Extreme weather, extreme forest fires, and climate change (Radio Ecoshock)

Last week the news was full of massive tornado's and extreme weather. Most shocking was the near total destruction of Joplin Missouri due to an F-5 tornado, a mile wide and with 200 mile/hr winds, that waltzed through town destroying a hospital, the high school, hundreds of homes and other buildings. It wasn't a solitary tornado, but a swarm of tornado's that struck all over the midwest U.S.

Radio Echoshock this week covered not just the extreme weather, but also the extreme fire situation burning large swaths of boreal forest in the far north of Canada. The forest fires represent not only habitat loss but an accelerating effect upon climate change due to the massive carbon release from each fire.

Thursday, May 26, 2011 FLOOD FIRE WIND - Climate Shift

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The show started with one of the Net's premier meteorologists, Dr. Jeff Masters from the Weather Underground. Are tornadoes another sign of climate change? How can we have record floods in the Mississippi, while just next door Texas burns through a record drought. It's all going to raise food prices even higher.

Next was Joe Romm, of the Climate Progress blog, discussing a scientific report on The Salt Surge hit the Mackenzie River Delta in 1999. That is, the ocean "surged" and flooded the land with salty water. When scientists heard about the wave of salty sea water that washed over a maze of lowlands and small lakes, they investigated. It was a perfect chance to study what we can expect all over the world, as sea levels rise.

They found that about two thirds of the shrubs (there are no trees there) along the Delta died over the succeeding years. In the Delta lakes, salt water species started to take over from weakened fresh water types. It was a big and permanent change to the ecosphere.

It's thought salt surges will hit other areas too.

The third guest is Dr. Mike Flannigan, one of Canada's top wild fire experts. This covered why wildfires are doubling in the boreal forests in Canada, Alaska, and Russia. And a surprising new threat to the fragile balance of our climate.

We knew that the Boreal forests which cover the top of Canada, Alaska, and Russia were becoming a source of new carbon, rather than a greenhouse sink.

The community of Slave Lake in Alberta was just evacuated, with one third of the town, including the municipal buildings, the radio station and library, burned to the ground. It was a sudden nightmare for the inhabitants.

The Tundra - the area so far North it's too cold for tree seeds to germinate. So no trees. But there are hundreds of thousands of years of carbon stored in the Tundra, mostly as peat. If that burns, the whole climate of the world will change.

Isaac Asimov on the Greenhouse Effect, or what's called Global Warming today

Can We Save Earth For Humans? In 1989 Isaac Asimov was asked this question and delivered the following answer.

Listening to his talk he sounds rather prophetic in retrospective.

Asimov was of course a prolific author, and wrote hundreds of Science Fiction and Science books on dozens of subjects.

He calls for a totally human solution, with an international scope. He names off a large number of "dangers" that face "humanity" and hence it is "humanity" that has to come together to face these problems.

Hence he talks about some sort of world government, and asks how do we do that? Today a "world government" is rather alarming to people in the U.S. The mechanism he talks about is to have some kind of threat of world destruction. By way of example he explains potential for world government in terms of the formation of the United States. The U.S. is a conglomerate of semi-independent states.

The U.S. found it's unity in a gigantic project that included all the states, and made the differences between the states look small in comparison.

Hence for effective world government we need a gigantic project that all governments cooperate together on. He proposes space exploration as that gigantic project, speaking glowingly of solar power satellites beaming down power from outer space so that energy doesn't have to be tied to geography (e.g. who has coal, who has oil).

While poking around YouTube I found several other videos where he spoke on similar subjects.

As a teenager I of course read many of his books. It's nice to know he was concerned about these things. What do you think? Let me know below.

Shop for Asimov's works

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Isaac Asimov on the Greenhouse Effect, or what's called Global Warming today

Can We Save Earth For Humans? In 1989 Isaac Asimov was asked this question and delivered the following answer.

Listening to his talk he sounds rather prophetic in retrospective.

Asimov was of course a prolific author, and wrote hundreds of Science Fiction and Science books on dozens of subjects.

He calls for a totally human solution, with an international scope. He names off a large number of "dangers" that face "humanity" and hence it is "humanity" that has to come together to face these problems.

Hence he talks about some sort of world government, and asks how do we do that? Today a "world government" is rather alarming to people in the U.S. The mechanism he talks about is to have some kind of threat of world destruction. By way of example he explains potential for world government in terms of the formation of the United States. The U.S. is a conglomerate of semi-independent states.

The U.S. found it's unity in a gigantic project that included all the states, and made the differences between the states look small in comparison.

Hence for effective world government we need a gigantic project that all governments cooperate together on. He proposes space exploration as that gigantic project, speaking glowingly of solar power satellites beaming down power from outer space so that energy doesn't have to be tied to geography (e.g. who has coal, who has oil).

While poking around YouTube I found several other videos where he spoke on similar subjects.

As a teenager I of course read many of his books. It's nice to know he was concerned about these things. What do you think? Let me know below.

Shop for Asimov's works

External Media

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Raw video showing the earth's power during the recent Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami

In the rush to cover information about the nuclear meltdown disaster following Japans recent earthquake and Tsunami, it's easy to forget about the other disaster there. The vast and widespread devastation caused by the Tsunami, many fishing villages wiped away, etc. The 10+ thousands dead were from the Tsunami, not from the nuclear accident (those deaths remain in our future).

The video below was filmed by someone on top of a building next to a river in Japan. It shows in essence a reverse flood, where the ocean rose and became a flood. The devastation is amazing beginning first with cars tumbling around like toys, but as the water rose and rose buildings were knocked off their foundation and tossed around. A warehouse on the water was pushed off its foundation and shoved up against the building next to it, the building disintegrating and the contents (boxes) tumbling out into the water. Later another larger building eventually succumbed to the water and also fell off its foundation crumbling into the water.

As I wrote earlier (Higher Purpose: Japans earthquake and nuclear crisis asks us what we really want) -- "We" build stuff, towns and highways and nuclear plants, then the planet yawns and stretches and destroys those things. By having those things taken away from us, it presents an opportunity to take a step back and look from a broader perspective. Are those things we really want anyway? Is the cost of having those things greater than the benefit we get from them? Is there a better place to put those things than a spot that's prone to earthquakes?

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Will the Japan earthquake trigger other earthquakes?

Yesterday a powerful earthquake struck Japan (8.9 on the Richtor Scale), the fifth most powerful earthquake ever recorded. It's causing some to revisit doom scenarios with strings of earthquakes causing massive earth changes and the pole shift. It would make some sense that shaking the planet in one place would cause weak places elsewhere to shake and trigger earthquakes elsewhere. But, just because something seems like it would make sense doesn't make it correct. So, let's take a look at what evidence exists about this question.

The first video below is an example of someone drawing together questionable evidence and coming to the conclusion of a looming major earthquake. The thing is she posted that video on March 9, and the earthquake occurred on March 11. I'm sure she's patting herself on the back about giving such a prescient warning, even though the information she gives has little credibility. She included a clip of physicist Michio Kaku predicting that "within our lifetime" one of a list of major cities (all of them on tectonic plates) will be destroyed. She took that as proof that "they" were giving "us" a veiled warning, but in truth that warning was akin to predicting the sun will rise in the morning.

Chile Earthquake Altered Earth Axis, Shortened Day and NASA Details Earthquake Effects on the Earth describe some details to the effects massive earthquakes have had on the earths axis, and on the rate of rotation of the planet. The articles are concerned with the large earthquake in Chile last year, and another large earthquake in Indonesia in 2005. In both cases the earthquakes were strong enough to reduce the length of the day and change the axis of the planet.

Ah.. okay, one could suppose that with a more massive earthquake that the axis of the planet could change enough to induce a pole shift. Maybe. Depends on what mechanism it is that causes pole shift. The shifting of the poles was discovered (so far as I know) in the 1950's by scientists taking core samples across the ocean floors. They found bands of the earths crust had different magnetic orientation, giving evidence that the north pole had not always been at the north pole, but sometimes is at the south pole. I recently found a video by a scientist talking about variations in the magnetic field: Tracking Variations in the Earth's Magnetic Field

Increase in Microearthquakes in California Found After Chilean Quake reports that "By studying seismographs from the earthquake that hit Chile last February, earth scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have found a statistically significant increase of microearthquakes in central California in the first few hours after the main shock. The observation provides an additional support that seismic waves from distant earthquakes could also trigger seismic events on the other side of Earth." The website helpfully listed out a few related articles: Big Earthquakes Spark Jolts Worldwide, Large Earthquakes Trigger A Surge In Volcanic Eruptions, and San Andreas Affected By 2004 Sumatran Quake; Largest Quakes Can Weaken Fault Zones Worldwide

Japan Earthquake Triggered Volcano Eruption In Russia? covers a report that perhaps maybe possibly the Japan earthquake has triggered a volcano eruption in Russia.

Another concern is whether geothermal drilling or hydraulic fracturing can cause earthquakes. How Does Geothermal Drilling Trigger Earthquakes? Goes over evidence from a mine in Switzerland (which was shut down after it triggered earthquakes) and a mine in the Geysers area of Northern California that's routinely triggering small earthquakes. The method discussed is pumping water underground into rock that's been heated by magma intrusions (e.g. from "failed volcanos"), the water is heated by the hot rocks, becomes steam, and drives a turbine to generate electricity. Geothermal power is one of the cleaner ways to generate electricity. At some installations they fracture the underground rock and the human induced activity "changes the stress field" underground, causing a change in the rate of earthquakes.

It turns out there is a lot of scientific evidence suggesting large earthquakes can trigger other earthquakes, or even volcanos. The next question is whether the fault zone I live in (the famous San Andreas fault is just a couple miles from me) is likely to be triggered by the Japan earthquake.

Fortunately the US Geological Survey runs a nice website showing earthquake data in real time. It indicates there are small earthquakes occurring in California, but that's normal. What stands out on the earthquake map is it looks very quiet with fewer earthquakes than normal. The articles referenced earlier indicate there can be triggering of small earthquakes elsewhere. And sure enough there are a few 1-2 scale earthquakes which have happened. But it doesn't look like an abnormal rate of them, and they've occurred in the most likely places. For example near Mammoth Lakes, in the Geysers area, and in the mountains south of Gilroy.

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Peak Oil and a Changing Climate - A Video series from The Nation magazine

The scientific community has long agreed that our dependence on fossil fuels inflicts massive damage on the environment and our health, while warming the globe in the process. But beyond the damage these fuels cause to us now, what will happen when the world's supply of oil runs out? In a new video series from The Nation magazine and On The Earth Productions, Bill McKibben, Noam Chomsky, Nicole Foss, Richard Heinberg and other scientists, researchers and writers explain.

Visit TheNation.com for more videos in this series.

Richard Heinberg: Peak Oil and the Globe's Limitations

Richard Heinberg, senior fellow with the Post Carbon Institute and the author of The Party's Over, Peak Everything and, most recently, Blackout, discusses the phenomenon of peak oil and how it will affect life on this planet.

Nicole Foss: We Need Freedom of Action To Confront Peak Oil

In the third video in the series "Peak Oil and a Changing Climate" from The Nation and On The Earth productions, co-editor of The Automatic Earth, Nicole M. Foss, explains how energy relates to the economy and what our impending energy crisis will look like. Foss discusses the issues associated with peak oil in financial rather than environmental terms, because she finds that peak oil has much more to do with finance than it does with climate change.

Foss talks about what she calls a "false positive feedback loop," which involves optimism leading to "caution being thrown to the wind." When this happens, Foss believes that people become angry. Succumbing to fear and anger might lead to engagement in destructive behavior, which would make it harder for society to confront peak oil and climate change.

Reacting to former vice president Dick Cheney, who once said "the American way of life is not negotiable," Foss says, "That's true because reality is not going to negotiate with you."

For more videos in the series, visit TheNation.com.

James Howard Kunstler: Peak Oil and Our Financial Decline

In this fourth video in the series "Peak Oil and a Changing Climate" from The Nation magazine and On The Earth Productions, James Howard Kunstler discusses how finance and energy are running neck and neck to fuel the end of advanced industrial civilization.

Dmitry Orlov: Peak Oil Lessons From The Soviet Union

Dmitry Orlov, engineer and author, warns that the US's reliance on diminishing fuel supplies might be sending it down the same path the Soviet Union took before it collapsed.

In this fifth video in the series "Peak Oil and a Changing Climate" from The Nation and On The Earth Productions, Orlov, who was an eyewitness to the collapse of the Soviet Union, asserts that run-away debt and national bankruptcy will lead the US to its demise, just as it did for Moscow. As oil becomes more expensive and scarcer, the US will no longer be able to finance its importation and the economy will hit a wall, he says.

"Sixty percent of all of our transportation fuels are imported—a lot of that is on credit. A large chunk of the trade deficit is actually in transportation fuels. When those stop arriving because of our inability to borrow more money, then the economy is at a standstill," he says.

Visit thenation.com to learn more about "Peak Oil and a Changing Climate," and to see the other videos in the series.

Noam Chomsky: How Climate Change Became a 'Liberal Hoax'

In this sixth video in the series "Peak Oil and a Changing Climate" from The Nation and On The Earth Productions, linguist, philosopher and political activist Noam Chomsky talks about the Chamber of Commerce, the American Petroleum Institute and other business lobbies enthusiastically carrying out campaigns "to try and convince the population that global warming is a liberal hoax." According to Chomsky, this massive public relations campaign has succeeded in leading a good portion of the population into doubting the human causes of global warming.

Known for his criticism of the media, Chomsky doesn't hold back in this clip, laying blame on mainstream media outlets such as the New York Times, which will run frontpage articles on what meteorologists think about global warming. "Meteorologists are pretty faces reading scripts telling you whether it's going to rain tomorrow," Chomsky says. "What do they have to say any more than your barber?" All this is part of the media's pursuit of "fabled objectivity."

Of particular concern for Chomsky is the atmosphere of anger, fear and hostility that currently reigns in America. The public's hatred of Democrats, Republicans, big business and banks and the public's distrust of scientists all lead to general disregard for the findings of "pointy-headed elitists." The 2010 elections could be interpreted as a "death knell for the species" because most of the new Republicans in Congress are global warming deniers. "If this was happening in some small country," Chomsky concludes, "it wouldn't matter much. But when it's happening in the richest, most powerful country in the world, it's a danger to the survival of the species."

Visit TheNation.com to learn more about "Peak Oil and a Changing Climate," and to see the other videos in the series.

Julia Butterfly Hill "Pro" - rather than being "Anti-"

"Julia Butterfly Hill is known for climbing a 1,000 year-old redwood tree in 1997 when she was 23 years old, and remaining there without touching the ground for two years, as part of a successful effort to call worldwide attention to the destruction of California's ancient redwoods. Since then, she has addressed the U.N., lobbied Congress, and continued to stand on the front lines of environmental and social justice issues all over the world. She is the author of The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods and One Makes the Difference: Inspiring Actions That Change Our World."

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