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Do Jet Streams Vanish with Arctic Sea-Ice? // Published on Apr 6, 2017
What happens to the jet streams when we lose all Arctic sea ice and snow cover? Do they vanish? Do they still exist as a weak remnant farther north? Does the 3 cell atmospheric circulation reduce to 2 cells or even 1 cell? It would be nice knowing these things, before they actually happen in a few short years.
Planetary Waves & Violin String Vibrations: 1 of 2 // Published on Apr 2, 2017
Extreme weather events are happening more often around the planet, striking with ever greater severity, and lasting for longer periods of time. The root cause is that planetary waves circling the Earth are getting amplified and stuck in place.
I explain how these waves are very similar to those on vibrating violin strings, optical waveguides, and oscillating electrical circuits. This similarity greatly helps us further our understanding of jet stream behaviour as climate change accelerates.
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Planetary Waves & Violin String Vibrations: 2 of 2 // Published on Apr 3, 2017
Planetary waves (Rossby Waves) that circle the Earth in the upper atmosphere are more commonly known as jet streams. A rapidly darkening and warming Arctic from climate change is making them slow and become wavier. When the number of peaks & troughs add up to 6, 7 or 8 the waves seem to get stuck, leading to extreme weather events.
Halting Abrupt Climate Change: Part Two // Published on Mar 24, 2017
Paul Crutzen, the Yoda of atmospheric science, played a large role in human understanding and action on ozone holes, got a Nobel Prize in 1995 and coined the phrase Anthropocene.
I attempt to explain, in layperson terms, how the science shows that we can temporarily stop abrupt climate change in its tracks, buying some time to slash fossil fuel emissions and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere/oceans.
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Halting Abrupt Climate Change: Part Three // Published on Mar 26, 2017
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Anthropogenic Arctic Volcano Will Calm Climate [1]// Published on Mar 20, 2017
As our climate spirals hotter into new and unfamiliar territory, we are seeing enormous stresses destabilizing our weather patterns, crops, water supplies, infrastructure, global supply chains, and civilization itself.
To face our collective global climate change emergency we must deploy technologies to stabilize climate while we slash fossil fuel emissions, and remove carbon from the air and water.
I discuss how sulphur dioxide affects our climate.
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More on Energy Balance // Published on Mar 20, 2017
Concern for accelerated, even exponential climate change is skyrocketing. A few videos ago I discussed the story of energy changes at the Earth surface and how it affects climate change.
This topic is a bit complicated, and I felt it was worthwhile to revisit/explain it from a different angle to break the glaze that has formed in some viewers eyes:).
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Halting Abrupt Climate Change: 1 of 3 // Published on Mar 21, 2017
Paul Crutzen, the Yoda of atmospheric science [2], played a large role in human understanding and action on ozone holes, got a Nobel Prize in 1995 and coined the phrase Anthropocene.
I attempt to explain, in layperson terms, how the science shows that we can temporarily stop abrupt climate change in its tracks, buying some time to slash fossil fuel emissions and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere/oceans.
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[1] Anthropogenic Arctic Volcano Can Calm Climate, Jan 10, 2013, by Paul Beckwith: ‘Rational decision making requires realistic risk assessments of alternatives. Humanity is now choosing default door A, which is no change in behavior with fossil fuel energy sourcing and a continuance of rapidly rising anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).
‘Abrupt collapse of Arctic albedo due to collapsing terrestrial snow cover (area dropping 17.6% per decade for past three decades) and collapse of sea ice cover (area dropping 49% below 1979 to 2000 long term average) is occurring (NOAA 2012 Arctic Report Card from last week)’ . Article continues in full, at link.
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[2] Paul J. Crutzen: The Engineer and the Ozone Hole,
‘The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995, Paul J. Crutzen, Mario J. Molina, F. Sherwood Rowland. Paul J. Crutzen – Curriculum Vitae: The following is the curriculum vitae of Paul Josef Crutzen, born 3 December, 1933, in Amsterdam, Holland, Director at the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany. He is married, with two children.’ Continues at link.
Science Under the Jackboot of Ideology // Published on Mar 17, 2017
A number of years ago I filmed a video (on this very same chairlift) on the relentless attacks on science, originating with attacks on climate science and driven by unlimited oil money and top dollar PR firms.
I could not resist revisiting this topic at the same location years later. Climate change has accelerated greatly, as have attacks on science, democracy, and decency…
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Paul waxes extemporaneously among other things, about Cambridge Analytica.
They Drove Off the Climate Cliff, podcast, with favorite interviewer, champion of many if not all precious things human and natural, Alex Smith. Paul’s segment, is called ‘Tracking the Big Picture with scientist Paul Beckwith‘.
His post also shares from famed generalist on policy, social change and pressure, acclaimed journalist of geopolitical ‘security scholar’ Nafeez Ahmed. As Alex says in clip below, and continues at full post.
‘Climate scientist Paul Beckwith says we are already off the cliff, falling into dangerous climate change. We get new science and the big picture. … This week‘, Alex ‘got hammered by some awful news from some great climate science, so’ he took his ‘troubles to University of Ottawa climate scientist Paul Beckwith. We get a cutting edge education…‘
‘Tracking the Big Picture with Scientist Paul Beckwith‘: we ‘read relentless headlines about our planet heading out of control. Most of them seem to cruise by without hurting us. Yeah, yeah, half the mammals will be extinct soon. The oceans are dying. Scientists declare Earth a toxic planet. Wait – did somebody say it’s going to be too hot to hold outdoor music festivals? That’s terrible! I love those!
… There have been recent studies showing more and more people are feeling climate stress. We don’t need science to watch this all happening, literally in our backyards. For example, in this year of 2017, the city of Chicago had no snow in January and February. That’s got to be pretty crazy for people who know the Great Lakes winters‘.
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Then Paul’s fourth of nine videos, on Changes in Energy Balances at Earth’s Surface // Published on Mar 15, 2017
Did you know temperature rise in the Southern Hemisphere has been slow & steady, compared to that in the Northern Hemisphere?
The amount of global warming at the Earth surface depends on net energy, in turn affected by incoming sunlight, heat balances, particles in the atmosphere & cloud characteristics. I discuss a recent scientific review paper on how this energy balance/warming has changed over the last few decades.
These are the first three of nine videos in this series, on Global Dimming & Global Brightening. If civilization came to an abrupt halt, how much would the global temperature change? Would it spike 0.5 or even 4 degrees Celsius as some claim, or could it even drop?
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Part One // Published on Mar 11, 2017
This is a a very tough question. Aerosols in the atmosphere are of many flavours. The sulphur type reflect sunlight causing surface cooling, while the black carbon type absorb sunlight causing net warming. Both types change cloud properties; both have great spatial variability. I examine these factors in great detail.
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Part Two // Published on Mar 11, 2017
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Part Three: Black Carbon Aerosols Cause Global Dimming But Overall Warming // Published on Mar 12, 2017
Aerosols are small particles or droplets (non-water) in the atmosphere that punch above their weight. The sulphur dioxide type reflect sunlight, shielding the surface (global dimming) and thus causing cooling. The soot (black carbon) type absorb sunlight and thus heat up the atmosphere more than they shield the surface, and thus cause global warming. The net effect thus depends on the aerosol composition/mix. Both types change the physical structure/reflectivity/longevity of clouds, complicating the story.
In the next several days, Paul will continue to release the next six videos. They are already loaded and done. Video Four will be on SRM, or Solar Radiation Management.
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Extinction Radio Episode 67, 8th March 2017 – Guy McPherson, Kevin Lister and Paul Beckwith.
Paul’s segment, ‘Jennifer Hynes interviews Paul Beckwith‘: page down to Part Three. Starts at 0:00:00 to 0:55:41. You can find more about famed climate generalist and methane researcher Jenn at Jennifer Hynes, As One, here
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And if you did not already hear this brilliant comment, from radical whole systems thinker, Derrick Jensen, see Part One at 45;12 mark. Repeat. Totally brilliant (dk). A product of wisdom woman Ivey Cone’s FukiCafe in addition to sage Jensen. Convenient replay at YouTube here, about 14:30 long.
‘Question every assumption that you’ve ever had about the way life is. So many indigenous people have said to me, that the most important difference between indigenous and western ways of being, is that even open minded westerners see naturalism as a metaphor, as opposed to the way the world really is.
‘Indigenous people around the world, generally perceive THE WORLD AS CONSISTING OF OTHER BEINGS WHO WE ENTER INTO RELATIONSHIP WITH and TO WHOM WE HAVE RESPONSIBILITY, as opposed to RESOURCES FOR US TO EXPLOIT‘. Talk about raw brilliance.
Stabilizing Feedbacks in the Climate System // Published on Mar 3, 2017
We often hear about “positive” (accelerating) feedbacks in the climate system speeding up rates of change, even exponentially.
I tell the story of some powerful “negative” stabilizing (braking, arresting, slowing) feedbacks (physical & human) that most people are not aware of. I talk about how the equilibrium Earth temperature is derived, & how Stefan-Boltzmann emissions send energy to space balancing incoming solar energy.
Paul Beckwith, Climate System Scientist 