[TheClimate.Vote] May 12, 2018 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Sat May 12 11:43:13 EDT 2018
/May 12, 2018/
[talks end]
*Bonn climate talks make gradual progress
<https://climatenewsnetwork.net/bonn-climate-talks-make-gradual-progress/>*
<https://climatenewsnetwork.net/bonn-climate-talks-make-gradual-progress/>Despite
the "missing in action" US, delegates say the Bonn climate talks just
ended made progress – but too little and too slowly.
By Paul Brown
/LONDON, 11 May, 2018/ – The Bonn climate talks, a crucial round of UN
negotiations
<https://climatenewsnetwork.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6e13c74c17ec527c4be72d64f&id=86030b8e05&e=30dc80e2f6>
on pumping up the muscle of the global treaty on tackling climate
change, the Paris Agreement
<https://climatenewsnetwork.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6e13c74c17ec527c4be72d64f&id=dc4fc2a56c&e=30dc80e2f6>,
has ended in Germany.
Participants heading for home know they have a daunting workload ahead,
with too few solid outcomes achieved in the last 10 days. But despite
the absence of the US government, described by some as "missing in
action" after Donald Trump's repudiation of the Paris treaty
<https://climatenewsnetwork.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6e13c74c17ec527c4be72d64f&id=7c53d4971a&e=30dc80e2f6>,
many still hope that Bonn has proved a useful prelude to the next
climate summit.
This dogged optimism apart, the organisers, the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change
<https://climatenewsnetwork.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6e13c74c17ec527c4be72d64f&id=5d8726e317&e=30dc80e2f6>(UNFCCC),
alarmed at Bonn's lack of progress, are arranging an unusual extra week
of talks in Bangkok in September to help the world leaders who will meet
in Katowice in Poland
<https://climatenewsnetwork.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6e13c74c17ec527c4be72d64f&id=1858f26780&e=30dc80e2f6>
in December to agree how to prevent the world from dangerously overheating.
One key sticking point so far is the failure of developed countries to
produce the previously promised US$100 billion a year by 2020 to allow
poor and vulnerable countries to adapt to climate change. In some cases
the survival of small island states depends on that help.
The purpose of this year's round of UN climate talks is to finalise and
implement the Paris Agreement, concluded in 2015, which aims to prevent
global temperatures from increasing by more than 2 degrees C over their
pre-industrial levels, and if possible keep them below 1.5 degrees C.*
*"Now is the time for action. Now is the time to commit to making the
decisions the world must make"...*
*A more cheerful note came from Camilla Born, of the environmental think
tank E3G. She said: "Negotiations went better than expected. The next
challenge is to mobilise the political will to get the COP24 outcomes
over the line in Katowice.
"This won't be easy but the Polish Presidency has the chance to up their
game. The pressure is on the likes of the EU, China and Canada to come
good on the universality of the Paris Agreement even whilst the US is
for now missing in action."
https://climatenewsnetwork.net/bonn-climate-talks-make-gradual-progress/
- - -
[Video summary]
*ENV / Daily Coverage for the Bonn Climate Change Conference - April/May
2018 <http://enb.iisd.org/videos/climate/unfccc-sb48-env/wrap-up/?autoplay>*
Monday, 30 April - Thursday, 10 May 2018 | Duration: 5:04
The Bonn Climate Change Conference concluded on Thursday, 10 May 2018.
The Subsidiary Body on Implementation, (SBI), Subsidiary Body for
Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Ad hoc Working Group
on the Paris Agreement (APA) adopted conclusions and agreed to future
work, including at the next meeting in Bangkok, Thailand. Delegates
reflect on the meeting.
http://enb.iisd.org/videos/climate/unfccc-sb48-env/wrap-up/?autoplay
[Energy transition within 1.5 degrees C]
*A disruptive approach to 100% decarbonisation of the global energy
system by 2050
<https://www.ecofys.com/en/publications/energy-transition-within-15c/>*
Published: 30/04/2018
Decarbonisation of the global energy system is one of the big challenges
society faces today. The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, states that
efforts should be pursued to limit the temperature increase to 1.5
degrees C above pre-industrial levels. This is a tightening of earlier
agreements that put the limit at 2 degrees C. In this paper, Ecofys, a
Navigant company, explored the question: What does such increased
ambition mean for the global energy system?
If society keeps on emitting CO2 at the current pace, the carbon budget
to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees C will be exceeded in
one or two decades. The energy experts investigated options for a fast
energy system transformation and developed a scenario against a
background of increasing population and growing demand for energy
services like space heating and cooling, transportation, and materials
production. The resulting decarbonisation scenario includes several
critical levers to constrain emissions:
- Ongoing efforts to deliver all energy services in an efficient way
- Electrifying energy consumption, especially for buildings and
transportation
- Fast penetration of wind and solar in the electricity sector
- Adopting a range of other renewable energy technologies, from
solar heat to electricity-based hydrogen
- Bioenergy as a fuel source for the manufacturing industry and
specific transportation needs and a role for carbon capture and
storage (CCS) in specific sectors
As result of strong energy efficiency improvements, it is possible to
bring global energy use below current levels to 435 EJ, a large contrast
to business as usual growth to over 800 EJ. While the total primary
energy supply in the scenario is decreasing slightly, electricity demand
is expected to almost triple. Ecofys, a Navigant company, estimates that
all this energy can be supplied from zero-carbon or low carbon energy
sources.
https://www.ecofys.com/en/publications/energy-transition-within-15c/
*
*[more coal, globally]*
Confusion reigns over China's energy policy
<https://climatenewsnetwork.net/24158-2/>*
May 7, 2018, by Kieran Cooke
China's energy policy seems perplexing: coal use reductions at home,
while abroad it is helping to build coal-fired power plants
<https://climatenewsnetwork.net/24158-2/>.
/BELGRADE, SERBIA, 7 May, 2018/– It's quite easy these days to find
yourself muddled over China's energy policy: it does seem often to
amount to tackling domestic pollution and climate change, but chasing
lucrative contracts abroad, despite the environmental impact.
With the US under Donald Trump indicating it wants to withdraw from
theParis Agreement
<https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement>on
climate change, China is increasingly seen as a world leader in the
battle to cut carbon emissions and prevent climate catastrophe.
Beijing is implementing ambitious renewable energy schemes at home and
has announced plans to reshape its energy sector and reduce its use of
coal – by far the most polluting fossil fuel.
But overseas, China ispursuing a very different policy
<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/01/climate/china-energy-companies-coal-plants-climate-change.html>.
Here in Serbia a Chinese enterprise,China Machinery Engineering
Corporation <http://en.cmec.com/gsgk/gsjj/>(CMEC), recently started work
on a multi-million dollar project to enlargethe coal-fired Kostolac
power station
<https://bankwatch.org/project/kostolac-lignite-power-plant-serbia>on
the banks of the Danube river in the east of the country.
More at: https://climatenewsnetwork.net/24158-2/
- - -
[see you in court]
Battle Lines Drawn for Hearing on New York Climate Lawsuit Vs. Big Oil
*By Dana Drugmand*
Oil companies, already busy fending off lawsuits from several California
communities, have filed opposition to a similar suit from New York City.
Chevron, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil filed amemorandum of law
<https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.486408/gov.uscourts.nysd.486408.100.0.pdf>last
week, arguing to dismiss New York's climate liability lawsuit. Their
long list of reasons includes the city's dependence on and use of fossil
fuels, a lack of standing by the city to sue and the now-familiar Big
Oil argument that because the Clean Air Act governs climate pollution,
courts should not intervene.
New York, whichsued the five biggest oil companies
<https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/01/10/new-york-city-climate-lawsuit-liability-bill-de-blasio/> in
January, promptly responded with anopposition to the motion
<https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.486408/gov.uscourts.nysd.486408.101.0.pdf>.
It rejects all of the oil companies' arguments, explicitly noting that
the Clean Air Act does not regulate fossil fuel production and sale, and
therefore is not viable grounds for dismissal.
"The case should not be dismissed because it is well-grounded in the law
of public nuisance and trespass and is not preempted by federal law,"
said a New York City Law Department spokesman. "The defendants' products
inevitably contribute to climate change when used exactly as intended
and they understood decades ago that this process would cause grave harm
to coastal cities like New York."
A hearing on the defendants' motion to dismiss is scheduled for June 13
in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York...
More at:
https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/05/11/new-york-climate-lawsuit-hearing-exxon-chevron/
[Gallup Polling on the future]
*Global Warming Age Gap: Younger Americans Most Worried
<http://news.gallup.com/poll/234314/global-warming-age-gap-younger-americans-worried.aspx>*
Gallup WASHINGTON, D.C.
Public concern about global warming is evident across all age groups in
the U.S., with majorities of younger and older Americans saying they
worry about the problem a great deal or fair amount. However, the extent
to which Americans take global warming seriously and worry about it
differs markedly by age, with adults under age 35 typically much more
engaged with the problem than those 55 and older.
Younger adults are also significantly more likely to think news reports
on global warming underestimate the problem. They are more likely to
worry ...
70% of Americans age 18 to 34 worry about global warming
This compares with 62% of those 35 to 54 and 56% who are 55 or older
- - - -
There are several potential reasons for these generational differences
surrounding climate change. One, as is evident in particular on the
question about global warming's effects in one's lifetime, results from
the fact that older Americans may perceive that they will no longer be
living when global warming changes the world more dramatically.
Another reason results from the relationship between age and party
identification. Gallup has previously found a significant partisan
divide on Americans' attitudes concerning global warming. This partisan
gap may be reflected in the trend by age group, with younger Americans
tending to tilt toward the Democratic Party, and thus being more likely
to adopt the Democratic position on global warming.
Finally, younger people may have been exposed to more discussion about
climate change and the environment in their more recent education
experiences, while the issue was not on the educational agenda for many
Americans who were in school decades ago
http://news.gallup.com/poll/234314/global-warming-age-gap-younger-americans-worried.aspx
[Heat and human diet in the climate hierarchy]
*Workshop explores intertwined future of food production, water, and
climate
<http://news.mit.edu/2018/workshop-explores-intertwined-future-food-production-water-climate-0511>*
Choices by consumers and farmers can help limit global warming, but
climate change may also curtail those choices in the future.
David L. Chandler - MIT News Office
"A lot of conventional wisdom is wrong," said David Lobell, deputy
director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment at Stanford
University. For example, he said that studies of climate change and
agriculture often focus on projected rainfall changes, but actually it
is the temperature increase itself that has the greatest effect on crops...
- - - - -
But much less drastic measures could also make a difference, he said:
"It doesn't require binary choices." Just eliminating or reducing
consumption of red meat, the most greenhouse-gas intensive food, could
reduce emissions by almost a third, according to Smth. "A decrease in
meat consumption could have an absolutely enormous impact," he said -
and be much better for people's health. "Diets that give us substantial
health benefits also give us a healthier environment, and are more
sustainable," he said....
More at:
http://news.mit.edu/2018/workshop-explores-intertwined-future-food-production-water-climate-0511
[Miami opinion]
*Three newspapers confront one challenge: Sea-level rise is real, South
Florida needs all hands on deck - now
<http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article210451219.html>*
MIAMI HERALD EDITORIAL BOARD
Updated May 05, 2018
No graver threat faces the future of South Florida than the accelerating
pace of sea-level rise. In the past century, the sea has risen 9 inches
in Key West. In the past 23 years, it's risen 3 inches. By 2060, it's
predicted to rise another 2 feet, with no sign of slowing down.
Think about that. Water levels could easily be 2 feet higher in 40
years. And scientists say that's a conservative estimate. Because of
melting ice sheets and how oceans circulate, there's a chance South
Florida's sea level could be 3 feet higher by 2060 and as much as 8 feet
by 2100, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
It's not just a matter of how much land we're going to lose, though the
barrier islands and low-lying communities will be largely uninhabitable
once the ocean rises by 3 feet. It's a matter of what can be saved. And
elsewhere, how we're going to manage the retreat..
- - - -
Of the 25 American cities
<http://www.climatecentral.org/news/us-cities-most-vulnerable-major-coastal-flooding-sea-level-rise-21748>
most vulnerable to sea-level rise, 22 are in Florida, according to the
nonprofit research group Climate Central.
More at: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article210451219.html
- - - -
[Here are the 25]
*These U.S. Cities Are Most Vulnerable to Major Coastal Flooding and Sea
Level Rise
<http://www.climatecentral.org/news/us-cities-most-vulnerable-major-coastal-flooding-sea-level-rise-21748>
Image:
*http://assets.climatecentral.org/images/made/10_25_17_Editorial_Current_Top25_650_455_s_c1_c_c.jpg
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/us-cities-most-vulnerable-major-coastal-flooding-sea-level-rise-21748
[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/
[gnarly, dude]
*Massive wave is southern hemisphere record, scientists believe
<http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-44078255>*
Scientists in New Zealand have documented what they believe is the
largest wave ever recorded in the southern hemisphere.
The 23.8m (78ft) wave was measured by a buoy on New Zealand's Campbell
Island in the Southern Ocean on Tuesday, the country's weather authority
said.
It eclipses a 22.03m wave that was identified south of the Australian
state of Tasmania in 2012.
Larger waves have been recorded in the northern hemisphere
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-44078255
[random yet tangential]
*The bizarre tale of the flat-Earth convention that fell apart
<https://www.cnet.com/news/the-bizarre-tale-of-the-australia-flat-earth-convention-that-fell-apart/>*
A vicious falling-out, alleged death threats, an arson attempt. This is
the story of how Australia's first flat-Earth conference destroyed
itself from the inside out.
https://www.cnet.com/news/the-bizarre-tale-of-the-australia-flat-earth-convention-that-fell-apart/
*This Day in Climate History - May 12, 2016*
<http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/12/obama-methane-emissions-rule-oil-gas-climate-change>
The Guardian - Obama's methane rule an aggressive step toward tackling
climate change
The Obama administration announced on Thursday new rules to cut
methane emissions from the oil and gas industry almost in half -
tackling a powerful climate pollutant in the president's final
months in the White House.
The rules, stronger than earlier proposals, are aimed at reducing
methane emissions from the US by 40% to 45% over 2012 levels by 2025
by requiring companies to capture gas from oil wells, and find and
plug pipeline leaks. America is currently the world’s largest oil
and gas producer...
- - - - -
The American Petroleum Institute, the main oil and gas lobby,
maintained that the industry was plugging leaking wells and
pipelines anyway – and that the new rules would stifle innovation.
"Imposing a one-size-fits-all scheme on the industry could actually
stifle innovation and discourage investment," the lobby group said
in a statement.
The White House admitted the administration had at first
underestimated the scale of methane emissions from the thousands of
new wells put into production during the fracking boom - which
transformed the US into an energy superpower.
The US has also experienced devastating methane leaks from ageing
oil and gas infrastructure - such as the Aliso Canyon storage site
in California. The leak was the single largest source of climate
pollution in California last year.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/12/obama-methane-emissions-rule-oil-gas-climate-change
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