[TheClimate.Vote] December 12, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/December 12, 2017
/
[KLCC audio summary 1:16]
*Appeals Court Hears Teen Climate Case 
<https://cpa.ds.npr.org/klcc/audio/2017/12/1211RM_Appeals_forweb.mp3>*
A three judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral 
arguments Monday in a case brought by 21 youths against the federal 
government over climate change. The Trump Administration is seeking to 
quash the case before it goes to trial.
https://cpa.ds.npr.org/klcc/audio/2017/12/1211RM_Appeals_forweb.mp3
-
[video - real life Federal Court drama]
*Oral arguments before the Ninth Circuit are done. Juliana v. US 
plaintiffs <https://youtu.be/J3Z8TSw-Ou4?t=11m46s>
*17-71692 USA v. USDC-ORE San Francisco CR1 10:00 AM 12/11*
**"Alternative facts are perjury" * https://youtu.be/J3Z8TSw-Ou4?t=11m46s
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit..

    Today... Juliana v. United Statesyouth plaintiffs joined their
    attorneys at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where a three-judge
    panel heard oral arguments over whether President Trump and his
    administration can evade a constitutional climate change trial...

    Julia Olson, Executive Director of Our Children's Trust, will argue
    on behalf of plaintiffs. Arguing on behalf of President Trump and
    the federal government defendants will beDeputy Assistant Attorney
    General Eric Grant
    <https://static1.squarespace.com/static/571d109b04426270152febe0/t/5a21dce3f9619a124de4dbbb/1512168676223/Notice+of+Appearance+Eric+Grant.pdf>,
    recently appointed head of the appellate division at U.S. Department
    of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division.

    In June 2017, the Trump administration filed a "drastic and
    extraordinary" petition for writ of mandamus, asking the Ninth
    Circuit to direct the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
    to dismiss the youth plaintiffs' case. The Trump administration's
    mandamus petition seeks early review of U.S. District Court Judge
    Ann Aiken's2016 denial of motions to dismiss
    <https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/s/Order-MTDAiken.pdf>the
    youth-brought climate case. In their petition, the federal
    government claims irreparable harm for having to participate in the
    ordinary pre-trial discovery process and having to go to trial.
    Trial is currently scheduled for February 5, 2018. The ordinary path
    for a constitutional lawsuit would be for the District Court first
    to conduct a trial of the youth plaintiffs' legal arguments and
    scientific evidence, and then to later appeal an adverse ruling
    after a final judgment in the case.

    Juliana v. United Statesis not about climate inaction. The21 young
    plaintiffs and the organizational plaintiff Earth Guardians assert
    that the US government, through its affirmative actions that cause
    climate change, has violated their constitutional rights to life,
    liberty, and property, as well as failed to protect essential public
    trust resources.The case is one of many related legal actions
    brought by youth in several states and countries, all supported by
    Our Children's Trust, seeking science-based action by governments to
    stabilize the climate system. ..

-
*Mandamus - Wikipedia*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandamus
Mandamus ("We command") is a judicial remedy in the form of an order 
from a superior court, to any government subordinate court, corporation, 
or public authority, to do (or forbear from doing) some specific act 
which that body is obliged under law to do (or refrain from doing), and 
which is in the nature of public duty ...


[theguardian - Dana Nuccitelli]
*California's hellish fires: a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Future 
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/dec/11/californias-hellish-fires-a-visit-from-the-ghost-of-christmas-future>*
California is burning in December. Climate scientists predicted global 
warming will make Christmas wildfires more commonplace.
This year, California experienced its worst and most expensive wildfire 
season on record. This surprised many, because while the state recently 
had its worst drought in over 1,200 years, the 5-year drought ended in 
2016. However, California was hit by the opposite extreme in 2017, with 
its wettest rainy season on record. ..
This was predicted by climate scientist
A 2006 study published in Geophysical Research Letters 
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2006GL025808/full> found 
that global warming would push the Southern California fire season 
associated with Santa Ana winds into the winter months. As a 2015 study 
published in Environmental Research Letters 
<http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/10/9/094005> found, 
Santa Ana fires are especially costly because of the speed at which they 
spread due to the winds and their proximity to urban areas. That study 
concluded that the area burned by Southern California wildfires will 
increase by about 70% by mid-century due to the drier, hotter, windier 
conditions caused by global warming.
A 2010 study published in Forest Ecology and Management 
<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=6030216667070760279&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5> 
found that global warming may extend the fire season year-round in 
California and the southwestern USA. These December fires will become 
more commonplace in a hotter world. We're literally getting a glimpse at 
Christmas future, and though there are other factors at play, 
human-caused global warming is largely to blame.
A 2015 special report in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological 
Society <http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00114.1> 
found that "An increase in fire risk in California is attributable to 
human-induced climate change." A 2016 study in the Proceedings of the 
National Academy of Sciences 
<http://www.pnas.org/content/113/42/11770.abstract> found that 
human-caused global warming doubled the area burned by wildfires in the 
western USA over just the past 30 years.
Add to that a new study just published in Nature Communications 
<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-01907-4> finding a 
connection between Arctic sea ice and high pressure ridges of 
California's coast that can block storms from passing over the state. 
These results suggest that as Arctic sea ice continues to disappear due 
to global warming, California may see less rainfall and thus even worse 
droughts, which along with higher temperatures would lead to worse 
wildfire seasons...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/dec/11/californias-hellish-fires-a-visit-from-the-ghost-of-christmas-future


[video]
*Most accurate climate models predict greatest warming 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egg1VqKEh5E>*
The climate change simulations that best capture current planetary 
conditions are also the ones that predict the most dire levels of 
human-driven warming, according to a statistical study released in the 
journal Nature Wednesday. 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/12/06/the-most-accurate-climate-change-models-predict-the-most-alarming-consequences-study-claims/
Greater future global warming inferred from Earth's recent energy 
budget. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature24672
Greater future global warming inferred from Earth's recent energy budget 
https://patricktbrown.org/2017/11/29/greater-future-global-warming-inferred-from-earths-recent-energy-budget/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egg1VqKEh5E


[TheNation]
*Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch Have Set Our Future on Fire 
<https://www.thenation.com/article/donald-trump-and-rupert-murdoch-have-set-our-future-on-fire/>*
The fires and storms ravaging the planet are only going to get worse, 
especially if we don't end the power of climate deniers.
By Mark Hertsgaard
A capitalist, it's said, will sell you Tuesday the noose you will hang 
him with on Friday. But in the case of climate change, that noose drapes 
around the neck of not only the capitalist but everyone else on earth. 
Which is what makes the Republican position on climate change so morally 
abhorrent. If Murdoch, Trump, McConnell, Murkowski, and the rest want to 
sentence themselves to a future of hellish misery, by all means let them 
proceed. But when their pocketing of Big Oil's dollars and their 
resulting denial of basic science drags the rest of humanity towards 
that same doom, then no circle in hell is low enough for them...
In the wake of Trump's announced withdrawal of the US from the Paris 
climate accord, such prominent voices as Governor Brown and former New 
York City mayor Michael Bloomberg have bravely insisted that the 
withdrawal was no big deal—cities, states, and climate activists will 
keep pushing forward. Those entities will indeed keep pushing forward, 
and bless them for it. But it is dangerously wishful thinking to suggest 
that what the government of the biggest economy on earth does is of 
marginal importance.
The terrible truth is that we are running out of time faster all the 
time, and this will remain true as long as Trump and his Republican 
sponsors remain in power. Which is yet another reason why this 
manifestly unfit president needs to be impeached as soon as possible and 
Republicans routed in the 2018 elections and beyond. None of this will 
be easy or without cost. But if we treasure life, these are the fires 
that must burn next time, starting now.
https://www.thenation.com/article/donald-trump-and-rupert-murdoch-have-set-our-future-on-fire/


[Medical News Bulletin]
*How Global Warming Might Be Putting Us at Risk of Renal Disease 
<https://www.medicalnewsbulletin.com/global-warming-risk-renal-disease/>*
A team of South Australian researchers thinks that hotter temperatures 
might be linked to increased rates of renal disease.
In their study published in Environmental Health 
<https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-017-0331-4>, 
the researchers looked to see how the maximum, minimum, and average 
temperatures of Adelaide, South Australia, corresponded to daily 
admission rates of patients with kidney disorders. They counted over 
83,519 emergency department admissions and 42,957 inpatient admissions 
to all metropolitan hospitals within the Adelaide region.
Looking specifically between 2003 and 2014, the researchers found that 
not only were the renal disease admission rates at its highest during 
the summer months but they were associated with specific forms of kidney 
disorders. An increase in daily temperature of even just 1 degree C was 
significantly associated with increased incidence rates of acute kidney 
injury, renal failure, chronic kidney disease, urolithiasis, and urinary 
tract infections. Infants, children, and the elderly were more 
susceptible than other groups, however, those undertaking intense 
exercise or severe occupational heat exposure were also at risk.
With heat waves becoming, longer, more intense, and much more frequent 
due to climate change, researchers are worried that heat-induced kidney 
diseases may be on the rise. The research team is now looking to compare 
data across time points to assess how incidence rates may have changed 
over the last several decades. The researchers are also looking to 
investigate whether air pollution may be a contributing factor.
For those of us looking to avoid heat-induced kidney diseases 
altogether, researchers advise maintaining proper hydration during 
periods of hot weather, and to keep out of the sun as much as possible. 
The scientists hope that by supporting ongoing public health 
interventions and by improving community awareness of heat-related 
kidney disorders, we can prevent the numbers from rising.
https://www.medicalnewsbulletin.com/global-warming-risk-renal-disease/
-
*The impact of daily temperature on renal disease incidence: an 
ecological study 
<https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-017-0331-4>*

    *Abstract*
    Extremely high temperatures over many consecutive days have been
    linked to an increase in renal disease in several cities. This is
    becoming increasingly relevant with heatwaves becoming longer, more
    intense, and more frequent with climate change. This study aimed to
    extend the known relationship between daily temperature and kidney
    disease to include the incidence of eight temperature-prone specific
    renal disease categories - total renal disease, urolithiasis, renal
    failure, acute kidney injury (AKI), chronic kidney disease (CKD),
    urinary tract infections (UTIs), lower urinary tract infections
    (LUTIs) and pyelonephritis....
    *Results*
    Increases in daily temperature per 1 degree C were associated with
    an increased incidence for all renal disease categories except for
    pyelonephritis. Minimum temperature was associated with the greatest
    increase in renal disease followed by average temperature and then
    maximum temperature. A 1 degree C increase in daily minimum
    temperature was associated with an increase in daily emergency
    department admissions for AKI (IRR 1.037, 95% CI: 1.026-1.048),
    renal failure (IRR 1.030, 95% CI: 1.022-1.039), CKD (IRR 1.017, 95%
    CI: 1.001-1.033) urolithiasis (IRR 1.015, 95% CI: 1.010-1.020),
    total renal disease (IRR 1.009, 95% CI: 1.006-1.011), UTIs (IRR
    1.004, 95% CI: 1.000-1.007) and LUTIs (IRR 1.003, 95% CI: 1.000-1.006).
    *Conclusions*
    An increased frequency of renal disease, including urolithiasis,
    acute kidney injury and urinary tract infections, is predicted with
    increasing temperatures from climate change. These results have
    clinical and public health implications for the management of renal
    diseases and demand tailored health services. Future research is
    warranted to analyze individual renal diseases with more
    comprehensive information regarding renal risk factors, and studies
    examining mortality for specific renal diseases.

https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-017-0331-4


[Project Syndicate]
*The Climate-Change Fight Returns to Paris 
<https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/paris-climate-agreement-one-planet-summit-by-laurence-tubiana-2017-12>*
Laurence Tubiana calls for renewed political and cash commitments at the 
upcoming One Planet Summit.
In 2015, the so-called "high ambition coalition" of developed and 
developing countries pushed the Paris climate agreement past the finish 
line. But when global leaders reconvene in Paris for new talks on 
climate change at the upcoming One Planet Summit, financial commitments 
must be the order of the day.
PARIS - Nearly two years have passed since France's then-foreign 
minister, Laurent Fabius, struck his gavel and declared: "The Paris 
agreement for the climate is accepted." Next week, President Emmanuel 
Macron and the French government will host world leaders and non-state 
actors for the One Planet Summit. The purpose of this gathering is to 
celebrate climate gains made since 2015, and to boost political and 
economic support for meeting the goals and targets of the Paris agreement...
The best available science estimates that the world has only three years 
to begin a permanent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions if there is 
to be any hope of achieving the Paris accord's goal of keeping warming 
to "well below 2°C" relative to pre-industrial levels. And, whatever 
urgency science cannot convey is being communicated by the planet itself 
- through a ferocious display of hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and 
deadly droughts.
Given the immediacy of the challenge, what can and should be done to 
avert crisis?...
The One Planet Summit will be an occasion for countries, companies, and 
private institutions to forge concrete strategies to shift away from 
fossil fuels. At the UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany, last month, 20 
countries, led by Canada and the United Kingdom, announced plans to 
phase out coal from electricity generation. The gathering in Paris will 
provide an opportunity for other countries to join the Powering Past 
Coal Alliance, which aims to formalize a deliberate transition from 
coal, and to help companies achieve net-zero emissions.
Ultimately, next week's summit should be a place where governments, 
businesses, investors, and other key stakeholders collaborate and share 
ideas, showcase successful projects, and coordinate goals. This event 
should not stand alone, but rather serve as a springboard for 
international meetings that will take place over the next few years. 
After all, it is during this short timeframe that the fate of the Paris 
accord's temperature targets will be determined.
Laurence Tubiana, a former French ambassador to the UN Framework 
Convention on Climate Change, is CEO of the European Climate Foundation 
and a professor at Sciences Po, Paris.
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/paris-climate-agreement-one-planet-summit-by-laurence-tubiana-2017-12


How Global Warming Might Be Putting Us at Risk of Renal Disease
Medical News Bulletin
A team of South Australian researchers thinks that hotter temperatures 
might be linked to increased rates of renal disease. There's nothing 
like spending a hot summer day out on the beach, but those high 
temperatures might be doing more to your body than just making you 
sweat. Extremely high ...


[book review]
*Environmental Melancholia: Psychoanalytic dimensions of engagement 
(Psychoanalytic Explorations) 
<https://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Melancholia-Psychoanalytic-dimensions-Explorations/dp/0415727995>*
by Renee Lertzman
In this groundbreaking book, Renee Lertzman applies psychoanalytic 
theory and psychosocial research to the issue of public engagement and 
public apathy in response to chronic ecological threats. By highlighting 
unconscious and affective dimensions of contemporary ecological issues, 
Lertzman deconstructs the idea that there is a gap between what people 
care about and what is actually carried out in policy and personal 
practice. In doing so, she presents an innovative way to think about and 
design engagement practices and policy interventions.
Based on key qualitative fieldwork and in-depth interviews conducted in 
Green Bay, Wisconsin, each chapter  provides a psychosocial, 
psychoanalytic perspective on subjectivity, affect and identity, and 
considers what this means for understanding behaviour in relation to 
environmental crises and climate change. The book argues for a theory of 
environmental melancholia that accounts for the ways in which people 
experience profound loss and disruption caused by environmental issues, 
and yet may have trouble expressing or making sense of such experiences.
Environmental Melancholia offers a fresh perspective to the field of 
environmental psychology that until now has been largely dominated by 
research in cognitive, behavioural and social psychology. It will appeal 
to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of 
psychoanalysis, psychosocial studies and sustainability, as well as 
policy makers and educators internationally.
Robert Greenway  5.0 out of 5 stars  Excellent
Psycho-Ecological Study of Why We Continue Killing the Planet 
<https://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Melancholia-Psychoanalytic-dimensions-Explorations/dp/0415727995>
Format: Hardcover
You might miss this amazing book by recoiling from the cost, or the 
title -- but you'd be missing the most lucid, scholarly and penetrating 
exploration of human-nature relationship currently in print. Dr. 
Lertzman has done what heretofore has been impossible: she has opened a 
ccrucial and necessary shaft of light into the heart of the 
environmental crisis, and why we're avoiding acting on what is becoming 
increasingly clear. This is ecologically and psychologically informed, 
filled with examples of the "recoiling from the problem" taking place 
all over the planet. It challenges our species' incapacity to embrace 
the reality of what we're doing to the planet, even as the pleasures and 
distractions of fantastic technological devices continue to enthrall us. 
This is the "ecopsychology" book that has been needed, hopefully 
rescuing that field from diffuse and magical thinking. (Compare this, 
for example, with Roszak's 1994 "Voice
of the Earth"; or Thomas Berry's "Dream of the Earth; or Joseph Dodd's 
"Psychoanalytic Ecology"; or Zimmerman's and Hargen's "Integral 
Ecology"; or Andy Fisher's "Radical Ecopsyhology". Lertzman's work 
brings us to the edge of what has been gathered, to face our 
environmental crisis -- and then provides "forward references" as to 
what we might do collectively. It is not an easy read, but well worth 
the effort.
https://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Melancholia-Psychoanalytic-dimensions-Explorations/dp/0415727995


*Meat tax 'inevitable' to beat climate and health crises, says report 
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/11/meat-tax-inevitable-to-beat-climate-and-health-crises-says-report>*
'Sin taxes' to reverse the rapid global growth in meat eating are likely 
in five to 10 years, according to a report for investors managing over 
$4tn...
"If policymakers are to cover the true cost of human epidemics like 
obesity, diabetes and cancer, and livestock epidemics like avian flu, 
while also tackling the twin challenges of climate change and antibiotic 
resistance, then a shift from subsidisation to taxation of the meat 
industry looks inevitable," said Jeremy Coller, found of Fairr and chief 
investment officer at private equity firm Coller Capital. "Far-sighted 
investors should plan ahead for this day."
Marco Springmann, at the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food 
at the University of Oxford, said: "Current levels of meat consumption 
are not healthy or sustainable. The costs associated with each of those 
impacts could approach the trillions in the future. Taxing meat could be 
a first and important step."...
"There are huge opportunities in the market," said Lettini. "If we can 
start replacing meat protein with plant-based protein that has the same 
look, taste and feel as meat, where real red-blooded meat eaters are 
happy to dig into a burger that is plant-based, we are changing the world."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/11/meat-tax-inevitable-to-beat-climate-and-health-crises-says-report


[video Climate State]*
**Naomi Oreskes: Organized Campaigns to Doubt Climate Science (2016) 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMqT16yZcHY>*
Naomi Oreskes' research focuses on the Earth and environmental sciences, 
with a particular interest in understanding scientific consensus and 
dissent.
Published on Apr 26, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMqT16yZcHY


*This Day in Climate History December 12, 2007 
<http://mark-bowen.com/images/downloads/house_oversight_committee-rept_1207.pdf> 
   -  from D.R. Tucker*
December 12, 2007: The House Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform releases the
report "Political Interference with Climate Change Science under the
Bush Administration."
 From the report summary:
"one inescapable conclusion:  the Bush Administration has
engaged in a systematic effort to manipulate climate change science and 
mislead
policymakers and the public about the dangers of global warming.   "
http://mark-bowen.com/images/downloads/house_oversight_committee-rept_1207.pdf

/
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