The Climate Crisis

archived https://archive.ph/sYdoX

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/799421

From the first half of the article:

NEW ORLEANS—Residents in the southern Louisiana parish of Plaquemines were left thirsty this summer after saltwater started flowing from their kitchen taps.

In late June 2023, saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico moved up into the Mississippi River and began to impact the drinking water supply for communities located in Plaquemines Parish. This phenomenon, known as a saltwater wedge or saltwater intrusion, raised the salt content of the drinking water in the area, forcing residents to rely on bottled water.

Typically, a saltwater intrusion would be contained to lower Plaquemines communities such as Venice, Buras, Boothville, Empire, Bohemia, etc. When a saltwater intrusion occurs, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the federal agency tasked with managing the river to ensure it can be navigated by cargo ships, is usually quick to build a structure in the river known as a “sill” to prevent the saltwater from moving up river.

However, it has been announced by USACE officials that the sill has failed to contain the saltwater. This means, depending on how the situation develops, every water production plant within the southeast Louisiana region (including New Orleans) could be inundated with saltwater and unable to provide clean drinking water to residents. The situation is serious enough that the mayor of New Orleans has issued an emergency declaration to address it.

In order to properly understand this saltwater intrusion event, we need to look at what caused it, what efforts are being taken to mitigate its impact, and how this situation could develop over the coming weeks and months.

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The pictures also have info through the ink up-top.

• https://piped.video/watch?v=EBN9JeX3iDs
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBN9JeX3iDs

Video Description:

Direct Air Capture (DAC) has been getting more and more attention over the last few years. Could we avert climate change by pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere? Could we not just stop, but actually reverse the damage done? Unfortunately, most don't fully appreciate just quite how much CO2 we've emitted and the outrageous scale of the problem facing us. Today, we apply the fundamental principles of thermodynamics to question whether this is even feasible.

Written & presented by Prof. David Kipping. Edited by Jorge Casas. Fact checking by Alexandra Masegian.

Channel Description:

Space, astronomy, exoplanets, astroengineering and the search for extraterrestrial life & intelligence.

The Cool Worlds Lab, based at the Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, is a team of astronomers seeking to discover and understand alien worlds, particularly those where temperatures are cool enough for life, led by Professor David Kipping.

CHAPTERS (and key bits)

• 0:00 Climate Change: Some CC is needed just to maintain a level.
• 2:44 Removal Requirements: We released 37 Gt of CO~2~ in 2022.
• 3:38 Possible Solutions: Trees are good for 4 years, then no space.
• 5:03 Introducing DAC: IPCC estimates 20 Gt/yr @ 2050 required.
• 5:43 Climate Anxiety: This video is sponsored by betterhelp.
• 7:12 DAC Principles: Currently 19 DAC plants remove 10'000 tCO~2~/yr, or 0.000003% of global emissions.
• 8:14 Scalability: Why this video focuses on physics, not economics
• 9:29 Thermodynamics: Why DAC is a fight against entropy, introducing Gibbs. Lower limit: 120 kWh/tCO~2~
• 12:08 Progressive DAC: Starting in 2025, remove how much and how fast?
• 13:32 RCPs: Why 2.6 is discarded, why 4.5 is chosen (with an outlook on 8.5)
• 15:09 Simulations: For 450 ppm, we need to scrub 20 GtCO~2~ in 2050. For 350, almost 80 Gt.
• 17:03 Energy Requirements: 450 ppm requires 5% of global electricity. 350: 15%.
• 19:34 Efficiency: Above numbers assumed 100% efficiency. Current estimate 5%, measured 8%.
• 21:21 Conclusions: It's tough to do, but just possible. Easiest way: Stop emitting.
• 24:35 Outro and credits