Tag: climate change

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Park Service Rangers Go Rogue With Alt-Twitter Feed Servicing Climate Science

https://twitter.com/AltNatParkSer

A team of National Park Service rangers “and friends” has captured the attention of the Twitterverse posting as “AltUSNatParkService” (@AltNatParkSer) after the Trump administration shut down the Twitter accounts of several federal agencies, and ordered the deletion of tweets involving climate change.

Via The Daily Dot:

As the Trump administration rapidly shuts down the lines of communication between federal agencies and the public, an anonymous Twitter account is upholding the ethos of the National Parks Service.

@AltUSNatParkSer gained more than 170,000 followers overnight after the Badlands National Park Twitter account made headlines by tweeting and then deleting a series of climate change facts. Many Twitter users interpreted the Badlands tweets as a sign of resistance against encroaching censorship and the president’s environmental policies, exemplified by the administration deleting all references to climate change from the White House website.

While the Badlands tweets inspired several parody accounts, the alternate National Parks feed was the one that really caught hold. It claims to be run by “several active NPS rangers and friends,” and spent the night tweeting about climate change, sharing photos of national parks, and promoting free access to information produced by federal agencies.

The Twitter account has quickly grown to over 340,000 in less than 24 hours.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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News Round-Up: December 14, 2016

Some news items you might have missed:

• The brilliant indie film Moonlight received 6 Golden Globe nominations which means even more of the world will be exposed to one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. If you haven’t seen it yet, GO!

• Scientists are downloading and copying government climate data as quickly as possible out of fears a Trump administration might destroy any info showing the reality of climate change.

• Politico is reporting that upwards of 20 GOP Electoral College members are considering not casting their votes for Donald Trump on December 19th. The most EC members to change their votes in one year was 6 in 1808.

• More from the Electoral College – 40 members have asked for an intelligence briefing before December 19th regarding information that Russia actively moved to help elect Donald Trump.

• Oklahoma lawmakers have approved a bill that would require businesses to post anti-abortion signs in their bathrooms.

• Following an acclaimed 4 night concert production at City Center this past October, Jake Gyllenhaal heads back to Broadway in Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday In The Park With George for ten weeks at the Hudson Theater.

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Climate Change And The U.S. Senate

Fascinating (and frightening) animation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):

Decades ago, the majority of the Arctic’s winter ice pack was made up of thick, perennial ice. Today, very old ice is extremely rare.

This animation tracks the relative amount of ice of different ages from 1987 through early November 2014.

Video produced by the Climate.gov team, based on data provided by Mark Tschudi.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 98-1 to acknowledge that climate change is “real.” However, an amendment saying that climate change is due to human activity was voted down 59-40.

Go watch the video below and think on whether all this ice is melting “just because.”

(h/t JMG)

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News Roundup – January 17, 2015

Dot Marie Jones as “Coach Beiste”

A few news stories you might have missed:

• GLEE’s Dot Marie Jones (“Coach Beiste”) revealed this week that her character will transition from woman to man in a transgender story arc in the series’ final season.

• Climate change deniers should take note: 2014 was the hottest year in recorded history.

• Fox has announced “Grease: Live” – a live TV adaptation of the hit musical – will star Julianne Hough (“Dancing with the Stars”) as “Sandy,” and Vanessa Hudgens (“High School Musical”) as “Rizzo.”

• A pastor in Denver has attempted to ensnare a pro-LGBT baker with charges of discrimination because she wouldn’t bake a cake in the shape of a Bible with the words “God hates fags.”

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President Obama Announces Ambitious Climate Change Goals In Agreement With China

Photo: Greg Baker

From the AP:

The United States and China unveiled ambitious targets Wednesday to reduce greenhouse gases, aiming to inject fresh momentum into the global fight against climate change ahead of a make-or-break treaty to be finalized next year.

President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. would move much faster in cutting pollution, with a goal to reduce by 26 percent to 28 percent by 2025, compared with 2005 levels. Earlier in his presidency, Obama set a goal to cut emissions by 17 percent by 2020.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country’s emissions are still growing as it builds new coal plants, didn’t commit to cut emissions by a specific amount. Rather, he set a target for China’s emission to peak by 2030, or earlier if possible. He also pledged to increase the share of energy that China will derive from sources other than fossil fuels.

The unexpected breakthrough by the world’s two largest polluters reflected both nations’ desire to display a united front on climate change, blunting arguments from developing countries that have balked at demands that they get serious about cutting emissions. Yet it was unclear how feasible it would be for either country to meet their goals, and Obama’s pledge was sure to confront tough opposition from ascendant Republicans in Congress.

“This is, in my view, the most important bilateral climate announcement ever,” said David Sandalow, formerly a top environmental official at the White House and the Energy Department. “It sends the signal the two largest emitters in the world are working together to address this problem.”

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Brazil: São Paulo Close To Running Out Of Water

Folks here in the US can deny climate change all they want, but down in São Paulo, Brazil, it’s about to get real as the city of 20 million faces it’s worst drought in 80 years.

One of the causes of the crisis may be more than 2,000 kilometers away, in the growing deforested areas in the Amazon region.

“Humidity that comes from the Amazon in the form of vapor clouds – what we call ‘flying rivers’ – has dropped dramatically, contributing to this devastating situation we are living today,” said Antonio Nobre, a leading climate scientist at INPE, Brazil’s National Space Research Institute.

The changes, he said, are “all because of deforestation”.

Nobre and a group of fellow scientists and meteorologists believe the lack of rain that has dried up key reservoirs in São Paulo and neighboring states in southeastern Brazil is not just the result of an aberration in weather patterns.

Instead, global warming and the deforestation of the Amazon are altering the climate in the region by drastically reducing the release of billions of liters of water by rainforest trees, they say.

Sabesp, the state-owned water utility that serves the city, issued warnings last week that São Paulo only has about two weeks of drinking water supplies left.

And we’re not just talking about water for drinking, cooking and bathing. Crops in southeastern Brazil, like sugar and coffee, look to be highly impacted by the drought.