The Environment Thread

[Lisnaholic]

New forum, new summer - but please don't imagine that you can escape the old problems and preoccupations!

All the signs and scientists are still pointing in one direction: trouble ahead for the whole planet. Here's some depressing info about how this year is shaping up so far:-

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/17/world/four-climate-charts-extreme-weather-heat-oceans/index.html

Where I live we are reaching 39°C at midday and people well-used to a hot climate are commenting on how hot it is.  I wonder how you guys are experiencing/responding to climate probs ?

With an open plan, kitchen-living-dining house, a/c becomes a very expensive luxury, but a friend of mine has decided to go for it, and is more-or-less air-conditioning his whole house. That's an unusually extreme approach and is also not environment-friendly. 

[jimmy jazz]

It got to 40°c here last summer and it was an experience. Not a good one either. It was unbearable and I remember really, really wishing it would be over.

I'm a bit concerned. 40° is absolutely outrageous for England.

[Guybrush]

If I allowed myself to be completely selfish, I'd be like YES bring it on!! Because I love these hot, dry summers. 2018 was amazing and it looks like this might be another one.

Living in Norway, I've never seen 40 Cs, at least not in the shade.

Of course it destroys crops and fucks us over in a myriad of ways and then there's all those other countries and places that have it so much worse than us, etc.

[Psy-Fi]

Shame of the West's fast fashion addiction: Mountain of discarded clothes in Chile can now be seen from SPACE

A mountain of discarded clothes in Chile has become so large it can be seen from space.

The red-rocked desert of Chile's Atacama plateau has become a dumping ground for the West's used and faulty fashion items in recent years, with everything from ski boots to Christmas sweaters ending up in landfill in the area.

The growing and increasingly toxic pile of discarded clothes reflects the leftovers of the roughly 59,000 tons of used and unsold clothing that arrives at Chile's Iquique port each year from Europe, Asia and the United States.

Whatever can't be sold across South America stays here, as it slowly decays.

[Lisnaholic]

^ Yeah, "Shame" is a well-chosen word for that - and while we're on the topic, shame on the fashion industry, which endlessly promotes the idea:
the coolest people chuck out what they have for no reason and buy new stuff just for fun.

It got to 40°c here last summer and it was an experience. Not a good one either. It was unbearable and I remember really, really wishing it would be over.

I'm a bit concerned. 40° is absolutely outrageous for England.

Yeah, that's really extreme for England and v. uncomfortable too, as homes are built for cold weather, not hot.
Here in Mexico we continue with 39° heat,and I'm doing something I've never done before: checking the day's UV intensity on a cellphone app.
It's measured by a World Health Org scale: zero to twelve. From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. we are in the high to extreme range, with avoidance/sun-screening cream recommended. Quite normal to see people with sun-umbrellas as they queue for a bus, etc. -  but only women, now that I think of it.
How about in England? I can't imagine anyone having the courage to do something that's actually quite sensible in these extreme temps. 

[DJChameleon]

40 C is pretty rough but some areas of Texas this past week have gotten up to 49 C aka 120 F. They are experiencing extreme heat in the range of above 100F with some topping out at 120.

Summer solistice is today and in the NY area it has been pretty nice like in the 70s to lower 80s(21 to 28 C).


Fast fashion is an issue but don't blame fashion culture. Thrift shops are super popular nowadays thank Macklemore and all the other hipsters. There are loads of people buying second hand clothing. There are even new stores that I have seen where parents can buy second hand clothing and trade in their own kids clothes they grow out of for store credit. Mainly to save money but it also has the added benefit of not contributing to that pile.

So as you know Lisna. I'm an activist well we pushed for NY to include green legislation in their state budget and it passed! It's called Build Public Renewables Act.

The Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA) will ensure that all state-owned properties that ordinarily receive power from the New York power authority (NYPA) are run on renewable energy by 2030.

Source with more info.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/03/new-york-renewable-energy-public-utilities

[Janszoon]

If I allowed myself to be completely selfish, I'd be like YES bring it on!! Because I love these hot, dry summers. 2018 was amazing and it looks like this might be another one.

Living in Norway, I've never seen 40 Cs, at least not in the shade.

Of course it destroys crops and fucks us over in a myriad of ways and then there's all those other countries and places that have it so much worse than us, etc.

I spent all of last August in Spain with no AC and it was in the ballpark of 40C basically every day, the only exceptions being a few days when it was even hotter. I had a great time there, but I don't ever want to be that hot for that long ever again.

[Lisnaholic]

^ It's a pity it got so hot for you, Janszoon. At those kind of temps, it's pretty difficult to take an interest in anything except where the next cold drink is coming from.
The centre of Spain, afaik, is on its way to becoming a desert, because of extended periods of drought.

Spooky drought church in Mexico:
- built 1675
- abandoned due to plagues in village 1776
- flooded in reservoir project 1966
- June 2023: "I'm back, baby!"

So as you know Lisna. I'm an activist well we pushed for NY to include green legislation in their state budget and it passed! It's called Build Public Renewables Act.

The Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA) will ensure that all state-owned properties that ordinarily receive power from the New York power authority (NYPA) are run on renewable energy by 2030.

Source with more info.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/03/new-york-renewable-energy-public-utilities

Yep, I noticed your activism during a discussion in the old Environment thread that we had. Good for you!
Also, good for "Macklemore and all other hipsters".
Memoirs of an old-school proto-hipster:  I was looking for a coat in a second-hand Army Surplus store in London one winter, when I noticed Annie Lennox, working her way towards me from the other end of the coat rack. As our hands brushed together, she whispered, "You're my kind of guy, Lisna".... 

[Lisnaholic]

Temps around the world are off the charts this month, as most of us know. Here are extracts from an analysis that CNN have posted today:-

[Scientists] are not holding back – "extraordinary," "terrifying" and "uncharted territory" are just a few of the ways they have described the recent spike in global temperature.

This week, the planet's average daily temperature soared to highs unseen in modern records ... they are "almost certainly" the warmest the planet has seen over a much longer time period – "probably going back at least 100,000 years," according to Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist at Woodwell Climate Research Center.

"It's quite frustrating," Otto said. The world gets hung up on blockbuster records but "these heat records are not exciting numbers," she told CNN. "They mean that people and ecosystems are dying, that people are losing their livelihoods, that agricultural land will be unusable."

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/08/world/extreme-global-temperature-heat-records-climate/index.html

And here's a graphic to worry about:-

 

The really worrying thing about the sea temp is the quantity of heat energy that has gone into the sea to cause that temp rise. Think of when you boil water: it takes quite a while because the water is so good at absorbing heat, so it has like a heat inertia or something, and right now the planet has, locked in, an awful lot of warmer-than-usual water.

[DJChameleon]

Temps around the world are off the charts this month, as most of us know. Here are extracts from an analysis that CNN have posted today:-
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/08/world/extreme-global-temperature-heat-records-climate/index.html

And here's a graphic to worry about:-

 

The really worrying thing about the sea temp is the quantity of heat energy that has gone into the sea to cause that temp rise. Think of when you boil water: it takes quite a while because the water is so good at absorbing heat, so it has like a heat inertia or something, and right now the planet has, locked in, an awful lot of warmer-than-usual water.

Thank you for posting this. I was going to post a similar thing but just been super busy.

Another worrying thing about the water being so warm is hurricane season. The hurricanes will be stronger than ever because of how warm the water temperatures are.

Locally I experienced flooding in my area. In 6 hours around 9 inches or so of rain fell and destroyed some roads especially around bear mountain and west point in highland falls. They declared a state of emergency for my county.

Here are a few pics.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zbrqm4cj37zy8yjs82h1p/Screenshot_20230710_055432_Facebook.jpg?rlkey=4pp2kgbp1uquydaia1lh3oqnv&dl=0


https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3x8tfwm3qgrv9jxjgfujp/Screenshot_20230710_055410_Facebook.jpg?rlkey=q0nf07obm4f2jm8lgupdf5znj&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ew4gs3d4foknqcsof3y6b/Screenshot_20230710_055403_Facebook.jpg?rlkey=ebnawyhs2j73usa3nu6pz8uc7&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/863rb7hmjywwncs140ey6/Screenshot_20230710_055352_Facebook.jpg?rlkey=ljvs1du5q4307cbwb0tclr9xk&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3rekm1zt2ffgx493meqsm/Screenshot_20230710_052703_Facebook.jpg?rlkey=k9upctx0iiao3olsubxe8i481&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/owr2v9yamnk7rcceg4519/Screenshot_20230710_023818_Facebook.jpg?rlkey=6aoib4sivhsl6u7cw5df44dri&dl=0

One thing I don't get is why people feel the need to go out and drive in it. Stay the fuck at home if it's raining heavy like that.

[Psy-Fi]

Safe for Swimming?

Roughly one-half of U.S. beaches had potentially unsafe contamination levels in 2022

In 2022, 1,761 out of 3,192 tested beaches nationwide (55%) experienced at least one day on which fecal contamination reached potentially unsafe levels – that is, exceeding EPA's most protective "Beach Action Value," a conservative, precautionary tool states can use to make beach notification decisions. Beaches may also have experienced contamination on days when testing did not take place. (See "Methodology" below.)

And 363 beaches – approximately one out of every nine beaches tested nationwide – had potentially unsafe levels of fecal contamination on at least 25% of the days on which testing took place.

[Janszoon]

And 363 beaches – approximately one out of every nine beaches tested nationwide – had potentially unsafe levels of fecal contamination on at least 25% of the days on which testing took place.

That's some shitty news.

[Psy-Fi]

That's some shitty news.

If the sharks don't get you, the brown trout will.

[DJChameleon]

If the sharks don't get you, the brown trout will.

Speaking of sharks, people don't get why there is a rise in sharks swimming closer to beaches. It's mostly because rip currents have been wonky lately and end up pulling them closer to shore.

[Guybrush]

About untreated wastewater getting into our natural recipients.. It's a problem I'm somewhat aware of due to my line of work, but I'm also aware that most people have no idea. They also don't understand the staggering amount of money and investment needed to fix it.

In Norway, but probably much of the world, a lot of sewage infrastructure is old. It's from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s. Ideally, it should last 100 years, but the reality is it doesn't. And since it was dug down, population count goes up in larger cities and warming climate may mean more rainwater enters the sewage system. Or rain intensity is up so there's more water when it rains. A lot of places can't really handle any rain before there's no capacity and wastewater ends up in the closest river or ocean.

People just figure these things work, including politicians, and it's not exactly sexy election material. It doesn't get politicians attention and anyways, they're woefully ignorant on all these challenges.

Copy & paste this problem to cities in the UK, US and elsewhere.