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Climate Strike -- It's Accelerating Fast (week 75) [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-09-09  

You can make a difference to the hurt being caused by climate chaos and the great extinction event, in your town or your city! How? Reuse, repurpose, and recycle this information.

This is the letter for week 75 of a weekly climate strike that went on for 4 years in front of San Francisco City Hall, beginning early March 2019. For more context, see this story. For an annotated table of contents to see topics for all the strike letters, see this story. Meanwhile…

STRIKE FOR THE PLANET

You think 2020’s been bad? This year’s just the start.

This week’s topic: It’s Accelerating Fast.

Greenland’s ice cap has reached the point of no return, 1

There’s a drought destroying what’s left of the Amazonian rainforest, 2, 3

Arctic sea ice is at its second lowest level ever, 4

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is slowing, 5, 6

The Taiga forests are being attacked by invasive insects and fire, 7

The coral reefs are dying, 8

The permafrost is thawing, 9 and

and Both East and West Antarctica are seeing increasing massive ice losses.10

So What Does This Have To Do With Us?

If you want to survive, you don’t wait until the tornado is on top of you to find shelter, you evacuate before your house is in flames, you don’t try to drive through a flood, and you don’t go singing indoors with strangers in the middle of a pandemic.

We know disaster’s coming for SF. But you’re not acting with the urgency needed to meet the situations. Meanwhile, the speed of their arrival is accelerating rapidly.

Need Proof?

ISSUE NEW TIMELINE sea level rise We’re hitting major tipping points every day now11 Ocean Heating Every year, the oceans are hotter than at any time in recorded history12 Loss of snow/ice The Sierra snow pack is shrinking disastrously and rapidly13 Loss of biodiversity We’re in an accelerating extinction event14 temperature rise We’re on track for the IPCC worse-case temperature increase scenario15 increase in fires Every year sets new records in CA16 megadrought We’re in the early years of one now17

But Do These Impact San Francisco?

sea level rise — Even the most optimistic estimates show massive losses for SF 18

ocean heating — This also will lose SF land and 19 cause more destructive storms 20

cause more destructive storms loss of snow/ice — 98.5% of SF’s water comes from the Sierras 21

loss of biodiversity — This causes pandemics 22 and threatens food supplies 23

and threatens food supplies temperature rise — Less fog, more heat deaths, more heat 24

increase in fires — Smoke/respiratory health/deaths, refugees, reduction in food supply and tourism 25

megadrought — Shortages (water and food)26 in past megadroughts destroyed civilizations

SF city hall, on the days of wildfire smoke and no sun — this is just after noon

So Why Aren’t You Acting To Meet The Emergency?

The longer you wait, the more expensive acting gets, and the greater the likelihood your actions will be inadequate and lead to catastrophic failure.27 You already have some good initial plans for action that you either aren’t implementing or aren’t implementing rapidly enough.28 And you know in great detail what needs to be done immediately.29

You Must Act Now!

If you don’t implement city-wide blackwater recycling, we will run out of water in a megadrought and will be stealing water from ecosystems. If you don’t implement 100% local clean energy, we are liable for damages both locally (wildfires, drought, biodiversity losses) and globally (CO 2 -driven climate change).30, 31 If you don’t implement 100% clean transportation in SF immediately, we are knowingly adding to both global CO 2 levels and our liability. If you don’t plant a native urban forest in SF now, we will be starving wildlife, depleting the aquifer, increasing the urban heat island effect, reducing carbon sequestration, reducing biodiversity, increasing flooding, and increasing environmental racism.32 If you don’t start making SF truly resilient, the city will fail.

Why?

Because there are 14 weeks left to start the big actions needed for survival. 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40

Because, in a little over a year, we have lost 10 years time in which to act.

Because the Guardian’s climate countdown gives us 35 days to save the earth.41

Because there is no time left, you must do your job and act now.

FOOTNOTES

1. Michalea D. King, Ian M. Howat, Salvatore G. Candel, Myoung J. Noh, Seongsu Jeong, Brice P. Y. Noël, Michiel R. van den Broeke, Bert Wouters, and Adelaide Negrete. “Dynamic ice loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet driven by sustained glacier retreat”. Nature Communications Earth & Environment. 13 August 2020. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-020-0001-2 .

2. Caio de Freitas Paes. “Amazon fires may be worse in 2020 as deforestation and land grabbing spikes”. Mongabay. 18 May 2020. https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/amazon-fires-may-be-worse-in-2020-as-deforestation-and-land-grabbing-spikes/ .

3. Irene Banos Ruiz. “Drought, forest loss cause vicious circle in Amazon”. Deutsche Welle. 13 March 2017. https://www.dw.com/en/drought-forest-loss-cause-vicious-circle-in-amazon/a-37882115 .

4. Andrew Freedman. “Arctic sea ice slides to second-lowest level on record, thanks to Siberian heat waves”. The Washington Post. 22 September 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/09/22/arctic-sea-ice-low/ .

5. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “Florida current is weaker now than at any point in the past century”. Phys Org. 7 August 2020. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-florida-current-weaker-century.html .

6. Dave. “Gulf Stream Update: New study confirms AMOC is slowing”. Skeptical Science. 24 September 2020. https://www.skeptical-science.com/science/gulf-stream-update-new-study-confirms-amoc-is-slowing/ .

7. Elizabeth Claire Alberts. “Photos show scale of massive fires tearing through Siberian forests”. Mongabay. 23 July 2020. https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/photos-show-scale-of-massive-fires-tearing-through-siberian-forests/ .

8. Trevor Nace. “Nearly All Coral Reefs Will Disappear Over the Next 20 Years, Scientists Say”. Forbes. 24 February 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2020/02/24/70-90-percent-of-coral-reefs-will-disappear-over-the-next-20-years-scientists-say/#6e44c2037d87 .

9. Charlotte Edmond. “The Arctic is having holes stabbed through it at an alarming rate”. World Economic Forum. 14 February 2020. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/02/permafrost-ice-melt-thaw-arctic-global-warming-carbon/ .

10. Chris Mooney. “Two major Antarctic glaciers are tearing loose from their restraints, scientists say”. The Washington Post. 14 September 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/09/14/glaciers-breaking-antarctica-pine-island-thwaites/ .

11. Grace Palmer. “Greenland Ice Sheet Reached Tipping Point 20 Years Ago, New Study Finds”. Earth Institute / Columbia University. 2 September 2020. https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2020/09/02/greenland-tipping-point-20-years-ago/ .

12. Denise Chow. “Earth’s oceans are hotter than ever — and getting warmer faster”. NBC News. 13 January 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/earth-s-oceans-are-hotter-ever-getting-warmer-faster-n1114811 .

13. Paul Rogers. “Water shortages ahead? Sierra Nevada snow pack on track to shrink 79 percent, new study finds”. The Mercury News. 15 December 2018. https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/12/15/water-shortages-ahead-sierra-nevada-snow-pack-on-track-to-shrink-79-percent-new-study-finds/ .

14. Jenny McGrath. “The UN’s 2020 biodiversity report is ugly, but there’s still hope”. Digitaltrends. 15 September 2020. https://www.digitaltrends.com/news/un-biodiversity-report-2020/ .

15. Kate Wheeling. “Are We Headed Toward The Worst-Case Climate Change Scenario?” PacificStandard. 25 January 2019. https://psmag.com/environment/are-we-headed-toward-the-worst-case-climate-change-scenario .

16. Abhinanda Bhattacharyya and J.D. Morris. “California is on fire. These maps show how the climate crisis has spiraled out of control”. San Francisco Chronicle. 30 September 2020. https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2020/california-climate-fires-maps/ .

17. Doyle Rice. “‘Megadrought’ emerging in the western US might be worse than any in 1,200 years”. USA Today. 16 April 2020. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/16/drought-worst-western-megadrought-here-study-says/5145929002/ .

18. Troy Griggs. “More of the Bay Area Could Be Underwater in 2100 Than Previously Expected”. 7 March 2018. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/07/climate/san-francisco-sinking-land-flooding-climate-change.html .

19. Damian Carrington. “Ocean temperatures hit record high as rate of heating accelerates”. The Guardian. 13 January 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/ocean-temperatures-hit-record-high-as-rate-of-heating-accelerates .

20. Ellen Knickmeyer. “Storms preview ocean-rise damage to California cities, roads”. AP. 30 January 2017. https://apnews.com/article/1441a4ed01494fc28dad592eff36beed .

21. Water Resources Division. “Water Resources Division Annual Report”. San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. November 2019. https://sfwater.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=14560 .

22. John Scott. “How biodiversity loss is hurting our ability to combat pandemics”. World Economic Forum. 9 March 2020. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/biodiversity-loss-is-hurting-our-ability-to-prepare-for-pandemics/ .

23. Jonathan Watts. “World’s food supply under ‘severe threat’ from loss of biodiversity”. The Guardian. 21 February 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/21/worlds-food-supply-under-severe-threat-from-loss-of-biodiversity .

24. Andrew Chamings. “How Climate Change Will Change the Shape of San Francisco” The Bold Italic. 30 November 2016. https://thebolditalic.com/how-climate-change-will-change-the-shape-of-san-francisco-5b53c73aef9a .

25. Do you need specific citations beyond looking around you? Because we’re experiencing all this in SF directly right now. I could connect you to a few fire refugee friends of mine if needed.

26. Kurtis Alexander. “California, rest of the West sinking into a rare mega-drought, scientists say”. San Francisco Chronicle. 16 April 2020. https://www.sfchronicle.com/environment/article/California-rest-of-the-West-sinking-into-a-rare-15205514.php .

27. See Strike letter week 74.

28. Richard Procter. “Can San Francisco lead the way on Climate Change?” SFWeekly. 11 September 2019. https://www.sfweekly.com/news/san-francisco-climate-change-emissions/ .

29. Again, refer to the end of every Strike letter from 43 on.

30. University Marketing and Communications. “MTU Researchers Introduce New Theory to Calculate Emissions Liability”. Michigan Tech. 21 August 2020. https://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2020/august/mtu-researchers-introduce-new-theory-to-calculate-emissions-liability.html .

31. Jonathan Watts. “Portuguese children sue 33 countries over climate change at European court”. The Guardian. 3 September 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/sep/03/portuguese-children-sue-33-countries-over-climate-change-at-european-court .

32. See Strike letters weeks 6, 9, 22, 23, 27, 44, 45, 58, 64, and 72.

33. Matt McGrath. “Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months”. BBC News. 24 July 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48964736 .

34. Heather Smith. “Climate Change: Even Worse Than We Thought”. Sierra. 8 October 2018. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/climate-change-even-worse-we-thought-ipcc-report .

35. Michael Grose and Julie Arblaster. “Just how hot will it get this century? It’s worse than we thought”. Phys Org. 18 May 2020. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-hot-century-worse-thought.html .

36. Amelia Urry. “The scientist who first warned of climate change says it’s much worse than we thought”. Grist. 22 March 2016. https://grist.org/science/the-scientist-who-first-warned-of-climate-change-says-its-much-worse-than-we-thought/ .

37. Rafi Letzter. “Today’s Climate Change Is Worse Than Anything Earth Has Experienced in the Past 2,000 Years”. Live Science. 25 July 2019. https://www.livescience.com/66027-climate-change-different.html .

38. John D. Sutter. “Vanishing”. CNN. Accessed 30 June 2020. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2016/12/specials/vanishing/ .

39. Peter Castagno. “Biodiversity Loss Worst in Human History — 1 Million Animal Species Risk Extinction”. Citizen Truth. 6 May 2019. https://citizentruth.org/biodiversity-loss-worst-in-human-history-1-million-animal-species-risk-extinction/ .

40. Kristen Callihan. “Earth’s Currently Ongoing Sixth Mass Extinction Is Worse Than We Thought”. OutwardOn. 7 August 2017. https://www.outwardon.com/article/earths-currently-ongoing-sixth-mass-extinction-event-is-worse-than-we-thought/ .

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