Pleased to meet you. I’m here to learn. We live in an age of influence & disinformation, of fascist insurgencies to Make Authoritarianism Great Again. The climate catastrophe will cause a mass extinction which even the deluded billionaires won’t survive. 💔 We’ve got to swot up, be aware, spread the word, be woke, be allied, refuse to lose our compassionate. That is our resistance, our first line of defence. We can do this. Stronger together. We must believe. We must change. 💚 Love from London
@spocko he’s a blatant conman
Last week I highlighted an article about the alarming collapse of Earth's natural "carbon sinks" ➡️ https://climatejustice.social/@breadandcircuses/113322852198327963
It seems that capitalist industry and commerce are pumping so much carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) into the air each year that the ocean, the land, and the trees just can't absorb as much carbon as they did before. We could be reaching greenhouse gas overshoot now, a point where all those excess gases will accelerate global warming. It will get hotter faster.
But how will we know if we've reached that point? It turns out Finland might be the proverbial canary in the coal mine...
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For decades, Finland's forests and peatlands had reliably removed more carbon from the atmosphere than they released. But from about 2010, the amount the land absorbed started to decline, slowly at first, then rapidly. By 2018, Finland’s land sink — the phrase scientists use to describe something that absorbs more carbon than it releases — had vanished.
Its forest sink has declined about 90% from 2009 to 2022, with the rest of the decline fueled by increased emissions from soil and peat. In 2021 and 2022, Finland’s land sector was a net contributor to global heating.
The number of dying trees has increased in recent years as forests are stressed by drought and high temperatures. In southeast Finland, the rate of dying trees has risen rapidly, increasing 788% in just six years, and the amount of standing deadwood — decaying trees — is up by about 900%.
Rising temperatures are also heating up Finland’s soils, increasing the rate at which peatlands break down and release greenhouse gases into the air. In Lapland enormous mounds of frozen peat are rapidly disappearing.
The impact on Finland’s overall climate progress is dramatic: Despite cutting emissions by 43% across all other sectors, its net emissions are at about the same level as the early 1990s. It is as if nothing has happened for 30 years.
The collapse has enormous implications, not only for Finland but internationally. At least 118 countries are relying on natural carbon sinks to meet climate targets. Now, through a combination of human destruction and the climate crisis itself, some are teetering and beginning to see declines in the amount of carbon that they take in. France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Estonia are among those that have seen significant declines in their land sinks.
Drought, climate-related outbreaks of bark beetle, wildfire, and tree mortality from extreme heat are ravaging Europe’s woodlands on top of pressure from forestry. Across the EU, the amount of carbon absorbed by its land each year fell by about a third between 2010 and 2022, endangering the continent’s climate target.
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It's almost as if Gaia has decided enough is enough and has started fighting back. That is a war humans cannot win. We must listen, and change our ways.
FULL STORY -- https://grist.org/international/what-happens-to-the-world-if-forests-stop-absorbing-carbon-ask-finland/
#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis
HEADLINE: "Choking on smoke: 60% of Brazil shrouded in fire haze"
HEADLINE: "Death toll rises as torrential rain and flooding force evacuations in Central Europe"
HEADLINE: "Record-breaking floods are devastating Niger, Mali, and Nigeria"
What is the end product of Business As Usual?
Climate breakdown, ecosystem collapse, historic droughts, out of control fires, torrential rains, devastating floods, and more.
That is the price WE pay for allowing billionaires to get richer every week.
#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual
We're seeing unprecedented flooding in Europe and in Africa, with many lives lost and massive property damage — while on the other side of the world, in South America...
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Brazil is enduring its worst drought since nationwide measurements began over seven decades ago, with 59% of the country under stress — an area roughly half the size of the U.S.
Major Amazon basin rivers are registering historic lows, and uncontrolled wildfires have ravaged protected areas and spread smoke over a vast expanse, plummeting air quality.
The country has turned into a vast inferno, with at least 11.3 million hectares devastated this year, almost 10 times the size of the Paris region. More than 60% of Brazil is covered by smoke, which is also spreading to neighboring countries.
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NEWS COVERAGE --
"During Brazil’s worst drought, wildfires rage and Amazon River falls to record low"
➡️ https://apnews.com/article/brazil-drought-amazon-wildfires-smoke-heat-7d96dbbf5c4339050fb24bbbde6c3b82
"Brazil suffocates beneath smoke from record fires"
➡️ https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2024/09/15/brazil-suffocates-beneath-smoke-from-record-fires_6726084_114.html
"Smoke fills South American skies"
➡️ https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/153295/smoke-fills-south-american-skies
#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency
Excerpts from an article in which scientists explain the cause of South America's devastating drought and wildfires...
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Brazil is in the grip of its worst drought on record, an event that has parched at least 59% of Latin America’s largest country and dried out more than 1,400 cities.
Much of the crisis, scientists say, can be explained by climate change, which is driving temperatures higher and making rainfall more unpredictable. But it’s been exacerbated by the deforestation of the Amazon, which has the potential to disrupt rainfall patterns across much of South America.
“We have to focus on why this is happening,” said Philip Fearnside, a biologist at the National Institute of Amazon Research. “This is global warming and deforestation.”
Reliant on trees, the hydraulic system is now being frayed by deforestation. The destruction has been most acute in the southeastern Amazon, precisely where the moisture from the Atlantic is first deposited. The loss of vegetation is reducing the volume of water that’s reaching the continent.
In a country where agricultural gains often come at the loss of the natural environment, many think “forest is a waste of land,” said Luciana Gatti, a climate researcher at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research.
2024 might be a year of historic drought in Brazil, she said. But don’t expect the record to stand for long.
“You can put this in capital letters,” said Gatti. “It WILL get worse and worse. We are heading toward an apocalyptic situation, and unfortunately we only wake up at the last minute.”
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FULL ARTICLE -- https://archive.ph/VO6eb
#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis
More than 3,600 American kids have been shot already this year. Nearly a thousand of them were killed.
When will we break the gun lobby's grip on our politics?
I will never forget that abortions were banned before AR-15s.
Way to go, Bob! You alienated your family and your wife in one fell swoop!
The coolest part about having a completely financialized global economy is that rich people can pretty much cause a global recession just by selling off their stocks whenever they're unhappy about something, or want to produce a specific reaction... like say a certain result in the US election.
With news today that the stock market is down, & MAGAs alleging the Biden economy is bad, your PSA that the stock market is not the economy. The top 10% own 93% of stocks.
Meanwhile, 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, 27% of Americans are house poor, & USA has the worst wealth & income inequality in developed nations. All slightly better than under Trump—but not enough.
Stop letting stocks be a measure of economic health—start demanding economic justice for all people in this country.
Earth's climate being tipped out of control? Our precious ecosystem ravaged? Biodiversity in steep decline?
Killer heat waves? Storms and floods? Droughts and famines? CO2 emissions at an all-time high?
Capitalism doesn't care. Oil companies don't care. Banks don't care. Not as long as there is more money to be made. 💵 💵
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The world’s big banks have handed nearly $7 trillion in funding to the fossil fuel industry since the Paris agreement to limit carbon emissions, according to research.
US banks were the biggest financiers of the fossil fuel industry, contributing 30% of the total $705 billion provided in 2023, the report found. JP Morgan Chase gave the most of any bank in the world, providing $40.8 billion to fossil fuel companies in 2023, while Bank of America came in third. The world’s second biggest financier of fossil fuels was the Japanese bank Mizuho, which provided $37.1 billion.
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FULL STORY -- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/13/banks-almost-7tn-fossil-fuel-firms-paris-deal-report
#Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual
Client Earth, Friends of the Earth & the Good Law Project have succeeded at the High Court in requiring the Govt's to once again net zero/climate action plan to properly detail risks & actions and be less reliant on little tried technologies like carbon capture.
Costs have been awarded to two of the campaigns who bought the action, and as Sam Hunter-Jones (ClientEarth), says: 'this judgment means the government must now take credible action to address the climate crisis'!
Who would've thought that one of the most compelling reasons for Americans to vote for Pres Biden, which #TFG has demonstrated in court, is that he can't sit for a short period of time without falling asleep. It completely dispels a Republican top talking point, that TFG has more stamina than Biden, who they've said is sleepy, feeble & demented.
This sounds like a joke, but I promise you it is real:
The reason why Congress has not yet agreed on aid to Ukraine and Israel is, Marjorie Taylor Greene is flooding the house floor with fantasy amendments, including:
1. Requiring members of Congress to sign up for fighting in Ukraine
2. Requiring Ukraine to “close all bio-laboratories” (A conspiracy theory created by Vladimir Putin)
3. Introducing “space lasers” to protect the US border
Obviously, none of these amendments will be adopted.
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
— Albert Einstein
