The Global Warming Thread

[Freyland]

Salt Lake Bed City, ofc.

[Alefroth]

The Town that Arsenic Killed?

[Isgrimnur]

Salt Lake Flats

[Smoove_B]

Once again, OHIO:

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation that broadly expands the ability to drill for oil and gas in state parks and also legally redefines natural gas as a source of “green energy.”

A 2011 state law gave state agencies the authority, if they choose, to lease out state lands for oil and gas exploration and production. The bill signed by DeWine on Friday would change that language to say a state agency “shall” accept a lease that meets certain conditions, instead of saying it “may” do so. In other words, it forces an agency to grant the lease application from oil and gas drillers.

The term green energy typically refers to energy derived from the sun and wind, not fossil fuels. Natural gas is a fossil fuel released by digging into the earth that acts as a greenhouse gas via leakage during transport and when it’s combusted. Its main component is methane, a potent heat-trapping gas.

[Zaxxon]

It's natural, dontchyaknow.

[Zaxxon]

Combined with CA, good news.

[Alefroth]

I wonder how that will translate into water levels for Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

[Zaxxon]

I wonder how that will translate into water levels for Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

Healthy Colorado snowpack promises some relief for tight water supplies

tl;dr - it's good, but we'd need another 6-7 years like this one, consecutively, to return to something approaching normal. (Narrator: not happening)

While helpful, the healthy snowpack is not going to lead to recovery on the huge downstream reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, Bolinger said.

“They’re too big,” she said. “They’re too massive. This is just one year.”

These massive water savings accounts have been dwindling during the ongoing drought, now in its 23rd year, prompting a state of emergency for water users across the West. In 2021, Blue Mesa Reservoir in Gunnison County conducted emergency releases to help bolster water levels in the drought-depleted Lake Powell. The move dropped Blue Mesa’s water level and kneecapped the local summer economy.

This year, Lake Powell will likely end the 2023 water year, which closes Sept. 30, at an elevation of about 3,555 feet, or about 32% of its capacity, according to Bureau of Reclamation forecasts in February. That’s about 35 feet higher than its elevation on Monday.

Glen Canyon Dam can no longer generate hydroelectricity when Lake Powell’s elevation reaches 3,490 feet, its minimum power pool elevation. Dead pool, when water can’t flow through the dam, is 3,370 feet.

By some estimates, the Colorado River Basin would need three years of normal snowpack and absolutely no water use to refill all the reservoirs, Miller said.

With current levels of water use, “we’d probably need to have this kind of year consecutively for, oh gosh, probably six or seven years,” he said.

[gilraen]

Meanwhile, California cancels salmon fishing season:

The Department of Fish and Wildlife has canceled the entire salmon fishing season along the California coast. It's only the second time in history that has happened. The last time was in 2008-2009 after another period of prolonged drought.

"Fishery managers have determined that there simply aren't enough salmon in the ocean right now to comfortably get a return of adult salmon to reproduce for 2023," McManus said.

[Smoove_B]

The "triple-dip" La Nina has ended. I guess we'll see what happens next...

[Grifman]

The US now gets more power from renewables than coal.

[Smoove_B]

Oh look, legislation rolling back truck emission regulations was just passed. I wonder what Democrat wasn't able to help stop this?

By a vote of 50-49, the #Senate passed S.J.Res.11, Fischer Trucking Emissions CRA.

Senator Manchin joined Republicans and voted in favor.

Senator Feinstein did not vote.

Details here:

The Senate narrowly passed a joint resolution that would roll back an EPA regulation setting stringent standards for smog-forming emissions from heavy-duty trucks.

The Congressional Review Act joint resolution, which passed 50-49 Wednesday afternoon, was driven by arguments from Republicans and some Democrats that the Biden administration regulation would contribute to supply chain woes and inflation after the trucking industry warned it would significantly increase costs for big rigs.

And it shows that fossil energy-friendly Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., continues to be wary of President Joe Biden’s stringent climate standards. Still, the tally was well short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override a veto, which the White House said Biden would issue if the measure reaches his desk.

“The irony is, the prices of newer vehicles will escalate, incentivizing truckers and businesses to hold onto their older, higher-emitting trucks,” Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., sponsor of the resolution, said in a Wednesday floor speech. “Smaller, more affordable trucking businesses will close up shop, and the ones that can afford higher prices will raise their rates. This means consumers will be paying more money to a smaller group of businesses.”

[Isgrimnur]

Then perhaps they should pony up funds to subsidize modernization efforts.

[Smoove_B]

That's socialism.

[pr0ner]

Oh look, legislation rolling back truck emission regulations was just passed. I wonder what Democrat wasn't able to help stop this?

It's not like that resolution is actually going to be signed by Biden. It says so right in the quote you provided.

[Smoove_B]

Fair, but the idea that it would even make it to his desk is absurd.

The usual suspects get to declare it a procedural victory and move on to the next bit of nonsense. Then again, I suppose if the Democrats blocked it, they'd campaign on that too.

Dysfunction irritates me, especially in government process. Apparently dysfunction is the norm now.

[Jaymann]

Biden should lean into it and publicly tear it up, then ball it up and basketball shoot it into a recycle bin.

[Unagi]

Biden should lean into it and publicly tear it up, then ball it up and basketball shoot it into a recycle bin.

No No No- he should roll it up into a huge Cheech and Chong joint, light it up with a "Fire-breathing MTG Butane Lighter" and lean back and smoke it. With shades on, of course.

[Kraken]

I wish Feinstein would resignstein so that I could stop wishing she would die.

[Blackhawk]

Biden should lean into it and publicly tear it up, then ball it up and basketball shoot it into a recycle bin.

Bonus points if he bounces it off of McConnell's backboard of a forehead and still hits the basket.

[Daehawk]

Biden should lean into it and publicly tear it up, then ball it up and basketball shoot it into a recycle bin.

No No No- he should roll it up into a huge Cheech and Chong joint, light it up with a "Fire-breathing MTG Butane Lighter" and lean back and smoke it. With shades on, of course.

Speaking of that I really wish he'd done SOMETHING about decriminalizing weed or legalizing it or ANYTHING good.

[Kraken]

Biden should lean into it and publicly tear it up, then ball it up and basketball shoot it into a recycle bin.

No No No- he should roll it up into a huge Cheech and Chong joint, light it up with a "Fire-breathing MTG Butane Lighter" and lean back and smoke it. With shades on, of course.

Speaking of that I really wish he'd done SOMETHING about decriminalizing weed or legalizing it or ANYTHING good.

Federal cannabis policy is a nuisance insofar as it makes credit and banking difficult in the free states. Fixing that would be a good thing. But IDK if it would change anything in a prohibition state. You people just aren't ready yet.

[malchior]

Average sea surface temperatures have soared to record highs—and stayed there.

To call what’s happening in the oceans right now an anomaly is a bit of an understatement. Since March, average sea surface temperatures have been climbing to record highs

...

Since this record-keeping began in the early 1980s...the global average for the world’s ocean surfaces has oscillated seasonally between 19.7° and 21° Celsius (67.5° and 69.8° Fahrenheit). Toward the end of March, the average shot above the 21° mark and stayed there for a month. (The most recent reading, for April 26, was just a hair under 21°.) This temperature spike is not just unprecedented, but extreme.

“It’s surprising to me that we’re this far off the trajectory,” says Robert Rohde, lead scientist at Berkeley Earth, a nonprofit that gathers climate data. “Usually when you have a particular warming event, we’re beating the previous record by a little bit. Right now we’re sitting well above the past records for this time of year, for a considerable period of time.”

Rohde points out that temperatures this week were just under two-tenths of a degree warmer than the previous record. “Two-tenths doesn’t sound like a lot—but in ocean terms two-tenths is actually a lot because it doesn’t warm as quickly as the land,” he says

...

,,,March is normally when average sea surface temperatures start declining. That’s because the Southern Hemisphere has transitioned from summer to autumn—and that hemisphere has more ocean covering it than the Northern Hemisphere, which has more bulky land masses. As southern oceans cool, they bring down the average global sea surface temperature.

But at the moment, temperature anomalies are widespread around the world’s oceans. (That near-real-time data comes from a network of satellites, buoys, and other ocean instruments.) “It’s above-average temperatures nearly everywhere,” says Rohde. “And there’s a significant heat wave in the North Pacific, which has been going on for many months.”

[Smoove_B]

I'm putting this here as unless you're living under a rock, we're clearly experiencing the impacts of climate change:

Package delivery drivers worked through the wildfire smoke in New York City on Wednesday, even as the air quality became "hazardous" in the afternoon and clouds of stinging yellow smog descended over the city. Drivers said that, despite the conditions outdoors, UPS did not change their hours or take any precautions to protect them from the smoke—not even providing masks.

“Normally during lunch, I open up my back door, I lay down. But today, the overwhelming smell of smoke literally kept me awake coughing,” said Dave Carew, a UPS driver with Teamsters Local 804, the branch of the union responsible for New York City, Long Island, and parts of New Jersey. “I have allergies too. So the last two days, my allergies have been off the charts. I've been talking to other drivers throughout the day, they're all coughing.”

And here's a big surprise - the same employers that didn't care about you during the ongoing pandemic, still don't care about you during a wildfire.

Carew had been on the road since around 10 a.m. that morning, when air quality was categorized as “unhealthy” by the U.S. government, due to smoke from rampant Canadian wildfires drifting southward. At that point, Carew and other drivers confirmed, management had not given them direction to protect themselves from the smoke or to make their drives more comfortable. He added that trucks driven by UPS delivery drivers don’t have proper air conditioning or any form of air filtering, and are usually driven with their doors open to speed up the delivery process and help cope with heat.

[Pyperkub]

Financially too - see the State Farm thread

By my estimation, in the past 12 months I've had to pay almost $8k extra in just fire insurance premium rate hikes (for far less coverage).

[hitbyambulance]

I'm putting this here as unless you're living under a rock, we're clearly experiencing the impacts of climate change:

Package delivery drivers worked through the wildfire smoke in New York City on Wednesday, even as the air quality became "hazardous" in the afternoon and clouds of stinging yellow smog descended over the city. Drivers said that, despite the conditions outdoors, UPS did not change their hours or take any precautions to protect them from the smoke—not even providing masks.

“Normally during lunch, I open up my back door, I lay down. But today, the overwhelming smell of smoke literally kept me awake coughing,” said Dave Carew, a UPS driver with Teamsters Local 804, the branch of the union responsible for New York City, Long Island, and parts of New Jersey. “I have allergies too. So the last two days, my allergies have been off the charts. I've been talking to other drivers throughout the day, they're all coughing.”

And here's a big surprise - the same employers that didn't care about you during the ongoing pandemic, still don't care about you during a wildfire.

Carew had been on the road since around 10 a.m. that morning, when air quality was categorized as “unhealthy” by the U.S. government, due to smoke from rampant Canadian wildfires drifting southward. At that point, Carew and other drivers confirmed, management had not given them direction to protect themselves from the smoke or to make their drives more comfortable. He added that trucks driven by UPS delivery drivers don’t have proper air conditioning or any form of air filtering, and are usually driven with their doors open to speed up the delivery process and help cope with heat.

WA state will be mandating steps employers (specifically for agricultural workers) must take for outdoor workers at certain levels of air quality

https://lni.wa.gov/safety-health/safety ... fire-smoke

https://deohs.washington.edu/pnash/blog ... g-industry

[Zaxxon]

Financially too - see the State Farm thread

By my estimation, in the past 12 months I've had to pay almost $8k extra in just fire insurance premium rate hikes (for far less coverage).

We've already reached the point where certain areas are uninsurable. We *should* be at the point where many more are (eg the Gulf coast).

[LordMortis]

/wonders if conservatives in NY are up in arms about people wearing masks in the NE outdoors? That the best way to adapt to wildfire air pollution is to take in more wildfire air pollution.

[malchior]

/wonders if conservatives in NY are up in arms about people wearing masks in the NE outdoors? That the best way to adapt to wildfire air pollution is to take in more wildfire air pollution.

That's literally what these bottom feeders are doing.

[Pyperkub]

Financially too - see the State Farm thread

By my estimation, in the past 12 months I've had to pay almost $8k extra in just fire insurance premium rate hikes (for far less coverage).

We've already reached the point where certain areas are uninsurable. We *should* be at the point where many more are (eg the Gulf coast).

Part of the State Farm new coverage drop was Florida. As to the rest of the Gulf?

PS - while the $ out of pocket are for 2 years coverage, it's just that the HOA didn't get around to the assessment until late, as the management company we booted last year, in part over this issue, did an awful job with the Fire insurance increases. (We lowered our assessment from 4k to less than 3k this year), but I've had to pay them both in the past 12 months, plus the doubling of my own additional home owners policy.

[Zarathud]

Apparently there are new rules for condos in FL where some boards have 5 years to raise enough funds to pay to rebuild the building. It’s going to become crazy, and DeSantis will face a major backlash if he’s still governor.

But the Republican way is to create the illusion of prosperity, then leave the smoking ruins after it falls apart to the Democrats.

[malchior]

Washington Post

Flash flood warnings were issued for New York City overnight, with officials asking residents of basement apartments to move to a higher floor and for all New Yorkers to stay off roads. Heavy rainfall, the city said in a statement, could be dangerous for low-lying areas and those with poor drainage systems.

...

In some cases, he added, entire roads were not just impassable from the flooding but “completely destroyed.” The nearby U.S. Army Garrison at West Point reported flooded and washed-out roads, urging people to stay home. Orange County and Rockland County received 5 to 8 inches of rain, the National Weather Service said.

...

Craig Ceecee, a meteorologist and PhD student at Mississippi State University, described the extremely heavy rain in the lower Hudson Valley as a “once-in-1,000 year rainfall event” in a tweet.

Another meteorologist said that the Hudson Valley experienced a month’s worth of rain in just a few hours.

“The #HudsonValley’s warming climate is increasing the risk for heavy rainfall,” tweeted Ben Noll, a New Zealand-based meteorologist who is from the Hudson Valley, adding that a warmer atmosphere makes heavier rainfall events more probable. The trend can contribute to “increased risk for extreme rainfall rates that can cause flash flooding, too,” he wrote.

[Smoove_B]

In case you were wondering what's happening globally as we continue to experience unprecedented weather events:

Several countries led by Saudi Arabia have blocked a move by G20 nations to reduce the use of fossil fuels, in the latest sign of the global tensions over the future role of oil, gas and coal as the world grapples with climate change.

G20 countries released a summary document on Saturday after several days of intense discussions hosted by India in Goa. It said that some member states had emphasised the need to cut back the use of fossil fuels without the capture of emissions “in line with different national circumstances”. But others “had different views on the matter”.

...

Several people familiar with the negotiations said Saudi Arabia was prominent in the push against phasing down fossil fuels, and was backed by several other countries.

In past negotiations Russia and China have consistently opposed the move, and they stymied a pact at the UN climate summit in Egypt late last year.

The G7 nations have already agreed to accelerate the phasing out of fossil fuels.

Saturday’s gathering also failed to make progress on setting a global goal for renewable energy development.

[Blackhawk]

Saudi Arabia, which will be in the 'unsuitable to human life' zone as the planet continues to warm.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, but with money pouring in they can relocate into domes or under ground. Money above all; money fixes everything.

[Blackhawk]

Yeah, but with money pouring in they can relocate into domes or under ground. Money above all; money fixes everything.

Arcologies it is. The poor can get by with nerve stapling.

[Isgrimnur]

It's called The Line.

[Kraken]

Good news! The Republicans rolled out their climate plan, and it's a doozy! (OK, the Heritage Foundation isn't technically "the Republicans," but since the party officially has no platform this will have to do.)

An alliance of rightwing groups has crafted an extensive presidential proposal to bolster the planet-heating oil and gas industry and hamstring the energy transition, it has emerged.

Against a backdrop of record-breaking heat and floods this year, the $22m endeavor, Project 2025, was convened by the notorious rightwing, climate-denying thinktank the Heritage Foundation, which has ties to fossil fuel billionaire Charles Koch.

Called the Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, it is meant to guide the first 180 days of presidency for an incoming Republican president. Climate experts and advocates criticized planning that would dismantle US climate policy.

The nearly 1,000-page transition guide was written by more than 350 rightwingers and is full of sweeping recommendations to deconstruct all sectors of the federal government– – including environmental policy.

Drill, baby, drill!

[Kraken]

We're changing the clouds, and it's heating the oceans



Who knew that "ship track clouds" were a thing?

Regulations imposed in 2020 by the United Nations’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) have cut ships’ sulfur pollution by more than 80% and improved air quality worldwide. The reduction has also lessened the effect of sulfate particles in seeding and brightening the distinctive low-lying, reflective clouds that follow in the wake of ships and help cool the planet. The 2020 IMO rule “is a big natural experiment,” says Duncan Watson-Parris, an atmospheric physicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. “We’re changing the clouds.”

By dramatically reducing the number of ship tracks, the planet has warmed up faster, several new studies have found. That trend is magnified in the Atlantic, where maritime traffic is particularly dense. In the shipping corridors, the increased light represents a 50% boost to the warming effect of human carbon emissions. It’s as if the world suddenly lost the cooling effect from a fairly large volcanic eruption each year, says Michael Diamond, an atmospheric scientist at Florida State University.

There's some interesting science behind this at the link.

[Isgrimnur]

And someone will call for us to go back to high-sulfur fuel.