1/ What can you, a software engineer, do to fight #ClimateChange? My initial answer continues to be politics (https://codewithoutrules.com/2019/09/10/software-developers-climage-change/) but I now have a secondary answer.

There's a lot of software out there and it's ludicrously inefficient. Not because people don't care, but because no one bothered to look, or the cost is spread across millions of people, or because no one has time (open source! it's fun.)

Let me give you some examples—

What can a software developer do about climate change?

Pines and firs are dying across the Pacific Northwest, fires rage across the Amazon, it’s the hottest it’s ever been in Paris—climate change is impacting the whole planet, and things are not getting any better.

^{Itamar Turner-Trauring (Code Without Rules)}

#Haze #singapore

https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/graphics/2023/10/haze-returns-singapore-2023/index.html

#indonesia #palmoil #deforestation #fire #fires #elnino #climatechange

Why the haze has reached Singapore’s shores again

With drier weather conditions and an increase in fire hot spots in Sumatra over the past few days, the haze is back again. So, how bad will it get?

^{The Straits Times}

Emissions from computing are apparently higher than for air travel, and that’ll only go up in the coming decades.

“As a society we need to start treating computational resources as finite and precious, to be utilised only when necessary, and as effectively as possible. We need frugal computing: achieving our aims with less energy and material.”

https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.06642

#ClimateChange

Frugal Computing -- On the need for low-carbon and sustainable computing and the path towards zero-carbon computing

The current emissions from computing are almost 4% of the world total. This is already more than emissions from the airline industry and are projected to rise steeply over the next two decades.

^arXiv.org

More than 100 dolphins dead in Amazon as water hits 102 F.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/01/americas/amazon-river-dolphins-dead-temperatures-drought-intl-hnk/index.html #ClimateChange

Many believe a significant way to address #climatechange is to 'eat local,’ but that’s not always true. The impact all depends on the kind of #food + how & where it’s produced.

Some foods require fewer resources (water, energy) in some parts of the world. Season can be important. Overall, transportation has a much lower carbon footprint than land use change. And so on.

So instead of ‘eat local,’ let’s go with ‘eat thoughtfully.’ https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local

Physicist John Tyndall is often credited w discovering the greenhouse effect, which he wrote about in 1859.

But Eunice Foote published a paper - 3yrs earlier - demonstrating how atmospheric water vapor & CO2 affected solar heating. She theorized that heat trapping gases in Earth’s atmosphere warm its climate.

Tyndall was widely read. And Foote, being a woman, wasn't even permitted to present her own work. http://www.climate.gov/news-features/features/happy-200th-birthday-eunice-foote-hidden-climate-science-pioneer #history #science #ClimateChange

Latest cartoon on the right's plans to destroy the "administrative state" and replace government workers with cronies under the next Republican president

#authoritarianism #climatechange #climatecrisis #corruption #cartoon #uspol

Environmental groups sued the Bureau of Land Management and won, for making their 20 year plan for western #Colorado without consulting with tribes nor accounting for the impact their 20 year plan would have on #ClimateChange.

They rewrote their plan and have two options to choose from. One option, Alternative F, is actually pretty damn good (especially compared to the original)

We have until November 1st to comment and advocate for Alternative F

I blogged about it at https://www.clayton.computer/climate-justice-in-western-colorado/

Demand Environmental Justice in Western Colorado

For the past 200 years Western Colorado has been ravaged by mining and fossil fuel profiteering. This is largely because of the complicity of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

^{Clayton Dewey (clayton.computer)}

According to OurWorldInData, 80 billion animals are slaughtered for food each year.

The scale of what eat (& waste) is massive, which contributes to #ClimateChange & degrades the environment.

In the US, we consume ~280lbs (127 kg) /person/year (not including fish & seafood).

Beef has the most significant environmental impact & Argentinians consume 104lbs (47 kg) of beef/person/year. #food

Scientists in China have found evidence that our ancestors were almost entirely wiped out ~1 million years ago.

Why? #ClimateChange

While not every expert agrees, the research is intriguing & @Carl_Zimmer has the details: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/31/science/human-survival-bottleneck.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare #science

Globally we produce A LOT of #energy, but did you know the majority of fossil energy gets wasted? In the US alone, two-thirds of that energy is *wasted* as heat.

As Hannah Ritchie has pointed out, we don’t actually need to produce a low carbon equivalent of all of the coal, oil & gas we currently use.

That means we can decarbonize quickly by being less wasteful & more efficient. #ClimateChange #science

In my opinion, Earth is better with emperor penguins on it. So I truly hope we do all we can to prevent their extinction. #ClimateChange #nature

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66492767

Climate change: Thousands of penguins die in Antarctic ice breakup

Vast numbers of emperor penguin chicks drown as sea-ice melts and collapses underneath them.

^{By Jonathan Amos (BBC News)}

in 2013, coal generated 175 times as much electricity as #solar power in the US. Within a decade, in 2022, coal was generating less than 5 times as much electricity (incl. estimated rooftop solar).

So far this year, coal has generated slightly more than twice as much electricity as all solar.

Coal is dying here but needs to die even faster.
#energy #climate #climateChange #ClimateCrisis
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=table_1_01

I wish I didn't have to tell you about this again, but I do. It's not being reported much in the news — and you know why?

Because it's not 'new' (the origin of the word 'news'), it's old. This has been going on for months now, and corporate news outlets are simply tired of reporting it. But it is still happening.

Canada's boreal forests are burning up.

At least 1100 fires are active, more than 700 out of control. Over 13 million hectares have been burned so far, with no end in sight. It's an unprecedented climate and environmental disaster.

#Canada #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency

SOURCE OF MAP -- https://ciffc.ca/

A cost-effective, scalable & available solution to reduce the #climate impact of flying?

Yes please. https://blog.google/technology/ai/ai-airlines-contrails-climate-change/

Contrails - those thin, white lines behind airplanes - account for ~35% of aviation's #ClimateChange impact.

New research reveals how #AI & satellite imagery can help us reduce their warming effects.

How AI is helping airlines mitigate the climate impact of contrails

We used AI to help airlines choose routes that are less likely to cause contrails, minimizing the environmental impact of flights.

^{Carl Elkin (Google)}

It’s worth noting that by Fall of 2012, the majority of both Republican & Democrat voters acknowledged #ClimateChange is occurring. But not the majority of all politicians.

Back then, I ran large public opinion surveys out of UT Austin & it was the first time citizens from both parties agreed. (Here’s a 2015 SciAm piece w totals https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/over-3-out-of-4-americans-now-acknowledge-climate-change-is-occurring-including-the-majority-of-republicans/)

We can’t said what changed attitudes, but a drought had impacted U.S. crops that summer & the pope was also discussing #climate. /2

Over 3 out of 4 Americans Now Acknowledge Climate Change Is Occurring--Including the Majority of Republicans

Seventy-six percent of Americans now say that climate change is occurring, up eight points from one year ago. And Republicans are largely responsible

^{Scientific American Blog Network}

NYT’s opinion writer Paul Krugman is declaring #climate is now a culture war issue 🤔

I worked in the U.S. Senate ~20 years ago. Covered climate as a journalist. Cofounded an NGO focused on science policy issues during elections. Am finishing a dissertation on how Congress has made decisions about #science policy for the last 1/2 century - with climate as a central theme.

This isn’t new. #ClimateChange has *always* been a culture war issue.