[TheClimate.Vote] August 3, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest-
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Sat Aug 3 09:47:11 EDT 2019
/August 3, 2019/
[BBC report preliminary - month will be hottest]
*Climate change: July 'marginally' warmest month on record*
By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent
The assessment was carried out by researchers at the EU's Copernicus
Climate Change Service (C3S).
Confirmation of a new record must await a full analysis...released on
Monday.
Scientists say it's the latest sign that Earth is experiencing
unprecedented warming.
The new data compiled by C3S incorporates observations from satellites
and ground based stations.
Interactive tool: How much warmer is your city? Select from 1,000 major
cities around the world
The July figures are likely to be the highest recorded in the
organisation's 40-year dataset.
They follow on from a global record for June, which was confirmed by
data from several different agencies.
According to Copernicus, every month this year ranks among the four
warmest on record for the month in question.
UK's 10 warmest years all occurred since 2002
Tree planting rise 'needs to happen quickly'
Global warming 'unparalleled' in 2,000 years
Twelve years to save Earth? Make that 18 months...
While researchers can't directly link these new high marks to climate
change, there is a wide sense among scientists that emissions of carbon
dioxide from human activities are altering background temperatures and
making new records more likely.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49165476
[Video - Increased ice destabilization - interview Jason Box 1 of 2]
*Climate System "Getting Unhinged" as Massive Heat Wave Causes Record
Melting of Greenland Ice Sheet*
Democracy Now!
Published on Aug 2, 2019
The massive heat dome that shattered all-time temperature records across
much of Europe last week has settled in over Greenland, driving
temperatures across the vast region to as much as 30 degrees Fahrenheit
above normal. In July, Greenland's ice sheet lost 197 billion tons of
ice, the equivalent of around 80 million Olympic swimming pools. This
comes as the World Meteorological Organization said Thursday that July
was the warmest month in recorded human history. It followed the hottest
June on record, as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels climbed to a record
high of 415 parts per million earlier this year. We speak with Jason
Box, professor and ice climatologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark
and Greenland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjmxZKrV7vE
- - -
[followup video interview 2 of 2]
*Climate Scientist Jason Box: "Our Economic System Is Crashing With
Reality"*
Democracy Now!
Published on Aug 2, 2019
A heat wave is causing unprecedented melting of the Greenland ice sheet.
Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization just declared July 2019
the hottest month ever recorded. We speak with Jason Box, professor and
ice climatologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland,
about the intensifying climate crisis. He says humanity must move toward
living in balance with the environment. "If we don't reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and ultimately stabilize CO2…there's no real prospect for
a stable society or even a governable society," Box says. "Perpetual
growth on a finite planet is, by definition, impossible."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXpJTFX8gTg
[Beckwith studies recent papers]
*How Much Heating can we EXPECT from an Ice-Free Arctic Ocean?*
Paul Beckwith
Published on Aug 1, 2019
Abrupt Climate System Disruption is clearly accelerating; we are in a
global climate EMERGENCY, not yet widely acknowledged by the powers that
run our society. This will change very soon, as geopolitics pivots to a
fight for our very existence on this planet. The HUGE Achilles Heel of
our climate system is the Arctic, and the Blue Ocean Event that is
coming at us like a freight train. It will hit us hard, but how hard? I
don't have anywhere near all the answers but I go through the very
latest science and my thoughts on what we can expect in a few short
years when Arctic sea-ice vanishes from the top of our planet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34A-bsXDYII
- - -
*All about Albedo and Arctic Darkening: Snow, Ice, Clouds, Open-Ocean,
Sun Angle...*
Paul Beckwith
Published on Aug 2, 2019
I continue chatting about Albedo (reflectance) and how the Arctic is
rapidly darkening. By assumption, when people talk about albedo it is
for diffuse unpolarized light (such as from a light bulb vs a laser),
for sunlight wavelengths in the visible spectrum, and normal incidence
(light perpendicular to surface). Without going too much into the
physics I try to give you a feel for how the snow and ice and open water
and low sun angle in the Arctic all affect albedo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF3azTI9dlQ
[Democrats dip toes in]
*Debate's Attempt to Show Candidates Divided on Climate Change Finds
Unity Instead*
The Democrats may butt heads on climate policy details, but they all see
growing risks to security, economy and health that the next president
can't ignore.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01082019/2020-presidential-debate-climate-change-question-democrats-green-new-deal-global-warming
- - -
[bringing the issue forward]
*Why Jay Inslee picked a fight with Joe Biden on climate change*
It's not about long-term targets; it's about short-term commitment.
By David Roberts
During Wednesday night's Democratic primary debate, there was an
extended and relatively substantive exchange on the subject of climate
change, at least by the standards of the televised-debate genre.
But it was also, in the end, quite strange, because it pivoted around a
dispute between Jay Inslee and Joe Biden that never quite came into
focus. It had the effect and theatrics of an argument, but it was never
quite clear what the real difference was supposed to be.
In fact, with the exception of Andrew Yang's bizarro climate adaptation
plan, almost everything every candidate said was perfectly consistent
with what the other candidates were saying. There was a lot of vigorous
agreeing: Climate change is an existential problem; it requires urgent
action and innovation; solving it will create jobs. Different candidates
emphasized different themes and solutions, but despite the moderators'
best efforts, there were few clear contrasts drawn on the larger question.
But there actually is a contrast worth drawing out, and Inslee vs. Biden
is a helpful lens through which to view it. It represents a larger
divide in the Democratic Party today, between climate hawks and
"moderates."...
- - -
"Just to clarify, would there be any place for fossil fuels, including
coal and fracking, in a Biden administration?"
And Biden gave an uncharacteristically straight answer: "No. We would
work it out. We would make sure it's eliminated and no more subsidies
for either one of those. Any fossil fuel."...
- -
Nonetheless, Inslee responded with umbrage: "We cannot work this out.
The time is up! Our house is on fire. We have to stop using coal in 10
years, and we need a president to do it or it won't get done."
But ... didn't Biden just say he'd get the US off coal? It's as though
Inslee showed up for an argument, Biden wouldn't have it, so Inslee just
had his half of it anyway....
- -- Democrats have never really grappled with the details of aggressive
short-term climate policy. And because the unbroken wall of Republican
opposition makes substantial federal climate policy impossible anyway
and perpetually holds the debate to the remedial "is it real" level,
Democrats never really get called on it...
- - -
The conventional Democratic approach to climate is crumbling
For decades now, Democrats have professed to agree with ambitious
long-term carbon-reduction targets. The Waxman-Markey climate bill of
2008 targeted 80 percent reduction by 2050. But that bill did not itself
contain sufficiently stringent short-term policies to guarantee that the
long-term target would be hit....
- - -
Jay Inslee is also trying to call his fellow Democrats on their hedging.
He doesn't want them to wave at the long-term target, list a few
nice-sounding policies (like EV charging stations), and skate by. He
needs to focus the climate discussion on more proximate questions, like:
Do you also accept the IPCC's target of 50 percent carbon reductions by
2030? Inslee does. (This puts things in perspective. 2030 is only 10
years away. It would demand nothing less than an immediate crash program.)
Do you support phasing out coal combustion and reaching 100 percent
carbon-free electricity by 2030? Inslee does.
Do you support banning the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles
in the US from 2030 forward? Inslee does.
Do you support a national ban on fracking? An end to federal leasing of
land for fossil fuel production? Rejection of all future permit
applications for fossil fuel infrastructure? Inslee does.
Perhaps most important of all: Will you prioritize climate change in
your administration, across all agencies and areas of policy? Inslee
will....
- - -
Do the other candidates -- Biden, or any of them -- understand that? Are
they committed to pushing the political envelope, expending political
capital in pursuit of the most stringent possible climate policies? (And
will they scrap the filibuster to do it?)
If there's going to be a Democratic climate debate, it ought to be about
that: not grand long-term ambitions but what the next president can get
going in the next 10 years. If Inslee's candidacy, the only one truly
taking climate change seriously, is to survive, those questions need to
move front and center.
And that, to make a short story long, is why he went after Joe Biden.
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/8/2/20751255/2019-democratic-debate-joe-biden-jay-inslee-climate-change
- - -
[An important interview with Inslee]
Every week Chris Hayes asks the big questions that keep him up at night.
How do we make sense of this unprecedented moment in world history?
Why is this (all) happening?
*The Climate Campaign with Gov. Jay Inslee*
Why Is This Happening? with Chris Hayes
Gov. Jay Inslee is running a presidential campaign unlike any other. The
Washington governor is basing his run on the fundamental organizing
premise that the climate crisis is more important than anything else.
It's a unique strategy that comes at a time when more and more people
are recognizing the urgency of the climate crisis. But while climate is
moving up on the list of issues voters care about, Gov. Inslee is making
the case that it's not just 'an issue - it's 'the issue'.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-is-this-happening-with-chris-hayes/id1382983397?i=1000445112711
[interactive data visualization of Alaska smoke, great forecast]
*UAFSMOKE Wildfire Smoke Prediction for Alaska*
Forecasts up to 72 hours of concentrations of black carbon and
particulate mass included in wildfire smoke are available below. The
forecast model domain extends over Interior Alaska with a resolution of
4 kilometers; system initialization time is every day at 23:00 AKDT.
http://smoke.alaska.edu/forecast.html
- - -
*List of current fires*
Last updated: 02 Aug 2019, 09:00. Data from the Alaska Interagency
Coordination Center, which is currently tracking 250 fires in Alaska
(active, smoldering or in the process of being demobilized). Circles
represent the size, but not the shape, of the fire. Fires that have not
been updated in more than a week are shown with grey markers.
http://smoke.alaska.edu/current_fires.html
[ominous ruling shows courts backing away]
*Judge Dismisses 'Right to Wilderness' Climate Suit Against U.S. Government*
By Karen Savage
Despite recognizing that climate change is a "diffuse, global phenomenon
that affects every citizen of the world," a federal judge in Oregon
dismissed a lawsuit filed last year by groups alleging that the federal
government is violating their Constitutional rights by contributing to
climate change.
In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. McShane on Wednesday
said the plaintiffs--the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Seeding Sovereignty
and six individuals--do not have standing to sue because they are not
uniquely affected by the harms associated with climate change. McShane
also said the plaintiffs do not have a fundamental "right to wilderness"
as they had claimed in the suit.
The lawsuit alleged that by supporting the fossil fuel industry and
failing to take action on climate change, the Department of Interior,
the Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies are violating
the right to be left alone guaranteed under the First, Fifth and Ninth
amendments. They urged the court to engage in "nothing short of
revolutionary thinking" by recognizing a right to wilderness.
The Department of Justice (DOJ), maintained that no court has recognized
a fundamental right to wilderness and said there is no First Amendment
right to be "free from human influence in wilderness," as the plaintiffs
had claimed.
McShane agreed...
- -
"We are faced with the climate crisis because the government has failed
to protect our right to be free--but it's not too late to change course."
The government successfully argued to McShane that the plaintiffs do not
have standing because they could not show why they were specifically
impacted by climate change, an argument the government is also using in
trying to keep Juliana from going to trial. A European court also used
this reasoning to dismiss a lawsuit against the European Union filed by
families and a youth group from eight countries alleging their rights
are being violated by inadequate action against climate change.
https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2019/08/01/right-to-wilderness-climate-lawsuit/
[Salal plant - with edible blue berries - disappearing from Pacific
coastal regions]
*Salal's Worrisome Die-Off*
This ubiquitous shrub of the Pacific Northwest is dying--and the impact
could be catastrophic.
Authored by by Jess Mackie
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-short/salals-worrisome-die-off/
[Radio Eco-Shock lets scientists talk]
*Climate Change Has Come*
June 26, 2019
This is it. Ice melt in the Himalayas has doubled just since the year
2000. We get the latest from Dr. Summer Rupper. While Europe swelters in
unnatural heat, in the Arctic Greenland is melting a stunning 80% over
previous estimates. It is all part of the biggest single impact of
climate change on civilization: rising seas. Oceanographer and rising
seas expert John Englander will be our feature interview.
https://www.ecoshock.org/2019/06/climate-change-has-come.html
[ebooks govt documents]
*US Government Bookstore*
https://bookstore.gpo.gov/
[Reposting of a classic video discussion on climate psychology]
*Climate One TV: Mind Over Chatter*
Climate One
Published on Aug 2, 2019
We all know about the environmental and physical effects of climate
change. But what about its impact on our mental health? According to
some psychologists, their patients who report trouble sleeping, changes
in appetite, feelings of dread or hopelessness, could be suffering from
climate anxiety.
Leslie Davenport is a clinical psychotherapist who practices in San
Francisco. "I'm starting to notice in my practice that sometimes people
come in with ambient anxiety," she reports. "They're just more
distressed, even if they haven't always connected the dots about why."
In her book Emotional Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change, Davenport
likens her patients' feelings about climate change to the five stages of
grief.
"Really what we're talking about is any kind of loss," she says. "Loss
of identity, loss of lifestyle, loss of environment…the degradation
we're talking about can trigger a very similar process.
"Denial, anger, sadness, bargaining have [their] versions of what it
might look like in the climate world," Davenport continues. "But the
most important part is underneath that -- making room for the emotional
landscape that accompanies this experience, so that we can attend to
what's happening with more of ourselves instead of investing so much
energy at keeping the feelings at bay."
"The whole topic of loss and grief and feelings, it freaks a lot of
people out," agrees climate engagement strategist Renee Lertzman. But
avoiding the pain won't make it go away.
Lertzman and Davenport are among the psychologists who recognize that
"we've got to cut through the confusion and bring in some actual
grounded psychological expertise and insight into how we understand this
work -- which is that there is a spectrum, that there are strength and
power in our ability to stay present with our feelings that we won't get
stuck and lost in a hole of despair and gloom."
Mastering those feelings is one thing. What about sharing them with others?
Bryant Welch is the author of State of Confusion: Political Manipulation
and the Assault on the American Mind. He advocates starting a
conversation with those who may not necessarily agree with you about the
reality of climate change. And don't just talk, says Bryant – be sure to
listen as well.
"When people are listened to it is a very unusual experience for them,
and a very powerful experience for them," he says. "And when you connect
with someone in these kinds of conversations that environmentalists are
now talking about…it is stunning the impact it has on the person being
listened to."
The more we bring our anxieties out of the shadows, Bryant maintains,
the more we can harness hope for the future.
"There's a saying, if you can name it you can tame it," he says. "Now
there's a lot of optimism in that. And it really does produce health,
mental health in and of itself.
"And so I've never been more optimistic. I don't know if we're gonna
survive," he adds with a laugh, "But I've never been more optimistic."
#letstalkclimate
https://climateone.org/
How to talk about Climate Change 1:51
Talking to another mind 5:34
People have a "worry budget" 11:46
Climate Denial 16:39
Correlation between heat and human aggression 25:25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCU9dhnKY04
*This Day in Climate History - August 3, 2015- from D.R. Tucker*
The Washington Post reports:
"Four weeks before the official rollout, the news for President
Obama's signature regulation on climate change suddenly went from
bad to abysmal.
"Already, the Senate's top Republican was urging a nationwide
boycott of the carbon-cutting proposal known as the Clean Power
Plan. Fourteen states had joined in a lawsuit seeking to block the
rule even before it became final. Then came a blow from the Supreme
Court: a surprise June 29 decision blocking the White House's
previous attempt at curbing pollution from coal-burning power plants.
"By July 7, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency was
testily deflecting questions over whether the Clean Power Plan -- a
pillar of the White House's climate-change strategy -- could survive
the gantlet of legal and political challenges it faced.
"'We certainly know how to defend against lawsuits, for crying out
loud,' EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told reporters at a
Washington news conference.
"White House officials pressed ahead with the proposal, ultimately
deciding on an altered version that will be formally adopted at a
ceremony Monday. But while the revised rule expresses lofty aims,
the details reflect real, practical concerns about the battles still
to come: an expected onslaught of litigation and legislation
designed to derail the rule.
"The final shape of the Clean Power Plan was hashed out over months
of often contentious meetings as administration officials debated
how to balance two competing objectives. On one side were advocates
who pushed for the deepest possible cuts in U.S. greenhouse-gas
pollution to help build momentum for international climate talks
this December in Paris. On the other were experienced regulators and
lawyers who saw trouble ahead as the proposed rule picked up growing
numbers of opponents in Congress and in the utilities industry..."
"But other observers said the administration appeared to have gotten
exactly what it wanted. Supporters said the revisions to the
regulation undercut the most salient legal and political objections
raised by critics, including the claim that the plan will unfairly
burden poor people or will lead to disruptions in the power supply.
At the same time, the plan appears capable of achieving its goals of
encouraging greater adoption of renewable energy as well as dramatic
reductions in heat-trapping carbon pollution over the next 15 years,
said S. William Becker, executive director of the National
Association of Clean Air Agencies, an independent group that
represents state regulators."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/internal-debate-over-clean-energy-plan-pitted-ambition-against-legal-worries/2015/08/02/9e0c1c94-3966-11e5-9c2d-ed991d848c48_story.html
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