[TheClimate.Vote] September 14, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Thu Sep 14 07:28:01 EDT 2017
/September 14, 2017/
*Columbia gorge fire now 13% contained; I-84 in Oregon remains closed
<http://www.oregonlive.com/wildfires/index.ssf/2017/09/eagle_creek_fire_size_containm.html>*
Updated on September 13, 2017 at 7:51 PM Posted on September 13, 2017 at
8:46 AM
A wildfire burning in the Columbia River Gorge now covers an estimated
37,500 acres, which is a jump of over 1,900 acres from Tuesday's acreage.
...the timeline for reopening the interstate's westbound lanes between
Troutdale and Hood River has been held up by fire activity and that
workers continue to remove trees from along the eastbound interstate.
The agency is hoping to open the interstate's westbound lanes first, he
said. The Historic Columbia River Highway, which is closed between East
Larch Mountain Road and Ainsworth State Park, is expected to be closed
for a long time.
http://www.oregonlive.com/wildfires/index.ssf/2017/09/eagle_creek_fire_size_containm.html
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: A HELLISH VISION OF PORTLAND, OREGON'S FAMOUS GORGE
IN FLAMES
<https://www.wired.com/story/photo-of-the-week-a-hellish-vision-of-portland-oregons-famous-gorge-in-flames/>
https://www.wired.com/story/photo-of-the-week-a-hellish-vision-of-portland-oregons-famous-gorge-in-flames/
*
**Big investors take aim at banks over climate change risk
<https://www.ft.com/content/a2616a52-988b-11e7-a652-cde3f882dd7b>*
Investment managers write to chief executives about compliance with
Paris accord
A coalition of institutional investors managing more than $1tn in assets
is demanding that 60 of the world's largest banks take action to protect
the world from the threat of catastrophic damage due to climate change.
Letters have been sent to the chief executives of banks including HSBC,
Lloyds, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche
Bank to demand more information about their exposures to climate-related
risks and their plans to ensure compliance with the landmark agreement
to tackle global warming reached by governments in Paris in December 2015.
https://www.ft.com/content/a2616a52-988b-11e7-a652-cde3f882dd7b
*Two Climate Disasters Put Insurance Industry in the Crosshairs
<https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2017/09/13/insurance-climate-change-hurricane-irma-harvey/>*
The insurance industry is facing a staggering set of numbers from the
country's two latest disasters. Hurricane Irma will likely cause $20
billion to $40 billion in insured losses for homes, businesses and
industrial properties, according to the risk modeling firm AIR
Worldwide. Hurricane Harvey left behind an estimated $10 billion in
insured losses from wind, flood and storm surge in Texas, AIR said, but
estimates including uninsured losses reach as high as $75 billion in
property destroyed.
The overall economic damages are even higher. AccuWeather founder Dr.
Joel N. Myers said Harvey will become the costliest U.S. weather
disaster with a $190 billion price tag and Irma could top $100 billion.
The two hurricanes aren't just drawing attention for their devastating
financial toll. Irma and Harvey highlight a Category 5 problem slamming
the insurance industry: how to manage the emerging climate-related risks
for homes, businesses and governments as global warming fuels bigger and
more costly catastrophes.
The insurance industry, which is responsible for managing society's
risks, has been vocal in acknowledging the threat of climate change. But
two reports issued last December by a group of the world's largest
insurers also concede that they remain largely unprepared to address
climate risks in the communities they serve.
The annual difference between the economic losses and the insured
portion, dubbed "protection gap," has ballooned from $23 billion to $100
billion since the 1980s, according to insurance giant Swiss Re. The
losses connected to natural disasters have grown five-folds to about
$170 billion worldwide during the same period. Most of the flood-prone
properties in Texas and Florida aren't insured, the Associated Press
reported.
"The role that ecosystems play in climate change adaptation is a bit of
a blind spot," Goldstein said. "There are only a handful of companies
using ecosystems in their climate risk management strategies."
https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2017/09/13/insurance-climate-change-hurricane-irma-harvey/
*Video This is all just a part of a natural cycle, right?
<https://youtu.be/k5_zpjerQFo>*
Global Weirding with Katharine Hayhoe
Published on Sep 13, 2017
All this worry about warming when it's just a natural cycle. The climate
is always changing and today's no different -- right?
Global Weirding is produced by KTTZ Texas Tech Public Media and
distributed by PBS Digital Studios. New episodes every other Wednesday
at 10 am central. Brought to you in part by: Bob and Linda Herscher,
Freese and Nichols, Inc, and the Texas Tech Climate Science Center.
"Sometime in the next few thousand years was another Ice Age , that is
until that long slow cooling trend stopped and then abruptly reversed
just about two hundred years ago the Sun, volcanoes and natural
cycles.... they all have an alibinow it's time to look for a new factor
that might be causing the planet to warm. And it turns out that
scientists have known about such a factor for over a hundred and fifty
years. The heat-trapping gases we produce whenever we burn coal or gas
or oil as well as from deforestation land-use change in agriculture
these gases are wrapping an extra blanket around our planet this blanket
is trapping heat inside the climate system that would otherwise escape
to space that's why we're warming for the first time in the history of
our planet it's us"
https://youtu.be/k5_zpjerQFo
*Microsoft, Disney among companies calculating carbon footprints -
report <http://world.einnews.com/article/403506204/D20PxwpVONSdFV0o>*
Sep 12, 2017 - Reuters
NEW YORK, Sept 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Microsoft , Walt Disney
Co. and General Motors are among hundreds of companies calculating how
much they spend on carbon emissions to show investors they are concerned
about global warming, a study said on Tuesday. More than 700 other
businesses around the world plan by 2018 to introduce so-called carbon
pricing, said the report by the U.S.-based Center for Climate and Energy
Solutions (C2ES).
The findings come amid efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to scale
back climate change-related regulations on grounds they are burdensome
to the economy.
Putting a monetary value on carbon dioxide emissions helps limit the
burning of fossil fuel, which contributes to global warming, and signals
to investors that companies are aware of the financial risks posed by
global warming, the study said.
Some 500 companies, including 80 in the United States, reported using
carbon pricing, it said, drawing on an array of previous research.
According to the World Bank, 42 governments have or plan to have a way
to tax carbon emissions or have a cap-and-trade system that allows
industries with low emissions to sell their unused permitted capacity to
larger emitters.
The United States is not among them.
http://world.einnews.com/article/403506204/D20PxwpVONSdFV0o
*The mental health impact of major disasters like Harvey and Irma
<https://theconversationus.cmail19.com/t/r-l-jldjkikd-hrkivktld-k/>*
J. Brian Houston, University of Missouri-Columbia; Jennifer First,
University of Missouri-Columbia
After the storm is over, it's time to rebuild - and natural disasters
can affect survivors' health for years to come.
When major disasters like Hurricanes Harvey and Irma hit, the first
priority is to keep people safe. This process can involvedramatic
evacuations, rescues and searches
<http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/volunteers-rescue-hurricane-harvey-victims-evacuation-centers-fill-49506790>.
However, after the initial emergency passes, a much longer process of
recovering and rebuilding begins. For individuals, families and
communities, this can last months or even years. This work often begins
at the same time as thenational media starts packing up
<https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699012456022>and public attention shifts to
the next major news story.
At the University of Missouri'sDisaster and Community Crisis Center
<http://dcc.missouri.edu/>, we study disaster recovery, rebuilding and
resilience. Much of our research shows that natural disasters can have a
meaningful impact on survivors' mental and behavioral health. These
issues typically emerge as people try to recover and move forward after
the devastation.
*Health and disasters*
Immediately after a natural disaster, it's normal to experience fear,
anxiety, sadness or shock. However, if these symptoms continue for weeks
to months following the event, they may indicate a more serious
psychological issue.
The disaster mental health problemmost commonly studied
<https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291707001353>by psychologists and
psychiatrists is post-traumatic stress disorder, which can occur after
frightening events that threaten one's own life and the lives for family
and friends.
Following a disaster, people mightlose their jobs or be displaced from
their homes
<http://www.nature.com/news/hurricane-katrina-s-psychological-scars-revealed-1.18234>.
This can contribute todepression
<https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100610387086>, particularly as survivors
attempt to cope with loss related to the disaster. It's not easy to lose
sentimental possessions or face economic uncertainties. People facing
these challenges can feel hopeless or in despair.
Substance use
<https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/trauma/disaster-terrorism/disasters-substance-abuse.asp>can
increase following disasters, but usually only for individuals who
already used tobacco, alcohol or drugs before the disaster. In astudy
<http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7717.2009.01136.x>of Hurricane Katrina
survivors who had been displaced to Houston, Texas, approximately
one-third reported increasing their tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use
after the storm.
There's also evidence thatdomestic violence increases
<https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/09/disaster-domestic-abuse/501299/>in
communities experiencing a disaster. After Hurricane Katrina,another
study
<https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/wpallimport/files/iwpr-export/publications/D492.pdf>found
that, among women in Mississippi who were displaced from their homes,
domestic violence rates increased dramatically. Perpetrators may feel
aloss of control
<http://www.newstribune.com/news/news/story/2011/dec/22/abuse-victims-joplin-struggle-find-housing/555565/>following
the disaster and turn to abusive behavior to try to gain that control
back in their personal relationships.
*Disaster recovery*
While many disaster survivors show resilience, studies have shown mental
and behavioral health issues cropping upweeks, months and even years
after a disaster
<http://www.nj.gov/humanservices/dmhas/initiatives/disaster/>.
Rebuilding can be a long process, with a series of ups and downs.
Survivors may bounce back after a few months, or they may experience
ongoing stressors, such as financial issues or problems finding
permanent housing. Disaster anniversaries or other reminders - like a
heavy rainstorm months after a hurricane - may also trigger reactions.
In addition, early disaster recovery efforts often focus on physical
reconstruction. Psychological recovery may end up on the back burner.
Individuals and organizations working to help disaster survivors need to
remember that disasters can affect many aspects of survivors' lives. As
a result, several different community systems need to be working
together as part of recovery efforts.
Researchers sometimes call the multi-agency disaster response and
recovery network that is needed to help individuals cope with a disaster
a"system of care." <http://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-015-0647-0>A disaster
system of care will include disaster groups like FEMA and Red Cross.
Itshould also involve
<http://dcc.missouri.edu/doc/Disaster_Displacement_Manual_v1_2009_Final.pdf>agencies
representing public health, mental health, schools, local government,
social services, local businesses and workforce development, faith-based
organizations and local media.
For example, combating domestic violence after a disaster will
requirecollaboration
<http://dcc.missouri.edu/doc/dcc_domestic_violence_and_disasters.pdf>among
disaster organizations, domestic violence groups, law enforcement, local
media and more. Resources intended to help women and families
experiencing domestic violence - such as legal aid or transportation
assistance - should be included in disaster response programs.
Communities should also help disaster survivors get reconnected: to
their friends and family, to new people in the community and to the
place they may be temporarily staying while displaced.Social capital and
support
<https://theconversation.com/recovering-from-disasters-social-networks-matter-more-than-bottled-water-and-batteries-69611>may
be the most important resources for individuals coping with disasters.
Community events, such as neighborhood dinners, might help foster
connections.Social media platforms
<http://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12092>can help bring together neighbors who
are displaced and waiting to return home.
Finally, avariety of mental health interventions
<http://dcc.missouri.edu/doc/dcc_community_mh_response_factsheet.pdf>-
such aspsychological first aid
<http://www.nctsn.org/content/psychological-first-aid>,crisis counseling
<https://www.samhsa.gov/dtac/ccp>andcognitive behavioral therapy
<https://cbitsprogram.org/>- can help those who have experienced a
disaster. These programs can be delivered through many community
systems, including mental health agencies, schools and more.
If you're in the U.S. and seeking help, a freeDisaster Distress Helpline
<https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disaster-distress-helpline>is
available for disaster survivors.
https://theconversationus.cmail19.com/t/r-l-jldjkikd-hrkivktld-k/
*Pentagon still preparing for global warming despite Trump's order to
stop
<http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/09/13/534966/Pentagon-defies-Trumps-order-on-global-warming>*
The Pentagon continues to take measures for protection of its bases
against impacts of global warming although US President Donald Trump
rescinded all climate-related federal agency actions directed by former
President Barack Obama, a report says.
The initiatives that Trump killed in March included one that stipulated
the Pentagon to be ready for extreme whether in the future operations,
Military Times reported on Tuesday.
"A changing climate will have real impacts on our military and the way
it executes its missions," the Defense Department concluded in a 2014
report, dubbed a "climate change roadmap," issued in the wake of Obama's
order. "The military could be called upon more often to support civil
authorities … in the face of more frequent and more intense natural
disasters."
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/09/13/534966/Pentagon-defies-Trumps-order-on-global-warming
*Winton Capital sets up climate change prediction market
<https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/winton-capital-sets-up-climate-change-prediction-market.html>*
Under the plan, scientists and experts from around the world will be
able to trade contracts based on the atmospheric concentration of carbon
dioxide and how far temperatures increase, going decades into the
future. Winton will act as a market maker and subsidise trading, rather
than taking a cut or skewing the odds in its favour.
Winton's market, which will be based in the UK, will be one of only a
few prediction markets and is believed to be the first dedicated to
climate issues.
In Winton's market, bets will settle every year, using temperature data
from the UK's Hadley Centre, and the annual average of the concentration
of atmospheric carbon dioxide as measured by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration monitoring station on Mauna Loa, Hawaii.
The hedge fund will initially target professionals in the climate field
to participate, though it will be open to anyone in the UK. It is being
run internally at Winton, with employees able to place notional bets
rather than using real money. Mr Roulston said they are hoping to launch
it externally later this year to universities, and will open it to the
public sometime next year.
Mark Boslough, a physicist and adjunct professor at the University of
New Mexico, said he hopes Winton's climate prediction market will lay
the groundwork for a more developed way of betting on the future of the
environment.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/winton-capital-sets-up-climate-change-prediction-market.html
*
**(audio) Climate Science: Emissions Scenarios
<http://www.resilience.org/stories/2017-09-13/climate-science-emissions-scenarios/>*
By Chris Nelder, originally published by Energy Transition Show
September 13, 2017
Modeling the future of our climate is a complex task that not too many
people understand. What do we know about how the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (or IPCC) modeling actually works? Why has the
modeling community decided to model emissions separately from
socioeconomic scenarios? When we hear that the RCP8.5 emissions scenario
is considered a "business as usual" scenario, what assumptions are we
making about all that business? And are those assumptions reasonable? Is
there a climate scenario that represents an optimistic view of energy
transition over the coming decades? And if so, what does it assume about
the energy technologies that we will switch away from, and switch to?
These and many other questions are answered in this two-hour discussion
on emissions modeling by an expert climate modeler from the National
Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), who co-chairs the working group
on future scenarios for impacts, adaptation and vulnerability indicators
of the International Committee On New Integrated Climate Change
Assessment Scenarios. It's a wonktastic deep dive into an esoteric
subject… and it just may leave you feeling a lot more hopeful about the
prospects for energy transition, and for our planet.
https://xenetwork.org/ets/episodes/episode-51-climate-science-part-6-emissions-scenarios/
http://www.resilience.org/stories/2017-09-13/climate-science-emissions-scenarios/
*How 90 Big Companies Helped Fuel Climate Change: Study Breaks It Down
<https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09112017/climate-change-sea-level-rise-fossil-fuel-exxon-chevron-bp-study>*
A new study connects climate change impacts to the emissions from Exxon,
Chevron and other large oil, gas and cement companies and their products.
Thenew paper
<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-017-1978-0>, published
last week in the journal/Climatic Change,/builds onearlier research
<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10584-013-0986-y>finding
that nearly two-thirds of historical greenhouse gas emissions came from
the products and operations of just 90 companies-mostly fossil fuel
producers, plus a few cement companies.
Using models, they calculated that the greenhouse gas emissions of these
90 companies accounted for around 42 to 50 percent of the global
temperature increase and about 26 to 32 percent of global sea level rise
over the course of industrial history, from 1880 to 2010. Since 1980, a
time when global warming was first getting wide attention, their
emissions have accounted for around 28 to 35 percent of rising
temperatures and around 11 to 14 percent of rising seas.
While some of the companies are huge-Chevron, Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil,
Gazprom-even the biggest of them weren't blamed for more than about 1 or
2 percent of the rising tides or temperatures.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09112017/climate-change-sea-level-rise-fossil-fuel-exxon-chevron-bp-study
*If Republicans acknowledged climate change, then they'd have to change
| Opinion
<http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2017/09/climate_change_hurricane.html>*
When NPR asked Rep. Pete Olson of Texas how his celebration of America
being pulled out of the Paris climate accord with the record breaking
rainfall that just submerged Houston, Olson predictably said that it
was the wrong time to have a discussion about climate change. Olson also
played what he must have believed was his trump card. In 1900, he said,
Galveston was wiped out by a hurricane that killed 8,000 people....
But as Olson's allusion to 1900 Galveston illustrates, "there's nothing
to see here" has become a mantra of Republicans in power. Why is that?
It's not like Republicans are less vulnerable to a changing climate.
It's not like rising sea levels and more powerful storms will single out
Democrats. So how come so many are so adamant that nothing's happening?
In a Monday piece for The Intercept, writer Naomi Klein argues that
Republicans deny climate change because to admit its existence would
mean they'd have to change their entire political ideology. Klein notes
that when Hurricane Irma reached Category 5 strength in the Atlantic -
the first storm ever known to reach that strength that far out --
President Donald Trump considered it the perfect time to gather his
cabinet to hammer out a plan to cut taxes.
It's important to link the Category 5 storm and the Republicans' push
for lower taxes, Klein writes, because denying climate change helps
Republicans argue against the need for more taxes.
As Klein puts it, "if climate change is driving the kinds of
catastrophes we are seeing right now -- and it is -- then it doesn't
just mean Trump has to apologize and admit he was wrong when he called
it a Chinese hoax. It means that he also needs to junk his whole tax
plan, because we're going to need that tax money (and more) to pay for a
rapid transition away from fossil fuels. And it also means he's going to
have to junk his deregulatory plan, because if we are going to change
how we power our lives, we're going to need all kinds of regulations to
manage and enforce it." Trump and the climate-denying Republican
governors around the country "would have to junk an entire twisted
worldview holding that the market is always right, regulation is always
wrong, private is good and public is bad, and taxes that support public
services are the worst of all."...
Accepting the reality of climate change "detonates the ideological
scaffolding on which contemporary conservatism rests. To admit that the
climate crisis is real is to admit the end of their political and
economic project."
The novelist Upton Sinclair wrote, "It is difficult to get a man to
understand <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Understand> something, when
his salary depends upon his not understanding it."...
The same idea seems to apply here. Surely Republicans in Louisiana and
Texas and Florida can see the effects of a changing climate. But
admitting its reality would mean that so many of the things that they've
championed are contributing to the damage
You can listen to Emmanuel's NPR interview here: "How a Warmer Climate
Helped Shape Harve
<http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/09/01/climate-change-harvey>y"
You can read Klein's column here: "Irma Won't 'Wake Up' Climate-Change
Denying Republicans. Their Whole Ideology Is On The Line
<https://theintercept.com/2017/09/11/irma-donald-trump-tax-cuts-climate-change-republican-ideology-capitalism/>."
Jarvis DeBerry is deputy opinions editor for NOLA.COM | The
Times-Picayune. He can be reached atjdeberry at nola.com
<mailto:jdeberry at nola.com>or attwitter.com/jarvisdeberry
<http://twitter.com/jarvisdeberry>.
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2017/09/climate_change_hurricane.html
*Stevie Wonder: Anyone who doesn't believe in global warming 'must be
'blind'
<http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/350399-stevie-wonder-anyone-who-doesnt-believe-in-global-warming-must>*
Stevie Wonder struck a political note at a concert to raise money for
hurricane relief late Tuesday, saying anyone who does not believe in
global warming "must be blind."
"Anyone who believes that there's no such thing as global warming must
be blind or unintelligent," the musician said during the "Hand in Hand"
telethon.
http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/350399-stevie-wonder-anyone-who-doesnt-believe-in-global-warming-must
*This Day in Climate History September 14, 1989 - from D.R. Tucker*
September 14, 1989: Reviewing Bill McKibben's book "The End of Nature,"
Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman observes:
"It is not a doomsday diatribe, although his reflections have the
conceptual power of Jonathan Schell's 'Fate of the Earth.' From his home
in the Adirondacks, McKibben doesn't chart the end of the world, but of
the natural order.
"In some ways that has been the moral message of the ecology movement.
Limits. Restraints. We learned to stop using DDT, and we are learning to
do without chlorofluorocarbons, and we must stop releasing carbon
dioxide. More profoundly, as McKibben writes, 'Deep ecology suggests
that instead of just giving better orders we learn to give fewer and
fewer orders -- to sink back into the natural world.'
"Nature is already pushed back to prairie museums, zoos, national parks,
protected endangered species. Now, in McKibben's work, there is another
late reminder that if we don't limit our numbers and our habits, all
we'll have of nature will be the videotapes."
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8137848.html
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