[TheClimate.Vote] Feb 13, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News for All -
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Mon Feb 13 08:29:00 EST 2017
/Stay well-informed about global warming - Please forward this email.
February 13, 2017/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/12/humans-causing-climate-to-change-170-times-faster-than-natural-forces
*Humans causing climate to change 170 times faster than natural forces
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/12/humans-causing-climate-to-change-170-times-faster-than-natural-forces>*
Researchers behind 'Anthropocene equation' say impact of people's
intense activity on Earth far exceeds that of natural events spread
across millennia...
For the first time, researchers have developed a mathematical
equation to describe the impact of human activity on the earth,
finding people are causing the climate to change 170 times faster
than natural forces...
The equation was developed in conjunction with Professor Will
Steffen, a climate change expert and researcher at the Australian
National University, and was published in the journal The
Anthropocene Review...
The authors of the paper wrote that for the past 4.5bn years
astronomical and geophysical factors have been the dominating
influences on the Earth system. The Earth system is defined by the
researchers as the biosphere, including interactions and feedbacks
with the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and upper lithosphere.
But over the past six decades human forces "have driven
exceptionally rapid rates of change in the Earth system," the
authors wrote, giving rise to a period known as the Anthropocene.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2120951-simple-equation-shows-how-human-activity-is-trashing-the-planet/
Simple equation shows how human activity is trashing the planet
<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2120951-simple-equation-shows-how-human-activity-is-trashing-the-planet/>
If we take a baseline of the last 7000 years, until recently, global
temperature decreased at a rate of 0.01 °C per century. The current
rate (last 45 years) is a rise of 1.7 °C per century – 170 times the
baseline and in the opposite direction. The warmest 12 years since
records began have all occurred since 1998...
The rate of carbon emissions to the atmosphere is arguably the
highest in 66 million years, when the (non-avian) dinosaurs slipped
off this mortal coil. The staggering loss of biodiversity in recent
decades prompted researchers in 2015 to argue that the Anthropocene
marks the third stage in the evolution of Earth's biosphere,
following on from the microbial stage 3.5 billion years ago and the
Cambrian explosion 650 million years ago...
Pulling this together, we conclude that the rate of change of the
Earth system over the last 40 to 50 years is a purely a function of
industrialised societies (H)...
In the equation, astronomical and geophysical forces tend to zero
because of their slow nature or rarity, as do internal dynamics, for
now. All these forces still exert pressure, but currently on orders
of magnitude less than human impact.
Journal reference: The Anthropocene Review, doi:
10.1177/2053019616688022
http://harvardheatweek.org/alumni-letter-from-kc-golden-mpp-88/
*Divest Harvard, Alumni Letter from KC Golden, MPP '88
<http://harvardheatweek.org/alumni-letter-from-kc-golden-mpp-88/>*
March 16, 2015
Today we feature a brilliant letter from Harvard alum KC Golden. KC
is a leader in the national climate movement, serving as Senior
Policy Advisor for Climate Solutions, in the leadership of several
national climate organizations, and as Board Chair of 350.org.
His letter is directed at Dean David Ellwood, Dean of Harvard's JFK
School of Government, where KC studied as a Kennedy Fellow. Read on
below for a powerful message from one of Harvard's many, many
distinguished alumni/ae who are calling for divestment, and for
their classmates to join in Harvard Heat Week April 12-17th.
Dean David Ellwood John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University, Cambridge, MA
*"Invest: to furnish with power, authority; to infuse or belong to"*
Dear Dean Ellwood,...
...experience leaves me absolutely confident that we can do what is
right and necessary to respond to the climate challenge. The
technologies, the policy tools, the economic models for a transition
from fossil fuels to a healthy clean energy economy are within
reach. The transition won't be easy or cost-free, but it can clearly
be done at a small fraction of the cost of failing to make it.
...As proud as I am of my education and my accomplishments, my faith
in the whole underlying proposition is deeply shaken...
How can this be? If both civilization-threatening catastrophe and
solutions are truly at hand, why don't we rise to the challenge? A
somewhat simplistic but not inaccurate answer would emphasize the
unbridled economic and political power of the fossil fuel industry.
Astonishingly, they have purchased a majority position in the US
Congress for the view that human-caused climate change doesn't exist
or warrant action, and cowed much of the minority into acquiescence.
.. we can take one clear, hopeful step forward right now. We can
start winding down our investments in companies that block
solutions, fund climate denial, and continue to explore for new
fossil fuel reserves when most of their existing reserves must
remain unburned. We can and must stop investing in making climate
disruption worse, knowing as we do that continuing capital
investment in fossil fuels will lock us in to catastrophic emission
levels. Should we decline to take this step because we are not in
position to completely leap past fossil fuel dependence immediately?
We'll never get very far that way...
...Truth, "Veritas," is Harvard's purpose. And applying truth to
effectuate collective action through public institutions is KSG's.
The opposition to responsible climate policy, spearheaded by the
fossil fuel industry, is a direct threat to both. Divestment is an
opportunity to withdraw support from that opposition...
...Harvard should not plead impotence, or limit its influence to
lighting retrofits and energy research. Our responsibility and our
opportunity to lead are much greater.
http://www.goskagit.com/news/local_news/charges-re-filed-in-pipeline-facility-break-in/article_04f086b1-8e2a-56fa-94e1-d49407cd00fa.html
*Charges re-filed in pipeline facility break-in
<http://www.goskagit.com/news/local_news/charges-re-filed-in-pipeline-facility-break-in/article_04f086b1-8e2a-56fa-94e1-d49407cd00fa.html>*
By KIMBERLY CAUVEL @Kimberly_SVH Feb 11, 2017 (…)
Charges were re-filed Wednesday against Kenneth Ward, the Oregon man
who in October broke into a Kinder Morgan oil pipeline facility west
of Burlington.
Ward’s first trial on felony charges of burglary and criminal
sabotage ended in a mistrial Feb. 1 after jurors failed to reach a
verdict.
The re-filing of the charges in Skagit County Superior Court include
a third felony charge for possession of a controlled substance.
According to court records, Skagit County sheriff’s deputies found
prescription drugs on Ward during his arrest Oct. 11. Ward did not
have a prescription for those drugs.
Ward was arrested after breaking into a facility that is part of
Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline.
That pipeline carries crude oil from Canadian tar sands to the oil
refineries in Washington, including the two at March Point.
During his trial, Ward admitted to breaking into the facility and
turning a valve on the pipeline.
He said he did it to make a statement about climate change and the
need to transition off fossil fuels.
http://www.ecowatch.com/ken-ward-hung-jury-2249998346.html
*The Climate Data That Led to a Hung Jury
<http://www.ecowatch.com/ken-ward-hung-jury-2249998346.html>*
Last week, a Skagit County, Washington jury failed to reach a
verdict in my trial on charges of burglary and sabotage for closing
the TransMountain pipeline as part of the ShutItDown climate direct
action, which disrupted all five pipelines carrying Canadian tar
sands oil into the U.S. last October.
On the stand, I told the jury my own story, about working for
decades on the staff of public interest and environmental
organizations where we treated climate change as merely one among
many policy issues and about the rude awakening I received after
reading two seminal papers, Bill Hare's, 1997 Greenpeace
International report The Carbon Logic
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257381319_Fossil_Fuels_and_Climate_Protection_The_Carbon_Logic>
and Dr. James Hansen's 2005 A Slippery Slope
<https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/ha08010f.html>.
For some time, I have argued that emphasizing the complexity of
climate science does us no service in a public debate where our
opponents ridicule and warp scientific approaches and where even
climate activists are befuddled by the complexity of the problem. In
my defense, truncated as it was, I was able to present the barest
minimum of information outlining and supporting the simplest and
direst aspect of the climate emergency: catastrophic sea level rise
and why my action can be considered appropriate in the circumstances.
For some number of the Skagit County jury, this limited data set on
climate change impacts proved more persuasive that the graphic
depiction of my actions.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257381319_Fossil_Fuels_and_Climate_Protection_The_Carbon_Logic
*Fossil Fuels and Climate Protection: The Carbon Logic
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257381319_Fossil_Fuels_and_Climate_Protection_The_Carbon_Logic>*
Abstract
Preventing dangerous climate change will involve limiting both the
rate and magnitude of climate change over the next century to levels
that natural and human systems can tolerate without significant
damage. This report shows the implications for overall fossil fuel
use, in the form of a 'carbon budget', over the next century if the
global community is to prevent dangerous climate change. It is
demonstrated that it is only possible to burn a small fraction of
the total oil, coal and gas that has already been discovered, if
such dangerous changes are to be avoided. Even the reserves of
fossil fuels that are considered economic to recover now, with no
advances in technology, are far greater than the total allowable
'carbon budget'.
https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/ha08010f.html
https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/2005/2005_Hansen_ha08010f.pdf /(a
NASA document - you may want to download and save)/
Hansen, J.E., 2005: *A slippery slope: How much global warming
constitutes "dangerous anthropogenic interference"?
<https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/2005/2005_Hansen_ha08010f.pdf>* An
editorial essay. Climatic Change, 68, 269-279,
doi:10.1007/s10584-005-4135-0.
Publication Abstract
Are we on a slippery slope now? Can human-made global warming cause
ice sheet melting measured in meters of sea level rise, not
centimeters, and can this occur in centuries, not millennia? Can the
very inertia of the ice sheets, which protects us from rapid sea
level change now, become our bêete noire as portions of the ice
sheet begin to accelerate, making it practically impossible to avoid
disaster for coastal regions?
Get PDF (253 kB)
https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/2005/2005_Hansen_ha08010f.pdf
http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-kids-climate-lawsuit-2250707551.html
*Kids Name Trump as Defendant in Landmark Climate Case
<http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-kids-climate-lawsuit-2250707551.html>*
Youth plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States filed a notice Thursday
with a federal court in Oregon, naming Donald J. Trump as a
defendant in their landmark climate case on pace for trial this
fall. Plaintiffs have substituted President Trump as a named party
in place of former President Barack Obama under the Federal Rules...
In Juliana v. United States, 21 young plaintiffs sued the federal
government for violating their constitutional rights and their
rights to vital public trust resources. The complaint alleges the
government locked in a fossil-fuel based national energy system for
more than five decades with full knowledge of the extreme dangers it
posed. The plaintiffs have been further emboldened by President
Trump's blatant climate denial, inspiring them in their fight to
secure climate justice and a safe future...
"I look forward to taking on the Trump administration, as I think
our new president, of all people, needs to have his power checked,"
said Kiran Ooommen, 20-year-old plaintiff from Eugene, Oregon.
"President Trump benefits financially from the fossil fuel industry,
but his benefit comes at a heavy cost for the rest of us. The
policies of the U.S. government that ignore the threat of climate
change are only going to get worse under the new presidency, based
on Trump's apparent lack of understanding of climate science and his
plans to invest further in the fossil fuel industry."
http://www.theverge.com/tldr/2017/2/10/14579380/senator-jason-chaffetz-town-hall-science-question-boos-watch
*Congressman is righteously booed after dodging a young girl's simple
question about science*
Not your average town hall meeting /(video on site)/
One hour into a loud, contentious town hall meeting in his home
state of Utah, Congressman Jason Chaffetz was asked two simple
questions by a young girl named Hannah Bradshaw. The first was about
the environment: "What are you doing to help protect our water and
air for our generations and my kids' generations?" The second was
just a bit more broad: "Do you believe in science?"..
Asking the sitting congressman if he believes in science is sadly a
relevant question. Chaffetz has called global warming "a farce," and
just this week co-sponsored a bill to abolish the Department of
Education. He also recently proposed a bill that would have
transferred ownership of federal public lands to the states, making
them easier to sell. (He swiftly withdrew that bill after it sparked
public outrage.)...
... Chaffetz deflected hard enough to cause whiplash. Luckily, the
crowd wasn't having it. One woman in particular can be heard loudly
repeating the words "ANSWER THE QUESTION," and so Chaffetz was
goaded into responding to Bradshaw...
Chaffetz started with an empty statement that only a career
politician could think would play well in front of a high school
auditorium packed to the brim with frothing citizens: "What is
thrown into our air, what is thrown into our water, obviously has an
effect on our environment." He was then met with a holy chorus of
boos when he said he supported an "all of the above energy strategy"
that includes coal as "an important part of that future."..
The Salt Lake Tribune live-streamed the entire event on Facebook,
and if you pick up the exchange over there you'll be treated to
Chaffetz continuing to ignore Bradshaw's questions while propping up
muddy arguments like electric cars being dirty — "There's a lot of
people who want to move to electricity. Well how in the world do you
think electricity is generated?" — and how solar farms are
destroying wildlife...
Chaffetz endured another 15 minutes of the town hall before
literally being booed off the stage.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865673055/Chaffetz-faces-harsh-criticism-during-packed-town-hall.html
*'Do your job': Angry town hall crowd jeers Chaffetz in packed
auditorium
<http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865673055/Chaffetz-faces-harsh-criticism-during-packed-town-hall.html>*
COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — In an electric town hall meeting filled with
angry rebukes thrown at Rep. Jason Chaffetz, it was perhaps the soft
spoken but pointed question from a young girl that drew the loudest
standing ovation.
"Do you believe in science?" asked Hannah Bradshaw. "Because I do."
The frustration of some Utah voters upset with the president —
roughly 1,000 of them inside the Brighton High School auditorium,
and well over 1,000 people protesting outside the school — reached a
fever pitch from the very start of the Utah Republican's
question-and-answer session Thursday.
"So, President Trump," Chaffetz began, a minute or two into the
meeting, before being immediately drowned out by loud boos.
"If you want me to answer the question, please give me more than
five seconds to answer it, OK?" Chaffetz asked a few minutes later
after several people heckled him, claiming he hadn't adequately
answered an audience member's question about investigating Trump....
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865673195/Utah-Democrats-hit-Chaffetz-for-dismissing-town-hall-crowd-as-paid-protesters.html
*Utah Democrats hit Chaffetz for dismissing town hall crowd as paid
protesters
<http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865673195/Utah-Democrats-hit-Chaffetz-for-dismissing-town-hall-crowd-as-paid-protesters.html>*
SALT LAKE CITY — A top Utah Democrat ripped Rep. Jason Chaffetz on
Saturday for dismissing Thursday night's raucous town hall meeting
as being fueled by paid protesters from out of state, not
representative of his 3rd District constituents.
"He's out of touch with reality. He's out of touch with the
political reality on the ground," said House Minority Leader Rep.
Brian King.
https://www.ft.com/content/8341b644-ef95-11e6-ba01-119a44939bb6
A carbon border tax is the best answer on*climate change*
<https://www.ft.com/content/8341b644-ef95-11e6-ba01-119a44939bb6>
Financial Times -5 hours ago
*Climate change*is a clear threat and needs to be addressed.
Designing policy appropriate for multiple sectors and industries is
difficult and complex.
http://cornellsun.com/2017/02/12/call-a-thon-pressures-legislators-on-climate-change-immigration/
Call-A-Thon Pressures Legislators on*Climate Change*, Immigration
<http://cornellsun.com/2017/02/12/call-a-thon-pressures-legislators-on-climate-change-immigration/>
Cornell University The Cornell Daily Sun -2 hours ago
"The central idea behind climate justice is that*climate change*is a
social justice issue," Vega said. "The burden of its consequences
are unfairly placed on the shoulders of communities that contribute
the least to carbon emissions and that have the*...
*
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/02/12/expected-dam-spillway-fail-prompts-calif-evacuation/97834632/
Roads jammed as residents evacuate below endangered dam spillway
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/02/12/expected-dam-spillway-fail-prompts-calif-evacuation/97834632/>
USA TODAY -7 minutes ago
Roads leading out of Oroville, Calif., were jammed with traffic
Sunday evening as people evacuated the area due to the possibility
of failure of the alternate spillway at Oroville Dam....
/*Water began flowing over the emergency spillway at the Oroville
Dam in Northern California on Saturday for the first time in its
nearly 50-year history after heavy rainfall.*
//http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/water-flow-slowing-emergency-spillway-tallest-us-dam-45442749/
//http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/oroville-dam-feds-and-state-officials-ignored-warnings-12-years-ago/
*Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago
<http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/oroville-dam-feds-and-state-officials-ignored-warnings-12-years-ago/>*
"Three environmental groups — the Friends of the River, the Sierra
Club and the South Yuba Citizens League — filed a motion with the
federal government on Oct. 17, 2005, as part of Oroville Dam’s
relicensing process, urging federal officials to require that the
dam’s emergency spillway
<http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/11/emergency-spillway-used-at-oroville-dam-for-first-time/>
be armored with concrete, rather than remain as an earthen hillside."
(video )
http://newsvideo.mercurynews.com/?ndn.trackingGroup=90757&ndn.siteSection=bangnews&ndn.videoId=31979176
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWBqPh1lrt0
*This Day in Climate History February 13, 2008
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWBqPh1lrt0> - from D.R. Tucker*
In his "Bushed" segment, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann observes:
"Number two: Global warming denier-gate. Singer Sheryl Crow reveals
that her new album, 'Detours,' filled with political protest songs,
was inspired by her visit last year to the White House
Correspondents Dinner and the rage she felt after her encounter with
Karl Rove. She tried to talk to him about global warming and she
says his response was: 'I don‘t work for you, I work for the
American people.' No, you worked for George Bush and now you work
for Rupert Murdoch. That is two American people, not THE American
people."
======================= ####
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