Global warming may have already passed irreversible tipping point

[Combatbutler]

With a working public transport system and less individual traffic, cities are more efficient than burbs.

There is but one problem with cities and that is people, people fucking everywhere.

[Rasulis]

There is but one problem with cities and that is people, people fucking everywhere.

What's wrong with people? I like my neighbors. When my wife was hospitalized twice last year due to back to back Covid and Pneumonia, our neighbors took turn delivering food to our house for three months.

[Mayhem]

So an update about NEOM and the line makes the rounds.

It went up in cost, and now takes another 35 years to build.

wallstreetjournal link
archive link

"It was supposed to be a launch party for the new Saudi Arabia.
Will Smith, Tom Brady and other celebrities gathered on a sandy island in the Red Sea packed with luxury hotels. Superyachts floated nearby while Alicia Keys played for business executives who had flown in from London and New York. Spotlights blared into the night sky.
The October event was the lavish opening of the first part of Neom, a planned metropolis defined by cutting-edge technology and psychedelic architecture, a cornerstone of the country’s plan to pivot its economy away from oil.
The truth for the project was less glamorous.
The relatively simple, low-rise development, known as Sindalah, was over three years late and on track to cost nearly $4 billion, three times its initial budget. Hotels were unfinished, high winds disrupted ferries and golf, and much of the site was still under construction.

At Sindalah, the island resort remains unfinished. Restaurant workers have been reading books to pass the time without guests to serve, people who worked at the resort say. The golf course and hotels, four months after the party, still aren’t open to the public."


"In a sign of the massive ambitions of the project, a draft board presentation from last summer pegged the capital expenditure required to build Neom to its “end-state” by 2080 at $8.8 trillion—more than 25 times the annual Saudi budget—and $370 billion for its first phase by 2035. The Saudi state is funding the lion’s share of Neom’s initial costs, although officials hope private investors will eventually share the burden."

“We’ll start to go vertical—hopefully—at the end of this year,” Denis Hickey, who oversees the development of the Line, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January.


So it is now expected to cost 8 times the initial planned cost, and the end of construction is pushed back 35 years before even a part of it is finished.

Very innovative.

[Edge-]

roflmao the dumbest idea in human history is, unsurprisingly, dumb as shit

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...sis-in-plants/

Microplastics are now a ubiquitous part of our daily physical reality. These minuscule fragments of degrading plastic now suffuse our air, our soil, the food we eat and the water we drink. They’re being detected everywhere researchers look, from Antarctic sea ice to human brains.

As scientists develop a better idea of where microplastics are accumulating in the environment, they’re just beginning to understand how these pollutants affect one of the most essential and widespread kingdoms of life on Earth: plants. A new study, published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, reveals how microplastics hinder photosynthesis across a wide range of plant species—including crucial food crops. “It’s really scary,” says Marcus Eriksen, a marine scientist at the 5 Gyres Institute, a nonprofit plastic pollution research organization, who was not involved in the study.

The researchers found that the presence of microplastics (plastic particles that are less than five millimeters in size) can reduce photosynthesis by as much as 7 to 12 percent, on average. That could range from 6 to 18 percent in terrestrial crops, 2 to 12 percent in marine plants such as seaweed and 4 to 14 percent in freshwater algae. “The exposure to microplastics was not surprising at all,” Eriksen says. “What surprised me was the level of impact.”

A generalized reduction in photosynthesis at such a scale could have major implications for the global food supply, according to the study’s researchers.

With the current rates of worldwide plastic production (and resulting microplastics exposure), farmers could see a 4 to 13.5 percent yield loss per year in staple crops such as corn, rice and wheat over the next 25 years. Additionally, seafood production could drop by up to 7 percent as aquatic ecosystems lose the algae that forms the base of their food webs. This would seriously impact the global economy and exacerbate food insecurity for hundreds of millions of people, according to the study’s authors.

Decreased photosynthesis could also hamper efforts to fight climate change. As plants photosynthesize, they draw carbon dioxide from the air into their tissues and store it in the form of sugars. Most climate models assume plants will be able to take up atmospheric carbon at a consistent rate over the next several decades. But if less carbon is sequestered in forests, grasslands and kelp beds than researchers had predicted, that will make mitigating warming that much harder.

Beyond photosynthesis, microplastics have been linked to health issues in humans and other animals. They are associated with an increase in people’s risk of heart attack and stroke, and they have been found to hamper growth and reproduction in a number of species.

The new paper further highlights the need for a global treaty on plastic issues, says marine biologist Richard Thompson, who specializes in microplastic pollution at the University of Plymouth in England and was not involved in the new study. Its team estimates that reducing the amount of plastic particles currently in the environment by just 13 percent could mitigate photosynthesis loss by 30 percent. Efforts to develop an international agreement on plastic have been underway since 2017—but the latest United Nations–led negotiations, held in Busan, South Korea, ended without a resolution.

Still, Thompson says, it is crucial to keep trying, especially as large chunks of plastic in the environment continue to degrade into microplastics. “If we don’t take action now,” he adds, “within the next 70 to 100 years, we’ll see much more wide-scale ecological harm.”

Dope. In addition to microplastics being in all of us, they're also in plants now and are impacting photosynthesis.

So we're likely to see reductions in crop yields and their ability to draw carbon dioxide out of the air.

Sure maybe 10% doesn't sound like a lot individually, but if you throw a 10% reduction of plants abilities to sequester carbon into global climate models that suddenly is a lot bigger deal.

[Rasulis]

First time I heard of lifestyle centers. What's the difference between those and outdoor malls?

[Muzjhath]

First time I heard of lifestyle centers. What's the difference between those and outdoor malls?

Did you watch the video?
Ray (City Nerd) makes it quite clear it's 100% branding

[Al Gorefiend]

There is but one problem with cities and that is people, people fucking everywhere.

Preach it man, I am never leaving the cozy low traffic suburbs. I can call my doctor and get a same day appointment, I don't have to take a number at the DMV. All the services and convenience of living with other humans without so much.. other humans.

The only public transportation here is the busses for the nursing homes to take them places, its colloquially referred to as the GREYhound.

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What's wrong with people?

My problem with them is they're often stupid and like to talk to me when there's no one else around, forcing my brain to conjure up subjects of their discussion when I'd rather be daydreaming. Because its rude to just ignore them

[Rasulis]

Cities in Texas are fighting over access to GW.

“Water is the new oil” as Texas cities square off over aquifer pipeline plans

In Central Texas, a bitter fight over a $1 billion water project offers a preview of the future for much of the state as decades of rapid growth pushes past the local limits of its most vital natural resource.

On one side: Georgetown, the fastest-growing city in America for three years straight, which in 2023 signed a contract with an investor-funded enterprise to quickly begin importing vast volumes of water from the Simsboro Formation of the Carrizo Wilcox Aquifer, 80 miles to the east.

On the other side: the cities atop the Simsboro that rely on its water. Bryan, College Station and the Texas A&M University System, a metro area with almost 300,000 people, have sued the developer to stop the project. A trial is set for the first week of May.

“We’re going to fight this thing until the end,” said Bobby Gutierrez, the mayor of Bryan. “It effectively drains the water source of the cities.”

The pump and pipeline project to Georgetown, developed by California-based Upwell Water, is the largest of at least a half dozen similar projects recently completed, under construction or proposed to bring rural Carrizo Wilcox aquifer water into the booming urban corridor that follows Interstate 35 through Central Texas.

It would eventually pump up to 89 million gallons per day, three times the usage of the city of Bryan.

“That basically stops all the economic development we have,” Gutierrez said. “We’re talking about our survival.”

The fight over the Upwell project could well be a prelude for the broader battles to come as cities across Texas outgrow their water supplies. Lawmakers in the state Capitol are pushing to avert a broad scarcity crisis with funding to desalinate seawater, purify salty groundwater and treat oilfield wastewater to add to the supply. But all of these solutions remain years from realization. In the near term, only import projects from freshwater aquifers will continue to meet the growing water demands of thirsty Texas cities.

Regulation of such projects falls to a patchwork of small, rural agencies called groundwater conservation districts, which might not be fully equipped or empowered to manage plans for competing regional water needs that can affect entire cities for generations to come.

Texas law offers limited clarity, generally preferring a landowner’s right to pump their own groundwater over regulations on private property. Despite fierce denunciations of the Upwell project from nearby city leaders, no one has alleged that its developers have broken any laws.

“We’re following the rules. Why are we being vilified?” said David Lynch, a managing partner at Core Capital investment firm in Houston and a partner in the Upwell project. “I think they feel uncomfortable about what’s coming and their reaction is to make us go away.”

After all, he’s not the only one doing this. Five years ago, San Antonio started pumping up to 49 million gallons per day through a 140-mile pipeline from the Carrizo Wilcox Aquifer. Another pipeline was completed last year and will soon begin pumping to the city of Taylor and the new Samsung microchip manufacturing complex there. Another, scheduled for completion this year, will take water into the cities of Buda and Kyle.

After the lawsuit delayed the Upwell project’s tight timeline, Georgetown commissioned two other pipeline projects from the same aquifer.

“People are starting to pay enough for water to make these sorts of projects work,” Lynch said, driving his black Ford Super Duty Platinum truck down the dirt roads of Upwell’s 9,000-acre farm property and well field in Robertson County. “There’s no cheap water left in Texas.”

I couldn't help laughing at the last sentence. California came to that realization more than 30 years ago. Specifically, Southern California.

[Edge-]

I couldn't help laughing at the last sentence. California came to that realization more than 30 years ago. Specifically, Southern California.

This nation's overall refusal to treat water as the critical resource it truly is will fuck a lot of communities for quite some time to come.

[Rasulis]

This nation's overall refusal to treat water as the critical resource it truly is will fuck a lot of communities for quite some time to come.

Some states more so than others. Texas dependence on GW has increased as surface water availability, such as rivers and reservoirs, declines from the decade old drought. The last number I saw was 60% of Texas water supply now comes from GW. GW contamination is another issue that they have to deal with. Water from contaminated public wells will now need expensive pre-treatment.

[Rasulis]

1398 Florida Condo Buildings are on Fannie Mae blacklist.

The number is growing. What does it mean to be on the blacklist?

Simply put, one can't get Fannie Mae or Fredie Mac backed loans which account for 72% of US home loans. You can still get a buyer to pay cash or get loan from private lenders.

[Rasulis]

Is that California? No. It is New Jersey. Which is currently fighting raging wildfires.

In case people haven't been keeping up, this year we have had record-breaking wildfires in New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Delaware, North & South Carolinas, Pennsylvania, etc. Here is the list so far of 1,000 acres plus fires.

As of mid-March, an estimated 9,520 wildfires have burned approximately 269,986 acres across the US. Well above the 10-year average.

[Edge-]

Is that California? No. It is New Jersey. Which is currently fighting raging wildfires.

In case people haven't been keeping up, this year we have had record-breaking wildfires in New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Delaware, North & South Carolinas, Pennsylvania, etc. Here is the list so far of 1,000 acres plus fires.

As of mid-March, an estimated 9,520 wildfires have burned approximately 269,986 acres across the US. Well above the 10-year average.

it's 2025 and America is burning

symbolism, baby.

[Rasulis]

it's 2025 and America is burning

symbolism, baby.

I think 2025 could very well be the worst US wildfire season in history.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

I think 2025 could very well be the worst US wildfire season in history.

Well, that's a record that's probably going to continue to get broken

[No Kings Voter]

Alaska's first ever Heat Advisory.
The heat bearing down on central Alaska "could feel like 110" in a state where the sun can shine all day.



But Al Gore is cringe.

[Al Gorefiend]

Alaska's first ever Heat Advisory.
The heat bearing down on central Alaska "could feel like 110" in a state where the sun can shine all day.



But Al Gore is cringe.

Al Gore was right, I've honored his name across MMO-C for over a decade

[Rasulis]

I was at Trinity College graduation party in San Antonio, TX. Was it supposed to be that hot and humid in May? It was worse than most Southeast Asian countries.

[Paranoid Android]

Gov. Spencer Cox has asked Utahns, again, to join him in a "Day of Prayer and Fasting for Rain" as nearly all of Utah experiences drought conditions.

My gawd. Let's not acknowledge and legitimately fight climate change. Just pray and fast.

Eff it I'm going to be an asshole. Yeah Utah people fast until you get rain or drought is gone. I want to see which comes first.

[Edge-]

Gov. Spencer Cox has asked Utahns, again, to join him in a "Day of Prayer and Fasting for Rain" as nearly all of Utah experiences drought conditions.

My gawd. Let's not acknowledge and legitimately fight climate change. Just pray and fast.

Eff it I'm going to be an asshole. Yeah Utah people fast until you get rain or drought is gone. I want to see which comes first.

This sounds familiar...

Oh right he did this in 2021.

And also again in 2023.

Seems to be something he asks his state to do every few years. I guess "just pray harder" isn't working, damnit. They might have to like...actually do something, damn.