[TheClimate.Vote] June 23, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News

Richard Pauli richard at theclimate.vote
Fri Jun 23 09:47:53 EDT 2017


/June 23, 2017/

https://twitter.com/climatebrad/status/877716353725206528
Brad Johnson   @climatebrad
I never know whether to be amused or just sad when deniers compare 
today's heat waves to that of the 1930s.  Here's June 1934 vs 2016
https://twitter.com/climatebrad 
<https://twitter.com/climatebrad/status/877716353725206528>


    *Climate Change*Altering Droughts, Impacts Across US
    <http://www.climatecentral.org/news/climate-change-altering-droughts-us-21563>

The stakes are high. Extreme drought across the U.S. has contributed to 
tens of thousands of job losses, unpredictable and often extreme 
rainfall and devastating wildfires that have left behind many millions 
of charred acres of land and billions of dollars in property losses. 
Study author Richard Heim, Jr., a researcher at the National Centers for 
Environmental Information at NOAA, compared a nationwide series of dry 
spells beginning in 1998 to two other devastating droughts in the 1930s 
and 1950s, including the Dust Bowl....
"Most droughts are a bit quirky in their character, and all droughts 
impact a different society and economy than their predecessors making 
each drought and its lessons substantially unique," Lund said. "Still, 
it is very likely that higher temperatures will worsen the severity of 
droughts."
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/climate-change-altering-droughts-us-21563


    Trump's putdown of wind energy whips up a backlash in Iowa
    <https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/trumps-putdown-of-wind-energy-whips-up-a-backlash-in-iowa/2017/06/22/4e299a9a-578b-11e7-840b-512026319da7_story.html>

Trump was talking up his support for coal during his speech in Cedar 
Rapids on Wednesday night when he said: "I don't want to just hope the 
wind blows to light up your homes and your factories." He paused before 
adding, "as the birds fall to the ground," a reference to birds killed 
by turbines.
The remark drew some cheers and laughs inside the arena but didn't go 
over well across Iowa, where the rapid growth of the state's wind energy 
industry has been a bipartisan success story. Environmentalists and 
politicians said the president's suggestion that wind is unreliable was 
outdated and off-base, and noted that bird deaths have been minimized 
and aren't a source of controversy in Iowa....
In the most ever for any state, Iowa last year generated 36.6 percent of 
its electricity from wind. That figure is expected to keep growing, with 
the state's two largest utilities having already started $4 billion in 
additional wind expansion projects...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/trumps-putdown-of-wind-energy-whips-up-a-backlash-in-iowa/2017/06/22/4e299a9a-578b-11e7-840b-512026319da7_story.html

*
"Top global banks still lend billions to extract fossil fuels" 
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/21/top-global-banks-still-lend-billions-extract-fossil-fuels>*
Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack, Sierra Club, and Oil Change 
International released the 8th annual fossil fuel finance report card, 
Banking on Climate Change, in collaboration with 28 organizations around 
the world. The report finds that 2016 saw a steep fall in bank funding 
for extreme fossil fuels - and yet, with near-failing grades on their 
policies to rein in fossil fuel investments, big banks lack guardrails 
to prevent a future rise in financing these destructive, risky sectors 
that should be the first to go in the energy transition.
You can read the report and interact with the data at 
www.ran.org/bankingonclimatechange 
<https://www.ran.org/banking_on_climate_change>.
In addition to detailing the $290 billion that 37 big banks poured into 
extreme fossil fuels in the past 3 years, the report card grades bank on 
their policies, and highlights key case studies: the Keystone XL and 
Trans Mountain tar sands pipelines, Peabody Energy's bankruptcy, coal 
mining in Poland, coal power expansion plans in Vietnam and the 
Philippines, LNG terminals in Maryland and Texas' Rio Grande Valley, and 
the Dakota Access Pipeline.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/21/top-global-banks-still-lend-billions-extract-fossil-fuels
https://www.ran.org/banking_on_climate_change


*Climate change is shrinking the Colorado River 
<https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-shrinking-the-colorado-river-76280>*
It takes years to implement new water agreements, so states, cities and 
major water users should start to plan now for significant 
temperature-induced flow declines. With the Southwest's ample renewable 
energy resources and low costs for producing solar power, we can also 
lead the way in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, inducing other 
regions to do the same. Failing to act on climate change means accepting 
the very high risk that the Colorado River Basin will continue to dry up 
into the future.
https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-shrinking-the-colorado-river-76280


    Rick Perry wrongly downplays human role in*climate change*
    <http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jun/22/rick-perry/rick-perry-wrongly-downplays-human-role-climate-ch/>

Energy Secretary Rick Perry downplayed the role of human activity in the 
recent rise in the Earth's temperature, saying natural causes are likely 
the main driver of climate change.
Perry was asked in a CNBC interview if he believed carbon dioxide was 
the "primary control knob" for the earth's temperature.
"No. Most likely the primary control knob is the ocean waters and this 
environment that we live in," Perry said in the June 19 interview.
Perry's claim contradicts settled science. While natural factors 
certainly affect the climate, human factors are the main contributor to 
global warming, and carbon dioxide has acted as the "primary control 
knob" governing the earth's relatively recent uptick in temperature.
We rate Perry's statement False.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jun/22/rick-perry/rick-perry-wrongly-downplays-human-role-climate-ch/


(video) Alarming Rise in Methane Gas Has a Bigger Impact on Climate 
Change Than We Ever Thought <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dc6t94MdtM>
Richard Aguilar    Published on Jun 18, 2017
SUBSCRIBE: https://goo.gl/w3A8IS
60 gas leaks found in Medina apartment.
New Report Details Alarming Rise in Methane Gas.
Ancient Earth Wasn't Surrounded By Methane Gas.
Climate change- permafrost meltdown raises risk of catastrophic global 
warming.
A river on fire!- MP sets fire to methane gas on Condamine river, Australia.
Methane gas threatening to slow efforts to slow climate change.
Methane Leaks From Oil and Gas Wells Now Top Polluters.
Scientists Find 7,000 Methane 'Bubbles' Trapped Underground in Siberia.
Tons of Methane Gas Might Cost the World $60 Trillion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dc6t94MdtM


*Report: Fossil fuel companies face big loses as world transitions to 
low-carbon economy 
<http://www.carbontracker.org/report/2-degrees-of-separation-transition-risk-for-oil-and-gas-in-a-low-carbon-world/>*
"Sticking with the growth-at-all-costs scenario just doesn't add up for 
shareholder value when policy and technology are heading in the opposite 
direction."
Thirty percent of investments planned by oil and gas majors over the 
next decade could be wasted if the world economy retools to cap global 
warming at two degrees Celsius, researchers warned Wednesday.
The two-degree target is the cornerstone of the 196-nation Paris 
Agreement, inked in 2015. President Trump has announced the US is 
withdrawing from the agreement - warning it will hurt the country's 
economy - but other nations are proceeding to meet its goals.
The new report, "Two degrees of separation: Transition risk for upstream 
oil and gas in a low-carbon world," suggests some big energy companies 
are failing to adjust their businesses to meet the low-carbon economy 
required by the agreement - and could end up with problems as a result.
http://www.carbontracker.org/report/2-degrees-of-separation-transition-risk-for-oil-and-gas-in-a-low-carbon-world/ 


https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/22/climate/95-degree-day-maps.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/business/flying-climate-change.html


*Branson: The world is 'baffled' by Trump's climate stance. 
<http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/275783/142179/207218/0/>*
British billionaire Richard Branson said business leaders were left 
dumbfounded by President Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the 
Paris Climate Agreement.
http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/275783/142179/207218/0/


*A first-of-its-kind clean coal plant may not burn coal at all. 
<http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/275783/142179/207209/0/>*
  A first-of-its-kind "clean coal" power plant that utility owner 
Southern Co. spent years constructing in Mississippi may end up burning 
no coal at all - and instead just run like a natural gas generator. 
Bloomberg News.
http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/275783/142179/207209/0/


*To lead on climate, leave the ivy tower 
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/jun/21/to-lead-on-climate-leave-the-ivy-tower>*
On behalf of students and alumni from all Ivy-Plus universities, we call 
on our institutions to join the "We Are Still In" coalition
Ralien Bekkers, Hillary Aidun, Emily Wier, Geoffrey Supran
@GeoffreySupran
Wednesday 21 June 2017 06.00 EDT Last modified on Wednesday 21 June 2017 
06.03 EDT
America's top universities expend considerable efforts to lead in the 
rankings, but last week they fell short-missing a critical opportunity 
to show moral leadership on climate change. If top schools want to lead 
on climate action, they should join the "We Are Still In" coalition, a 
collection of states, cities, businesses, and universities promising to 
support the Paris Climate Agreement...
President Trump's decision to pull out of the international climate 
accord was swiftly rejected by local and state officials, as well as 
members of the business and academic community. Over 1,000 leaders have 
signed on to the "We Are Still In" pledge-including mayors and governors 
representing about 120 million people. More than 200 colleges and 
universities have joined. Leadership from these institutions sends a 
powerful message to President Trump and the globe: even if the federal 
government reneges on its international commitments, Americans are 
stepping up to fill the gap...
Unfortunately, our 11 academic institutions-the "Ivy-Plus" group-were 
not on that list (Columbia was the lone member of the Ivy-Plus group to 
sign both coalition statements).
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/jun/21/to-lead-on-climate-leave-the-ivy-tower


*This Day in Climate History June 23, 1988 
<http://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/24/us/global-warming-has-begun-expert-tells-senate.html> 
-  from D.R. Tucker*
June 23, 1988: NASA scientist James Hansen warns the US Senate about
the risks of human-caused climate change.
  WASHINGTON, June 23- The earth has been warmer in the first five 
months of this year than in any comparable period since measurements 
began 130 years ago, and the higher temperatures can now be attributed 
to a long-expected global warming trend linked to pollution, a space 
agency scientist reported today.
Until now, scientists have been cautious about attributing rising global 
temperatures of recent years to the predicted global warming caused by 
pollutants in the atmosphere, known as the ''greenhouse effect.'' But 
today Dr. James E. Hansen of the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration told a Congressional committee that it was 99 percent 
certain that the warming trend was not a natural variation but was 
caused by a buildup of carbon dioxide and other artificial gases in the 
atmosphere.
Dr. Hansen, a leading expert on climate change, said in an interview 
that there was no ''magic number'' that showed when the greenhouse 
effect was actually starting to cause changes in climate and weather. 
But he added, ''It is time to stop waffling so much and say that the 
evidence is pretty strong that the greenhouse effect is here.'' An 
Impact Lasting Centuries .
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/24/us/global-warming-has-begun-expert-tells-senate.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
////You are encouraged to forward this email /

        . *** Privacy and Security: * This is a text-only mailing that
        carries no images which may originate from remote servers.
        Text-only messages provide greater privacy to the receiver and
        sender.
        By regulation, the .VOTE top-level domain must be used for
        democratic and election purposes and cannot be used for
        commercial purposes.
        To subscribe, email: contact at theclimate.vote with subject: 
        subscribe,  To Unsubscribe, subject: unsubscribe
        Also youmay subscribe/unsubscribe at
        https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/theclimate.vote
        Links and headlines assembled and curated by Richard Paulifor
        http://TheClimate.Vote delivering succinct information for
        citizens and responsible governments of all levels.   List
        membership is confidential and records are scrupulously
        restricted to this mailing list.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/attachments/20170623/250e3215/attachment.html>


More information about the TheClimate.Vote mailing list