Is Global Warming becoming unstoppable?

Climate change and compassion fatigue
Posted on October 12, 2018

I’m a climate scientist, and I don’t worry about climate change very much. I think about it every day, but I don’t let it in. To me climate change is a fascinating math problem, a symphony unfolding both slowly and quickly before our very eyes. The consequences of this math problem, for myself and my family and our future, I keep locked in a tiny box in my brain. The box rarely gets opened.

https://climatesight.org/2018/10/12/climate-change-and-compassion-fatigue/

If anyone is interested in understanding some of the mechanics of how the ice is melting in Antartica as a result of climate change this blog is for you.

Clear, interesting, not overley technical. Personal and accessible. The above post is the most recent on her blog site.
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Dr Kaitlin Naughten is an ocean modeller at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, UK.

She became interested in climate science as a teenager on the Canadian Prairies, and increasingly began to notice the discrepancies between scientific and public knowledge on climate change. She started writing this blog at age sixteen to help address this gap in public understanding, and it slowly evolved into a record of her research as a young climate scientist.

Kaitlin’s first research experience came during her undergraduate degree at the University of Manitoba. Each summer she travelled somewhere new to work as a research assistant: to the University of Toronto with Prof Steve Easterbrook, the University of Victoria with Prof Andrew Weaver, and the University of New South Wales in Australia with Prof Katrin Meissner.

She returned to Australia for her PhD, supervised by Prof Meissner as well as Dr Ben Galton-Fenzi and Prof Matthew England. At point she began to specialise in ice-ocean modelling: simulating the interactions of Antarctic ice shelves with the surrounding Southern Ocean, and the potential consequences for sea level rise. This theme has continued into Kaitlin’s first postdoc at the British Antarctic Survey, where she is focusing on the Weddell Sea region of Antarctica and the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf cavity.

https://climatesight.org/about/

Company directors now care about climate change.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10...-started-caring-about-climate-change/10423658

If we want to slowdown/stop runaway CC we have a terrifying short time frame left to stabalise and reduce CO2 in the atmosphere.

It has now reached the stage that scientists are saying we have to develop crash programs to actively suck CO2 out of the air and store.

So what will happen after the new Brazilian Government turns the remaining parts of the Amazon jungle into cattle ranches and soy bean fields ?

WASHINGTON — With time running out to avoid dangerous global warming, the nation’s leading scientific body on Wednesday urged the federal government to begin a research program focused on developing technologies that can remove vast quantities of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere in order to help slow climate change.

The 369-page report, written by a panel of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, underscores an important shift. For decades, experts said that nations could prevent large temperature increases mainly by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and moving to cleaner sources like solar, wind and nuclear power.

But at this point, nations have delayed so long in cutting their carbon dioxide emissions that even a breakneck shift toward clean energy would most likely not be enough. According to a landmark scientific report issued by the United Nations this month, taking out a big chunk of the carbon dioxide already loaded into the atmosphere may be necessary to avoid significant further warming, even though researchers haven’t yet figured out how to do so economically, or at sufficient scale.

And we’ll have to do it fast. To meet the climate goals laid out under the Paris Agreement, humanity may have to start removing around 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year by midcentury, in addition to reducing industrial emissions, said Stephen W. Pacala, a Princeton climate scientist who led the panel. That’s nearly as much carbon as all the world’s forests and soils currently absorb each year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/24/climate/global-warming-carbon-removal.html?action=click&module=In Other News&pgtype=Homepage&action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage

basilio said:

If we want to slowdown/stop runaway CC we have a terrifying short time frame left to stabalise and reduce CO2 in the atmosphere.

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I'm afraid that we are stuffed.

If people keep electing far right governments around the world there is little hope of achieving anything meaningful.

We will go the way of the dinosaurs, as the saying goes, "it won't happen overnight but it will happen".

Sadly I've held this view for some time now Rumpy. Most people are too preoccupied with day to day survival to focus and the (big business) news media caps it.

A sad PARTY

Some very concerning new research on the amount of extra heat in the oceans cause by global warming.
Far, far more than previously believed. It indictaates an acceleration of global temperatures as warmer oceans temperatures also warm the atmosphere.

Startling new research finds large buildup of heat in the oceans, suggesting a faster rate of global warming

The findings mean the world might have less time to curb carbon emissions.
Chris Mooney and
Brady Dennis
October 31
The world’s oceans have been soaking up far more excess heat in recent decades than scientists realized, suggesting that Earth could be set to warm even faster than predicted in the years ahead, according to new research published Wednesday.

Over the past quarter-century, Earth’s oceans have retained 60 percent more heat each year than scientists previously had thought, said Laure Resplandy, a geoscientist at Princeton University who led the startling study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The difference represents an enormous amount of additional energy, originating from the sun and trapped by Earth’s atmosphere — the yearly amount representing more than eight times the world’s annual energy consumption.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/ener...warming/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c159479cc477

I don't know what or who to believe.

The scary thing is our entire existence is at stake. A Royal Commission into G.W.?

Imagine if Human Beings (and alot of other species) become extinct because of Right Wing idealogy!

Darc Knight said:

I don't know what or who to believe.

The scary thing is our entire existence is at stake. A Royal Commission into G.W.?

Imagine if Human Beings (and alot of other species) become extinct because of Right Wing idealogy!

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I think that could be really good idea Darc . We are dealing with an issue that will challenge the existence of our society. It will take a monumental effort to address it. It has been scarred by political idiocy for years.

Perhaps the public forensic capacities of a judge and support staff can look at the evidence and come to a formal conclusion on what we are facing and what we could/should do.

(cough) It would also give some cover for politicians to change their current views

Huge uncontrollable fires in California today reported on ABC 24 this evening.

Party away, no one cares.

explod said:

Huge uncontrollable fires in California today reported on ABC 24 this evening.

Party away, no one cares.

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Geez Explod why do you keep editing your posts? Don't be shy. I saw your post in the Melbourne Cup thread before you deleted it and you were so right with your comments. No one is "partying" no one has "no care". Wildfires happen when there is fuel and heat. Nothing to do with global warming or any special event other than dangerous fire conditions.

explod said:

Huge uncontrollable fires in California today reported on ABC 24 this evening.

Party away, no one cares.

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It's almost their winter isn't it.

How do you get bushfire in autumn? We are so stuffed.

luutzu said:

It's almost their winter isn't it.

How do you get bushfire in autumn? We are so stuffed.

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Why are we so stuffed? Autumn can be one of the hottest seasons and if there is fuel to burn and someone flicks a flame or there is lightning....burn, baby burn!

Darc Knight said:

I don't know what or who to believe.

The scary thing is our entire existence is at stake. A Royal Commission into G.W.?

Imagine if Human Beings (and alot of other species) become extinct because of Right Wing idealogy!

Click to expand...

According to Chomsky, the current GOP in the US is the world's most dangerous group of politician in the history of the world, ever.

1. They're ignoring the science behind Climate Change. Going so far as to ban the use of the word CC in any gov't correspondence/studies [namely Florida state gov't]. There's one GOP who believe in CC, but he said it's no biggie, nothing should be done about it.

2. Ramping up the next generation of nuclear weapons. Fun-sized it. Risking its frequent use... and worst, risking retaliation with a bigger, deadlier sized nuke that'll sure to lit the whole place up.

Ann said:

Why are we so stuffed? Autumn can be one of the hottest seasons and if there is fuel to burn and someone flicks a flame or there is lightning....burn, baby burn!

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It snow in their winter there or is that part of Cali too far south?

Their Thanksgiving and Xmas is just round the corner. I always imagine it'd be too cold for bush fire.

Bushfire rages in summer... theirs this year had been quite bad. Now it's almost winter and there's still fuel to burn.

luutzu said:

d, ever.

1. They're ignoring the science behind Climate Change. Going so far as to ban the use of the word CC in any gov't correspondence/studies [namely Florida state gov't]. There's one GOP who believe in CC, but he said it's no biggie, nothing should be done about it.

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luutzu said:

It snow in their winter there or is that part of Cali too far south?

Their Thanksgiving and Xmas is just round the corner. I always imagine it'd be too cold for bush fire.

Bushfire rages in summer... theirs this year had been quite bad. Now it's almost winter and there's still fuel to burn.

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OMG IT MUST BE GLOBAL WARMING! WE ARE ALL DOOOOMED!

I just hear they were blaming the fires on dry conditions and dead trees.

(OMG IT MUST BE GLOBAL WARMING!)

Ann said:

OMG IT MUST BE GLOBAL WARMING! WE ARE ALL DOOOOMED!

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There's a thread on CC.

If CC is anywhere near as bad as scientists are warning, yes, organised human society as we know it is doomed.

You can see plenty of examples of how society is doom right now, all over the world.

Drought, famine will force people to migrate. When they migrate from the country to the city en mass, the city's infrastructure will not be able to cope. So they'll either be locked up, beaten up, or riots will start.

Syria suffered a serious drought some 7-10 years ago. Farmers flee to the city... soon enough forming factions and rebels rises up, international powers move in to divvy up the place.

Similar migration are happening all over Africa. Bangladesh/India.

In Americas, there's a "caravan" of South Americans fleeing both dictators, military regimes and climate change.

When enough Africans heads into Europe; S/Americans into the US; Indonesians into Australia... can't really shoot or imprison all of them can we?

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Then there's fish stocks, grazing, food. For those in rich countries, the bills will just rises. Those in poorer countries will starve when drought or flash floods or typhoon/hurricanes destroy crops and livelihood.

Already certain species of fish are moving deeper and further away from their usual/shallower breeding ground.

The sea is getting warmer, certain species prefer colder water... so jobs will do, catch will be fewer using current capital equipments etc. etc.

Then there's the frequent "100 year", decade, thousand year event happening almost yearly.

Know how surveys showed that the average Americans cannot afford $500 emergency?

What will they have left after a bushfire or a hurricane or a flood wipe out everything they own?

During last summer alone, there's some 500 [?] bushfires happening at almost the same time across California and various other mid-west states.

Hurricanes floods and disappear towns and entire neighbourhood.

The cost to rebuild will not be the same. Where once you could simply nail down timber studs onto a slab, or get any cheap old windows to keep out the flies... after each disaster council regulation will demand tougher/costlier standards; insurance rates will rise.

That's not going to be good for those who just lost everything, didn't have much savings to begin with.


I know for a fact that in Cabramatta, Sydney... Fairfield Council had already demanded higher foundations to certain areas on all new development approvals. The existing properties there now were built at "normal" height. Now, a builder friend of mine said council require a $20K flood survey with any DA. He know a client nearby not bothering to build because she can't afford the survey and the new raised slab. The one granny flat he just built was raised about 2m high off the ground. Compare that to the "normal" 500mm for the old front house.

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Then there's all the ports, rail and other infrastructure around the world having been build at sea level.

Won't be cheap to upgrade. Won't be cheap to rebuild roads that's been washed away either.

So if there's any chance that the climate scientists could be right, maybe something ought to be done about it.

But the most powerful political body in the world all deny it. At least their policy does anyway. Personally, they all know, they just don't gives a f[k.


Take Trump for example... he know climate change is real. Just look at him applying to the gov't of Ireland to build sea walls around his golf resort there. He's building it to protect against the rising sea.

So when it's their assets and livelihood at stake, CC is real and needs to be taken seriously. When it's millions of other people's problem, meh... God will save us.

Ann said:

I just hear they were blaming the fires on dry conditions and dead trees.

(OMG IT MUST BE GLOBAL WARMING!)

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What causes them to be so dry and so dead?

Heard that a few years ago Cali has its worst drought in some decades.

Drought follow by lots of rain, too much rain in fact.

During the drought, big trees die off. I'm guessing.

When the heavy rain comes back, the trees are mostly dead... but the grass and brushes thrived. Then the dry season comes again.

Lots of dead grass around lots of dead trees... a spark and whoooshhh.

In the last winter in the arctic temperatures were hitting zero celsius when normally they should run between 40 and 60 celsius below.

Similar is occurring down south. The warmer polar regions is global warming and it is creating more moisture and cloud that is turning into more intense storms. This is pollution in action and with the melt of the permafrost we now have escaping methane multiplying the problem even more.

And in better times our rain came from the cycling of moisture from our trees. The destruction of our forrest have stopped this natural rainmaking. We are in trouble Anne on so many climate fronts that to Party is all I see left.

Yes, horse racing is shocking on ther animals and the gambling is on our community also. However I had second thoughts on actually driving it home on ASF member just having a bit of fun. Contradiction maybe but that's it.