OT:
3 Likes
YES! Creating an account now!
2 Likes
Although air conditioning was a seriously wonderful invention, it resulted in some pretty awful over populated spaces. The worst of which were probably not Florida, Texas, and Arizona.
The worst, IMO, was the Washington D.C. area. Should have left it a swamp.
2 Likes
In a world that followed the Precautionary Principle, we would assume volcanic eruptions happen and behave prudently rather than act surprised. In some places, e g. People can see volcanos from their homes. Mt. Rainier is the third volcanic mountain in the same place as the previous two what got blowed up.
1 Like
Putin could also offer the Z symbol.
3 Likes
Porque no Los Dos?
The Ocean heat has been common knowledge for some time. The Tonga volcano just adds to the perfect storm. As does the Atlantic Multidecadal Ocillation (AMO) which is occurring now at peak heat. Throw in the current 11 year solar maximum cycle and the next two years are not looking so cool. But that doesn’t signal a later return to normal. Negative albedo (4m Sq k now dark water instead of white ice) and CH4 will make things worse.
1 Like
It looks likely that the Republican Party will end up being the most harmful organization in the history of the world.
2 Likes
It is surprising to me that the financial business sector has not been more active in protecting itself from the impacts of climate change. Specifically redlining of low lying coastal areas that are increasingly threatened by sea level rise and hurricanes, typhoons etc.
People always pay a lot more attention when it hits them in the pocket book. A sea level rise of 20 feet will be devastating and it looks, increasingly, like it could happen quickly -like the 22nd Century. Those 100-year leases in FLA are looking pretty iffy.
I read yesterday that our CH4 levels aren’t all that bad. Problem is, CH4 oxidizes in 10 years to CO2 so you still end up with CO2 being the overwhelming driver of Global Warming. Where it matters most is in the Arctic because it exacerbates Arctic Amplification in the short term. If we have a BOE during this El Niño we’re going to be in serious trouble. And I completely agree that Methane could tip us into that situation.
We’re just fucking stupid about all this because we really have no idea what awaits us. I don’t think anything would surprise me at this point and I’m really expecting the worst outcomes because we’ve waited too damn long to do anything.
3 Likes
What’s really said is that now we’re left depending on corporations, (collections of wealthy capitalists focused on profit), to make critical decisions about the future of humanity, because they have more power and influence than our own government does.
Mull that shit over!
1 Like
Remember that tsunami that one time? 800k lost?
It will be like that, just more often and not tsunamis.
2 Likes
I’m not picking on your idea but I have to point out the folly in humanoid thinking… like ‘a mortgage being your biggest risk!’ Forget about the fact that you’re probably going to watch your new truck float off down the street while you stand on the roof of your house waiting to be rescued by a passing boat.
People are silly 
like that.
Yeah, those were the days! I remember when we hit the 100,000 mark on Covid deaths and thinking that was really bad, then it turned into 1 million. People still believe that was no big deal and refuse to get vaccinated or wear a mask.
2 Likes
life crumbles at the fringes.
2 Likes
At first! 
1 Like
The buyers are irrational by nature. They think very short term. It’s the lenders and underwriters that look beyond next week or next year. Why aren’t they reacting to snowballing risks for long-term investment and real estate in many areas of the planet more aggressively ? Coastal areas but also desert areas with drying out aquifers and killer summer heat. The incredible growth of areas like Phoenix makes no sense if they run out of water,
3 Likes
I have several friends and a wife convinced Trump will be reelected. Anything scientific pisses off some people, and they vote for the fascist line. For example, forests need to be healthy to act in their role as carbon sinks. Finland, which should respect science, is currently in a knock-down drag-out fight because some stupid scientists pointed this out, completely changing the estimates for Finland’s carbon sink. The right would like to characterize the reduction of carbon absorption as just some numbers and anybody can make up whatever numbers. “People are saying” after all. With virtually no scientists in the US congress, we can expect similarly stupid argumentation until we all cook or starve.
What is clear, however, is that the carbon sink of forests has collapsed and that the collapse did not come as a surprise to scientists. Luke warned about the possibility when the binding target was set by the EU in 2016. Further signs of the deterioration were detected in 2018, but its calculations continued to suggest that the country remained on track to meet its climate targets.
2 Likes
That is truly mind boggling. All that real estate will be essentially worthless without water, and you’d end up losing almost 90% of your investment.
2 Likes
About the only available solution to the Climate problem is a dramatic and immediate reduction in human population. I know that sounds radical, dystopian, and terrible anyway you slice it, but that’s what’s going to happen anyway, regardless of what we do or don’t do. Excessive heat can do that over a relatively short period of time, especially in poorer countries without resources and a functioning government. Famine is another one. Combined with disease, storms and other factors we may end up catching hell from every direction at once.
We can hope for better outcomes but without meaningful and quick action I don’t see how we avoid it.
1 Like