#global nature

[rebeccathenaturalist]

That's so cool! And they found a few of them, and they're now growing seedlings in greenhouses for eventual replanting!

Quercus tardifolia is a relic species leftover from when the climate was much cooler and wetter in the past, and can only really live in a few high-elevation spots in Texas. It's definitely still at risk of extinction due to increasing heat and drought caused by climate change, but the discovery means this species still has a chance.

#oak #oak trees #Quercus #Quercus tardifolia #Lazarus species #endangered species #extinction #trees #plants #botany #nature #climate change #global warming

[zegalba]

Paul Nicklen for National Geographic arial photographs of the Colorado River, "Delta" as it flows into Baja, Mexico. Appearing like water colors, the work demonstrates the desperate remains of the Colorado River, ravaged by drought.

#national geographic #natgeo #nature #photography #paul nicklen #colorado river #baja #mexico #drought #global warming #arial

[mysharona1987]

#Earth #climate change #global warming #science #nature #the simpsons

[reasonsforhope]

No-paywall version.

"You can never really see the future, only imagine it, then try to make sense of the new world when it arrives.

Just a few years ago, climate projections for this century looked quite apocalyptic, with most scientists warning that continuing “business as usual” would bring the world four or even five degrees Celsius of warming — a change disruptive enough to call forth not only predictions of food crises and heat stress, state conflict and economic strife, but, from some corners, warnings of civilizational collapse and even a sort of human endgame. (Perhaps you’ve had nightmares about each of these and seen premonitions of them in your newsfeed.)

Now, with the world already 1.2 degrees hotter, scientists believe that warming this century will most likely fall between two or three degrees. (A United Nations report released this week ahead of the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, confirmed that range.) A little lower is possible, with much more concerted action; a little higher, too, with slower action and bad climate luck. Those numbers may sound abstract, but what they suggest is this: Thanks to astonishing declines in the price of renewables, a truly global political mobilization, a clearer picture of the energy future and serious policy focus from world leaders,

we have cut expected warming almost in half in just five years.

...Conventional wisdom has dictated that meeting the most ambitious goals of the Paris agreement by limiting warming to 1.5 degrees could allow for some continuing normal, but failing to take rapid action on emissions, and allowing warming above three or even four degrees, spelled doom.

Neither of those futures looks all that likely now, with the most terrifying predictions made improbable by decarbonization and the most hopeful ones practically foreclosed by tragic delay. The window of possible climate futures is narrowing, and as a result, we are getting a clearer sense of what’s to come: a new world, full of disruption but also billions of people, well past climate normal and yet mercifully short of true climate apocalypse.

Over the last several months, I’ve had dozens of conversations — with climate scientists and economists and policymakers, advocates and activists and novelists and philosophers — about that new world and the ways we might conceptualize it. Perhaps the most capacious and galvanizing account is one I heard from Kate Marvel of NASA, a lead chapter author on the fifth National Climate Assessment: “The world will be what we make it.” Personally, I find myself returning to three sets of guideposts, which help map the landscape of possibility.

First, worst-case temperature scenarios that recently seemed plausible now look much less so, which is inarguably good news and, in a time of climate panic and despair, a truly underappreciated sign of genuine and world-shaping progress...

[I cut number two for being focused on negatives. This is a reasons for hope blog.]

Third, humanity retains an enormous amount of control — over just how hot it will get and how much we will do to protect one another through those assaults and disruptions. Acknowledging that truly apocalyptic warming now looks considerably less likely than it did just a few years ago pulls the future out of the realm of myth and returns it to the plane of history: contested, combative, combining suffering and flourishing — though not in equal measure for every group...

“We live in a terrible world, and we live in a wonderful world,” Marvel says. “It’s a terrible world that’s more than a degree Celsius warmer. But also a wonderful world in which we have so many ways to generate electricity that are cheaper and more cost-effective and easier to deploy than I would’ve ever imagined. People are writing credible papers in scientific journals making the case that switching rapidly to renewable energy isn’t a net cost; it will be a net financial benefit,” she says with a head-shake of near-disbelief. “If you had told me five years ago that that would be the case, I would’ve thought, wow, that’s a miracle.”"

-via The New York Times Magazine, October 26, 2022

#climate change #global warming #renewable energy #climate anxiety #climate crisis #humanity #green energy #green future #apocalypse #natural disasters #good news #hope #research #hope posting

[wachinyeya]

#good news #environmentalism #science #nature #environment #climate change #europe #european union #climate crisis #global climate change #climate #climate action

[veryluckyclovers]

the birds that would greet you before school in 2005 are still there singing for you

#my art #doodle #drawing #art #dog #nature #earth #global warming #fuck advertisements! fuck the government! fuck capitalism! fuck billionaires #I’m tired of the fact that I can’t even walk in my town without a speaker blasting off with ads for no reason #at gas stations.. #homeless people can’t even sleep outside buildings bc they’ll blast advertisements #NO MORE I WANT TO SIT OUTSIDE AND STUDY A FLOWER

[ravensvalley]

#RelocationTime

Mountainous Parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

@BenAdrienProulx October 4th, 2023.

#Relocation Time #GPS #Global Positioning System #Fall Season #Autumn #Color Splash #Nature Photography #Landscapes #Mountains View #Hiking Trails #Altitude Life #ECCC #Environment and Climate Change Canada #NCC #Nature Conservancy of Canada #Mountainous Parts of the Northern Hemisphere #Canada #The RavenKeeper

[elephantaday]

Day 693 of posting pictures of elephants.

Source: Global Sanctuary for Elephants/Janna Federer-Demski

#global sanctuary for elephants #cute animals #cuteness #elephant #image of the day #not my image #cuteness overload #elephants #wildlife #adorable #nature

[without-ado]

"PUT THIS IN THE HISTORY BOOKS FOR 2020-202(2)."

l Will Santino l MichellCClark

#life #pandemic #covid 19 #coronavirus #conflicts and war #natural disasters #cartoon #climate change #global issues #art #cartoons #economic crisis #will santino #family problems

[ballpitwitch]

Keanu Reeves performs with his band Dogstar at The Roxy on July 18, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

#time to run screaming into the afternoon #Keanu Reeves #kreevesedit #keanuedit #* #this is all ive accomplished today #LOOK HOW SMILEY HE IS #bassist bf #boyfriend shaped #my favorite shape #i love arm #MY WHAT BIG HANDS YOU HAVE #tell everyone you saw me with the devil #keke babe do you need a hair tie i have a spare #just like the bass i would also just be hanging from his neck #bassist keanu created the heat wave #mother nature? global warming? i don't know her #he's really been here and hot my whole damn life #what a time to be alive

[trans-cuchulainn]

had a really interesting convo yesterday about ethics and whether intent or results matters (eg if you tried to make an ethical purchasing choice but the business was actually exploitative as hell, does that "count") and very much came to the conclusion that sure, if you're concerned with your personal immortal soul, as a christian might be, then intention counts. but if what you're focused on is your impact on the world, then intention means nothing if the actions have negative results, right? (that doesn't mean you're to blame for them! you didn't know! but you also don't get "ethics points" for trying, you know?)

and this also got me thinking about the whole christian idea that sinful thoughts are as bad as sinful actions because. they're just not imo. maybe for the sake of your Immortal Soul they are points against you, if that's your jam. but in terms of putting good into the world, in terms of your impact on other people, the ONLY thing that matters is what you choose to do with those thoughts. there is no way that "was kind to someone who was pissing me off, for the sake of community harmony" or "helped an acquaintance with a task even though I felt resentful about the time spent doing that" is a Bad Thing for the world

and it made me wonder how much purity culture and thought policing is rooted in (mostly evangelical) cultural christianity and this idea that ethical choices are an individual thing because what matters is the impact of them on YOUR soul and not, you know, things we do because of what we owe the world around us / because of love for others / because a world where people are trying to put good into it is a hell of a lot nicer to live in than one where people are only worried about themselves

i grew up evangelical but like. fairly mild evangelical and even though there wasn't a big focus on hell and stuff, i definitely fixated on imperfect thoughts and behaviours that were putting absolutely no harm into the world, rather than focusing on what i could do to put good into it, and that individualistic vs outward-focused approach to morality has been something i've grappled with a lot as an adult. but i never really thought about it as simply as this and really that's what it boils down to. are you making the ethical choice because you're trying to put good in the world, or because it would make you a "good person" to do so? because the answer to that 100% defines whether it's the thought or the result that counts

#also i feel like Sinful Thoughts Are As Bad As Sinful Actions... #as well as being bullshit... #is just like a one way trip to moral ocd and a whole lot of guilt spirals #and i just don't think it's useful! you can't necessarily choose your thoughts! #you can however choose your actions because Good is something you do not something you are #ethics #i do think The Good Place did more to make me interrogate my evangelical upbringing and ethical assumptions than anything else #but also this idea of putting good into the world... idk. it's kind of encouraging AND scary #i don't think I'm naturally a very good person but i can choose to do good #i can be bitter and jealous and resentful and still help people and make their lives a little easier #and my feelings are not actually impacting on the world whereas my actions are #at the same time in a society built on exploitation and corporate greeed #it's hard not to be conscious of the harm my actions are doing without me trying #i didn't necessarily make an unethical choice but all of my choices cause harm to someone somewhere #living in the west and the global north and whatever you become very conscious of that

[rebeccathenaturalist]

This ties into one of the big conundrums of restoration ecology. When trying to decide what plants to add to a restoration site, should we add those that are there now, even if some of those species are increasingly stressed by the effects of climate change? Or do we start importing native species in adjacent ecoregions that are more tolerant of heat?

Animals can migrate relatively quickly, but plants take longer to expand their range, and the animals that they have mutual relationships with may be moving to cooler areas faster than the plants can follow. Whether the animals will be able to survive in their new range without their plant partners is another question, and that is an argument in favor of trying to help the plants keep up with them. We're not just having to think about what effects climate change will have next summer, but also predict what it's going to look like here in fifty years, a hundred, or beyond. It's an especially important question in regards to slow-growing trees which may not reproduce until they are several years old, and which can take decades to really be a significant support of their local ecosystem.

For example, here in the Pacific Northwest west of the Cascades, western red cedar (Thuja plicata) is experiencing increased die-off due to longer, hotter summer droughts. Do we continue to plant western red cedar, in the hopes that some of them may display greater tolerance to drought and heat? Or do we instead plant Port Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), which is found in red cedar's southern range, and which may be more drought-tolerant, even though it's not found this far north yet?

Planting something from an adjacent ecoregion isn't the same as grabbing a plant from halfway around the world and establishing it as an invasive species. But there is the question as to whether the established native would have been able to survive if we hadn't introduced a competing "neighbor" species. Would the Port Orford cedars and western red cedars be able to coexist as they do in northern California and southern Oregon, or would the introduced Port Orfords be enough to push the already stressed red cedars over the edge to extirpation?

There's no simple answer. But I am glad to see the government at least allowing some leeway for those ecologists who are desperately trying any tactic they can to save rare species from extinction.

#restoration ecology #ecology #habitat restoration #climate change #global warming #anthropogenic climate change #nature #wildlife #plants #botany #trees #endangered species #extinction #environment #conservation #environmentalism #science #scicomm #science communication

[ancient-reverie]

what if we.... treated the trees like the gods they are and make it illegal on penalty of death to intentionally harm them

#hell o void #just a thought #nature #natural world #climate change #global warming #trees #tree #plants #ecosystem #ecology #botany #eco anarchism

[mysharona1987]

Mildly amusing that the reporter was to afraid to post his name.

#climate change #global warming #taylor swift #trees #nature #carbon emissions #news #science #sports

[moonsfireflies1993]

Why Panama is on Strike

From afar the Panama protests look like maybe a bunch of hypersensitive eco-fools or maybe like those people who think throwing paint on museums is making any difference instead of going directly to the companies. 

The reality is that Panama is protesting way more than just the “contract”. But, let's start with the contract. 

First, the company can own Panama by owning land property of the Panama state" inside or outside the 17,000 hectares from what was licensed.” This means that the ANATI (the National Authority of Land Administration) HAS to give it to the mining company with no setbacks.

The mine puts danger around 8 countries of Centroamerica with already reported 200 environmental damages

If the company wants to own private lands that are located inside or outside of hectares of the land that was licensed. The company can own the land and pay nothing in exchange, with no questions.

The contract was done with random permits without the proper process of acquisition. 

The contract promises to give Panama a very small quantity of payment to Panama when Panama already spends millions of dollars on the state. This means the company will give Panama less money than what Panama already invests in the country. So we are selling parts of Panama for less than what we already invested. 

Panama's government is allowing a foreign company to NOT pay 70% of their taxes during the first 10 years of copper extraction. 

The community of Donoso (where the mine is located) says they see tons of copper trucks going out every week and at the same time they complain they haven't seen improvements in their community. Ejm: railroads, electricity.

The company threatens with an international lawsuit of millions of dollars if Panama doesn't sign the contract. But if the company fails to comply with the contract, claims it will only pay 70 million dollars (Which is less than what they make extracting copper from the mine).

The contract has a clause that makes an actual law. The contract will reign according to the laws of Panama, except if a law looks inconsistent. In other words, if Panama makes a law that prohibits mining or a law that obliges them to pay taxes, because of their contract it will not apply at all because of that clause. 

The joke was that the president signed the contract in less than 3 hours.

Now, going to the other complaints of the population. Panama already has tons of issues and complaints that are not resolved. These issues have put the whole country on the verge of exploitation.

In September, there were massive protests in several parts of the country because of the sexual assault of the minor Madeleine at the hands of the National Juvenile Assembly. To keep it short. Every year the country makes a national juvenile assembly and this kid was from outside the city representing her district. She ate and drank with each political party and told a classmate to check on her because her water tasted like medicine. The kid hours later was attended by an ambulance with no notification of this to her mom. After this, the kid was behaving erratic and paranoid with a location on her phone that wasn't at the hotel in Panama where all the kids were. The other claims of the event were that all the minors had those dinners with the political parties representatives and on those tables were "Gringos" (foreign European or North American people). Why those kids were sharing tables with gringos in the first place?

When the kid arrived from the trip, she was in a catatonic state and with constant PTSD attacks. There's still no justice or any trace of who were the ones who committed those crimes, and even no accountability by the MEDUCA (The Ministry of Education of Panama).

It is not the first time since such an event happened at the hands of the state. In 2021, we had another state scandal when it was reported that one of the deputies ( Arquesio Arias) of the national assembly raped several women in the indigenous Kuna Yala region. Of course, you can imagine he was dismissed from the charges and when that announcement was published, one of the victims tried to kill herself and got into the ER.

Then there are the deputies who name some of their relatives to the state payroll and don't even work in the state but take tons and tons of money monthly. Meanwhile, the oncologico hospital keeps getting shortages of injections and gloves.

Panama is considered an international hub, one of the richest countries of Latin America and still we struggle with poverty and access to vital things for the population, why? Because people of the state and international companies steal the money, they sometimes build roads and bridges and the costs are higher to the price from the real costs of those constructions, for example, the Odebretch scandal. They charge lots of money, so they can bribe some of the money to both parties (the construction company and the one who is soliciting the construction.

But then again bribing is part of the panamenian culture as we say "juega vivo", bribing the police, the hospital, and the system is all about money and taking advantage of situations as they come even if it is illegal.

Is funny we are all fighting for water, Well my friends here where I am with the famous "Panama Canal" that provides us with most of our income as a nation while having lots of rivers and geographically we are surrounded by both the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean, having all of that I get shortages and cuts of water for more than 6 times a month.

This week, the IDAAN (the company that provides water to the whole nation), has been making shortages all week. My family and I have been saving water tanks each day because of the shortages. I keep joking internally that I have a toxic relationship with the IDAAN since we kind of got used to this and the irony is that while the entire country struggles with the shortages they still sign a contract that will even affect the water flow to the Panama Canal in the long term.

The protests are not just because of the damage to nature is that the government sold us to a foreign Canadian company that has shareholders from the US and China to exploit us leaving us with nothing.

My biggest worry right now is that our current president is sick, the whole country knows he has cancer and during his last speeches, he has been looking like a corpse with now rumours of him leaving the country to intern himself to a hospital in Houston Texas. If he dies then probably the vice president has to take charge, but he has been missing since the protests and people HATE him. So yeah, Panama is on the brink of chaos and if that happens .. well

#panama #latam #latinoamerica #canada #world news #protests #global news #panama canal #panama city #corrupción #curruption #mining #climate change #environment #nature #united states #latino america #police brutality

[wachinyeya]

#climate legislation #global climate change #climate activism #climateaction #good news #environmentalism #science #nature #environment #conservation #climate change #climate crisis