The large and persistent 2023 finally closed on Dec 20, after a series of surprising twists . The reasons behind this behaviour remain unclear but point to or volcanic emissions.

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It happens everywhere: Here a thread and study about the Mediterranean shrub community:

BTW, projects like yours are most important not only because they sensitise people: they influence journalists's decisions. If it moves a lot of people, they are more likely to report on a topic, even if there is no current cause such as a study.

here is the link for full access:

"African Penguins Have Almost Been Wiped Out by Overfishing and Climate Change. Researchers Want to Orchestrate a Comeback. "

It's been raining rather a lot over the last few days - Storm Gerrit, apparently.
This means we've already had seven named storms this season, but very little by way of frost or cold.
I'm not really enjoying this climate change business much, if I'm honest...

In February 2023 the floating sea ice around Antarctica hit a record low for the second year running. But the moderate alarm from scientists at that record low is now being overlaid by astonishment with some worried they could be witnessing the start of a slow collapse of the delicate southernmost ecosystem.

Guardian Australia environment reporter Graham Readfearn and oceanographer Dr Will Hobbs tell Laura Murphy-Oates about why this melting is happening, and the major knock-on effects for the rest of the planet.

It's the , stupid.

-Giving aid and abetting a convicted war criminal, undermining democracies worldwide --

- denial in the face of catastrophic impacts.

-Voter suppression

-Class warfare - duping the victims of their policies by promoting border fear mongering with evidence-free "solutions" - walls, etc.

and the promise of tax avoidance for wealthy media owners

... assuring the public will remain in the dark about the criminal enterprise.

Breaking: Germany uses climate change as weapon against own citizens! Has the government gone too far
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If you only have one article to read today (and if you're interested in climate justice issues), here it is:
It's an interview in GRIST with Algerian researcher Hamza Hamouchene: "What abandoning fossil fuels could look like in the Arab world".

It touches on a point that is absolutely central to current climate policies (particularly those discussed at COP 28). What is known in English as "the resource curse", i.e. the apparently paradoxical situation in which a country with abundant natural resources is most of the time governed by authoritarian or pseudo-democratic regimes, while the vast majority of the population lives in conditions of persistent economic underdevelopment, inhabits degraded environments and derives no benefit from the country's wealth (for example, has only limited access to electricity or drinking water). But this "resource curse" is by no means inevitable: it is part of the logic of global capitalism, which sees the rich nations (Europe, the United States, China, and now many of the BRICS countries) monopolise the resources of these regions of the world (with the approval of local leaders). And, as Hamza Hamouchene points out here, the 'green' transformation of the industry does little to change the situation: under the aegis of COP 28, for example, a green colonialism is being established which, under the pretext of meeting the imperatives of mitigating climate catastrophe, is above all enabling the rich nations to guarantee the satisfaction of their energy needs, while reducing their carbon footprint.

This interview follows on from the book he co-edited with Katie Sandwell, published this year by Pluto Press:
"Dismantling Green Colonialism.
Energy and Climate Justice in the Arab Region" (table of contents in screenshot below).

Extract of the interview from Grist :

"LY: Its depressing that a lot of the places developing renewable energy for export are not meeting the electricity demands of their own population.

HH: Let me give you this example. In Namibia, there is a big green hydrogen project being built right now with the former colonial power, Germany. The project is owned by the Germans and the British. They are building a huge project, building solar panels, wind farms, and then using desalinated water to break the hydrogen molecule and export green hydrogen to Germany. In Namibia, 45 percent of the population does not have access to electricity, and the electricity it uses is imported from South Africa. This project would make sense if you were building solar plants and wind farms to produce green electricity for your own usage, right But not to produce green electricity for export.

(...)

We must always ask: Who owns what Who does what Who gets what Who wins and who loses And whose interests are being served Because if we dont ask these questions we will go straight to a green colonialism, with an acceleration of extraction and exploitation, in the service of a so-called common green agenda.

Si vous n'avez qu'un article lire aujourd'hui (et si vous vous intressez aux question de justice climatique), le voici :
Il s'agit d'une interview dans GRIST du chercheur Algrien Hamza Hamouchene : "What abandoning fossil fuels could look like in the Arab world ".

Il touche un point absolument central des politiques climatiques actuelles (notamment celles qui ont t discutes lors de la COP 28). Ce qu'on appelle en anglais "the ressource curse", c'est--dire la situation apparemment paradoxale dans laquelle un pays qui dispose de ressources naturelles en quantit est la plupart du temps gouvern par des rgimes autoritaires, ou pseudo-dmocratiques, et que l'immense majorit de la population vit dans des conditions de sous-dveloppement conomique persistantes, habite des environnements dgrads, ne tire aucun profit des richesses du pays (par exemple n'a qu'un accs limit l'lectricit ou l'eau potable). Or, cette "maldiction des ressources" n'a rien d'une fatalit : elle s'inscrit dans une logique du capitalisme global qui voit les nations riches (Europe, tats-Unis, Chine, et dsormais pas mal de pays des BRICS) s'accaparer les ressources de ces rgions du monde (avec l'aval des dirigeants locaux). Et, comme le souligne ici Hamza Hamouchene, la transformation "verte" de l'industrie ne change pas grand chose l'affaire : s'installe, sous l'gide de la COP 28 par exemple, un colonialisme vert qui, sous prtexte de rpondre aux impratifs de l'attnuation de la catastrophe climatique, vient surtout permettre aux nations riches de garantir la satisfaction de leur besoin nergtique, tout en diminuant leur empreinte carbone.

Cette interview s'inscrit dans la suite du livre qu'il a codit avec Katie Sandwell, publi cette anne chez Pluto Press :
"Dismantling Green Colonialism
Energy and Climate Justice in the Arab Region" (table des matires en copie d'cran ci-dessous)

Un extrait (traduit) de l'interview :

"LY : Il est dprimant de constater qu'un grand nombre de pays qui dveloppent des nergies renouvelables pour l'exportation ne parviennent pas rpondre la demande d'lectricit de leur propre population.

HH : Laissez-moi vous donner un exemple. En Namibie, un grand projet d'hydrogne vert est en cours de construction avec l'ancienne puissance coloniale, l'Allemagne. Le projet est dtenu par les Allemands et les Britanniques. Ils construisent un norme projet, des panneaux solaires, des parcs oliens, et utilisent ensuite de l'eau dessale pour briser la molcule d'hydrogne et exporter de l'hydrogne vert vers l'Allemagne. En Namibie, 45 % de la population n'a pas accs l'lectricit, et l'lectricit utilise est importe d'Afrique du Sud. Ce projet serait logique si l'on construisait des centrales solaires et des parcs oliens pour produire de l'lectricit verte pour son propre usage, n'est-ce pas Mais pas pour produire de l'lectricit verte destine l'exportation.

(...)

Nous devons toujours nous demander : qui possde quoi Qui fait quoi Qui obtient quoi Qui gagne et qui perd Et quels sont les intrts servis Car si nous ne posons pas ces questions, nous irons tout droit vers un colonialisme vert, avec une acclration de l'extraction et de l'exploitation, au service d'un soi-disant "agenda vert" commun."

Would you be in favor of classifying Big Oil companies as terrorist organizations

The study highlights not only the ecological mismatches resulting from changes in flowering times but also the potential for new competition or facilitation interactions and the loss or gain of pollinators. (7/7)

In the world's warmest year, the Netherlands also adds its darkest climate stripe: 11.8C on average, ahead of 2014 and 2020.
That's 1.3C above the already warmed 1991-2020 average and 2.5C above the 20th century average.

100 new oil and gas fields in the North Sea will not bring Britain energy security and will accelerate climate breakdown.

Please sign and repost this petition if you want the government to stop all new oil and gas field developments

"trees take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere when they are alive and, when they are chopped down, the carbon is stored in the wood. As long as the wood doesn't end up rotting or being burned, the carbon is not released.

About 200 trees went into Modvion's turbine tower."

This is amazing. When you look at the pics, you can see the area for 200 trees. Not much more than the space for a turbine.

The easiest solution to : Let's make sure that climate-damaging are associated with women and climate-friendly with men (but you didn't hear that from me, a woman)!

- people who care about the damage & of plastic production (mainly from ) & disposal should dematerialise their musical entertainment by downloading rather than streaming. The article you link to confirms this. Of course, streaming does cause climate change as indicated in your link. However, a bona fide life cycle assessment would provide a more convincing comparison. Its not clear this is the basis of the statements cited.

I understand the good intentions, but people who care about the environment have been doing all that stuff for years - the three Rs etc, going meat free etc. Whilst it makes a difference, it's too tiny to matter. Massive structural change is required. People won't buy local if stuff produced in China is so cheap, meaning we offshore our emissions and have ended up as a country that makes very little. Proper taxation of carbon emissions, starting with two of the biggest polluters - global shipping and aviation - is what's required. We need to rebalance the global economy.
In recent years, I've concluded that until the West Antarctic ice sheet slides gently into the sea in the next decade or two, and we have 1 million climate refugees of our own to worry about as a result, our government is not going to make any effective changes at all.

Climate brings chaos to
Plants and animals, unwell
Seasons out of sync

This is & folly: UK vinyl sales at the highest level since 1990

The thing about in general, is they believe in things that don't exist, like God, trickle-down economics, and meritocracy, but they don't believe in things that do exist, like , and Anthropogenic .

Englands train operators brace for further budget cuts

Whilst the EU and US invest in train infrastructure, which is the most efficient form of mass transit, reducing CO2 and demand for cars, as well as cost on the public, the UK is again tightening the belt and potentially causing a reduction in rail services. This is after millions for Northern rail was diverted to road repairs in London, which is distinctivly Southern

Will International Carbon Markets Finally Deliver

+ Mighty Yemen: 4 of the worlds 5 largest container-shipping companies, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk and MSC, have paused or suspended their services in the Red Sea Together these four companies account for 53% of the global container trade.
+ Currently, 5 out of 4 largest container shipping companies are turning away their vessels from the Red Sea due to attacks from the Houthis from Yemen, accounting for over 50% of the worlds capacity.
+ The Houthis have now taken more concrete steps to fight than : British Petroleum (BP), one of the worlds biggest oil corporations, announced it is temporarily halting all transit through the Red Sea due to the threat of attacks on their ships.

COP Out: Wrapping Up a Useless Climate Summit That Should Fool Nobody Opinion

By Peter Kalmus

Re: Storms - might get some rain tomorrow but the snow will come in January, February and March. In fact, we've been shy of winter precip the last couple of years. It's very odd and not helpful to our water tables. Been so warm that my irises started coming up. WTH

While I do think the actions of individuals matter (groups are composed of individuals), some individuals are a lot more wasteful than others.

I recommend you follow to get a sense of how casually billionaires keep spewing CO2 into the atmosphere. It's truly astounding how cavalier they are about it.

ZEEKR launches 007 sedan for under $30K, 540 mile range, and over 50,000 pre-orders in place

Interesting. More evidence that has shifted eastward - the area with the most tornado watches issued per 2023 (meaning most documented tornado-producing conditions is now Northern , the entire eastern half of , pretty much all of except the far south Gulf Coast, the west half of , and western/middle

"TN is an excellent comedian"

In general, I agree. However, it does bother me how TN often talks about, to paraphrase "flying around the world on Jets", &, afaik, has not once mentioned in any of his stage comedy routines

That's certainly not helping the people who are trying to mitigate the

Whilst RG made the usual 'backwards' joke about using 'private jets' to speed up 'armageddon. RG's 'Shock Jock' humour isn't designed to offend the 'person'

so many years of persistent creative messaging I wish our indigenous peoples had won their wars and subdued our sick destructive western cultures

Both Covid and Climate are similar in the way capitalist captured governments have perpetuated mythical solutions for basically non or unworkable responses

Covid: non-existent 'herd immunity', made up 'immunity debt', vaccine only approach - basically let 'er rip, normalize the impacts

Climate: impossible 'carbon capture', unrealistic 'nuclear build', offset coal with methane

The system is designed to worsen outcomes, not heal

Your power company might also do ConnectedSolutions, no harm in calling and asking! The batteries can power our house for nearly a whole day if we turn off non-essentials when the power goes out, so we opted for them instead of a generator when we started worrying that power outages are likely to happen more often as ramps up and we edge closer to societal .

Study: 2023's climate disasters expose 'global postcode lottery stacked against the poor' BusinessGreen News

Flooding comes with the tide
Cities vanishing in time
AI can save us all

Medical Study: PFAS Compounds, Known as Forever Chemicals, Accelerate Cancer Migration.

Ive been drinking poison for 30 years: Spokane, Washington residents reckon with slow-moving PFAS cleanup.

Via

I am 70. Each year I am progressively more heat adverse. Cannot tolerate much. Funny, how things change. I anticipate summers now, with a defensive position.

First new U.S. nuclear reactor since 2016 is now in operation