"Today President Joe Biden used the anniversary of the Endangered Species Act to reclaim the spirit of the era in which it was written, urging Americans to protect ecosystems and biodiversity, “honor all the progress we have made toward protecting endangered species,” and to “come together to conserve our planet.” "
And, the other guy said he wants to "DRILL, DRILL, DRILL".
"Today President Joe Biden used the anniversary of the Endangered Species Act to reclaim the spirit of the era in which it was written, urging Americans to protect ecosystems and biodiversity, “honor all the progress we have made toward protecting endangered species,” and to “come together to conserve our planet.” "
And, the other guy said he wants to "DRILL, DRILL, DRILL".
I would like to see President Biden put solar panels back on the White House roof, or wherever they can be placed.
“Rachel Carson was right.” Pesticides are dangerous. We’ve gone back to using formerly banned pesticides because —duh, who knew?— weeds are becoming immune. Plus glyphosate has never been banned in the US. “New research from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health shows that childhood exposure to the world’s most widely used weed killer, glyphosate, is linked to liver inflammation and metabolic disorder in early adulthood, which could lead to liver cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease later in life.
My only brother had lifelong exposure to glyphosate. At age 70, he has myelodysplastic syndrome (precursor to Myeloid leukemia). True, true and unrelated? Maybe, but I doubt it.
Here's a thought; if CO2 levels in the air rise far enough, we'll be less and less able to exhale CO2. The human race will become drowsy, forgetful, stupid and then obtunded. We'll all be gone within weeks and the world can then revert back to something more compatible with life.
The fraction of CO2 in the atmosphere is only 0.04% or so. Asphyxiation isn't a threat. CO2 is, indeed, increasing rapidly and in my formerly super snowy town in the North East, we have had essentially ZERO snow so far this year and our temperature on Christmas was 53F. About 17F above normal.
A little bit of CO2 goes a LOOONG way toward warming the earth. It really traps heat well.
Regarding the extinction of humans though, what normally happens to dominant species in closed systems is starvation. The dominant species typically consumes all of the food source and natural resources in the closed system and follows a curve that looks long and flat, followed by a more rapid than exponential increase, followed by a very rapid die off and extinction. Almost a straight line down.
I learned this at a PhD biology seminar at UT Austin in their grad biology department (my future wife was PhD student there) and I attended that department's seminars rather than my ChE department seminars because they were more interesting.
At any rate, below is a graph of human population.
As you can see, we are on the very rapid population ramp up as we clear all of our forests and use up all of our oil to do farming.
----> But, farming (and water parks) will result in using up all of the ground water as well,
--->and when oil runs out, which, in spite of American heads planted firmly in the dirt or up their arse....... it will, ---> the fertilizer source will vanish and?
So will we.
I used to worry about this and try to help people understand that we should NOT be driving huge pickup trucks back and forth the car wash and Walmart.
But, nobody listens. So, I don't try anymore. Humans are too dumb for long term survival.
Now, since it is New Year's and we all should try to be positive, I will post this positive essay from the NY Times. Gift Link
The administration is pouring tens of millions into capping abandoned oil and natural gas wells which is already reducing the amount of methane in the atmosphere.
So often a fly by night oil company, which are often funded by the majors, run the oil or gas wells until they are dry and then they declare bankruptcy and walk away. There are over 120,000 documented orphan wells in the US
The infrastructure bill has funding to cap some of these wells. Another group in Montana has a foundation to cap orphan wells started with the biggest polluters. This is the foundation behind this effort.
Mike, you sound like me, another Mike. This year is the first in many years that I passed on giving my Climate Change lecture at an adult nature camp I attend every summer. It was just a waste of time as the listeners would virtually get up from the lecture and begin to discuss their upcoming vacations on the other side of the planet. I also don't discuss the subject with my grown children (same reason, they are forever flying for the fun of it) though I rarely will mention it to the grandchildren just to see if they have any idea what is heading their way. I want them to be able to look back when they are trying to cope and remember that grandpa told them about this 50 years ago. Nature's beginning to do my job for me. Had a major power failure occurred in the South or Southwest last summer the heat related death toll would have been nasty.
I live here in the country, heat the house with dead timber, travel very little (except by the roads on Google Earth, love that feature), and eat at the bottom of the food chain with much grown in the back yard. Almost all of the place is forest which is the home of the other critters who entertain me regularly by parading through my little yard. Life is good. I wish I could believe my grandchildren would get the same opportunity but don't.
As to the CO2, it's not the real greatest danger. That belongs to water vapor which increases in the atmosphere exponentially with heat. The water vapor capacity of the atmosphere is the greatest danger it is also a greenhouse gas so it is a positive feedback. More water vapor, more heat, more water vapor, and on and on. In addition the water vapor capacity means there is more to fall as precipitation, greater floods and snowfall, plus a greater demand on the supply side so droughts are also more severe. And the planet is about 70% covered in water so the water vapor supply is virtually infinite. Finally the additional water vapor produces an atmosphere with more potential energy as the vapor condenses so storms are much more severe. CO2 is much more long-lasting and we do have theoretically some control about how much we dump in the air. With our addiction to fossil fuels this "control" doesn't help much.
Strange how water vapor is never mentioned - only CO2. Possibly a few of our brightest minds should glance that way???
Lots of water, no snow & WARM in December - NOT a good thing - ground not frozen, all those ticks not dying off - well, you get the picture and so, I'm sure, do most of us here.
Lots of bright minds are looking at water vapor but CO2 is something that we could have a lot more control over. Once the atmosphere heats up for whatever reason, water vapor is almost always available because the planet's surface is water and covering the ocean or lake to prevent evaporation isn't feasible. Also water vapor is a short-lived greenhouse gas. It falls out of the air as precipitation. CO2, on the other hand is a very long-lived greenhouse gas with some of it being rapidly absorbed by the ocean but some of the rest lasting as long as 1000 years before being absorbed by weathering rocks. CO2 is the gas we need to work to control; unfortunately fossil fuel companies want us to use as much of their product as possible and I can find NO evidence that they give a rat's about the future.
An interesting fact. Each gallon of petroleum product that is burned puts about 20 pounds of fossilized CO2 into the atmosphere. Fossilized CO2 comes from burning fossilized carbon, carbon that was last in the atmosphere about 350 million years ago.
Thank you for this informative post, Michael. I haven't thought about water vapor and I will now. Right now here in Oregon, we have little snow in the mountains, but several atmospheric rivers which gave us lots of warm rain. It must be warm in southern Indiana too as my great niece posted Christmas pics with the smallest ones running around in diapers. We do have a Prius and since we travel very rarely out of the city, we can go for a long time without visiting the gas station. We have solar panels on our roof and a battery system in the garage which fills completely when there is a weather warning. Otherwise, what we don't use goes into the grid. We have a garden and make an effort to buy locally from farmers. We do eat meat, but it is usually local pork and lamb. My LMT does fish and he is generous with his catch. We don't travel anymore and I confess it is partly because are too old. We have plenty of friends who do and I think they don't give a thought to their contribution in this respect to global warming. We have just finished the season of consume, consume, consume which makes me ill.
Yes, the path I outline is almost exactly what will happen UNLESS Jeri,
We kill ourselves with A-Bombs in some dumb war that some Republican thought was a good idea to go into to get some payoff from a Military Contractor.
This might be more likely than starvation of the species. Because, either way you cut it Jeri, humans are too dumb to survive.
Also, Jeri, I am converting two of my farm fields to diverse hardwood forest. My state has a program where if I pay 35% the state pays the rest to do a planting. So, I am doing it.
I am lucky. I don't HAVE to farm to survive. For now.
How mind-blowing--this amazing planet was created where just a 3% shift of its tilt would not allow human existence, where a plentitude of flora and fauna coexist, and a plethora of seascapes, landscapes and colors contribute to its beauty. And along comes man and his will. And man-made destruction follows, not only in destroying this sublime natural environment, but also in obliterating each other. Praying....
Mike - thanks so much for the Times link. She says it all - sad how few will read and comprehend and LISTEN!
Honestly - Reagan's solar panel removal should have opened some eyes back then. But then there were the "welfare queens" - more catchy news items. Better to blame the "others" - just look at where we are right now!
Humans are far too adaptable to go extinct any time soon. But I would agree that our population is headed for a crash with collapse of civilization in the next century or less. We'll have a Mad Max remainder.
There you go. I agree. Human extinction? I think not unless a very communicable deadly disease accompanies other strife. But life for survivors would be Mad Max difficult. I would not wish that upon my kids or theirs.
The biggest disruption will be forced migration around coastal populations. The stressors will/are be on changing economics, food supply, and fuel to move that food fast enough. Land underwater will reduce available space for homes and farms. Less and more unpredictable rainfall will making productive farming very challenging, first gradually, then suddenly, then catastrophically.
Read “The Parrot and the Igloo”. Great book on history and propaganda of the CO2.
The higher the level of CO2 the faster and bigger plants will grow. That fact is NO justification for not taking the scientists' warning when something could have been done. But those who are privy to the science of global warming know it is too late -the die is cast. Sorry, but facts are facts.
Sadly, Harvey, it would appear that for large swaths of Americans (and I suppose entrepreneurs and big business in countries around the world) the "pursuit of happiness" is all the justification they need to ignore science and its predictions. We might as well have adopted our signature phrase and life goal to "make merry today for tomorrow we die!"
LOL, I dont think C02 levels have anything to do with "drowsy, forgetful, stupid", that's already baked into the GOP and allies. Climate catastrophe will long precede Dopy. You'd think Floridians and Texans of all people would appreciate climate change better than most, considering the weather trends of late ...
My mother-in-law used glyphosate liberally beginning when they moved to their retirement home on 10 acres outside of Ashland. She died 20 years ago (25 years after moving there) from non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
My mom also died of non-Hadgkins lymphoma at age 70. She and dad established a large vegetable garden at their new home in 1970. Glyphosate was liberally used; I partly blame it for my later diabetes diagnosis also.
My sister and brother in law lived in Crestwood Illinois for many years. My b.i.l. was had a "hobby" farm on the last, so to speak. He started a small farm there and sold vegetables, had chickens, turkeys, even a few cows and horses. Over the decades, the community sprung up around them. They first had well water, then the community brought in "city water" from Chicago. They bathed in and drank the water. My sister put up a lot of their garden, again, using the water.
There was a scandal over the "city" water being contaminated with ground water. (You can google this case, it got a lot of news coverage.)
My sister was diagnosed with Primary Peritoneal Cancer (a form of Ovarian CA) and a few months after she died, my brother in law also had what was first conseidered MDS, but then he was diagnosed as Acute Myelo-Monocytic Leukemia.
Coincidence? I don't believe so.
When she was well into her disease, my sister texted a photo of two saplings they had planted. One was on lower ground and got plenty of rainwater. The other was on the other side of their lot, and higher, so they would water it. It did poorly. More and more and more they watered, thinking it needed water. It was shriveling up and looked quite sickly. She said, what do you think???
My sister and brother in law were truly good people in any way you could define it.
I miss them daily. When am beyond anger now: when I hear about cuts to the EPA, it just makes me incredibly sad.
"drowsy, forgetful, stupid and then obtunded"? Well, listening & reading some of what is considered "news" right now would make one believe the description fits quite a few humans right now!
I’m so sorry about your brother. I’ve stopped eating non-organic soy because there is so much Roundup Ready soy out there. It used to be that someone had to walk between the rows of soybeans and spray the weeds carefully because any Roundup (glyphosate) that got on the soybean plants would kill them. Now, with Roundup Ready soybeans, they can spray whole fields from the air because only the weeds die; so all the soybeans have glyphosate sprayed on them.
But until then short term profits, especially for fossil fuel companies, will continue to roll in. And anyway, those of us who live on the top of the hill, with our air purifiers, can watch the pollution settle over the neighborhoods of the undeserving poor.
Glyphosate, aka Roundup, was originally developed as a drain cleaner, so using it as a weed killer is actually an "off label" use. All major cereal crops - corn, wheat, and rice, plus soy beans have been genetically modified (GMOs) to withstand dosing with Roundup. To make it easier to harvest, Roundup resistant GMO wheat is sprayed with large doses of this known carcinogen to essentially kill the plants so they ripen all at once. The sharp increase in gluten sensitivity over the past couple of decades I believe is actually people developing a "Roundup sensitivity", as many people's gluten sensitivities are reduced or even disappear when they are given wheat products made from Roundup free wheat.
I had to stop eating gluten and soy 10 years ago due to an Autoimmune disease. It’s very difficult because almost EVERYTHING contains either gluten or soy. But I am healing and feel stronger than ever. It’s been 10 years.
We noticed a difference between wheat products consumed in Europe (no gastric issues) and wheat products in the U.S. it’s not gluten because we can eat other grains like oats. We thought it might be the wheat variety grown here, but it’s quite possible that it’s both the variety and Roundup.
This. This is what I, too, believe is happening inside all humans; a sensitivity to gluten that never existed before is a direct result of the chemicals in our lives.
I had the opportunity to assist a lost elder (who was wandering late at night in his pjs) back to his home. Turns out he had ‘invented’ glyphosate. Nice man. But kind of symptomatic of our ignorance of effects.
Carter had solar hot water panels installed (see caption for photo), used to heat water for the WH kitchen. Reagan had them removed. Those panels were subsequently moved to a college, who used them until 2004. During the HWB administration, other thermal water panels were installed on the grounds for utility use, along with some photovoltaic panels on roofs of maintenance buildings, but not on the White House. In 2010, Obama proposed installing photovoltaic panels on the WH, and panels were installed in 2013. This marked the first time solar electicity had been used for the Presidential quarters.
Thank you for posting this, Linda. . It’s a very interesting article and good news that buildings are going up with more thought about the effect on migratory birds.
Linda, Thanks for the article. Quite interesting. There was a reference to Jeanne Gang(?) experimenting with bird feeders "around her house" in her effort to discourage avian residential collisions. I wonder if that was that a reference to bird feeders attached to windows or feeders placed around the property to distract? I have always assumed that window feeders increased collisions and have wistfully veered away from window feeders assuming they increased collisions.
The American Bird Conservancy has a ton of information on its website about techniques and products to reduce bird collisions with windows and buildings. The organization has tested a variety of products to determine what's most effective. Here's a link: https://abcbirds.org/glass-collisions/
In most studies I've seen metabolic disease is blamed fructose, wheat and insulin. Prebiotic and probiotics mitigates the problem by turning sugars into more beneficial fatty acids.
"Of the OECD members, South Koreans' life expectancy was the second highest after Japan, with 84.5 years. The figure for Mexico and the United States stood at 75.4 years and 76.4 years, respectively.Jul 25, 2023"
Kimchi, kefir, and yogurt instead of cereal, and seed oils.
Aaron, might the longer life expectancies in Japan, & South Korea also have something to do with more coherent national health care systems than ours in the USA?
About the time that President Carter put the solar panels on the White House I worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built and operates dams on the Tennessee River bringing electricity to the TN valley. I worked on the TVA program to encourage residents to install solar panels on their homes. This program provided the panels and the installation at a very reasonable payment plan. I worked on developing the models to determine the payment plan and interest rate and to monitor its effectiveness. It was a successful program until Reagan got into the White House and shut it down. Among the numerous things that Reagan got wrong.
Just to be clear, pesticides (e.g., DDT, Atrazine) kill insects. Herbicides (e.g., glyphosate, diquat) kill grass and weeds. Both are harmful to the environment and people, but their uses are clearly different.
I actually wrote Dianne Feinstein about the WH solar panels years ago. There are now numerous “structures” for protection and communications on the roof that weren’t there under Carter.
She didn’t use the word, but fortifications were implied. There are now a contingent of sharpshooters on the WH roof 24/7.
I have personally known of a couple of people who are our farm laborers (Mexicans) who worked in various harvest exposes to pesticides who ended up dying from severe Parkinson’s disease. A painful and life disrupting disease. They were young!
Gigi, while I inderstand the gist of your comment (pesticides are bad, glyphosate is a health hazard) I wonder if you can name any pesticides which were previously banned and are now allowed?
I had also suggested that FEMA only fund rebuilds of passive houses. Meaning their department should be developing several passive house plans, and then use those in rebuilding houses, also not rebuilding them in fire zones or flood planes. Laws making new houses passive houses would help too, but I guess Biden cannot do that alone.
People have to desire the change needed, subscribe best possible individually to act , revamp , and promote change through all facits , recycling, eating, travel, work, play...prosumers vs consumers ..its comprehensive ,foreign to most especially entrenched corporate demands. So the demand must be lessened by us. Many tried in the movement back-to-the-land . Few stayed. Its adaptation is made contrary to ease,profiteering, and propagation of consuming deemed the materialistic world of the corporate power module. To make what needs to happen is becoming more obvious Johnny come lately theoretically . Too late? Afternoon the fact( cataclysmic devastation )? And is the basic folly of gain through greed/power moves vs smart togetherness for communal benefit...not even humorous to use the Mr.and Mrs. Rich’s end game .
I think that if getting a fema subsidized passive house is a problem for people they can pay for their own place. Culture is changed from within and without. This is the kind of initiative you find in other countries. I can see it being a problem in Florida a state that embraces a devil for a governor, and yet, they really need this sort of not building in wetlands, smart house change.
The codes need changed to passive designs implemented, should be mandatory , not quick developers ,not cheap costs & shoddy , not big and gaudy, rain collection for toilets,solar /LED/ gardens vs lawns/fruit trees lining sidewalk/parks, and no invasive landscaping .SOOO much can be built in saving$. Small homes.com types of developments for singles,aged, challenged communities equipped with ADA conveniences.
They have such communities in Ca ( maybe other states, too?) $55,000 and monthly lot fee my SIL looked into them, well set up , trailer park style. Gated. Not for everyone. But… it’s novelty, innovative, better built than metal trailers. A start. We can do better.
Just Sayin’, Given the still-rampant collective denial, at home and abroad, of environmental threats, particularly among those with heavy stakes in the status quo, typically the most powerful, my question is whether we fully grasp how much will be asked of ourselves and our leaders if we’re to intervene on a large enough scale to exert a meaningful impact.
You can be pretty sure that many among "those with heavy stakes" are, and have been, building their personal fire escapes. Some are actually doing something about climate change. Despite the GOP stuff, USA overall... "The 1% increase in U.S. CO2 emissions in 2022 was much slower than the previous year's 7% increase. Nevertheless, the United States produced 4% less energy-related CO2 emissions in 2022 than just before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. Less use of coal was the largest contribution to U.S. emissions reductions in 2022." "In 2023, wind represented 28.6 percent of Texas energy generation, second to natural gas (41.8 percent). There are 239 wind-related projects in Texas and more than 15,300 wind turbines, the most of any state.|"
Frank, Thank you for writing. Your comment reminded me of an October, 2020 discussion between NYT Editorialist Tom Friedman and then-CNN Host Chris Cuomo, wherein Friedman walked us through numerous examples of an oil industry already in transition. He concluded:
“The argument is over. The industry is in transition and the companies that aren’t are the ones that are going to go the way of the Stone Age. And Democrats should want to own this. We as a country should want to own this. I don’t want to go from importing oil from the Middle East to importing clean energy efficiency tools from China and missing the whole thing because we are not in transition; because we have a president (referring to Trump) who is so wedded to the Stone Age, he wants to go down with oil. And I don’t care to go with him.”
Biden is not drilling. The Biden administration is obeying the law. Oil companies have thousands of leases that they legally purchased years ago to drill for oil in various places. The majority of these leases are being held and not close to being used; they are not being drilled today and there are no preparations being made to drill them anytime soon. However, they are legally owned by oil companies and until Congress passes some law that will get past the Supreme Court that will allow those leases to be cancelled, there is nothing any President can do. Trump can talk all he wants about drilling but it's up to the oil companies and at this time the oil companies are not in any great hurry to drill any more than they already are.
"Today President Joe Biden used the anniversary of the Endangered Species Act to reclaim the spirit of the era in which it was written, urging Americans to protect ecosystems and biodiversity, “honor all the progress we have made toward protecting endangered species,” and to “come together to conserve our planet.” "
And, the other guy said he wants to "DRILL, DRILL, DRILL".
Some contrast, huh?
I would like to see President Biden put solar panels back on the White House roof, or wherever they can be placed.
“Rachel Carson was right.” Pesticides are dangerous. We’ve gone back to using formerly banned pesticides because —duh, who knew?— weeds are becoming immune. Plus glyphosate has never been banned in the US. “New research from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health shows that childhood exposure to the world’s most widely used weed killer, glyphosate, is linked to liver inflammation and metabolic disorder in early adulthood, which could lead to liver cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease later in life.
https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/news-media/research-highlights/childhood-exposure-to-common-herbicide-may-increase-the-risk-of-disease-in-young-adulthood/
PLUS—it’s a known endocrine disruptor. 🤬😢😡
My only brother had lifelong exposure to glyphosate. At age 70, he has myelodysplastic syndrome (precursor to Myeloid leukemia). True, true and unrelated? Maybe, but I doubt it.
Here's a thought; if CO2 levels in the air rise far enough, we'll be less and less able to exhale CO2. The human race will become drowsy, forgetful, stupid and then obtunded. We'll all be gone within weeks and the world can then revert back to something more compatible with life.
JS,
The fraction of CO2 in the atmosphere is only 0.04% or so. Asphyxiation isn't a threat. CO2 is, indeed, increasing rapidly and in my formerly super snowy town in the North East, we have had essentially ZERO snow so far this year and our temperature on Christmas was 53F. About 17F above normal.
A little bit of CO2 goes a LOOONG way toward warming the earth. It really traps heat well.
Regarding the extinction of humans though, what normally happens to dominant species in closed systems is starvation. The dominant species typically consumes all of the food source and natural resources in the closed system and follows a curve that looks long and flat, followed by a more rapid than exponential increase, followed by a very rapid die off and extinction. Almost a straight line down.
I learned this at a PhD biology seminar at UT Austin in their grad biology department (my future wife was PhD student there) and I attended that department's seminars rather than my ChE department seminars because they were more interesting.
At any rate, below is a graph of human population.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1006502/global-population-ten-thousand-bc-to-2050/
As you can see, we are on the very rapid population ramp up as we clear all of our forests and use up all of our oil to do farming.
----> But, farming (and water parks) will result in using up all of the ground water as well,
--->and when oil runs out, which, in spite of American heads planted firmly in the dirt or up their arse....... it will, ---> the fertilizer source will vanish and?
So will we.
I used to worry about this and try to help people understand that we should NOT be driving huge pickup trucks back and forth the car wash and Walmart.
But, nobody listens. So, I don't try anymore. Humans are too dumb for long term survival.
Now, since it is New Year's and we all should try to be positive, I will post this positive essay from the NY Times. Gift Link
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/opinion/love-rage-evolution-pandemic.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JU0.KaP7.2BXtYf0-36WU&smid=url-share
All good points Mike.
The administration is pouring tens of millions into capping abandoned oil and natural gas wells which is already reducing the amount of methane in the atmosphere.
So often a fly by night oil company, which are often funded by the majors, run the oil or gas wells until they are dry and then they declare bankruptcy and walk away. There are over 120,000 documented orphan wells in the US
https://www.edf.org/orphanwellmap
The infrastructure bill has funding to cap some of these wells. Another group in Montana has a foundation to cap orphan wells started with the biggest polluters. This is the foundation behind this effort.
https://welldonefoundation.org
They mention 3.5 million orphan wells so most of the wells are undocumented.
This is totally a project supported by Democrats and the WH for the most part.
Drill baby drill -- indeed.
We should stop buying and eating so much meat. Buy an electric car and a bicycle. Instal solar on your house. Vote Dem. Life insurance policy choice
Ted we're with you, the solar panels are being installed once the snow dissipates.
https://www.wired.com/story/beef-consumption-boomers/
It seems the younger generation isn't eating as much beef and the beef industry is panicking.
Montana has a reclamation economy.
What does that mean?
Mike, you sound like me, another Mike. This year is the first in many years that I passed on giving my Climate Change lecture at an adult nature camp I attend every summer. It was just a waste of time as the listeners would virtually get up from the lecture and begin to discuss their upcoming vacations on the other side of the planet. I also don't discuss the subject with my grown children (same reason, they are forever flying for the fun of it) though I rarely will mention it to the grandchildren just to see if they have any idea what is heading their way. I want them to be able to look back when they are trying to cope and remember that grandpa told them about this 50 years ago. Nature's beginning to do my job for me. Had a major power failure occurred in the South or Southwest last summer the heat related death toll would have been nasty.
I live here in the country, heat the house with dead timber, travel very little (except by the roads on Google Earth, love that feature), and eat at the bottom of the food chain with much grown in the back yard. Almost all of the place is forest which is the home of the other critters who entertain me regularly by parading through my little yard. Life is good. I wish I could believe my grandchildren would get the same opportunity but don't.
As to the CO2, it's not the real greatest danger. That belongs to water vapor which increases in the atmosphere exponentially with heat. The water vapor capacity of the atmosphere is the greatest danger it is also a greenhouse gas so it is a positive feedback. More water vapor, more heat, more water vapor, and on and on. In addition the water vapor capacity means there is more to fall as precipitation, greater floods and snowfall, plus a greater demand on the supply side so droughts are also more severe. And the planet is about 70% covered in water so the water vapor supply is virtually infinite. Finally the additional water vapor produces an atmosphere with more potential energy as the vapor condenses so storms are much more severe. CO2 is much more long-lasting and we do have theoretically some control about how much we dump in the air. With our addiction to fossil fuels this "control" doesn't help much.
Strange how water vapor is never mentioned - only CO2. Possibly a few of our brightest minds should glance that way???
Lots of water, no snow & WARM in December - NOT a good thing - ground not frozen, all those ticks not dying off - well, you get the picture and so, I'm sure, do most of us here.
Lots of bright minds are looking at water vapor but CO2 is something that we could have a lot more control over. Once the atmosphere heats up for whatever reason, water vapor is almost always available because the planet's surface is water and covering the ocean or lake to prevent evaporation isn't feasible. Also water vapor is a short-lived greenhouse gas. It falls out of the air as precipitation. CO2, on the other hand is a very long-lived greenhouse gas with some of it being rapidly absorbed by the ocean but some of the rest lasting as long as 1000 years before being absorbed by weathering rocks. CO2 is the gas we need to work to control; unfortunately fossil fuel companies want us to use as much of their product as possible and I can find NO evidence that they give a rat's about the future.
An interesting fact. Each gallon of petroleum product that is burned puts about 20 pounds of fossilized CO2 into the atmosphere. Fossilized CO2 comes from burning fossilized carbon, carbon that was last in the atmosphere about 350 million years ago.
Thank you for this informative post, Michael. I haven't thought about water vapor and I will now. Right now here in Oregon, we have little snow in the mountains, but several atmospheric rivers which gave us lots of warm rain. It must be warm in southern Indiana too as my great niece posted Christmas pics with the smallest ones running around in diapers. We do have a Prius and since we travel very rarely out of the city, we can go for a long time without visiting the gas station. We have solar panels on our roof and a battery system in the garage which fills completely when there is a weather warning. Otherwise, what we don't use goes into the grid. We have a garden and make an effort to buy locally from farmers. We do eat meat, but it is usually local pork and lamb. My LMT does fish and he is generous with his catch. We don't travel anymore and I confess it is partly because are too old. We have plenty of friends who do and I think they don't give a thought to their contribution in this respect to global warming. We have just finished the season of consume, consume, consume which makes me ill.
Great comment. Thank you for sharing.
Sadly true
Yes, the path I outline is almost exactly what will happen UNLESS Jeri,
We kill ourselves with A-Bombs in some dumb war that some Republican thought was a good idea to go into to get some payoff from a Military Contractor.
This might be more likely than starvation of the species. Because, either way you cut it Jeri, humans are too dumb to survive.
Also, Jeri, I am converting two of my farm fields to diverse hardwood forest. My state has a program where if I pay 35% the state pays the rest to do a planting. So, I am doing it.
I am lucky. I don't HAVE to farm to survive. For now.
The deck is stacked, it seems
How mind-blowing--this amazing planet was created where just a 3% shift of its tilt would not allow human existence, where a plentitude of flora and fauna coexist, and a plethora of seascapes, landscapes and colors contribute to its beauty. And along comes man and his will. And man-made destruction follows, not only in destroying this sublime natural environment, but also in obliterating each other. Praying....
Interesting, the graph on human population growth mirrors that of NOAA's projected average global temperature rise for the period of 1900 - 2100. Here is a link: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature
Wiki does a nice job on CO2... ofhttps://www.wikiwand.com/en/Carbon_dioxide_in_Earth%27s_atmosphere
1950 !to 2050, the graph projects the human population, the Apex Predator, more than doubling
Mike - thanks so much for the Times link. She says it all - sad how few will read and comprehend and LISTEN!
Honestly - Reagan's solar panel removal should have opened some eyes back then. But then there were the "welfare queens" - more catchy news items. Better to blame the "others" - just look at where we are right now!
My pleasure! HNY!
Humans are far too adaptable to go extinct any time soon. But I would agree that our population is headed for a crash with collapse of civilization in the next century or less. We'll have a Mad Max remainder.
There you go. I agree. Human extinction? I think not unless a very communicable deadly disease accompanies other strife. But life for survivors would be Mad Max difficult. I would not wish that upon my kids or theirs.
The biggest disruption will be forced migration around coastal populations. The stressors will/are be on changing economics, food supply, and fuel to move that food fast enough. Land underwater will reduce available space for homes and farms. Less and more unpredictable rainfall will making productive farming very challenging, first gradually, then suddenly, then catastrophically.
Read “The Parrot and the Igloo”. Great book on history and propaganda of the CO2.
Agreed!
Mike S --- thanks for the delightful link! (And for your remarks too)
No problem. Thank you for reading.
I'm very sorry about your brother, Just Sayin'.
You just pitched a perfect movie storyline, though. Anger is such a powerful driver of art.
Consider using the theme song from 'Unforgotten', "All We Do". on the script:
🎶"All we do is chase the day...
All we d is play it safe ...
Can't find Paradise on the ground.🎶
Written & performed by Oh Wonder.
Love “Unforgotten”. Actually a deep philosophical British show.
Written & directed by Chris Lang. Love Lang's work & the endless supply of Stage trained British actors.
A favorite song of mine and here I thought I was the only one who appreciated the words and music of Oh Wonder.
The higher the level of CO2 the faster and bigger plants will grow. That fact is NO justification for not taking the scientists' warning when something could have been done. But those who are privy to the science of global warming know it is too late -the die is cast. Sorry, but facts are facts.
Sadly, Harvey, it would appear that for large swaths of Americans (and I suppose entrepreneurs and big business in countries around the world) the "pursuit of happiness" is all the justification they need to ignore science and its predictions. We might as well have adopted our signature phrase and life goal to "make merry today for tomorrow we die!"
LOL, I dont think C02 levels have anything to do with "drowsy, forgetful, stupid", that's already baked into the GOP and allies. Climate catastrophe will long precede Dopy. You'd think Floridians and Texans of all people would appreciate climate change better than most, considering the weather trends of late ...
Well yeah Frank, YOU'd think that of Floridians and Texans, but clearly THEY don't and haven't.
Then, all Floridians and Texans are NOT Maga Republicans.
LOL!
My mother-in-law used glyphosate liberally beginning when they moved to their retirement home on 10 acres outside of Ashland. She died 20 years ago (25 years after moving there) from non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
My mom also died of non-Hadgkins lymphoma at age 70. She and dad established a large vegetable garden at their new home in 1970. Glyphosate was liberally used; I partly blame it for my later diabetes diagnosis also.
My sister and brother in law lived in Crestwood Illinois for many years. My b.i.l. was had a "hobby" farm on the last, so to speak. He started a small farm there and sold vegetables, had chickens, turkeys, even a few cows and horses. Over the decades, the community sprung up around them. They first had well water, then the community brought in "city water" from Chicago. They bathed in and drank the water. My sister put up a lot of their garden, again, using the water.
There was a scandal over the "city" water being contaminated with ground water. (You can google this case, it got a lot of news coverage.)
My sister was diagnosed with Primary Peritoneal Cancer (a form of Ovarian CA) and a few months after she died, my brother in law also had what was first conseidered MDS, but then he was diagnosed as Acute Myelo-Monocytic Leukemia.
Coincidence? I don't believe so.
When she was well into her disease, my sister texted a photo of two saplings they had planted. One was on lower ground and got plenty of rainwater. The other was on the other side of their lot, and higher, so they would water it. It did poorly. More and more and more they watered, thinking it needed water. It was shriveling up and looked quite sickly. She said, what do you think???
My sister and brother in law were truly good people in any way you could define it.
I miss them daily. When am beyond anger now: when I hear about cuts to the EPA, it just makes me incredibly sad.
"drowsy, forgetful, stupid and then obtunded"? Well, listening & reading some of what is considered "news" right now would make one believe the description fits quite a few humans right now!
Gee, haven't many in the world already become drowsy, forgetful & stupid? Seems CO2 has a head start on us!!!!
Just sayin’
I’m so sorry about your brother. I’ve stopped eating non-organic soy because there is so much Roundup Ready soy out there. It used to be that someone had to walk between the rows of soybeans and spray the weeds carefully because any Roundup (glyphosate) that got on the soybean plants would kill them. Now, with Roundup Ready soybeans, they can spray whole fields from the air because only the weeds die; so all the soybeans have glyphosate sprayed on them.
But until then short term profits, especially for fossil fuel companies, will continue to roll in. And anyway, those of us who live on the top of the hill, with our air purifiers, can watch the pollution settle over the neighborhoods of the undeserving poor.
Already there. Dumb, stupid and lethargic while emitting CO2 as if facts.
Glyphosate, aka Roundup, was originally developed as a drain cleaner, so using it as a weed killer is actually an "off label" use. All major cereal crops - corn, wheat, and rice, plus soy beans have been genetically modified (GMOs) to withstand dosing with Roundup. To make it easier to harvest, Roundup resistant GMO wheat is sprayed with large doses of this known carcinogen to essentially kill the plants so they ripen all at once. The sharp increase in gluten sensitivity over the past couple of decades I believe is actually people developing a "Roundup sensitivity", as many people's gluten sensitivities are reduced or even disappear when they are given wheat products made from Roundup free wheat.
I had to stop eating gluten and soy 10 years ago due to an Autoimmune disease. It’s very difficult because almost EVERYTHING contains either gluten or soy. But I am healing and feel stronger than ever. It’s been 10 years.
Wow! Do you have a source for this? Thanks!
Here's one: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945755/
Thank you so much Ally! I’ve a friend who suffers miserably from celiac. I’ll forward!
Very interesting. Celiac disease runs in my family.
We noticed a difference between wheat products consumed in Europe (no gastric issues) and wheat products in the U.S. it’s not gluten because we can eat other grains like oats. We thought it might be the wheat variety grown here, but it’s quite possible that it’s both the variety and Roundup.
This. This is what I, too, believe is happening inside all humans; a sensitivity to gluten that never existed before is a direct result of the chemicals in our lives.
I had the opportunity to assist a lost elder (who was wandering late at night in his pjs) back to his home. Turns out he had ‘invented’ glyphosate. Nice man. But kind of symptomatic of our ignorance of effects.
Three solar energy arrays were installed on White House grounds in 2002. They're still in operation.
Odd, we're not seeing pictures of them...?
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/the-white-house-gets-solar-panels-photo-1
Carter had solar hot water panels installed (see caption for photo), used to heat water for the WH kitchen. Reagan had them removed. Those panels were subsequently moved to a college, who used them until 2004. During the HWB administration, other thermal water panels were installed on the grounds for utility use, along with some photovoltaic panels on roofs of maintenance buildings, but not on the White House. In 2010, Obama proposed installing photovoltaic panels on the WH, and panels were installed in 2013. This marked the first time solar electicity had been used for the Presidential quarters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_at_the_White_House
You might like an article in the Guardian today about bird friendly architecture. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/27/birds-buildings-collisions-architecture?utm_term=658d00d413de545ed9e10acaf93bd09e&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email
I like that lots of info related postings are being made today. "learn, baby, learn"...
Thank you for posting this, Linda. . It’s a very interesting article and good news that buildings are going up with more thought about the effect on migratory birds.
Linda, Thanks for the article. Quite interesting. There was a reference to Jeanne Gang(?) experimenting with bird feeders "around her house" in her effort to discourage avian residential collisions. I wonder if that was that a reference to bird feeders attached to windows or feeders placed around the property to distract? I have always assumed that window feeders increased collisions and have wistfully veered away from window feeders assuming they increased collisions.
The American Bird Conservancy has a ton of information on its website about techniques and products to reduce bird collisions with windows and buildings. The organization has tested a variety of products to determine what's most effective. Here's a link: https://abcbirds.org/glass-collisions/
Thank you. I should have realized that.
In most studies I've seen metabolic disease is blamed fructose, wheat and insulin. Prebiotic and probiotics mitigates the problem by turning sugars into more beneficial fatty acids.
"Of the OECD members, South Koreans' life expectancy was the second highest after Japan, with 84.5 years. The figure for Mexico and the United States stood at 75.4 years and 76.4 years, respectively.Jul 25, 2023"
Kimchi, kefir, and yogurt instead of cereal, and seed oils.
https://youtu.be/n28W4AmvMDE?si=yaoHUxtt-eqpr8Gh
Aaron, might the longer life expectancies in Japan, & South Korea also have something to do with more coherent national health care systems than ours in the USA?
About the time that President Carter put the solar panels on the White House I worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built and operates dams on the Tennessee River bringing electricity to the TN valley. I worked on the TVA program to encourage residents to install solar panels on their homes. This program provided the panels and the installation at a very reasonable payment plan. I worked on developing the models to determine the payment plan and interest rate and to monitor its effectiveness. It was a successful program until Reagan got into the White House and shut it down. Among the numerous things that Reagan got wrong.
Just to be clear, pesticides (e.g., DDT, Atrazine) kill insects. Herbicides (e.g., glyphosate, diquat) kill grass and weeds. Both are harmful to the environment and people, but their uses are clearly different.
I actually wrote Dianne Feinstein about the WH solar panels years ago. There are now numerous “structures” for protection and communications on the roof that weren’t there under Carter.
She didn’t use the word, but fortifications were implied. There are now a contingent of sharpshooters on the WH roof 24/7.
I have personally known of a couple of people who are our farm laborers (Mexicans) who worked in various harvest exposes to pesticides who ended up dying from severe Parkinson’s disease. A painful and life disrupting disease. They were young!
Maybe that’s why, in addition to glucose syrup in everything (thanks, Big Ag) we have a diabetes epidemic.
Monsanto.
Gigi, while I inderstand the gist of your comment (pesticides are bad, glyphosate is a health hazard) I wonder if you can name any pesticides which were previously banned and are now allowed?
I had also suggested that FEMA only fund rebuilds of passive houses. Meaning their department should be developing several passive house plans, and then use those in rebuilding houses, also not rebuilding them in fire zones or flood planes. Laws making new houses passive houses would help too, but I guess Biden cannot do that alone.
I have never understood why FEMA and other agencies allow buildings to be rebuilt in flood plains. It makes no sense!
Yes. It is our tax dollars being put to bad use. Basically being flushed down the toilet.
Or into the ocean or river :)
Construction companies are just an arm of the mafias.
People have to desire the change needed, subscribe best possible individually to act , revamp , and promote change through all facits , recycling, eating, travel, work, play...prosumers vs consumers ..its comprehensive ,foreign to most especially entrenched corporate demands. So the demand must be lessened by us. Many tried in the movement back-to-the-land . Few stayed. Its adaptation is made contrary to ease,profiteering, and propagation of consuming deemed the materialistic world of the corporate power module. To make what needs to happen is becoming more obvious Johnny come lately theoretically . Too late? Afternoon the fact( cataclysmic devastation )? And is the basic folly of gain through greed/power moves vs smart togetherness for communal benefit...not even humorous to use the Mr.and Mrs. Rich’s end game .
Alas...<<SIGH>>
I think that if getting a fema subsidized passive house is a problem for people they can pay for their own place. Culture is changed from within and without. This is the kind of initiative you find in other countries. I can see it being a problem in Florida a state that embraces a devil for a governor, and yet, they really need this sort of not building in wetlands, smart house change.
Yes!!!
The codes need changed to passive designs implemented, should be mandatory , not quick developers ,not cheap costs & shoddy , not big and gaudy, rain collection for toilets,solar /LED/ gardens vs lawns/fruit trees lining sidewalk/parks, and no invasive landscaping .SOOO much can be built in saving$. Small homes.com types of developments for singles,aged, challenged communities equipped with ADA conveniences.
Yes. I have been keeping an eye on the small home industry. I think I have seen a very inexpensive one built in the Ukraine.
They have such communities in Ca ( maybe other states, too?) $55,000 and monthly lot fee my SIL looked into them, well set up , trailer park style. Gated. Not for everyone. But… it’s novelty, innovative, better built than metal trailers. A start. We can do better.
Just Sayin’, Given the still-rampant collective denial, at home and abroad, of environmental threats, particularly among those with heavy stakes in the status quo, typically the most powerful, my question is whether we fully grasp how much will be asked of ourselves and our leaders if we’re to intervene on a large enough scale to exert a meaningful impact.
You can be pretty sure that many among "those with heavy stakes" are, and have been, building their personal fire escapes. Some are actually doing something about climate change. Despite the GOP stuff, USA overall... "The 1% increase in U.S. CO2 emissions in 2022 was much slower than the previous year's 7% increase. Nevertheless, the United States produced 4% less energy-related CO2 emissions in 2022 than just before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. Less use of coal was the largest contribution to U.S. emissions reductions in 2022." "In 2023, wind represented 28.6 percent of Texas energy generation, second to natural gas (41.8 percent). There are 239 wind-related projects in Texas and more than 15,300 wind turbines, the most of any state.|"
Frank, Thank you for writing. Your comment reminded me of an October, 2020 discussion between NYT Editorialist Tom Friedman and then-CNN Host Chris Cuomo, wherein Friedman walked us through numerous examples of an oil industry already in transition. He concluded:
“The argument is over. The industry is in transition and the companies that aren’t are the ones that are going to go the way of the Stone Age. And Democrats should want to own this. We as a country should want to own this. I don’t want to go from importing oil from the Middle East to importing clean energy efficiency tools from China and missing the whole thing because we are not in transition; because we have a president (referring to Trump) who is so wedded to the Stone Age, he wants to go down with oil. And I don’t care to go with him.”
Just Sayin’. Re Drill; pronouncements from Cattle Prod Guy
In addition to The Ballad of the EPA I also wrote “Drill Baby Drill” in the days of Sarah Palin’s ascent under George W. Here’s that link: https://youtu.be/8ki6SSJlbW0?si=ccPcvbvfh-U2D3mI
Love this!
Thanks, Wendy! Feel free to share the link with friends!
While I support the spirit of your comment, Biden is continuing to drill as well.
Biden is not drilling. The Biden administration is obeying the law. Oil companies have thousands of leases that they legally purchased years ago to drill for oil in various places. The majority of these leases are being held and not close to being used; they are not being drilled today and there are no preparations being made to drill them anytime soon. However, they are legally owned by oil companies and until Congress passes some law that will get past the Supreme Court that will allow those leases to be cancelled, there is nothing any President can do. Trump can talk all he wants about drilling but it's up to the oil companies and at this time the oil companies are not in any great hurry to drill any more than they already are.
Brilliant and true comment.