TICK TOCK THE CLIMATE CLOCK PART TEN

The photo of the Tuscan hills above was taken today through the screen of my bedroom window.  But it could have been taken yesterday, or tomorrow, or through the middle of next week.  There is a difference between weather and climate, but, people, it’s May in Tuscany!  It's been so chilly and rainy, I could have worn my lightweight winter coat and carried an umbrella every day but two since we arrived two weeks ago, and the forecast through Wednesday is more of the same:  Rain and thunderstorms every day with an average high of 15° Celsius.  The historical average for May here is 23°, and May is normally quite sunny.  

An extratropical depression caused by the low swooping North Atlantic Jet Stream is causing the disturbance.  And not only is it disturbing and depressing the weather, but me too!  Sure, weather comes and goes, but last May was also very cool and rainy until mid-month.  Call me Chicken Little, but if it rains 75% of the time next May and temperatures hover around 15°, wouldn’t you begin to wonder if the Tuscan springtime climate is changing?  I thought so.  

On to the latest climate news.

Maybe I’m not Chicken Little After All.  This from the 30/4/2019 New York Times Magazine (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/science/tree-rings-climate.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_sc_20190430&nl=science-times&nlid=45454666edit_sc_20190430&ref=headline&te=1).  Dr. Trouet quoted below is one of the scientists studying tree rings for climate change clues. 

From the early 1700s until the 1960s, the fast moving river of wind known as the North Atlantic Jet Stream, which drives weather extremes over Europe, was pretty steady on its course. Then it became less predictable.  The fact that the stream has become more variable in recent decades suggests that the shift is the result of humans’ effects on climate, Dr. Trouet said. “The recent rise in variance is unprecedented in 300 years,” she said. 

Isn’t that Sweet!?  An American explorer found a plastic bag and candy wrappers in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, the deepest spot in the world’s oceans, while breaking the record for the deepest dive ever in a submersible--11 km (seven miles) below the surface.

Roll Out the Barrel!  The Trump Administration rolled back offshore oil rig safety regulations enacted after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill that bled 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.  The changes are expected to save the oil industry more than $824 million over the next 10 years.  Marine life and us, not so much.

Have You Heard the Latest Buzz?  Scientists are predicting that, if climate change continues unchecked, warmth-seeking mosquitoes that carry dengue fever, Zika virus (that's the little vampire above), and yellow fever will migrate north as far as Chicago and Shanghai, exposing as many as a billion people without immunity to these “tropical” diseases. 

Wall Street Monopoly Players Fear Loss of Boardwalk.  Finally realizing that it may have put its real estate investments at risk of intense heat, wildfires, drought, storms, and floods, Wall Street investment firms like Black Rock, as well as pension giants like CalPERS, are now partnering with climate scientists to generate the first countrywide, individual property-level maps describing the effects of extreme weather on their real estate assets.  I guess that's good news for the 401K crew. 

Truth?  You Can’t Handle the Truth!  For the first time since its formation, the Arctic Council of 8 countries and representatives of indigenous peoples in the Arctic who (used to?) cooperate on the region’s environmental protection, failed to reach a joint declaration.  Why?  Because the United States refused to mention the latest science on climate change or the Paris Agreement.  Instead, the Council issued a short joint statement that excluded any mention of climate change at all. (That's Secretary of State Pompeo in the front row looking very pleased with himself.)

And the Runner-Up Is…The globe experienced its second-warmest April since 1880, according to NASA.  The unusually warm April follows a top-three hottest March, and indicates that the Earth is headed for yet another top-three warmest year on record.  But, wait!  There's more!  Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere exceeded 415 ppm for the first time in human history, likely becoming the highest level on record in at least three milion years.  Yay, team!

We End Where We Started:  With the Jet Stream.  Beginning last Friday and continuing through next week, parts of the central United States are expected to experience severe thunderstorms, flooding, a heat wave, unseasonable cold, and even snow resulting from an unusual (When are they going to stop using that word?) Jet Stream disturbance.  The intensity forecast would be extreme even for the winter, and is almost unheard of during spring in the mid-section of the country.

Keep it real!

Marilyn