XPost: alt.global-warming

*Climate tipping points could topple like dominoes, warn scientists

Damian Carrington, The Guardian via Carbon Brief

The Guardian covers new research published in the journal Earth System
Dynamics which says that "ice sheets and ocean currents at risk of
climate tipping points can destabilise each other as the world heats
up, leading to a domino effect with severe consequences for
humanity". The newspaper adds: "The new research examined the
interactions between ice sheets in West Antarctica, Greenland, the
warm Atlantic Gulf Stream and the Amazon rainforest. The scientists
carried out 3m computer simulations and found domino effects in a
third of them, even when temperature rises were below 2C, the upper
limit of the Paris agreement. The study showed that the interactions
between these climate systems can lower the critical temperature
thresholds at which each tipping point is passed. It found that ice
sheets are potential starting points for tipping cascades, with the
Atlantic currents acting as a transmitter and eventually affecting the
Amazon." The Guardian quotes one of the authors, Prof Ricarda
Winkelmann at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
in Germany: "We provide a risk analysis, not a prediction, but our
findings still raise concern#[Our findings] might mean we have less
time to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and still prevent tipping
processes." Forbes also quotes Winkelmann: "While these mechanisms are well-known, the dynamics brought about by the interactions of these
tipping elements were not. In our study, using a novel network
approach, we provide a risk analysis of potential climate domino
effects, where the tipping of one element triggers further tipping processes."

In other news about new scientific findings, the Guardian carries a
separate report about research published in the Cryosphere, which
shows that "sea ice across much of the Arctic is thinning twice as
fast as previously thought". The newspaper continues: "The new
research used novel computer models to produce detailed snow cover
estimates from 2002 to 2018. The models tracked temperature, snowfall
and ice floe movement to assess the accumulation of snow. Using this
data to calculate sea ice thickness showed it is thinning twice as
fast as previously estimated in the seas around the central Arctic,
which make up the bulk of the polar region." And Carbon Brief reports
on new findings in Nature Climate Change which show that clouds could
have a greater cooling effect on the planet than climate models
currently suggest.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times carries a comment piece by the
University of Bristol's Prof Jemma Wadham, author of "Ice Rivers", on
the "secret life of glaciers": "Over my 25-year career as a
glaciologist, their majesty has dwindled as our climate has
warmed#what we are seeing now is unprecedented in human history - and
it's happening with nearly 8bn people on the planet, many of whom have
come to rely on glaciers for fresh and clean water, fisheries, stable
seas and a habitable climate#Recent records of global glacier change
signal that we are sleepwalking towards a humanitarian crisis. The
question is - will we choose to wake up?"


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'The one thing they've stuffed up': Australia's vaccine rollout under
fire again
ABC News, 03 Jun 2021 14:20Z
Liberal MP Tim Wilson defends the govt's vaccine rollout on Q+A
as he says those in the disability sector are not the most at risk,
while members of the audience demonstrate just how slowly the rollout
is going.

Hopes for earlier ending to lockdown after 2 Melbourne COVID-19
cases deemed false positives
ABC News, 03 Jun 2021 14:19Z
Two key epidemiologists say there may be hope for an early end to
Melbourne's lockdown after 2 "fleeting" transmission cases are
reclassified as false positives.

Mysterious protein makes human DNA morph into different shapes
Livescience.com, 03 Jun 2021 12:16Z
Human and mosquito cell nuclei have their own shapes, and researchers
can mold one to look like the other.

United Airlines is buying 15 supersonic aircraft from Boom Supersonic
The Verge, 03 Jun 2021 15:37Z
United Airlines said it would purchase 15 supersonic jets from Boom
Supersonic. Depending on safety testing, that order may increase to 35 aircraft. The plan is ...

China bans extreme sports in wake of Gansu ultramarathon tragedy
The Guardian, 03 Jun 2021 15:32Z
Authorities crack down on sports including trail running and wingsuit flying ahead of centenary celebrations.

Tasked to Fight Climate Change, a Secretive U.N. Agency Does the Opposite
The New York Times, 03 Jun 2021 15:11Z
London. During a contentious meeting over proposed climate regulations last fall, a Saudi diplomat to the obscure but powerful International Maritime ...

UFOs aren't coming from space - but from beneath the SEA as crafts spotted buzzing US Navy, claims alien-hunting ex cop
The Sun, 03 Jun 2021 11:32Z
UFOs may not be coming from space - but rather from beneath the sea amid a string of strange encounters involving US warships ...
[Sorry, puny humans, they've been spotted coming from deep space as well].

India Orders 300 Million Doses of Vaccines After Court Rebuke
Bloomberg, 03 Jun 2021 07:37Z
India ordered 300 mn doses of a coronavirus vaccine being developed by
a local manufacturer, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's govt comes under ...

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to build new kind of nuclear reactor in Wyoming The Guardian, 03 Jun 2021 02:45Z
The project in Wyoming - the country's top coal-producing state - is a small advanced reactor that runs on different fuels to traditional ones.

Nevada passes clean energy bill requiring state to join RTO, accelerating
$2B transmission project
Utility Dive, 02 Jun 2021 15:21Z
The Nevada legislature on Mon approved a sweeping clean energy bill that
aims to accelerate construction of a massive transmission project, increase ...

Joe Pisani (opinion): If govt has been lying about UFOs, what's really
going on?
The Middletown Press, 03 Jun 2021 04:23Z
Sgt. Schultz, was "We see nothing. We hear nothing. We know nothing." And
don't you find it suspicious that the series was ...

[Red Queenin It!]
Genetic biocontrol methods fast-tracked for mouse plague control
ABC New England, 03 Jun 2021 02:01Z
The NSW govt has today announced a $50 mn mouse control package
which includes $1.8 mn in funding for genetic control of mice populations.

[Teen angst, Florida style!]
Florida girl and boy, armed with AK-47, in shootout with deputies
ABC News, 03 Jun 2021 02:00Z
A 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl in the United States found guns
inside a home they broke into before firing on police, authorities say.

COVID scare at French Open as doubles players test positive
ABC News, 03 Jun 2021 02:59Z
Both members of a men's double team competing at the French Open are forced
to withdraw from the tournament after testing positive for coronavirus.

Making mRNA vaccines locally could still be 4 years away, govt says
ABC News, 03 Jun 2021 03:05Z
It could be up to 4 years before mRNA vaccines are produced in Australia,
under a process being led by the federal govt.

Greater Melbourne residents who lost jobs to COVID lockdown eligible for new payment
ABC News, 03 Jun 2021 03:25Z
People who lost their jobs amid Victoria's lockdown may be eligible for a
$500 "temporary COVID disaster payment" on a week-by-week basis, Prime
Minister Scott Morrison says.
[In a 270 deg turn from yest, the PM told reporters at a press conf
the Commonwealth would be with Victorians "all the way". Yesterday the
fed govt was saying there would be no support for households or
businesses because the lockdown was called by the state govt. Perhaps
someone pointed out the prev 17 wk lockdown was also called by the
state govt and saw a doubling of unemployment benefits while people
were unable to work as well as business subsidies intended to keep
jobs open although some large corporations funneled that money to
executive bonuses and stock dividends. Today the PM says the workload
must be split. Either the Commonwealth will support business or
households but not both; the Victorian govt must pick up the other one].

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