Tag: climate change

Trump’s flunky refuses to sign Arctic Climate Declaration

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Mandel Ngan/Pool

❝ The United States has refused to sign an agreement on challenges in the Arctic due to discrepancies over climate change wording, diplomats said on Tuesday, jeopardizing cooperation in the polar region at the sharp edge of global warming.

❝ With Arctic temperatures rising at twice the rate of the rest of the globe, the melting ice is creating potential new shipping lanes and has opened much of the world’s last untapped reserves of oil and gas to commercial exploitation .

A meeting of eight nations bordering the Arctic in Rovaniemi in Finland on Tuesday was supposed to frame a two-year agenda to balance the challenge of global warming with sustainable development of mineral wealth.

❝ But sources with knowledge of the discussions said the United States balked at signing a final declaration as it disagreed with wording that climate change was a serious threat to the Arctic.

Our pantywaist president and his pimp, Pompeo, aren’t about to admit to science when they are committed to oil and other mineral profiteers ready to strip-mine the Arctic. The two of them – Pompeo and Trump – are in a fancy dress footrace to see who is the best imitation Mussolini to run the next two or more terms as fake president.

Half of World Heritage Glacier Sites May Be Gone by 2100

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Click to enlarge — Jungfrau — Martin Price

❝ Glaciers are set to disappear completely from almost half of World Heritage sites if business-as-usual emissions continue, according to the first-ever global study of World Heritage glaciers.

The sites are home to some of the world’s most iconic glaciers, such as Grosser Aletschgletscher in the Swiss Alps, Khumbu Glacier in the Himalayas, and Greenland’s Jakobshavn Isbrae…

❝ The study in the AGU journal Earth’s Future…combines data from a global glacier inventory, a review of existing literature and sophisticated computer modeling to analyze the current state of World Heritage glaciers, their recent evolution, and their projected mass change over the 21st century.

I spent some truly enjoyable time camped on the climbing approaches to the Jungfrau decades ago. Now, I wish I’d kept the photos I took. I never thought I’d be witnessing the early stages of the death of so much natural beauty at the hands of corporate carbon profiteers and their political pimps.

Oceans are becoming stormier

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❝ Earth’s oceans have become stormier since 1985, according to a study published Thursday in Science. In the most extreme places, wind speed and wave height rose by about 5 to 8 percent.

If this trend continues, it could exacerbate the effects of sea level rise, including floods that damage coastal communities and natural ecosystems…

❝ The authors said the precise role that climate change is playing in this trend is still unclear, because interactions between the oceans, the atmosphere, and global climate are so complex. It’s possible that the seas are becoming stormier due to warming temperatures, and that stormier conditions in turn contribute to extreme weather events.

Of course, the creeps at the top of the chain of command governing reactionary politics aren’t about to risk their butts working at any tough, dangerous job. If they work for a living at all.

Arctic temperatures warmest in over 10,000 years

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Clement Sabourin/AFP

❝ Arctic temperatures are the warmest in more than 10,000 years, speeding the thaw of permafrost in Canada’s North, shows climate research out of the University of Alberta.

“We’ve known that the last few decades have been very warm. But we’ve found that temperatures are on the order of two degrees Celsius warmer than any time in the last 10,000 years — that was a surprise,” Duane Froese, professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science, and Canada Research Chair in Northern Environmental Change…

❝ The study found that previous record highs occurred during the early Holocene period — around 9,900 and 6,400 years ago. But even without the unique circumstances of that period, when the Earth’s axis was more strongly directed toward the sun, current Arctic temperatures have exceeded those records.

“All indications from this new study are that temperatures and the impacts of recent warming are only picking up and getting stronger,” said Froese. “We are moving into uncharted waters with respect to climate change in the North.”

Gee, I hope this doesn’t upset the Trump supporters who are dedicated to searching for “science” that backs the fantasies of their Great Leader.

Climate change protesters get semi-naked in House of Commons

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❝ A dozen climate change protesters have been arrested after activists a including a counsellor and a retired charity chief executive stripped off in the House of Commons public gallery.

The activists from Extinction Rebellion stripped to their underwear and glued their hands to surfaces in an attempt to draw attention to the “elephant in the room”.

❝ The 14, two of whom were painted grey and wearing elephant masks, included Oliver Baines, 68, former charity chief executive, Bell Selkie, 48, a counsellor, Isla Macleod, 34, a celebrant, Iggy Fox, 24, a wildlife biologist and William Cooke, 36, former teacher and Mark Øvland, 35.

Extinction Rebellion have publicly stated their aim is to get activists arrested and even sent to prison to draw attention to their cause.

RTFA. Reflect upon the commitment these folks are making to all of our lives.