Top Ten Climate Change Threats being ignored by your Television News
Posted on 10/20/2013 by Juan Cole
Since many mainstream media outlets in the US are burying the dramatic climate change stories from all around the world, either by not reporting them or by reporting incidents with no context, it is important for the progressive alternative press to keep this subject in the public eye.
Aljazeera International reports .. http://youtu.be/XaPmZp-lu88 .. on the unprecedented threat of the fires to homes in New South Wales:
2. Rising temperatures and other effects of climate change are expected to take 10 percent off the Egyptian gross domestic product by 2050 .. http://www.femise.org/en/2013/10/recherches/fem34-23-rex/ . Agriculture will be hurt, as will tourism. Egypt is also especially vulnerable to rising seas since the Nile Delta is barely above sea level.
5. Lake Superior of the Great Lakes is warming faster than the other great lakes .. http://www.ibtimes.com/climate-change-causing-lake-superior-warm-faster-any-lake-planet-1427474 . Warming means that the Lakes have an ice cover less of the year. The ice sheets reflect more sunlight back into space, so their decline contributes further to warming. Fish species are also being displaced.
7. Climate change will cause more mercury .. http://grist.org/list/yum-climate-change-means-more-mercury-in-fish/ .. to be concentrated in fish. Mercury is a nerve poison and causes madness in human beings along with other negative health effects Much of the mercury in our environment comes from burning coal or from using it in industrial processes and then dumping it in waterways.
8. Climate change threatens the agricultural productivity of Nigeria and 10 other .. http://allafrica.com/stories/201310150596.html .. West African countries. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) writes, “Maize, millet, rice, and sorghum are the major cereal crops in the region, yet yields from these crops are very low compared to the world average and even other regions in Africa. Impacts from a changing climate will challenge production systems already under pressure to produce more to feed a growing population. Existing farming systems, including crops and livestock, are adapted to today’s agro-ecosystems in the region, but climate change will alter those systems in uncertain ways, affecting livelihoods, especially those of poor farmers…”
9. Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns will threaten an additional 50 million people in Asia with hunger .. http://www.trust.org/item/20100930124000-6beg0/?source=hptop .. over the next ten years. U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that crop yields could be off as much as ten percent in Asia in the coming ten years because of climate change.
I don’t deal much in the endless speculations of a people who refuse to face reality. I don’t care much for predictions of what MAY happen at some future date. It’s a nice, simple way to avoid. Words like may, perhaps, might, etc are the words of avoiders.
What I SEE is massive bark beetle kill from Mexico to Alaska. Canada has the guts to state, on roadside signs, that the 30+ million acres of dead British Columbia pine are a consequence of climate change. Pacific Island people are trying to find a nation that will take them as they are being forced off their ancient island homes. India is building walls to keep out climate refugees from Bangladesh. I have watched Alaskan glaciers retreat for 30 yrs. I have watched the devastation of melting permafrost. I have talked with North Dakota farmers who have seen the growing season extended by 21 days but planting times dramatically impacted by an erratic climate. Daily I pull up the changing northern hemisphere jet stream which is changing the climate in the entire northern hemisphere. I live in northern Minnesota where bark beetle kill began some time ago. Lake Superior water is down 2.5 feet which is necessitating lighter freighter loads. Yearly temperatures in my area have warmed 4 degrees. The list is long and would fill pages.
No maybe, someday in the distinct future, might, perhaps, predictions, etc. The word is NOW.
Fears grow NSW Blue Mountains bushfires will merge and form a 'mega-fire'
AAP October 21, 2013 3:17PM .. 25 min. ago ..
.. VIDEO .. Every resource thrown at fire fight 4:24 NSW Emergency Services Minister Mike Gallacher says every resource is being thrown at the bushfire fight.
FIREFIGHTERS are using "high-risk" back-burning strategies against Blue Mountains bushfires, despite the chance they could hasten the formation of a "mega-fire".
More than 200 homes have already been lost in the fires that have raged west of Sydney since Thursday, and 59 fires were still burning today.
The great fear is that at least three major fires in the Blue Mountains will merge and head toward's Sydney's western suburbs amid worsening conditions on Wednesday.
Fires in NSW's Southern Highlands also remain a concern, with an emergency warning issued this afternoon for the bushfire near Wollondilly, and warnings of embers being blown towards the village of Wilton.
And as firefighters continued to try to save homes, the Insurance Council of Australia said the insurance bill so far was about $94 million, with 855 claims made.
Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says firefighters are taking “considered” but risky moves to strengthen containment lines around the biggest Blue Mountains fire - the huge State Mine blaze near Lithgow.
Firefighters have successfully conducted back-burning along more than 20 kilometres of Bells Line of Road.
But authorities conceded the move risked accelerating the feared joining-up of the State Mine fire with a blaze at Mount Victoria, which authorities say is likely to happen in coming days.
Mr Fitzsimmons said this morning the plan was “paying off” so far.
“If it comes off, and works, it's a wonderful firefighting effort,” he told reporters.
“But there is every likelihood investing in a strategy like that that it will breach, that it will fail - and then you've got a fire that will cross over everything you've just tried to implement.”
The main focus remains on the huge State Mine fire, which has a massive 300km fire-front and which is heading towards another blaze near Mount Victoria, which has a 60km fire-front.
The major fire around Springwood and Winmalee, which destroyed so many homes last Thursday and which has burnt out 2,700 hectares, also remains a threat to several communities.
Authorities fear there's a “very, very serious risk” of fires amalgamating.
NSW Emergency Service Minister Mike Gallacher says northwesterly winds forecast for this week could push the large Lithgow fire into others in the Blue Mountains and towards more populated areas like Katoomba and Leura, and western Sydney.
Mr Fitzsimmons conceded a merging of major blazes is a real possibility.
“I don't think I've ever use the word mega-fire,” he said. “But the reality is that the modelling indicates that there's every likelihood that in the forecast weather conditions that these...fires, particularly up in the back end of the mountains, will merge at some point.”
Residents in the Blue Mountains township of Bell were today again urged to evacuate ahead of temperatures in the mid-30s, low humidity and problematic winds around 25km/h.
“This is still a very volatile, very long, uncontained fire edge that is going to be quite susceptible to weather,” Mr Fitzsimmons told reporters.
Of great concern are the forecast high temperatures and strong winds forecast for Wednesday.
Mr Gallacher says the conditions are forecast to be similar to those seen last Thursday, when the emergency began.
But Mr Fitzsimmons also moved to allay fears of mass evacuations across the Blue Mountains after warning yesterday that populated areas like Katoomba and Leura could be affected.
“We are not planning an exodus of the Blue Mountains but what I would say is, if you don't need to be in the Blue Mountains, don't go there,” he said.
A state of emergency declared yesterday gives authorities the power to force evacuations and even destroy buildings that pose a danger, but those powers haven't yet been used.
Premier Barry O'Farrell said no one wanted to force people to abandon their homes, but it could be necessary to ensure everyone's safety.
“We know there is understandable heartache about leaving property perhaps vulnerable. But if it's a choice between property or lives we should always go for lives,” he told the Nine Network.
Mr Gallacher will meet with Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan today ahead of the military possibly joining the firefighting effort.
“This is really high level,” Mr Gallacher told ABC radio.
“We'll have access to tankers that can assist in terms of aviation fuel, whatever firefighting equipment that they have as well.
“It is a question of sitting down with every one of the authorities that potentially has a resource that we can get access to.”
Nick Ralston Crime Editor Date October 22, 2013 - 1:08PM 2304 reading now Comments 31
* 60 bushfires burning, 15 out of control * Firefighters have joined two major fires in the Blue Mountains * Winds of up to 100km/h expected tomorrow * Map: live updates of the fire conditions - http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/NSW-bushfires-map
.. VIDEO .. Tomorrow hotter, drier and windier All Blue Mountains schools will be closed and nursing home residents have been moved as NSW RFS Commissioner warns of difficult day ahead.
4:17pm: NSW Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has just begun his latest briefing and he has already issued this grim warning.
"The forecast and scenario for tomorrow is about as bad as it gets," he says.
The revised forecast is for temperatures in the mid to high 30s, with humidity down to 10 per cent.
Strong winds are forecast with gusts of between 80km/h to 100km/h.
He's urged everyone who does not need to be in the Blue Mountains on Wednesday to be out of the region by 10am. Upvotes:0 Downvotes:0 Copy Link
4:06pm: Danger zones: the affected areas, compared with the size of Sydney Harbour.
4:02pm: The Rural Fire Service says the school closure in place for the Blue Moutains tomorrow also includes pre-schools and daycare centres.
"We were waiting for the fire to come up to the road; we needed to take a break when we could..." Photo: Phil Hearne
They worked through the night in horrific and dangerous conditions so Catherine Hill Bay would survive - though these firefighters don’t consider themselves heroes.
However, that is what people across the world are calling them after an image captured by Newcastle Herald photographer Phil Hearne went viral over the weekend. The photo, which shows exhausted firefighters sleeping by the road as flames lap close by, has been seen by 3.7 million people on Facebook. By last night it had received around 4300 messages of thanks.
"We were waiting for the fire to come up to the road; we needed to take a break when we could."
Matthew Jones-Power, 24, was one of the Wallarah Rural Fire Service brigade members taking a nap on Friday morning. It was his first break since 2.30pm on Thursday.
On the job: Josh and Matt Jones-Power were in the photo that went viral. Photo: Dean Osland
‘‘That was pretty crazy, we just stopped for about two seconds to catch our breath,’’ he said.
‘‘We were waiting for the fire to come up to the road; we needed to take a break when we could.
‘‘It had been non stop for about 24 hours.’’
Matthew’s younger brother, Joshua, 17, had likewise been fighting fires around the clock – even though he was in the middle of his HSC exams.
‘‘You look out for your own community and I wanted to take the time to help out others,’’ he said.
‘‘We were stationed right across from the pub and that’s when we were told it’s coming at 110km/h, that it’s a hundred feet and it’s just going to come straight down on top of you.
‘‘All hell broke loose. It was like you were in a sauna for the whole time.’’
Brigade deputy captain Josh Iffland rushed straight from a full day at his paying job to start his long shift fighting fires.
‘‘We worked all through the night so we were dead to the world,’’ he said.
‘‘That fire wasn’t going anywhere, it was pretty safe at that point.
‘‘Everyone put in 150 per cent, when it’s your own area it’s just got to be done.
‘‘We just do our job and do it well – none of us are heroes.’’
Matthew said the team had been encouraged by the support.
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