Anthropogenic climate disruption (ACD)
Pay attention
"Apparently, impending catastrophe doesn't mean much to some of the United States' wealthiest people. Once again a report has arisen documenting how fossil fuel millionaires pumped more than $100 million into Republican presidential super PACs last year. That means that $1 out of every $3 donated to Republican candidates coming from hyper-rich individuals came from people who made their fortunes from fossil fuels. In boosting GOP politicians, these funders were simply acting to protect their cash cows from those of us who happen to give a damn about the planet.
"A recent report by the Center for American Progress Action Fund shows that more than six out of every 10 Americans are represented by someone in Congress who denies the reality of ACD. According to the report, 59 percent of the Republican House caucus and an amazing 70 percent of the Republicans in the Senate deny ACD is real. The report also reveals that, according to the US Census, 202,803,591 Americans are represented by an ACD denier."
- By Dahr Jamail
March 28, 2016 / Truthout
Climate Disruption in Overdrive
- Begin with "Consequences of twenty-first-century policy for multi-millennial climate and sea-level change", a major study published in Nature Climate Change
- NASA recently released data confirming that February was the warmest month ever measured globally
- A study recently published in the journal Nature Geoscience revealed that carbon emissions are now the highest they have been since the age of dinosaurs, 66 million years ago
- Former NASA scientist James Hansen... published a paper showing that 1 degree Celsius was the scientifically proven point of no return
- Dozens of countries across Europe and Asia set or tied all-time temperature records
- Cities across the United States saw record warm temperatures, in which the 2015-2016 winter was the warmest ever recorded
- Winter in the US, according to meteorologists, technically takes place from December through February. This year, that winter was 4.6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal, breaking the previous record, which was set in 1999-2000
- Every single US state had winters nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal and Alaska's winter was an incredible 10.6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal
- The New Scientist reported in early March that earth had its highest-ever annual increase in carbon dioxide levels
- Meanwhile, melting in Greenland is occurring so intensely and quickly that it is "feeding on itself," according to a recently published study
- In North America, millions of acres of forests are struggling and under increasing threat
- Another recent study shows that food scarcity caused by ACD would cause at least half a million deaths across the world by 2050, due to food production being impacted by the effects of ACD
- The UN recently released a report showing that an ongoing decline of pollinating species now poses a very dire threat to the global food supply
- ACD has caused the onslaught of rising sea levels, melting permafrost and other impacts
- In Africa, at least 36 million people are facing hunger due to record-high temperatures and drought
- Meanwhile in the Arctic, February saw alarming melting of Arctic sea ice, where record-high temperatures brought with them other records -- including record lows for that month's extent and area of Arctic sea ice
- In the oceans, things continue to look grim. Recent research shows that coral growth is already being weakened by increasingly acidifying oceans. One-quarter of the carbon dioxide released as a result of human activities is absorbed into the world's oceans, where it alters their chemistry
- More ACD facts and citations at the Truthout article
Coral as a canary, a sentinel species
Coral reefs in peril as ocean environment is transformed
Underwater heat wave devastates Great Barrier Reef / www.wsj.com
Underwater Heat Wave Devastates Great Barrier Reef
Hardest-hit area includes some of Australia’s most remote and pristine coral
- March 29, 2016
CANBERRA, Australia — An underwater heat wave is devastating huge swaths of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, marine researchers have found.
A Nightmare is Unfolding in the Great Barrier Reef -- http://gizmodo.com/a-nightmare-is-unfolding-in-the-great-barrier-reef-1767702006
Great Barrier Reef bleaching may be last wake-up call, marine scientists say
Extensive bleaching has been caused by higher ocean temperatures
To prevent further damage, governments should commit to lowering emissions, an Australian team says
"This has been the saddest research trip of my life," James Cook University professor Terry Hughes, the convener of the National Coral Bleaching Taskforce, said in a press release after the team aerially surveyed almost 2,500 miles of the northern Australia reefs.
Coral bleaching is a modern phenomenon, marine scientists say; Over the past 400 years, there's no evidence of bleaching events until the late 20th century. Changing environmental factors like rising sea temperatures can cause the coral to expel their photosynthetic algae, called zooxanthellae, making many turn stark white. Others remain vivid, but have lost the green and brown hues that signal health. Without the symbiotic algae to process sunlight into oxygen and other nutrients, the coral dies.
Sydney, Australia - The Worst Bleaching Event
"What we're seeing now is unequivocally to do with climate change," Prof Justin Martin University of Queensland told the ABC.
-- http://www.reuters.com/video/2016/03/29/australias-great-barrier-reef-hit-by-sev?videoId=367910095