[TheClimate.Vote] November 13, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/November 13, 2017
/
*Climate target too low and progress too slow: top scientist 
<https://phys.org/news/2017-11-climate-scientist.html>*
November 11, 2017 by Marlowe Hood
The world must sharply draw down greenhouse gas emissions and suck 
billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air if today's youth are 
to be spared climate cataclysm, a top scientist has warned.
This reality is being ignored by governments around the world," said 
James Hansen, who famously announced to the US Congress 30 years ago 
that global warming was underway.
"To say that we are 'moving in the right direction' just isn't good 
enough anymore," he said in an interview.
Head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies until 2013, Hansen 
and his 18-year-old granddaughter-who is suing the US government for 
contributing to the problem-delivered that message this week at UN 
climate negotiations in Bonn.
Thousands of diplomats at the 12-day, 196-nation talks are haggling over 
the fine print of a "user's manual" for a treaty that will go into 
effect in 2020.
https://phys.org/news/2017-11-climate-scientist.html


*Schwarzenegger calls on climate activists to change methods 
<http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/schwarzenegger-calls-climate-activists-change-methods-51098813>*
ABC News
Schwarzenegger spoke Sunday at a global climate meeting in Bonn, ... 
community for "missing the point" with its messaging on global warming.
Movie star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants 
environmental activists to give more attention to immediate health 
hazards like air and water pollution.
Schwarzenegger spoke Sunday at a global climate meeting in Bonn, 
Germany, where diplomats from around the world are discussing 
implementing the Paris climate accord.
He said: "It's time we wake up and talk about what really matters: 
25,000 people dying every day because of pollution."
Schwarzenegger also criticized the environmental community for "missing 
the point" with its messaging on global warming.
He said: "People do not focus as much on 2 degrees energy increases in 
temperatures or increases in sea levels rising."
Schwarzenegger thinks calling attention to concrete issues, like "so 
many people having problems with cancer and kids with asthma," is a 
better approach.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/schwarzenegger-calls-climate-activists-change-methods-51098813


*Company wants to dig 90000 tons of coal per year at currently idled 
King County mine 
<http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article183900346.html>*
/(Washington State) /The News Tribune Lynda Mapes, ...with as much as 
twice the greenhouse-gas emissions per unit of energy produced as any 
other fossil fuel - contributing to global warming,
An old King County coal mine would get new life under a plan by a Black 
Diamond company that got a recent boost from the Trump administration.
Pacific Coast Coal Co. seeks to mine 85,000 to 90,000 tons of coal per 
year over six years from about 30 acres just outside Black Diamond, 
kicking the mine back into operation for the first time since 1999. 
Mining first began on the 480-acre parcel of privately owned land in 1986.
The company wants to start up mining again at the John Henry Mine. The 
proposal is still under review, though the feds in September found that 
coal mining as proposed at the John Henry would have no significant 
impact on the environment.
Federal officials are reviewing public comments; the next step could 
range from additional environmental review to granting the permit.
Washington is one of only two states in the country that delegates 
regulation of mining to the federal government (Tennessee is the other). 
But the project nonetheless has raised local ire about the 
greenhouse-gas emissions created by burning the coal, as well as water 
pollution and noise....
Yet the coal could wind up being burned right under his nose: One of 
Pacific Coast's possible customers for the coal is Ash Grove Cement, 
next to the West Seattle Bridge.
Ash Grove burned 9,712 tons of coal in 2016; 51,278 tons in 2015; 32,308 
tons in 2014 and 90,633 tons in 2007, state records show...
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article183900346.html
*John Henry No. 1 Mine, Environmental Assessment 
<https://www.wrcc.osmre.gov/initiatives/johnHenryMine.shtm>*
https://www.wrcc.osmre.gov/initiatives/johnHenryMine.shtm


*China Energy Investment Signs MOU for $83.7 Billion in West Virginia 
Projects 
<https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/11/09/business/09reuters-trump-asia-energy-west-virginia.html?_r=0>*
BEIJING - China Energy Investment Corp, the world's largest power 
company by asset value, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) 
to invest $83.7 billion in shale gas, power and chemical projects in 
West Virginia, the U.S state said on Thursday.
The agreement was the biggest among a slew of deals signed during U.S. 
President Donald Trump's state visit to Beijing. The total value of the 
deals done during Trump's trip could be as much as $250 billion.
The gas and power agreement marks the first overseas investment for 
newly founded China Energy, which formed from a merger of China Shenhua 
Group [SHGRP.UL], the country's largest coal producer and China Guodian 
Corp [CNGUO.UL], one of its top five utilities.
Beijing is supporting and encouraging its power companies to expand 
globally, and the agreement underscores China Energy's ambition to 
diversify into natural gas and the refining sector...
The deals will likely help create jobs in West Virginia and lift its 
economy.
With an estimated 326,00 staff, China Energy has a workforce almost four 
times bigger than the entire U.S. coal-fired power industry for 2016.
The Chinese energy conglomerate has an installed capacity that tops 225 
gigawatts, eclipsing major international rivals EDF and Enel.
China Shenhua Energy jumped 7.4 percent on the announcement to close at 
22.05 yuan per share on Thursday.
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/11/09/business/09reuters-trump-asia-energy-west-virginia.html?_r=0
-
*Alaska Signs Deal to Advance Pipeline With Help From China 
<https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/alaska/articles/2017-11-09/alaska-signs-deal-to-advance-pipeline-with-help-from-china>*
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The state of Alaska will attempt to advance a 
multibillion dollar natural gas pipeline project with the help of 
interests from China.
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker said the agreement signed late Wednesday is with 
Sinopec, China Investment Corp. and the Bank of China. Financial terms 
weren't disclosed.
The agreement was signed in Beijing with U.S. President Donald Trump and 
Chinese President Xi Jinping looking on.
Alaska has long dreamed of building a pipeline that would take the vast 
stores of natural gas on the North Slope and ship it by pipeline 800 
miles to the coast, where it would be liquefied and shipped to Asia...
Alaska previously had a similar agreement with major oil companies to 
advance the pipeline, but  backed off and let Alaska take the lead.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/alaska/articles/2017-11-09/alaska-signs-deal-to-advance-pipeline-with-help-from-china


*Al Gore: 'I tried my best' but Trump can't be educated on climate 
change 
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/10/al-gore-donald-trump-climate-change>*
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/10/al-gore-donald-trump-climate-change


*Climate Denier Lamar Smith Holds Rare Congressional Hearing on 
Geoengineering 
<https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/11/09/lamar-smith-climate-denier-geoengineering-hearing>*
Geoengineering, hailed in some circles as a potential technofix to the 
climate change crisis, has taken a step closer to going mainstream.
The U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held arare 
joint subcommittee hearing 
<https://science.house.gov/legislation/hearings/subcommittee-environment-and-subcommittee-energy-hearing-geoengineering>on 
November 8, only the second ever congressional hearing of its kind on 
the topic (thefirst was held in 2009 
<https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-111hhrg53007/pdf/CHRG-111hhrg53007.pdf>). 
The committee invited expert witnesses to discuss the status of 
geoengineering research and development. Geoengineering is a broad term 
encompassing sophisticated scientific techniques meant to reverse the 
impacts of climate change or pull greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.
Ironically, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is chaired 
byU.S.Rep. Lamar Smith <https://www.desmogblog.com/lamar-smith> - a 
climate science denier who hasreceived tens of thousands of dollars 
<https://www.desmogblog.com/2016/06/21/exxon-koch-lamar-smith-exxon-knew>in 
campaign contributions from ExxonMobil throughout his political career. 
In fact, Smith actually mentioned "climate change" in his opening 
remarks for the hearing, in discussing his interest in geoengineering.
"As the climate continues to change, geoengineering could become a tool 
to curb resulting impacts,"said Smith 
<https://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/HHRG-115-SY18-WState-S000583-20171108_0.pdf>, 
who recently announcedhe will not run for relection in 2018 
<https://grist.org/briefly/climate-science-opponent-lamar-smith-will-retire-from-congress/>. 
"Instead of forcing unworkable and costly government mandates on the 
American people, we should look to technology and innovation to lead the 
way to address climate change. Geoengineering should be considered when 
discussing technological advances to protect the environment."...
"The purpose of this hearing is to discuss the viability of 
geoengineering and any early-stage research associated with this 
approach,"said Biggs 
<https://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/HHRG-115-SY18-WState-B001302-20171108.pdf>. 
"The hearing is not a platform to further the debate about climate 
change. Instead, its aim is to explore approaches and technologies that 
have been discussed in the scientific community and to assess the basic 
research needed to better understand the merits of these ideas."
Those testifying followed suit, with a consensus reached that a 
governance framework must be created to regulate geoengineering research 
and potential future deployment. The presenters all pushed the idea of 
geoengineering techniques such assolar radiation management 
<https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate1528>,cloud seeding 
<https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/we-may-never-know-how-well-cloud-seeding-works/>, 
andmarine cloud brightening 
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3405666/>.
Geoengineering, according to its critics, is a distraction from the 
actual challenge of halting dangerous levels of greenhouse gas emissions 
and subsequent runaway climate change. Critics also say the approach is 
a potential danger in and of itself because its techniques are a literal 
re-engineering of the atmospheric system, with unpredictable side effects.
"In some ways the thing we fear the most is a tweet from Trump saying 
'Solar geoengineering solves everything - it's great! We don't need to 
bother to cut emissions,'"Keith said at a November 7 forum 
<https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609379/why-this-geoengineering-pioneers-worst-nightmare-is-a-trump-tweet/?set=609356>. 
"That would just really make it hard to proceed in a sensible way."
In fact, those close to the Trump administration, which is rife with 
climate science deniers, have shown some interest in geoengineering 
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/true-north/2017/mar/27/trump-presidency-opens-door-to-planet-hacking-geoengineer-experiments>to 
a degree not seen in the Obama administration. Yet whetherPresident 
Donald Trump <https://www.desmogblog.com/donald-trump>is willing to 
finance geoengineering research to the tune of $5-10 million per year, 
asproposed by one hearing witness 
<https://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/HHRG-115-SY18-WState-KWanser-20171108.pdf>, 
remains to be seen.
https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/11/09/lamar-smith-climate-denier-geoengineering-hearing


*Evaluating the prediction of Manabe and Wetherald (1967) 
<https://climategraphs.wordpress.com/>*
This post is about a paper that was published 50 years ago:
Manabe, S. and Wetherald, R.T., 1967. Thermal equilibrium of the 
atmosphere with a given distribution of relative humidity. Journal of 
the Atmospheric Sciences, 24(3), pp.241-259.
That paper (hereafter referred to as MW67) was perhaps the first study 
of the earth's climate using a modern radiative-convective numerical 
model, including the water vapor feedback. It is a classic paper in 
climate science and was extraordinarily important in inspiring future 
work on numerical modeling of the climate system.
Since this yea is the 50th anniversary of MW67, let's take a look at its 
findings and compare them to the past 50 years of observations. In their 
abstract, MW67 state that:
a doubling of the CO2 content of the atmosphere has the effect of 
raising the temperature of the atmosphere […] by about 2C.
https://climategraphs.wordpress.com/


*Why Are Conservatives More Susceptible to Believing Lies? 
<http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2017/11/why_conservatives_are_more_susceptible_to_believing_in_lies.html>*
An interplay between how all humans think and how conservatives tend to 
act might actually explain a lot about our current moment.
By John Ehrenreich.
Many conservatives have a loose relationship with facts. The right-wing 
denial of what most people think of as accepted reality starts with 
political issues: As recently as 2016, 45 percent of Republicans still 
believed that the Affordable Care Act included "death panels" (it 
doesn't). A 2015 poll found that 54 percent of GOP primary voters 
believed then-President Obama to be a Muslim (…he isn't).
Then there are the false beliefs about generally accepted science. Only 
25 percent of self-proclaimed Trump voters agree that climate change is 
caused by human activities. Only 43 percent of Republicans overall 
believe that humans have evolved over time.
And then it gets really crazy. Almost 1 in 6 Trump voters, while 
simultaneously viewing photographs of the crowds at the 2016 
inauguration of Donald Trump and at the 2012 inauguration of Barack 
Obama , insisted that the former were larger. Sixty-six percent of 
self-described "very conservative" Americans seriously believe that 
"Muslims are covertly implementing Sharia law in American courts." 
Forty-six percent of Trump voters polled just after the 2016 election 
either thought that Hillary Clinton was connected to a child sex 
trafficking ring run out of the basement of a pizzeria in Washington, 
D.C., or weren't sure if it was true.
If "truth" is judged on the basis of Enlightenment ideas of reason and 
more or less objective "evidence," many of the substantive positions 
common on the right seem to border on delusional. The left is certainly 
not immune to credulity (most commonly about the safety of vaccines, GMO 
foods, and fracking), but the right seems to specialize in it. 
"Misinformation is currently predominantly a pathology of the right," 
concluded a team of scholars from the Harvard Kennedy School and 
Northeastern University at a February 2017 conference. A BuzzFeed 
analysis found that three main hyperconservative Facebook pages were 
roughly twice as likely as three leading ultraliberal Facebook pages to 
publish fake or misleading information...
Part of the problem is widespread suspicion of facts-any facts. Both 
mistrust of scientists and other "experts" and mistrust of the mass 
media that reports what scientists and experts believe have increased 
among conservatives (but not among liberals) since the early '80s. The 
mistrust has in part, at least, been deliberately inculcated. The fossil 
fuel industry publicizes studies to confuse the climate change debate; ...
...let's take a detour into psychology. Freud distinguished between 
"errors" on the one hand, "illusions" and "delusions" on the other. 
Errors, he argued, simply reflect lack of knowledge or poor logic; 
...But illusions and delusions are based on conscious or unconscious 
wishes; ...
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2017/11/why_conservatives_are_more_susceptible_to_believing_in_lies.html


*South Asia needs a plan to address climate-induced migration 
<https://wp.me/p5yw8n-5m8>*
The policy challenge is to look at disaster-related mobility 
comprehensively. "Often governments take a silo approach without an 
overall view of the problem," said Banerjee. It is as though the home 
affairs office takes care of evacuation and displacement, the relief 
department deals with resettlement, and the labour departments looks at 
long-term migration - with officials hardly even sharing notes.
Experts have been brainstorming on this topic. Huq, for instance, 
suggests a three-phase plan as people might have to migrate from the 
country's low-lying coastal areas in 20 years. "The idea is to adapt, 
educate and plan. Right now we need to adapt to changes such as salinity 
intrusion and flooding," he told indiaclimatedialogue.net. "Then we need 
to educate and train boys and girls to future careers away from the 
coast at international destinations. In the long run, we need to plan, 
enable and facilitate migration."
https://wp.me/p5yw8n-5m8


*(video) W5: What happens when the permafrost thaws? 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFfuHmrW2gc>*
Official W5   22 minutes   Published on Nov 11, 2017
Almost half of Canada sits on permanently frozen land called permafrost, 
but climate change is causing it to thaw and erode rapidly. W5's Avery 
Haines investigates a looming ecological disaster that poses a threat to 
the entire world.
Subscribe W5  to watch more videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPTD...
Connect with W5:  For the latest investigations visit: 
http://www.ctvnews.ca/w5/
For a full video offering visit the CTV News Network: 
http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?binId=1.8...
W5 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CTVW5/
W5 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CTVW5
W5 is Canada's most-watched investigative, current affairs and 
documentary program. Tackling major stories and investigations W5 is in 
its 51st season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFfuHmrW2gc


*(video) Is there intelligent life in the universe? 
<http://medialab.futureearth.org/is-there-intelligent-life-in-the-universe/>*
We believe astrobiologists are on the cusp of discovering an intelligent 
technologically-advanced civilization … on Earth. We wanted to produce 
an animation on the state of the planet. It coincides nicely with Earth 
Day and the March for Science.
We worked with a brilliant Stockholm animation company Brikk.
Here's the transcript with references and annotations below. (LINK)
Read this oped by Josh Tewksbury, Director of the Future Earth Global 
Hub in Colorado, about the integrity of science: http://bit.ly/2pmkhoH
Join the conversation at the Future Earth Open Network: 
http://bit.ly/2p3MFuP
And support international coordination of research. It matters.
http://medialab.futureearth.org/is-there-intelligent-life-in-the-universe/


*This Day in Climate History November 13, 2005 
<http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/11/11/heat-is-on-case-global-warmin-989829467/> 
   -  from D.R. Tucker*
November 13, 2005: Fox News Channel airs "The Heat is On: The Case of
Global Warming," a special that reportedly (and surprisingly,
considering Fox's track record) does not feature any climate-change
deniers. After fossil-fuel-industry front groups attack Fox for not
including their viewpoint, Fox runs a special several months later
featuring the views of climate-change deniers.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/11/11/heat-is-on-case-global-warmin-989829467/
http://mediamatters.org/mobile/research/2012/10/24/timeline-fox-news-role-in-the-climate-of-doubt/190906

/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//Archive of Daily Global Warming News 
<https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/2017-October/date.html> 
//
/https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote//
///
Send email to subscribe <a%20href=%22mailto:contact at theClimate.Vote%22> 
to this mailing. /

        *** 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/20171113/ac8edcfe/attachment.html>