Climate Change/Mass Extinction Megathread

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Seems rather extreme, even if they do not like oil paintings.

they're just a step removed from killing people.

[Valmy]

Not sure the UK going insane is making a difference on net zero. I think that's just politics as vibes. Climate's a consensus issue here:

What the hell does this graph even say? It goes negative both directions?

[Josquius]

This is one of the most confusing graphs I've seen in a while.  It's a percentage of "relative change".  It isn't clear what it is a percentage of, presumably not annual but I'm not sure what.  Above and below 0 is a negative percentage which means it's the same either way?

It starts at 1991 so I guess it's relative to that?

Pretty sure they fucked up the labels on the left.

[Razgovory]

Not sure the UK going insane is making a difference on net zero. I think that's just politics as vibes. Climate's a consensus issue here:

What the hell does this graph even say? It goes negative both directions?

That's why I hate statistics. 

[DGuller]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/business/gm-zero-emission-vehicles.html

GM will stop making gas cars by 2035.

Beaten by Saab, Delorean, and many others.

[Admiral Yi]

"What is worth more, art or life?" said one of the activists. "Is it worth more than food? More than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?

These guys are in a contest to see who can make the least sense.

[Richard Hakluyt]

"What is worth more, art or life?" said one of the activists. "Is it worth more than food? More than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?

These guys are in a contest to see who can make the least sense.

I think it is performative, to impress other members of whatever micro-sub-culture they belong to. unfortunately they are a great help to those who don't want to make the necessary changes 

[garbon]

I tend to have very limited sympathy for those protesters and looking at their materials them and Animal Rebellion and the other splinter groups from Extinction Rebellion (where I have more sympathy) remind me a little bit of the way cults splinter into more extreme, doomsday variations - that their approach is correct, former allies are compromising with society etc. I was in the area at the weekend and saw that, I think Animal Rebellion, we're blocking one of the bridges which makes more sense to me as a protest.

Separately just saw an incredible estimate that about a quarter of the UK's carbon footprint is advertising/adland. I knew the carbon impact of online advertising was horrendous (globally, I believe it's about the same as aviation) but had no idea more broadly.

Animal Rebellion is busy spilling milk in shops.

[Syt]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/10/15/alaska-snow-crab-season-climate-change/

Alaska cancels snow crab season for first time after population collapses

Alaska will cancel the upcoming winter snow crab season in the Bering Sea for the first time, and bar fishers from catching king crabs in the Bristol Bay for a second consecutive year, because of a sharp decline in their estimated population.

This week's announcements by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game deal a severe blow to fishers that make a living off the crabs. They also bring back to the forefront questions about the role of climate change in the rapid decline of the snow crab population: The number of juvenile snow crabs was at record highs just a few years ago, before some 90 percent of snow crabs mysteriously disappeared ahead of last season.

Alaskan officials said they had consulted carefully with stakeholders before canceling the season. They said they were aware of the impact of the closures on "harvesters, industry, and communities" but that they had to balance economic needs with conservation.

"These are truly unprecedented and troubling times for Alaska's iconic crab fisheries," said Jamie Goen, executive director of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, a trade association that says it represents some 70 percent of local crab harvesters, in a statement. "Second and third generation crab-fishing families will go out of business due to the lack of meaningful protections by decision-makers to help crab stocks recover."

Alaska's crab fishing industry is worth more than $200 million, according to a report by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, which promotes seafood. The state supplies 6 percent of the world's king, snow, tanner and Dungeness crabs, per the institute.

Male Alaska snow crabs can have a shell width of up to 6 inches. King crabs are much larger, and eating one in a restaurant can cost hundreds of dollars.

The industry is a crucial source of income for many of the 65 communities that make up the Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program, which reserves parts of each year's harvest for remote villages that have limited economic opportunities, The Washington Post previously reported.

For about a decade, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has documented a continued decline in the estimated population of mature male snow crabs — the only kind allowed to be harvested — in the Bering Sea. But hopes were raised after a record number of juvenile crabs were spotted on the ocean bottom in 2018 and 2019, suggesting a possible boom for future crab seasons.



But for reasons that are still not entirely clear, the population appears to have crashed. The federal government now designates snow crabs as overfished. The stock of some red king crabs, the largest of the commercially harvested crabs in size, is considered "below the target level" by the NOAA in some waters. Last year, Alaska closed king crab season for the first time since the 1990s.

Scientists have expressed suspicion that warmer temperatures in recent years have been responsible. Alaska's summers and oceans have become warmer, scientists say, resulting in a significantly higher seasonal loss of sea ice. The U.S. Environment Protection Agency said in a recent report that rising temperatures may have forced species such as snow crabs further north or into deeper seas.

"In the Bering Sea, Alaska pollock, snow crab, and Pacific halibut have generally shifted away from the coast since the early 1980s," the EPA wrote. "They have also moved northward by an average of 19 miles."

A December 2020 study co-written by Alaska fishing officials also found that the decrease in the geographical size of snow crab habitats could be linked to warming.

[The Larch]

Must be because of all the reality shows, of course.

[Iormlund]

These are the warmest Pilares (local festivities) I can remember.

This past week is usually when you need to start wearing coats. People are instead enjoying a beer outside wearing T-shirts.

Meteo app say to expect up to 32º C this next week. 

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Must be because of all the reality shows, of course.

I thought they got drafted by Putin...

[celedhring]

These are the warmest Pilares (local festivities) I can remember.

This past week is usually when you need to start wearing coats. People are instead enjoying a beer outside wearing T-shirts.

Meteo app say to expect up to 32º C this next week. 

I went to the beach today...

[The Larch]

These are the warmest Pilares (local festivities) I can remember.

This past week is usually when you need to start wearing coats. People are instead enjoying a beer outside wearing T-shirts.

Meteo app say to expect up to 32º C this next week. 

I went to the beach today...

Here it's raining cats and dogs (for basically the first time since spring), so screw you. 

[crazy canuck]

Went to brunch in the restaurant's garden patio.  It is normally closed this time of year and their services only indoors. I wore my shorts and it was a hot summer day. In October.