[TheClimate.Vote] Jan 10, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News for voters, candidates and officials
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Tue Jan 10 09:34:05 EST 2017
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Volkswagen Executive's Trip to US Allowed FBI to Pounce
<http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/business/volkswagen-emissions-scandal-oliver-schmidt.html>
New York Times -3 hours ago
Oliver Schmidt in 2014. Formerly Volkswagen's top emissions
compliance executive in the U.S., *he has been charged with
defrauding the government and violating the Clean Air Act.*...
When F.B.I. agents learned that a prime suspect in the Volkswagen
emissions scandal was traveling to the United States, investigators
knew they were on the cusp of a rare feat: the arrest of an overseas
corporate executive accused of wrongdoing...
Mr. Schmidt, 48, played a central role in Volkswagen's cover-up of
its diesel emissions cheating, according to an affidavit from an
F.B.I. agent that was unsealed on Monday. Even as the company
obfuscated details of its cheating program from regulators, Mr.
Schmidt warned executives in Germany that the company could face
criminal charges for its actions, the affidavit says....In an email
to a colleague in April 2014, he wrote, "It should first be decided
whether we are honest," according to an affidavit signed by Ian
Dinsmore, an F.B.I. special agent. The affidavit was the basis for a
criminal complaint against Mr. Schmidt.
Volkswagen decided to mask its emissions cheating from regulators,
according to the complaint and lawsuits filed by the New York
attorney general's office. ...Mr. Schmidt explained that the cars
contained software that recognized when a vehicle was undergoing
tests. The so-called defeat device increased pollution controls so
the cars would pass muster. Mr. Schmidt also told the executives
that if the meeting with regulators did not go well, the company
could face criminal charges, according to the
complaint...http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/business/volkswagen-emissions-scandal-oliver-schmidt.html
Rich Countries Dominate*Climate*Research
<https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rich-countries-dominate-climate-research/>
Scientific American -9 hours ago
Developed countries' dominance in*climate*research may make it
harder for poorer nations to participate effectively in the
Paris*climate*agreement, according to a report published last week
in Nature*Climate Change*. That imbalance is overwhelming: ...
Short-lived greenhouse gases cause centuries of*sea-level rise*
<http://news.mit.edu/2017/short-lived-greenhouse-gases-cause-centuries-sea-level-rise-0109>
MIT News -5 hours ago
Even if there comes a day when the world completely stops emitting
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, coastal regions and island
nations will continue to experience rising sea levels for centuries
afterward, according to a new study by researchers at MIT and Simon
Fraser University.
In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, the researchers report that warming from
short-lived compounds — greenhouse gases such as methane,
chlorofluorocarbons, or hydrofluorocarbons, that linger in the
atmosphere for just a year to a few decades — can cause sea levels
to rise for hundreds of years after the pollutants have been cleared
from the atmosphere....says co-author Susan Solomon, the Ellen
Swallow Richards Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and*Climate
Science*at MIT. "It's all the more reason why it's important to
understand how long*climate*changes will last, and how much
more*sea-level rise*is ...
http://news.mit.edu/2017/short-lived-greenhouse-gases-cause-centuries-sea-level-rise-0109
All the risks of*climate change*, in a single graph (Dave Roberts - VOX)
<http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/1/9/14186328/risks-climate-change-graph>
Vox -3 hours ago
The risks of*climate change*are not easy to communicate clearly.
Since the atmosphere affects everything, everything will be affected
by its warming - there's no single risk, but a wide and varied array
of risks, of different severities and scales...
Three degrees over preindustrial levels, where we are very likely
headed this century, puts us at high risk across the board, very
high for those uniquely threatened systems. Five degrees, which is
entirely possible, puts basically every human and ecological system
at high to very high risk....
We are already in danger, there's more danger to come, and the best
we can hope for is to slow and stop the process before the dangers
are catastrophic. That's the shape of things....
In a new paper in the journal Nature Climate Change, a group of 17
scholars examines the RFC conceptual framework and reviews the
latest science. (Because IPCC reports take so long to produce, the
science they contain is always a few years behind.)
...risks are divided into five buckets or RFCs:
*Risks to unique and threatened systems.* These are ecological or
human systems that are geographically constrained and have a high
degree of "endemism" — they are uniquely adapted to a particular
geography and climate. The authors cite as examples "tropical
glacier systems, coral reefs, mangrove ecosystems, biodiversity
hotspots, and unique indigenous communities."
*Risks associated with extreme weather events*. This is what it
says, i.e., "risk to human health, livelihoods, assets, and
ecosystems from extremes such as heat waves, heavy rain, drought and
associated wildfires, and coastal flooding."
*Risks associated with the distribution of impacts*. This reflects
the fact that some groups will be hit earlier and harder than
others. Distribution of impacts can be uneven with respect to
"geographic location, income and wealth, gender, age, or other
physical and socioeconomic characteristics."
*Risks associated with global aggregate impacts. *This refers to
"impacts to socio-ecological systems that can be aggregated globally
according to a single metric such as lives affected, monetary
damage, number of species at risk of extinction, or degradation and
loss of a number of ecosystems at a global scale."
*Risks associated with large-scale singular events.* These are the
much-discussed "tipping points," whereby a series of incremental
changes pushes some system over a threshold, at which point it
shifts into a period of rapid, discontinuous, and sometimes
irreversible change. The iconic example here is "disintegration of
the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets leading to a large and
rapid sea-level rise."
http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/1/9/14186328/risks-climate-change-graph
Speaking At MIT, Secretary Of State John Kerry Urges Action
On*Climate*Change 06:14
<http://www.wbur.org/bostonomix/2017/01/09/john-kerry-mit-climate-change>
WBUR -7 hours ago
With just days left in office, Secretary of State John Kerry was in
Massachusetts on Monday urging action on*climate change*. The former
Massachusetts lieutenant governor and U.S. senator got a standing
ovation from a receptive crowd at MIT's Sloan*...*
Secretary Kerry Addresses Massachusetts Institute of Technology
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0p1LNA3KYQ&feature=youtu.be>
Secretary of State John Kerry Addresses Massachusetts Institute of
Technology on "Climate Change in Cambridge, Massachusetts on January
9, 2017. A full transcript is available at
https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2017/index.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0p1LNA3KYQ&feature=youtu.be
Week ahead: Former Exxon chief to face questions on Russia,*climate*
<http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/313112-week-ahead-former-exxon-chief-to-face-questions-on-russia-climate>
The Hill -5 hours ago
For decades, the company sought to sow doubt about whether*climate
change*is real and whether using fossil fuels cause it, despite
reports that Exxon knew that as early as the 1970s.
Exxon Continued Paying Millions To*Climate-Change* Deniers Under Rex
Tillerson
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tillerson-exxon-climate-donations_us_5873a3f4e4b043ad97e48f52>
Huffington Post -4 hours ago
A broader analysis by the*Climate*Investigations Center, which
included Exxon Mobil's contributions to trade groups such as the U.S.
Here Are All the*Climate*Deniers and Oil Flacks Who Love Trump's EPA
Pick
<http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/climate-deniers-coming-next-epa-chief-rescue>
Mother Jones -14 hours ago
Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma's attorney general and Donald Trump's pick to
lead the Environmental Protection Agency, has been a longtime
opponent of federal environmental regulations and a denier
of*climate change*. Not surprisingly ... What this means*...*
Russian treachery is extreme and it is everywhere
<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/07/russian-treachery-extreme-and-everywhere>
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/07/russian-treachery-extreme-and-everywhere
Russia Wins in a Retreat on Climate Change
<https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-12-15/russia-wins-in-a-retreat-on-climate-change>
Russia gains when anti-climate-change efforts falter because, first
and foremost, it's a petrostate. Oil and gas comprise the bulk of
Russia's exports...
Without oil and gas, Russia's economy would be a shambles, and sharp
declines in energy prices in the 1990s and again in the past three
years sent its economy into deep recessions...
Russia exports most of its fossil fuels to Europe, so fewer carbon
restrictions in that region would help secure Russia's main markets
and keep Europe more economically dependent on its giant neighbor....
Much of Russia is covered in permafrost and tundra, making it
unusable for farming and also an unpleasant place to live. Global
warming could change that. Researchers at Germany's Ludwig
Maximilians University, estimate that warming temperatures could add
more than 3 million square kilometers (1.15 million square miles) to
Russia's arable land. This is in stark contrast to most countries,
whose farmland would shrink as the climate warms....
This doesn't mean climate change holds no risks for Russia --
coastal flooding is a real danger, and melting permafrost might
force the country to rebuild some existing infrastructure. But the
point is that Russia probably has fewer downsides, and more
potential upsides, from climate change than most other nations...
...it seems likely that a general turn away from fighting climate
change will leave his country in a stronger long-term position, both
economically and geopolitically.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-12-15/russia-wins-in-a-retreat-on-climate-change
Russia and Climate Change: A Looming Threat (2-2016)
<http://thediplomat.com/2016/02/russia-and-climate-change-a-looming-threat/>
http://thediplomat.com/2016/02/russia-and-climate-change-a-looming-threat/
How Trump and Congress might undermine*climate*action in states
(preemptions)
<http://grist.org/article/how-trump-and-congress-might-undermine-climate-action-in-states/>
Grist -5 hours ago
If some of the deepest concerns of*climate*-focused bureaucrats from
San Francisco to Massachusetts and New York come true, the Trump
administration will preemptively prevent them from acting to
slow*global warming*. With Trump and Republicans in ...
The term "preemption" doesn't describe a single legislative or
regulatory tool. The word describes a concept in which the federal
government or a state imposes restrictions on the rules and programs
that governments operating beneath it are allowed to implement....
Conservative lawmakers in North Carolina used a preemption law last
year to outlaw transgender protections in Charlotte. In Michigan,
cities and counties were barred from banning plastic bags. Colorado
prevents local governments from banning fracking....
With Republicans about to control both houses of Congress and the
White House, environmental experts are warning of battles ahead over
potential federal preemptions....
"There really is virtually no aspect of federal regulation of the
natural environment or health that's not at risk of preemption now,"
said Mark Pertschuk, a lawyer and activist with the nonprofit
Grassroots Change, which tracks state preemptions of local rules
affecting gun safety, paid sick days, factory farming, and other
issues. "Federal laws almost always trump state and local laws."...
It's difficult to predict when, how, or whether the federal
government will wield any tools of preemption to bar cities and
states from enforcing their own environmental rules. Nonetheless,
governments across the country are bracing for new restrictions.
California's decision to hire Obama's attorney general, Eric Holder
Jr., showed it's preparing to fight for state rights in court....
"Everything is speculative right now," said Cooper Martin, a
sustainability official at the National League of Cities, which
represents cities in state capitols and on Capitol Hill. Based on
Trump's anti-environmental cabinet nominees and his rhetoric on
climate change, which he has falsely called a hoax, Martin said
fears of federal preemption are "certainly well founded."..
...http://grist.org/article/how-trump-and-congress-might-undermine-climate-action-in-states/
*Global warming*could see rise in toxic shellfish that can lead to
memory loss and potentially kill
<http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/global-warming-climate-change-oceans-acidity-toxic-shell-fish-a7518021.html>
The Independent -5 hours ago
Rising ocean temperatures are leading to a rise in shellfish
infected with a potentially deadly toxin, according to new research.
There have been a number of vast blooms of algae - so large they can
be seen from space - off the west coast of the US*...*
Future rice yield losses due to*climate change*could be extreme
<http://arstechnica.com/science/2017/01/future-rice-yield-losses-due-to-climate-change-could-be-extreme/>
Ars Technica -2 hours ago
Rice is a staple food for more than half of the world's population.
Rice yields depend on numerous factors, such as agricultural
practices, but they also depend on the temperature at which the crop
is grown....lobal gridded crop models that compare present-day
yields and long-term trends are also less negative, predicting a
drop of 2.4 ±3.7 percent for each Kelvin of temperature change...
Finally, the International Food Policy Research Institute has its
own analysis, which projects a reduction of 4.2 to 6.4 percent for
each Kelvin of temperature
change....http://www.nature.com/articles/nplants2016202.epdf
Desperate exodus of the*climate*refugees
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/09/desperate-exodus-of-the-climate-refugees>
The Guardian -5 hours ago
In the last six years, some 140 million people have been forced to
move because of*climate*-related disasters (Mongolian herders fly
steppe blighted by*climate*extremes and social change, 5
January).*Climate change*is driving long-term environmental ...
*2016 deadliest year ever for migrants crossing Mediterranean – UN
agency <http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55919#.WHQ42lXadpg>*
6 January 2017 – More migrants were killed crossing the
Mediterranean Sea to Europe in 2016 than ever before, according to
the United Nations migration agency in the region...
At least 363,348 people crossed the sea – mostly to Italy and Greece
– but 5,079 additional people were either killed or are missing. The
UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) released its
preliminary figures today, but they are expected to increase with
the addition of fatalities from December...
"The probable addition of several hundred more fatalities recorded
in 2016 only deepens the tragedy," said IOM Director General William
Lacy Swing.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55919#.WHQ42lXadpg
*Global Warming*Is Not Slowing Down , New Study Shows
<http://www.universityherald.com/articles/59290/20170109/new-study-shows-global-warming-slowing-down.htm>
University Herald -5 hours ago
Moreover, the rate of*global warming*in the first 15 years of the
current century has been rising faster than the rate experienced
over the last half of the 20th century.
t's Official: 2016 Was Second Hottest Year for U.S.
<http://www.climatecentral.org/news/2016-was-second-hottest-year-for-us-21034>
Climate Central -10 hours ago
2016 was the second hottest year for the U.S. in more than 120 years
of record keeping, government scientists announced on Monday,
marking 20 above-average years in a row.
*Storm fells one of California's iconic drive-through tunnel trees,
carved 137 years ago
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-tunnel-tree-falls-california-storms-20170109-story.html>*
On Sunday at around 2 p.m., with names carved more than a century
ago still prominent on its great trunk, the gargantuan tree fell to
the ground after being pummeled by a particularly viscous winter
storm. Calaveras Big Trees State Park, the land's owners carved
...in the base of one of its sequoia trees....a tunnel wide enough
for an automobile to drive through..
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-tunnel-tree-falls-california-storms-20170109-story.html
*This Day in Climate History January 10, 2013
<http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-01-10/opinions/36272697_1_climate-change-climate-change-noaa>
- from D.R. Tucker*
Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson observes:
"So we’re going to deal with climate change whether we like it or
not. We’re going to spend many billions of dollars over the coming
years providing disaster relief in the wake of hurricanes and other
destructive weather events. If we’re a bit smarter, we’ll spend even
more to protect our coastal cities from storm surges of the kind
that devastated parts of New York. Investment in barriers and
floodwalls will ultimately save both money and lives.
"But if we were really smart, we’d be talking about how to mitigate
the ultimate damage by weaning ourselves from coal, oil and other
energy sources that produce carbon emissions."
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-01-10/opinions/36272697_1_climate-change-climate-change-noaa
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