Sixth Great Mass Extinction Event Begins; 2015 on Pace to Become Hottest Year on Record

[AikidoSoul]

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/31612-sixth-great-mass-extinction-event-begins-2015-on-pace-to-become-hottest-year-on-record


SNIP

NASA recently released its global temperature data for the month of May, and it was 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit above the norm. The agency's data also revealed that 2015 has had the hottest five months of any year ever recorded. As of right now, 2015 is already hotter than last year, according to NASA; in fact, if it stays on the same track, it will be the hottest year ever recorded for the planet.

Things are bad enough that President Obama's science adviser issued a warning that anthropogenic climate disruption (ACD) is currently barreling forward so quickly that the entire state of California could be "overwhelmed": The state's efforts to adapt will be unable to keep pace with the rapidly intensifying developments on the ground. Essentially, this means the state does not have the financial nor physical resources to keep pace with rising seas, drought and wildfires that are all becoming the norm there.

Scientists like Bill Nye ("the Science Guy&quot are warning us to expect even more weather extremes as ACD progresses. For example, they predict the recent deluge of rain and flooding in Texas will become the norm for that state going forward.

A study recently published in Nature Climate Change has shown that if carbon dioxide and methane emissions are not dramatically cut extremely rapidly, ACD is set to bring about the most dramatic and encompassing rearrangement of ocean species in at least the last 3 million years. For example, the study shows that by 2100, the polar regions, which currently host some of the most diverse and widespread sea life on the planet, will likely be drained of much of their marine life.

SNIP

[ffr]

1. And we keep multiplying, adding more and more consuming humans to the equation.

More polluting cars, more polluting plastics, more fish and animal and plant life eaten or killed for sport or carelessly destroyed, more animal habitat taken for more human residences or cities of desolate unsustainable desert-like steel and concrete, more wetlands drained or destroyed, but fewer and fewer pollinators and no more hope for a brighter better tomorrow.

And the difference? Instead of an enormous asteroid impact or volcanoes on steroids burning coal deposits and fueling a die-off taking eons, we're the asteroid and we're the ones carelessly living out of balance with nature, burning the fossil fuels. Just overlay any human population chart over any other graph showing what has been going wrong on this planet and you too will see the connection.

[link:http://www.macleans.ca/society/science/infographic-charting-the-worlds-sixth-mass-exinction/|
]

[AikidoSoul]

4. Our 21 acres is a microcosm of the evidence for accelerating extinction.

When we first moved to N. Florida in 1994 the evidence of life on our land was extraordinary. Before we bought the land we went down to the pond and as we neared it, the water danced and made little waves from the life near its edge. My spouse yelled "YES!!!" and I understood that we were going to buy this place and protect it by not using toxic products, by planting organic seeds, and never using fertilizers that were not approved by the Organic rating organizations. We even raised worms on organic food scraps and dried Argentinian Bahaia grass. Vermicompost is extremely rich in nutrients. We planted persimmon trees, pear trees, a Myer Lemon tree, and thirty blueberry bushes. We used vermicompost on them and on our organic garden whenever possible.

At the time this county did not have a mosquito spraying program. Four years later they started using an organophosphate pesticide product which was sprayed by truck all over the county.

A few years after we purchased the land the electric company sent a truck and two guys with a large hose to herbicide the roadways. The next day we noticed thousands of crawdaddies lying dead around the edge of the pond. Fish and crustaceons are very sensitive to pesticide products.

Over the years we have lost tens of thousands of tree frogs and toadies. It used to be that there were between two and four migrations of thousands of tiny toads that would make their way up the hill and into the woods. There were several years that we didn't see even one tiny toad. This year is a lttle better.

For years we had a lot of ducks on the pond. There are fewer and fewer ducks on the pond now.

Haven't seen an Anhinga for years. Used to see at least one every day for the first six or seven years.

The use of pesticides and herbicides in Florida is horrific. Meth labs are all over our county and the sheriff won't shut them down. The quality of the air is terrible... but we do have decent rains, and amazingly, good well water.

We pray that human beings will come to their senses... but I do fear that it's too late. Maybe not, but it does seem to be spinning out of control.

Mother nature will eventually fix it with humans out of the way.

[2naSalit]

2. Yesterday...

it was +104F in Bozeman, MT. Insane. And there is a 24% increase (up from last year's 6.3% increase from 2013) in visitation to Yellowstone NP where most folks think it's a place like Disneyland or some kind of petting zoo anymore.

We're in big trouble, folks, and denial is just more pressure on the gas pedal as we willfully an purposefully careen over the cliff like Thelma and Louise.

[ffr]

3. Focus more on nighttime lows than daytime highs

And you'll see the true indicator of how hot it's getting. Because, what happens overnight is a measure of how much heat can escape into space, i.e. how much heat is trapped by greenhouse gasses and cannot escape. That's the true measure.

So for instance, it'll be 60° overnight in Bozeman tonight. Compare that to the history average, which ironically includes the past decade, the hottest decade on global record and it's still 10° above that...consistently above normal.

[AikidoSoul]

5. Good point.

And it's true here in N. Florida as well.

Thank you for the excellent graphics.

[2naSalit]

13. Not to mention that

several August blooming wildflowers are already in full swing, the cat-o-nine tails were done by the first week in June and most everything else is anywhere from 4-8 weeks early... just sayin'.

Nice graphic, FYI, it got cloudy and rained in the early evening, at least that cooled it down. Up here on the divide it rained a little too, just enough to cool it down to the 60s inside my cabin.

[joeybee12]

6. Yeah, but what do the Khardahsians think about this?

Series-ly attention to people liek that is part of the problem...part of most problems...too much coverage of them, not enough of real issues.

[AikidoSoul]

7. Huh?

[joeybee12]

8. Look at the source you posted this from...

Why isn't this in some "mainstream" source...because there's to much space dedicted tot he trivial, like the Khardashians, and not to important issues, like climate change...and when they do report on it, they give the "opposing" view, which is the oil industry's view.

[AikidoSoul]

9. You obviously didn't click on the hypertext links to the documentation found in scientific papers

You said that TRUTHOUT is isn't a "mainstream" source. What do you consider "mainstream"? And hasn't it occurred to you that ANYONE can write an article on any scientific topic and have it accepted by intelligent people if it has a bibliography, or links to articles with ample documentation? For example, this link appeared in that article.

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/advances/1/5/e1400253.full.pdf


And there were links to several scienfic entities that should satisfy your doubts.

Unless of course you are a climate change denier, and in that case no matter how well documented the topic is, it would not be sufficient, because your opinion would be based on ideology and not the opinions of 97% of scientists worldwide.

[joeybee12]

11. Honestly...

I'm agreeing with you ffs

[raouldukelives]

14. Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision he makes

and should just support that, you know, and be faithful in what happens.

[Uncle Joe]

10. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, AikidoSoul.

[mnhtnbb]

12. our average high for June this year will probably be 10 degrees above

what the average high for June normally is.

Seriously, it's been in the mid to upper 90's all month and our normal average high
for June in Chapel Hill is mid-80's.

And no, it's been so warm at night that we couldn't open the windows to cool off.

[appalachiablue]

15. K & R