Econotragicomical

In the circular flow diagram of standard economics, nothing enters from the outside to keep it flowing, and nothing exits as a result of the flow. There are no resource inputs from the environment: no oil, coal, or natural gas, no minerals and metals, no water, soil, or food. There are no outputs into the ecosphere: no garbage, no pollution, no greenhouse gasses. That’s because in the circular flow diagram, there is no ecosphere, no environment. The economy is seen as a self-renewing, perpetual-motion merry-go-round set in a vacuum. …

agriculture is “the part of the economy that is sensitive to climate change,” but because it accounts for just 3 percent of national output, climate disruption of food production cannot produce a “very large effect on the U.S. economy.” …

“If the [Atlantic meridional overturning circulation] slows down a little, the global impact is a positive 0.2-0.3 percent of income,” they concluded. “This goes up to 1.3 percent for a more pronounced slowdown.” They argued that while climate heating cooks the rest of the world, European countries will benefit from a cooling effect of the current’s collapse. …

the last time Earth experienced those kinds of temperature differentials, during the interglacial Eemian era roughly 120,000 years ago, raging tempests deposited house-sized boulders on coastlines in Europe and the Caribbean. …

Following the advice of investment consultants, pension funds have informed their members that global warming of 2-4.3 C will have only a minimal impact upon their portfolios

When Idiot Savants Do Climate Economics

So, I should put all my subsistence into climate gamble bonds?

Juxtacoincidence

• Temperatures in the Arctic are rising four times as fast as those in the rest of the world.

• Gas prices in the U.S. are falling quickly, helping to tame inflation.

Wednesday Briefing: A warning from President Biden

Any similarity to a causal link is coincidence.

Ice Berks

Some of the icebergs looming before us are literal. It is thought that the Titanic was sunk by one that calved off of Jacobshavn Isbrae, one of Greenland’s great glaciers. Today it is source of around 10% of icebergs plunging into the sea from Greenland, and one of the fastest moving on Earth. The rate doubled from 1996 to 2005. Freshening caused by melting icebergs diminishes the saltiness that causes Gulf Stream waters to sink, thus hindering the mechanism that drives the current. The North Atlantic circulation is now at its weakest point in at least 1,000 years, and scientists point to those calving icebergs as the source.

The collapse of the Gulf Stream would cause climate chaos across the world, intensifying extremes in Europe and storms in North America. Already the slowing is piling up warm water off the U.S. East Coast, where waters are heating faster than anywhere on Earth, adding to sea level rise already created by melting glaciers and threatening greater storms. In a supreme but predictable irony, one of the descendants of the Morgan trusts, J.P. Morgan & Chase, is the largest bank funder of fossil fuels since the Paris Climate Accords were signed in 2016, having invested $434 billion by 2022. J.P. Morgan financed the Titanic. J.P Morgan & Chase is financing the iceberg.

…it seems too many of us are comfortably sleeping in our cabins, believing that the captain has matters well in hand. When it is clear the captains of the world do not, with great power conflict escalating seemingly beyond control, and the climate crisis mounting even as it is shoved into the background.

Sailing on Planet Titanic – by Patrick Mazza – The Raven

Fake Snows

There’s an environmental cost attached to maintaining a winter sports season in a snowless environment. … a reliance on fake snow will expand the carbon footprint of ski resorts and strain freshwater sources.

https://theconversation.com/four-ways-winter-heatwaves-affect-humans-and-nature-197365

Give the canary in the coal mine a gas mask and keep digging.

Uncool

Critics stress that the time to engage with experts and the public would have been before the company began injecting material into the stratosphere and trying to sell cooling credits—and that it’s likely to face an icy reception from many of those parties now.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/12/24/1066041/a-startup-says-its-begun-releasing-particles-into-the-atmosphere-in-an-effort-to-tweak-the-climate/

An icy reception may be a good climate result.

Shrink Age

Glaciologists … used to use the word “extreme” to describe annual ice loss of around 2% of a glacier’s overall volume. This year Switzerland’s glaciers have lost an average of 6.2% of their ice

https://theconversation.com/glaciers-in-the-alps-are-melting-faster-than-ever-and-2022-was-their-worst-summer-yet-189197

This year’s word is: SuperAlpineFragileMeltyExtremeAnnualIceLoss

Oilfuscation

Criticism in the US of the oil industry’s obfuscation over the climate crisis is intensifying after internal documents showed companies attempted to distance themselves from agreed climate goals, admitted “gaslighting” the public over purported efforts to go green, and even wished critical activists be infested by bedbugs.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/17/oil-companies-exxonmobil-chevron-shell-bp-climate-crisis

Gas-lighting by fossil fuel companies shouldn’t be a surprise.

Archaeogoogly

Fossil fuel companies and firms that work closely with them are among the biggest spenders on ads designed to look like Google search results … for 78 climate-related terms

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/05/fossil-fuel-firms-among-biggest-spenders-on-google-ads-that-look-like-search-results

Who’s fuelling your search engine?

Destructive Accounting

The UK Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) is a state-owned body that was set up to “maximise economic recovery” of oil and gas resources. This mandate is enshrined in legislation, specifically the Petroleum Act.

By not including the significant tax breaks that oil and gas companies receive in its definition of “economic recoverability”, we are arguing that the OGA’s new Strategy, adopted in February, is unlawful and will encourage more oil and gas to be extracted, endangering our climate targets and the Government’s commitment to net zero emissions.

Paid to pollute

The spirit of the law here is petroleum vapour.

Shell Out

“continued investment in oil and gas in the UK remains critical to the country’s energy security. We believe the North Sea – and Shell in it – has a critical role to play in the UK’s energy mix, supporting the jobs and skills to enable a smooth transition to Britain’s low-carbon future.”

Shell pulls out of Cambo oil field development – BBC News

Smooth, like oil on water.

Siccar Point Energy CEO Jonathan [‘Jolly’] Roger said: “Whilst we are disappointed at Shell’s change of position, we remain confident about the qualities of a project.

Shell pulls out of Cambo oil field development – BBC News

siccar [ˈsɪkər]

adj. Safe, secure, free from danger, trouble or molestation.

https://www.scots-online.org/mobile/dictionary/scots_english.php

Perfectly describes fossil fuels, climate change, and the energy market.