We still have much to do to gain the attention and trust of ‘middle America.’ I think there’s at least one ‘line of attack’ that can help:
Donald Trump just really, really hates America.
America values honesty, fair play, integrity. As a pathological liar and con man, Trump has never been able to command the ‘respect,’ power, and regal status he craves. He now feels these to be within his reach.
Trump is not out to make America great again. He’s out to make America grovel at his feet.
Americans need to know this. America needs to understand that this is the entirety of Trump’s motivation and his self-dealing end game so that America can stop him.
I just can't put the all the blame on a miserable broken demented man. If you have a parent that has dementia you get power of attorney to ascertain their finances aren't being scammed, that their house is in order, and know when it's time for assisted living. I'm putting 100% of the blame on the "conservative" "lawmakers" and Supreme Court justices who are cloyingly enabling him.
Yes, I agree that there’s a lot of blame to go around. If you read my earlier posts you’ll see that I talk a lot about the ‘Neo-Confederates’ and other right-wing opportunists who are ‘partnering’ with Trump and taking advantage of this horrible but powerful MAGA thing he has been able to create.
TRump was born broken. He makes up his version of the world from one minute to the next. You are right about his hatred of America, Jon. In that respect he is not alone, he is surrounded with people like him and people that are greedy with evil intentions.
These psychos, sickos, and criminals have been a fact of life from the beginning of mankind. It's astounding how many of them are in government positions in 2025.
Remember here's the problem later today when you get into your car to shop for items produced 10,000 miles away; when you buy the vegetables and fruit raised in a petrochemical bath and then shipped to your market in diesel semis; when, because it's so effing hot, you turn the AC just a degree or 2 cooler.
Trump is a great one to blame, the man is a weathervane for disaster, but awareness of the problem and the need to act immediately predate him by decades. Trump wasn't to blame 30 years ago, why should he be today? Assuming there's anybody left, when he's gone (probably quite soon) we can blame the next someone else or we can do somethiing about it now.
As long as the federal and most Red-state governments treat climate change as a hoax, it justifies a litany of self-defeating behaviors as Thom listed. Texas is such a clear example of how the hoax declaration has enabled cuts to weather monitoring and predicting, which directly led to over 80 deaths in one of the top 2 Red MAGA states (FL being the other one- I have lived in both states).
While Florida gets more hurricanes than Texas, it gets fewer sandstorms and snowstorms. It is also less prone to flash floods. Regardless, both state governors have called climate change a hoax, and both have begun dismantling infrastructure to reduce casualties, increase the pollution that creates more climate disasters, and recover from disasters (RIP FEMA). Worse, MAGA governors support Trump's coal and fossil fuel burning to generate electricity, and to stop safer alternatives like solar and wind.
Will the MAGAs learn from the Texas disaster and restore infrastructure and regulations to promote less pollution to reduce weather disasters? The answer to my rhetorical question is "Stupid is as stupid does."
Yes, Gulf States & especially, Florida, you're up next! An especially severe hurricane season is forecast & in order to prepare this regime has inactivated the satellites that circle the pole that provides absolutely critical night time data that shows how rapidly a storm is increasing in severity or if by a stroke of luck it is decreasing. That's knowledge that saves people but we all know that people don't matter to this regime, only the annointed upper echelon counts! So the rest of us should get ready with thoughts & prayers because we all know how well they work!
And to think that all of this mess is entirely man-made...I was at a conference once when a shaman from the Amazon rainforest gave a talk about deforestation. His words still ring in my ears, "If man doesn't stop killing Mother Earth's lungs, she will shake off man like a dog shakes off fleas."
of course they have only the interest in population reductions, many will die here and not just from climate change. In 1.5 years that big bad bill, piece of s...it will kick in and any and all federal help for physical healthcare, hospitals, research , and some infrastructure will disappear . Then watch the body bags pile up. The only chance we have to change the tide is for millions of Americans to get out in the streets everyday and shut business down as usual particularly this should happen in DC a million+
The death toll has now topped over 80, including 28 children. And this will not change the attitude of the sociopathic billionaires and tRump admin. They will lie, project and blame anything but the real problem, as always.
The loss of one's child is unimaginable pain. It's all so heartbreaking, tragic.
And they want to eliminate FEMA. It's truly the age of insanity.
Well, I had a very disheartening experience over the 4th. I'm 77 & I have a friend who I still correspond with. We've known each other since 4th grade. She recently contacted me about a health issue I have & I did not respond in a timely fashion so she emailed again. I responded with an explanation that I had been too wrapped up in events & left it at that. Again she responded what events & when I explained my distress about what is happening in the country & how I don't want children to grow up in a country like this her response devastated me. She blithely said, human beings have away of figuring things out & I don't want to spend my time worrying. This is is highly educated woman, a retired nurse who held administrative jobs & developed surgery clinics. I am astounded by that reaction. All the suffering she has seen & helped with over all those years boiled down to humans can take care of it, I'm not going to worry! I know that I should respond but I can't do it right now. I have to come to terms with that response first! I know what I want to say but it is just so hard with a really dear friend. Am I a coward for not responding, yes, I guess that I am. At this point with this particular person I'm going to be like Scarlet O'Hara & will think about it tomorrow. But think about it I will. She lives in Kansas so something tells me she'll see it up close & personal before to long. And if she reaches out for thoughts & prayers I will have thoughts aplenty. Being an atheist I have no prayers!
Jimmy Carter put 32 solar panels on the White House in 1979. Reagan took them off in 1986 at the behest of the fossil fuel industry because it was “bad optics”! Process that for a couple minutes while we in water that is at 210 degrees! That industry must be held accountable if we can survive past the 2026 elections!
Reagan took them off as soon as he moved in. Once upon a time we had a coal degasification program, Energy Security Act of 1980, killed instantly when Reagan moved in.
How in the world did such a deadly group convince Americans that they were pro-life? We tried to warn our family and friends but they trusted grifting politicians more.
Wiping the words Climate Crisis from our government websites and information....
The "wiping" has been going on and will continue to happen as long as this Psychopath President and his Cult Cabinet are in charge. Time to face the fact that we lost four years of progress on climate and fossil fuel issues before, and we will lose another four years this go 'round. It is heartbreaking for us and future generations.
This selfishness on the part of much of America accompanied by the evil intentions of the Republicans will indeed extract a price we will all pay. BUT, WE SIMPLY CANNOT STOP TRYING! Thank you for that message, Thom. Nothing could be more important.
I have been a warrior on this issue for as long as I can remember. So have countless people around the globe---remember we are not alone. Some just don't value the protests, but this is a prime example why we must continue to use them to show solidarity on the climate crisis and human rights. Speak. Write. Protest. See you in the streets.
If we are too cautious in demanding change, we offer nothing worthwhile. Watered-down, colorless iced tea attracts neither rave reviews, nor votes. The cries of “Throw me something, Mister!” echo in my head from the crowd of the New Orleans Marti Gras parade. At least that crowd gets beads and doubloons. We get diddly-squat—because any rancor might get upset the proletariat. I am tired of timid.
Now is time to upset the proletariat as we approach the midterms of 2026. We must open these doors to begin the hard debate to flesh out and undergird our candidates in the 2028 election. A platform! Give me a platform!
Jennifer Rubin
“Democrats must convince millions of qualified but (as yet) nonvoting Americans to dispense with the fictions that “both parties are the same” or that their vote “won’t make a difference.” The choice now is not Democrat vs. Republican, or progressive vs. conservative; it is right vs. wrong, humane vs. cruel. Tens of millions of people will be harmed by this cruel legislation; tens of millions more will know someone who will be harmed. They are not just victims and witnesses, but foot soldiers in the battle to hold to account Republican tormentors.”
We never had to think of the environment when there were just 1 or 2 billion of us; we could just move to another place, like the Americas, which were practically virginal. Taking and making from the resources we found was seen as a God-given right, and growth and development as progress. Slowing down to consider the cost of this "progress" was tantamount to treason. And so here we are.
A lesson perhaps not learned is that overly large and concentrated government is a danger to the planet. The ability to buy a government with a few millions and a concentrated group of lobbists on K Street is not only dangerous, it is deadly.
Yes, the politics need to be different and they power needs to be distributed and devolved to government closer to the people.
I don't think there's evidence we were "overly large." Japan, which holds the most of our Treasury paper has the highest deficit of all countries. We are # 16 of 164 countries. Most of the arguments about deficits are BS. E.G. although the trust funds are not part of the budget, they are included when Republicans discuss it.
IMHO Trump was handed the best economy in the world. If anything had Biden's BBB policies become law, we'd be much better off.
Trump is extorter in chief. Today, Japan, which employs about 1 million Americans and holds approximately $1.09 trillion of U.S. debt., is resisting.
Any plan that moves forward after this blood thirsty regime must include 80% tax rate on super wealthy. This will help pay for all the services that have been denied over the last several decades. We need to build in programming that both takes care of young families with children and the elderly
Trump is as much a symptom as a cause. It’s not like when he goes his organization will collapse as it did when Hitler shot himself. What we might get is similar to after Stalin died, a milder but still ruthless dictatorship. Trump’s a nasty clown with an agenda, but also a frontman for those who are using him—after all, he didn’t write Project 2025 (he couldn’t!). So without trying to sound too much like a conspiracy fanatic we have to look at what in a 1967 story the author Fritz Leiber called "The Inner Circles”. Such groups—they probably are loosely formed and different ones could sometimes be at cross-purposes—have their own goals. But clearly none are trying to make a better world for all humanity. Thom has touched on this a little with the Powell memo and the attempt to remove FDR after his first election. But such people are stupid if they imagine a world beset by ecological collapse is in their favor. When the lifeboat sinks everybody goes down with it.
The MAGAtariat has a death wish. Because they feel the world has been unfair to them and the "libs" and "elites" (but not the billionaires whom they fetishistically worship) have had good lives at their expense. So if they can't have what they consider the "good life", we might as well all die. Thanks to the morbidly rich, there are too many ignorant people in the world today. The morbidly rich currently alive think they will be able to escape the calamities the world faces. Most of them probably will. Their children, not so much. Their grandchildren, not likely at all. THEY DO NOT CARE.
The best we can do, if we choose to bother, is to be preppers at whatever scale we can manage--state, city or town, neighborhood, family. At 77 and in ill health, I am not going to do anything but help my family as best I can so that our sole grandchild has a chance at some kind of life, and keep supporting progressives with my paltry resources and tiny voice.
But make no mistake. I think the battle is lost. Our species has been tried and found wanting. Thousands of other species have gone extinct, many because of us. Our own time may be at hand, and perhaps after that the planet will recover. Having lost all faith in humanity years ago, I found myself called to the Greek Orthodox faith after a half century plus of hard core atheism. Whether delusional or not, my religious faith gives me hope for a better hereafter. And comfort in believing that the evils of this world will pass.
If God created us and gave us free will, I am guessing He regrets that, but will reward those who tried to follow his teachings in various faith traditions. Cold comfort for those of you still physically able and enjoying life, I know. But I look out on a world where billions are suffering, and know that as limited as my own life has become from a myriad of health issues, I am still mightily privileged. As noted above, all I can do, all any of us can, is to do our utmost to help those less fortunate and try to elect or produce leaders able to reverse course. And pray.
Unfortunately our destructive path has too much momentum and is impossible to stop. The number one problem which has no obvious solution- we have far exceeded the amount of humans that the planet can carry. We have lots that we could do to reduce our impact but we don't. How many more cars do we need to further clog our already congested roadways? Look at Cuba, they've been driving the same cars since 1955 and repairing them when they break down. We don't always need a new shiny toy.
All of us can find excesses in our lives but are we ready to deal with them, or are we captive of the problem with the commons? (my activity will not have any impact if others don't act, so why bother)
There are times when any words must seem glib. This is an old story, first foreseen by Fourier in 1824. Eunice Foote in 1856, and then John Tyndall in 1859 discovered carbon dioxide's ability to absorb heat (gee, I wonder why the woman is never mentioned...). Svante Arrhenius in 1896 correlated irising levels of atmospheric CO2 with an increase in ground temperature (Arrhenius wasn't some kook, he was a Nobel Laureate). In the 30s', Guy Callendar demonstrated the connection between human-emitted CO2 and rising temperatures.
Finally, jump forward to 1957-8 when Roger Revelle was one of the main forces for the creation of the International Geophysical Year, the IGY. One of Revelle's primary concerns concerned with anthropogenic warming. One of the people who joined with Revelle at that time was Charles Keeling, noted fothe Keeling Curve (CO2 was at 313 ppm; it is currently at 428 ppm.
This was all known before the vast majority of people living today were born. When Hansen reported to Congress in 1988 it was a bipartisan issue. However, the intention of the petrochemical industry to lie outright to the people and politicize the issue goes back to at least 1978. At that time, Exxon was having internal dialogs concerning GHGs' impact on climate. They predicted - 47 years ago! - that a doubling of GHGs would cause an increase of 2-3° C and that the change in the Arctic would probably be 2 to 3 times greater. The document discussed the likelihood of more precipitation, of desertification, of some regions of the planet having its agricultural base destroyed. They knew this almost 50 years ago.
They're murderers. To a certain degree, so are we.
Hello Thom and all concerned. The focus should remain on why the Northern Hemisphere's Arctic and subarctic is heating up to 4x faster than the remainder of the planet.
The Arctic and Siberia are two of the fastest warming regions on Earth. If carbon and methane emissions are the major drivers, and given the minimal solar radiation available to be trapped during the sun starved winters by these fossil fuel greenhouse gases, then Arctic summers (May-Oct), with up to 24 hours of sunlight, should be warming faster or at least equal to the winters. Just the opposite is happening and the winters are warming many times faster according to the data in this study. This change is driven by extreme and abrupt increases in Arctic water emissions (AWE) and churned
Atlantic warmth (CAW) pumped up into estuaries propelled by increased winter river flow, the runoff from warmed regulated discharges from megadams (Arctic mega power stations )(AMPSs).
It was reported in the March 3, 1958 Fort Worth StarTelegram that Moscow radio boasted; “Astonishing climate change would occur…evaporation (from the inland sea) would increase and with it the humidity of the air. The extremes of yearly and daily temperatures characteristic of these would be greatly modified.”
Water vapor is the most plentiful and powerful greenhouse gas and is vital for maintaining a climate habitable for life on Earth. However, manufactured AWE and CAW have wrecked the natural hydraulic, thermal and salinity equilibrium between the Labrador Current and Gulf Stream. They have also altered the estuarine balance between seasonal freshwater inflows and the churning they create by acting as a pump, drawing in relatively warmer deep saltwater from the sea through deep gorges and pulling it up to the surface of the estuaries to mix with the regulated discharged waters from the AMPSs.
Analysis of pre-tipping point weather data in three Arctic regions reveals copious amounts of winter (Jan-Apr,Nov,Dec) precipitation enhanced by Gulf Stream AWE at two weather stations in Table 1. The other two regions have experienced extreme increases in post tipping point winter precipitation created by manufactured Kola Peninsular and Kareliar AWE and Kara and Laptev Sea AWE. These increases were augmented by the introduction of winter CAW propelled by AMPS discharges in the watersheds of the White, Barents, Kara and Laptev Seas. (See Maps 1 and 3).
The Arctic is the fastest warming region on planet earth even though it receives about one half the annual solar radiance of the tropical and sub tropical regions. The fact that the average Arctic winter temperatures are warming much faster than its summers is also perplexing because the winters receive only half the amount of incoming summer radiation.
“ Air temperatures on Earth have been rising since the Industrial Revolution. While natural variability plays some part, the preponderance of evidence indicates that human activites— particularly emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases—are mostly responsible for making our planet warmer.
According to an ongoing temperature analysis led by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institude for Space Studies (GISS), the average global temperature on Earth has increased by at least 1.1° Celcius (1.9° Fahrenheit) since 1880. The majority of the warming has occurred since 1975, at a rate of roughly 0.15 to 0.20° C per decade“ (World of Change-Global Temperature NASA 2023).
The temperature of 0.15° to 0.20° C (0.27° to 0.36° F) per decade is an average global temperature increase of 0.0315° F per year from 1975 to 2022. In this Study, 0.0315° F is rounded off to 0.032° F per year and serves as the NASA estimated baseline average annual global temperature increase between 1975-2022.
The annual average temperature in Ocala, Florida has risen 0.7° F between 1896 to 2017 or an average of 0.006° F per year (See Figure 3). This is less than half of NASA’s global average temperature increase of 0.013° per year since 1880.
After the 1952 precipitation tipping point in Ostrov Golojanny J, Russia (See Map 1) the annual average temperature has warmed 6.3° F between 1952 to 2023 or an average of 0.089° F/year (See Figure 4). This is a warming rate 15 times faster than Ocala and three times faster than the global average.
Note: The purpose of colorizing pre and post tipping point time periods in the Ostrov Golomjanny J precipitation graphs is to highlight that the pre-1952 winter precipitation was seldom if ever as high as the post 1952 median and most of the post 1952 winter precipitation totals.
1. James Bay seen as test on environment Star Phoenix, January 8, 1976, “The man in charge of assessing the environmental impact of Quebec’s massive James Bay hydroelectric project admitted Wednesday no one is sure just what its impact on the environment will be. ‘We are using this project as an experience to see what will happen’, Alain Soucy said in an interview. We have about $100 million to spend over the next 3 years on remedial action, though.’ The head of James Bay Energy Corporation’s environmental department said that even if there were severe environmental problems \caused by the project it would not be curtailed. ‘We can’t change the scale of the project or it will not work.’ He explained.”
2. Slow Death in the North? Impact of Hudson Bay dams being ignored, critics charge The Toronto Star (Toronto, Ontario), Canada) April 9, 1991, “ Are Hudson Bay and James Bay facing the slow death of a thousand cuts? Many environmentalist, \native people and even a few government officials fear the answer is yes….. Pollution and changes in the rivers flow could even alter North America’s climate….. The projects change the flow of freshwater into the bays. Normally, the rivers flow is highest in the spring. But the dams store the water until its released to spin the turbines later in the year. Cutting the spring flood can change the times and location of ice melting and also affects the bays’ salinity. This alteration in a fragile, carefully balanced environment could have devastating effects on the whales, birds and other wildlife. But there’s opposition from the hydrocorporation. “ We’re not against a global review,” says Gaetan Guertin, director of impact assessment for Hydro-Quebec. “But if a decision on a ‘go’ or ‘no go’ will have to wait (for the results), there will be a reaction from Hydro Quebec. Some of our projects are very tight in terms of scheduling.” (Emphasis added by SMK)
CONCLUSION:
The Earth would be a much colder place without its paramount greenhouse gas, water vapor. The process of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and freshwater runoff are all part of its water cycle. In the lower latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, the cycle is continous throughout the year. In the Northern higher latitudes, the cycle is dormant for about 6 months a year with minimal evaporation and runoff because the lakes, rivers and seas are locked in ice.
The awakening and strengthening of the Arctic winter (Jan-Apr,Nov,Dec) water cycle skyrocketed between 1952 and 1993. This change in hydrology was driven by numerous Canadian and Russian AMPSs built during this time period on rivers flowing into each of the six Arctic coastal seas, James, Hudson and Ungava Bays, the Labrador Sea and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Each AMPS with their massive storage capabilities contributed to a growing overall loss in the volume and flow energy of the spring freshet and summer flows. This energy is a key part of regulating earth’s climate. These AMPSs to this day with their massive reservoir storage capabilities enable solar radiation to warm the stored waters. These warmed reservoir waters are then released to greatly enhance the winter runoff (river flows).
In addition, the building of upstream AMPSs transforms existing or future run of the river hydropower plants (HPPs) into conveyors and boosters of major heat pollution of manufactured AWE driven by the 24/7 discharges of regulated warm reservoir waters.
This increased regulated winter freshwater flow into estuaries acts as a pump, drawing in relatively warmer deep saltwater from the sea through deep gorges and pulling it up to the surface of the estuaries to mix with the regulated discharged waters from the AMPSs. The Russian and Canadian AMPSs have not only stimulated the natural evaporation, condensation, precipitation and runoff processes of the regional Arctic water cycles, but their 24/7 regulated winter discharges have also created continous upwelling currents pumping and churning Atlantic warmth (CAW) up into these estuaries hampering ice formation and enhancing more winter AWE.
Analysis of winter and summer precipitation and temperature data reveals that winters are warming much faster than summers and provides compelling evidence that the contribution of man-made winter AWE by the AMPSs is the greenhouse gas overriding all other heat pollution sources in the Arctic. Yes, there is an Earth Energy Imbalance driven by CO2 emissions but it appears to be minimal in the Arctic region compared to the Arctic Energy Imbalance intially driven by and continually sustained by AWE and CAW.
Here in Baghdad By the Sea we worry about 1. sea rise and 2. temperature of the Gulf Stream. Besides hurricanes, we also get stuff like Saharan dust. To our north, the major estuary is infected by poisonous algae.
On the West Coast, where I once lived, they are more concerned with movements of tectonic plates that cause stuff like earthquakes, mudslides, forest fires.
Yes sea level rise and the Gulf Of Maine warming are on my plate here in Maine.So we've formed an educational research group . We're trying to spread the truth about mega hydroelectric , particulalrly dangerous for our climate if these projects are done in climate sensitive regions of this planet. Subarctic/Arctic and Antarctic or just north, and Equatorial regions. These a super sensitive regions. Hydro Quebec is Canada fossil fuel misinformation machine around their mega hydroelectric model located in the subarctic. Totally calling it clean and renewable energy and are getting away with planatary climate destruction and using Co2 and fossil fuels as their cover. They are causing immense harm to our planet and few are speaking out, and what they are doing is 3 to 4 times worse than co2. If you're interested in the studies data and graphs I will send them to your personal email. Cliff
Apparently no plutonium, no problem. We knew this in the 1940s.
AI Thorium as Nuclear Fuel:
Thorium-232, the most common isotope of thorium, is not fissile but can be converted into fissile uranium-233 through neutron capture in a nuclear reactor.
This process, known as the thorium fuel cycle, has the potential to be a cleaner and more efficient energy source compared to traditional uranium-based reactors.
Molten salt reactors (MSRs) are a type of reactor design that can utilize thorium as fuel, offering advantages like continuous waste extraction during operation.
Thorium Waste Characteristics:
Lower Toxicity and Shorter Half-Life: Thorium waste, particularly from closed thorium fuel cycles, tends to be less toxic and has a shorter half-life compared to uranium waste, meaning it decays to a non-radioactive state more quickly.
Volume Reduction: Thorium reactors can potentially produce less waste by volume.
Potential for Recycling: Thorium-based fuel cycles can be designed to recycle the fissile uranium-233, further reducing the amount of long-term waste.
The RIGHTeous JUST ICE (some nonsense writes itself) era is upon us and they're "just getting started". If it seems like the Whitey House is under reacting to the natural disasters and act pitifully oblivious, their disinterest is deliberate. A pivotal aspect of their heartless plan is whispered but seldom uttered aloud. They coldly move their focus elsewhere as Mammon "thins the herd". Too many useless people around (according to their crude estimation). That's also why the BIG Beauty himself constantly belittles and mocks minorities from Sh--thole countries. You simply call the exterminator when your place is overrun with roaches. Thank GOD, the RIGHTeous ones are safe!
We still have much to do to gain the attention and trust of ‘middle America.’ I think there’s at least one ‘line of attack’ that can help:
Donald Trump just really, really hates America.
America values honesty, fair play, integrity. As a pathological liar and con man, Trump has never been able to command the ‘respect,’ power, and regal status he craves. He now feels these to be within his reach.
Trump is not out to make America great again. He’s out to make America grovel at his feet.
Americans need to know this. America needs to understand that this is the entirety of Trump’s motivation and his self-dealing end game so that America can stop him.
https://open.substack.com/pub/jonthinks/p/donald-trump-hates-america?r=mrvx1&utm_medium=ios
I just can't put the all the blame on a miserable broken demented man. If you have a parent that has dementia you get power of attorney to ascertain their finances aren't being scammed, that their house is in order, and know when it's time for assisted living. I'm putting 100% of the blame on the "conservative" "lawmakers" and Supreme Court justices who are cloyingly enabling him.
Yes, I agree that there’s a lot of blame to go around. If you read my earlier posts you’ll see that I talk a lot about the ‘Neo-Confederates’ and other right-wing opportunists who are ‘partnering’ with Trump and taking advantage of this horrible but powerful MAGA thing he has been able to create.
Co-dependents.
He's really, really nutsy koo koo.
That's being too kind, he's a sociopath!
TRump was born broken. He makes up his version of the world from one minute to the next. You are right about his hatred of America, Jon. In that respect he is not alone, he is surrounded with people like him and people that are greedy with evil intentions.
These psychos, sickos, and criminals have been a fact of life from the beginning of mankind. It's astounding how many of them are in government positions in 2025.
Remember here's the problem later today when you get into your car to shop for items produced 10,000 miles away; when you buy the vegetables and fruit raised in a petrochemical bath and then shipped to your market in diesel semis; when, because it's so effing hot, you turn the AC just a degree or 2 cooler.
Trump is a great one to blame, the man is a weathervane for disaster, but awareness of the problem and the need to act immediately predate him by decades. Trump wasn't to blame 30 years ago, why should he be today? Assuming there's anybody left, when he's gone (probably quite soon) we can blame the next someone else or we can do somethiing about it now.
He is being run and controlled by mega billionaires. We need to watch carefully
As long as the federal and most Red-state governments treat climate change as a hoax, it justifies a litany of self-defeating behaviors as Thom listed. Texas is such a clear example of how the hoax declaration has enabled cuts to weather monitoring and predicting, which directly led to over 80 deaths in one of the top 2 Red MAGA states (FL being the other one- I have lived in both states).
While Florida gets more hurricanes than Texas, it gets fewer sandstorms and snowstorms. It is also less prone to flash floods. Regardless, both state governors have called climate change a hoax, and both have begun dismantling infrastructure to reduce casualties, increase the pollution that creates more climate disasters, and recover from disasters (RIP FEMA). Worse, MAGA governors support Trump's coal and fossil fuel burning to generate electricity, and to stop safer alternatives like solar and wind.
Will the MAGAs learn from the Texas disaster and restore infrastructure and regulations to promote less pollution to reduce weather disasters? The answer to my rhetorical question is "Stupid is as stupid does."
Yes, Gulf States & especially, Florida, you're up next! An especially severe hurricane season is forecast & in order to prepare this regime has inactivated the satellites that circle the pole that provides absolutely critical night time data that shows how rapidly a storm is increasing in severity or if by a stroke of luck it is decreasing. That's knowledge that saves people but we all know that people don't matter to this regime, only the annointed upper echelon counts! So the rest of us should get ready with thoughts & prayers because we all know how well they work!
And to think that all of this mess is entirely man-made...I was at a conference once when a shaman from the Amazon rainforest gave a talk about deforestation. His words still ring in my ears, "If man doesn't stop killing Mother Earth's lungs, she will shake off man like a dog shakes off fleas."
of course they have only the interest in population reductions, many will die here and not just from climate change. In 1.5 years that big bad bill, piece of s...it will kick in and any and all federal help for physical healthcare, hospitals, research , and some infrastructure will disappear . Then watch the body bags pile up. The only chance we have to change the tide is for millions of Americans to get out in the streets everyday and shut business down as usual particularly this should happen in DC a million+
Hopefully, America will get woke before the body count gets too big.
The death toll has now topped over 80, including 28 children. And this will not change the attitude of the sociopathic billionaires and tRump admin. They will lie, project and blame anything but the real problem, as always.
The loss of one's child is unimaginable pain. It's all so heartbreaking, tragic.
And they want to eliminate FEMA. It's truly the age of insanity.
Well, I had a very disheartening experience over the 4th. I'm 77 & I have a friend who I still correspond with. We've known each other since 4th grade. She recently contacted me about a health issue I have & I did not respond in a timely fashion so she emailed again. I responded with an explanation that I had been too wrapped up in events & left it at that. Again she responded what events & when I explained my distress about what is happening in the country & how I don't want children to grow up in a country like this her response devastated me. She blithely said, human beings have away of figuring things out & I don't want to spend my time worrying. This is is highly educated woman, a retired nurse who held administrative jobs & developed surgery clinics. I am astounded by that reaction. All the suffering she has seen & helped with over all those years boiled down to humans can take care of it, I'm not going to worry! I know that I should respond but I can't do it right now. I have to come to terms with that response first! I know what I want to say but it is just so hard with a really dear friend. Am I a coward for not responding, yes, I guess that I am. At this point with this particular person I'm going to be like Scarlet O'Hara & will think about it tomorrow. But think about it I will. She lives in Kansas so something tells me she'll see it up close & personal before to long. And if she reaches out for thoughts & prayers I will have thoughts aplenty. Being an atheist I have no prayers!
Jimmy Carter put 32 solar panels on the White House in 1979. Reagan took them off in 1986 at the behest of the fossil fuel industry because it was “bad optics”! Process that for a couple minutes while we in water that is at 210 degrees! That industry must be held accountable if we can survive past the 2026 elections!
Reagan took them off as soon as he moved in. Once upon a time we had a coal degasification program, Energy Security Act of 1980, killed instantly when Reagan moved in.
How in the world did such a deadly group convince Americans that they were pro-life? We tried to warn our family and friends but they trusted grifting politicians more.
Wiping the words Climate Crisis from our government websites and information....
The "wiping" has been going on and will continue to happen as long as this Psychopath President and his Cult Cabinet are in charge. Time to face the fact that we lost four years of progress on climate and fossil fuel issues before, and we will lose another four years this go 'round. It is heartbreaking for us and future generations.
This selfishness on the part of much of America accompanied by the evil intentions of the Republicans will indeed extract a price we will all pay. BUT, WE SIMPLY CANNOT STOP TRYING! Thank you for that message, Thom. Nothing could be more important.
I have been a warrior on this issue for as long as I can remember. So have countless people around the globe---remember we are not alone. Some just don't value the protests, but this is a prime example why we must continue to use them to show solidarity on the climate crisis and human rights. Speak. Write. Protest. See you in the streets.
If we are too cautious in demanding change, we offer nothing worthwhile. Watered-down, colorless iced tea attracts neither rave reviews, nor votes. The cries of “Throw me something, Mister!” echo in my head from the crowd of the New Orleans Marti Gras parade. At least that crowd gets beads and doubloons. We get diddly-squat—because any rancor might get upset the proletariat. I am tired of timid.
Now is time to upset the proletariat as we approach the midterms of 2026. We must open these doors to begin the hard debate to flesh out and undergird our candidates in the 2028 election. A platform! Give me a platform!
Jennifer Rubin
“Democrats must convince millions of qualified but (as yet) nonvoting Americans to dispense with the fictions that “both parties are the same” or that their vote “won’t make a difference.” The choice now is not Democrat vs. Republican, or progressive vs. conservative; it is right vs. wrong, humane vs. cruel. Tens of millions of people will be harmed by this cruel legislation; tens of millions more will know someone who will be harmed. They are not just victims and witnesses, but foot soldiers in the battle to hold to account Republican tormentors.”
But for what shall they vote? Forge that! https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/forging-fate?r=3m1bs
We never had to think of the environment when there were just 1 or 2 billion of us; we could just move to another place, like the Americas, which were practically virginal. Taking and making from the resources we found was seen as a God-given right, and growth and development as progress. Slowing down to consider the cost of this "progress" was tantamount to treason. And so here we are.
A lesson perhaps not learned is that overly large and concentrated government is a danger to the planet. The ability to buy a government with a few millions and a concentrated group of lobbists on K Street is not only dangerous, it is deadly.
Yes, the politics need to be different and they power needs to be distributed and devolved to government closer to the people.
I don't think there's evidence we were "overly large." Japan, which holds the most of our Treasury paper has the highest deficit of all countries. We are # 16 of 164 countries. Most of the arguments about deficits are BS. E.G. although the trust funds are not part of the budget, they are included when Republicans discuss it.
IMHO Trump was handed the best economy in the world. If anything had Biden's BBB policies become law, we'd be much better off.
Trump is extorter in chief. Today, Japan, which employs about 1 million Americans and holds approximately $1.09 trillion of U.S. debt., is resisting.
Any plan that moves forward after this blood thirsty regime must include 80% tax rate on super wealthy. This will help pay for all the services that have been denied over the last several decades. We need to build in programming that both takes care of young families with children and the elderly
The main reason the Biden BBB failed was a 5% tax on income over $10 million. One guy, Joe Manchin defeated it in 2021.
Trump is as much a symptom as a cause. It’s not like when he goes his organization will collapse as it did when Hitler shot himself. What we might get is similar to after Stalin died, a milder but still ruthless dictatorship. Trump’s a nasty clown with an agenda, but also a frontman for those who are using him—after all, he didn’t write Project 2025 (he couldn’t!). So without trying to sound too much like a conspiracy fanatic we have to look at what in a 1967 story the author Fritz Leiber called "The Inner Circles”. Such groups—they probably are loosely formed and different ones could sometimes be at cross-purposes—have their own goals. But clearly none are trying to make a better world for all humanity. Thom has touched on this a little with the Powell memo and the attempt to remove FDR after his first election. But such people are stupid if they imagine a world beset by ecological collapse is in their favor. When the lifeboat sinks everybody goes down with it.
The MAGAtariat has a death wish. Because they feel the world has been unfair to them and the "libs" and "elites" (but not the billionaires whom they fetishistically worship) have had good lives at their expense. So if they can't have what they consider the "good life", we might as well all die. Thanks to the morbidly rich, there are too many ignorant people in the world today. The morbidly rich currently alive think they will be able to escape the calamities the world faces. Most of them probably will. Their children, not so much. Their grandchildren, not likely at all. THEY DO NOT CARE.
The best we can do, if we choose to bother, is to be preppers at whatever scale we can manage--state, city or town, neighborhood, family. At 77 and in ill health, I am not going to do anything but help my family as best I can so that our sole grandchild has a chance at some kind of life, and keep supporting progressives with my paltry resources and tiny voice.
But make no mistake. I think the battle is lost. Our species has been tried and found wanting. Thousands of other species have gone extinct, many because of us. Our own time may be at hand, and perhaps after that the planet will recover. Having lost all faith in humanity years ago, I found myself called to the Greek Orthodox faith after a half century plus of hard core atheism. Whether delusional or not, my religious faith gives me hope for a better hereafter. And comfort in believing that the evils of this world will pass.
If God created us and gave us free will, I am guessing He regrets that, but will reward those who tried to follow his teachings in various faith traditions. Cold comfort for those of you still physically able and enjoying life, I know. But I look out on a world where billions are suffering, and know that as limited as my own life has become from a myriad of health issues, I am still mightily privileged. As noted above, all I can do, all any of us can, is to do our utmost to help those less fortunate and try to elect or produce leaders able to reverse course. And pray.
Unfortunately our destructive path has too much momentum and is impossible to stop. The number one problem which has no obvious solution- we have far exceeded the amount of humans that the planet can carry. We have lots that we could do to reduce our impact but we don't. How many more cars do we need to further clog our already congested roadways? Look at Cuba, they've been driving the same cars since 1955 and repairing them when they break down. We don't always need a new shiny toy.
All of us can find excesses in our lives but are we ready to deal with them, or are we captive of the problem with the commons? (my activity will not have any impact if others don't act, so why bother)
There are times when any words must seem glib. This is an old story, first foreseen by Fourier in 1824. Eunice Foote in 1856, and then John Tyndall in 1859 discovered carbon dioxide's ability to absorb heat (gee, I wonder why the woman is never mentioned...). Svante Arrhenius in 1896 correlated irising levels of atmospheric CO2 with an increase in ground temperature (Arrhenius wasn't some kook, he was a Nobel Laureate). In the 30s', Guy Callendar demonstrated the connection between human-emitted CO2 and rising temperatures.
Finally, jump forward to 1957-8 when Roger Revelle was one of the main forces for the creation of the International Geophysical Year, the IGY. One of Revelle's primary concerns concerned with anthropogenic warming. One of the people who joined with Revelle at that time was Charles Keeling, noted fothe Keeling Curve (CO2 was at 313 ppm; it is currently at 428 ppm.
This was all known before the vast majority of people living today were born. When Hansen reported to Congress in 1988 it was a bipartisan issue. However, the intention of the petrochemical industry to lie outright to the people and politicize the issue goes back to at least 1978. At that time, Exxon was having internal dialogs concerning GHGs' impact on climate. They predicted - 47 years ago! - that a doubling of GHGs would cause an increase of 2-3° C and that the change in the Arctic would probably be 2 to 3 times greater. The document discussed the likelihood of more precipitation, of desertification, of some regions of the planet having its agricultural base destroyed. They knew this almost 50 years ago.
They're murderers. To a certain degree, so are we.
My apologies — I meant to post the link to theExxon report... https://www.climatefiles.com/exxonmobil/1978-exxon-memo-on-greenhouse-effect-for-exxon-corporation-management-committee/
Hello Thom and all concerned. The focus should remain on why the Northern Hemisphere's Arctic and subarctic is heating up to 4x faster than the remainder of the planet.
Here are two studies that point the finger directly at construction of mega dams impounding the largest amount of freshwater in the NortHern Hemisphere. PERMANENTLY trapping these major rivers. And here is what has happened. the 1st is a podcasst, 20minutes https://r3genesis.substack.com/p/164-the-earth-sauna-audio-version?utm_source=podcast-email%2Csubstack&publication_id=899805&post_id=162800940&utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=play_card_post_title&r=2ddkm6&triedRedirect=true
THE SECOND AN IN DEPTH STUDY:
Arctic Water Emissions (AWE)
Manufactured AWE and churned Atlantic warmth (CAW) are major drivers warming the Arctic, melting Greenland’s glaciers and raising sea levels.
by
Stephen M. Kasprzak
Abbreviated Version
© July 1, 2025 S.M.Kasprzak/rdw
Introduction
The Arctic and Siberia are two of the fastest warming regions on Earth. If carbon and methane emissions are the major drivers, and given the minimal solar radiation available to be trapped during the sun starved winters by these fossil fuel greenhouse gases, then Arctic summers (May-Oct), with up to 24 hours of sunlight, should be warming faster or at least equal to the winters. Just the opposite is happening and the winters are warming many times faster according to the data in this study. This change is driven by extreme and abrupt increases in Arctic water emissions (AWE) and churned
Atlantic warmth (CAW) pumped up into estuaries propelled by increased winter river flow, the runoff from warmed regulated discharges from megadams (Arctic mega power stations )(AMPSs).
It was reported in the March 3, 1958 Fort Worth StarTelegram that Moscow radio boasted; “Astonishing climate change would occur…evaporation (from the inland sea) would increase and with it the humidity of the air. The extremes of yearly and daily temperatures characteristic of these would be greatly modified.”
Water vapor is the most plentiful and powerful greenhouse gas and is vital for maintaining a climate habitable for life on Earth. However, manufactured AWE and CAW have wrecked the natural hydraulic, thermal and salinity equilibrium between the Labrador Current and Gulf Stream. They have also altered the estuarine balance between seasonal freshwater inflows and the churning they create by acting as a pump, drawing in relatively warmer deep saltwater from the sea through deep gorges and pulling it up to the surface of the estuaries to mix with the regulated discharged waters from the AMPSs.
Analysis of pre-tipping point weather data in three Arctic regions reveals copious amounts of winter (Jan-Apr,Nov,Dec) precipitation enhanced by Gulf Stream AWE at two weather stations in Table 1. The other two regions have experienced extreme increases in post tipping point winter precipitation created by manufactured Kola Peninsular and Kareliar AWE and Kara and Laptev Sea AWE. These increases were augmented by the introduction of winter CAW propelled by AMPS discharges in the watersheds of the White, Barents, Kara and Laptev Seas. (See Maps 1 and 3).
The Arctic is the fastest warming region on planet earth even though it receives about one half the annual solar radiance of the tropical and sub tropical regions. The fact that the average Arctic winter temperatures are warming much faster than its summers is also perplexing because the winters receive only half the amount of incoming summer radiation.
“ Air temperatures on Earth have been rising since the Industrial Revolution. While natural variability plays some part, the preponderance of evidence indicates that human activites— particularly emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases—are mostly responsible for making our planet warmer.
According to an ongoing temperature analysis led by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institude for Space Studies (GISS), the average global temperature on Earth has increased by at least 1.1° Celcius (1.9° Fahrenheit) since 1880. The majority of the warming has occurred since 1975, at a rate of roughly 0.15 to 0.20° C per decade“ (World of Change-Global Temperature NASA 2023).
The temperature of 0.15° to 0.20° C (0.27° to 0.36° F) per decade is an average global temperature increase of 0.0315° F per year from 1975 to 2022. In this Study, 0.0315° F is rounded off to 0.032° F per year and serves as the NASA estimated baseline average annual global temperature increase between 1975-2022.
The annual average temperature in Ocala, Florida has risen 0.7° F between 1896 to 2017 or an average of 0.006° F per year (See Figure 3). This is less than half of NASA’s global average temperature increase of 0.013° per year since 1880.
After the 1952 precipitation tipping point in Ostrov Golojanny J, Russia (See Map 1) the annual average temperature has warmed 6.3° F between 1952 to 2023 or an average of 0.089° F/year (See Figure 4). This is a warming rate 15 times faster than Ocala and three times faster than the global average.
Note: The purpose of colorizing pre and post tipping point time periods in the Ostrov Golomjanny J precipitation graphs is to highlight that the pre-1952 winter precipitation was seldom if ever as high as the post 1952 median and most of the post 1952 winter precipitation totals.
1. James Bay seen as test on environment Star Phoenix, January 8, 1976, “The man in charge of assessing the environmental impact of Quebec’s massive James Bay hydroelectric project admitted Wednesday no one is sure just what its impact on the environment will be. ‘We are using this project as an experience to see what will happen’, Alain Soucy said in an interview. We have about $100 million to spend over the next 3 years on remedial action, though.’ The head of James Bay Energy Corporation’s environmental department said that even if there were severe environmental problems \caused by the project it would not be curtailed. ‘We can’t change the scale of the project or it will not work.’ He explained.”
2. Slow Death in the North? Impact of Hudson Bay dams being ignored, critics charge The Toronto Star (Toronto, Ontario), Canada) April 9, 1991, “ Are Hudson Bay and James Bay facing the slow death of a thousand cuts? Many environmentalist, \native people and even a few government officials fear the answer is yes….. Pollution and changes in the rivers flow could even alter North America’s climate….. The projects change the flow of freshwater into the bays. Normally, the rivers flow is highest in the spring. But the dams store the water until its released to spin the turbines later in the year. Cutting the spring flood can change the times and location of ice melting and also affects the bays’ salinity. This alteration in a fragile, carefully balanced environment could have devastating effects on the whales, birds and other wildlife. But there’s opposition from the hydrocorporation. “ We’re not against a global review,” says Gaetan Guertin, director of impact assessment for Hydro-Quebec. “But if a decision on a ‘go’ or ‘no go’ will have to wait (for the results), there will be a reaction from Hydro Quebec. Some of our projects are very tight in terms of scheduling.” (Emphasis added by SMK)
CONCLUSION:
The Earth would be a much colder place without its paramount greenhouse gas, water vapor. The process of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and freshwater runoff are all part of its water cycle. In the lower latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, the cycle is continous throughout the year. In the Northern higher latitudes, the cycle is dormant for about 6 months a year with minimal evaporation and runoff because the lakes, rivers and seas are locked in ice.
The awakening and strengthening of the Arctic winter (Jan-Apr,Nov,Dec) water cycle skyrocketed between 1952 and 1993. This change in hydrology was driven by numerous Canadian and Russian AMPSs built during this time period on rivers flowing into each of the six Arctic coastal seas, James, Hudson and Ungava Bays, the Labrador Sea and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Each AMPS with their massive storage capabilities contributed to a growing overall loss in the volume and flow energy of the spring freshet and summer flows. This energy is a key part of regulating earth’s climate. These AMPSs to this day with their massive reservoir storage capabilities enable solar radiation to warm the stored waters. These warmed reservoir waters are then released to greatly enhance the winter runoff (river flows).
In addition, the building of upstream AMPSs transforms existing or future run of the river hydropower plants (HPPs) into conveyors and boosters of major heat pollution of manufactured AWE driven by the 24/7 discharges of regulated warm reservoir waters.
This increased regulated winter freshwater flow into estuaries acts as a pump, drawing in relatively warmer deep saltwater from the sea through deep gorges and pulling it up to the surface of the estuaries to mix with the regulated discharged waters from the AMPSs. The Russian and Canadian AMPSs have not only stimulated the natural evaporation, condensation, precipitation and runoff processes of the regional Arctic water cycles, but their 24/7 regulated winter discharges have also created continous upwelling currents pumping and churning Atlantic warmth (CAW) up into these estuaries hampering ice formation and enhancing more winter AWE.
Analysis of winter and summer precipitation and temperature data reveals that winters are warming much faster than summers and provides compelling evidence that the contribution of man-made winter AWE by the AMPSs is the greenhouse gas overriding all other heat pollution sources in the Arctic. Yes, there is an Earth Energy Imbalance driven by CO2 emissions but it appears to be minimal in the Arctic region compared to the Arctic Energy Imbalance intially driven by and continually sustained by AWE and CAW.
Here in Baghdad By the Sea we worry about 1. sea rise and 2. temperature of the Gulf Stream. Besides hurricanes, we also get stuff like Saharan dust. To our north, the major estuary is infected by poisonous algae.
On the West Coast, where I once lived, they are more concerned with movements of tectonic plates that cause stuff like earthquakes, mudslides, forest fires.
Yes sea level rise and the Gulf Of Maine warming are on my plate here in Maine.So we've formed an educational research group . We're trying to spread the truth about mega hydroelectric , particulalrly dangerous for our climate if these projects are done in climate sensitive regions of this planet. Subarctic/Arctic and Antarctic or just north, and Equatorial regions. These a super sensitive regions. Hydro Quebec is Canada fossil fuel misinformation machine around their mega hydroelectric model located in the subarctic. Totally calling it clean and renewable energy and are getting away with planatary climate destruction and using Co2 and fossil fuels as their cover. They are causing immense harm to our planet and few are speaking out, and what they are doing is 3 to 4 times worse than co2. If you're interested in the studies data and graphs I will send them to your personal email. Cliff
Thanks...
I'm big on 1. Geothermal. 2. Thorium/nuclear.
Do you have any suggestion on the details of Thorium Nuclear
particulalrly interested in half - life and storing waste
Apparently no plutonium, no problem. We knew this in the 1940s.
AI Thorium as Nuclear Fuel:
Thorium-232, the most common isotope of thorium, is not fissile but can be converted into fissile uranium-233 through neutron capture in a nuclear reactor.
This process, known as the thorium fuel cycle, has the potential to be a cleaner and more efficient energy source compared to traditional uranium-based reactors.
Molten salt reactors (MSRs) are a type of reactor design that can utilize thorium as fuel, offering advantages like continuous waste extraction during operation.
Thorium Waste Characteristics:
Lower Toxicity and Shorter Half-Life: Thorium waste, particularly from closed thorium fuel cycles, tends to be less toxic and has a shorter half-life compared to uranium waste, meaning it decays to a non-radioactive state more quickly.
Volume Reduction: Thorium reactors can potentially produce less waste by volume.
Potential for Recycling: Thorium-based fuel cycles can be designed to recycle the fissile uranium-233, further reducing the amount of long-term waste.
The RIGHTeous JUST ICE (some nonsense writes itself) era is upon us and they're "just getting started". If it seems like the Whitey House is under reacting to the natural disasters and act pitifully oblivious, their disinterest is deliberate. A pivotal aspect of their heartless plan is whispered but seldom uttered aloud. They coldly move their focus elsewhere as Mammon "thins the herd". Too many useless people around (according to their crude estimation). That's also why the BIG Beauty himself constantly belittles and mocks minorities from Sh--thole countries. You simply call the exterminator when your place is overrun with roaches. Thank GOD, the RIGHTeous ones are safe!