[TheClimate.Vote] July 21, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/July 21, 2019/

[also as permafrost melts]
*As Temperatures Soar During Heat Wave, So Will CO2*
Greenhouse gas emissions will spike as grid operators fire up more power 
plants
By Benjamin Storrow, E&E News on July 19, 2019

Greenhouse gas emissions will spike today as temperatures along the East 
Coast approach triple digits and grid operators fire up nearly all of 
their power plants to help Americans beat the heat.

The spike in emissions as temperatures rise is a characteristic of the 
nation's electric grids. Many of the dirtiest coal- and oil-fired power 
plants sit idle for most of the year, because it doesn't pay to run 
them. That changes on hot days. Residents and businesses turn on their 
air conditioners, pushing electric demand up and prompting grid 
operators to call on their seldom-used plants.

"As the number of extreme heat days goes up, we're going to need more 
peak power, and that will create more carbon dioxide unless we have a 
clean electric system that can handle it," said Constantine Samaras, a 
professor who studies power-sector emissions at Carnegie Mellon University.
- -
Heat waves offer a lifeline to aging coal and oil plants, said Joe 
Daniel, who tracks the power sector at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

"Days like today and this week drive up power prices to the point where 
it makes economic sense to keep them running," Daniel said. "These hot 
summer days are being used to keep otherwise uneconomic coal plants alive."
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/as-temperatures-soar-during-heat-wave-so-will-co2/


[Arctic regions]
***Wildfires are raging in the Arctic after an unprecedented heatwave*
...
The Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) has determined that 
the Arctic wildfires have already produced north of 50 megatons of 
carbon dioxide. That number, CAMS says, is the equivalent of a full 
year's worth of emissions from the entire country of Sweden. Yeah, it's 
a lot.
CAMS says it's detected nearly 400 wildfires so far this year in Alaska 
alone, and the trend shows little sign of slowing. Wildfires happen with 
regularity all over the world, including the Arctic, but this summer has 
seen far more than its fair share...
- - -
Scientists have long warned that we're approaching (or perhaps even 
right on the very edge) of the "tipping point" at which we'll be 
powerless to reverse climate change. Images like this aren't 
particularly heartwarming, especially in that context.
https://bgr.com/2019/07/19/arctic-wildfires-global-warming-climate-change/


[more and then more]
*Heat Waves in the Age of Climate Change: Longer, More Frequent and More 
Dangerous*
...
"In a heat wave and many climate events, it's social isolation that 
proves to be truly dangerous," he said. "If you're home and alone in a 
heat wave when you're old and frail you're more likely to die if you 
don't have air conditioning."

The solution is reining in greenhouse gas emissions, said Dr. Mann.

If we don't, he said, "think about the most extreme summer heat you've 
ever experienced in your lifetime. That will become a typical summer day 
by the middle of this century, if we continue on the path that we're on."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/climate/heatwave-climate-change.html



[criminal promotion of ecocide]
*Risky Business: When Corporations Fund Climate Denial*
Victoria Mills, Contributor Environmental Defense Fund
Corporate America is making important strides in addressing climate 
change. Almost 600 companies have joined the Science-Based Targets 
Initiative, nearly 200 have committed to use 100% renewable energy and 
companies are increasingly investing in technologies that improve 
environmental outcomes.

Yet last week, The New York Times reported that Amazon and Google were 
among the corporate sponsors of a gala hosted by the Competitive 
Enterprise Institute (CEI), an organization that recently Tweeted, "The 
claim that 97% of climate scientists believe humans are the primary 
cause of global warming is simply false." Similarly, Mother Jones 
reported earlier this year that Facebook, Google and Microsoft sponsored 
a conference that promotes climate change denial.

Funding organizations that seek to undermine established climate science 
is bad policy, and especially poor optics for companies that want to be 
seen as leaders on climate change. Among the sponsors of the CEI event, 
Google and Amazon have signed the We Are Still In declaration; AT&T is a 
founding member of the Climate Leadership Council; and Uber has signed 
the Step Up Declaration which strives to achieve a "fossil fuel free 
society by 2050."

When asked about this disconnect, Google and Microsoft sought to 
compartmentalize their support for CEI and similar organizations. 
Google's policy page notes that its "sponsorship or collaboration with a 
third party organization doesn't mean that we endorse the organizations' 
entire agenda." And in a statement quoted in the Mother Jones article, 
Microsoft says "Our commitment to sustainability is not altered or 
affected by our membership or sponsorship of an organization."

It remains to be seen if investors, employees and customers will buy 
those arguments.

As Senator Sheldon Whitehouse noted in a letter to institutional 
investors, "funding CEI's activities more than counters the positive 
effects" of the companies' pro-climate policies. CEI's largest program 
is energy and environment, and as the Times article points out, "the 
organization is arguably best known for its work disputing the science 
of climate change, and the corporations' support comes at a time when 
the think tank has played an outsized role in the Trump administration."

Further, a Wall Street Journal article on shareholder scrutiny of 
political spending notes, "A mismatch between a company's core values 
and political contributions can tarnish a company's reputation and 
business." The acid test is how the recipients of corporate 
contributions characterize them. In a statement quoted in the Times 
article, CEI said it "asks support from those that share our values."

The most powerful tool that companies have to fight climate change is 
their political influence. Leadership means advocating for climate 
policy, aligning trade associations and industry groups with company 
positions, and allocating political spending to advance climate action, 
not obstruct it.

Thankfully, a growing number of companies are stepping up to the plate 
on climate policy advocacy. This spring, more than 75 businesses 
advocated for carbon pricing on Capitol Hill (including Microsoft, which 
has been vocal in its support for federal climate legislation), and the 
CEO Climate Dialogue and Sustainable Food Policy Alliance both released 
policy principles to advance federal climate legislation. The CEO of 
Unilever also released an open letter calling on the company's trade 
associations to align their climate policy advocacy with the Paris 
Agreement.

But here's the bottom line: businesses can't be "for" climate action if 
their political spending tells the opposite story. In a 
hyper-transparent world where emails live forever and event programs 
appear in the New York Times, it's in a company's best interest to match 
its rhetoric with reality, and put its money where its mouth is on 
climate change.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/edfenergyexchange/2019/07/18/risky-business-when-corporations-fund-climate-denial/#1118337582c0


[Political action and screed opinion kerfuffle]
*Extinction Rebellion protesters aren't anarchists - we just want to 
save our world*
Bob Rivett
I was thinking of my grandchildren while I waited to be arrested on 
Waterloo BridgeBob Rivett is a retired GP and Extinction Rebellion member
Fri 19 Jul 2019
I am a retired doctor, a husband, a father and grandfather - I am also 
one of more than 1,000 Extinction Rebellion protesters who have been 
arrested by police. During the April demonstrations in London, I sat on 
Waterloo Bridge with many others and refused to move in full acceptance 
that this nonviolent action would lead to my arrest.

For many years I have been aware of the growing threat to life on Earth 
due to our overconsumption of the planet's finite resources, our 
pollution of land, air and sea, our disregard for other forms of life 
and, in particular, our reckless burning of fossil fuels. It's now clear 
that global heating and biodiversity loss are proceeding even faster 
than predicted just a few years ago and we are reaching a tipping point 
beyond which it will soon be too late to avoid the extinction of life as 
we know it. Like most of my generation living in the wealthy parts of 
the world, I must accept the guilt and responsibility of my own 
contribution to this situation.

I share the frustration of those people who have been warning about this 
for decades - who have observed the totally inadequate response of 
governments and the deliberate lies and distortion of the facts by the 
fossil fuel industry, among others. I welcome the formation of 
Extinction Rebellion: I share its aims, I want to take part in its 
actions and I am gratified by the results it has achieved so far.

And yet, I also recognise that there is still a very long way to go 
before we have any chance of mitigating the ecological and social 
disaster that faces us. More and more people are waking up to the scale 
of the emergency: members of the public voice their concern, councils 
declare a climate emergency, and some politicians utter fine words. But 
we are yet to see this translated into effective action and there is no 
general acceptance or understanding of what that will entail. Because it 
will mean changing the way we live. The system that has brought us to 
this cliff edge is based on greed and inequality - we will only sustain 
life on this planet if we accept the need for less consumption and more 
social justice.

On Tuesday Extinction Rebellion was accused of being an anarchist 
organisation. To my mind, anarchists are anti-government, are 
destructive in their aims, and are not afraid to use violence. We are 
none of those things: we are resolutely nonviolent, recognise the need 
for a government, act in the interests of the people and are trying not 
to destroy, but to save life on Earth.

Occupying Waterloo Bridge in April gave me a glimpse of the sort of 
community we could all enjoy living in. Full of energy, imagination and 
creativity. A community organised to look after its members and its 
surroundings. A simple society but one rich in love and respect for each 
other.

Sitting on the bridge, waiting to be arrested, I was mainly thinking of 
my grandchildren. I was also thinking, desperately, that the world must 
change course before it is too late.

Bob Rivett is a retired general practitioner and Extinction Rebellion member

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/19/extinction-rebellion-protesters-ordinary-people?CMP=share_btn_link

- -

[Extinction Rebellion hear BBC acting like FOX in its taunting of XR]
*Dr. Rupert Read | BBC Radio 4 Today | Extinction Rebellion*
Extinction Rebellion
Published on Jul 17, 2019
17.07.2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIBxjdMECqg




[Not a wise time to cut research]
*'A Death Spiral for Research': Arctic Scientists Worried as Alaska 
Universities Face 40% Funding Cut*
The state's flagship university at Fairbanks is a hub of climate 
research that brings together scientists from around the world.
By Sabrina Shankman
The University of Alaska Fairbanks is a hub for Arctic climate research, 
and a magnet for top scientists and international collaborations--and 
it's in trouble.

Alaska Gov. Michael Dunleavy has slashed the university system's state 
funding by more than 40 percent, and efforts in the legislature to 
restore the money have so far failed. It's not yet clear how the funding 
cut will play out at the universities, but some experts worry that when 
it comes to the future of climate science there, the damage is already done.

"Researchers are going to leave--that's the bottom line," said John 
Walsh, the chief scientist at UAF's International Arctic Research 
Center. "They'll take their research funding elsewhere."

With experts on permafrost, short-lived climate pollutants, sea ice and 
more, UAF has earned a reputation as a leader in Arctic climate 
research. Its research is often the product of years of work with 
partners from universities worldwide.

While much of the funding for that research comes from federal grants, 
the Republican governor's state funding cuts signal an uncertain future 
for the university--one that will likely send faculty and graduate 
students elsewhere, and which could slow momentum on crucial monitoring 
projects that are helping scientists grapple with the rapid rate of 
climate change in the Arctic.
- - -
One of those projects is a collaboration with the National Park Service 
to study landslides at Denali National Park and Preserve. After a year 
and a half of preparation, Romanovsky said they were about to submit an 
application for federal funding when the budget cuts were announced. "A 
person from the Park Service said, 'What do we do now? Should we just 
stop and wait to see what happens?'" Romanovsky said. "We had to say no, 
let's continue our planning and submit."...
- - -
Thoman fears that this year's cut, because it comes during the first 
year of Dunleavy's administration, signals more tough times to come in 
future budgets as well. "There's precisely zero reason to think that if 
we can just get through this year then we can muddle through," Thoman said.

Meanwhile, faculty and students are likely to start jumping ship. Walsh, 
who has been at the university for 18 years, said he's "keeping his eyes 
open," but that as a more senior researcher, retirement is an option.

"I'm more concerned about the younger scientists here who are looking 
for jobs. The stakes are really high for them with so much of their 
career ahead of them," he said. "You don't want to stay on a sinking 
ship until it sinks. That's the short of it."
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19072019/alaska-university-budget-cut-dunleavy-arctic-research-future-students-climate-change



[Glaciers and Mauro Pelto - text and audio]
*A Visit with the Glacier Squad*
For 35 years, a scientist and his team have been taking the pulse of 10 
coastal glaciers. The diagnosis is in.
Authored by Madeline Ostrander
July 16, 2019
This article is also available in audio format. Listen now, download, or 
subscribe to "Hakai Magazine Audio Edition" through your favorite 
podcast app.

    "Pelto, a professor at Nichols College in Massachusetts, has been
    traveling to the northwest United States to document the behavior of
    glaciers every year for the past 35 years, witnessing their decline
    and fall, and this is why he regards the otherworldly scene before
    us with a kind of nonchalance. All morning, he has pointed out where
    the glacier used to be--in the 1990s, an area presently marked by
    the bit of precocious vegetation that has begun to colonize; then
    the early 2000s, a space now mostly comprised of bare rock and mud;
    then 2009, when his daughter, Jill, first came here with him as a
    teenager. She strides cheerfully behind him now, along with two
    graduate students from Maine--Mariama Dryak and Erin McConnell. Both
    are similarly sanguine, even though McConnell is wearing crampons
    that barely fit her boots, tied on precariously with some extra
    straps repurposed from her backpack. Through wind and rain, we have
    ascended a slope covered in glassy ice so hard we have had to stomp
    the crampons in just to get a foothold. Still, the women are
    unflappable and curious, lobbing questions at Pelto and at each
    other, and noticing formations and debris in the ice--from the
    geological bands left by meltstreams to a bit of tire tread and some
    pistachio shells presumably deposited months ago by incautious
    snowmobilers.

    For scientists ascending the Easton Glacier in the Cascade Range of
    Washington State, it takes proper equipment and a sense of
    adventure. From left: Mariama Dryak, Erin McConnell, and Jill Pelto.
    Photo by Madeline Ostrander

    Ahead of us lies the icefall. Despite similar etymological origins,
    this unearthly terrain looks no more like a waterfall than a lunar
    crater resembles a river gulch. The icefall is instead a steep
    landscape of toothy crevasses gaping through 10 meters or more of
    ice thickness. I forge on, gasping and crunching across granular ice
    pebbles that look like glass fragments, lagging behind the others. I
    am quite certain that I don't belong here, but I am too stubborn to
    turn back."

https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/a-visit-with-the-glacier-squad/



[Because not everyone wants to]
*We Went to the Moon. Why Can't We Solve Climate Change?*
John Schwartz - July 19, 2019 - NYTimes opinion
- -
Fifty years after humans first left bootprints in the lunar dust, it's 
an enticing idea...
- -
Climate change is certainly an urgent challenge. Rising levels of 
greenhouse gases are raising temperatures worldwide, leading to shifting 
weather patterns that are only expected to get worse, with increased 
flooding and heat waves, and drought and wildfires afflicting millions. 
The task of reversing that accumulation of greenhouse gases is vast, and 
progress is painfully slow.

The idea of a moon shot for climate has been gaining supporters. Beto 
O'Rourke and Kirsten Gillibrand use the idea in their presidential 
campaigns, as did Michael Bloomberg in unveiling his recently announced 
$500 million Beyond Carbon campaign. In a commencement speech this year 
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he said, "It is time for 
all of us to accept that climate change is the challenge of our time." 
He concluded, "It may be a moon shot -- but it's the only shot we've 
got."...
- - -
If we did choose once again to do an important thing because it is hard, 
the task ahead would be more than technical, said Hal Harvey, chief 
executive of the research firm Energy Innovation. The deceptively simple 
goal, he said, should be to "decarbonize electricity, and then electrify 
everything." That would involve building up renewable energy and 
dropping electrical generation from fossil fuel plants, and building up 
the use of technologies like heat pumps that can make home heating and 
cooling more efficient. China has invested heavily in electric buses, 
electric scooters, and other ways to stop burning fossil fuels. There 
are further advances in industrial processes and power systems 
engineering that will help, he said, ticking off a dizzying array of 
avenues that would allow society to reach those goals.

But mostly, he said, it will require a shift in national attitude.

"The moon shot technology we need is political will."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/climate/moon-shot-climate-change.html


[UNITAR = United Nations Institute for Training And Research]
*Climate Change Diplomacy: Negotiating Effectively under the UNFCC*
  UNITAR is pleased to announce that applications for the e-learning 
course on Climate Change Diplomacy are now open.

This online course will develop participants' understanding of the 
climate change policy framework, by building an appreciation of the 
science, causes and impacts of climate change, the history of the policy 
making process and the UNFCCC framework, and will also consider the 
pertinent challenges currently facing diplomats and international 
decision makers in making progress with what is currently on the 
negotiating table. The course will take a close look at the negotiations 
to-date; the role of gender in the negotiations; and also the specific 
interests of parties who are most vulnerable to impacts of climate change.

The duration of the course is 8 weeks, from 9th September to 3rd 
November 2019.
The cost of the course is $800 per participant.
For additional information on the e-learning courses, please email us at 
mdp-elearning at unitar.org or call us at +41 22 917 87 16. You can also 
visit us at www.unitar.org
Register at 
https://www.unitar.org/event/full-catalog/climate-change-diplomacy-negotiating-effectively-under-unfccc-17



*This Day in Climate History - July 21, 2008 - from D.R. Tucker*
July 21, 2008: The UK Office of Communication criticizes Britain's 
Channel 4 for running the 2007 denialism doc "The Great Global Warming 
Swindle." Below, Peter Sinclair of ClimateCrocks.com debunks the doc.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/science/earth/22clim.html?_r=0
http://youtu.be/boj9ccV9htk
http://youtu.be/8nrvrkVBt24
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