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bronxiteforever's JournalHard Border likely according to leak of UK government documents
RTÉ
August 17, 2019
(This is just a news summary. No further information in the article is available)
In the UK, the Sunday Times has published what it describes as official government documents, which show that if Britain leaves the European Union without a transition deal, a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic will be likely, as current plans to avoid widespread checks will prove unsustainable.
In what it says is an unprecedented leak of government documents, they show Britain will face shortages of fuel, food and medicine.
They also say that up to 85% of lorries using the main channel crossings "may not be ready" for French customs, meaning disruption at ports would potentially last up to three months before the flow of traffic improves.
https://www.rte.ie/news/brexit/2019/0818/1069415-hard-border-likely-according-to-uk-gov-documents/
16 Images Of Oceans Warning Us About The Planet Of Plastic That We Are Creating
India Times
By Anuj Tiwari Updated: Aug 17, 2019, 12:35 IST
Globally, public awareness is growing about the harm that plastic is doing to the oceans and consequently the marine life. Over 300 million tons of plastic is produced every year for use in a wide variety of applications. At least 8 million tons of that ends up in our oceans every year and makes for around 80% of all marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.
Marine species ingest and suffer because of this plastic debris, which creates severe wounds and leads to deaths. Plastic pollution endangers food production, human wellness, seaside tourism, and adds to climate change. There is an urgent need to investigate the use of existing, legally binding international agreements to address marine plastic pollution.
According to science writer Mike Berners-Lee, of the nine billion tonnes of plastic ever produced, 5.4 billion has been dumped onto land or the sea.
Photo essay below
https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/environment/16-images-of-oceans-warning-us-about-the-planet-of-plastic-that-we-are-creating-372877.html
The US left a hole in leadership on climate. China is filling it.
China is making greater and faster strides than expected away from fossil fuels.
Politico.eu
By LUIZA CH. SAVAGE 8/17/19, 4:35 PM CET Updated 8/17/19, 4:37 PM CET
Often considered the bogeyman of global climate diplomacy, China is making greater and faster strides than expected away from fossil fuels — becoming the world’s largest investor in solar and wind technology and boasting more jobs in solar energy than in coal-mining. It’s all part of a longterm economic strategy to dominate in critical technologies.
The torrid pace and unprecedented scale of China’s investments in clean energy are driven in part by local concerns about toxic air quality. China remains the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for roughly 30 percent of global carbon dioxide pollution.
But the moves are giving China a growing leadership role on the world stage — precisely at a time when Washington’s voice is becoming less relevant thanks to President Donald Trump’s announced plan to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, according to interviews with POLITICO’s Global Translations podcast.
...China is responsible for a third of wind turbines and solar panels in the world — and its investments have had the side effect of driving down the global price of solar and wind technologies by nearly three-quarters in the last decade...
https://www.politico.eu/article/us-china-climate-renewable-energy-sustainability-leadership-investment/
The water is so hot in Alaska it's killing large numbers of salmon (CNN)
CNN
By Ryan Prior, CNN
Updated 7:23 AM ET, Sat August 17, 2019
CNN)Alaska has been in the throes of an unprecedented heat wave this summer, and the heat stress is killing salmon in large numbers.
Scientists have observed die-offs of several varieties of Alaskan salmon, including sockeye, chum and pink salmon. Stephanie Quinn-Davidson, director of the Yukon Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, told CNN she took a group of scientists on an expedition along Alaska's Koyokuk River at the end of July, after locals alerted her to salmon die-offs on the stream.
...The water temperatures have breaking records at the same time as the air temperatures, according to Sue Mauger, the science director for the Cook Inletkeeper.
Scientists have been tracking stream temperatures around the Cook Inlet, located south of Anchorage, since 2002. They've never recorded a temperature above 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Until now.On July 7, a major salmon stream on the west side of the Cook Inlet registered 81.7 degrees.
...last week the Environmental Protection Agency told staff scientists it would no longer oppose a mining project in Alaska that had the potential to devastate one of the world's most valuable wild salmon fisheries, just after President Trump met with Alaska's Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/16/us/alaska-salmon-hot-water-trnd/index.html
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The water is so hot in Alaska it's killing large numbers of salmon
CNN
By Ryan Prior, CNN
Updated 7:23 AM ET, Sat August 17, 2019
CNN)Alaska has been in the throes of an unprecedented heat wave this summer, and the heat stress is killing salmon in large numbers.
Scientists have observed die-offs of several varieties of Alaskan salmon, including sockeye, chum and pink salmon. Stephanie Quinn-Davidson, director of the Yukon Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, told CNN she took a group of scientists on an expedition along Alaska's Koyokuk River at the end of July, after locals alerted her to salmon die-offs on the stream.
...The water temperatures have breaking records at the same time as the air temperatures, according to Sue Mauger, the science director for the Cook Inletkeeper.
Scientists have been tracking stream temperatures around the Cook Inlet, located south of Anchorage, since 2002. They've never recorded a temperature above 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Until now.On July 7, a major salmon stream on the west side of the Cook Inlet registered 81.7 degrees.
...last week the Environmental Protection Agency told staff scientists it would no longer oppose a mining project in Alaska that had the potential to devastate one of the world's most valuable wild salmon fisheries, just after President Trump met with Alaska's Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/16/us/alaska-salmon-hot-water-trnd/index.html
NASA scientists track Greenland's melting ice, and the findings are not good
By Associated Press
Published: Aug 15, 2019 7:16 p.m. ET
‘It’s a little scary’ as climate change eats away at massive glaciers
ABOARD A NASA RESEARCH PLANE OVER GREENLAND-
...Like nearly every other glacier on Greenland, the massive Kangerlussuaq is melting. In fact, the giant frozen island has seen one of its biggest melts on record this year. NASA scientist Josh Willis is now closely studying the phenomenon in hopes of figuring out precisely how global warming is eating away at Greenland’s ice.
...Water brings more heat to something frozen faster than air does, as anyone who has ever defrosted a steak under the faucet knows. If Willis’ theory that much of the damage is from the water turns out to be correct, he said, “there’s a lot higher potential for Greenland to melt more quickly than we thought.” And that means seas rising faster and coastal communities being inundated more.
Greenland contains enough ice to make world sea levels rise by 20 feet if it were all to melt. In a single day this month, it lost a record 13.7 billion tons by one estimate.
“It’s a little scary,” Willis said as looked down on an area filled with more water than ice. “We’re definitely watching the ice sheet disappear in front of us.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nasa-scientists-track-greenlands-melting-ice-and-the-findings-are-not-good-2019-08-15
'The Sea Will Get as Hot as a Jacuzzi': What Life in Israel Will Be Like in 2100
“The Sea Will Get as Hot as a Jacuzzi': What Life in Israel Will Be Like in 2100
Winter will get much shorter and even nighttime won't offer respite from the heat. Israel is warming up, and by the end of the century we simply won’t be able to exist without air conditioning
Haaretz
By Oded Carmeli Aug 15, 2019
“I’m happy I won’t be alive,” says Baruch Rinkevich of Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, who is currently helping to prepare the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s next report on the oceans and the cryosphere.
“After us, the deluge, as the saying goes. People don’t fully understand what we’re talking about here,” explains Prof. Rinkevich, a marine biologist. “They think about melting icebergs and polar bears who won’t have a home. They don’t understand that everything is expected to change: the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, the landscapes we see, the oceans, the seasons, the daily routine, the quality of life. Our children will have to adapt or become extinct...”
To prepare this report, Haaretz spoke to a number of Israeli scientists from a range of disciplines. All the interviewees were asked to address the anticipated implications of a “moderate” rise of only 2 to 3 degrees Celsius, the midrange of the IPCC forecast. The picture that emerges, however threatening, is the most realistic one for the near future. And even it might be overly optimistic.
...“On the hottest days of the year it will be impossible to exist without an air conditioner,” explains Daniel Rosenfeld, of the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “It will no longer be a matter of comfort but of survival. A broken air conditioner is liable to become a life-and-death issue.”
A stunning article filled with quotes from thoughtful and brilliant scientists. A long, well written article there is much more here-
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-the-sea-will-get-as-hot-as-a-jacuzzi-what-life-in-israel-will-look-like-in-2100-1.7688062
'The Sea Will Get as Hot as a Jacuzzi': What Life in Israel Will Be Like in 2100
Winter will get much shorter and even nighttime won't offer respite from the heat. Israel is warming up, and by the end of the century we simply won’t be able to exist without air conditioning
Haaretz
By Oded Carmeli Aug 15, 2019
“I’m happy I won’t be alive,” says Baruch Rinkevich of Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, who is currently helping to prepare the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s next report on the oceans and the cryosphere.
“After us, the deluge, as the saying goes. People don’t fully understand what we’re talking about here,” explains Prof. Rinkevich, a marine biologist. “They think about melting icebergs and polar bears who won’t have a home. They don’t understand that everything is expected to change: the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, the landscapes we see, the oceans, the seasons, the daily routine, the quality of life. Our children will have to adapt or become extinct...”
To prepare this report, Haaretz spoke to a number of Israeli scientists from a range of disciplines. All the interviewees were asked to address the anticipated implications of a “moderate” rise of only 2 to 3 degrees Celsius, the midrange of the IPCC forecast. The picture that emerges, however threatening, is the most realistic one for the near future. And even it might be overly optimistic.
The combination of these two parameters, heat and humidity, is called the Heat Stress Index. Brief exposure to conditions of a high HSI can raise the body temperature to between 38 and 40 degrees Celsius (normal is 37 degrees, or 98.6 F), resulting in headaches, vomiting and shallow breathing. When body heat reaches 41 degrees or more, multi-systemic damage occurs, affecting the brain, the heart, the liver and the kidneys, which can lead to loss of consciousness, spasms, even death. Elderly and infirm people, as well as infants and children, are the first to suffer and die in such a situation, because the heat-regulation mechanisms in their bodies are less efficient.
In July 2015, residents of the Iranian city of Bandar Mahshahr awoke to a temperature of 46 degrees Celsius (115 F), accompanied by high humidity from the Persian Gulf. The result was an unimaginable HSI of 74 degrees – the second-highest ever recorded (the highest on record is 81 degrees, in 2003, in the Saudi Arabian city of Dhahran). At that level of heat overload, even someone at full repose in the shade is incapable of cooling his or her body down by means of perspiration and is in genuine mortal danger, like someone trapped in a locked car in the summer.
By 2100, Israelis, too, could wake up to days like that.
A stunning article filled with quotes from thoughtful and brilliant scientists.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-the-sea-will-get-as-hot-as-a-jacuzzi-what-life-in-israel-will-look-like-in-2100-1.7688062
Rising Seas Could Speed Up Loss of Florida Mangroves, Study Finds
WJCT Public Media
By JENNY STALETOVICH
August14, 2019
Four thousand years ago, rising seas decimated huge swaths of mangroves in Florida Bay.
Today, seas rising at a far greater rate, combined with increasing storms and drought, could lead to another catastrophic loss of mangroves that help keep the state from sliding into the sea, according to a new study published by the U.S. Geological Survey in the journal Nature Communications. This was surprising because mangroves are thought to be relatively resilient to sea level rise," said Miriam Jone, a USGS geologist and lead author for the study.
Mangroves serve as a critical link between the land and sea, helping to stabilize the coastline while protecting it against violent storm surges generated by hurricanes. Mangrove forests also suck up tons of carbon from the atmosphere, providing a carbon sink for the state valued at between $2 billion and $3.4 billion.
But scientists fear they are coming under increasing threat, from both development and impacts from climate change. About half the planet's mangroves have disappeared. After Hurricane Irma, NASA researchers during aerial surveys discovered about 40 percent of mangroves in Everglades National Park had been damaged. Mangroves have evolved to withstand hurricanes, so they expected them to bounce back. But when they returned three months later, they were suprised to find how little of the forest had recovered.
In the Caribbean, mangroves have fared better where ecoystems were healthier... "We know that mangroves can be resilient under high rates of sea level rise, but it also depends on how healthy the ecosystem is," Jones said.
More here
https://news.wjct.org/post/rising-seas-could-speed-loss-florida-mangroves-study-finds
Rising Seas Could Speed Up Loss of Florida Mangroves, Study Finds
WJCT Public Media
By JENNY STALETOVICH
August14, 2019
Four thousand years ago, rising seas decimated huge swaths of mangroves in Florida Bay.
Today, seas rising at a far greater rate, combined with increasing storms and drought, could lead to another catastrophic loss of mangroves that help keep the state from sliding into the sea, according to a new study published by the U.S. Geological Survey in the journal Nature Communications. This was surprising because mangroves are thought to be relatively resilient to sea level rise," said Miriam Jone, a USGS geologist and lead author for the study.
Mangroves serve as a critical link between the land and sea, helping to stabilize the coastline while protecting it against violent storm surges generated by hurricanes. Mangrove forests also suck up tons of carbon from the atmosphere, providing a carbon sink for the state valued at between $2 billion and $3.4 billion.
But scientists fear they are coming under increasing threat, from both development and impacts from climate change. About half the planet's mangroves have disappeared. After Hurricane Irma, NASA researchers during aerial surveys discovered about 40 percent of mangroves in Everglades National Park had been damaged. Mangroves have evolved to withstand hurricanes, so they expected them to bounce back. But when they returned three months later, they were suprised to find how little of the forest had recovered.
In the Caribbean, mangroves have fared better where ecoystems were healthier... "We know that mangroves can be resilient under high rates of sea level rise, but it also depends on how healthy the ecosystem is," Jones said.
More here
https://news.wjct.org/post/rising-seas-could-speed-loss-florida-mangroves-study-finds
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