The Global Warming thread.

[Vrede too]

Identity crisis: Climate destroying wonders that gave US parks their names

Glacier National Park's ice fortress is crumbling. The giant trees of Sequoia National Park are ablaze. And even the tenacious cacti of Saguaro National Park are struggling to endure a decades-long drought.

Since their creation, national parks have embodied the pioneering spirit of America in their vast expanses and breathtaking landscapes.

But today, the climate crisis imperils the very symbols of many parks, leaving them facing a future where their names could be cruel ironies....

UnGlacier, UnSequoia and UnSaguaro National Parks?

[O Really]

UnBear the California flag?

[Vrede too]

UnBear the California flag?

UnGrizzly at least

UnBee the planet:

Researchers Believe They Have Discovered Why Bee Populations Are Disappearing Around the World

[Vrede too]

Extreme heat hits (AGW denying) Texas and Florida early in the season

God is just.

... High heat and humidity, including heat indexes around 100 degrees, are also expected in Houston in the coming days. The city is still reeling from last week’s deadly storms, with tens of thousands of residents still without power.

No AC

Studies have shown that climate change is making early-season heat more likely, in addition to fueling more frequent, intense and longer-lasting heat waves.

The consequences can be deadly. Heat kills more people each year in the United States than any other weather disaster, according to the weather service.

[Vrede too]

Unprecedented ocean temperatures make this hurricane season especially dangerous

The world's oceans have consistently been breaking daily heat records since early 2023, a yearlong fever that has climate scientists, coral reef experts and even hurricane forecasters concerned and dismayed.

In the main region of the Atlantic Ocean where hurricanes develop, water temperatures are "absolutely stunning," said Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate studying hurricanes at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School....

Areas of warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures – known as anomalies – are seen across the Atlantic on May 29, 2024, in this graphic from ClimateReanalyzer.org, a project of the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, based on NOAA satellite data.


Water temperature anomalies in the Atlantic Ocean's main hurricane development region are now the warmest on record going into hurricane season, said Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist at WPLG Local 10 in Miami, in a column for Yale Climate Connections.

Crap.

[Vrede too]

Zombie apocalypse:

Arctic 'zombie fires' rising from the dead could unleash vicious cycle of warming

Crap.

[Vrede too]

Why this summer’s forecast is bad news for the US after an exceptionally disastrous start to the year

Crap.

[O Really]

Oceanside, Dana Point, Encinitas make the national news.

"California's beaches threatened by climate change"


https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/vi ... 3033029953

[O Really]

If I had just seen it written, I would have thought it must surely be satire. But in video, with Miami underwater, DeSantis says it's just usual summer rainstorms. I don't think the people standing in waist-high water beside their drowned cars bought it.

[Vrede too]

If I had just seen it written, I would have thought it must surely be satire. But in video, with Miami underwater, DeSantis says it's just usual summer rainstorms. I don't think the people standing in waist-high water beside their drowned cars bought it.

Also:

Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bill that deletes climate change from state law
May 17, 2024

Moron, dangerous moron.

Mother Nature says, "Hold my beer, Ronny."

Florida soaked with epic rainstorms: Yep, it's climate change

Days after being pummeled with eight inches of rainfall in only just hours — the kind of extreme downpour that supposedly occurs once every 500 years — South Florida continues to be deluged with historic storms and flooding.

The region of the state remains under a flood advisory on Friday after a series of storms dumped between eight and 20 inches of rain over large sections of Florida over the previous three days. Meteorologists expect another two to four inches of rain by Friday night, and some areas may get as much as 10 inches....

It's not just Florida:

A powerful heat dome is just one of the extreme weather hazards coming next week

... Prolonged, record-breaking heat is on the way for an area of the country that has largely avoided it so far, wildfire risks are rising in parts of the West and bathtub-warm water could fuel the first tropical depression of the Atlantic hurricane season....

This one will make temperatures skyrocket to levels hotter than even the hottest typical summer day.

Hundreds of temperature records could fall by the end of next week, both during the day and at night.

Temperatures will top out 15 to 20 degrees above normal over a huge portion of the eastern half of the country Monday afternoon, but surge even higher to reach 25 degrees above normal at times from Tuesday through Friday.

This translates to days of high temperatures well into the 90s for tens of millions of people who don’t typically bake in long-lasting heat.

Relief from the heat won’t be found at night, which is another symptom of a warming world. Overnight low temperatures aren’t expected to drop below the low 70s or upper 60s in many locations.

To make matters worse, humidity will work in tandem with extreme heat to send the heat index – how heat feels to the human body – to dangerous triple digits in parts of the East. Heat index values in the low 100s are possible as far north as Maine next week.

The health risks from heat will reach extreme levels for millions next week, according to a scale from the National Weather Service and CDC. Heat is the deadliest form of weather in the US, killing more than twice as many people each year on average as hurricanes and tornadoes combined....

86°/67°here today. Eighties/sixties for next 10 days.

[Vrede too]

Top Climate Scientist Sums Up Second Donald Trump Term With 2 Chilling Words
Michael E. Mann offered a terrifying analysis of what a second Trump administration would mean for both the American and global fight against climate

Climate scientist Michael E. Mann warned it would essentially be “game over” for the fight against global warming should Donald Trump win back the White House in the 2024 election....

Biden has “helped shepherd the most aggressive climate legislation in U.S. history” with the U.S. Inflation Act with its mission to lower carbon emissions by 40%, he said, noting significant GOP pushback to green initiatives.

Trump, however, is “a president who will basically be a rubber stamp for polluters and right-wing interests who are trying to dismantle not just U.S. climate policy but global climate policy, so it really is about the future of the planet,” Mann warned.

“A second Trump presidency would be more or less game over for climate action,” he added. “It would be game over for domestic climate policy and as goes the U.S., goes the rest of the world when it comes to action on climate....

In April, Trump reportedly asked oil and gas executives to donate $1 billion to his campaign in exchange for beneficial policies if he returns to office....

Ftr, the headline writer could have picked a better modifier than "Chilling".

[Vrede too]

See them while you can: Climate change is reshaping iconic US destinations

California's Big Sur Coast Highway
NC Outer Banks
DC Tidal Basin, etc
Key West and the rest of the Keys
Hawaii

[O Really]

Sadly it's probably already too late for the Big Sur. You can still get on it in places, but it's been several years since you could drive the distance, and access from other roads is very limited. Years (probably 10) ago, we road tripped from Fort Bragg down to San Francisco, and we've been on parts of the SF-LA section of the 1, but for the last five years at least there have been so many cave-ins that taking the "traditional" PCH road trip isn't possible.

[Vrede too]

Sadly it's probably already too late for the Big Sur. You can still get on it in places, but it's been several years since you could drive the distance, and access from other roads is very limited. Years (probably 10) ago, we road tripped from Fort Bragg down to San Francisco, and we've been on parts of the SF-LA section of the 1, but for the last five years at least there have been so many cave-ins that taking the "traditional" PCH road trip isn't possible.

I'm glad I did it while I could.

Las Vegas hits record of fifth consecutive day of 115 degrees or greater as heat wave scorches US

... The temperature climbed to 115 shortly after 1 p.m. at Harry Reid International Airport, breaking the old mark of four consecutive days set in July 2005. And the record could be extended, or even doubled, by the weekend.

Even by desert standards, the prolonged baking that Nevada’s largest city is experiencing is nearly unprecedented, with forecasters calling it “the most extreme heat wave” since the National Weather Service began keeping records in Las Vegas in 1937.

Already the city has broken 16 heat records since June 1, well before the official start of summer, “and we’re not even halfway through July yet,” meteorologist Morgan Stessman said Wednesday. That includes an all-time high of 120 F (48.8 C) set on Sunday, which beat the previous 117 F (47.2 C) record.

... It's also dangerously hot, health officials have emphasized. There have been at least nine heat-related deaths this year in Clark County, which encompasses Las Vegas, according to the county coroner’s office. Officials say the toll is likely higher.

Public radio: 4000 heat related ER visits per year in NC, and climbing. Heat exhaustion, heat stroke, not sure if sunburns are included. Yikes.

... More than 142 million people around the U.S. were under heat alerts Wednesday, especially in Western states, where dozens of locations tied or broke heat records over the weekend and are expected to keep doing so all week.

Oregon has seen record daily high temperatures, with Portland reaching 103 F (39.4 C) and Salem and Eugene hitting 105 F (40.5 C) on Tuesday. The number of potentially heat-related deaths in Oregon has risen to 10, according to the state medical examiner’s office. The latest two deaths involved a 54-year-old man in Jackson County and a 27-year-old man in Klamath County.

On the other side of the nation, the National Weather Service warned of major-to-extreme heat risk over portions of the East Coast.

An excessive heat warning remained in place Wednesday for the Philadelphia area, northern Delaware and nearly all of New Jersey. Temperatures were around 90 F (32.2 C) for most of the region, and forecasters warned the heat index could soar as high as 108 F (42.2 C). The warning was due to expire at 8 p.m. Wednesday, though forecasters said there may be a need to extend it.

... The U.S. heat wave came as the global temperature in June was a record warm for the 13th straight month and marked the 12th straight month that the world was 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times, the European climate service Copernicus said. Most of this heat, trapped by human-caused climate change, is from long-term warming from greenhouse gases emitted by the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, scientists say.

We're screwed.

... In California, firefighters were battling least 19 wildfires Wednesday, including a 45-square-mile (117-square-kilometer) blaze that prompted evacuation orders for about 200 homes in the mountains of Santa Barbara County.

[Vrede too]

Vegas Sphere 'Melts' In Record Heat

Ugh.

[Vrede too]

Monday breaks the record for the hottest day ever on Earth

Crap.

[Vrede too]

Study finds major Earth systems likely on track to collapse: 5 things to know

We have largely failed future generations.

[Vrede too]

Scientist Defends an Audacious Plan to Block Sunlight and Cool the Earth

[Vrede too]

Climate change deniers make up nearly a quarter of US Congress
Climate denialists – 23 in Senate and 100 in House – are all Republicans and make US an outlier internationally

... Even as a quarter of US lawmakers deny the climate crisis, the American public has been moving significantly in the other direction. Fewer than one in five people in the US reject the findings of climate science, according to various studies, with long-running polling by Yale University showing that those they class as “dismissive” stand at just 11%.

While this slice of the American public opinion has remained largely unchanged in recent years, a much larger, growing cohort is worried about the climate crisis following a string of record hot years and a parade of wildfires, storms and other climate-fueled events. More than half of Americans are now “alarmed” or “concerned” about climate change, the Yale surveys find.

“The amount of people at each end of the spectrum – alarmed and dismissive – were essentially tied back in 2013 but today there are three alarmed people for every one dismissive, so there’s been a fundamental shift in how people see climate change in the US,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, an expert in climate public opinion at Yale.

Good.

... Naomi Oreskes, a history of science professor at Harvard University who has long studied anti-climate rhetoric, said it was “unsurprising” that the report found old-school climate denial is on the decline.Naomi Oreskes, a history of science professor at Harvard University who has long studied anti-climate rhetoric, said it was “unsurprising” that the report found old-school climate denial is on the decline....

“As far back as the 1990s, they were saying renewable energy isn’t reliable enough, or they were saying that wind power … kills whales,” she said. “Is it really so different from climate denial if you don’t deny the science but you deny the possibility of solutions?”

Among ordinary people, Leiserowitz said the views of the relatively small group of people who deny that temperatures are warming, or tie climate science to conspiracy theories involving Al Gore or the United Nations, are often exaggerated both politically and throughout US society.

“This small minority of Americans are really vocal, they are more likely to vote and clearly they are more than adequately represented in the halls of Congress,” he said.

“They are punching above their weight and having an undue influence on the public square, to the extent that most people don’t want to talk about climate change because they think half of the country doesn’t believe in it. There’s a culture of silence – climate has joined sex, religion and politics as the topics not to bring up at the Thanksgiving table.”

Political polarization and the prevalence of “safe” congressional seats, which encourage candidates to hew to more extreme views in order to secure key party primary contests, have helped entrench this imbalance, Leiserowitz said, along with a flood of donations from the fossil fuel industry.

Weird morons. We're screwed and we don't talk about it, ugh.

[O Really]

Lady O and I have seen several shows recently that dealt with previous massive changes in the Earth climate and liveability. From the end of dinosaurs to ice ages to changes in the size and form of continents. So I may not agree, but I can understand somebody saying "change is always happening, it's been happening for a billion years, good or bad there's nothing we frail humans can do about it." I can understand someone saying "what little we can do about it is too expensive and won't matter in the long run." I can understand (and agree with) that "we should focus more on how to adapt to a changing environment than on keeping it from changing."

But it is totally beyond me how these fools can sit there and say stupid stuff like "it's always hot in the summer" in the face of repeated heat records and on the hottest global days ever recorded. Or for that matter why does anybody else give those fools anything but ridicule and scorn?