[TheClimate.Vote] September 19, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Tue Sep 19 09:18:39 EDT 2017
/September 19, 2017/
*Category 5 Hurricane Maria Hits Dominica
<https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/category-5-hurricane-maria-hits-dominica>*
Category 5 Hurricane Maria made a direct hit on the small Lesser
Antilles island of Dominica (population 72,000) near 9 pm EDT Monday,
becoming Dominica's first Category 5 landfall on record. At the time of
landfall, an Air Force hurricane hunter aircraft measured surface winds
of 160 mph and a central pressure of 924 mb. Maria likely did
catastrophic damage to Dominica.
Heavy rain squalls and rising winds were being observed late Monday
afternoon at Melville Hall Airport on Dominica, which measured sustained
winds at 31 mph, gusting to 48 mph, at 6 pm EDT Monday. That station
then went off-line, as did Canefield Airport, an hour later. A personal
weather station on the northwest end of the island stopped transmitting
as of 9:50 pm EDT Monday, after measuring a pressure of 986 mb.
Satellite loops and radar out of Martinique and Barbados clearly show
Maria's small, 9-mile diameter eye, surrounded by a daunting array of
spiral bands with heavy thunderstorms, Maria's hurricane-force winds
were confined to a relatively narrow 40-mile diameter region around the
hurricane's small eye, but the tropical storm-force wind area was 230
miles in diameter.
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/category-5-hurricane-maria-hits-dominica
*Hurricane Maria strengthens to category five storm
<http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41314881>*
Hurricane Maria has strengthened to a "potentially catastrophic"
category five storm, US forecasters say, as it bears down on islands in
the Caribbean.
The island of Dominica is one of the first in its path, facing sustained
winds of 260km/h (160mph).
Maria is moving roughly along the same track as Irma, the hurricane that
devastated the region this month.
Martinique declared a maximum-level alert while another French island,
Guadeloupe, ordered evacuations.
Hurricane warnings are also in place for:
Puerto Rico: The US territory expects Maria to make landfall as a
category three on Tuesday. It escaped the worst of Irma and has been an
important hub for getting relief to islands more badly affected.
Governor Ricardo Rossello urged islanders to seek refuge
US Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands: Both island chains
suffered severe damage from Irma and President Donald Trump declared a
state of emergency for the US territories on Monday. British authorities
fear debris left behind by Irma could be whipped up by the new storm and
pose an extra threat.
Warnings are also in effect for St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat and St
Lucia while hurricane watches are in place for St Martin, Saba, St
Eustatius and Anguilla.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41314881
*
This Department Is the Last Hideout of Climate Change Believers in
Donald Trump's Government
<https://www.thenation.com/article/this-department-is-the-last-hideout-of-climate-change-believers-in-donald-trumps-government/>*
Even if no one else in Donald Trump's Washington is ready or willing to
deal with climate change, the US military will be. It's already long
been preparing in its own fashion to take a pivotal role in responding
to a world of recurring natural disasters. This, in turn, will mean that
in the coming years climate change will increasingly dominate the
domestic national-security agenda (whether the Trump administration and
those that follow like it, or even admit it) and such domestic
emergencies will undoubtedly be militarized. In the process, the very
concept of "homeland security" is destined to change.
As global warming intensifies, instability and chaos, including massive
flows of refugees, will only grow, undoubtedly inviting yet more
military interventions abroad. Meanwhile, climate change will increase
chaos and devastation at home and there, too, it seems that Washington
will often see the military as America's sole reliable response
mechanism. As a result, decisions will have to be made about ending
American conflicts abroad and refocusing domestically or that
overstretched military will simply swallow even more of the government's
dollars and gain yet more power in Washington. And yet, whatever else
the armed forces might (or might not) be capable of, they are not
capable of defeating climate change, which, at its essence, is anything
but a military problem. While there are potential solutions to it,
those, too, are in no way military.
Despite their reluctance to speak publicly about such environmental
matters right now, top officials in the Pentagon are painfully aware of
the problem at hand. They know that global warming, as it progresses,
will generate new challenges at home and abroad, potentially stretching
their capabilities to the breaking point and leaving this country ever
more exposed to the ravages of climate change without offering any
solutions to the problem. As a result, the generals face a fundamental
choice. They can continue to self-censor their sophisticated analysis of
climate change and its likely effects, and so remain complicit with the
administration's headlong rush into national catastrophe, or they can
speak out forcefully on its threat to homeland security, and the
resulting need for a new, largely non-military strategic posture that
puts climate action at the top of the nation's priorities
Michael T. Klare is a professor of peace and world-security studies at
Hampshire College and the defense correspondent of The Nation.
https://www.thenation.com/article/this-department-is-the-last-hideout-of-climate-change-believers-in-donald-trumps-government/
*
**Beyond "catastrophic" climate change
<http://thebulletin.org/beyond-%E2%80%9Ccatastrophic%E2%80%9D-climate-change11122>*
A paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
makes the case for a new category of climate change so risky that it
goes beyond "dangerous" and even "catastrophic." The authors call the
new category "unknown."
The authors propose two additional categories: Warming beyond 3 degrees
would be "catastrophic," and warming beyond 5 degrees would be "unknown."
Xu and Ramanathan calculate a 50 percent probability that warming will
cross the dangerous threshold within three decades if greenhouse gas
emissions are not curbed, and a 5 percent probability of reaching
catastrophic levels. That may sound low, but as Ramanathan told the San
Diego Union-Tribune, "you would not get on an airplane if you thought
there was a 5 percent chance that it was going to crash."
What are the odds that humanity will venture, or rather blunder, into
the unknown? If emissions remain unchecked, the two scientists project a
50 percent probability that the global population will be subjected to
catastrophic risks by the end of the century, and a 5 percent
probability of being fully in the unknown category.
Xu and Ramanathan recommend a "three-lever strategy" to limit warming:
reducing carbon dioxide emissions to a net of zero; reducing emissions
of short-lived but potent "super pollutants" such as methane and
hydrofluorocarbons; and extracting and sequestering as much as 1
trillion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by the end of the
century. "Basically, for a safe climate, all three levers . . . must be
deployed as soon as possible," they write.
If that doesn't happen, it may be too late to avoid catastrophe. Or
whatever comes after that.
http://thebulletin.org/beyond-%E2%80%9Ccatastrophic%E2%80%9D-climate-change11122
*.
Well below 2 degrees C: Mitigation strategies for avoiding dangerous to
catastrophic climate changes
<http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/09/14/1618481114.full>*
Abstract
The historic Paris Agreement calls for limiting global temperature rise
to "well below 2 degreesC." Because of uncertainties in emission
scenarios, climate, and carbon cycle feedback, we interpret the Paris
Agreement in terms of three climate risk categories and bring in
considerations of low-probability (5%) high-impact (LPHI) warming in
addition to the central (∼50% probability) value. The current risk
category of dangerous warming is extended to more categories, which are
defined by us here as follows: >1.5 degreesC as dangerous; >3 degreesC
as catastrophic; and >5 degreesC as unknown, implying beyond
catastrophic, including existential threats. With unchecked emissions,
the central warming can reach the dangerous level within three decades,
with the LPHI warming becoming catastrophic by 2050. We outline a
three-lever strategy to limit the central warming below the dangerous
level and the LPHI below the catastrophic level, both in the near term
(<2050) and in the long term (2100): the carbon neutral (CN) lever to
achieve zero net emissions of CO2, the super pollutant (SP) lever to
mitigate short-lived climate pollutants, and the carbon extraction and
sequestration (CES) lever to thin the atmospheric CO2 blanket. Pulling
on both CN and SP levers and bending the emissions curve by 2020 can
keep the central warming below dangerous levels. To limit the LPHI
warming below dangerous levels, the CES lever must be pulled as well to
extract as much as 1 trillion tons of CO2 before 2100 to both limit the
preindustrial to 2100 cumulative net CO2 emissions to 2.2 trillion tons
and bend the warming curve to a cooling trend.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/09/14/1618481114.full
*The Real Unknown of Climate Change: Our Behavior
<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/climate/climate-change-denial.html>*
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/climate/climate-change-denial.html
*
**Next wave of EPA science advisers could include those who question
climate change*
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/09/18/next-epa-science-advisers-could-include-those-who-question-climate-change/>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/09/18/next-epa-science-advisers-could-include-those-who-question-climate-change/*
*
*Arizona Officials Allegedly Covered Up How Hot It Got in Some State
Prisons
<http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/09/arizona-officials-allegedly-covered-up-how-hot-it-got-in-some-state-prisons/>*
*Temperatures soared over the summer.*
This summer, temperatures soared in Arizona. The heatwave in June was so
severe that flights out of Phoenix were grounded. During that week, the
Arizona State Prison Complex-Douglas in the southeast region of the
state recorded temperatures up to 119 degrees in some units. At the
Safford prison, southeast of Phoenix, temperatures inside the medical
units hit 110 degrees. "Obviously, those are very dangerous temperatures
for anybody," David Fathi, a staff attorney for the ACLU's National
Prison Project who representedinmates in the 2012 lawsuit, told the
Phoenix New Times.
Employees at some facilities during this period reported feeling unwell
after working in extreme heat and called in sick because of severe
dehydration. Extreme heat waves are only expected to get worse in the
future thanks to climate change. On average, Phoenix now has 16 days
above 110 degrees per year. by 2050, that number is expected to increase
to 53.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/09/arizona-officials-allegedly-covered-up-how-hot-it-got-in-some-state-prisons/
*The Climate Catastrophe We're All Ignoring
<http://www.resilience.org/stories/2017-09-17/climate-catastrophe-ignoring/>*
By Jeremy Lent on Sep 17, 2017 01:17 pm
With daily headlines pivoting from the unparalleled flooding from Harvey
in Houston to the devastation caused by Irma in Florida, it might seem
like the United States has its hands full just dealing with our own
climate emergencies. But meanwhile, multiply the damage from Harvey and
Irma a hundredfold and you'll get a feeling for the climate-related
suffering taking place right now in the rest of the world.
In this case, though, it's a different kind of mobilization that's
required. The threat we're facing comes, not from enemies at war with
us, but from the results of an economic system designed to exploit the
earth and the most vulnerable humans living on it at an ever-increasing
pace. As long as we measure ourselves and others by how much we consume,
we're complicit in fueling the global system that's rapaciously
devouring the earth.
The good news is that there's a short window of time when a fundamental
shift in our economic, social, and political priorities could still
prevent global catastrophe. Alternative economic models exist that offer
ways to conduct commerce sustainably. Ultimately, a flourishing future
requires moving away from the growth-based, consumption-obsessed values
of global capitalism, and toward a quality-oriented approach that could
allow all of us to live on the earth in dignity. It's even possible to
draw down much of the carbon that's already been emitted-the potential
is there but it requires a choice to be made: a shift in our society's
values toward caring for others alive right now, and for future generations.
Will there be enough collective willpower to act and transform our
society before it's too late? That depends on the lessons learned from
Harvey, Irma, and the climate disasters still to come. Suppose, as
you're racing toward that crowd in the road, that you managed to brake
in time, get out of the car and join them. And then imagine your
surprise when you discover the road you were speeding on came to an
abrupt end around the next curve and was leading you directly off the
precipice. Ultimately, the climate catastrophe we're ignoring will
become all humanity's catastrophe unless we start acting on it now.
The post The Climate Catastrophe We're All Ignoring appeared first on
Resilience.
http://www.resilience.org/stories/2017-09-17/climate-catastrophe-ignoring/
Greenmanbucket
*Keith Schneider on Line 5 and the Economics of Pipelines
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwnEzS1RlLk>*
Line 5 carries Tar Sands oil beneath the world's largest reservoir of
fresh water, and specifically at the Straits of Mackinaw, one of the
world's most beautiful places.
It does not need to be there.
Keith Schneider of Circle of Blue is a New York Times journalist
specializing in the nexus of water, climate, and energy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwnEzS1RlLk
*How watching football helped me understand people who deny climate
change
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/09/18/how-watching-football-helped-me-understand-people-who-deny-climate-change/?utm_term=.8f1e116dda9c>*
Fans like me are denying science, too.
By Daniel Glick
...Then, as the new NFL season kicked off last week, I realized I was a
science denier, too. Even in the face of mounting evidence that football
is hazardous for players' brains, I couldn't stop myself from watching.
I cheered gleefully as the Patriots lost on opening day Thursday Night
Football and my Broncos prevailed on Monday Night Football, kicking off
the Super Bowl LII season.
...This revelation was a psychic rout. I'd read that social scientists
have discovered that some people deny climate change science because
they understand that, if it's true, we really have to change things fast
- and governmental action would be inevitable. In my case, no matter how
much evidence I have that football is damaging thousands of players, I
don't want to give it up. And suddenly, I get why EPA administrator
Scott Pruitt doesn't want to talk about how warmer oceans contribute to
more intense hurricanes - it's the same reason I don't want to think
about the way steroids make a 6-foot-5-inch, 280-pound defensive end
even more deadly to quarterbacks.
I'm not quite ready to stop watching football completely, but I am
already starting to cut back. I stopped playing fantasy football. And in
the spirit of bipartisan compromise, I'm offering climate deniers a
trade. Although it might feel easier to completely transform the world's
energy economy than it will be for me to give up football entirely, I'll
offer them "Monday Night Football" and the Super Bowl in exchange for a
cap-and-trade program, with a carbon tax to be named later.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/09/18/how-watching-football-helped-me-understand-people-who-deny-climate-change/?utm_term=.8f1e116dda9c
*
**Performance *
The Next Breath: Art & Debate
https://vimeo.com/141539770
*Newsbroke (YouTube) Why The Media Isn't Linking Hurricanes To Climate
Change <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6ouHJGieEU&t=1s>*
Newsbroke Sep 15, 2017
After Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, it seems like now's the
perfect time to talk about climate change, right? FOX? NBC? ABC? Head of
the EPA? Former Texas governor Rick Perry? Anybody? No? No one. Ugh.
video report https://youtu.be/n6ouHJGieEU
What are you seeing and reading about climate change? How do you think
the media has done on reporting on the links between hurricanes and
climate change? Let us know in the comments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6ouHJGieEU&t=1s
*This Day in Climate History September 19, 1988
<http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/294488314.html>- from D.R. Tucker*
September 19, 1988: With a clarity not seen in mainstream media after
the rise of the climate-change denial industry, the Boston Globe notes:
"Carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas, accounting for roughly
half of the greenhouse problem. Its concentration has been increasing in
the earth's atmosphere because the industrial world is burning large
amounts of oil, gas, and coal and because developing countries such as
Brazil and Indonesia are destroying millions of acres of tropical forest
each year. Both of these activities release carbon dioxide.
"Because carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases such as methane and
chlorofluorocarbons are trapping the sun's heat like the glass in a
greenhouse, scientists believe the earth is entering a period of soaring
global temperatures, rising sea levels, and disruptive climate change."
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/294488314.html
/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
////Send Email to subscribe
<a%20href=%22mailto:contact at theClimate.Vote%22> /
. *** 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/20170919/07fae4c2/attachment.html>
More information about the TheClimate.Vote
mailing list