Is the ocean broken?

[hoytedow]

Yeah, it's just like the Donner party up there, but without the party hats.

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

Catastrophic consequences for oceans when climate change and plastic pollution crises combine

• Scientists have found evidence that marine plastic pollution and climate change exacerbate one another in three different ways
  
• Plastic contributes to global greenhouse gases (GHGs) throughout its life cycle, from production through to disposal
  
• Extreme weather, like floods and typhoons associated with climate change, will disperse and worsen plastic pollution
  
• Plastic pollution is having a devastating impact on marine biodiversity—from individual animals mistakenly ingesting plastic bags to entire habitats polluted with microplastics
• Furthermore, sea ice is a major trap for microplastics, which will be released into the ocean as the ice melts due to warming

The paper was published in Science of the Total Environment

 

[hoytedow]

Besides meat, what are you willing to give up that you have told us to give up? Even the tips of your shoelaces, if not the laces themselves, are made of plastic.

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

Besides meat, what are you willing to give up that you have told us to give up? Even the tips of your shoelaces, if not the laces themselves, are made of plastic.

I have no intention of giving up plastic. But I do think we should use it conservatively, and dispose of it properly.

I've recently acquired a long-wheelbase, below-the-seat steering, recumbent bicycle. It's been a real hoot learning to ride. I've only fallen over twice. <laugh> I don't yet have the strength and endurance to be able to ride it to town and back.

 

[hoytedow]

I don't disagree with thrift. Now if DC could only learn how to be thrifty we might make some true progress.

 

[hoytedow]

Unmelting?

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

Major ocean current could warm greatly, new study reveals

• The Kuroshio Current, flowing past Japan, is analogous to the Gulf Stream, moving heat, salt and gases from the equatorial seas to the middle latitudes
• Corals occur at their highest latitude of anywhere in the world within the Kuroshio Current because the waters are so warm
  
• Researchers found that the Kuroshio Current Extension is sensitive to global climate change and has the potential to warm greatly with increased carbon dioxide levels
• Ocean model studies and observational data also show that the Kuroshio Current Extension is shifting northward and increasing its transport capacity

The research was published in Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatolgy

 

[hoytedow]

It could, but it probably won't.

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

Marine heatwaves could severely affect the fishing industry

• An increase in heatwaves and related deoxygenation could wipe out thousands of tons of fish from all over the world
  
• If no action is taken to mitigate greenhouse emissions there will be a six percent annual drop in the amount of potential fish catches, and 77 percent of exploited marine species will decrease in biomass.
  
• Fisheries’ revenues may be cut by an average of three percent globally, and employment by two percent
  
• The worse hit areas include the Indo-Pacific region, the Eastern Tropical Pacific, and some countries in the West African region

The study was published in the journal Science Advances

 

[hoytedow]

They could, but probably won't.

 

[ImaginaryNumber]

Fossil-Fuel Use Could Peak in Just a Few Years. Still, Major Challenges Loom.

• Wind and solar power are now the cheapest source of new electricity in most markets
• Sales of electric vehicles worldwide hit records last year
• Approvals for new coal-fired power plants, a major source of emissions, have slowed dramatically in recent years
  
• The European Union has been increasing the price it charges large polluters to emit carbon dioxide
  
• As a result, the International Energy Agency now projects that humanity’s emissions of carbon dioxide will reach a peak by the mid-2020s and then drop slowly in the decades thereafter
  
• Even so, this shift is still nowhere near enough to avert some of the most perilous consequences of climate change
  
• Current energy policies will still put the world on track to heat up roughly 2.6 degrees Celsius (4.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100 compared to preindustrial levels
• The world’s nations need to slash emissions nearly in half this decade and stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere altogether by around 2050

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

World Energy Outlook 2021
International Energy Agency

An outlook based on today’s policy settings, the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS), shows aggregate fossil fuel demand slowing to a plateau in the 2030s and then falling slightly by 2050, the first time this has been projected in this scenario. Almost all of the net growth in energy demand comes from low emissions sources. Nonetheless, the global average temperature rise in this scenario passes the 1.5 degrees Celsius (°C) mark around 2030 and would still be climbing as it reaches 2.6 °C in 2100.

 

[hoytedow]

It could, especially if there is success in depopulation of humanity to no more than 500 millions, which is your goal, correct?

Support For Climate Change Skyrockets After Computer Models Show It Will Flood California https://babylonbee.com/news/new-computer-models-showing-california-under-water-causes-huge-spike-in-support-for-climate-change?utm_source=Gab&amp;utm_medium=link&amp;utm_campaign=Gab

 

[hoytedow]

My carbon sinks are finally attracting bees again. These are the first I've seen all summer.

 

[hoytedow]

Uplifting:
Japanese WW2 ships sunk by US raised from deep by volcano tremors https://www.the-sun.com/news/3893678/japanese-war-ships-sunk-volcano-iwo-jima/

 

[hoytedow]

https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/088/589/245/original/ff1f8e448889eec9.jpg