[TheClimate.Vote] February 13, 2018 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Tue Feb 13 09:09:55 EST 2018
/February 13, 2018/
[Newsweek]
*Sea Levels Are Surging at Faster and Faster Rates as Antarctica and
Greenland Melt, Satellite Data Reveals
<http://www.newsweek.com/sea-level-rise-has-rapidly-accelerated-1992-melting-ice-and-its-not-803326>*
Sea levels aren't just steadily rising - they're accelerating, according
to a new assessment based on 25 years of satellite data. The findings,
published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
confirm what climate projections have already told us. The results
reveal that sea level rise has been accelerating for the past 25 years,
rather than steadily rising the same amount each year.
Assuming the acceleration rate stays the same, which the lead author
said is unlikely, sea levels will surge 26 inches by 2100 from climate
change alone... sea levels will rise 26 inches by 2100, the authors
concluded. But, that number "is almost certainly a conservative estimate
of future sea level change," Nerem said. "The acceleration will probably
go up as ice sheets start to respond more to the warming."
http://www.newsweek.com/sea-level-rise-has-rapidly-accelerated-1992-melting-ice-and-its-not-803326
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/satellites-show-warming-accelerating-sea-level-rise-53027617
[Media Matters report]
*How broadcast TV networks covered climate change in 2017
<https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2018/02/12/how-broadcast-tv-networks-covered-climate-change-2017/219277>*
Research KEVIN KALHOEFER
Most significant findings here:
https://twitter.com/lisahymas/status/963067686346518528
Here's our broad summary for the report, which you can read in full here:
Broadcast TV news neglected many critical climate change stories in
2017 while devoting most of its climate coverage to President Donald
Trump. Seventy-nine percent of climate change coverage on the major
corporate broadcast TV networks last year focused on statements or
actions by the Trump administration, with heavy attention given to
the president's decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement and to
whether he accepts that human-caused climate change is a scientific
reality. But the networks undercovered or ignored the ways that
climate change had real-life impacts on people, the economy,
national security, and the year's extreme weather events -- a major
oversight in a year when weather disasters killed hundreds of
Americans, displaced hundreds of thousands more, and cost the
economy in excess of $300 billion.
Top trends from a year of broadcast TV news climate coverage
For this study, Media Matters examined 2017 coverage of climate change
on broadcast TV networks, which included segments devoted to climate
change and segments in which a media figure made substantial mention of
climate change. We analyzed coverage on ABC's, CBS', and NBC's nightly
news programs and Sunday morning political shows. We also analyzed FOX
Broadcasting Co.'s syndicated Sunday morning political show, Fox News
Sunday. FOX Broadcasting Co. does not have a nightly news program, so,
overall, there was far less FOX airtime to analyze. In addition to the
corporate broadcast networks, we examined weekday coverage on PBS's
nightly news program, PBS NewsHour. PBS does not have a Sunday morning
political show.
https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2018/02/12/how-broadcast-tv-networks-covered-climate-change-2017/219277
[key findings]
*Key findings:*
The Trump administration drove climate coverage in 2017:79 percent
<https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2018/02/12/how-broadcast-tv-networks-covered-climate-change-2017/219277#trumpdominated>of
the time that corporate broadcast networks spent covering climate
change, or 205 out of 260 total minutes, featured actions or statements
by the Trump administration. The networks gave vastly less coverage to
the many ways that climate change affects people's lives through its
impacts on things like extreme weather, public health, and national
security.
Virtually all coverage of climate change on Sunday shows -94 of 95
minutes
<https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2018/02/12/how-broadcast-tv-networks-covered-climate-change-2017/219277#sundayshowcoverage>-
revolved around the Trump administration.
-President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris
climate agreement dominated coverage of climate-related policies and
news events, being featured in52 percent
<https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2018/02/12/how-broadcast-tv-networks-covered-climate-change-2017/219277#parisagreement>of
all climate segments on the corporate broadcast networks. The Trump
administration's rollbacks of other climate protections like the
Clean Power Plan received far less coverage.
-Despite 2017 being a record year for weather and climate disasters, the
corporate broadcast networks rarely covered the link between climate
change and extreme weather events in the U.S. They aired onlyfour total
segments
<https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2018/02/12/how-broadcast-tv-networks-covered-climate-change-2017/219277#extremeweather>that
discussed climate change in the context of disasters that happened last
year, including just two that mentioned climate change in the context of
hurricanes Harvey, Irma, or Maria.
-CBS and PBSled all broadcast networks
<https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2018/02/12/how-broadcast-tv-networks-covered-climate-change-2017/219277#cbsandpbsled>in
the number of segments they devoted to climate change in 2017, as well
as incoverage of climate-related scientific research
<https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2018/02/12/how-broadcast-tv-networks-covered-climate-change-2017/219277#sciencecoverage>and
number of climate scientists interviewed or quoted. But CBS and PBS were
also the only two networks to feature guests whoflatly denied that human
activity causes climate change
<https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2018/02/12/how-broadcast-tv-networks-covered-climate-change-2017/219277#flatlydenied>.
-Network climate coverage in 2017 heavily featured climate denial, most
of which came from Trump and officials in his administration.Nineteen
percent
<https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2018/02/12/how-broadcast-tv-networks-covered-climate-change-2017/219277#climatedenial>of
the networks' climate-related segments mentioned that Trump has called
climate change a "hoax," and 37 percent of those did not rebut that
claim by noting the scientific consensus around climate change or
affirming the reality of climate change...
Broadcast networks' heavy focus on Trump in their 2017 climate coverage
followed their failure to cover climate change as a campaign issue
during 2016. During the presidential campaign in 2016, the corporate
broadcast networks did not air a single segment informing viewers how a
win by Trump or Hillary Clinton could affect climate change or climate
policy, as we reported in our previous version of this annual study.
After Trump won the presidency, the networks played catch-up, covering
the Trump actions that they had failed to warn viewers about the year
before. [Media Matters, 3/23/17]
https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2018/02/12/how-broadcast-tv-networks-covered-climate-change-2017/219277
[Sarcasm + Politics video report]
*China Wants to Govern the Arctic <https://youtu.be/OJeQl4earvA>*
China Uncensored
Published on Feb 12, 2018
As the ice melts and the Northwest Passage opens up, China looks to
plant its flag in those chilly Arctic waters.
"China is definitely on the same planet as the Arctic, so I guess
that's something at least.
It's enough for the Chinese Communist Party to have its own
ambitious strategy for the Arctic."
https://youtu.be/OJeQl4earvA
*Walters: Politicians can't have it both ways on climate change
<https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/02/12/walters-politicians-cant-have-it-both-ways-on-climate-change/>*
Suing oil companies for causing climate change has become a popular
exercise in California's coastal communities.
Officials in five cities and three counties have filed suits, alleging
that the companies knowingly emitted greenhouse gases that will damage
those communities as oceans rise, and should pay for it.
As CALmatters environmental writer Julie Cart says in a recent article
about the phenomenon, "California is the epicenter of so-called
climate-attribution science." She quotes Peter Frumhoff, director of
science and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists, on the theory
behind the suits: "There's really a quite robust ability to characterize
the extent to which climate change impacts have worsened."
Moreover, Frumhoff told Cart, by combining data from oil companies'
annual accounting and reports from environmental monitors, "one can then
connect the dots and assign a cost."
It's easy to file a lawsuit that pleases "progressive" local voters.
However, winning in court is another matter, and by just filing the
actions, California governments may be risking their ability to borrow
money at low rates.
Jay Newman, a former hedge fund manager specializing in governmental
debt, points out in a recent Wall Street Journal article that localities
alleging calamitous effects of climate change are not mentioning those
supposed effects in the required disclosures accompanying their debt issues.
"By the end of this century Oakland, Calif., will be experiencing a
'100-year flood' every week," Newman writes. "At least that's what the
Oakland city government argued last year, when it filed a lawsuit
against several oil companies for contributing to climate change. The
city forecasts that rising water levels in the San Francisco Bay will
threaten the sewer system and other property 'with a total replacement
cost of between $22 billion and $38 billion.'
If they include their apocalyptic projections of their lawsuits into
their debt disclosures, they might find that they can't borrow or will
be paying much higher interest rates. But if they don't, they will
undermine their lawsuits.
They can't – or shouldn't – have it both ways. Actions, even filing
lawsuits, have consequences.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/02/12/walters-politicians-cant-have-it-both-ways-on-climate-change/
[federal tax rebate]
*Geothermal: Tax Breaks and the Google Startup Bringing Earth's Heat
into Homes
<https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11022018/geothermal-heat-pump-infographic-google-startup-dandelion-tax-breaks-low-emissions-hvac>*
By cutting costs and laying pipes for entire communities, Dandelion is
trying to make low-emissions heating and cooling more affordable.
BY LYNDSEY GILPIN,
During one bitter cold winter in upstate New York, Matt VanDerlofske
spent $4,000 on fuel oil to heat his drafty, two-story home for the
season. That was twice what he typically paid, and he had to cancel
family vacations to afford it.
"I never wanted it to happen again," he said. His solution was an
unusual choice for a homeowner in the U.S., but one that's gaining
interest: He had a hole drilled hundreds of feet into his backyard and a
geothermal heat pump installed by Dandelion, a startup energy company
conceived at X, Google's innovation lab that's now part of its parent
company, Alphabet.
Underground, below the frost line, the Earth is consistently around 50
to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Geothermal heat pumps use that temperature to
keep buildings comfortable by circulating fluid through a set of pipes
that runs through the earth and then connects with a heat pump. The
result is much more efficient heating and cooling with clean energy than
commercial air conditioning and heating systems - and much lower emissions.
Right now, a tiny percentage of U.S. homes use geothermal heat pumps,
according to Xiaobing Liu, a geothermal researcher at Oak Ridge National
Laboratory; about 500,000 buildings in the commercial sector use the
technology.
*Dandelion is trying to expand that market for geothermal heating by
lowering the price, and it just got a big boost from the federal
government.*
On Friday, Congress voted to extend a 30 percent federal tax credit for
geothermal heat pump installations. With state incentives included - a
$26,000 system in New York would qualify for a $6,000 state rebate - the
federal tax credit would drop the cost enough to make it more
competitive with traditional heating and cooling...
European countries have been using geothermal to heat residential and
commercial buildings for decades. In Sweden, 20 percent of buildings use
geothermal heat pumps. China also has a goal to replace 70 million tons
of coal with geothermal heating by 2020.
"This credit reinstatement gives the geothermal heat pump industry a
shot in the arm and much needed parity with other renewables," said
Dougherty, whose Geothermal Exchange Organization has been intensely
lobbying Congress since the temporary credits expired. "It makes
geothermal that much more competitive with conventional HVAC technology."
As more geothermal system manufacturers enter the market and more
homeowners and businesses use it, the costs are expected to decline.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11022018/geothermal-heat-pump-infographic-google-startup-dandelion-tax-breaks-low-emissions-hvac
Environmental Research Letters
LETTER - THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS OPEN ACCESS
*Deconstructing climate misinformation to identify reasoning errors
<http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aaa49f>*
John Cook1,3, Peter Ellerton2 and David Kinkead2
Published 6 February 2018 • © 2018 The Author(s). Published by IOP
Publishing Ltd
Environmental Research Letters, Volume 13, Number 2
article PDF
<http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aaa49f/pdf>
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aaa49f/pdf
Abstract
Misinformation can have significant societal consequences. For
example, misinformation about climate change has confused the public
and stalled support for mitigation policies. When people lack the
expertise and skill to evaluate the science behind a claim, they
typically rely on heuristics such as substituting judgment about
something complex (i.e. climate science) with judgment about
something simple (i.e. the character of people who speak about
climate science) and are therefore vulnerable to misleading
information. Inoculation theory offers one approach to effectively
neutralize the influence of misinformation. Typically, inoculations
convey resistance by providing people with information that counters
misinformation. In contrast, we propose inoculating against
misinformation by explaining the fallacious reasoning within
misleading denialist claims. We offer a strategy based on critical
thinking methods to analyse and detect poor reasoning within
denialist claims. This strategy includes detailing argument
structure, determining the truth of the premises, and checking for
validity, hidden premises, or ambiguous language. Focusing on
argument structure also facilitates the identification of reasoning
fallacies by locating them in the reasoning process. Because this
reason-based form of inoculation is based on general critical
thinking methods, it offers the distinct advantage of being
accessible to those who lack expertise in climate science. We
applied this approach to 42 common denialist claims and find that
they all demonstrate fallacious reasoning and fail to refute the
scientific consensus regarding anthropogenic global warming. This
comprehensive deconstruction and refutation of the most common
denialist claims about climate change is designed to act as a
resource for communicators and educators who teach climate science
and/or critical thinking
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aaa49f
[Classic lecture 2014 Paleo-climatology]
*Global Warming 56 Million Years Ago: What it Means for Us
<https://youtu.be/81Zb0pJa3Hg>*
Simon Fraser University
Published on Mar 5, 2014
January 30, 2014 - Deep Time, Global Change and YOU lecture series:
Global Warming 56 Million Years Ago & What it Means for Us.
Presented by Dr. Scott Wing, Smithsonian Institute
Human greenhouse gas emissions will alter conditions on earth for
thousands of years. The past event that best mirrors current warming
occurred 56 million years ago & is called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal
Maximum, or PETM.
Dr. Wing will explain what we know about the causes of PETM, and what we
have learned about its effects on ecosystems. The lessons of deep time
have great relevance as we rapidly mold our planet in the ongoing
geological epoch, the Anthropocene.
www.sfu.ca/cstudies/science
https://youtu.be/81Zb0pJa3Hg
[Classic 1956 radio presentation]
*Climate Change and Industrial Activity - Excursions in Science Radio
Program from 1950s <Audio:%20https://youtu.be/AuV0crHDkmY>*
Global warming discussion from a 1956-57 radio program called
"Excursions in Science" presented by General Electric Research
Laboratories. Program discusses Dr. Gilbert Plass and his climate research.
Audio: https://youtu.be/AuV0crHDkmY
*This Day in Climate History February 13, 2013
<http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/climate-change-action-a-moral-obligation-says-daryl-hannah/>
- from D.R. Tucker*
February 13, 2013: On the Fox News Channel program "Hannity," Daryl
Hannah discusses the anti-Keystone XL movement. In addition, Hannah
discusses the risks of KXL in an interview for CBSNews.com.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/2163423203001/
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/climate-change-action-a-moral-obligation-says-daryl-hannah/
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