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EMPs (Electromagnetic Pulse) are a trope that is often used in prepper fiction. We often think of an EMP attack as the worst-case, end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenario that is just around the corner. There’s little doubt that it would change everything, but what’s the truth?

Here’s what an expert has to say about EMPs

Nobody knows this better than Dr. Arthur T. Bradley. Dr Bradley is a NASA engineer and the leading expert on EMPs in the preparedness community. He’s the author of Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness and the must-have Disaster Preparedness for EMPs and Solar Storms. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with him before myself, and you couldn’t ask for a nicer, more down-to-earth person. He really knows what he’s talking about and he shares information without hyperbole. He is the person I trust the most for information in this genre.

In this compelling interview, Brian Duff interviews Dr. Bradley to get the real answers. If you want to separate fact from fiction, watch this video.

What are your thoughts about EMPs?

After watching the video, did any of Dr. Bradley’s information on the result of EMPs surprise you? Based on this, are you making any changes to your long-term preparedness plan?

Let’s discuss it in the comments section.

South Koreans sue government over climate change, saying policy violates human rights

April 25, 2024

South Koreans sue government over climate change, saying policy violates human rights

Plaintiffs, lawyers and activists gather outside South Korea’s constitutional court in Seoul ahead of a public hearing for a climate lawsuit on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.

SEOUL — As plaintiffs, lawyers and activists chanted slogans outside South Korea’s constitutional court on Tuesday, 17-month-old Woodpecker giggled, sending ripples of laughter through the crowd.

Woodpecker is the nickname of Choi Heewoo, the youngest among more than 250 plaintiffs involved in Woodpecker et. al. v. South Korea, one of four petitions filed since 2020 that the court is considering together in a landmark case.

The plaintiffs argue that by not effectively tackling climate change, their government is violating its citizens’ human rights.

While there are other cases in progress elsewhere, this is the first in Asia to have a public hearing and plaintiffs say that the court’s verdict, when it comes, is also likely to be the first in Asia.

Woodpecker’s mom and legal representative Lee Donghyun made him a plaintiff while he was still in her womb. She says South Korea’s government is deferring the task of reducing carbon emissions to future administrations and younger generations.

“The more we think this task can be delayed now, the bigger the burden our future generations will have,” she says. “I think it’s the same as passing on a debt to your children.”

Environmentalists criticize carbon emission reduction goals

Plaintiffs argue that South Korea’s goal of reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to 2018 levels is insufficient — it will lead to disastrous climate change and violate their constitutional rights.

South Korea’s human rights watchdog has filed an opinion with the government, stating that climate change is a human rights issue, and that the government is therefore obligated to protect citizens from it.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Wildfires in oilsands prompt evacuation orders as region braces for smoke-filled summer

April 25, 2024

Wildfires in oilsands prompt evacuation orders as region braces for smoke-filled summer

More than 65 per cent of Canada abnormally parched or in drought at the end of March

An out-of-control wildfire, dubbed Wildfire MWF012, is seen burning west of Saprae Creek on April 21, 2024. PHOTO BY ALBERTA WILDFIRE

Wildfires erupted across Canada’s main oil producing province of Alberta and an evacuation order was issued as the region braces for a repeat of last year’s unprecedented season.

Members of the Indigenous first nation community of Cold Lake Number 149, northeast of Edmonton on the Saskatchewan border, were told to evacuate, according to a notice issued at 4:49 p.m. local time. Other regions west of the Cold Lake blaze were put on standby, with three wildfires in the province listed as out of control as of late Monday.

More than 65 per cent of Canada was abnormally parched or in drought at the end of March, leading the nation to brace for another smoke-filled summer. Unusually hot, dry weather contributed to the country’s worst-ever wildfire season last year, darkening skies over New York and other U.S. cities and prompting Alberta oil and gas drillers to shut as much as 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day of production.

An evacuation alert for residents of Saprae Creek, about 25 kilometres southeast of the oilsands capital of Fort McMurray, was cancelled. Massive forest fires burned down swathes of Fort McMurray eight years ago, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate and temporarily shutting more than one million barrels a day of oil production.

China issues highest-level rainstorm warning after fatal Guangdong floods

April 25, 2024

CHINA-GUANGDONG-FLOOD (CN) — GUANGZHOU (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin)

China issues highest-level rainstorm warning after fatal Guangdong floods

More than 100,000 people have been evacuated due to heavy rain and fatal floods in southern China, with the government issuing its highest-level rainstorm warning for the affected area on Tuesday.

Torrential rains have lashed Guangdong province in recent days, swelling rivers and raising fears of severe flooding that state media said could be of the sort only “seen around once a century”.

The megacity of Shenzhen was among the areas experiencing “heavy to very heavy downpours” on Tuesday, the city’s meteorological observatory said, adding the risk of flash floods was “very high”.

It later downgraded its weather warning as the storms weakened, but urged residents to remain vigilant against disasters.

Images from Qingyuan — a city in northern Guangdong that is part of the low-lying Pearl River Delta — showed a building almost completely submerged in a flooded park next to a river.

Official media reported Sunday that more than 45,000 people had been evacuated from Qingyuan, which straddles the Bei River tributary.

State news agency Xinhua said 110,000 residents across Guangdong had been relocated since the downpours started over the weekend.

The floods have claimed the lives of four people, according to state media.

Engulfed lampposts

An AFP team in Qingyuan saw the Bei River running much higher than its usual level on Tuesday evening, with the water almost completely engulfing lampposts on a pedestrianised bank that had been closed to the public.

The rain stopped in the afternoon and the flood water fell slightly, allowing curious onlookers to come and look over the swollen banks.

Li Yan, 52, said he was more concerned about people living down the river than about the continued rainfall forecast for the next few days.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

‘So hot you can’t breathe’: Extreme heat hits the Philippines

April 25, 2024

‘So hot you can’t breathe’: Extreme heat hits the Philippines

The heat index was expected to reach the 'danger' level of 42 degrees Celsius or higher in at least 30 cities and municipalities of the Philippines — The heat index was expected to reach the ‘danger’ level of 42 degrees Celsius or higher in at least 30 cities and municipalities of the Philippines.

Extreme heat scorched the Philippines on Wednesday, forcing thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes and prompting warnings for people to limit the amount of time spent outdoors.

The months of March, April and May are typically the hottest and driest in the archipelago nation, but conditions this year have been exacerbated by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

“It’s so hot you can’t breathe,” said Erlin Tumaron, 60, who works at a seaside resort in Cavite province, south of Manila, where the heat index reached 47 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday.

“It’s surprising our pools are still empty. You would expect people to come and take a swim, but it seems they’re reluctant to leave their homes because of the heat.”

The heat index was expected to reach the “danger” level of 42C or higher in at least 30 cities and municipalities on Wednesday, the state weather forecaster said.

The heat index measures what a temperature feels like, taking into account humidity.

The Department of Education, which oversees more than 47,600 schools, said nearly 6,700 schools suspended in-person classes on Wednesday.

There was a 50 percent chance of the heat intensifying in the coming days, said Ana Solis, chief climatologist at the state weather forecaster.

“We need to limit the time we spend outdoors, drink plenty of water, bring umbrellas and hats when going outdoors,” Solis told AFP.

Solis said El Niño was the reason for the “extreme heat” affecting swaths of the country.

Around half the country’s provinces are officially in drought.

‘It’s really hot here’

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

A powerful volcano is erupting. Here’s what that could mean for weather and climate

April 25, 2024

A powerful volcano is erupting. Here’s what that could mean for weather and climate

CNN —

When Mount Ruang in Indonesia underwent multiple explosive eruptions last week, volcanic gases were flung so high they reached the atmosphere’s second layer, tens of thousands of feet above ground.

Ruang’s eruptions ejected a massive ash plume and sent some volcanic gases more than 65,000 feet into the air, according to satellite estimates – about 25,000 feet higher than a commercial airplane will typically fly.

The eruption’s potential impacts to weather and climate are starting to come into focus, even as the danger posed by the volcano persists and evacuations continue.

It’s possible for volcanoes to have a short-term impact on the climate – including global temperature cooling – due to the gases they inject high into the upper atmosphere. But Mount Ruang’s influence on the climate will likely be minimal, according to Greg Huey, the chair of Georgia Tech’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

And the day-to-day weather conditions near Mount Ruang – things like temperature, clouds and rain – probably won’t be influenced by the volcano for long, Huey told CNN.

Mount Ruang, a 2,400-foot (725-meter) stratovolcano on Ruang Island in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, has erupted at least seven times since Tuesday night, the country’s volcanology agency said. Stratovolcanoes can produce explosive eruptions because their cone shape allows gas to build up, according to volcanologists.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Ocean waves contain more ‘forever chemicals’ than industrial pollution. That’s bad news if you live on the coast

April 25, 2024

Ocean waves contain more ‘forever chemicals’ than industrial pollution. That’s bad news if you live on the coast

New research found that ocean spray spreads PFAS into the air and onto land, creating a vicious cycle of forever chemicals that never disappear.

Ocean waves contain more ‘forever chemicals’ than industrial pollution. That’s bad news if you live on the coast

[Photo: Fer Nando/Unsplash]

PFAS, or forever chemicals, are ubiquitous in our environment. In the U.S. alone, there are more than 57,000 sites contaminated with these chemicals. They’re in our drinking water, our soil, our products—and our ocean. And according to new research, when waves crash onto shores around the world, they spray hundreds of thousands of PFAS particles into the air, creating a cycle in which these chemicals go from land to sea and back again.

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a class of synthetic chemicals largely used to make products stain-, grease-, and water-resistant. They’ve been dubbed “forever chemicals” because they don’t easily break down and so stay in our environments for thousands of years. They’re linked to harmful effects to health, including cancer, decreased fertility, developmental delays, and more.

When forever chemicals contaminate land, they get into waterways and eventually into the ocean. Scientists used to think that once there, the particles would sink and dilute in the ocean depths. But researchers have found that isn’t true. Instead, a recent study from Stockholm University, published in Science Advances, details a boomerang effect in which sea spray spreads forever chemicals back into the air and onto land.

“It’s a concerning cycle from land to the sea and back to land,” said Ian Cousins, the study’s lead author and an environmental science professor at Stockholm University, over email. “The PFAS were emitted on land and then washed into the sea. They then cycle back to land with sea spray aerosols, and so the cycle continues. It puts a new dimension to the term ‘forever chemicals.’”

Should we tweak the atmosphere to counteract global warming?

April 24, 2024

Should we tweak the atmosphere to counteract global warming?

With severe climate impacts becoming more and more apparent, many scientists think we should explore ways to block out solar radiation, but doing so would be risky.

Earlier this month, on the deck of a second world war aircraft carrier docked in San Francisco, a giant fan began spraying sea salt particles into the air.

A machine sprays sea salt particles from the flight deck of a decommissioned aircraft carrier in California to test a technique to make clouds brighter

New York Times/Redux/eyevine

Few people, beyond those on the ship and bystanders on the nearby dock, would have taken much notice of the resulting plume of salt spray drifting upwards.

But this fan, and the spray it pumps out, has global significance. It marks one of the first real-world trials of a climate intervention known as marine cloud brightening – essentially an attempt to cool the planet by making clouds more reflective, so that they bounce more of the sun’s energy back into space.

Our chances of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels are rapidly slipping away, with a recent analysis suggesting the world will burn through the remaining carbon budget for this temperature goal by 2029 or earlier.

Meanwhile, global temperatures rose to record levels in 2023. And that extreme heat has brought extreme impacts, with widespread coral reef bleaching, severe marine heatwaves and rapid glacier loss just some of the consequences. Time is running out, scientists agree, to avert disaster.

Could geoengineering buy us time to get our house in order?

Solar radiation modification (SRM) is a type of geoengineering that involves modifying the atmosphere to tweak how much of the sun’s radiation makes it to Earth. Essentially, it would involve pumping tiny reflective particles into the atmosphere to bounce more solar radiation back into space.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

New Delhi chokes as trash mountain fire spreads hazardous fumes

April 24, 2024

New Delhi chokes as trash mountain fire spreads hazardous fumes

Smoke billows from a fire that broke out at the Ghazipur landfill in New Delhi on April 22, 2024.

Money Sharma/AFP/Getty Images

New DelhiCNN —

India’s capital choked on toxic fumes Tuesday, as a thick and pungent haze spread from a fire at a towering trash dump, the latest in a series of landfill blazes that authorities have struggled for years to bring under control.

Sections of the Ghazipur landfill in New Delhi burst into flames on Sunday, causing dangerous heat and methane emissions and adding to India’s growing climate challenges. By Tuesday, the blaze at the capital’s largest landfill had largely been put out, but people living nearby complained of throat and eye irritation due to lingering acrid air, according to local media reports.

The cause of the fire remains unknown; landfill blazes are often triggered by combustible gases from disintegrating garbage.

Smoke rises on April 23, following a fire that broke out at the Ghazipur landfill in New Delhi, India.

Noemi Cassanelli/CNN

Fires burning at Ghazipur landfill site in New Delhi, India, April 22, 2024.

Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Every year, as mercury levels soar during New Delhi’s scorching summers, the city’s landfills burst into flames, with rotting waste adding to India’s climate-heating methane gas emissions.

Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide but is a more potent contributor to the climate crisis because it traps more heat. India creates more methane from landfill sites than any other country, according to GHGSat, which monitors emissions via satellites.

The trash mountain at Ghazipur is just one of some 3,000 Indian landfills overflowing with decaying waste and emitting hazardous gases, according to a 2023 report from the Center for Science and Environment, a nonprofit research agency in New Delhi…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Greece: Orange Sahara dust haze descends over Athens

April 24, 2024

Greece: Orange Sahara dust haze descends over Athens

AFP People sit on Tourkovounia hill overlooking the city of Athens, as southerly winds carry waves of Saharan dust to the city, in Athens, on April 23, 2024

AFP

Despite the beauty of the orange hue over Athens, the clouds of dust left many Greeks suffering from respiratory problems

A dramatic orange haze has descended over Athens as clouds of dust have blown in from the Sahara desert.

It is one of the worst such episodes to hit Greece since 2018, according to officials.

Greece had already been struck by similar clouds in late March and early April, which also covered areas of Switzerland and southern France.

The skies are predicted to clear on Wednesday, says Greece’s weather service.

Air quality has deteriorated in many areas of the country and on Wednesday morning the Acropolis in Athens was no longer visible because of the dust. The cloud has reached as far north as Thessaloniki.

Greeks with respiratory conditions have been urged to limit the time they spend outdoors, wear protective masks and avoid taking physical exercise until the dust clouds clear.

EPA People stroll while African dust covers the sky of Athens, Greece

EPA

Greek skies were expected to clear on Wednesday

The Sahara releases 60 to 200 million tonnes of mineral dust per year.

Most of the dust quickly descends to Earth, but some of the small particles can travel huge distances, sometimes reaching Europe.

The atmosphere especially in southern Greece has become stifling because of the combination of dust and high temperatures.

Meteorologist Kostas Lagouvardos compared the view from one weather station to the planet Mars.

The fire service on Tuesday reported 25 wildfires in the past 24 hours. One fire broke out near a naval base on the island of Crete – where temperatures soared above 30C (86F) – and homes and a kindergarten had to be evacuated, according to local reports.

AFP via Getty Images

Dust plumes from the Sahara are not uncommon across Europe and can vary in intensity, however, they tend to occur most often during the spring and autumn.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Pandemics in Roman Empire correlate with sudden climate changes

April 24, 2024

Plankton living in the Mediterranean Sea some 2000 years ago have helped researchers to uncover a correlation between climate change and the spread of disease in ancient Roman Italy and into the early Middle Ages.

Using a sediment core recovered from the Gulf of Taranto, in the arch of Italy’s boot, Karin Zonneveld of the University of Bremen in Germany and colleagues reconstructed the regional climate from 200 BCE to 600 CE. The sediment record reveals that periods of rapid cooling and drying in the heart of the Roman Empire align with documented major disease outbreaks, the researchers report in a new study.

The core’s plankton fossils are from dinoflagellate cysts, also known as dinocysts. Dinoflagellates bloom in late summer and early fall, with thousands of species that thrive under varying surface temperatures and nutrient levels. By comparing the ratios of dinocyst species that flourish in warmer waters with those that flourish in cooler waters, researchers can precisely estimate historical temperatures. Dinocysts also respond to the water’s changing nutrient levels, which are controlled by precipitation. Rain and snowfall over the Italian Peninsula are channeled by rivers into the Adriatic Sea, where currents carry the nutrient-enhanced water southward around Italy’s heel and into the gulf.

VIEW LARGE DOWNLOAD SLIDE

Gerard Versteegh and Karin Zonneveld, coauthors of the new study on climate change and pandemics, process a sediment core from the Gulf of Taranto. (Courtesy of Karin Zonneveld.)

The core was recovered from a location with a rather high deposition rate, with 1 cm of sediment deposited roughly every 10 years (compared with about 1 cm/1000 yr in the open Mediterranean Sea)…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Letting Your Grass Grow Wild Boosts Butterfly Numbers, UK Study Says

April 24, 2024

Letting Your Grass Grow Wild Boosts Butterfly Numbers, UK Study Says

A butterfly on long blades of grass with a blue sky background

Butterflies benefit when grass grows long, researchers say. simonkr / iStock / Getty Images Plus

Have you ever noticed that meadows of long grass seem to be teeming with butterflies, bumble bees, beetles, crickets and other insects? Meanwhile, short-cropped, bright green lawns appear devoid of critters in comparison.

A six-year study of butterfly sightings in 600 gardens in the United Kingdom has confirmed that letting your lawn grow wild can significantly increase butterfly and moth numbers.

“Nature is in crisis; 80% of butterflies have declined since the 1970s, so we need to take action now to protect them. We wanted to be able to give tried and tested gardening advice that will benefit butterflies as we know lots of people want to help. This study proves, for the first time, that allowing a patch of grass to grow long will attract more butterflies into your garden,” said Dr. Richard Fox, co-author of the study and head of science at UK nonprofit Butterfly Conservation, in a press release from the charity.

Fox and fellow Butterfly Conservation researcher Dr. Lisbeth Hordley found that letting long grass in your garden grow can boost butterfly numbers by as much as 93 percent, while attracting a greater variety of species.

The researchers were assisted in their Garden Butterfly Survey by citizen scientists throughout the UK.

The biggest benefits to garden rewilding were found in intensively farmed areas and urban spaces. Gardens with long grass in highly arable areas had as much as 93 percent more butterflies, while urban landscapes saw an increase of 18 percent.

“The potential to provide wild spaces for butterflies and moths to thrive is huge. Gardens make up more than 728,000 hectares in Great Britain…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Europe is the fastest-warming continent, at nearly twice the average rate, report says

April 24, 2024

Europe is the fastest-warming continent, at nearly twice the average rate, report says

The latest 5-year averages show that temperatures in Europe are running 2.3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, compared to 1.3 degrees higher globally.

Residents walk along a footbridge as the sun sets during a heat wave in Ourense, Spain, on Aug. 8. Brais Lorenzo Couto / Bloomberg via Getty Images file

Europe is the fastest-warming continent and its temperatures are rising at roughly twice the global average, two top climate monitoring organizations reported Monday, warning of the consequences for human health, glacier melt and economic activity.

The U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s climate agency, Copernicus, said in a joint report that the continent has the opportunity to develop targeted strategies to speed up the transition to renewable resources like wind, solar and hydroelectric power in response to the effects of climate change.

The continent generated 43% of its electricity from renewable resources last year, up from 36% the year before, the agencies say in their European State of the Climate report for last year. More energy in Europe was generated from renewables than from fossil fuels for the second year running.

The latest five-year averages show that temperatures in Europe are now running 2.3 degrees Celsius (4.1 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, compared to 1.3 degrees Celsius higher globally, the report says — just shy of the targets under the 2015 Paris climate accord to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Firefighters and volunteers work to extinguish a burning field during a wildfire in Saronida, Greece. — Firefighters and volunteers work to extinguish a burning field during a wildfire in Saronida, Greece, on July 17. Nick Paleologos / Bloomberg via Getty Images file

“Europe saw yet another year of increasing temperatures and intensifying climate extremes — including heat stress with record temperatures, wildfires, heat waves, glacier ice loss and lack of snowfall,” said Elisabeth Hamdouch, the deputy head of unit for Copernicus at the EU’s executive commission.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Cities are often 10-15 °C hotter than their rural surroundings

April 24, 2024

A recent global study conducted by the Joint Research Centre looks at the difference between surface temperatures of urban areas and their neighbouring rural areas in summer.

Worldwide, more than half of the people live in cities, and the share of city dwellers is projected to grow further. Cities often suffer from ‘heat islands’, the phenomenon of temperatures being higher within cities than in neighbouring rural zones. This amplifies the effect of heatwaves in cities and increases the risk to human health.

Scientists at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre examined the difference between land surface temperatures in urban areas with a population over 50,000 people and in their rural surroundings in summer between 2003 and 2020.

Working with satellite data, scientists measured that surface temperatures in cities were sometimes up to 10-15°C higher than in their rural surroundings. The study also estimated that the temperature in extreme heat islands in cities around the world has risen on average by 1°C in since 2003.

The global scale of the study and high-resolution of the spatial analysis make it possible to compare cities in different climate zones and even different parts within megacities.

Hotspots and cooler areas within global megacities

Across global megacities, such as Tokyo, New York, Paris and London, the study observed a very high intra-city variability in temperature. Hotspots are often found in industrial areas, where waste heat, the use of dark construction material and absence of vegetation can result in very high land surface temperatures. For example, in Paris hotspots are found east of Saint-Denis and near Chevilly Larue, around large industrial complexes.

The study highlights that slums can also form hotspots of heat due to their chaotic, dense and unregulated urbanisation. Intense heat exposure, combined with poverty, poor housing conditions and reduced access to cooling options poses serious health threats to people.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Plastics industry heats world 4 times as much as air travel, report finds

April 24, 2024

Plastics industry heats world 4 times as much as air travel, report finds

Greenpeace activists display a giant art installation called ‘Perpetual Plastic Machine’ ahead of Global Plastic Treaty talks Saturday, May 27, 2023 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Pollution from the plastics industry is a major force behind the heating of the planet, according to a new report from the federal government.

The industry releases about four times as many planet-warming chemicals as the airline industry, according to the paper from scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Its emissions are equivalent to those of about 600 coal plants — about three times the number that exist across the U.S.

And if plastic production remains constant, by 2050 it could burn through nearly a fifth of the Earth’s remaining carbon budget — the amount of carbon dioxide climate scientists believe can be burned without tipping the climate into unsafe territory.

The report from the national lab comes out as civil society and public health groups, plastics industry representatives and members of national governments prepare to travel to Ottawa, Canada, for the fourth meeting of the International Negotiating Committee, which seeks to create a legally binding treaty to reduce plastics pollution.

Those negotiations are likely to be split by stark divisions. Representatives of environmental groups and countries across the Global South have called for limits on production of plastics, while the plastics industry insists that plastic pollution can be eliminated by stricter rules around recycling.

In last fall’s negotiations in Kenya, public health and environmental campaigners focused on the dangers posed by plastics — including microplastics and nanoplastics — in the human body and environment.

But these negotiations left out a key part of the plastics problem, the Lawrence Berkeley researchers note: the role of plastic in climate change.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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