[TheClimate.Vote] August 7, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Wed Aug 7 09:00:21 EDT 2019
/August 7, 2019/
[in the Financial Times]
*Climate change: how the jet stream is changing your weather*
Northern Atlantic current is shifting course -- with implications for
crops and sea levels
At the summit of the Greenland ice cap the temperature rarely rises
above zero degrees centigrade -- the elevation is 3,200m and the ice
below is more than a mile thick.
But last Friday, as the sun beat down, a small weather station laden
with sensors captured something highly unusual: the temperature crept
past zero and up to 3.6C -- the highest since records began three
decades ago. As temperatures rose across the massive ice sheet, which
blankets an area five times the size of Germany, around 60 per cent of
the surface started to melt, one of the largest ever recorded.
Scientists know of only three prior occasions in the past 800 years when
there has been melting at the very top of the ice cap, which is kept
chilled by the large volume of ice beneath. But this seems to be getting
more frequent -- it is now the second time this decade it has
happened... [more]
https://www.ft.com/content/591395fe-b761-11e9-96bd-8e884d3ea203?accessToken=zwAAAWxor-5Akc9ZE5X-t2ER6dOWvY6ITT6iAw.MEUCIHlbBhSWg1qnrn1MT3Q-xIfEZP8TZRsBc7LqfMaTSpOsAiEAk4uwnrhfJv5dQamOFGOYUEArCqk7on01Fj40AMwyenM&sharetype=gift?token=9ad8d0b9-1312-480a-875e-e2d8be4c7bbb
[Congealing Climate Journalism]
*A new commitment to covering the climate story*
By Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope
JULY 26, 2019
More than 60 news outlets sign on for #CoveringClimateNow
"CAN WE TELL THE STORY so people get it?"
That's the mission TV newsman Bill Moyers urged at the launch of
Covering Climate Now, a project aimed at breaking the climate silence
that has long prevailed within too much of the news media. Co-founded by
The Nation and the Columbia Journalism Review, in partnership with The
Guardian, Covering Climate Now aims to convene and inform a
conversation among journalists about how all news outlets--big and
small, digital and print, TV and radio, US-based and abroad--can do
justice to the defining story of our time.
Today, Covering Climate Now is proud to announce the first batch of news
outlets participating in this effort. More than 60 outlets have signed
on so far, with more on the way. There are TV networks (CBS News) and
local TV stations; major newspapers in the US (The Philadelphia
Inquirer, Minneapolis Star Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle
Times) and abroad (Asahi Shimbun and la Repubblica, the biggest
newspapers in Japan and Italy, respectively); eminent specialist
publications (Nature, Scientific American, InsideClimate News, Harvard
Business Review); distinguished digital publications (HuffPost, Vox, The
Intercept, Slate); regional outlets (The Texas Observer, Colorado
Springs Gazette); public radio stations (in New York City; Washington,
DC; Chicago; Philadelphia; Boston; New Orleans; Louisville; and San
Francisco) and public-radio programs (Marketplace, Science Friday, The
World); popular magazines (Maclean's of Canada, Newsweek Japan); leading
individual and institutional voices (author Bill McKibben; the radio and
TV program Democracy Now!; Channel 4 UK correspondent Alex Thomson;
veteran TV meteorologists Dan Satterfield, Mike Nelson, and Paul Gross);
and many more.
Each of these outlets has committed to running one week of focused
climate coverage, to begin September 16 and culminate September 23, the
day of the landmark international Climate Action Summit hosted by UN
Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York. We're not here to tell
people what to write or broadcast. All that's required is for each
outlet to make a good faith effort to increase the amount and the
visibility of its climate coverage--to make it clear to their audiences
that climate change is not just one more story but the overriding story
of our time. The point is to give the climate story the attention and
prominence that scientists have long said it demands so that the public
and policymakers can make wise choices. Can we, in other words, tell the
story so people get it?
We see Covering Climate Now as a fulfillment of journalism's most sacred
responsibilities, which are to inform people and foster constructive
debate about common challenges and opportunities. Arguably, no problem
in today's world is more challenging, or offers brighter opportunities.
In a report last October, scientists with the UN's Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change warned that humanity had just 12 years to slash
heat-trapping emissions in half or else face catastrophic temperature
rise and the record-breaking extreme weather it unleashes. Meanwhile,
spectacular advances in solar, wind and energy efficiency illustrate how
doing right by the climate can make our societies better, not worse, if
we're smart about it.
To elevate climate coverage is no more of a value judgment than it is to
sideline such coverage. For many years now, most of the news media, at
least in the US, has done the latter. The major TV networks devoted more
air time in a week this spring to a new royal baby in Britain than they
did in the entire year to the climatestory. When last October's IPCC
report was released, 28 of the 50 biggest newspapers in the US didn't
bother to tell their readers about it.
Here are the names of the journalistic leaders that have signed on to
the Covering Climate Now initiative. If you don't see your favorite news
outlets among them, ask those outlets to get in touch with us. We would
welcome their participation.
We can be reached at coveringclimatenow at cjr.org
List (as of July 25, 2019)
*Print & Online Newspapers and Magazines:*
The Columbia Journalism Review
The Nation
The Guardian
The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com
HuffPost
The Minneapolis Star Tribune
Nature (UK)
Scientific American
The Conversation (UK)
Asahi Shimbun (Japan)
la Repubblica (Italy)
Newsweek Japan (Japan)
The Seattle Times
Vox
Slate
The Intercept
The Texas Observer
The Coast (Canada)
Harvard Business Review
The (Colorado Springs) Gazette
The Nepali Times (Nepal)
CQ & Roll Call
Mongabay
Maclean's (Canada)
National Catholic Reporter
Yale Climate Connections
Clean Energy Wire (Germany)
IEEE Spectrum
Talking Points Memo
The Alpinist
Rock and Ice
La Tercera (Chile)
Stuff (New Zealand)
Newsroom (New Zealand)
The Spinoff (New Zealand)
Literary Hub
Ecosystem Marketplace
Renewable Energy World
Ensia
Jolon Indian Media
Croakey Health Media (Australia)
Planet Friendly News (Canada)
San Francisco Chronicle
Bay Nature
Sludge
The Shoestring
The Junction (Australia)
The Tyee
InsideClimateNews
Nexus Media
*TV & Radio*:
CBS News (national)
WNYC (public radio station for New York City area)
WHYY (public radio station for Philadelphia area)
WAMU (public radio station for Washington, DC, area)
WBEZ (public radio station for Chicago area)
WBUR (public radio station for Boston area)
WFPL (public radio station for Louisville, KY area)
WWNO (public radio station for New Orleans area)
KQED (public radio station for San Francisco Bay area)
Marketplace, daily business show of American Public Media
The World, daily global news show of PRI and BBC
Science Friday, public radio news program distributed by WNYC Studios
Dan Satterfield, chief meteorologist, WBOC-TV, CBS affiliate in
Salisbury, Maryland
Mike Nelson, chief meteorologist, Channel 7 Denver, ABC affiliate in
Denver
Paul Gross, chief meteorologist, WDIV, NBC affiliate in Detroit
The Years Project/Years Of Living Dangerously
Politically Aweh, TV news show (South Africa)
Elemental: Covering Sustainability (regional collaborative of PBS
and NPR stations in Denver, Phoenix and Los Angeles)
Democracy Now! (national radio and TV show)
The Global GoalsCast
*Independent Journalists (outlets listed for identification purposes only):*
Bill McKibben, writer
David Biello, TED Talks
Alex Thomson, chief correspondent, Channel 4 News (UK)
Yereth Rosen, formerly Anchorage Daily News
Rex Dalton, formerly Nature
Isabel Seta (Brazil)
Michael Tatarski (Vietnam)
Sean Holman (Canada)
Nivedita Khandekar (India)
Preti Jha (Singapore)
Don Paul, contributing meteorologist, The Buffalo News
Peter Schwartzstein, freelance Middle East environment correspondent
*Institutions:*
Climate Matters (Climate Central, George Mason University Center for
Climate Communications, and Climate Communications)
Solutions Journalism Network
Boston University
The Lancet Countdown On Climate Change and Health
Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope are the authors. Mark Hertsgaard, The
Nation's environment correspondent, has covered climate change since
1989. His books include On Bended Knee: The Press And The Reagan
Presidency, Earth Odyssey: Around The World In Search Of Our
Environmental Future, and HOT: Living Through The Next Fifty Years On
Earth. Kyle Pope is the editor and publisher of Columbia Journalism Review.
https://www.cjr.org/covering_climate_now/covering-climate-partnerships.php
[audio and text ]
*Critics challenge insurance companies over contributions to climate change*
The industry has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in fossil fuel
companies.
As seas rise and weather becomes more extreme, insurance companies are
raising premiums for some customers in vulnerable areas. But paradoxically …
Sulakshana: "While they're acknowledging these impacts, they're also
fueling the climate crisis."
Elana Sulakshana of the Rainforest Action Network says the industry
provides insurance that protects fossil fuel projects, for example,
pipelines and coal-fired power plants.
And their involvement does not end there. Many insurers also invest in
fossil fuels.
Sulakshana: "These companies collect premiums and they put that money
into the stock market. They invest it. And it's estimated that they have
more than $500 billion dollars invested in coal, oil, and gas companies.
So it's really a massive scale of investment in the fossil fuel industry
as well."
So the Rainforest Action Network is part of the Insure Our Future
campaign. It calls on insurers to stop insuring or investing in coal or
tar sands projects.
Sulakshana says the campaign is gaining support.
Sulakshana: "Cities, universities, foundations, nonprofits are
increasingly saying to their insurers: are you investing in or insuring
fossil fuels? We want to be working with a company that isn't.'"
Reporting credit: Stephanie Manuzak/ChavoBart Digital Media
https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/08/critics-challenge-insurance-companies-over-contributions-to-climate-change/
[Video discussion 27 min]
*Dr. Peter Wadhams: Arctic Research & the Methane Risk*
UPFSI
Published on Jul 21, 2019
Peter Wadhams is back on ScientistsWarning.TV with a comprehensive
analysis of the reticent approach that part of the scientific community
has been taking toward the potentially very dangerous methane hydrate
situation in shallow Arctic sea waters, in this conversation recorded in
March of 2019.
I brought to his attention a video that had been put together by Yale
Climate Connections in January 2019, which took the position that there
really wasn't too much to worry about in terms of a potential Arctic
methane release. Not fully trusting the video's assertions, I wanted
Dr. Wadhams' take on it. The conversation touched upon several areas
where science and scientists are not as objective as they should be.
Apparently the situation with methane in the Arctic permafrost, both
land based, and in this case sub-sea in the Arctic Ocean, is such an
immense potential game-changer that it is provoking willful ignorance
among many scientists and policy makers.
Dr. Wadhams also notes that a proper risk analysis of methane outbreak
at various levels has been missing so far, but should be conducted now
as a high priority task.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3L0R6LzEUE
- -
[YouTube Channel]
*CLimateMatter.TV and Scientist Warning .TV*
Description
Faith and science are two of the most influential forces in global
society. The United Planet Faith & Science Initiative unites prominent
religious figures and leading scientists to speak out together and
mobilize action for ecological sustainability.
The UPFSI is a project that holds low-impact, web-based meetings of
eminent scientists and faith leaders from across the globe. Lately our
focus has been mostly on the 'science' part since governments too easily
brush aside the words of spiritual conscience.
Our conversations are edited into short, powerful videos and shared
through social media and news outlets to promote public awareness,
political will, policy, and action. Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond
Tutu and prominent climatologist Dr. James Hansen are among the founding
members of this Initiative.
Read more about us here:
http://www.upfsi.org/ United Faith & Science Initiative
https://www.youtube.com/c/UPFSI
*This Day in Climate History - August 7, 2009 - from D.R. Tucker*
August 7, 2009: The New York Times reports:
*Climate Bill Is Threatened by Senators*
By JOHN M. BRODERAUG. 6, 2009
WASHINGTON -- Ten moderate Senate Democrats from states dependent on
coal and manufacturing sent a letter to President Obama on Thursday
saying they would not support any climate change bill that did not
protect American industries from competition from countries that did
not impose similar restraints on climate-altering gases.
The letter warned that strong actions to limit emissions of carbon
dioxide and other heat-trapping gases would add to the cost of goods
like steel, cement, paper and aluminum. Unless other countries adopt
similar emission limits, the senators warned, jobs will migrate
overseas and foreign manufacturers will have a decided cost advantage.
"As Congress considers energy and climate legislation," the senators
wrote, "it is important that such a bill include provisions to
maintain a level playing field for American manufacturing."
"It is essential that any clean energy legislation not only address
the crisis of climate change, but include strong provisions to
ensure the strength and viability of domestic manufacturing," the
letter said.
The 10 senators are seen as crucial undecided votes in the Senate
debate on climate legislation. The House narrowly passed a climate
bill in late June, but the Senate is moving slowly, in part because
it is preoccupied with health care legislation.
The senators represent Midwestern and coal-producing states from
which many of the 44 Democrats who voted against the measure in the
House come from. Without their support, it is unlikely that the
Senate can pass a major climate change bill.
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The 10 senators were Evan Bayh of Indiana; Sherrod Brown of Ohio;
Robert C. Byrd and John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia; Bob
Casey and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania; Russ Feingold of Wisconsin;
Al Franken of Minnesota; and Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.
They called for transition aid for energy-intensive manufacturers in
the form of rebates on their energy costs; negotiation of a strong
international agreement on emissions; programs to monitor emissions
in other countries; and significant financing for clean energy
technology.
The authors also proposed "border adjustments," tariffs, on goods
from countries that do not agree to an international program for
carbon dioxide reductions. The House bill gives the president the
power to impose such penalties on goods from countries that do not
adhere to an international climate change regime.
"Climate change is a reality and the world cannot afford inaction,"
the senators wrote. "However, we must not engage in a self-defeating
effort that displaces greenhouse gas emissions rather than reducing
them and displaces U.S. jobs rather than bolstering them."
In an interview shortly after the House vote, President Obama said
he was concerned about the tariff provision of the House bill,
calling it potentially protectionist.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/us/politics/07climate.html
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