[TheClimate.Vote] January 10, 2018 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/January 10, 2018/

[news]
*Deadly flooding on Santa Barbara coast as fire turns to mud 
<http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-mudslide-santa-barbara-20180110-story.html>*
The predawn torrent of mud and debris carried away cars, swamped living 
rooms, and yanked homes from their foundations. Boulders crashed into 
homes, homes plunged into trees, and the muddy current swept at least 
one child a half-mile from home.
By day's end, Santa Barbara County authorities said the mudslides had 
killed at least 13 people and injured dozens more.
"It looked like a World War I battlefield," said Santa Barbara County 
Sheriff Bill Brown...
With roads blocked by thick, brown mud and fallen tree branches, the 
Wilsons had no choice but to head to an emergency evacuation center at a 
local church, where they waited for a National Guard escort to a shelter 
at the local city college.
On the cramped ride in the National Guard vehicle, many people had 
difficulty talking about what they had seen. "My friend is missing and 
I'm having a hard time when I think about it," Mimi Degruy said, 
clinging to the leash of her two dogs as the vehicle bumped up and down 
along the street.
"But I appreciate how the community has come together," she said. "I've 
lived in Montecito for 20 years and never expected this to happen."...
"Instead of a nice little rain to settle the dust, we have a flood. It's 
just kind of ironic," he said, adding: "This was more frightening than 
the fire."
Rainfall swamped much of the Southland. Officials said that flooding and 
debris had shut down the 101 Freeway in both directions for more than 30 
miles between Santa Barbara and Ventura, as well as sections of Routes 
33 and 150 in Ventura County...
There are four seasons in California - drought, followed by fire, 
followed by floods, followed by mudslides," he said. "That's the normal 
sequence that we live with, unfortunately."
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-mudslide-santa-barbara-20180110-story.html


[StandUpToOil]
*Port of Vancouver Votes to Cancel Oil Terminal Lease 
<Port%20of%20Vancouver%20Votes%20to%20Cancel%20Oil%20Terminal%20Lease>*
Today the Port of Vancouver Commission voted unanimously to end the 
Tesoro Savage oil train terminal proposal in Vancouver, Washington. Port 
of Vancouver Commissioner President Eric LaBrant issued the motion to 
exercise a clause which cancels the lease for the terminal effective 
March 31, 2018. The Commission took the vote in front of an overflow 
crowd, with many audience members testifying in support of the Port's 
decision to terminate the largest oil-by-rail terminal proposal in North 
America.
"Last November, the people of Vancouver spoke loud and clear by electing 
Don Orange for Port Commissioner," said Shannon Murphy, President 
Washington Conservation Voters. "Today's vote shows why this community 
stood up for safe healthy neighborhoods and good clean jobs, and won't 
sacrifice their future for the oil industry's profits."
https://twitter.com/StandUpToOil/status/950795147947646976


[Voice of America]
*Scientists: Warming Oceans Could Scupper Marine Food System 
<https://www.voanews.com/a/warming-oceans-threaten-marine-food-system-scientists-say/4200654.html>*
ROME - Failure to rein in global temperature rises could cause the 
marine food web to collapse, devastating the livelihoods of tens of 
millions of people who rely on fisheries for food and income, scientists 
have warned.
Warming oceans restrict vital energy flows between different species in 
the marine ecosystem, reducing the amount of food available for bigger 
animals - mostly fish - at the top of the marine food web, according to 
a study in the journal PLOS Biology published Tuesday.
This could have "serious implications" for fish stocks, said Ivan 
Nagelkerken, a professor of marine ecology at Australia's University of 
Adelaide and one of the study's authors.
Globally, about 56.5 million people were engaged in fisheries and 
aquaculture in 2015, according to the latest data from the United 
Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
In addition, almost a fifth of animal protein consumed by 3.2 billion 
people in 2015 comes from fish, FAO said...
https://www.voanews.com/a/warming-oceans-threaten-marine-food-system-scientists-say/4200654.html
-
[Oceans]
*Global warming, pollution supersize the oceans' oxygen-depleted dead 
zones 
<https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/global-warming-pollution-supersize-the-oceans-oxygen-depleted-dead-zones/>*
Large areas of the world's oceans are rapidly losing oxygen as a result 
of global warming and pollution, threatening marine ecosystems and the 
hundreds of millions of people who depend on them, according to a new 
study...
The scientists expect deoxygenation to increase well beyond these 
so-called dead zones as long as human-driven global warming continues...
Despite the grim outlook for the oceans, the researchers suggest that 
cutting fossil fuel use and protecting vulnerable marine life could 
tackle the problem...
Over the past 50 years, zones in the open ocean with zero oxygen have 
more than quadrupled, or increased by over 4.5 million square kilometers 
(1.7 million square miles) - an area roughly the size of the European 
Union - according to the study published Jan. 2 in the journal Science.
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/global-warming-pollution-supersize-the-oceans-oxygen-depleted-dead-zones/
--
[Science Review]
*Declining oxygen in the global ocean and coastal waters 
<http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6371/eaam7240>*
*Beneath the waves, oxygen disappears*
As plastic waste pollutes the oceans and fish stocks decline, unseen 
below the surface another problem grows: deoxygenation. Breitburg et al. 
review the evidence for the downward trajectory of oxygen levels in 
increasing areas of the open ocean and coastal waters. Rising nutrient 
loads coupled with climate change - each resulting from human activities 
- are changing ocean biogeochemistry and increasing oxygen consumption. 
This results in destabilization of sediments and fundamental shifts in 
the availability of key nutrients. In the short term, some compensatory 
effects may result in improvements in local fisheries, such as in cases 
where stocks are squeezed between the surface and elevated oxygen 
minimum zones. In the longer term, these conditions are unsustainable 
and may result in ecosystem collapses, which ultimately will cause 
societal and economic harm.
*BACKGROUND*
Oxygen concentrations in both the open ocean and coastal waters have 
been declining since at least the middle of the 20th century. This 
oxygen loss, or deoxygenation, is one of the most important changes 
occurring in an ocean increasingly modified by human activities that 
have raised temperatures, CO2 levels, and nutrient inputs and have 
altered the abundances and distributions of marine species. Oxygen is 
fundamental to biological and biogeochemical processes in the ocean. Its 
decline can cause major changes in ocean productivity, biodiversity, and 
biogeochemical cycles. Analyses of direct measurements at sites around 
the world indicate that oxygen-minimum zones in the open ocean have 
expanded by several million square kilometers and that hundreds of 
coastal sites now have oxygen concentrations low enough to limit the 
distribution and abundance of animal populations and alter the cycling 
of important nutrients...
Expansion of low-oxygen zones can increase production of N2O, a potent 
greenhouse gas; reduce eukaryote biodiversity; alter the structure of 
food webs; and negatively affect food security and livelihoods. Both 
acidification and increasing temperature are mechanistically linked with 
the process of deoxygenation and combine with low-oxygen conditions to 
affect biogeochemical, physiological, and ecological processes. However, 
an important paradox to consider in predicting large-scale effects of 
future deoxygenation is that high levels of productivity in 
nutrient-enriched coastal systems and upwelling areas associated with 
oxygen-minimum zones also support some of the world's most prolific 
fisheries.*
**O**UTLOOK*
... Reducing the impacts of other stressors may provide some protection 
to species negatively affected by low-oxygen conditions. Ultimately, 
though, limiting deoxygenation and its negative effects will necessitate 
a substantial global decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as 
reductions in nutrient discharges to coastal waters.
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6371/eaam7240


[Koch]
*The climate change misinformation at a top museum is not a conservative 
conspiracy 
<https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/8/16862674/american-museum-natural-history-climate-change-sing-misinformation-david-koch-dinosaur-wing>*
A sign at the American Museum of Natural History has outdated 
information about climate change
https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/8/16862674/american-museum-natural-history-climate-change-sing-misinformation-david-koch-dinosaur-wing


[not funny in Louisville, KY]
Watchdog Earth: Trump's and Bevin's tweets aside, 7 reasons climate 
change isn't funny 
<https://www.courier-journal.com/story/tech/science/watchdog-earth/2018/01/08/seven-reasons-why-trump-bevin-wrong-joke-climate-change/1012503001/>
Here are seven reasons climate change isn't a joke:

 1. *Global and national security.*The U.S. military sees climate change
    as a threat-multiplier that could destabilize populations and lead
    to war, while putting American assets such as military bases along
    low-lying coastal areas at risk from sea-level rise. President Trump
    himselfsigned a military defense bill
    <https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/2810/text#toc-H3E4B68F308984585A5207D89C04905A3> in
    December that describes climate change as an urgent threat to
    American security and details the challenges climate change poses to
    U.S. military operations worldwide.
 2. *More frequent and intense storms.*Heavy rain is increasing in
    intensity and frequency across the United States and globally and is
    expected to continue to increase, according to the U.S. Global
    Change Research Program Climate Science Special Report,issued last
    year
    <https://science2017.globalchange.gov/chapter/executive-summary/>by
    President Trump's own scientists. Warmer air holds more moisture
    and extra heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere have the impact of
    putting weather on steroids. How cities are constructed plays a big
    role in flooding, but scientists have calculated global warming made
    it at least three times more likely that Hurricane Harvey would
    stall over Houston and flood it,according to the Associated Press
    <https://phys.org/news/2017-12-harvey-deluge.html#jCp>. Even in
    flood-prone Louisville, we're seeingmore frequent, larger storms
    <https://www.courier-journal.com/story/tech/science/environment/2016/10/29/climate-change-threatens-sewage-cleanup-plans/89903834/>that
    are threatening low areas of the city, prompting calls to spend
    billions on shoring up aging sewer and flood protection systems.
 3. *Coastal area flooding.*Sea levelhas risen about 8 inches
    <https://science2017.globalchange.gov/chapter/12/>since 1900, about
    half of that since 1993, making storm surges more dangerous. It's
    expected to rise 1 to 4 feet more by 2100. The Trump administration
    could not rule out a seal level 8 feet higher by end of the century.
    Major cities like Miami, New York, Boston and New Orleans are at risk.
 4. *Heat.* Heatwaveshave become more frequent
    <https://science2017.globalchange.gov/chapter/6/>in the U.S. since
    the 1960s, putting crops in jeopardy and people in cities at risk of
    heat-related deaths. People with heart, lung and other ailments can
    suffer severely during heat waves. Cities where temperatures can
    fluctuate greatly and where residents may not be used to extreme
    heat – including Louisville – have been seen thehighest projections
    <https://www.nrdc.org/media/2017/171024>for heat-related mortality
    in the decades ahead.
 5. *Human health.*Weather and climate affect the survival,
    distribution and behavior of mosquitoes, ticks and rodents that
    carry diseases, and some tropical diseasesare spreading north
    <http://grist.org/briefly/tropical-diseases-are-moving-north-and-the-poor-are-the-ones-getting-sick/>as
    the climate warms. Other illnesses, such as asthma and other lung
    ailmentscan be made worse
    <https://health2016.globalchange.gov/climate-change-and-human-health>by
    air pollution or increased pollen associated with climate change and
    added heat can wear on people with COPD or diabetes.
 6. *Ocean acidification and heat.*Coral reefs are undersea nurseries
    and home to at leasta quarter
    <http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/coasts/coral_reefs/>of
    all marine life on the planet. Yet they areunder serious threat from
    both
    <https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/climate-change-july-dec12-acidification_12-05>,
    risking ocean health and, frankly, some popular seafood menu items.
 7. *Regional economic security.*The U.S. Army Corps of
    Engineersrecently made public
    <https://www.courier-journal.com/story/tech/science/environment/2017/11/30/ohio-river-valley-climate-change-report/831135001/>a
    new study that finds climate change is will push the Ohio River and
    its tributaries into uncharted waters, setting off economic and
    environmental crises like never before across a 13-state region,
    including Kentucky and Indiana.

One explanation may be the political divide. A Gallup Polllast summer 
<http://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/211682/public-opinion-trump-decision-paris-agreement.aspx?g_source=CATEGORY_CLIMATE_CHANGE&g_medium=topic&g_campaign=tiles>found 
that nationally only 18 percent of Republicans worry "a great deal about 
climate change," compared to 66 percent of Democrats. Anotherpoll out of 
Yale University 
<http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ycom-us-2016/?est=worried&type=value&geo=state&id=18>estimated 
that slightly less than 50 percent of Kentuckians were worried about 
climate change in 2016.
It's just easier to joke about something not seen as a threat, even as 
scientists keep raising the red flags.
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/tech/science/watchdog-earth/2018/01/08/seven-reasons-why-trump-bevin-wrong-joke-climate-change/1012503001/


[unstable climate]
*A 'PERFECT STORM': EXTREME WINTER WEATHER, BITTER COLD, AND CLIMATE 
CHANGE 
<https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/perfect-storm-extreme-winter-weather-bitter-cold-and-climate-change>*
World-renowned climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann explains why the 
bitter cold and snowy conditions gripping the US are "an example of 
precisely the sort of extreme winter weather we expect because of 
climate change."
The US East Coast is experiencing an "old-fashioned" winter, with plenty 
of cold weather and some heavy snowfall in certain places. Listening to 
climate contrarians like President Donald Trump, you might think this 
constitutes the death knell for concern over human-caused climate change.
Yet, what we were witnessing play out is in fact very much consistent 
with our expectations of the response of weather dynamics to 
human-caused climate change...
Indeed, climate model simulations 
<http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00418.1> indicate 
that we can expect more intense nor'easters as human-caused climate 
change continues to warm the oceans...
So, to the climate change doubters and deniers out there, the unusual 
weather we're seeing this winter is in no way evidence against climate 
change. It is an example of precisely the sort of extreme winter weather 
we expect because of climate change...
https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/perfect-storm-extreme-winter-weather-bitter-cold-and-climate-change
-
[American Meteorological Society]
Changes in U.S. East Coast Cyclone Dynamics with Climate Change 
<http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00418.1>
*Abstract*
Previous studies investigating the impacts of climate change on 
extratropical cyclones have primarily focused on changes in the 
frequency, intensity, and distribution of these events. Fewer studies 
have directly investigated changes in the storm-scale dynamics of 
individual cyclones. Precipitation associated with these events is 
projected to increase with warming owing to increased atmospheric water 
vapor content. This presents the potential for enhancement of cyclone 
intensity through increased lower-tropospheric diabatic potential 
vorticity generation. This hypothesis is tested using the Weather 
Research and Forecasting Model to simulate individual wintertime 
extratropical cyclone events along the United States East Coast in 
present-day and future thermodynamic environments. Thermodynamic changes 
derived from an ensemble of GCMs for the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report 
(AR4) A2 emissions scenario are applied to analyzed initial and lateral 
boundary conditions of observed strongly developing cyclone events, 
holding relative humidity constant. The perturbed boundary conditions 
are then used to drive future simulations of these strongly developing 
events. Present-to-future changes in the storm-scale dynamics are 
assessed using Earth-relative and storm-relative compositing. 
Precipitation increases at a rate slightly less than that dictated by 
the Clausius–Clapeyron relation with warming. Increases in cyclone 
intensity are seen in the form of minimum sea level pressure decreases 
and a strengthened 10-m wind field. Amplification of the low-level jet 
occurs because of the enhancement of latent heating. Storm-relative 
potential vorticity diagnostics indicate a strengthening of diabatic 
potential vorticity near the cyclone center, thus supporting the 
hypothesis that enhanced latent heat release is responsible for this 
regional increase in future cyclone intensity.
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00418.1


[Speaking Notes #2]*
**OXFORD CHANGE AGENCY EVENT - REPORT*
*Agency in individual and collective change 
<http://www.climatepsychologyalliance.org/explorations/papers/257-oxford-change-agency-event-report>*
Climate Psychology Alliance with Living Witness
Written by Laurie Michaelis
A day for psychological and social practitioners to share our 
experiences of enabling positive
responses to climate change. We'll explore how our different approaches 
connect and complement
each other, hoping to form a stronger community of practitioners.
*Mindfulness and nature connection, Nadine Andrews*
(speaking notes)
My practice and understanding is informed by systems thinking, Taoist 
philosophy, social,
transpersonal and ecopsychology, ecolinguistics, mindfulness research.
A root cause of ecological crisis is the belief of humans as separate 
from and superior to nature
(external nonhuman world and our inner psyche).
*Self-regulation*
This separation has led to disorder in our relationship with nature. For 
a system to self-regulate it
needs to follow a cycle of attending to feedback signals, interpreting 
those signals accurately, and then
responding in an appropriate way. If there is a disconnection somewhere 
in these processes then the
system can't self-regulate.
- Practices for developing our capacity and sensitivity to noticing & 
interpreting cues, to become
more attuned to weak signals – developing sensory acuity and ability to 
attend to internalexternal
experience, to our ongoing embodied interactions with the world
*Shift from subject-object to subject-subject*
The idea of human separation and superiority is associated with a 
subject-object framing of the
natural world. Our disconnection both promotes and is strengthened by 
this frame, which manifests as
a perception of nature as a resource to be controlled and exploited for 
our own ends, and that denies
the living world of its own intents and purposes, and as having 
intrinsic value.
An example: we say phrases like 'being in nature' – this positions the 
natural world as an object, a
container that we can be inside or outside. The implication is that our 
default position is outside the
container. Objects have boundaries that separate them from other 
objects, and so in using this phrase
we are setting up the possibility for separation, which is precisely 
what we seek to overcome by 'being
in nature'.
- Practices for cultivating a subject-subject frame, for engaging with 
our kin in the community of
life with humility & gratitude, with enhanced awareness of 
interconnectedness &
interdependence, and with an attitude of openness and receptivity to 
receiving insights, and
that is non ego-driven
*Agency and virtue ethic*
 From Taoist perspective, what is good is unknowable. We cant know for 
sure how our actions will play
out in every aspect, and whether all consequences will ultimately be 
positive or negative. We are
simultaneously in control and not in control. So we take a virtue ethic 
approach that seeks to cultivate
an ecological consciousness in the way I have described. We ask ourselves:
- What would a person with this ecological consciousness do in a 
situation like this?
- What actions fit with the natural pattern of the universe? (A river 
flowing through the
countryside finds its own natural course)
These practices are a discipline. We have to keep exercising these 
mind-body muscles to overcome the
powerful social primes that we are continuously being exposed to and 
potentially influenced by.
nadine at cultureprobe.co.uk
http://cultureprobe.co.uk
http://www.climatepsychologyalliance.org/explorations/papers/257-oxford-change-agency-event-report


[video]
*A Decade of Storytelling <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynhFLUIj8E0>*
storyofstuffproject video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynhFLUIj8E0>
Published on Jan 9, 2018
Ten years ago we released our first movie, The Story of Stuff. Since 
then we've produced 9 animated movies, 3 short documentaries, grown a 
million plus person Community, won some important victories, and we are 
just getting started!
What's your favorite Story of Stuff video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynhFLUIj8E0


*This Day in Climate History January 10, 2017 
<http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-obama-farewell-speech-transcript-20170110-story.html> 
   -  from D.R. Tucker*
In his final address as President, Barack Obama declares:
“Take the challenge of climate change.  In just eight years, we’ve
halved our dependence on foreign oil, doubled our renewable energy,
and led the world to an agreement that has the promise to save this
planet.  But without bolder action, our children won’t have time to
debate the existence of climate change; they’ll be busy dealing with
its effects: environmental disasters, economic disruptions, and waves
of climate refugees seeking sanctuary.
“Now, we can and should argue about the best approach to the problem.
But to simply deny the problem not only betrays future generations; it
betrays the essential spirit of innovation and practical
problem-solving that guided our Founders.”
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-obama-farewell-speech-transcript-20170110-story.html
https://youtu.be/siyBp8Csugk

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