Climate Collapse

Musings on climate change (in real time)

by Seemorerocks

Normally I don't dwell on things over much.

But the early hours are the time when my mind sorts things out and the real import of climate collapse, nuclear contamination, the death of 200 species a day and the slow collapse of human civilisation hits me - out of the subconscious before the sense of "I' truly awakes.

There is no doubt about it but the article from Robertscribbler -  Arctic Warmth in Early February Sees 200,000 Square Kilometres of Sea Ice Lost, Greenland Melt as New Study Finds Massive Glacier Triples its Seaward Velocity - was the one that hit me between the eyes.

In case you missed the article or the real significance of it eluded you, just think about it for a moment.

In the midst of winter what should be a frozen wasteland has LOST 200,00 square kilometres of sea ice - in WINTER.

“As heat built in the Arctic over the most recent extreme warming episode, it tended to focus on two regions along the sea ice edge now vulnerable to episodes of winter-time melt. First, in the Bering Sea, where warmth has been almost continually flooding up along the high pulse of an 11 month blocking pattern and then in Baffin Bay, where warmer than normal winds have drawn heat up along coastal areas adjacent to the western slopes of Greenland creating anomalous conditions there.” (Robertscribbler)

Meanwhile as large parts of the polar area are so warm the ice melts (Siberia, meanwhile is cold) the jet stream is reaching down into the mid latitudes and bringing Arctic conditions to most of North America and parts of Europe, while Britain and Ireland are experiencing storms and floods they  haven't seen in over 200 years.

The other thing that struck me was the scenes from Slovenia, (nestled, for those who are a bit hazy on their geography, between Austria, Italy and Croatia).

As can be seen from this video, Slovenia is experiencing truly Arctic conditions which, apart from anything else, is devastating its forestry. This video is from Postojna, west of the capital Ljubljana. (I remember visiting the amazing caves there many years ago).

That climate change is no longer something that will happen "if we don't do something about it" is something that I have realised since at least the 2009 COP 15 meeting in Copenhagen.

Much of my real grieving happened back then when I realised that nothing was going to be done.

Now it has got so much worse than that.

We are not looking at decades (let alone centuries) but months.

We are watching the beak-down of climatic systems that have made higher life forms possible on this planet in real time.

What has to happen before it really sinks in for the population, or are they just going to stand transfixed, like these idiots in Spain?

What brought it home was the statement I am going to (probably) misquote from Paul Beckwith - 

While North America is seeing a 20-year (or even 100-year) cold snap the Arctic is experiencing a 44,000 heat wave.


DENIAL IN THE CLIMATE CHANGE FRATERNITY

Which brings me back to the question of denial.

A few months ago, Guy McPherson, Jenelle Green and myself had a stoush with the folk at Climate Change Fact of the Day. This story is told HERE.

These folk like to keep things civilised and avoid mention of things like near-term extinction (or even abrupt climate change) and they become quite riled when anyone does press the point.

Earlier this week, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to see if I could rejoin CCFOFD. My membership was approved within 24 hours.

I decided to test the waters by posting Paul Beckwith's latest material and got the message and got the message "pending approval". 24 hours later I could not find any sign of the article amongst the prodigious material on CCFOTD.

Oh well!

I waited a while and made a couple of mild comments on items such as "the car that runs in air", and made my final attempt at participation by submitting one of the latest articles by Robertscribbler.

Within a very short length of time I found myself booted off the site, receiving the message -

This content is currently unavailable

The page you requested cannot be displayed right now. It may be temporarily unavailable, the link you clicked on may have expired, or you may not have permission to view this page.

I sent a PM to the moderator:

I notice I have been excluded from Global Warming Fact of the Day. I presume this is a technical problem.

I didn't get a reply so I guess they must be pretty riled!

DOWN-UNDER

Finally Down-Under.

It has puzzled me this summer that while Australia has been frying and experiencing extreme temperatures and bushfires, New Zealand has escaped all that and has had some of the most equitable weather on the planet.

Rather more wind than is normal but above all, cool,

In fact, so cool that some of the vegetables in our garden, like pumpkins, are not thriving, and the sweet corn have not formed at all.

Paul Beckwith solved the problem for me (with some of his own humor)

"The prevailing jets bend downward parallel to the southern Australian coastline away from the high pressure block caused by southern Australian high temperatures. This kind of protects New Zealand from storms and high winds. Rather nice of the Australians. The sea surface temperature is lower on the leeward side of Australia since the Coriolis force pushes surface waters to the left and thus northward between Oz and NZ. This draws cooler waters at lower latitudes up and around NZ keeping temperatures decent. Just made this all up, but it makes good physical sense to me"

Here is his video on the subject, should you not have seen it yet

With a media that has precisely NOTHING to say on the subject. (Radio New Zealand has an editorial policy to only cover global warming/climate change if it has parochial interest). 

Most people here will be blissfully ignorant, even of the bushfires in Oz.

Is it any wonder that these questions don't even figure in most people's imagination.

When the proverbial hits the fan, no doubt they'll be like a possum caught by the headlights of a car.

Oh well! I'll start my day with the knowledge that a few of us out there are fully awake.

Have a good day (or evening)!