Climate Change/Ecological Crisis/Sustainability Thread

[abundance]

Considering the Climate Crisis is one of the greatest challenges we have ever faced as a species, it makes sense to have a thread dedicated to it. For the past year or two I went from being someone who generally thought that the Climate Change was overblown to acknowledging that it is a HUGE issue that warrants awareness. I'd like to share some of the resources that have helped me understand this issue. Though, the situation regarding climate change is becoming increasingly grim, there are things we can do to mitigate the most severe consequences. Thus, I'll also be posting material about sustainability. Feel free to join along and post material that is related to the premise of this thread to spread awareness regarding this important issue.

 

I'd like to introduce a few YouTube Channels that have helped me gain a better understanding of Climate Change

Just Have  A Think - David Borlace creates some of the best content regarding Climate Change and Sustainability. His videos are well organized and easily digestible for the average laymen

 

Paul Beckwith - Paul is a well known climate scientist and professor. If you like graphs and data, this channel is awesome. He regularly reviews the latest scientific studies and reports.

 

 

Book Recommendations

https://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Ice-Report-Arctic/dp/0190691158/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=FAREWELL+TO+ICE&qid=1600279518&sr=8-1

 

https://www.amazon.com/End-Ice-Bearing-Witness-Disruption/dp/1620972344/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/144-7210804-3740057?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1620972344&pd_rd_r=fbe321af-3082-45e9-a663-f2676f23593e&pd_rd_w=2Jn3W&pd_rd_wg=wVHGO&pf_rd_p=ce6c479b-ef53-49a6-845b-bbbf35c28dd3&pf_rd_r=0E9ERD663JSEGMGY1SVN&psc=1&refRID=0E9ERD663JSEGMGY1SVN

 

https://www.amazon.com/This-Changes-Everything-Capitalism-Climate/dp/1451697392/ref=rtpb_2/144-7210804-3740057?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1451697392&pd_rd_r=83477181-888d-482e-a1e1-b2fd661f90ad&pd_rd_w=OCl2E&pd_rd_wg=PvzWE&pf_rd_p=49740592-2805-416d-896c-b825ad91c2cf&pf_rd_r=33R76M5BXAH0T67XGDSE&psc=1&refRID=33R76M5BXAH0T67XGDSE

 

https://www.amazon.com/Our-Final-Warning-Degrees-Climate/dp/0008308551/ref=rtpb_3/144-7210804-3740057?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0008308551&pd_rd_r=83477181-888d-482e-a1e1-b2fd661f90ad&pd_rd_w=OCl2E&pd_rd_wg=PvzWE&pf_rd_p=49740592-2805-416d-896c-b825ad91c2cf&pf_rd_r=33R76M5BXAH0T67XGDSE&psc=1&refRID=33R76M5BXAH0T67XGDSE

 

https://www.amazon.com/Madhouse-Effect-Threatening-Destroying-Politics/dp/0231177879/ref=sr_1_1?crid=22RCEBGDPNLHY&dchild=1&keywords=michael+mann&qid=1600280277&s=books&sprefix=MICHAEL+MANN%2Cstripbooks%2C199&sr=1-1

 

 

Edited September 16, 2020 by abundance

[abundance]

Climate change: Warmth shatters section of Greenland ice shelf

By Jonathan Amos BBC Science Correspondent

14 September 2020

Related Topics

Greenland ice loss

A big chunk of ice has broken away from the Arctic's largest remaining ice shelf - 79N, or Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden - in north-east Greenland.

The ejected section covers about 110 square km; satellite imagery shows it to have shattered into many small pieces.

The loss is further evidence say scientists of the rapid climate changes taking place in Greenland.

"The atmosphere in this region has warmed by about 3C since 1980," said Dr Jenny Turton.

"And in 2019 and 2020, it saw record summer temperatures," the polar researcher at Friedrich-Alexander University in Germany told BBC News.

Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden is roughly 80km long by 20km wide and is the floating front end of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream - where it flows off the land into the ocean to become buoyant.

At its leading edge, the 79N glacier splits in two, with a minor offshoot turning directly north. It's this offshoot, or tributary, called Spalte Glacier, that has now disintegrated.

'Unprecedented' ice loss as Greenland breaks record

Milne Ice Shelf: Satellites capture Arctic ice split

Satellites record history of Antarctic melting

Image copyright Copernicus Data/ESA/Sentinel-2B

Image caption The ice is being attacked from above and below

The ice feature was already heavily fractured in 2019; this summer's warmth has been its final undoing. Spalte Glacier has become a flotilla of icebergs.

Look closely at the satellite pictures and the higher air temperatures recorded in the region are obvious from the large number of melt ponds that sit on top of the shelf ice.

The presence of such liquid water is often problematic for ice platforms. If it fills crevasses, it can help to open them up. The water will push down on the fissures, driving them through to the base of the shelf in a process known as hydrofracturing. This will weaken an ice shelf.

Oceanographers have also documented warmer sea temperatures which mean the shelf ice is almost certainly being melted from beneath as well.

"79N became 'the largest remaining Arctic ice shelf' only fairly recently, after the Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland lost a lot of area in 2010 and 2012," explained Prof Jason Box from the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS).

"What makes 79N so important is the way it's attached to the interior ice sheet, and that means that one day - if the climate warms as we expect - this region will probably become one of the major centres of action for the deglaciation of Greenland."

Greenland and Antarctica ice loss accelerating

Greenland Ice Sheet: 'More than 50 hidden lakes' detected

Climate change: Greenland's ice faces melting 'death

Image copyright Copernicus Data/ESA/Sentinel-2B

Image caption The trunk of N79 is covered in melt ponds and streams

The Northeast Greenland Ice Stream drains about 15% of the interior ice sheet. The stream funnels its ice either down N79 or the glacial member just to the south, Zachariae Isstrom. Zachariae has already lost most of its floating ice shelf area.

Prof Box said N79 could resist longer because it was penned in right at its forward end by some islands. This lends a degree of stability. But, he added, the shelf continues to thin, albeit mostly further back along the trunk.

"This will likely lead to N79 disintegrating from the middle, which is kind of unique. I guess, though, that won't happen for another 10 or 20 years. Who knows?" he told BBC News.

July witnessed another large ice shelf structure in the Arctic lose significant area. This was Milne Ice Shelf on the northern margin of Canada's Ellesmere Island.

Eighty sq km broke free from Milne, leaving a still secure segment just 106 sq km in size. Milne was the largest intact remnant from a wider shelf feature that covered 8,600 sq km at the start of the 20th Century.

The fast pace of melting in Greenland was underlined in a study last month that analysed data from the US-German Grace-FO satellites. These spacecraft are able to track changes in ice mass by sensing shifts in the pull of local gravity. They essentially weigh the ice sheet.

The Grace mission found 2019 to have been a record-breaking year, with the ice sheet shedding some 530 billion tonnes. That's enough meltwater running off the land into the ocean to raise global sea-levels by 1.5mm.

[sholomar]

We should keep the wind energy tax credit in place.  As someone who lives in the great plains I can tell you that there is more than enough land to place windmills to power the entire country and nobody is going to care about them visibly messing up the landscape. Try driving through south dakota using state highway 34....it's empty, vast, large, and very optimal for wind towers.  The great plains states due to their elevation, lack of trees, and chinook winds are optimal.

https://windexchange.energy.gov/maps-data/319

Edited September 17, 2020 by sholomar

[Lyubov]

One of the best things you can do for the environment is cut back on your meat consumption especially factory farmed meat. Look up how much water goes into making a McDonald's cheese burger.

[Opo]

8 minutes ago, Lyubov said:

One of the best things you can do for the environment is cut back on your meat consumption especially factory farmed meat. Look up how much water goes into making a McDonald's cheese burger.

Wouldn't that water come back in one way or another?

It's just moving the water, it's not like they're destroying it. 

[Lyubov]

1 hour ago, Opo said:

Wouldn't that water come back in one way or another?

It's just moving the water, it's not like they're destroying it. 

A lot of it has to do with depleting clean water supplies. It isn't as simple as it just coming back through rain. It's incredibly wasteful and very damaging to the environment to upkeep factory farming of meat. Tons and tons of greenhouse emissions are put out through factory farming methods. A lot of it has to do with the land as well which could be used for forrest but instead is used for cows. Watch the video posted above. It briefly explains it.  

Edited September 17, 2020 by Lyubov

[abundance]

20 hours ago, datamonster said:

@abundance Thanks for sharing!

I think the best we can do as individuals to help solve this is to change our consumption habits. 

Especially our diets have a huge impact since we eat three times a day and the food industry is so unsustainable.

Here's a short clip the WEF posted recently about how changing the way we eat can help.

 

Thanks for sharing this. I decided to go vegetarian about a year ago and don't regret it. I think switching to a plant base diet is very beneficial, however the best thing we can do now is getting behind candidates and politicians who take this issue seriously. What's needed is radical change in economic policies.

[abundance]

9.17.2020

Articles & News Stories

1. New Climate Maps Show a Transformed United States

https://projects.propublica.org/climate-migration/

2. Climate change denialist given top role at major U.S. science agency

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/climate-change-denialist-given-top-role-major-us-science-agency

3. 2020 was the Hottest Summer on Record in the Northern Hemisphere

https://www.noaa.gov/news/northern-hemisphere-just-had-its-hottest-summer-on-record

4. British Military Prepares for Climate-Fueled Resource Shortages

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ep4w5j/british-military-prepares-for-climate-fueled-resource-shortages

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DocWatts]

Slightly different take on the topic, but Jared Diamond wrote a whole book  that uses a number of past societies as Case studies for how societies either succeed or fail in addressing ecological problems that threaten their existence. Excellent systems level approach towards looking at environmental issues through the lens of history, in a way that helps bring a bit of perspective on where we find ourselves today.

[Roy]

Do your best in your personal life to minimize your impact and contribution, if not for the planet but for your own mental health and conscious.............

..because yeah we are unequivocally fucked. Civilization is going to collapse in less than 50 years. Enjoy it while lasts and try to spread as much love to the world as you can in the meantime. It's the only thing any of us can do.

Edited September 17, 2020 by Roy

[DocWatts]

47 minutes ago, Roy said:

Do your best in your personal life to minimize your impact and contribution, if not for the planet but for your own mental health and conscious.............

..because yeah we are unequivocally fucked. Civilization is going to collapse in less than 50 years. Enjoy it while lasts and try to spread as much love to the world as you can in the meantime. It's the only thing any of us can do.

We don't know that; the mindset that Civilization is doomed so nothing we do matters is highly counterproductive (and I'd go so far as to argue toxic). Yes climate change is going to change the world in profound ways over the upcoming century, but we do have a choice for how to respond. Do we continue down the destructive path that led us to the point, or do we put pressure on our governments to invest in sustainable energy production and agriculture? Do we let corporations have a free reign to destroy the planet , or do we make an attempt to reign in and regulate corporations? Do we stick with the capitalist system that helped get us in to this mess, or do we evolve the system in a way that the social and environmental costs are factored in to the price you pay for something at the supermarket?

Yes civilization could collapse at some point, but that's far from inevitable. I've known a handful of conservative people with the "civilization is going to collapse regardless of what I do" mindset, who use that as a rationalization for their highly selfish and short sighted behavior. 

Edited September 17, 2020 by DocWatts
grammar

[sholomar]

On 9/17/2020 at 3:40 AM, Lyubov said:

One of the best things you can do for the environment is cut back on your meat consumption especially factory farmed meat. Look up how much water goes into making a McDonald's cheese burger.

Replacing almond milk with cashew milk or better yet soy milk would also be water friendly. Almonds take lots of water to grow, and in a part of the country (California) that doesn't have reliable precipitation.   I have cut back on meat just because of the book "How Not to Die" .. I just feel better when I only eat it once or twice a week.  There's so many multi-grain products and plant based proteins along with spices like cinnamon, ginger, cocoa, etc. that can make eating plant based really delicious. A vitamix is also a great tool for the plant based eater. 

 

[abundance]

9.19.2020

Articles & News Stories

 

1. A 12-storey pig farm: has China found the way to tackle animal disease?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/18/a-12-storey-pig-farm-has-china-found-a-way-to-stop-future-pandemics-

2. Siberia landscape scarred by climate change

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-54195656

3. Gas Companies Are Abandoning Their Wells, Leaving Them to Leak Methane Forever

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-09-17/abandoned-gas-wells-are-left-to-spew-methane-for-eternity?srnd=premium

 

 

[abundance]

On 9/17/2020 at 11:59 AM, DocWatts said:

Slightly different take on the topic, but Jared Diamond wrote a whole book  that uses a number of past societies as Case studies for how societies either succeed or fail in addressing ecological problems that threaten their existence. Excellent systems level approach towards looking at environmental issues through the lens of history, in a way that helps bring a bit of perspective on where we find ourselves today.

Thanks for sharing this. I purchased this on Audible a while back but never got around to giving it a listen.

 

[No Self]

This is a very interesting topic, though I don't think there is any lack of science-based alarmism in the world. The problem is that a majority of the world's population seems to be psychologically immune to caring.

Before I begin, these are some of the actions that I take:

* Vegetarian of 20 years and counting

* Can go for weeks at a time without using the car

* Solar panels combined with extremely miserly electricity use means that I export roughly 10 times as much energy to the grid as I use from it

* No pets, no kids, little or no airplane use and artful minimisation of consumerism

Each of the above points could be a long discussion in its own right. Also, each point contributes to my valiant attempts at attaining financial independence, so is not solely ecologically motivated. If funds allowed, I would go much further with an all-electric home, more solar, home batteries, an EV, water tanks and so on... 

You will also notice the theme of a miserable, stingy lifestyle (or, theoretically, not living at all) being aligned with the best climate action, except perhaps for the wealthy, Tesla-driving types who can afford technology that will ultimately need to be made universal. The process of rolling out sustainable technology in every sector is where the political battleground is being fought. This leads me onto the points I wanted to raise:

The tragedy of commons

This term refers to a situation where personal interest clashes with societal interest. For example, it is in the interests of the individual to pay as little tax as possible so as to maximise individual personal wealth, security, comfort and empowerment. It is in the interests of society for as much tax as possible to be paid so as to fund projects benefitting all, such as infrastructure and public health services. A good government strikes the right balance.

Baby Boomer psychology

[Note: it is not appropriate to disrespect any particular individual for being a part of an age, gender or other group.]

Following the misery of the 1930s economic crisis and the horror of WWII, a huge number of children were born, perhaps to compensate for the millions that had died. The new generation did not experience the aforementioned tragedies, nor the way that communities came together in their battles to survive dreadful conditions. In contrast, the feel-good, self-centered cultures of the '60s - sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll - railed against war and all seemed well, but this pleasure-seeking mentality carried a hidden time bomb.

Donning business suits and putting guitars in closets, the same generation later grew up to give rise to the 'decade of greed' as 1980s corporatism ran wild. In 1990s America, they demanded tax cuts which effectively set up their children to have to pay off debts now in the dozens of trillions of dollars. As ageing folks, they demand top government services and couldn't care less about the environment as they will not live to see the consequences.

They also get furious when their narcissistic legacy is called into question, often aligning themselves with Trump's anti-ecological stance to legitimise their selfish philosophy and to further punish their bratty grandchildren for feeling entitled to clean air, a safe climate and no Holocene mass extinction. All in all, it is easy to see the large-scale effect of poor parenting in the 1950s-1970s, and we effectively have to wait until younger generations are old enough to outnumber their elders in the political process.

Parent psychology

Human biology is all about survival, and being a parent is an enormous biological drive. The desire for children is only viewed negatively by hardcore environmentalist intellectuals who are concerned by unmoderated human population growth. Stopping people from procreating would amount to a human rights violation, and this isn't even a comfortable thing to talk about at all.

Once children are born, it is only appropriate to give them the best life and provide abundantly. Sheltering them from the harsh outside world often necessitates climate change denial to some extent, even if not in the acute form of opposing the science. It might just mean refusing to talk or think about it; being 'too busy'. There's a desire to avoid feeling guilty which can again fuel a right-wing, business-as-usual inclination.

Christian psychology

As someone alluded to earlier, fundamentalist Christianity is often interpreted with the narrative that humanity is inherently incompetent and will fail, leading to end times and Jesus coming down to fix everything and create heaven for his followers. This is not worth going into further, as it is just another internal story that the human mind laps up to evade personal responsibility, rationalise conspicuous consumption, excuse one's self from having to contemplate difficult issues and so on. 

Hyper-masculine psychology

For some testosterone-filled young men, being associated with the nerdy science, a tree-hugging image, or the feminine-energy healing of Mother Earth runs antithetical to their mindset. Instead, the social dynamics of tribalism will naturally lead to militant opposition to ecological movements, reflected both in trolling phenomena such as 'rolling coal' as well as voting against their own socioeconomic interests by supporting the fossil fuel lobby. One could blame those young men, or the equivalent young women who reinforce and reward this paleolithic masculinity with sex, but it is better to recognise the universal tragedy of intrinsic human biology/psychology running contrary to the needs of the biosphere at large. The old tragedy of commons yet again.

To end on a positive note, clean energy and movements to protect flora and fauna - commonsense to an unbiased person with any heart, and/or an individual with any scientific understanding - are simply unstoppable. The anti-ecological movements can only slow the process. Even then, as soon as there is a leftist government installed (maybe even Joe Biden), it will drastically accelerate the process and this progress will never be reversed.

An economy that factors in ecological reality is all that was ever needed, and now the only limitation is the batshit-crazy Trumpian politics (and equivalent national governments in Brazil, Australia, Russia, China, etc.), and the unfortunate clash of human psychology with reality that simply takes time to be resolved.

Edited September 19, 2020 by No Self
Grammar Nazism

[DocWatts]

32 minutes ago, No Self said:

As someone alluded to earlier, fundamentalist Christianity is often interpreted with the narrative that humanity is inherently incompetent and will fail, leading to end times and Jesus coming down to fix everything and create heaven for his followers. This is not worth going into further, as it is just another internal story that the human mind laps up to evade personal responsibility, rationalise conspicuous consumption, excuse one's self from having to contemplate difficult issues and so on. 

Very well thought out post. I'd like to take a moment to give recognition and praise to the current Pope, Pope Francis, for using his position of authority to advocate for urgent action to combat Climate Change; framing it as an issue of social justice that the world's poorest people will end up shouldering the burden of. Mad props to the guy for using his religious authority to advocate for social responsibility. 

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06082020/climate-change-pope-francis

Edited September 19, 2020 by DocWatts

[georgefernandis]

Fall in love by reading the best love and success quotes here. Best good morning, good night status.  motivational quotes hindi