[TheClimate.Vote] February 12, 2018 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/February 12, 2018/

[LA Times Opinion]
*Every Olympic athlete in Pyeongchang should be vocal about climate 
change 
<http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-schendler-olympics-climate-change-pyeongchang-20180211-story.html>*
The athletes grasp the full scope of global warming. Bode Miller, the 
most decorated American Olympic ski racer, recently told the Colorado 
Springs Gazette: "We're dealing with a climate issue that's massive, and 
it's going to screw everything up. If you're not on the cutting edge of 
that, you're going to get toasted."...
It's fair to say that American ski areas already are getting toasted. 
Unseasonably warm temperatures and limited snow delayed resort openings 
across the country this winter. One season doesn't make a trend, but 
even one dry year means hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
But we need more than leadership from a few. The Olympics are an 
international stage from which athletes can demand action from the 
countries they represent and mobilize their sponsors and fans. This 
year, all the Olympians competing in Pyeongchang should be vocal in some 
way - every last one.
The Olympics are about achievement and execution, about pushing the 
limits of human physical ability. Pyeongchang, more than any other 
winter games in the past, will also be about other limits: how much 
humans will allow global temperatures to rise and the willingness of 
elite athletes to use their power, money and global platform to save 
their livelihoods, and ours.
Auden Schendler is a senior vice president of Aspen Skiing Co. and a 
board member of Protect Our Winters.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-schendler-olympics-climate-change-pyeongchang-20180211-story.html


[current case law]
*U.S. Climate Change Litigation 
<http://climatecasechart.com/us-climate-change-litigation/>*
Cases in the U.S. database are organized by type of claim and may be 
filtered <http://climatecasechart.com/search/> by the principal laws 
they address, their filing years, and their jurisdictions. The database 
is also searchable <http://climatecasechart.com/search/> by keyword. In 
many cases, the database includes links to decisions, complaints, 
motions, and other administrative and litigation documents. To browse by 
claim type, click on categories below. To filter cases or search by 
keyword, click here <http://climatecasechart.com/search/>.
http://climatecasechart.com/us-climate-change-litigation/


[City of Cape Town - water dashboard]
*DAY ZERO 11 May 2018 THE DAY WE MAY HAVE TO QUEUE FOR WATER 
<http://coct.co/water-dashboard/>*
Day Zero is based on the previous week's daily consumption average of 
547Ml/day.
NOTE: Level 6b water restrictions are in effect from 1 February, which 
requires all to drop their daily use to 50 litres pp/day or less.
TOGETHER, WE CAN AVOID DAY ZERO <http://coct.co/water-dashboard/>
http://coct.co/water-dashboard/
[Together we can avoid Day Zero]
To find out what you can do, visit www.capetown.gov.za/thinkwater
Cape Town is experiencing a serious water shortage due to insufficient 
rainfall and fast declining dam levels. We all need to THINK WATER. 
Although many Capetonians are diligently saving water, there are many 
that are not. Only if each of us reduces our daily use down to 50 litres 
or less, and the City implements the necessary projects, will we avoid 
Day Zero.
http://www.capetown.gov.za/Family%20and%20home/residential-utility-services/residential-water-and-sanitation-services/make-water-saving-a-way-of-life
[on Day Zero]
Critical Water Shortages Disaster Plan 
<http://www.capetown.gov.za/Family%20and%20home/Residential-utility-services/Residential-water-and-sanitation-services/critical-water-shortages-disaster-plan>
Day Zero is the day that almost all of the taps in the city will be 
turned off and we will have to queue for water at approximately 200 
sites across the peninsula.
On Day Zero: About 20 000 people will be able to collect water at each 
site per day.
Each of us will be able to collect approximately 25 litres per person 
per day in line with the World Health Organisation recommendation.
Law enforcement, police and intergovernmental resources will be deployed 
to ensure safety.
We will have about 200 water collection sites across the city.
System rationing
We have activated water rationing, through pressure reduction, across 
Cape Town to forcibly lower water use.
Instead of a complete shutdown of water, you might experience irregular 
supply during peak usage hours. Some areas may experience brief water 
outages, but service will be restored as soon as possible.
Ensure you store 5 - 10 litres of municipal drinking water for essential 
use.
http://www.capetown.gov.za/Family%20and%20home/Residential-utility-services/Residential-water-and-sanitation-services/critical-water-shortages-disaster-plan


[Contests - Open for Proposals]
*Climate CoLab is a project of the MIT Center for Collective 
Intelligence <https://www.climatecolab.org/contests>*
Work with people from all over the world to create proposals for how to 
reach global climate change goals.
Anyone can join Climate CoLab's community and participate. You can 
submit proposals into open contests and workspaces; comment on other 
members' proposals; and support, share, or vote for your favorite proposals.
https://www.climatecolab.org/contests


[University of Arizona]
*Researchers Explore Psychological Effects of Climate Change 
<https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/researchers-explore-psychological-effects-climate-change>*
Those who worry about the Earth's animals and plants are more likely 
than others to experience stress - and even depression - related to 
climate change, UA researchers found.
Alexis Blue, University Communications
Jan. 17, 2018
Wildfires, extreme storms and major weather events can seem like a 
distant threat, but for those whose lives have been directly impacted by 
these events, the threat hits much closer to home.
As reports of such incidents continue to rise...they found that while 
some people have little anxiety about the Earth's changing climate, 
others are experiencing high levels of stress, and even depression, 
based on their perception of the threat of global climate change...
Helm and her colleagues found that psychological responses to climate 
change seem to vary based on what type of concern people show for the 
environment, with those highly concerned about the planet's animals and 
plants experiencing the most stress.
The researchers outline...three distinct types of environmental concern: 
Egoistic concern is concern about how what's happening in the 
environment directly impacts the individual; for example, a person might 
worry about how air pollution will affect their own lungs and breathing. 
Altruistic concern refers to concern for humanity in general, including 
future generations. Biospheric concern refers to concern for nature, 
plants and animals.
...those who reported high levels of biospheric concern also reported 
feeling the most stressed about global climate change...
In addition, those with high levels of biospheric concern were most 
likely to report signs of depression, while no link to depression was 
found for the other two groups.
"People who worry about animals and nature tend to have a more planetary 
outlook and think of bigger picture issues," Helm said. "For them, the 
global phenomenon of climate change very clearly affects these bigger 
picture environmental things, so they have the most pronounced worry, 
because they already see it everywhere. We already talk about extinction 
of species and know it's happening. For people who are predominantly 
altruistically concerned or egoistically concerned about their own 
health, or maybe their own financial future, climate change does not hit 
home yet."
Those with high levels of biospheric concern also were most likely to 
engage in pro-environmental day-to-day behaviors, such as recycling or 
energy savings measures, and were the most likely to engage in coping 
mechanisms to deal with environmental stress, ranging from denying one's 
individual role in climate change to seeking more information on the 
issue and how to help mitigate it.
Although not generally stressed about climate change, those with high 
levels of altruistic concern, or concern for the well-being of others, 
also engaged in some environmental coping strategies and 
pro-environmental behaviors - more so than those whose environmental 
concerns were mostly egoistic.
"Climate change is a persistent global stressor, but the consequences of 
it appear to be slowly evolving; they're fairly certain to happen - we 
know that, now - but the impact on individuals seems to be growing 
really slowly and needs to be taken very seriously,"...
"Climate change has evident physical and mental health effects if you 
look at certain outcomes, such as the hurricanes we had last year, but 
we also need to pay very close attention to the mental health of people 
in everyday life, as we can see this, potentially, as a creeping 
development," Helm said. "Understanding that there are differences in 
how people are motivated is very important for finding ways to address 
this, whether in the form of intervention or prevention."
https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/researchers-explore-psychological-effects-climate-change


[Water Pakistan]
*Pakistan's Water Crisis Is a Ticking Time Bomb 
<http://nationalinterest.org/feature/pakistans-water-crisis-ticking-time-bomb-24347>*
When it comes to Pakistan, President Trump'sTwitter feud 
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/01/lies-and-deceit-trump-launches-attack-on-pakistan-tweet>with 
one of America's most important partners in the fight against terrorism 
has dominated the news. But beneath the headlines, a massive water 
crisis is unfolding that has profound implications for the country's 
stability and security. Rapid urbanization and conflict combined with 
corruption, crime and years of mismanagement have left a massive 
proportion of the population without access to clean water. And now, 
this long-festering crisis threatens to upend Pakistan's politics.
Perhaps the strangest thing about Pakistan's water crisis is that until 
recently, the country had been doing well in connecting more of its 
citizens to water supply and sanitation networks. From 1990 to 2015, the 
percentage of the country's population withaccess to clean water 
<https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.H2O.SAFE.ZS?locations=PK>increased 
from 86 percent to 91 percent. But in a reversal of what happens in most 
countries, almost all of this improvement occurred in rural areas-the 
percentage of urban residents with access to clean water actually 
declined from 97 to 94 percent over the same period...
And while the causes of Pakistan's water crisis are complex, the 
country's political instability has played a key part. Pakistan is 
urbanizing at a rapid rate of over 3 percent annually-the highest rate 
in South Asia.  Given this ever-quickening tide, Pakistan's cities have 
had trouble providing basic services, including housing and water, to 
new urban residents..
Because Pakistan's cities can't keep up withgrowing water demand 
<https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/04/13/water-scarcity-puts-people-at-the-mercy-of-tankers-mafia/>from 
new residents, many urban-dwellers are forced to buy water from private 
tanker trucks. And because tankers often bring waterfrom far away 
<https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/12/29/tanker-mafia-selling-rs-800-million-water-daily-to-gwadar-city/>, 
prices are high, and tanker "mafias 
<https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/jun/28/karachi-pakistan-water-crisis>" 
raise them still further by illegally siphoning off water from municipal 
sources and reselling it at extortionate prices...But authorities 
havealso been accused 
<https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/104287-SC-blames-corruption-for-citys-water-crisis>of 
turning a blind eye to tanker mafias: no less an authority than the 
Chief Justice of Pakistan's Supreme Court wasquoted as saying 
<https://www.samaa.tv/pakistan/2017/12/who-is-behind-tanker-mafia-in-karachi-asks-supreme-court/>, 
"there is someone behind the scenes at work who is minting money from 
[the tanker mafias]."
The result of this corruption and mismanagement is a serious and growing 
lack of clean water for many of Pakistan's cities. According to figures 
presented to the Pakistani Supreme Court, 83 percent ofwater supplies 
<http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/83-water-in-pakistan-s-sindh-unfit-to-drink-117073100573_1.html>in 
Sindh, Pakistan's second-most-populous region, are contaminated with 
sewage and industrial waste, with the percentage rising toover 90 
percent 
<https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/245476-91-per-cent-of-city-s-water-supply-unfit-for-human-consumption>in 
Karachi, the country's largest city and financial center. Even worse, up 
to60 million people 
<http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/08/arsenic-drinking-water-threatens-60-million-pakistan>across 
the country may have been exposed to deadly arsenic leaking into 
Pakistan's groundwater supplies. Late last year, the issue exploded into 
popular view when the Supreme Courtordered Sindh officials 
<https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/12/09/sc-orders-sindh-govt-to-redress-water-sewerage-problems/>to 
present a plan for resolving the province's water crisis. The Court's 
Chief Justice minced no words,warning officials 
<https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/12/09/sc-orders-sindh-govt-to-redress-water-sewerage-problems/>that 
"The water crisis issue in Pakistan is turning into a bomb."...
Unfortunately, Pakistan's water bomb has multiple triggers, and if it 
explodes it may well send the country into an even greater political 
crisis. In addition to its water quality woes, Pakistan is at risk of 
growing water scarcity as a result of climate change, whichsome 
observers 
<http://www.dw.com/en/why-water-scarcity-is-a-bigger-threat-to-pakistans-security-than-militancy/a-19293470>have 
warned could exacerbate existing insurgencies and make a military coup 
more likely. Nor are the consequences of a water crisis confined to 
Pakistan's domestic security. During a December conference, a Chinese 
diplomat reportedlycomplained 
<https://fp.brecorder.com/2017/12/20171219328379/>that the country's 
chronic water shortages were hindering Chinese investment as part of the 
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the country's highest-profile 
development project.
Pakistan's local authorities appear to be taking the risk of water 
crisis seriously. Following the Supreme Court's order, Sindh's Chief 
Ministerpledged to act quickly <https://www.dawn.com/news/1376004>, 
promising residents that "It is our prime duty to take necessary 
measures so that people right from Kashmore to Karachi drink safe 
water." But some national leaders have appeared hesitant to acknowledge 
the implications of water crisis for the country's security. During a 
November 2017 international water conference, Sindh's governor, who 
serves a representative of the central government,bafflingly stated 
<https://tribune.com.pk/story/1564404/1-sindh-governor-downplays-pakistans-water-woes-international-conference/>that 
"Water is a very low priority" for the government. "Terrorism," he went 
on to say, "is a way bigger issue than the water crisis."..
If Pakistan is to tackle its water woes, attitudes like this will have 
to change. For the United States, such reluctance is concerning, and 
adds other set of risk factors to an already difficult relationship with 
a volatile nuclear power. Unfortunately, Washington's current spat with 
Islamabad leaves it with few good options to make the case that 
providing basic services, especially water, are essential to maintaining 
Pakistan's security and stability. But it should try. The U.S. 
government's recently-releasedGlobal Water Strategy 
<https://www.state.gov/e/oes/rls/rpts/globalwaterstrategy/index.htm>prioritizes 
investment in water and sanitation as a tool to advance U.S. national 
interests, and can be used as a framework to help Pakistan address its 
water crisis. As President Trump himselfacknowledged 
<https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2017/11/most-important-issue-face-u-s-global-strategy-water-emphasizes-health-security/>, 
"Water may be the most important issue we face for the next generation."
/Scott Moore is a political scientist and senior fellow at the 
University of Pennsylvania Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, where he 
studies climate change and water issues./
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/pakistans-water-crisis-ticking-time-bomb-24347


[1959 - my first radicalization - age 10]
*Weekly Reader Article 1959 mentions climate change 
<http://dreamsofspace.blogspot.com/2017/04/my-weekly-reader-oct-5-1959-weather-is.html>*
http://dreamsofspace.blogspot.com/2017/04/my-weekly-reader-oct-5-1959-weather-is.html
My sister and I read "My Weekly Reader" It's an ephemeral school 
newspaper "brings back the "space race" many of us experienced."
This article from late 1959 discusses how someday we might control the 
weather with satellites.

    "Today the weather picture is changing faster. Man is 'helping'
    nature change the weather."
    "Carbon dioxide is a gas found in the air. Living things need a
    little carbon dioxide. Soon, there may be too much...Carbon dioxide
    acts like a heat trap. It is making the earth warmer."
    ..."automobiles and smokestacks are changing our weather much faster
    than H-bombs."

So the fact that climate change is occuring is not news, even in the 
late 1950s even children's magazines reported that something was changing.
http://dreamsofspace.blogspot.com/2017/04/my-weekly-reader-oct-5-1959-weather-is.html
*
*
*This Day in Climate History February 12, 1958 
<http://youtu.be/m-AXBbuDxRY>   -  from D.R. Tucker*
February 12, 1958: "The Unchained Goddess," part of the Bell
Laboratory Science Series produced by Frank Capra, is broadcast.
"Goddess" directly addresses human-caused climate change; the
existence of the program would never be acknowledged by climate-change
deniers.
http://youtu.be/m-AXBbuDxRY

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