DawgTalkers.net Forums Thread Like Summary - Ocean Is Abnormally Warm

https://www.vox.com/climate/2024/2/...-change-hurricanes-coral-reefs-bleaching

I started getting concerned when they shut down the crab fisheries because the entire population of bering sea snow crab died off.

Now this is getting a bit scary. Ocean plankton produce 50% of the planet's oxygen. If they die, we die.

It is easy for me to get philosophical about the evolution of man. It was my major in college and even now I keep up.

I believe in science and what man is capable of. However, we have a dark side and it is driven by our pursuit of power and material wealth. We are a complex species capable of wonders, beauty, and compassion. But we are also capable of extreme brutality directed at each other.

When I have gone to places where no human has tread like Alaska. I am blown away by the raw beauty of what is on this planet. At the same time I am aware of mining companies (Pebble Mine) willing and able to destroy the land and water that is crucial for the survival of the people who live there. Kill off salmon runs that are at the top of the food chain that all life in the area depend upon permanently.

I have signed petitions and donated time and money to stop it from being reality for over twenty years.

https://www.nrdc.org/bio/joel-reynolds/president-biden-celebrates-pebble-veto-mine-will-not-be-built

I am filled with gratitude, relief, and joy that the people fought and won. Thankful that president Biden got this accomplished.

I don’t like the refuse. Half life of spent fuel is like 5-10k years, we have to protect watersheds.

If we have to fire up all of the nuclear power plants, to accelerate fusion energy, I will allow. The global community needs to band together with a common goal, a plan.

As a Homo Sapien walking on this earth I feel no greater obligation to future generations than to leave the earth a better place than when I lived.

Forget the lines we have drawn on the ground as a species and call countries over history. We have grown from small groups of hunter gatherers to a population of 8 billion all over the planet.

As you walk through your local grocery store and go up and down the isles look at how much of what we consume is held in plastic.

Take a moment and think of what humans produce that will not biodegrade. Remember that a river has caught fire and all the smog warnings all over the planet.

Go to a remote island somewhere in any ocean and see what washes up on the beach. Think about the chemical toxins that are produced all over the world.

Remember the oil spills and the results.

Humans on earth pollute. I don't care where they live. We have caused the extinction of species. We have polluted the oceans and poisoned the water we drink and fouled the air we breathe.

It is not about republicans and democrats or countries.

It is about us the Homo sapiens who walk this earth.

I do think this issue, like Anti-Semitism, shouldn't come down to politics, or left vs right or who did what. I know that I'm as "far left as they come" - whatever that means - but I do miss the days when politics didn't touch everything. Now it's seeped its way into beer, books, sports, education, amusement parks, etc. I think we've reached the point collectively where the house is on fire and we're trying to figure out who is responsible for it more than trying to put out the fire.

More and faster: Electricity from clean sources reaches 30% of global total

Billions of people are using different kinds of energy each day and 2023 was a record-breaking year for renewable energy sources — ones that don’t emit planet-warming pollutants like carbon dioxide and methane — according to a report published Wednesday by Ember, a think tank based in London.

For the first time, 30% of electricity produced worldwide was from clean energy sources as the number of solar and wind farms continued to grow fast.

Of the types of clean energy generated last year, hydroelectric dams produced the most. That’s the same as in most years. Yet droughts in India, China, North America and Mexico meant hydropower hit a five-year low. Research shows climate change is causing droughts to develop more quickly and be more severe.

People used more electricity than ever last year, about 2% more, an increase of about as much as Canada uses in a year. Some of this new demand was for heat pumps, which are an efficient way to both heat and cool buildings, and for electric vehicles. It was also for electrolyzers, special machines used to get hydrogen out of water, for energy. These are all technologies that provide solutions to climate change.

Other increased demand was for electricity to feed new data centers and for air conditioning as places around the world become hotter.

Solar made up the biggest share of new clean energy last year. More than twice as much solar power was added as coal power. It was the 19th year in a row that solar was the fastest-growing source of electricity generation. A surge in solar installations happened at the end of the year and the report predicts 2024 will see an even larger jump.

China added far more clean power than other countries in 2023

China accounted for 51% of new solar power and 60% of new wind power globally

China added more renewable energy than any other country last year — 51% of the new solar power and 60% of the new wind power globally. China, the European Union, the United States and Brazil together accounted for 81% of new solar generation in 2023.

Yet China was also responsible for 55% of coal generation globally and 60% of China’s electricity generation came from coal. The International Energy Agency says coal is the most carbon-intensive of the fossil fuels.

Scientists say emissions from burning fuels like coal must ramp steeply down to protect Earth’s climate, yet there was an increase in electricity made from burning fossil fuels. China, India, Vietnam and Mexico were responsible for nearly all of the rise.

The report said some countries burned coal to make up for the loss of hydroelectric power they experienced when drought caused their reservoirs to dry up. This is an example of a vicious cycle — when climate change prompts the use of more of the substances that cause climate change in the first place.

Despite all the growth in clean energy, fossil fuels still made up the majority of global electricity generated last year, causing a 1% rise in global power sector emissions. Scientists say even if we slashed all greenhouse gas emissions today, the planet would continue to warm for years because of the amount of pollutants already added to the atmosphere.

2024 projection: clean fuels up, fossil fuels down

Analysts expect the world to use even more electricity in 2024. But renewable energy generation is forecast to grow even faster. That could mean a 2% drop (333 terawatt-hours) in energy generated from fossil fuels.

https://apnews.com/article/renewabl...l-fuels-2718fce0ed37232dc25dbf46fff87955