Author Topic: Climate, Weather, and Climate Effects, 2020 and Beyond  (Read 7578 times)

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Glacial melting: What can be done to prevent a catastrophe? | DW News
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It was a disaster when the glacial lake burst its banks - Residents in a place called Hassan Abad in the mountains of north Pakistan are still picking up the pieces after much of their village was destroyed in a flood back in May.

The government in Pakistan says 33 such lakes are at risk of overflowing, with potentially devastating consequences.

Three of the world's most spectacular mountain ranges intersect in Pakistan’s north - the Hindu Khush, the Karakoram and the Himalayas - forming the largest reservoir of ice outside the poles. The country's mountainous north is home to more than 7,000 glaciers.

A climatologist explains on why glaciers are melting at such a rapid rate, and what if anything can be done to prevent the next catastrophe.


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‘Out of control’ wildfires raging in southwestern France amid intense heatwave • FRANCE 24
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About 1,000 firefighters, supported by six water-bomber aircraft, were battling on Thursday to bring under control two wildfires in southwestern France that have already burnt almost 4,000 hectares. "The fires are still not under control, no casualties were have been reported", said the local authority for the Gironde department, where the blazes, which started on Tuesday, were raging.
#France #heatwave #wildfire


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UK heatwave: Met Office issues first ever red extreme heat warning
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There is a 'very likely' risk to life, with 'substantial changes' needed to people's daily routines early next week
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The Met Office has issued the first ever red alert for hot weather, warning there is a "very likely" risk to life.

Grahame Madge, Met Office spokesman, said: "We've just issued a red warning for extreme heat for Monday and Tuesday which is the first such warning ever issued."

"The warning covers an area from London up to Manchester and then up to the Vale of York."

"This is potentially a very serious situation."

The Met Office are advising people to "take action now to keep yourself and others safe" and avoid travelling where possible.

Forecasters say there is an 80 per cent chance of the mercury topping the UK's record temperature of 38.7C set in Cambridge in 2019, with the current heatwave set to peak on Tuesday.
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Mr Madge said there is a 50 per cent chance of temperatures reaching 40C somewhere in the UK, likely along the A1 corridor.

"If we get to 40C, that's a very iconic threshold and shows that climate change is with us now," he said.

"This is made much more likely because of climate change."
Entire article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/07/15/met-office-issues-first-ever-red-heat-warning/?li_source=LI&li_medium=li-recommendation-widget

90sRetroFan

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The Western reaction to global warming:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/things-going-break-texas-power-145408946.html

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‘Things Are Going to Break’: Texas Power Plants Are Running Nonstop

(Bloomberg) -- As searing Texas heat drives power demand to record highs, the state’s grid operator is ordering plants to run at a historic pace, often forcing them to put off maintenance to keep cranking out electricity.

Demanding more of the very thing that is causing the heat increase in the first place is what we need for sure (if you think like a Westerner)!

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To meet the surge in power demand, Ercot, the grid operator, is leaning heavily on a mechanism called reliability unit commitments to ensure there’s enough supply. Plants are being regularly ordered to go into service, or remain in operation, and skip any scheduled maintenance. The measure also overrides shutdowns for economic factors or any other issues. And Ercot is using the rule more than ever before as the state battles bout after bout of extreme weather.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, as the operator is formally known, called for 2,890 hours of RUCs system-wide in the first half of this year. That’s more than triple the 801 hours in the first half of 2021, according to data from Ercot’s independent market monitor provided by Richmond. For all of 2020, there were 224 RUC hours.

And we thought it couldn't get more stupid than vaccine boosters.....

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The situation underscores that the Texas grid is relying on short-term solutions for what’s poised to be a long-term problem. The state is contending with a population boom that’s driven demand higher. Crypto mining has also taken off in the past year, bringing with it the industry’s power-intensive operations. Meanwhile climate change has made extreme weather events that drive up electricity use more likely to occur and more severe — creating situations like a deadly February 2021 freeze that caused blackouts across the state.

Anyone with common sense would put a flat cap on energy use per person per day, and then immediately prohibit reproduction, starting with those who used the most energy prior to the cap and working our way down. But Westerners have a different answer:

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Ultimately, the state needs more power plants, and regulators are working on ways to make that happen, he said.

Whoever said this should be prohibited from reproducing first.

See also:

https://trueleft.createaforum.com/true-left-vs-false-left/true-left-breakthrough-seriousness-in-environmentalism/
« Last Edit: July 15, 2022, 08:59:19 pm by 90sRetroFan »

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90sRetroFan

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How to be a Westerner:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/record-heat-leads-more-air-100000883.html

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Record heat leads to more air conditioning, creating a depressing loop
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the high temperatures are likely to increase the production of energy and greenhouse gasses contributing to global warming.

The heat is killing people, energy grids are getting overwhelmed, and more people in more places will be looking for air conditioning in the future, creating an insidious and depressing loop.

“Most of the great bulk of our greenhouse gas emissions come from consuming energy, mostly to make electricity,” said Michael Gerrard, director of Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

The extreme heat, in turn, “greatly increases the need for air conditioners, which are a significant energy consumer,” he added.
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Extreme heat means increased demand for power generation, which is “problematic,”

Increased demand by whom? Answer: Westerners.

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the greater demand for electricity generation both increases emission from power generation and strains regional grids
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“It’s a bit of an unfortunate feedback loop that when it’s hotter, we need more power,” she said.

What is the name of this feedback loop? Answer: Western civilization.

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Urban heat islands are a term for cities with dense concentrations of particularly heat-absorbent infrastructure, such as pavement and buildings, in place of natural land cover. The phenomenon can lead to higher temperatures as well as increased energy costs and air pollutant levels.

See also:

https://trueleft.createaforum.com/true-left-vs-false-left/true-left-breakthrough-folkish-imperialism/msg14823/#msg14823

90sRetroFan

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Stating the obvious:

https://us.yahoo.com/news/air-conditioning-not-save-us-100014155.html

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Air Conditioning Will Not Save Us
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Extreme heat kills more people than any other climate disaster on the planet, including hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. In the U.K., temperatures are reaching 104ºF for the first time in recorded history, and the heat is stoking wildfires across Europe. In India, cities inhabited for centuries are now unlivable with highs of 123ºF. And, driven largely by carbon emissions from the developed world, climate change is making it worse. Heat waves are getting hotter, they’re happening more often, and they’re lasting longer.
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Nothing but the massive reduction of fossil fuels will slow this trend.

Many of us living in the U.S. assume we have the best solution to this mess: air conditioning. The U.S. uses more energy for cooling per person than any other nation on the planet. In 2016, 328 million Americans—that’s less than 5% of the world’s population—guzzled more energy for cooling than the 4.4 billion people living in all of Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia
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Our fixation with air conditioning is so intense that the only solution most of us can think to the air conditioning crisis is…more air conditioning. It misses the ultimate irony: air conditioning itself contributes significantly to global warming. Most AC units still use refrigerants that are powerful greenhouse gases (GHGs) thousands of times more potent at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, the main GHG.
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In other words, air conditioning is making the world more difficult to air condition.

By the way, it's OK for air conditioning to be "white":

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During the New York City heat wave of 2019, the limits of air conditioning as a universal solution to urban heat emergencies became obvious. On a Sunday in July, at the start of a three-day blaze that pushed the heat index to 113ºF, neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens lost electricity. Because the system handled a record-breaking load of energy—most of it to power room air conditioners—several sections of the southeast Brooklyn grid failed. In response, Con Ed, the investor-owned monopoly corporation that acts as the city’s public utility, intentionally cut power to an additional 33,000 residents in order “to prevent any further outages and also to protect the integrity of the energy system.” More than 50,000 residents—including seniors in several large care facilities, as well as infants—struggled without power for more than twenty-four hours. Perhaps most tellingly, those neighborhoods, particularly Canarsie and Flatlands, are predominantly Black (59%) and Latino (8%) working-class.

The logic here is troubling. Nor is it uncommon or limited to New York. It’s happening in cities around the country. Con Ed targeted the predominantly low-income Black and brown neighborhoods of southeastern Brooklyn as an appropriate buffer zone for the rest of Brooklyn and indeed the entire city. “Vital equipment” and “the integrity of the energy system” as a whole—that is, in the whiter, wealthier, more commercial districts—were privileged above the communities of Canarsie and Flatlands

90sRetroFan

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How inferior is Western civilization?



This would not have happened under any other civilization in history.

90sRetroFan

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https://www.yahoo.com/news/heat-waves-intensify-tens-thousands-123036822.html

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As heat waves intensify, tens of thousands of US classrooms will be too hot for students to learn in

Correct response: end compulsory schooling. Compulsory schooling contributed to global warming in the first place by producing all those machinists who invented all those new machines that all required energy to run.

Western response:

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Since 2019, climate scientist Sverre LeRoy, at the Center for Climate Integrity, and I have worked to determine if the nation’s schools are prepared for the heat waves on the approaching horizon.

Comparing the climate conditions under which U.S. schools were built with the projected conditions over the next two decades, we looked at the vulnerability of all K-12 schools to increasing temperatures. We determined whether current schools have air conditioning or not and whether they would be required to add air conditioning in the future.

The results of our study, “Hotter Days, Higher Costs: The Cooling Crisis in America’s Classrooms,” show that by 2025, more than 13,700 schools will need to install air conditioning, and another 13,500 will need to upgrade their existing systems.
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the additional costs of operating air conditioning systems to meet the new demands will exceed .4 billion per year

Which just leads back to:

https://trueleft.createaforum.com/news/climate-weather-and-climate-effects-2020-and-beyond/msg14871/#msg14871

Which is why nothing will improve until we kill Western civilization.

guest78

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Las Vegas slammed with another major flash flood as vehicles thread through water
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Two weeks after it was first hit with major flash flooding, Las Vegas was hit again on Thursday, leaving many vehicles having to travel through water.


Kentucky flooding: kayaker describes heroic rooftop rescue | LiveNOW from FOX

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As Heat Waves Worsen, THIS Policy Predicts Where People Will Die
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With extreme heat waves in Europe, Asia, the United States and beyond, it’s clear climate change is making summers more dangerous and deadly. Urban areas are feeling the worst effects; a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect. 2022 saw high temperatures in Kansas, Spain, Portugal, England (especially London), and India. But even within cities, the warming is not distributed evenly. During the Pacific Northwest heat dome of 2021, the region's most extreme heat wave ever, this temperature difference reached a staggering 25°F between neighborhoods in Portland, OR. And new research is illuminating how a century of racist housing policies known as redlining have contributed to this often deadly inequality.

The 2022 heat waves are not single events. They are another data point during years of escalating extreme weather. Previously, the 2019 European heat wave, the 1980 US heat wave, 1995 Chicago heat wave and many more are part of this trend.

In this episode we are going to dive into this unjust history of housing discrimination and see what it can teach us about how to keep cities cooler and save lives. We’ll visit Richmond, Virginia and Portland, Oregon to understand the problem and solutions. Innovative solutions are being carried out at the Science Museum of Virginia and by the Portland organization, Friends of Trees.

Weathered is a show hosted by weather expert Maiya May and produced by Balance Media that helps explain the most common natural disasters, what causes them, how they’re changing, and what we can do to prepare.


Hunga Tonga Volcano Update; This Eruption will Warm the Planet, Not Cool It
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The destructive eruption of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai which occurred in January of 2022 was the largest explosive eruption of the 21st century. New research into the eruption has revealed something completely surprising; instead of cooling the planet slightly like other prior large explosive eruptions have, the eruption instead will warm it. So, why is this the case, and why is this eruption so unique? This video will answer these questions and discuss the highly explosive volcanic eruption.

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Crazy flooding in Dallas Texas! Storm with a one-in-a-thousand-year rainfall record!
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Dallas Texas: A flooding that occurs once every 1,000 years slammed the Dallas area. On highways covered in water, cars float. In just 12 hours, one weather gauge captured about 40% of Harris County's typical annual rainfall. Flash floods hit the Dallas-Fort Worth region overnight into Monday, requiring rescue operations, the whole amount of precipitation would be called a flood once every 1,000 years in some regions.

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News Wrap: Residents urged to evacuate at floodwaters rise in Mississippi
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In our news wrap Sunday, a major flood threat faces Mississippi as the Pearl river is expected to crest 8 feet above flood stage on Sunday. Residents in Jackson have been advised to evacuate. Plus, Two U.S. warships sailed through international waters in the Taiwan Strait, and a Mickey Mantle baseball card set a new record at auction.


China to use geoengineering to combat historic drought | DW News
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China is suffering a severe water shortage after its hottest and driest summer since the government began recording rainfall 61 years ago.
Authorities try to protect this year's harvest from intense drought by using chemicals to generate rain and people are warned to save 'every unit of water' as a severe drought continues.

guest78

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Catastrophic flooding devastates Pakistan
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Flood victims in Pakistan carried belongings they could salvage from their submerged houses as they wade through a flooded area in Dera Allah Yar on Aug. 28.


Pakistan Is Facing ‘Monsoon on Steroids,' UN Says
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The United Nations and Pakistan issued an appeal Tuesday for $160 million in emergency funding to help millions affected by record-breaking floods that have killed more than 1,150 people since mid-June.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Pakistan’s flooding, caused by weeks of unprecedented monsoon rains, were a signal to the world to step up action against climate change.


State of emergency has been declared in Mississippi after developing water crisis
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Weekend flooding severely damaged a water treatment plant in the state. This potentially leaves close to 200,000 people without safe water to drink, to fight fires or even to flush toilets for the foreseeable future.



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More than 400 houses were underwater after the storm and flood in Kastamonu, Turkey


Apocalypse storm hits Texas! ⚠️ Scariest storm and strong winds tearing the roofs in Dallas


Georgia Hit With Severe Flooding After Heavy Rainfall
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Residents in Georgia were hit with severe flooding after heavy rain overnight. Roads, homes and businesses including the sheriff’s office were flooded. The area is under flood watch with more rain expected in the forecast.


Fire crews continue to battle Northern California wildfires
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The Mill Fire burning near Weed, California, was 25% contained Sunday after burning 4,254 acres since Friday, according to Cal Fire officials.


Parched: California's Climate Crisis
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A special report on California's changing climate and the ongoing drought by CBS stations across the Golden State. (9-1-22)


Record setting heat wave grips the West l GMA


Dust storm hits Arizona
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The National Weather Service said winds up to 70 mph were expected as the storm passed through southeastern Arizona.


Why You Should Be Worried About This Glacier
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Known as the ‘Hollywood Glacier,’ Europe’s largest ice cap has been the picturesque and otherworldly scene of movies and TV shows for decades. But the real drama lies underneath; Vatnajökull glacier sits across some of the most active volcanoes in Iceland.