[TheClimate.Vote] May 23, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Tue May 23 09:43:12 EDT 2017
/May 23, 2017/
Stop hoping we can fix *climate change*by pulling carbon out of the air,
scientists warn
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/22/stop-hoping-we-can-fix-climate-change-by-pulling-carbon-out-of-the-air-scientists-warn/>
Scientists are expressing increasing skepticism that we're going to be
able to get out of the climate change mess by relying on a variety of
large-scale land-use and technical solutions that have been not only
proposed but often relied upon in scientific calculations.
Two papers published last week debunk the idea of planting large volumes
of trees to pull carbon dioxide out of the air - saying there just isn't
enough land available to pull it off - and also various other strategies
for "carbon dioxide removal," some of which also include massive tree
plantings combined with burning their biomass and storing it below the
ground.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/22/stop-hoping-we-can-fix-climate-change-by-pulling-carbon-out-of-the-air-scientists-warn////
/
*Interior Department agency removes climate change language from news
release
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/interior-department-agency-removes-climate-change-language-from-news-release/2017/05/22/774c122a-3f23-11e7-adba-394ee67a7582_story.html?utm_term=.706dc89699a6>*
(Washington Post) On Thursday, a group of scientists, including three
working for the U.S. Geological Survey, published a paper that
highlighted the link between sea-level rise and global climate change,
arguing that previously studies may have underestimated the risk
flooding poses to coastal communities.
However, three of the study's authors say the Department of Interior,
under which USGS is housed, deleted a line from the news release on the
study that discussed the role climate change played in raising Earth's
oceans.
"While we were approving the news release, they had an issue with one or
two of the lines," said Sean Vitousek, a research assistant professor at
the University of Illinois at Chicago. "It had to do with climate change
and sea-level rise."
That deleted line, they said, read:*"Global climate change drives
sea-level rise, increasing the frequency of coastal flooding."*
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/interior-department-agency-removes-climate-change-language-from-news-release/2017/05/22/774c122a-3f23-11e7-adba-394ee67a7582_story.html
Find out what is true and false about*climate change (USA Today)*
<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/22/find-out-what-true-and-false-climate-change/335532001/>
The subject of climate change may or may not come up at a family
gathering or a cocktail party. If it does, you might hear people
debating some of the finer points of science, perhaps with little or no
climate science background.
Skeptical Science is a science education group run by a global team of
volunteers. It's based on scientific literature that's gone through the
peer-review process, meaning the research has been subjected to scrutiny
by other experts in the same field.
On its website, skepticalscience.com <https://skepticalscience.com/>
debunks many of the most common climate change myths, including these:
/Myth: Sure the climate's changing. It's always changing and it's
changed before./
Mythbuster: Climate reacts to whatever forces it to change at the
time; humans are now the dominant force. In the past when the
Earth's temperature jumped abruptly, much as is happening today, it
was caused by large and rapid greenhouse gas emissions, just like
humans are causing today.
/Myth: Humans are too insignificant to affect global climate./
Mythbuster: When we experience weather events like hurricanes and
floods, it's very easy for us to feel insignificant and powerless in
the face of such massive natural forces. But since the industrial
revolution, with ever-increasing supplies of fossil fuels, the
activities of a dramatically expanding world population have made
significant alterations to the makeup of our atmosphere. This is
resulting in a change in weather patterns and ocean currents; the
melting of global ice formations; and an increase in extreme weather
events.
/Myth: It's the sun./
Mythbuster: Over the last 35 years the sun has shown a cooling
trend. However global temperatures continue to increase. If the
sun's energy is decreasing while the Earth is warming, then the sun
can't be the main control of the temperature.
/
//Myth: It hasn't warmed since 1998./
Mythbuster: Every part of the Earth's climate system has continued
warming since 1998, with 2014, 2015 and 2016 breaking temperature
records.
/Myth: Computer models are unreliable./
Mythbuster: Climate models have already predicted many of the
phenomena for which we now have empirical evidence. Climate models
form a reliable guide to potential climate change.
/
//Myth: It's not so bad./
Mythbuster: Negative impacts of global warming on agriculture,
health and environment far outweigh any positives.
/Myth: Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant./
Mythbuster: We commonly think of pollutants as contaminants that
make the environment dirty or impure. A broader definition of
pollutant is a substance that causes instability or discomfort to an
ecosystem, such as the rising levels of human-caused CO2 are doing now.
/
//Myth: There's no consensus./
Mythbuster: There isn't a political consensus, but there's a
scientific consensus. Authors of seven climate consensus studied
have, depending on how exactly consensus is measured, found that
somewhere between 90% and 100% agree humans are responsible for
climate change, with most of the studies finding of 97% consensus
among publishing climate scientists.
/Myth: Scientists can't even predict the weather./
Mythbuster: Weather and climate are different; climate predictions
do not need the detail of a weather report. Climate models are not
predicting day-to-day weather systems. Instead, they are predicting
climate averages.
/Myth: Mars is warming, too, and there are no humans there./
Mythbuster: There is little actual evidence that Mars is warming. We
know the sun is not heating up all the planets in our solar system
because we can accurately measure the sun's output on Earth.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/22/find-out-what-true-and-false-climate-change/335532001/
Is*Global Warming*to Blame for Your Gestational Diabetes?
<http://www.rd.com/health/conditions/gestational-diabetes-climate-change/>
According to a new study published in the Journal of the Canadian
Medical Association (CMAJ), as the temperature outside climbs, so too
does a woman's risk of gestational diabetes (GD), a type of diabetes
that develops during pregnancy in women with no previous symptoms of
diabetes. Like other types of diabetes, GD affects how the body uses
sugar and results in high blood sugar, which can adversely affect the
pregnancy, the health of the baby, and the health of the mother too.
Symptoms of gestational diabetes include increased thirst, hunger, and
urination, and blurred vision (all of which can be present in healthy
pregnancies, which is why doctors routinely test for GD during pregnancy).
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), GD
affects nearly 10 percent of pregnancies in the United States. What
causes gestational diabetes: The hormones in the placenta trigger
insulin resistance, which interferes with the body's ability to maintain
healthy levels of blood sugar. Here's where climate change makes things
worse.
http://www.rd.com/health/conditions/gestational-diabetes-climate-change/
Shell CEO says*climate change*is real but energy demand growth is
'unstoppable'
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/22/shell-ceo-says-climate-change-is-real-but-energy-demand-growth-is-unstoppable/>
Ben van Beurden, the chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, took time to
speak to The Washington Post on May 17 during a visit to Washington, and
he touched on the oil giant's transformation, climate change,
millennials, the new Trump administration, economic sanctions and the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
It's been a turbulent couple of years for the Shell CEO. With the roller
coaster in crude oil prices, the company's stock has lurched from a high
of $83.12 a share six months after he took charge to a low of $36.87.
The stock has climbed back, but revenue has plunged by a third since
2013. The shareholders' annual meeting is on May 23 at The Hague.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/22/shell-ceo-says-climate-change-is-real-but-energy-demand-growth-is-unstoppable/
*Shell shareholders to vote for new climate change goals
<https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/21/rebellious-shell-shareholders-to-vote-for-new-climate-change-goals>*
Shell shareholders including the Church of England, European pension
funds and Dutch activists will send a signal to the board of the
Anglo-Dutch company this week by voting for it to set new climate change
goals.
The challenge comes from a Dutch group of retail investors, who have
tabled a resolution for Shell's annual general meeting on Tuesday,
asking the company to establish carbon emission reduction targets.
"A large group of institutional investors will make their
dissatisfaction with the company's position evident by voting for this
resolution," said Mark van Baal of Follow this. The Church of England is
among investors supporting the proposal, along with several European
pension funds.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/21/rebellious-shell-shareholders-to-vote-for-new-climate-change-goals
NATO lawmakers warn*climate change*may worsen Middle East security
risks
<http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nato-climatechange-idUSKBN18I22S>
(Reuters)
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Climate change will worsen food
and water shortages in the Middle East and north Africa, and risk
triggering more conflict and mass migration, with serious implications
for the wider world, lawmakers from NATO's Parliamentary Assembly said
Monday.
"The long-term prospects for food and water security in the MENA region
are dire," said Osman Askin Bak, a member of the Turkish Parliament who
will present the draft report on Saturday at the Parliamentary Assembly
- a gathering of senior parliamentarians from the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization's 28 member states.
"Climate change will worsen the region's outlook," he added.
War, poor governance, climate change and other issues have worsened
tensions over competition for scarce water and food in the Middle East
and north Africa, the lawmakers said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nato-climatechange-idUSKBN18I22S
*(Opinion) How inaction on climate change puts America's economy at risk
<http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/energy-environment/334564-inaction-on-climate-change-puts-americas-economy-at>*
The Hill
...it is abandoning the fight against climate change that will take away
U.S. jobs. The economic risks of ignoring the emerging global market for
clean energy are real. By abdicating its leadership role on global
climate change and backing away from policies that support the Paris
Climate Pledge, the Trump administration is - perhaps unwittingly -
removing incentives for American companies to compete and innovate at
the forefront of clean energy. And its actions to defund education and
research in fundamental areas and limit immigration will further
undermine U.S. potential as a crucible for invention and
commercialization...
History suggests we are making a big mistake. A White House budget
report under the Obama administration provided evidence that among all
types of regulations benefits exceeded cost by the largest margin for
environmental initiatives. The recently enacted Mercury and Air Toxics
Standards was estimated to cost $8.1 billion annually, but benefits came
in at $28 billion to $77 billion. The same regulation was estimated to
have modest net positive impact on employment, precisely because of the
new jobs in the pollution abatement and control industry.
Clean energy has the potential to be much larger. Policy, for instance
in the form of a price on carbon dioxide, would prompt a reorganization
of economic activity towards cleaner sources of energy. Once policy
sends a clear signal, if past is prologue, American businesses will rise
to the challenge and, in doing so, prepare to lead in a future low
carbon world.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/energy-environment/334564-inaction-on-climate-change-puts-americas-economy-at
*
**Climate change taking toll on clarity of Lake Tahoe water
<http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/climate-change-taking-toll-clarity-pf-lake-tahoe-47565706>*
(ABC News) Climate change is causing Lake Tahoe to warm sooner in the
spring than it has historically, disrupting the normal mixing of shallow
and deep water and undercutting gains made in reversing the loss of
clarity of the cobalt mountain lake, scientists say.
"Climate change is impacting not only Lake Tahoe's water quality, but
also the health of its forests and its recreation-based economy," said
Joanne Marchetta, executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning
Agency, which regulates the lake covering 191 square miles (495 sq.
kilometers) along the Nevada-California border.
Until recently, the climatological cycles affecting Tahoe's clarity had
remained fairly constant since 1968, when experts first dropped a white
disk into the lake to measure how far down it remained visible. Back
then, it was more than 102 feet (31 meters) compared to an average of
about 69 feet (21 meters) now....
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/climate-change-taking-toll-clarity-pf-lake-tahoe-47565706
*Climate Change* Threatens Nearly 1 In 5 Chicago's Tree Species:
Report
<https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20170522/edgebrook/chicago-trees-climate-change-park-district-us-forest-service>
Nearly one in five trees native to the Chicago area faces a serious
threat from climate change, according to a report published by the U.S.
Forest Service.
The study, commissioned by foresters from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture in collaboration with nearly 100 local naturalist groups,
found that a hotter and wetter climate could decimate the city's tree
population if officials don't find new ways to stay ahead of the
changing landscape.
The report zoomed out to 7 million-acre region stretching from Milwaukee
all the way to southwestern Michigan, detailing the potential impact of
climate change on trees native to the region. But it also zeroed in on
the Chicago Park District, ticking off the unique challenges urban
planters will face - and the strategies they can harness to save the
city's tree canopy.
Of the 179 native tree species studied by the Forest Service, about 17
percent were rated with "moderate-high or high vulnerability" to climate
change, thanks to creeping dangers like wind damage, air pollution, heat
stress and storm runoff.
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20170522/edgebrook/chicago-trees-climate-change-park-district-us-forest-service
*2 more leaks found along Dakota Access pipeline
<http://missoulian.com/business/more-leaks-found-along-dakota-access-pipeline/article_2290b183-a814-514d-b3a8-b218defaeb1c.html>*
The Dakota Access pipeline system leaked more than 100 gallons of oil
in North Dakota in two separate incidents in March - the second and
third known leaks discovered as crews prepared the disputed $3.8 billion
pipeline for operation.
Two barrels, or 84 gallons (320 liters), spilled due to a leaky flange
at a pipeline terminal in Watford City on March 3, according to the
state's Health Department. A flange is the section connecting two
sections of pipeline. Oil flow was immediately cut off and the spill was
contained on site. Contaminated snow and soil was removed. No people,
wildlife or waterways were affected, according to the department's
environmental health database.
A leak of half a barrel, or 20 gallons (75 liters), occurred March 5 in
rural Mercer County, data from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration show. Contaminated soil was removed, and
no waterways were affected. There were no reported injuries to people or
wildlife. The administration is part of the Department of Transportation.
http://missoulian.com/business/more-leaks-found-along-dakota-access-pipeline/article_2290b183-a814-514d-b3a8-b218defaeb1c.html
*Loss and damage: How do we assign responsibility for global emissions?
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-FHklqKDcs>*
Dr Jan Fuglestvedt from CICERO on calculating historical contributions
to global emissions and Dr Friederike Otto from the University of Oxford
on the role attribution can play in loss and damage.
Legal and moral questions are linked to direct atmospheric physical
influences.
https://youtu.be/b-FHklqKDcs
*Climate Change*May Force Millions Of Americans To Move Inland
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sea-level-climate-migrants-united-states_us_591a9e93e4b0809be157a253>
As coastal areas are deluged over this century, millions of mainland
Americans could be forced to flee inland, where they may overwhelm
already crowded cities, according to new research from the University of
Georgia.
"We typically think about sea-level rise as a coastal issue, but if
people are forced to move because their houses become inundated, the
migration could affect many landlocked communities as well," said Mathew
Hauer, the University of Georgia demographer who wrote the paper.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sea-level-climate-migrants-united-states_us_591a9e93e4b0809be157a253
See the Mar-A-Lago sea level rise prediction
<http://downloads.climatecentral.org/lammimages/image_request.html>
http://downloads.climatecentral.org/lammimages/image_request.html
/*This Day in Climate History May 23, 2011
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-link-between-climate-change-and-joplin-tornadoes-never/2011/05/23/AFrVC49G_print.html>
- from D.R. Tucker*
/In the Washington Post, Bill McKibben mocks the mainstream media's
refusal to point out that extreme weather events such as the unusually
strong tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri were predicted decades ago by
climate scientists.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-link-between-climate-change-and-joplin-tornadoes-never/2011/05/23/AFrVC49G_print.html
(video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhCY-3XnqS0&sns=em/
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