[TheClimate.Vote] May 11, 2018 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Fri May 11 11:12:45 EDT 2018
/May 11, 2018/
[Science update sea level rise - 1 hour video]
*Sea level rise in the next 100 to 10,000 years: Dr Peter Clark (April
2018) <https://youtu.be/TvV_-o8KPgM?t=1m59s>*
Understanding Climate Change
Published on May 9, 2018
https://youtu.be/TvV_-o8KPgM?t=1m59s
- - - -
[Washington Post article in April]
What the Earth will be like in 10,000 years, according to scientists
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/02/08/what-the-earth-will-be-like-in-10000-years-according-to-scientists/?utm_term=.0b3a51a8847e>
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/02/08/what-the-earth-will-be-like-in-10000-years-according-to-scientists/?utm_term=.0b3a51a8847e
Earth's Future Research Article Open Access
*Sea Level Rise Impacts on Wastewater Treatment Systems Along the U.S.
Coasts
<https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2017EF000805>*
Michelle A. Hummel
Plain Language Summary
Wastewater treatment plants are susceptible to flooding resulting
from sea level rise. Previous estimates of wastewater exposure have
only considered the impacts of marine flooding at the local or
regional scale. In this analysis, we quantify the exposure to marine
flooding across the coastal United States and then consider the
relative impacts of marine and groundwater flooding at the regional
scale in the San Francisco Bay Area. We also estimate the number of
people who may lose access to wastewater services if no actions are
taken to prevent flooding at wastewater treatment plants. We find
that the number of people impacted by sea level rise due to loss of
wastewater services could be five times as high as previous
predictions of the number of people who experience direct flooding
of their homes or property. We also find that groundwater flooding
poses a significant threat to wastewater plants in the San Francisco
Bay region.
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2017EF000805
[Long term adaptation]
*Responding to Sea Level Rise: Does Short‐Term Risk Reduction Inhibit
Successful Long‐Term Adaptation?
<https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2018EF000828>*
A. G. Keeler - First published: 06 April 2018
Abstract
Most existing coastal climate‐adaptation planning processes, and the
research supporting them, tightly focus on how to use land use
planning, policy tools, and infrastructure spending to reduce risks
from rising seas and changing storm conditions. While central to
community response to sea level rise, we argue that the exclusive
nature of this focus biases against and delays decisions to take
more discontinuous, yet proactive, actions to adapt-for example,
relocation and aggressive individual protection investments. Public
policies should anticipate real estate market responses to risk
reduction to avoid large costs-social and financial-when and if sea
level rise and other climate‐related factors elevate the risks to
such high levels that discontinuous responses become the least bad
alternative.
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2018EF000828
[Text update from Code Red]
*What goes up must come down: It's time for a carbon drawdown budget
<http://www.climatecodered.org/2018/05/what-goes-up-must-come-down-its-time.html>*
Posted: 09 May 2018 - by David Spratt
There is no carbon budget left for 1.5 degrees C climate warming target,
which means that to achieve this outcome every tonne of emissions must
be matched by a tonne of drawdown of atmospheric carbon from now on. For
that reason, carbon budgets and emissions target should be complemented
by a carbon drawdown budget and target.
That's the proposal made by Breakthrough, the Melbourne-based National
Centre for Climate Restoration, to the Victorian climate change targets
2021-2030 expert panel, last week.
In the submission, Breakthrough established that:
*1.5 degrees C of climate warming is not safe;**
**There is no carbon budget remaining for 1.5 degrees C, so "What
goes up must come down";**
**"Overshoot" in emission reduction scenarios should be minimised in
extent and duration to avoid tipping points that may be irreversible
on human time-frames.*
More at:
http://www.climatecodered.org/2018/05/what-goes-up-must-come-down-its-time.html
[maybe if we called it "cc"?]
*The phrase 'climate change' appeared in a draft Pentagon report 23
times. The final version used it once.
<https://s2.washingtonpost.com/699d5a/5af488a4fe1ff63b7970f57b/cGRxQHJwYXVsaS5jb20%3D/6/48/1caa8bdb04d68751cb1e588cb4e1ab30>*
<https://s2.washingtonpost.com/699d5a/5af488a4fe1ff63b7970f57b/cGRxQHJwYXVsaS5jb20%3D/6/48/1caa8bdb04d68751cb1e588cb4e1ab30>The
draft dates to the final months of the Obama administration. The final
was released earlier this year.
Pentagon revised Obama-era report to remove risks from climate change
by Chris Mooney and Missy Ryan May 10
Internal changes to a draft Defense Department report de-emphasized the
threats climate change poses to military bases and installations, muting
or removing references to climate-driven changes in the Arctic and
potential risks from rising seas, an unpublished draft obtained by The
Washington Post reveals.
The earlier version of the document, dated December 2016, contains
numerous references to "climate change" that were omitted or altered to
"extreme weather" or simply "climate" in the final report, which was
submitted to Congress in January 2018. While the phrase "climate change"
appears 23 separate times in the draft report, the final version used it
just once.
Those and other edits suggest the Pentagon has adapted its approach to
public discussion of climate change under President Trump, who has
expressed doubt about the reality of a phenomenon that scientists agree
presents an increasing danger to the planet. While military leaders have
said they see a changing climate as a driver of instability worldwide,
they have also sought to stay out of a politically charged debate about
its causes...
- - - - -
The final Pentagon document even omits, in several cases, the simple
observation that learning about bases' vulnerability to sea-level rise
was a core part of the survey that is the subject of the report. That
survey itself asked each military site how much of its area was located
at elevations between 0-3, 0-6, 0-9, or 0-12 feet above sea level...
- - - -
"The wordsmithing, not saying 'climate,' I could live with that," said
Dennis McGinn, a retired Navy vice admiral who served as assistant
secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and environment in the
Obama administration, when some of the changes were described to him.
"But taking out … maps of critical areas of flooding, that's pretty
fundamental. And the Arctic, that's huge, for a lot of reasons, not just
for Department of Defense, but for the Coast Guard, and commercial
shipping business."...
more at:
https://s2.washingtonpost.com/699d5a/5af488a4fe1ff63b7970f57b/cGRxQHJwYXVsaS5jb20%3D/6/48/1caa8bdb04d68751cb1e588cb4e1ab30
[investments, encouraging]
*Kinder Morgan shareholders' eco-resolutions pass in rare investor upset
<https://www.thestar.com/vancouver/2018/05/09/kinder-morgan-shareholders-eco-resolutions-pass-in-rare-investor-upset.html>*
With B.C. project in limbo, Texas energy giant's own investors demand
more information on environmental, climate performance.
By DAVID P. BALL - StarMetro Vancouver - Wed., May 9, 2018
VANCOUVER-In an upset for a major publicly-traded corporation, two
environmental resolutions at Kinder Morgan Inc.'s annual general
meetings passed with more than 50 per cent of shareholder votes
Wednesday, against the Texas firm's advice.
Proponents of investor activism declared the Houston AGM results a
victory for "democratization" inside a company that's more used to
protests from environmental and Indigenous opponents outside its doors.
- - - -
It's unknown whether the two votes, demanding more transparency to
shareholders about its environmental performance and risks, could affect
its Trans Mountain expansion plans in B.C.
The 1,100-kilometre project - which will nearly triple the flow of
diluted bitumen to the West Coast from Alberta's oilsands, and increase
tanker traffic sevenfold - was approved by Ottawa and Victoria, and
started construction last fall.
But early last month, the company announced it was ending all
"non-essential spending" on the pipeline, saying it would abandon the
project if B.C. didn't call off plans to impose new environmental
regulations by May 31; the B.C. government asked the courts to rule on
whether it has the authority to do so.
https://www.thestar.com/vancouver/2018/05/09/kinder-morgan-shareholders-eco-resolutions-pass-in-rare-investor-upset.html
*Louisiana Court Says State Wrongly Issued Permit for Bayou Bridge
Pipeline Through Vulnerable Town
<https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/05/08/bayou-bridge-pipeline-st-james-louisiana-evacuation-judge-ruling>*
Julie Dermansky - May 8, 2018
A Louisiana judge ruled that state regulators violated guidelines when
they issued a coastal use permit to build the Bayou Bridge pipeline in
the town of St. James. The judge's decision, made on April 30, could
halt construction of the final 18 miles of the pipeline, which is part
of a network carrying fracked oil that begins with the Dakota Access
pipeline.
Bayou Bridge Pipeline LLC, a subsidiary of Dakota Access owner Energy
Transfer Partners, began building the pipeline earlier this year despite
multiple legal challenges. The pipeline is slated to stretch 162.5
miles, from Lake Charles, near the Texas border, across southern
Louisiana to a railway terminal in St. James, a predominantly low-income
African-American community.
Located in a highly industrialized stretch of land along the Mississippi
River known as Cancer Alley, St. James has seen a burst of activity in
recent years as oil storage tanks, chemical plants, and a railway
terminal moved into this largely rural town.
- - - - -
"Our air, land, and water are polluted, and my health is already
compromised," she said. "The entire community needs to be bought out,
or we will find our selves dying too soon, like Keith Hunter."
https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/05/08/bayou-bridge-pipeline-st-james-louisiana-evacuation-judge-ruling
*Trump White House quietly cancels NASA research verifying greenhouse
gas cuts
<http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/05/trump-white-house-quietly-cancels-nasa-research-verifying-greenhouse-gas-cuts>*
By Paul Voosen - May. 9, 2018
You can't manage what you don't measure. The adage is especially
relevant for climate-warming greenhouse gases, which are crucial to
manage-and challenging to measure. In recent years, though, satellite
and aircraft instruments have begun monitoring carbon dioxide and
methane remotely, and NASA's Carbon Monitoring System (CMS), a
$10-million-a-year research line, has helped stitch together
observations of sources and sinks into high-resolution models of the
planet's flows of carbon. Now, President Donald Trump's administration
has quietly killed the CMS, Science has learned.
The move jeopardizes plans to verify the national emission cuts agreed
to in the Paris climate accords, says Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of
Tufts University's Center for International Environment and Resource
Policy in Medford, Massachusetts. "If you cannot measure emissions
reductions, you cannot be confident that countries are adhering to the
agreement," she says. Canceling the CMS "is a grave mistake," she adds.
The White House has mounted a broad attack on climate science,
repeatedly proposing cuts to NASA's earth science budget, including the
CMS, and cancellations of climate missions such as the Orbiting Carbon
Observatory 3 (OCO-3). Although Congress fended off the budget and
mission cuts, a spending deal signed in March made no mention of the
CMS. That allowed the administration's move to take effect, says Steve
Cole, a NASA spokesperson in Washington, D.C. Cole says existing grants
will be allowed to finish up, but no new research will be supported...
- - - -
This type of research is likely to continue, Duffy adds, but leadership
will pass to Europe, which already operates one carbon-monitoring
satellite, with more on the way. "We really shoot ourselves in the foot
if we let other people develop the technology," he says, given how
important the techniques will be in managing low-carbon economies in the
future. Hurtt, meanwhile, holds out hope that NASA will restore the
program. After all, he says, the problem isn't going away. "The topic of
climate mitigation and carbon monitoring is maybe not the highest
priority now in the United States," he says. "But it is almost
everywhere else."
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/05/trump-white-house-quietly-cancels-nasa-research-verifying-greenhouse-gas-cuts
[OPINION May 9, 2018 ]
*High schoolers forced Utah to admit climate change is real
<https://www.hcn.org/articles/opinion-high-schoolers-forced-Utah-to-admit-climate-change-is-real>*
A group of students convinced state lawmakers to acknowledge the warming
planet.
Jack Greene is a contributor to Writers on the Range, the opinion
service of High Country News. He is a retired high school teacher who
works with students around the state of Utah on environmental issues.
High school student Piper Christian contributed to this opinion.
It sounds completely improbable: The Utah Legislature recently adopted a
resolution that moves the state from denial of global climate change to
the recognition that finding a solution is crucial.
An obvious question is how this flip-flop occurred in a legislature with
a Republican super-majority of 83 percent, in a state that produces more
than 90 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels. Students at Logan
High School can tell you the answer: For nearly two years, they have
been working to make the Legislature budge. They educated themselves
about the science of climate change and formed alliances with other
students and business leaders throughout the state.
Most of all, the teenagers never stopped. They simply refused to give up.
Their efforts began in 2016, when they learned that, six years earlier,
the Utah Legislature had passed a resolution declaring that climate
change should be ignored until the science was more convincing. Some
Logan High School students found this incredible. They'd witnessed
firsthand how climate change was contributing to longer and more intense
fire seasons, and they experienced Utah's dwindling snowpack and
increasing water scarcity.
"My generation and generations to come will inherit the many threats
that climate change poses," said Piper Christian, one of these students.
She decided to take action.
With the help of key legislators, she and other concerned students
drafted a legislative resolution, "Economic and Environmental
Stewardship." Local business leaders who supported the students also
wrote to state legislators, saying, "We need Utah's policymakers to help
us prepare for the potential effects that a changing climate could have
on our state."
Elected officials responded by claiming there was virtually no chance of
getting the resolution introduced, must less passed. "Don't waste your
time," they were told. "Try something less ambitious." That response
discouraged some students, but Christian decided: "We will persist,
primarily to see this as something that does not have to be divisive."
Their persistence paid off. Through a combination of networking and
building more alliances, things began to move forward. To the students'
amazement, a Republican legislator - Rep. Becky Edwards of Bountiful -
sponsored their resolution in the 2017 legislative session. When it was
time for a hearing in her committee, the students spoke out forcefully
and, some observers said, movingly.
Yet their initial resolution died after a 5-5 split. The students
realized that they needed to do more work educating state legislators
and also getting feedback on their resolution. They partnered with a
coalition of advocacy organizations, whose volunteers met with
representatives from nearly every Utah political district.
The six Utah chapters of the Citizens' Climate Lobby were a major force,
along with at least five other organizations that combined with the
student network. At the start of the 2018 legislative session, the
grassroots groups partnered with Edwards to create an evening program at
the Capitol. It brought together high school students, legislators and a
five-member "climate solutions" panel. The panel included a physicist,
the director of the governor's energy office, a student from Brigham
Young University and two city mayors.
As the students said that night, "We, as youth leaders of Utah, have
assembled with you, our state leaders, to address what we consider to be
the paramount issue of our generation - that of a changing climate. We
hope this dialogue will … ultimately lead to action to address this
challenge on all levels - local, state and national."
Adding to their public support was a business coalition that included
Rio Tinto, Rocky Mountain Power, Mark Miller Subaru, the Salt Lake
Chamber of Commerce, Utah Technology Council, the ski areas of Alta,
Snowbird, Solitude, Deer Valley and Park City, and various other major
businesses.
The 2018 legislative general session began with Edwards again filing the
students' climate resolution. The students were forced to wait with
patience as the resolution moved slowly through the committee process.
They learned the importance of compromise as they watched the wording of
the resolution change to accommodate various interests.
Once again, testimony from the students about the seriousness of climate
change made an impact. Opinions started changing. The bill was reported
out of committee by an 8-2 vote. Then, at last, came success as the
House passed the resolution 51-21 and the Senate 23-3. A surprising 75
percent of Republican legislators voted in favor of the bill, which Gov.
Gary Herbert, also a Republican, signed on March 20.
Now, many people in Utah are grateful to these Logan High School
students and their allies, who never gave up despite the odds against them.
https://www.hcn.org/articles/opinion-high-schoolers-forced-Utah-to-admit-climate-change-is-real
[Vote]
*Want to save the world? Vote.
<http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/want-to-save-the-world-vote>*
Contributed by Phil Plait
I haven't written about global warming in a while here on the blog, and
I'll admit it's partly because the news about the United States
government is such an unending torrent of fetidness that writing about
it seems like spitting in the ocean.
But the planet doesn't care about my feelings. It only responds to
stimuli, such as, for example, us dumping 40 billion tons of carbon
dioxide
<http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/did-i-say-30-billion-tons-co2-year-i-meant-40>
into the air every year. For the first time in recorded history the
monthly average of CO2 in the air hit 410 parts per million in April
2018
<https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/2018/05/02/carbon-dioxide-in-the-atmosphere-hits-record-high-monthly-average/>.
That may not sound like much, but dosage makes the poison; that's enough
carbon dioxide to cause a significant greenhouse effect. This is the
most basic of science, something we've known for well over a century
<https://www.skepticalscience.com/cshistory.php>.
The Earth's climate runs on heat. It's what causes the air to circulate,
water to evaporate, weather to happen. When you mess with the climate's
fuel, you mess with the climate.
We've been seeing the effects of this for years, and I need not
enumerate them for you here (NASA has done that for me anyway
<https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/>). But we've just reached yet another
milestone that's worth pointing out: Sea ice in the Bering Sea hit an
all-time low in April
<https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=92084>. Normally,
the waters between Russia and Alaska are covered in ice this time of
year, to the tune of half a million square kilometers.
But not in 2018. It's now "basically ice-free," according to Walt Meier,
a research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data center.
- - - -
So why bring this up now? Well, the timeliness of both the sea ice
extent and the CO2 records makes this as good a time as any.
But there's another reason. Denying global warming is practically a
plank of the Republican party
<http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/when-it-comes-climate-change-some-people-just-want-watch-world-burn>
(though there are some exceptions, they are few compared to the number
of GOP congresspeople). But there's some good news.
The midterm elections on November 6, 2018, are now 180 days away
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_elections,_2018>.
That seems like a nice round auspicious number, so here we are. Is your
representative a science denier? Vote. Them. OUT.
Get started today. Make sure you're registered to vote
<https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote>. The rules are different state by
state, so check. And if you're 17 now, but turn 18 by November 6, your
voice will count. Register.
It's not too late to stop this slow boil. Our planet is sick, but we can
still bring this fever down.
/P.S. Did you know there are a lot of scientists running for Congress?
314 Action has a (partial) list <http://www.314action.org/home>, so see
if there's one running in your district!/
http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/want-to-save-the-world-vote
[Candidates]
*314 Action is proud to endorse these scientists and other STEM leaders
who will fight to protect science and stand up to climate deniers.
<http://www.314action.org/endorsed-candidates-1/>*
http://www.314action.org/endorsed-candidates-1/
*This Day in Climate History - May 11, 3022
<http://www.nbcnews.com/video/dylan-ratigan-show/42995814#42995814> -
from D.R. Tucker*
May 11, 2011: MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan and former Department of Homeland
Security head Tom Ridge discuss the nexus between oil and terrorism...
how the U.S. paying to import oil is essentially funneling money
directly into the hands of terrorists.
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/dylan-ratigan-show/42995814#42995814
(requires Flash player )
See text transcript from the tab: "Transcript of this video" This
content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this
program:
>> well, you know, we have a legacy of promising an energy policy
to the taxpayers since the mid to late '70s. and for 50 years have
failed, both republicans and democrats, to do so we are addicted, as
the rest of the world is, to oil. we are not an oil- rich country
but we are an energy - rich country and one of these days, people on
both sides of the aisle will accept that reality. the reality is
that to a certain extent, we are funding radical islam . to a
certain extent, much of our foreign policy is dictated by that
dependency and we will start drilling in the united states and
obviously, as former pennsylvania governor , as you mentioned, i'm
very par together extraordinary opportunities we have in this
country with natural gas . so your introductory comments were on
target. ' energy policy , enormous addiction could be avoided. the
president has said he wants to win the future. well, we don't have
to wait until tomorrow to start whipping it the advantage of
drilling in the united states , particularly natural gas , is it's
reduced emissions, a lot cheaper fuel and frankly, american jobs and
all of that is made in america, red, white and blew
>> sure. and again, i'm aware of all of that, but at the same time,
whether we are going to drill for natural gas , whether we are going
to drill for oil, whether we are going to put solar panels all over
arizona, where we are going to put windmills in north dakota ,
whether we are going to put tidal machinery off the pacific ocean ,
it doesn't address the fact that our dissipation rate on our power
zbrid embarrassing. we -- electricity we make we lose that the power
generation facilities in this country are grossly inefficient by
comparison to global standards and isn't that a function of the fact
that we don't actual pay the real cost of energy in this country?
you go to the other countries, they are paying $10, $12. they would
never tolerate 35% efficiency when you are paying $10, $12 a gallon
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/dylan-ratigan-show/42995814#42995814
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