General Environment Thrad

[erimir]

New question for The Lone Ranger!

You step out of a portal to the surface of Venus... What will kill you first?

I assume that it's the skin-melting temperature, rather than the crushing pressure or the toxic fumes.

Anyway, no big deal if Earth turns into Venus.

[SR71]

Fuck it's hot. Let's go to Mercury to cool and cool off a bit.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Originally Posted by erimir

New question for The Lone Ranger!

You step out of a portal to the surface of Venus... What will kill you first?

I assume that it's the skin-melting temperature, rather than the crushing pressure or the toxic fumes.

(But instead of the sea crushing you it would be superheated carbon dioxide and you’d be melting at the time)

— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) December 16, 2018

The nerds were facepalming all yesterday about that guy.

[SR71]

The three C's of a trip to Venus. Prepare to be cooked, crushed, and corroded.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Venus: not even once. https://t.co/lZlPfXawPA

— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) December 16, 2018

[BrotherMan]

What? It looks fine in the picture.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Originally Posted by BrotherMan

What? It looks fine in the picture.

I bet we could get Elon Musk to fly up there and verify.

[Zeta25]

Originally Posted by The Lone Ranger

And, of course, if our short-sightedness leads to our own extinction, then we will have no one to blame for it but ourselves.

I think just like nature, people always find a way to survive as well. At this point of such an upcoming disaster we just have to make peace with nature and accept it in every part of our daily life. For example during my last trip to Milan I saw Bosco Vertical (look below) and it really inspired me. As long as people support and develop creative projects like vertical forests, verticle farms, smart houses, electric cars etc. humanity always have a chance to survive.

[JoeP]

Zeta25!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

[Zeta25]

Originally Posted by JoeP

Zeta25!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hello all! I'm living in Athens and trying to complete my university education right now. I'm so happy to be a part of this forum!

[SR71]

Hi! We're happy to have you!

What's your major subject?

[JoeP]

I apologise for the smilie. It's one of those things. Almost a tradition here.

[Ensign Steve]

Originally Posted by Zeta25

Hello all! I'm living in Athens and trying to complete my university education right now. I'm so happy to be a part of this forum!

Hey, I did that too!

[ceptimus]

Zeta25

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Beavers and water resource management.

Partnering With Beaver: Nature's Hydrologists and...

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

[The Man]

There's so much misinformation about the Green New Deal out there. This special from Chris Hayes, in which he interviews many of the people who actually wrote and/or are advocating for it, is a useful corrective. MSNBC helpfully put the whole thing up on YouTube today. (Hopefully it's not region-locked.)

The Green New Deal With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez...

There was actually more to say than would fit in a 47-minute broadcast, so they put the rest online.

Web-Exclusive: All In Extra Conversation With...

All worth a watch.

Incidentally, I think I've only ever seen one other politician emerge during my lifetime who was both this intelligent and this politically talented, and he was the 44th (and last legitimately elected) President.

[chunksmediocrites]

Carbon dioxide levels hit landmark at 415 ppm, highest in human history

CO2 is the greenhouse gas scientists say is most responsible for global warming. When fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas are burned to power our world, they release CO2 and other greenhouse gases such as methane. These gases trap solar radiation in the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations have skyrocketed far higher than any levels in more than 800,000 years, according to data from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California-San Diego, and levels have not been this high for millions of years, Holthaus said.

Here's some things people are doing about this together!
Planting 1.2 Trillion Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions, Scientists Find

...they also found that there is abundant space to restore millions of acres of additional forests, not counting urban and agricultural land.

“There’s 400 gigatons [of CO2 stored] now in the 3 trillion trees,” Crowther said. “If you were to scale that up by another trillion trees, that’s in the order of hundreds of gigatons captured from the atmosphere – at least 10 years of anthropogenic emissions completely wiped out.”

Tree planting is becoming an increasingly popular tool to combat climate change. The United Nations’ Trillion Tree Campaign has planted nearly 15 billion trees across the globe in recent years. And Australia has announced a plan to plant a billion more by 2050 as part of its effort to meet the country’s Paris Agreement climate targets.

Trillion Tree Campaign

The Trillion Tree Campaign app aims to bring transparency to tree-planting projects around the world and make it as easy as possible for anyone to support them.
Global reforestation could capture 25% of global annual carbon emissions and create wealth in the global south.

A natural solution to the climate disaster

By defending, restoring and re-establishing forests, peatlands, mangroves, salt marshes, natural seabeds and other crucial ecosystems, large amounts of carbon can be removed from the air and stored. At the same time, the protection and restoration of these ecosystems can help minimise a sixth great extinction, while enhancing local people’s resilience against climate disaster. Defending the living world and defending the climate are, in many cases, one and the same.

I'm quoting bits but the piece itself is all of four concise paragraphs.

It is essential that they work with the guidance and free, prior and informed consent of indigenous people and other local communities.

This approach should not be used as a substitute for the rapid and comprehensive decarbonisation of industrial economies.

Signatories include Greta Thunberg, Bill McKibben, and David Suzuki, among many others.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

The oil companies knew exactly what they were doing to the planet, so they lied to us and did it anyway. For a profit. https://t.co/3BeXYj7blp

— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) May 14, 2019

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

[The Lone Ranger]

If current trends continue, the World Economic Forum estimates that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the Earth's oceans by weight than fish. In fairness, several oceanographers and marine biologists have stated that the study overestimates the amount of plastic being deposited into the oceans and underestimates the biomass of fish. Still, there's a ridiculous amount of plastic being deposited into the Earth's oceans.

And it has consequences.

For example, it's estimated that nearly every adult seabird has ingested plastic waste, and many have died as a result. Similarly, it's estimated that more than half the world's sea turtles have ingested plastic waste of some kind -- again, often with fatal results. Ingested plastic can block an animal's digestive tract, of course; it is often sharp-edged and can cause cuts in the esophageal/stomach lining and internal bleeding; it occupies space in the animal's gut, making the animal feel full when it isn't and potentially making it difficult or impossible to ingest real food -- leading to the animal starving to death while its stomach is (technically) full.

The remains of a Laysan Albatross, which probably died as a direct or indirect result of the plastic in its gut. The photograph was taken on Midway Atoll, more than 2,000 miles from the nearest significant landmass.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

When suffocating, it is important for a miner to save their last breath to blame the canaries.

[chunksmediocrites]

I’m an ordinary person who joined an Extinction Rebellion blockade. Here's why you should too

Here’s my reflections on the experience: I found it surprisingly calm, peaceful and friendly. The heavy media and police presence was intense, but I felt safe, and I didn’t feel like I was at risk of being arrested at any point. I just followed clear instructions from organisers and the police. Those who were arrested chose to be arrested, and even that was very calm. I’d genuinely feel safe bringing a child, just like to any other peaceful rally.

Also, it was fun! There was lots of chanting, and it felt positive and upbeat. I’m really glad I had courage and went, despite feeling so nervous. I don’t intend to get arrested, but there are a hundred other ways to support and contribute, and I intend to do them.

Until recently, I thought that these sorts of tactics are ridiculous and just irritate people and lead to more divisiveness. I thought blocking traffic was no way to develop consensus and get things done.

But then I saw the news on Extinction Rebellion blockading London for more than a week, with more than 1,000 arrests. Soon after, the UK government adopted a climate emergency resolution.

I started reading about Extinction Rebellion. I found out that it’s been carefully and deliberately constructed, drawing upon the best research on how to create massive social change, of the kind we need to address the climate emergency.

Let me tell you a story. Many of us already know the climate catastrophe story, so let me tell you a different one
I found out that the suffragettes got women the vote by smashing windows and chaining themselves to railings, facing hate and ridicule in the media. And how Martin Luther King combated racial inequality by rallying people to violate laws and provoke mass arrests, and was arrested 29 times. And this was deliberate, carefully orchestrated and inspired by the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi.

I learned how the research shows nonviolent civil disobedience can bring rapid and sweeping changes, and that we’ve never seen an example fail once 3.5% of the population becomes actively involved.

I started to hope.

Let me tell you a story. Many of us already know the climate catastrophe story, so let me tell you a different one.

Right now, we are sleepwalking. We go about our daily lives assuming that buying a house and putting money in our superannuation are appropriate ways to plan for the future. If we hear about the climate crisis, we tell ourselves, surely it can’t be that urgent if no one is doing anything?

We need to wake people up, fast. This requires massive, sustained media attention. Disruption is very effective at creating this, especially by blockading major urban centres. The aim is to make people pay attention, and they’re much more likely to do so when it impacts their daily lives. If there are arrests, that’s great too, because that’s also newsworthy.

Most people will hate the disruption tactics, and get irritated or angry. They’ll ridicule the people involved and say negative things in the media. A small percentage will join the movement. It’s OK that this is only a small percentage. Remember that we only need 3.5% of people to get active.

We do, however, need most people to be sympathetic.

People start by discussing tactics (with lots of hate), but then move on to the issue (“but we really should be doing something about climate, it’s actually quite scary”). More people start to realise that this is an actual emergency.

Proper debate starts happening, and people are talking about it everywhere. As more people wake up, more of them join the protests. And there’s safety in numbers, so as it gets bigger, more people feel they can join.

Politicians can no longer ignore the issue.

This scientist says it very well!

[The Lone Ranger]

In recent months, several dead Sperm Whales have washed ashore, with stomachs full of plastic. For example, a young whale washed ashore on a Sicilian beach in May, with a stomach full of plastic. Some beached whales have been found with more than 80 pounds of plastic in their stomachs.

Sperm Whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are deep-sea hunters. They typically dive more than a kilometer deep (sometimes more than a mile deep) to hunt squid and deep-sea fish. In murky water, they might mistake plastic waste for food and ingest it. On the other hand, you wouldn't expect them to be encountering much plastic suspended in the water a mile beneath the surface.

For baleen whales that hunt for smaller prey near the surface, plastic in the water column may be an even bigger threat.

Of course, only a very small percentage of the whales that die from ingestion of plastic would be expected to wash ashore and be discovered.

Sadly, all of this tells us something truly terrible about how very much plastic there is in the oceans.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Siberia on fire again.

Fire and flood apocalypse with wildfires raging and dire threat to Baikal, world's deepest lake