[TheClimate.Vote] August 22, 2018 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Wed Aug 22 11:20:51 EDT 2018
/August 22, 2018/
[To Confront Climate Change, the Modern Automobile Must Die]*
**GERMANY HAS PROVEN THE MODERN AUTOMOBILE MUST DIE
<https://www.wired.com/story/germany-proves-cars-must-die/>*
So far, Germany has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 27.7 percent
-an astonishing achievement for a developed country with a highly
developed manufacturing sector. But with a little more than a year left
to go, despite dedicating $580 billion toward a low-carbon energy
system, the country "is likely to fall short of its goals for reducing
harmful carbon-dioxide emissions," Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.
And the reason for that may come down not to any elaborate solar
industry plans, but something much simpler: cars.
- - - - -
Changing the way we power our homes and businesses is certainly
important. But as Germany's shortfall shows, the only way to achieve
these necessary, aggressive emissions reductions to combat global
warming is to overhaul the gas-powered automobile and the culture that
surrounds it. The only question left is how to do it.
- - - -
The modern cars they're seeking to preserve, and the way we use them,
are far from great. Of course, there's the climate impact - the
trillions in expected economic damage from extreme weather and sea-level
rise caused in part by our tailpipes. But 53,000 Americans also die
prematurely from vehicle pollution each year, and accidents are among
the leading causes of death in the United States. "If US roads were a
war zone, they would be the most dangerous battlefield the American
military has ever encountered," Humes wrote. It's getting more dangerous
by the day.
https://www.wired.com/story/germany-proves-cars-must-die/
[not since before statehood]
*Hurricane Lane, packing 150 mph winds, presents rare direct threat to
Hawaii
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/08/21/hurricane-lane-packing-150-mph-winds-presents-rare-direct-threat-to-hawaii/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.40ed6a6ad00c>*
By Jason Samenow - Weather editor
Hurricane Lane, a Category 4 storm, is expected to make a dangerously
close encounter with the Hawaiian Islands over the next several days.
Although it is not certain whether the storm, packing peak winds of 150
mph, will directly strike the islands or just graze them, significant
effects from rain, wind and waves are becoming increasingly likely.
On Tuesday morning, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center, based in
Honolulu, posted hurricane watches for the eastern Hawaiian Islands,
including the Big Island and Maui, as tropical-storm-force winds and
heavy rain could affect those areas as soon as Wednesday or Thursday.
Watches may be extended to the western islands, the Hurricane Center said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/08/21/hurricane-lane-packing-150-mph-winds-presents-rare-direct-threat-to-hawaii
[ 2018 is the LATEST REPORT]
*WHAT LIES BENEATH <https://www.breakthroughonline.org.au/>*
THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF EXISTENTIAL CLIMATE RISK
This latest Breakthrough report argues for an urgent risk reframing of
climate research and the IPCC reports. What Lies Beneath is the inside
story of how climate policy-making has become embedded in a culture of
failure and scientific reticence. The report brings together the voices
of some of the world's leading scientists.
Written by: David Spratt & Ian Dunlop
https://www.breakthroughonline.org.au/
[idiots]
*Australia pulls out of climate change targets agreed at Paris
conference
<https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australia-climate-change-malcolm-turnbull-prime-minister-leadership-a8499366.html>*
'Cheaper power has always been our number one priority'
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australia-climate-change-malcolm-turnbull-prime-minister-leadership-a8499366.html
- - - -
[opinion - Erwin Jackson]
*Turnbull just showed what happens when 'ideology and idiocy take charge
of energy policy'
<https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/20/malcolm-turnbulls-emissions-backflip-sends-signal-that-climate-change-is-not-real>*
the PM is signalling climate change is not real. This leaves the rest of
us paying the price for another political capitulation on cleaning up
our power sector.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/20/malcolm-turnbulls-emissions-backflip-sends-signal-that-climate-change-is-not-real
- - - -
[opinion - Katharine Murphy]
*Canberra's deranged circus of wreckers are now writing our future
<https://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2018/aug/20/canberras-deranged-circus-of-wreckers-are-now-writing-our-future>*
In fairness to the prime minister, there were no good options. None at
all. No rabbits in any hats.
But doing the right thing was an option.
https://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2018/aug/20/canberras-deranged-circus-of-wreckers-are-now-writing-our-future
[TIME magazine discovers the news]
*The Trump Administration Released a Plan to Fight Climate Change. It
Could Actually Make Things Worse
<http://time.com/5372406/climate-change-epa-coal-trump/>*
The root of the issue is simple: the Trump Administration has no
interest in fighting climate change. In less than two years in office,
Trump has appointed officials who deny the science of global warming,
sought to defund climate change programs and begun the process of
pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement on climate change. Before
taking office he called global warming a "hoax." Indeed, the White House
press release for the new regulation does not contain a single mention
of climate change or global warming.
But, by law, the EPA is required to try to cut climate change-causing
greenhouse gas emissions. That's thanks to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling
that found that the EPA is required to regulate pollutants that harm
public health under the Clean Air Act. Two years later, the EPA released
a scientific document - known as the endangerment finding - showing that
greenhouse gas emissions do just that.
http://time.com/5372406/climate-change-epa-coal-trump/
[both, as adjective, or as noun]
*Smokey or Smoky: What's the Difference?
<https://writingexplained.org/smokey-or-smoky-difference>*
Smoky is an adjective. It means characterized by an abundance of smoke.
A 1950s pool hall would have been smoky. So too would Chicago, during
the Great Chicago Fire.
Smokey is, however, a proper noun in the case of Smokey Bear or Smokey
the Bear,
https://writingexplained.org/smokey-or-smoky-difference
[Book Review]
*America: The Farewell Tour
<http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/America-The-Farewell-Tour/Chris-Hedges/9781501152672>*
By Chris Hedges
A profound and provocative examination of America in crisis, where
unemployment, deindustrialization, and a bitter hopelessness and malaise
have resulted in an epidemic of diseases of despair - drug abuse,
gambling, suicide, magical thinking, xenophobia, and a culture of sadism
and hate.
America, says Pulitzer Prize - winning reporter Chris Hedges, is
convulsed by an array of pathologies that have arisen out of profound
hopelessness, a bitter despair and a civil society that has ceased to
function. The opioid crisis, the retreat into gambling to cope with
economic distress, the pornification of culture, the rise of magical
thinking, the celebration of sadism, hate, and plagues of suicides are
the physical manifestations of a society that is being ravaged by
corporate pillage and a failed democracy. As our society unravels, we
also face global upheaval caused by catastrophic climate change. All
these ills presage a frightening reconfiguration of the nation and the
planet.
Donald Trump rode this disenchantment to power. In America: The Farewell
Tour, Hedges argues that neither political party, now captured by
corporate power, addresses the systemic problem. Until our corporate
coup d'etat is reversed these diseases will grow and ravage the country.
A poignant cry reported from communities across the country, America:
The Farewell Tour seeks to jolt us out of our complacency while there is
still time.
http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/America-The-Farewell-Tour/Chris-Hedges/9781501152672
[exciting trauma drama video, both are OK today]
*'I thought we were going to die': Father and son escape raging Montana
wildfire
<https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/08/20/thought-were-going-die-father-and-son-escape-raging-montana-wildfire/2UnaLPzlbElBAh4VmPbzbP/story.html>*
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/08/20/thought-were-going-die-father-and-son-escape-raging-montana-wildfire/2UnaLPzlbElBAh4VmPbzbP/story.html
[Check for your city]
*Sea-Level Rise Is A Major Urban Economic Risk
<https://cleantechnica.com/2018/08/20/sea-level-rise-is-a-major-urban-economic-risk/>*
When we think of sea-level rise due to global warming, we tend to think
of beaches eroding or perhaps tiny Pacific nations such as the Maldives
slowly disappearing. The reality, however, is that it won't be countries
or country sides bearing the economic brunt of sea-level rise, but cities.
Here are some important snippets of a 2011 economic projection report by
McKinsey, Urban world: Mapping the economic power of cities:
Today only 600 urban centers generate about 60 percent of global
GDP. […] By 2025, 136 new cities are expected to enter the top 600,
all of them from the developing world and overwhelmingly -100 new
cities -from China. […] Today's 23 megacities -with populations of
10 million or more -will contribute about 10 percent of global
growth to 2025, below their 14 percent share of global GDP.
The first and most obvious thing about the above points is that cities
are by far the richest and most valuable real estate in the world and by
definition tiny compared to countries. That means that point adaptation
by the richest cities is much more viable than for most of the rest of
the countries they are in.
The second obvious thing is that while many of the richest cities today
are at sea level, not all are. And the geography of those cities varies
substantially.
- - - -chart:
https://cleantechnica.com/files/2018/08/main-qimg-0dd0253d4372bead76ad4e8f8c487d30.png
Will sea level rise impact economic growth? Absolutely and negatively.
Very expensive infrastructure will be abandoned or require massive and
expensive protection. That money, while it is still an economic driver,
could be better invested elsewhere for better economic outcomes.
Will all seaside cities be impacted equally? No, Miami, which doesn't
even make the top 25 cities, will suffer much more than most cities due
to a confluence of issues: sea level rise, coastal subsidence and porous
limestone. Dhaka, which does show up on the list as a top performing
megacity, could easily see 27 million people impacted severely by sea
level rise by 2050. It was already impacted by the 2017 massive monsoon
flooding, although the worst impacts were north of the city.
Will the economy of the earth survive? Of course. Will we see reduced
economic growth? Also of course.
One projection has a price tag of $14 trillion USD by 2100. Another has
a trillion USD of property value loss in the United States alone. These
are big numbers. The global GDP is only 78 trillion USD.
- - - - more chart
https://cleantechnica.com/files/2018/08/main-qimg-85ece1d7ee57d64408fc2e07d9415bcb-270x235.png
This is why governments which are actually serious about the economy and
their citizens are united globally in an effort to slow global warming.
And this is a significant reason why the United States current
regression is deeply unfortunate, not only for the USA and its citizens,
but also for the world.
https://cleantechnica.com/2018/08/20/sea-level-rise-is-a-major-urban-economic-risk/
*This Day in Climate History - August 22, 1981
<http://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/22/us/study-finds-warming-trend-that-could-raise-sea-levels.html>
- from D.R. Tucker*
August 22, 1981: The New York Times reports on a groundbreaking study by
Dr. James Hansen on the risks of escalating carbon emissions.
A team of Federal scientists says it has detected an overall warming
trend in the earth's atmosphere extending back to the year 1880.
They regard this as evidence of the validity of the ''greenhouse''
effect, in which increasing amounts of carbon dioxide cause steady
temperature increases.
The seven atmospheric scientists predict a global warming of
''almost unprecedented magnitude'' in the next century. It might
even be sufficient to melt and dislodge the ice cover of West
Antarctica, they say, eventually leading to a worldwide rise of 15
to 20 feet in the sea level. In that case, they say, it would
''flood 25 percent of Louisiana and Florida, 10 percent of New
Jersey and many other lowlands throughout the world'' within a
century or less.
*Workings of Greenhouse*
The forecast, which also envisions widespread disruption of
agriculture, is the fruit of analyses and computer simulations
conducted by the Institute for Space Studies of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration. The institute, which is in New
York City, is part of the space agency's Goddard Spaceflight Center
in Greenbelt, Md. The forecast is in an article in the Aug. 28 issue
of the journal Science.
Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is primarily a result of
mankind's burning of fuels, is thought to act like the glass of a
greenhouse. It absorbs heat radiation from the earth and its
atmosphere, heat that otherwise would dissipate into space. Other
factors being equal, the more carbon dioxide there is in the
atmosphere, the warmer the earth should become, according to the
theory...
- The TimesMachine archive viewer is a subscriber-only feature.
http://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/22/us/study-finds-warming-trend-that-could-raise-sea-levels.html
http://youtu.be/D6Un69RMNSw
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