‘Catastrophe’ if we don’t leave fossil fuels behind

67 Comments on "‘Catastrophe’ if we don’t leave fossil fuels behind"

onlooker on Tue, 24th May 2016 8:31 pm 



Catastrophe if we do!

Anonymous on Tue, 24th May 2016 8:40 pm 



Strange, an amerikan that ‘gets it’. Well, we know they *can*, and do exist. Albeit in limited supply. But that does not make it any less surprising when you find one them.

Its interesting how he mention his corrupt uS states efforts to block any non-car transport systems. Might have thought that all ended when GM, Firestone and Standard oil (aka Chevron), conspired(successfully as we know)to destroy electric surface transit across North America 1920-1950. The original Trolley conspirators may be long gone, but their sons and their sons, are still on the job. Actually they never left the job.

Corruption is a multi-generational affair in americaaaars-only. Handed down from corrupt father, to corrupt son.

makati1 on Tue, 24th May 2016 8:44 pm 



In case you missed it:

http://www.dailyimpact.net/2016/05/12/us-climate-migrations-about-to-begin/

LOL

Northwest Resident on Tue, 24th May 2016 8:48 pm 



But what was fueling this recovery? One word: fracking.

Another word: debt.

One more word: deceit.

Apneaman on Tue, 24th May 2016 9:07 pm 



While AGW consequences chip away at industrial civilization, one disaster at a time, the predators feast and will continue until total collapse.

When disaster strikes, who profits? FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the Business of Disaster in a major, multiplatform collaboration focused on the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy: the thousands still not home, the agencies that were supposed to help, and the companies that made millions.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/business-of-disaster/

The connection between Hurricane Sandy and global warming

“There are several ways in which human-caused global warming contributed to the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy – by causing higher sea levels (bigger storm surges and flooding), warmer oceans (a stronger hurricane), and more moisture in the air (more flooding).”

https://www.skepticalscience.com/hurricane-sandy-global-warming.htm

Rick Bronson on Tue, 24th May 2016 9:41 pm 



January – April of 2016 are the 4 hottest months. Its time people start acknowledging it.

Even Donald Trump acknowledges it by planning to build a wall near his golf course in Ireland.

http://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-acknowledges-climate-change-at-his-irish-golf-course/

dooma on Tue, 24th May 2016 11:44 pm 



Ape, it will be interesting to see how long a cash-strapped nation like the US will hand out relocation grants.

As the article states, this is only the first of many to come…

Also, I wonder how long until insurance companies no longer cover “acts of climate change” in their policies?

GregT on Tue, 24th May 2016 11:58 pm 



“I would suggest that local business, ag and government leaders begin to study this problem and begin planning for economic emergency.”

I would be willing to bet that those who do get it already have plans, and that those plans don’t include the rest of us.

Apneaman on Wed, 25th May 2016 12:32 am 



dooma, my guess is as long as faith in the system holds up, but many working folks are getting priced out of insurance depending where they live. The FEMA flood subsidy is a maximum of 1/3 of the premium if I remember correctly and I think they are cutting back. It’ s going to be every man for himself. Of course every measure, at taxpayer expense, will be taken to protect the properties of the wealthy. Collapse – It starts at the periphery and works it way towards the center.

$20,000 a year for flood insurance? Sandy survivors face tough rebuilding choices

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/20-000-year-flood-insurance-sandy-survivors-face-tough-rebuilding-f8C11062382

Detroit, Flint and the poor are on the periphery – best days behind them. Next we’ll see whole states go bankrupt. Illinois is a basket case. They maybe first, unless another Katrina or Sandy happens somewhere. Sooner or later one of these AGW disasters will break an entire city and it will be abandon. Even with the gov printing presses running at full speed we cannot keep rebuilding for too much longer. No one seems to want to discuss that. Just poor old doomy me;)

GregT on Wed, 25th May 2016 12:45 am 



“Collapse – It starts at the periphery and works it way towards the center.”

Worth repeating.

makati1 on Wed, 25th May 2016 12:49 am 



It has been a while since I had home insurance (15 years) so it may have changed, but they always had clauses like “Acts of God” or flooding was NOT covered unless you had flood insurance as a separate item which you paid extra for. Can anyone read ALL of their insurance policy and correct me if I am wrong? Just curious.

BTW: Maybe you should read all of your life insurance policy an see if they have to pay under certain conditions. Ionce sold life insurance for aa while and you might be shocked to find out they do not have to pay under some conditions. And if you have ‘whole life’ forget it. LOL

Davy on Wed, 25th May 2016 1:47 am 



Collapse starts at the core and the periphery. These are different phenomenon depending on the degree of instability and the systematic stresses. One collapse type is frost bite the other hypothermia. Right now with globalism we are seeing both. We are seeing the frost bite of failed nations and the hypothermia of peak oil dynamics and a failing economy.

Cloud9 on Wed, 25th May 2016 6:27 am 



A guy that gets it. The mime here is that we have a choice. We don’t. Our civilization is built on cheap transport. When cheap transport collapses, civilization collapses with war, famine and pestilence doing what it has always done. Balance will be restored. When that balance is achieved, we will have a much smaller and younger population.

Dredd on Wed, 25th May 2016 7:59 am 



Just buy some Oilfluenza insurance (The Evolution and Extinction of Affordable Insurance).

Kenz300 on Wed, 25th May 2016 9:03 am 



Big Oil Could Have Cut CO2 Emissions In 1970s — But Did Nothing
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/big-oil-emissions_us_573c9d81e4b0aee7b8e8a046

PracticalMaina on Wed, 25th May 2016 10:21 am 



Local economy, bad for our centralized war loving government, good for everyone else!

Davy on Wed, 25th May 2016 12:13 pm 



http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Why-Cheap-Shale-Gas-Will-End-Soon.html

Apneaman on Wed, 25th May 2016 12:30 pm 



Dopamine seeking cancer monkeys. Most are completely unaware and unconcerned of the real final destination. Mindless bugs swarming all over – no different than insects.

A Day in a Minute—24 Hours of Flight in the United States

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Gm2AokZRQ

Aviation sources

“The calculator assumes greenhouse gas emissions of ¼ tonne CO2 equivalent per hour flying.”

“These CO2 emissions are generally into the high atmosphere, and this is thought to have a greater greenhouse effect than CO2 released at sea level. The emissions are therefore adjusted by multiplication by a factor of 2.00 (see ‘Radiative forcing’ below) to give 180 kg CO2 equivalent per hour.

Further allowance is needed for fossil fuel energy used in :
• extraction and transport of crude oil
• inefficiencies in refineries (around 7% [30])
• aircraft manufacture and maintenance, and staff training
• airport construction, maintenance, heating, lighting etc.

The CO2 emissions are therefore rounded up and the Carbon Indep”

http://www.carbonindependent.org/sources_aviation.html

We’re going to Disney Land!

Apneaman on Wed, 25th May 2016 4:48 pm 



The dire consequences of the human cancer creep ever closer.

Rising Seas Push Too Much Salt Into The Florida Everglades

“Out here the grass is patchier, and in some places the peat is slumping — collapsing.

Troxler says there’s lots of this slumping going on. “When we start to lose the structure of the plants,” she explains, “essentially this peat, which is otherwise held together by roots, becomes a soupy pond.”

In response to the salt, the plants actually pull up some of their roots — out of the peat. The roots look like teeth protruding from receding gums.

This could be the future of the Everglades, Troxler says. And here’s the thing: The Everglades acts like sponge, feeding off the Biscayne aquifer — a giant cell of freshwater that lies underneath the land.

“We get over 90 percent of our freshwater from the Biscayne aquifer,” Troxler says, “we” meaning millions of people in South Florida.

As seawater seeps up from underneath, through the limestone bedrock, it is contaminating the aquifer and the Everglades above it.”

http://www.npr.org/2016/05/25/477014085/rising-seas-push-too-much-salt-into-the-florida-everglades

Apneaman on Wed, 25th May 2016 6:35 pm 



Flood troubles

Coastal flooding: a sign of the damage our economy is wreaking on our fragile environment

“In January this year, I visited friends in Miami. One of the most urgent topics of conversation was about what they saw as the greatest problem faced by the city – rising water levels, and a long-standing reluctance on the part of government and business to take the necessary steps to control the extensive damage.

From inundated homes, shops and roads, to fresh water pollution and sewage being forced upwards, the impacts are widespread. In a Christian Aid report (pdf) published last week, Miami ranked ninth in a list of cities most at risk from future coastal flooding as a result of sea level rises. Supported by data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, projections for the year 2017 suggest that Kolkata and Mumbai, both in India, are most exposed to coastal flooding. Bar Miami, the top ten cities are all in Asia.”

http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/may/25/coastal-flooding-prosperity-economic-growth-environment

Then there is the increased flooding from the new abnormal AGW jacked hydrologic cycle.

Memorial City residents sue city over flooding

http://www.chron.com/news/politics/houston/article/Memorial-City-residents-sue-city-over-flood-7944854.php#photo-9876242

Apneaman on Wed, 25th May 2016 7:26 pm 



This Cancer is Clearly Canadian

Oil sands found to be a leading source of air pollution in North America

“A cloud of noxious particles brewing in the air above the Alberta oil sands is one of the most prolific sources of air pollution in North America, often exceeding the total emissions from Canada’s largest city, federal scientists have discovered.”

“The oil-sands aerosols are similar in abundance to those that U.S. researchers recorded rising from the massive oil spill caused by the Deepwater Horizon drilling-rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. But they are ever-present.”

““The take-away is that there’s more that’s emitted into the atmosphere than we’ve fully appreciated,” said Jeffrey Brook, an air-quality researcher with Environment and Climate Change Canada who participated in the oil-sands study.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/oil-sands-found-to-be-a-leading-source-of-air-pollution-in-north-america/article30151841/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ_-IhpGXb8

Davy on Thu, 26th May 2016 5:56 am 



“Oil hits $50 a barrel for first time this year”
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36303577

Of course MSM wants us to believe it is because of a recovery. We know better here. The oil markets are stuck in the negative feedbacks of economic deflation and stagnation causing dysfunctional economic policy responses from the world’s central banks. This is clearly an ongoing gyrating cycle of demand and supply destruction. This demand supply destruction cycle is not clearly in view yet because of the overcapacity with Chinese industrials and global commodities. Be patient for the shortages and the economic carnage that will be wrought on the policy makers then. You can’t print oil and food because it must be produced the old fashion way.

Apneaman on Thu, 26th May 2016 12:01 pm 



Tottering Totten and the Coming Multi-Meter Sea Level Rise

“We’re Locking in 120-190 Feet of Sea Level Rise Long Term

Looking at the first number — 408 parts per million CO2 — we find that the last time global levels of this potent heat-trapping gas were so high was during the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum of 15-17 million years ago. During this time, the Greenland Ice Sheet did not exist. East Antarctic glacial ice was similarly scarce. And the towering glaciers of West Antarctica were greatly reduced. Overall, global sea levels were 120 to 190 feet higher than they are today. Meanwhile, atmospheric temperatures were between 3 and 5 degrees Celsius hotter than those experienced during the late 19th Century.”

“Hitting the 408 ppm CO2 threshold this year catapults the current push for global climate transitions outside of the Pliocene context of 3 to 5 million years ago (topping out at 405 parts per million CO2) and places it in the bottom to mid-range of the Middle Miocene context (300 to 500 parts per million CO2). The 490 ppm CO2e number — due to added atmospheric heating contributions from human-emitted gasses like methane, chlorofluorocarbons, NOx compounds, and others — is enough to catapult our current climate context into the upper Middle Miocene range.”

https://robertscribbler.com/2016/05/25/tottering-totten-and-the-coming-multi-meter-sea-level-rise/

Apneaman on Thu, 26th May 2016 12:38 pm 



India’s roads melt as record-breaking heat wave continues

Temperatures hit a record-breaking 51C in the city of Phalodi, Rajasthan on Friday

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-s-roads-melt-as-record-breaking-heat-wave-continues-a7044146.html

Apneaman on Thu, 26th May 2016 12:40 pm 



Hambone the Tex-ass Eco Doomer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ooVbOd3bf4

Butthurt on Thu, 26th May 2016 2:17 pm 



Well, the only real silver lining is that we have a status quo for 4 years, then rapidly increasing prices for energy, the absolute worst effects of climate change will be avoided; but we will still get severe effects that we may need societal projects that we may have to engineer our way around it, i.e. using the Great lakes as a gigantic reservoir to drain in harsh times and spread around the Midwest. With climate change, you get less regularity in regards to normal and more extreme events in regards to precipitation. Basically 3 years of drought then a huge downpour the next year that refills the basin.

Through an act of ecological sabotage, there’s basically only zebra mussels in the lakes now anyways.

We may have a looming emergency, but it is not a *catastrophic* emergency because we still have huge amounts of productive farmland relative to our stagnant population; provided that the democrats don’t go bonkers and try to import the rest of the world at the expense of societal security and our economic well being. It just means our poor become farmers again instead of manning the less skills based jobs in a petroleum economy.

So at the end of it, it will be like living in the late 1800’s, just with computers and renewable energy, so it won’t be *too* bad.

Apneaman on Thu, 26th May 2016 5:25 pm 



Butthurt, that’a a very comforting story you dreamed up. The only thing in the future that will resemble the 1800’s is that little upheaval in america from 1861-1865, except the fight will be over water and it will never end.

Apneaman on Thu, 26th May 2016 5:29 pm 



Growing Environmental Threat From Animal-to-Man Diseases

“The report emphasizes “the critical relationship between a healthy environment and healthy people,…”

“In the last two decades these emerging diseases have had direct costs of more than $100 billion, the report said, and “if these outbreaks had become human pandemics, the losses would have amounted to several trillion dollars.”

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/un-growing-environmental-threat-animal-man-diseases-n577921?cid=par-weather-right-module

human pandemics – I can’t wait.

Apneaman on Thu, 26th May 2016 5:35 pm 




The Arctic Heat Wave Is Literally Off the Charts Right Now

“From the start of the year, degree days below freezing in the Arctic have been at the lowest levels since record keeping began in 1980. In other words, the Arctic is melting, fast and early. As Slate meteorologist Eric Holthaus noted on Twitter, we’re now, quite literally, off the charts:”

http://gizmodo.com/the-arctic-heat-wave-is-literally-off-the-charts-right-1778868261

JuanP on Thu, 26th May 2016 5:46 pm 



Apneaman, Thanks for posting all the Arctic links you have been posting. I think the melting of Arctic sea ice and the record breaking temperatures around the world are the two most important events happening this year in the planet.

Apneaman on Thu, 26th May 2016 5:48 pm 



Nature’s back.

The superbug that could render antibiotics useless just hit the US

“For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying a bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that the top US public health official says could mean “the end of the road” for antibiotics.”

“The authors wrote that the discovery “heralds the emergence of a truly pan-drug resistant bacteria.”

“In some instances, these superbugs kill up to 50 per cent of patients who become infected.”

“”It basically shows us that the end of the road isn’t very far away for antibiotics — that we may be in a situation where we have patients in our intensive-care units, or patients getting urinary tract infections for which we do not have antibiotics,” CDC Director Tom Frieden in an interview Thursday.”

“I’ve been there for TB patients. I’ve cared for patients for whom there are no drugs left. It is a feeling of such horror and helplessness,” Frieden added.”

http://www.smh.com.au/world/the-superbug-that-could-render-antibiotics-useless-just-hit-the-us-20160526-gp4yl3.html

“It is a feeling of such horror and helplessness”

Apneaman on Thu, 26th May 2016 6:22 pm 



” At the shareholders meeting, the granddaughter of a former Exxon scientist questioned the CEO of Exxon about the company’s record. We speak to the woman, Anna Kalinsky.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xzjfh83ycI

Apneaman on Thu, 26th May 2016 6:25 pm 



Juan, You’re welcome.

Northern hemisphere is going to be the worst place to be assuming one wishes to live as long as one can.

Apneaman on Thu, 26th May 2016 6:38 pm 



Russian Wildfires Now as Big as Vermont and Delaware Combined, Greenpeace Says

https://weather.com/safety/wildfires/news/russia-wildfires-latest-news

GregT on Thu, 26th May 2016 7:01 pm 



“Northern hemisphere is going to be the worst place to be assuming one wishes to live as long as one can.”

What happens in the Northern hemisphere isn’t going to stay in the Northern hemisphere, for very long. If we have indeed triggered a runaway event, the Southern hemisphere might have a year or three longer.

Practicalmaina on Thu, 26th May 2016 7:29 pm 



The only.bet I would make at this point is the climate is going downhill. I will take tucked in by bodies of water and other thermal mass in a region that is supposed to be cool to anywhere flat and more exposed. If all were to go well I could see desserts being converted to solar power factors and desalinating large amounts of water and smelting objects with raw solar heat. But at the rate we are going I see it as more likely that the areas will become unlovable before true potential.is fully reached.

makati1 on Thu, 26th May 2016 7:41 pm 



In case you missed it:

http://www.doomsteaddiner.net/blog/2016/05/26/you-too-can-have-a-bigger-graph/

This is a great collection of graphs and charts about climate change that even our less intelligent readers can understand.

JuanP on Thu, 26th May 2016 7:42 pm 



Apnea & Greg, According to the scientific articles I’ve read so far the Southern Hemisphere enjoys now and will continue to enjoy in the coming decades a significant advantage regarding climate change. Greg, based on what I’ve read I expect a one to two decade advantage for the Southern Hemisphere. If you study how the air in the atmosphere flows and ocean currents, you will learn that the hemispheres basically have two different climate systems that exchange limited amounts of energy over the Equator. The Southern Hemisphere has a lot more water surface and less land which also helps because the land heats faster and easier than the oceans. But, the biggest difference comes from the poles. The North Pole is melting as we speak and the Arctic Ocean is likely to melt almost completely this Summer. Antarctica’s ice is on land and is likely to last centuries, but the Antarctic ice will definitely last for the rest of my life. Antarctica’s ice is like a giant air conditioning for the whole Southern Hemisphere, particularly the southernmost areas in countries like Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, and Uruguay.

These are some of the reasons I decided to go back to the Southern Hemisphere, though not the most important one. The most important reason is that my wife’s family lives there.

JuanP on Thu, 26th May 2016 7:50 pm 



This separation between the hemispheres also provides a significant radiation buffer of a few years for the Southern Hemisphere if there were to be a nuclear war or accident in the Northern Hemisphere. A nuclear war or accident in the Southern Hemisphere is less likely because we have fewer nuclear power plants, fewer nuclear bombs, and very few targets for nuclear weapons in case of a nuclear war.

Apneaman on Thu, 26th May 2016 8:14 pm 



Juan, that was the point of my comment.

There is this wide spread fantasy that some folks can head north and farm and thus humanity can carry on. No. Soon that melting perma frost will go exponentiation and it will be like one big never ending marsh up there. Mega tons of half rotted vegetation un-thawing and wafting loads of CO2 and methane into the atmosphere.

In Warming, Northern Hemisphere is Outpacing the South

“If global warming were a race, the Northern Hemisphere would be winning. It is warming faster than the Southern Hemisphere, with some of the most rapid warming rates on Earth located in the Arctic, where sea and land ice is shrinking and thinning. Not only is the North winning now, but projections show that, largely due to the influence of manmade greenhouse gas emissions, it is likely to widen its lead in the coming decades.”

“….the Northern Hemisphere has led the Southern Hemisphere in its rate of warming since about 1980, largely because the Northern Hemisphere has more land and less ocean than the Southern Hemisphere, and oceans warm relatively slowly.”

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/in-global-warming-northern-hemisphere-is-outpacing-the-south-15850

Juan, I hear some 1%ers are planning to bug out way down in South America? If any show up in your neck of the woods, do your people and the world a favor and give them the welcome they deserve.

GregT on Thu, 26th May 2016 8:55 pm 



Climate change is already affecting New Zealand.

“The effects that have already been measured by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) include:

fewer frosts in areas like Canterbury and Marlborough
retreat of South Island glaciers – ice volume in the Southern Alps is down 11% in the past 30 years
rise in sea level by 16cm – average rise over the four major ports in the past 100 years
rise in insurance industry levies to cover the costs of increased incidence of extreme weather events such as floods”

http://www.wwf.org.nz/what_we_do/climate_change_new/new_zealand_impacts_of_climate_change/

Sound familiar? How about…..

Climate change impacts in Australia

“Australia faces significant environmental and economic impacts from climate change across a number of sectors, including water security, agriculture, coastal communities, and infrastructure.

Leading scientists advise climate change will cause increases to the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Rising sea levels pose a significant risk to coastal communities, while the world’s oceans could become too acidic to support coral reefs and other calcifying marine organisms.”

https://www.environment.gov.au/climate-change/climate-science/impacts

Then we have South America. No need to go into details.

GregT on Thu, 26th May 2016 9:04 pm 



Sorry boys. nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide.

makati1 on Thu, 26th May 2016 9:16 pm 



JuanP, you might want to look at west Antarctic melting before you make wide claims. Not to mention that the droughts in the Southern Hemisphere are also getting worse. When the Amazon goes, and it is, there will be a radical change in the weather down there.

GregT on Thu, 26th May 2016 9:35 pm 



If it’s any consolation guys, I’ve read the same thing. If we do cause a runaway event, those in the Southern hemisphere will likely have longer to dwell on it. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not….

Apneaman on Thu, 26th May 2016 9:40 pm 



Some people in the Southern half of South America will be the last ones standing. Physics. In North America the last ones standing will be along the coasts away from cities. The center will be abandon. I won’t be among the standing even it it happened next week. It will be young people who survive longest. My middle aged ass would not want to run into the 25 year old version of me. The 25 year old version of me would break the middle aged version of me in half and tear me up in about 30 seconds.

Hey there’s an idea for a stupid movie.

GregT on Thu, 26th May 2016 10:13 pm 



“The 25 year old version of me would break the middle aged version of me in half and tear me up in about 30 seconds.”

Be thankful that the average 25 year old version of you will be completely dead in the water, without cheap gasoline, a cell phone, and social media. Stock up on aluminum baseball bats.

JuanP on Thu, 26th May 2016 11:47 pm 



Mak, I’ve been reading on Antarctic melting for many years. I am also aware of the droughts and the problems in the Amazon. Of course the whole world is getting worse and is doomed, but things will take longer to play out in the South. Look at all the temperature anomalies maps printed by NASA and NOAA over the last ten years and you will see all the red in the Arctic and the North and all the blue in South, particularly in the countries I mentioned. I’ve done my research.

makati1 on Thu, 26th May 2016 11:54 pm 



JuanP, I am sure you have, and I hope you are correct. I don’t see the south being spared for long. You will have more than heat to contend with. But then, there is no “safe” place on this planet. It is only a difference of time that events will occur north or south. Not being negative about your choice. Any place out of the Us is better than in it.

JuanP on Thu, 26th May 2016 11:55 pm 



I will provide links in the future that prove my point as I come across them. I have no doubt that what I stated is truthful and accurate.

I did not mention Australia. Australia is basically mostly uninhabitable. I am aware of ice melting in New Zealand’s glaciars.

I never said the South was not affected, Greg. The links you provide do not contradict my comment. The North will suffer a lot more and is already experiencing much worse CC than the South. This is a fact. What pole will completely melt this summer?

JuanP on Fri, 27th May 2016 12:02 am 



Mak, I don’t particularly care about my doomstead choice, it’s not about that. I intend to kill myself before the worse comes, not live as long as possible. The farm in Uruguay is for my wife’s nephews, not for us. I just defend the truth as I know it. I have very probably than more research on the differences between the hemispheres than any other member of this forum. I have been reading up on the subject basically my whole adult life. This is not about who wins or loses to me, I don’t care either way.