[TheClimate.Vote] December 29, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest.

Sun Dec 29 11:29:17 EST 2019

/*December 29, 2019*/
/*
*/[View the Audubon site]
*A Field Guide for the Entire 21st Century*
A new project reveals not just where birds live now--but where they'll 
live decades from now...
- - -
There's a simple reason birds are a great entry into understanding 
climate change, ... "Birds are beautiful." But they also reveal the 
geographic specificity of climate impacts. "My whole fascination is with 
traces left in the world by other parts of the world," he told me. "A 
bird is like a vector you can trace." They are, like climate change 
itself, physical instruction in the fact that we live on a planet. After 
all, the migratory birds chirping in your yard right now may have seen 
more of the Earth than you have. And so climate change, a malady of the 
entire planet, will harm birds as well.

Climate change is notoriously hard to communicate, since it will alter 
the Earth in a million different ways all at once. "Survival by Degrees" 
does an unusually good job of revealing how one category of those 
changes will look in every place in North America. There's nothing else 
like it online.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/12/audubon-field-guide-21st-century/604141/
- - -
[Where will birds be going in the future - interactive data display]
*Audubon *
Two-thirds of North American birds are at increasing risk of extinction 
from global temperature rise.
*Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink*
As the climate changes, so will the places birds need.

Audubon scientists took advantage of 140 million observations, recorded 
by birders and scientists, to describe where 604 North American bird 
species live today--an area known as their "range." They then used the 
latest climate models to project how each species's range will shift as 
climate change and other human impacts advance across the continent.

The results are clear: Birds will be forced to relocate to find 
favorable homes. And they may not survive.
- - -
*Birds and Climate Visualizer*
Take it personally: Climate change is a serious threat to birds and your 
community. Enter your location to see which impacts from climate change 
are predicted for your area, and how birds near you will be affected...
click to see - https://www.audubon.org/climate/survivalbydegrees
If we take action now, we can improve the chances for hundreds of bird 
species.

By stabilizing carbon emissions and holding warming to 1.5C above 
pre-industrial levels, 76 percent of vulnerable species will be better 
off, and nearly 150 species would no longer be vulnerable to extinction 
from climate change.

Click the three different warming scenarios to explore how increased 
warming makes more species vulnerable...
https://www.audubon.org/climate/survivalbydegrees
- - -
[perfect time to examine 389 species]
Read the Special Climate Issue of Audubon Magazine
Our science shows that climate change threatens 389 species. This issue 
of Audubon focuses on solutions to help these birds
*Audubon Magazine, Fall 2019 Climate Issue *
It's been five years since Audubon magazine published our first special 
climate issue. Since then, the crisis has only worsened--and the need to 
act grown more pressing. That's why in this follow-up issue we chose to 
focus on solutions. As you can see from the below photo essay, Our 
Climate Crisis Today, people and wildlife are already suffering from the 
effects of climate change. But there's still time to take meaningful 
action. From the coasts of North Carolina and Maine to the Upper 
Mississippi River basin and the far reaches of Canada's boreal forest, 
we highlight people who are working hard to protect habitats and their 
wildlife from the worst of climate change.

In this issue, we also dive into Audubon's newest scientific report, 
Survival by Degrees: 389 Species on the Brink, which builds on our 
original climate study and provides even more detailed forecasts for 
birds in North America under various warming scenarios. The upshot? As 
many as 389 out of 604 species could be at risk if we don't 
substantially curb carbon emissions, starting now. And while two stories 
in this issue show how some companies and states are leading the way, we 
still have a long way to go. Thankfully, a diverse array of voices are 
helping us forge a new future, one in which we can prevent a worst-case 
scenario for birds and people alike--and you can help.
https://www.audubon.org/2019climateissue

- - -

[more extinction risks]
*Extinction: A million species at risk, so what is saved?*
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50788571

- - -

[one organization Science and Policy for People and Nature]
*Welcome to IPBES*
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and 
Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is the intergovernmental body which assesses 
the state of biodiversity and of the ecosystem services it provides to 
society, in response to requests from decision makers.
https://ipbes.net/
*Global Assessment Summary for Policymakers Final Version Now Available*
Download copy - https://bit.ly/GlobalAssessmentReport

[Christian theologian Sallie McFague considers the Dalai Lama]
*Awakening from Climate Slumber*
Can Buddhist theology help save us from climate disaster? The Dalai Lama 
thinks so...
- - -
"Global leaders should be exposed to this kind of data so that people 
who are responsible for countries will become fully convinced of the 
seriousness of the situation. More awareness needs to be created, 
particularly awareness in free countries where leaders are chosen 
through election."
- - -
Throughout these exchanges, the Dalai Lama demonstrates a faith in 
science education laudable for a religious leader but misguided in its 
scientism. "In these modern times, the scientist can sometimes be 
considered a guru, a person of authority on these issues," the Dalai 
Lama insisted. "The gurus need to come out and speak." Or later: "I 
think the best people to stimulate awareness about what's happening and 
what needs to be done are not the politicians or leaders but the 
scientists. They are the real gurus in these matters."...
- - -
McFague says, "Consumerism is a cultural pattern that leads people to 
find meaning and fulfillment through the consumption of goods and 
services. Given this," she posits, "consumerism is the newest, the 
latest, and the most successful religion [italics mine]."

To adequately address the planetary crisis then, it would seem we need a 
culture-wide transformation akin to a spiritual awakening. Indeed, 
McFague uses such language when she says, "We need to wake up to the lie 
held in the current worldview of individualist, selfish fulfillment… We 
need to wake up to a different worldview, one that shares all our 
resources with our fellow creatures." Such an "awakening" sounds 
comparable in scope to a religious conversion. "The change has to happen 
at all levels of our life," she confirms, "personal, what we eat, how we 
get to work, taxes, car emissions, everything."

In responding to McFague, the Dalai Lama pinpoints what is at stake. 
There are theistic and nontheistic religions, he observes, "but we need 
a third religion." As the chapters progress, conference participants 
sketch an outline of what that "religion" might look like. (Dalai Lama: 
"One without scriptures, that is based simply on common sense, our 
common experience, our inner experience, warmheartedness, a sense of 
concern for others' well-being, and respect for the rights of others.")...
- - -
And in this project, Buddhism could play a leading part. After all, 
don't Buddhists have experience developing a culture based on a kind of 
waking up? And how did the Buddha do it? He articulated the problem; 
identified its causes; established that the problem could be fixed by 
abandoning its causes; and taught a step-by-step path for doing that. 
Then he created a community and evolved institutions to support people 
undergoing that transformation. Might this example not serve as a 
parallel for how to awaken humanity from climate slumber? The Buddha 
provided a strategy to recognize and escape from a predicament so 
existentially dire that we are encouraged to respond as though our hair 
is on fire. Today, as the Dalai Lama says, in the sentence that closes 
the book, "The earth is our home, and our home is on fire."
Linda Heuman is a Tricycle contributing editor and freelance journalist 
based in Providence, Rhode Island.
https://tricycle.org/magazine/dalai-lama-on-climate-change/

[animation music video - an anthem attempt]
Earth by Lil Dicky
https://youtu.be/pvuN_WvF1to
https://welovetheearth.org/
- - -
[Changes in this year]
*2019's biggest pop-culture trend was climate anxiety*
https://grist.org/politics/2019s-biggest-pop-culture-trend-was-climate-anxiety/

[Activism]
*Who We Are | Why XR? | How You Can Help | Extinction Rebellion*
Dec 26, 2019
Extinction Rebellion
What people are saying, "We don't have any time to waste, the science is 
absolutely clear, we have to listen to the science." | "It wasn't until 
I got involved in XR that I realized we can actually make a difference." 
| "The hope is that we can just have a better society."

This is an emergency. We believe it is our duty to act. Together, let's 
unite and insist our governments take action for us, for our children 
and for all life! Extinction Rebellion is the fastest growing climate & 
ecology non violent direct action movement in history.

It is time for direct action. It is time to act. We are unprepared for 
the danger our future holds. We face floods, wildfires, extreme weather, 
crop failure, mass displacement and the breakdown of society. The time 
for denial is over. Our system is broken but we are Rising Up!

Join the rebellion: https://Rebellion.Earth/
International: https://Rebellion.Global/

Producer: Caroline Pakel
Editor and Producer: Nathaniel Walters

1. #TellTheTruth
2. #ActNow
3. #BeyondPolitics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTR1JqjbD3Q

*This Day in Climate History - December  29, 2009 - from D.R. Tucker*
Washington Post writer Ezra Klein excoriates members of the US Senate 
who have developed cold feet about addressing global warming:

"Amidst all this, conservative Senate Democrats are waving off the
idea of serious action in 2010. But not because they're opposed. Oh,
heavens no! It's because of abstract concerns over the political
difficulties the problem presents. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), for
instance, avers that 'climate change in an election year has very
poor prospects.' That's undoubtedly true, though it is odd to say
that the American system of governance can only solve problems every
other year. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) says that 'we need to deal with
the phenomena of global warming,' but wants to wait until the
economy is fixed.

"Rather than commenting abstractly on the difficulty of doing this,
Conrad and Bayh and others could make it easier by saying things
like 'we simply have to do this, it's our moral obligation as
legislators,' and trying to persuade reporters to write stories
about how even moderates such as Conrad and Byah are determined to
do this. They could schedule meetings with other senators begging
them to take this seriously, leveraging the credibility and goodwill
built over decades in the Senate. They could spend money on TV ads
in their state, talking directly into the camera, explaining to
their constituents that they don't like having to face this problem,
but see no choice. That effort might fail -- probably will, in fact
-- but it's got a better chance of success than not trying. And this
is, well, pretty important."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/12/climate_change_is_bad_but_the.html 

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