[TheClimate.Vote] February 18, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/February 18, 2019/


[Cabaret music to read news by]
*Global Warming by Vermillion Lies*
Vermillion Lies
Published on Aug 10, 2015
Vermillion Lies - www.vermillionlies.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2d1jNwpDAQ


[methane is 35 times worse than CO2]
*Sharp rise in methane levels threatens world climate targets*
Experts warn that failure to act risks spike in global temperatures
In a paper published this month by the American Geophysical Union, 
researchers say sharp rises in levels of methane - which is a powerful 
greenhouse gas - have strengthened over the past four years. Urgent 
action is now required to halt further increases in methane in the 
atmosphere, to avoid triggering enhanced global warming and temperature 
rises well beyond 2C.
If nothing can be done about this, he added, then even more cuts will 
have to be made in CO2 emissions. Continued increases in methane levels 
will only make this situation worse, he said...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/17/methane-levels-sharp-rise-threaten-paris-climate-agreement



[Madison Ave deploys image and sound - for "confidence WHEN in chaos"]
*About Audi Q5 - Progress Is Confidence in Chaos ad*
VIDEO Audi Q5 - Progress Is Confidence in Chaos TV commercial 2018 - A 
cup of coffee depicts the calmness inside an Audi Q5 as the driver 
avoids a collision. Just a drop of coffee escapes the cup as the 
vehicle's driver assistance technology kicks in. The automaker states 
that progress is confidence in chaos, also mentioning that lease and 
finance rates are available. - advertisement spot 2018
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/d__z/2018-audi-q5-progress-is-confidence-in-chaos-t1
https://abancommercials.com/audi/q5-progress-is-confidence-chaos-ad-commercial/45532/



[Book Review]
Science and nature books
*The Uninhabitable Earth: A Story of the Future by David Wallace-Wells - 
review*
This bracing account of the many predictions and uncertainties around 
climate change is designed to startle and shake us
David George Haskell
Sun 17 Feb 2019 02.00 EST Last modified on Sun 17 Feb 2019 04.09 EST
Between 1833 and 1836, an ambitious young New Yorker painted his vision 
of the evolution of human society. In five grand canvases, Thomas Cole 
described an arc from nature, through pastoralism and empire, to 
desolation. This is the archetypal story of rise and fall.

In The Uninhabitable Earth, David Wallace-Wells now takes up Cole's 
mantle, updated for the 21st century. We're at the apex of the story 
arc, pivoting from blind triumph to hubristic ruin. He tells of coming 
climate catastrophes, brought on by our complacency and profligacy. 
These devastations will likely end history, culture and ethics as we 
know them. The portents surround us, but we wilfully turn away. A 
glimmer of hope, though, is present if we mend our ways.

There is much to learn from this book. From media and scientific reports 
of the past decade, Wallace-Wells sifts key predictions and conveys them 
in vivid prose. He trebles the size of the Book of Revelation's posse of 
horsemen, elucidating a dozen categories of anguish including heat 
death, conflagration, poisoned air and water, psychological trauma, and 
societal collapse. As he points out, none of this is news. Yet for most 
of us, the terrifying projections of where our planet is headed arrive 
in our ears overwhelmed by a cacophony of media reports blaring the 
day's politics and entertainment.

For those not steeped in news about climate change, this is a lively 
introduction to both the latest predictions and their uncertainties. 
Wallace-Wells not only summarises recent projections, but excavates 
important unifying themes. Rapidity is one of these. The climate crisis 
was largely created by the actions of just a single generation. The 
physiological and psychological limits of human life are another. Many 
climate projections indicate that we'll increasingly cross these limits. 
The latter part of the book is less grounded in science and data, and 
comprises a series of riffs about the future of human culture and society.

Billions know how bad things are, through their intellects, emotions and 
lived realities
If you've snoozed through or turned away from the climate change news, 
this book will waken and update you. If you're steeped in the unfolding 
climate drama, Wallace-Wells's voice and perspective will be 
stimulating, even when you don't agree with every interpretation and 
rhetorical move. This is part of his aim: to startle and shake us.

The valuable core of the book is contained within a rind of unnecessary 
exaggeration. The book's title belies its contents. Nowhere does he 
claim that Earth will be uninhabitable. Bill McKibben's recent summary 
is more apt: the habitable area of the planet is shrinking, a calamity 
vast enough not to need overstating. The opening paragraphs of the book 
burn strawmen to fuel the claim that "you" readers do not understand how 
bad things are. Billions of people do, in fact, understand how bad 
things are, through their intellects, emotions and lived realities. The 
claim that bitcoin "consumes more electricity than is generated by all 
the world's solar panels combined" misuses a speculative projection in a 
Grist article and is off by a factor of 100 (in 2017, bitcoin used about 
2.55GW, global photovoltaic capacity was 398GW). Such claims are 
eye-catching and get the story in front of the insouciant. But they are 
also what alienated many climate researchers from Wallace-Wells's New 
York Magazine essay of the same title.

Yet, occasional factual errors aside, where "exaggeration" starts is 
hard to say given our improvident trajectory. A time of crisis demands a 
multiplicity of responses, including voices of alarm. Not every call to 
action will strike the same balance between woe and hope. That 
Wallace-Wells has irritated some contemporary specialists in "climate 
communication" is perhaps a healthy sign that discussions of climate are 
now reaching far beyond the measured discourse of academia and 
intergovernmental panels.

How, then, to act in the face of these frightening projections? This is 
not a book of solutions. Wallace-Wells outlines some political and 
economic pathways - taxes and public investments - but gives them little 
exposition. He's dismissive about the value of changes in individual 
behaviours. He writes that choices by the "consumer class" about food 
and childbearing are manifestations of "ascetic pride" and "cop-outs". 
He insists that he's "not about to go vegan", delivering a critique of 
consumerist neoliberalism with a burger in his hand. Consumer choices 
are largely distractions from or substitutes for political action, he 
argues. But this ignores the possibility that individual action might be 
a prerequisite to political change. Reformation of the self, including 
our behaviours as consumers, can inspire, inform and sustain political 
and cultural action. This is perhaps especially true for storytellers 
who wield influence through their widely heard voices.

Like Cole before him, Wallace-Wells's project is a moral one, an 
indictment of his culture. Both narratives aim to convince us that the 
guiding beliefs of our times are wrong. But unlike Cole, who believed 
that self-annihilation was inevitable, Wallace-Wells insists that we can 
snap the narrative arc of rise and fall. Amid his stories of desolation 
and travail, he underscores our agency. This accounts for the excitement 
he feels about his newborn daughter's future. She will live on a planet 
burned, flooded and baked out of recognition. But she will also, he 
believes, be a participant in what he calls "literally the greatest 
story ever told", the possibility that calamity might somehow catalyse 
"a happy ending".

If we are to find such an ending, it will not come from disembodied 
analysis alone. The book's greatest omission is a lack of fieldwork. In 
its pages, we don't go into the streets to talk to people, to hear their 
insights and perspectives. Instead, we hear Wallace-Wells interpreting 
an impressive stack of news clippings, interviews with specialists, and 
papers. But even the best scientific paper is one step removed from its 
subjects. In Walt Whitman's words, we "take things at second or third 
hand". Our greatest fear should perhaps be that we have forgotten how to 
listen to the living Earth.

David George Haskell is author of The Songs of Trees and The Forest 
Unseen, and professor of biology at Sewanee: The University of the 
South, Tennessee
The Uninhabitable Earth: A Story of the Future by David Wallace-Wells is 
published by Allen Lane (£20). To order a copy go to 
guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £15, online 
orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99


[2018 data display: Climate Science Instrumental Record]
*"Update day"*
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2019/02/update-day/



[Extinction Rebellion video]
*Climate Catastrophe Dr Rupert Read Talk*
ExtinctionRebellion
Published on Feb 15, 2019
Filmed at the University of East Anglia [06.02.2019]


[Jem Bendell offers suggestions]
*After Climate Despair - One Tale Of What Can Emerge*
Posted by jembendell on January 14, 2018
Last week I was interviewed by the co-founder of the Dark Mountain 
project. Dougald Hine has been promoting creative reflection on the 
future of culture during the decay and ultimate collapse of this 
civilisation due to environmental degradation and climate chaos...
- -
I am very aware I am not a psychotherapist and so my basis upon which to 
analyse myself and draw out lessons is a bit shaky. But if things are as 
bad as just suggested, it's time to get started. My recommendations are 
for people who are professionally involved in social, environmental or 
ethical careers, rather than the general public. That is because I am 
sharing from personal experience rather than broader research on how 
people respond when they conclude we face nearterm collapse and possible 
extinction…

*Recommendations when facing the possibility of climate tragedy*
Here are fourteen recommendations based on what has been helping me, or 
what, in hindsight, I think could have helped me!

Return to, or explore afresh, the idea of a divine or a spirit or a 
consciousness or a God that is prior to the Earth and moves through the 
Universe right now and forever more. Do so without seeking a simple 
story of explanation but a sense of faith that there is an existence and 
a meaning beyond our culture, our species and our planet. Such 'faith' 
helps anyone to experience and process the inevitable difficulties and 
traumas of life.

Listen to those stories from people both past and present who tell us 
that despair is not the end and therefore does not have to be avoided. 
Recognise how many spiritual traditions see despair as a gateway to our 
growth.

Beware when people are promoting their views on what they think the 
implications of information will be, rather than views on the 
information itself. The impacts of certain information about climate on 
other people's motivations are not certain, and in many cases the 
darkest analyses have triggered a new level of creativity and boldness. 
Instead, look at the information and analysis directly for yourself, 
without second guessing what some interpretations might lead to.

Recognize that any emotional or intellectual resistance you may 
experience to information which implies catastrophe may come from what 
you have been consciously or subconsciously telling yourself about your 
own self-worth, purpose and meaning. Then remember how your views of 
yourself and the world have evolved through your life and still can.

Don't panic. Give yourself time to evolve both personally and 
professionally in response to your emerging awareness, but ensure you 
stay connected to a group or an activity which keeps reminding you of 
the basis for your emerging awareness.

Recognize there is much work ahead for you to reconstitute concepts of 
meaning and what's good and to align your life with those. It will not 
happen overnight, yet it will not happen if you do not give time to this 
work. There may be some time needed to bridge your existing life with 
the way you will want to live in future.

Plan more time and resources for you to do things which inspire wonder 
at life. This could be more time in beautiful environments, or with 
uplifting music, or in contemplation, or through creative writing, or 
being with loved ones and close friends. That means freeing up time from 
other activities such as TV, social media and mainstream news. It may 
also mean downshifting from your workload.

Look for opportunities for supported self-reflection and sense-making. 
This is because your worldview and self identity will undoubtedly 
transform overtime as you process the new information and analysis.

Expect a catharsis, both personal and professional. This will occur 
because the subconscious or conscious limits that you placed on yourself 
until now will be lifted. Go with that rush of energy and creativity, 
but be vigilant that those new activities don't become so consuming they 
distract you from the personal work you still need to do.

If you are a mission-driven professional in fields related to 
environment or social justice then expect that you may be driven to 
rebuild a sense of self worth and that this need of the ego, while 
natural and potentially useful, could become a frantic distraction.

Expect a change in your personal relationships and how you spend your 
spare time. Some forms of small talk and light-hearted social 
interaction with acquaintances may seem pointless, while you may wish to 
spend more time with close friends and family. While for some this could 
be a welcome rebalancing, for others this can become a vector of 
reclusiveness and loneliness. Therefore it is important to find new ways 
of connecting with people on the new levels that feel meaningful to you.

Create a positive vision of people sharing compassion, love and play. It 
may feel that an eco-tragic outlook means you cannot have any meaningful 
vision of a better future for yourself, your community, or humanity. An 
absence of something positive to work towards can be destabilising and 
limiting. Some people will think you are depressed - or depressing - and 
need some "positive thinking". For a personal vision, the answer may lie 
in developing a vision for how you will be approaching life, rather than 
imagining attributes of a lifestyle. This may parallel the dimensions of 
a collective vision. A future full of love and learning, rather than 
flying cars and fancy robots, could be a way to imagine a more beautiful 
world. And remember, the future will still be beautiful in its own way, 
no matter what life forms are in it - or if your favourite town is under 
water!

Don't get dogmatic and avoid those who do. That comes from recognising 
that our terms for phenomena are not the same as the phenomena 
themselves. The words we use imply things which may have effects on us 
but aren't necessarily so. Words like nearterm, civilisation, collapse, 
and tragedy, are our words, and may trigger ideas, images and emotions 
which aren't inevitable consequences of the phenomena being described 
(more on that "social constructionism" later).

Do not prioritise maintaining your own mental and physical situation at 
the expense of the need to act in solidarity with future generations who 
will live with the future we are creating for them. Tomorrow's children 
won't thank us much for having joined a support group on facebook or 
taken up yoga!..
more at - 
https://jembendell.wordpress.com/2018/01/14/after-climate-despair-one-tale-of-what-can-emerge/


*This Day in Climate History - February 18, 2004 - from D.R. Tucker*
February 18, 2004: Sixty scientists, including several Nobel laureates, 
issue a joint statement denouncing the George W. Bush administration for 
distorting, downplaying and disregarding scientific findings on such 
issues as human-caused climate change.
http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity/abuses_of_science/scientists-sign-on-statement.html 


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