There Will Be No New Normal

 

At least five people have been found dead in Italy following violent storms in the north and wildfires in Sicily.

The government is considering declaring a state of emergency in the hardest-hit regionshttps://t.co/5JRVjmA9jv pic.twitter.com/sWzTqYBRHV

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 26, 2023

I've been to Sicily a couple of times and it is fiercely beautiful. I am heartbroken for what is happening. The temperature in Palermo a couple of days ago was 47°C, which is astonishing not only because it is a local record, but because it is a record likely to be demolished soon. 

(Giorgia Meloni has said fine things about environmentalism that she certainly doesn't believe because the fascisti attitude is ne me frego.)

Algeria is facing wildfires and temperatures of about 120° F. The heat index at the Persian Gulf airport in Iran reached 152° F. These are conditions that suggest an unlivable future. 

Scientists are saying that there is no "new normal"--the term is a lie. We won't really have time to acclimate to anything we are seeing because it will just change faster than we can get used to it. I've been staring at this idea unable to strike another mode than elegiac. Or at least poetic. I don't want to succumb to "doomerism". The problem is that I understand enough of biology to know that if ocean temps are over 100° F this is very bad for cold-blooded things. And then, warm-blooded things. It's like feeling a mass disturbance in the Force. 

But back to the presentiment of doom--I don't know how we walk back tipping points we might have already crossed. The idea that the Gulf Stream collapses during my lifetime is not something I have words for. Poetic or otherwise.

Those things are hard to fathom (though we need to figure out how to), but in the meantime, if we value eating, if we value culture, if we value any of the standard of living we associate with civilization, we need to reckon with the idea that some sacrifices must be made now to prevent the losses of things beyond price. Not for the sake of our great-grandchildren. I'm talking about the intolerable conditions we will spend what we have of our old age in. 

Climate Sunday: The Die-Off Horror Show

 

We have a problem in the sea with our crustaceans.  It isn't a local thing--it is happening elsewhere as well.  I've long worried that the worst of the current extinction event would focus on the sea, because land-based humans don't understand the seriousness of the nautical ecosystem to their existence. 

But it is real, and necessary. And parts of our necessary aquaculture are dying. 

A lot of this is about dumping waste into the ecosystem. And this is something we could easily stop doing. But we are in an extinction event currently we didn"t even plan to be in,  and have only so many ways to sort ourselves out of. I am 50 years old and know that half the world's species have stopped being viable in my lifetime. 

We need to become more mindful custodians of the planet we live on. I don't think we can survive any other way. 

Climate Sunday: Mike Huckabee's Sunburn Edition

They believe climate change is a greater threat than Islamic extremism, that a sunburn is worse than a beheading. It's nonsense! #DemDebate

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) October 14, 2015

Welcome to another edition of our Sunday Climate Round-up, this time named after Mike Huckabee's go-to "hot take" on how terrorism is scarier than...a sunburn, which is what absolutely no one who is discussing climate change is seriously talking about, ever. But I'll bite, because I've hit this one before, poll your friends and neighbors and see who can admit to having had a really terrible sunburn. Go on to see how many of them have had a skin lesion looked at or removed.

Now think about how many of your friends and neighbors have been beheaded. Statistically, it is way more likely for a US American that everyone you know has had sunburn, and a few of them have had something suspicious scraped. Skin cancer is pretty scary. But you are less likely to know someone who was beheaded by terrorists--which isn't to minimize the threat of terror at all, only to put it in perspective.

Fascinating Sea Stuff!

I hide it pretty well, but I am a big old animal lover and sometime-science freak. I find the ocean especially fascinating because there is so much to be explored, and because of the extremes of temperature and pressure at which we find sea life. (I also find there to be a kind of race-against-time aspect in oceanic zoology in that we are in the midst of a great anthropogenic extinction--but the realization that creatures can and have adapted to conditions we would consider bizarre is somewhat heartening.)

So bear with my geeking out over a handful of stories I came across this week--like, what on earth is up with the octopus genome? Some scientists have declared that the octopus is like an alien, having great genetic complexity (something like 10K more genes than your humble homo sapiens has), a fairly clever brain and remarkable camouflage skills. I remember Paul the octopus, who predicted soccer games, which is not even something you'd think an octopus would be especially informed about. Frankly, it makes me feel a little guilty about how much I like eating the buggers. (I'm also a fan of calamari fritti, although I don't think a plate of architeuthis would go down well, even with breading and marinara!)

Sort of speaking of my Italian accented eating habits--a flying (swimming?) spaghetti monster has been spotted. A bundle of rhyzophysid siphoniphores (say that five times real fast, I dare you!) might look like an organized pot of vermicelli, but I don't think I'm eating them--once again, not even with marinara and bread crumbs. These guys were found at 4K feet under the ocean. They don't seem like a likely pasta-substitute for paleo peeps anyway. I'm reasonably sure cavemen never, uh, fathomed they existed.

Here's another sea-science tidbit--it seems like some marine animals might be adapting to ocean acidification by taking more time to nurture their young. This is kind of fascinating, because we actually have a changing environment and it gives us ample opportunity to view how species do adapt, or don't and might die. But there is an interesting turn here--as mammals ourselves, we take nurturing of young for granted, but it is the basis for transmission of a kind of culture. Imagine how it might work out for clever animals like octopi to transmit acquired knowledge from generation to generation. One thing we have seen over time is that some animals respond evolutionarily by breeding larger, with an understood increase in brain weight and complexity.

I'm not exactly saying "Hail our new giant octopus overlords!", but I'm not exactly not saying it. If this goes as I'm modeling, I just want to say I am all the sorry emotionally possible about enjoying my niece-in-law's tuna and octopus salad so much that I ate three plates of it. If I do get to Italy this year, I probably will still eat all the damn fish (there may be a hiccup in my intended travel plans--which I trust means at least I don't have an undue hiatus in my bloggery), but I guess I'll do it mindfully? Our life aquatic could also be sentient-adjacent. Which is wild and troubling to contemplate.

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.

Still Mad About the BP Spill

 

Deepwater Horizon oil spill contributed to high number of Gulf dolphin deaths

They are also dying because of the pipeline spill in California. 

Our petroleum addiction is no good for other living things. (It's also not so great for us.)

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.

Five Years Since the BP Gulf Oil Spill

A BP spokesperson says that by now, the stuff that washes up is probably safe and they just don't think the spill is what made the oyster yield go away, but I have my suspicions that they might be putting a spin on things. At four years out, several species were determined to be seriously impacted by the spill. The region hasn't really recovered.

I can't help comparing it to the Exxon Valdez spill. The area stayed a mess and the health of the people who were involved in the cleanup suffered over the long term. I worry what will be facing people exposed to the oil and the chemicals like Corexit in the future. And I don't really trust the industry to do all they should to make sure disasters like this don't happen again, not just because of the damage to the environment and the impact of the cleanup, but because of the safety of workers like those who lost their lives when the rig blew.

Five years later, the events still make me sad and angry.

Climate Monday--10 Million Gallons of Oil on the Seafloor

Or you can look here. Basically, the Gulf of Mexico has so much oil still there--not to be pumped, and not really to be cleaned up either. Tar balls still wash up from time to time.  But it isn't going to just go away.

I think deep oil drilling is pretty dumb considering what we are already doing to the oceans in terms of acidification and overfishing. We really don't need to be spilling more oil down there, too. And I am very critical of Obama for allowing it to continue--regardless of the pressure. Because the reality--the sea covers most of the Earth, and is a bigger ecosystem than we enjoy on land. But even so, us land animals need the sea ecosystem to be functional to enjoy our existence. Our disrespect for the oceans is messing with sea birds, polar bears, seals, whales, dolphins, and our own fishing communities.


And I would bet the stupid and well-paid among us would still like to lick corporate ass for the pleasure of the environmental abuse.

Climate Sunday: We're Losing Our Neighbors

This sounds like one of the most amazing and horrifying things, but wildlife numbers have declined by 50% in the last 44 years.  But when you consider that we are losing the coral reefs, we are losing the fish, and the frogs, and our fellow primates, and the majestic elephants,  and the birds. Oh, it starts to seem all too real.

And it's all because of various forms of human fuckery.

You know, even if asshats go out of their way to close their eyes to the reality of climate change, the idea that we are killing this planet species by species should really disturb us.

Save the Polyps--

Very few of our industries are sustainable--when we harm the least of our species on this planet, we stand to do harm to all of our species. We need to avoid overfishing, poor irrigation/fertilization farming methods and reduce CO2 emissions to cut down on ocean acidification, among other things, to preserve an important part of our oceanic ecosystem. Those goals are kind of overarching and remote to regular people, but what it means in little is--take a hard look at fish aquacultures and whether we can sustainably maintain our consumption of them (or whether we need to rely on better farming of land-based protein sources). We need to use land better and that does not mean "better living through chemicals." When I visited my folks in Calabria, I was surprised by the non-bougie use of composting. It was just a regular thing. Although in Pennsylvania I don't have quite the same climate benefit, I have determined yard wastes aren't a bad start for mulch. Seriously--we live in communities where organic material is bagged and landfilled like it somehow wasn't part of the circle of life. Peels and cores and whatnot are still full of minerals that could go back to the soils they came from.

And we need to be more energy-smart. Maybe it means conservation, or alternate fuel sources, or just lowering carbon use by making machines better. But if we can prevent whole ecosystems from dying--what shouldn't we do, really?  Doesn't it make sense to do all we can?