In Just 60 Years, Neoliberal Capitalism Has Nearly Broken Planet Earth This post first appeared at Common Dreams. Humanity’s rapacious growth and accelerated energy needs over the last generation — particularly fed by an economic system that demands increasing levels of consumption and inputs of natural resources — are fast driving planetary systems towards their breaking point, according to a new pair of related studies. Prepared by researchers at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, the first study looks specifically at how “four of nine planetary boundaries have now been crossed as a result of human activity.” “It is difficult to overestimate the scale and speed of change. In a single lifetime humanity has become a geological force at the planetary-scale.” In addition to the four boundaries that have already been crossed, the study looked five other ways in which the planetary systems are under assault by human activity. “I don’t think we’ve broken the planet but we are creating a much more difficult world,” Sarah Cornell, another report author, told Reuters.
Climate change explained in six graphics Plant and Environmental Sciences | David W. DuBois Education: Ph.D., Atmospheric Science, 2003, University of Nevada, Reno M.S., Physics, 1991, New Mexico State University B.A., Physics, 1988, Rutgers University Experience: 2010 - present State Climatologist, New Mexico State University, Department of Plant & Environmental Sciences, Las Cruces, NM 2009 - 2010 Associate Research Air Quality Scientist, Desert Research Institute, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Las Vegas, NV 2003 - 2009 Assistant Research Air Quality Scientist, Desert Research Institute, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Las Vegas, NV 2001 - 2003 Manager, Dispersion Modeling and Emission Inventory Section, Air Quality Bureau, New Mexico Environment Department, Santa Fe, NM 1999 - 2001 Environmental Engineering Specialist, Dispersion Modeling Section, Air Quality Bureau, New Mexico Environment Department, Santa Fe, NM 1995 - 1999 Research Assistant, Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 1991 - 1995 Associate Scientist, SciTec, Inc., Princeton, NJ
Scientists: Human activity has pushed Earth beyond four of nine ‘planetary boundaries’ Clmate change: A severe drought plagued a third of Queensland, Australia in 2013. Destabilizing the global environment could make Earth less hospitable for humans. (David Gray/Reuters) At the rate things are going, the Earth in the coming decades could cease to be a “safe operating space” for human beings. That is the conclusion of a new paper published Thursday in the journal Science by 18 researchers trying to gauge the breaking points in the natural world. The paper contends that we have already crossed four “planetary boundaries.” “What the science has shown is that human activities — economic growth, technology, consumption — are destabilizing the global environment,” said Will Steffen, who holds appointments at the Australian National University and the Stockholm Resilience Center and is the lead author of the paper. Forest cover and land system change: Farming, mining and infrastructure projects are consuming the Amazon rainforest. It’s not just a list of F’s.
See Earth’s Temperature Spiral Toward 2°C The steady rise of Earth’s temperature as greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere and trap more and more heat is sending the planet spiraling closer to the point where warming’s catastrophic consequences may be all but assured. That metaphoric spiral has become a literal one in a new graphic drawn up by Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. The animated graphic features a rainbow-colored record of global temperatures spinning outward from the late 19th century to the present as the Earth heats up. Monthly global temperatures from 1850-2016. “The pace of change is immediately obvious, especially over the past few decades,” Hawkins, who has previously worked with Climate Central’s extreme weather attribution team, wrote in an email. The graphic is part of Hawkins’s effort to explore new ways to present global temperature data in a way that clearly telegraphs the warming trend.
Climate Change and Its Implications for New Mexico's Water Resources and Economic Opportunities Authors: Respectively, Associate Professor (bhurd@nmsu.edu), Department of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, and Associate Professor (jcoonrod@unm.edu), Department of Civil Engineering, MSC01 1070, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131. (Print Friendly PDF) Table of Contents Abstract Introduction Climate Variability and Change in New Mexico Constructing Scenarios for Socio-Economic Trends and Baseline Changes Estimating the Hydrologic and Streamflow Changes under Climate Change A Hydro-Economic Model of the Rio Grande Assessment Results and Findings Findings and Conclusions Acknowledgements References Abstract Social, economic, and environmental systems in water-scarce New Mexico and throughout the arid southwest are vulnerable to disruptions in water supplies that are likely to accompany future climate changes. Back to Table of Contents Introduction Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 3.
Forskare: CIA kan försöka militarisera vädret CIA försöker hitta nya sätt att manipulera vädret för militära ändamål. Det misstänker en klimatforskare som nu slår larm till sina kolleger. ”Det här är inte är hur jag vill att mina skattepengar ska användas”, säger Alan Robock. Forskaren Alan Robock vid Rutgers University i New Jersey hävdar att han för tre år sedan blev kontaktad av två män som sade sig arbeta för CIA. Männen ville veta om det gick att upptäcka om fientliga krafter hade börjat manipulera USA:s väder. – Jag fick ett telefonsamtal från två män som sade att ”vi arbetar som konsulter för CIA och vi skulle vilja veta hur vi skulle märka om något annat land kontrollerade vårt klimat”, sade Alan Robock vid American Association for the Advancement of Sciences årsmöte i San Jose, Kalifornien enligt The Independent. Robock svarade att både satelliter och markbaserad utrustning troligen skulle kunna upptäcka utrustning som placerar partiklar i atmosfären för att reflektera solljuset. Robock kände sig rädd.
UNO Sustainable development Do you know all 17 SDGs? History The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. The SDGs build on decades of work by countries and the UN, including the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Follow DSDG on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sustdev and on Twitter at @SustDev. Implementation Progress Please, check below information about the SDG Progress Report: SDGs Icons.
Southwest The Southwest is the hottest and driest region in the U.S., where the availability of water has defined its landscapes, history of human settlement, and modern economy. Climate changes pose challenges for an already parched region that is expected to get hotter and, in its southern half, significantly drier. Heat, drought, and competition for water supplies will increase in the Southwest with continued climate change. ©Momatiuk-Eastcott/Corbis Increased heat and changes to rain and snowpack will send ripple effects throughout the region, affecting 56 million people – a population expected to increase to 94 million by 2050 – and its critical agriculture sector. The region’s populous coastal cities face rising sea levels, extreme high tides, and storm surges, which pose particular risks to highways, bridges, power plants, and sewage treatment plants. Climate change contributes to increasing fires. ©Frans Lanting/Corbis Longer Frost-free Season Increases Stress on Crops Selected Responses