Is Global Warming becoming unstoppable?

[basilio]

Let's be honest Bas, the reason it was never used was because the media never stopped bagging it as a handout to big business, that is the reason nothing gets done the media cranks up the ranters and chanters then when they are shown to be a bunch of ducks down the road they just change the chant.
Mindless rabble, is what they are, both the media and their footsoldiers.

Not so SP. Let's see what the article says about the intended implementation of the policy by Labour and the non implementation by the Coalition.

Hitting on a baseline winner​

Hunt's solution, the one he and independent senator Nick Xenophon slipped into legislation being drawn up to replace the carbon tax with direct grants, was to set up "baselines" for each large emitter.

To be determined by the Clean Energy Regulator in accordance with rules set by the minister and disallowable by parliament, the baselines set the maximum amount each big plant can emit without being in breach and paying penalties.

Greg Hunt has announced he will retire from federal politics at the next election.(ABC News: Luke Stephenson)
Importantly, the baselines were to be calculated on the basis of previous emissions. Facilities were to be allowed to emit what they had, but no more.

More importantly, plants could have their baselines calculated on the basis of emissions intensity — the amount emitted per unit of production, which would mean they would be able to expand so long as they didn't emit more per unit.

More importantly still, the Clean Energy Regulator is in the process of converting almost all baselines to emissions intensity baselines.

All Labor has to do, and what intends to do, is to make use of the mechanism Hunt and Xenophon put in place.

Business is backing baselines​

Each facility that emits more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year — 215 of them — is subject to a baseline.

What Labor has pledged to do, and it is backed by the Business Council, is to get the Clean Energy Regulator to wind down those baselines "predictably and gradually over time" to support the transition to net zero.

Businesses that are already reducing their emissions want this, because they want other firms to be made to do the same.

The beauty of the mechanism set up on Abbott's watch is that each facility, each "gas well, aluminium smelter and coal line" as Labor's Chris Bowen puts it, will have its tightened baseline calculated individually.

Business Council chief Jennifer Westacott backs tightened baselines.(One Plus One)
Each will be asked to do no more than what is needed after considering what it can cope with.

Within minutes of Friday's announcement, Energy Minister Angus Taylor labelled it "a sneaky new carbon tax on agriculture, mining and transport", but it is better described as a system of guidelines and penalties, one legislated by Taylor's side of politics.

Quite a lot will be needed. Labor's modelling, released on Friday, didn't spell out what would be needed to get emissions to net zero by 2050, but the Coalition's modelling, released in November, did.

No matter what reasonable assumptions the model included, including "global technology trends", it couldn't get all the way to net zero by 2050.

So the Coalition's modellers added in something fanciful which they named "further technology breakthroughs" to get the remaining 15 per cent.

Greg Hunt retires as health minister and retires from parliament at the next election. He has set us on the path to getting where we will need to be.

The surprising architect behind Labor's climate plans? A retiring Coalition minister

Before he became Health Minister, Greg Hunt spent years thinking about mechanisms for getting emissions down – and if elected, Labor plans to road test the one he introduced, writes Peter Martin.

www.abc.net.au

 

[sptrawler]

Please enlighten me as to how that post changes anything, getting a mechanism in place is the first and hardest hurdle, fine tuning is the easy part.
We are talking about the crap Abbott copped for suggesting the initial implementation.
It is like the gst, the hardest part was getting it in, as Keating knew.
The issue is, the basis of the Abbott/Hunt initiative was sound, yet the media went viral just because they disliked the fact he removed Labor's carbon tax which as the article shows was indeed flawed, then in punishment undermined the whole Abbott/,Hunt policy.
Just tribalism at its best and it is alive a well today.
The ridiculous statement of "let's see it implementation by Labour" is bizarre, we are talking about issues 10 years ago, Labor had already implemented their idea it was enacted, like I said in the earlier post just change the chant to suit the new norm unflooking believable. At least you are proving my main point.

 

[basilio]

The Guardian story is useful but the second article goes into the detail of what scientists are measuring under the ice​

Scientists watch giant ‘doomsday’ glacier in Antarctica with concern

​

Cracks and fissures stoke fears of breakup that could lead to half-metre rise in global sea levels – or more
Satellite view of Antarctica with the Thwaites glacier marked in red. Photograph: UniversalImagesGroup/UIG/Getty Images

John Vidal
Sat 18 Dec 2021 19.00 AEDT
Last modified on Sat 18 Dec 2021 19.02 AEDT

Twenty years ago, an area of ice thought to weigh almost 500bn tonnes dramatically broke off the Antarctic continent and shattered into thousands of icebergs into the Weddell Sea.

The 1,255-sq-mile (3,250-sq-km) Larsen B ice shelf was known to be melting fast but no one had predicted that it would take just one month for the 200-metre-thick behemoth to completely disintegrate.

Glaciologists were shocked as much by the speed as by the scale of the collapse. “This is staggering. It’s just broken apart. It fell over like a wall and has broken as if into hundreds of thousands of bricks”, said one.

This week, ice scientists meeting in New Orleans warned that something even more alarming was brewing on the West Antarctic ice sheet – a vast basin of ice on the Antarctic peninsula. Years of research by teams of British and American researchers showed that great cracks and fissures had opened up both on top of and underneath the Thwaites glacier, one of the biggest in the world, and it was feared that parts of it, too, may fracture and collapse possibly within five years or less.

Thwaites makes Larsen B look like an icicle. It is roughly 100 times larger, about the size of Britain, and contains enough water on its own to raise sea levels worldwide by more than half a metre. It contributes about 4% of annual global sea level rise and has been called the most important glacier in the world, even the “doomsday” glacier. Satellite studies show it is melting far faster than it did in the 1990s.

Scientists watch giant ‘doomsday’ glacier in Antarctica with concern

Cracks and fissures stoke fears of breakup that could lead to half-metre rise in global sea levels – or more

www.theguardian.com

Science | AAAS

www.science.org

 

[basilio]

This story in The Conersation examines how the combined effects of CC, La Nina and natural tides are causing severe flooding in Pacific Islands. The basic point is that we know sea levels are risng steadily and risk accelerating even more quickly. However on a week to week basis quite severe disasters will happen well before sea level rises reach particular limits.

La Niña just raised sea levels in the western Pacific by up to 20cm. This height will be normal by 2050 ​

December 16, 2021 11.00am AEDT

Author​

1. 
   Shayne McGregor
   Associate Professor, and Associate Investigator for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, Monash University

Disclosure statement​

Shayne McGregor receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the National Environmental Science Program.

Partners​

Monash University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.

View current jobs from Monash University

View all partners

​

​

Severe coastal flooding inundated islands and atolls across the western equatorial Pacific last week, with widespread damage to buildings and food crops in the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.

On one level, very high tides are normal at this time of year in the western Pacific, and are known as “spring tides”. But why is the damage so bad this time? The primary reason is these nations are enduring a flooding trifecta: a combination of spring tides, climate change and La Niña.

La Niña is a natural climate phenomenon over the Pacific Ocean known for bringing wet weather, including in eastern Australia. A less-known impact is that La Niña also raises sea levels in the western tropical Pacific.

In a terrifying glimpse of things to come, this current La Niña is raising sea levels by 15-20 centimetres in some western Pacific regions – the same sea level rise projected to occur globally by 2050, regardless of how much we cut global emissions between now and then. So let’s look at this phenomena in more detail, and why we can expect more flooding over the summer.

La Niña just raised sea levels in the western Pacific by up to 20cm. This height will be normal by 2050

Severe coastal flooding inundated islands in the Pacific last week, including the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. It’s a taste of things to come.

theconversation.com

 

[basilio]

How much Global Warming is inevitable ?

Elon Musk has offered a $100m prize pool to incentivise realistic, cost effective ways to draw down CO2 from the atmosphere. It's a very thoughtful and clever idea.

This story highlights the creative use of "fake"whale poo to sequester carbon deep in the oceans. IMV well worth a read.

Can fake whale poo experiment net Australian scientists a share of Elon Musk’s US$100m climate prize?​

Exclusive: Releasing nutrients can spur phytoplankton growth, absorbing carbon dioxide in the proces



Artificial whale poo experiment hoped to capture carbon – video

Graham Readfearn

@readfearn
Fri 24 Dec 2021 03.30 AEDT


Scientists and engineers have pumped 300 litres of simulated whale poo into the ocean off Sydney as part of efforts to snag a share of Elon Musk’s US$100m prize for capturing and storing carbon.

The team, known as WhaleX, carried out its first open-ocean experiment on Sunday about eight kilometres off Port Botany in New South Wales after gaining clearance from the federal government.

The 12-strong team are racing to carry out a follow-up experiment using up to 2000 litres of the simulated poo – a mix of nitrogen, phosphorus and trace elements – before the end of January.
Tesla and SpaceX founder Musk announced in February he was funding a US$100m competition through the XPrize Foundation to find methods that could safely capture and store carbon dioxide at a scale of a billion tonnes or more a year.

The latest must-have among US billionaires? A plan to end the climate crisis
Read more
Musk said at the time the competition was not “theoretical” but was looking for teams that could “build real systems that can make a measurable impact and scale to a gigaton level.”

WhaleX registered for the four-year competition and will send a report before February hoping to be selected for one of up to 15 “milestone” prizes of U$1m each.

Whale faeces is known as an ocean fertiliser and a food for phytoplankton. When phytoplankton grow and multiply, they absorb carbon. When they die, they sink to the ocean floor taking much of the carbon with them.

Dr Edwina Tanner, a climate scientist who is leading the WhaleX project, and colleagues said they targeted a 225sq km area off Port Botany where their previous water sampling had shown a deficiency in nutrients.

From a small boat, the team aerated the formulation with a gel made from seaweed and mixed that with a dye so they could see from a drone how it dispersed.

 

[basilio]

The latest must-have among US billionaires? A plan to end the climate crisis

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates have an estimated wealth of $466bn – and are emblematic of a Davos-centric worldview that sees free markets and tech as the answer

www.theguardian.com

 

[sptrawler]

Queensland backs net zero by 2050 as pressure mounts on Scott Morrison​

Queensland backs net zero by 2050 as pressure mounts on Scott Morrison

Queensland will officially back a target of net zero emissions by 2050, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has confirmed.

www.sbs.com.au

This is where the action doesn't match the rhetoric, but hey that isn't the issue as long as you give lip service to appease the muppets. ?

'Carbon bomb': Shock report could 'blow up' Australia's net zero plan

Satellite imagery has revealed Queensland is clearing land at twice the rate previously thought. Find out how this affects the climate crisis.

au.news.yahoo.com

Queensland’s “alarming” rate of land clearing could be the "carbon bomb" that derails Australia’s net zero commitments, conservations warn.

Satellite imagery analysis has revealed 680,688 hectares, or 0.7 per cent, of the state’s woody vegetation was affected by land clearing in 2018 - 2019.

That’s almost double the rate acknowledged in the previous reporting period, which estimated just 392,000 hectares had been bulldozed.

 

[basilio]

Well this I didn't know until today.
Climate Change is causing a huge increase in lighting strikes in the far North latitudes.
Why ? Check out the story.
So what ? Think out of control wild fires started by lighting strikes in Siberia, Canada, Northern Europe.

Drastic’ rise in high Arctic lightning has scientists worried​

The region’s air typically doesn’t suit strikes – so they have become an important climate crisis indicator

The high Arctic saw a dramatic rise in lightning in 2021 in what could be one of the most spectacular manifestations of the climate crisis.

In a region where sightings were once rare, the Earth’s northernmost region saw 7,278 lightning strikes in 2021 – nearly double as many as the previous nine years combined.

Arctic air typically lacks the convective heat required to create lightning so the latest findings, published in the Finnish firm Vaisala’s annual lightning report, have scientists like Vaisala’s meteorologist and lightning applications manager, Chris Vagasky, worried.

“Over the last 10 years, overall lightning counts north of the Arctic Circle have been fairly consistent,” Vagasky said. “But at the highest latitudes of the planet – north of 80° – the increase has been drastic. Such a significant shift certainly causes you to raise your eyebrows.”

‘Drastic’ rise in high Arctic lightning has scientists worried

The region’s air typically doesn’t suit strikes – so they have become an important climate crisis indicator

www.theguardian.com

 

[basilio]

The conversation offers a broader analysis of how global heating is affecting the weather across the US and around the world. The insurance cost of climate disasters in 2021 is an eyeopener.

Devastating Colorado fires cap a year of climate disasters in 2021, with one side of the country too wet, the other dangerously dry ​

December 22, 2021 12.44am AEDT Updated December 31, 2021 3.10pm AEDT

Alongside a lingering global pandemic, the year 2021 was filled with climate disasters, some so intense they surprised even the scientists who study them.

Extreme rainstorms turned to raging flash floods that swept through mountain towns in Europe, killing over 200 people. Across Asia, excessive rainfall inundated wide areas and flooded subway stations in China. Heat waves shattered records in the Pacific Northwest, Europe and the Arctic. Wildfires swept through communities in California, Canada, Greece and Australia.

The area around Boulder, Colorado, was so unusually dry on Dec. 30, 2021, that a powerful wind storm sent grass fires racing through neighborhoods in Superior and Louisville, burning hundreds of homes in a matter of hours. Officials said the winds were so strong, there was little firefighters could do but evacuate homes and businesses in the fires’ paths.

In the U.S. alone, damage from the biggest climate and weather disasters is expected to total well over US$100 billion in 2021. Many of these extreme weather events have been linked to human-caused climate change, and they offer a glimpse of what to expect in a rapidly warming world.

Devastating Colorado fires cap a year of climate disasters in 2021, with one side of the country too wet, the other dangerously dry

US disasters in 2021 told a tale of two climate extremes. A climate scientist explains why wet areas are getting wetter and dry areas drier.

theconversation.com

 

[basilio]

The Conversation always offers an excellent indepth, scientific understanding of the various topics it covers.
This article overviews how the Arctic regions are being rapidly affected by accelerated global heating.

2021 Arctic Report Card reveals a (human) story of cascading disruptions, extreme events and global connections ​

The Arctic has long been portrayed as a distant end-of-the-Earth place, disconnected from everyday common experience. But as the planet rapidly warms, what happens in this icy region, where temperatures are rising twice as fast as the rest of the globe, increasingly affects lives around the world.

On Dec. 14, 2021, a team of 111 scientists from 12 countries released the 16th annual Arctic Report Card, a yearly update on the state of the Arctic system. We are Arctic scientists and the editors of this peer-reviewed assessment. In the report, we take a diverse look across the region’s interconnected physical, ecological and human components.

Like an annual checkup with a physician, the report assesses the Arctic’s vital signs – including surface air temperatures, sea surface temperatures, sea ice, snow cover, the Greenland ice sheet, greening of the tundra, and photosynthesis rates by ocean algae – while inquiring into other indicators of health and emerging factors that shed light on the trajectory of Arctic changes.

As the report describes, rapid and pronounced human-caused warming continues to drive most of the changes, and ultimately is paving the way for disruptions that affect ecosystems and communities far and wide.

2021 Arctic Report Card reveals a (human) story of cascading disruptions, extreme events and global connections

Sea ice is thinning at an alarming rate. Snow is shifting to rain. And humans worldwide are increasingly feeling the impact of what happens in the seemingly distant Arctic.

theconversation.com

 

[Knobby22]

Thanks Bas.

World is going to get a lot warmer yet so it will become very interesting over the next 20 years.

My feeling is that it's going to be the Northern hemisphere nations that will really feel it due to the Arctic, and the Pacific Islands of course due to sea rise.

 

[basilio]

Excellent story on the ABC on how to substantially strengthen homes against storms etc at relatively little cost. This comes as traditional 1 in 100 storm events become far more prevalent and increasing in strength.

Building codes are almost always lagging reality.

Should you build your home stronger to withstand the possible impacts of climate change?​

Posted 1h ago1 hours ago

In the face of increasing extreme weather events, James Cook University, Suncorp Insurance, CSIRO and Room 11 architecture collaborated to build a home resilient to fire, flood, storm and cyclone.(Supplied: Suncorp)
Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article


As the footprint of climate change becomes clearer, the ability of homes to withstand the accelerating impacts of climate change and extreme weather is turning into a significant challenge.

Key points:​

• Some people are building their home above code to protect from extreme weather
• Experts say houses will be more exposed under climate change
• The government is encouraging 'resilience' measures

Some Australians are taking it upon themselves to go beyond the building code and standards to protect their home from uncommon, but not impossible, extreme weather events.
Working as an engineer for the Tropical Cyclone Testing Station, Geoff Boughton has seen hundreds of homes wrecked and ravaged, with families left without anywhere to live.
He most recently witnessed it in Kalbarri and Northampton, an area where houses were not built to withstand the continuous cyclonic wind gusts caused by Seroja.

"They have to start again, and I really don't want that to happen for myself or my family,” he said.

Geoff Boughton's Perth home is built to withstand a weak cyclone, and intense thunderstorms(ABC: Tyne Logan)
When building his own home in Perth, well outside of the cyclone-rated region of WA, this was something he considered.
Cyclones are uncommon near Perth, but they're not unheard of.
"When you think of a 1 in 500 year event, if a house lasts for 50 years that makes it a 1 in 10 chance it happening within the lifetime of my house," he said.
“The other thing is, with climate change, we really don’t know what the climate is going to be in 50 years time."

During construction, a series of reinforcements were added to Geoff Boughton's roof.(Supplied: Geoff Boughton)
From the outside, his house looks like a typical Perth home, but its structure is far stronger.

It's able to withstand a weak cyclone blowing constant gusts of up to 160kph and is waterproofed for extreme thunderstorm events.
And it didn't cost much.
He said this was achieved through several features, including strengthening a series of structural elements on his roof to prevent it from lifting even if a window was broken.

Mr Boughton has higher windows, strengthened roof connections and sealing around his roof.(ABC: Hugh Sando)
The windows are a slightly higher specification to keep water out better, and his roof edge is sealed to prevent water from coming in.

All up, he said the additional features cost him about $4000 from a new build for his timber home.

Should you build your home stronger to withstand the possible impacts of climate change?

Climate change has taught us that rare weather events are becoming more common, and some Australians are heeding the warning.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Investoradam]

Thanks Bas.

World is going to get a lot warmer yet so it will become very interesting over the next 20 years.

My feeling is that it's going to be the Northern hemisphere nations that will really feel it due to the Arctic, and the Pacific Islands of course due to sea rise.

Well maybe we need to address the elephant in the room and discuss the actual countries omitting! Eg China? Yet some how Australian cows farting is the issue

 

[rederob]

Well maybe we need to address the elephant in the room and discuss the actual countries omitting! Eg China? Yet some how Australian cows farting is the issue

The elephants are countries with the highest per capita emissions.
You want blame a nation that has the largest population, yet Australia's per capita emissions are twice as bad. If the highest per capita emitters reduced to the average then CO2 would not be the huge problem it is.

 

[Investoradam]

The elephants are countries with the highest per capita emissions.
You want blame a nation that has the largest population, yet Australia's per capita emissions are twice as bad. If the highest per capita emitters reduced to the average then CO2 would not be the huge problem it is.

Nice attempt at attempting to take the high road but it’s rubbish
We are speaking about omissions here? Isn’t the point of having to reduce them as the world will end in 20….. days the fear mongers choose to peddle eg like the have the past 70 odd yesrs

you ignore that chinas total omissions has been sky rocketing the past decade and continues to do so. They continue to build at a rapid rate hundreds of new coal fired power stations!
At present they do near 1/3 rd of the worlds TOTAL!
Australia’s is a warm climate and major exports are mining and agriculture and has been dictated to by the United Nations under the Lima Declaration thanks to garbage Gough and Bobby Whorke!

Climate change is racist and the people who argue the point are racist as it apparently only happens in white western countries.!

It that’s the only argument you have your like most of the other believers and leftists an who continue to be the gullible & evolution of a dumbed sound socially

Seriously learn how the basics of the world works

 

[rederob]

Nice attempt at attempting to take the high road but it’s rubbish

Not that you have an ability to make the case.

We are speaking about omissions here?

You don't appear to know much as the USA has been responsible for most CO2 emissions to date, and that's why we are where we are on climate change.

you ignore that chinas total omissions has been sky rocketing the past decade and continues to do so. They continue to build at a rapid rate hundreds of new coal fired power stations!

China is also replacing many outdated coal fired power stations and what they do build are state of the art.

Climate change is racist and the people who argue the point are racist as it apparently only happens in white western countries.

Seriously?

It that’s the only argument you have your like most of the other believers and leftists an who continue to be the gullible & evolution of a dumbed sound socially

You are a clown!

 

[Knobby22]

Well maybe we need to address the elephant in the room and discuss the actual countries omitting! Eg China? Yet some how Australian cows farting is the issue

We all need to do better.
China also. Per capita though we are nearly the worst country in the world and if we don't pick up you can be sure we will get sanctions from Europe which won't be good for our economy.

It is hard for us to lecture China if we do the wrong thing. I am sure we can catch up though if we want. Cow farming isn't the issue and really doesn't figure.

You watch what Twiggy of Fortescue does. There are many great Australian companies just wanting a fair go. We have the materials, the weather, the space. We could eat this if we want and surely will.

Over time we will produce power extremely cheaply and as long as we don't sell out to foreigners should be in a great position.

China realise this and have bought effective control of the manufacturing of solar panels using Australian breakthroughs. They also have invested in controlling rare metals and it has taken the world a while to wake up and fight back.

The government should encourage this rather than give subsidies to coal.
They should control gas exports to ensure we have this as for our industries.

We can then pressure China more. China at least has a plan to reduce emissions over the medium term. Our planning seems as hoc.

 

[orr]

Seriously learn how the basics of the world works

Luv to hear what your suggested reading list might be?

 

[Investoradam]

Not that you have an ability to make the case.

You don't appear to know much as the USA has been responsible for most CO2 emissions to date, and that's why we are where we are on climate change.

China is also replacing many outdated coal fired power stations and what they do build are state of the art.

Seriously?

You are a clown!

China Started More Coal Plants Than The Entire World Retired In 2020 | OilPrice.com

Despite commitments to become a net-zero emission economy by 2060, China—the world’s biggest carbon emitter—commissioned more coal-fired capacity last year than the rest of the world retired

oilprice.com

China To Build 43 New Coal-Fired Power Plants

The report reckons that these new coal plants and blast furnaces will add 150 million tonnes to China’s CO2 emissions. This is roughly half the UK’s total emissions.

wattsupwiththat.com

building new replacing old so still keeping coal as a main source of power yet Australia can’t!
Only a muppet can’t work out the hypocrisy of it all and how usless and a scam the green



Showing no signs of slowing down! Nearly 1/3 of the worlds total and keep climbing yet the west needy to stop eating beef as the cows farting is the problem! Or it is many of the worlds billionaires who have invested in plant based meats want us to eat synthetic meat so we ruin farmers so the billionaires can buy up the land to add to there portfolio! As what is happening to farmers already.

inmean thanx to garbage Gough and bobby Whorke who signed Australia up to the United Nations aka the IMF the privately owned bank that dictates how countries do trade and business

Yes the left are the stupidest forms of society!
Learn some history of communism and Lenin he referred to you lot as “useful idiots” educated idiots who think they are intelligent it’s the simple of the most stupid!

 

[moXJO]

We all need to do better.
China also. Per capita though we are nearly the worst country in the world and if we don't pick up you can be sure we will get sanctions from Europe which won't be good for our economy.

It's bs. If we keep immigration up then we will never hit the target. It's next to impossible. We are one of the fast growing nations in terms of immigration.

I thought we could double our way out to lower per capita. But it's based on 26% below 2005 levels. Immigration is going to make it near iimpossible to meet that target.

Building new homes and everything that comes with that means emissions are going up. It's either going to mean super high electricity prices and other strict restrictions to meet targets. We are talking in the vicinity of 50% per person over the next decade years.

Better we start to engage with Asia. Screw Europe. I don't think it's possibly unless we see tech advances.