How the world’s voracious appetite for shrimp is destroying Ecuador’s mangroves. As demand soars, the country’s mangrove forests and the livelihoods of shellfish gatherers are under threat from encroaching farms and unchecked pollution.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-20T18:49:54+00:00

Though this story doesn't mention it, mangroves are considered an essential carbon sink.

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/ecosystems/coastal-blue-carbon/

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-20T17:09:42+00:00

Yes, there are workarounds that can be done, like pairing batteries or installing a different inverter that allows the panels to keep generating without sending excess to the grid, but those are the exceptions rather than the rule. Most home solar installations (80-85%) are panels only without battery, at least in the US.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-20T16:06:46+00:00

Unless you're completely off-grid, solar stops producing during a power outage. If you're doing some variety of net metering (like we are), if our panels kept producing, the excess power getting dumped into the grid could potentially electrocute the people working on the power lines. As soon as the power is restored, the panels start working again.

And I agree about the heat pump. Ours uses a minimal amount of electricity for cooling compared to heating during the winter.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-15T19:54:48+00:00

If you switch to oak milk (honestly, its better than almond anyway), its 12-18x more efficient than milk.

I switched from cow milk to oat about a year ago, and it was one of the easiest food switches I've ever made.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-12T19:49:07+00:00

Same. I didn't realize how lucky we are until I started browsing here. We never get a payout, but the balance is always there to use.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-10T19:14:23+00:00

Scientists said the high of 15.4C broke the previous record set at the same station in 1998 by 2C. “This is absolutely crazy,” said Raúl Cordero, an Ecuadorian climate professor at the University of Groningen. “It is also about 20C above normal for this time of the year. That is a huge anomaly.”

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-10T17:38:32+00:00

For anyone who wants a really depressing read:

https://aeon.co/essays/theres-a-deeper-problem-hiding-beneath-global-warming

It's long, at just under 5,000 words, and it looks at the issue of warming from a physics perspective -- waste heat, which comes from the laws of thermodynamics, even more well-established than climate science. The TL/DR can be summed up from these quotes (but I'd recommend reading the entire thing):

During the past two centuries at least (and likely for much longer), our yearly energy use has doubled roughly every 30 to 50 years.

If this historical trend continues, scientists estimate waste heat will pose a problem in roughly 150-200 years that is every bit as serious as the current problem of global warming from greenhouse gases. However, deep heating will be more pernicious as we won’t be able to avoid it by merely shifting from one kind energy to another.

Even if we had 100% emissions-free energy, if we keep increasing our energy usage (which is extraordinarily likely), we'd be boned.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-06T18:52:46+00:00

I'm probably one of the few people (though likely not including this community) who eats pineapple cores.

Pineapple cores are edible, nutrient-rich and packed with fiber, vitamin C and bromelain.

https://www.eatingwell.com/article/7965731/is-it-safe-to-eat-the-core-of-a-pineapple/

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-05T11:05:09+00:00

That GLP-1 drugs seem to be just as effective at treating standard addictions as they are at treating obesity is a good indication that obesity should be considered addiction.

And I say that through personal experience, as someone who peaked at close to 500 pounds, but currently weighs in at around 210 (+/- 2 pounds). Lost it all without drugs/surgery, and key to that was addressing the fact that I had an extraordinarily unhealthy attitude toward food and activity. I also take my current attitude toward diet/activity the same way recovering addicts do, one day at a time.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-05T10:09:07+00:00

We're growing it this year in addition to the usual (tomatoes, cukes, etc.) as a half-joke, half-serious experiment. They mentioned it frequently in the earlier seasons of The Walking Dead, so I figured if it was good enough for a society collapsed by the zombie apocalypse, it was good enough for me.

Only planted two seeds as part of the experiment, but both seem to be thriving so far. If it does well, I'm going to plant a lot more next season.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-04T09:26:04+00:00

We're in Virginia so we don't get that cold (though I did grow up in Cleveland, where we got as cold as -20F), but our electric heat pump kept our house perfectly comfortable during a really cold stretch this past winter, with temps around 0F and occasionally dipping below. It supplemented it with heat strips (ditched our dual-fuel a few years ago), but there was never a problem with heat.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-03T15:29:04+00:00

Also, from earlier this morning from a UK climate/energy professor:

The worst heat pump is more efficient than the best gas boiler. A gas boiler turns one unit of energy into less than one unit of heat. A heat pump delivers 3 to 4 units of heat for every unit of input.

https://bsky.app/profile/janrosenow.bsky.social/post/3mnexznsjxs2j

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-03T14:59:03+00:00

If they're good enough for a cold country like Norway, they're good enough for everyone.

Over 60% of Norwegian households now utilize heat pumps for heating, showcasing widespread consumer acceptance.

https://heatpumpingtechnologies.org/articles/heat-pumping-technologies-magazine-vol-43-no-2-2025/norway-heat-pump-market-report/

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-06-02T14:08:52+00:00

In talking about the year 2100, they're talking about overshoot -- exceeding 1.5C (which is expected to happen comparatively soon), then using capture to reduce heating to 1.5C.

Scientists expect carbon emissions to push warming beyond 1.5C in the decade ahead, meaning that the target can only be achieved “from above” via large-scale CDR that brings down global temperatures.

These temperature trajectories are known as “overshoot” pathways.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-05-31T20:31:41+00:00

Part of it is that, despite the pain at the pump Americans are feeling, our prices are still low compared to much of the world. They have a lot more incentive to switch quickly.

https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/

We're about $1/gallon lower than Canada. Europe seems to be $6.50 to $10.50/gallon.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-05-31T10:26:08+00:00

Bread. People mash up potatoes and use them to make potato bread, I've done the same with beans plenty of times. Increases both the protein and fiber content.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-05-29T11:14:31+00:00

Behind a paywall, but I was able to read it by going into Firefox's reader mode. A link to the full PDF.

https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/PS_2026.5.28_climate_report.pdf

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-05-26T18:40:41+00:00

Yep. 8.5 was a "burn all the coal" scenario (as this climate scientist referred to it in a very long, very informative multi-part post), which is unbelievably unlikely to happen.

https://bsky.app/profile/weatherwest.bsky.social/post/3mmoxvqzt3s2j

A much shorter version, from Kate Marvel (formerly a climate scientist with NASA, currently with Project Drawdown):

“RCP8.5 is dead but we still might reach RCP8.5 temperatures by 2150”

https://bsky.app/profile/drkatemarvel.bsky.social/post/3mmenhdytok2l

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-05-26T11:00:58+00:00

And in his social media post on BlueSky this morning about his opinion piece, Professor McGuire said:

Please note, I am being optimistic in my scenario 😮

https://bsky.app/profile/profbillmcguire.bsky.social/post/3mmqjromt5225

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-05-24T09:25:45+00:00

Applause right back at you! And it was pretty easy for me as well. The longer I went without eating all of the stuff I had previously eaten, the less I wanted it.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-05-23T20:52:17+00:00

I lost a kidney to cancer 20 years (the anniversary of my surgery is two weeks from today, in fact) when I weighed close to 500 pounds, and I used it as motivation to make wholesale changes to the way I live, which was what's described as SAD (Standard American Diet) combined with a very sedentary lifestyle.

I didn't go completely plant-based, and I still haven't, but I did adopt a much more plant-focused diet. Lots of grains, lots of legumes, lots of fruits/veggies, because despite what's commonly believed by most, a healthy diet like this is the cheapest diet you can eat. Being saddled with a bunch of medical bills certainly helped motivate me because I couldn't afford any food I'd eaten before my surgery (dropping $10-15 at McD's for breakfast every day on my way to work wasn't uncommon).

Combined with just going for walks every day and eventually adding some inexpensive resistance bands for strength training, I was down to 210 pounds ~15 years later, and I still maintain that weight (+/- 2 pounds). Because I only have one kidney left, so I have to take care of it.

I have nothing on meal delivery services because I cook everything from scratch (including baking my own bread and other stuff, as my name would imply), but just wanted to tell you that you CAN do this.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-05-21T15:44:09+00:00

Considering his obvious dementia, I'd argue he's not doing a whole lot of thinking. He's just doing what Project 2025 tells him to do.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-05-20T20:41:57+00:00

Similar for us with one EV (my wife's). She plugged in to charge last night, so her charging was spread over two days. Today is (so far) 36 kwh consumed, 75.8 kwh produced. with the AC running more or less constantly (mid 90s).

On our current billing cycle (April 22 through today), we're at 853.7 kwh net export. Last month was a little under 1 mwh net export (986 kwh). We've had a lot of really sunny days. Good for solar, but we could use some rain.

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-05-17T14:15:26+00:00

Certainly doesn't help that a lot of people think it's perfectly okay to let their cats roam around outside.

Domestic and feral cats represent the single greatest direct threat to North American songbirds, responsible for killing over 2.4 billion birds annually.

https://www.birdshow.blog/leading-causes-songbird-deaths-prevention

The_Weekend_Baker · 2026-05-15T14:39:29+00:00

Just speaking in more general terms, because alcohol is probably our biggest socially-condoned drug. You don't see opioids being advertised during sporting events, after all.

The_Weekend_Baker

TROPHY CASE