Marching for Science!

I will say this for the Trump Administration--lots of people are getting their exercise on--their marching feet, their exercise of free speech, their exercise of free thought. This was shown in abundance today all over with brilliant signs and support for empirical data and stuff.  Now, I don't know to what extent this will impress a group of folks in the White House who just don't seem to get it, but I think the whole thing was a great demonstration, if not for the silly people who don't realize that ones' politics doesn't affect the facts, then for people who get why science matters, and genuinely want to discuss policies that don't ignore "inconvenient truths".

(Word has it, the marches eclipsed You-Know-Who's inauguration. Period.)

Climate Sunday: I've Seen the Future and It's Murder

I'm back with another Pessimist's Club update about the planet and what we're doing to it--and this one is going out to the EPA, who couldn't very well dump bunches of heavy metal-laden mining waste into the Animas River unless it was there to be dumped, not that I'm letting them off the hook. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper drank that weird yellow water, but then he has guzzled fracking water, too. He might be a little weird. But basically, mining is dirty business for water, and the risk of contamination can continue long after mines have gone defunct.

But anyway, did you know we hit Earth Overshoot Day just recently? We're taking more from the planet then it can afford to give. When we get the bill for the overdraft fees, it's gonna be a headache.

Air pollution in China is determined to be the cause of over 4,000 deaths a day.  That's 1.6 million people a year. That's worse than a war. A lot of that problem is coal--there is no tech that makes burning that stuff 100% clean.

Rolling Stone has a pretty good article on the abundant evidence that global warming is totally a thing, which is a lot of what I've been talking about on this humble surfactant container. The title has the scariest words: The Point of No Return.

If you were wondering, was this July hot enough for ya? Goddamn it was hot enough. The hottest on record. The global heat wave is good for germs. But if you aren't a bacillus, it kind of sucks to be you. Especially if that "you" is in one of those canary in a coal mine countries that is especially hard-hit by climate change.

What do we have to do about this? Change everything. When do we have to do this? Yesterday. But I'll settle for more coalmines going bankrupt, more solar power everywhere, and a drive to treat conservation sort of how people dealt with sweetless, wheatless and meatless days during WWI and the recycling drives of WWII.  We can lick climate change! Win the global war on US with Us-Power! And let's get it done with the help of the Sun!

Climate Sunday: In Honor of Ted Cruz

 



I've been remiss in not doing more "Climate Sunday" pieces, but just recently 2016 Presidential Primary Candidate, Senator Ted Cruz explained at the Koch brothers' Freedom Partners' forum that "the facts and data don't support" climate change. He dismissed it as a hoax and also probably worked that "not a scientist" thing in there, too. Cruz isn't uneducated and he isn't stupid--but the only bit of that I'll agree with is, well, no, he certainly isn't a scientist.

So in honor of Ted Cruz and the other politicians hewing to basically that same line--this post's for you!

 

With no further ado:

Climate models are proving to be deadly accurate. We can joke about the accuracy of weather people, but in the broader sense of being accurate about overall climate, we've seen conditions shape up pretty much as climatologists have predicted. They may have actually understated the case on ocean level rising, but it certainly has happened that, while pockets like the US east coast haven't been unusually warm, most of the planet has had successively warmer years. (The impact on oceans from the melting of ice can have impacts well beyond mere water-level rises, as well.)

 

We think of the Middle East in general as pretty hot, but this week Iran's heat index was an enormous 163 degrees. I'm not sure how people can breathe or move in that kind of swelter. In neighboring Iraq, people took to the street to protest electricity shortages that have cut A/C, which is absolutely a requirement to deal with day time temperatures that have reached 120 degrees. (The electricity has never been reliable since the US invasion.) Thailand has also suffered terrible heat and drought this year, with a terrible likelihood of crop failure for their essential staple, rice.

 

Here in the US, despite some rains, the Pacific coast is still suffering from extraordinary heat conditions. It's hot enough to cause a couple hundred thousands of salmon to die. Part of the problem seems to be a "blob" of unusually warm water, which is causing the deaths of many animals in the Pacific NE ecosystem, although this condition seems to be ideal for producing a toxic algal bloom. (The West Coast isn't alone--severe algal bloom is likely for Lake Erie, as well.) Things are tellingly bad when wildfire rips through rainforest. 

Basically, the facts and data from news stories that are pretty current actually very well support the idea that the planet is warming and lots of weird stuff is going on as a result. But I'm sure the comments of Cruz and his denialist coterie sounded awfully nice to the billionaire campaign donors who were likely in attendance at that forum. And the fact that they can buy an awful lot of air time for the candidates that they favor certainly contributes something to the cause--more hot air.

Happy Earth Day, If You Want It

It makes sense that President Obama gave an address about global warming on Earth Day in the Everglades National Park, because this sensitive region has dozens of species of plant and animal life that would be impacted by sea level rise. But let's make no mistake: even if we discount the loss of irreplaceable habitat, the advance of climate change will have significant impact on the livelihood of people living in regions like Florida, with impacts to fishing, tourism, agriculture and real estate.

Addressing climate change isn't the job-killer--climate change is.

It also makes me a little happy to see the President take a message about climate change to Florida in light of word that "climate change" is forbidden as a topic of conversation for officials in that state. That strikes me as nonsensical, and even a little chilling. (Really? Recommending someone seek a mental health evaluation for indulging in a little "politically incorrect" truth-telling? That seems like some kind of Soviet tactic, to me.)  I hope the whole affair gave Governor Scott the vapors.

In other news, WI Governor and likely 2016 GOP Presidential Primary contestant Scott Walker decided Earth Day is exactly when you propose to cut 57 employees from the Department of Natural Resources. (Gov. Walker does not seem especially sentimental regarding his state's natural resources or popular input regarding them.) Wisconsin is another state where discussion of climate change has been, well, chilled. Which is a damn shame, because ground water is at risk in case of climate-change related drought even if WI is a land of lakes and streams--and as dairy country, watering and having lush grazing land for livestock is at a premium. I am a bit of a cheese fan. I would like my supply guaranteed, please.

One might take a moment to reflect that, while climate change is global, all politics is local. Responsible conservation begins with people electing responsible state government to act as stewards of the people's resources. Making the Earth cleaner, safer, less-polluted, and less at-risk of large-scale awfulness seems remote, but in many ways involves managing what you can--like not having people who regard your state as so many saleable resources to unload, as opposed to a precious place to sustain for your family and future generations to enjoy, as your governor.

Climate Sunday: A Link Round-Up

Here are a few really good reads for this Climate Sunday:

AUDIO: Why Oklahoma Lawmakers Don't Want Kids To Learn About Climate

Countdown to oblivion: The real reason we can’t stop global warming

Congressional Gridlock on Climate Change hurts US Int’l Leadership on Issue

Dr. David Suzuki Discusses the War on Climate Scientists

8 False Climate-Change-Denial Memes Debunked by Real Scientists

Climate Change Deemed Growing Security Threat by Military Researchers

THE WEST ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET MELT: DEFENDING THE DRAMA

Read, reflect, discuss, act. 

Climate Monday: Twilight of the Clods?

I know that I usually focus on the "bad news" aspect of climate change, but I think I want to be positive for a change. There's still plenty of bad news to go around, but in terms of acceptance of the science, public awareness, and vindication of it against the denialists, I think there have been some good signs that maybe humanity can grasp a clue before we are thoroughly sunk. Kind of. I guess. For a degree of "clue" that means "knocking off our shit" and "before we're thoroughly sunk" meaning "adapting to a changing environment without pretending nothing has changed/is changing". The most meaningful thing, then, that I think can happen is what I'll term "The Twilight of the Clods"--the era when denialism ceases to be even marginally persuasive to any but deliberate and obvious hacks and fringe personalities.

I think we might be getting there--for one thing, climatologist Michael Mann has been vindicated, once again, this time in a court of law.  For anyone who has followed this saga, Mann has been regularly slurred as being a fraud by denialists, even though his hockey stick graph has been virtually reproduced by other researchers looking at the data and investigations into his own work have repeatedly absolved him of any charges. It isn't enough that he has been proven right--it is meaningful that those who have tried to discredit him and his work with ad hominem attacks to skew the perception of his work, be exposed for the hacks they are.  This should go some way to those attacks no longer being repeated. (Not that bullshit can't reverberate in wingnuttia for a long time, but it would be nice to see some skullduggerous fingers well and truly slapped, and the slurs appearing in WND and not so much WSJ, you know?)

For another thing, denialists aren't really holding their own end up, what with their own end being made of sloppy bullshit, and all. I really had to link to this article as a nice account of open dialog leading to factual and earnest debunking. I'm pretty much for public spankings of contrarians when they have determined that their sense of style holds sway over facts in their presentation of information. (I feel a bit bad that I hadn't followed Matt Ridley as a science writer more--I actually have enjoyed some of his books regarding genetics, but oh well.)

Which leads me to this interesting plea from a Republican senator regarding "tolerance":

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said Thursday that people should be more open minded to differing opinions on climate change.

“At the very least, I think it’s time for some tolerance in the public discourse regarding the many scientific viewpoints on climate change. Respect should be shown to those who have done the research and come to a different conclusion,” Wicker said during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on climate science.

I find this interesting because, if anything, I've thought the media at least, showed an awful lot of "tolerance" regarding denialism, to the point of false equivalence.  If that "tolerance" is fading, it probably has a lot to do with a reservation of respect only to those who have done research that comes to a different conclusion--"Nuh-UNH!" not being a valid opposing hypothesis, and all. But I have found that denialists' version of "intolerance" seems to merely rest in having a differing view and defending it. Sen. Wicker doesn't seem to realize he's already being afforded a heaping helping of "tolerance" and the rest has to be earned. If he feels like denialists are losing...

Oh. Well.

Earth Day 2013--The Face of Climate Change

This is a nice way to look at Earth Day through many different eyes. The effects of climate change make themselves known in different ways in different parts of the world, but I contend one would have to be asleep or willfully ignorant to not notice things are changing, and we need to get a handle on it.

Climate Sunday: Dire News in the NCADAC Report

The National Climate Assessment is out, and it's a rough picture of a bleak, hot, extreme future. And yes, the concensus is, the crisis is man-made. The upper-end of actual temperature increase could be 5 to 10 degrees if no changes are made to our current rate of carbon usage. And we will see increased flooding, long droughts, and higher summer temps as a result, with serious ramifications on our food access, health--both physical and mental, and political stability. The report makes clear that we still can mitigate the projected damage by enacting policies and making choices that lower carbon emissions. I highly recommend looking the report over for a sobering look at what we're facing.

Climate Sunday: She's Alive...

The beginning of this is so beautiful; the second half so heart-breakingly sad:

Earth Day--

Just a reminder--you are a representative of a carbon-based lifeform uniquely adapted to survive in the habitats provided on, so far as we know, one planet. You are on that planet. Treat it right.

Now, carry on.