Climate Change? Nahhh ...

A pretty interesting column from Ezra Klein that ponders, at least at the top of the column - he loses the thread by the end - the value of eco-terrorism

Opinion | It Seems Odd That We Would Just Let the World Burn

 

Time to leave the coasts? Might be.

Recurrent high-tide floods are expected to worsen as sea levels continue to riseon account of climate change, but, as a new study warns, a regularly occurring 18.6-year cycle involving the Moon could trigger unprecedented flooding along U.S. coasts in the 2030s.

Nuisance flooding, sunny day flooding, or high-tide flooding—it’s all the same thing, and an annoying pain in the ass. In 2019, NOAA tracked more than 600 of these recurring high-tide flooding events, in which high tides extend 2 feet (0.6 meters) above the norm. These floods aren’t life threatening, but they can damage coastal infrastructure in affected areas and create annoyances like flooded parking lots. Needless to say, nuisance flooding is happening more frequently on account of human-induced climate change, and it’s poised to get even worse as sea levels continue to rise.
…

If that’s not bad enough, an 18.6-year lunar cycle is expected to amplify this effect even further, according to new research published in Nature Climate Change. The authors of the paper, led by Phil Thompson from the University of Hawaii, say the confluence of rising sea levels and a periodic wobble in the Moon’s orbit will increase the frequency and severity of high-tide floods along U.S. ocean coastlines. By the mid-2030s, tidal floods could occur in batches that last for a month or more and on a nearly daily basis, the scientists say.

This is all well known, but scientists are now having to predict the effect of this lunar cycle in the era of climate change and rising sea levels. Indeed, the situation looks bad, Moon wobble or no. Figures provided by NOAA paint a grim picture, with estimates suggesting global sea levels will rise by at least 12 inches (0.3 meters) by the turn of the century. Unfortunately, the world is currently on track for the worst-case sea level rise scenario that scientists have modeled and researchers have uncovered increasing worrisome signs about Antarctica’s ice. As of 2014, nearly 40% of the U.S. population inhabits coastal areas that could be vulnerable to rising sea levels.

“Low-lying areas near sea level are increasingly at risk and suffering due to the increased flooding, and it will only get worse,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement. “The combination of the Moon’s gravitational pull, rising sea levels, and climate change will continue to exacerbate coastal flooding on our coastlines and across the world.”​

Moon’s Wobble Will Intensify Flooding Along U.S. Coasts by the Mid-2030s, Research Suggests

 

He’s right.

MIT Predicted in 1972 That Society Will Collapse This Century. New Research Shows We’re on Schedule.

 

what’s he right about? The value of eco-terrorism?

 

That we should be radically altering our behavior before it’s too late.

 

That would lower the profits of many powerful people who have the ear of their various governments. I'll be dead before it happens, but things are going to have to get horribly bad before serious efforts will begin to be made, far behind the curve. We're going to need some huge scientific breakthroughs (fusion reactors, say, or workable ways to alter the atmosphere on a worldwide scale) or we're cooked. Literally.

 

Europe floods leave dozens dead - CNN


At least 46 people have died due to severe flooding in western Europe, caused by what experts described as the heaviest rainfall in a century.
Up to 70 people are missing in Germany after flash floods swept across western and southern parts of the country, causing buildings to collapse, police said Thursday. Germany is worst hit with 40 people killed, while six people died in Belgium. Luxembourg and the Netherlands are also affected.
"In some areas we have not seen this much rainfall in 100 years," Andreas Friedrich, a German weather service (DWD) spokesman, told CNN. He added that "in some areas we've seen more than double the amount of rainfall which has caused flooding and unfortunately some building structures to collapse."

 

The book cited at the beginning of the piece argues for terrorism.

“Were we governed by reason, we would be on the barricades today, dragging the drivers of Range Rovers and Nissan Patrols out of their seats, occupying and shutting down the coal-burning power stations.”

It’s an interesting use of the word “reason,” tying it to violence and anarchy such as it does.

Is that radical alteration? Or just terrorism?

 

Yes, no, maybe. Depends on who is writing the history.

 

Read the article and find out. Or continue to be disinterested and intellectually lazy. Your choice.

 

Got it.