Here’s a collection of articles that I read this week that I thought might have fallen through the cracks given the enormity of events that we are all following. All of them are connected to the climate crisis, which is bad, getting worse, and accelerating. So, in addition to worsening weather events, we have to endure rising political and state violence. Great. We’re moving in the right direction.

Let me know about the stories you’ve been following this week.

  1. 1.32 million lives may be saved yearly by 2040 under ambitious climate action: Study
  2. The ice is melting faster than we thought
    1. Mapping tipping risks from Antarctic ice basins under global warming
    2. Canada warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, report says
  3. Peak interest: Toronto’s snow mountains that refuse to melt are a toxic hazard
  4. Chinese national arrested over attempt to smuggle 2,000 queen ants from Kenya
  5. Image Attrubution

1.32 million lives may be saved yearly by 2040 under ambitious climate action: Study

The scale of death that climate change is going to cause is astronomical. It will be in the realm of millions a year when the planet is really cooking. The fact that we can save over a million by taking aggressive action tells you just how bad it will be.

The ice is melting faster than we thought

Mapping tipping risks from Antarctic ice basins under global warming

This article has maps! Who doesn’t love a good map, especially of the deeply mysterious Antarctica. Did you know, it is really a set of islands connected by eighteen ice shelves? Seriously, check it out. However, when you do, you’ll see is that we’re at real risk of loing the structural integrity of many of the ice sheets in Antarctica. First, the melt is accelerating. And second, there is a point of loss where the structure fails. That’s the tipping point. Take a look.

Canada warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, report says

A Canadian government report suggests that Canada as a whole is warming at twice the rate as the rest of the world, about 1.7 C (3 F) since 1948. In the Arctic region it has warmed 2.3 C! They assess that over half of the warming is caused by human activity.

Peak interest: Toronto’s snow mountains that refuse to melt are a toxic hazard

Who knew that when you get a meter of snow dumped on a city over a winter that it all has to go somewhere other than the streets and sidewalks? I mean, sure, the snowplow goes by and clears the streets, but where does the snow go other than blocking access to your driveway?

Most cities collect the snow in strategic areas where they pile it into mountainous structures awaiting the spring thaw. In Toronto, those mountains are about 100 feet high, about as high as a five story building. All that snow sits there compacting down into ice and it don’t melt so fast. Also, it is mixed with the rock salts and other chemicals that the cities, businesses and cities use to remove the ice from the roads and sidewalks. Not to mention, the petroleum based byproducts that come from asphalt, gasoline, motor oil, and diesel.

Those ice mountains are a toxic mess. Who knew? And, the city has to do something with it! Go figure.

Chinese national arrested over attempt to smuggle 2,000 queen ants from Kenya

Talk about having ants in your pants! Well, they weren’t in his pants; some were in toilet paper tubes in his luggage. Most were in specially made test tubes for the purpose. All of them were queens.

Ant smuggling? What is this another Asian traditional health thing like rhinoceros horns? Some weird art fad to replace elephant ivory? No! They are to supply the ant farm demands of Europe!

European ant farmers want exotic ant farms, not regular old run of the mill garden variety European ant farms! Unfortunately, ants play a huge role in maintaining the environment and in agriculture. And, having been bitten by a soldier ant once, you do not want those suckers invading Europe. They hurt. It felt like a tack had been jammed into my Achilles tendon.

Image Attrubution

This image was found on WikiCommons Media and has a Creative Commons license.