Ocean News

An article about things that are likely to happen "within the lifetime of teenagers". It's a bit long with 9 parts, I posted one below as I'd never thought about diseases trapped in melting in glaciers.

When Will the Planet Be Too Hot for Humans? Much, Much Sooner Than You Imagine. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/climate-change-earth-too-hot-for-humans.html

 

Climate Change May Pose Threat to Nation’s Electric Grid | Insurance Journal

A report, written by Johns Hopkins University and Swiss Re, finds that climate change “presents epistemic risks beyond predictable, ordinary weather-related risks to the electric grid," which by "a combination of higher average temperatures, more destructive storms and hurricanes, and increased risk of wildfire will ultimately worsen risk exposure for utilities."

Of particular interest to insurance companies is that millions of utility poles are uninsured. Hurricane Iniki, which in 1992 destroyed much of Kauai’s distribution and transmission infrastructure, is an example of what extreme weather can do to a power system. It knocked down 5,000 utility poles, wiping out a large portions of the island’s distribution system. Electricity was disrupted for weeks to months in some areas. Full restoration of power took three months.

 

How climate change will affect the quality of our water | The Verge

A study published in Science shows that, in the future, more rain and more extreme storms will wash out increasing amounts of nutrients like nitrogen into rivers and coastal waters. Researchers showed that nitrogen runoff could increase by nearly 20 percent in the continental US by the end of the century — with the upper Mississippi Atchafalaya River Basin and the Great Lakes seeing the largest increases. Nitrogen can do great damage: not only can it cause algal blooms, but when those algae die, they sink to the bottom and decay, using up oxygen in the process. This creates areas of low oxygen where fish and shellfish can’t survive. Algae blooms can disrupt fisheries, causing millions of dollars in lost revenue, and cut drinking water supplies.

Algae blooms in Lake St. Clair and in western Lake Erie in 2015. Photo: NASA
​

 

Planet has just 5% chance of reaching Paris climate goal, study says | The Guardian

The Paris accord, signed by 195 countries, commits to holding the average global temperature to “well below 2C” above pre-industrial levels and sets a more aspirational goal to limit warming to 1.5C. This latter target is barely plausible, the new research finds, with just a 1% chance that temperatures will rise by less than 1.5C.

Such risks have been underscored by a separate study, also released on Monday, that shows unabated climate change will cause around 60,000 deaths globally in 2030 and 260,000 deaths by 2100. The study, by the University of North Carolina, found that rising temperatures will exacerbate air pollutants that will particularly threaten those with existing conditions.

 

Electric cars run on coal and nickel mines look like lunar landscapes.
nickel mines - Bing images https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=nickel+mines&FORM=HDRSC2

My boat will travel a vastly greater distance on gasoline than it ever could on batteries.

 

Tampa Bay’s coming storm | Washington Post

 

"Progressive" is a funny word which often is mis-used by people who are anything but.

 

Sounds like the progressive rise of water will create a progressive loss of value of any property in that area. Perhaps if they pray a lot it will help.

 

Ice-Patch Archeology: Global Warming Reveals Ancient Arctic Artifacts

In the remote Mackenzie Mountains wilderness of Canada's Northwest Terroritories, scientists are finding a treasure trove of ancient hunting tools being revealed as warming temperatures melt patches of ice that have been in place for thousands of years.

Tom Andrews, an archaeologist with the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife and lead researcher on the International Polar Year Ice Patch Study, is captivated by the wealth of implements being discovered by researchers.

"We're just like children opening Christmas presents. I kind of pinch myself," says Andrews.

Ice patches are accumulations of annual snow that, until recently, remained frozen all year. For millennia, caribou seeking relief from summer heat and insects have made their way to ice patches where they bed down until cooler temperatures prevail. Hunters noticed caribou were, in effect, marooned on these ice islands and took advantage.

"I'm never surprised at the brilliance of ancient hunters anymore. I feel stupid that we didn't find this sooner," says Andrews.

Ice patch archeology is a recent phenomenon that began in Yukon. In 1997, sheep hunters discovered a 4,300-year-old dart shaft in caribou dung that had become exposed as the ice receded. Scientists who investigated the site found layers of caribou dung buried between annual deposits of ice. They also discovered a repository of well-preserved artifacts.

Ice-Patch Archeology: Global Warming Reveals Ancient Arctic Artifacts http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/04/-global-warming-reveals-ancient-arctic-artifacts-.html

.

 

The thawing of mountains is causing an increase in landslides.

A rare mega-tsunami in Greenland is helping researchers prepare for a new climate-change threat | Quartz

On June 17, residents in the Greenland village of Nuugaatsiaq were hit by a tsunami arrived, caused by a massive landslide in Greenland’s Karrat Fjord. The wave washed away 11 homes, leaving four people in the town of 84 residents dead. Authorities in Greenland are now preparing for the likelihood of another landslide.

The right half of the highlighted area shows the scarred hillside in Greenland’s Karrat Fjord
after a landslide fell a kilometer into the water below, causing a tsunami that reached 90 meters.
The left half shows at-risk areas.
​

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Lake Monsters: Tsunamis in Lake Geneva | The Economist


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Matterhorn disintegrating in the face of global warming | The Independent

Researchers from the University of Zurich, who have been studying the mountain closely since 2007, say melting water is permeating exposed cracks and crevices on the 4,478m (14,690ft) mountain, which straddles the Swiss-Italian boarder. Subsequent cycles of freezing and thawing in these gaps are creating subtle movements under the rock surface, causing ever-widening fissures with the result that lumps of rock are falling off, the researchers say.

One cameraman got incredibly close to a spectacular rockslide which occurred on Monday
(19th of October 2015) in the Valaisan community of Evolène (Switzerland).
​

 

Government Report Finds Drastic Impact of Climate Change on U.S. | New York Times

A draft copy of a special science section of the congressionally-mandated four-year National Climate Assessment has been "leaked" pending approval to be officially released by the tRump administration. Its conclusions directly contradicts claims by President tRump and members of his cabinet who say that the human contribution to climate change is uncertain, and that the ability to predict the effects is limited. The report projects increases of 5.0 to 7.5 degrees Fahrenheit (2.8 to 4.8 degrees Celsius) by the late century, depending on the level of future emissions.

The report can be read here.

 

Like your smart phone, electric car or boat with fancy batteries? These are the miners:

child labor cobalt mines - Bing images https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=child+labor+cobalt+mines&qpvt=child+labor+cobalt+mines&qpvt=child+labor+cobalt+mines&qpvt=child+labor+cobalt+mines&FORM=IGRE

 

Katharine Hayhoe: The Five Stages of Climate Denial | Climate Crocks blog

STAGE ONE: Climate isn’t changing – you scientists are faking/cherrypicking/manufacturing the data and we will continue to investigate you until we prove it.

STAGE TWO: Okay, climate IS changing–but not because of humans. Everyone knows it’s [insert favourite cause: natural cycles, volcanoes, the sun, cosmic rays, or we should study it more because scientists still don’t know].

STAGE THREE: It’s changing, and it’s us, but hey – who wouldn’t prefer warmer weather and higher carbon dioxide levels? It’s all good. Pass the margaritas.

STAGE FOUR: It’s changing, it’s us, and some of the impacts might be bad; but it’s far more expensive to fix it than it is to live with the consequences. At least for my donors, that is.

STAGE FIVE: Oops! It’s too late to do anything about it now. You scientists really should have tried harder to warn us. Your bad.​

Katharine Hayhoe: On Being a Climate Scientist in Texas​

 

A couple more videos of Dr. Katharine Hayhoe

Katharine Hayhoe Assailed by Angry Climate Denier in Austin ​

Climate Scientist Katharine Hayhoe on Faith, Climate Change & UN Paris Summit ​

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe - Climate Change: Facts, Fictions, and our Faith​

 

It’s unambiguous and definitive. These five charts prove that the planet is heating up. | Washington Post

State of the Climate in 2016 is a new report, prepared by 450 scientists from more than 60 countries, led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and published by the American Meteorological Society. Major take-a-ways include:

• The global surface temperature was the highest on record.
• The global lower tropospheric temperature was the highest on record.
• Sea surface temperatures were the highest on record.
• The global sea level was the highest on record.
  
• Greenhouse gases were the highest on record.
• The number of extremely hot days are increasing worldwide
  
• Mountain glaciers are retreating
  
• The 10 hottest years on record for the planet have occurred since 1998