Global Climate Change Science News

[Animavore]

I'm trying to read The Physics of Climate Change by Lawrence Krauss but it's making my head hurt.

I think I'm happy enough to just trust the experts on this one. The in English account makes enough sense to me and their story has been straight since '88. Whereas deniers can't even decide if it's not happening at all, it's happening but it's not caused by humans (but further can't decide if it's the Sun, or volcanic activity, or some natural cycke), it's being caused by humans but it's not as bad as we're being told, or it's happening but there's nothing we can do about it.

[JimC]

I'm trying to read The Physics of Climate Change by Lawrence Krauss but it's making my head hurt.

I think I'm happy enough to just trust the experts on this one. The in English account makes enough sense to me and their story has been straight since '88. Whereas deniers can't even decide if it's not happening at all, it's happening but it's not caused by humans (but further can't decide if it's the Sun, or volcanic activity, or some natural cycke), it's being caused by humans but it's not as bad as we're being told, or it's happening but there's nothing we can do about it.

I think a lot of people who are not deniers can have that thought. Or a version of it, such as "yes, we should try to reduce emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change, but deep down, I think we are fucked..."

I certainly feel that pessimism at times...

[Animavore]

I'm trying to read The Physics of Climate Change by Lawrence Krauss but it's making my head hurt.

I think I'm happy enough to just trust the experts on this one. The in English account makes enough sense to me and their story has been straight since '88. Whereas deniers can't even decide if it's not happening at all, it's happening but it's not caused by humans (but further can't decide if it's the Sun, or volcanic activity, or some natural cycke), it's being caused by humans but it's not as bad as we're being told, or it's happening but there's nothing we can do about it.

I think a lot of people who are not deniers can have that thought. Or a version of it, such as "yes, we should try to reduce emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change, but deep down, I think we are fucked..."

I certainly feel that pessimism at times...

The point really with deniers is that they are using that as an excuse to not do anything and carry on as normal.

Even if I have doubts myself that enough will be done in time to mitigate complete disaster, I'm not using that as an excuse to do nothing myself or vote for those that advocate nothing, or worse, ramping up the cause while saying, "There's nothing we can do."

[macdoc]

This will be easier for you to follow the physics which are very basic in principal and understood since 1890s
It's the consequences that are gnarly to untangle

We’re often asked to provide a one stop link for resources that people can use to get up to speed on the issue of climate change, and so here is a selection. Unlike our other postings, we’ll amend this as we discover or are pointed to new resources. Different people have different needs and so we will group resources according to the level people start at.

https://www.realclimate.org/index.php/a ... tart-here/

[Brian Peacock]

Report claiming net zero will cost UK trillions retracted due to ‘factual errors’.

Rightwing thinktank Civitas mistakenly cost onshore wind power 10,000 times higher than reality and claimed bill would be £4.5tn

...

The Civitas report was covered by the Sun, the Times, Daily Mail, Daily Express and the Spectator. By Monday the Express had removed its article, while others had added footnotes but kept the pieces online.

[JimC]

This will be easier for you to follow the physics which are very basic in principal and understood since 1890s
It's the consequences that are gnarly to untangle

We’re often asked to provide a one stop link for resources that people can use to get up to speed on the issue of climate change, and so here is a selection. Unlike our other postings, we’ll amend this as we discover or are pointed to new resources. Different people have different needs and so we will group resources according to the level people start at.

https://www.realclimate.org/index.php/a ... tart-here/

The basic physics of how increased CO2 levels keep extra heat in the atmosphere is pretty straightforward, but modelling the effects into the future is a very complex process...

[Brian Peacock]

‘Gobsmackingly bananas’: scientists stunned by planet’s record September heat

Global temperatures soared to a new record in September by a huge margin, stunning scientists and leading one to describe it as “absolutely gobsmackingly bananas”.

The hottest September on record follows the hottest August and hottest July, with the latter being the hottest month ever recorded. The high temperatures have driven heatwaves and wildfires across the world.

September 2023 beat the previous record for that month by 0.5C, the largest jump in temperature ever seen. September was about 1.8C warmer than pre-industrial levels. Datasets from European and Japanese scientists confirm the leap.

Conditions have now rebounded to an El Niño event, which releases ocean heat and drives up temperatures. It’s all but certain that 2023 will be the hottest on record and 2024 may even exceed that, as the heating impact of El Niño is felt most in the year after it begins.

“September was, in my professional opinion as a climate scientist, absolutely gobsmackingly bananas,” said Zeke Hausfather, at the Berkeley Earth climate data project.

Samantha Burgess, at the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, said: “The unprecedented temperatures for the time of year observed in September have broken records by an extraordinary amount. 2023 [is] on track to be the warmest year and about 1.4C above pre-industrial average temperatures. Two months out from [the UN climate conference] Cop28, the sense of urgency for ambitious climate action has never been more critical.”

The heat hit record levels within many countries too, including France, Germany, and Poland. The UK saw its joint hottest September on record, the Met Office reported, in data that goes back to 1884.

In Australia, climate scientist and author Joelle Gergis said: “Observations of Australia’s climate in September are shocking. Figures show where maximum temperatures were the highest on record, with many areas 3C to 5C above average. Rainfall deficits are primed for drought. Summer is going to be brutal.”...

Europe’s record summer of heat and fires – visualised

[Brian Peacock]

Some good news, possibly...

Global carbon emissions from electric power may peak this year, report says

Carbon emissions from the global electricity sector may peak this year, after plateauing in the first half of 2023, because of a surge in wind and solar power, according to a climate thinktank.

A new report on global electricity generation found that the growth of renewables was so rapid that it was close to the incredibly fast rate required if the world is to hit the tripling of capacity by the end of the decade that experts believe is necessary to stay on the 1.5C pathway.

It also noted that there had been only a slight increase in emissions in the first six months of the year, compared with the same period a year before.

The findings suggest the world may be close to reaching the peak of the global power sector’s carbon emissions, and they could soon even begin to fall in line with global climate targets.

The report, by the climate thinktank Ember, compared electricity data from January to June 2023 to the same period last year, across 78 countries representing 92% of the world’s electricity demand.

Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, Ember’s senior electricity analyst and the lead author of the report, said: “It’s still hanging in the balance if 2023 will see a fall in power-sector emissions.”

“The world is teetering at the peak of power-sector emissions, and we now need to unleash the momentum for a rapid decline in fossil fuels by securing a global agreement to triple renewables capacity this decade,” she said...

[macdoc]

With so many record-setting months, the year-to-date global mean temperature is 1.4 C higher than the pre–industrial average

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/septemb ... -1.6986722

[aufbahrung]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66857354

Bad, not fatal yet, but it's bad

I'll let you know when the news is fatal

[macdoc]

Never gonna be totally fatal to humans...biome is fucked tho.

[aufbahrung]

Never gonna be totally fatal to humans...biome is fucked tho.

Most great apes are extinct. The era of successful large apes was fifty million years in the past. Never say never. Stupidity and cracking rocks is the norm for men.

[macdoc]

We had our species bottleneck

Human Ancestors Nearly Went Extinct 900,000 Years Ago
A new technique for analyzing modern genetic data suggests that prehumans survived in a group of only 1,280 individuals

https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... dy%20shows.

We will go extinct but not because of climate change,

[Brian Peacock]

Never gonna be totally fatal to humans...biome is fucked tho.

I think that's a comforting assumption. I'm not saying it'll turn out to be false, I just don't think we have enough info or experience to make a judgement one way or another. That's why we should hope for the best and plan for the worst.

[macdoc]

Platitudes do nothing.

Activities like this do

How researchers remade ‘the world’s most widely used petrochemical’ – without using fossil fuels
It’s used in everything from shampoo to packaging, but the petrochemical ethylene is ultra carbon intensive. Now, a team at Canada’s top university is creating a sustainable alternative

more
https://www.theguardian.com/whats-possi ... ssil-fuels

I'll reiterate, climate change is not existential like total nuclear war is for the human species.
I have no idea why you find it "comforting".....it's a dire risk to "life as we know it"...but won't wipe out the species.