[TheClimate.Vote] Dec 12, 2016 - Daily Global Warming News for voters, candidates and officials
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Atmospheric levels of methane, a powerful*greenhouse gas*, are
spiking, scientists report
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/12/11/atmospheric-levels-of-methane-a-powerful-greenhouse-gas-are-spiking-scientists-report/>
Washington Post -2 hours ago
Methane concentrations in the atmosphere, they report, were rising
only at about .5 parts per billion per year in the early 2000s. But
in the past two years, they’ve spiked by 12.5 parts per billion in
2014 and 9.9 parts per billion in 2015. With carbon dioxide rising
more slowly, that means that a higher fraction of the global warming
that we see will be the result of methane, at least in the next
decade or so...
“Methane in the atmosphere was almost flat from about 2000 through
2006. Beginning 2007, it started upward, but in the last two years,
it spiked,” said Rob Jackson, an earth scientist at Stanford
University who co-wrote the study..
Additional atmospheric methane will cause the planet to warm up
faster in the coming decades and greatly increases the risk of
breaking through international warming thresholds such as 1.5 or 2
degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. But at the same time, if
methane emissions can be curbed quickly, that can have the effect of
buying the world needed time to address the far larger carbon
dioxide
problem....https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/12/11/atmospheric-levels-of-methane-a-powerful-greenhouse-gas-are-spiking-scientists-report/?utm_term=.9514845948dc
Trump says 'nobody really knows' if*climate change*is real
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/12/11/trump-says-nobody-really-knows-if-climate-change-is-real/>
Washington Post -8 hours ago
President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday that "nobody really knows"
whether*climate change*is real and that he is "studying" whether the
United States should withdraw from the*global warming*agreement
struck in Paris a year ago. In an interview with*..*
*Climate Change*Is Absolutely the Greatest Threat to Your Life
<https://www.merryjane.com/culture/climate-change-explained-in-gifs>
MERRY JANE -12 hours ago
Right.*Climate change*. Earlier this week, Donald Trump's decision
to appoint*climate-change*denier Scott Pruitt as head of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sparked intense, rightful
criticism among the global science community.
Why is*climate*-conscious Vietnam choosing coal over nuclear?
<http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/business/article/2053399/why-climate-conscious-vietnam-choosing-coal-over-nuclear>
South China Morning Post -3 hours ago
Rising costs and environmental fears bring an end to Vietnam’s
nascent nuclear power programme, forcing the climate-conscious
country back into the embrace of coal.
The move last month was a blow for the climate conscious and
highlights how the nation no longer has the economy to justify the
fuel consumption predictions it once did. And it marks how seriously
the government now takes public anger over pollution.
Vietnam decides to put nuclear power plant construction plans on ice..
Hanoi-based Dan Tri News reported simply that the legislative
National Assembly had cancelled the Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Plant
project due to fears over “rising public debts” and “environmental
risks after the Formosa case" (when a Taiwanese steel plant leaked
toxic waste water into the sea, killing 100 tonnes of fish and
prompting protests and ongoing public anger)...
.."After military sales, the No 2 area of Russian investment is
energy – hydropower, oil and gas and nuclear. This will be a
significant setback"..
For climate-conscious Vietnam, going back to coal may be a step
backwards, but at least it is a relatively cheap one. At least for now.
Reindeer becoming smaller due to*global warming*, research finds
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/12/12/reindeer-becoming-smaller-due-global-warming-research-finds/>
Telegraph.co.uk -3 hours ago
...A 16-year survey on the arctic Norwegian island of Svalbard found
the reindeer there have declined in weight by an alarming 12 per cent.
The reduction in average body-mass is being blamed on global warming.
In research presented today at a meeting of the British Ecological
Society in Liverpool, scientists will explain how rising
temperatures are depriving female reindeer of nutrients during
important phases of gestation.
Snow in Svalbard typically covers the ground for eight months of the
year, which, combined with low temperatures, limits grass growth to
June and July.
But as summer temperatures have increased by around 1.5C, pastures
have become more productive, allowing female reindeer to gain more
weight by the autumn and therefore to conceive more calves.
However, warmer winters have brought with them greater rainfall
which freezes when it settles on the snow, thereby locking out the
reindeer from the life-sustaining food below.
As a result, female reindeer are becoming starved, causing them to
abort their calves or giving birth to much lighter young.
The average mass of an adult reindeer in 1994, when the survey
began, was 55kg, but by 2010 it had dropped to 48kg....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/12/12/reindeer-becoming-smaller-due-global-warming-research-finds/
Edina woman's cross-country bike trip sparked conversations
on*climate*
<http://www.startribune.com/edina-woman-s-cross-country-bike-trip-sparked-conversations-on-climate/405939526/>
Minneapolis Star Tribune -1 hour ago
This ride, she said, would be a chance to talk with people and learn
how*climate change*has affected their communities. "It is the
perfect time to be debating what we are going to do about*climate
change*. That's where we need all voices to be chiming*.*
California takes charge: Democrats' domination may save*climate*
program
<http://www.salon.com/2016/12/12/california-takes-charge-democrats-domination-may-save-climate-program_partner/>
Salon -3 hours ago
Those supermajorities may prove pivotal for*climate*policy in a
high-profile state - one with the nation's largest population, which
releases more*greenhouse gas*pollution overall every year than any
other. California is home ... States have less*...*
*Trump, Putin, and ExxonMobil team up to destroy the planet
<https://thinkprogress.org/trump-putin-and-exxonmobil-team-up-to-destroy-the-planet-fb88650acfa1#.fyitw1tws>*
Pick of Exxon CEO for Secretary of State clarifies why Putin wanted
Trump elected: a $500 billion oil deal killed by sanctions
The aligning interests between Russian President Vladimir Putin,
Russia's choice for U.S. president (Donald Trump), and Big Oil
represents the gravest threat to humanity (and democracy) since the
rise of the Axis powers in the 1930s.
That's because while Trump may not be able to destroy global climate
action and the landmark 2105 Paris climate deal all by himself — as
he pledged to do during the campaign — he probably could do that
with help from Russia and the trillion-dollar oil industry.
So much is explained by Trump's Secretary of State choice. Media
reports now say it will be Rex Tillerson, CEO of oil giant
ExxonMobil, which had made a $500 billion oil deal with Putin that
got blocked by sanctions....
This deal could explain why Putin appears to have interfered in U.S.
elections in favor of a Trump victory. Recently, "the C.I.A. altered
its formal assessment of Russia's activities to conclude that the
government of President Vladimir V. Putin was not just trying to
undermine the election," as the New York Times reported Saturday,
"but had also acted to give one candidate an advantage."...
You can certainly make a plausible case, as many have, that Putin
had enough motivation to interfere simply to undermine the
legitimacy of U.S. elections.
$500 billion opportunity for Exxon & Russia
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n60SzMzjXog>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n60SzMzjXog
Bill Gates and investors worth $170 billion are launching a fund to
fight*climate change*through energy innovation
<http://qz.com/859860/bill-gates-is-leading-a-new-1-billion-fund-focused-on-combatting-climate-change-through-innovation/>
Quartz -3 hours ago
The BEV fund, which has a 20-year duration, aims to invest in the
commercialization of new technologies that
reduce*greenhouse-gas*emissions in areas including electricity
generation and storage, transportation, industrial processes,
agriculture, and ...
"Being a 20-year fund with patient capital that's not needing
short-term gains allows us to have a longer-term outlook as well as
fund technologies that don't fit into the traditional VC model as it
exists today," says Arnold.
The list of 20 initial investors in the fund is an even-more
comprehensive catalog of the world's richest and most powerful,
including Kingdom Holding's prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Amazon's Jeff
Bezos, Virgin's Richard Branson, Bridgewater Associates' Ray Dalio,
African Rainbow Minerals' Patrice Motsepe, Iliad Group's Xavier
Niel, SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, and SOHO China's Zhang Xin and Pan
Shiyi.
The directors are currently recruiting a management team for the
fund, the core of which Gates hopes will be in place within about
three months.
http://qz.com/859860/bill-gates-is-leading-a-new-1-billion-fund-focused-on-combatting-climate-change-through-innovation/
*This Day in Climate History December 12, 2007
<http://mark-bowen.com/images/downloads/house_oversight_committee-rept_1207.pdf>-
from D.R. Tucker (hat tip to Michael Mann) *
December 12, 2007: • The House Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform releases the report "Political Interference with Climate
Change Science under the Bush Administration."
http://mark-bowen.com/images/downloads/house_oversight_committee-rept_1207.pdf
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