Metaneos

EarthSky Update: Welp, I've already made changes to the spreadsheet I've been working with (and also edited the spacing in the posting). Take my numbers, and think of them as worse than I initially expected. I forgot to account for inertia. Of course, I was only doing this as an exercise for the brain. The numbers grow more and more dismaying, though. And these are just estimates, based on nothing more than news articles. I can't imagine the actual numbers, and what scientists and statisticians are finding. It's just awful. Well, this was to be expected, right? If global warming is rising exponentially, then all that follows should match. Such should include climate change. We should be expecting stranger weather at an increased rate until normalization occurs, which should be decades after maximum warming. The Earth has enough carbon to produce six degrees of warming in total, but we wish to keep it to two and a half degrees. However, we've already hit two de...

The Atlantic My goodness. What is suggested in this report is how a changing climate can negatively effect our physiology, which could turn our own bodily systems against itself. Only one factor fit the bill: climate. The places where the saigas died in May 2015 were extremely warm and humid. In fact, humidity levels were the highest ever seen the region since records began in 1948. The same pattern held for two earlier, and much smaller, die-offs from 1981 and 1988. When the temperature gets really hot, and the air gets really wet, saiga die. Climate is the trigger, Pasteurella is the bullet.

CBC News This is interesting. A little concerning, too. But it's so far north from where I live that its impact probably won't be felt here. But, what about around here? What is happening around here that we're not witnessing? The behind-the-scenes events that we should be anticipating but aren't? Can we predict what can happen as our climate changes around us? For instance, consider the climate around here. It's relatively temperate: four seasons. Snow in winter, sun in summer. Spring and Autumn are comfortable. However, last year, our climate was off, to say the least. We had arctic conditions for a brief period of time during the winter, and coastal conditions during the summer. Just strange, out of character developments that this area's never seen before. Should we expect this to continue, or were these one-off developments that were so far out of the norm that they can't possibly happen again? It'd be nice to have answers.

IFLScience This... probably isn't a good thing.

The Guardian The coming era will be one of instability. We're entering into year one. May we live in interesting times, I suppose.

To announce, I'm still alive. Slogging through the detritus of my own mind, lately. I'm mentally ill, and face difficulties getting out of bed, and after that, getting out of the home. My pessimistic attitude regarding the direction the world is heading helps none, either. But, I'll try. I'll try to make a habit of writing, this year. I'll try to keep up to date on what's happening, these days, and to inform myself of what might happen next. For instance, there's rumblings out there in the world of a serious recession, this year. Are you all saving your money? I hope so. Times will get tough, this year, again. We're at a point, now, where there's a slight danger of entering into an uncontrolled deflationary cycle. Do you think Canada's prepared? The USA? Even if they were prepared to do something, what could they actually do? Not much. Manufacturing was heavily shipped over seas. Manufacturing is the backbone of any economy. And with the remo...

It's important to remember, Syria's civil war was probably caused by climate change. There were a myriad of internal factors, that had laid the timber for the flames of war, such as corruption, torture, poverty, and external aggression, but the spark setting it all ablaze was caused by the drought impacting the nation's ability to feed itself. Generally, that's the case. People can put up with all sorts of abuse. An abuse victim will continually return to the abuser. Right up until they've had enough. Usually, that's after the food has run out. What's dismaying is the West's solution to the civil war was to bomb the shit out of Syria. Thank god for Kerry squarely placing his foot in his mouth giving Russia the opportunity to, in a sense, save Syria. Can you imagine the magnitude of the humanitarian disaster that would be playing out, now, had Syria been reduced to complete rubble, as the US had originally wanted? Actually, can you imagine what we sh...

Vancouver Sun It shouldn't have done, though. This is probably something PIEVC would've discerned, had they the resources. As it is, now, we can only guess as to what will happen. Our current scientists and engineers have done their best, but without the full support and backing of both provincial and federal governments, the best we can do is probably just not good enough. Is this storm a one-off? Or will there be more in the future? Should we expect this sort of pattern every year, now? Or is this a fifty year event, and we can take our time in bolstering our power lines throughout the province? What about roads? What about the buildings being built, now? How about guidelines for trees on properties near buildings? What of snowfall? What of storm water in the spring? How about our soil? Our lakes? Our rivers? Our trees? BC's at risk for forest fires. Will they increase, not only in frequency, but also in size and ferocity? Listen, if the federal government won...

Los Angeles Times I can't imagine the world in ten years time. Twenty years. It'll be different. As different as the world was even in my own childhood. As different as the world was from my parents' childhoods. My elders speak of our role on this Earth as caretakers. However, we've abandoned this role in favor of materialistic pursuits. Of finite beliefs that will quickly degrade into ash when stressed, as heated glass touching cold water. All cultures historically warn us away from over-indulgence, and yet our own modern society celebrates this behavior as exemplary. This self-interest is our fatal flaw. We take what we want, and we give nothing. This cannot last. There are limits on this Earth we cannot comprehend in full. It is simply too vast. However, what little we do know should terrify us into acting more responsibly, even if only marginally. However we do not even do that. Our leaders urge us on to continue on as we have done. This cannot last. Eventuall...

Vancouver Sun The Earth changes in ways we can fathom. It's not quantum physics. Us lay people should be able to understand this much. The Earth changes. So too should we change. Even speaking out can help. Raise your voice, even if only a little, in favour of the change which must come. Otherwise, we place ourselves into a position untenable. Do not let pessimism erode your heart, as misfortune has brought to the edge this lonely lake. In your heart beats the blood of your antecedents. Their wisdom and strength, along with your own, can empower you to do what you are able.

The climate is changing. We, too, should be changing. Our hearts, our minds. It should all change. The world tomorrow will not be the same as the world today. Today's world has little similarity with yesterday's. We can look to the past, and see what has all happened, but to see the future, we need to turn ourselves around. All we do is watch the past. We know nothing but the past. Since we know the past so intimately, shouldn't we then know the future? We do know it, though. Its form, its voice. We know it. We should know it. We know the world is going to be a difficult place to survive as today's events continually pile upon one another to give the future world its shape. We know. What the hell do we do, then? We are faced with dire prospects. We are in danger. Extinction is probably not merely a prospect any longer, but something more definite. For nearly a century, the human world faced annihilation from nuclear war. We are in the same danger, again, from ...

New York Times Sobering pictures of cars, burned on a freeway. Climate change exists, in a myriad of small ways, affecting us all in ways we can only comprehend if we pay attention. When we avert our gaze, of course we won't see it, but sometimes we will have no choice. This should be a wake-up call, just like the past dozen or so events in the past few years that should alert us we're participating in world-wide climate change. Will we act? Probably not. It's not as though there haven't been brush fires, before. It's not as though cars and freeways are actually important in the grand scheme of things. Only money is. Money making money is important. Not the people, without whose hands earn that money, probably not even for themselves, but for some rich bastard trust fund baby. They're not important. The earth is not important. Selfishness is. Self gratification is. This is the sort of shit that burns me out, really.

The Squamish Chief Er, yay. I think. The federal NDP's betrayed core principles to get to this point in the polls. At this point, today's NDP would be unrecognizable to the parties of yesteryear. Mulcair. He'd make a good Liberal Party member, but he's really nothing more than an environmentally concerned neo-liberal. Let's be honest, here. The Dippers are no longer Dippers if they've elected such man to be their party leader. The NDP as a party of principle is dead. And long buried. And even if he's concerned with the environment, his solution is to transform Canada in to a hybrid economy. At this point, that's probably simply too much of a half measure. A worthless intention. To protect Canada, and to lead and inspire other first world nations toward a greener future, now, probably requires far more radical measures than anything Mulcair's ever even considered. I honestly don't even know who I'll vote for in my riding this coming elec...

CBC News "We will spend what we need," said Clark. "If more resources are required we will get them." Wonderful! But just a quick question. Where's she going to get the manpower from? Most of the fire fighting crews I know have disbanded with the members finding employment elsewhere. Actually, that's a lie. All the crews I know of are disbanded. Fires in the prairies are already employing almost all the big union crews. Will BC need to call in the military, too? Listen, Premier Clark! It takes time to train people to fight fires. You need experienced, grizzled veterans who know and understand how fires act and react, especially in uncontrollable conditions. You can't have all-rookie crews running around in the damn woods fighting these fires. They're too uncontrollable, both the fires and the rookies! Accidents and injuries will happen, and even deaths. You need the right people in the right places. Most of the small crews are gone, and ...

It is not a being in a manner we can absolutely comprehend. It's deeper mysteries are probably too much for our abnormally large monkey brains. We can make good guesses as to its nuances and behaviors, but how do we prove anything above the level of the idea we believe there to be a molten core at its heart? We believe it breathes and maintains its temperature through the trees, the air, and the ocean. We can make good guesses at all this, modeling to best of our knowledge what it all may look like, and predict its future behavior, but we don't actually know, for certain. Which may seem like a weakness to some. We're nothing more than animals, really. We follow the strong, and the strong are certain. Uncertainty seems alike to fear to some. The Earth is alive, and it is ancient. We are mere insects to it, really. Its age is unfathomable, honestly. We can only imagine a time before humans. We wish for a sense of superiority, as though we're somehow important in the gra...

thestar.com Water at a Toledo, Ohio, treatment plant has tested positive for microcystin, a toxin known to cause liver and kidney damage, leaving thousands of Ohio residents without water and prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency Saturday. This was something predicted by the EPA , but this is the first I've really thought of this sort of situation happening. I guess I can credit the Canadian government's policy of muzzling its scientists on the effects of climate change. Are Canadian communities at risk to this sort of development? I know my community's local lake was subjected to a harmless algal bloom, recently, but was this something that can change over time? Questions, and no answers.

CTV News I can't imagine how much that is, in all honesty. 220 square kilometres, and 300 metres deep? That size is.... I actually can imagine that, now. That's a whole lot of ice. The loss is probably being understated, too. It's probably compounding rather then just being a straight five metres every year. Things are changing, and we're unprepared. The importance of climate change cannot be understated. If the governments of the world do nothing, then as individuals, we all need to ready our hearts and minds for what's going to happen. Try to imagine a worst case scenario. Mass drought. Entire nations starving. Mass migrations of populations moving to countries that aren't in drought. There's going to be conflict, unless it is organized. Things fall apart when people are brung low.