This is a blog. On it are fannish squees, liberal politics, and the occasional personal post.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
![victoriousvocabulary:
SOLASTALGIA
[noun]
a neologism coined by the Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2003 with the first article published on this concept in 2005. It describes a form of psychic or existential distress caused by environmental change, such as mining or climate change. As opposed to nostalgia — the melancholia or homesickness experienced by individuals when separated from a loved home — “solastalgia” is the distress that is produced by environmental change impacting on people while they are directly connected to their home environment.
[yuumei]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/678f7da9d01e7b3ac1aad590f5ed4110/tumblr_mjzwetsIbw1r47bczo1_500.jpg)
SOLASTALGIA
[noun]
a neologism coined by the Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2003 with the first article published on this concept in 2005. It describes a form of psychic or existential distress caused by environmental change, such as mining or climate change. As opposed to nostalgia — the melancholia or homesickness experienced by individuals when separated from a loved home — “solastalgia” is the distress that is produced by environmental change impacting on people while they are directly connected to their home environment.
[yuumei]
The natural world is already adapting to changes in the seasons, with evidence from the United States that spring is steadily advancing the time of its arrival.
I feel so sorry for the Irises in our yard. They’ve already bloomed twice, thinking that the fifty-degree weather meant that the spring thaw had come.
The Kangerdlugssuaq glacier and its ice stream - Greenland
It is the largest outlet glacier on Greenland’s east coast, discharging ice into the surrounding oceans. In this image we can see hundreds of icebergs speckling the water. A recent study based on satellite observations revealed that over the past 20 years the ice melting in Greenland and Antarctica has contributed about 11 mm to the global sea-level rise.
This image clearly shows the glacier’s calving front, where ice breaks away. Over the years, satellite images have shown that this front has retreated – an indication that the glacier is getting smaller over time.
| image: USGS/ESA
(Source: rorschachx)
![fotojournalismus:
Rising sea levels wash away huge chunks of Ghoramara island, India.
A rise in sea levels has washed away more than 50% of Ghoramara Island since the 1980s, prompting two-thirds of its population to leave. Daesung Lee has been selected as a finalist in the professional contemporary issues category of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards for the images of islanders.
[Credit : Daesung Lee]
The World Photography Organisation has announced the shortlists for the professional, open and youth categories of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards. See more here.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/8eb76268b4e626bce247a287e8b77f64/tumblr_mhr7h0EONL1r44q44o1_500.jpg)
Rising sea levels wash away huge chunks of Ghoramara island, India.
A rise in sea levels has washed away more than 50% of Ghoramara Island since the 1980s, prompting two-thirds of its population to leave. Daesung Lee has been selected as a finalist in the professional contemporary issues category of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards for the images of islanders.
[Credit : Daesung Lee]
The World Photography Organisation has announced the shortlists for the professional, open and youth categories of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards. See more here.
If ever there was a time for a president to lead a national conversation on climate change—to connect the dots between these destructive weather events and the government, corporate and consumer practices that need to change if our children are to inherit a livable planet, that time is… well, it’s come and gone numerous times already.
PBS’ Newshour puts ABC, CBS and NBC nightly news shows to shame when it comes to climate coverage
Here’s a hint why: Scientists. Lots of them. In the past year, PBS’ coverage included interviews with 29 climate scientists — more than ABC, CBS and NBC combined.
Another reason: More coverage. Together, the nightly news programs on ABC, CBS and NBC devoted only 12 segments to climate change in 2012. PBS dedicated 23 segments to the issue.
Given that the National Climatic Data Center announced Tuesday that 2012 was the hottest year in recorded history for the contiguous U.S., these statistics are downright shameful for news media. And their silence speaks volumes about how the anti-science right-wing has affected the national debate, when the reality of man-made climate change is overwhelming acknowledged by the vast majority of scientists.
(Source: mediamatters.org)
We’ve got approximately half as much sea ice in the Arctic in the fall now as we did say, 30 years or so ago — there’s been this dramatic decrease. There is emerging research — my colleagues and I published a paper last February on this — suggesting that as that sea ice melts it’s changing the jet stream, a current that steers weather in the mid-latitudes, places like New York. As sea ice melts, our research suggests that the jet stream is going to tend to get weaker. As the jet stream gets weaker, it’s easier for storms to stagnate or in some cases, maybe even move to the west, which is what this storm did.
Most hurricanes, as they get as far north as a place like New York, especially late in the season — September, October — [the] standard pattern is for that strong jet stream to push those storms to the east. What we saw with this storm was that it moved to the west. It’s a very unusual track and I would say it’s a big research question whether we might see in general more stormy weather and storms taking a track like that as sea ice melts.
Is climate change the sleeper issue of 2012?
(The awesome Chris Mooney’s inaugural story for Climate Desk and Mother Jones!…)
Senegal begins planting the Great Green Wall against climate change
Africa’s proposed 4,000-mile wall of trees stretching from Senegal to Djibouti is designed to stop encroaching desertification.
(click-through for full story)
Sea levels rise about 1 inch every 10-years along the coast of NYC. This shifts the flood plain inland slightly. But, with rapid glacial and polar melt, and thermal expansion of the oceans, sea-levels will rise much faster. There are about 900,000 building at risk in NYC, making for one of the most expensive infrastructure protection projects in existence.
This excellent graphic from the NYTimes piece on climate adaptation shows what rapid sea-level rise will look like. If businesses and residents in the yellow zones experience more floods, the city just might take adaptation more seriously.
Via the NYTimes, “An Expanded Flood Zone”
