Heatwave Mass Casualties Strike India in April Amidst Severe Drought, Water Shortages

Posted on April 12, 2016 by GarryRogers

Probably another dangerously hot summer ahead.

Loss of water from snow melt in the Himalayas, increasing temperatures and instances of drought over the food-producing plains, and a potential endemic weakening of the annual monsoonal rains. These are all climate change related impacts that appear to be settling in over India as global temperatures consistently begin to hit levels higher than 1 C above 1880s values. Impacts that are setting up conditions for sustained and increasingly severe droughts and heatwaves.

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Yesterday, temperatures rocketed to 114.44 degrees Fahrenheit (or 45.8 degrees Celsius) in Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Odisha, on the Indian east coast. It was the hottest April reading ever recorded for a region that typically sees daily highs in the upper 90s this time of year. A level of heat that’s excessive even for this typically warm region.

(Most of India baked under a severe heatwave yesterday [April 11] as the number of lives lost…

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Warm, Southerly Winds Gust at Hurricane Force Over Greenland in Staggering Early Season Heatwave — Temperatures Now Hitting up to 41 Degrees (F) Above Average at Summit

Posted on April 11, 2016 by GarryRogers

And now . . . more juice for the N. Atlantic cool pool. Thanks Robert for the information. And thanks to all the commenting climatologists for your insights and additions. Required reading.

robertscribbler

The wavy, crazy Jet Stream.

Over the past few years, it’s become more and more clear that a human-forced heating of the Arctic has basically driven the Jet Stream mad. Big loops, omega blocks, and huge ridges and troughs have all become a feature of the new climate we’re experiencing. And related to these features have been a number of superstorms, severe droughts, ocean hot and cold pools, and extreme rainfall events.

(The Jet Stream once again mangled. A strong trough shoved cool air over the US East Coast this weekend as a facing ridge prepared to hurl a bulge of extreme warmth up and over Greenland on Monday. Image source: Earth Nullschool.)

As we have seen with Sandy, the Pacific Hot Blob, the UK floods, The California Drought, The Record Alaska and Canadian Wildfire Seasons of 2015, the Russian Heatwave and Fires of 2011, the Pakistan Floods of…

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New Tesla for the Masses: Orders off the Hook

Posted on April 2, 2016 by GarryRogers

This automobile and Tesla’s network of power stations, adds another practical reason for our next car to be pollution-free.

This is Not Cool

Teslarati:

Less than a day after Elon Musk officially unveiled the jaw-dropping Model 3 at the Tesla Design Center, he took to Twitter to announce that 232,000 reservations have been placed. The figure isn’t surprising considering earlier in the day Musk tweeted that 180,000 Model 3 deposits were accepted in just 24 hours since the reservation window opened. This crushes our earlier predictions that Tesla would sell 100,000 units within the first day.

And climbing.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk plays Al Gore.

muskgore2

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Generation Anthropocene: How humans have altered the planet for ever

Posted on April 1, 2016 by GarryRogers

We are living in the Anthropocene age, in which human influence on the planet is so profound – and terrifying – it will leave its legacy for millennia. Politicians and scientists have had their say, but how are writers and artists responding to this crisis?

From: www.theguardian.com

Oil industry gears up for new climate fight

Posted on March 28, 2016 by GarryRogers

A Harvard economist known globally for his work on climate change policy sat in the Sacramento office of the oil industry’s lobbying firm recently, making the case that California is fighting global warming the wrong way.

The state has a good cap-and-trade system, Robert Stavins said, but some of its other environmental policies are weakening it. He pointed to a rule known as the low carbon fuel standard, which is supposed to increase production of clean fuels.

Environmental advocates consider it a complement to the cap-and-trade program that makes industry pay for emitting carbon. Stavins had other words.

“It’s contradictory. It’s counterproductive. It’s perverse,” he said. “I would recommend eliminating it.” From: www.ocregister.com

Hot Winds Fan Massive, Unprecedented March Wildfire Burning 40 Mile Swath Through Kansas and Oklahoma

Posted on March 25, 2016 by GarryRogers

In arid and semi-arid environments, introduced invasive plants fill openings left by fires. In the Great Plains, perennial grasses tolerate fires well. Where livestock grazing and other disturbances have broken soil surfaces, however, the fire increases the opportunities for invasive plants to establish. Fine fuel builds up. Shortened fire recurrence intervals can overcome the resistance of perennial grasses and lead to weedlands of little value for wildlife, wildlife, or soil stability.

robertscribbler

It’s likely that we’ve never seen a March wildfire like the beast that just ripped through Kansas and Oklahoma over the past day. But in a world that’s now exploring a new peak temperature range near or above 1.5 C warmer than pre-industrial averages, a level of heat not seen in the past 110,000 years, we’d be out of our minds to expect the weather and climate conditions to behave in any kind of manner that could be considered normal.

We’re Probably Looking at the Worst Wildfire on Record for Kansas and Oklahoma

(Massive, unprecedented, wildfire burns along a 40 mile swath across Kansas and Oklahoma on Wednesday. Image source: NASA/MODIS.)

And abnormal absolutely describes what happened in Oklahoma and Kansas yesterday and today.

The first sign of trouble was a warning of severe fire risk by weather officials for a multi-state region of the Central US on Wednesday

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Avoiding collapse: Grand challenges for science and society to solve by 2050

Posted on March 23, 2016 by GarryRogers

News Stories about global change.

“These six examples illustrate that there is no one-size-fits all approach for researchers to address today’s grand environmental challenges, but two common themes emerge. The first is that it is no longer enough to simply do the science and publish an academic paper; that is a necessary first step, but moves only halfway towards the goal of guiding the planet towards a future that is sustainable for both human civilization and the biosphere. To implement knowledge that arises from basic research, it is necessary to establish dialogues and collaborations that transcend narrow academic specialties, and bridge between academia, industry, the policy community and society in general. The second theme is that now is the time to rise to these scientific and communication challenges. The trajectories of population overgrowth, climate change, ecosystem loss, extinctions, disease, and environmental contamination have been rapidly accelerating over the past half-century. If not arrested within the next decade, their momentum may prevent us from stopping them short of disaster.” From: elementascience.org

World Meteorological Organization — Dangerous Climate Future Has Arrived

Posted on March 21, 2016 by GarryRogers

Thanks to Robert Scribbler for continuing to produce such excellent work in these harsh times. This year has begun with dismal news that makes so many of our earthly issues feel like frivolous amusements, and makes it hard to be tolerant of ignorant assertions by friends and neighbors. Reputable scientists and public agencies have declared a global emergency and have made specific recommendations for responses. However, official responses have been criminally slow or nonexistent. But what do you do when the people responsible for handling emergencies are also the ones that would judge their own failures? Would members of congressional committees slap each other’s wrists before moving their homes and bank accounts to higher ground?

robertscribbler

The alarming rate of change we are now witnessing in our climate as a result of greenhouse gas emissions is unprecedented in modern records. — Petteri Taalas, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization

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It would be a bit of an understatement to say that the global scientific community is reeling. Sure, the various scientists and researchers knew that a massive accumulation of greenhouse gasses in the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans was beginning to take a serious toll. They knew that ocean heat content in the top 2,000 meters of the world ocean system (accounting for 93 percent of Earth System warming) was going through the roof. And they knew that this warmth was going to bleed out in a seriously big and bad way as a record El Nino swept through the global climate system during 2014, 2015 and 2016.

(Temperature averages for 2016 are…

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States At Risk: America’s Preparedness Report Card

Posted on March 20, 2016 by GarryRogers

This report card explores the preparedness actions that each of the 50 states are taking in relation to their current and future changes in climate threats. From: statesatrisk.org