Garry Rogers's Blog, page 14

Humans experimenting with climate’s ‘playing nice’

". . . human activities could be “tipping the climate into an intermediate period of climate changes…. We can face a climate change that happens just as fast as the financial crisis,” Steffensen says. In that case, agricultural activity worldwide could be adversely affected … “the weather will change, and it will not change back” quickly." Continue reading →

The Ever-Revolving Door: Industry and the EPA

The 'revolving door' between governments and industry creates close ties that often prevent objective regulation of business activities. Continue reading →

Stark Evidence: A Warmer World Is Sparking More and Bigger Wildfires

As the climate system strives to reach a new equilibrium, droughts and heatwaves will become more frequent, large fires will become more common, and weed dominated landscapes will form. Continue reading →

That rotten stench in the air? It’s the smell of deadly gas and secrecy

Secret government-industry cooperation disclosed by whistleblowers and investigators shows disregard for human life. Continue reading →

Death by 1,000 Cuts: Why the Forest Carbon Sink Is Disappearing

Researchers found that 69% of deforestation came from small scale projects. Continue reading →

Degraded Tropical Forests Now Release More Carbon Than They Store

"If we're to keep global temperatures from rising to dangerous levels, we need to drastically reduce emissions and greatly increase forests' ability to absorb and store carbon." Continue reading →

Plants of the Post Anthropocene: 5. Barnyard Grass

If you allow a few clumps to grow, you will get to enjoy watching the acrobatics of Lesser Goldfinches that relish Barnyard Grass seeds. The small birds hang (often upside down) on drooping seed tops steadily removing mature seeds until all are gone. Continue reading →

Plants of the Post Anthropocene: 4. Barestem Larkspur

Larkspur’s foliage poisons cattle, but the flowers are fabulous insect magnets. Butterflies, bees, flies, and moths of many species like the nectar. Around my house, it’s the most popular flower for bumblebees including the big shiny black carpenters. Continue reading →

Plants of the Post Anthropocene: 3. Annual Yellow Sweetclover

Sweetclover feeds bees and other pollinators, but is poisonous to some mammals. According to the Encyclopedia of Life, it can repel bed bugs and clear constipation. I haven’t read the source for these uses, but as the climate warms and humidity increases, repelling bedbugs might become an essential benefit. Worth a try. Continue reading →

Half-way to Catastrophe — Global Hothouse Extinction to be Triggered by or Before 2100 Without Rapid Emissions Cuts

Presently, human beings are dumping carbon into the atmosphere at an extremely high rate of around 11 billion tons per year. Today, about 2.6 billion tons per year of this carbon ends up in the ocean. In total, since 1850, humans have added about 155 billion tons of carbon to the Earth’s oceans — leaving us with about another 155 billion tons before Rothman’s (the study author) extinction threshold is crossed. Continue reading →