Cool and way-pleasant this near-noon Monday here in California’s Central Valley — well under triple digits as apparently we’re right now in a real-short lived (two days!) episode of crisp temperatures and comfortable ambiance when outside.
However, hot shit hits the fan starting Wednesday (but probably tomorrow) with another deep-dive into a furnace-like heat wave supposedly lasting well past Labor Day.
A high-pressure point restricting the onshore flow of marine air is creating a near-about statewide scorcher:
A long period of hot to extremely hot (likely record-breaking) temperatures now appear likely across the CA interior (especially Central Valley & foothills) beginning late this week & continuing into next. Heat could potentially make it to coast, though that's not clear yet.#CAwx https://t.co/tcrrHdQfMo
— Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) August 29, 2022
And as with all heat waves lately, shit’s serious business — the LA office of the NWS reported this morning: ‘“This heat may be record-breaking and will likely produce a very high heat illness risk … These trends are forecast to continue and will likely set up (a) prolonged and likely dangerous heat event.”‘
Meanwhile, climate change continues to continue — another worse-than-previously-figured report:
My latest: — Greenland ice sheet set to raise sea levels by nearly a foot, study finds https://t.co/oAB3eQMtF7
— Chris Mooney (@chriscmooney) August 29, 2022
There have been tons of studies on sea level rise and climate change the last few years — the heat is melting the ice cap — which is a ‘duh!’ as the entire globe continues to heat up faster and faster. The Arctic is heating up nearly four times faster then the rest of the planet. And as with all that research, most of the studies indicate worse-case scenarios with a teensy-bit of optimism thrown in just to keep suicidal tendencies down to a minimum. Above all the other bad shit happening nowadays, the climate crisis is the way-most formidable — it acts ‘slow’ and Republicans cry hoax, creating the perfect storm of fright and horrible weather.
The new sea-level rise study, published today at Nature, reveals deeper, quicker flooding of coastal regions, and at this point, it’s all but inevitable — at least a foot or more sea rise.
Noted climate-change journalist Chris Mooney at The Washington Post this morning explains the details:
One reason that new research appears worse than other findings may just be that it is simpler. It tries to calculate how much ice Greenland must lose as it recalibrates to a warmer climate. In contrast, sophisticated computer simulations of how the ice sheet will behave under future scenarios for global emissions have produced less alarming predictions.
A one-foot rise in global sea levels would have severe consequences. If the sea level along the U.S. coasts rose by an average of 10 to 12 inches by 2050, a recent report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found, the most destructive floods would take place five times as often, and moderate floods would become 10 times as frequent.
…
One reason that new research appears worse than other findings may just be that it is simpler. It tries to calculate how much ice Greenland must lose as it recalibrates to a warmer climate. In contrast, sophisticated computer simulations of how the ice sheet will behave under future scenarios for global emissions have produced less alarming predictions.
A one-foot rise in global sea levels would have severe consequences. If the sea level along the U.S. coasts rose by an average of 10 to 12 inches by 2050, a recent report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found, the most destructive floods would take place five times as often, and moderate floods would become 10 times as frequent.
Melt rates have been increasing in the past two decades, and Greenland is the largest single ice-based contributor to the rate of global sea-level rise, surpassing contributions from both the larger Antarctic ice sheet and from mountain glaciers around the world. Greenland lies in the Arctic, which is warming much faster than the rest of the world.
Higher Arctic temperatures cause large amounts of ice on Greenland’s surface to thaw. While the island’s oceanfront glaciers are also shedding enormous icebergs at an accelerating pace, it is this surface melt — which translates into gushing ice rivers, disappearing lakes and giant waterfalls vanishing into crevasses — that causes the biggest ice losses.
…
Pennsylvania State University professor Richard Alley, an ice sheet expert, said the fact that researchers remain uncertain about how the planet’s ice sheets will change and raise global sea levels shows the need for more research.
“The problems are deeply challenging, will not be solved by wishful thinking, and have not yet been solved by business-as-usual,” he said.
But Alley added that it is clear that the more we let the planet warm, the more the seas will rise.
“[The] rise can be a little less than usual projections, or a little more, or a lot more, but not a lot less,” Alley said.
Well,, no shit. Not a fun way to end.
Add to the mental/physical turmoil — from the NOAA last April:
- Sea level has risen 8–9 inches (21–24 centimeters) since 1880.
- In 2020, global sea level set a new record high—91.3 mm (3.6 inches) above 1993 levels.
- The rate of sea level rise is accelerating: it has more than doubled from 0.06 inches (1.4 millimeters) per year throughout most of the twentieth century to 0.14 inches (3.6 millimeters) per year from 2006–2015.
- In many locations along the U.S. coastline, high-tide flooding is now 300% to more than 900% more frequent than it was 50 years ago.
- If we are able to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, U.S. sea level in 2100 is projected to be around 0.6 meters (2 feet) higher on average than it was in 2000.
- On a pathway with high greenhouse gas emissions and rapid ice sheet collapse, models project that average sea level rise for the contiguous United States could be 2.2 meters (7.2 feet) by 2100 and 3.9 meters (13 feet) by 2150.
Or maybe some Hollywood CGI-influenced rapid sea rise — silly, I know, but a show stopper:
Despite the forewarning, once again here we are…
(Illustration out front found here.)