Saturday 30 April 2016

A conversation with Guy McPherson and Kevin Hester

Seemorerocks talks to Guy McPherson and Kevin Hester


I recorded a conversation with Guy McPherson and Kevin Hester,

They are divided (inadvertantly) into two parts


Part one

Part two


Here are some of the headlines just from the past four weeks


Global Temperature Increase Depletes Oxygen in Most Ocean Zones by the 2030s

A reduction in the amount of oxygen dissolved in the oceans due to climate change is already discernible in some parts of the world and should be evident across large regions of the oceans between 2030 and 2040. — The National Center for Atmospheric Research in a press release on April 27th.


At least 12 Indian states are believed to be facing famine and experts have warned that the water crisis could worsen if urgent action is not taken. — Greenpeace statement taken yesterday by The International Business Times.




It’s a hard, tough thing to consider. One of those possibilities people justifiably do not want to talk about. This notion that a creature we’re fond of and familiar with — a glorious living being along with all its near and distant relatives — could be entirely removed from the web of existence here on Earth.

Our aversion to the topic likely stems from our own fear of death. Or worse — the notion that the entire human race might eventually be faced with such an end. But extinction is a threat that we’ll see arising more and more as we force the world to rapidly warm. For species of the world now face existential crisis with increasing frequency as atmospheric and ocean temperatures have risen so fast that a growing number of them have simply become unable to cope with the heat.




As a result, Winter temperatures in the Arctic hit levels that were likely never seen by any human that has ever lived in a settlement resembling a town or a city. And one of the paths over which this heat ran was Western North America. A region that is now experiencing a number of early warning signs that trouble is on the way.






Feb, 2016 the atmospheric CO2 level was 404.16 ppm, or 4 ppm larger than just a year ago. Mar 25, 2016 hit 405.81 ppm, almost 5 ppm larger than only one year ago. Average levels rose a record 3.09 ppm in 2015, slightly less in 2014 and a record (then) 2.90 in 2013.

Yet global emissions from humans have been reported to have levelled off the last few years.


12 Percent. That’s how much of Greenland’s surface experienced melt yesterday according to a report from DMI’s Polar Portal as an unprecedented flow of warm, wet air slammed into its great ice sheets. 10 Percent. That’s how much of Greenland’s ice sheet surface is required to melt in order to mark an official start to the Summer melt season. Late May or early June. That’s when Greenland melt season typically begins.

What gives? Could be BAD. Could mean Earth sinks are maxed out and/or sources are rising.



"Climate change is starting to impact India’s breadbasket. Record high temperatures over the Gangetic Plain — India’s productive farming region south of the Himalayas — are starting to take hold as a result of a human-forced warming of the globe"



On April 3rd, 2016, Arctic sea ice extent was at a record low for the time of the year, reports the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).





If you look over the entire … last 66 million years, the only event that we know of … that has a massive carbon release and happens over a relatively short period of time is the PETM. We actually have to go back to relatively old periods. Because in the more recent past, we don’t see anything [even remotely] comparable to what humans are currently doing.”


---Richard Zeebe of the University of Hawaii in a recent paper published in Nature.


I didn't get to mention this but I wanted to post this call-in from a caller from Hawaii.  It was one of the most emotionally switched-on contributions from a caller on Nature Bats Last that I have heard and certainly left an imprint on me.





3 comments:

  1. More marine collapse.
    http://www.thebigwobble.org/2016/04/100-tonnes-of-clams-die-in-vietnam-in.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. I believe this is the article quoted by Guy about climate change refugees.
    http://www.theguardian.com/.../climate-change-refugees...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I believe this is the article quoted by Guy about climate change refugees.
    http://www.theguardian.com/.../climate-change-refugees...

    ReplyDelete

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