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

[Richard Pauli]

/March 10, 2018
/
[Violence of the Storm]
*Recent Storms Moved Giant Rocks Weighing Up to 620 tons: Part 1 of 4 
<https://youtu.be/iqE8VWzSb0s>*
Paul Beckwith
Video talk published Mar 7, 2018
It turns out that "Storms of our Grandchildren" are already here today. 
In fact these storms are already reconfiguring our coastlines. If you 
live in a coastal city you are likely aware that rising sea levels, 
large and intense storms with their associated storm surges, combined 
with king tides and perhaps even land subsidence are encroaching and 
damaging houses, streets, bridges, high-rises; in fact all 
infrastructure is threatened. The energy in recent storms is enormous, 
and has moved enormous boulders weighing as much as 620 tons in Ireland...
...entire rocky coastlines have already been reconfigured. Evidence on 
coastlines in Ireland, France and Italy is discussed.
Please support my work and videos with a donation on PayPal (no account 
needed) at http://paulbeckwith.net
Winter #storms on coast of #Ireland moved boulders at elevations up to 
29m (96ft) above high water, at inland distances up to 222m (733ft); 18 
rocks weighed >50 tons, 6 were >100 tons; largest boulder moved by 
storms weighed an astonishing 620 tons. #climatechange #climate #UK
That's 620 metric tons which is equal to 683 #US tons (also known as a 
short ton). Google "What weighs 1000 tons?" Medium sized fishing 
trawler, 1000 cars, 7 adult blue whales,... #climate #climatechange 
#weather #storms.
video: https://youtu.be/iqE8VWzSb0s
[Study publications]
*Storm waves can move boulders we thought only tsunamis had the power to 
shift 
<https://www.elsevier.com/about/press-releases/research-and-journals/storm-waves-can-move-boulders-we-thought-only-tsunamis-had-the-power-to-shift>* 
- Elsevier
https://www.elsevier.com/about/press-releases/research-and-journals/storm-waves-can-move-boulders-we-thought-only-tsunamis-had-the-power-to-shift
*Extraordinary boulder transport by storm ( winter 2013-2014), and 
criteria for analysing coastal boulder deposits 
<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825217302350>*
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825217302350
*Boulder Ridges and Washover Features in Galway Bay, Western Ireland 
<http://www.bioone.org/doi/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-16-00184.1>*
http://www.bioone.org/doi/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-16-00184.1
*Tsunami: The Underrated Hazard - Page 82 - Google Books Result 
<https://books.google.com/books?id=tOkpBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA82&ots=hLAkrpSPHG>*
https://books.google.com/books?id=tOkpBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA82&ots=hLAkrpSPHG


[NOAA Warns]
*Sea Level Rise Will Rapidly Worsen Coastal Flooding in Coming Decades 
<https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07032018/sea-level-rise-data-global-warming-noaa-coastal-cities-united-states-climate-change>*
Coastal communities should expect much more frequent flooding in coming 
decades as sea levels rise, according to a new federal report. Many 
places that are dry now could flood every day by the end of the century.
The report, published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, projects the impact of sea level rise on coastal 
flooding 
<https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/publications/techrpt86_PaP_of_HTFlooding.pdf> 
along the nation's shorelines and says it's already having an effect, 
particularly on the East Coast. In the Southeast, the average number of 
days with high-tide floods has more than doubled since 2000, to three 
per year, while the number in the Northeast has increased by about 75 
percent, to six per year.
"We're seeing an accelerated increase up and down most of the Atlantic 
Seaboard," said William V. Sweet, an oceanographer at NOAA and the lead 
author of the report. "That's not a good place to be, because impacts 
are going to become chronic rather quickly."...
Sweet said the NOAA report shows how vulnerable most places are to 
rising seas. He found that minor coastal flooding generally occurs when 
waters rise about 1.5 feet above normal, and damaging flooding occurs 
with less than 3 feet of water.
"It's kind of laid bare America's infrastructure," he said. "There's 
really not that much freeboard separating our infrastructure from sea 
levels."
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07032018/sea-level-rise-data-global-warming-noaa-coastal-cities-united-states-climate-change


[more storm]
*Climate change tightens grip on US west coast despite progressive 
aspirations 
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/07/san-francisco-rising-sea-level-threat-climate-change?CMP=share_btn_link>*
California, Washington and Oregon have led criticism of Trump's climate 
policies, but change hasn't been easier closer to home
Oliver Milman  @olliemilman
Wed 7 Mar 2018
California's exposure to climate change has been laid bare with warnings 
that San Francisco faces a far worse threat from rising seas than 
previously thought, while the agricultural heart of the state will 
increasingly struggle to support crops such as peaches, walnuts and 
apricots as temperatures climb.
The findings, from two new scientific studies, come as California's 
neighboring west coast states Oregon and Washington have both faltered 
in their legislative attempts to address climate change and deliver a 
rebuke to Donald Trump's dismissal of the issue.
The problems faced by the progressive coastal bastions have been 
sobering on two fronts: not only is the western flank of the US 
experiencing the escalating consequences of climate change, but 
widespread Democratic dominance at state level has failed to enact 
ambitious policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"The states are struggling to fill the gap for the federal government on 
climate change," said Nives Dolsak, of the school of marine and 
environmental affairs at the University of Washington.
"In Washington, we are holding a very good policy hostage because it's 
not perfect. Inclusion and equity concerns means we are losing momentum 
and public support on climate change."
The quibbling comes as climate change tightens its grip on the west 
coast. San Francisco can lay claim to being one of the greenest cities 
in the US, through its embrace of clean energy, mandated recycling and 
banning of single-use plastic bags, yet it faces a steep challenge to 
avoid the ravages of sea level rise.
Researchers using satellite-based radar and GPS have discovered large 
areas of land beside the San Francisco bay is sinking, exacerbating the 
threat from sea level rise and storms. Places such as San Francisco 
airport, Foster City and Treasure Island are subsiding by as much as 
10mm a year, doubling the area previously considered at risk of flooding 
by the end of the century, according to the Science Advances-published 
study....
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/07/san-francisco-rising-sea-level-threat-climate-change?CMP=share_btn_link


[WIRED SCIENCE]
*APPARENTLY WE CAN LET THE STOCK MARKET FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE 
<https://www.wired.com/story/market-climate-change/>*
ADAM ROGERS
The International Energy Agency says Earth needs those trillions 
invested in energy supply and efficiency by 2035 to keep global warming 
below 2 degrees C...
...whoa there, li'l Communist, because the people who run those funds 
are bound by a fiduciary duty to act in the financial interests of their 
clients. Which is to say, legally and regulatorily, they can't not make 
money - at least, not on purpose. And if you compare an asset portfolio 
optimized for "make all the money" to one optimized for "make all the 
money except if it emits carbon," guess which one wins? "So how can we 
move the majority of investors to integrate environmental factors into 
their thinking?" asks Soh Young In, an engineering doctoral student at 
the Global Projects Center at Stanford. "That's the problem. They think 
that environmental factors are a suboptimal decision." In a new working 
paper 
<https://gpc.stanford.edu/publications/being-green-rewarded-market-empirical-investigation-decarbonization-risk-and-stock>, 
In and her fellow researchers hope to convince those skeptical investors 
otherwise...
That swings us back around to In's research. To be clear, it's a working 
paper, not peer reviewed - intended, as she says, to be the beginning of 
a discussion and not the end. What her team brings to bear is access to 
a database from a company called Trucost. Established in 2000 to develop 
those quantitative metrics, Trucost has been tracking carbon emissions 
since the middle of the last decade - and not just a company's emissions 
at the end of its line, but all up and down the value chain, from raw 
materials to transportation to the places that cough out the widgets...
The relatively short timeframe of the Trucost database, for example, 
makes for a bit of a frowny face; her group hasn't yet gotten all the 
data for 2016 to see if the trend continues. And the correlation between 
carbon efficiency and governance and performance means you have to ask 
what's actually driving that performance - governance, revenues, or 
carbon? But something has to convince firms to get on board a 
transnational movement. The journey of $53 trillion must begin with a 
single step.
https://www.wired.com/story/market-climate-change/


[Australia]
*Landmark case challenges land clearing based on climate change impact 
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/09/landmark-case-challenges-land-clearing-based-on-climate-change-impact>*
Northern Territory government-approved land clearing likely to cause up 
to 3 megatonnes of C02-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions
A landmark court case in the Northern Territory 
<https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/northern-territory> is set 
to consider a challenge to a massive land-clearing approval based on its 
impacts on climate change.
The case, brought by the Environment Centre NT, is believed to be the 
first of its kind in Australia, using the consideration of greenhouse 
gas emissions from clearing as a lever to seek to have an approval 
overturned.
"I think it's groundbreaking," said Shar Molloy, director of ECNT.
In November 2017, the Northern Territory government approved the 
clearing of 20,432 hectares of land on the Maryfield station property - 
an area more than three times the size of Manhattan...
Glenn Walker from The Wilderness Society said the clearing is likely to 
cause up to about 3 megatonnes of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas 
emissions. That figure is based on detailed scientific studies of 
clearing on nearby properties, and is difficult to get a firm estimate of.
Queensland Labor reintroduces land-clearing laws to parliament..
"On a territory scale, the emissions from this one station, and the 
deforestation that could occur, is equal to 15 to 20% of the Northern 
Territory's annual emissions," said Walker. "That's an enormous dent in 
their emissions reduction efforts."
Duggin said that while it is concerning that the NT government has 
failed to put in place an emissions or climate change policy, that does 
not mean the EPA can avoid considering greenhouse gas emissions when 
assessing clearing proposals.
"In this case, however, it is the responsibility of the EPA to make its 
decisions according to the legislation that exists, notwithstanding the 
absence of a climate change policy. Our client will argue that hasn't 
occurred in this instance", said Duggin.
Bruce Lindsay, a lawyer at Environment Justice Australia in Melbourne 
said the case would be keenly watched by environmental lawyers around 
the country, and there could be scope for similar challenges elsewhere.
"I think under our amended Climate Change Act 2017 in Victoria there is 
scope for decision makers and policy makers to be required to take 
account of climate change, although in rather hedged language," said 
Lindsay. "This has not yet been tested in a judicial proceeding."
Scorched country: the destruction of Australia's native landscape..
Land clearing in Australia has been a significant contributor to the 
country's greenhouse gas emissions...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/09/landmark-case-challenges-land-clearing-based-on-climate-change-impact


[Top 90 cities]
*C40 Cities GLOBAL LEADERSHIP ON CLIMATE CHANGE <http://www.c40.org/>*
C40 is a network of the world's megacities committed to addressing 
climate change. C40 supports cities to collaborate effectively, share 
knowledge and drive meaningful, measurable and sustainable action on 
climate change.
Cities are where the future happens first. The C40 Cities Climate 
Leadership Group connects more than 90 of the world's greatest cities, 
representing over 650 million people and one quarter of the global economy.
Created and led by cities, C40 is focused on tackling climate change and 
driving urban action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and climate 
risks, while increasing the health, wellbeing and economic opportunities 
of urban citizens.
http://www.c40.org/


[Uh huh]
*Nuclear fusion on brink of being realised, say MIT scientists 
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/09/nuclear-fusion-on-brink-of-being-realised-say-mit-scientists>*
Carbon-free fusion power...
The dream of nuclear fusion is on the brink of being realised, according 
to a major new US initiative that says it will put fusion power on the 
grid within 15 years.
The promise of fusion is huge: it represents a zero-carbon, 
combustion-free source of energy. The problem is that until now every 
fusion experiment has operated on an energy deficit, making it useless 
as a form of electricity generation. Decades of disappointment in the 
field has led to the joke that fusion is the energy of the future - and 
always will be...
The just-over-the-horizon timeframe normally cited is 30 years, but the 
MIT team believe they can halve this by using new superconducting 
materials to produce ultra-powerful magnets, one of the main components 
of a fusion reactor.
"If we succeed, the world's energy systems will be transformed. We're 
extremely excited about this."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/09/nuclear-fusion-on-brink-of-being-realised-say-mit-scientists


*This Day in Climate History - March 10,  2013 
<http://video.msnbc.msn.com/up/51123230>  -  from D.R. Tucker*
March 10, 2013: MSNBC's Chris Hayes observes that Planet Earth's 
temperature is at a height not seen in 4,000 years.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/up/51123230

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