#I did not know that number holy shit

[thebusylilbee]

"This is the most massive episode of species extinction since the disappearance of the dinosaurs. More than half of all insects are disappearing worldwide at an accelerated rate; the hecatomb is reaching the staggering figure of 80 % for Europe. When insects disappear, the entire living chain is affected. More food for birds dying en masse, fewer pollinators for key food crops. A frightening assessment in a synthesis of 73 studies pointing to the responsibility of intensive agriculture in this collapse of life."

[wanologic]

sorry danny, sam will never think you’re cool

[bittersweet-mojo]

Introducing Suverin Kedberiket, Wizard of the Citadel, Daughter of Soft and Stone, Accompanied by her… brother?

[ttrpg-smash-pass-vs]

They're elves of the shadowfell, normal human height. They specialize in teleportation and invisibility, with the casters among them throwing in confusion and fear and illusion. Be careful though, as any trained in combat start making non-elves slower and worse while within 10 feet. From depression, from the sound of it. Their angst about being more ancient and timeless than you wordlessly attaches to you like a parasite, slowing you down. Good for if you enjoy concepts like-

Shadows, but like DARKER than shadow, that lash out when they're moody

looking beautiful unless in shadow, in which case they're corpselike

ignoring pointless things like "comfort" and "morals" and "rules"

being the chosen of the Raven Queen, and on her behalf collecting dark tragedy, sorrow, and feelings of loss.

being corpse pale with jet black hair, pure black eyes, and covered with tattoos/piercings/anything that would make a generic white suburban mom in the 50's scream in terror.

Lumping them all together because they're all the same outside one having mage hand and such. Idc what weapon they're holding.

[uncanny-tranny]

When I find it hard to do certain things, I like to pretend I am a neanderthal living in a cave with my clan, and I must do The Thing in order to survive.

So, when I'm doing cardio at the gym, I'm actually chasing and tracking a mammoth, and when I need to cook, well, I'm not cooking on a stove top, I am hurdled over the first fire and watching the fat of our kill drip down onto the burning wood. And when I find it hard to crochet, I pretend that the first winter storm is coming and our clan needs me to make blankets to hurdle under and that I must contribute.

I hope whatever you do to do The Things will help. It is a uniquely personable trait to motivate yourself through pretend and stories. That's what makes this life interesting - that's what makes you feel larger than yourself 💛

[hephaestiions]

sometimes u reread ur own fic and ur like… smth so fucked up abt whoever thought this up. the mirror looks back with wide eyes and slight revulsion

[thetatardis]

these doctor who episodes are so insane i had to make a new social media to properly speak on them

[iceeericeee]

I wonder how many tags i can add on to this

[blupengu]

Y’all is Hollow Knight hard or do I just suck because oh my god??

[cryptidofthekeys]

Ya know

ever since I did that poll on the Spam Plush vs Bob Plush

I swear to god ever since Bob lost-

each time I've woken up in the morning, Spamton's nose is a bit crooked or bent ever so slightly

[neverendingford]

.

[shitty-check-please-aus]

curious as a bay area resident what books you read??

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory, Caitlin Doughty

Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases, Paul Holes

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI, Kate Winkler Dawson

The first two were memoirs (that weirdly actually overlap in time period, kinda late 90's early 2000's), the third is a biography (it also jumps around a bit more, there was one case in Oregon, but the vast majority of cases discussed took place in San Francisco, Berkley, or Contra Costa County so I'm counting it).

I guess I knew all three books would touch on death/murder but I didn't anticipate them all taking place in the same general area?

[venusiancarbondioxide]

i've tried through various shenangins to not make this advice apply to me (the eating disorder i was diagnosed with as a kid wasn’t focused on weight loss and was at least 25% an iron deficiency issue, i'm really overweight so i peobably need to diet, etc.), but you know what? If You Have Ever Been Diagnosed With An Eating Disorder, You Should Never Diet Again.

[hellfireeddiemunson]

hey everyone i’m going to throw up i am so excited right now i can’t stop shaking

[whiskeyswifty]

THE HITS DIFFERENT LYRICS LIKE YOOOOOO

THESE ARE THE LYRICS IM TALKIN ABOUT WEEEEEEEEE CRUEL SUMMER SEQUEL

[reasonsforhope]

No paywall version here.

"Two and a half years ago, when I was asked to help write the most authoritative report on climate change in the United States, I hesitated...

In the end, I said yes, but reluctantly. Frankly, I was sick of admonishing people about how bad things could get. Scientists have raised the alarm over and over again, and still the temperature rises. Extreme events like heat waves, floods and droughts are becoming more severe and frequent, exactly as we predicted they would. We were proved right. It didn’t seem to matter.

Our report, which was released on Tuesday, contains more dire warnings. There are plenty of new reasons for despair. Thanks to recent scientific advances, we can now link climate change to specific extreme weather disasters, and we have a better understanding of how the feedback loops in the climate system can make warming even worse. We can also now more confidently forecast catastrophic outcomes if global emissions continue on their current trajectory.

But to me, the most surprising new finding in the Fifth National Climate Assessment is this: There has been genuine progress, too.

I’m used to mind-boggling numbers, and there are many of them in this report. Human beings have put about 1.6 trillion tons of carbon in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution — more than the weight of every living thing on Earth combined. But as we wrote the report, I learned other, even more mind-boggling numbers. In the last decade, the cost of wind energy has declined by 70 percent and solar has declined 90 percent. Renewables now make up 80 percent of new electricity generation capacity. Our country’s greenhouse gas emissions are falling, even as our G.D.P. and population grow.

In the report, we were tasked with projecting future climate change. We showed what the United States would look like if the world warms by 2 degrees Celsius. It wasn’t a pretty picture: more heat waves, more uncomfortably hot nights, more downpours, more droughts. If greenhouse emissions continue to rise, we could reach that point in the next couple of decades. If they fall a little, maybe we can stave it off until the middle of the century. But our findings also offered a glimmer of hope: If emissions fall dramatically, as the report suggested they could, we may never reach 2 degrees Celsius at all.

For the first time in my career, I felt something strange: optimism.

And that simple realization was enough to convince me that releasing yet another climate report was worthwhile.

Something has changed in the United States, and not just the climate. State, local and tribal governments all around the country have begun to take action. Some politicians now actually campaign on climate change, instead of ignoring or lying about it. Congress passed federal climate legislation — something I’d long regarded as impossible — in 2022 as we turned in the first draft.

[Note: She's talking about the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Act, which despite the names were the two biggest climate packages passed in US history. And their passage in mid 2022 was a big turning point: that's when, for the first time in decades, a lot of scientists started looking at the numbers - esp the ones that would come from the IRA's funding - and said "Wait, holy shit, we have an actual chance."]

And while the report stresses the urgency of limiting warming to prevent terrible risks, it has a new message, too: We can do this. We now know how to make the dramatic emissions cuts we’d need to limit warming, and it’s very possible to do this in a way that’s sustainable, healthy and fair.

The conversation has moved on, and the role of scientists has changed. We’re not just warning of danger anymore. We’re showing the way to safety.

I was wrong about those previous reports: They did matter, after all. While climate scientists were warning the world of disaster, a small army of scientists, engineers, policymakers and others were getting to work. These first responders have helped move us toward our climate goals. Our warnings did their job.

To limit global warming, we need many more people to get on board... We need to reach those who haven’t yet been moved by our warnings. I’m not talking about the fossil fuel industry here; nor do I particularly care about winning over the small but noisy group of committed climate deniers. But I believe we can reach the many people whose eyes glaze over when they hear yet another dire warning or see another report like the one we just published.

The reason is that now, we have a better story to tell. The evidence is clear: Responding to climate change will not only create a better world for our children and grandchildren, but it will also make the world better for us right now.

Eliminating the sources of greenhouse gas emissions will make our air and water cleaner, our economy stronger and our quality of life better. It could save hundreds of thousands or even millions of lives across the country through air quality benefits alone. Using land more wisely can both limit climate change and protect biodiversity. Climate change most strongly affects communities that get a raw deal in our society: people with low incomes, people of color, children and the elderly. And climate action can be an opportunity to redress legacies of racism, neglect and injustice.

I could still tell you scary stories about a future ravaged by climate change, and they’d be true, at least on the trajectory we’re currently on. But it’s also true that we have a once-in-human-history chance not only to prevent the worst effects but also to make the world better right now. It would be a shame to squander this opportunity. So I don’t just want to talk about the problems anymore. I want to talk about the solutions. Consider this your last warning from me."

-via New York Times. Opinion essay by leading climate scientist Kate Marvel. November 18, 2023.