WTF Climate Change News

Beebo Brink · Dec 30, 2021

The beavers returning to the desert

One small, plucky animal has an outsized ability to transform its environment, helping to replenish river ecosystems even in the desert.

www.bbc.com

Kamilah Hauptmann · Dec 30, 2021

Beebo Brink said:
The beavers returning to the desert

One small, plucky animal has an outsized ability to transform its environment, helping to replenish river ecosystems even in the desert.

www.bbc.com

AND STAY OUT!

Beebo Brink · Dec 31, 2021

Beebo Brink said:
The beavers returning to the desert

One small, plucky animal has an outsized ability to transform its environment, helping to replenish river ecosystems even in the desert.

www.bbc.com

Ooops. Turns out no good deed goes unpunished....

Beavers have colonized the Alaskan and Yukon Tundra to the peril of us all

Beaver-engineered ponds in Alaska threaten to increase methane emissions and change local habitats—find out what this means for the Arctic.

www.dailykos.com

Beavers are a keystone species, capable of changing landscapes by creating new ponds and diverting the flow of rivers. Ponds created by beaver dams increase surface water, which in the Arctic is causing permafrost to melt, in turn releasing the greenhouse gasses methane and carbon dioxide.

Beaver dams raise the water level, enabling the dissolution of the organic carbon from the soil. From beaver ponds, carbon is released to the atmosphere. Part of the carbon settles down on the bottom, ending up used by plants or transported downstream in the water. "An increase in the number of beavers has an impact on the climate since a rising water level affects the interaction between beaver ponds, water and air, as well as the carbon balance of the zone of ground closest to water," says Petri Nummi, University Lecturer at the University of Helsinki.

Beebo Brink · Jan 2, 2022

2021 delivers a final reminder that climate change deniers are fools and liars

Kamilah Hauptmann · Jan 2, 2022

Beebo Brink said:
2021 delivers a final reminder that climate change deniers are fools and liars

I love watching my uncle squirm when I confront him with what her spent his adult life voting for.

danielravennest · Jan 3, 2022

Kamilah Hauptmann · Jan 4, 2022

WolfEyes · Jan 4, 2022

Clara D. said:
Wow, Wal-Mart grade bikes have gotten way worse -- at least the old Huffy's and the like had vague potential.

Advice: if you're anywhere near a university/college, check offer-up/craigslist for cheap bikes at the end of semesters.

Best advice... don't let Wally World or the bike shops assemble the bike for you. Find the old guy that collects used/damaged bikes and rebuilds/repaints them for sale. ETA: Or do it yourself. lol

Every bike we have bought in the last 10 years preassembled was not assembled properly and ended up damaging the bikes beyond repair. Makes me miss Cliff. The pinstriping he did was absolutely beautiful.

Innula Zenovka · Jan 7, 2022

‘Everything is at risk’: flood survivors urge Congress to change inadequate insurance

The petition argues that the federal government’s current flood insurance policies are ill-equipped for an era of climate crisis

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link

Innula Zenovka · Jan 8, 2022

UK surge in post-Christmas returns reveals dark side of online shopping boom

Returns process thought to cost firms about £7bn a year and weigh heavily on companies’ carbon footprints

www.theguardian.com

Evernote link

With up to half of clothing bought online returned to some retailers, the whole process is estimated to cost businesses about £7bn a year, according to a 2020 study by consultancy KPMG. It is tricky to measure the environmental costs, but the transport, storage and disposal of items that cannot be resold because they are damaged or dirty is likely to weigh heavily on brands’ carbon footprints, and poses troubling questions about the dark side of the online sales boom.

Anita Balchandani at consultancy McKinsey says managing the flow of returned goods is a “sustainability imperative for the industry”, not just looking at the impact of the “last mile” delivery to, and from, homes – but also what happens to an item that is no longer wanted.

Innula Zenovka · Jan 10, 2022

Past seven years hottest on record - EU satellite data

Analysis shows 2021 was the fifth-warmest with record-breaking temperatures in some regions.

www.bbc.co.uk

Kamilah Hauptmann · Jan 14, 2022

Beebo Brink · Jan 17, 2022

Aribeth Zelin · Jan 17, 2022

My bug phobia did not need the mental image [ luckilly, the actual image isn't so bad.]

Sid · Jan 17, 2022

China’s coal production hit record levels in 2021

In blow to climate campaigners, state encourages miners to ramp up output to avert winter gas crisis

www.theguardian.com

We want our stuff made at the cheapest possible way, so we end up in China most of the time.
And China needs the energy from somewhere to be able to produce.
We are as much to blame as they are.
Depressing.

Beebo Brink · Jan 17, 2022

Sid said:
We want our stuff made at the cheapest possible way, so we end up in China most of the time.
And China needs the energy from somewhere to be able to produce.
We are as much to blame as they are.

Yeah, no one country is to blame. Humans love to buy gaudy bangles -- whether it's a shell necklace traded by hunter-gathers of 75,000 years ago or contemporary people snatching up the latest iPhone. We have basic emotional impulses that override that new-fangled prefrontal cortex and it's lofty functions.

Sid · Jan 18, 2022

We want to do something for the climate? Yes of course!!
But damn, that new SUV is needed as well or that vacation to the Alps, the Grand Canyon or that fancy Turkish seaside resort.
And who can live without a constant Internet connection?
We try to combine things that basically contradict and we build our hopes on others to do something for the climate, like corporations and governments.
Hey, I seperate my garbage already for recycling, now it is their turn. Yeah sure.
Basically: Don't do as I do, but as I say you should do. *

* Of course I mean general I, you and we in this text.