This thread is just to post interesting news, thoughts, opinions about climate change.
What is the statute of limitations on illegal immigration?
Every 4 years...
Anyone else notice the shift from O to 0? It's making my eye twitch.
Lo0k$ norwaI t0o l
Russia shares AI images of Hurricane Milton as disinformation abounds in US
As Hurricane Milton ripped across Florida, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, trolls and politicians alike spawned misinformation about the storm, questioning government preparations and calling it a “simulation” designed to hurt the Republican state.
But after it made landfall and exited into the Atlantic Ocean, there’s a new propaganda target among conspiracists: Walt Disney World in Orlando.
On Thursday morning, pictures were circulating on X, formerly Twitter, showing a flooded promenade at Disney World in Orlando with the Cinderella castle at its center.
“Hurricane Milton has flooded Disney World in Orlando,” wrote one known vector of disinformation on X, with the photos, which X users immediately noted was probably created using an automated AI image creator. The post has already been viewed over 300,000 times.
Other versions of the same, allegedly deceptive post were also translated into Spanish and other languages then spread across X. The platform has added a warning indicating the images are AI-generated fakes.
Still, that didn’t stop RIA Novosti, one of Russia’s top state-owned news agencies from reposting the images to its official Telegram channel.
“Social media users publish photos of the sinking of Disneyland in Florida as a result of Hurricane Milton,” said the post, incorrectly identifying the location as Disneyland, the theme park located thousands of miles away in Anaheim, California.
The RIA Novosti post has already garnered over 300,000 views.
In a storm update on its website, Disney World said the theme park is closed through 10 October, but made no mention of flooding and pointed out that it continues “to operate select dining locations for Guests currently staying in our Disney Resort hotels.”.
Disney did not immediately respond to questions about the flood photos of Cinderella Castle.
Disinformation and conspiracy theories surrounding Milton began long before the storm even made landfall. Since last week, Donald Trump has been spreading lies about the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene, accusing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) of “abandoning” North Carolina residents in what is a hotly contested state in the November presidential election.
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), an extremism and disinformation watchdog organization, told the Guardian that hostile actors are known for using manipulated images and propaganda posts to undermine western democracies in times of crisis.
Russia is one of the most infamous offenders of such tactics.
“It’s well-known that Kremlin-backed outlets and the Kremlin itself often exploit natural disasters and political crises to sow chaos and spread misinformation for their own gain,” said Moustafa Ayad, ISD executive director for Africa, the Middle East and Asia. “The use of this image is no different.”
Through online chatter in places like Telegram, far-right trolls seized on the moment Milton began to pick up steam and barrel towards Florida, using the suspicions around Helene as a catalyst.
“Simulation,” posted one popular extremist channel days ago, accusing the hurricane of being a government creation.
Another post, from the same channel and viewed thousands of times, went further, posting an image of the storm in the form of an antisemitic cartoon as it approached Florida.
“Pray for Florida and everyone else whose lives are being destroyed while our tax money gets shipped to satanists and other people who hate White Christians,” said the post referring to Israel’s military operations in the Middle East.
Today, one adjacent channel, known for crafting neo-Nazi takes on the news, accused the government of using “stratospheric aerosols” to create Milton.
Some of the most blatant misinformation has come from the halls of Congress.
On Monday, the congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene doubled down on her own track record of misinformation directly accusing the federal government of storm manufacturing.
“Climate change is the new Covid,” wrote the Georgia representative on X. “Ask your government if the weather is manipulated or controlled.
“Are you paying for it?” she blithely asked. “Of course you are.”
Last night, as Milton was hitting Florida, Joe Biden made it clear that the Republican presidential nominee was at the eye of the disinformation storm.
“Quite frankly, these lies are un-American,” Biden said in an address from the White House. “Former president Trump has led this onslaught of lies.”
The barrage of falsehoods has become so bad, Deanne Criswell, the Fema chief, was forced to respond to the conspiracy theories about how her agency has responded to the storms, which ranges from accusations that money is being diverted from storm victims to migrants, to Helene being some sort of meteorological Frankenstein.
I can't stop grinning at RIA Novosti posting AI-generated images of a flooded Disney theme park and calling it "Disneyland." But then I start crying because of how many people will be captured by the lie.
I am waiting for some of them to start trying to claim that tonight's strong aurora is a side effect of whatever they did to the atmosphere to create the hurricanes.
Time lapse NOAA satellite images from just as Helene was forming until just after Milton crossed Florida.
Why is Mexico bombing us with hurricanes?
Also, we really need an transamerican aqueduct from FL to CA.
Exclusive: Global coral bleaching event expands, now the largest on record
Oct 17 (Reuters) - The mass bleaching of coral reefs around the world since February 2023 is now the most extensive on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) told Reuters this week.
A staggering 77% of the world’s coral reef areas – from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Indian oceans – have so far been subjected to bleaching-level heat stress, according to satellite data, as climate change fuels record and near-record ocean temperatures across the world.
"This event is still increasing in spatial extent and we’ve broken the previous record by more than 11% in about half the amount of time,” said NOAA Coral Reef Watch coordinator Derek Manzello. “This could potentially have serious ramifications for the ultimate response of these reefs to these bleaching events.”
The NOAA coral reef authority declared the global bleaching event in April 2024, making it the fourth of its kind since 1998. The previous record from the 2014 to 2017 mass bleaching affected just below 66 percent of the world’s reef area.
Triggered by heat stress in warm oceans, coral bleaching occurs when corals expel the colourful algae living in their tissues. Without these helpful algae, the corals become pale and are vulnerable to starvation and disease. A bleached coral is not dead, but ocean temperatures need to cool off for any hope of recovery.
At least 14% of the world’s remaining corals were estimated to have died in the previous two global bleaching events.
Though this mass bleaching is already the most widespread, affecting reefs in 74 countries and territories, NOAA has so far stopped short of calling, it the "worst" on record. In coming months and years scientists will conduct underwater assessments of dead corals to help tally up the severity of the damage.
"It seems likely that it is going to be record-breaking in terms of impacts," Manzello said. "We’ve never had a coral bleaching event this big before."
In just the last six weeks, bleaching has been confirmed in the waters of Palau, Guam and Israel. Heat stress also remains high in the Caribbean and South China Sea.
In response to the bleaching record, scientists have called a special emergency session on coral reefs to be held at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity summit (COP16) in Colombia at the end of the month. World leaders will discuss last-ditch strategies to avert the functional extinction of corals, including further protections and financing.
"The meeting will bring together the global funding community to say we’re still in the fourth bleaching event, these are happening back to back …. What are we going to do about it?” said Emily Darling, who leads the Wildlife Conservation Society’s global coral reef conservation programme.
Scientists had previously projected that coral reefs would cross a tipping point at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F) of global warming, whereby up to 90% of reefs would be lost. The latest record bleaching adds to growing evidence that reefs have already passed a point of no return at just 1.3 C (2.3 F) of warming.
This would have dire implications for ocean health, subsistence fisheries and tourism. Every year, reefs provide about $2.7 trillion in goods and services, according to a 2020 estimate by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network.
The ongoing bleaching has been made worse by El Nino, a natural climate pattern that can temporarily warm some oceans, which ended in May.
Some forecasters are projecting the world could move into a La Nina climate pattern in coming months, which typically brings cooler ocean temperatures that coral scientists hope might give corals a chance to recover.
Yet there is concern that even with a La Nina that might not happen, with 2024 on track to be the world’s warmest year on record. If current ocean temperatures are the new normal, the world may be entering a period “where we're more or less in a state of chronic global bleaching,” Manzello said.
My dad was an avid scuba diver for around 20 years and went all over the world taking beautiful underwater photos, almost entirely at coral reefs. Finally, age caught up to him and I think it just got to be too tiring for him to continue. But I also heard him say he stopped because he had "seen all I wanted to see".
My point? He has consistently supported the Republican party of climate change deniers, depriving future generations of something he took great pleasure in. He's not a denier himself. But if you bring this up with him, he'd probably just shrug his shoulders and go "eh" it's not good, but what are you gonna do? Then handwave and minimize because Democrats are the true evil based on what he's repeatedly learned from listening to Fox or whatever Limbaugh successor he favors.
He got his. Who cares about anyone else? It absolutely infuriates me.
My dad was an avid scuba diver for around 20 years and went all over the world taking beautiful underwater photos, almost entirely at coral reefs. Finally, age caught up to him and I think it just got to be too tiring for him to continue. But I also heard him say he stopped because he had "seen all I wanted to see".
My point? He has consistently supported the Republican party of climate change deniers, depriving future generations of something he took great pleasure in. He's not a denier himself. But if you bring this up with him, he'd probably just shrug his shoulders and go "eh" it's not good, but what are you gonna do? Then handwave and minimize because Democrats are the true evil based on what he's repeatedly learned from listening to Fox or whatever Limbaugh successor he favors.
He got his. Who cares about anyone else? It absolutely infuriates me.
Yeah, I've been able to do a fair amount of diving. Don't do it any more, and I don't think I could anyways because this is all so depressing.
Exclusive: Global coral bleaching event expands, now the largest on record
Though this mass bleaching is already the most widespread, affecting reefs in 74 countries and territories, NOAA has so far stopped short of calling, it the "worst" on record. In coming months and years scientists will conduct underwater assessments of dead corals to help tally up the severity of the damage."It seems likely that it is going to be record-breaking in terms of impacts," Manzello said. "We’ve never had a coral bleaching event this big before."
By the time they determine it's the worst on record there will be a new record...
My Roatan dive trip report from a scuba forum last month
Just got back from a 2 week trip at CoCo view. Reef health is definitely declining and that's being generous.
I was there last October at the tail end of the bleaching they were experiencing. This visit allowed me to see the impact of the die off. It's bad.
First day in, the water temperature was 91F at the surface and 88F at 70feet. The coldest it ever got was 86F in an upwell we stumbled into on one of the dives. The swim back on the chain was just uncomfortably hot even in just a skin.
Visibility was horrendous the first week. They had some funky currents that stirred everything up and then it went flat. So all the particulate matter was just hanging in the water. Near white out conditions at the wreck and 20ft on a good day at dive sites. The low visibility managed to hide some of the death and destruction present.
Second week, visibility improved due to a lot of storms overnight. One dive at Mary's Point was crystal blue, and you could see from one end of the swim through to the other. Sadly, the improved visibility really showed the extent of the damage. Algae overgrowth on majority of the coral down to about 40 feet. I didn't see any lettuce coral that was alive, Any brain coral I saw was struggling and I didn't see a single "full" head.
Only saw two small pieces of Staghorn coral that were on their way out. The only Elkhorn I saw was dead.
Table corals seem to have fared a bit better, Some big healthy ones at 60 feet on Newman's Wall.
Vase sponges are doing ok but always seem to be the last thing to go, and there were still a bunch that were stressed or already on their way out. Each dive was spent dusting a few as we swam past given the amount of crap in the water that had settled on them.
Wildlife was present, but seemed to be reduced compared to my trip last year. Some of that could have been due to the low viz but it was still sad to see.
I always enjoy my time at CoCo View, and this trip was sobering. It really hammered home my opinion that we're well past the tipping point in terms of reef health.
At least 95 killed in Spanish flash floods as king warns of areas cut off by damage
Both the rescue and clean-up operations are continuing in south-eastern Spain, meaning the situation is evolving and we're receiving updates all the time.
But if you're just joining us, or need a refresher, here's what you need to know.
Death toll and flooding aftermath: At least 72 people have died in flash floods that hit the south-east of Spain, and an unconfirmed number of people are thought to be missing. Valencia seems to be the worst hit city, with images showing piled up vehicles and destroyed neighbourhoods, and Spain's transport minister saying the high-speed line between the city and Madrid is significantly damaged.
How the floods came about: Parts of south-eastern Spain saw more than a year's worth of rainfall in just eight hours - in part because of what's known as the Dana phenomenon, which you can learn more about here. Criticism has been directed towards the regional government of Valencia, which eliminated the Valencia Emergency Unit (UVE) upon taking office in 2023. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 troops have been deployed to help with the rescue operation.
The weather forecast from now: As of this afternoon, Spain's state weather agencyAEMET forecasts the torrential rains will ease today, but areas of the coastal region will remain under a weather alert. The storm is heading north and warnings are now in place for north-eastern Catalonia.
There was a freaking tornado in Valencia.
They eliminated the emergency response unit? Who are these lunatics?
They eliminated the emergency response unit? Who are these lunatics?
2016-era Trumpalikes? As I recall, TFG eliminated a bunch of emergency epidemiology resources right before the COVID pandemic.
That's what I'm thinking... Spain has always had troubles with the Right.
Why are there literal piles of cars from this flood? Did it rain cars? I'm so confused by the amount of cars in all these flood pictures.
To be clear, I'm not trying to make a joke about the situation or make light of it in anyway. I am legitimately confused by this.
Looks like many of the streets bordered with buildings acted as funnels for debris from above. This also happens here, a lot, when towns are hit by flash floods. We've seen it nearby in Ellicott City Maryland.
I would assume they are being pulled from all over and eventually get stuck somewhere and pile up.
It doesn't take much water to float a car, and then it's swept along with everything else.
Like the Millenium Falcon!
Dire analysis in Oceanography Magazine
Implications: Uncertainty Is Not Our Friend
The risk of a critical AMOC transition is real and very serious, even if we cannot confidently predict when and whether this will happen. We have already left behind the stable Holocene climate in which humanity has thrived (Osman et al., 2021), and the latest IPCC report warns us that beyond 1.5°C of global warming, we move into the realm of “high risk” with respect to climate tipping points (IPCC, 2023).Also at risk is the Southern Hemisphere equivalent of the northern Atlantic deep-water formation: the Antarctic bottom-water formation. A recent study by Australian researchers concluded that the increasing meltwater inflow around Antarctica is set to dramatically slow down the Antarctic overturning circulation, with a potential collapse this century (Q. Li et al., 2023). That will slow the rate at which the ocean takes up CO2 (hence, more will accumulate in the atmosphere), and it will reduce the oxygen supply for the deep sea.
A full AMOC collapse would be a massive, planetary-scale disaster. We really want to prevent this from happening.
In other words: we are talking about risk analysis and disaster prevention. This is not about being 100% or even just 50% sure that the AMOC will pass its tipping point this century; the issue is that we’d like to be 100% sure that it won’t. That the IPCC only has “medium confidence” that it will not happen this century is anything but reassuring, and the studies discussed here, which came after the 2021 IPCC report, point to a much larger risk than previously thought.
The Global Tipping Points Report 2023 was published in December 2023, a 500-page effort by 200 researchers from 90 organizations in 26 countries (Lenton et al., 2023). Its summary conclusion reads: “Harmful tipping points in the natural world pose some of the gravest threats faced by humanity. Their triggering will severely damage our planet’s life-support systems and threaten the stability of our societies.”
For the AMOC and other climate tipping points, the only action we can take to minimize the risk is to phase out fossil fuel use and stop deforestation as fast as possible. If we can reach zero emissions, further global warming will stop within years, and the sooner this happens the smaller the risk of passing devastating tipping points. It would also minimize many other losses, damages, and human suffering from “regular” global warming impacts (e.g., heatwaves, floods, droughts, harvest failures, wildfires, sea level rise), which are already happening all around us even without the passing of major climate tipping points.
As another Climate Tipping Points report published in December 2022 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) concludes: “Yet, the current scientific evidence unequivocally supports unprecedented, urgent and ambitious climate action to tackle the risks of climate system tipping points” (OECD, 2022).
It would be irresponsible, even foolhardy, if policymakers, business leaders, and indeed the voting public continue to ignore those risks.
Nearly 10,000 acre wild fire explodes in Ventura County, California. Might as well get this out of the way now; the feds aren't providing help next year.
Wonderful news for my dad in Thousand Oaks!
My sister, her pregnant wife, the dog, and the cat are packed up to evacuate. Strangely, the robo call to evacuate went to my mom's land line. In Marin.
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