Australian Atheists Forum

Well, i suppose New York is a hell of a long way from Hawaii! Having said that, the Guardian (oz) is leading with the Hawaii fires this morning.

I guess our concentration spans are so obliterated by the internet that reporting on natural disasters will become ever more brief, reduced to bylines.

'Oh, and 800 people died in a flood this morning, somewhere in Colorado...and now it's over to Mike for sports!'

Tick, tick, bloody tick...

Apart from buckled rail tracks and melting highways, climate change is fucking up major shipping...

https://www.neatorama.com/2023/08/12/A- ... ama-Canal/

Climate change, kind of, adjacent piece here focusing on the denial mindset. Written by Nathan J Robinson, it's a disturbing but amusing summary of the crazy that is 'merica, and by sad extension, here.

Social psychologist Erich Fromm, in The Sane Society, suggested that a whole society could become insane, by which he meant that it could possess values that were deeply mentally unhealthy, even if those values were considered “normal” within the society itself. Fromm was critiquing societies like ours that valued possession, consumption, and status, even when the pursuit of these ends destroyed our well-being. I thought back to his book recently, after hearing one of the most delusional things I’ve ever heard another human being say.

That delusional thing, and really when you look at 'mercia it could be related to any number of topics, is of course the persistence of the notion that climate change is a complete hoax. But more immediate are the ramifications of a society, a polity, removed from anything that might be described as an agreed upon reality. Such is the percularity of our time, even those aware of the crisis tend to lean back on the old tropes of performative (non)democracy, even as their preferred duopolis party confess great concern for the environment whilst opening up new mining prospects.

As the crisis worsens year by year, the ice caps melt and the crops die, it’s going to be just as much the fault of the do-nothing Democrats as the “It’s Called Summer” Republicans. We have a Democratic administration that, astonishingly, continues to approve fossil fuel projects, refuses to declare a climate emergency, and declines to even mention fossil fuels. The “Inflation Reduction Act” that was supposedly so great for the climate was itself a “boon for the fossil fuel sector.” The last Democratic administration was, somehow, even worse.

Robinson is still trying rally the troops, still advocating for a socialist revolution, and good for him. I fear it's a pointless task though. We are but spectators, and participants, in the age of total(itarian) confusion.

Anyway, it's a short, bizarre read if you have 10 minutes to hand.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2023/08/ ... th-reality

pipbarber wrote: ↑Sun Aug 13, 2023 4:51 pm ( El Snippo!)

Robinson is still trying rally the troops, still advocating for a socialist revolution, and good for him. I fear it's a pointless task though. We are but spectators, and participants, in the age of total(itarian) confusion.

Perhaps the revolution will come. They'll have to pick their way carefully, coming down the barricades onto all that melting tarmac.

Autrefois, I think we are all heading for Fucked at an indeterminate speed, anyhow.

A member of my household is traumatised by having been in Canberra while embers fell in the roof gutters and houses in the same block were destroyed by fire.

As a result, we keep a pretty keen eye on fires in the region, local conditions, and weather trends.

So, it's disturbing to read this article:

As I heard reports of the fire tearing through the Hawaiian island of Maui, I felt utterly depressed. As a fire scientist, I know the unfolding horror – which has killed 93 people so far – is just the beginning. It’s a portent of what Australia and other countries will experience in a warmer world.

For Australians, the reports inevitably bring back memories of our awful Black Summer in 2019-20. Like the Maui tragedy, those huge, uncontrollable bushfires were a terrifying glimpse of the intense fires we can expect as climate change worsens.

Global warming – the result of fossil fuel burning – means bushfires will become more frequent and severe. Of course, we must reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That is blindingly obvious.

But we must do more than that. Australians must urgently adapt to our fiery future.

https://theconversation.com/australia-i ... ent-211364

112 years ago...

"Warmer temperatures can affect invertebrates in many ways. For example, pollinating insects that collect nectar may hatch before plants flower – creating issues for both the insects and the plants. Species that rely on wet or damp conditions may find their habitat dried out. Less harsh, cold conditions may also bring new predators and competitors into their habitats.

Overseas, where mountain ranges are typically much higher, animals have been moving up in elevation to survive. But Australia’s mountains are small – less than half the height of many key mountain ranges overseas. This leaves little room to move higher.

Alpine invertebrates tend to live in small, isolated populations on mountain tops. This limits their genetic diversity and therefore the potential that offspring can survive and adapt to changing conditions."


"The adults of many alpine invertebrate species live for just a single summer, lay their eggs, then die. They include skyhoppers, a group of alpine grasshoppers unique to Australia, many species of which are threatened.

Skyhoppers rely on a thick snow layer to protect their eggs in winter. But Australia’s snow cover is becoming increasingly unreliable as the planet warms.

Thermocolour skyhoppers, listed as endangered, are unique among grasshoppers in that they change colour from black to turquoise when their body temperature exceeds 25℃."




https://theconversation.com/trapped-aus ... ld%20warms

Pulling together some recent data in a very amateurish way here.

https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3276/nasa ... on-record/

https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3279/nasa ... ince-1880/

Two hottest months in a row, according to Nasa. Unlikely that August will make a hat trick for various reasons but what is really disturbing is the status of El Nino. The graph below shows where we are currently at with that.



2023 is currently tracking above 2016, the hottest year on record. However, 2016 came on the back of two years of El Nino (2014-2016). We're only just starting the current El Nino but it arrives at a moment when temperatures are already peaking, unlike 2014.

Obviously, it's a complex system with lots of factors impacting but that El Nino line that is heading upwards, in an already (likely)hottest year on record seems to suggest that 2024 will be something difficult to grasp. How hot is it really going to get?

Roentare wrote: ↑Tue Aug 15, 2023 4:30 pm(Snip!)

Thermocolour skyhoppers, listed as endangered, are unique among grasshoppers in that they change colour from black to turquoise when their body temperature exceeds 25℃."

It's an unspeakable shame to learn about a species so wonderful, by reading what is, in effect, its obituary.