Bummer, Dude. Global Warming Will Swallow Good Surfing Beaches.

“It may seem that stronger storms and swells would be a boon to surfers. But as with many aspects of living in a changing climate, the outlook is far more complicated.

As a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey predicts, by 2100 many of Southern California’s most popular surfing spots could be subsumed beneath rising seas. Others could simply wash away.” 

— “California May Lose Popular Surfing Spots to Rising Seas,” Marissa Fessenden, Smithsonian

West Coast surfers will have to hit the beaches of North Carolina, where sea level change is against the law.

More:

“Will Climate Change Wipe Out Surfing?” Sam Kornell, Pacific Standard

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Image (“The Great Wipeout Off Kanagawa, after Hokusai”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Wildfire Strategy: Let It Burn

Every year since the dawn of time, the Santa Ana winds lash Southern California’s dry autumn brushlands into explosive, blazing infernos. Every year since the dawn of the last century, Southern Californians express surprise as they are engulfed in a sea of flame. With climate change, things won’t get better.

“We will never be able to control wildfire,” explains Tania Schoennagel of the Institute for Alpine and Arctic Research, “We have to learn to live with it and adapt, just like we do with droughts and flooding. Our current wildfire policies can’t protect people and homes.”

More:

“The Future of Fighting Wildfires in the Era of Climate Change,” Bob Berwyn, Pacific Standard

“Adapt to more wildfire in western North American forests as climate changes,” Tania Schoennagela, Jennifer K. Balcha, Hannah Brenkert-Smith et al., PNAS

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com.

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Climate Change: Trump Golf Expands Water Hazard

President Donald J. Trump has announced that the United States is withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord — not to protect American jobs (it won’t) or to help U.S. industry (it won’t) but because he can. Actually, it will take 4 years for the U.S. to fully withdraw from the agreement, unless Mr. Trump ignores its terms and makes the USA seem even more unreliable to other nations.

Mr. Trump’s determination to ignore climate change will come at personal sacrifice, since the resulting sea level rise will engulf his golf courses in Florida and Ireland. Hey, maybe Eric, Don Jr., and Jared can promote water polo. Ivanka can make the bathing suits!

More:

“5 claims Trump used to justify pulling the US out of the Paris agreement — and the reality,” Dana Varinsky, Dave Mosher and Ariel Schwartz, Business Insider

“Paris Climate Deal’s Demise Means Bannon Wins—And The Planet Loses,” Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng, Daily Beast

“Bill Nye hits Trump: ‘You can’t build a border wall against CO2 emissions,'” Brandon Carter, The Hill

“The entire Trump presidency, in 1 mind-blowingly stupid announcement,” Paul Waldman, The Week

“Donald Trump has now pissed off the damn Weather Channel,” Clayton Purdom, A.V. Club

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Less-Gassy Grass Cuts Cow Burps, Eases Global Warming

Scientists at Denmark’s Aarhus University and the DLF seed corporation are using DNA technology to develop a type of grass that is easier for cows to digest, meaning less gas builds up in bossy’s belly. Bovine burps are a major source of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that promotes climate change.

The project, funded by Denmark’s Ministry of Environment and Food, uses genomic selection to determine promising grass strains for breeding. The project is expected to take about 5 or 6 years, so you’ll have to excuse bovine belching until then. Environmentally-anxious cowboys and cowgirls can follow the project here.

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Arctic Elegy

Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi performs one of his compositions on a platform floating near the Wahlenbergbreen glacier at Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway for the Save the Arctic campaign.

Ludovico Einaudi website

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Don’t Say ‘Climate Change’ in Florida

Florida officials have a strategy for fighting climate change: don’t talk about it. Employees at the state’s Department of Environmental Protection were warned not to used the terms “climate change” or “global warming” after Republican Governor Rick Scott took office in 2011. That won’t stop the warming world’s rising seas from swallowing Miami, but mum’s the word until Mr. Scott leaves office.

All I Want is Truth (for Christmas)

“All I Want is Truth (for Christmas),” written and performed by Laura Burhenn with her band The Mynabirds.

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Breeding Burpless Bovines

Methane and other greenhouse gasses are heating up the world’s atmosphere, fueling global warming. 18% of those gases come from the burps and farts of the billions of cows in the vast herds feeding the world’s growing appetite for meat. Face it, Earth’s human population isn’t going to go Vegan, and cow-mounted catalytic converters just don’t cut it. What’s to be done?

Venice: Surf’s Up!

New Yorkers learned about Storm Surge last month after a visit from Hurricane Sandy. But with climate change causing rising sea levels, Tidal Surge will be a more frequent threat to coastal cities. If you want to see New York’s future, look at Venice.

Climate Change and Surfing: It’s a Bummer, Dude.

Climate change means extreme weather. When it’s stormy there will be some monster waves, but there will also be long periods of flat water. The really bad news is that climate warming causes sea level rise:

“Even a foot change in the tide line can mean the difference between great and mediocre waves…. Researchers believe sea levels could rise six inches by 2030, and a foot by 2050, or more.”

Except in North Carolina, of course, where sea level change is against the law.

At beaches where the water has a sandy bottom, there will still be some slope and maybe some decent wave formation. Where the bottom is rocky or made of coral, the outlook is not so good.

More:

“Will Climate Change Wipe Out Surfing?” Sam Kornell, Pacific Standard

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Image (“The Great Wipeout Off Kanagawa, after Hokusai”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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