[TheClimate.Vote] October 5, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Thu Oct 5 07:41:26 EDT 2017
/October 5, 2017/
*Oxfam slams U.S. response in Puerto Rico as "slow, inadequate" -
"Clean water, food, fuel, electricity, and health care are in
desperately short supply and quickly dwindling"
<http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/353563-oxfam-steps-in-to-help-puerto-rico-slamming-us-response-as-slow>*
(The Hill) - Oxfam America is stepping in to help Puerto Rico, saying
the Trump administration's response has been "inadequate."
The global nonprofit's president, Abby Maxman, said in a statement
Tuesday that the group is "outraged" at the U.S. government's slow
response in Puerto Rico, where more than half of the population is
without clean drinking water and food and electricity are scarce in the
wake of Hurricane Maria.
"We're hearing excuses and criticism from the administration instead of
a cohesive and compassionate response," Maxman said.
The organization primarily focuses on humanitarian aid in developing
nations and rarely helps wealthy countries like the U.S., but it said it
is making an exception as the situation in Puerto Rico worsens....
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/353563-oxfam-steps-in-to-help-puerto-rico-slamming-us-response-as-slow
-
*Statement by Oxfam America President Abby Maxman regarding Puerto Rico
Hurricane Response
<https://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/statement-by-oxfam-america-president-abby-maxman-regarding-puerto-rico-hurricane-response/>*
2 October 2017 (Oxfam) - In response to the US Government's continued
failure to adequately respond, and ahead of President Trump's planned
trip to Puerto Rico, Oxfam America President Abby Maxman said:
"Oxfam has monitored the response in Puerto Rico closely, and we are
outraged at the slow and inadequate response the US Government has
mounted in Puerto Rico. Clean water, food, fuel, electricity, and health
care are in desperately short supply and quickly dwindling, and we're
hearing excuses and criticism from the administration instead of a
cohesive and compassionate response. The US has more than enough
resources to mobilize an emergency response but has failed to do so in a
swift and robust manner. Oxfam rarely responds to humanitarian
emergencies in the US and other wealthy countries, but as the situation
in Puerto Rico worsens and the federal government's response continues
to falter, Oxfam has decided to step in to lend our expertise in dealing
with some of the world's most catastrophic disasters."...
https://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/statement-by-oxfam-america-president-abby-maxman-regarding-puerto-rico-hurricane-response/
*Flights worldwide face increased risk of severe turbulence due to
climate change
<https://phys.org/news/2017-10-flights-worldwide-severe-turbulence-due.html>*
Flights all around the world will be encountering lots more turbulence
in future, according to the first ever global projections of in-flight
bumpiness.
A new study led by the University of Reading has calculated that climate
change will significantly increase the amount of severe turbulence
worldwide by 2050 - 2080. Severe turbulence involves forces stronger
than gravity, and is strong enough to throw people and luggage around an
aircraft cabin.
Flights to the most popular international destinations are projected to
experience the largest increases, with severe turbulence at a typical
cruising altitude of 39,000 feet becoming up to two or three times as
common throughout the year over the North Atlantic (+180 percent),
Europe (+160 percent), North America (+110 percent), the North Pacific
(+90 percent), and Asia (+60 percent).
"Air turbulence is increasing across the globe, in all seasons, and at
multiple cruising altitudes. This problem is only going to worsen as the
climate continues to change. Our study highlights the need to develop
improved turbulence forecasts, which could reduce the risk of injuries
to passengers and lower the cost of turbulence to airlines."
The expected turbulence increases are a consequence of global
temperature changes, which are strengthening wind instabilities at high
altitudes in the jet streams and making pockets of rough air stronger
and more frequent.
YouTube video Climate change makes flight times longer
<https://youtu.be/ErNPXJv9GsU> https://youtu.be/ErNPXJv9GsU
https://phys.org/news/2017-10-flights-worldwide-severe-turbulence-due.html
- much more:
Prof Alice Bows-Larkin's expert evidence on aviation and climate change
Below is Bows-Larkin's expert witness statement to the trial of the
"Heathrow 13" in full, exactly as it was submitted to the judge.
It's a detailed account of where the aviation industry sits alongside UK
domestic and international law, and is worth reading in full.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/heathrow-13-prof-alice-bows-larkins-expert-evidence-on-aviation-and-climate-change
*Insurance Harder to Find in Fire-Affected Areas of Washington State
<https://ohsonline.com/articles/2017/09/15/insurance-harder-to-find.aspx>*
Some property insurers are not selling policies in wildfire-affected
areas, Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler pointed out
in a Sept. 13 blog post.
Sep 15, 2017
Some property insurers are not selling policies in wildfire-affected
areas, Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler pointed out
in a Sept. 13 blog post. His post on the official blog of the Washington
state Insurance Commissioner's office said some property insurers have
temporarily stopped selling insurance in areas affected by the Eagle
Creek, Norse Peak, and Jolly Mountain fires in the state.
"If you are in the process of buying real estate or if your homeowner
insurance policy is up for renewal, you may have a hard time finding a
policy," he explained, recommending that residents facing this contact
their agent or broker and ask what their options are.
https://ohsonline.com/articles/2017/09/15/insurance-harder-to-find.aspx
*(radio report) Some Property Insurers Pulling Back From Highest
Wildfire Risk Areas
<http://nwnewsnetwork.org/post/some-property-insurers-pulling-back-highest-wildfire-risk-areas>*
... insurance companies would be acting irresponsibly if they did not
pay attention to trends of increasing wildfire frequency and intensity
and adjust their risk exposure accordingly.
"Those are decisions companies have to make to continue to provide
products and services," Brine said in an interview Tuesday.
The tally of homes lost to Pacific Northwest wildfires ran into the
hundreds a couple years ago, but insured damages appear much lower this
year.
Brine said there are literally hundreds of companies that have a
certificate to write property insurance in Washington state alone. He
acknowledged that being non-renewed "can be jarring news for a consumer,
but they have many other options open to them."
http://nwnewsnetwork.org/post/some-property-insurers-pulling-back-highest-wildfire-risk-areas
-
*Op-Ed What the Trump administration doesn't understand about wildfires
<http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-miller-zinke-fire-memo-20171001-story.html>* Its
key wildfire officials — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Agriculture
Secretary Sonny Perdue and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt — have refused
to acknowledge the primary role that dangerous climatological factors,
such as drought, heat and wind, play in energizing and propelling
wildland fire. Instead, they're fingering "radical environmentalists"
who allegedly have scuttled timber sales that would have removed trees
and reduced ignition sources.
The Trump triumvirate made these claims at a news conference that used
the 53,000-acre Lolo Peak fire in Montana as a dramatic backdrop.
Perhaps they were unaware that the forest around Lolo Peak had been
repeatedly logged in recent years, and that didn't prevent it from
erupting in flame. "Large fires are not like campfires," ecologists
Dominick DellaSala and Timothy Ingalsbee observe. "They are mainly
driven by extreme weather conditions, not fuels."
When Zinke returned to Washington, he continued to ignore fire science
in a memo he sent to Interior land-management staff. Among wildland
experts, the directive was read as a rebuke to anyone arguing that
climate change is what's creating a "new normal" of larger, more
dangerous and erratic fires.
Back at Lolo Peak, Zinke had revealed his real intention: to gut the
regulatory authority of the National Environmental Policy Act. Zinke and
crew tipped their hand when they argued against the act's requirement
for rigorous environmental-impact reports and its principled insistence
on public input and oversight. Their goal is to privilege resource
extraction over recreation, wildlife protection and climate-change
mitigation, which may well result in less resilient forests and, of all
things, more fire. President Nixon, who in 1970 signed NEPA into law,
would be stunned by this effort to strip his landmark legislation's
environmental and democratic protections.
Zinke's position is that NEPA is preventing the Forest Service from
cutting down trees, and hence it's adding to the number and intensity of
wildland conflagrations.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-miller-zinke-fire-memo-20171001-story.html
*A lack of action on climate change is putting people's lives at risk
<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/04/a-lack-of-action-on-climate-change-is-putting-peoples-lives-at-risk>*
A new study warning Australia's major cities are likely to reach highs
of 50C /(122 degrees F) /by 2040 - even if the world meets its target
of limiting warming to 2C above pre-industrial levels - is yet more
evidence that without immediate and urgent action we are facing a
looming public health crisis during heatwaves and other extreme weather
events.
The study follows recent unseasonable heat across New South Wales, with
Sydney experiencing its hottest ever September day, as well as the
doubling of record-breaking summer temperatures in Australia in the past
50 years. This new normal has hospital health professionals particularly
bracing for the coming summer.
Public Australian emergency departments are tough places to both work
and be a patient. They are hectic, often overwhelmed, not infrequently
threatening environments that are emotionally demanding for everyone.
And, with ever increasing demand and an ageing population, along with a
politically-sensitive health budget, the emergency department is
increasingly the public face of a stressed health system.
Every day, sometime around 11am, the ambulances roll in. This is when we
see the presentation rate suddenly increase, commonly bringing a new
patient every three to four minutes, a rate that will continue until
10-11pm every evening. Generally during this 11 to 12 hour period we see
two-thirds of our presentations. This is the time that the department
heaves.
During this period, on any given day, the resuscitation area will be
full. A delirious elderly patient with septicaemia will be lying
alongside someone with chest pain who may be next to a psychotic
methamphetamine-intoxicated patient screaming abuse as they are
restrained by security and clinical staff, while a full resuscitation of
an out of hospital cardiac arrest or a major trauma takes place in a
nearby bay.
Now let us add to this day three of a heatwave (defined as three or more
days of high maximum temperatures). With climate change causing a
gradual increase in average temperatures, we know that heatwaves are
more frequent and of increasing severity.
What we also know from the heatwaves we have seen in Australia thus far
is that we can expect a very significant impact on our public health
system. Increases of up to 25% for ambulance emergency call outs; up to
60% increase in emergency department resuscitation cases, often in the
elderly and vulnerable members of our society; an overall increase in
presentations to our already overstretched emergency departments; and an
increase in overall deaths ranging from 13% to 24%. In the 2014
Melbourne heatwave, that equated to 167 excess deaths.
One hundred and sixty seven deaths. If that had been a fire, or
explosion, or heaven forbid a terrorist attack, it would be a national
disaster that would be in the public eye for days. Yet it will happen
reliably with every major heatwave event, and we barely bat an eyelid.
These issues are discussed in an article in the current edition of the
Medical Journal of Australia, which I co-authored with former Australian
of the Year, Professor Fiona Stanley, and public health physician, Dr
Marion Carey.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/04/a-lack-of-action-on-climate-change-is-putting-peoples-lives-at-risk
*Extreme heat threatens the health of Australians
<https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2017/207/6/extreme-heat-threatens-health-australians>*
Marion G Carey, Mark P Monaghan and Fiona J Stanley
Med J Aust 2017; 207 (6): 232-234. doi: 10.5694/mja17.00511
Heatwaves have serious health impacts and we need a better approach to
prevention and management
Last year was the world's hottest on record, with anthropogenic global
warming raising average temperatures about 1°C above pre-industrial levels.
Even small increases in the average temperature influence extremes of
hot weather. Heatwaves are becoming hotter, longer and more frequent,
and are increasing the risk of bushfires.
The number of record hot days in Australia has doubled in the past 50
years, and marine heatwaves are causing severe coral bleaching in the
Great Barrier Reef.
https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2017/207/6/extreme-heat-threatens-health-australians
*Koch-funded Group, Fueling US Forward, Echoes America Rising Squared in
Misleading Attack on Electric Cars
<https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/07/10/koch-fueling-us-forward-america-rising-squared-bashing-electric-cars>*
video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_WscmJSB2c
Fueling U.S. Forward <https://www.desmogblog.com/fueling-us-forward>,
the Koch-funded campaign to "rebrand" fossil fuels as "positive" and
"sustainable," has released a new video attacking the "Dirty Secrets of
Electric Cars," <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_WscmJSB2c>signaling a
possible strategic pivot from straightforward fossil fuel cheerleading
to electric vehicle (EV) and clean energy bashing.
The video and accompanying Dirty Secrets of Electric Cars web page
<https://fuelingusforward.com/dirty-secrets-electric-cars/> feature
blatant factual errors, misleading statements, and glaring omissions
(all of which will be debunked thoroughly below), while essentially
attacking electric cars for using the same materials needed to
manufacture cell phones, laptops, defense equipment, and gas-powered
cars, and which are even a critical component of the very oil refining
processes that form the foundation of the Koch fortunes.
When Fueling U.S. Forward launched last August, the organization's
president Charles Drevna <http://www.kochvsclean.com/charles-drevna/>
described the campaign as an effort to rebrand fossil fuels by focusing
on the "positive" aspects of coal, oil, and gas. This newly released
video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_WscmJSB2c> seems to further
confirm investigative journalist Peter Stone's reporting from last
spring
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/koch-electric-vehicles_us_56c4d63ce4b0b40245c8cbf6>
that the Kochs were "plotting a multimillion dollar assault on
electric vehicles."
How do we know that Fueling U.S. Forward is this Koch-funded campaign?
First, Charles Drevna, who is leading the effort, developed the concept
while serving as a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute for
Energy Research <https://www.desmogblog.com/institute-energy-research>,
a pro-fossil fuel think tank that was partially founded by Charles Koch
and that is run by a longtime lobbyist for Koch Industries
<http://www.kochvsclean.com/thomas-pyle/>. Second, and more concretely,
Drevna told DeSmog's Sharon Kelly
<https://www.desmogblog.com/2016/08/14/new-koch-back-campaign-rolled-out-red-state-gathering-aims-promote-positives-fossil-fuels>
that he was working with Koch Industries
<https://www.desmogblog.com/koch-industries-inc>' board member (and
longtime Koch brothers' confidant) James Mahoney
<http://www.kochvsclean.com/james-mahoney/> on the campaign and that it
was funded by "one of the brothers."...
https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/07/10/koch-fueling-us-forward-america-rising-squared-bashing-electric-cars
*Here's Why Debunking Viral Climate Myths Is Almost Impossible, In One
Animated Chart
<https://www.buzzfeed.com/zahrahirji/how-climate-myths-spread-online>*
A British newspaper admitted that a controversial climate article from
February was misleading and inaccurate. The story's claims have received
at least 752,300 shares, likes, comments, or other interactions on
social media.
When a British newspaper published anexpose'
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4192182/World-leaders-duped-manipulated-global-warming-data.html>in
February alleging proof that US government scientists had used flawed
data to show recent global warming and rushed to publish their research
to sway the Paris climate talks, conservative media was lit.
"The latest example of misinformation from the left comes directly from
the federal government,"SarahPalin.com said
<https://www.sarahpalin.com/2017/02/05/busted-government-just-got-caught-big-global-warming-lie/>about
the article, published in Britain'sMail on Sunday
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4192182/World-leaders-duped-manipulated-global-warming-data.html>.
It was a "bombshell," according to
<https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/02/04/bombshell-noaa-whistleblower-says-karl-et-al-pausebuster-paper-was-hyped-broke-procedures/>the
climate skeptic blog Watts Up With That, and "explosive
<http://thefederalistpapers.org/us/noaa-caught-red-handed-manipulating-data-to-make-global-warming-seem-worse>,"
according to The Federalist Papers Project. "BUSTED: NOAA Lied About
Climate Change Data to Manipulate World Leaders
<https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/noaa-climate-change-data-leaders/>,"
blared the website Louder with Crowder.
The story centered on a two-year-old Sciencestudy
<http://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6242/1469>showing that the
rise in global temperatures had not recently stalled, as previous data
had suggested. The Science paper had repeatedlybeen attacked
<https://www.buzzfeed.com/danvergano/congressman-launches-subpoena-battle-with-climate-scientists?utm_term=.pxD5yRppG8#.yl4RMzbbN8>by
climate skeptics, including House Science Committee chair Lamar Smith
(R-Tex.). After the Mail on Sunday's piece, Smithdemanded
<https://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/02.14.17%20SST%20Letter%20to%20Acting%20Administrator%20Friedman.pdf>,for
at least thesixth time
<https://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/NOAA%20Karl%20Study%20One-Pager.pdf>,
that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration turn over its
correspondence about the Science data.
Now, some seven months later, the Mail on Sunday hasbegrudgingly
admitted
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4192182/World-leaders-duped-manipulated-global-warming-data.html>its
story was wrong. But will this update change anyone's minds?...
The story, published on February 4 and updated on September 16, has
received more than 211,500 shares, likes, comments, or other
interactions on social media, according to our analysis of online
traffic data collected as of September 27 by the website Buzzsumo.
Another 159 stories repeated the original's claims and linked back to
it, and received about 540,800 shares or interactions. This includes
coverage from conservative news giants such as Fox News, Breitbart,
Daily Caller, and National Review, as well as by climate skeptic blogs.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/zahrahirji/how-climate-myths-spread-online
*
**(Satire) Coal Lobby Warns Wind Farms May Blow Earth Off Orbit...lmao
<https://youtu.be/F0UkH81NMTo>*
Panelists debate whether the U.S. is doing enough to heed the warnings
of coal industry scientists who say turbines could blow the Earth right
into the sun (video)
"Earth's orbit all life depends on it a little closer to the Sun will
burn up a
little farther away we'll freeze..But wind farmers want to install thousands
of propellers onto the earth and propellers make things move we like this
planet... let's not blow it away"
https://youtu.be/F0UkH81NMTo
*This Day in Climate History October 5, 1988
<http://youtu.be/99-v2Farbjs> - from D.R. Tucker*
October 5, 1988: Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen (D) and Indiana Senator
Dan Quayle (R) discuss global warming in the Vice Presidential debate,
with both men agreeing that the problem must be addressed during the
next four years; Bentsen suggests that natural gas and ethanol might
be alternatives to oil dependence. (49:33-52:45)
http://youtu.be/99-v2Farbjs
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