drives up Insurance Rates - Inside Climate News
The class-action lawsuit is the first of its kind to target Big Oil over rising home insurance costs.Inside Climate News
like this
C.R.M.L.S. and a few homeowners told The Times they questioned the validity of property-level forecasts, and C.R.M.L.S. said it grew “suspicious” when models showed high flood risk in places that hadn’t flooded in decades.
Who wants to tell them that floods don’t always just target the same places all the time?
The indisputable fact that flood maps are going to have to be updated based on climate change makes some people uncomfortable: especially those whose activities are worsening climate change, and those whose income will be greater if they sweep the bad news under the rug.
Well, fuck them. People are entitled to the best information so they can make informed decisions.
‘Divide and Conquer’: Inside the Oil and Gas Strategy to Thwart EU Green Laws
U.S. fossil fuel majors led efforts to ensure corporations would not have to introduce climate action plans.
‘Divide and Conquer’: Inside the Oil and Gas Strategy to Thwart EU Green Laws - DeSmog
A public relations firm for major U.S. polluters worked to dismantle EU laws that require large corporations to make plans for cutting emissions.Joey Grostern (DeSmog)
New Report Warns of Critical Climate Risks in Arab Region | Foundations of daily life, including farms, reservoirs and aquifers that feed and sustain millions, are being pushed to the brink
New Report Warns of Critical Climate Risks in Arab Region - Inside Climate News
Foundations of daily life, including farms, reservoirs and aquifers that feed and sustain millions, are being pushed to the brink by human-caused warming.Inside Climate News
Shifting Climate Alters Pattern of Atlantic’s Giant Seaweed Blobs
Blooms of yellowish-brown seaweed along the Equator are breaking records and defiling beaches, while a centuries-old patch farther north is disappearing.
Inside the climate group working everywhere but DC: ‘You can still have huge wins’
Inside the climate group working everywhere but DC: ‘You can still have huge wins’
Climate Cabinet supports candidates in state and city races as the federal government ignores the climate crisisWhitney Bauck (The Guardian)
EU climate chief criticises China, India and Saudi pushback on carbon tax
cross-posted from: mander.xyz/post/43026095
Web archive link...
The carbon border tax, which comes into force from January, was behind an attempt by the big exporters to scupper wider negotiations on climate action at the latest UN summit in Brazil.
Speaking in the aftermath at COP30, Wopke Hoekstra told the Financial Times that the petrostates had also been “more assertive” across the board in a bid to thwart climate agreements as the shift to cleaner energy systems accelerates.
“Some of those making money out of [fossil fuels] are seeking to prolong that process. We have seen this quite explicitly,” he said. “Some of the petrostates are seeking to at least slow down rather than speed up [the energy transition].”
He added: “I have sensed a certain sense of assertiveness that might not have been there five or 10 years ago.”
...
During public and closed-door meetings at the two-week talks, some of the developing countries argued the tax, or carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), was a unilateral measure that would drive up costs, restrict trade and hinder their ability to grow their economies.
The tax will initially apply to products such as steel, cement and fertilisers, and aims to ensure imported goods meet similar green standards to those produced inside the EU or face an additional charge.
...
Hoekstra said the criticism was “clearly not very credible”, adding that in one-on-one conversations many countries “acknowledge it is clearly a climate tool” rather than a trade measure.
...
More than 80 countries had rallied around a proposal at COP30 for a so-called road map to help countries wean their economies off fossil fuels.
But the plan failed to appear in the final agreement after objection from more than 30 other countries [particularly China, Russia, and petro-states in the Middle East]....
EU climate chief criticises China, India and Saudi pushback on carbon tax
Petrostates becoming ‘more assertive’, Wopke Hoekstra tells FTAlice Hancock (Financial Times)
Donner Resigns as Co-Chair of Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body
Donner Resigns as Co-Chair of Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body
University of British Columbia climate scientist Simon Donner has resigned as co-chair of Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body (NZAB).Mitchell Beer (The Energy Mix)
Tiny cup corals show accelerating ocean acidification in the Salish Sea
Tiny cup corals show accelerating ocean acidification in the Salish Sea
University of Washington oceanographers decoded data from two sets of native coral samples collected more than a century apart, and found acidification there was accelerating.Bellamy Pailthorp (KNKX Public Radio)
The Cost of Climate | Extreme weather and changes in seasonal patterns are fundamentally altering the landscape, in cities and in farming communities. You’re going to pay for it.
The Cost of Climate
Extreme weather and changes in seasonal patterns are fundamentally altering the landscape, in cities and in farming communities. You’re going to pay for it.Gabrielle Gurley (The American Prospect)
Global race to secure critical minerals for weapons threatens climate, warns report
The study from the Transition Security Project – a joint US and UK venture – reveals how the Pentagon is stockpiling huge stores of critical minerals that are needed for a range of climate technologies including solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles and battery storage.
Global race to secure critical minerals for weapons threatens climate, warns report
Study reveals US earmarked billions to stockpile critical minerals for military use, including precision-guided weaponry and AI-driven warfareMatthew Taylor (The Guardian)
If Cars Are Too Expensive, Just Pump More Gas. What?
The net benefit is put at just $24 billion or, using households as a proxy for families, a princely $181 per household spread over five years. The $925 figure, meanwhile, equates to less than 2% of today’s average vehicle price. Even assuming it were actually realized, at $3 per gallon it would be eaten up by extra gasoline costs within three years....
In the real world, relaxing mileage standards, along with the earlier removal of penalties for missing them, will spur Detroit to sell more of the higher margin, lower fuel-economy, trucks and SUVs at the core of its business model, as opposed to shifting production toward smaller, cheaper models.
The fuel economy standard being repealed is one that's incredibly beneficial to consumers — it both encourages the production of less expensive vehicles, and saves on fuel costs.
New Fuel Economy Rules Won't Save Drivers Much
The Trump administration has hit upon an unorthodox solution to the cost-of-living crisis: Pumping more gasoline. Executives from Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co.Liam Denning (Bloomberg)
New England warming faster than most places on Earth, study finds
New England warming faster than most places on Earth, study finds
Pace of area’s temperature rise, outpaced in US only by Alaskan Arctic, apparently increased in past five yearsOliver Milman (The Guardian)
like this
Colorado mandates ambitious emissions cuts for gas utilities
Colorado mandates ambitious emissions cuts for its gas utilities
Resisting industry pressure, regulators ordered a 41% emissions reduction by 2035.Canary Media
Trump embraces gas guzzlers and air pollution by weakening fuel economy standards
Trump embraces gas guzzlers and air pollution by weakening fuel economy standards
The Trump administration proposed a major reversal of Biden-era fuel economy standards.Justine Calma (The Verge)
like this
Trump administration moves to revoke key permit from another offshore wind project proposed near Mass.
Trump administration moves to revoke key permit from another offshore wind project proposed near Mass. | WBUR News
This represents the latest move by the Trump administration to target the offshore wind industry in the U.S.Miriam Wasser (WBUR)
StinkyFingerItchyBum
in reply to Otter Raft • • •Linearity
in reply to StinkyFingerItchyBum • • •StinkyFingerItchyBum
in reply to Linearity • • •No. The middle east (people and governments alike knew the consequences of fossil fuels and they knew their precarious nature.
Make your choice. Live with the consequences of your actions.
Linearity
in reply to StinkyFingerItchyBum • • •😝
earth.org/global-carbon-emissi…
Don’t get me wrong, I hate the use of fossil fuel as much as the next guy, but you can’t blame a people for the consequences of everyone’s actions
Global Carbon Emissions: Richest 1% Match Emissions of 5 Billion People
Martina Igini (Earth.Org)VeganPizza69 Ⓥ
in reply to Linearity • • •acargitz
in reply to StinkyFingerItchyBum • • •Future generations born in the region, i.e., the people who are actually going to suffer, had nothing to do with this shit.
I know moralizing gives a hit of dopamine but let's just do better.
StinkyFingerItchyBum
in reply to acargitz • • •Current generations made the choice for their progeny.
It's not exactly moralizing. Actions have consequences. *Gestures broadly out the window. Let's stop doing the obviously bad things and clutch our pearls at the obvious and predictable consequences.
acargitz
in reply to StinkyFingerItchyBum • • •Yes, of course 100%. We are together shoulder to shoulder on this. With you 100%.
This is where we are having our small difference. The word "their". I say "our". I am not going to wash my hands off of the future humans of the MENA region just because the rulers of their direct ancestors are doing shitty things.
StinkyFingerItchyBum
in reply to acargitz • • •P00ptart
in reply to Otter Raft • • •