[TheClimate.Vote] July 2, 2018 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

Mon Jul 2 08:15:10 EDT 2018

/July 2, 2018/

[DALLAS heat forcast]
*NBC5 Forecast: Hottest weather so far this summ 
<https://www.dallasnews.com/news/weather/2018/07/01/nbc5-forecast-hottest-weather-far-summer>*er
While scattered thunderstorms did pop up Sunday afternoon, they all 
stayed north and west of DFW, and will dissipate by sundown. But there 
was no rain in the Metroplex, where DFW Airport hit 101, the hottest day 
so far this summer. DFW will remain hot and steamy the next few days 
with temperatures topping out at or above 100 both Monday and Tuesday.
There could be some scattered showers or thunderstorms moving into the 
area again for the 4th of July. At this time, it appears the best chance 
of rain will be south and east of DFW, and local fireworks displays 
should go off unscathed.
As easterly flow continues, low chances for isolated storms will 
continue through the following weekend...
MONDAY: Mostly sunny and hot. High: 101. Wind: S 10 mph.
TUESDAY: Mostly sunny and hot. Low: 79. High: 101. Wind: S 10 mph.
WEDNESDAY: Partly cloudy and warm, with a 30% chance for scattered 
showers or thunderstorms. Low: 79. High: 94. Wind: SE 10 mph.
THURSDAY: Partly cloudy and warm. Low: 77. High: 95. Wind: E 10 mph.
FRIDAY: Partly cloudy and warm, with a 20% chance for scattered 
thunderstorms. Low: 76. High: 94. Wind: E 5-10 mph.
SATURDAY: Partly cloudy and warm, with a 20% chance for scattered 
thunderstorms. Low: 77. High: 94. Wind: SE 5-10 mph.
SUNDAY: Partly cloudy and warm, with a 20% chance for scattered 
thunderstorms. Low: 77. High: 95. Wind: SE 10 mph.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/weather/2018/07/01/nbc5-forecast-hottest-weather-far-summer

[Highest risk in the heat of the night]
*Heat wave in Boston; Multiple days over 90 degrees expected 
<http://www.wcvb.com/article/heat-wave-ahead-for-weekend/21932969?src=app>*
High heat expected to last through July Fourth holiday
NEEDHAM, Mass.
It's official. Boston is in a heat wave.
Sunday marked the third day Boston hit 90 degrees or more, making it an 
official heat wave for the city.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh declared a heat emergency for the city of 
Boston and ordered the activation of Boston Centers for Youth and 
Families cooling centers which allows anyone to swim in one of the 
city's 17 pools, or cool off inside with air conditioning at a cooling 
center.
For area's west of the city, it could feel as hot as 108 degrees on Sunday.
http://www.wcvb.com/article/heat-wave-ahead-for-weekend/21932969?src=app

[aka collusion]
*Emails reveal close rapport between top EPA officials, those they 
regulate 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/emails-reveal-close-rapport-between-top-epa-officials-those-they-regulate/2018/07/01/6c5a62b6-7642-11e8-805c-4b67019fcfe4_story.html?utm_term=.f156e93c772c>*
By Juliet Eilperin
On the morning of April 1, 2017, Environmental Protection Agency 
appointee Mandy Gunasekara welcomed to her office a team of lobbyists 
representing the makers of portable generators.
For months, the Portable Generators Manufacturers' Association had been 
trying to block federal regulations aimed at making its product less 
dangerous. The machines - which are used by many Americans during power 
outages after severe storms - emit more carbon monoxide than cars and 
cause about 70 accidental deaths a year.
Just before President Barack Obama left office, the Consumer Product 
Safety Commission had voted to force the industry to make generators 
that emit lower levels of the poisonous gas. Now industry lobbyists were 
warning Gunasekara of "a potential turf battle . . . brewing" between 
the commission and the EPA, which traditionally regulates air emissions 
from engines.
Less than six weeks later, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt sent a letter 
informing Ann Marie Buerkle, the commission's acting chair, that his 
agency had primary jurisdiction over the issue. Just over three months 
later, Buerkle delayed regulations that had been almost 15 years in the 
making and opted instead for voluntary standards.
The communication between the lobbyists and one of Pruitt's top policy 
aides - detailed in emails the agency provided to Democratic Sens. Bill 
Nelson (Fla.) and Thomas R. Carper (Del.) - open a window on the often 
close relationship between the EPA's political appointees and those they 
regulate. Littered among tens of thousands of emails that have surfaced 
in recent weeks, largely through a public records lawsuit filed by the 
Sierra Club, are dozens of requests for regulatory relief by industry 
players. Many have been granted.
In March 2017, for example, a lobbyist for Waste Management, one of the 
nation's largest trash companies, wrote to two top EPA appointees 
seeking reconsideration of "two climate-related rules" affecting 
business. (Another lobbyist "sings your praises," she told the pair.) 
The EPA subsequently delayed a rule targeting methane emissions from 
landfills until at least 2020.
- - - -
On some occasions, top EPA officials pushed back on the idea that they 
would automatically grant industry's requests: In a sharply worded Aug. 
21 email, Dravis told a lobbyist from ConocoPhillips that "no one 
committed" to relaxing a rule on small incinerators at the oil and gas 
company's request. Career staff, she added, had raised concerns about 
the move.
And while the vast majority of the emails focused on industry concerns, 
Pruitt aides also tried to reach out to environmentalists, including 
Natural Resources Defense Council attorney John Walke and Environmental 
Defense Fund president Fred Krupp.
Walke, however, was unimpressed. "Scott Pruitt is at EPA only to serve 
the interests of polluting industries," he said when asked about the 
overture. "A few token meetings with environmental groups cannot hide 
his destructive agenda.''
- - - - -
Despite aggressive public-information campaigns by federal and local 
officials on that point, carbon monoxide poisoning incidents remain a 
serious problem. The Florida Poison Information Center Network recorded 
509 patients last year, compared with 327 in 2016 and 276 in 2015.
After Hurricane Irma, Nelson said in a statement, "at least 12 people 
died and many more were injured by carbon monoxide poisoning from 
portable generators in Florida."
Nelson went on to accuse Buerkle and Pruitt of colluding "with industry 
and outside lobbyists to actually kill mandatory safety standards. It's 
one of the worst examples of the fox guarding the henhouse I have seen, 
and it's just shameful."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/emails-reveal-close-rapport-between-top-epa-officials-those-they-regulate/2018/07/01/6c5a62b6-7642-11e8-805c-4b67019fcfe4_story.html?utm_term=.f156e93c772c

[City scenarios]
*C40, UCCRN and Partners Quantify, Sound Alarm on Climate Threats to 
Urban Residents 
<http://sdg.iisd.org/news/c40-uccrn-and-partners-quantify-sound-alarm-on-climate-threats-to-urban-residents/>*
19 June 2018: Cities and partners have issued a joint technical report, 
highlighting data analyses and case studies developed by the Urban 
Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN). It calls attention to 
urbanization trends, particularly in Asia and Africa, and illustrates 
the breadth and magnitude of climate change impacts on cities.
The first global-scale assessment of its kind, the report titled, 'The 
Future We Don't Want: How Climate Change Could Impact the World's 
Greatest Cities,' reviews both direct and indirect climate change 
impacts across six themes: 1) heat extremes; 2) heat extremes and 
poverty; 3) water availability; 4) food security; 5) sea level rise and 
coastal flooding; and 6) sea level rise and energy systems. The report 
notes that cities will most commonly encounter and have to manage risks 
in these areas.
The analysis compares numbers of people who currently face threats in 
each area to those estimated in the 2050s. It shows that by mid-century, 
climate change could pose an existential threat to people in cities 
around the world, noting that global average temperatures are already 1C 
higher than preindustrial levels...
- - - - -
Key findings estimate that by 2050, over 1.6 billion urban dwellers in 
970 cities will regularly experience heat extremes, a 700% increase 
compared to today. At the same time, the report finds that up to 650 
million people across 500 cities will be at risk of water shortages. It 
notes that these impacts will disproportionately impact poor residents. 
The publication warns that rising sea levels threaten not only the 800 
million people living in 570 cities, but also their power supplies. The 
report estimates that power plants capable of generating nearly 183,000 
megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough energy to power nearly 90% of 
homes in the US, will be vulnerable by 2050.
http://sdg.iisd.org/news/c40-uccrn-and-partners-quantify-sound-alarm-on-climate-threats-to-urban-residents/
- - -
[The full report]
*THE FUTURE WE DON'T WANT 
<https://c40-production-images.s3.amazonaws.com/other_uploads/images/1789_Future_We_Don%27t_Want_Report_1.4_hi-res_120618.original.pdf>*
How Climate Change Could Impact the World's Greatest Cities
Summary:

    By the 2050s,
    1. Over 1.6 billion people, living in more than 970 cities, will
    face sustained extreme heat conditions
    of over 35C (95F) for 3 consecutive months.
    2. Nearly 215 million highly vulnerable people, living in poverty in
    more than 230 cities, will face sustained
    extreme heat conditions over 35C (95F) for 3 consecutive months.
    3. Over 650 million people, living in more than 500 cities, may face
    at least a 10 percent decline in
    freshwater availability from streamflow.
    4. Over 2.5 billion people, living in more that 1,600 cities, may
    face at least a 10 percent decline in
    national yields of major crops.
    5. Over 800 million people, living in more than 570 coastal cities,
    will be at risk of coastal flooding from at
    least 0.5 metres of sea level rise.
    6. Over 450 million people will be living in more than 230 cities,

https://c40-production-images.s3.amazonaws.com/other_uploads/images/1789_Future_We_Don't_Want_Report_1.4_hi-res_120618.original.pdf

[time to stockpile wild rice]
*Controversial Enbridge Line 3 Oil Pipeline Approved in Minnesota Wild 
Rice Region 
<https://insideclimatenews.org/news/28062018/enbridge-tar-sands-oil-pipeline-minnesota-tribes-wetlands-watershed-route-approval>*
The new pipeline, opposed by Native American tribes, would increase the 
flow of Canadian tar sands crude oil, a contributor to climate change.
Phil McKenna
BY PHIL MCKENNA
In a unanimous decision, state regulators in Minnesota approved a 
controversial new pipeline that will increase the flow of tar sands 
crude oil from Canada to refineries in the United States.
The long-anticipated ruling is a victory for Canadian pipeline owner 
Enbridge and a significant blow to environmental and Native American 
advocates who opposed the pipeline through northern Minnesota in a 
region rich in wetlands and wild rice lakes...
While the Enbridge route would skirt the reservations, it would still 
pass through areas where tribal members harvest wild rice...
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/28062018/enbridge-tar-sands-oil-pipeline-minnesota-tribes-wetlands-watershed-route-approval

[Opinion ]
*Why Are So Many Political Parties Blowing Up? (Part 1) 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/26/opinion/political-parties-climate.htm>*
By Thomas L. Friedman
Jun 26 2018
The U.S. Democrats are fractured between a Bernie Sanders 
quasi-socialist wing and a center-left wing, but are glued together for 
now - thank goodness - by the overriding need to defeat Trump. German 
Chancellor Angela Merkel took four months to form a barely coherent 
governing coalition, after her ruling party got hammered in the last 
election - and that fragile coalition may soon implode over immigration 
tensions. And French President Emmanuel Macron leads a centrist party 
that did not exist three years ago.
As Quartz noted, the French Socialist Party "went from running the 
country to receiving just 6 percent of the vote in the first round of 
presidential elections last year." In the Netherlands, the Labor Party 
has been decimated, going from 25 percent of the vote in 2012, and 
governing in a coalition, to just 6 percent in last year's general election.
What's going on? My short answer: climate change - but not just the one 
you think. We're actually going through three climate changes at once, 
and together they are reshaping the ecosystems of work, learning, 
geopolitics, ethics and community in ways that parties built on our old 
left-right binary choices can no longer easily contain.
How so? We're going through a change in the climate of the climate: 
We're going from later to now. When I was growing up in Minnesota, later 
was when I could clean that lake, save that forest or rescue that 
endangered owl. Today later is officially over. Later will now be too 
late, so whatever you're going to save, save it now. That's a climate 
change...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/26/opinion/political-parties-climate.html

[from the authoritative source]
*30 years after Hansen's testimony 
<http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2018/06/30-years-after-hansens-testimony/>*
Filed under: Climate modelling Climate Science Greenhouse gases - gavin 
@ 21 June 2018

    "The greenhouse effect is here."
    – Jim Hansen, 23rd June 1988, Senate Testimony

The first transient climate projections using GCMs are 30 years old this 
year, and they have stood up remarkably well.
We've looked at the skill in the Hansen et al (1988) (pdf) simulations 
before (back in 2008), and we said at the time that the simulations were 
skillful and that differences from observations would be clearer with a 
decade or two's more data. Well, another decade has passed!
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2018/06/30-years-after-hansens-testimony/

[Climate Fiction list 200 titles]
Listopia
*Cli-Fi: Climate Change Fiction 
<https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/36205.Cli_Fi_Climate_Change_Fiction>*
This list collects fiction books that deal with climate change. Examples 
are Michael Crichton's "State of Fear" or "The Aviator" by Gareth 
Renowden. More recently, Barbara Kingsolver's "Flight Behavior" and 
Nathaniel Rich's "Odds Against Tomorrow" have achieved the status of 
best-selling cli-fi novels, demonstrating the differences between cli-fi 
and science fiction: cli-fi is more literary and more centered on human 
psychology...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/36205.Cli_Fi_Climate_Change_Fiction

*This Day in Climate History - July 2, 2007 - from D.R. Tucker*
July 2, 2007: Chris Mooney's book "Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, 
and the Battle Over Global Warming" is released.

    Storm World contains a fair amount of history as well as a fair
    amount of technical discussion of hurricane science, and what
    surprised me the most was the fact that, apparently, we still aren't
    entirely sure about what causes hurricanes in the first place. We
    aren't completely clueless, of course, but there's still an awful
    lot we don't know. I guess I had always vaguely assumed that we had
    long since figured out the fundamental dynamics, given the years of
    hurricane flights and satellite photos and so forth that we've
    collected. But no. And needless to say, without that it's hard to
    say for sure what effect a warmer ocean will have on hurricane
    frequency and intensity. It's probably not a good effect, but it's
    still genuinely an open question.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_07/011679.php

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