[TheClimate.Vote] August 6, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

Tue Aug 6 09:31:56 EDT 2019

/August 6, 2019/

[Follow the money]
*Climate Change Becomes an Issue for Ratings Agencies*
The risk of a ratings downgrade can pressure cities and companies to 
take steps to mitigate climate risks, such as from sea level rise.
BY KRISTOFFER TIGUE
- - -
For years, experts have warned about the increasing risks of climate 
disasters. Last year, the U.S. saw at least $91 billion in damage from 
the costliest storms, drought and wildfires, according to the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And some analysts have 
criticized the financial sector—particularly around bond ratings—for 
moving too slowly in incorporating climate risks into their credit 
assessments.

The move by Moody's signifies a notable step toward financial 
institutions committing to the idea that climate change should be a 
routine consideration when evaluating the financial strength of any 
government or company and their ability to pay their debts.

"For [Moody's] to come and buy this company that's very focused and has 
some expertise in climate risks, it looks like they're making this a 
very big priority," said Kathy Hipple, a financial analyst with the 
Institute for Energy, Economics and Financial Analysis. "I think it's 
very positive and should be noted by the industry."
- - -
"Before, they were only looking at balance sheets," she said. "They 
still do, but they're also asking questions about how climate change can 
affect cash flow, costs, revenues, profits."

Ferguson said he has also seen an increase in credit ratings actions 
based on climate risks being a major factor. Between 2015 and 2017, he 
said, about 15 percent of global ratings actions were based on climate 
risks as a main factor.

Still, Rachel Cleetus, the lead economist and climate policy manager at 
the Union of Concerned Scientists, thinks the financial sector could be 
doing more, especially when it comes to pressuring high-risk areas and 
industries to adapt more quickly to climate risks.

"Everyone agrees that the science is real, the risk is real," she said, 
"but the market isn't accurately pricing it yet."
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04082019/climate-change-ratings-agencies-financial-risk-cities-companies

[History to present - video presents very current global warming situation]
*Did You Know? The State of Sea Level Rise (2019)*
Climate State
Published on Aug 1, 2019
An eye opening documentary - a must watch for decision makers, people 
living close to the Oceans, and everybody concerned with the future 
state of Earth. The most extensive Climate State video to date. Sources 
http://climatestate.com/2019/08/01/the-state-of-sea-level-rise-2019/
Climate State presents, 'The State of Sea Level Rise', a 32 minutes in 
length, in-depth 2019 feature film, documentary style - on the latest in 
rising seas, with the scope on Antarctica's contribution to sea level 
rise. From the early 80's until now, scientists from all over the world 
rushed to increase our knowledge about what maybe is among the most 
pronounced impacts from a warming planet. The State of Sea Level Rise 
takes a close look at the rate, impacts, and the mechanisms behind 
global sea level rise.
An eye opening documentary - a must watch for decision makers, people 
living close to the Oceans, and everybody concerned with the future 
state of Earth.
http://climatestate.com/2019/08/01/the-state-of-sea-level-rise-2019/
CREDITS

    Eric Rignot (NASA / JPL) State of Sea Level Rise Estimates (2019)
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/eric-rignot-on-the-current-state-of-sea-level-rise-estimates?categoryId=17052
    VICE News / Eric Rignot (NASA / JPL) West Antarctica's Amudsen Sea
    passed point of no return
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/eric-rignot-west-antarcticas-amudsen-sea-passed-point?categoryId=17078
    Peter Ward (University of Washington) Our Flooding World (2010)
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/peter-ward-our-flooding-world-2010?categoryId=17052
    Peter Ward (University of Washington) Mass Extinctions in Earth's
    Past & Future, Under a Green Sky (2012)
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/peter-ward-mass-extinctions-in-earths-past-future-under
    James Hansen, Ice Melt, Sea Level Rise and Superstorms Video
    Abstract (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP-cRqCQRc8
    James Hansen / Greenman Studio, On Ice Melt (2016)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykn8_ayFqNI
    Barclay Kamb (1990) Califronia University, Is Antarctic Ice Sheet
    Disintegrating?
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/is-antarctic-ice-sheet-disintegrating-1990
    Michael MacCracken: Climate Change Presentation (1982)
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/michael-maccracken-1982-climate-change-presentation
    Andy Thompson (NASA / JPL) The Circulation of the Antarctic Margins
    in a Changing Climate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaDPDyaLGCo
    Catherine Walker (NASA) East Antarctica melt AGU 2018
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/global-warming-and-changes-in-east-antarctic-glaciers-2018
    Al Gore & Carl Sagan, Senate Hearing (1985)
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/carl-sagan-al-gore-climate-warning-1985-2m-slr-5c-by-2100
    CSPAN 1988 Robert Engelman Changes Caused by the Greenhouse Effect
    https://www.c-span.org/video/?3277-1/caused-greenhouse-effect
    Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl, Our Angry Earth (1991)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXFM_iH4djA
    YALE Climate Forum / Greenman Studio, What History Reveals about Sea
    Level Rise (2014) Feat. Carys Cook (Imperial College London), Stefan
    Rahmstorf (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research), James
    Hansen (Former NASA/Columbia University), Peter Sinclair (Greenman
    Studio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB5ZUnps9k8
    Earth Under Water Worldwide Flooding Sea Level Rise (SLR)
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/earth-under-water-worldwide-flooding-sea-level-rise-slr?categoryId=17078
    CBC Climate Documentary (1984) Feat. Lester Brown (Worldwatch
    Institute), Tom McMillan (Minister of the Environment / Canada)
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/climate-change-documentary-1984
    David Borlace / Just Have A Think, The glaciers are melting faster
    than we thought! (2018) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRY3_Sxv11k
    Active volcano discovered beneath Antarctic ice sheet
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sof_sJxD8yQ
    POWER FOR CONTINENT SEVEN - US Navy, McMurdo Station (1962)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFEf9UTpvFk
    The Big Picture, Research and Development in the Antarctic (1956)
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/research-and-development-in-the-arctic-1956
    David Attenborough (WWF, 2019) We need to Create a Sustainable
    Existence on Earth
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/david-attenborough-we-need-to-create-sustainable-existence
    Thermal Graph https://bit.ly/316QKOw
    NASA The Bedrock Beneath Antarctica
    https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=4060
    NASA Unstoppable https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=11540
    NASA Antarctic Land Ice Elevation Change Anomalies
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/antarctic-land-ice-elevation-change-anomalies
    NASA The Ocean is melting the Pine Island Glacier
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/the-ocean-is-melting-the-pine-island-glacier
    The Day After Hurricane Michael TOP 5 Aerial Scenes (Florida Keys /
    Reed Timmer, AccuWeather, 2018)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C0kFWjlxhs
    Aerial Footage Marathon and Key West #Irma (2017)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTFsC-fB2CU
    Secular Talk / Kyle Kulinski, Antarctic Ice Loss Tripled In A Decade
    (2018) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQN7ZLZ27hU
    PBS NewsHour Antarctic Ice Melt (2018)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5_zreSBgZc
    CBS 2019 Antarctica's ice is rapidly melting
    https://www.cbsnews.com/video/antarctics-ice-sheet-is-melting-6-times-faster-than-in-1979
    The Guardian: South Asia floods (2017)
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/30/mumbai-paralysed-by-floods-as-india-and-region-hit-by-worst-monsoon-rains-in-years
    Bhola Cyclone 13 November 1970
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkcuZoR6XSU
    NRDC Bangladesh: A Country Underwater, a Culture on the Move
    https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/bangladesh-country-underwater-culture-move
    Additional video via http://Pixabay.com
    Sound & Music by Epic Stock Media http://epicstockmedia.com
    RELATED
    Sea Level Rise in Motion Picture History 1948 - 1990
    https://climatestate.uscreen.io/programs/sea-level-rise-in-motion-picture-history-1948-1990?categoryId=17078
    Antarctic Wilkins Ice Shelf Collapse 2008
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=poKX6OnehTc
    Antarctica's Ice on the Move - Antarctica's Climate Secrets 2010
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymxi5wsqtEU
    Decoding Antarctica's Climate History - Antarctica's Climate Secrets
    2010 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZHRwDHh4B0
    NASA | A Tour of the Cryosphere 2009
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjAXoETeVIc
    Antarctica Is In Charge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKxVMA4ek-A
    Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf, World's Largest, is Melting in a Way
    Not Seen Before
    http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2019/01/14/isns-ross-ice-shelf-melting

http://climatestate.com/2019/08/01/the-state-of-sea-level-rise-2019/

[is this irony?]
*Siberian wildfires turn up heat on Russian oil producers*
Maria Vasilyeva, Olesya Astakhova, Olga Yagova
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Raging Siberian wildfires are forcing Russian oil 
firms to evacuate workers and suspend drilling, industry sources said, 
adding to challenges facing the world's second-largest crude exporter 
which is already battling an oil contamination problem.
Russian output fell to a near three-year low in early July after tainted 
oil was discovered in a pipeline supplying Europe, driving down exports. 
Russian production has since recovered to about 11.15 million barrels 
per day (bpd).

Rosneft, GazpromNeft and other firms are now struggling to keep Siberian 
fields running as forest fires sweep across the area, although the 
immediate impact on Russian output is not yet clear.

A source with an oil servicing firm in Kuyumba, an east Siberian deposit 
operated by state-run Rosneft, said drilling on some sites was 
completely halted for several days last week and smoke delayed 
helicopters ferrying staff.

"Sometimes visibility is about 20 meters... It is impossible to breathe 
and work. We had to suspend all activity for a few days last week," said 
the source, adding that he was not aware of the level of lost output.

Like other sources who spoke to Reuters, he asked not to be named as he 
was not authorized to speak to the media...
- -
TACKLING THE BLAZE
Russia sent military planes to help firefighters battling the fires 
engulfing more than 3.1 million hectares, an area roughly the size of 
Belgium or the U.S. state of Maryland.

The region ablaze includes remote, uninhabited forest in Krasnoyarsk, 
Yakutia and Irkutsk, creating what environmentalists have called an 
ecological catastrophe.

The U.S. space agency NASA said this week its satellite imagery showed 
smoke from fires had wafted from Siberia and the Far East all the way to 
Alaska and along Canada's west coast.

U.S. President Donald Trump offered Russian President Vladimir Putin 
help in tackling the blaze, in a rare phone call on Wednesday. Putin 
said he would take up the offer if needed...
- - -
Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in July Russian oil output would be 
11.17 million to 11.19 million bpd, in line with Moscow's commitment 
made in a pact on cutting supply agreed with the Organization of the 
Petroleum Exporting Countries.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-wildfires-oil/siberian-wildfires-turn-up-heat-on-russian-oil-producers-idUSKCN1US1KC

- - -

[May not be related to nearby wildfires]
*Russia arms dump fire: Huge blaze in Siberia extinguished*
Ten massive Il-76 cargo planes and five Mi-8 helicopters are 
water-bombing the area, near the town of Achinsk in the Krasnoyarsk region.
A defence ministry statement said "there are no more fires" at the site, 
an old dump due for closure housing some 55,000 artillery shells.
More than 9,500 people were evacuated.
Six injured people are in hospital, but they are not critically ill.
Flying munitions damaged a school and a kindergarten in the village of 
Kamenka. But Deputy Defence Minister Gen Dmitry Bulgakov said that 
besides smashed windows there was little structural damage in the area.
Local residents were evacuated from inside a 20km (12 miles) radius 
around the arms dump.
Witnesses posted videos of balls of flame and black smoke, starting 
during the day and continuing after dark.
Krasnoyarsk region is one of those affected by huge wildfires that 
engulfed parts of Siberia in recent weeks, due to unusually hot weather 
and strong winds.
The worst of the fires, however, were many miles away to the north-east.
Military sources told the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta they 
believe the explosions were triggered by an old shell blowing up in an 
army truck.
See video at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49249504

[video lesson - what the sun does]
*Grand Solar Minimum is coming. And..?*
Just Have a Think
Published on Aug 4, 2019
Our sun is reaching the end of it's normal 11 year cycle and is now 
approaching a period of minimum solar activity. This one's being dubbed 
the Grand Solar Minimum. Some say it's the real cause of climate change 
and that it's going to wreak havoc with our weather systems for years to 
come, possibly even tipping us into a mini ice age. This week we have a 
look at the science of Solar Cycles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhNfOZ6YLbc

[How science is suppressed ]
Columbia Law School Sabin Center
*Silencing Climate Science*
This page lists government actions targeting scientific research and 
education on climate change. The listed actions are also included in the 
table on the SST home page, along with actions targeting other 
(non-climate) environmental science fields.
The Sabin Center develops legal techniques to fight climate change, 
trains students and lawyers in their use, and provides up-to-date 
resources on key topics in climate change law and regulation.
http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/silencing-science-tracker/doi-removes-references-to-climate-change-from-watersmart-program-webpage/
http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/silencing-science-tracker/usfs-removes-references-to-climate-change-from-wilderness-webpage/
http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/silencing-science-tracker/usgcrp-removes-sections-on-climate-change-from-its-website/
http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/silencing-science-tracker/epas-website-reclassifies-research-groups-to-remove-climate-change-group/
http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/silencing-science-tracker/doe-removes-references-to-climate-change-from-biological-and-environmental-research-group-webpages/
http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/silencing-science-tracker/epa-removes-climate-change-references-from-heat-island-effect-webpage/
http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/silencing-science-tracker/osha-removes-references-to-climate-change-from-page-about-heat-related-illnesses/
....
[recent sample links from 257 entries listed at: 
http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/resources/silencing-science-tracker/silencing-climate-science/

*This Day in Climate History - August 6, 2015 - from D.R. Tucker*
August 6, 2015:
The Boston Globe reports:

    "New federal rules that mandate dramatic cuts in heat-trapping gases
    released by power plants will require Massachusetts and the rest of
    New England to make significantly smaller reductions in their
    emissions than other states.

    "The regulations, released this week by the US Environmental
    Protection Agency, oblige the nation's power plants to cut their
    carbon emissions to 32 percent below 2005 levels over the next 15
    years. Ultimately, the regulations are expected to force the closure
    of hundreds of coal-fired power plants around the country.

    "Opponents have called the new rules illegal and too costly, and are
    challenging them in court. Supporters say they will improve air
    quality and public health, and provide a range of economic benefits
    to New England and the rest of the country.

    "'Massachusetts is uniquely poised to prove that this works, and to
    capture the economic opportunities in the future,' said Senator
    Edward J. Markey in a phone interview."

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/05/massachusetts-has-already-made-most-emissions-cuts-required-new-epa-rules-state-officials-say/FjcBVrTBlxT5En1AX6ctmK/story.html
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

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