[TheClimate.Vote] December 15, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

Richard Pauli richard at theclimate.vote
Fri Dec 15 09:04:00 EST 2017


/December 15, 2017
/
[video 12 mins ]
*Expert asks, can we control the climate crisis in time? 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io3FI-PLCXA>*
Climate State
Published on Dec 14, 2017
*Stefan Rahmstorf *speaks at the 2017 Bonn climate conference, 
explaining the basics of global climate change, and outlines our current 
emissions pathway - asking if we can control the climate crisis. The 
talk is titled Climate Action and Human Wellbeing at a Crossroads: 
Historical Transformation or Backlash?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io3FI-PLCXA


[WashingtonPost]
*Warming of the Arctic is 'unprecedented over the last 1,500 years,' 
scientists say 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/12/12/federal-scientists-call-the-warming-of-the-arctic-unprecedented-over-the-last-1500-years/>*
The Trump administration's mixed views on climate change 
notwithstanding, a group of federal scientists on Tuesday released a 
stark report on the warming at the top of the planet, suggesting that it 
is unparalleled in more than a millennium.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/12/12/federal-scientists-call-the-warming-of-the-arctic-unprecedented-over-the-last-1500-years/
-
[NOAA]
*Arctic Report Card <http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card>*
Tracking recent environmental changes relative to historical records
*2017  What's New?*
Arctic shows no sign of returning to reliably frozen region of recent 
past decades
Despite relatively cool summer temperatures, observations in 2017 
continue to indicate that the Arctic environmental system has reached a 
'new normal', characterized by long-term losses in the extent and 
thickness of the sea ice cover, the extent and duration of the winter 
snow cover and the mass of ice in the Greenland Ice Sheet and Arctic 
glaciers, and warming sea surface and permafrost temperatures.
*About the Arctic Report Card:*
Issued annually since 2006, the Arctic Report Card is a timely and 
peer-reviewed source for clear, reliable and concise environmental 
information on the current state of different components of the Arctic 
environmental system relative to historical records.
The Report Card is intended for a wide audience, including scientists, 
teachers, students, decision-makers and the general public interested in 
the Arctic environment and science.
*Report Card Highlights:*
The average surface air temperature for the year ending September 2017 
is the 2nd warmest since 1900; however, cooler spring and summer 
temperatures contributed to a rebound in snow cover in the Eurasian 
Arctic, slower summer sea ice loss, and below-average melt extent for 
the Greenland ice sheet.
The sea ice cover continues to be relatively young and thin with older, 
thicker ice comprising only 21% of the ice cover in 2017 compared to 45% 
in 1985.
In August 2017, sea surface temperatures in the Barents and Chukchi seas 
were up to 4° C warmer than average, contributing to a delay in the 
autumn freeze-up in these regions.
Pronounced increases in ocean primary productivity, at the base of the 
marine food web, were observed in the Barents and Eurasian Arctic seas 
from 2003 to 2017.
Arctic tundra is experiencing increased greenness and record permafrost 
warming.
Pervasive changes in the environment are influencing resource management 
protocols, including those established for fisheries and wildfires.
The unprecedented rate and global reach of Arctic change 
disproportionally affect the people of northern communities, further 
pressing the need to prepare for and adapt to the new Arctic.
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card


[Inside Climate News]
*U.S. Military Not Doing Enough to Prepare Bases for Climate Change, GAO 
Warns 
<https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14122017/military-climate-change-risk-cost-bases-overseas-congress-gao-report>*
The Pentagon has been praised for starting to address global warming, 
but a report for Congress finds the risks aren't tracked well enough at 
facilities overseas...
The report <https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-206>, requested by a 
group of Senate Democrats and released on Wednesday, found that the 
Pentagon had exempted dozens of bases or other key sites from completing 
a department-wide climate vulnerability assessment...
Global warming is expected to bring more severe weather and higher seas 
that will flood some bases, strain their water supplies, inhibit 
training exercises with extreme heat and, according to the Pentagon 
<https://www.acq.osd.mil/eie/Downloads/CCARprint_wForward_e.pdf>, worsen 
instability in parts of the globe. In some cases, these effects have 
already arrived...
The authors also found that only a third of the 45 military 
installations they visited had incorporated climate change adaptation 
into their planning.
The GAO concluded with a series of recommendations, including that the 
Pentagon should:
require all military facilities to track costs associated with climate 
change and extreme weather;
incorporate adaptation into the development of installation-level plans; and
administer a climate vulnerability survey at all relevant sites.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14122017/military-climate-change-risk-cost-bases-overseas-congress-gao-report
---
[GAO Report]
*CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION:*
*DOD Needs to Better Incorporate Adaptation into Planning and 
Collaboration at Overseas Installations 
<https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-206>*
GAO-18-206: Published: Nov 13, 2017. Publicly Released: Dec 13, 2017.
*What GAO Found*
The expected impacts of weather effects associated with climate change 
pose operational and budgetary risks to overseas infrastructure 
according to the Department of Defense (DOD), but DOD does not 
consistently track the impacts' estimated costs. Operational risks 
(including interruptions to training, testing, and missions) and 
budgetary risks (including costs of repairing damages) are linked to 
these impacts. However, installations inconsistently track these costs 
because there is no requirement for such tracking. Without a requirement 
to systematically track such costs, DOD will not have the information it 
needs to integrate climate-related impact resource considerations into 
future budgets.
*Recommendation:* The Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force 
should work with the Office of the Secretary of Defense to issue a 
requirement to their installations to systematically track the costs 
associated with extreme weather events and climate change. 
(Recommendation 1)
Full report 83 pages: https://www.gao.gov/assets/690/688323.pdf
https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-206
-
[ClimateState]
*How Greenland's Melt Raises Seas. What will be left? 
<http://climatestate.com/2017/12/14/how-greenlands-melt-raises-seas-what-will-be-left/>*
This video provides an outline on the accelerated ice loose from 
Greenland, explains the mechanism causing the melt, and features the new 
stunning visualization of Greenland without ice.
Teaser image https://pixabay.com/en/ice-sea-light-nature-greenland-463845
Konrad Steffen's full talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-0ynd1Vesk
How Greenland Would Look Without Its Ice Sheet, British Arctic Survey 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hGSvgE7jGA
Little Algae creates Huge Melt Feedback on Greenland Ice by Peter 
Sinclair / Greenman Studio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8abc8yagJ1Q
NASA on Greenland's Thinning Ice (June 2017) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKyo8uy42aU
http://climatestate.com/2017/12/14/how-greenlands-melt-raises-seas-what-will-be-left/


[Climate State video]
*Can India and the World survive +3C temperature rise? 
<http://climatestate.com/2017/12/14/can-india-and-the-world-survive-3c-temperature-rise/>*
A 2017 analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment has indicated 
that India is warming at a much faster rate than thought previously. The 
analysis looks at temperature trends in the country - both annual and 
seasonal - from 1901 till recent years. And it finds that the country 
has been getting warmer continuously, consistently and rapidly. CSE 
researchers have plotted this rise in temperature on an animated spiral 
for India.
Original video published by Down to Earth under creative commons 
unported 3.0 license. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfMo8k85fX4
Centre for Science and Environment http://www.cseindia.org
http://climatestate.com/2017/12/14/can-india-and-the-world-survive-3c-temperature-rise/


[fundraising]
*Pro Skier Aims to Raise $5.5 million for Super Bowl Ad on Climate 
Change 
<https://www.powder.com/stories/news/julian-carr-super-bowl-climate-change/>*
Julian Carr must meet his goal by Dec. 22 to create the first-ever 
Kickstarter-supported Super Bowl ad
About half of all Americans don't believe global warming is caused by 
human activities, despite the overwhelming consensus by climate 
scientists who say this is true. Salt Lake City-based pro skier Julian 
Carr is taking action to change this by attempting to raise $5.5 million 
by December 22 to fund what will be the first ever Kickstarter-supported 
Super Bowl ad. An ambassador of Protect Our Winters, Carr hopes to bring 
important climate change data to the largest audience in the United States.
According to Nielsen, 70 percent of U.S. households watched the 2017 
Super Bowl, which saw a total audience of 172 million viewers. So far, 
Carr's campaign has raised $7,329 with nine days to go. (Update: As of 
12/13, funds have climbed to $13,400.)
"I've been fortunate to go to a lot of the talks that climate scientists 
give, and one common theme I keep hearing is that their data and message 
never reach a mass audience," says Carr. "I think that's a big reason 
why climate change is still a bi-partisan topic."
Carr hopes that by making a commercial with pop-culture relevance, not 
only will the information get in front of a massive audience during the 
Super Bowl on February 4, the media attention surrounding successful 
Super Bowl ads will also help to spread awareness that 110 million tons 
of man-made pollution is dumped into the atmosphere every 24 hours, 
causing our sea levels to rise and our coastlines to shrink...
https://www.powder.com/stories/news/julian-carr-super-bowl-climate-change/


*This Day in Climate History December 15, 2010 
<http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/12/15/foxleaks-fox-boss-ordered-staff-to-cast-doubt-o/174317>  
-  from D.R. Tucker*
December 15, 2010: Media Matters reports on a leaked memo that reveals 
the Fox News Channel's unfairness and imbalance with regard to climate 
science:

    *FOXLEAKS: Fox boss ordered staff to cast doubt on climate science
    *"In the midst of global climate change talks last December, a top
    Fox News official sent an email questioning the 'veracity of climate
    change data' and ordering the network's journalists to 'refrain from
    asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period
    without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon
    data that critics have called into question.'

    "The directive, sent by Fox News Washington managing editor Bill
    Sammon, was issued less than 15 minutes after Fox correspondent
    Wendell Goler accurately reported on-air that the United Nations'
    World Meteorological Organization announced that 2000-2009 was 'on
    track to be the warmest [decade] on record.'

    "This latest revelation comes after Media Matters uncovered an email
    sent by Sammon to Fox journalists at the peak of the health care
    reform debate, ordering them to avoid using the term 'public option'
    and instead use variations of 'government option.' That email echoed
    advice from a prominent Republican pollster on how to help turn
    public opinion against health care reform.

    "Sources familiar with the situation in Fox's Washington bureau have
    expressed concern about Sammon using his position to 'slant' Fox's
    supposedly neutral news coverage to the right."

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/12/15/foxleaks-fox-boss-ordered-staff-to-cast-doubt-o/174317 


http://youtu.be/Kh0AmjHke1M





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