[TheClimate.Vote] October 19, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Thu Oct 19 10:16:19 EDT 2017
/October 19, 2017/
*New Talks on Paris Climate Pact Are Set, and That's Awkward for US
<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/climate/trump-paris-accord.html>*
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/climate/trump-paris-accord.html
*The war on coal is over. Coal lost.
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/oct/16/the-war-on-coal-is-over-coal-lost>*
Coal can't compete with cheaper clean energy. The Trump administration
can't save expensive, dirty energy.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/oct/16/the-war-on-coal-is-over-coal-lost
*
**
Warning of 'ecological Armageddon' after dramatic plunge in insect
numbers
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers>
*Three-quarters of flying insects in nature reserves across Germany have
vanished in 25 years, with serious implications for all life on Earth,
scientists say
Insects are an integral part of life on Earth as both pollinators and
prey for other wildlife and it was known that some species such as
butterflies were declining. But the newly revealed scale of the losses
to all insects has prompted warnings that the world is "on course for
ecological Armageddon", with profound impacts on human society.
The new data was gathered in nature reserves across Germany but has
implications for all landscapes dominated by agriculture, the
researchers said.
"The fact that the number of flying insects is decreasing at such a high
rate in such a large area is an alarming discovery," said Hans de Kroon,
at Radboud University in the Netherlands and who led the new research.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers
*Insects feel the heat: Scientists reveal rise in temperature affects
ability to reproduce
<https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170109191412.htm>*
Even a mild rise in temperature damages insect's ability to reproduce,
new research indicates. Insect populations in high latitude countries
are the worst affected. Identifying genes linked to increased and
decreased reproduction may help understand how insects cope with climate
change and controlling insect pests,
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170109191412.htm
This is very alarming!': Flying insects vanish from nature preserves
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/10/18/this-is-very-alarming-flying-insects-vanish-from-nature-preserves/>
"The windscreen phenomenon is probably one of the best illustrative ways
to realize we are dealing with a decline in flying insects," said Caspar
Hallmann, an ecologist at Radboud University in the Netherlands.
Hallmann is part of a research team that recently waded through 27
years' worth of insects collected in German nature preserves.
Between 1989 and 2016, according to a report published Wednesday in the
journal PLOS One, the biomass of flying insects captured in these
regions decreased by a seasonal average of 76 percent.
"The whole fabric of our planet is built on plants and insects and the
relationship between the two.
From WitsEndNJ blog 2012 "Really? I saw it 5 years ago." *
**The Little Things That Rule the World - from secretive insects to
mysterious whales
<http://witsendnj.blogspot.com/2012/02/little-things-that-rule-world-from.html>*
*I started to google and straight away came a host of links, the first
from the UKIndependent
<http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/scientists-set-out-to-discover-if-insects-are-disappearing-from-britain-542297.html>, all
the way back in 2003. Scientists were already concerned that insect
eating birds were dying off because the source of their food was
dwindling away, and had even constructed a *"*splatometer*"* to attach
to the hood of cars, to measure a baseline and then periodically track
the trends. I will have to get in touch with them and the other
scientists I found later, to see what the latest evidence has revealed.
*"Experts believe falling insect numbers explain a decline in some bird
species"*
*"'Anecdotal evidence pointing to the decline of British insects
abounds," said Dr George McGavin, acting curator of entomology at the
Oxford University Museum of Natural History. "Most people over the age
of 50 talk of seeing many more species of moths, butterflies and other
insects when they were children.'"
"With a colleague, Dr McGavin in 2000 examined insect records in
Warwickshire from 100 years ago and the present day, and found that
about 20 per cent of the species surveyed (including beetles, bees,
dragonflies and butterflies) had disappeared or were in marked decline.
A closer examination showed that 394 beetle species alone had been lost,
a decline of 24 per cent."
"Britain's best insect records are kept by Rothamsted Research, the
former government agricultural research station at Harpenden in
Hertfordshire. Rothamsted supervises a network of 16 insect suction
traps around Britain, which have been emptied daily, with the insects
kept, for more than 30 years. This year a pilot project for English
Nature assessed how much change there had been in the total weight of
insects caught in four traps since 1970."
http://witsendnj.blogspot.com/2012/02/little-things-that-rule-world-from.html*
"Corporate Bullies" Are Using RICO Laws to Go After Greenpeace
<http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/10/corporate-bullies-are-using-rico-laws-to-go-after-greenpeace/>
*"It's a clear attack on free speech and democracy."
REBECCA LEBER*
*On Monday, a federal judge in California dismissed a case from
Resolute, the giant logging and newsprint company, against Greenpeace
and other environmental activists. This is good news for the
international environmental organization that had $300 million at stake
if it lost the lawsuit. But the nature of the case worries First
Amendment advocates.
Increasingly, Greenpeace has become the target of major corporations
that have argued its aggressive campaigning, which sometimes involves
taking over oil rigs and raising protest banners on skyscrapers,
constitutes "illegal enterprises" better suited to prosecution under a
law that's known for going after the Mafia. The environmental group has
charged that the lawsuits constitute a threat to free speech and civil
disobedience that are fundamental to the very existence of many activist
groups - not just Greenpeace - meaning that billions of dollars could
ultimately be at stake.
Resolute Forest Products used the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organization Act (RICO) to accuse Greenpeace of "fraudulently" inducing
people all over the world "to donate millions of dollars based on
materially false and misleading claims about its purported environmental
purpose and its 'campaigns' against targeted companies." They argued
that "soliciting money, not saving the environment, is Greenpeace's
primary objective, it has demonstrated time and time again that it will
do anything to drive donations, including fabricating evidence."..
On Monday, a federal judge in California dismissed a case from Resolute,
the giant logging and newsprint company, against Greenpeace and other
environmental activists. This is good news for the international
environmental organization that had $300 million at stake if it lost the
lawsuit. But the nature of the case worries First Amendment advocates.
Increasingly, Greenpeace has become the target of major corporations
that have argued its aggressive campaigning, which sometimes involves
taking over oil rigs and raising protest banners on skyscrapers,
constitutes "illegal enterprises" better suited to prosecution under a
law that's known for going after the Mafia. The environmental group has
charged that the lawsuits constitute a threat to free speech and civil
disobedience that are fundamental to the very existence of many activist
groups - not just Greenpeace - meaning that billions of dollars could
ultimately be at stake.
Resolute Forest Products used the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organization Act (RICO) to accuse Greenpeace of "fraudulently" inducing
people all over the world "to donate millions of dollars based on
materially false and misleading claims about its purported environmental
purpose and its 'campaigns' against targeted companies." They argued
that "soliciting money, not saving the environment, is Greenpeace's
primary objective, it has demonstrated time and time again that it will
do anything to drive donations, including fabricating evidence."*
*http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/10/corporate-bullies-are-using-rico-laws-to-go-after-greenpeace/*
**Cli-Fi - A new way to talk about climate change
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/oct/18/clifi-a-new-way-to-talk-about-climate-change>
*...What makes a Cli-Fi novel good? Well in my opinion, it has to have
some real science in it. And it has to get the science right. Second, it
has to be fun to read. When done correctly, Cli-Fi can connect people to
their world; it can help us understand what future climate may be like,
or what current climate effects are.
As I write this, we are getting a steady stream of stories out of Puerto
Rico the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria. It is hard to imagine
the devastation, what life is like without electricity, food, or water.
What is life like on an island of 3 million people, each fending for
themselves, just trying to survive.
Another thing that is hard to imagine is the future. What will the world
be like decades from now when Earth temperatures have continued to rise?
What will agriculture be like? What will coastal communities be like?
What will international relations and armed conflict be like?It is also
hard to imagine what living a subsistence agriculture life is like,
today. What happens to lives and communities when the rains change, or
don't come at all? What would that world look like?
**Salman Rushdie recently said that in the present day the country is so
filled with lies and fantasy and fiction surrounding the truth, that it
might require the fiction writer to plainly lay out what is reality and
what is not. I think Ashley's book fits that notion.
So, take a look at this new (newish?) form of literature. Particularly
if you want a break from the usual genres. If you find something you
like that I didn't mention, please send it to me.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/oct/18/clifi-a-new-way-to-talk-about-climate-change*
(opinion) AMAZON'S NEW HEADQUARTERS LOCATION SELECTION CRITERIA?
<http://www.joboneforhumanity.org/_kudos_to_amazon_s_jeff_bezos_and_their_new_headquarters_location_team_s_brilliant_location_selection_criteria>*
BY DAVID PIKE OCTOBER 17, 2017
In this age of global warming dominated extreme weather events, any
rational company would not want to move their headquarters to a location
that will be regularly disabled by global warming aggravated
catastrophes like the hurricanes of Harvey, Irma and Marie or the
wildfires of northern California and the west coast. Unlike many of our
climate denying politicians, Amazon and a rising number of other
companies appears to understand that businesses must plan future
infrastructure only where the consequences of the global warming
emergency will be minimized.
One could say that global warming has already become the greatest
disrupter of the 21st-century and that failing to plan for the
escalating consequences of global warming is a plan to fail. Because
global warming is this great disruptor, the minimal new due diligence
criteria for all long term infrastructure investments are:
* 1. Do not locate in any millennial floodplains. *Millennial
floodplains are the newly calculated floodplain maps that many insurance
agencies are rapidly creating and adapting to replace the no longer
useful 100 year floodplain maps. We are now looking at new super storms
and flooding and other severe weather events and anomalies that used to
occur only several times per thousand years, which will now occur
numerous times every decade. This means that insurance companies will be
raising rates for many of their expanded millennial floodplain customers
or canceling others altogether. These new millennial floodplain maps
will also radically affect real estate property values once they become
public.
*2.) Do not locate in areas projected for global warming-intensified
extended droughts *because of stifling heat, water shortages and crop
failures.
*3.) Do not locate in areas with extensive and near surrounding forests*
because of increasing wildfire and smoke danger due to the escalating
temperatures and atmospheric turbulence (higher winds,) of global warming.
* 4.) Do not locate in areas projected to have regular "rain bombing"
*where a month's or week's worth of rain falls in a single day or
several days and seriously floods inland areas never previously flooded
this way.
*5.) Do not locate less than 25 feet above sea level.* ...This means
that if you are planning any piece of infrastructure near sea level that
you want it to last longer than 2050, for the minimum level of safety,
it would need to be at 10 feet above sea level, plus the height of the
king tides and storm surges normal to that area, plus an extra safety
measure to insure your infrastructure will be around for more than 50
years. (It is important to also note that several times in Earth's
geologic history after significant climate tipping points were crossed,
sea levels have risen by 10 feet or more in as little as two decades.)
*6.) Do not fail to locate significant infrastructure investments in
areas near or above the 45th parallel north.* Ever increasing heat,
security and other global warming consequences will continue to occur
creating an eventual mass "climagee" (climate refugee,) migration from
the expanding global warming crisis zones below the 45th parallel
north....Any company that locates in zones that will be inundated with
hundreds of millions of desperate climagees will not be able to maintain
the minimum safe environment for their employees, production, or
distribution activities.
http://www.joboneforhumanity.org/_kudos_to_amazon_s_jeff_bezos_and_their_new_headquarters_location_team_s_brilliant_location_selection_criteria
*ARE WE IN FOR AN UNBREAKABLE CYCLE OF GLOBAL WARMING?
<http://www.joboneforhumanity.org/are_we_in_for_an_unbreakable_cycle_of_global_warming>*
Soil heated by global warming could trigger the release of high levels
of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. This feedback mechanism may
increase global warming effects even more and in the process prompt
massive new carbon releases in a cycle that could be hard, if not
impossible to break...
In simple terms, this is how the cycle works: plants absorb gaseous
carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) to make food through
photosynthesis; herbivores eat plants and utilize carbon for growth
(through protein) or energy (through carbohydrates). Carbon gets passed
around when carnivores eat herbivores. The cycle is completed when
carbon gets released back into the atmosphere as plants, animals and
other living things emit carbon dioxide as a byproduct of their metabolism.
Soil, one of our planet's three major natural resources, alongside air
and water is a large reservoir of carbon. In fact, soil contains two to
three times more carbon than the atmosphere and plays a big part in the
carbon cycle and, in an unexpected way, global warming. Soil contains
not only decaying leaves and other parts from plants, it also harbors
bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms that feed on this dead organic
matter. All these components release gaseous carbon (as in carbon
dioxide form) into the atmosphere.
The team calculated that the soil lost 17% of its stored carbon. While
this may not be universally true as soils around the world are not the
same, the study is out to prove one thing: as global warming warms the
soil, the soil could potentially make global warming worse over time.
"This self-reinforcing feedback is potentially a global phenomenon with
soils, and once it starts it may be very difficult to turn off," Mellilo
said in an interview with Newsweek. "It's that part of the problem that
I think is sobering."
But fret not, according to experts. This effect can be mitigated without
even touching atmospheric warming itself. The key lies in taking good
care of the soil by implementing techniques like planting cover crops,
keeping the soil cool and using nanoparticles to protect soil structure.
"People like me, our goal is to put carbon back in the soil and protect
it from decomposition," says Ohio University soil scientist Rattan Lal,
who is not affiliated with the study. "Therefore, we focus on the
management."
http://www.joboneforhumanity.org/are_we_in_for_an_unbreakable_cycle_of_global_warming
*
Xcel will reach milestone with new South Dakota wind farm
<https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2016/12/clean-power-plan-b-why-minnesota-will-be-climate-leader-trump-s-america>
*It is on track to be the first U.S. utility to surpass 10K megawatts of
wind-energy generation.
Xcel Energy said Wednesday it plans to build another new large wind farm
in South Dakota, adding to a slew of wind projects it has announced
within the last year.
Minneapolis-based Xcel, the nation's largest wind-energy utility for
more than a decade, is planning a 300-megawatt wind farm in Grant and
Codington counties in northeast South Dakota. The project is expected to
go online in 2021.
A year ago, Xcel unveiled plans for eight to 10 new wind farms totaling
1,550 megawatts, a $2 billion investment. (A megawatt is 1 million
watts). With the South Dakota wind-energy plant announced Wednesday,
Xcel said it's on track to become the first U.S. utility to surpass
10,000 megawatts of wind-energy generation, more than enough to power
every home in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2016/12/clean-power-plan-b-why-minnesota-will-be-climate-leader-trump-s-america
http://investors.xcelenergy.com/*
*
*Target unveils climate change program
<http://www.retaildive.com/news/target-unveils-climate-change-program/507565/>*
Target on Tuesday introduced a new climate policy and sustainability
goals, aiming to reduce its absolute scope one (direct) and scope two
(indirect, from consumption of purchased electricity, heat or steam)
greenhouse gas emissions by 25% below 2015 levels by 2025; the retailer
also plans to source 100% renewable energy in its domestic operations in
the coming years and promote water conservation, which has already saved
more than 22 million gallons through outdoor irrigation systems at 176
stores.
The retailer is also developing a scope three plan to decrease emissions
generated through the manufacturing and distribution of products,
business travel, guests using its products and other indirect sources,
the company said in a blog post.
http://www.retaildive.com/news/target-unveils-climate-change-program/507565/
https://corporate.target.com/article/2017/10/climate-policy-and-goals
*Poorest countries suffer most from global warming
<https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/poorest-countries-suffer-most-from-global-warming-1.3260531>*
Martin Wolf: The linked challenges of climate and development will shape
humanity's future
"Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power,
while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."
This sentence from the History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides is
the philosophy of Donald Trump's administration. Thus, two of his
advisers, HR McMaster and Gary Cohn, wrote in May that: "The world is
not a 'global community' but an arena where nations, non-governmental
actors and businesses engage and compete for advantage."
This amoral perspective has serious implications. In no area are global
spillovers more significant and co-operation more vital than climate.
The failure to act ensures that the poor would indeed suffer.
This is the conclusion of a chapter on the economic impact of weather
shocks, in the International Monetary Fund's latest World Economic
Outlook. The largest negative impacts of the shocks being made more
frequent by global warming are on tropical countries.
Nearly all low-income countries are tropical. Yet these countries are
the least able to protect themselves. Thus they are innocent victims of
changes for which they bear no responsibility....
If little or no action is taken, average temperatures could rise by 4°C,
or more, above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. Aware of
the lengthy lead times needed if effective action is to be taken, both
to mitigate climate change and adapt to it (where inescapable), rational
people would act now.
The main obstacles to such action are three. First, specific economic
interests, notably in the fossil fuel industry, are understandably
opposed to action and, not infrequently, to the science that suggests it
is necessary.
Second, free-marketeers, who despise both governments and
environmentalists, reject the science, because of its (to them)
detestable policy implications. Third, few wish to inconvenience
themselves, let alone threaten their standard of living, for the sake of
the future, or people in poorer countries.
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/poorest-countries-suffer-most-from-global-warming-1.3260531
*
**At UN event in Rome, Pope Francis urges action on climate change,
conflicts to end global hunger
<http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=57897#.WehE7lu3xph>*
Address by His Holiness Pope Francis. World Food Day Ceremony, FAO
Headquarters
16 October 2017 - Food security for all requires tackling climate change
and ending conflicts, His Holiness, Pope Francis, stressed Monday at an
official ceremony for World Food Day held at the Rome headquarters of
the United Nations agriculture agency.
"It is clear that wars and climatic change are a cause of hunger, so
let's not present it as if hunger is an incurable disease," the Pontiff
said during his key note address marking the Day at headquarters of the
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Under this year's theme 'addressing migration through investing in food
security and rural development,' Pope Francis called for governments
worldwide to collaborate to ensure voluntary and safer migration; for a
disarmament commitment; and to protect the planet while using its
resources - producing and consuming food.
Noting that it was unfortunate that some countries are moving away from
the Paris Agreement on climate change, Pope France underscored" "What is
at stake is the credibility of the whole international system."...
"I saw their wounds with my own eyes and I heard their stories with my
own ears. They were frightened, hungry and malnourished after enduring a
nightmare that most people cannot even imagine. If we are truly going to
end hunger, we must stop this kind of inhumanity," he said...
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=57897#.WehE7lu3xph
*This Day in Climate History October 19, 1993
<http://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/20/us/clinton-asks-help-on-pollution-goal.html>
- from D.R. Tucker*
October 19, 1993: President Clinton announces his Climate Change Action
Plan.
http://c-spanvideo.org/program/WarmingA
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/20/us/clinton-asks-help-on-pollution-goal.html
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