[TheClimate.Vote] September 14, 2018 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Fri Sep 14 11:22:20 EDT 2018
/September 14, 2018/
[virtual surge video illustration 2:15]
*Storm Surge Like You've Never Experienced it Before
<https://youtu.be/q01vSb_B1o0>*
https://youtu.be/q01vSb_B1o0
- - - -
*Florence Could Knock Out Power to Up to 3 Million and It Could Be Out
for Weeks
<https://weather.com/safety/hurricane/news/2018-09-13-hurricane-florence-power-outages-carolinas-duke-energy>*
By Pam Wright - weather.com
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said it could take weeks to
fully restore power.
Some 20,000 workers are ready to restore power in the Carolinas
following the storm.
https://weather.com/safety/hurricane/news/2018-09-13-hurricane-florence-power-outages-carolinas-duke-energy
- -- -
[storm relief contributions]
Update on contributions: the great climate justice group NC WARN has
established an environmental justice/disaster recovery fund that is now
up on Paypal and ActBlue. NC WARN is convening the fund and won't be
taking a cut. <http://www.ncwarn.org/hurricane-florence-relief-fund/>
ActBlue: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/hurricane-florence-recovery
PayPal:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BEE2NS36JLR8E
http://www.ncwarn.org/hurricane-florence-relief-fund/
In partnership with community-based organizations in the eastern part of
the state, NC WARN has established the Hurricane Florence Emergency
Relief and Recovery Fund. This fund will support groups that do not have
the capacity to receive online donations, but who are already providing
leadership and offering direct services to those bearing the brunt of
economic and environmental devastation.
It is critical that we provide support for the people who have yet to
recover from Hurricane Matthew 2 years ago, and face severe threats now.
Distribution of funds will be determined by an advisory committee of
environmental justice leaders from our partnering groups.
Please contribute as generously as you can to ensure that no one is left
to weather the storm alone.
All proceeds will be sent to frontline communities in need. NC WARN is
not collecting an administrative fee from these donations. Your donation
is tax-deductible.
http://www.ncwarn.org/hurricane-florence-relief-fund/
- - - -
[sure]
*Here's How Climate Change Put Hurricane Florence On Steroids
<https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/hurricane-florence-climate-change>*
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/hurricane-florence-climate-change
[Another emerging crisis]
*Scientists Urge Immediate, Decisive Action to Tackle Deoxygenation in
Oceans
<http://sdg.iisd.org/news/scientists-urge-immediate-decisive-action-to-tackle-deoxygenation-in-oceans/>*
UNESOC-IOC's Global Ocean Oxygen Network and other scientists call for
urgent efforts to address deoxygenation in the world's oceans in the
'Kiel Declaration'.
The Declaration cautions that the Paris Agreement on climate change and
the 2030 Agenda are "severely threatened by ocean deoxygenation"...
http://sdg.iisd.org/news/scientists-urge-immediate-decisive-action-to-tackle-deoxygenation-in-oceans/
- - -
[Press release]*
Urgent appeal for more marine and climate protection: marine scientists
publish "Kiel Declaration"
<http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/urgent_appeal_for_more_marine_and_climate_protection_marine/>*
Kiel, 7 September 2018 - This week, more than 300 scientists from 33
countries met in Kiel, Germany, at an international conference to
discuss the decline of oxygen in the ocean, the causes and the
consequences. At the conclusion of the conference, the scientists
published a haunting appeal, the "Kiel Declaration", in which they call
urgently for more marine and climate protection.
The numbers are alarming: over the past 50 years, oxygen has decreased
by 2% in the global ocean. The volume of oxygen-depleted waters, has
grown more than fourfold. The main reasons are the increasing global
warming, but also the over-fertilization of the oceans. In the long
term, these changes will not only jeopardize life in large parts of the
world's oceans, but also feedbacks to the atmosphere are expected, as
greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide and methane form in oxygen-free
water.
Scientists from all parts of the world who convened in Kiel for a
conference organized by the Collaborative Research Centre 754 (SFB 754)
"Climate and Biogeochemical Interactions in the Tropical Ocean" agreed
that this problem must be immediately and urgently addressed to develop
solutions in order to stop the oxygen loss as soon as possible.
Therefore, they unanimously adopted an appeal for more marine and
climate protection, the "Kiel Declaration".
"The ocean is in a global crisis," says Prof. Dr. Andreas Oschlies,
spokesperson of the SFB 754 from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean
Research Kiel. "For the very productive areas of the world's ocean off
Peru and West Africa, the supply of nutrients and oxygen is of vital
importance," Oschlies continues. But particularly in these areas, the
oxygen content has decreased significantly in the past 50 years. In
addition, these coastal areas are particularly affected by
overfertilization, which leads to algae blooms and ultimately to
increased oxygen depletion through degradation of biomass.
"Comparisons between observational data and the results of complex
numerical models show that even the best simulations underestimate the
changes which are already observed significantly," Prof. Oschlies
explains. "Thus, nature is changing faster than we expected." Therefore,
Oschlies and the more than 300 participants of the conference and the
Global Ocean Oxygen Network (GO2NE) - an expert group established in
2016 under UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission -
consider it important to publicize these changes and also to advocate
increased ocean observations, leading to a better understanding of
ongoing rapid changes and eventually to more robust predictions.
In the document, they call for more international efforts to sharpen
global awareness of oxygen depletion, taking immediate and decisive
action to limit marine pollution and in particular the excessive
nutrient input into the ocean and to limit global warming by decisive
climate change mitigation actions.
The researchers refer to the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 for the sustainable
development of the seas and oceans. "We still have the chance to avoid
strong and irreversible effects of climate change, pollution and overuse
of the oceans through rethinking and immediate action," says Prof.
Oschlies. "But we are quickly running out of time! That's why we want to
set a clear and strong signal with the 'Kiel Declaration' in order to
stop the oxygen depletion of the ocean and thus, preserve the largest
ecosystems on this planet.
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/urgent_appeal_for_more_marine_and_climate_protection_marine/
- - - -
[Kiel Declaration on Ocean Deoxygenation]*
The ocean is losing its breath
<https://www.geomar.de/uploads/media/Kiel_declaration_fin_02.pdf>*
https://www.geomar.de/uploads/media/Kiel_declaration_fin_02.pdf
[Paul Gilding's declaration]
*When we look at the crisis rationally, the only logical response is to
declare a climate emergency
<http://www.climatecodered.org/2018/09/when-we-look-at-crisis-rationally-only.html>*
by Paul Gilding
People engaged in the climate debate are often bewildered by society's
lack of response. How can we ignore such overwhelming evidence of an
existential threat to social and economic stability?
Given human history, we should never have expected anything else. Humans
have a consistent tendency that when change is uncomfortable we delay
action until a threat becomes a crisis. The scale of the threat or the
existence of powerful evidence makes little difference.
There are countless examples - personal health issues, a business'
declining success, or global financial and credit risks. Historically,
though, World War Two (WWII ) remains the best analogy.
The evidence of the threat posed by Hitler was overwhelming and the case
for action crystal clear. However, many were still deeply resistant to
acting. Only when the threat became overwhelming - until it was accepted
as an imminent crisis - was Britain triggered into action. When it was,
Winston Churchill led the critical shift in thinking, arguing that no
matter how uncomfortable, expensive or challenging to the status quo,
sometimes you just have to do what is necessary. Not your best, or what
you can afford, or what's "realistic" - but what is necessary. In his
case, that was going to war and assuming victory was possible.
And so began one of the fastest and most dramatic economic mobilisations
and industrial transformations in history. As a result, something that
was rationally bordering on the impossible was achieved.
I would argue we are approaching a point where this same cycle will play
out on climate change - and we will get to the transformational action
stage.
Perhaps surprisingly given the global implications of what's at stake, a
good indicator of this is the council of Darebin, in Melbourne, where I
am addressing a Climate Emergency conference this week.
Why is this an indicator? When we look back at history, like WWII, we
tend to simplify cause and effect. We say it was the invasion of Poland,
the arrival of Churchill, etc, that triggered the change. In reality,
complex systems like human society move in a distributed way, reaching a
critical mass or tipping point at a time that is hard to predict and
sometimes even hard to identify afterwards.
Comparing WWII to climate change, we should first acknowledge that once
again, the issue is not the evidence of the threat. That is clear and
accepted - in fact with hindsight it will be seen as blindingly obvious.
What is relatively new is that scientists and experts are increasingly
acknowledging that nothing less than a massive global mobilisation on a
WWII scale is required to address the catastrophic risks posed.
Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, head of the Potsdam Institute for
Climate Impact Research, and a senior advisor to Pope Francis, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and the European Union recently argued that
"Climate change is now reaching the end-game, where very soon humanity
must choose between taking unprecedented action, or accepting that it
has been left too late and bear the consequences."
All around us examples of what these consequences might be are
increasingly tangible. Whether it be wild fires in northern Sweden,
refugee crises, extreme ice melt in the Arctic, submerged airports in
Japan or severe droughts, people are feeling climate change live.
My key argument is that this process - identified threats, resistance
and avoidance, stronger and stronger evidence, acceptance of crisis and
then dramatic response - is pretty much how these things always unfold.
And so it will most likely be on climate change.
Many argue we need a Churchill to lead us, that only a strong leader can
take charge in a crisis and show us the way forward. Or maybe we need a
climate "Pearl Harbour" - a major single event. This is not how systems
usually change, but especially not in a globalised and connected world.
Yes, we need leadership and across all sections of society. But the
"Churchills" emerge from a context and the context shift we need is to
accept we have a crisis. Critically, this acceptance is a distributed
social phenomenon, not a technical question of science or evidence.
This brings me back to Darebin in Melbourne. This local council looked
rationally at what the science told them - that we face a crisis and the
only logical response is to declare a climate emergency. And so they
did. In consultation with their community, they then developed the
Darebin Climate Emergency Plan.
Why is this significant? Because this is how systems change. Ideas take
hold and spread. Darebin has since been followed in the US with a small
but growing list of elected bodies in regions and cities also declaring
a climate emergency. First came Montgomery County, Maryland , since
joined by Richmond, Berkeley and Los Angeles in California, and Hoboken,
New Jersey. This is not emerging spontaneously, but through active
organising by groups dedicated to the task like The Climate Mobilisation.
Yes, it's frustrating that these things take time. Therefore, knowing we
can still "win" is key. Towards this end I co-wrote nearly 10 years ago
a journal paper, The One Degree War Plan, with Professor Jorgen Randers,
showing how achieving 1 degree of warming was surprisingly realistic
with a WWII style mobilisation. Recently along the same lines, The
Climate Mobilisation developed a "Victory Plan" to show what a WWII
style economic mobilisation across the USA could look like.
So on the surface, Darebin Council inviting a group of experts like
myself to suburban Melbourne to discuss what a climate emergency means
might not seem much. But it is a crucial part of a process whereby we
first normalise the idea that we face an existential crisis. Next we
will come to accept that the only rational response is a WWII-like
economic mobilisation to eliminate global net carbon dioxide emissions
within a decade or so.
Find this hard to imagine? It is. But as we learnt from Churchill in
1940, when we shift our thinking to "what is necessary", what we can
achieve is quite extraordinary. Or as Nelson Mandela said: "It always
seems impossible, until it's done."
Paul Gilding is a Fellow at the University of Cambridge Institute for
Sustainability Leadership, and senior advisor to Breakthrough: The
National Centre for Climate Restoration. This afrticle first appeared in
the Fairfax dailies.
Breaking news: On 12 September, Moreland Council became the second local
council, after Darebin, to recognise the climate emergency crisis, and
passed an acknowledgement we are in a state of climate emergency. This
will be embedded in next Council plan and Zero Carbon Evolution framework.
http://www.climatecodered.org/2018/09/when-we-look-at-crisis-rationally-only.html
[here it is]
*Darebin Climate Emergency Plan
<https://www.yoursaydarebin.com.au/climateaction>*
Darebin Council has now adopted the Darebin Climate Emergency
Plan(External link). You can read what Councillors had to say about the
plan in the minutes from the Council meeting on Monday 21
August(External link) 2017.
Thank you to everyone who contributed their input and feedback to the
consultation process from May to July, and to earlier work on the
previous Climate Action Plan.
You can download the entire plan, or the summary document -
http://www.yoursaydarebin.com.au/21346/documents/62558
https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/ehq-production-australia/d56ca201157ab0fa99917bf358a0b37502fd807b/documents/attachments/000/079/292/original/Darebin_Climate_Emergency_Plan_lo-res_-_web-ready_June_1_2018.pdf?1527830276
https://www.yoursaydarebin.com.au/climateaction
[Climate Liability News]
*Why States May Turn the Tide in Climate Liability, Led by Rhode Island
<https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/09/11/rhode-island-states-climate-liability/>*
When Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin filed suit against 21
oil and gas companies in July, it became the first such lawsuit filed by
a state. According to experts, though, it could spark a wave of climate
change-related lawsuits filed by states.
Until Rhode Island filed, the more than one dozen suits filed attempting
to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for climate related impacts
had all come from cities or counties. Almost all are in a jurisdictional
battle, striving to stay in state courts where they believe the law will
be more favorable, instead of federal court, where the industry would
like them tried. And they are splintered across the country, ranging
from New York City to Boulder, Colo., to San Francisco and Oakland
"Because of their position in the federal system and their ability to
make legal arguments that others can't, I wouldn't be surprised at all
if the states are soon leading the way with climate suits like they've
done in past with tobacco and pharmaceutical companies," said Paul
Nolette, a political science professor at Marquette University. "I
expect a flood of litigation here, ultimately led by the states."
Nolette and others say Rhode Island's suit could be one of the strongest
ever filed because it makes strict liability claims against the
companies in addition to public nuisance claims, whereas the communities
relied almost solely on public nuisance claims.
The difference is, a strict liability claim needs to prove the state has
been damaged but does not have to prove negligence. Proving negligence
is essential to proving public nuisance.
"I think strict liability is a game changer for these cases," said
Sharon Eubanks, a former Department of Justice lawyer who led the
government's racketeering case against the tobacco industry.
Eubanks said that the cases recently dismissed by federal judges--those
filed by New York, San Francisco and Oakland--were not judged on the
basis of strict liability claims because those claims weren't included
in the initial pleadings.
For strict liability claims to prevail under Rhode Island law, the state
needs to show the defendants engaged in business, sold the product to
plaintiffs, the product was used as intended and it caused harm to the
plaintiffs.
Nolette said the state attorneys general are in an excellent position to
file climate change-related suits. One reason is that attorney generals
are able to rely on the principle of parens patriae, a doctrine that
gives states the power to speak on behalf of their citizens, a legal
maneuver not available to local jurisdictions.
"Whereas the jurisdictions are limited to making claims about how they
themselves as a jurisdiction have been damaged, states can also make
claims about how the citizens and the public trust in general have been
damaged by these actions. That's very significant, I think, because it
really broadens the potential of the suit," said Nolette, who studies
state attorneys general and their role in national policy making.
Rhode Island is alleging that 21 oil and gas companies--including giants
Exxon, BP, Shell, Chevron and ConocoPhillips--knowingly contributed to
climate change and failed to adequately warn Rhode Island citizens about
the risks posed by their products. The state alleges the companies'
actions contributed to sea level rise and violated state laws by
polluting, impairing and destroying the state's natural resources, and
interfering with the public's ability to use and enjoy those resources.
Shell recently filed a motion to move the case from state to federal
court, a common move by defendants because federal precedent favors the
companies. Those precedents were cited by the federal judges in
dismissing the suits by New York, San Francisco and Oakland.
"I think the Rhode Island complaint was pled in such a way to make it
more likely, appropriate, and proper that the case stay in the court
that it's in," said Eubanks, adding that the case is strong, even if it
lands in federal court...
more at:
https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/09/11/rhode-island-states-climate-liability/
[voice, not twitter]
*Jerry Brown Calls Trump A 'Liar, Criminal, Fool' On Climate Change
<https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jerry-brown-trump-climate-change-liar_us_5b9ae116e4b0c875d14a15ac>*
The president's moves to dismantle environmental protections are a
"major assault" on Americans, California's governor said at a climate
summit Thursday.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jerry-brown-trump-climate-change-liar_us_5b9ae116e4b0c875d14a15ac
*This Day in Climate History - September 14, 1989
<http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8137848.html> - from D.R. Tucker*
September 14, 1989: Reviewing Bill McKibben's book "The End of Nature,"
Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman observes:
"It is not a doomsday diatribe, although his reflections have the
conceptual power of Jonathan Schell's 'Fate of the Earth.' From his
home in the Adirondacks, McKibben doesn't chart the end of the
world, but of the natural order.
"In some ways that has been the moral message of the ecology
movement. Limits. Restraints. We learned to stop using DDT, and we
are learning to do without chlorofluorocarbons, and we must stop
releasing carbon dioxide. More profoundly, as McKibben writes, 'Deep
ecology suggests that instead of just giving better orders we learn
to give fewer and fewer orders -- to sink back into the natural world.'
"Nature is already pushed back to prairie museums, zoos, national
parks, protected endangered species. Now, in McKibben's work, there
is another late reminder that if we don't limit our numbers and our
habits, all we'll have of nature will be the videotapes."
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8137848.html
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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