Another Climate Record Bites The Dust...

We have shattered another climate record. Just like the month before it, last month was the hottest March on record, and that's not good news for our species.
According to a recent warning from the Japan Meteorological Agency, last month's record temperatures should be “a reminder of how perilously close we now are to permanently crossing into dangerous territory.”
It's not only that last month was the warmest March since at least 1891, the average global temperatures broke that previous record by the greatest margin seen yet. In other words, March wasn't just the hottest March on record, the temperature spike was larger than any previous jump on record.
That means that our planet is heating up at a faster pace than ever before. Andrew Freedman, who writes for Mashable, said that if April continues the trend of breaking monthly temperature records, “the Earth will have had an astonishing 12 month string of record-shattering months.”
At this rate, we're getting dangerously close to hitting the two-degree Celsius limit that scientists have warned about. Renowned climate Dr. Michael Mann said, “It underscores the urgency of reducing global carbon emissions.”
We must take immediate action to address these global trends, but somehow we're still fighting about whether or not action should be taken at all. If we continue to burn fossil fuels at the current rate, we are pretty much damning ourselves to a bleak and perilous future.
For the sake of our species, we must break our fossil fuel addiction to fossil fuels and stop the cycle of record-breaking temperatures.
Comments

This big jump in temperature is likely due to the strong El Nino. The last strong El Nino in 1998 also showed a big jump in temperature. We should expect next year to have lower temperatures than this year if the El Nino has expired. That won't mean that global warming is slowing down. It just won't have the extra push of an El Nino.
You write that we must break our fossil fuel addiction. I disagree as I see the problem being simply too much CO2 going into the atmosphere. Since my company will be introducing later this year a device that will safely and efficiently take the CO2 out of emissions from large smokestacks, we can continue to burn fossil fuels at those sites.

Thanks for that, Thom! A recent little book by Karen Shragg, "Move Upstream, A Call to Solve (Human) Overpopulation", asks to consider the root, headwater cause of this and all the myriad other environmental impacts of modern men and women: overpopulation. The technological fixes for our overpopulation problem have been in existence for some time now, and we only need to be motivated to use them to reduce our population world-wide. Averaging one-child per couple, by voluntary contraception, will bring our worldwide population down from its current 7.3 billion back to 2.5 billion in 2,100. If we choose to ignore this well-spring problem, we will face world-wide species extinctions, including our own, if the huge volume of ecological research on numerous mammalian species is a guide, and, of course, it is. We have an inborn mammalian population regulation mechanism in our endocrine and autonomic nervous systems. I've blogged about it, and the free e-book, "Stress R Us" that fully describes it, elsewhere on this fabulous website. According to the animal models, all human reproduction will turn off at the highpoint of our population expansion. The real question, then, is how far we are from that point of no return. Any guesses? Thanks for this opportunity! Glad you have seen through the Hillary for President B.S.

In a December 2015 Scientific American there is an article expressing the severity of climate change and the urgency to end it. There is also an article on ScientificAmerican.com (.org) about climate chang/fossil fuels.
i'll "do something".... when you "get" China & India, -to do their part.

I am with Alan. This was totally expected. Both sides use every little tempature change to push their point. Where is the proof it is carbon that the cause of climate change. Alan we are using carbon capture in our oil feilds up here in Canada. They are so close to breaking through but when it works it will reduce carbon ten times what solar would. Let's all hope. But then again this isn't about reducing carbon it's about hating fossil fuel energy companies.
I wonder if the device to which you refer employs coal-direct chemical looping or CDCL. For the past few years the energy community has been excited about the work started at Ohio State. The process reportedly strips 96.5 percent of the carbon released during the process while increasing the cost of electricity by 28.8 percent. And the "energy penalty" of the process is a fraction of current methods. But the question is what to do with the CO2?
The "ideal" scenarion calls for pumping it deep underground inot old oil and gas wells. Last year DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory published its fifth edition of the Carbon Storage Atlas studying the solution. For me this solution makes me just as nervous as the nuclear solution as it all depends on someone ensuring stability of the products of the production of energy.
I grew up with the view of the beautiful Rockies and deplore the thought of our continuing destruction of our natural beauty. I also grew up with the spectre of Rocky Flats (now a wind farm). Both these strong memories make me look askance at the "clean energy" solution.

You are one ignorant ASS......who is "we"....and
Hillary will save you......making you one ignorant ASS.
But guess WHAT....you can keep saying this.....FOREVER!!!!!
Now won't that be fun.......FOR YOU!!!!

I saw a post the other day talking about Fukushima in Japan; it's leaking again. Also, wild pigs are turning up in Japanese residential areas full of radiation. No one is talking about this, either.
The people who have managed to get themselves into positions of authority have their heads stuck in the sand and are refusing to see anything except their "right to make money". We are in the hands of mad men and exactly what it will take to turn this around, I don't know. Probably some horrific natural disaster that no one can ignore.
In response to Kend:
Your comment is proof that the willfully ignorant are alive and well. For starters, try running a search (Google works well) regarding the scientific studies proving the significant impact that human activities, particularly those that release carbon and other gasses into the atmosphere, are having on climate change overall.
While production of alternative energy technology equipments do use some processes that emit gasses into the atmosphere as well as create other types of pollution, emissions from the process of converting solar to usable energy is nil. Your statement that "it (whatever 'it' is) will reduce carbon ten times" is hyperholic at best.
Alternative is the way of the future if we expect to have one. If you rely on oil for your paycheck, I recommend that you spend some time learning about alternative energy production so that you might find work when the oil industry goes tits up. Which I fervently hope that it does as soon as possible.
To Erin Rose:
Japanese media are talking about this, I know as I live in Japan. The problem is that western news aren't picking up the stories because translation from Japanese to English is just too much trouble for them.
Fukushima hasn't stopped leaking since the 2011 quake and resultant tsunami that damaged the facility. It's big news in Japan and has been since the quake. The people are protesting every day, it's in the news daily and as a result, nuclear facilities have either been shut down or running on limited capacity. We are in a constant energy conservation mode here which they call 'setsuden' (節電). Energy use has been drastically decreased, particularly during the hot, humid summers where air conditioning is kept at about 28 degrees celcius (about 82 F).
It's uncomfortable but worth the effort. We spend a lot of time wishing spring and autumn were longer seasons!
"Another Climate Record Bites The Dust"
- In order to stop the cycle of record-breaking temperatures", we must also adopt a whole foods plant-based lifestyle in conjunction with breaking our addictioin to fossil fuels. Our current meat/dairy-centric culture worldwide contributes more each day to global warming than the impacts of burning fossil fuels for all transportation.
Google the 2006 FAO United Nations Report "Livestock's Long Shadow" for all the scientific documentation.
Have an article about the extreme dangers of climate change and sure enough a couple Big Oil Sockpuppets show up doing the usual nonsensical fear-mongering about Fukushima. As usual no numbers, no knowledge, no analysis, just the usual:
"those horrible radiation thingies leaking into the ocean, how scary, the world is doomed, the end is near, nuclear is bad, gas is good"
So Climate Change, and the #1 source of clean energy on the planet is nuclear energy, and unlike the Sockpuppets fav natural gas energy source, which releases 100X the radiation to the environment, and a millionX other emissions, Nuclear actually contains its wastes. Funny how these cretins never complain about the fracking radiation emissions released right into our homes, our drinking water sources, local lakes, rivers, land & air. The sockpuppets don't want to talk about their giant Porter Ranch radiation leak right into Los Angeles. Radiation being one small part of what was being released.
"... wild pigs, full of radiation...".
It is hard to imagine how anyone on this planet could be stupid enough to believe crap like that. Idiots.
Carbon capture total worldwide hasn't even reached 10 million tonnes per year. For all the endless hype about it. One 1.1GW Nuclear power plant displaces 6 million tonnes CO2 per year, plus 40 thousand tonnes per year of Sulfur & Nitrogen Oxides per year. And actually generates electricity whereas CCS consumes about 25% of the electricity a power plant generates.
That CCS project in Alberta, the Shell Quest hydrogen upgrader, takes a nice pure CO2 stream, tranports it 60 km and injects it 2km into the ground, hoping it may stay there. A lousy one million tonnes per year. The Big Oil stooges in Alberta gov't rejected Bruce Power's plan for a 4.4GW Nuclear power plant near Peace River, that for far lower cost than Alberta's nutty CCS pipe dreams, would have replaced 27 million tons of CO2 per year. And generated half of Alberta's electricity requirments as a freebie. Without any emissions.
CCS is a nutty scam. Plain and simple.

Wsliko. I do Google. http://saskpowerccs.com/ccs-projects/boundary-dam-carbon-capture-project/ sask power is capturing the carbon from a coal generator plant so they elimate CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Cheap reliable energy with no carbon footprint. Could you imagine doing this world wide how much better it would be for reducing polution. The same technology is being used in the oil sands. But this with mess up many government plans to re distribution of wealth. Who can we hammer with a carbon tax that does nothing to reduce CO2 emissions. Real CO2 reductions just imagine.

Wsliko. I do Google. http://saskpowerccs.com/ccs-projects/boundary-dam-carbon-capture-project/ sask power is capturing the carbon from a coal generator plant so they elimate CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Cheap reliable energy with no carbon footprint. Could you imagine doing this world wide how much better it would be for reducing polution. The same technology is being used in the oil sands. But this with mess up many government plans to re distribution of wealth. Who can we hammer with a carbon tax that does nothing to reduce CO2 emissions. Real CO2 reductions just imagine.
The endlessly touted Sask Power boundary dam Coal power plant CCS plant is a just a joke. It cost $600M to upgrade the lousy 139MW plant, causing a loss of 29MW of electricity. A trivial 1 MT CO2 captured per year. So just for the upgrade, not the whole plant that's $1350/tonne of CO2 captured annually not including the 29MW electricity loss, worth about $13M per year added cost, and added cost of CO2 injection and transport.
Projected cost of the Bruce Power Nuplex was $620/tonne CO2/yr avoided, that's total cost = 1/2 Boundary dam but actually produces electricity as a freebie while the CCS project consumes 29MW of electricity.
With Nuclear levelized cost nearly the same as Coal in Canada, in reality there is zero cost to replacing CO2 with Nuclear and as a freebie replacing millions of tonnes of SOx, NOx, mercury, arsenic, lead, ash and sludge toxic emissions.
And even if you take very pessimistic cost data for nuclear you are at most looking at a $20/tonne/yr CO2 avoidance cost. Boundary dam is easily well over $100/tonne/yr CO2 capture cost. And that is for a trivial amount of CO2. Try putting meaningful amounts of CO2 into the ground and that would be a total pipe dream. It is no accident that CCS still amounts to zip in spite of over 20 yrs of hype.
A crazy idea.
For a realistic solution to provide cheap, reliable, 24/7, high-grade energy where it is needed, when it is needed, then there is the Canadian company Terrestrial Energy with their IMSR, Integrated super-safe Molten Salt reactor tech.
Terrestrial Energy Inc.'s Hugh MacDiarmid’s speech at the Economic Club of Canada - Terrestrial Energy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8K3ezyrioA
This was specifically designed for the Alberta Oil Sands project, and would supply all the steam, process heat & electricity required, reducing the carbon footprint of Alberta Oil sands product well below that of Arab Terrorist Child-Killer, Job-Killer Oil imports.
With the IMSR you could quit the mining of bitumen and instead use SAGD, in-situ methods using dirt cheap, zero CO2 steam from the IMSRs.
And the cost would be trivial compared to Carbon Capture, and the safety far better than that of Carbon Capture. Tens of thousands of kms of liquid CO2 pipelines are a Terrorists dream-come-true and carbon storage sites have the potential to leak suffocating an entire region. Alberta is giving CCS operations 100% public liability coverage, free of charge. Why doesn't zero-CO2 nuclear get that?

legislate against greed now!!!!!!!!!!!

99% of us on the planet are Kunta Kinte right now, and we're totally unaware of it!

As long as the righties are stricken with denial, we're doomed to a premature man made ending! Regarding man made genocide.... I'd give anything to know what Socrate's comment would be on such an idiotic- no brainer-planet ending subject, such as documented man-made climate change,.... REMEMBER, his Athenian "establishment" political system fnn killed him???...seriously!

"If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it." Socrates.....that was fnnn 2400 years ago... when will we fnnn learn??????????????????????????? . ..... carbon barons!
That's what Socrates, as a matter of fact, had to say!

Truth is Truth...always has been, always will be , so f U Fox News.... and the handful of twisted progressives making their living off this conservative fascist broadcast!...
Wonder how the ordinary US citizen can adapt.
Underground housing?
Moving north?
Not a solution to the general problem.
But individuas/communites have to form local plans on the high
probability that governements are gridlocked.
ct