[TheClimate.Vote] March 23, 2018 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Fri Mar 23 08:58:22 EDT 2018
/March 23, 2018/
[blame game]
*California Utilities Say Climate Change Caused Recent Fires, Not Them
<https://cleantechnica.com/2018/03/22/california-utilities-say-climate-change-caused-recent-fires-not/>*/(the
utilities)/
March 22nd, 2018 - by Steve Hanley
When insurers jack up their premiums to cover the cost of climate change
related harm - from rising sea levels to more powerful storms to fires
and floods - that's the moment in time when all the debate about climate
change and junk science will come to an end. That's when the horror of
the disaster humanity has wrought by its own hand will become real.
Banks won't loan money on projects that can't get insurance. No loans,
no commerce. Simple as that. Over and done with. Finis....
This scenario is playing out right now in California, where the
state's largest public utility companies are defending themselves
against lawsuits claiming they were negligent in the way they
removed debris and brush from beneath their wires and transmission
lines. The suits allege that negligent behavior caused or
contributed to the horrific forest fires that swept through various
parts of California the last few years. Utility companies are
forbidden by law from automatically passing on losses not covered by
insurance to their customers without permission from the state's
PUC. If they lose the lawsuits that have been filed against them,
they could be in serious financial trouble....
According to a report in Think Progress, "What the California utilities
are facing is that large wildfires can bankrupt them if they can't pass
on the cost, if the size of potential liabilities exceed the value of
the companies,"
Already Fitch Ratings, a stock rating service, has downgraded its
ratings of PG&E's stock to reflect the company's potential exposure to
damages for the "unprecedented 2017 wildfires across large swaths of the
utility's service territory and seemingly absent legislative support for
recovery of such costs."...
The utilities insist the real culprits are warmer temperatures and lack
of rain caused by climate change, conditions over which they have no
control. They have a point. In a way, it is refreshing to hear major
corporations dare to mention climate change, a subject that is anathema
to the current administration. If the utility companies really want to
press their claim, they should be standing shoulder to shoulder with the
cities of San Francisco and Oakland, which are suing 5 major oil
companies for the money they say will be needed to protect residents of
the San Francisco Bay Area from the ravages of climate change
attributable to rising sea levels.
https://cleantechnica.com/2018/03/22/california-utilities-say-climate-change-caused-recent-fires-not/
[game blame]
*California's historic wildfire season puts financial squeeze on the
state's utilities
<https://thinkprogress.org/california-wildfires-threaten-utility-finances-65dbb66dc1eb/>*
Utilities blame climate change, not negligence, for catastrophic wildfires.
https://thinkprogress.org/california-wildfires-threaten-utility-finances-65dbb66dc1eb/
[Where can we go?]
*New interactive map shows climate change everywhere in world
<https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180321121600.htm>*
University of Cincinnati
Summary:
A geography professor has created a new interactive map that allows
students or researchers to compare the climates of places anywhere in
the world. The map draws on five decades of public meteorological data
recorded from 50,000 international weather stations around the Earth.
And it uses prediction models to display which parts of the globe will
experience the most or least climate change in the next 50 years....
The data is mapped in a 4-square-kilometer grid that gives researchers a
visual of what's happening with temperatures and precipitation from pole
to pole.
"The map demonstrates climate change over time but also climate
diversity. The concept is powerful and can inspire a lot of research,"
Stepinski said...
- - - - -
"I've lived in Houston, Tucson and Cincinnati. Climatically speaking,
they couldn't be farther apart," he said....
- - - - - -
"ClimateEx is mostly an educational tool," Netzel said. "Using
ClimateEx, it is easy to get answers to questions such as where in the
world do we have a climate similar to Houston's? Where can I find a
place with a climate as pleasant as Florida's?"
The map also could help predict which areas will have climates more
conducive to extreme weather phenomena such as tornadoes in places where
historically there were few, he said...
- - - - - -
But Stepinski said the map is easy enough to use and understand that
ordinary people could use it for more personal reasons like planning
their next vacation or contemplating a move to a new city.
So what's the global climate twin of Cincinnati?
Stepinski said it's Vicenza, Italy.
"You will see that both Cincinnati's and Vicenza's climates have a
similar progression of weather conditions throughout the year," he said.
"So a person would experience the passing of the seasons in the same way
in both places."
Map: http://sil.uc.edu/webapps/climateex/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180321121600.htm
[Use the map]
*ClimateEx - Climate Explorer Introduction
<http://sil.uc.edu/webapps/climateex/>*
ClimateEx (Climate Explorer) is based on the novel idea of climate
similarity search (CSS) and its goal is to visualize climate variability
and its change by calculating degrees of similarity between local
climates. The key concept is to regard all present and future local
climates as objects in an abstract metric space so a degree of
similarity between any pair of climates can be calculated using a
distance (dissimilarity) function
http://sil.uc.edu/webapps/climateex/ /[Click the red button for manual -
upper right corner]/
[After the Storm, tears]
*After weather disasters, mental health problems spike
<https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2018/03/after-weather-disasters-mental-health-problems-spike/>*
"Not everybody in the community will be equally affected. They don't all
have equivalent resources to help them deal with these problems. So
think about not just the generalized impact of climate change, but also
how more vulnerable members of the community might be affected, and ways
to have a community plan that incorporates all members of the community."
https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2018/03/after-weather-disasters-mental-health-problems-spike/
[DIY tools]
*Melting icebergs are an engine of climate change, but we know
surprisingly little about them.*
<https://www.researchgate.net/blog/post/as-icebergs-melt-in-greenland-scientists-need-a-front-row-seat>
By Daniel Carlson
Icebergs pose a particular challenge for climate scientists. They are
simultaneously a key part of the ocean physics driving climate change,
and very difficult to collect real-world data on. In most cases,
studying actual icebergs in the actual ocean requires traveling to
harsh, remote locations to examine a massive piece of ice that could
break apart at any minute. This is time consuming, expensive,
uncomfortable, and at times dangerous. But it's extremely important-we
need more of this kind of data. That's why my research has brought me to
Greenland, to see and measure melting icebergs first-hand.
Greenland is a new front line for climate research
With the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet accelerating in recent
years, it's time to look a little more closely at the icebergs there.
Freshwater from melting ice lowers the density of the ocean's surface
waters. This can affect deep water formation that drives large-scale
ocean circulation patterns. In short: Where icebergs melt and where that
meltwater goes has local, and possibly also global implications...
- - - - -
Due to the cost and effort required to study icebergs in their natural
environment in Greenland, satellites and models are often used to study
how icebergs melt and drift. Models are an incredibly important tool,
but a realistic model of iceberg drift will be difficult to achieve
without feeding it with real-world data first.
- - - - - -
The commercial GPS trackers used to study iceberg drift are costly and
usually deployed by helicopter, which only adds to the expense. As a
result, few icebergs in Greenland have been tracked, especially smaller,
less stable icebergs and "bergy bits" in fjords. By building my own
low-cost iceberg trackers, which can be tossed atop an iceberg from a
boat, I was able to track 18 icebergs near Nuuk over periods of 30-100
days....
The "GoPro on a pole" method has since been brought into the modern age
using a small, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) designed by undergraduate
engineering students. Images collected by the ROV made it possible to
construct 3D models of the iceberg keel. This kind of unmanned robotic
platform is ideal for studying icebergs, as they place the human
operators a safe distance away from a massive, unstable chunk of ice.
Collecting data will get easier as technology advances
Ideally, technological advances will increase the number of autonomous
observational platforms in operation in Greenland, which would allow
researchers like me to watch the data roll in from the relative comfort
of our office chairs. Of course, that experience won't come close to
being in the front-row seat and sailing past a massive chunk of ice,
hearing a gunshot-like crack as it breaks apart
https://www.researchgate.net/blog/post/as-icebergs-melt-in-greenland-scientists-need-a-front-row-seat
[academic]
*So close, yet so far: Making climate impacts feel nearby may not
inspire action
<https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180319155717.htm>*
March 19, 2018 Cornell University
Summary:
An expert says it is possible to make faraway climate impacts feel
closer. But that doesn't automatically inspire the American public to
express greater support for policies that address it.
Journal Reference:
Jonathon P. Schuldt, Laura N. Rickard, Z. Janet Yang. Does reduced
psychological distance increase climate engagement? On the limits of
localizing climate change. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2018;
55: 147 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.02.001
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180319155717.htm
[USAToday on the SF court case]
Fossil fuels are the problem, say fossil fuel companies being sued
<https://grist.org/article/fossil-fuels-are-the-problem-say-fossil-fuel-companies-being-sued/?for-guid=843ad60e-79d4-e711-b65f-90b11c343abd>
Big Oil and the cities suing them in federal court agreed on at least
one thing on Wednesday: Human-made climate change is real.
In the country's first court hearing on the science behind climate
change, a lawyer for Chevron, Theodore Boutrous Jr., said the oil
company accepts the scientific consensus. He quoted chapter and verse
from the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the
thousands of scientists assembled by the United Nations to figure out
exactly what's going on. "From Chevron's perspective, there is no debate
about the science of climate change," Boutrous said.
Oil companies have recently started saying they're on the side of
science, but they've never said it so clearly in court.
- - - - - -
The oil companies seem poised to argue that those who bought
petro-products are just as responsible as those who sold them. And they
will almost certainly argue that those suffering the ravages of climate
change should try to fix things by passing laws rather than suing
businesses. That's a position even the most liberal members of the
Supreme Court have held in the past.
https://grist.org/article/fossil-fuels-are-the-problem-say-fossil-fuel-companies-being-sued/?for-guid=843ad60e-79d4-e711-b65f-90b11c343abd
[More court update]
*In Climate Tutorial, Oil Industry Doubles Down on Science Uncertainty
<https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/03/22/climate-tutorial-judge-alsup-chevron-liability/>*
By Amy Westervelt
In a climate science tutorial in San Francisco on Wednesday, U.S.
District Court Judge William Alsup pushed both defendants and plaintiffs
in the San Francisco and Oakland climate liability cases to answer
dozens of questions about the state of climate science. But the
five-hour hearing all boiled down to one fundamental question: At what
point was it clear man-made CO2 emissions were putting the climate on a
path toward destruction?
- - - - -
Alsup had ordered the tutorial
<https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/03/15/california-climate-liability-judge-william-alsup/>to
inform him of the scientific issues at hand in the case. The cities of
San Francisco and Oaklandare suing five major oil companies
<https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2017/09/20/san-francisco-oakland-lawsuit-climate-change-bp-exxon-shell/>for
public nuisance, saying the companies have known for decades their
products contributed to global warming and not only did nothing to
mitigate the harm, but also impeded action on climate change.
The judge did chastise four of the defendants for refusing to present
arguments at the tutorial. Only Chevron chose to speak, relying
onattorney Ted Boutrous
<https://www.gibsondunn.com/lawyer/boutrous-jr-theodore-j/>to explain
its views on the science, while attorneys from ExxonMobil,
ConocoPhillips, BP and Shell sat in the courtroom but did not make a
presentation. Alsup gave those four companies two weeks to to provide a
statement in writing either agreeing with or refuting each point made in
Boutrous' presentation. "You can't get away with sitting there in
silence and then saying later, 'Oh, he [Boutrous] doesn't speak for
us,'" Alsup said.
The plaintiffs called on Myles Allen
<http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/people/mallen.html>, head of the Climate
Dynamics group at the University of Oxford, whom Alsup would call "a
genius" by the end of the hearing;Gary Griggs,
<https://eps.ucsc.edu/faculty/Profiles/singleton.php?&singleton=true&cruz_id=griggs>distinguished
professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of
California at Santa Cruz; andDr. Don Wuebbles
<https://www.atmos.illinois.edu/cms/One.aspx?siteId=127458&pageId=151986>,
professor of atmospheric science at the University of Illinois and lead
author of the IPCC's fourth scientific assessment report and a member of
the team who compiled the 2014 U.S. National Climate Assessment.
After announcing the acceptance of all amicus briefs (includinga
controversial
brief<https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/03/20/climate-denial-william-alsup-liability/>backed
by the conservative Heartland Institute), and noting that the U.S.
government has been given until April 20 to provide one, Alsup turned
the floor over to the plaintiffs. Allen started by walking through the
history of climate science, including the work of Nobel Prize-winning
Swedish physicist and chemist Svante August Arrhenius, who first
theorized that CO2 emissions would trigger atmospheric warming. He also
described Charles Keeling's observations in Hawaii, now known as the
Keeling Curve, which showed that the planet's rising CO2 levels couldn't
just be attributed to human respiration.
Stopped frequently by Alsup to explain a chart or a bit of jargon, Allen
made the case that science has successfully identified the sources and
impacts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for a very long time and
that scientific consensus emerged as early as the 1950s. On this point,
even Chevron's Boutrous agreed, despite spending the majority of his two
hours making the case that the science around anthropogenic climate
change and its impacts has been uncertain up until the early 2000s. He
agreed with Alsup that despite some disagreements on Arrhenius's work in
the 1930s and 1940s, by the early 1950s, there was consensus around the
warming effect of CO2. Boutrous said, "That's the theory that still
holds today," a statement that seemed to contradict his earlier
statements that there had been no consensus around warming until 2000.
Griggs presented his findings on sea level rise, the science most
relevant to the case because most of the damages claimed by the
communities stem from seal level rise.Griggs discussed his work on sea
level rise <https://news.ucsc.edu/2017/04/sea-level-report.html>, how
the rate is increasing and related attribution science.
Boutrous tried to counter his testimony by showing sea level rise
projection charts from the fifth IPCC assessment, calculated five or
more years ago. By leaving out the past five years, when global warming
has produced record-breaking global temperature records and accelerated
sea level rise, he attempted to leave the impression of continued
uncertainty in the science....
https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/03/22/climate-tutorial-judge-alsup-chevron-liability/
[Opinion; The Scotsman]
*Ruth Davidson: Real Conservatives fight climate change
<https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/ruth-davidson-real-conservatives-fight-climate-change-1-4709553>*
Too many centre-right politicians have dismissed environmentalism as a
left-wing cause, writes Ruth Davidson. "For generations, we have assumed
that the efforts of mankind would leave the fundamental equilibrium of
the world's systems and atmosphere stable. But it is possible that with
all these enormous changes – population, agricultural, use of fossil
fuels – concentrated in such a short period of time, we have unwittingly
begun a massive experiment with the system of this planet itself."
- - - - - -
So Mrs Thatcher's 30-year old message from history should also act as a
reminder to her successors – to those of us on the centre-right today –
that the cause of environmentalism is as urgent as ever, and must be our
cause too. Too often, the political right has dismissed 'green' issues
as something which need only concern those on the opposite side of the
fence.
- - - - - - -
Conservatives must not allow the environmental cause to become
ghettoised only by professional environmentalists. Our job is to make it
a common cause for all. We can do so in a number of ways.
Firstly, by respecting the science. Because the science is unequivocal.
Human activity is leading to a warming of the atmosphere. Climate change
is real. And with social media platforms fanning the flames of
conspiracies and lies, it is all the more important to say it. And
secondly, Conservatives need to show a lead in tackling climate change
and environmental damage at home.
- - - - - -
"The environmental challenge that confronts the whole world demands an
equivalent response from the whole world," declared Mrs Thatcher before
the UN in 1989. "Every country will be affected and no-one can opt out.
Those countries who are industrialised must contribute more to help
those who are not." Powerful words – and 30 years on, they offer a
challenge to those of us on the centre-right of politics more than ever.
https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/ruth-davidson-real-conservatives-fight-climate-change-1-4709553
[Comics]
*"Dark Fang": Climate Change Comics
<https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/dark-fang-climate-change-comics>*
The series' latest installment has an ocean-loving vampire fighting oil
tycoons
BY CARLY NAIRN | MAR 22 2018
If art does indeed imitate life, it shouldn't be all that surprising
that today's comic books feature oil-suckers alongside blood-suckers.
Image Comics, the Portland-based publisher behind hit titles including
The Walking Dead and Saga, touts its Dark Fang volumes as its
"ecological action series."
The first installment of the climate-change-centric series, created
by writer Miles Gunter and illustrator Kelsey Shannon and released
in November, introduced readers to Valla the vampire, who was a
fisherwoman prior to her transformation into one among the undead.
Once freed from the bounds of morality, Valla moved to the dark
depths of the ocean, which, when you think about it, is probably
prime real estate for vampires-they don't need to breathe, they're
never subjected to direct sunlight, they can swim endlessly, and
(this is probably the most important part) no one is around to
notice any of it. Dark Fang's fifth and latest volume was released
on Wednesday, wrapping up the series' first story arc with a deus ex
machina that will leave the reader guessing until the next installment.
Dark Fang's ocean setting is a veritable wonderland for monsters. It
is also pristine, a refuge away from the chaos of human interaction. In
the third installment, Valla (un)lives it up under the sea, cavorting
with jellyfish and fighting with colossal squids, until an oil spill
wipes out the only place she dared to call home. The oil is a menace
harmful to everything it touches-even to Valla, who can crush iPhones in
the palm of her hand, or turn into a bat or a shark whenever the mood
strikes. Unable to stanch the seep, she emerges from the sea to find out
why humans destroy so unremorsefully.
On dry ground, Valla finds a world both inscrutable and yet easy to
manipulate. She becomes a cam girl; i.e., a lady who poses lasciviously
before live chat rooms, employing mind control to get all her fans to
fork over their life savings. She spends the first millions to buy
Dracula's castle and outfits the entire structure with solar panels. She
also finances solar panel fields nearby, creating "the largest solar
project on the planet" and providing nearby Transylvanian communities
with free energy.
Once comfortable navigating the depraved landscape of human existence,
Valla starts hunting down the oil barons and government officials
responsible for the spill-who are somehow connected to some strange
Knights Templar-like characters-to exact her revenge, but not before
noticing a black stain slowly making its way up one of her fangs. The
origins of the stain are unknown for now (Is it tainted blood? Is it
oil?), but its presence, of course, gives the series its title.
Throughout Dark Fang's five volumes, endangered and extraordinary
species play an important role. Valla's bestie during sea life is a
great white shark. She wears a magical dress that makes her appear not
unlike an endangered Portuguese man o' war. A pair of white lions make
an appearance, and Valla briefly takes the form of a polar bear. The
animals act as representations for her rage, and her empathy toward the
natural world.
Throughout Dark Fang's five volumes, endangered and extraordinary
species play an important role. Valla's bestie during sea life is a
great white shark.
Shannon's artwork is the standout element of Dark Fang, mixing ethereal
waterscapes with some excellent, frenetic-feeling action sequences that
are reminiscent of beloved superheroes and classic monster comics from
childhood.
It should come as no surprise that a series with so acute a political
message would come out of Image Comics. The publishing house launched in
1992, expressly as an avenue through which illustrators and creators
could keep copyrights to their character brainchildren. Beyond making
artists happy, Image has since found widespread success by helping to
fuel our cultural fascination with zombies (via The Walking Dead) and
finding character-driven epics that delve into the troubles of
childrearing during a galactic war with Saga.
And perhaps, if the world is ready, Image Comics is poised to further
discussions around climate change-and how to act on it-with Dark Fang.
here it is https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/dark-fang-1
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/dark-fang-climate-change-comics
*This Day in Climate History - March 23, 2006
<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/scott-pelley-and-catherine-herrick-on-global-warming-coverage/>
- from D.R. Tucker*
March 23, 2006: In a CBSNews.com interview, "60 Minutes"
correspondent Scott Pelley explains why he doesn't cite the views of
climate-change deniers in his stories:
"'If I do an interview with Elie Wiesel,' he asks, 'am I required as a
journalist to find a Holocaust denier?' He says his team tried hard to
find a respected scientist who contradicted the prevailing opinion in
the scientific community, but there was no one out there who fit that
description. 'This isn't about politics or pseudo-science or
conspiracy theory blogs,' he says. 'This is about sound
science...'There becomes a point in journalism where striving for
balance becomes irresponsible.'"
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/scott-pelley-and-catherine-herrick-on-global-warming-coverage/
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