[TheClimate.Vote] March 27, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest..

Wed Mar 27 10:29:15 EDT 2019

/March 27, 2019/

[Southeastern Africa flooding]
*No Roofs, No Roads, No Bread: Cyclone Devastates Parts of Southeastern 
Africa*
- - -
At least 600,000 people have been displaced, according to the United 
Nations World Food Program, which deemed the crisis a level three 
emergency on par with war-torn Yemen, Syria and South Sudan...
- - -
The first cases of cholera have been reported by the Red Cross in Beira, 
a coastal city that bore the brunt of the storm.
- - -
After passing through Mozambique, the cyclone hit the Chimanimani 
district of Zimbabwe, sweeping away cars and debris, cutting off roads 
and impeding the emergency response.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/world/africa/cyclone-idai-africa-mozambique-zimbabwe.html

[some good news]
*"Staggering": Progress in Batteries, Wind, Solar Threatens Gas*
Bloomberg New Energy Finance:

London and New York, March 26, 2019 - Two technologies that were 
immature and expensive only a few years ago but are now at the center of 
the unfolding low-carbon energy transition have seen spectacular gains 
in cost-competitiveness in the last year.

The latest analysis by research company BloombergNEF (BNEF) shows that 
the benchmark levelized cost of electricity, or LCOE, for lithium-ion 
batteries has fallen 35% to $187 per megawatt-hour since the first half 
of 2018. Meanwhile, the benchmark LCOE for offshore wind has tumbled by 24%.

Onshore wind and photovoltaic solar have also gotten cheaper, their 
respective benchmark LCOE reaching $50 and $57 per megawatt-hour for 
projects starting construction in early 2019, down 10% and 18% on the 
equivalent figures of a year ago...
https://climatecrocks.com/2019/03/27/staggering-progress-in-batteries-wind-solar-threatens-gas/

[not if, as]
*Scientists warn of "inevitable sea level rise" as Antarctica ice melts*
BY MARK PHILLIPS - MARCH 18, 2019 - CBS NEWS
Whether you observe from the sea or from the air, there's less 
Antarctica to see every year -- less ice on the land-bound ice cap and 
glaciers and more ice breaking up and flowing off onto the oceans.

Captain Oliver Kruess pilots his cruise ship -- the National Geographic 
Explorer -- through the flows. Antarctic adventure tourism has become 
big business. But he says something happens to the people who come down 
here.

"Initially, many of them come for the seals, for the penguins, for the 
whales," Kruess told CBS News senior foreign correspondent Mark Phillips 
in a report for "Down to Earth" by CBS News on Facebook Watch. "But when 
they return to Antarctica, they come for the ice -- the shape of the 
icebergs, the sea-ice set up, the ship in the ice."

"So much of the earth's fresh water is sequestered here in Antarctica in 
that huge ice mass that's frozen there," NASA scientist John Sonntag 
said. "A good way to think of both Greenland and Antarctica is as a 
gigantic mountain of ice. They're not just thin layers of ice and rock, 
they're gigantic mountains of ice, two to three miles thick so that's a 
lot of sea level that's locked up in these ice sheets."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/antarctica-climate-change-ice-melts-sea-levels-rise-inevitable-scientists-warn/

[disappointment time]
*In blow to climate, coal plants emitted more than ever in 2018*
"We are headed for disaster, and nobody seems to be able to slow things 
down," a Stanford University professor said...
- - -
"Very worrisome" is how Michael Mehling, deputy director of the Center 
for Energy and Environmental Policy Research at the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology, described Monday's findings.

"To me, all this reflects the fact that climate policies around the 
globe, despite some limited pockets of progress, remain woefully 
inadequate," he said in an email. "They're not even robust enough to 
offset the increased emissions from economic expansion, especially in 
the developing world, let alone to spur decarbonization at levels 
commensurate with the temperature stabilization goals we've committed to 
under the Paris Agreement."...
- -
And when it comes to coal use, that same report found that to limit 
temperatures to 1.5 degrees C, it would have to decline by as much as 78 
percent in just over 10 years. Again, coal emissions are still rising....
- -
"We are in deep trouble," Jackson said of Monday's findings. "The 
climate consequences are catastrophic. I don't use any word like that 
very often. But we are headed for disaster, and nobody seems to be able 
to slow things down."
[Download the Headline Statements here 
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2018/07/sr15_headline_statements.pdf 
]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/03/26/blow-climate-coal-plants-emitted-more-than-ever/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.46c3c66024a8
- - -
[The same report  ]
*Summary for Policymakers*
[Download PDF 
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2018/07/SR15_SPM_version_stand_alone_LR.pdf 
]
This Report responds to the invitation for IPCC '… to provide a Special 
Report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5C above 
pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission 
pathways' contained in the Decision of the 21st Conference of Parties of 
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to adopt the 
Paris Agreement...
https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/summary-for-policy-makers/

[never ending]
*After Paris agreement, big oil and gas companies invested $110 billion 
in fossil fuels*
BY IRINA IVANOVA
MARCH 25, 2019 - MONEYWATCH
In the three years since most of the world's nations signed on to the 
Paris climate agreement, major oil and gas companies have poured more 
than $100 billion into their fossil-fuel infrastructure. That's more 
than 10 times the amount the same companies have spent on low-carbon 
investments, despite lip service toward that area, according to a new 
report.

InfluenceMap analyzed public disclosures of major oil and gas companies. 
The five biggest--ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, BP and 
Total--will collectively spend $115 billion on capital investments this 
year, according to the report. Just 3 percent of that spending will go 
to low-carbon investments, like hydrogen batteries or electric-car 
charging stations.

InfluenceMap contrasts this with the money the companies spent on 
"branding and lobbying" related to climate, which cost the oil and gas 
giants $1 billion since the end of 2015, per the report. That includes 
money spent directly as well as through trade groups that oppose carbon 
restrictions, including the American Petroleum Institute and American 
Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-climate-accords-top-oil-and-gas-companies-spent-110-billion-on-fossil-fuel-investments/
- - -
[visualizing political power with the IM InfluenceMap]
*Big Oil's Real Agenda on Climate Change*
An InfluenceMap Report
March 2019
How the oil majors have spent $1Bn since Paris on narrative capture and 
lobbying on climate

This research finds that the five largest publicly-traded oil and gas 
majors (ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, BP and Total) have 
invested over $1Bn of shareholder funds in the three years following the 
Paris Agreement on misleading climate-related branding and lobbying. 
These efforts are overwhelmingly in conflict with the goals of this 
landmark global climate accord and designed to maintain the social and 
legal license to operate and expand fossil fuel operations.

Company disclosures of spending on climate lobbying and branding are 
very limited. To fill this transparency gap, InfluenceMap has devised a 
methodology using best-available disclosures and intensive research of 
corporate messaging to evaluate oil major spending aimed at influencing 
the climate agenda, both directly and through their key trade groups.

This research will feed into efforts by key stakeholders to bring the 
oil and gas sector into line with the urgency of action on climate 
change. These include the global investment community which in 2017 
launched the Climate Action 100+ program of engagement with some of the 
world's largest corporations on climate change...
https://influencemap.org/report/How-Big-Oil-Continues-to-Oppose-the-Paris-Agreement-38212275958aa21196dae3b76220bddc

[BBC series]
*Sustainable thinking 16 VIDEOS*
A playlist featuring new, challenging and even visionary thinking around 
climate change and sustainability.
https://www.bbc.com/ideas/playlists/sustainable-thinking
*'Climate change need not become the legacy we leave'*
Spoken word poet Magero reflects on our personal responsibility to the 
planet.
https://www.bbc.com/ideas/videos/climate-change-need-not-become-the-legacy-we-leave/p073ckcz?playlist=sustainable-thinking

[SImple and continuing education... video, um for your kids]
*Understanding Graphs*
Dr Nic's Maths and Stats
Published on Feb 2, 2017
Dr Nic from Statistics Learning Centre briefly explains the use and 
interpretation of seven different types of statistical graph.  They 
include the pictogram, bar chart, pie chart, dot plot, stem and leaf, 
scatterplot and time series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rllw15xkmUU
- -
[Moderately advanced data visualization]
*Statistical Graph Literacy (Reading & Interpreting Data Visualizations)*
bearloga
Published on Jun 14, 2016
Here's the slide deck from the presentation:
https://github.com/bearloga/wmf/blob/master/presentations/lessons/Dataviz%20Literacy/Statistical%20Graph%20Literacy.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeYhYJI_drI
- - -
[CrashCourse Statistics - 45 lessons, from the very beginning]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zouPoc49xbk&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNM_Y-bUAhblSAdWRnmBUcr 

[important media self reflection]
*Subject: What could come from the Huluization of news by Apple?*
This article covers the effects of human curation as well algorithmic 
tracking, and places this initiative into the history of media control. 
"In simple terms, Apple will become a Netflix or Hulu for news, doing 
what those companies did for video. The deeper ramifications will unfold 
over time, but now is the time to debate the values involved."
http://bit.ly/2YjG7Yd

[OK decent idea]
*Growing greens in the Arctic - DW Documentary*
DW Documentary
Published on Mar 25, 2019
In Spitsbergen, one of the northern-most populated areas inside the 
Arctic Circle, American Benjamin Vidmar is attempting the unthinkable.
On an island that is dark for three months of the year, he's growing 
fresh vegetables for the local community. Benjamin Vidmar has worked all 
over the world as a chef. It was something of a coincidence that he 
ended up on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, in the Arctic Circle. 
Because he wanted to have fresh vegetables, he built a special 
domed-shaped greenhouse and developed his own composting system. His aim 
is to provide fresh, locally sourced food for the community along with a 
sustainable waste disposal system - developing global solutions for food 
production in the process. Now he wants to open his own restaurant which 
is to operate without producing any waste. A report by Axel Rowohlt.
https://youtu.be/U3KUi_1vJsE

*This Day in Climate History - March 27, 2007 - from D.R. Tucker*
March 27, 2007: In a post on CallingAllWingnuts.com about a recent 
confrontation with Competitive Enterprise Institute honcho Myron Ebell, 
blogger Mike Stark observes:

"Upon reflection, I really think there are a couple of lessons for
progressives to be found in this five minute exchange.

"First of all, when arguing with somebody that either has no
credibility or is not arguing a credible position, don't donate the
credibility they need to be seen as your equal."

"You see, by calling his credibility into question immediately - and
not letting him up for air - well, I've got no proof, but I really
think that everyone in the room knew that Mr. Ebell had been
bettered. When we ask policy or science questions of these
charlatans, we give the impression that we care what they think. We
don't. We know they are rank liars, we're just wondering if they'll
be able to spin a sufficient answer. But these guys get millions of
dollars a year from the largest corporate titans precisely because
they have the skill to ink up the issue. Why let them show off?

"Secondly, don't go out of your way to be nice or polite. Hell, I
won't afford these profit-gandists any respect on my blog, why the
hell should I do it face to face? A large part of their professional
career derives from their ability to mock me and the things I
believe in. The Competitive Enterprise Institute once liked global
warming to 'being invaded by space aliens' for example. By
addressing these people with the indignant scorn they deserve, you
project the moral superiority of your position. To many times it
seems that Democratic and progressive pundits are more interested in
being our opponents' friends than we are in vigorously arguing the
issues. In this media environment - when equal time is given to
global warming deniers... well, we just can't afford the small talk.

"In the end, these guys are not good people. This isn't a case of
principled people disagreeing. At this point in the global warming
debate, the only principled disagreements to be had revolve around
what we should be doing to address the crisis. The Myron Ebells of
the world - the die-hard denialists... well, we need to move them
off the stage by marginalizing them at every opportunity."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-stark/global-warming-phooey_b_44407.html
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