OMNI CLIMATE MEMO MONDAYS, #135, JULY 10, 2023

 

OMNI CLIMATE MEMO MONDAYS, #135, JULY 10, 2023

“'Terrifying': Tuesday Was Hottest Day Ever, Breaking Record Set Just 24 Hours Earlier.”  July 5, 2023.

Data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction shows that the average global temperature reached 17.01°C, or 62.62°F, on Monday—making it the hottest day ever recorded.  The record lasted just 24 hours.   On Tuesday, the global average temperature peaked at a new all-time high of 17.18°C as regions worldwide—from Asia to Africa to the U.S. South—reeled from dangerous heatwaves.

READ THE FULL STORY

Climate change studies by the IPCC and policymakers show irreversible losses in terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal and open ocean marine ecosystems, but these studies have underestimated melting ice and sea level rise, while efforts to mitigate or adapt to these changes by the 195 signatories to Paris ’15 have been “negligible.”

ROBERT HUNZIKER.  “The Greenland Threat Escalates.”  CounterPunch (JULY 7, 2023).

Will the world’s major coastal cities, such as NYC, survive escalating global heat conditions in Greenland? And what if both Greenland and Antarctica follow the recent very disturbing pattern of the world’s oceans? For the first time that scientists can recall, sea surface temperatures that always recede from annual peaks are failing to do so, staying high.

Climate change is getting dangerously worse, which is becoming a more common statement among scientists. Ecosystems are starting to fail right before our eyes. For example, in 2022 Europe experienced a big scare with temporary loss of full service for navigable commercial waterways, like the Rhine, and loss of potable water in regions of France and Italy, necessitating water delivery by truck to over 100 communities, with much of Asia experiencing similar issues, especially China and India.

Suddenly, the world is a different place, a description that fits Greenland, especially August 14^th, 2021, when it rained at Summit Station, 10,551 feet elevation. There’s no previous record of rainfall at the 2-mile summit. It was one more unprecedented climate event. More on Greenland and coastal cities follows herein.

According to the [United Nations] IPCC 6^th Assessment Report: “There is high confidence that climate change has already caused irreversible losses in terrestrial, freshwater and coastal and open ocean marine ecosystems.” Still, climate scientists continue pumping out reports about those same irreversible losses, but frustration mounts as reports pile on top of reports in the face of negligible efforts by the 195 signatories to Paris ‘15.

It’s not surprising that climate scientists are becoming street protestors.  MORE  https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/07/07/the-greenland-threat-escalates/

The Greenland Threat Escalates - CounterPunch.org

 

Michael Mann.  Our Fragile Moment.  2023.

In this sweeping work of science and history, the renowned climate scientist and author of The New Climate War shows us the conditions on Earth that allowed humans not only to exist but thrive, and how they are imperiled if we veer off course.
 
For the vast majority of its 4.54 billion years, Earth has proven it can manage just fine without human beings. Then came the first proto-humans, who emerged just a little more than 2 million years ago—a fleeting moment in geological time. What is it that made this benevolent moment of ours possible? Ironically, it’s the very same thing that now threatens us—climate change.

The drying of the tropics during the Pleistocene period created a niche for early hominids, who could hunt prey as forests gave way to savannahs in the African tropics. The sudden cooling episode known as the “Younger Dryas” 13,000 years ago, which occurred just as Earth was thawing out of the last Ice Age, spurred the development of agriculture in the fertile crescent. The “Little Ice Age” cooling of the 16th-19th centuries led to famines and pestilence for much of Europe, yet it was a boon for the Dutch, who were able to take advantage of stronger winds to shorten their ocean voyages.

The conditions that allowed humans to live on this earth are fragile, incredibly so. Climate variability has at times created new niches that humans or their ancestors could potentially exploit, and challenges that at times have spurred innovation. But there’s a relatively narrow envelope of climate variability within which human civilization remains viable. And our survival depends on conditions remaining within that range.
 
In this book, renowned climate scientist Michael Mann will arm readers with the knowledge necessary to appreciate the gravity of the unfolding climate crisis, while emboldening them—and others–to act before it truly does become too late.