[TheClimate.Vote] January 15, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/January 15, 2019/

[Good news on an important invention]
*Seawater turns into freshwater through solar energy: A new low-cost 
technology*
Date: January 7, 2019
Source: Politecnico di Torino
Summary:
Engineers have developed an innovative, low-cost technology to turn 
seawater into drinking water, thanks to the use of solar energy alone.
- - -
While previous studies focused on how to maximize the solar energy 
absorption, we have shifted the attention to a more efficient management 
of the absorbed solar thermal energy. In this way, we have been able to 
reach record values of productivity up to 20 litres per day of drinking 
water per square meter exposed to the Sun.
- - -
Furthermore, the technology is particularly suitable for providing safe 
and low-cost drinking water in emergency conditions, for example in 
areas hit by floods or tsunamis and left isolated for days or weeks from 
electricity grid and aqueduct. A further application envisioned for this 
technology are floating gardens for food production, an interesting 
option especially in overpopulated areas. The researchers, who continue 
to work on this issue within the Clean Water Center at Politecnico di 
Torino, are now looking for possible industrial partners to make the 
prototype more durable, scalable and versatile.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190107131242.htm


[Tamino - posted in Open Mind]
*["Climate change is because of us. It's going to get worse. How much 
worse depends on what we do*".]
*Climate Change: When Nature Roars*
Posted on January 14, 2019
A new voice has taken center stage in the argument over what to do, if 
anything, about man-made climate change.
Although clear for decades, the science is easily obscured by clever 
propagandists. But thanks to this new advocate, things have changed; 
hers is a voice powerful enough that we're nearing the point where 
climate deniers simply won't be taken seriously any more. An 
unimpeachable source, impervious to politics, we cannot help but listen, 
by the millions, from New York to California, from Alaska to Florida, 
women and men, liberal and conservative and independent, Christian and 
Jew and Moslem and atheist alike.

The children hear her loudest.
Nature has been telling us for decades, but in that quiet, achingly slow 
way that speaks volumes to scientists and those few living close enough 
to nature, but escapes the mass of modern society. When scientists began 
ringing alarm bells, the clever propogandists swung into action. The 
subtlety and complexity of nature's changes made it easy for them to 
paint twisted pictures of what was happening and what was likely to 
happen. Human behavior, wrapped in the flags of ideology and tribal 
identity, saw scientific truths as conspiracies. Beliefs were burned 
into place, indelibly so it seemed, and no argument or reason could be 
entertained, let alone considered; it would fall on deaf ears.

Then she raised her voice.
Truly ferocious heat waves in Europe, in Russia, Australia, India, 
Pakistan. Tremendous wildfires in the western U.S. Unprecedented 
flooding worldwide. Coastal flooding on a sunny day with no wind or rain 
or storm. And the hurricanes! Just to list them almost seems excessive.

This year, she didn't just raise her voice. She roared.
Killer heat waves all around the northern hemisphere. Temperature in the 
90s (F) *in the Arctic circle no less*. Wildfires raging out of control, 
in Greece, in Sweden of all places, and of course in the U.S. where one 
fire destroyed the entire city of Paradise, California. And the 
hurricanes! In Florida, the one called "Michael" wiped another American 
town off the map.

We heard. *This is bad*
At least, we heard the main message: *this is very bad*. It's not a 
nuisance, not just an annoyance, these changes we're seeing are the 
things that kill people. They cost -- in dollar terms, beyond billions 
to hundreds of billions and trillions. In human suffering, in lives 
destroyed, beyond imagining. And no one, no where, is safe.
The deeper messages are in all of nature, and among them are subtle but 
sometimes crystal clear messages that speak to scientists. They've been 
saying them for decades, but now perhaps, maybe, those so long blinded 
by ideology or ego, will finally start to take them seriously. For the 
human race, the important scientific messages are:

*Climate change is because of us.*

*It's going to get worse.*

*How much worse depends on what we do.*

If you think 2018 was noisy, wait until nature roars really loud.
https://tamino.wordpress.com/2019/01/14/climate-change-when-nature-roars/


[Stanford Univ video - 28 min]
*Marshall Burke: The impact of climate change on human behavior*
Stanford University School of Engineering
Published on Jan 10, 2019
​Obscured behind the better-known impacts of climate change are a host 
of potentially more serious effects global leaders have yet to reckon with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0DfR0FEZdU


[Free to download - attack the problem with the Bar]
*Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States: Summary 
and Key Recommendations*
LIMITED OFFER FROM ELI PRESS
Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the US: Summary & Key 
Recommendations
ELI Press is offering a free pdf download of Legal Pathways to Deep 
Decarbonization in the United States: Summary & Key Recommendations, 
edited by Michael B. Gerrard and John C. Dernbach. The book contains key 
information and recommendations for federal, state, local, and private 
action from a longer volume, Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in 
the United States  (forthcoming March 2019), which identifies well over 
1,000 legal options for transitioning away from fossil fuels. The longer 
volume (1,200 pages) has detailed legal analysis of each recommendation. 
The shorter edition grows out of a desire to get the main messages to 
the broadest possible audience. And while both the scale and complexity 
of deep decarbonization are enormous, both books have a simple message: 
deep decarbonization is achievable in the United States using laws that 
exist or could be enacted.
*Free download here: 
https://www.eli.org/sites/default/files/docs/books/deep_decarb_summary_booklet_online.pdf
*https://www.eli.org/legal-pathways-deep-decarbonization-united-states-summary-and-key-recommendations


[Changes to oceans ]
*Upper-ocean warming is changing the global wave climate, making waves 
stronger*
The energy in ocean waves has been increasing as a consequence of 
climate change
Date: January 14, 2019
Source: University of California - Santa Cruz
Summary:
Sea level rise puts coastal areas at the forefront of the impacts of 
climate change, but new research shows they face other climate-related 
threats as well. Scientists found that the energy of ocean waves has 
been growing globally, and they found a direct association between ocean 
warming and the increase in wave energy.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190114082847.htm


[battle defeat - the war continues]
*Colorado Court Rules State Can Bypass Climate, Health Impacts of Fracking*
By Dana Drugmand
The Colorado Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling on Monday and 
ruled against a set of youth plaintiffs who sought to force the state to 
consider the impacts on public health and the climate in allowing oil 
and gas development. In a unanimous decision, the Court ruled in favor 
of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in Martinez v. 
COGCC, handing a victory to the oil and gas industry.

"It is so disappointing for the youth and the people of Colorado to hear 
the decision from the Colorado Supreme Court today. To know that the 
judges in the highest court of my state believe that the interests of 
the oil and gas industry come before the public health, safety, and 
welfare of my fellow Coloradans is shameful," said 18 year-old 
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, lead plaintiff in the case and youth director of 
Earth Guardians, a Boulder-based youth environmental advocacy group...
https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2019/01/14/colorado-fracking-youth-climate-case/


[Fast Company analysis]
*Focusing on how individuals can stop climate change is very convenient 
for corporations*
Sure, it's morally good to reduce your footprint-but don't let that 
deflect attention from who is really to blame.
BY MORTEN FIBIEGER BYSKOV
What can be done to limit global warming to 1.5C? A quick internet 
search offers a deluge of advice on how individuals can change their 
behavior. Take public transport instead of the car or, for longer 
journeys, the train rather than fly. Eat less meat and more vegetables, 
pulses and grains, and don't forget to turn off the light when leaving a 
room or the water when shampooing. The implication here is that the 
impetus for addressing climate change is on individual consumers.

But can and should it really be the responsibility of individuals to 
limit global warming? On the face of it, we all contribute to global 
warming through the cumulative impact of our actions.

By changing consumption patterns on a large scale we might be able to 
influence companies to change their production patterns to more 
sustainable methods. Some experts have argued that everyone (or at least 
those who can afford it) has a responsibility to limit global warming, 
even if each individual action is insufficient in itself to make a 
difference.

Yet there are at least two reasons why making it the duty of individuals 
to limit global warming is wrong.

*INDIVIDUALS ARE STATISTICALLY BLAMELESS*
Climate change is a planetary-scale threat and, as such, requires 
planetary-scale reforms that can only be implemented by the world's 
governments. Individuals can at most be responsible for their own 
behavior, but governments have the power to implement legislation that 
compels industries and individuals to act sustainably.

Although the power of consumers is strong, it pales in comparison to 
that of international corporations, and only governments have the power 
to keep these interests in check.

Usually, we regard governments as having a duty to protect citizens. So 
why is it that we allow them to skirt these responsibilities just 
because it is more convenient to encourage individual action? Asking 
individuals to bear the burden of global warming shifts the 
responsibilities from those who are meant to protect to those who are 
meant to be protected. We need to hold governments to their 
responsibilities first and foremost.

A recent report found that just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of 
global emissions since 1988. Incredibly, a mere 25 corporations and 
state-owned entities were responsible for more than half of global 
industrial emissions in that same period.

Most of these are coal- and oil-producing companies and include 
ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, Gazprom, and the Saudi Arabian Oil 
Company. China leads the pack on the international stage with 14.3% of 
global greenhouse gas emissions due to its coal production and consumption.

If the fossil fuel industry and high-polluting countries are not forced 
to change, we will be on course to increase global average temperatures 
by 4C by the end of the century.

If just a few companies and countries are responsible for so much of 
global greenhouse gas emissions, then why is our first response to blame 
individuals for their consumption patterns? It shouldn't be-businesses 
and governments need to take responsibility for curbing industrial 
emissions...

*GOVERNMENTS AND INDUSTRIES SHOULD LEAD*
Rather than rely on appeals to individual virtue, what can be done to 
hold governments and industries accountable?

Governments have the power to enact legislation that could regulate 
industries to remain within sustainable emission limits and adhere to 
environmental protection standards. Companies should be compelled to 
purchase emissions rights-the profits from which can be used to aid 
climate-vulnerable communities.

Governments could also make renewable energy generation, from sources 
such as solar panels and wind turbines, affordable to all consumers 
through subsidies. Affordable and low-carbon mass transportation must 
replace emission-heavy means of travel, such as planes and cars.

More must also be done by rich countries and powerful industries to 
support and empower poorer countries to mitigate and adapt to climate 
change.

All of this is not to say that individuals cannot or should not do what 
they can to change their behavior where possible. Every little 
contribution helps, and research shows that limiting meat consumption 
can be an effective step. The point is that failing to do so should not 
be considered morally blameworthy.

In particular, individuals living in poorer countries who have 
contributed almost nothing to climate change deserve the most support 
and the least guilt. They are neither the primary perpetrators of global 
warming nor the ones who have the power to enact the structural changes 
necessary for limiting global warming, which would have to involve 
holding powerful industries responsible.

While individuals may have a role to play, appealing to individual 
virtues for addressing climate change is something akin to 
victim-blaming because it shifts the burden from those who ought to act 
to those who are most likely to be affected by climate change. A far 
more just and effective approach would be to hold those who are 
responsible for climate change accountable for their actions.
Morten Fibieger Byskov, postdoctoral researcher in international 
politics, University of Warwick
https://www.fastcompany.com/90290795/focusing-on-how-individuals-can-stop-climate-change-is-very-convenient-for-corporations


[faster change]
*Antarctic ice melting 6 times faster than it did in '80s*
Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
The ice in Antarctica is melting six times faster than it did just 40 
years ago, a new study reports.
This dramatic acceleration of the ice loss is a clear indication of 
human-caused climate change, the study authors said.
Lead author Eric Rignot, an ice scientist at the University of 
California-Irvine, said the melting ice has caused global sea levels to 
rise more than half an inch since 1979.
While that may not sound like much, the amount is certainly alarming to 
climate scientists, as it's a preview of things to come:
"That's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak," Rignot said. "As the 
Antarctic ice sheet continues to melt away, we expect multi-meter sea 
level rise from Antarctica in the coming centuries." In this century 
alone, a ten-foot rise is possible, he said.

(A reminder: This isn't the floating sea ice around Antarctica, which 
melts and refreezes with the seasons. Instead, this is freshwater ice on 
the gigantic ice sheets that cover most of the continent.)
Since 2009, almost 278 billion tons of ice has melted away from 
Antarctica per year, the new study found. In the 1980s, it was losing 
"only" 44 billion tons a year.
Scientists combined satellite data records with computer model outputs 
to estimate the Antarctic ice loss since 1979.
East Antarctica, which used to be considered stable, is losing 56 
billion tons of ice a year. A study last year found little to no loss in 
East Antarctica.
Richard Alley, a Pennsylvania State University scientist not involved in 
Rignot's study, called it "really good science."
Rignot said that as climate warming and ozone depletion continue to send 
more ocean heat toward the Antarctic, the continent's melting ice will 
contribute to sea-level rise for "decades to come."
The solution to halt the melting isn't a surprise: Stop the burning of 
fossil fuels, which are releasing greenhouse gases into the Earth's 
atmosphere and oceans.
The study was published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings 
of the National Academy of Sciences.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/01/14/climate-change-antarctic-ice-melting-accelerating/2575410002/


[thought so]
*Air travel is surging. That's a huge problem for the climate.*
US airlines have an abysmal carbon footprint.
Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States appear to be on the rise 
again after years of decline. The Rhodium Group this week released 
preliminary estimates showing carbon dioxide emissions overall surged 
3.4 percent in 2018, with the transportation sector leading the way as 
the largest source of emissions for the third year in a row.

Interestingly, the bump in transportation emissions didn't come from 
cars. Car travel increased compared to 2017, but gasoline consumption 
decreased. That's in part because overall fuel economy in passenger cars 
is improving as engines become more efficient and electric cars become 
more popular.

Instead, emissions from trucking and air travel helped contribute to the 
overall increase: Demand for both diesel and jet fuel increased about 3 
percent in 2018.

On the one hand, this shows just how hard it is to bring down greenhouse 
gas emissions when the US economy is growing -- growth was 3 percent in 
2018. With that came more manufacturing, more power use, more travel, 
and, yes, more greenhouse gases.

But it's also a clear sign of just how difficult it is to decarbonize 
the airline industry, for which surprisingly few low-carbon technologies 
or fuels have been developed so far. That said, there are steps airlines 
can take to modestly reduce their impact on the environment. And on this 
front, a recent report from the German nonprofit atmosfair shows that 
US-based airlines have fared poorly compared to air carriers in other 
countries, failing to take climate change as seriously as some of their 
competitors abroad.

Demand for air travel is surging just when our window to limit 
catastrophic global warming is closing
In 2018, the total number of air passengers increased in the US, with 
some periods of the year experiencing all-time high air travel volumes. 
Around the world, airlines carried 4.3 billion passengers in 2018, an 
increase of 38 million compared to the year before. Aviation accounts 
for about 2 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and that share 
is poised to grow.

The International Civil Aviation Organization anticipates that by 2020, 
global international aviation emissions are projected will be 70 percent 
greater than in 2005. By the middle of the century, they are slated to 
increase by upward of 700 percent. Every round-trip trans-Atlantic 
flight emits enough carbon dioxide to melt 30 square feet of Arctic sea ice.

But the planet needs to cut its emissions from today by more than half 
to get on a path to limiting global warming this century to 1.5 degrees 
Celsius. The world may only have until 2030 to reach that milestone...
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/1/11/18177118/airlines-climate-change-emissions-travel


[Grim satire from the New Yorker]
*Idioms Updated for Climate Change*
By Ginny Hogan
- A rising tide floods all houses.
- A bird in the hand is worth more than it used to be because they're 
going extinct.
- Stop and smell the flower.
- One man's trash is everybody's trash because it all goes in the same 
enormous landfill.
- It happens only once in a blue moon, and that's pretty frequently 
because now the moon is all sorts of weird colors.
- She's a real force of almost entirely decimated rain forest.
- A rose by any other name would wilt and die without water, which we're 
running out of.
- She's so hot and cold, like the month of January.
- When it rains, it acid-rains.
- Can we please address the elephant in the room? Why has this elephant 
been displaced from Africa? It doesn't belong in New York City.
- Ugh, she's giving me the tepid shoulder again.
- There's got to be at least one other fish left in the sea.
- You can lead a horse to a dried-up reservoir, but you can't make it 
drink dirt.
- Who let the cat out of the bag? Please be more careful with her. She's 
our last cat.
- It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. (It's June.)
- You're on thin ice, buddy. In fact, we all are. If there's a part of 
the world that still has thick ice, we need to know about it immediately.
- You killed two birds with one stone! Unfortunately, those were the 
only two birds we had left.
- Don't put all your eggs in one basket--it's unclear if we'll be able 
to find any new eggs. As I just mentioned, all the birds are dead.
- Curiosity killed the cat--oh, wait, no, we killed it for food.
- You catch more flies with honey--here, let me show you how to catch 
flies. That's dinner right there.
- Don't eat a dead horse. Not until we've eaten this cat, at least.
- It's not rocket science. You know, rocket science? The only type of 
science that matters anymore because we need to find a new planet to 
live on?
- Let's cross that bridge when we come to it, as we escape this raging 
fire and sprint for dear life toward the rocket ship.
- She's really got her head in the clouds, which makes sense because our 
rocket actually is currently in the clouds.
- Time flies when you're traveling at the speed of light to escape the 
now uninhabitable Earth!
- You only live once--specifically, for the remainder of this spaceship 
ride because it's unlikely that we'll find another planet with potable 
water.
- Shoot for the moon, and even if you miss--damn it, we missed. Well, 
humans had a good run. Better luck next time.
- The world is just that one oyster. Go forth and repopulate, little one.
Ginny Hogan's forthcoming book, "Toxic Femininity in the Workplace," is 
due out in the fall of 2019.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/21/idioms-updated-for-climate-change


[video climate and congress history from 1988]
*Jessica Mathews talks about Irreversible Climate Risks (1988)*
Climate State - Published on Jan 14, 2019
On June 29th, 1988, the House Science, Space and Technology 
subcommittees held a joint hearing on the threat of global warming. Here 
the segment of Jessica Mathews's (World Resource Institute) statement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWCTMjXi8eQ


*This Day in Climate History - January 15, 2013 - from D.R. Tucker*
January 15, 2013: Think Progress reports: "Virginia’s legislature 
commissioned a study to determine the impacts of climate change on the 
state’s shores. After Tea Party complaints, lawmakers [removed] the 
words 'climate change' and “sea level rise” from the title.

"This week, Virginia released its analysis, under the title 'Recurrent 
Flooding Study for Tidewater Virginia.' The report discusses the threat 
of flooding and rising sea levels to coastal Virginia, but gives less 
notice to the causes of climate change."

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/01/15/1448711/virginia-waters-down-report-on-impacts-of-climate-change-after-tea-party-complaints/ 


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