Tag: environment

Melting Antarctic ice may strangle vital ocean currents

Models show that currents could slow by more than 40 percent within 30 years, with potentially devastating effects

Antarctica (Getty Images/Yvonne Wacht)

s Antarctic ice melts, all of that fresh water pours into the ocean, essentially diluting it by reducing its salinity. That, in turn, is dramatically slowing the currents that, like a conveyor belt, carry oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nutrients through the sea and around the world.

A study published last week in the journal Nature modeled the impacts of this phenomenon, called overturning circulation, on the deepest ocean currents, particularly in the southern hemisphere. It found that the world is on the verge of a potentially catastrophic slowdown, which could have a devastating effect on climate change, marine ecosystems, and the stability of Antarctic ice.

“Our modeling shows that if global carbon emissions continue at the current rate, then the Antarctic overturning will slow by more than 40 per cent in the next 30 years, and on a trajectory that looks headed towards collapse,” lead researcher Matthew England, an oceanographer and climate scientist at the University of New South Wales, said at a new conference announcing the findings, according to BBC.

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Plastic rocks found on remote Brazilian island are ‘terrifying,’ scientists say

216,996 views Mar 16, 2023 #Brazil #Pollution #Plastics

Melted plastic has become intertwined with rocks on the Brazilian island of Trindade, researchers said, calling the discovery “new and terrifying.”

Colorado River Rights Snatched up by Investors Betting on Scarcity

The water in the Colorado River is becoming an increasingly desirable investment target for private investment companies as it is becoming an increasingly scarce natural resource in the American West. One of the most significant landowners in the Grand Valley is an investment company called Water Asset Management, which is based in New York and has made at least $20 million worth of investments in Western Colorado over the course of the past five years.

Colorado River Rights Snatched up by Investors Betting on Scarcity

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Climate Change, Collapse, and Modernity with Dougald Hine

Bruno Latour's 'Facing Gaia' with Tim Howles

This episode I’m joined by writer Dougald Hine to discuss his book At Work in the Ruins.

Book link: https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/at-work-in-the-ruins/

https://hermitix.net/Home

City of Scottsdale cuts suburb off from water supply

A community outside of Phoenix is furious after being cut off from its municipal water supply. NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard has more on how residents in the Rio Verde Foothills are doing everything to bring water back to their homes as others question why developers continue to build on dry land.

‘If you win the popular imagination, you change the game’: why we need new stories on climate

So much is happening, both wonderful and terrible – and it matters how we tell it. We can’t erase the bad news, but to ignore the good is the route to indifference or despair

‘If you win the popular imagination, you change the game’: why we need new stories on climateLINK: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/jan/12/rebecca-solnit-climate-crisis-popular-imagination-why-we-need-new-storiesLINK: 

A Water War Is Brewing Over the Dwindling Colorado River

A Water War Is Brewing Over the Dwindling Colorado River
The Colorado River in Fruita, Colorado. The river system is in a state of collapse hastened by climate change and a crisis of management. Credit:Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images

I came to this place because the Colorado River system is in a state of collapse. It is a collapse hastened by climate change but also a crisis of management. In 1922, the seven states in the river basin signed a compact splitting the Colorado equally between its upper and lower halves; later, they promised additional water to Mexico, too. Near the middle, they put Lake Powell, a reserve for the northern states, and Lake Mead, a storage node for the south. Over time, as an overheating environment has collided with overuse, the lower half — primarily Arizona and California — has taken its water as if everything were normal, straining both the logic and the legal interpretations of the compact. They have also drawn extra releases from Lake Powell, effectively borrowing straight out of whatever meager reserves the Upper Basin has managed to save there.

LINK: https://www.propublica.org/article/colorado-river-water-uncompahgre-california-arizona

Think the Energy Crisis Is Bad? Wait Until Next Winter

Added from a friend’s recommendation.

This picture taken on October 5, 2022 shows the lignite-fired power station operated by German energy giant RWE in Neurath, western Germany. - German energy provider RWE brought forward its exit from coal power to 2030 on October 4, 2022 amid fears the country's plans to abandon fossil fuels are wobbling following the energy crisis caused by Russia's war in Ukraine. INA FASSBENDER-AFP
Jayanti is an Eastern Europe energy policy expert. She served for ten years as a U.S. diplomat, including as the Energy Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine (2018-2020), and as international energy counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce (2020-2021). She is currently the Managing Director of Eney, a U.S.-Ukrainian decarbonization company.

LINK: https://time.com/6226587/energy-crisis-next-winter/?fbclid=IwAR1cuqq-beVyokDiBDiGBpy_1EMRfw7BwPJSQ0D2LDqYNoxVTw5CZSg07t0

Power substations vandalized in Washington state weeks after North Carolina electricity attack and FBI warning

Around 14,000 customers in Puyallup and Graham, Washington, were affected by outages Sunday.
Around 14,000 customers in Puyallup and Graham, Washington, were affected by outages Sunday.

After thousands of customers in Pierce County, Washington, were affected Sunday when burglars vandalized three energy substations, power was then knocked out for even more homes after a suspect or suspects gained access to a fourth substation, vandalizing the equipment and causing a fire, according to an update from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.

The damaged equipment cut power to around 14,000 customers, police said, weeks after an attack in North Carolina left thousands in the dark for days amid federal warnings of extremist threats to electricity infrastructure.

The Christmas Day vandalism near Tacoma marked more such incidents in the state, where two November attacks on Puget Sound Energy substations were investigated by the FBI. Vandalism and deliberate damage were reported last month at substations in southern Washington and Oregon.

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