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Sigmetnow

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1150 on: September 28, 2020, 05:44:48 PM »
Florida, U.S.
City of Fort Lauderdale taking action as high tides continue to cause flooding issues
 September 24, 2020,
Quote
King tides caused a flood of problems this week in parts of Fort Lauderdale, and it’s only expected to get worse.

The City of Fort Lauderdale has spent years planning for this.

This week’s tides measured 16 inches higher than predicted, all thanks to recent storms and easterly winds piling water up the coastline. Because of that, residents in flood-prone areas are seeing a foot or more of standing water in their neighborhoods, among other issues. “Every manhole is bubbling up, it’s frustrating,” said resident Will Shriner.

The City of Fort Lauderdale has seven miles of shoreline and 165 miles of inland waterways, so many neighborhoods will be impacted by the rising water levels.  “Over the next five years, we’ll be spending $200 million on storm water improvements alone throughout the city,” Said Dr. Nancy Gassman, Fort Lauderdale Assistant Public Works Director.

Some of the improvements have already been completed, like $3 million 900-foot linear sea wall constructed along the Isle of Palms Drive and Las Olas Blvd. The original sea wall was overtopped during high tides, making the road impassable. Now, during the peak of high tide, the homes in front of the new wall are dry, while others down the block, without the seawall’s protection, have street flooding. ...
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/09/24/city-of-fort-lauderdale-taking-action-as-high-tides-continue-to-cause-flooding-issues/

The city has built infrastructure such as tidal valves and pumps, and uses vacuum trucks to remove flood waters trapped at low tide.  Here’s what they suggest for homeowners:

King Tides and High Tides | City of Fort Lauderdale, FL
Quote
Property Protection
Precautions you can take to protect your property from damage and reduce financial losses include:

Regrading your lot (permit may be required),
Fixing property drainage problems,
Constructing barriers, such as a floodwall to stop floodwater from entering the building,
Relocating electrical panel boxes, furnaces, water heaters, and washers and dryers to elevated locations,
Installing check valves to prevent floodwater from backing up in drains,
Installing storm shutters, impact windows, and a reinforced garage door.
The City responds to flood protection inquiries. If you have a question regarding flood, sewer or drainage problems, contact the City of Fort Lauderdale 24-Hour Customer Service Center at 954-828-8000.

How Neighbors Can Stay Safe
Avoid walking through flood waters, it is dangerous and can be a health hazard                           
Avoid driving through flooded areas, turn around and find another way; in addition to being a threat to life safety, the salt water can lead to both short and long term damage to your vehicle
Follow posted road closure and detour signs
If you drive through flooded areas, please note that creating waves can cause additional damage to surrounding landscaping and property
Be careful around manhole covers, as they can become dislodged by the high tides 
Boaters are advised that high tides cause lower clearance under fixed bridges, check the tides before leaving the dock
https://www.fortlauderdale.gov/departments/city-manager-s-office/strategic-communications/king-tides
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1151 on: September 28, 2020, 07:01:53 PM »
Quote
City of Fort Lauderdale taking action as high tides continue to cause flooding issues

Long-time readers of this thread will have noticed the shift in attitudes in Florida.  Early on it was, “What sea level rise?  We’re building these new condos!”

Then it was, “Nuisance flooding.  Meh, deal with it.”

Then, “Here’s the very expensive infrastructure changes we’re making to solve the problem.”

And now, “It’s only expected to get worse.”
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vox_mundi

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1152 on: October 01, 2020, 03:36:35 PM »
Wack-a-Mole: New ‘Forever Chemicals' Contaminating the Environment, Regulators Say
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/01/new-forever-chemicals-contaminating-environment-regulators-say

Earlier this year, federal and state researchers reported finding a new, potentially dangerous chemical in soil samples from multiple locations in New Jersey. The compound was a form of PFAS, a group of more than 5,000 chemicals that have raised concerns in recent years because of their potential link to learning delays in children and cancer, as well as their tendency to last in the environment for a long time.

But the new revelations, reported in the June issue of Science magazine, stoked concerns among water-quality researchers and advocacy groups for other reasons, too. It underscores how easy it is for manufacturers to phase out their use of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) once the substances have been regulated, and replace them with newer, related compounds that researchers know even less about. And it shows how difficult it is for regulators to track and oversee these new compounds.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6495/1103

The Environmental Protection Agency and the New Jersey department of environmental protection (DEP), identified the West Deptford, New Jersey, plant of a company called Solvay Specialty Polymers USA, a division of the Belgian chemical giant Solvay SA, as the likely source of the contamination.

Solvay has been cited by the New Jersey DEP in the past for contamination of soil and water with an older, now-regulated PFAS compound. And the company has used a replacement PFAS at the facility for years, despite having failed to implement an official way for regulators or independent researchers to analyze whether the new compound is present in the environment, according to documents obtained by Consumer Reports through a public records request.

The New Jersey DEP tells CR it believes Solvay is using “one or more” of the replacement compounds identified in the Science study at the company’s facility. The replacements are “expected to have toxicity” and other properties similar to currently regulated PFAS compounds, the agency says.

https://www.nj.gov/dep/docs/statewide-pfas-directive-20190325.pdf

... “We don’t want to continue on this toxic treadmill,” Erik Olson, senior strategic director of health and food at the Natural Resources Defense Council said, “where one PFAS chemical is phased out only to be replaced by one of literally thousands of others that have similar chemical structures and can reasonably be expected to pose similar environmental and health risks.”
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gerontocrat

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1153 on: October 04, 2020, 05:07:07 PM »

Just another example of "live now, pay later". Seems to be a good chance we are entering the pay later now phase.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/23092020/climate-change-epa-superfund-sites-hurricanes-floods-fires-sea-level-rise
Battered, Flooded and Submerged: Many Superfund Sites are Dangerously Threatened by Climate Change
The Obama administration directed the EPA to focus on climate-related threats. Now, the Trump administration refuses to even use the word.

Quote
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned in a report last year that 945 Superfund sites across the United States (are) vulnerable to hurricanes, flooding, sea level rise, increased precipitation or wildfires, all of which are intensifying as the planet warms.

Far from a theoretical future threat, the Superfund sites are a clear and present danger.

But the Trump administration no longer makes reference to climate change in addressing these risks at Superfund sites, InsideClimate News, the Texas Observer and NBC News found in an investigation of the Superfund program and the EPA's response to climate-related threats. Reporters interviewed more than 50 experts inside and outside of government, reviewed thousands of pages of EPA records and analyzed federal data on Superfund sites to determine the extent of the danger to human health and the environment and the missed opportunities to mitigate it.
Among the findings:

— More than 700 of the 945 sites vulnerable to climate change are in 100-year flood plains, meaning they have a chance of 1 percent or more of flooding in any given year, and over 80 regularly flood at high tide or are already permanently submerged. Forty-nine of the sites face triple threats—they are in 100-year flood plains, regularly flood and are vulnerable to hurricanes, according to EPA and GAO data. The San Jacinto Waste Pits site is on the triple threat list, as is the LCP Chemical site on coastal marshlands in Glynn County, Georgia, which is contaminated by mercury and PCBs.

— Seventy-four sites threatened by climate change nationwide contain toxic wastes that remain uncontrolled and could damage human health, according to the EPA's own risk assessments. Nine of those sites are in New Jersey, including the Diamond Alkali site in Newark, a shuttered chemical plant that pumped the herbicide Agent Orange into the Passaic River.

 Judith Enck, the former EPA Region 2 administrator responsible for a crowded group of Superfund sites in New Jersey and New York under the Obama administration, said the agency "is completely unprepared to deal with climate change and Superfund sites."

The Trump administration is now proposing a 26 percent cut in the EPA's 2021 budget, which would strip $106 million from the Superfund cleanup program and eliminate all funding for so-called environmental justice communities impacted by Superfund sites—low-income and minority neighborhoods disproportionately affected by adverse health conditions and environmental problems.

The Trump appointee running the Superfund program, Peter C. Wright, is the former corporate counsel for Dow Chemical, a self-described "dioxin lawyer" whose job at Dow was partly to minimize the company's financial responsibility for Superfund site cleanups. Wright has had to recuse himself from work on dozens of Superfund sites where Dow was one of dozens of companies identified as being responsible.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1154 on: October 05, 2020, 01:32:15 PM »
Venice holds back the water for first time in 1,200 years
Quote
Saturday was the first acqua alta of the season for Venice. It was also the day when, after decades of delays, controversy and corruption, the city finally trialled its long-awaited flood barriers against the tide.

A previous trial in July, overseen by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, had gone well -- but that was in good weather, at low tide. Earlier trials had not managed to raise all 78 gates in the barriers that have been installed in the Venetian lagoon.

Against all the odds, it worked.

At 12.05 p.m., high tide, St Mark's Square -- which starts flooding at just 90 centimeters, and should have been knee-deep -- was pretty much dry, with only large puddles welling up around the drains.

...
What it does mean, however, is that acqua alta in St Mark's Square -- which floods at 90 centimeters -- will continue. And indeed, on Sunday, just 24 hours after the MOSE triumph, the city's iconic piazza was calf-deep in water, with a sea level of 106 centimeters. ...
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/venice-flood-barrier/index.html
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vox_mundi

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1155 on: October 05, 2020, 03:31:43 PM »
Marine Life Die-Off In Russian 'Ecological Disaster'
https://phys.org/news/2020-10-sea-creatures-die-eastern-russia.html

A Russian official said Monday that the sea off the remote Kamchatka peninsula may have been contaminated with toxic chemicals as Greenpeace warned of an "ecological disaster" for marine life.

Greenpeace has described how seawater off the far eastern peninsula changed colour and smell and "hundreds" of dead sea creatures including seals, octopuses and sea urchins washed up onto a black-sanded beach popular with tourists.

Testing around local bays and beaches showed above-permitted levels of phenol and petroleum products, the regional authorities said.

Experts were investigating whether this was linked to "spills of some toxic substances," regional governor Vladimir Solodov said in a statement.

The 38-year-old governor said that inspectors on Tuesday would look at two military testing sites on Kamchatka that could be responsible.

The water pollution came to light late last month after local surfers reported stinging eyes and said the water had changed to a yellow colour and developed an odour.

Solodov said surfers suffered mild burns to their corneas.

He added that divers had confirmed the deaths of sea creatures and pollution appeared to be spread over a wide area.

https://tass.com/society/1208529

https://news.yahoo.com/investigators-probe-possible-ecological-catastrophe-160400123.html

https://kamgov.ru/news/serfery-halaktyrskogo-plaza-obespokoeny-sudboj-morskih-obitatelej-i-sostoaniem-zdorova-teh-kto-nahodilsa-v-etom-rajone-34093
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

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vox_mundi

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1156 on: October 05, 2020, 11:37:06 PM »
Russian Rocket Fuel Leak Likely Cause of Marine Animal Deaths
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/05/marine-poisoning-in-kamchatka-russia-may-be-rocket-fuel-leak

Water pollution in Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula that caused sea creatures to wash up dead on beaches has prompted fears that rocket fuel stored in the region’s military testing grounds may have leaked.

The pollution came to light late last month after surfers reported stinging eyes and said the water had changed colour and developed an odour. Officials later confirmed the surfers had sustained mild burns to their corneas.

... The Kamchatka governor, dressed in a “I/We are the Pacific Ocean” T-shirt, vowed on Instagram to lead a “transparent” investigation and sack any official who covered up the scale of the pollution.

He said there would be checks on Tuesday at two military testing sites, Radygino and Kozelsky, that could be responsible, citing a “yellow film” on a local river.

Some experts have suggested highly toxic rocket fuel could have leaked into the sea. The first test site, Radygino, is about six miles (10km) from the sea and was used for drills in August.

Vladimir Burkanov, a biologist specialising in seals, in a comment published by the Novaya Gazeta opposition newspaper, suggested old stores of rocket fuel kept in Radygino could have rusted and the fuel leaked into streams.

The other site, Kozelsky, has been used to bury toxic chemicals and pesticides, according to the governor’s website.

Greenpeace said its team had seen patches of yellowish foam and murky water in several locations, with some pollution drifting towards a Unesco-protected area of volcanoes. The group said it saw dead animals in one area.
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

vox_mundi

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1157 on: October 12, 2020, 02:42:45 PM »
Fifth of Countries at Risk of Ecosystem Collapse, Analysis Finds
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/12/fifth-of-nations-at-risk-of-ecosystem-collapse-analysis-finds

One-fifth of the world’s countries are at risk of their ecosystems collapsing because of the destruction of wildlife and their habitats, according to an analysis by the insurance firm Swiss Re.

Natural “services” such as food, clean water and air, and flood protection have already been damaged by human activity.

More than half of global GDP – $42tn (£32tn) – depends on high-functioning biodiversity, according to the report, but the risk of tipping points is growing.

Countries including Australia, Israel and South Africa rank near the top of Swiss Re’s index of risk to biodiversity and ecosystem services, with India, Spain and Belgium also highlighted. Countries with fragile ecosystems and large farming sectors, such as Pakistan and Nigeria, are also flagged up. ...



Those countries with more than 30% of their area found to have fragile ecosystems were deemed to be at risk of those ecosystems collapsing. Just one in seven countries had intact ecosystems covering more than 30% of their country area.

Among the G20 leading economies, South Africa and Australia were seen as being most at risk, with China 7th, the US 9th and the UK 16th.

... “If the ecosystem service decline goes on [in countries at risk], you would see then scarcities unfolding even more strongly, up to tipping points,” said Oliver Schelske, lead author of the research.

Report: https://www.swissre.com/dam/jcr:4793a2c3-b50a-47c0-98df-ed6d5549fde8/nr-20200923-swiss-re-biodiversity-ecosystem-index-en.pdf

https://www.swissre.com/media/news-releases/nr-20200923-biodiversity-and-ecosystems-services.html
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

vox_mundi

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1158 on: October 16, 2020, 10:33:12 PM »
More Than 200 Million Americans Could Have Toxic PFAS In Their Drinking Water
https://phys.org/news/2020-10-million-americans-toxic-pfas.html

A peer-reviewed study by scientists at the Environmental Working Group estimates that more than 200 million Americans could have the toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS in their drinking water at a concentration of 1 part per trillion, or ppt, or higher. Independent scientific studies have recommended a safe level for PFAS in drinking water of 1 ppt, a standard that is endorsed by EWG.

"We know drinking water is a major source of exposure of these toxic chemicals," said Olga Naidenko, Ph.D., vice president for science investigations at EWG and a co-author of the new study. "This new paper shows that PFAS pollution is affecting even more Americans than we previously estimated. PFAS are likely detectable in all major water supplies in the U.S., almost certainly in all that use surface water."

The analysis also included laboratory tests commissioned by EWG that found PFAS chemicals in the drinking water of dozens of U.S. cities. Some of the highest PFAS levels detected were in samples from major metropolitan areas, including Miami, Philadelphia, New Orleans and the northern New Jersey suburbs of New York City.

... "The first step in fighting any contamination crisis is to turn off the tap," said Scott Faber, EWG senior vice president for government affairs. "The second step is to set a drinking water standard, and the third is to clean up legacy pollution. The PFAS Action Act passed by the House would address all three steps by setting deadlines for limiting industrial PFAS releases, setting a two-year deadline for a drinking water standard, and designating PFAS as 'hazardous substances' under the Superfund law. But Mitch McConnell's GOP Senate has refused to act to protect our communities from 'forever chemicals.'"

David Q. Andrews et al, Population-Wide Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances from Drinking Water in the United States, Environmental Science & Technology Letters (2020).
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00713
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

gerontocrat

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1159 on: October 19, 2020, 01:05:06 PM »
"It ain't half hot, mum". Two bits of data that do not sit well together?

Quote
Phoenix is the fastest-growing city in the country, according to newly released estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Phoenix welcomed 25,288 new residents between 2017 and 2018 — more than any other American city. Phoenix remains the fifth most-populous city with a population of 1,660,272, according to Census data.23 May 2019

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/10/14/phoenix-record-heat-100-degrees/
Phoenix has hit 100 degrees on record-breaking half of the days in 2020

Quote
Oct. 14, 2020 at 11:18 p.m. GMT+1
The unrelenting and unprecedented heat that scorched Phoenix all summer, setting countless records, has carried over into the fall. Now it has set another blistering milestone: the most 100-degree days ever observed in a calendar year.

On Wednesday, the mercury in Phoenix climbed to at least 100 degrees for the 144th time in 2020, surpassing 143 days in 1989 for the most instances on record.

Half of the days (144 out of 288) of the year so far, equivalent to 20.6 weeks, have hit 100 degrees. A few more such days are likely.

Part of a trend
The intensity, frequency and duration of hot weather in Phoenix this year fits into an ongoing and expected trend in a warming world. In recent decades, Phoenix has averaged about 110 days hitting 100 degrees or more per year. That’s up from about 75 in the mid-1920s.



Taking stock of the records

The overall 2020 heat records in Phoenix are too many to list. But among the more notable are new highs for the number of days at or above 110 (53) and 115 (14) degrees. Not to mention, Phoenix never dropped below 90 degrees for a record 28-night stretch during the summer.

“2020 has pretty much broken every other heat record,” wrote Amber Sullins, chief meteorologist at Phoenix’s ABC television affiliate, in an email.

Here are several more significant records of note:
- Hottest summer: The average temperature of 96.7 degrees topped 2015′s 95.1 degrees.
- Hottest July: The average temperature of 98.9 degrees surpassed 2009′s 98.3 degrees.
- Hottest August and calendar month: The average temperature of 99.1 degrees blasted by 1989′s 98.3 degrees and broke the record for hottest month ever recorded, set just the month before.
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
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Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1160 on: October 19, 2020, 01:28:13 PM »
Wow. Even granting that it is dry heat, how close is Phoenix getting to lethal temperatures with those statistics?

El Cid

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1161 on: October 19, 2020, 01:44:55 PM »
I never understood why people would want to live in Phoenix (or any hot desert for that matter) if they have a choice. But then again, I am no American, so what do I know?

interstitial

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1162 on: October 20, 2020, 03:15:26 AM »
I never understood why people would want to live in Phoenix (or any hot desert for that matter) if they have a choice. But then again, I am no American, so what do I know?
When I lived there 20+ years ago about half of the population were "snow birds" and spent half the year somewhere cooler. I don't know what fraction left for summer but it seemed deserted around town. Most of the winter would be t-shirt weather for non locals. Actually it was funny because locals would be wearing jackets at 22 C. When I first moved down there it was Christmas and we had a barbeque.  To some degree your body adjusts and it becomes easier to tolerate. It only got above 43 C for a few days when I was there. My worst experience I went to the mall and went out in the afternoon. I think it was 46 C that day and I stepped out into the sun just cooking the asphalt. I thought I was going to pass out.

El Cid

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1163 on: October 20, 2020, 07:45:21 AM »
I never understood why people would want to live in Phoenix (or any hot desert for that matter) if they have a choice. But then again, I am no American, so what do I know?
When I lived there 20+ years ago about half of the population were "snow birds" and spent half the year somewhere cooler.

Makes sense that way...but those 5-6 hot months seem brutal looking at the climate charts of Phoenix. Besides, no rain=no vegetation. I like greenery, trees, bushes, grass, flowers, fruits... but we are not all the same

Tor Bejnar

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1164 on: October 20, 2020, 02:54:33 PM »
You want green? Paint your walls that color.  :o
I grew up in the Chihuahuan Desert in southern New Mexico.  It is a little wetter than the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona, but this mostly changes what cactus dominates between the chaparral.  After living a few years in New Zealand, then visiting 'home', it took me a couple days to get used to the green-tinge-on-gray everywhere.  (I've not had that 'problem' on subsequent visits to family.)  I'm reminded of the 'eucalyptus green' of Australia:  until you get used to it, it just seems odd and disconcerting.  (Once used to it, it is neither odd nor disconcerting.)

I drove my daughters around southern New Mexico when they were 6 and 8, and repeatedly marveled how green and beautiful it was - the region had received numerous rain showers over a two-month period, ending a month before our visit (maybe 100 mm total, but with low evaporation under mostly overcast skies during that spell); the desert was in rare bloom.  All my girls could see was the dirt around each and every creosote bush (they confided to me years later).
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blu_ice

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1165 on: October 20, 2020, 02:57:54 PM »
Makes sense that way...but those 5-6 hot months seem brutal looking at the climate charts of Phoenix. Besides, no rain=no vegetation. I like greenery, trees, bushes, grass, flowers, fruits... but we are not all the same
Irrigated gardens, swimming pools, air conditioned houses and cars. No rain, plenty of sunshine, low humidity. I can definitely see the attraction, but you just need to spend enough natural resources to make it nicer.

Bruce Steele

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1166 on: October 20, 2020, 06:05:18 PM »
This year in Sept.  it was Phoenix hot here in Santa Barbara county. 122F / 50C in Solvang.
https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=RERLOX&e=202009070400
Strange thing is it didn’t do as much damage to foliage as the the 108F we had in June a few years back. The September heatwave included smoke so thick it reduced direct radiation on plant leaves. I also wonder if foliage is more vulnerable in early growth stage. But somehow our furnace hot example of what is to come didn’t bother anyone enough to do any follow up reporting on a historic heatwave/ nobody noticed. There were willows that scorched their leaves and strangely they are putting out new leaves as fall has arrived even though the other deciduous trees are getting ready to drop theirs.
 Real estate is booming. People are trying to get out of the cities. The heat or potential heatwaves are inconsequential in peoples decision matrix. If you can afford to buy here , air conditioning is just part of cost of living.   

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1167 on: October 20, 2020, 09:21:06 PM »
Maybe people are trying to get out of the cities in part because of the urban heat island effect?

Alexander555

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1168 on: October 24, 2020, 08:10:03 PM »

Alexander555

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1169 on: October 24, 2020, 08:16:05 PM »
A mortality rate of 57 %. I feel sorry for all these hospital workers. They are going to pay a heavy price for all that globalist madness. https://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news/section/4/209405/Five-more-with-deadly-fungus

kassy

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1170 on: October 25, 2020, 07:12:34 PM »
Geology’s human footprint is enough to spur rage

LONDON, 21 October, 2020 − The human footprint has left its mark on Earth, in every sense. The United States alone is scarred by 500,000 abandoned mines and quarries.

Right now, worldwide, there are more than 500,000 active quarries and pits, employing 4 million people, excavating the sand and gravel needed for new roads, new homes and new megacities.

Humans have not simply pitted the face of the Earth, they have paved it. In 1904, beyond the cities, the US had just 225 km of sealed highway. Now it has 4.3m km of asphalt or concrete roadway, consuming more than 20 billion tonnes of sand and gravel.

By comparison, the Great Wall of China, the biggest and most enduring construction in early human history, contains just 0.4bn tonnes of stone.

Humans have changed the face of the waters. In 1950, trawlers, long-liners and purse seiners fished just 1% of the high seas beyond territorial waters. No fish species of any kind was considered over-exploited or depleted.

Extinction threat widens

Less than one human lifetime on, fishing fleets roam 63% of the high seas and 87% of fish species are exploited, over-exploited or in a state of collapse. Meanwhile somewhere between 5m and almost 13 million tons of discarded plastics flow each year into the sea.

Humans and human livestock now far outweigh all other mammalian life. At least 96% of the mass of all mammals is represented by humans and their domesticated animals. Domestic poultry makes up 70% of the mass of all living birds. The natural world is now endangered, with a million species at risk of extinction.
...

https://climatenewsnetwork.net/geologys-human-footprint-is-enough-to-inspire-rage/

Living beyond our means...
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1171 on: October 26, 2020, 12:03:35 PM »
From article above: "Geology’s human footprint is enough to spur rage"   (my bolding)

Correction: Geology’s civlisation-human footprint is enough to spur rage

Sorry to keep repeating this, but it is an important distinction!
"It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly" - Bertrand Russell
"It is preoccupation with what other people from your groups think of you, that prevents you from living freely and nobly" - Nanning
Why do you keep accumulating stuff?

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1172 on: October 26, 2020, 02:29:41 PM »
From article above: "Geology’s human footprint is enough to spur rage"   (my bolding)

Correction: Geology’s civlisation-human footprint is enough to spur rage

Sorry to keep repeating this, but it is an important distinction!
Perhaps even Western civilization? Or have the other twenty-odd civilizations in the last five thousand years been as bad?

kassy

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1173 on: October 26, 2020, 05:59:59 PM »
Interesting question but it should be discussed somewhere else (OTOT thread).
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

vox_mundi

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1174 on: October 30, 2020, 07:14:00 AM »
Australia Must Prepare for a Future of Simultaneous and Worsening Disasters,
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-54742909

Australia must prepare for an "alarming" future of simultaneous and worsening natural disasters, says a long-awaited report into the country's bushfires.

A royal commission inquiry examined Australia's Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20 - which ravaged vast swathes of the nation - and other disasters.

... The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements warned global warming was "inevitable" the coming two decades.

The commissioners said that "compounding disasters" would become more common - where natural hazards such as fires, floods and storms happen simultaneously, or one after another.


"To properly manage natural disasters of national scale and consequence, it is no longer suitable or appropriate to assess disaster risk at an individual hazard," they wrote.

"We must assess the risk of multiple hazard events occurring concurrently or consecutively."

The report said the damage from successive disasters could be partly mitigated by how well authorities prepared.

Australia needed "strong adaptation measures" to deal with the impacts of future warming which depended on "the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions", the commissioners added.

"The main point made in this report is that the Black Summer bushfires would not have happened if not for climate change and a warming planet," said Greg Mullins, a former state fire commissioner.

"[The report] calls for action to mitigate the effects of climate change, and that means a change in policy from the government on climate."

... Scientists have raised doubts about Australia's assertion it is on track to meet its 2030 goal of a 26% emissions reduction.

A supporter of fossil fuels including coal and gas, Australia has so far resisted pressure to join other nations in committing to net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements Report
https://naturaldisaster.royalcommission.gov.au/

Report: https://naturaldisaster.royalcommission.gov.au/node/7786
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

vox_mundi

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1175 on: October 30, 2020, 05:13:04 PM »
Saudi Arabia Faces Increased Heat, Humidity, Precipitation Extremes By Mid-Century
https://phys.org/news/2020-10-saudi-arabia-humidity-precipitation-extremes.html

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is at a crossroads. Recent long-term studies of the area indicate that rising temperatures and evaporation rates will likely further deplete scarce water resources critical to meeting the nation's agricultural, industrial, and domestic needs; more extreme flooding events could endanger lives, economic vitality, and infrastructure; and a combination of increasing heat and humidity levels may ultimately render the kingdom uninhabitable. Facing a foreboding future, how might the nation adapt to changing climatic conditions and become more resilient to climate extremes?

Due to the KSA's distinctive natural and artificial features, from coastal landscapes to river beds to agricultural areas, decision-makers seeking to design actionable plans for regional and local adaptation and resilience will require projections of the KSA's mean climate and extreme events at a higher spatial resolution than what previous studies have produced.

To that end, a team of researchers from the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change and the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology's Center for Complex Engineering Systems used a high-resolution, regional climate modeling approach to generate mid-21st century (2041–2050) projections under a high-emissions, high-climate-impact scenario.

The climate projections carry an unprecedented four-kilometer horizontal resolution and cover the entire KSA, and focus exclusively on the months of August and November. During these months, which represent, respectively, the KSA's dry-hot and wet seasons, extreme events have been observed more frequently.

Applying this modeling approach, the team projected increasing temperatures by mid-century across the KSA, including five strategic locations—the capital city of Riyadh, religious tourism destinations Makkah and Madinah, the designated future tourist site of Tabuk, and the port city of Jeddah—in both August and November, and a rising August heat index (high heat and humidity) that particularly threatens regional habitability in Jeddah due to an increasing frequency of extreme heat index days. ...

Muge Komurcu et al. Mid-Century Changes in the Mean and Extreme Climate in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Implications for Water Harvesting and Climate Adaptation, Atmosphere (2020)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/10/1068

-------------------------------------------

Evidence Suggests More Mega-Droughts are Coming
https://phys.org/news/2020-10-evidence-mega-droughts.html

Mega-droughts—droughts that last two decades or longer—are tipped to increase thanks to climate change, according to University of Queensland-led research.

The revelation came after an analysis of geological records from the Eemian Period—129,000 to 116,000 years ago—which offered a proxy of what we could expect in a hotter, drier world.

"We found that, in the past, a similar amount of warming has been associated with mega-drought conditions all over south eastern Australia," Professor McGowan said.

"These drier conditions prevailed for centuries, sometimes for more than 1000 years, with El Niño events most likely increasing their severity."

Hamish McGowan et al. Evidence of wet-dry cycles and mega-droughts in the Eemian climate of southeast Australia, Scientific Reports (2020)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-75071-z
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

gerontocrat

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1176 on: October 30, 2020, 05:57:22 PM »
Saudi Arabia Faces Increased Heat, Humidity, Precipitation Extremes By Mid-Century
https://phys.org/news/2020-10-saudi-arabia-humidity-precipitation-extremes.html

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is at a crossroads. Recent long-term studies of the area indicate that rising temperatures and evaporation rates will likely further deplete scarce water resources critical to meeting the nation's agricultural, industrial, and domestic needs; more extreme flooding events could endanger lives, economic vitality, and infrastructure; and a combination of increasing heat and humidity levels may ultimately render the kingdom uninhabitable. Facing a foreboding future, how might the nation adapt to changing climatic conditions and become more resilient to climate extremes?
I don't think a study that looks 20 to 30 years ahead and at just 2 months in the year will help the KSA much.
- the Kingdom's dependence on oil revenue from Aramco is getting bigger as its budget deficit widens,
- the Kingdom is depleting its fossil water resources at an alarming rate despite all the desalination plants..

Find me a Middle Eastern country that is not going to be clobbered by water deficits and low oil prices. The question is what happens when the economy of KSA totally collapses?
_____________________________________________________________
Saudi Arabia Sees Budget Deficit Soaring in 2020 - Bloombergwww.bloomberg.com › news › articles › saudi-arabia-s...
30 Sep 2020 — Saudi officials expect the kingdom's budget deficit to widen to 12% of gross domestic product in 2020 and plan to cut spending by 7% next year as oil market turmoil pressures state finances, according to preliminary figures released on Wednesday.
________________________________________________________________
https://borgenproject.org/water-crisis-in-saudi-arabia/#:~:text=While%2097%25%20of%20Saudis%20have,meters%20per%20capita%2C%20per%20year.
While 97% of Saudis have access to potable water, Saudi Arabia is classified as one of the most water-scarce nations on the planet. The absolute water scarcity level is 500 cubic meters per capita, per year. Saudi Arabia has only 89.5 cubic meters per capita, per year. Despite high levels of water access in the Kingdom, severe overconsumption and lack of reliable renewable water sources have made this issue a top priority. Many view oil as the most important natural resource in Saudi Arabia. However, due to the water crisis in Saudi Arabia, water is becoming increasingly valuable.

« Last Edit: October 30, 2020, 06:04:05 PM by gerontocrat »
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
"Damn, I wanted to see what happened next" (Epitaph)

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1177 on: October 30, 2020, 08:30:14 PM »
Will the Muslim pilgrimaged see mass death from heat stroke in a few decades in Mecca?

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1178 on: October 30, 2020, 10:16:21 PM »
Saudi Arabia Faces Increased Heat, Humidity, Precipitation Extremes By Mid-Century
https://phys.org/news/2020-10-saudi-arabia-humidity-precipitation-extremes.html

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is at a crossroads. Recent long-term studies of the area indicate that rising temperatures and evaporation rates will likely further deplete scarce water resources critical to meeting the nation's agricultural, industrial, and domestic needs; more extreme flooding events could endanger lives, economic vitality, and infrastructure; and a combination of increasing heat and humidity levels may ultimately render the kingdom uninhabitable. Facing a foreboding future, how might the nation adapt to changing climatic conditions and become more resilient to climate extremes?
I don't think a study that looks 20 to 30 years ahead and at just 2 months in the year will help the KSA much.
- the Kingdom's dependence on oil revenue from Aramco is getting bigger as its budget deficit widens,
- the Kingdom is depleting its fossil water resources at an alarming rate despite all the desalination plants..

Find me a Middle Eastern country that is not going to be clobbered by water deficits and low oil prices. The question is what happens when the economy of KSA totally collapses?
_____________________________________________________________
Saudi Arabia Sees Budget Deficit Soaring in 2020 - Bloombergwww.bloomberg.com › news › articles › saudi-arabia-s...
30 Sep 2020 — Saudi officials expect the kingdom's budget deficit to widen to 12% of gross domestic product in 2020 and plan to cut spending by 7% next year as oil market turmoil pressures state finances, according to preliminary figures released on Wednesday.
________________________________________________________________
https://borgenproject.org/water-crisis-in-saudi-arabia/#:~:text=While%2097%25%20of%20Saudis%20have,meters%20per%20capita%2C%20per%20year.
While 97% of Saudis have access to potable water, Saudi Arabia is classified as one of the most water-scarce nations on the planet. The absolute water scarcity level is 500 cubic meters per capita, per year. Saudi Arabia has only 89.5 cubic meters per capita, per year. Despite high levels of water access in the Kingdom, severe overconsumption and lack of reliable renewable water sources have made this issue a top priority. Many view oil as the most important natural resource in Saudi Arabia. However, due to the water crisis in Saudi Arabia, water is becoming increasingly valuable.

The study did state, "The researchers also found an increase in the intensity and frequency of precipitation events in August by mid-century, particularly along the nation's mountainous western coast, suggesting a potential for water harvesting—that could replenish local aquifers and supplement water supplies elsewhere—as a regional climate adaptation strategy to avert future water scarcity."

vox_mundi

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1179 on: December 30, 2020, 08:18:49 PM »
Norway Landslide: Houses Buried in Gjerdrum Village Near Oslo
https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-europe-55484627



At least 26 people are unaccounted for and more than 700 people have been evacuated after a massive sheet of clay caused a devastating landslide in the Norwegian village of Ask, in the municipality of Gjerdrum about 10 miles north of Oslo, at around 4 a.m. Wednesday. At least 10 people are being treated for injuries in a local hospital and several homes were swept away. At least one person is in critical condition, authorities said.

“The situation is very dramatic. There has been a major landslide and we are in the process of evacuating residents from the area,” the local mayor, Anders Østensen, said Wednesday morning.

PM Erna Solberg said the situation was still so unstable that only rescues by helicopter could be carried out.


https://mobile.twitter.com/AlexanderXV/status/1344214445766152193

The landslide began during the early hours of Wednesday, with residents calling emergency services and telling them that their houses were moving, police said.

Of those still missing, police said in a statement: "We don't know if these people are in the landslide area, if they are away on holiday or in another way unable to contact police."

The local municipality warned that up to 1,500 people could need to leave the region because of concerns about the condition of the ground.

A spokeswoman for Norway's Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) told AFP that the landslide was a so-called "quick clay slide" measuring about 300m by 700m (985ft by 2,300ft).

"This is the largest landslide in recent times in Norway, considering the number of houses involved and the number of evacuees," Laila Hoivik said.

Quick clay is a kind of clay found in Norway and Sweden that can collapse and become fluid when it comes under stress.

Broadcaster NRK said heavy rainfall may have made the soil unstable.

A landslide struck the Norwegian town of Alta in June 2020
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

Sigmetnow

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1180 on: January 04, 2021, 02:25:07 AM »
U.S.
Fortress Charleston: Will Walling Off the City Hold Back the Waters?  
Officials in Charleston, South Carolina have endorsed a $2 billion plan to wall off the historic downtown from rising seas and surging storms. It is the latest in a growing number of extravagantly expensive seawalls and barriers being proposed to defend U.S. coastal cities [like New York City and Galveston, Texas].
https://e360.yale.edu/features/fortress-charleston-will-walling-off-the-city-hold-back-the-waters
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1181 on: January 04, 2021, 08:49:09 AM »
U.S.
Fortress Charleston: Will Walling Off the City Hold Back the Waters?  
Officials in Charleston, South Carolina have endorsed a $2 billion plan to wall off the historic downtown from rising seas and surging storms. It is the latest in a growing number of extravagantly expensive seawalls and barriers being proposed to defend U.S. coastal cities [like New York City and Galveston, Texas].
https://e360.yale.edu/features/fortress-charleston-will-walling-off-the-city-hold-back-the-waters
We need a federal law requiring that all funding for such nonsense only come from those land owners protected by the wall. The decision to do it should be limited to those who will be required to pay for it. This will encourage the proper response of managed retreat.

gerontocrat

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1182 on: January 04, 2021, 11:50:14 AM »
U.S.
Fortress Charleston: Will Walling Off the City Hold Back the Waters?  
Officials in Charleston, South Carolina have endorsed a $2 billion plan to wall off the historic downtown from rising seas and surging storms. It is the latest in a growing number of extravagantly expensive seawalls and barriers being proposed to defend U.S. coastal cities [like New York City and Galveston, Texas].
https://e360.yale.edu/features/fortress-charleston-will-walling-off-the-city-hold-back-the-waters
We need a federal law requiring that all funding for such nonsense only come from those land owners protected by the wall. The decision to do it should be limited to those who will be required to pay for it. This will encourage the proper response of managed retreat.
I believe that instead the USA has a federal Law that requires the Army Corps of Engineers to spend money on sea defences according to the value of the property threatened.

i.e. The law says that a few rich people living in expensive seafront properties are entitled to greater protection than a large number of poor people huddled in shacks on the shore. Betcha that won't change during the Biden Administration.
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1183 on: January 04, 2021, 01:52:38 PM »
Yes that sounds about like what will happen Gerontocrat.

Shared Humanity

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1184 on: January 04, 2021, 03:22:30 PM »

I believe that instead the USA has a federal Law that requires the Army Corps of Engineers to spend money on sea defences according to the value of the property threatened.

i.e. The law says that a few rich people living in expensive seafront properties are entitled to greater protection than a large number of poor people huddled in shacks on the shore. Betcha that won't change during the Biden Administration.

I'm not familiar with this law but it will not save the homes of the fabulously rich along low population density coast. It will result in the Corps spending vast amounts of money to save desnely populated cities.

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1185 on: January 20, 2021, 10:28:02 PM »
IN FLORIDA, WORSENING HEAT PUTS MORE PEOPLE AT RISK
https://publicintegrity.org/environment/hidden-epidemics/florida-heat-illness-health-risks-farmworkers-elderly/
Quote
Although winter has arrived in Florida, the warming planet will continue to make summers hotter and more deadly. Temperatures are not only hotter in Florida today but there are more extreme heat days lasting longer.
And as temperatures rise, more Floridians — especially children, older adults and outdoor workers — face risks of heat-related illnesses like heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1186 on: January 31, 2021, 12:21:23 AM »
A huge piece of California's Highway 1 near Big Sur collapsed into the ocean
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/01/30/us/big-sur-road-collapse-trnd/index.html


... just downshift and 'gun it'; you can make it ...

A huge piece of California's Highway 1 was washed out this week by a winter storm that brought heavy rain and snow.

A debris flow from the hillside above the roadway "overwhelmed drainage infrastructure, flowed across the highway, and eroded the road resulting in the complete loss of a segment of Highway 1" at Rat Creek, about 15 miles south of Big Sur, a mountainous stretch of the state's central coast.

The area where the road collapsed is about a mile south of the burn scar left behind by the Dolan Fire, one of the wildfires that ravaged the state last summer, Caltrans said.

At least 25 structures in Northern California have been damaged as a result of mudslides and debris flow caused by a powerful atmospheric river-fueled storm. Most of the impacted areas are where burn scars exist from earlier wildfires.

---------------------------------------------

https://mobile.twitter.com/NWSWPC/status/1355878566853042176

Periods of moderate to heavy precipitation will continue to feed into the Coastal Range of southwestern OR and northwestern CA through the next few days.  Given the saturated soils, rising snow levels and residual burn scars, localized flooding is possible.

« Last Edit: February 01, 2021, 12:14:44 AM by vox_mundi »
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Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

gerontocrat

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1187 on: February 09, 2021, 11:55:02 AM »
How about the whole world becoming less livable....

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/09/fossil-fuels-pollution-deaths-research
'Invisible killer': fossil fuels caused 8.7m deaths globally in 2018, research finds

Pollution from power plants, vehicles and other sources accounted for one in five of all deaths that year, more detailed analysis reveals


 Two men walk along Rajpath amid smoggy conditions in New Delhi last month. Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Quote
Air pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil was responsible for 8.7m deaths globally in 2018, a staggering one in five of all people who died that year, new research has found.

Countries with the most prodigious consumption of fossil fuels to power factories, homes and vehicles are suffering the highest death tolls, with the study finding more than one in 10 deaths in both the US and Europe were caused by the resulting pollution, along with nearly a third of deaths in eastern Asia, which includes China. Death rates in South America and Africa were significantly lower.

The enormous death toll is higher than previous estimates and surprised even the study’s researchers. “We were initially very hesitant when we obtained the results because they are astounding, but we are discovering more and more about the impact of this pollution,” said Eloise Marais, a geographer at University College London and a study co-author. “It’s pervasive. The more we look for impacts, the more we find.”

The 8.7m deaths in 2018 represent a “key contributor to the global burden of mortality and disease”, states the study, which is the result of collaboration between scientists at Harvard University, the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester and University College London. The death toll exceeds the combined total of people who die globally each year from smoking tobacco plus those who die of malaria.

Scientists have established links between pervasive air pollution from burning fossil fuels and cases of heart disease, respiratory ailments and even the loss of eyesight. Without fossil fuel emissions, the average life expectancy of the world’s population would increase by more than a year, while global economic and health costs would fall by about $2.9tn.
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
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kassy

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1188 on: February 09, 2021, 01:49:38 PM »
Also much more deaths then Covid...

On a positive note we are cleaning this up over time...
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

gerontocrat

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1189 on: February 09, 2021, 02:20:02 PM »
Also much more deaths then Covid...
And pollution contributes sighificantly to the Covid death toll - people with asthma and other respiratory ailments sitting ducks for the Covid virus.
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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1190 on: February 21, 2021, 12:09:45 AM »
Southern Cities Hit Hard by Storms Face New Crisis: No Water
https://phys.org/news/2021-02-southern-cities-hard-storms-crisis.html

Southern cities slammed by winter storms that left millions without power for days have traded one crisis for another: Busted water pipes ruptured by record-low temperatures created shortages of clean drinking water, shut down the Memphis airport on Friday and left hospitals struggling to maintain sanitary conditions.

In Texas, 7 million people—a quarter of the population of the nation's second-largest state—were under orders to boil tap water before drinking it because low water pressure could have allowed bacteria to seep into the system. A man died at an Abilene health care facility when a lack of water pressure made medical treatment impossible.

About 260,000 homes and businesses in the Tennessee county that includes Memphis were told to boil water because of water main ruptures and pumping station problems. Restaurants that can't do so or don't have bottled water were ordered to close. And water pressure problems prompted Memphis International Airport to cancel all incoming and outgoing Friday flights.

In Jackson, Mississippi, most of the city of about 161,000 had no running water. Crews pumped water to refill city tanks but faced a shortage of chemicals for treatment because icy roads made it difficult for distributors to deliver them, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said.

He said the city's water mains are more than 100 years old and not built to handle the freezing weather that hit the city as multiple storms dumped record amounts of snow across the South.

... As of Friday afternoon, more than 1,300 Texas public water systems and 159 counties had reported weather-related operational disruptions affecting more than 14.9 million people, according to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokeswoman Tiffany Young.

More than 1 million gallons (3.8 million liters) of water was being trucked Friday to the Texas capital. But Austin's water director, Greg Maszaros, implored residents to minimize the use of home faucets because "there's still a lot of unknowns as we pressurize the system."

In Dallas, David Lopez said the plumbing company he works for received more than 600 calls for service over the last week.

... St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis said it was forced to switch to bottled water and bagged ice for all consumption and that staff and patients were washing with hand sanitizer and no-rinse bathing wipes. All non-urgent surgeries were postponed.

Central Arkansas Water in the Little Rock area asked customers to conserve water to help protect its system as the ground began to warm and pipes thawed. The city of Hot Springs warned Thursday night that its water supply was "critically low" and also asked customers to conserve.

More than 192,000 Louisiana residents—some still struggling to recover from last August's Hurricane Laura—had no water service Friday, according to the state health department. Tens of thousands more remained under boil-water advisories
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

Shared Humanity

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1191 on: February 21, 2021, 05:18:18 PM »
Vox_mundi...

We should consider this a preview of what is rapidly approaching human civilization as the wealthiest nation on the planet stumbles drunkenly from one climate change induced crisis to the next. We are not investing in the infrastructure needed to accommodate climate change and couldn't afford it if we tried.

kassy

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1192 on: February 21, 2021, 05:29:00 PM »
Well this is Texas...the big dumb. You might well generalize it to the whole of the US but other parts of the world actually invest in their infrastructure.

If that is US only i would like to remark that you could pay for a whole lot with just part of the Pentagon budget.
Þetta minnismerki er til vitnis um að við vitum hvað er að gerast og hvað þarf að gera. Aðeins þú veist hvort við gerðum eitthvað.

Alexander555

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1193 on: February 21, 2021, 06:58:07 PM »
And i have seen already a couple articles that the electricity grid is as old as these water pipes. If the future is going to be electrical, it seems to me that it will have to work harder.

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1194 on: February 22, 2021, 11:20:48 AM »
The rest of the US electrical infrastructure is protected against freezing temperatures. It is not that expensive to do though more expensive as a retrofit. This has nothing to do how old the grid is or even how well maintained it is. While climate change may make these freezing events more common and worse the issue is really about politics.
Texas likes to be independent. The federal government can regulate interstate commerce but the constitution does not give them the right to regulate electricity. In all other contiguous US states the grid crosses state lines so it is regulated by the Federal Government. The Texas power grid does not cross state lines so they can only be regulated by the state. Technically it is connected to the rest of the country but that is a different topic. The federal government has reserve and resiliency requirements. The FERC has issued several reports on these problems to ERCOT telling them to fix it. ERCOT is not required to comply.


While specific exceptions exist the call to modernize the US electric grid is not because the infrastructure exceeds its operational lifetime but because there are technologies that can be added to increase usable capacity and reliability of existing infrastructure. Current funding methods do not incentivize deployment of the new tech. 


A separate issue is adding new transmission lines. The main issue here is NIMBY resistance. 


blu_ice

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1195 on: February 22, 2021, 03:16:43 PM »
I'd say it's about time people start to build their infrastructure, supply chains, institutions, well basically everything, to better withstand freak events.

be cause

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1196 on: February 22, 2021, 04:28:30 PM »
.. boosting consumption and greenhouse gases of course ..
Conflict is the root of all evil , for being blind it does not see whom it attacks . Yet it always attacks the Son Of God , and the Son of God is you .

blu_ice

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1197 on: February 22, 2021, 09:49:08 PM »
Well, no. Rather trade some efficiency to resiliency.

Connect TX grid with the rest of the US. Don’t build near sea level. Have a stock of essential goods instead of just-in-time deliveries. Maintain a proper health care system.

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1198 on: February 23, 2021, 02:09:55 AM »
When global production of a good is all located in one region it creates more problems when disasters occur. Consuming locally reduces transportation costs/emissions and increases supply chain resiliency.

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Places becoming less livable
« Reply #1199 on: February 23, 2021, 02:52:50 PM »
Amid rising seas, ‘dry’ resort is wetter than it likes
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/amid-rising-seas-dry-resort-is-wetter-than-it-likes/2021/02/17/819004be-70e6-11eb-8651-6d3091eac63f_story.html
Quote
“Every year it gets worse, more frequent and deeper flooding,” she said. “There are times we can’t get in or out of our houses. We have to arrange doctor appointments and grocery shopping around tides. It’s part of living here.”
None of this is unique to Ocean City. It’s a common refrain among coastal residents around the country who find themselves living nearer to the water than they once did. And it’s expensive.