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Earth

Earth's Oceans Are Getting Hotter and Higher, And It's Accelerating, UN Report Warns (npr.org) 331

Posted by BeauHD from the good-news-for-people-who-like-bad-news dept.
According to a new report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, ocean warming is accelerating and sea levels are rising more quickly. "The report is a synthesis of the most up-to-date climate science on oceans and ice, and it lays out a stark reality: Ocean surface temperatures have been warming steadily since 1970, and for the past 25 years or so, they've been warming twice as fast," reports NPR. From the report: Sea levels are also rising increasingly quickly "due to increasing rates of ice loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets," the report states. The report also discusses a relatively new phenomenon in the oceans: marine heat waves. That's a big deal for coastal communities whose economies rely on fish and other seafood. Marine heat waves in recent years drove a cascade of changes in marine life off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, which in turn led to disastrous seasons for commercial fishermen.

Rising water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico have also affected weather in that region. When sea surface temperatures are unusually high, it helps fuel larger, wetter tropical storms. For example, Hurricane Harvey and Tropical Depression Imelda came inland and dropped incredible amounts of rain on Texas in the past two years. The U.N. panel's report suggests multiple actions that local, state and national leaders can take to slow ocean warming and rising, and to adapt to its impacts. First and foremost, the authors reinforce what has been known for decades: Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are the main driver of changes in the world's oceans, and the global economy must undergo a dramatic transformation to reduce those emissions. [T]he report also notes that if greenhouse gas emissions are immediately and dramatically curtailed, some impacts of ocean acidification could be avoided this century.

Comment Re:This is pretty obvious from my comments (Score 1) 704

by XxtraLarGe (#59234976) Attached to: Trump Impeachment Inquiry Opens as Call Transcript Is Released

but I like /. for politics. It's probably the most even keel centrist site in existence.

I don't know about that. As a libertarian, even though I don't like Trump, didn't vote for him, or support a lot of what he stands for (huge military spending & out of control deficits, immigration & the wall, trade war with China & resulting farm subsidies, banning vapes, etc), there have been a few occasions where he's done something I agree with (prison reform for instance), and posting something positive about him seems to get me modded to oblivion.
Earth

Climate Change Causes and Impacts Are Increasing, UN Report Says (axios.com) 355

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
As world leaders gather in New York City for the United Nations Climate Action Summit Monday, a UN report warns climate change is accelerating -- with the Earth on track for the warmest 5-year period on record. From a report: "Climate change causes and impacts are increasing rather than slowing down. Sea level rise has accelerated and we are concerned that an abrupt decline in the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, which will exacerbate future rise. As we have seen this year with tragic effect in the Bahamas and Mozambique, sea level rise and intense tropical storms led to humanitarian and economic catastrophes," said World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a statement.

Data compiled by the World Meteorological Organisation for the report, to be presented to the UN summit, shows the average global temperature for 2015-2019 is on course to be the warmest of any equivalent period on record. "It is currently estimated to be 1.1Celsius (+- 0.1C) [about 2F] above pre-industrial (1850-1900) times," the UN said in a statement accompanying the "United in Science" report. To stop a global temperature rise of more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, countries must triple climate emission cut targets, the report warns.
Earth

Ask Slashdot: Could Climate Change Be Solved By Manipulating Photons in Space? (9news.com) 382

Posted by EditorDavid from the bright-ideas dept.
Slashdot reader dryriver writes: Most "solutions" to climate change center on reducing greenhouse gas emissions on Earth and using renewable energy where possible. What if you could work a bit closer to the root of the problem, by thinking about the problem as an excess number of photons traveling from the Sun to the Earth?

Would it be completely physically impossible to place or project some kind of electrical or other field into space that alters the flight paths of photons -- which are energy packets -- that pass through it? What if you could make say 2% of photons that would normally hit the Earth miss the Earth, or at the very least enter Earth's atmosphere at an altered angle?

Given that the fight against climate change will likely swallow hundreds of billions of dollars over the next years, is it completely unfeasible to spend a few billion dollars on figuring out how to manipulate the flight paths of photons out in Space?
Here's a recent news report along those lines: A group of Swedish researchers believe that a cataclysmic asteroid collision from hundreds of millions of years ago could have the answers to solving climate change... Researchers have been discussing different artificial methods of recreating post-collision asteroid dust, such as placing asteroids in orbits around Earth like satellites and having them "liberate fine dust" to block warming sunlight, thus hypothetically cooling our warming planet. "Our results show for the first time that such dust at times has cooled Earth dramatically," said Birger Schmitz, professor of geology at Lund University and the leader of the study. "Our studies can give a more detailed, empirical based understanding of how this works, and this in turn can be used to evaluate if model simulations are realistic."

The research is still a ways out from practical use, however. Scientists are understandably wary about recreating a prehistoric dust storm. Speaking to Science Magazine, Seth Finnegan, a paleontologist at the University of California, Berkeley said that the results of the study "shows that the consequences of messing around in that way could be pretty severe."
The university's press release does say their research "could be relevant for tackling global warming if we fail to reduce carbon dioxide emissions." But what do Slashdot's readers think of these ideas?

Leave your own thoughts in the comments. Could climate change be solved by manipulating photons in space?

Comment Re:We need more competition (Score 2, Informative) 348

by XxtraLarGe (#59217118) Attached to: Why Prescription Drugs Cost So Much More in America

In many countries pharmacies are required to offer generics if they exist. In many countries doctors are banned from writing brand name on prescription forms and it's up to the pharmacist to find what options for drugs are available to fill the prescription.

I just ask my doctor for the generic equivalent. Never had a problem.

Ask your sick and dying if socialism is right for you!

Except when it isn't. If you want socialist-style health care, expect to be happy with VA-style service.
Earth

Experts Warn World 'Grossly Unprepared' For Future Pandemics (theguardian.com) 148

Posted by BeauHD from the be-afraid-be-very-afraid dept.
Prominent international experts are warning that a virulent flu pandemic capable of spreading across the world in 36 hours, killing up to 80 million people, is entirely plausible and efforts by governments to prepare for it are "grossly insufficient." The Guardian reports: The first annual report by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, an independent group of 15 experts convened by the World Bank and WHO after the first Ebola crisis, describes the threat of a pandemic spreading around the world, potentially killing tens of millions of people, as "a real one." There are "increasingly dire risks" of epidemics, yet the world remained unprepared, the report said. It warned epidemic-prone diseases such as Ebola, influenza and Sars are increasingly difficult to manage in the face of increasing conflict, fragile states and rising migration. The climate crisis, urbanization and a lack of adequate sanitation and water are breeding grounds for fast-spreading, catastrophic outbreaks.

The report acknowledges governments and international institutions have taken steps to increase preparedness for outbreaks in the five years since the Ebola crisis in west Africa, but concludes current preparedness is "grossly insufficient." A growing lack of public trust in institutions in some countries, exacerbated by misinformation, hinders disease control, said the study. The report outlined seven steps to ensure the world's health system is better prepared for the next health emergency, calling on heads of states to increase funding and for international organizations to build preparedness into funding mechanisms. "Poverty and fragility exacerbate outbreaks of infectious disease and help create the conditions for pandemics to take hold," said Axel van Trotsenburg, acting CEO of the World Bank. "Investing in stronger institutions and health systems will promote resilience, economic stability and global health security."
Crime

Vaping Criminal Probe Announced By FDA As Illnesses Rise To 530 (cnet.com) 100

Posted by BeauHD from the up-and-up dept.
The FDA has revealed a criminal investigation into the outbreak of vaping-related lung illnesses, which have risen to 530 across 38 states, according to the CDC. The Washington Post says there have been seven confirmed deaths from these illnesses so far. CNET reports: The FDA reportedly said it isn't seeking prosecution for ill people who've vaped cannabis and come forward with information. "The focus is on the supply chain," Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, told the Post. "We're very alarmed about products containing THC." Suspicion has recently turned to chemical dilutants, or "cutting agents," found in some black market THC vaping oils. The FDA has collected more than 150 samples from patients across the country and is now analyzing them for the presence of cutting agents and other substances. According to the CDC, more than half the patients are under 25, with two-thirds between 18 and 34, and 16% under 18.

Comment Re:Just means you need a media change (Score 1) 108

I look forward to tuning into CNN, and seeing the reporter announce in a deadpan face:

"Donald Trump took a dump on twitter this morning . . ."

And then report the reaction from Twitter randos (can we call them Twits?). When Twitter blows up, is it explosive diarrhea?
Earth

Climate Change is Real and Things Will Get Worse -- But Because We Understand the Driver of Potential Doom, It's a Choice, Not a Foregone Conclusion (scientificamerican.com) 268

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
Kate Marvel, writing for Scientific American: We are, I promise you, not doomed, no matter what Jonathan Franzen says. We could be, of course, if we decided we really wanted to. We have had the potential for total annihilation since 1945, and the capacity for localized mayhem for as long as societies have existed. Climate change offers the easy choice of a slow destruction through inaction like the proverbial frog in the slowly boiling pot. And there are times when the certainty of inevitability seems comforting. Fighting is exhausting; fighting when victory seems uncertain or unlikely even more so. It's tempting to retreat to a special place -- a cozy nook, a mountaintop, a summer garden -- wait for the apocalypse to run its course, and hope it will be gentle.

[...] It is precisely the fact that we understand the potential driver of doom that changes it from a foregone conclusion to a choice, a terrible outcome in the universe of all possible futures. I run models through my brain; I check them with the calculations I do on a computer. This is not optimism, or even hope. Even in the best of all possible worlds, I cannot offer the certainty of safety. Doom is a possibility; it may that we have already awakened a sleeping monster that will in the end devour the world. It may be that the very fact of human nature, whatever that is, forecloses any possibility of concerted action. But I am a scientist, which means I believe in miracles. I live on one. We are improbable life on a perfect planet. No other place in the universe has nooks or perfect mountaintops or small and beautiful gardens. A flower in a garden is an exquisite thing, rooted in soil formed from old rocks broken by weather. It breathes in sunlight and carbon dioxide and conjures its food as if by magic. For the flower to exist, a confluence of extraordinary things must happen. It needs land and air and light and water, all in the right proportion, and all at the right time. Pick it, isolate it, and watch it wither. Flowers, like people, cannot grow alone.

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