[TheClimate.Vote] Feb 20, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News for All -

Mon Feb 20 11:03:51 EST 2017

/February 20, 2017 /Happer calls *global warming *a 
'non-problem'(Trump's possible science advisor) 
<http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/16/possible-trump-science-advisor-global-warming-is-not-worth-investing-in.html> 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/feb/15/william-happer-trump-science-adviser-video
<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/feb/15/william-happer-trump-science-adviser-videohttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/feb/15/william-happer-trump-science-adviser-video> 

    <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/feb/15/william-happer-trump-science-adviser-video>*(video) 
    William Happer*: who is Trump's likely science adviser? – video
    (2:50)
    <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/feb/15/william-happer-trump-science-adviser-videohttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/feb/15/william-happer-trump-science-adviser-video>

The Guardian 	 -‎Feb 15, 2017‎ 	

    William Happer, an eminent Princeton University professor, is tipped
    to become Donald Trump's science adviser. Happer is a respected
    scientist in the academic community, but many are concerned about
    his possible appointment because of his stance on climate change.
    Happer argues that the role of carbon dioxide (CO2) in climate
    change has been largely exaggerated and argues that more CO2 is good
    for plant life and the planet...
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/15/trump-science-adviser-william-happer-climate-change-cult

        Trump's likely science adviser calls climate scientists
        'glassy-eyed cult'
        <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/15/trump-science-adviser-william-happer-climate-change-cult>

    The Guardian 	 -‎Feb 15, 2017‎ 	

    "There's a whole area of climate so-called science that is really
    more like a cult," Happer told the Guardian. "It's like Hare Krishna
    or something like that. They're glassy-eyed and they chant. It will
    potentially harm the image of all science."..
    Trump has previously described global warming as "very expensive …
    bullshit" and has signalled a continued hardline stance since taking
    power. He has nominated the former Texas governor Rick Perry, a
    staunch climate sceptic, as secretary of energy and hopes to put the
    Environment Protection Agency (EPA) under the leadership of Scott
    Pruitt, the Oklahoma attorney general, who has been one of the
    agency's most hostile critics...
    John Holdren, Barack Obama's science adviser, said Happer's
    outspoken opinions would be a "substantial handicap" for a job that
    has traditionally involved delivering mainstream scientific opinion
    to the heart of policymaking...
    "Every national academy of science agrees that the science is solid,
    that climate change is real," he said. "To call this a cult is
    absurd and … an insult to the people who have done this work."..
    Happer also supports a controversial crackdown on the freedom of
    federal agency scientists to speak out about their findings, arguing
    that mixed messages on issues such as whether butter or margarine is
    healthier, have led to people disregarding all public health
    information...
    https://www.mintpressnews.com/trumps-pick-science-advisor-agreed-not-disclose-fossil-fuel-funding/225006/

        Trump's Pick For Science Advisor Agreed Not To Disclose Fossil
        Fuel Funding
        <https://www.mintpressnews.com/trumps-pick-science-advisor-agreed-not-disclose-fossil-fuel-funding/225006/>

    Mintpress News (blog) 	 -‎Feb 17, 2017‎ 	

    Professor*William Happer*, a Princeton University physicist, met
    with Donald Trump in January to discuss the role of science advisor
    and says he will accept it if offered.
    http://www.forbes.com/sites/nishacharya/2017/02/16/mr-president-the-office-of-science-technology-policy-is-important/

        Mr. President: The Office Of Science & Technology Policy Is
        Important
        <http://www.forbes.com/sites/nishacharya/2017/02/16/mr-president-the-office-of-science-technology-policy-is-important/>

    Forbes 	 -‎Feb 16, 2017‎ 	

    Unfortunately, the President is considering two individuals for
    Science Advisor, David Gelernter, a Professor of Computer Science at
    Yale, and*William Happer*, a physicist from Princeton, that are
    outright climate change deniers. Such a selection will*...*

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20170219/NEWS/170219850/insurance-industry-grapples-with-potential-losses-from-climate-change

    Insurance industry grapples with potential losses from*climate
    change*
    <http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20170219/NEWS/170219850/insurance-industry-grapples-with-potential-losses-from-climate-change>

Crain's Detroit Business 	 -‎4 hours ago‎ 	

Photo by Getty Images/iStockphoto The insurance industry is working to 
come to grips with how to measure the risks of*climate change*as 
scientists study the effects on a world in which the five warmest years 
in records dating to 1880 have all occurred*...*

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nasa-climate-change_us_58a91361e4b045cd34c2689e

    GOP Wants NASA To Stop Worrying About Earth And Focus On Space
    <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nasa-climate-change_us_58a91361e4b045cd34c2689e>

Huffington Post 	 -‎2 hours ago‎ 	

    There are talks of "rebalancing" the agency's mission as it
    continues to tweet about climate change. By Mary Papenfuss. 1.9k.
    https://mic.com/articles/169047/the-gop-could-cut-nasa-funding-for-climate-change-in-favor-of-space-exploration

        The GOP could cut NASA funding for climate change in favor of
        space exploration
        <https://mic.com/articles/169047/the-gop-could-cut-nasa-funding-for-climate-change-in-favor-of-space-exploration>

    Mic 	 -‎9 hours ago‎ 	

    The GOP is bringing its fight against climate science to a new
    battleground: NASA. According to a report from E&E News,
    congressional Republicans have called for a "rebalancing" of the
    program's budget, which could allocate much of the roughly $2

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170217160955.htm

    New study shows*climate change*is only one of many inter-related
    threats...
    <https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170217160955.htm>

Science Daily 	 -‎19 hours ago‎ 	

Titled "Modeling Sustainability: Population, Inequality, Consumption, 
and Bidirectional Coupling of the Earth and Human Systems," the paper 
describes how the rapid growth in resource use, land-use*change*, 
emissions, and pollution has made humanity the ..

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/fish-wars-cod-war-iceland-uk-climate-change-global-warming-nationalism-a7588331.html

    Global 'fish wars' could break out as*climate change*and rising
    nationalism fuel competition for world's oceans
    <http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/fish-wars-cod-war-iceland-uk-climate-change-global-warming-nationalism-a7588331.html>

The Independent 	 -‎4 hours ago‎ 	

The twin threats of*climate change*and growing nationalism could lead to 
an outbreak of conflicts over fish stocks - like the infamous Cod Wars 
between the UK and Iceland - that could threaten the global supply of 
food and "decimate" marine ecosystems,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoYq7_x41D4
*(video) Leadership and A Law of Ecocide: Polly Higgins at TEDxTallinn 
2013 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoYq7_x41D4>*

    Polly Higgins is a solicitor, writer and a visionary, who following
    years of handling discrimination cases and matters of business law,
    has taken the planet Earth as her chief client -- she is dreaming of
    ending ecocide by 2020 and has proposed to the UN to make it the
    fifth item on it's list of crimes against peace...
    Ecocide is the extensive damage, extermination or loss of the
    ecosystem of a specific region. The pan-European End Ecocide in
    Europe campaign has been launched to apply for criminalization of
    ecocide. The organizers are hoping to raise one million signatures
    that would oblige the European Commission to discuss and respond to
    the proposal. The campaign has already gained 14 500 signatures at
    www.endecocide.eu

http://www.inkstain.net/fleck/2017/02/climate-change-already-sapping-colorado-river/
*Climate change is already sapping the Colorado River 
<http://www.inkstain.net/fleck/2017/02/climate-change-already-sapping-colorado-river/>*

    A warming climate is already reducing the flow in the Colorado
    River, and the future risk is large, with a worst case of the
    river's flow being cut in half by the end of the century, according
    to a new study from a pair of the region's leading researchers.
    While precipitation declines since the turn of the century have been
    modest, Brad Udall and Jonathan Overpeck found, a little less rain
    and snow have translated to a lot less water in the river:
    Between 2000 and 2014, annual Colorado River flows averaged 19%
    below the 1906-1999 average, the worst 15-year drought on record. At
    least one-sixth to one-half (average at one- third) of this loss is
    due to unprecedented temperatures (0.9°C above the 1906-99 average),
    confirming model-based analysis that continued warming will likely
    further reduce flows.
    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016WR019638/full
    *The 21st century Colorado River hot drought and implications for
    the future
    <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016WR019638/full>*
    Abstract
    Between 2000 and 2014, annual Colorado River flows averaged 19%
    below the 1906-1999 average, the worst 15-year drought on record. At
    least one-sixth to one-half (average at one-third) of this loss is
    due to unprecedented temperatures (0.9°C above the 1906-99 average),
    confirming model-based analysis that continued warming will likely
    further reduce flows. Whereas it is virtually certain that warming
    will continue with additional emissions of greenhouse gases to the
    atmosphere, there has been no observed trend towards greater
    precipitation in the Colorado Basin, nor are climate models in
    agreement that there should be a trend. Moreover, there is a
    significant risk of decadal and multidecadal drought in the coming
    century, indicating that any increase in mean precipitation will
    likely be offset during periods of prolonged drought. Recently
    published estimates of Colorado River flow sensitivity to
    temperature combined with a large number of recent climate
    model-based temperature projections indicate that continued
    business-as-usual warming will drive temperature-induced declines in
    river flow, conservatively -20% by mid-century and -35% by
    end–century, with support for losses exceeding -30% at mid-century
    and -55% at end-century. Precipitation increases may moderate these
    declines somewhat, but to date no such increases are evident and
    there is no model agreement on future precipitation changes. These
    results, combined with the increasing likelihood of prolonged
    drought in the river basin, suggest that future climate change
    impacts on the Colorado River flows will be much more serious than
    currently assumed, especially if substantial reductions in
    greenhouse gas emissions do not occur. This article is protected by
    copyright. All rights reserved.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2017/02/19/nashvilles-quiet-revolution-fight-climate-change/98126500/

    Nashville's 'quiet revolution' to fight*climate change*
    <http://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2017/02/19/nashvilles-quiet-revolution-fight-climate-change/98126500/>

The Tennessean 	 -‎9 hours ago‎ 	

    Something historic is underfoot in Metro Nashville, and it would be
    a shame if it got lost in the news stampede coming out of Washington.
    For more than 80 years, the federal Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
    has overseen all energy generation in our city. That includes
    decisions to build hydroelectric dams, as well as decisions to
    double down on the Gallatin coal plant. Nearly all of Tennessee
    comes under TVA's jurisdiction, hence the Tennessee Regulatory
    Authority, set up to oversee our utilities, does not regulate our
    energy.
    As the rest of the country and the world move toward cleaner and
    renewable energy sources, TVA has dragged its feet. If you don't see
    solar panels on the rooftops of homes and buildings all over the
    city, you wonder why we don't have community solar that allows
    customers to buy shares, and you don't pass solar farms when driving
    in and around Nashville, it's because of TVA policy.
    Once the city sets goals, the work can begin to create a plan to
    realize those targets. As a start, the committee has recommended a
    two megawatts of community solar initiative, four to six megawatts
    of solar installed on Metro buildings, and switching to LED bulbs
    for street and traffic lights
    http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2016/12/16/southern-states-face-increasing-risk-wildfires/95513420/
    *Southern states face increasing risk for wildfires  Dec. 2016
    <http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2016/12/16/southern-states-face-increasing-risk-wildfires/95513420/>*
    Now, dry conditions are putting Southern states at risk for more
    fires. Tennessee has had more than 1,400 fires this year on state
    and private lands. An additional 62 fires were reported on federal
    lands owned by the Forest Service and National Park Service...
    In South Carolina...nearly 2 out of every 3 people live in regions
    classified by researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
    as wildland-urban interface, or WUI — areas where homes and wildland
    meet and where the stakes and potential for wildfires are higher.
     From 1992 to 2013, the state saw more than 78,000 wildfires...
    Using multiple government databases and satellite images to examine
    the threat of wildfires across the country, Reveal from The Center
    for Investigative Reporting found that since 1990, 8.5 million more
    homes are in WUI areas. The major reason is that the border between
    nature and urban development is constantly shifting as new homes
    push out into the wilderness....
    But as climate change continues to bring warmer, drier conditions to
    most of the country, many experts agree that wildfires will be
    larger and more frequent...
    And those frequently tasked with battling the flames — local fire
    departments — often don't have the training to fight wildfires.

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/national/scientists-rally-for-climate-change-reality-20170219

    Scientists rally for*climate change*'reality'
    <http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/national/scientists-rally-for-climate-change-reality-20170219>

WatertownDailyTimes.com 	 -‎4 hours ago‎ 	

BOSTON - Hundreds of scientists and their supporters rallied in historic 
Copley Square on Sunday, demanding that the Trump administration accept 
empirical reality on issues such as*climate change*and highlighting the 
centrality of objective*.
..*

*This Day in Climate History  February 20, 2013 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqJt_WSGoVI> -  from D.R. Tucker*

      In his first major policy speech as Secretary of State, John Kerry
    directly addresses the risks of climate change.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqJt_WSGoVI
    http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/02/21/1620201/speech-kerry-climate-hawk-courage-reject-dirty-keystone-xl-pipeline/

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