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Current Global Warming Basics

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Here is a summary of the basic impacts of global warming on our biosphere.  I present here the quick view.  More discussion at that site . Atmospheric Temperatures Here’s the global average temperature each month from January 1880 through January 2016, according to data from NASA : The red dot marks the most recent value, January 2016. It’s the hottest yet. Here is the secular trend: I have discussed measuring the trend from 1998 to present  here  and  here .  There can be no question atmospheric temperatures and rising. NASA isn’t the only organization that tracks global temperature. There’s also the National Climate Data Center, the Hadley Centre/ Climate Research Unit in the U.K., a modified form from the Univ. of York in the U.K., independent data from a team organized by researchers from Berkeley Univ. in California, and the Japan Meteorological Agency, just to name the best-known. It would be redundant to show you data from all these organizations, because t
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A Nightmare Worse Than Global Warming - Plastic

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The future from global warming is grim, but there is no one that is saying the human race won't go on through a very hot environment.  However, there is something else besides CO2 that presages environmental catastrophe, microplastic .   Microplastics and the plastic waste in our oceans, food-chain and even air are harmful to humans and wildlife. In one study, 100% of the mussels tested contained microplastics. And even if you go vegan and only eat organic food, you are likely to breathe in plastic from urban air and drink it with your water. Why are microplastics such a problem , even in our bodies?    Shanna Swan explains the problem.    The everyday chemicals that might be leading us to our extinction:   Phthalates, used to make plastic soft and flexible, are of paramount concern. They are in everybody and we are probably primarily exposed through food as we use soft plastic in food manufacture, processing and packaging. They lower testosterone and so have the strongest influen
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What will it take? Only until the wealthy feel the pain.

 What is it going to take for people seeing that we're really in a climate emergency?  Sea levels are rising, and in this past year we've experienced unprecedented fire storms in California, unprecedented floods in the American South, and unprecedented storms in the Gulf. Right now an unprecedented freeze in Texas has created havoc in Texas.   Four States are working to pass laws right now to prevent people from placing blame on the oil industry in utter defiance of what is happening.   What is it going to take for people to understand that is happening, sea level?  wildfires?  floods?  freezing weather from the Arctic?   Is it going to be the wealthy property in Miami under water?  The problem is that it is going to have to impact the wealthy.  That the rest of us are going to suffer from climate change is irrelevant.  Nothing will be done until the wealthy are impacted.  They're going to realize that it is too late, their wealth will not protect them.  They will reali
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Update on Sea Level Rise From Global Warming

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I've been posting about global warming since 2014 .  I haven't recently posted because of the pandemic.  I didn't want to post bad news during a time of really bad news.  There doesn't to be any end to the pandemic in sight, but life has reached some kind of abnormal normal, so I will begin global warming posts.  Today's is about a frequent topic, rising sea levels , because, as I've mentioned in the past, this will likely be the first to generate some impact on people's opinions.  This will likely be so because it is economic.   The New York Times has published an article about the impact of rising sea levels on coastal housing prices.   If rising seas cause America’s coastal housing market to dive — or, as many economists warn , when — the beginning might look a little like what’s happening in the tiny town of Bal Harbour, a glittering community on the northernmost tip of Miami Beach. With single-family homes selling for an average of $3.6 million , Bal
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More Detail about Sea Level Rise from Climate Change

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As anyone who has followed my climate change posts will know that I've posted frequently about the sea level rise , and that I believe sea level will be the climate change impact that eliminates all serious denial. The conclusion of the recent research confirms research I posted about last year , that it is accelerating. The gathering speed of sea level rise is evident even within the space of a year, with water levels at the 25 sites rising at a faster rate in 2019 than in 2018. The highest rate of sea level rise was recorded along the Gulf of Mexico shoreline, with Grand Isle, Louisiana, experiencing a 7.93mm annual increase, more than double the global average. The Texas locations of Galveston and Rockport had the next largest sea level rise increases. Generally speaking, the sea level is rising faster on the US east and Gulf coasts compared with the US west coast, partially because land on the eastern seaboard is gradually sinking. The rate of acceleration is a
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Republicans Getting Behind Climate Change Solution

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Each of our carbon footprints are critical for the survival of our planet.  I support all efforts to accomplish that.  However, I don't believe that effort will win without an economic incentive.  It is important that the true cost of carbon emissions be incorporated into our economy.  I've posted numerous times about how to do that with a carbon dividend or tax.   The Republican Party is responding to the impact the Democratic Party is having on this issue.  I believe a Green New Deal is just as important , but the Republican Party is coming out in favor of a carbon dividend to forestall the Green New Deal.  The Republican Party’s position on climate change is rapidly evolving, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) saying that we need conservative solutions and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) warning that the party ignores the issue at its own peril. Just Thursday, House Republican leadership, in its first policy conference of the year, prese
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The Next Decade: Global Warming Becomes the Dominant Topic

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Australia is on fire .  Firefighters battle a flare-up on a containment line at the Three Mile Fire on the Central Coast of Australia on on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019 Global warming has had a material impact for some time now, but not enough to get the required attention to reverse the denial.  Australia is the first of many major events that will get that attention.  There are going to be more.  Here is what we shall expect over the next decade: 1: Denial Dies The 2020s will see the effective end of denial.  2: Exploration Ends Reserves will become stranded assets and, just like the wild cats endangered by habitat destruction, wildcatters will face extinction. 3: Insurance Influences The cost of insurance will change both corporate and individual decisions in the 2020s. 4: Capital Chooses By the end of the 2020s, today‘s emerging technologies will be commercially viable and today’s existing technologies will be scaling at the speed of solar. And we all will be richer
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Goodbye beef, goodbye rice, hello jellyfish

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Sooner or later, the economic solution to global warming will be adopted, a carbon tax or  dividend .  When this happens beef will become very expensive, available only to the most wealthy.  Removing beef from the diet will have a greater impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide than removing all automobiles.  Rice is going to have a different problem.  People around the world consume rice in their daily diets. But in addition to its nutrient and caloric content, rice can contain small amounts of arsenic , which in large doses is a toxin linked to multiple health conditions and dietary-related cancers. Now researchers at the University of Washington have found that warmer temperatures, at levels expected under most climate change projections, can lead to higher concentrations of arsenic in rice grains. The team will present these findings Dec. 10 at the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting in San Francisco. “In general, the plant is like a big tube or a straw as it draws
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