"In a world vastly beyond our ability to comprehend, we smash the 'VOTE' button, smash the 'BUY' button, smash the 'UPGRADE' button whenever we feel uncomfortable. And, like a child, we are very proud of our efforts. We are tickled at how well we’ve done."
I didn’t have much luck at the weekend with #botanical#photography - it was rainy and I had a lot of work to do. I want to share, nevertheless, a mobile phone photo of the big #Datura inoxia which showed up between the newly planted #vine#plants in our vineyard… It’s unlikely it came with the vine plants as those arrived without soil, and also the Senior said he has seen Daturas growing on our land in different places before, so it seems to be somewhat established here. May I remind you, that’s not the #Mediterranean, that’s the #Elbe Valley in #Saxony, Germany. (Note: reposted.)
The bulk of the generation from wind and solar, and nuclear for 15% - 20% base load. Also some Geothermal where cheap but it's potential is small.
Grids improved to cover local and intermediate renewable generation, and extended to facilitate import/export.
Variable electricity pricing for demand shifting.
The result is vastly reduced need for storage, probably batteries used intelligently in a hierarchy of grid and home, compared to the naïve "just build wind and solar and batteries."
Then add in:
A 90% transition from personal cars to free green public transport (#FGPT), taxis, e-bikes, bicycles, and walking.
This all needs no new technology (although for nuclear there are several advances not yet used at scale: molten salt, small, modular, U238, thorium), it needs a fraction of the rare earths, and delivers a huge in reduction steel production courtesy of car recycling.
[P.S. Dams damage eco-systems so I'm not in favour of more hydro generation, and pumped hydro storage needs the spare water too.
Biomass not "net zero" and obviously not "zero" which we actually need. It's just more carbon burning plus extra pollution from the agriculture and other products of combustion. It increases land use, and at present the industry is full of corruption with trees being burned sometimes alongside shredded car tyres... and subsidised!]
I assume you are talking about #embodied energy and found this.
But I would say embodied energy of renewables or #nuclear is almost irrelevant as it is a one off. It's an investment so will reap a massive reward in CO2 reduction year on year.
However, cost is a real problem for nuclear. And in terms of scaling up fast, #wind & #solar seem best.
Flower that thrives in Death Valley may hold secret to heat adaptation: Insights into how Death Valley’s Tidestromia oblongifolia tolerates such high temperatures could help researchers to engineer crops that can survive global warming https://archive.is/0I9Vn
The best way to stop carbon from accumulating in the atmosphere is to: 1) stop drilling for oil, 2) stop fracking for gas, 3) stop digging for coal, and 4) stop burning fossil fuels.
@breadandcircuses the fossil fuel companies all decided that was the way to fix things years ago. And they decided to make money until the extinction event puts them out of business instead
What is “Earth's Energy Imbalance” and why does it matter?
Earth's climate is determined by a delicate balance between how much of the Sun's radiative energy is absorbed in our atmosphere and at the surface, and how much thermal infrared radiation Earth emits back into space. A positive energy imbalance means the Earth system is gaining energy, causing the planet to heat up, while a negative energy imbalance will cause the planet to cool down.
Two years ago, in June 2021, NASA issued a report warning that “Earth's Energy Imbalance Has Doubled” over the period from 2005 to 2019. The report was noticed by practically no one except diligent climate scientists and a few so-called doomers.
A few weeks ago, Leon Simons, a climate researcher in the Netherlands, stated at Xitter that the 2021 NASA report estimated that Earth's energy imbalance would soon decrease due to La Niña and with a negative PDO (that’s Pacific Decadal Oscillation, an ocean circulation pattern).
But the opposite happened. Even with La Niña (which ended very recently) and with a negative PDO, there was an overall continued increase in global heat uptake. Earth's Energy Imbalance (EEI) remained positive, meaning heat was accumulating.
That was NOT supposed to happen.
One possible explanation, according to Simons…
In January 2020 new shipping regulations came into effect, decreasing the maximum amount of sulfur in shipping fuels from 3.5% to 0.5%. Then in 2020 we saw a rapid increase in the amount of solar radiation being absorbed by the ocean in major shipping lanes.
If this trend continues, that could mean that the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes (where many of us live) will warm much more rapidly. It could also impact global and regional weather systems, like the monsoons. More extreme weather is likely.
He wrote the above in March of this year. Since then, we certainly have been experiencing extreme weather.
All indications are that the EEI — Earth's Energy Imbalance — is on the upswing, increasing at a dangerously fast pace.
On Friday, Simons posted an image that he calls “the most important graph in the world.” You can see it below.
He also said this…
♦️ July surface air temperatures are the highest for any month on record!
♦️ Global sea surface temperatures running record high for 5 months now and might continue for 10 more!
♦️ Global sea ice has been shattering record lows for two months now!
♦️ All at the same time!
We are rapidly entering a climate state not seen for millions of years.
The only sensible action is to STOP burning fossil fuels. No more half measures, no more Business As Usual.
"The ocean provides a whole host of ecosystem services, from food to carbon storage. As Singh indicated, the environmental risks of mining are not yet comprehensively known. But some studies have pointed to its dangers.
In February, a paper by scientists from the University of Exeter and Greenpeace Research Laboratories warned that mining could pose a “significant risk to ocean ecosystems”. The paper focused on marine mammals, such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. It spotlighted the impact of noise and disturbance from mining on them. The production and detection of sound is critical for the navigation and communication of marine mammals."
Amazingly, there are people — many, I'm afraid, in positions of power and influence — who continue to assert that technology will surely save us and that capitalism can find the answers.
Uh-huh. And how's that going so far?
Although most climate scientists, when asked privately or off the record, admit they now expect a global temperature rise of 3°C to 4°C or even higher before the end of this century (see https://climatejustice.social/@breadandcircuses/109642315870697356) a few happy optimists are always ready to assure us that while a “temporary overshoot” beyond 1.5°C might occur, it won’t last because, um, because magic will happen!
That's not quite what they say, but it's almost as bad since they’re asking us to depend on carbon dioxide removal (CDR), a hopeful fantasy that we can someday cheaply and effectively remove gigantic amounts of carbon from the air and put it back in the ground.
Instead of, you know, just doing what we should have done in the first place — leave it in the ground!
Here is the truth: To avoid catastrophe, to prevent the collapse of civilization, to avert the possible extinction of the human race — we MUST stop emitting carbon into the atmosphere. This requires urgent, immediate emissions cuts, phasing down to full ZERO (not phony greenwashed "Net Zero") within a matter of years.
The science is unequivocal. The messages we are receiving from Gaia could not be more clear. If we don't change our ways, and quickly, it's game over for civilization.
Welcome @Nita_Alexander to the Fediverse!
You will feel welcome here! 💜
You may post an #introduction with #hashtags and saying if you are at John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio or at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia 🙂
"Azamat Sarsenbaev, an activist from the Kazakh Caspian Sea city of Aqtau, is trying to bring attention to a problem that is closing in on residents of his city at the same time as their only water source recedes further into the distance.
“Ten years ago we would swim around 200 meters in order to get to these rocks,” Sarsenbaev told RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service, recalling his childhood. “Now we are standing on them.”
There is no doubt that the Caspian Sea -- the world’s largest enclosed body of water that is shared by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan -- is shrinking.
And because Kazakhstan’s section of the Caspian is among the shallowest, it is no surprise that authorities here are scrambling to deal with severe consequences that are no longer far off on the horizon.
"
How dependent is France on Niger's uranium? (www.lemonde.fr)