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Climate Change / Global Warming Discussion
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mspohr
Well-Known Member
Population, climate change and inequality | Letters
Actually, resource consumption and environmental transformation are accelerating much more rapidly than population growth. Population is now the least important driver of environmental degradation, overtaken by disproportionately high consumption patterns in developed economies.
Actually, resource consumption and environmental transformation are accelerating much more rapidly than population growth. Population is now the least important driver of environmental degradation, overtaken by disproportionately high consumption patterns in developed economies.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
And what happens when an ever increasing percentage of the population becomes part of high-consuming economies?
SageBrush
REJECT Fascism
It is a terrible irony that the arguments minimizing over - population are predicated on keeping the vast majority in abject poverty.
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It’s been obvious to me for thirty years, since Kuwait:
(Gulf War - Wikipedia.
I’ve done everything possible to minimize my oil footprint for this very reason, from gardening to year round bicycling (including-25F to +115F). I still do it to this day and I’m constantly looking for more things to reduce my consumption. If everyone followed my lifestyle, the Coronavirus-induced economic crisis would look like a walk in the park. I’v actually enjoyed the quiet and reduced traffic since March. My only real change has been my bicycle route to avoid more bicyclists and pedestrians (instead of my normal avoidance of vehicle traffic).
mspohr
Well-Known Member
Not abject poverty (hyperbole much?).
Big difference between consumption of the wealthy and comfortable middle class. Also, everyone's health would be improved by adopting a vegan low consumption lifestyle.
mspohr
Well-Known Member
The promise of conventional development is that by following in the footsteps of the “developed” countries of the world, the “underdeveloped” countries can become rich and comfortable too. Poverty will be eliminated, and the problems of overpopulation and environmental degradation will be solved.
This argument, reasonable as it may seem at first glance, in fact contains an inherent flaw, even deception. The fact is that the developed nations are consuming essential industrial resources in such a way and at such rate that it is impossible for underdeveloped areas of the world to follow in their footsteps. When one-third of the world’s population consumes two-thirds of the world’s resources, and then in effect turns around and tells the others to do as they do, it is little short of a hoax.
Development is all too often a euphemism for exploitation, a new colonialism. The forces of development and modernization have pulled most people away from a sure subsistence and got them to chase after an illusion, only to fall flat on their faces, materially impoverished and psychologically disoriented. A majority are turned into slum dwellers — having left the land and their local economy to end up in the shadow of an urban dream that can never be realized.
Quoted from: Ancient Futures, Helena Norberg-Hodge, 2016 (first print 1991).
mspohr
Well-Known Member
Rising temperatures will cause more deaths than all infectious diseases – study
Rising temperatures will cause more deaths than all infectious diseases – study
The growing but largely unrecognized death toll from rising global temperatures will come close to eclipsing the current number of deaths from all the infectious diseases combined if planet-heating emissions are not constrained, a major new study has found.
Rising temperatures will cause more deaths than all infectious diseases – study
The growing but largely unrecognized death toll from rising global temperatures will come close to eclipsing the current number of deaths from all the infectious diseases combined if planet-heating emissions are not constrained, a major new study has found.
mspohr
Well-Known Member
We need forests.
In a warming world, New England's trees are storing more carbon
The study, published today in Ecological Monographs, reveals that the rate at which carbon is captured from the atmosphere at Harvard Forest nearly doubled between 1992 and 2015. The scientists attribute much of the increase in storage capacity to the growth of 100-year-old oak trees, still vigorously rebounding from colonial-era land clearing, intensive timber harvest, and the 1938 Hurricane—and bolstered more recently by increasing temperatures and a longer growing season due to climate change. Trees have also been growing faster due to regional increases in precipitation and atmospheric carbon dioxide, while decreases in atmospheric pollutants such as ozone, sulfur, and nitrogen have reduced forest stress.
In a warming world, New England's trees are storing more carbon
The study, published today in Ecological Monographs, reveals that the rate at which carbon is captured from the atmosphere at Harvard Forest nearly doubled between 1992 and 2015. The scientists attribute much of the increase in storage capacity to the growth of 100-year-old oak trees, still vigorously rebounding from colonial-era land clearing, intensive timber harvest, and the 1938 Hurricane—and bolstered more recently by increasing temperatures and a longer growing season due to climate change. Trees have also been growing faster due to regional increases in precipitation and atmospheric carbon dioxide, while decreases in atmospheric pollutants such as ozone, sulfur, and nitrogen have reduced forest stress.
mspohr
Well-Known Member
Deadly diseases from wildlife thrive when nature is destroyed, study finds
Deadly diseases from wildlife thrive when nature is destroyed, study finds
The human destruction of natural ecosystems increases the numbers of rats, bats and other animals that harbour diseases that can lead to pandemics such as Covid-19, a comprehensive analysis has found.
The research assessed nearly 7,000 animal communities on six continents and found that the conversion of wild places into farmland or settlements often wipes out larger species. It found that the damage benefits smaller, more adaptable creatures that also carry the most pathogens that can pass to humans.
Deadly diseases from wildlife thrive when nature is destroyed, study finds
The human destruction of natural ecosystems increases the numbers of rats, bats and other animals that harbour diseases that can lead to pandemics such as Covid-19, a comprehensive analysis has found.
The research assessed nearly 7,000 animal communities on six continents and found that the conversion of wild places into farmland or settlements often wipes out larger species. It found that the damage benefits smaller, more adaptable creatures that also carry the most pathogens that can pass to humans.
mspohr
Well-Known Member
Four Reasons Civilization Won’t Decline: It Will Collapse - Resilience
In short:
- Fossil Fuel
- Capitalism
- CO2
- "Human civilization’s collective capacity to confront its mounting crises is crippled by a fragmented political system of antagonistic nations ruled by corrupt elites who care more about power and wealth than people and the planet. "
In short:
- Fossil Fuel
- Capitalism
- CO2
- "Human civilization’s collective capacity to confront its mounting crises is crippled by a fragmented political system of antagonistic nations ruled by corrupt elites who care more about power and wealth than people and the planet. "
mspohr
Well-Known Member
mspohr
Well-Known Member
This is How we End Deforestation to Avert Pandemic, Climate and Societal Collapse - Resilience
In 2019, I reported on a major new study in the Global Environmental Change journal which found that between 2010 and 2014, beef and oilseed production accounted for over half of carbon emissions from tropical deforestation. The study also quantified precisely which products were more responsible for deforestation than others.
It concluded that the biggest global driver of carbon emissions induced by deforestation is beef production in Brazil, the rest of Latin America, and Africa, accounting for some 34 percent of emissions. The next major driver is from oilseeds products such as vegetable oils, at around 20 percent.
In 2019, I reported on a major new study in the Global Environmental Change journal which found that between 2010 and 2014, beef and oilseed production accounted for over half of carbon emissions from tropical deforestation. The study also quantified precisely which products were more responsible for deforestation than others.
It concluded that the biggest global driver of carbon emissions induced by deforestation is beef production in Brazil, the rest of Latin America, and Africa, accounting for some 34 percent of emissions. The next major driver is from oilseeds products such as vegetable oils, at around 20 percent.
mspohr
Well-Known Member
Greenland's ice sheet has melted to a point of no return, according to new study
Greenland's ice sheet has melted to a point of no return, and efforts to slow global warming will not stop it from disintegrating. That's according to a new study by researchers at Ohio State University.
Ice melting in Greenland contributes more than a millimeter rise to sea level every year, and that's likely to get worse. Sea levels are projected to rise by more than 3 feet by the end of the century, wiping away beaches and coastal properties
Greenland's ice sheet has melted to a point of no return, and efforts to slow global warming will not stop it from disintegrating. That's according to a new study by researchers at Ohio State University.
Ice melting in Greenland contributes more than a millimeter rise to sea level every year, and that's likely to get worse. Sea levels are projected to rise by more than 3 feet by the end of the century, wiping away beaches and coastal properties
mspohr
Well-Known Member
Extreme weather just devastated 10m acres in the midwest. Expect more of this | Art Cullen
A multi-decade drought is under way in the Central Plains and the south-west. Wildfires are spreading from Arizona to California, and are burning ridges north of Los Angeles not licked by flames since 1968. Cattle in huge Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma feedlots will drink the Ogallala Aquifer dry in 20 years. This drought, which could rival or exceed the Medieval Drought that occurred about AD1200, could last 30 to 50 years, according to research from the Goddard Space Institute. It will become difficult to grow corn in southern Iowa, and impossible in western Kansas. By mid-century, corn yields could decline by 30%, according to the Iowa State University climatologist Dr Gene Takle.
The impacts of climate change are real and profound for our most basic industry: food. Fortunately, sound science tells us that we can make a real impact on climate change by planting less corn and more grass that sequesters carbon. Paying farmers to build soil health and retain water is a better investment than writing a crop insurance check for drought. Farmers on the frontlines of climate change are trying to become more resilient to extreme weather by planting permanent grass strips in crop fields, and planting cover crops for the winter that suck up nitrogen and CO2. The rate of adaptation would be quickened if conservation funding programs were not always under attack.
A multi-decade drought is under way in the Central Plains and the south-west. Wildfires are spreading from Arizona to California, and are burning ridges north of Los Angeles not licked by flames since 1968. Cattle in huge Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma feedlots will drink the Ogallala Aquifer dry in 20 years. This drought, which could rival or exceed the Medieval Drought that occurred about AD1200, could last 30 to 50 years, according to research from the Goddard Space Institute. It will become difficult to grow corn in southern Iowa, and impossible in western Kansas. By mid-century, corn yields could decline by 30%, according to the Iowa State University climatologist Dr Gene Takle.
The impacts of climate change are real and profound for our most basic industry: food. Fortunately, sound science tells us that we can make a real impact on climate change by planting less corn and more grass that sequesters carbon. Paying farmers to build soil health and retain water is a better investment than writing a crop insurance check for drought. Farmers on the frontlines of climate change are trying to become more resilient to extreme weather by planting permanent grass strips in crop fields, and planting cover crops for the winter that suck up nitrogen and CO2. The rate of adaptation would be quickened if conservation funding programs were not always under attack.
mspohr
Well-Known Member
https://phys.org/news/2020-08-climate-expose-epidemics.html
Climate change—already wreaking havoc with one degree Celsius of warming—is also emerging as a driver of infectious disease, whether by expanding the footprint of malaria- and dengue-carrying mosquitos, or defrosting prehistoric pathogens from the Siberian permafrost.
Climate change—already wreaking havoc with one degree Celsius of warming—is also emerging as a driver of infectious disease, whether by expanding the footprint of malaria- and dengue-carrying mosquitos, or defrosting prehistoric pathogens from the Siberian permafrost.
Much, much before that:
1953- US-led over through of elected Prime Minister Mossadegh
64 Years Later, CIA Finally Releases Details of Iranian Coup
late 1920's to mid 1930's:
The very formation of Saudi Arabia and Aramco were completely entertwined with US foreign policy. Much of the detailed documentation of those events si quite scattered and generally discouraged, especially in The Kingdom and among US Petroleum industry. Here is the Offical word:
https://www.aramco.com/en/who-we-are/overview/our-history
It is hardly possible to exaggerate the importance of the petroleum industry in 20th century world politics. It is not much less influential today.
The Gulf War really was the direct result of the incompetence of April Glaspie and James Baker. There is some revisionist history these days, but without much question it happened because those two people did not directly tell Saddam Hussein that he could not mess with Kuwait. The Wiki isn't perfect but it's mostly correct, IMHO:
April Glaspie - Wikipedia
I spent most of the 1970's and early 1980's living in Iran, Bahrain, the UAE (Dubai, Sharjah) and later even Yemen. During that time I dealt with many of the players while a banker. I am thus very opinionated, which in this case does not mean I'm wrong.
If the world has not other reason to seek renewable energy from solar and wind the geopolitics of fossil fuels should be convincing proof that fossil fuels corrupt the globe political and economically not just physically. As TSLA nears it's all time high again, there is no better time to reflect on the cost of failure to change. As much of the world is baking and burning. there is no better time to recall all the prices to humanity of mindless devotion to fossil fuels. Timely also since the US is now about to begin drilling in the Arctic Wildife Refuge.
I admit it: this is mostly off topic and should be elsewhere.
Savings if 25% or 75% of cars were electric:
Widespread electric vehicle adoption would save billions of dollars, thousands of lives: Study finds improved air quality would avoid health and climate damages
Widespread electric vehicle adoption would save billions of dollars, thousands of lives: Study finds improved air quality would avoid health and climate damages
mspohr
Well-Known Member
A new study found that if EVs replaced 25% of combustion-engine cars currently on the road, the United States would save approximately $17 billion annually by avoiding damages from climate change and air pollution. In more aggressive scenarios -- replacing 75% of cars with EVs and increasing renewable energy generation -- savings could reach as much as $70 billion annually.
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