Joseph Mooney's Climate Change (Restriction on Civil Proceedings) Bill is an outrageous attempt at removing a vital course of action for challenging big polluters who threaten all of our futures with climate chaos:
https://bills.parliament.nz/v/1/08176357-88b1-46b3-1aab-08dd6a66f759
"Around eight million properties in #England - or one in four - could be at risk of #flooding by 2050 as the danger increases due to #CimateChange, the Environment Agency (EA) has said.
The number could be even higher if more houses are built on floodplains, but could be lower if flood defences are improved.
Currently, 6.3 million properties are considered at risk from flooding, new figures show, which is higher than previously thought."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c99x4599gr7o
London most at risk.
Report highlights disproportionate killings of #IndigenousEnvironmentalActivists
PBSNewshour, Nov 16, 2024
"Leaders at the United Nations’ #COP29 #CimateChange summit are being pressed this year to address the rising threats to #environmentalists and defenders of #HumanRights. Ali Rogin looks at the challenges facing these activists around the world and speaks with Laura Furones, a senior adviser at the environmental watchdog and advocacy group Global Witness, to learn more.
Watch / read transcript:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/report-highlights-disproportionate-killings-of-indigenous-environmental-activists
People do tend to slow down when they can not see the hood of their car.
"These findings highlight that many Americans are experiencing psychological distress from #CimateChange, and those who do are more involved in collective #ClimateAction. People experiencing such distress may benefit from resources to support #MentalHealth and engagement with climate change."
" A sweeping global research review of the links between climate and #agriculture reveals the likelihood of an emergent #FeedbackLoop whereby, as #CimateChange puts more pressure on the global food supply, agriculture will, by necessity, adopt practices that may exacerbate its environmental impact. "
What the heck is “#CornSweat” and is it making the Midwest more dangerous?
It’s pretty much just as gross as it sounds.
"In one 2020 study, researchers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics analyzed a past summer heat wave in the Midwest and found that cropland — most of which comprised corn in this part of the country — can increase moisture in the air above it by up to 40 percent."
by Benji Jones
Aug 29, 2024
"Ah, yes, late August in the Midwest: a time for popsicles by the lake, a trip to the county fair, and, of course, extreme humidity made more miserable by … corn sweat.
"Corn sweat. It’s a thing! And people are talking about it.
The term refers to the moisture released by fields of corn during hot and sunny weather. Like all other plants, corn transpires — meaning, it sucks up water from the ground and expels it into the air as a way to stay cool and distribute nutrients. Moisture also enters the air when water in the soil evaporates. Together with transpiration, this process is called #evapotranspiration.
"So, where you find loads of plants packed tightly into one place, whether the Amazon rainforest or #Iowa, humidity can skyrocket during hot and especially sunny periods, making the air feel oppressive.
"That’s what happened this week: A late-summer #heatwave brought record and near-record temperatures to parts of the Midwest where there also happen to be vast fields of corn. With plenty of sunlight and temperatures in the high 90s, it was enough to make corn sweat, producing extremely uncomfortable weather.
"It’s not that corn sweats more than other plants — an acre releases less moisture on average than, say, a large oak tree — but the Midwest has a lot of corn in late August. In Iowa, for example, more than two-thirds of the area is farmland, and corn is the top crop (followed by #soybeans, which, by the way, also sweat)."
[...]
"Again, it’s not just crops across the #Midwest that release moisture, increase humidity, and make summers feel disgusting (I know firsthand; I grew up in Iowa). The millions of acres of #prairie that industrial farmland replaced — mostly to feed livestock and make ethanol — would have also produced loads of moisture, Basso said.
"But there are some key differences between native #ecosystems and #IndustrialFarmland, he added. '#NativePrairies are diverse ecosystems with a variety of plant species, each with different root depths and water needs, helping to create a balanced moisture cycle,' he told me. 'In contrast, corn and #soy #monocultures are uniform and can draw water from the soil more quickly.'"
A new study documented an array of wild edible plant species that four ethnic communities in the Kashmiri Himalayas traditionally depend on for food, medicinal use and to earn a living.
Although the authors say the wild food sources show promise to alleviate food scarcity a and adapt to climate change, threats persist from over-extraction, changing climate, and traditional knowledge loss.
by Sonam Lama Hyolmo
#ThackerPass protesters claim “biodiversity necessity defense” in court case with #LithiumNevada Corporation
By Kevin Sheridan
Published: Mar. 26, 2024
WINNEMUCCA, Nev. (KOLO) - "Six protesters being sued by the Lithium Nevada Corporation are using what they are calling a 'biodiversity necessity defense'.
"They say the defense is 'a legal argument used to justify breaking the law when a greater harm is being prevented; for example, breaking a car window to save an infant locked inside on a stifling hot day, or breaking down a door to help someone screaming inside a locked home. In these cases, trespassing is justified to save a life.'
"This week’s filing states that the 'Defendants possessed an actual belief that their acts of protest were necessary to prevent the present, continuing harms and evils of ecocide and irreversible climate change.'
"'We’re in the midst of the 6th mass extinction of life on Earth, and it’s being caused by human activities like mining,' said attorney Terry Lodge, who is representing the protesters. 'Our lives are made possible by biodiversity and ecosystems. Protecting our children from pollution and biodiversity collapse isn’t criminal, it’s heroic.'
"In a filing with the court, Lodge and other attorneys claimed the company had 'unclean hands', and that Lithium Nevada has 'engaged in serious misconduct including violating the Defendants’ human rights, Defendants’ civil rights, misleading the public about the impacts of lithium mining and how lithium mining contributes to climate change and biodiversity collapse, and conducting the inherently dangerous and ecologically destructive practice of surface mining at the Thacker Pass mine'.
"They further argue stopping the mine will prevent significant greenhouse gas emissions, and that their actions are justified because they are working to prevent #CimateChange."
#ClimateNecessityDefense #BiodiversityNecessityDefense #ThackerPassProtectors #SLAPPs #SaveThackerPass
#PeeheeMuhuh #Pauite #Shoshone #NoMining #LithiumMining #DirectAction #EarthDefenders #SacredSites #ProtectThackerPass
To address #CimateChange, we need to innovate, but technological innovation is not enough. We need to innovate on our dependence on vast quantities of energy. We need to innovate to use less. We need to innovate in our relationship with the natural world, even in our attitude that the "natural world" is something separate from us.
#Inuit group calls for bigger role in #ClimateAction
The Inuit Circumpolar Council is seeking to bring the effects of #Arctic #CimateChange on their communities to the attention of participants of the #COP28 conference in Dubai
Alaska Beacon, via Indian Country Today
Dec 8, 2023
"The #InuitCircumpolarCouncil includes representatives in #Alaska, #Canada, #Greenland and #Russia. It is one of the six international #Indigenous organizations that have decision-making power at the eight-nation #ArcticCouncil. The Inuit Circumpolar Council has a COP 28 delegation, to include Alaska members.
"One key issue highlighted in the position paper is the Loss and Damage Fund that was created at last year’s COP 27 held in Egypt. As it is structured now, the fund is focused on helping poorer nations in the #GlobalSouth address the impacts of climate change.
"That leaves a big gap, said Inuit Circumpolar Chair #SaraOlsvig of Greenland.
"'This means that as it is structured now, Inuit and other Arctic #IndigenousPeoples will not have access to the fund, although we are among those most impacted by climate change,' Olsvig said by email. Given the rapid rate of Arctic warming and associated effects, 'the inclusion of Inuit in any policy and decision-making is of great importance,' she said."
Read more:
https://ictnews.org/news/inuit-group-calls-for-bigger-role-in-climate-action
"#CameronParish is at the epicenter of #Louisiana’s coastal land loss crisis, ... due not only to #SeaLevelRise and #CimateChange, but also because the area is extremely low-lying; is naturally sinking; and is not close to a source of sediments, like a river, that could help the coastline hang on.
The #CompressorStation would be within the top 20 highest-powered compressor stations in the U.S."
What could possibly go wrong?
https://www.eenews.net/articles/emissions-rising-seas-test-game-changer-lng-project/
"Simultaneous record heat hits multiple continents
(...) Extreme heat events globally are becoming more frequent, intense and longer-lasting due to the burning of fossil fuels for energy, deforestation and other contributors to climate change.
Several studies have shown that particularly severe heat events, such as one in the Pacific Northwest in 2021, would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change."
: https://www.axios.com/2023/08/25/heat-waves-us-europe-japan
#Climate #CimateChange
#ClimateCrisis #GlobalWarming #science
"Extreme heat could make photosynthesis impossible for tropical trees and plants that may all die as a result, a new study found
(...) For a new Nature study, scientists across the country found that photosynthesis begins to fail in tropical trees at 116 degrees Fahrenheit (46.7 degrees Celsius).
The researchers also found that a small percentage of leaves — .01% — have already surpassed this limit at least once per season.
If the world continues to grow warmer, massive amounts of the tropical canopy could die off. However, in the paper, researchers state that "it is still within our power to decide the fate of these critical realms of carbon, water, and biodiversity."
#photosynthesis #Plants #Trees #Climate #CimateChange
#ClimateCrisis #GlobalWarming #biology #science
Without #CimateChange, these #ExtremeWeather events would not have happened
By Rachel Ramirez, CNN
Updated 7:58 AM EDT, Fri June 16, 2023
In some cases, the impacts of climate change are so clear and so overwhelming, scientists conclude extreme weather events would have been all but impossible without global warming. These six events fit the category:
In 2020, a prolonged, unprecedented heat wave seared one of the coldest places on Earth, triggering widespread wildfires. Temperatures in the small Siberian town of Verkhoyansk hit 104.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius), the warmest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic.
2. #PacificNorthwest heat wave, 2021
The end of June 2021 was unforgettable for parts of the Pacific Northwest. A historic heat wave killed hundreds, triggered devastating fires and worsened an already unrelenting drought in parts of the region.
Oregon, Washington, and western provinces of Canada including British Columbia, saw record-shattering temperatures, which reached as high as 121.3 degrees Fahrenheit (49.6 Celsius) in the Canadian village of Lytton, which subsequently was burned down by a wildfire.
3. Northern Hemisphere #drought, 2022
From #NorthAmerica to #Europe to #China, vast swaths of the Northern Hemisphere experienced extreme drought in the summer of 2022, straining water resources, ruining crops, and priming the landscape for perilous #wildfires.
Attribution initiative scientists concluded climate change made these drought conditions at least 20 times more likely. The soaring temperatures would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change, the analysis also found.
4. Horn of #Africa drought, 2020-2023
A three-year drought in the Horn of Africa, one of the world’s most impoverished regions, has caused crops to wither, water to disappear, and livestock to starve in large parts of #Kenya, #Somalia and #Ethiopia.
The drought, which is the worst in 40 years, has had a catastrophic human impact, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving more than 20 million facing acute food insecurity.
It would not have happened without climate change, which made it at least 100 times more likely, according to a rapid attribution analysis.
5. #Mediterranean heat, 2023
In April, a blistering heat wave with temperatures far more typical of late summer swept Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Algeria, exacerbating a severe drought that had already left crops dry and drained critical water resources.
Human-caused global heating made the western Mediterranean heat wave at least 100 times more likely. Scientists said the heat, which exceeded 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit (40.6 Celsius) in parts of #Morocco, would have been “almost impossible without climate change.”
6. Extreme heat in #SouthAsia, 2023
Large parts of #SouthAsia faced a brutal heat wave in April. Countries including #Vietnam, #Myanmar, #Laos, #India and #Bangladesh all saw new all-time temperature records.
In #Thailand, temperatures topped 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 Celsius) for the first time ever, but humidity meant temperatures felt much higher.
In Thailand and #Laos, the humid heat wave would have been “virtually impossible” without the climate crisis, according to attribution initiative scientists. While the heat in India and Bangladesh was made at least 30 times more likely by human-caused climate change, the same analysis found
#ClimateCrisis #HeatWaves #ExtremeTemperatures
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/15/world/extreme-weather-events-climate-change/index.html
