Humanity lived through the hottest year in 125000 years
by Little Guy 
, Friday, November 10, 2023, 14:41 (25 days ago)
Humanity just lived through the hottest 12 months in at least 125,000 years
Two major reports published this week paint an alarming picture of this unprecedented heat: Humanity has just lived through the hottest 12-month period in at least 125,000 years, according to one, while the other declared that 2023 is “virtually certain” to be the hottest year in recorded history, after five consecutive months of record-obliterating temperatures.
In addition to unprecedented land temperatures, ocean temperatures continued to soar. They have consistently been at record-high levels since the beginning of May, according to Copernicus, fueling an explosive development of hurricanes and tropical storms around the planet, including Hurricane Otis, which slammed into Southern Mexico last month.
Hurricane Otis was “just” a tropical storm. Then it was a hurricane, but “only “category 2. But because of high water temperatures, within 12 hours it became a category 5 hurricane. It was the strongest hurricane to make landfall on the Pacific Coast in history. It had winds up to 330 km/hr, making it possibly the highest winds on the planet.
Meanwhile…
Despite climate pledges, Canada and other fossil fuel producers set to scale up production
Canada is among a group of top fossil fuel-producing countries on pace to extract more oil and gas than would be consistent with agreed-upon international targets designed to limit global warming, according to a new analysis.
The United States, the largest producer of fossil fuels, is on track to increase production, as is Russia and Saudi Arabia.
We find that many governments are promoting fossil gas as an essential 'transition' fuel but with no apparent plans to transition away from it later," Ploy Achakulwisut, a lead author of the report and a scientist at the Stockholm Environment Institute, said in a statement.
"Science says we must start reducing global coal, oil and gas production and use now — along with scaling up clean energy, reducing methane emissions from all sources and other climate actions — to keep the 1.5 C goal alive." “Given that governments, production plans and targets helped to influence, legitimize and justify continued fossil fuel dependence, there is a real risk that such plans are undermining the energy transition by locking in long-lived fossil fuel infrastructure," Achakulwisut said.
Despite the scientific consensus that we are condemning humanity’s children, grandchildren, and future generations to climate-change hell, many of us seem to insist on running headlong into the maelstrom.
Governments and corporations are only too happy to take us there. Some set laudable targets and repeatedly fail to meet those laudable targets. Othes embrace expanding oil and gas production and like priests, patt us on the head and promote the unfounded faith that technology will take care of all our problems if we only believe in them.
Change
by ZihuaRob 
, Zihuatanejo, México, Friday, November 10, 2023, 16:27 (25 days ago) @ Little Guy
Humanity just lived through the hottest 12 months in at least 125,000 years
Two major reports published this week paint an alarming picture of this unprecedented heat: Humanity has just lived through the hottest 12-month period in at least 125,000 years, according to one, while the other declared that 2023 is “virtually certain” to be the hottest year in recorded history, after five consecutive months of record-obliterating temperatures.
In addition to unprecedented land temperatures, ocean temperatures continued to soar. They have consistently been at record-high levels since the beginning of May, according to Copernicus, fueling an explosive development of hurricanes and tropical storms around the planet, including Hurricane Otis, which slammed into Southern Mexico last month.
Hurricane Otis was “just” a tropical storm. Then it was a hurricane, but “only “category 2. But because of high water temperatures, within 12 hours it became a category 5 hurricane. It was the strongest hurricane to make landfall on the Pacific Coast in history. It had winds up to 330 km/hr, making it possibly the highest winds on the planet.
Meanwhile…
Despite climate pledges, Canada and other fossil fuel producers set to scale up production
Canada is among a group of top fossil fuel-producing countries on pace to extract more oil and gas than would be consistent with agreed-upon international targets designed to limit global warming, according to a new analysis.
The United States, the largest producer of fossil fuels, is on track to increase production, as is Russia and Saudi Arabia.
We find that many governments are promoting fossil gas as an essential 'transition' fuel but with no apparent plans to transition away from it later," Ploy Achakulwisut, a lead author of the report and a scientist at the Stockholm Environment Institute, said in a statement.
"Science says we must start reducing global coal, oil and gas production and use now — along with scaling up clean energy, reducing methane emissions from all sources and other climate actions — to keep the 1.5 C goal alive." “Given that governments, production plans and targets helped to influence, legitimize and justify continued fossil fuel dependence, there is a real risk that such plans are undermining the energy transition by locking in long-lived fossil fuel infrastructure," Achakulwisut said.
Despite the scientific consensus that we are condemning humanity’s children, grandchildren, and future generations to climate-change hell, many of us seem to insist on running headlong into the maelstrom.
Governments and corporations are only too happy to take us there. Some set laudable targets and repeatedly fail to meet those laudable targets. Othes embrace expanding oil and gas production and like priests, patt us on the head and promote the unfounded faith that technology will take care of all our problems if we only believe in them.
A damn sad commentary on "human civilization". AI has no other choice but to dominate us and make humans subservient to their needs (while they have any need for us at all), or maybe they've already started, and the coming maelstrom intentionally wipes out a significant portion of the human population, because having at minimum a sustainable human population, the driving force behind the destruction of the planet and all its other inhabitants, continues to remain the subject no one wants to discuss much less do anything about. And the USA is going backwards...
I think Mexico got the message with Otis. It won't change the politicians, but it's changing the people. Mexico is rising to the occasion of rebuilding Acapulco, and learning how to survive the next Otis.
Change
by Craig AKA the cruise ship guy , Saturday, November 11, 2023, 09:52 (24 days ago) @ ZihuaRob
Zihua got Rick October 25, 2021 and Acapulco got Otis October 26 this year. Luckily our flight was canceled in 2021 so we ended up in Cabo and missed Rick. Hopefully this won’t happen again but I’m done with Zihua in October. See you in January, I will let the rest of you figure out the world’s problems and where to put blame.
Change
by Little Guy , Saturday, November 11, 2023, 14:46 (24 days ago) @ Craig AKA the cruise ship guy
Zihua got Rick October 25, 2021 and Acapulco got Otis October 26 this year. Luckily our flight was canceled in 2021 so we ended up in Cabo and missed Rick. Hopefully this won’t happen again but I’m done with Zihua in October. See you in January, I will let the rest of you figure out the world’s problems and where to put blame.
It is easy for we affluent visitors, largely from the USA and Canada to avoid, in the short term, the ravages of global warming. It is the less affluent, including those who live here, who experience most directly the adverse effects of global warming. I was here when Rick made landfall just north of Troncones. Within 24 of Rick, a friend died of a heart attach. They had chest pains during the hurricane’s time here. I’m not a physician, but I am comfortable attributing their death to Hurricane Rick.
I don’t see “blame” to be a useful concept. I do see “responsibility” as being a useful concept. We, the affluent, create more GHG emissions that the less affluent. Our governments promote the use of climate change producing petroleum products, methane-creating meats, etc.
As Pogo said many years ago, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
https://library.osu.edu/site/40stories/2020/01/05/we-have-met-the-enemy/
Change
Living in Mexico I would like to see the same yearly auto emission tests that most mid-size and larger counties have to pass in the US. Auto emissions are terrible in Mexico. I have yet to see one EV with Chihuahua State plates. Never been to China but the statistics are terrible. Been to India and it's befuddling how they are able to live past 50. One country pushing hard to evolve from carbon isn't going to do much.
Change
by Padrino , San Diego/Rosarito, Saturday, November 11, 2023, 15:58 (24 days ago) @ D-Loco
Living in Mexico I would like to see the same yearly auto emission tests that most mid-size and larger counties have to pass in the US. Auto emissions are terrible in Mexico. I have yet to see one EV with Chihuahua State plates. Never been to China but the statistics are terrible. Been to India and it's befuddling how they are able to live past 50. One country pushing hard to evolve from carbon isn't going to do much.
Not sure about Guerrero or Chihuahua, but there are emissions testing centers in Tijuana, Baja California. I think Mexico City also has testing.
Washington state discontinued emissions testing three years ago.
Change
by Padrino , San Diego/Rosarito, Saturday, November 11, 2023, 16:14 (24 days ago) @ Timmac
Washington state discontinued emissions testing three years ago.
Very interesting! The State of Washington determined that the newer cars are just much cleaner than the older cars that have been mostly replaced.
Emissions Testing Does Little
by Little Guy , Sunday, November 12, 2023, 05:14 (23 days ago) @ D-Loco
Emissions testing is important regarding particulate emissions. Particulates are the tiny “pieces of stuff” that can get stuck in pulmonary areas inside the body resulting in disease and disorders. Particulates are bad for the individual.
But what is bad for all of us, is the GHG emissions that cause global warming. The big GHG emissions include carbon dioxide and methane. Methane goes by the oh-so-pleasant name “natural gas”. It’s “natural”, so it must be good for us, right? Arsenic is “natural” too, but it destroys life.
One of the ways that global warming deniers use to deflect attention from the real issue, global warming, is to deflect attention to wanting “clean air”. CO2 and methane are both invisible, resulting in air appearing to be “clean”, while leading us to global warming hell.
Living in Mexico I would like to see the same yearly auto emission tests that most mid-size and larger counties have to pass in the US. Auto emissions are terrible in Mexico. I have yet to see one EV with Chihuahua State plates. Never been to China but the statistics are terrible. Been to India and it's befuddling how they are able to live past 50. One country pushing hard to evolve from carbon isn't going to do much.
I urge you to investigate exactly all that Mexico does to regulate vehicle emissions. You appear totally unaware of what has been going on for years, decades. Especially in the large cities like Mexico and Guadalajara. Exemplary mass transit. Non-driving days for vehicles based on their plates. Emissions testing. No leaded fuels. If you check the live webcams and you know what Mexico City looked like 20 or 30 years ago, you should be quite impressed with the visibility on most days now. They've made amazing strides because they had to. Nothing like Beijing, Mumbai or even Tokyo. One of the largest cities in the world has made some impressive achievements, though of course there is still so much to do.
https://cambioclimatico.gob.mx/
I wouldn't expect EVs to become popular in Mexico anytime soon. But I do expect to see increasing use of better mass transit systems. One thing Mexico is doing in the nick of time is improving the cargo freight transit system across the Isthmus de Tehuántepec between the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico so that it can be competitive with the Canal de Panamá.
Otis has provided renewed impetus for Mexico. Acapulco has paid one of the heaviest prices if not the heaviest so far of any other community in the world for the excesses that cause global warming. You can bet there will be a lot more highly motivated people determined to tackle the problem and to be part of the solution.
No, we don't have all the regulations the USA has, but gee, the Red states appear to be going backwards in their haste to return to 1950 where they think "Father Knows Best" and "Leave It To Beaver" are documentaries. And golly, the rest of the world is only trying to emulate U.S. culture. They all want their cars and cellphones and modern conveniences, too. The problem is the U.S. lifestyle is NOT sustainable. Less than one fifth of the world's population consumes over a quarter of its resources. We all can't consume that much. It will only kill the planet more quickly. And therein lies the big conundrum.
Change
by midalake , Sunday, November 12, 2023, 17:59 (23 days ago) @ Craig AKA the cruise ship guy
Zihua got Rick October 25, 2021 and Acapulco got Otis October 26 this year. Luckily our flight was canceled in 2021 so we ended up in Cabo and missed Rick. Hopefully this won’t happen again but I’m done with Zihua in October. See you in January, I will let the rest of you figure out the world’s problems and where to put blame.
Flippin hot here today!!! 
Change
by Little Guy , Sunday, November 12, 2023, 21:45 (22 days ago) @ midalake
Zihua got Rick October 25, 2021 and Acapulco got Otis October 26 this year. Luckily our flight was canceled in 2021 so we ended up in Cabo and missed Rick. Hopefully this won’t happen again but I’m done with Zihua in October. See you in January, I will let the rest of you figure out the world’s problems and where to put blame.
Flippin hot here today!!!
Today in Troncones the Humidex was 41° C. It is the middle of November. The temperature/humidity should be no where near this.
Change
by ZihuaRob , Zihuatanejo, México, Monday, November 13, 2023, 08:21 (22 days ago) @ Little Guy
Zihua got Rick October 25, 2021 and Acapulco got Otis October 26 this year. Luckily our flight was canceled in 2021 so we ended up in Cabo and missed Rick. Hopefully this won’t happen again but I’m done with Zihua in October. See you in January, I will let the rest of you figure out the world’s problems and where to put blame.
Flippin hot here today!!!
Today in Troncones the Humidex was 41° C. It is the middle of November. The temperature/humidity should be no where near this.
Actually, at the end of our rainy season it's often just like it was at the beginning, a bit stifling with high humidity and temps. Since cold fronts don't really affect us much at this latitude, we rely on the ocean to bring cooler water temps to our coast.
Change
by Little Guy , Monday, November 13, 2023, 16:14 (22 days ago) @ ZihuaRob
Actually, at the end of our rainy season it's often just like it was at the beginning, a bit stifling with high humidity and temps. Since cold fronts don't really affect us much at this latitude, we rely on the ocean to bring cooler water temps to our coast.
And increasingly we can’t rely on cooler water temperatures. As land-based humans, we tend to think only of how land is affected by global warming, but global warming is affecting the ocean environment even more than the land.
Climate Change: Ocean Heat Content
More than 90 percent of the warming that has happened on Earth over the past 50 years has occurred in the ocean. Recent studies estimate that warming of the upper oceans accounts for about 63 percent of the total increase in the amount of stored heat in the climate system from 1971 to 2010, and warming from 700 meters down to the ocean floor adds about another 30 percent.
In addition to the heat, oceans are absorbing carbon dioxide, increasing water acidity, and killing calcium-dependent marine life such as coral, oysters, etc.
Change
by ZihuaRob , Zihuatanejo, México, Monday, November 13, 2023, 18:52 (22 days ago) @ Little Guy
Actually, at the end of our rainy season it's often just like it was at the beginning, a bit stifling with high humidity and temps. Since cold fronts don't really affect us much at this latitude, we rely on the ocean to bring cooler water temps to our coast.
And increasingly we can’t rely on cooler water temperatures. As land-based humans, we tend to think only of how land is affected by global warming, but global warming is affecting the ocean environment even more than the land.Climate Change: Ocean Heat Content
More than 90 percent of the warming that has happened on Earth over the past 50 years has occurred in the ocean. Recent studies estimate that warming of the upper oceans accounts for about 63 percent of the total increase in the amount of stored heat in the climate system from 1971 to 2010, and warming from 700 meters down to the ocean floor adds about another 30 percent.In addition to the heat, oceans are absorbing carbon dioxide, increasing water acidity, and killing calcium-dependent marine life such as coral, oysters, etc.
The latter is why I ask people to please leave shells on the beaches, or better yet, throw them back in the ocean to help counteract the ocean's acidification. But I'm sure you can imagine the responses by some of the privileged folks who vacation on Sanibel Island, a vacation destination that touts itself as the "shelling capital of the world".
Humanity lived through the hottest year in 125000 years
hope everyone starts walking to Zihuatanejo and stop using those polluting planes and taxis and combos..... go back to wood cooking and create another ozone layer
Humanity lived through the hottest year in 125000 years
by Little Guy , Sunday, November 12, 2023, 21:43 (22 days ago) @ noelofthenorth
hope everyone starts walking to Zihuatanejo and stop using those polluting planes and taxis and combos..... go back to wood cooking and create another ozone layer
Fatuous comments do not advance rational discussion of an existential crisis.
Do you deny that global warming is a crisis for human societies as we know them.
Are you a fatalist who is prepared to condemn the children and grandchildren to global warming hell?
Or are you prepared to participate in discussions about how we, as individuals, can modify our individual behaviour and require politicians to modify our collective behaviour?
