The all-purpose heavy duty Climate Chaos thread (sprinkled with hope).

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  • mickeyrat
    mickeyrat Posts: 47,050
    The oil and gas industry’s wastewater problem is a trillion-gallon ticking time bomb beneath our feet. For decades, drillers have injected this toxic waste product of oil and gas production back underground. But increasingly, it doesn’t stay where it should. Instead, it’s spreading for miles, irreversibly contaminating drinking water or blasting back to the surface.

    In the past few months, a series of groundbreaking investigations have shed light on the industry’s wastewater crisis. Together, they show that this problem isn’t isolated to a few rural oil fields. It’s threatening land, water and people all over the country.

    🗓️ Join us for a virtual event on Tuesday, April 28, where reporters from several newsrooms, including The Frontier, DeSmog and Inside Climate News, will share what they’ve learned and answer your questions.

    🔗 RSVP at https://events.propublica.org/wastewater-crisis/social
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    Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
    you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
    memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
    another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
  • mickeyrat
    mickeyrat Posts: 47,050
    Many states have passed laws requiring universal lead screening — but not Nebraska. So in Omaha, where factories deposited 400 million pounds of the toxic metal, most kids haven’t been tested.

    With Flatwater Free Press: https://propub.li/4tUGlmu
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    Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
    you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
    memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
    another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 44,567
    mickeyrat said:
    Many states have passed laws requiring universal lead screening — but not Nebraska. So in Omaha, where factories deposited 400 million pounds of the toxic metal, most kids haven’t been tested.

    With Flatwater Free Press: https://propub.li/4tUGlmu

    Terrible!   I feel awful for those kids.  Lead poisoning is serious shit.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 44,567
    Ugh!  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.  I hate sharing this kind of thing, but it's a reminder to do what we can to adapt as well as (depending on where you live) be prepared for a probable rough summer.

    Why an immense marine heatwave off the US west coast has alarmed scientists






    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 51,835
    Bye bye New Orleans. Too bad people won't so what's necessary. If they would, something of the spirit if the city could maybe be saved, but as it is, the way people are, all of it is likely doomed. 


    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 44,567
    PJ_Soul said:
    Bye bye New Orleans. Too bad people won't so what's necessary. If they would, something of the spirit if the city could maybe be saved, but as it is, the way people are, all of it is likely doomed. 



    From the article: "Coastal Louisiana is one of the lowest lying regions in the world, and New Orleans, a city of 360,000 people, is particularly exposed. It sits in a bowl-shaped basin, mostly below sea level, in the middle of a rapidly shrinking delta."

    In the age of climate change?  Yeah, sorry to say, adios New Orleans. 

    On the other hand, if we were to load up all the excrement this current administration as produced and truck it down to The Big Easy and use it as land fill, we could probably raise the entire city 100 feet.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Zod
    Zod Posts: 11,129
    I mean, larger parts of the Netherlands are below sea level, and they manage to keep the sea out with amazing system of dikes.  Maybe America could play nice, learn a thing or two, come together, pay some taxes to raise funds, and save New Orleans?

    lol, yah, probably not :)

  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 44,567
    Zod said:
    I mean, larger parts of the Netherlands are below sea level, and they manage to keep the sea out with amazing system of dikes.  Maybe America could play nice, learn a thing or two, come together, pay some taxes to raise funds, and save New Orleans?

    lol, yah, probably not :)


    Good point about Netherlands.  Miracles do happen.  Perhaps there is hope for New Orleans after all.  To not at least try would be shameful. 
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • mickeyrat
    mickeyrat Posts: 47,050
    rando adbook post 

    Fired government scientists have rebuilt Climate.gov after the Trump administration shut it down.

    The new site, Climate.us, was built by former employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) who previously worked on Climate.gov before being laid off during federal workforce cuts.

    For years, Climate.gov served as the U.S. government's flagship public climate resource, attracting nearly one million visitors every month. It translated complex climate data into maps, charts, news stories, classroom resources, and easy-to-understand explanations used by scientists, educators, farmers, emergency planners, journalists, and the public.

    Although much of NOAA's underlying climate data remains publicly available, the former staff say it became significantly harder to find after Climate.gov was shut down and its content was reorganized across multiple government websites.

    Determined to preserve public access, the former employees raised about $280,000 through crowdfunding, recruited roughly 80 volunteer scientists to review content, and rebuilt many of the site's most valuable tools, including its climate dashboard, educational resources, expert articles, maps, and data visualizations.

    The project also received an anonymous grant that is expected to fund operations through at least early 2027.

    Climate.us says it will follow the same editorial philosophy as the original website: presenting climate science without advocating for specific political policies. Its goal is to explain what the data show, how Earth's climate is changing, and why those changes matter in everyday life.

    Climate scientists say trusted public resources like these play an important role in helping communities understand issues ranging from heat waves and droughts to hurricanes, floods, agriculture, and long-term climate trends.

    By rebuilding the site outside the federal government, its creators hope to ensure that reliable climate information remains freely available regardless of future political changes.

    Learn more:
    "Ex-NOAA employees re-create a valuable climate data site shut down by Trump." NPR
    _____________________________________SIGNATURE________________________________________________

    Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
    you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
    memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
    another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 44,567
    Serious question:  Is the thread title here flawed? I have revised the thread title a few times and it always rubs me wrong now to read that "sprinkled with hope".  It feels dishonest.  I don't have the slightest bit of hope regarding climate change- more like a flood of discouragement.  The only hope I feel is that we might learn to adapt to the inevitable and do so long enough to let nature take care of the rest.  The hope I see is only for the very long range- hope that our damage to the planet is not irreparable (I do believe the planet will eventually heal itself), and hope that humanity will not be completely wiped out sometime within this century (I do think pockets of humans will survive).
    Sorry for the downer post.  After several decades of following the climate issue, it's just damn hard to feel hopeful.  I'd love it to be proven that I'm full of shit about this.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • mickeyrat
    mickeyrat Posts: 47,050
    brianlux said:
    Serious question:  Is the thread title here flawed? I have revised the thread title a few times and it always rubs me wrong now to read that "sprinkled with hope".  It feels dishonest.  I don't have the slightest bit of hope regarding climate change- more like a flood of discouragement.  The only hope I feel is that we might learn to adapt to the inevitable and do so long enough to let nature take care of the rest.  The hope I see is only for the very long range- hope that our damage to the planet is not irreparable (I do believe the planet will eventually heal itself), and hope that humanity will not be completely wiped out sometime within this century (I do think pockets of humans will survive).
    Sorry for the downer post.  After several decades of following the climate issue, it's just damn hard to feel hopeful.  I'd love it to be proven that I'm full of shit about this.

    some of what I share here is hopeful or positive stories. 

    other things are fairly dire. 

    its the full picture sprinkled with whatever you like....
    _____________________________________SIGNATURE________________________________________________

    Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
    you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
    memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
    another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 44,567
    edited July 21
    mickeyrat said:
    brianlux said:
    Serious question:  Is the thread title here flawed? I have revised the thread title a few times and it always rubs me wrong now to read that "sprinkled with hope".  It feels dishonest.  I don't have the slightest bit of hope regarding climate change- more like a flood of discouragement.  The only hope I feel is that we might learn to adapt to the inevitable and do so long enough to let nature take care of the rest.  The hope I see is only for the very long range- hope that our damage to the planet is not irreparable (I do believe the planet will eventually heal itself), and hope that humanity will not be completely wiped out sometime within this century (I do think pockets of humans will survive).
    Sorry for the downer post.  After several decades of following the climate issue, it's just damn hard to feel hopeful.  I'd love it to be proven that I'm full of shit about this.

    some of what I share here is hopeful or positive stories. 

    other things are fairly dire. 

    its the full picture sprinkled with whatever you like....

    I suppose the honorable thing would be for me to not piss on my own thread.  But after actively advocating decade after decade for action to abate global warming and seeing the bottom line only become more dire, those little positives just don't add up enough to give me hope or to make a significant enough of a difference.  
    In 2008, I organized a gathering on the steps of our city hall as part of the 350.org campaign to reduce carbon in the atmosphere.  (No self-promotion here- others did even more- I was just a little piece of a much bigger hole.) The goal at that time was to lower the amount of CO₂ in the air to 350 parts per million, the upper safe limit to avoid climate tipping point.  At the time, the initial goal was to reduce carbon by 20% by a specific target date (which I believe was 2025).  Today, the current level of CO₂ in the atmosphere is 430.  We have passed the tipping point.  
    A lot of people ignored the problem.  Some gave it lip service.  A much smaller number of people actually took action.  Too many of the first 2 groups, too few of the latter, and now our only hope is to try to adapt to the changes to climate that are occurring rapidly.  Some scientist are maintaining a bit of hope saying we need to reduce CO₂ by 50% by 2050.  Look at the previous numbers, think about the amount of focus this issue is being given even today, and draw your own conclusions.
    Eighteen year ago, I had greatly hoped we would not be where we are today with these numbers.  Scientists and people who believe in science knew what would be the consequences for not taking action.  
    And now here we are. I'm sorry I cannot find hope in that.



    Post edited by brianlux on
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

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