Climate Change Is Benefiting Terrorists In Somalia
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinero/2019/10/27/climate-change-is-benefiting-terrorists-in-somalia/#335f01e51016The more punishing climate is damaging means of earning a living, as most Somalis rely on agriculture, forestry, or fishing for their food and their income. For instance, long-used grazing routes don’t offer much food for livestock anymore. So nomadic herders (94% of whom live in poverty) need to find new pasture or new livelihoods. This brings them into conflict with non-nomadic communities, over land as well as water. Meanwhile, the amount of cultivable land is diminishing due to land degradation and other environmental processes, leading to rising tensions between different clans attempting to hold onto land.
So what good is killing the head of ISIS?
A disastrous disconnect
https://publicintegrity.org/environment/one-disaster-away/a-dangerous-disconnect-disaster-prone-states/Flash floods have troubled Kentucky for decades. Now, extreme rainstorms are worsening with climate change, increasing the odds of more disasters like the one Bentley’s community endured. For Kentucky’s poorest residents, the people living in flood-prone hollows with surface mines nearby, that means an ever-present threat to both life and hard-won possessions.
But the state isn’t on the front lines of the fight against global warming. Its leaders, concerned about the impact on coal, have positioned themselves on the other side of that battle.
That’s created a dangerous and expensive disconnect — and not just in Kentucky, a Center for Public Integrity analysis shows.
So increasing climate stress does not necessarily lead to climate action
South Africa rations water to save dwindling supplies
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-drought/south-africa-rations-water-to-save-dwindling-supplies-idUSKBN1X71H0“Indications are that are our rainfall patterns are getting harder to predict. What we’re seeing, like other parts of the globe, is the dry season is getting longer, harsher and more intense. Climate change is a reality and is affecting South Africa.”
Wait till
you have to choose between flushing the toilet or taking a bath.
Climate change increases flooding risk to homes, study shows
https://www.ft.com/content/a170fca6-f767-11e9-a79c-bc9acae3b654The number of households in Britain at risk of flooding will more than double by 2050 to more than 1.9m owing to the effects of climate change, research from data provider MSCI has found.
Had a flood in my condo when the patio drain plugged.
It's cost was in four figures.
Farmer to sue German government over failure to tackle climate change
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/farmer-court-germany-government-climate-change-crop-failure-a9174451.html"We’ve lost over a third of our millet crop, half our hay crop,” Mr Schwienhorst said. “It’s a catastrophe.”
Well, one consequence could be clogging the courts...
California’s fire season is longer and deadlier than ever, causing annual treks south by Oregon firefighters
https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2019/10/californias-fire-season-is-longer-and-deadlier-than-ever-causing-annual-treks-south-by-oregon-firefighters.htmlThe fires have become progressively worse in recent years - and experts believe they're a harbinger of an even bigger problem.
As Beaver said to Franklin Turtle "In a fire you lose
everything.
How Climate Change Could Shift California’s Santa Ana Winds, Fueling Fires
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/climate/santa-ana-winds.htmlRecent research suggests that as the climate warms, Santa Ana winds may become less frequent. Coupled with precipitation changes, that could mean more intense fires later in the year.
Sigh. Another feedback...
The California fires show how unprepared we are for climate change
https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/29/20936979/california-kincade-fire-wild-climate-change-disaster-preparednessFires are a fact of life in California, but the state’s fire season has grown wilder and more destructive as the planet warms, and these fires give us a taste of what climate change will mean in human terms. Longer droughts and more unpredictable winds turn what would once have been manageable fires into region-wide catastrophes. We’re only one year removed from the largest fire in California history, and few think that record will hold much longer. The slow-moving nature of the climate crisis means that, under even the best scenarios, these fires will keep growing for the next 40 years. The longer we keep going this way, the more powerful they’ll get.
and
Shifting Winds and the Changing Shape of California Fires
https://www.wired.com/story/santa-ana-winds-might-dwindle-but-fire-danger-remains/Even if fewer Santa Anas mean fewer wildfires, it won’t mean no wildfires. Remember that climate change is disrupting the whole system. “We were like, well, this is good news in terms of wildfires,” Guzman-Morales says. “But then, wildfires are not caused solely by Santa Ana winds. It’s a conjunction of weather conditions, and we can’t forget precipitation.” October brings fires in part because rain-free summers dry out hillside vegetation, and other researchers have found that climate change is pushing the rainy season back in SoCal. Right now, the Santa Anas continue all through the winter, but they don’t start as many fires because the rains come, too. In the future, all that vegetation will stay drier for longer, which means more chances for ignition. By 2025, fire season might just be Christmas.
Burn, baby, burn.
Chateau Viking: Climate Change Makes Northern Wine a Reality
https://www.wsj.com/articles/chateau-viking-climate-change-makes-northern-wine-a-reality-11572366566Vintners in Scandinavia are growing bold with their marketing, winning awards and prompting predictable sniffs from the French. ‘I don’t think they are at all our level yet.’
Well, at least I can still get my Communion Wine from somewhere.
Far more people are threatened by rising seas than scientists realized, a study shows: 'The magnitude of the numbers speaks for itself'
https://www.businessinsider.com/sea-levl-rise-flooding-risk-higher-estimates-2019-10The number of people threatened by sea-level rise and high-tide flooding around the world could be triple previous estimates, according to a new study.
The research found that 110 million people currently live below the high-tide line, and 250 million live on land below current annual flood levels — that's far higher than previous estimates.
If greenhouse-gas emissions continue unabated, up to 630 million people globally could occupy land below projected annual flood levels by 2100.
Warming ocean water and unprecedented ice-sheet melt could cause sea levels to rise by more than 3 feet by the end of the century.
People tend to build big cities where ocean ships can arrive/depart.
And these tend to be at sea level.
Climate change could leave southern Britain ‘unable’ to support crops
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/farming-climate-change-crisis-latest-uk-crops-a9175961.htmlIf emissions continue at current rates, Britain will be 5C warmer by the end of the century, and would experience up to 140mm less rainfall during the growing season between April and September, according to the paper published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
5C by 2100 is over a degree F a decade. And those Brits will have to get their food somewhere, so everyone will have too pay more.
Minnesota birds affected by climate change: Itasca County loons remain stable
https://www.grandrapidsmn.com/free_press/minnesota-birds-affected-by-climate-change-itasca-county-loons-remain/article_352bf012-f764-11e9-b6ee-2bab6a2e2e9c.htmlIn the report, “Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink,” published by the National Audubon Society, Minnesota’s state bird was listed as one of 55 species that are likely to disappear from the state by 2080 if greenhouse-gas emissions are not cut. Gaea Crozier, Nongame Wildlife Specialist with the Division of Ecological and Water Resources at the Grand Rapids Department of Natural Resources, shared what they have observed in the common loon population of Itasca County.
Birds survived Chixculub. Will this be what brings a Silent Spring?
World unprepared for impact of climate change on mountain water supplies: experts
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-mountain-summit-previe/world-unprepared-for-impact-of-climate-change-on-mountain-water-supplies-experts-idUSKBN1X8193“We are woefully underprepared. Our infrastructure was built in the 19th and 20th centuries in the mountains and downstream of the mountains and we don’t have that climate any more,” said John Pomeroy, a professor at Canada’s University of Saskatchewan, who is co-chairing the event.
Either too much or not enough. AGW is messing up water everywhere.
Deadly Algae Are Creeping Northward
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/10/plague-toxic-algae-making-shellfish-deadly/600406/Globally, HABs are exploding. In recent years, toxic blooms have started to occur in places where they’ve never happened before, and during more months of the year. The expansion of HABs is linked to rising sea temperatures, but pollution, the dumping of ballast water from ships, and the transplantation of shellfish stocks may also play a role.
The Mandarin Seafood Buffet closed down in Twinsburg, so my eating of ocean food is already defunct.
The False Comfort of Higher Seawalls
https://newrepublic.com/article/155519/false-comfort-higher-seawallsAs climate change races towards us, hurricanes are growing more destructive. Studies have suggested that today’s climate made Harvey more intense than it might have otherwise been. Such storms will become more frequent. Basic physics dictates that a warmer atmosphere holds more water, meaning that heavy downpours are becoming all the more common and intense as the world heats up. An ever-changing and transmogrifying enemy is hard to tackle: “It highlights the need to consider that our hazards are changing over time, and that we should be considering those changes in the design of our infrastructure,” Antonia Sebastian, a flood engineer at Rice University, said in a 2017 press release on her and other scientists’ Harvey-related research.
Maybe everybody should just get brooms and sweep back the sea?
Rising seas will erase more cities by 2050, new research shows
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/29/climate/coastal-cities-underwater.htmlScientists devised a better way to calculate land elevations and their findings are dire: Far more cities will be inundated by climate change than previously thought.
and
Shocking New Maps Show How Sea Level Rise Will Destroy Coastal Cities By 2050
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdobson/2019/10/30/shocking-new-maps-show-how-sea-level-rise-will-destroy-coastal-cities-by-2050/#7bb3eedb456cBy 2050, sea-level rise will push average annual coastal floods higher than land now home to 300 million people, according to a study published in Nature Communications. High tides could permanently rise above land occupied by over 150 million people, including 30 million in China. Without advanced coastal defense and planning, populations in these areas may face permanent flooding within 30 years.
A baby conceived today will be only 30 years old then.
California shows the difficulties of hardening the nation to climate change
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/california-shows-the-difficulties-of-hardening-the-nation-to-climate-change/2019/10/29/3e1a902e-f9c7-11e9-8190-6be4deb56e01_story.htmlThere is a bigger lesson for California, as for every other state. Hardening the nation to the effects of climate change will not just require sea walls around large coastal cities. It will demand expensive infrastructure changes and shifts in routine all over the economy — as with power lines surrounded by vegetation that is increasingly dry and combustible. Some of these changes will be unexpected, unwelcome and difficult to predict. Government and corporate leaders must nevertheless try. The first goal, about which the Trump administration remains inexcusably negligent, is to restrain the warming as much as possible. The second is to prepare for the warming that is already on its way.
AGW changes everything.
How climate change creates a ‘new abnormal’ for the real estate market
https://www.curbed.com/2019/10/29/20930330/real-estate-climate-change-federal-reserve-floodingAccording to a 2018 report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, “Underwater: Rising Seas, Chronic Floods, and the Implications for U.S. Coastal Real Estate,” an estimated 300,000 residential and commercial properties will likely face chronic and disruptive flooding by 2045, threatening $135 billion in property damage and forcing 280,000 Americans to adapt or relocate. This long-term analysis of how increased flooding will depress coastal real estate noted, alarmingly, that most investors in and developers of coastal real estate do not factor these risks into current value projections. Worldwide, according to the International Monetary Fund, significant assets, including property, could be “stranded” due to climate change, a reference to being both physically inaccessible and financially drained of value.
And these are just a few examples.
Climate change a financial and investment risk - report
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/402165/climate-change-a-financial-and-investment-risk-reportThe forum's interim report set out the considerable financial risk to industry and government, where climate change was concerned, and included a legal opinion from Circle partner Chapman Tripp, which clarified the legal obligations directors and fund managers have to account for climate change in their decision-making.
Are you an investor, or do you know one?
11 ways climate change and air pollution can damage your health
https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/lifestyle/11-ways-climate-change-and-air-pollution-can-damage-your-health-960749.htmlPremature birth and stillbirth
ADHD and low IQ
Asthma and childhood respiratory illnesses
Cardiovascular disease
Cancer
Obesity
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Dementia
Diabetes
Mental Health
Spread of Disease
Are those enough for you?
EDIT:
Climate crisis: business leaders say cost to taxpayers will spiral unless new policies introduced
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/30/climate-crisis-business-leaders-say-cost-to-taxpayers-will-spiral-unless-new-policies-introducedA joint letter by 10 business organisations, including the Australian Industry Group and the National Farmers’ Federation, says the government will either need to back new climate policies that drive private-sector action or boost taxpayer funding now and into the future.
What is true for Australia is true for your nation.
Another Rising Cost of Climate Change: PG&E's Blackouts, Now Needed to Prevent Wildfires
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/30102019/california-wildfires-cost-climate-change-blackouts-business-schoolsShutting down the power has become PG&E's primary defense to keep its troubled power lines from sparking wildfires in the dry landscape, as happened in 2017 and 2018 to deadly effect.
It also vividly illustrates how the costs of failing to address climate change reach far wider than just property lost to the flames. The blackouts, while likely saving homes and lives, mean many businesses and industries can't operate, schools can't open, and gas stations remain shuttered. For small businesses, several days without power or customers could be devastating. Just the blackouts alone could cost the state billions.
You just can't win for losing.
'Frightening.' Scientists contemplate the melting Arctic
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1061411229Leaving the central Arctic is a special kind of bittersweet. For many travelers, there's a good chance they'll never visit again. And for those who do, the region could look dramatically different the next time they see it.
That's because Arctic temperatures are rising at least twice as fast as the rest of the globe. And as the region warms, the sea ice that covers the Arctic Ocean is steadily melting away.
Maybe we will have to change the title of this forum to The Arctic Sea Water Forum.
Climate change drives policy change in West Van
https://www.nsnews.com/news/climate-change-drives-policy-change-in-west-van-1.23991756While most of the major tools to tackle GHGs are in provincial and federal hands, municipalities do influence where people live and how they get around through their official community plans. In West Vancouver’s case, the recommendation is densification of smaller, more efficient homes around walkable village centres with access to transit and active transportation options.
At least one consequence of AGW is positive.
Climate Change Is Already Affecting Western PA, How Can We Manage The Inevitable Effects?
https://www.wesa.fm/post/climate-change-already-affecting-western-pa-how-can-we-manage-inevitable-effects#stream/0“For example, we’re getting more of our precipitation is happening in very heavy events that lead to flash flooding … and we can expect them to increase into the future,” said Penn State University's Ray Najjar.
Heavy precipitation can cause significant infrastructure damage and exacerbate sewer overflows.
“If we choose, however, to reduce our emissions, we’ll probably still continue to see those effects, but to a much more manageable degree," he said.
That's a pretty big 'if'.
People with disabilities unsheltered in Tornado Alley
https://publicintegrity.org/environment/one-disaster-away/people-with-disabilities-unsheltered-in-tornado-alley/ Disasters are becoming more common in America. In the early and mid-20th century, fewer than 20 percent of U.S. counties experienced a disaster each year. Today, it’s about 50 percent. According to the 2018 National Climate Assessment, climate change is already driving more severe droughts, floods and wildfires in the U.S. And those disasters are expensive. The federal government spends billions of dollars annually helping communities rebuild and prevent future damage.
So why did Oklahoma close down its shelters?