This is the biggest 'Fuck you poors' I could ever imagine.

It’s almost too much to get your head around: that we have shaped the world so profoundly in what is, in the Earth’s history, the blink of an eye. Most of the geological epochs in the past 4.6bn years have lasted millions of years each time. According to the Anthropocene Working Group, the Anthropocene is thought to have begun in the 1950s, when industrialisation accelerated. One of its hallmarks is that we humans are affecting the conditions of life everywhere, all at once. We have instigated a sixth mass extinction of other species; we have changed the biosphere and altered the chemistry of the oceans by burning fossil fuels; we have uprooted forests and poisoned land with chemicals.

I've been posting about this topic for several days now. It's because I personally feel vulnerable to disasters brought about by extreme effects of climate change, e.g., unusually severe weather, flooding, and unusually hot days (and the excess load on the grid this brings about). These are what I prep for.

Why South Koreans are rushing to stockpile salt

Japan is set to release more than 1 million metric tons of water into the Pacific that was used to cool damaged reactors at the power plant north of Tokyo, after it was hit by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Tokyo has repeatedly assured that the water is safe and has been filtered to remove most isotopes though it does contain traces of tritium, an isotope of hydrogen hard to separate from water.

Although Japan has not set a date for the release, the announcement has made fishermen and shoppers across the region apprehensive.

(edited the link)

Saw this question on reddit, and I thought to ask here, too.

Hiba Baroud, associate professor and associate chair in the department of civil and environmental engineering at Vanderbilt University, explains how flooding stresses dams in a changing climate.

Our proactive efforts are powered by data. We aim to anticipate upcoming disaster requests and the necessary items we’ll need to support. While every disaster is different, we now have a better understanding of which items communities will need most when certain disasters strike, so we work with our relief partners to pre-pack items so they’re ready when they need them.

The risk of natural disasters is everywhere (even in the most resilient places). People will no longer just have to prepare for intensified versions of the natural disasters they know, but they will also have to consider the possibility of new types of disasters — floods, storms, heat waves, droughts, and fires — impacting their community. And since most US insurance companies are backed by international reinsurance companies that cover other parts of the world, homeowners everywhere will pay the price for climate change’s global effects.

It may be the home of Zen, but Japan is one of the most disaster-prone places on the planet. With the increasing threat of a nuclear attack from North Korea, some of Japan's citizens are taking extreme measures to protect their families, prepping for the worst case scenario.

“It’s not just a figment of your imagination, and it’s not because everybody now has a smartphone,” said Jeff Berardelli, the chief meteorologist and climate specialist for WFLA News in Tampa. “We’ve seen an increase in extreme weather. This without a doubt is happening.”

It is likely to get more extreme. This year, a powerful El Niño developing in the Pacific Ocean is poised to unleash additional heat into the atmosphere, fueling yet more severe weather around the globe.

“We are going to see stuff happen this year around Earth that we have not seen in modern history,” Mr. Berardelli said.

The color of the ocean is derived from the materials found in its upper layers. For example, a deep blue sea will have very little life in it, whereas a green color means there are ecosystems there, based on phytoplankton, plant-like microbes which contain chlorophyll. The phytoplankton form the basis of a food web which supports larger organisms such as krill, fish, seabirds and marine mammals.

The prepper subculture has long been associated with the right but, with climate disasters on the rise, shouldn’t we all be thinking about how to better prepare ourselves and our communities?

On Monday, the average global temperature reached 17.01 degrees Celsius (62.62 Fahrenheit), the highest in the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction’s data, which goes back to 1979. On Tuesday, it climbed even further, reaching 17.18 degrees Celsius and global temperature remained at this record-high on Wednesday.

The previous record of 16.92 degrees Celsius was set in August 2016.

The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed that Monday’s and Tuesday’s global temperatures were also records in its data, which dates back to 1940.

While these global temperature records are based on data sets that go back to the mid-20th century, they are almost certainly the warmest the planet has seen over a much longer time period, some scientists say, given what we know from many millennia of climate data extracted from ice cores and coral reefs.

This week’s records are probably the warmest in “at least 100,000 years,” Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist at Woodwell Climate Research Center, told CNN, calling the records “a huge thing.”

We can expect 2023 to emerge as the warmest year to date. But sea-surface temperatures during El Niño events tend to peak about December and have the greatest influences in the subsequent two months. That sets the stage for 2024 jumping up the staircase to the next level, perhaps to 1.4℃ above pre-industrial levels, with likely daily incursions over 1.5℃.

Once the next La Niña event comes along, there’ll again be a pause in the rise, but values will never quite go back to previous levels.

This is not just about millions of Americans, of course, but billions of people around the globe. Over the weekend, Delhi recorded its wettest July day in 40 years, Beijing residents flocked to underground air raid shelters to escape the heat, and floods carried away cars in Spain.

The planet is entering a multiyear period of exceptional warmth, scientists say. Greenhouse gas emissions, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels, have already heated the Earth by an average of 1.2 degrees Celsius (or 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial levels. Now a powerful El Niño system in the Pacific Ocean is releasing a torrent of heat into the atmosphere. The warmest days in modern history occurred this month. That all sets the stage for more damaging heat waves, floods, droughts, wildfires and hurricanes.

Yesterday, as I spoke with climate scientists for a story about the storm that walloped my house, they all sounded the alarm about what was coming in the months ahead.

“We are going to see stuff happen this year around Earth that we have not seen in modern history,” one meteorologist told me. “It will be astonishing.”

(From Wikipedia)

Survival Family (サバイバルファミリー, Sabaibaru famirī) is a 2016 Japanese drama/comedy directed by Shinobu Yaguchi. The film was produced by Takashi Ishihara, Minami Ichikawa, and Kiyoshi Nagai. The film was selected for the International Film Festival & Awards in Macao, for 2016.

Plotline

This film centers on the main character Yoshiyuki Suzuki (played by Fumiyo Kohinata) and his family. When the electricity in Tokyo stops due to a solar flare, the city is on the verge of panic. Yoshiyuki has to lead his family to strive for survival. The family is used to being spoilt by modern urban life. However, they learn to deal with the harsh realities of a dystopic Japan where the lack of electricity has led everyone to rediscover the olden ways that do not rely on technology.

From National Geographic: "What would happen if the Doomsday Preppers were right all along? Explore what might happen if America suffered a massive and long-lasting power-outage caused by cyber-terrorism. "

I've been looking for this docu-drama for quite some time. Someone saved a copy on Vimeo, and I'm sharing here for reference.

1. Preppers are not who you think are – they are a multitude.
2. It’s not only Preppers who are preparing for the end of civilization – your government is too!
3. You will always miss one thing on your prep list.
4. Beware of ‘apocalypse swapping’.
5. You can spot a Prepper because they buy… chickens!
6. Preppers are secretive, and have to be.