Environmental News

We have come to ladybugs, ladybird beetles or (if you can stand it) Coccinellidae Family in Coleoptera (beetle) Order. House Beautiful is a fine publication, but more of use is at:

https://ladybugplanet.com/guide-to-ladybugs-varieties-habitat-diet-anatomy-and-more/

It seems correct that intentional introduction of Asian Lady Beetles has contributed to some population declines of native N Amer Coccinellidae species, but larger cause was changes in habitats to those where Asian does better.

Coccinellidae Family (having maybe 5000 species) seems odd to me in that its species are very similar in what they eat and who eats them. Other large Families within beetles are more trophically diverse. I view them all as ‘ecological equivalents’ though that could be wrong.

Imagine a beetle family with all adults of similar size, all with same yuck chemical to deter predation, and all visually advertising yuck in similar ways. This is our ‘Ladies’.

Year (ish) adult lifespans and no food where winters are serious, lead to hibernation. Ladies of any species can enter houses. I turned over a rock in Colorado high country to see a hibernaculum of Ladies underneath. Ooops. Put rock back down. Long ago.

A group of Coccinellids is called a loveliness.

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We have come to ladybugs, and that feels good. Other tempests may rage, but joy can still be found in small things here. Merry Christmas to all, I hope that joy can be found in things of all sizes.

 

There used to be more effort here to dispute climate change.One aspect was that cold-weather related deaths exceeded hot-weather related deaths. This was advanced as disputing climate change, Which is does not, but that's not my point. This is:

The Cold Is Killing More Americans Every Year, Study Finds

Cold is more deadly and I would keep readers informed on that.

 

Aurora peaks after sunspot cycle peak:

The northern lights will become even more spectacular in the coming years

I did not know that.

 

While north hemispherians, feeling cold, might wish to be a bit closer to the sun, 6.2 million km is not what we meant

That is where Parker Solar Probe is now:

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Makes History With Closest Pass to Sun - NASA Science

First telemetry 'I'm OK' signal received. Data comes back later.

PSP will make additional close passes through first half of 2025 at least. As this is a time of high solar flare activity, it might pass through one of those. I guess that is not something to hope for. It was built for heat resistance, not proton guns.

XKCD noticed:

xkcd: Sun Avoidance

 

"pontificating" -> opining maybe, unless he has a really special hat. Someone in UK Meteorological Service opined about a decade ago that, because of climate change, UK would not see snow again. Something like that.

That was a half-baked (or half-frozen) prediction, and mainly resulted in denialist fun.

In winter (in inhabited places) there is always a colder blob of air that might come to you. There is always a humid blob of air that might come from somewhere else and mix.

Boston had a big snow in 2015 (most recently?) and I'd not bet against an equal in the next decade or so

 

Two other sources

US Farmers Turn to Wildflowers to Combat Dead Zones and Boost Agriculture Sustainability
Prairie home companions: Why more farmers are planting native landscapes in their crop fields - IPM Newsroom

Just in case others have the Guardian fenced off

 

'Prairie Home Companions' was cute and worth a like.

 

Essay on the whole carbon thing.

It is obvious that burning carbon for energy has allowed/caused expansion of humans from one to eight billions. It is disputed by some that increased [CO2] has already warmed earth and made climates different from those we can easily deal with. It is disputed by some that future higher [CO2] will impair future management.

But 420 PPM is now, 500 PPM will come around year 2050. That’s the deal.

‘We all gon na die soon from this’ is promulgated by some. Seems to me just as false-urgent as ‘this is great’ coming from the false-joyful side.

It seems appropriate to model how 500 PPM CO2 will change climates, and look further at interconnections among water/energy/food supply everywhere. Along with hazards mitigation. 500 PPM CO2 will come, and a rational species would plan for it.

The extremes seem unhelpful. Carbon burning has much enriched many, and they are clearly planning for future like present. And funding loud distractors! ‘All shall soon die’ brings clicks, but not money to the table.

Idea of climate-science research for money as a false equivalency to carbon-burning for money is sad to see here. I expect it to continue.

Humanity is not yet aiming for good situation by 2050. Most science is too narrow, and joyful C burners may be wrong about money they might later enjoy. Distractions from both edges continue to distract.

 

Great Dying refers to Permian mass extinction about 252 million years ago. This study estimates 2500 ppm [CO2] with substantial uncertainty:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22298-7

[CO2] was high again about 180 million years ago, possibly reaching 2000 ppm:

CP - Early Jurassic climate and atmospheric CO2 concentration in the Sichuan paleobasin, southwestern China

Which was not a time of high rates of species extinction.

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There are many things to be very concerned about at 500 ppm, and more at 1000 ppm. Absolutely. I would prefer to focus attention on about interrelated activities that will get us 'through' 500, rather than looking too much further ahead.

 

Permian mass extinction heated global ocean about 10 oC causing low oxygen levels, causing overwhelming demise of marine life:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aat1327

Superbad. Folks should realize that such bad things could happen again, but not at 1000 ppm. I'm pretty sure of that even if not all agree.