[TheClimate.Vote] October 8, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News

Sun Oct 8 10:27:26 EDT 2017

/October 8, 2017/
*
Hurricane Nate weakens to a tropical storm after making US landfall 
twice <http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/08/us/hurricane-nate-landfall/index.html>*
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/08/us/hurricane-nate-landfall/index.html*

**
Yuval Noah Harari's new book to cover global warming, God and 
nationalism 
<https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/06/sapiens-author-harari-new-book-to-cover-global-warming-god-and-nationalism>*
The historian's next book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, will ask 
'*What should we teach children today to prepare them for the world of 
tomorrow?*' and promises a sweeping look at the future
"What's happening now, not just with Trump but with many other political 
crises especially in the western world, is that the political system is 
no longer capable of producing meaningful visions for the future, so you 
see nostalgic fantasies about going back to the past," he says. "This 
definitely is not going to work, because nostalgic fantasies by their 
very nature don't provide us with answers to the real questions we are 
facing. It's kind of a transitory phase until somebody manages to come 
up with a new meaningful vision for the future. So people hold on to 
these fantasies."
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/06/sapiens-author-harari-new-book-to-cover-global-warming-god-and-nationalism

*Why my company is addressing climate change 
<http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2017/10/07/Why-my-company-is-addressing-climate-change-mars-inc-Stephen-Badger/stories/201710070021>*
With a carbon footprint the size of a small country, Mars Inc. is trying 
to shrink it
First, investment in operating sustainably saves money. Mars is already 
capitalizing on the falling prices of renewable energy and the long-term 
cost savings of clean technology. This has helped reduce the carbon 
emissions of our 150 factories around the world by 25 percent. We are 
using enough renewable energy to make all our M&M's. In fact, we now 
purchase enough renewable energy to fuel our entire operations in five 
countries and plan to make that 11 countries in 2018. All of this is 
delivered at the same cost, or lower, as fossil fuel.
Second, for a company such as Mars that is dependent on agriculture, our 
investments are creating a more resilient and resource-efficient supply 
chain where smallholder farmers and others can thrive. By working with 
our suppliers to source raw materials in a way that lowers climate risk 
and creates opportunity for people, we can increase crop yields and 
ensure affordable ingredient supplies, reduce our impact on natural 
resources and ensure a generation of future farmers.
Finally, there are rewards for doing the right thing. It makes us a more 
attractive partner to customers, governments and NGOs, and it ensures 
our relevance to consumers as well as current and future Mars associates.
http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2017/10/07/Why-my-company-is-addressing-climate-change-mars-inc-Stephen-Badger/stories/201710070021

*The reality of living with 122F temps in our major cities 
<https://theconversation.com/the-reality-of-living-with-50-temperatures-in-our-major-cities-85315>*
Australia is hot. But future extreme hot weather will be worse still, 
with new research predicting that Sydney and Melbourne are on course for 
50 degrees C (122 degrees F) summer days by the 2040s if high greenhouse 
emissions continue. That means that places such as Perth, Adelaide and 
various regional towns could conceivably hit that mark even sooner.
Humans have an upper limit to heat tolerance, beyond which we suffer 
heat stress and even death. Death rates do climb on extremely cold days, 
but increase much more steeply on extremely hot ones. While cold weather 
can be tackled with warm clothes, avoiding heat stress requires access 
to fans or air conditioning, which is not always available.
We expect air conditioning to take the strain, but may not realise just 
how much strain is involved. Shade temperatures of 50 degrees C (122 
degrees F) that direct sunlight can raise the temperature to 60 degrees 
C (140 degrees F) or 70 degrees C (158 degrees F). Bringing that back to 
a comfortable 22 degrees C (71.6 degrees F) or even a warm 27 degrees C 
(80.6 degrees F) is not always possible and requires a lot of energy - 
putting serious strain on the electricity grid.
Electricity transmission systems are inherently vulnerable to extreme 
heat. This means they can potentially fail simply due to the weather, 
let alone the increased demand on the grid from power consumers.
Two key messages arise from this. The first is that Australia urgently 
needs to adapt to the extra warming. Heat-wise communities (or 
"heat-safe communities" in some states) - where people understand the 
risks, protect themselves and look after each other - are vital to limit 
harm from heat exposure. The health sector must have the resources to 
respond to those who succumb. Research, training and health promotion 
are central.
The second message is that nations across the world need to improve 
their efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions, so as to meet the Paris 
climate goal of holding global warming to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F).
https://theconversation.com/the-reality-of-living-with-50-temperatures-in-our-major-cities-85315

*(Six videos) "**Climate Finance Insights" series of interviews 
<https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKUX_ySVm6PPc6ydec8KBJJBfnshWiw18>**", 
*
produced in collaboration between the ICCG <http://www.iccgov.org/>and 
Climate Policy Initiative 
<http://customer43686.musvc2.net/e/t?q=3%3dLAbXN%26t%3dWV%266%3d9eUM%26w%3dZTR0X%26K1si7%3dz2PFA_zwsh_A7_Hiav_Rx_zwsh_0B34qI1BmLE4q9O1vEJ1iP9Dm.KHy_zwsh_0B%264%3d53OLu0.J5B> (CPI), 
representatives of governments and financial institutions discuss 
financing needs, opportunities, and trends as countries work to achieve 
the goals of the Paris Agreement.
These interviews were filmed at the sixth meeting of the San Giorgio 
Group 
<http://customer43686.musvc2.net/e/t?q=f%3dbU8Ad%26D%3d39%26L%3dSA8c%26G%3d67hT4%26x%3dFLvsQ_JSVx_Uc_uyuR_5D_JSVx_ThfJAodR7rrJAe2GFkwG3vlT7.quE_JSVx_ThvE9_tT1r_4i%26B%3dEwvT54.qCd93cL> (SGG), 
hosted by Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) on May 8-9 2017. 
Representatives of governments and key financial institutions actively 
engaged in green, low-emissions finance gathered in Venice for frank 
discussions on the most pressing policy and investment issues related to 
increasing global climate action. The SGG is organized by CPI in 
collaboration with the World Bank Group, China Light Power (CLP), and 
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKUX_ySVm6PPc6ydec8KBJJBfnshWiw18

*Our Changing Climate Mind-Set 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/07/opinion/sunday/hurricanes-climate-public-opinion.html>*
We have squandered opportunities to reduce global warming and there has 
already been more suffering from climate change than we have allowed 
ourselves to recognize. But we can still avert civilization-ending 
catastrophe, and even achieve a modest new beginning for our species. 
Yes, it is very late in the game, but at the same time far from too late.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/07/opinion/sunday/hurricanes-climate-public-opinion.html

*From cloud nine to climate change, here's why you should always look up 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/from-cloud-nine-to-climate-change-heres-why-you-should-always-look-up/2017/10/06/7278bf64-a459-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html>*
"Clouds are hard to model," NASA associate research scientist Kate 
Marvel said. "They're the result of water vapor or ice crystals 
coalescing around microscopic bits of dust, particles of smoke and sea 
salt. . . . So they have a dual effect on climate. They trap the heat 
from the planet and spit it back down, making things warmer, but they 
also block sunlight, which is a cooling effect."
"Even small changes to the distribution of clouds with rising 
temperatures could substantially diminish or enhance global warming," said
"Right now, clouds are more air conditioner than heater," Romps noted, 
"but that will change as the planet warms."
"I've always felt the sky to be the most dynamic, most poetic part of 
nature," Pretor-Pinney said. "So it's always struck me as a shame that 
it's gotten bad press."
The society even helped identify a new class of cloud, a turbulent 
formation named asperitas that was officially added this March to the 
121-year-old International Cloud Atlas.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/from-cloud-nine-to-climate-change-heres-why-you-should-always-look-up/2017/10/06/7278bf64-a459-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa_story.html

*Peter Ward: Climate Scientist Meets Direct Action Activists 
<https://youtu.be/AjsgOWFOSgw>*
Paleontologist, Professor Peter Ward meets the Valve Turners for a deep 
conversation on how scientists and activists can communicate the 
existential necessity of climate action in both word and deed.
Professor Ward has long communicated how Earth's five major mass 
extinctions offer a frightening window into the future we ourselves 
might catalyze. His standing within the scientific community comes from 
his skill in finding and interpreting what the fossils say about the 
horror of each environmental cataclysm. His gifts and energy for 
outreach - for communicating to the public the stark relevance of the 
science - is top tier.
As valve turner Leonard Higgins has said from the get-go, "If we want 
people to understand that this is an emergency, then we have to act like 
it is an emergency." By turning the emergency shut-down valve of the tar 
sands pipeline transiting Montana, Leonard powerfully communicated by deed.
Peter Ward was featured in the PBS Evolution series (2001) and has 
appeared on NOVA Science NOW. He was also one of the scientists on 
Animal Planet's Animal Armageddon (2009). According to Ward's 2007 book, 
Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and 
What They Can Tell Us About Our Future, all but one of the major mass 
extinction events in history have been brought on by climate change.
Valve Turners in attendance were Emily Johnston, Leonard Higgins, and 
Annette Klapstein.  Valve Turners Michael Foster and Ken Ward 
participated via Zoom Web Conference.
Recorded 9/16/17
https://youtu.be/AjsgOWFOSgw

*(BBC audio) The Small Scottish isle leading the world in electricity 
<http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170329-the-extraordinary-electricity-of-the-scottish-island-of-eigg>*
Some 1.3 billion people lack regular access to electricity. With its 
reliable independent grid powered by wind, water and solar, a remote 
Scottish island could hold the key to a solution.
When I arrive, the island's tearoom by the pier is busy with visiting 
researchers.
Eigg is powered by three renewable sources - hydro, wind and solar - 
integrated into a stable, high-voltage underground grid. The system's 
designer John Booth, who is the former director of its operator Eigg 
Electric, took me out to see how the system works. On a cliff below the 
1,289ft (390m) peak of An Sgurr, four wind turbines feed up to 24 kW of 
energy into the grid. Although the turbines' blades are whirring, when I 
visit they are offering only about half of that: an indication of the 
importance of the system's integration of three renewables.
Further north - uphill from Glebe Barn, the island's youth hostel - 
photovoltaic panels face south, angled at 30 degrees to catch any 
sunlight that might break through the clouds. "On average, over the 
year, they provide about 9.5% of their rated output," Booth says. (The 
solar panels have a 50kW capacity). "So if you use these as the source 
of your electricity over the year, you'd be dead disappointed."
Erecting solar panels in Scotland may seem like folly. But in the summer 
- thanks to the long hours of daylight that benefit Eigg's far-north 
location - the panels do the heavy lifting. "These really come into 
their own in the months of May, June and July, when we get the really 
bright long days. They will give you over 25% of their rated output," 
Booth says. (When you take into account periods of darkness, that is 
almost the maximum possible to get in those months). "And that is when 
we tend not to have much wind and not much rain. The set-up that we've 
got now will carry the island all day and put charge into the batteries 
for the evening."
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170329-the-extraordinary-electricity-of-the-scottish-island-of-eigg

*This Day in Climate History October 8, 1979 
<http://people.com/archive/co2-could-change-our-climate-and-flood-the-earth-up-to-here-vol-12-no-15/> 
   -  from D.R. Tucker*
October 8, 1979: People Magazine reports on growing concerns about a
human-caused climate crisis.
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20074765,00.html

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