Updates from the world of science, not comprehensive, it’s a small round up:
Referring to the recent paper on Tipping Points by McKay et al. Suggest read David Spratt’s (excellent climate science communicator) viewpoints in conjunction with below paper which got a lot of press.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn7950
“With rivers breaking their banks, flash flooding and glacial lakes bursting, Pakistan is experiencing its worst floods this century. At least one-third of the country is under water. Scientists say several factors have contributed to the extreme event, which has displaced some 33 million people and killed more than 1,200.”
Smriti Mallapati, 2 September 2022
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02813-6
“Environmental destruction in parts of the Amazon is so complete that swathes of the rainforest have reached tipping point and might never be able to recover, a major study carried out by scientists and Indigenous organisations has found.”
Andrew Downie 5 September 2022
“Thwaites is really holding on today by its fingernails, and we should expect to see big changes over small timescales in the future– even from one year to the next — once the glacier retreats beyond a shallow ridge in its bed,” Robert Larter, a marine geophysicist and one of the study’s co-authors from the British Antarctic Survey, said in the release.”
“Monday’s findings, which suggest the Thwaites is capable of receding at a much faster pace than recently thought,” …
Angela Fritz, 6 Sept 2022
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/05/world/thwaites-doomsday-glacier-sea-level-climate/index.html
“New UBC research has shown warmer temperatures can lead to smaller butterflies that collect less pollen and visit fewer flowers.”
https://news.ubc.ca/2022/09/15/warmer-earth-could-see-smaller-butterflies-that-struggle-to-fly-affecting-food-systems/ 15 Sept 2022
In Dr James Hansen’s latest mail chimp letter, dated 22 September 2022, on his Twitter account:
“Finally, we suggest that 2024 is likely to be off the chart as the warmest year on record. Without inside information, that would be a dangerous prediction, but we proffer it because it is unlikely that the current La Nina will continue a fourth year. Even a little futz of an El Nino – like the tropical warming in 2018-19, which barely qualified as an El Nino – should be sufficient for record global temperature. A classical, strong El Nino in 2023-24 could push global temperature to about +1.5°C relative to the 1880-1920 mean, which is our estimate of preindustrial temperature.”
https://mailchi.mp/caa/august-temperature-update-a-thank-you-bidens-report-card
“Scientists have issued an urgent “warning to humanity” about the global impact of tree extinctions. A new paper predicts severe consequences for people, wildlife and the planet’s ecosystems if the widespread loss of trees continues“
Graeme Green, 2 September 2022
