Climate change: " I want you to get angry, really angry"

Climate change in Australia – a cris-de coeur

School Strike 4 Climate, via Facebook

Sorry guys, maybe we have post Xmas blues, or maybe we are just sad coz we get sent posts like this one from #HighfieldFarmandWoodland ��

This Christmas I am full of rage and despair. I wanted to post this little bit of writing yesterday but I feared being accused of spoiling everyone’s Christmas.

But guess what? – your Christmases and the Christmases of your children and your children’s children are already spoiled into the future and not because of this post.

Today is Boxing Day and everyone has probably had enough of Christmas now. You are sitting inside, out of the heat, watching the cricket and eating left-overs. So here comes my outburst - read it, there is nothing else to do.

It’s Boxing Day but it is something else too – today is the second day in a run of eleven days where the forecast maximum is 35 or above. Eleven days is as far as the forecast on the app I use goes. Who knows, it might go on for longer...

And there is more to share from my weather app. Not only are we forecast to have eleven days in a row where the maximum is or exceeds 35c but the coolest night time temperature is 18c with many nights into the mid twenties making sleep very difficult.

This kind of weather also makes farming very difficult. I suspect that after eleven days of this kind of solar radiation onslaught we wont have any pasture left. Careful management of grazing, grazing rotations and maintenance of native grass pastures, holding water in the landscape etc can only do so much. Our dams are nearly dry and there is no rain in the forecast.

This run of hot weather will also mean that we will be spending a lot of time keeping our hens cool (a euphemism for preventing their death by overheating). Aside from positioning them in the best shade we can find, it means regular applications of frozen bricks into their water, making ice pecking treats for them and hosing down their pen. It will be pretty much a full time job just preventing their deaths. So be prepared for your pasture-raised eggs to be scarcer and more expensive in summer, now and into the future as the temperatures climb and as extra effort goes into keeping laying hens cool.

Before you kindly offer bales of hay and make suggestions for sprinkling systems for pastured poultry enterprises, before you offer wisdom from a Farming Guru as a solution to our plight, before you placate me by saying how much we value our farmers and their work, how much we love your food, how lovely our pictures on Instagram are, before you metaphorically pat me on the shoulder and say, ‘the rain will come, don’t worry’, I want you to know I don’t want bales or advice, or praise or cheering up.

When we have fewer eggs and no lamb, I want you to get angry, really angry. Not towards us but I want you to be angry at the lack of action on climate change. Because if you think eleven days over 35 in a row is bad, wait till we get the predicted extreme heat...

And I’m angry because being anything other than angry feels like being complicit. And I want you to be angry. I want us all to be so angry and so noisy and so outraged that we get heard. I want our governments to take action on climate change, and more, I want real action on climate change. I want things to change, lots of things.

I am not a scientist, I can’t recall relevant statistics to place in this outburst, I don’t need to. The science is in and has been in and building for decades. There are plenty of reports eloquent on the matter. Scarcely a news report goes by nowadays without reference to some environmental disaster or other. Hear the one about the Third Great Extinction?

Climate change or global warming is not a matter of ‘belief’ – save the belief thing for Christmas – it’s a matter of fact. Our habitats are degraded, our koala populations are devastated, land clearing has recently been re-approved in NSW, the Barrier Reef is in a deplorable state and its hot, bloody hot and bloody dry.

I was not raised a Christian, I am no woman of faith or belief – that’s in case the aethisiests stop reading here. But I am deeply interested in symbols and in the underlying meaning of myths and stories and legends. It seems to me that Christmas is ultimately a story of hope – that kind of innocent hope that comes with the birth of a new baby, the hope that the baby will have a fruitful life, a positive life, a happy life. That’s what we all want isn’t it? That’s what we all hope our children will have?

But what kind of life will a baby born today have? One without natural wonders like the Barrier Reef, without magnificent forests, without koalas, polar bears, and with water scarcity, increasing heat waves and fire storms? And how about a future where bird diversity means sparrows, pigeons and starlings. See the report the other day of galahs falling dead out of the sky?

So it’s Christmas, a time of hope, a time we try to make a fabulous magical time for children. So let’s think of them for a moment. Recently we have seen that they have even lost hope. Heard of Greta Thunberg? The 15 year old who decided to stop going to school and sit outside the Swedish Parliament to demand action on climate change. She recently inspired other school children all over the world to protest including here in Australia. And the response of our politicans? Scott Morrison told them to go back to school and that they needed "more learning in schools and less activism". Watch out Scott, they’ll be voting soon!

I acknowledge that via Facebook I am talking in my own echo chamber – talking to people who are already concerned and who are already reducing, reusing, recycling, renewing, repurposing, who have installed solar, who are minimizing water use, who are changing their farming practices, eliminating plastics, thinking about food miles, buying from ethical sources. I also know you are also eating seasonally, eating locally, growing it, cooking it, composting it, making it, sewing it, fixing it, re-using it, etc. I know my city friends are bike riding or walking or taking public transport instead of driving to work. That’s brilliant, keep doing what you are doing and keep caring. But it seems like we are doing all the hard work while our politicians are obfuscating.

We have the opportunity to vote this year in both Federal Elections and State Elections (in NSW at least). We have the opportunity to interrogate (yep, I mean interrogate) our politicians on action on climate change. What are their policies? What meaningful action will they take? What do they think about the School Strike? Make sure they know you are angry and that you will change your vote according to that issue. Make sure they don’t divert you onto thinking the main issue is free-trade or immigration or terrorism - after all, what is more terrifying than an increasingly hostile climate?

I am not making a case here for voting for any particular party (except, really? are you really going to vote for the National Party again? Really?). I actually think none of the available political options have policies strong enough for effective action. But let’s push them in that direction, ask them what their policies are? Tell them that’s not good enough, demand real action, make our voices heard.

Greta Thunberg puts it perfectly. When addressing the world’s politicians she said, “we cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis”. “Until you start focusing on what needs to be done rather than what is politically possible there is no hope”. That word again – Hope.

So over Christmas and the School Holidays, hold your children tight and get angry with them. Support their rage - they have every right to be angry, we have stolen their future. Vote with their future in mind, show them that adults are accountable.

I’ve spent my whole life as an environmentalist, I’ve done what I can – obviously not enough. I’ve been part of some small victories, I continue to live thoughtfully and my environmentalism informs our farming and conservation work here at Highfield. Largely, I feel it has been a wasted endeavor because so little has changed. It is so hard to stay optimistic, but giving up is not an option. I’m staying angry.

It’s hot, and it will be a very long heat wave. Our animals need us so I’m going out to put more ice bricks in the chickens’ water tank...

Lakes in Arctic from melting permafrost releasing methane

NASA Discovers Bubbling Lakes In The Remote Arctic - A Sign Of Global Warming

Forbes,

30 August, 2018

NASA has released videos of bubbling lakes in the remote Arctic tundra, where warming continues to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at unprecedented rates.

The international research team, funded by NASA as part of their Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), recently published their results in Nature Communications. What they found are bubbling lakes as greenhouse gases are released from the previously frozen ground, leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions and a warming positive feedback.

The Arctic is one of the largest natural reservoirs of organic carbon, trapped within the frozen soils. If a tree dies, say in the Amazon rainforest, it is quickly eaten (rot) away by bacteria, which respire the same as humans. As bacteria eat the tree they inhale oxygen and release carbon dioxide. Hence, the carbon taken up by the tree through photosynthesis is then released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide for the cycle to start all over again.

However, in the case of the Arctic, when something dies (trees, algae, animals, etc.) they are immediately frozen. This, in essence, stops the carbon cycle as both bacteria and their food are frozen in place for potentially tens of thousands of years. This means the Arctic continues to pack away carbon from the atmosphere and store it in frozen soil, which can be over 250 feet thick.

However, when that soil begins to thaw, the bacteria wake up and find a feast of untouched carbon laid out for them, they begin to eat the carbon, releasing carbon dioxide and methane gas as they do. In the NASA video what you see is the resulting carbon dioxide and methane gases released from the thawing of Arctic lake beds. As the sediment beneath these lakes begins to melt, they become greenhouse gas factories.

Arctic ice update - 08/09/2018

Campfire Chat with Margo - August 9, 2018

Today there was a campfire chat with Margo who has been doing a wonderful job of chronicling this year's Arctic ice melt.

Much of it was an open discussion of how people felt but the first part was an update on the state of the ice.

We discussed the ice to the north of Greenland.

This is how it looked today.

As you can see below much of this was 'old' ice, 2 meters thick,  that was there a month ago,

Now it is gone.

Here are some other measures.

The heat, both in the ocean, which will aid melting from below and in the air are not going away.

Temperatures are all above zero in most places

Sea temperature anomalies

 Air temperatures
 

Air temperature anomalies

A plea for the truth from Kevin Hester

Oil Giants admit to a 5C Temperature Increase being baked in but no one else will!

Kevin Hester

Kevin Hester,

9 January, 2018

“Oil giants Shell and BP are planning for global temperatures to rise as much as 5°C by the middle of the century. 

The level is more than double the upper limit committed to by most countries in the world under the Paris Climate Agreement, which both companies publicly support.”

I believe a temperature increase of 5C and more will occur much, much sooner than mid-century. This is clearly an extinction event for most if not all complex life on planet earth.

In my May 2015 Oral Submission to the N.Z. Ministry of Environment, I pointed out that both the IEA and Shell Petroleum admit that close to 5C is baked in but none of the large NGO’s nor the global Green Party’s nor their networks are prepared to face the reality of the crisis. I received zero feedback from the Ministry minions but a standing ovation from the concerned members of the public at the hearing process. My oral presentation is embedded in the above hyperlink:

According to the conservative blogger Joe Romm at Think Progress the planet may have warmed 5C in 13 years once before;

“PETM shocker: When CO2 Levels Doubled 55 Million Years Ago, Earth May Have Warmed 9F In 13 Years  

I  have written to both David Parker, Environment Minister and James Shaw co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa in the new Labour led coalition government in New Zealand challenging them both to face up to the reality of the situation, I have yet to receive any reply. My emails are copied below, feel free to email them yourself( both of their emails are embedded in the two links directly above) and ask why they are holding back;

Kia ora David,

I have had a long email dialogue with James Shaw M.P. over his failure to address the climate crisis in a meaningful way.

Below is my latest email to him about Shell and BP admitting that 5C is baked in by the middle of the century. I’m sure you’re aware that 5C is an extinction event for most if not all complex life on the planet. When we exit stage left we will see 450 nuclear melt downs and over 1200 spent fuel pool fires which will be infinitely worse.

When are we going to start telling the truth about the severity of the climate crisis?

Surely the youth deserve the truth?

Best
Kevin Hester
Rakino Island
Hauraцki Gulf

“Hi James,
Just in case you missed it; “Oil giants Shell and BP are planning for global temperatures to rise as much as 5°C by the middle of the century. The level is more than double the upper limit committed to by most countries in the world under the Paris Climate Agreement, which both companies ( and yourself) publicly support. FYI I believe it will happen much sooner.

What will it take for the Greens and the new government to come clean on the crisis?”

Best
Kevin Hester
Rakino Island
Hauraцki Gulf

The planet and all species inhabiting it face an existential crisis and it seems that almost none of us have the courage to face what is now a “Fait Accompli.” What I find even more repulsive is the burden being cast on our youth to fix the un-fixable dilemma we have bequeathed them.

I see young people in my family and circle of friends continuing to have children. I firmly believe many children would be spared the impending horror if their young parents were aware of the armageddon bearing down on them. To quote David Attenborough “Population matters”

I took this photo whilst standing on the crater edge at Tanna Island in Vanuatu. From this point you can see down into the volcano crater,  a boiling cauldron of molten lava, somewhat like what our entire planet is soon to look like;

Our youth are lied to from birth. Let’s not be the last generation, at the edge of extinction, lying to the youth.

It is only a matter of time before the living will envy the dead. Let’s start the grieving process while the situation is still relatively stable.

Extreme weather update - 01/09/2018

Nearly 5,000 lightning strikes in 3 hours left thousands without power in Sydney after temperatures approaching 50 deg C melted roads

the Big Wobble,

9 January, 2018

Fast-moving storms swept across Sydney this morning. Photo: Nick Moir

After temperatures approaching 50 deg C, 122 deg F melted roads and killed thousands of flying fox bats the weather in Sydney has gone from one extreme to the other

A heavy thunderstorm hit Sydney with more than 4600 lightning strikes between 3am and 6am this morning, leaving thousands without power after days of extreme heat.

The western and northwestern suburbs bore the brunt of the storm, with Blacktown particularly hard hit with tiles off roofs and trees brought down.

Weatherzone reported 4649 lightning strikes between 3am and 6am, and the SES received at least 150 requests for help.

The weather bureau says lightning strikes will continue over the Sydney region and most parts of NSW on Tuesday.

Passengers can expect slight delays on domestic flights out of Sydney Airport, but international and domestic arrivals are on time, an airport spokesman said. Meanwhile, rail commuters on Sydney's north shore T1 line can expect delays.

"It's quite an active lightning system over Sydney," BOM forecaster Jordan Notara said.

He said the lightning will die down this morning before building up again in the afternoon.

"It's a typical summer scenario," he said.

The SES has warned NSW residents to take precautions as the storm activity continues.

Residents are warned to secure outdoor furniture, tie-down trampolines and stay inside and keep away from windows.

Sahara snowfall! Temperatures in the summer can reach 40 deg C Ain Sefra, Algeria, known as the gateway to the Sahara desert covered in snow

It doesn't happen often, the last time it snowed here was 40 years ago.

Temperatures in the summer can reach 40 deg C but yesterday the small town of 1 was covered in snow.

A rare blanket of snow in the Sahara Desert was spotted over the weekend -- an unusual sight for an area known for its relentless heat.

According to the Daily Express, The cold snap comes as Europe and the United States froze in bitter temperatures.

Winter Storm Grayson, battering the US east coast, has seen the sea freeze in Cape Cod, along with the Niagra Falls in stunning scenes.

A spokesman for the Met Office said this morning: "Cold air was pulled down south into North Africa over the weekend as a result of high pressure over Europe.

Thousands of people some with babies trapped in their vehicles by heavy snow overnight on a highway near Madrid Spain

3,000 tourists stranded in Zermatt, village cut off as avalanche risk raised to max

French Alps hit by 'once-in-a-generation' snow storms

Several villages in southern Switzerland, including the ski resort of Zermatt, were cut off from the outside world on Tuesday after extreme weather conditions raised the avalanche risk to the maximum level.

Both the road and the railway line to Zermatt were closed after the avalanche risk was raised to five, commune president Romy Biner-Hauser told Valais paper Le Nouvelliste on Monday evening, however as yet the village has not had to be evacuated.