Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics.

5186 readers
732 users here now

Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.

As a starting point, the burning of fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent deforestation and release of methane are responsible for the warming in recent decades: Graph of temperature as observed with significant warming, and simulated without added greenhouse gases and other anthropogentic changes, which shows no significant warming

How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world: IPCC AR6 Figure 2 - Thee bar charts: first chart: how much each gas has warmed the world.  About 1C of total warming.  Second chart:  about 1.5C of total warming from well-mixed greenhouse gases, offset by 0.4C of cooling from aerosols and negligible influence from changes to solar output, volcanoes, and internal variability.  Third chart: about 1.25C of warming from CO2, 0.5C from methane, and a bunch more in small quantities from other gases.  About 0.5C of cooling with large error bars from SO2.

Recommended actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the near future:

Anti-science, inactivism, and unsupported conspiracy theories are not ok here.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
1
27
submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 
 

I'll be taking a bus to a swing state to help elect Harris this coming weekend. You don't need to do quite that much; there are actions hosted near you to join.

The reason is that while Harris isn't in absolute 100% agreement with me on every detail (unless I run for office, no candidate will be), she's the candidate much closer to taking adequate climate action. The Biden/Harris administration did a lot, starting with Harris casting the deciding vote for the Inflation Reduction Act., a key piece of climate legislation. We even saw major cuts to the leasing of federal lands for coal, as well as big cuts to oil and gas leasing

By contrast, Trump appointed a coal lobbyist to run the EPA and took steps to increase not just greenhouse gas emissions, but a wide variety of human-impacting pollutants, and surrounded by people who want to eliminate any effort to address the climate problem

2
3
 
 

If you're a US citizen, and have not yet voted, please see IWillVote.com to find out where to vote.

4
5
6
7
 
 

And yes, that means you.

Want to stop him? Vote — and also step up to help make sure others vote too.

8
 
 

Opponents — including plenty of former global warming deniers who have rebranded themselves as economic pragmatists — have cast these steps as too ambitious, too costly or both. Which is to say, we can’t afford to save the planet.

To put it as soberly as we can, it’s that same old suicidal nonsense recast to pass for common sense.

Archived copy of the article

9
 
 

TLDR: Pasture in former forestland, such as New England, can quickly be returned to forest, soaking up carbon. There is an interesting opportunity for synergy here, as removing cattle from a relatively small amount of land can have outsized impacts compared to the larger grazing areas in the prairie by pairing the removal of cattle with reforestation. These high opportunity areas could be a highly effective investment and much more financially and politically feasible.

Study discussed in article: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2405758121

10
 
 

I do not believe this includes scope 3 emissions.

Archived copy of the article:

11
12
13
14
 
 

But now, a study sheds light on what’s driving record methane emissions. The culprits, scientists believe, are microbes — the tiny organisms that live in cows’ stomachs, agricultural fields and wetlands. And that could mean a dangerous feedback loop — in which these emissions cause warming that releases even more greenhouse gases — is already underway.

The paper is here

Access options:

15
 
 

Americans: Besides voting for Harris, I recommend also actively volunteering

16
17
 
 

Archived copies of the article:

18
19
20
 
 

Quote: " It's "designed to be as energy efficient as possible, typically with top-notch insulation and a perfect seal that prevents outside air from penetrating the home"

21
22
 
 

A brilliant, introspective summary of how single-issue voting got us here and how it won't save anyone.

The system sucks, but please, be pragmatic. Vote for Harris, hold the Dems accountable, and donate to STAR and Ranked Choice Voting initiatives in your area to avoid this dilemma in the future.

Twenty years ago, I made a choice that left the world a distorted echo of what it could be.

Twenty years from now, you too will reap what you sow.

23
 
 

Archived copies of the article:

24
 
 

Image comes from this paper

Americans can achieve even more by helping to get others to vote

25
view more: next ›