Climate Change News & Discussions

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‘Alaska’s Changing Environment’ — a New Report
December 3, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) The University of Alaska Fairbanks released a new report this week highlighting environmental changes and extremes that impact Alaskans and their livelihoods.

“Alaska’s Changing Environment” provides people with timely, reliable and understandable information on topics ranging from temperature and precipitation changes to salmon and polar bears.

The report was led by the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy at the UAF International Arctic Research Center, with contributions from more that 40 scientists and Indigenous experts across the state. This is the second edition of “Alaska’s Changing Environment,” which was first published in 2019. The inaugural report proved to be a popular resource for educators, scientists, media, policymakers and others interested in learning and communicating about climate and environmental changes impacting the state.

In the five years since release of the first report, extreme weather, climate and environmental events have become more frequent. The State of Alaska declared nearly three dozen weather- or climate-related disasters, about double the 2014-19 total. A dozen of these were elevated to federal disasters. From deadly landslides in Southeast Alaska to Typhoon Merbok along the Bering Sea coast, all regions of the state have been affected.

“Alaska’s Changing Environment” updates key long-term climate trends. It also highlights the changes and impacts that have emerged or accelerated over the past five years.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1066947

For more regarding the report: https://uaf-accap.org/alaskas-changing-environment/

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There is no statistical evidence that hurricanes, floods, droughts and suchlike have been intensifying.

I posed this question to Microsoft Copilot:

Q: Is there any statistical evidence that hurricanes, floods, droughts and suchlike have been intensifying due to global climate change linked to greenhouse gas emissions?

A: Yes, there is substantial statistical evidence that hurricanes, floods, and droughts have been intensifying due to global climate change linked to greenhouse gas emissions(2).

Hurricanes: Studies have shown that hurricanes are becoming stronger and more intense. For example, a recent study by Climate Central found that human-caused global warming has increased the wind speeds of Atlantic hurricanes by an average of 18 mph(4). This increase in wind speed can significantly raise the category of hurricanes, leading to more severe damage.

Floods: Research has confirmed that both the frequency and intensity of rainfall and floods have increased due to climate change. The 2023 IPCC report highlights that extreme precipitation events, including heavy rainfall and floods, have become more frequent and intense(2). This is largely due to the increased moisture in the atmosphere caused by global warming.

Droughts: The intensity of droughts has also sharply increased over the past two decades. The same IPCC report notes that droughts have become more severe and prolonged, affecting regions like the American Southwest, sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of Brazil(1).

These findings are supported by data from various sources, including satellite measurements and climate model which show a clear link between rising greenhouse gas emissions and the intensification of these extreme weather events(2).

Would you like to know more about any specific aspect of this topic?

1, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/sc ... te-change

2. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/chap ... pter-11/

3. This story is unavailable

4. https://whyy.org/articles/climate-chan ... anes-study

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Striking Satellite Images Reveal Antarctica Is 10 Times Greener Than 35 Years Ago
December 4, 2024

Introduction:

(Science Alert) Our satellites are dispassionate observers of Earth's climate change. From their vantage point they watch as pack ice slowly loses its hold on polar oceans, ice shelfs break apart, and previously frozen parts of the planet turn green with vegetation.

Now, scientists have compiled 35 years of satellite data showing that Antarctica is slowly, yet perceptibly, becoming greener.

NASA and the United States Geological Survey sent the first Landsat into space in 1975. Since then, they've launched eight more Landsats, with Landsat 9 being the most recent launch in 2021. Landsat data is a unique treasure trove of data about Earth and the changes it goes through, including millions of images.

Landsats have watched as forest fires burn, as urban regions expand, as glaciers melt, and as Earth goes through many other changes.

Recent research published in Nature Geoscience used 35 years of Landsat data, from Landsat 5 through Landsat 8, to measure the spread of vegetation into Antarctica. It's titled "Sustained greening of the Antarctic Peninsula observed from satellites." The research was co-led by Thomas Roland, an environmental scientist University of Exeter, and by remote sensing expert Olly Bartlett of the University of Hertfordshire.

Read more of the Eurekalert article here: https://www.sciencealert.com/striking- ... years-ago

To read the “Sustained greening of the Antarctic Peninsula observed from satellites” article published in Nature Geoscience : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01564-5

[wjfox]

Climate crisis deepens with 2024 ‘certain’ to be hottest year on record

Mon 9 Dec 2024 03.00 GMT

This year is now almost certain to be the hottest year on record, data shows. It will also be the first to have an average temperature of more than 1.5C above preindustrial levels, marking a further escalation of the climate crisis.

Data for November from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) found the average global surface temperature for the month was 1.62C above the level before the mass burning of fossil fuels drove up global heating. With data for 11 months of 2024 now available, scientists said the average for the year is expected to be 1.60C, exceeding the record set in 2023 of 1.48C.

Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of C3S, said: “We can now confirm with virtual certainty that 2024 will be the warmest year on record and the first calendar year above 1.5C. This does not mean that the Paris agreement has been breached, but it does mean ambitious climate action is more urgent than ever.”

The Paris climate agreement commits the 196 signatories to keeping global heating to below 1.5C in order to limit the impact of climate disasters. But this is measured over a decade or two, not a single year.

Nonetheless, the likelihood of keeping below the 1.5C limit even over the longer term appears increasingly remote. The CO2 emissions heating the planet are expected to keep rising in 2024, despite a global pledge made in late 2023 to “transition away from fossil fuels”.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -on-record

[Vakanai]

Lives of 99% of humans used to be very short, awfully impoverished, tragically miserable, really brutish and profoundly upsetting.

Humans using energy derived from fossil fuels have made living more bearable and less abysmal in the recent history.

And now we are being told that "we are damaging the planet"?

THEN WHY DID WE EVOLVE ON THIS PLANET IN THE FIRST PLACE !?

First to suffer by the billions, and then to destroy it by being who we are and trying to make things better for ourselves? That would be TOTALLY FUCKED UP! I cannot possibly accept that!

Simple answer: We don't need fossil fuels to make living more bearable anymore, ALL of our energy demands can be met with green renewable energy sources. Solar, wind, hydro, and plant fuels can provide energy without killing off the planet.

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There is no statistical evidence that hurricanes, floods, droughts and suchlike have been intensifying.

I know I have already cited evidence contradicting this, but here is a very recently completed study further addressing this point:

Three-quarters of Earth’s Land Became Permanently Drier in Last Three Decades
December 9, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) Even as dramatic water-related disasters such as floods and storms intensified in some parts of the world, more than three-quarters of Earth’s land became permanently drier in recent decades, UN scientists warned today in a stark new analysis.

Some 77.6% of Earth’s land experienced drier conditions during the three decades leading up to 2020 compared to the previous 30-year period, according to the landmark report from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Over the same period, drylands expanded by about 4.3 million km2 – an area nearly a third larger than India, the world’s 7th largest country – and now cover 40.6% of all land on Earth (excluding Antarctica).

In recent decades some 7.6% of global lands – an area larger than Canada – were pushed across aridity thresholds (i.e. from non-drylands to drylands, or from less arid dryland classes to more arid classes).
…
And the research warns that, if the world fails to curb greenhouse gas emissions, another 3% of the world’s humid areas will become drylands by the end of this century.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1066674

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Permanently drier climate conditions can be addressed by various artificial means. Yet this may have to be done at tremendous costs. Consider this mega project being carried out in China:

China's $71 Billion Artificial Megariver Aims To Save The North From Drought
December 10, 2024

Introduction:

(IFL Science) China's got a problem. The southern regions of the country are relatively humid and well-watered, yet much of the north suffers from parchingly arid conditions. This issue has become increasingly burdensome as a third of the nation's vast population is concentrated in the dry northern basins.

A bold solution is being delivered in the form of the South-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP), an engineering megaproject that aims to shift 44.8 billion cubic meters of freshwater from the south of the country to the north each year by 2050. For context, that quantity of water is more than twice the flow of the Colorado River in the US.

The project is said to have been inspired by Mao Zedong who reportedly said in 1952: "The South has plenty of water and the North lacks it, so if possible why not borrow some?". However, the ambitious plan only became seriously talked about by senior leaders in the 1990s when China’s fortunes were rising and the population continued to skyrocket.

The water is transported almost entirely downstream using gravity through a network of artificial channels and canals. The network will eventually consist of three main passages – the Western Route Project, the Middle Route Project, and the Eastern Route Project – which divert water from the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Yangtze River towards the north and northwest.

While the SNWTP is regarded as an investment in the future, the arid north continues to face severe water shortages, with no assurance it will withstand the looming climate change-induced droughts.

Included in the cited article is a discussion of environmental and socio-economic costs of this mega project which should be added to the price tag.

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/chinas-71-b ... ght-77148

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Sink to source: Arctic is now emitting more carbon than it absorbs
https://phys.org/news/2024-12-source-ar ... sorbs.html
by Issam AHMED

Villagers harvest ice from a local lake near the settlement of Oy, some 70 km south of Yakutsk, with the air temperature at about minus 41 degrees Celsius, on November 27, 2018.

After locking carbon dioxide in its frozen soil for millennia, the Arctic tundra is undergoing a dramatic transformation, driven by frequent wildfires that are turning it into a net source of carbon dioxide emissions, a US agency said Tuesday.

This stark shift is detailed in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 2024 Arctic Report Card, which revealed that annual surface air temperatures in the Arctic this year were the second-warmest on record since 1900.

"Our observations now show that the Arctic tundra, which is experiencing warming and increased wildfire, is now emitting more carbon than it stores, which will worsen climate change impacts," said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad.

The finding is based on average of observations recorded from 2001-2020.

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New Super-enzyme Could Revolutionize CO₂ Capture
December 11, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) Microbial organisms adapted to extreme and inhospitable environments carry proteins within their proteome that significantly accelerate the dissolution of CO₂ in water, while also withstanding very high temperatures and pH. These enzymes are valuable promoters of CO₂ capturing from industrial exhaust streams. Researchers at the Biomedical Sciences Research Center “Alexander Fleming” (BSRC Fleming) in Vari, Greece, have identified such a bioactive molecule.

Microorganism producing resilient proteins and enzymes have evolved to thrive in extreme conditions, such as hot springs, salt lakes, and volcanoes. A team of Greek researchers, led by Dr. Georgios Skretas at BSRC Fleming developed new metagenomic analysis tools to identify a super heat-resistant enzyme of biotechnological interest. After scanning millions of genes from open-access metagenomic databases, a new promising candidate biocatalyst was found in a metagenomic sample originally collected from a hot spring in the Kirishima region of Japan. Through this process, the scientists from the Skretas Lab discovered the highly stable carbonic anhydrase CA-KR1. This robust enzyme specializes in enhancing the dissolution of CO₂ in water and exhibits unprecedented stability under industrial conditions.

Read more of the Eurekalert articel here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1067861

For a technical presentation of study results as published in Environmental Science and Technology: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.4c04291

Definition of key words used or related to words used in the cited introduction:

Anhydrase: Anhydrase is an enzyme that catalyzes the removal of a water molecule from a compound. https://www.merriam--webster.com/medical/anhydrase

Metagenomics: The study of genetic material recovered directly from environmental or clinical samples by a method called sequencing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metagenomics

DNA Sequencing: The process of determining the nucleotide order of a given DNA fragment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequencing

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As Big Oil Ally Trump Returns, Industry Set to Turn Lobbying Machine on U.S. Consumers
by Julia Conley
December 20, 2024

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) The first Trump administration was a boon for fossil fuel executives, and a new analysis shows the efforts the industry is already making to ensure it benefits when Trump takes office again in January, including by directing their lobbying efforts at the American public.

"Many of the tactics already being deployed by industry are reminiscent of the first Trump presidency, indicating a continuation of familiar fossil fuel tactics to shape climate policy and politics," reads the analysis by InfluenceMap.

The analysis shows fossil fuel companies have already revived three key tactics from the first Trump term ahead of the president-elect's inauguration:
• Shifting from a defensive to offensive position as it lobbies for Trump to roll back specific climate policies;
• Heavily advocating for permitting reform, and
• Strategically using narratives to position themselves as "protecting" consumers—even as they continue to extract planet-heating fossil fuels and put communities at risk of devastating climate disasters.

Conclusion:

"The science is clear, as is the long-term harm this advocacy will cause to climate and communities," said (Kendra) Haven (director of projects at InfluenceMap). "Misleading narratives from industry must be challenged accordingly."

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/trum ... -billion

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Climate Change is Pushing Some Governments to the Breaking Point
by Umair Irfan
December 23, 2024

Introduction:

(Vox) 2024 is on track to become the hottest year since humans have been keeping track, beating out 2023.

The extraordinary back-to-back record-breakers amplified disasters like heat waves, hurricanes, and torrential downpours around the world, claiming thousands of lives and causing billions in damages.

Few countries have emerged completely unscathed over the past two years, but one place known for its welcoming climate, was especially wounded.

In 2023, Spain experienced a searing early-season heat wave with temperatures topping 101 degrees Fahrenheit in Córdoba in the south of the country, followed up by more severe heat across the country in July and August. It led to more than 8,000 heat-related deaths, the second-highest toll in Europe behind Italy. The high temperatures worsened an ongoing drought, depleting water supplies and causing its economically vital olive oil production to fall in half. Intense wildfires ignited across the country, including the Canary Island of Tenerife and on the mainland in Gandia. The Asturias region in northern Spain suffered the single-largest wildfire in its history, torching more than 24,000 acres. Record rainfall in Toledo triggered flash floods that killed at least three people.

Conclusion:

As global average temperatures rise and populations grow, more people and property will find themselves in the path of an onslaught worsened by climate change. It’s not just lives and homes that are vulnerable, but whole governments.

Read more here: https://www.vox.com/climate/392311/202 ... valencia

[wjfox]

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Land Use Changes and China’s Carbon Sequestration Potential
December 26, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert)Peking University, December 11, 2024: A team of researchers led by Professor Piao Shilong at the Institute of Carbon Neutrality of Peking University (PKU) has made significant advances in understanding how China’s land-use changes—such as forest planting—can contribute to the country’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Their study, published in Nature Communications, offers fresh insights into China’s carbon removal capacity through land-use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF), a key strategy for achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

Why it matters: As part of its commitment under the Paris Agreement, China has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2060, meaning it will need to balance the amount of carbon dioxide it emits with the amount it can remove from the atmosphere. One important way to achieve this balance is through land-based solutions, particularly forestation, which helps capture and store carbon. However, there has been uncertainty about how much carbon China’s forests can actually sequester due to varying estimates and models. This new research helps clarify the role of land-use changes in China’s carbon budget and provides more accurate projections for future carbon removal.

Key Findings:

China’s forests are a vital carbon sink: The study confirms that China’s ongoing forestation efforts—planting trees and restoring forests—have turned the country’s land-use changes into a significant carbon sink, meaning more carbon is absorbed by the land than is emitted. From 1994 to 2018, China’s forests absorbed a substantial amount of carbon, aligning with the country's national greenhouse gas inventories.

The role of forestation in carbon neutrality: If China continues its afforestation efforts at the current rate, its forests could offset a significant portion of emissions that are difficult to reduce through other sectors, such as energy and industry. In fact, continued forestation could help China meet about one-third of the emissions that remain hard to abate by 2060.

Read more of the Eurekalert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1069179

For a technical presentation of study results as published in Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-54846-2

[wjfox]

‘Moving to the mountaintops’: rising seas displace tens of thousands in Papua New Guinea

Tue 31 Dec 2024

Two years ago fisher Siri James lived on the southern coast of Papua New Guinea, in a small village near Pariva beach. But as the tides continued to rise, James was forced to move further in from the shore.

“It’s not easy moving inland, I was born and raised by the seas, I am a fisherman. I know the flow of tides and currents, I know when the wind will come strongly and when it will rain – but now I don’t understand why everything is changing,” says James, who is in his early 40s.

[...]

Pariva beach is part of Kerema in Papua New Guinea’s Gulf province. In that area, rising sea levels and sand erosion have forced about 40,000 people to move inland over the past decade, a local councillor says, in what a leading climate change activist describes as a “humanitarian crisis”.

The Kerema councillor Mai Trevor says 80,000 people lived in the local area, however, since 2015, almost half of the population has moved inland due to high tides and sand erosion. Trevor says residents first began moving in 2015, but over the last four years the number of people leaving has grown.

As well as fishing, many in the province earn a living from coconut and betel nut farming. In recent years, residents say the tides have been rising and weather patterns have shifted, making it harder to grow crops or fish in the oceans, and affecting their livelihoods.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... new-guinea

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[wjfox]

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