https://phys.org/news/2023-08-rapid-shifts-drought-downpour.html
by University of Texas at Austin
-----
The research looked at four decades of meteorological and hydrological data on a global level and found seven regional hotspots around the world where the trend was getting worse: eastern North America, Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, southern Australia, southern Africa, and southern South America.
-----
3zdLawK
https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/07/07/Harder-Fish-Sea-Breathe/
when researchers take the time to compare the three effects — warming, acidification and deoxygenation — the impacts of low oxygen are the worst.
“That’s not so surprising,” says Wilco Verberk, an eco-physiologist at Radboud University in the Netherlands. “If you run out of oxygen, the other problems are inconsequential.” Fish, like other animals, need to breathe.
-----
Oxygen levels in the world’s oceans have already dropped more than 2 per cent between 1960 and 2010, and they are expected to decline up to seven per cent below the 1960 level over the next century. Some patches are worse than others — the top of the northeast Pacific has lost more than 15 per cent of its oxygen.
-----
The Global Ocean Oxygen Network — a scientific group set up as part of the United Nations’ Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, 2021-30 — reports that since the 1960s, the area of low-oxygen water in the open ocean has increased by 4.4 million square kilometres. That’s an area a little more than half the size of Canada. By 2080, a 2021 study reported, more than 70 per cent of the global oceans will experience noticeable deoxygenation.
-----
One issue, he notes, is that low-oxygen conditions tend to host a class of anoxic bacteria that produce methane or nitrous oxide — potent greenhouse gases.
------
In general, a hot fish has a higher metabolism and needs more oxygen. Trout, for example, need five to six times more dissolved oxygen when waters are a balmy 24 C than when they are a chilly 5 C. So as waters warm and the oxygen seeps out, many marine creatures take a double hit. “Fish require a lot of oxygen, particularly the large
-----
A 2021 paper showed that the oceans are already committed to a fourfold greater oxygen loss, even if CO2 emissions stop immediately.
-----
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/23/world/tropical-forest-heat-photosynthesis-climate-scn-intl/index.html
by Laura Paddison
Wed August 23, 2023
Some leaves in tropical forests from South America to South East Asia are getting so hot they may no longer be able to photosynthesize, with big potential consequences for the world’s forests, according to a new study.
Leaves’ ability to photosynthesize – the process by which they make energy from carbon dioxide, sunlight and water – begins to fail when their temperature reaches around 46.7 degrees Celsius (116 Fahrenheit).
While this may seem high, leaves can get much hotter than the air temperature, according to the report published Wednesday in Nature by a group of scientists from countries including the US, Australia and Brazil.
-----
Theory might win the prize for the most commonly misunderstood word in science. In everyday usage, a theory is a hunch. A guess. Pure speculation. For example, I have a theory about why my cat yells (sings?) at night — he’s calling on the spirits of his ancestors to free him from the captivity of his luxurious life.
But in science speak, a theory is exactly the opposite — it’s a broad explanation for a wide range of phenomena that’s supported by a vast amount of evidence. As science progresses and evidence accumulates, related ideas are combined into a single, clear, and powerful explanation. Theories form the basis of our scientific knowledge and are used by scientists to make further predictions for testing. Examples include gravitational theory, plate tectonic theory, evolutionary theory, cell theory, germ theory, and atomic theory.
Understanding the natural world is the ultimate goal of science, and theories are about as close to the “truth” as we may ever get. So don’t be fooled when someone doubts science because “it’s just a theory.”
Learn more: How to speak science: thinkingispower.com/how-to-speak-science/
https://hartmannreport.com/p/why-billionaires-fund-anti-trans-255
Thom Hartman
AUG 16, 2023
Aug 15th, 2023, 3:17 pm
The social media platform once known as Twitter has reportedly started impeding users from accessing links to media organizations and online competitors that company owner Elon Musk personally “dislikes.”
The Washington Post conducted an analysis that documented a five-second load time delay occuring when X users click on links to certain websites like Facebook, Substack, Reuters, and The New York Times.
Aug. 14, 2023
As usual, this evening NPR refers to Biden's son tax fraud, no mention what happened was he failed to file for several years, and has since paid the back taxes, then refers to Trump case of hush money w/o mentioning that case is about tax fraud, he recorded it as business expense.
BY
The Republican Party uses right-wing media to knowingly spread lies, to according to an ex-Republican political adviser and researcher who spoke with Newsweek.
-----
Critics would say that the liberal echo chamber is CNN, MSNBC and mainstream media," he said. "I would say in response to that, that quite frankly it's b*******. "At the RNC all we had to do was repeat talking points and it would go on Fox News as is. Democrats don't do that, the DNC [Democratic National Committee] doesn't do it."
He added: "Also, I think an important thing about what differentiates the left and right and the media—the left has no similar echo chamber as evidenced by the lack of a left-wing freedom caucus."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-to-help-maui-wildfire-victims-donations/
BY S. DEV
AUGUST 10, 2023
A fast-moving wildfire on Hawaii's island of Maui has virtually destroyed the historic town of Lahaina, killing more than 50 people, and officials say the toll is expected to rise.
-----
President Biden has approved a federal disaster declaration for Maui, which makes federal funding available to aid the recovery.
If you want to donate to help those affected by the fires, here are some ways to do so:
[See the link above]
https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/environment/2023/07/27/extreme-heat-is-hobbling-oil-refineries-in-texas--pushing-up-gas-prices
By Susan Carpenter
If you’re paying more at the pump, extreme heat is partially to blame.
Multiple days of temperatures exceeding 100 degrees in the Southern states are affecting oil refineries in Texas and Louisiana, diminishing gas supplies and increasing prices.
Nationally, gas prices are up 13 cents compared with a week ago, according to the price-tracking website GasBuddy.
-----
Swathes of northern China were submerged in filthy floodwater on Wednesday after days of historic rainfall battered the capital city of Beijing and surrounding areas.
Photos show farmland in the surrounding areas was left submerged stretching for miles.
Aug. 3, 2023
So the MAGA mobsters should think it is OK if someone takes your money for goods or services and doesn't deliver, because you know, free speech.
https://twitter.com/RBReich/status/1687122059229319168?t=Es9Uc9XN_-0cy1HIPNnaDQ&s=19
Robert Reich
Aug. 3, 2023
How MAGA and the oligarchy feed off each other:
1. The oligarchy's objective is to hoard wealth
2. It uses MAGA to keep us divided over culture wars
3. Oligarchy siphons off more wealth while we're distracted
4. MAGA uses the oligarchy's money for campaigns
Rinse, repeat.
https://twitter.com/GeorgeMonbiot/status/1686380581469528064?t=pltLRqb_ixitSHExMsuc2A&s=19
George Monbiot
Aug. 1, 2023
It’s because of the Pollution Paradox, which I see as essential to understanding modern politics. The most damaging companies have the greatest incentive to invest money in politics. So politics, in our money-driven system, comes to be dominated by the most damaging companies.
