New World: Climate Change

[Tyger]

Living in a Dying World
LINK: Living in a Dying World | Wake Up World

 

[DissectionStalker]

"The owner of the most valuable fossil fuel reserve on Earth just started discounting for a future without fossil fuels. While they would never state this reasoning publicly, their actions speak on their behalf. And that changes everything."

IF this is true, then it won't take but a few years to see this unfold.

The governments really need a plan to drop child births worldwide to depopulate the planet of billions of humans over time. How are they going to do that?

 

[Tyger]

I offer the following link here since it is about the flow of wealth around the world. About 5 to 6 years ago I met some ex-pat Russians on a vacation in the Bahamas (I was on vacation, they lived there). We got into a discussion about bribery in the US. I now realize how clueless my answers to their points were - and I now suspect they were likely amused with my naiveté. I see foreign wealth around me everywhere where I live in SoCal. It comes from places that do not adhere to the values I grew up with as a Westerner. It explains a lot.

This article is the 1st of a 5-part report being done by the New York Times regarding the influx of foreign wealth into NYC since the 9/11 attacks. When in the link, scroll down to see (several) short (silent) videos that visualizes the 'shell companies' ownership of Manhattan. Interesting.

TOWERS OF SECRECY
Stream of Foreign Wealth Flows to Elite New York Real Estate
By LOUISE STORY and STEPHANIE SAULFEB. 7, 2015
LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/nyregion/stream-of-foreign-wealth-flows-to-time-warner-condos.html?emc=edit_na_20150207&nlid=54852892&_r=0&action=click&contentCollection=N.Y. / Region&module=Kicker&region=Header&pgtype=article

Excerpted Text: "The foreign owners have included government officials and close associates of officials from Russia, Colombia, Malaysia, China, Kazakhstan and Mexico. They have been able to make these multimillion-dollar purchases with few questions asked because of United States laws that foster the movement of largely untraceable money through shell companies.

"Vast sums are flowing unchecked around the world as never before — whether motivated by corruption, tax avoidance or investment strategy, and enabled by an ever-more-borderless economy and a proliferation of ways to move and hide assets. Alighting in places like London, Singapore and other financial centers, this flood of capital has created colonies of the foreign super-rich, with the attendant resentments and controversies about class inequality made tangible in the glass and steel towers reordering urban landscapes.

"Where it made landfall in New York, in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, was the Time Warner Center. More than a decade on, even as a row of sky-piercing palaces rises on the southern rim of Central Park, the Time Warner Center remains the New York archetype of the global phenomenon, reflecting intertwined trends — the increasing sums of foreign money in high-end real estate and the growing use of shell companies."

 

[Tyger]

THE GATHERING STORM
Air pollution in Asia may be changing weather patterns in the United States.
LINK: Air pollution in Asia may be changing weather patterns in the United States

TEXT:
EYE OPENER
THE GATHERING STORM
Air pollution in Asia may be changing weather patterns in the United States.
BY CLARA CHAISSON | @CLARACHAISSON | 1 week ago

"Increasingly intense storms in the United States might have an unexpected origin: Asian air pollution. Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have found that aerosols from across the Pacific strengthen extratropical cyclones—a type of storm system that drives much of our country's weather.

"Asia is home to the world's 20 most polluted cities, but that dirty air doesn’t stay put, as the above animation of aerosol emissions shows. Water vapor in the atmosphere condenses around particles, and an influx of particulate matter—say, from a coal-fired power plant—can produce bigger, badder clouds. So far, the atmospheric scientists have only looked at how pollution from the continent affects North American weather, but they expect that the effects are global in scale. When countries around the world finalize carbon emissions commitments this year, let’s hope they remember we’re on different sides of the same planet."

 

[Tyger]

Posting this for the sheer fun of it. While I love Debussey I find the use of his La Mer here annoying.

Earth 100 Million Years From Now

TEXT: "Uploaded on Feb 12, 2010: Earth's landmasses were not always what they are today. Continents formed as Earth's crustal plates shifted and collided over long periods of time. This video shows how today's continents are thought to have evolved over the last 600 million years, and where they'll end up in the next 100 million years. Paleogeographic Views of Earth's History provided by Ron Blakey, Professor of Geology, Northern Arizona University."

 

[Tyger]

And now for something Paranormal.

Gordon Michael Scallion's visions of an altered North American continent are eerily in line with rising sea level predictions due to global warming, though Scallion goes further with predicting earthquakes.

The third southern California earthquake that he said would be at 9 on the Richter scale (wowzah!) has not yet occurred. Which reminds me that we have been having weather here in SoCal that we call 'earthquake weather' - and one of the local PBS stations was airing a couple of nights ago an old stand-by show that details the emergency preparations everyone should have in place in case of disaster. (Someone working at the station must have noted the 'earthquake weather', too). This level of awareness is the norm here in SoCal - but it's always interesting when a tv station decides to hit the 'play' button on certain civil preparedness shows.

Scallion also dabbles in a shift of the earth's axis - though as we know from the Japanese earthquake - an earthquake can be big enough to alter the earth's positioning in a significant way. An earthquake of over 9 would be a humdinger!

Future Map of North America

TEXT: "Uploaded on Mar 23, 2011: Futurist Gordon Michael Scallion's visions of what North America will look like in the future."

 

[Tyger]

Same link as from a couple of posts above but I wanted to provide a direct link to the video of the aerosol pattern visual worked up by NASA. Fascinating visualization.

EYE OPENER
THE GATHERING STORM
Air pollution in Asia may be changing weather patterns in the United States.
BY CLARA CHAISSON | @CLARACHAISSON | 1 week ago
Increasingly intense storms in the United States might have an unexpected origin: Asian air pollution. Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have found that aerosols from across the Pacific strengthen extratropical cyclones—a type of storm system that drives much of our country's weather.

NASA GEOS-5 Satellite Atmospheric Study Aerosol

TEXT: "Published on Mar 4, 2013"

 

[Tyger]

IF this is true, then it won't take but a few years to see this unfold.

The governments really need a plan to drop child births worldwide to depopulate the planet of billions of humans over time. How are they going to do that?

So one more item to add to the check-list/flow chart.

 

[DissectionStalker]

THE GATHERING STORM
Air pollution in Asia may be changing weather patterns in the United States.

Whole "micro climates" are being effected over hundreds or even thousands of miles concerning atmospheric pollution from the ground too! Fly into cities and areas with major pollution problems, and it is easy to understand Humans are killing and dramatically altering their living environments. In recent years there was a PBS NOVA program that covered this issue.

When aircraft increase in numbers by the thousands and more people are flying by the millions, then there is going to be more air pollution in the upper atmosphere. ANY pilot flying since the 1960's can tell you of the dramatic atmospheric changes that have occurred, especially, haze and visibility reductions "in general".

How are the governments going to reduce the population of our planet? I see no visible efforts to seriously enforce this into a reality. One suggestion, for those families having more than two children, then they should be fined with very high taxes with high incomes. Those that are too poor should have to give-up their 3+ children to adoption. Sterilization is an option for those that won't adhere to "the plan". Those that want more than two children and can afford it can adopt those children from overpopulation.

What I said above has an Orwellian shadow that we are casting upon ourselves, but what are the other options to reduce population that are more humane? Starvation? Wars? Sterilization? Radicalized Governments?

Growth is an engine of our worldwide economies, so there is going to have to be a change in those systems too!

Global leadership is key, but I haven't seen ANY leadership that can do this kind of worldwide change. Can that even happen within our lifespans?

Since evolution has its own solutions and its own plan, I fear the worst for humankind. Technology can NOT prevent these problems with such a rapid rise in human populations, when there is NO LEADERSHIP GLOBALLY to allow for technology to work within the limited time we seem to have to prevent massive traumas to the entire planet.

As you or someone posted today, Grass Roots politics are often co-opted by money interests too. The Tea Party is a perfect example. Edit Note: See Video Post Just Below: Astroturf and manipulation of media messages | Sharyl Attkisson | TEDxUniversityofNevada

 

[Tyger]

I've posted this elsewhere but thought it's worth posting here. It's a short video - just over 10 minutes - lots of relevant perspective, but the observations at 4:00 on Wikipedia is of particular interest - as well as many other observations in the 10 minute video.

Astroturf and manipulation of media messages | Sharyl Attkisson | TEDxUniversityofNevada

TEXT: "Published on Feb 6, 2015: In this eye-opening talk, veteran investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson shows how astroturf, or fake grassroots movements funded by political, corporate, or other special interests very effectively manipulate and distort media messages."

 

[Tyger]

SEEING THE SILVER LINING: Trending: greenhouse gas emissions are down and renewables are up.
LINK: Trending: Greenhouse gas emissions are down and renewables are up

 

[Tyger]

Great visualization of ocean currents. Posting just for the hey of it!

Perpetual Ocean [by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center]

TEXT: "Published on Jul 13, 2013: This visualization shows ocean surface currents around the world during the period from June 2005 through December 2007. The visualization does not include a narration or annotations; the goal was to use ocean flow data to create a simple, visceral experience."

 

[Tyger]

Papantonio: Yippee! OPEC Is Fracking the Frackers

TEXT: "Published on Feb 6, 2015: With gas prices still hovering around 5-year lows, the fracking industry is taking a severe beating. While that’s great news, America's fossil fuel addiction is still a problem that must be addressed."

 

[Tyger]

The Acceleration of Acceleration: How The Future Is Arriving Far Faster Than Expected
LINK: The Acceleration of Acceleration: How The Future Is Arriving Far Faster Than Expected | Singularity HUB
TEXT: "One of the things that happens when you write books about the future is you get to watch your predictions fail. This is nothing new, of course, but what’s different this time around is the direction of those failures. Used to be, folks were way too bullish about technology and way too optimistic with their predictions. Flying cars and Mars missions being two classic—they should be here by now—examples. The Jetsons being another. But today, the exact opposite is happening."

 

[Tyger]

There is a short video with Kurzweil speaking within the link -

Ray Kurzweil’s Mind-Boggling Predictions for the Next 25 Years
LINK: Ray Kurzweil’s Mind-Boggling Predictions for the Next 25 Years | Singularity HUB

TEXT: "Ray’s predictions for the next 25 years: The above represent only a few of the predictions Ray has made. While he hasn’t been precisely right, to the exact year, his track record is stunningly good. Here are some of my favorite of Ray’s predictions for the next 25+ years.
- If you are an entrepreneur, you need to be thinking about these. Specifically, how are you going to capitalize on them when they happen? How will they affect your business?
- By the late 2010s, glasses will beam images directly onto the retina. Ten terabytes of computing power (roughly the same as the human brain) will cost about $1,000.
- By the 2020s, most diseases will go away as nanobots become smarter than current medical technology. Normal human eating can be replaced by nanosystems. The Turing test begins to be passable. Self-driving cars begin to take over the roads, and people won’t be allowed to drive on highways.
- By the 2030s, virtual reality will begin to feel 100% real. We will be able to upload our mind/consciousness by the end of the decade.
- By the 2040s, non-biological intelligence will be a billion times more capable than biological intelligence (a.k.a. us). Nanotech foglets will be able to make food out of thin air and create any object in physical world at a whim.
- By 2045, we will multiply our intelligence a billionfold by linking wirelessly from our neocortex to a synthetic neocortex in the cloud.

"I want to make an important point. It’s not about the predictions. It’s about what the predictions represent. Ray’s predictions are a byproduct of his (and my) understanding of the power of Moore’s Law, more specifically Ray’s “Law of Accelerating Returns” and of exponential technologies. These technologies follow an exponential growth curve based on the principle that the computing power that enables them doubles every two years.

"As humans, we are biased to think linearly. As entrepreneurs, we need to think exponentially. I often talk about the 6D’s of exponential thinking. Most of us can’t see the things Ray sees because the initial growth stages of exponential, DIGITIZED technologies are DECEPTIVE. Before we know it, they are DISRUPTIVE—just look at the massive companies that have been disrupted by technological advances in AI, virtual reality, robotics, internet technology, mobile phones, OCR, translation software, and voice control technology.

"Each of these technologies DEMATERIALIZED, DEMONETIZED, and DEMOCRATIZED access to services and products that used to be linear and non-scalable. Now, these technologies power multibillion-dollar companies and affect billions of lives."

 

[Tyger]

Since Climate Change is often talked about in conjunction with the idea of societal collapse, I thought this might be interesting - a reflection on what exactly occurs in societal collapse. Many important points are made relevant to the 'discussion', albeit the video is lengthy at 1 hour and 30 minutes. An investment of time.

Starts talking about complexity at approx 13:00 onwards, and has unexpected things to say regarding how complexity (before fossil fuels) was too labor intensive to be a willing choice of cultures. Interesting overview of ideas.

Collapse of Complex Societies by Dr. Joseph Tainter

TEXT: "Published on Aug 6, 2012: http://localfuture.org The collapse of complex societies of the past can inform the present on the risks of collapse. Dr. Joseph Tainter, author of the book The Collapse of Complex societies, and featured in Leonardo Dicaprio's film The Eleventh Hour, details the factors that led to the collapse of past civilizations including the Roman Empire."

 

[Tyger]

Climate Change in Minnesota: 23 signs
Environment St. Paul, Minn. · Feb 2, 2015
LINK: Climate Change in Minnesota: 23 signs | Minnesota Public Radio News

TEXT: "Climate Change in Minnesota: An MPR News special report
"Minnesota is warmer than it used to be. Rain falls in bigger downpours. Hay fever sufferers have a longer sneezing season, and the ticks that deliver Lyme disease are expanding their range. Red maple trees are moving north. So are purple finches. Moose numbers have shrunk. Without question, the state's climate has changed in recent decades. And that's had an impact on the lives of its wildlife, its plants, its people."

 

[Tyger]

Heat waves becoming more prominent in urban areas, research reveals January 30, 2015
LINK: Heat waves becoming more prominent in urban areas, research reveals -- ScienceDaily

TEXT: "The world's urban areas have experienced significant increases in heat waves over the past 40 years, according to new research. These prolonged periods of extreme hot days have significantly increased in over 200 urban areas across the globe between 1973 and 2012, and have been most prominent in the most recent years on record.

[...]

"The results, which have been published today, 30 January, in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters, show that over the same time period, more than half of the studied areas showed a significant increase in the number of individual extreme hot days, whilst almost two-thirds showed significant increases in the number of individual extreme hot nights.

"The study, undertaken by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar, Northeastern University, University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Washington, is one of the first to focus solely on the extent of extreme weather on a global scale, as well as examining disparities between urban and non-urban areas.

"In their study, the researchers obtained daily observations for rain, air temperature and wind speed from the Global Summary of the Day (GSOD) data set produced by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).

"They identified all urban areas globally with a population greater than 250,000 (around 650 areas) and then refined the list based on the area's proximity to a GSOD station and the availability of complete weather records. They were left with 217 stations with complete records for the period 1973-2012, most of which were located at airports close to urban areas.

"Once the data was obtained for the 217 urban areas, the researchers identified extremes for temperature, precipitation and wind and calculated heat waves, cold waves as well as individual extreme hot days and nights. Heat waves were defined as periods where the daily maximum temperature was hotter than 99 per cent of days for the period 1973-2012, for a consecutive period of six or more days.

"The results showed that there were statistically significant increases in the number of heat waves per urban area during the last four decades. Of the five years with the largest number of heat waves, four were the most recent years on record (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012).

"Results also showed a general decline in cold waves, and around 60 per cent of urban areas experiencing a significant decline in extreme windy days. Around 17 per cent of urban areas experienced a significant increase in daily precipitation extremes, and around 10 per cent experienced a significant increase in annual maximum precipitation.

"Lead author of the research Professor Vimal Mishra from IIT Gandhinagar said: "Our results show significant increases in heat waves and the number of hot days and warm nights, and at the same time declines in cold waves and extreme windy days in many urban areas over the last 40 years. We also find that the number of changes in precipitation extremes was modest, which is somewhat surprising as our previous work showed a predominance of increases in precipitation extremes in major U.S. urban areas. "Over half of the world's population now live in urban areas; hence, it is particularly important to understand how the climate and climate extremes, in particular, are changing in these areas. "Urban areas make up a relatively small part of the global land area; however, they are the centre of wealth, so damage to urban infrastructure could result in potentially large economic losses. Surprisingly, there have been few studies that have focused on changes in climatic extremes in these areas."

"Using a separate data set in which 142 pairs of urban and non-urban areas were selected, the researchers found disparate changes for temperature and wind related extremes, with generally more increases in temperature-related extremes, and more decreases in wind-related extremes in urban areas compared to non-urban areas. The team are now examining the impacts of climate and weather extremes in urban regions on critical lifeline infrastructures, as well as on urban and coastal ecosystems and marine life."

 

[Tyger]

Blog entry referencing the above post's article link - with a (soft) analysis of the research paper's findings -

TOO HOT TO HANDLE: Heat waves are becoming more frequent and deadly (suddenly winter seems a lot less threatening).
LINK: Heat waves are becoming more frequent and deadly

TEXT: "I’m not sure why cold is so much scarier than heat, but the evidence is everywhere. We say hyperbolically that we’re “freezing to death,” but there’s no equally common phrase involving death from heat. The myth that being cold can cause a viral infection is one of the most persistent in our culture, but your grandmother never said, “Take off that knit cap or you’ll get sick!” Even our government policies reflect our overactive dread of the cold. The government spends nine times as much money trying to keep poor people warm as it does trying to cool them off. An extreme fear of cold seems to be hardwired into our lizard brains.

"We should start approaching extreme heat with the same trepidation—things are bad and getting worse. For a new study in the journal Environmental Research Letters, a team of international researchers examined temperature data between 1973 and 2012 for evidence of urban heat waves. They defined “heat wave” not as a time of increased lemonade consumption but as a period of six or more consecutive days with daily highs in the 99th percentile of the sample. Yeah, that’s hot.

"The findings are startling. Heat waves increased every decade in the 217 urban areas studied, and the rate of increase seems to be accelerating. The most recent four years in the study were all among the five with the most heat waves. Extreme cold and wind, by contrast, were down.

"The news is not entirely surprising, of course. We call it global warming for a reason. Temperatures are rising in many places. All 10 hottest years on record have occurred between 1998 and now—and we haven’t seen a record cold month since 1916. Nevertheless, the rise in extreme heat is a special concern, because this can lead to preventable deaths.

"How many deaths? Good question. The truth is, nobody really knows. Extreme heat is usually an indirect cause of death—it makes people who are already weakened by youth, old age, or a variety of illnesses more likely to die. Epidemiologists also quibble over the right way to describe the deaths themselves. Some argue a heat wave that advances the death of a nonagenarian by a few months isn’t the same as a snowstorm-induced car accident that kills a teenager. Others say premature deaths are all tragedies and should be treated the same.

"Despite these complications, there's some data on heat-related deaths: NRDC (disclosure) estimates that each year there are 400 directly related to heat in the United States, and 1,800 from illnesses worsened by heat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 666 heat deaths annually between 2006 and 2010. But the numbers vary considerably year to year, since extreme heat waves are unpredictable. A single English heat wave killed as many as 760 people in 2013, according to researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

"OK, OK—even with heat waves rising, about twice as many Americans die from cold as from extreme heat. (At least, that’s how the CDC sees things.) But the new study suggests heat is soon going to overtake cold mortality. In 2013, another group of researchers calculated that deaths from heat waves would rise by a factor of 10 in 45 years, blowing away deaths from cold. The classic lyric “It’s like a heat wave, burning in my heart” is about to take on a much darker meaning."

 

[Tyger]

Interactive Map to look at temperature changes in various cities in winter -

HANG UP YOUR SKI HAT: Climate change is making winter lose its cool—this infographic shows what that means for your city.
LINK: What will winters in your city feel like by 2100? (Hint: So not cool.)

TEXT: "Every year at about this time, I start seriously envying grandparents and songbirds their yearly migrations south. Two snowstorms just walloped the Northeast and Midwest in a single week, and a multiday snow event is on its way to Boston, where I live (and shovel). Yep, the snowbird lifestyle sounds pret-ty sweet right about now.

"But if you stick around to watch climate change do its thing, Florida temps may come to you. A new report by Climate Central found that more than 80 percent of the almost 700 U.S. cities it analyzed could have half as many freezing nights by 2100. For instance, some of the places hit hardest by recent blizzards—Boston, Chicago, and New York—will experience winters more like towns in Georgia, Alabama, and Texas, respectively. More than 20 percent of the country’s cities could see a 75 percent reduction in nights that dip below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Fewer freezes might sound cozy, but they have their consequences. Ski seasons in Boulder, Colorado, and Bend, Oregon, will be more like hitting the slopes of Oklahoma (that’s not OK). Milder winters disrupt crops and allow disease-carrying insects like mosquitoes and ticks to bite and suck for longer periods of the year. This will bring more misery to summers that will also be hot, hot hot.

"Take note: This great thaw will happen only if we continue to emit carbon at the same reckless levels we do now. Let’s not miss our chance to rein them in and put winter warming on the freeze."