[TheClimate.Vote] March 26, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Tue Mar 26 10:21:28 EDT 2019
/March 26, 2019/
[Gallup report]
*Americans as Concerned as Ever About Global Warming*
- 66% believe global warming is caused by human activity, near all-time high
- Fewer highly worried about it, though also near high point in Gallup trend
- Partisan differences still stark, with most Democrats worried, most in
GOP not
- - -
At the high end of the range of global warming consciousness, 66% of
U.S. adults say they believe global warming is caused by pollution from
human activities rather than natural changes in the environment.
Similarly, 65% perceive that most scientists believe global warming is
occurring, and 59% believe the effects of global warming have already
begun, while another 13% believe they will happen within their lifetime.
Despite these views, fewer than half of Americans -- 45% -- think global
warming will pose a serious threat in their own lifetime and 44% say
they worry a great deal about it. Another 21% worry a fair amount about
global warming, while about a third (35%) worry only a little or not at all.
Just over four in 10, 42%, think the news underestimates the seriousness
of global warming, while 22% think the news gets it about right and 35%
think it exaggerates the problem.
These findings are based on Gallup's 2019 update of its annual
Environment poll, conducted March 1-10. Full trends for these six global
warming perceptions are available through a link at the end of this article.
- - -
Majority of Americans for First Time Are "Concerned Believers"
Gallup takes these data a step further by classifying Americans into
attitudinal types based on four of the global warming questions. The
analysis puts Americans into three main groups:
"Concerned Believers" are highly worried about global warming,
think it will pose a serious threat in their lifetime, believe it's the
result of human activity, and think news reports about it are accurate
or underestimate the problem...
https://news.gallup.com/poll/248027/americans-concerned-ever-global-warming.aspx
[Beckwith video]
*Linkages from Globe to Arctic and from Arctic to Globe*
Paul Beckwith
Published on Mar 24, 2019
I discuss a new UN Environmental Report titled "Global Linkages: A
Graphic Look at the Changing Arctic" (Google it!). Mainstream Media
focused on only one small part of the report (namely the question as to
whether 3-5C of warming is locked-in for the Arctic) and ignored the
rest of the report. The report contains many excellent graphics that I
chat about; namely the cryosphere, permafrost, short-lived climate
pollutants, ocean acidification, persistent organic pollutants,
plastics, mercury, and biodiversity, including migration and invasive
species.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTbcVLvBED4
- - -
['Locked-in' means no reverse, just slow it down]
*Temperature rise is 'locked-in' for the coming decades in the Arctic*
Even if existing Paris Agreement commitments are met, winter
temperatures over the Arctic Ocean will increase 3-5C by mid-century
compared to 1986-2005 levels.
Thawing permafrost could wake 'sleeping giant' of more greenhouse gases,
potentially derailing global climate goals.
Ocean acidification and pollution also posing major threats to Arctic.
Nairobi, 13 March 2019 - Even if the world were to cut emissions in line
with the existing Paris Agreement commitments, winter temperatures over
the Arctic Ocean would rise 3-5C by mid-century, finds a new report by
UN Environment.
Meanwhile, rapidly thawing permafrost could even accelerate climate
change further and derail efforts to meet the Paris Agreement's
long-term goal of limiting the rise in global temperature to 2C, warns
Global Linkages - A graphic look at the changing Arctic.
Other environmental pressures on the Arctic identified by the paper -
released at the United Nations Environment Assembly - include ocean
acidification and plastic pollution.
"What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic," said Joyce
Msuya, UN Environment's Acting Executive Director. "We have the science;
now more urgent climate action is needed to steer away from tipping
points that could be even worse for our planet than we first thought."
Even if drastic global emission reductions were to kick in immediately,
winter temperatures in the Arctic would still keep increasing at least
for the coming two decades, the study finds...
https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/temperature-rise-locked-coming-decades-arctic
- - -
Full report:
*Global Linkages- A graphic look at the changing Arctic*
The new report "Global Linkages - A graphic look at the changing
Arctic", produced by UN Environment and its collaborating center
GRID-Arendal, is a set of maps and graphics, accompanied by short
narratives to synthesize and illustrate the most critical, connected
environmental challenges with Arctic and global relevance and focusing
on issues which call for common solutions.
https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/27687/Arctic_Graphics.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
[NOAA Climate outlook explained ]
*NOAA's spring 2019 flood and climate outlook for the United States*
NOAAClimate
Published on Mar 21, 2019
Following a wet winter, many parts of the United States are at risk of
at least minor flooding this spring. In this video, the Climate
Prediction Center's Mike Halpert explains what's behind NOAA's
temperature, precipitation, and flood outlooks for spring 2019. For maps
and more discussion, visit https://www.climate.gov/spring2019.
- - -
NOAA Climate.gov
@NOAAClimate
The @NOAA #SpringOutlook calls for increased chances of a wetter than
usual spring for much of the country.
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/videos/us-flood-and-climate-outlook-spring-2019
Video produced by the Climate.gov team in cooperation with climate
scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Unless specifically stated otherwise, Climate.gov video productions can
be freely republished or re-purposed by others.
https://youtu.be/_7nXBtnAQl0
[Geoffrey Supran on Twitter - Exxon denial testimony]
"I just testified as an expert witness to EU Parliament about
ExxonMobil's decades of climate denial + delay. Between being the first
major hearing of its kind, a leaked Exxon memo, & the rising prospect of
Exxon being banned from EU lobbying, it was an interesting day."
https://twitter.com/GeoffreySupran/status/1109083684957810688
- - -
[European Parliament meeting EPTV]
*Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety*
Committee on Petitions
ENVIPETI joint meeting - (10:39 / 12:40)
11:53:13 Geoffry Supran testimony
Harsh Q&A at 12:37
mms://vod.europarl.europa.eu/wmv/nas/nasvod01/cod1903/wm_pad/Channel04/VODChapter_20190321_10390200_12405300_Ch04_6d40c6169977f12a26187.wmv?wmcache=0
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/committees/video?event=20190321-1030-COMMITTEE-PETI-ENVI
- - -
*Assessing ExxonMobil's climate change communications (1977-2014)*
Geoffrey Supran1 and Naomi Oreskes
"Read all of these documents and make up your own mind,' ExxonMobil has
challenged".
"This paper takes up that challenge by analyzing the materials
highlighted by the company, and comparing them with other publicly
available ExxonMobil communications on AGW. The issue at stake is
whether the corporation misled consumers, shareholders and/or the
general public by making public statements that cast doubt on climate
science and its implications, and which were at odds with available
scientific information and with what the company knew. We stress that
the question is not whether ExxonMobil 'suppressed climate change
research,' but rather how they communicated about it."
Abstract
This paper assesses whether ExxonMobil Corporation has in the past
misled the general public about climate change. We present an
empirical document-by-document textual content analysis and
comparison of 187 climate change communications from ExxonMobil,
including peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed publications, internal
company documents, and paid, editorial-style advertisements
('advertorials') in The New York Times. We examine whether these
communications sent consistent messages about the state of climate
science and its implications—specifically, we compare their
positions on climate change as real, human-caused, serious, and
solvable. In all four cases, we find that as documents become more
publicly accessible, they increasingly communicate doubt. This
discrepancy is most pronounced between advertorials and all other
documents. For example, accounting for expressions of reasonable
doubt, 83% of peer-reviewed papers and 80% of internal documents
acknowledge that climate change is real and human-caused, yet only
12% of advertorials do so, with 81% instead expressing doubt. We
conclude that ExxonMobil contributed to advancing climate science—by
way of its scientists' academic publications—but promoted doubt
about it in advertorials. Given this discrepancy, we conclude that
ExxonMobil misled the public. Our content analysis also examines
ExxonMobil's discussion of the risks of stranded fossil fuel assets.
We find the topic discussed and sometimes quantified in 24 documents
of various types, but absent from advertorials. Finally, based on
the available documents, we outline ExxonMobil's strategic approach
to climate change research and communication, which helps to
contextualize our findings.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa815f
[BBC series]
*Sustainable thinking 16 VIDEOS*
A playlist featuring new, challenging and even visionary thinking around
climate change and sustainability.
*Can we transform the world in 12 years?*
4:5026k views
Scientists say we have 12 years to stop the planet warming above 1.5C.
Can we do it? History is full of examples of rapid change.
https://www.bbc.com/ideas/videos/can-we-transform-the-world-in-12-years/p073j3z5?playlist=sustainable-thinking
[Can we treat an ethical lapse?]
*Should Therapists Treat Climate Change Denial As A Psychological Disorder?*
Paul Hsieh - Contributor I cover health care and economics from a
free-market perspective.
How far should therapists and psychiatrists go in taking sides on
controversial political issues such as climate change?
Reporter Olivia Goldhill recently described a talk by psychoanalyst
Donna Orange, an adjunct professor at New York University, urging that
therapists address "not just the demons of a patient's subconscious, but
the horrors of climate change."
In her talk, Orange noted:
Together with the colonialist past we all share, this history of slavery
and its ongoing effects, of which we rarely speak, blinds us to the
misery that our carbon-and-methane spewing lifestyles are creating in
the global south.
Dr. Orange believes that therapists "can draw attention to the threats
posed by climate change, and then challenge the mental defenses that
prevent people from responding to climate change."
I fully support the right of any medical or mental health practitioner
to speak out on issues of importance to them and to advocate associated
political action. I respect everyone's right to free speech — whether or
not I agree with the specific views being advocated.
However, I'm leery of medical and mental health practitioners
introducing their personal politics into the treatment room. And I'm
especially uneasy with the prospect that certain unpopular political
views (for example, skepticism about climate change) might be labeled
with psychoanalytic diagnoses such as "dissociation" or "regression."
Individuals can arrive at controversial views by a variety of means,
both rational and irrational. The beauty of a free society is that
rational discourse can allow sound views to take hold and displace
irrational views. This process can take time and energy, but it's also
the best way to get "buy in" at the broader cultural level. In my own
lifetime, I've seen tremendous progress on contentious issues such as
racial equality, acceptance of sexual minorities, abortion rights, gun
rights, and drug legalization.
However, this process of organic cultural change is endangered when
advocates on one side attempt to declare opposing views as out of bounds
on either medical or legal grounds.
Wikipedia has an excellent (and heart-breaking) list of the many
historical abuses of psychiatry in countries such as China and the
former Soviet Union to stifle political dissent by labeling unpopular
views as "mental illness."
Nor is the United States immune to similar problems. Psychiatrist
Jonathan Metzl has described how mental health practitioners in one
hospital in the 1960's "diagnose[d] African Americans with schizophrenia
because of their civil rights ideas" including the patients' displays of
"aggression" and "hostility."
Other environmental activists go even further and want to declare
climate change "denial" not just a psychological issue but as a literal
crime — to be punished as "murder" in some cases.
I don't have strong views on the climate change debate one way or
another. I'm glad to let those who feel strongly on either side to apply
their time, energy, and expertise to make their best possible cases to
the American people with respect to the relevant scientific and public
policy issues.
But I want to caution against the temptation to use the medical system
(or the legal system) to stifle much-needed discussion on this and other
controversial topics. Medicalizing (or criminalizing) the views of
political dissenters threatens our basic free speech rights and
ultimately does us all a disservice. Robust and spirited debate on
contentious issues is our best way of arriving at the truth, and
supporters in a free society should settle for nothing less.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulhsieh/2019/02/26/should-therapists-treat-climate-change-denial-as-a-psychological-disorder/#5b6b34061e2b
[Vogue Magazine asks a question of the 21 youths]
*Do Americans Have a Constitutional Right to a Livable Planet? Meet the
21 Young People Who Say They Do*
- -
When do you think they're going to start studying us in law school?"
asks Aji Piper, an eighteen-year-old who dropped out of high school to
focus on the suit and related speaking opportunities (he's seeking a
more "flexible" program that lets him take his schoolwork on the go.)
"They already are!" Loznak exclaims. "I've taken classes studying this
case. Which is a surreal experience."
Kelsey Juliana, 23, a University of Oregon undergraduate who lent her
name to the court filings, raises a different point. She chokes up
describing the pressure of being, as she puts it, "a holder of hope."
"I have professors pleading with me: 'Can you please skip your class to
come to my class and educate 200 people that are your age about why they
should be hopeful?' I feel like I have to be an emotional and spiritual
compass. They don't want to take the time to understand what's going on.
[They're like]: 'Just tell me how to be happy!' "
It's snowing and the youngest plaintiff, Levi Draheim, eleven, who lives
on an imperiled barrier island off the coast of Florida, is doing his
best to contain his desire to run around outside. "You guys need
snacks," concludes their lawyer, Olson, and vegan Mexican takeout soon
appears. Several girls, whose luggage Delta lost, head to Forever 21.
Van Ummersen starts watching a pottery video on her phone. Another
plaintiff, Nick Venner, seventeen, dons headphones and begins solving
differential equations on his laptop. A snowball and then a paper
airplane go zooming by, care of Draheim, who disappears upstairs and
returns wearing a psychedelic wizard robe sewn by his mother.
Several of the plaintiffs describe the group as family. "Birds of a
feather flock together," is how Piper puts it. "Some of my best friends
in the world," says Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, eighteen, a hip-hop artist—his
new track features Jaden Smith—of Aztec descent.
- -
https://www.vogue.com/article/youth-v-gov-fight-for-future-april-2019-issue
[corrected version for an important document]
Press release:
https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/temperature-rise-locked-coming-decades-arctic
Full report:
https://www.unenvironment.org/fr/node/24594
*Global Linkages- A graphic look at the changing Arctic*
The new report "Global Linkages - A graphic look at the changing
Arctic", produced by UN Environment and its collaborating center
GRID-Arendal, is a set of maps and graphics, accompanied by short
narratives to synthesize and illustrate the most critical, connected
environmental challenges with Arctic and global relevance and focusing
on issues which call for common solutions.
www.unenvironment.org
[Some climate psychology]
*Leveraging Serial Dramas to Move the Needle on Climate Change*
5 months ago
Debra SaferPlus
This video includes highlights from speakers Dr. Al Bandura, William
Ryerson, and Kathy Le Backes (as well as moderator Sonny Fox, host Debra
Safer) which took place on 3/15/18 at Stanford University.
Applying Psychosocial Principles to Solve Urgent Global Problems.
https://vimeo.com/298100051
*This Day in Climate History - March 26, 2006 - from D.R. Tucker*
March 26, 2006: TIME Magazine releases its April 3, 2006 cover-dated
issue, with the cover story: "Be Worried. Be Very Worried."
http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20060403,00.html
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1176980,00.html
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