Climate Change / Global Warming Discussion

[Raffy.Roma]

Smoke Blankets Venezuela

Drought and heat have fueled unusually high numbers of fires in the South American country during the first three months of 2024.

earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Venezuela’s dry season typically extends from December to March with heavy rains returning in April and May. The country’s fire season generally follows the same pattern, with the number of fires observed by satellites tending to rise in January, peak in March, and drop in May.

And so it went for the 2024 burning season, with one key difference. In the preceding months, unusually warm and dry weather, potentially a consequence of GLOBAL WARMING and shifting circulation and rainfall patterns associated with the ongoing El Niño, parched the country’s landscapes and primed them to burn.

(NASA Source)

 

[mspohr]

The world has set aside $7 trillion to do this for the planet: it turns out we have only accelerated global warming - ECONews

Global warming is costing $7 trillion, and we didn't know it until now: this is what we've been doing and it's only ended up accelerating the problem

www.ecoticias.com

The world spent an estimated $7 trillion subsidizing the production and consumption of fossil fuels in 2022, according to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This represents the highest amount ever spent propping up the fossil fuel industry, more than double the amount spent just 5 years ago. Most of these subsidies take the form of below-market prices, tax breaks, and other incentives provided to fossil fuel producers and consumers by governments around the world. These policies encourage more fossil fuel extraction and consumption, exacerbating global warming and undermining global efforts. The subsidies artificially lower prices for fossil fuels, distorting energy markets in a way that favors carbon-intensive energy sources over renewable alternatives. Worst of all, this figure continues to grow with each Climate Summit (pending final data for 2023, which have not been checked or reviewed by the wall).

The burning of coal, oil, and gas is a major contributor to air pollution and causes millions of premature deaths each year. The particulates, smog, and other toxins released can lead to respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other ailments, like pandemics (do you know what we are talking about). Beyond the human impacts, the extraction, transportation, and consumption of fossil fuels also damages ecosystems, reduces biodiversity, and exacerbates global warming through greenhouse gas emissions. Tallying up the environmental degradation and health burdens makes clear that subsidizing fossil fuels has high costs. That we have spent $7 trillion on degrading our ecosystems, funding polluting power plants and bringing back the dreaded nuclear power is serious. However, it is even more serious that we still have not found a solution to this circumstance. Then we will be surprised that global warming is getting worse, and that the forecasts are getting harsher.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Study says since 1979 climate change has made heat waves last longer, spike hotter, hurt more people

A new study says climate change is making giant heat waves crawl slower across the globe and they are baking more people for a longer time with higher temperatures over larger areas.

apnews.com

Climate change is making giant heat waves crawl slower across the globe and they are baking more people for a longer time with higher temperatures over larger areas, a new study finds.

Since 1979, global heat waves are moving 20% more slowly — meaning more people stay hot longer — and they are happening 67% more often, according to a study in Friday’s Science Advances. The study found the highest temperatures in the heat waves are warmer than 40 years ago and the area under a heat dome is larger.

Studies have shown heat waves worsening before, but this one is more comprehensive and concentrates heavily on not just temperature and area, but how long the high heat lasts and how it travels across continents, said study co-authors and climate scientists Wei Zhang of Utah State University and Gabriel Lau of Princeton University.

From 1979 to 1983, global heat waves would last eight days on average, but by 2016 to 2020 that was up to 12 days, the study said.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL TMC MEMBERS AND YOUR FAMILIES FROM ITALY!

 

[Raffy.Roma]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1774075753044578810

The astonishing heating of the oceans continues.

The dark red colored line in the reported graph is the Sea Surface temperature of 2024 which is updated to 28 March 2024, while the normal red colored line is the Sea Surface temperature of 2023.

You can clearly see the gap between the above mentioned lines.

The reported graph is worrisome so please don't look it up.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1774517540418359482

These 4 countries are almost entirely powered by renewable energy:
1. Iceland
2. Paraguay
3. Norway
4. Costa Rica

I invite all TMC Members to watch the reported video.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

The Upper Atmosphere Is Cooling, Prompting New Climate Concerns

A new study reaffirming that global climate change is human-made also found the upper atmosphere is cooling dramatically because of rising CO2 levels. Scientists are worried about the effect this cooling could have on orbiting satellites, the ozone layer, and Earth’s weather.

e360.yale.edu

A new study reaffirming that global climate change is human-made also found the upper atmosphere is cooling dramatically because of rising CO2 levels. Scientists are worried about the effect this cooling could have on orbiting satellites, the ozone layer, and Earth’s weather.

There is a paradox at the heart of our changing climate. While the blanket of air close to the Earth’s surface is warming, most of the atmosphere above is becoming dramatically colder. The same gases that are warming the bottom few miles of air are cooling the much greater expanses above that stretch to the edge of space.

This paradox has long been predicted by climate modelers, but only recently quantified in detail by satellite sensors. The new findings are providing a definitive confirmation on one important issue, but at the same time raising other questions.

The good news for climate scientists is that the data on cooling aloft do more than confirm the accuracy of the models that identify surface warming as human-made. A new study published this month in the journal PNAS by veteran climate modeler Ben Santer of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution found that it increased the strength of the “signal” of the human fingerprint of climate change fivefold, by reducing the interference “noise” from background natural variability. Sander says the finding is “incontrovertible.”

But the new discoveries about the scale of cooling aloft are leaving atmospheric physicists with new worries — about the safety of orbiting satellites, about the fate of the OZONE LAYER, and about the potential of these rapid changes aloft to visit sudden and unanticipated turmoil on our weather below.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1770923381698801956

Climate Change Is Causing Trees To Struggle To “Breathe”

Trees are struggling to sequester heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO₂) in warmer, drier climates, meaning that they may no longer serve as a solution for offsetting humanity’s carbon footprint as the planet continues to warm, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers.

"We found that trees in warmer, drier climates are essentially coughing instead of breathing,” said Max Lloyd assistant research professor of geosciences at Penn State and lead author on the study recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “They are sending CO₂ right back into the atmosphere far more than trees in cooler, wetter conditions.”

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Understanding climate tipping points

As the planet warms, many parts of the Earth system are undergoing large-scale changes. Ice sheets are shrinking, sea levels are rising and coral reefs are dying off.While climate records are being continuously broken, the cumulative impact of these changes could also cause fundamental parts of...

www.esa.int

As the planet warms, many parts of the Earth system are undergoing large-scale changes. Ice sheets are shrinking, sea levels are rising and coral reefs are dying off.

While climate records are being continuously broken, the cumulative impact of these changes could also cause fundamental parts of the Earth system to change dramatically. These ‘tipping points’ of climate change are critical thresholds in that, if exceeded, can lead to irreversible consequences.

While climate records are being continuously broken, the cumulative impact of these changes could also cause fundamental parts of the Earth system to change dramatically. These ‘tipping points’ of climate change are critical thresholds in that, if exceeded, can lead to irreversible consequences.

In essence, climate tipping points are elements of the Earth system in which small changes can kick off reinforcing loops that ‘tip’ a system from one stable state into a profoundly different state.

For example, a rise in global temperatures because of fossil fuel burning, further down the line, triggers a change like a rainforest becoming a dry savannah. This change is propelled by self-perpetuating feedback loops, even if what was driving the change in the system stops. The system – in this case the forest – may remain ‘tipped’ even if the temperature falls below the threshold again.

(ESA Source)

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Election of Donald Trump ‘could put world’s climate goals at risk’

Former UN climate chief warns of global impact of a possible regression in US green policies

www.theguardian.com

Victory for Donald Trump in the US presidential election this year could put the world’s climate goals at risk, a former UN climate chief has said.

The chances of limiting global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels are already slim, and Trump’s antipathy to climate action would have a major impact on the US, which is the world’s second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and biggest oil and gas exporter, said Patricia Espinosa, who served as the UN’s top official on the climate from 2016 to 2022.

“I worry [about the potential election of Trump] because it would have very strong consequences, if we see a regression regarding climate policies in the US,” Espinosa said.

Although Trump’s policy plans are not clear, conversations with his circle have created a worrying picture that could include the cancellation of Joe Biden’s groundbreaking climate legislation, withdrawal from the Paris agreement and a push for more drilling for oil and gas.

Espinosa said: “We are not yet aligned to 1.5C. That’s the reality. So if we see a situation where we would see regression on those efforts, then [the likelihood of staying within 1.5C] is very limited. It would certainly be a much bigger risk.

"We could see a slowdown, an even bigger slowdown [in action to reduce emissions], which would unfortunately probably take us to an even more terrible scenario, unless we see strong leadership coming from other places, [such as] Europe.”

She said other countries must continue with climate action even if the US were to renege on its goals under Trump, but the absence of the US would be a significant blow. “What happens in the US has a very big impact in so many places around the world,” she said.

As it is known I always stated that the Climate Change issue has no political color.
But I decided to report this article of "The Guardian" because IMO the potential withdrawal of the USA from the Paris Agreement, that Mr Trump already did in 2017, is a fact which could affect too much negatively the Climate Change issue at Global Level especially now that the threshold of 1.5°C set by the Agreement of Paris has been overtaken. (Last year Global Temperature Deviation 1.57°C)

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Election of Donald Trump ‘could put world’s climate goals at risk’

Former UN climate chief warns of global impact of a possible regression in US green policies

www.theguardian.com

Victory for Donald Trump in the US presidential election this year could put the world’s climate goals at risk, a former UN climate chief has said.

The chances of limiting global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels are already slim, and Trump’s antipathy to climate action would have a major impact on the US, which is the world’s second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and biggest oil and gas exporter, said Patricia Espinosa, who served as the UN’s top official on the climate from 2016 to 2022.

“I worry [about the potential election of Trump] because it would have very strong consequences, if we see a regression regarding climate policies in the US,” Espinosa said.

Although Trump’s policy plans are not clear, conversations with his circle have created a worrying picture that could include the cancellation of Joe Biden’s groundbreaking climate legislation, withdrawal from the Paris agreement and a push for more drilling for oil and gas.

Espinosa said: “We are not yet aligned to 1.5C. That’s the reality. So if we see a situation where we would see regression on those efforts, then [the likelihood of staying within 1.5C] is very limited. It would certainly be a much bigger risk.

"We could see a slowdown, an even bigger slowdown [in action to reduce emissions], which would unfortunately probably take us to an even more terrible scenario, unless we see strong leadership coming from other places, [such as] Europe.”

She said other countries must continue with climate action even if the US were to renege on its goals under Trump, but the absence of the US would be a significant blow. “What happens in the US has a very big impact in so many places around the world,” she said.

As it is known I always stated that the Climate Change issue has no political color.
But I decided to report this article of "The Guardian" because IMO the potential withdrawal of the USA from the Paris Agreement, that Mr Trump already did in 2017, is a fact which could affect too much negatively the Climate Change issue at Global Level especially now that the threshold of 1.5°C set by the Agreement of Paris has been overtaken. (Last year Global Temperature Deviation 1.57°C)

To this concern I wish to report this statement done by Mr Donald Trump on June 1, 2017.

In a televised announcement from the White House Rose Garden on June 1, 2017, Trump said, "In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect the United States and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord," adding "The bottom line is that the Paris accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States."

 

[Raffy.Roma]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1766812919247802579

"IPCC is wrong - we need a one degree limit on warming. Anything more than one degree could lead to a disaster."

Dr. James Hansen NASA Scientist
Columbia University 2013

So according to Dr. James Hansen, NASA Scientist, a Global Temperature Deviation of 1°C IS ALREADY TOO MUCH, while the Paris Agreement set a threshold of 1.5°C for the Global Temperature Deviation and we have already overtaken such a threshold of 1.5°C in last 12 months.

I invite whoever thinks that I am alarmist, as I have been defined yesterday, to read this post.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1774778954735350008

Dr. James Hansen is right. The IPCC models are NOT trustworthy, because they're missing a well-documented, critical climate feedback: the ALBEDO FEEDBACK LOOP.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1774778954735350008

Dr. James Hansen is right. The IPCC models are NOT trustworthy, because they're missing a well-documented, critical climate feedback: the ALBEDO FEEDBACK LOOP.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1770443836260835776

The Earth's ALBEDO (reflectivity) hit a new record low in January 2024 now at 28.77%.
Wish to remind that the lowering ALBEDO is kicking in a Feedback Loop adding further Energy Imbalance to that already produced by the GHE.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1774778954735350008

Dr. James Hansen is right. The IPCC models are NOT trustworthy, because they're missing a well-documented, critical climate feedback: the ALBEDO FEEDBACK LOOP.

"IPCC is wrong - we need a one degree limit on warming. Anything more than one degree could lead to a disaster."

Dr. James Hansen NASA Scientist
Columbia University 2013

 

[Raffy.Roma]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1774778954735350008

Dr. James Hansen is right. The IPCC models are NOT trustworthy, because they're missing a well-documented, critical climate feedback: the ALBEDO FEEDBACK LOOP.

Think that the IPCC should recognize that Dr. James Hansen is right and the threshold of 1.5°C for the Global Temperature Deviation set by the Agreement of Paris should be reviewed.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

What frightens me about the climate crisis is we don’t know how bad things really are | Roger Harrabin

As the barrage of bad news from places like Greece continues, all we can be certain of is there are many surprises lying ahead, says analyst Roger Harrabin

www.theguardian.com

As the barrage of bad news from places like Greece continues, all we can be certain of is there are many surprises lying ahead.

Over the past few decades, climate scientists have made huge strides in understanding the future climate. But after recent weeks of extreme heat and devastating floods it’s clear that, although climate models have provided good information about overall rising temperatures, they can’t be sure what level of destruction each notch on the thermometer will bring.

Climate modelling is extremely complex, but its fundamentals rely on basic physics – X tonnes of emissions will bring Y increase in temperature, with some error bars. Supercomputers have been able to factor in shifts in land use that will change the reflectivity of the Earth’s surface. Improved temperature records helped verify their findings.

But lately, leading researchers have made a painful confession: even their most sophisticated models can’t yet foresee exactly how Earth systems will respond to those higher temperatures.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1774690917271605486

As I said many times the Climate Change issue has no political color. So I am reporting this tweet only in the interest of the Climate Change issue.

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump have decided to make electric cars central to their campaigns. Biden is doing this by promoting his administration’s efforts to expand EV production and ownership, and Trump is doing this by attacking those efforts.

IMO if Arnold Schwarzenegger was running for President rather than Trump also the Republican candidate would have been positive for electric cars. As I said the Climate Change issue has no political color. It's only a matter of good will.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Satellites increasingly critical to monitor ocean health

Playing a huge role in moderating the climate, oceans are fundamental to the functioning of our planet. Understanding more about how seawater temperatures are rising and how oceans are absorbing excess atmospheric carbon dioxide, as well as knock-on issues such as ocean acidification, is key for...

www.esa.int

Playing a huge role in moderating the climate, oceans are fundamental to the functioning of our planet. Understanding more about how seawater temperatures are rising and how oceans are absorbing excess atmospheric carbon dioxide, as well as knock-on issues such as ocean acidification, is key for understanding climate change and for taking effective action.

A recent scientific paper highlights just how satellites are becoming increasingly important in providing unique information on ocean health to guide climate mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Oceans are soaking up around 90% of the extra heat (Energy Imbalance) in the atmosphere caused by greenhouse-gas emissions from human activity, and they are also drawing down almost 30% of the carbon dioxide we pump into the atmosphere causing the Ocean Acidification issue.

(ESA Source)

 

[Raffy.Roma]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1775118948117426364

March 2024 came in with a Global Temperature Deviation of 1.68°C, making it the 10th consecutive month at an all time recorded high, and the 9th consecutive month breaking the Paris limit of 1.5°C.

Made a rough calculation and now the one-year Global Temperature Deviation should be about 1.58°C. We are overtaking the Paris limit more and more.

This post is worrisome so please don't look it up.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Michael Mann: It’s not too late to prevent climate catastrophe

“We haven’t yet exceeded the bounds of viable human civilisation”, climate scientist Michael Mann argues, “but we’re getting close.”

www.theguardian.com

Michael Mann: It’s not too late to prevent climate catastrophe

Join Mann for this livestreamed and interactive event as he discusses his latest book, Our Fragile Moment. In this sweeping work of science and history, Mann has trawled back through the Earth’s climate history in order to see our potential futures more clearly. He shows us the conditions on Earth that allowed humans not only to exist but thrive, and how we are imperilled if we veer off course. With this knowledge, he argues, we can better understand the gravity of the unfolding crisis, and what we can do about it.

Mann, distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Penn State, rose to fame with the publication of the ‘hockey stick chart’, which was the clearest evidence of the links between human emissions and global warming. In this livestreamed event he will set out the political action we need to save and shape our future.