[TheClimate.Vote] August 20, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

Tue Aug 20 08:49:37 EDT 2019

/August 20, 2019/

[politicization of science]
*Environmental groups were warned that some climate change ads could be 
seen as partisan during election period*
Elections Canada says warning covers activities, ads identifying a 
candidate or party that cost $500 or more
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/environment-groups-warned-climate-change-real-partisan-1.5251763
- - -
*Elections Canada slammed after warning groups climate change may be 
'partisan' issue*

    "At this point, unless I can get greater clarification, after the
    writ is dropped we would stop doing anything online that talks about
    climate change, which is our entire mandate," he said. "You feel
    you're being drawn into this space where you're being characterized
    as being a partisan entity for putting up Facebook ads that say
    climate change is real, which seems ridiculous to me."

https://globalnews.ca/news/5783619/elections-canada-criticism-climate-change-warning/ 

[Tom Steyer - a top climate candidate - strong messages]
*Tom Steyer: Power Disruptor?*
Climate One - August 19
Tom Steyer doesn't just want to impeach President Trump, he wants to 
replace him. Steyer insists that America's shortcomings on climate 
action, healthcare and democracy stem from a warped distribution of 
money and power. Supporters point to Steyer's promising rise in primary 
polling as proof of his viability. But a crowded Democratic primary has 
left Americans asking, is this the moment for another wealthy, white, 
male president?
[...] a candid discussion with candidate Tom Steyer on his chances in 
the race for the presidency -- and our chances in the race against 
climate disruption.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvG2majvIj8

[thoughtful talk about changes and charts from IPCC]*
**Climate Change and Land: Is the IPCC being straight with us?*
Just Have a Think
Published on Aug 18, 2019
On the 8th August 2019 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 
released a comprehensive report on Climate Change and Land Use. Their 
findings immediately sparked controversy and debate. This week we take a 
brief look at the report and also at some of the reaction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL1rpFCBg5s

[Video, serious criticism- specific rant]
*The New UN Climate Report: We're Screwed*
Second Thought
Published on Aug 16, 2019
Last year's IPCC report was scary, and it got some decent attention, but 
of course everyone has forgotten by now. The recent UN climate report 
should jog your memory.
"What was once considered catastrophic warming now seems like a 
best-case scenario
- - -
Resources:
UN Report: https://report.ipcc.ch/sr15/pdf/sr15_spm_final.pdf
100 Companies Emissions: 
https://b8f65cb373b1b7b15feb-c70d8ead6ced550b4d987d7c03fcdd1d.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/cms/reports/documents/000/002/327/original/Carbon-Majors-Report-2017.pdf
IPCC Report Summary: 
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Poverty/A_HRC_41_39.pdf
The New UN Climate Report: We're Screwed - Second Thought
SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://bit.ly/2nFsvTS
New video every Friday!
Follow Second Thought on Social Media!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_SecondThought
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHdcpxmJ6vg

[Radical Chris Hedges interviews XR activist founder, leader]
*On Contact: Climate Emergency with Roger Hallam, Extinction Rebellion*
RT America
Published on Aug 10, 2019
On Contact host Chris Hedges talks to Roger Hallam, co-founder of the 
British-based group Extinction Rebellion. The global grassroots movement 
uses nonviolent acts of civil disobedience by occupying areas of 
capitals of major industrial countries in protest, to reverse what they 
argue is a one-way track to global extinction. Activists are demanding 
the ruling elites state the truth about the climate emergency and 
implement radical measures to halve carbon emissions by 2025 and 
terminate the 150-year binge on fossil fuels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9MQGRI8N48
- - -
[XR rant]
*Time to Act Now" Roger Hallam | Extinction Rebellion*
Extinction Rebellion
Published on Aug 13, 2019
Roger Hallam giving a talk in Penzance, Cornwall, speaking about 
Extinction Rebellion, the climate emergency and the ecological crisis 
all around the world. Let's stop pretending and ACT NOW.
If you believe we need to do something about the climate crisis join us 
in October for the international Rebellion.

    In October 2018, we declared The Rebellion.
    In April 2019, we declared The Emergency.
    In October 2019, we will declare The Truth.

Starting on Monday 7 October, we are joining together as global family 
in an International Rebellion as we grieve the suffering and destruction 
of our beautiful homeworld.

We will gather with our communities across cities, countries, and 
continents, to rise up and rebel for our deep love of life and the need 
to protect it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_g3zoL8TFU

[preparation]
*Preparedness Index for Health Emergencies and Disasters*
08/13/2019
Source: World Health Organization, Pan American Health Organization 
(PAHO). Published: 8/13/2019. This 16-page document provides a voluntary 
tool to be used by health sector authorities to measure progress in 
emergency and disaster preparedness with a multi-hazard approach and in 
line with the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Strategic Framework for 
Emergency Preparedness. Its aim is to estimate the national or 
sub-national health preparedness capacity to deal with natural, 
anthropic, and health events (epidemics) that generate emergencies and 
disasters, and the capacity of the health sector to recover early from 
the effects of these events. (PDF)
https://disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/search/id:19844
http://iris.paho.org/xmlui/handle/123456789/51449
http://iris.paho.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/51449/9789275120750_eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

[good question]
*At 4**C of warming, would a billion people survive? What scientists say.*
by David Spratt
In a way it's an obscene question: if the planet warms by 4 degrees 
Celsius...would only a billion
people survive and many billions perish?  Obscene in the sense of the 
obscenity of arguing about the exact body count from a genocide. In the 
end it's about the immorality, the crime, the responsibility, not the 
precise numbers.

But it's a relevant question, in that Earth is heading towards 4C of 
warming, based on emission reduction commitments so far. The Paris 
commitments are a path of warming of around 3.3C, but that does not 
include some carbon cycle feedbacks that have already become active 
(e.g. permafrost, Amazon, other declines in carbon store efficiency) 
which would push that warming towards 5C. So saying we are presently on 
a 4C path is about right.

It's also a relevant question because there has been some controversy 
about comments made by Extinction Rebellion co-founder Roger Hallam to 
the BBC HARDtalk programme three days ago: "Teenagers are shitting 
themselves about what's happening for the future, they've got another 
50, 60, 70 years to live on this planet, by that time there could only 
be a billion people left. I mean that's six billion people that have 
died from starvation or slaughtered in war." The BBC accused Hallam of 
"going too far" and there was some social media flutter about it...
- - -
Professor Kevin Anderson, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate 
Change, believes only around 10 per cent of the planet's population - 
around half a billion people - will survive if global temperatures rise 
by 4C...
Anderson, who advises the government on climate change, said the 
consequences were "terrifying".
"For humanity it's a matter of life or death," he said. "We will not 
make all human beings extinct as a few people with the right sort of 
resources may put themselves in the
right parts of the world and survive. But I think it's extremely 
unlikely that we wouldn't have mass death at 4C. If you have got a 
population of nine billion by 2050 and you hit 4C, 5C or 6C, you might 
have half a billion people surviving."

...Anderson may have corrected what was reported, but I have so far not 
located it. The previous day, the Scotsman reported Anderson as saying:
The other thing to remember is that 4C is a global average. It's 
probably nearer 5C on land, and would be up to 15C in some areas.
There's no evidence to suggest that humanity can actually survive at 
this sort of temperature. Small pockets of human beings might continue 
to exist but I don't consider that to be a success.
Three years earlier, in 2006, James Lovelock -- scientist 
extraordinaire, inventor of the microwave oven and propounder of the 
Gaia thesis -- told an audience that the Earth has a fever that could 
boost temperatures by up to 8C, making large parts of the surface 
uninhabitable and threatening billions of peoples' lives. He said a 
traumatised Earth might only be able to support less than a tenth of its 
six billion people: "We are not all doomed. An awful lot of people will 
die, but I don't see the species dying out... A hot Earth couldn't 
support much over 500 million."  This was reported by The Scotsman as 
"Scientist says global warming will 'kill billions'" 
(http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1768202006) but is no longer 
available online. Lovelock made similar comments in at one of his books, 
as I remember, The Revenge of Gaia, published in 2006.
So did Roger Hallam "go too far"?  Not at all, there is serious research 
and eminent voices in support of his statements. The gross error in all 
of this are all those who cannot countenance this conversation.
http://www.climatecodered.org/2019/08/at-4c-of-warming-would-billion-people.html

[Public video Installation]
*Bill Viola's The raft - An image of destruction & survival*
What comes to mind at the mention of a raft? Naturally, many people 
would imagine a large water body. Using a raft to cross over water means 
desperation and determination to reach the other side. When Bill Viola 
incorporated this aspect of human struggle into his artwork, people were 
impressed by the story he was telling...
- - -
[video excerpt]
*Bill Viola - The Raft, May 2004 (excerpt)*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ili9pvlxdk
What happens in 'The Raft'
The Raft tells the story of a group of people comprised of both men and 
women drawn from diverse economic and ethnic backgrounds. At first, they 
appear calm as they wait in line but this state of affairs is quickly 
shifted by a sudden flow of water. Since no one saw it coming, no one is 
prepared for it - some are knocked over by the force of the water while 
some try as hard as they can to support their weight and survive. There 
is water everywhere and the once nice clothes that distinguished the 
affluent from the poor are no longer attractive. With pummeled bodies 
and clothes, the cold starts to creep in and the group is hard hit by 
nature. The faces can tell of the anguish and desperation to survive as 
the limbs try to grasp at anything that could offer a lifeline. Did 
nature suddenly have mercy? Just as the water storm had begun, suddenly, 
it stops. The aftermath is nothing short of freight, suffering and shock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ili9pvlxdk
https://publicdelivery.org/bill-viola-raft/

*This Day in Climate History - August 20, 2013 - from D.R. Tucker*
August 20, 2013:

    Al Jazeera America debuts, featuring a critically-acclaimed
    discussion of climate change featuring climate scientists Heidi
    Cullen and Michael Mann.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/08/21/what-al-jazeera-america-didnt-say-about-climate/195510
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

/Archive of Daily Global Warming News 
<https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/2017-October/date.html> 
/
https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote

/To receive daily mailings - click to Subscribe 
<mailto:subscribe at theClimate.Vote?subject=Click%20SEND%20to%20process%20your%20request> 
to news digest./

*** Privacy and Security:*This is a text-only mailing that carries no 
images which may originate from remote servers. Text-only messages 
provide greater privacy to the receiver and sender.
By regulation, the .VOTE top-level domain must be used for democratic 
and election purposes and cannot be used for commercial purposes.
To subscribe, email: contact at theclimate.vote 
<mailto:contact at theclimate.vote> with subject subscribe, To Unsubscribe, 
subject: unsubscribe
Also you may subscribe/unsubscribe at 
https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/theclimate.vote
Links and headlines assembled and curated by Richard Pauli for 
http://TheClimate.Vote <http://TheClimate.Vote/> delivering succinct 
information for citizens and responsible governments of all levels. List 
membership is confidential and records are scrupulously restricted to 
this mailing list.