Climate Links: Aug. 26, 2017

World is going to hell because.... Ian Welsh. Aug. 26, 2017.

I was an Exxon-funded climate scientist. Katharine Hayhoe, The Conversation. Aug. 24, 2017.

This is not news... I've covered the headline news in past posts... but some good extras here:
Exxon Misled the Public on Climate Change. Seemorerocks. Aug. 25, 2017.

Utilities Knew: Documenting Electric Utilities’ Early Knowledge and Ongoing Deception on Climate Change From 1968-2017. Energy and Policy Institute. July 2017. (access at link to 66-page PDF report)

NASA considers puncturing Yellowstone supervolcano to save life on Earth. Greg Beach, inhabitat. Aug. 24, 2017.

A new study from NASA’s Jet Propulsion unit has determined that the threat of a super volcanic eruption to life on Earth may be more pressing than any interstellar collisions. An eruption of a supervolcano, like that found in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, could trigger a collapse of the global agricultural and economic systems and result in the deaths of potentially millions of people. Although NASA scientists can’t predict when such an event would occur, they have already begun preparing a preventative measure: drilling into the magma chamber of a supervolcano to cool it down.

It's time to start talking about "negative" carbon dioxide emissions. David Roberts, vox. Aug. 18, 2017.

We have to bury gigatons of carbon to slow climate change. We’re not even close to ready.

Russian scientists deny climate model of IPCC. EurekAlert. Aug. 15, 2017.

Massive emissions of methane in the Arctic become a significant source of greenhouse gases, a study reveals. TOMSK POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY

Greenland: how rapid climate change on world’s largest island will affect us all. Dan Bach Kristensen, The Conversation. Aug. 18, 2017.

Greenland is an important cog in the global climate system. The ice sheet which covers 80% of the island reflects so much of the sun’s energy back into space that it moderates temperatures through what is known as the “albedo effect”. And since it occupies a strategic position in the North Atlantic, its meltwater tempers ocean circulation patterns.

But Greenland is especially vulnerable to climate change, as Arctic air temperatures are currently rising at twice the global average rate. Environmental conditions are frequently setting new records: “the warmest”, “the wettest”, “the driest”.

The West Is in the Middle of the Worst Flash Drought in Recent Memory. Andrew Cullen and Emily Benson, Mother Jones. Aug. 19, 2017.

Conditions in the Great Plains are devastating farmers and ranchers.

Have you heard anywhere near the coverage in western mainstream media of Fukushima as was made of Chernobyl? I wonder why that is? (If sarcasm not obvious there, then please recalibrate your filters):
Releasing 770,000 Tons of Radioactive Water Into the Pacific Ocean. Dahr Jamail, truthout. Aug. 18, 2017.


The Ludicrous Prepper Plans of the Super Rich. Yves Smith, naked capitalism. Aug. 22, 2017.

Articles describing the various ways members of the 0.1% think they can ride out the coming economic and political upheaval in close to their current level of comfort simply confirm how utterly out of touch they are with real world realities. I’ve reproduced a post from Capital & Main that gives a recent sighting. 

The reason this is all laughable is that none of these super glam well-stocked bunkers are good for anything beyond roughly five years of hiding out. And this isn’t just my line of thinking. A friend who knows more super-rich people than he should for his own good says based on his discussions with people who have built compounds like this, or know about ones that have been set up, they all think they just need to camp out for a few years and they can then come back and restore a version of their former overlordship. Good luck with that. 

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Survivalism, One-Percent Style. Rev. Jim Conn, Capital & Main. Aug. 16, 2017.

Maybe they’ve been watching too many dystopian movies about the end of civilization as we know it. Or perhaps they feel the anxiety other people feel about social instability in the country. They may think nuclear war a high probability or that climate change disasters are inevitable. But while you and I fret over these apocalyptic scenarios, the super-rich are planning their survival. Even as the nation suffers a coast-to-coast housing crisis, they are investing in “safe” places to live. 

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Stunning NASA chart shows how fast the ground beneath our feet is heating up: The land is warming twice as fast as the oceans … too bad we live on the land. Joe Romm, ThinkProgress. Aug. 22, 2017.