Trump couldn’t get it passed... - Alt National Park Service
https://www.facebook.com/share/1CEeHbqLqw/

Trump couldn’t get it passed in his big 💩 bill, so now here are his executive orders.

Let’s break down what Trump’s new AI executive orders actually mean. On July 23, the administration issued a sweeping directive to “facilitate the rapid and efficient buildout” of AI infrastructure by, in its own words, “easing Federal regulatory burdens.” One order explicitly calls on agencies to “streamline environmental reviews and permitting” by using existing exemptions or creating new ones. In practice, that means fewer safeguards, less public input, and fast-tracked approval for massive data center construction, even on federal land.

What’s more, the administration brags that it “revokes a Biden-era Executive Order that would have saddled AI data center development … with pages of DEI and climate requirements.” This signals a wholesale retreat from environmental accountability. These data centers are notoriously energy and water intensive, using millions of gallons of water daily and consuming electricity at rates that rival entire cities. And under this new policy, they can now be built without the oversight meant to protect air quality, local ecosystems, and public health.

We’re already seeing the real-world impact. In South Memphis, particularly in Boxtown, a neighborhood long burdened by industrial pollution, residents are now facing a new threat: up to 35 unpermitted methane gas turbines powering xAI’s “Colossus” supercomputer. These turbines emit massive quantities of nitrogen oxides and formaldehyde, smog-forming and carcinogenic pollutants that have increased local ozone by 30 to 60 percent and worsened asthma rates in a community already leading the state in emergency asthma visits. Advocacy groups, including the NAACP and the Southern Environmental Law Center, issued a Clean Air Act notice, calling the site potentially “the largest industrial source of smog-forming pollutants in Memphis.” Residents report rising cases of respiratory illness, days too unhealthy to be outside, and a cancer risk four times the national average. Although local officials recently approved a turbine permit, the very next day brought a Code Orange air alert, underscoring the mounting public health crisis tied to unchecked AI development.

The orders don’t stop there. They also cancel major clean energy infrastructure, like the 4.9 billion dollar Grain Belt Express transmission line, and steer AI growth toward fossil fuels and nuclear instead of renewables. This could severely hinder U.S. climate goals and lock in decades of carbon-heavy infrastructure. Taken together, the language of these executive orders makes it crystal clear: this isn’t just about AI, it’s a full-speed deregulation plan that prioritizes corporate expansion over the health of American communities.

SHEFIK: ze vcera

Around 11 million Americans are under flood alerts Saturday evening as a "ring of fire" weather pattern continues to impact the eastern two-thirds of the country through the weekend.

A flash flood emergency was issued near the Washington, D.C., area, including suburban Maryland, such as Chevy Chase and Silver Spring until 9 p.m. ET.

Severe weather, flash flood threat impact eastern half of US - ABC News
https://abcnews.go.com/US/severe-weather-flash-flood-threat-threaten-eastern-half/story?id=123895314

Dramatic cuts in China’s air pollution drove surge in global warming | New Scientist
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2474067-dramatic-cuts-in-chinas-air-pollution-drove-surge-in-global-warming/

A recent surge in the rate of global warming has been largely driven by China’s efforts to reduce air pollution, raising questions about how air quality regulations are influencing the climate and whether we fully understand the impact of removing aerosols from the atmosphere. This extra warming, which was being masked by the aerosols, accounts for 5 per cent of global temperature increase since 1850.

Much chatter, little impact: Net zero reference slipped into German constitution - Euractiv
https://www.euractiv.com/section/eet/news/germany-climate-law-legislation/

BERLIN – As part of the deal over Germany's massive defence and infrastructure spending package, the Greens managed to write spending earmarks with a reference to climate neutrality into the country's constitution.

Champions and critics of climate action alike have been trying to play up the significance of adding in a mention of Germany's 2045 net-zero goal, although legal experts largely see the change as lacking broader legal significance.

The amendment to Article 143 of the Basic Law, Germany's constitution, allows for “a special fund with its own credit authorization for additional investments in infrastructure and for additional investments to achieve climate neutrality by 2045, with a volume of up to €500 billion.”

One line in the paragraph specifically sets aside €100 billion in an off-budget special fund for climate projects toward bringing emissions down to net zero, a goal already set down in Germany's Climate Action Act.

10 Years Since the Paris Agreement: What do the climate data show?
https://youtu.be/xOYbDRHQF7k?si=fHvG7wk5mAAmU34W


Professor Stefan Rahmstorf - Co-Head of Research Department on Earth System Analysis & Professor of Physics of the Oceans at the University of Potsdam, Germany bei Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

ROGER_WILCO:

Climate change target of 2C is ‘dead’, says renowned climate scientist | Climate crisis | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/04/climate-change-target-of-2c-is-dead-says-renowned-climate-scientist

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) defined a scenario which gives a 50% chance to keep warming under 2C – that scenario is now impossible,” he said. “The 2C target is dead, because the global energy use is rising, and it will continue to rise.” The new analysis said global heating is likely to reach 2C by 2045, unless solar geoengineering is deployed.

...

A key focus has been on emissions from shipping. For decades, the sulphate particles produced by ships burning fuel have blocked some sunlight from reaching the Earth’s surface, suppressing temperatures. But in 2020, new anti-pollution regulations came into force, sharply cutting the level of the aerosol particles. This led to more heat from the sun reaching the surface, which scientists measure as watts a square meter (W/m2).

Hansen’s team’s estimate of the impact of this – 0.5W/m2 – is significantly higher than five other recent studies, which ranged from 0.07 to 0.15 W/m2, but would explain the anomalous heat. Hansen’s team used a top-down approach, looking at the change in the reflectivity over key parts of the ocean and ascribing that to the reductions in shipping emissions. The other studies used bottom-up approaches to estimate the increase in heat.

“Both approaches are useful and often complementary,” said Dr Gavin Schmidt, director of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. “But I think in this case, Hansen’s approach is too simple and doesn’t factor in changes in Chinese emissions, or internal variability.”

The new study also argues that the planet’s climate sensitivity to rising carbon emissions has been underestimated, partly because of the underestimation of the impact of reduced shipping emissions.

Jan Umsonst https://www.facebook.com/taoist.attack/posts/3422485977881946
·
A look on the Southern Ocean marine heatwaves - doesn't look good, as they are also intensifying...
Our main problem: ocean heat uptake remained even during the El Nino 2023/24 on record levels - insane the numbers of the last years!
Important for this post: During La Ninas the oceans take up much more heat than during El Ninos.
The central to eastern tropical Pacific being colder than normal during La NInas supports ocean heat uptake over the abnormal cold areas. During El Ninos the opposite happens as the oceans loose vast amounts of heat to the atmosphere during El Ninos when the central to eastern tropical Pacific is warmer than normal.
The high rates of ocean heat uptake during the triple La Nina from 2020 to 2022 are thought to be one reason behind the exceptional ocean surface warming during 2023/24. Some of the take up heat resurfaced into the upper mixed layer during 2023/24 which caused this exceptional surface warming signal. The El Nino in 2023/24 played here a large role.
Still the signal of heat resurfacing had been exceptional.
But now we have the problem that ocean heat uptake did not decline or reversed during 2023/24 when we had the last El Nino emitting vast amounts of energy into the atmosphere.
The rates of ocean heat uptake had been similar in 2023/24 to 2020-22, which should not be possible, at least not back on back...
Lets talk about numbers...
The numbers of ocean heat uptake (IAP/CAS dataset) in 2021 of 15Zj, 2022 of 19Zj, 2023 of 16Zj and 2024 of 16ZJ (1) have to be seen in relation to these numbers:
Regardless of which estimate is used, there has been a two- to three- fold increase in the rate of increase in OHC since the late 1980s. For example, according to the IAP analy- sis, the OHC trend for 1958–1985 is 3.1 ± 0.5 ZJ yr−1, and since 1986, the OHC trend is 9.2 ± 0.5 ZJ yr−1 (Fig. 2). The IAP trend within 1958–1985 of 3.1 ± 0.5 ZJ yr−1 is higher than the previous release in Cheng et al. (2023) (2.3 ± 0.5 ZJ yr−1), mainly because the new inclusion of the bottle data bias correction. After 2007, with better global coverage of ocean subsurface data, OHC uncertainty is reduced. There is a significant warming trend of 10.8 ± 1.2 ZJ yr−1 and 10.3 ± 0.8 ZJ yr−1 from 2007–2023 for IAP/CAS and NCEI/NOAA (seasonal time series), respectively (Fig. 2). The NCEI three-month OHC estimate has a slightly stronger trend than the pentadal time series from 2005 to 2020, indicating the impact of sam- pling changes associated with the mapping approach. (2)
(1) New Record Ocean Temperatures and Related Climate Indicators in 2023"; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00376-024-3378-5
(2) "Record High Temperatures in the Ocean in 2024"; https://link.springer.com/.../10.1007/s00376-025-4541-3...
These studies are important for what happens in the oceans (read them in the order):
(1) "New Record Ocean Temperatures and Related Climate Indichttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00376-024-3378-5
(2) "A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change "; https://journals.ametsoc.org/.../105/3/BAMS-D-23-0209.1.xml
(3) "Record High Temperatures in the Ocean in 2024"; https://link.springer.com/.../10.1007/s00376-025-4541-3...
(4) "Quantifying the acceleration of multidecadal global sea surface warming driven by Earth's energy imbalance"; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/adaa8a
"Drivers of the 2023 record shattering marine heat extreme in the North Atlantic"; https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-5046018/v1

Handful of countries responsible for climate crisis, top court told | Climate crisis | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/02/handful-of-countries-responsible-for-climate-crisis-icj-court-told

Over the next two weeks, the court will hear statements from 98 nations, including wealthy developed nations with the greatest historical responsibility for the climate emergency, such as the UK and Russia, and states that have contributed very little to global greenhouse gas emissions but stand to bear the brunt of their impact, including Bangladesh and Sudan as well as Pacific island nations.

The US and China, the world’s biggest emitters, will make statements too, even though neither fully recognises the court’s authority.

Regenvanu told the court that states continued to emit vast amounts of greenhouse gases in spite of “increasingly dire warnings” from scientists, noting that emissions had increased by more than 50% since 1990.

...

Wewerinke-Singh said responsible states were required to make full reparation for the injury they had caused and this must be “proportionate to historic contributions to the harm”. She said this could include monetary compensation in addition to cash committed under the UNFCCC.

‘Welfare for the rich’: how farm subsidies wrecked Europe’s landscapes | Farming | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/02/farm-subsidies-wrecked-europe-environments-common-agricultural-policy

the environmental aspects of the CAP changes have not worked. The European court of auditors in 2020 found little evidence of a positive impact on biodiversity from the CAP. The European Environment Agency, in its State of Nature report in 2023, found that the EU’s farmed environment had continued to decline, with the health of only 14% of habitats and about a quarter of non-bird species classed as “good”. The CAP is also making the climate worse: about 80% of the budget goes to support carbon-intensive animal food products, according to a paper published this month in Nature.

Climatic consequences of the process of saturation of radiation absorption in gases
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666496823000456

• The impact of anthropogenic increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration on Earth's climate is analysed.
• The concept of saturation mass is introduced.
• By comparing the saturation mass of CO2 with the quantity of this gas in Earth's atmosphere, and analyzing the results of experiments and measurements, the need for continued and improved experimental work is suggested to ascertain whether additionally emitted carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is indeed a greenhouse gas.

see

Meditaerranean Sea shows climate change's impact in real time | Focus on Europe
https://youtu.be/8jV_ANDuy_4?si=NxBbEAVL69wXdwiY