Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics.

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Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.

As a starting point, the burning of fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent deforestation and release of methane are responsible for the warming in recent decades: Graph of temperature as observed with significant warming, and simulated without added greenhouse gases and other anthropogentic changes, which shows no significant warming

How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world: IPCC AR6 Figure 2 - Thee bar charts: first chart: how much each gas has warmed the world.  About 1C of total warming.  Second chart:  about 1.5C of total warming from well-mixed greenhouse gases, offset by 0.4C of cooling from aerosols and negligible influence from changes to solar output, volcanoes, and internal variability.  Third chart: about 1.25C of warming from CO2, 0.5C from methane, and a bunch more in small quantities from other gases.  About 0.5C of cooling with large error bars from SO2.

Recommended actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the near future:

Anti-science, inactivism, and unsupported conspiracy theories are not ok here.

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For context, increased concentrations of greenhouse gases, including CO2, are responsible for approximately all of the warming that has happened in recent decades:

With carbon dioxide being the largest part of that:

And human burning of fossil fuels (as in power plants) is substantially responsible for that increase:

Based on multiple lines of evidence using interhemispheric gradients of CO2 concentrations, isotopes, and inventory data, it is unequivocal that the growth in CO2 in the atmosphere since 1750 (see Section TS.2.2) is due to the direct emissions from human activities. The combustion of fossil fuels and land-use change for the period 1750–2019 resulted in the release of 700 ±75 PgC (likely range, 1 PgC = 1015 g of carbon) to the atmosphere, of which about 41% ±11% remains in the atmosphere today (high confidence). Of the total anthropogenic CO2 emissions, the combustion of fossil fuels was responsible for about 64% ± 15%, growing to an 86% ±14% contribution over the past 10 years.

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It's worth noting that he also fired many of the staff who know how to ensure that they're actually safe, as well as the staff who would approve financing.

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I'll note that this bind didn't prevent House Republicans from voting to impoverish their constituents.

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In particular, they're ignoring the Senate rules requiring a supermajority vote, and planning to claim they've taken away California's ability to regulate tailpipe pollution with a mere majority.

If you're an American, it's worth calling your senators and asking them to vote to preserve California's ability to impose stricter pollution controls — much of the country has historically adopted California's rules.

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  • A new analysis of more than 70,000 wild animal species reveals that climate change is now the third-greatest threat to the planet’s wildlife, following overexploitation and habitat degradation.
  • The study found that nearly 5% of the assessed species are threatened by climate change, with ocean invertebrates being particularly vulnerable to climate change-related threats, such as extreme temperatures, floods, droughts, storms and ocean acidification.
  • The study warns that some animal populations, both on land and at sea, have already begun to collapse due to climate change-related events, and it’s now necessary to monitor mass die-offs to understand the impacts of climate change and predict future impacts.
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I'll note that the bill has yet to pass the Senate. If you're an American, call your Senators and ask them to vote against it.

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  • Agricultural expansion in Brazil’s Pará and Mato Grosso states has destroyed 27 million hectares (67 million acres) of jaguar habitat — an area the size of the U.K. — with 5 million hectares (12 million acres) cleared between 2014 and 2023, most of it illegally.
  • A report by Global Witness links some of this deforestation to indirect suppliers of JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker, which has failed to fully uphold its pledge to eliminate illegal deforestation from its supply chain by 2025.
  • The report highlights weak enforcement of environmental laws and recent attempts by local governments to reverse antideforestation policies, as agribusiness continues to wield major political and economic power.
  • With Brazil hosting the COP30 climate summit later this year, campaigners are urging governments and corporations to fulfill deforestation pledges, improve supply chain traceability, and address agriculture’s growing role in greenhouse gas emissions.
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As usual, if you're an American, it's worth calling your senators and asking them to vote to preserve California's vehicle emissions standards; they're used by states which cover about half the country.

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It can in theory be stopped if Senators vote against it. Making that happen means having Senators fear that constituents will vote them out and seek their prosecution. If you live in the US, calling your senators a call and letting them know how mad you are at the Republican agenda might just help a little.

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Every bit is worth something, even if no one person or group can do enough.

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