[TheClimate.Vote] Dec 19, 2016 - Daily Global Warming News for voters, candidates and officials
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Mon Dec 19 12:24:04 EST 2016
/Stay well-informed about global warming, //Forward this email. December
19, 2016/
*Climate and Security Advisory Group: Briefing Book for a New
Administration <https://climateandsecurity.org/briefingbook/>*
The Climate and Security Advisory Group (CSAG):
The CSAG is a voluntary, non-partisan group of 43 U.S.-based
military, national security, homeland security, intelligence and
foreign policy experts from a broad range of institutions. The CSAG
is chaired by the Center for Climate and Security in partnership
with the George Washington University's Elliott School of
International Affairs. In the fall of 2016, the group released a
briefing book calling on the next President and key cabinet members
to "comprehensively address the security risks of climate change at
all levels of national security planning." ...
The CSAG’s recommendations include:
-Assigning a cabinet-level official to lead on domestic climate
change and security issues;
-Establishing senior climate security leadership within the offices
of the National Security Advisor and Secretary of Defense
-Directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a National
Adaptation and Resilience Strategy
-Prioritizing climate change in intelligence assessments.
https://climateandsecurity.org/briefingbook/
*If Trump cuts funding for climate science, wealthy donors will spend
billions, says U.S. Science Academy chief.
<http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/243552/142179/186050/0/>*
Marcia McNutt, president of the nation’s leading scientific body,
says wealthy philanthropists will step in, if the Trump
administration and Congress pulls research funding. Buzzfeed
<http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/243552/142179/186050/0/>,
international. Dec 18
*ExxonMobil helped defeat Russia sanctions bill
<http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/243552/142179/186054/0/>
*
**The company’s formidable lobbying operation cleared the way for
outgoing CEO Rex Tillerson to help restore a program worth billions
of dollars as secretary of state. Politico
<http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/243552/142179/186054/0/>.
*Methane levels in the atmosphere are now rising at their fastest pace
in decades. <http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/243552/142179/186066/0/>*
The world is actually making slow progress on CO2 — there’s been no
growth in annual CO2 emissions for the past three years, thanks to a
slowdown in coal burning in China. That’s not nearly enough to stop
climate change (net emissions would have to decline all the way down
to zero), but it’s a promising start:...
Yet CO2 isn’t the only greenhouse gas around. There’s also methane
(CH4), which persists for a much shorter time in the atmosphere, but
has a much more powerful warming effect. Over a 20-year period, it’s
86 times as potent at trapping heat as CO2...
And the methane trends are more dire: Two new studies suggest that
concentrations of methane in the atmosphere are now rising at their
fastest pace in two decades — a rate of increase that’s approaching
some of the worst-case scenarios in UN climate projections.
More mysteriously, no one’s exactly sure where all this new methane
is coming from, though the expansion of agriculture throughout the
tropics remains a prime suspect, particularly new rice paddies and
cattle pastures. Methane leaks from growing oil and gas operations
may be a smaller contributor here.
http://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2016/12/12/13915950/methane-atmosphere-rise-agriculture
EPA chief says Trump has limited room to scrap*climate*rules
<https://www.ft.com/content/e4759fea-c491-11e6-8f29-9445cac8966f>
Financial Times -6 hours ago
The chief architect of President Barack Obama's*climate
change*policies has warned the incoming Trump administration that US
law and the scientific evidence of*global warming*will constrain any
attempt to overturn her work.
*This proposed pipeline would cut right through the Appalachian Trail
<http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/243552/142179/186065/0/>*
Environmental groups are voicing opposition to a proposed natural
gas pipeline that would cut across the Appalachian Trail in Virginia
and require clearing a previously protected corridor of forest.
Huffington Post
<http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/243552/142179/186065/0/>. Dec 18
======= Due to a formatting error yesterday: items below are posted
content that was hard to find:
*Surface Melting an Increasing Factor in East Antarctica
<https://climatecrocks.com/2016/12/17/surface-melting-an-increasing-factor-in-east-antarctica/>*
Winds blowing across Antarctica’s ice shelves may be contributing to
an increase in meltwater, which could accelerate their break up,
scientists say in a new report published in "Nature Climate Change."
...been discussing this in last few days with key Glacial
researchers. The report above is simple, solid and
accurate....delving into more depth in coming months. The melt
story in East Antarctica is a big deal.
https://climatecrocks.com/2016/12/17/surface-melting-an-increasing-factor-in-east-antarctica/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zb6sd4bHaw
Leonardo DiCaprio:*climate*fight is US history's 'biggest economic
opportunity'
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/17/leonardo-dicaprio-climate-change-united-nations>
The Guardian -8 hours ago
Close. Tackling*climate change*is the "biggest economic opportunity"
in the history of the US no matter who holds political office, the
Hollywood star and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio said on
Friday.
UK's biggest energy supplier faces boycott calls over*climate
change* denier links
<http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/uk-energy-supplier-british-gas-centrica-boycott-climate-change-denier-links-a7480191.html>
The Independent -Dec 16, 2016
This view contrasts sharply with those of the TPPF, which has been
praised by*climate science*denier Rick Perry - who will be US Energy
Secretary under President Donald Trump - for opposing the "hysteria
of*global warming*". At the TPPF's third annual ...
Bloody great: Evolution:*Climate*is a board game "red in tooth and
claw"
<http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/12/bloody-great-evolution-climate-is-a-board-game-red-in-tooth-and-claw/>
Ars Technica -10 hours ago
Evolution:*Climate*—hereafter simply referred to as
Evolution—presents itself as a bucolic game. I start by creating
some adorable new species with tiny body sizes and low populations.
*East Antarctic Icesheet Unsettles Science
<http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=6e13c74c17ec527c4be72d64f&id=b145258428&e=30dc80e2f6>*
Scientists now believe that the East Antarctic ice sheet could
become unstable, a discovery with potentially serious global
implications.
"Virtually all the climate models had the Antarctic ice sheet as a
constant entity," said Pepijn Bakker, of the Centre for Marine and
Environmental Sciences in Bremen, Germany. "It was a static blob of
ice, just sitting there. What we discovered, however, is that the
ice sheet has undergone numerous pulses of variability that have had
a cascading effect on the entire climate system."..."Meltwater from
the Antarctic won't just raise global sea level, but might also
amplify climate changes around the world. Some parts of the North
Atlantic may end up with warmer temperatures as a consequence of
part of Antarctica melting." – Climate News Network...
---Through a unique combination of field work, satellite data and a
climate model, the researchers were able to explain why some parts
of the East Antarctica ice shelves are melting so rapidly. This is
because the strong and persistent wind transports warm, dry air to
the region, and blows away the snow. This darkens the surface, which
subsequently absorbs more of the sun’s heat. The result is a local
warmer microclimate with a few literal ‘hotspots’. Because the ice
shelf is floating in the ocean, its melting does not immediately
contribute to sea level rise. However, the ice shelves around
Antarctica are extremely important for ice sheet stability, because
they hold back the land ice. If the ice shelves collapse, this land
ice ends up in the ocean and consequently sea level will rise.
https://www.kuleuven.be/english/news/2016/mysterious-crater-on-antarctica-is-indication-of-vulnerable-ice-sheet
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-12/osu-nss120816.php
http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=6e13c74c17ec527c4be72d64f&id=b145258428&e=30dc80e2f6
*This is not normal – climate researchers take to the streets to protect
science
<https://www.skepticalscience.com/not-normal-scientists-take-to-streets-agu16.html>*
... over 800 Earth scientists and energy experts signed a letter
urging the President-elect to take six key steps to address climate
change:
1) Make America a clean energy leader;
2) Reduce carbon pollution and America’s dependence on fossil fuels;
3) Enhance America’s climate preparedness and resilience;
4) Publicly acknowledge that climate change is a real, human-caused,
and urgent threat;
5) Protect scientific integrity in policymaking; and
6) Uphold America’s commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement.
... Over 11,000 women scientists also signed a pledge committing "to
build a more inclusive society and scientific enterprise." The
leaders of 29 scientific societies signed a letter encouraging Trump
to appoint a "nationally respected" science advisor with sufficient
expertise. ..
This was an unusual activity for scientists to participate in; after
all, they’re often accused of remaining isolated in the ivory towers
of academia. Scientists generally prefer to focus on their
scientific research, use their findings to inform the public and
policymakers, and leave it to us to decide what actions we should
take in response. In fact, one of the keynote speakers at the rally,
Harvard science historian Naomi Oreskes made that exact point:
*We don’t want to be here. We want to be doing the work we were
trained and educated to do, which is science ... but we are at a
moment in history where we have to stand up...*
..As Georgia Tech climate scientist Kim Cobb noted, with the
appointments made thus far by the incoming Trump administration,
science is under attack and scientists feel compelled to protect
their research, and their ability to keep doing it. Cobb also called
on more of her scientific colleagues to step outside their comfort
zones and engage in activism:
https://www.skepticalscience.com/not-normal-scientists-take-to-streets-agu16.html
*This Day in Climate History December 19, 2007
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/19/AR2007121902012.html>-
from D.R. Tucker *
EPA Chief Denies Calif. Limit on Auto Emissions
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/19/AR2007121902012.html
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson ...
denied California's petition to limit greenhouse gas emissions from
cars and trucks, overruling the unanimous recommendation of the
agency's legal and technical staffs....
The decision set in motion a legal battle that EPA's lawyers expect
to lose and demonstrated the Bush administration's determination to
oppose any mandatory measures specifically targeted at curbing
global warming pollution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/washington/20epa.html
http://youtu.be/hf_HYL92rgQ
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2008/05/19/174039/waxman-white-house-epa/
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