[TheClimate.Vote] May 7, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/May 7, 2019/


[Finland thumps Pompeo]
*The Arctic Institute's Reaction to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's 
speech in Rovaniemi, Finland ahead of the Arctic Council Ministerial 
Meeting**
*May 6, 2019 By The Arctic Institute Law and Governance, Press Release

    The Ministerial is a biennial meeting of Secretaries of State as
    part of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum comprised of
    the eight Arctic states. This week's meeting in Rovaniemi, Finland
    will see the Chairmanship of the Council pass from Finland to
    Iceland after two years.

*Washington D.C., May 6, 2019* - In response to Secretary of State Mike 
Pompeo's speech in Rovaniemi, Finland ahead of the Arctic Council 
Ministerial Meeting, The Arctic Institute's President and Managing 
Director, *Dr. Victoria Herrmann*, stated: "Taking the stage in 
Rovaniemi, Finland Monday afternoon, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo 
issued a stern warning to Russia and China: respect American interests 
in the Arctic, or face the consequences. There's just one problem. 
America's Arctic ambivalence is a far greater threat than the ambitions 
of Russia and China combined. With no strong fleet of icebreakers, no 
Arctic Ambassador, and no climate change policy, America is arguably the 
weakest circumpolar nation, and shows no signs of correcting course."

She also noted, "At a time where the region is undergoing abrupt and 
dangerous climate changes, the U.S. cannot afford the climate denial and 
it has adopted during the Trump Administration. The impacts of climate 
change are already forcing the circumpolar region to undergo an 
unprecedented transition in human history according to the 2018 Arctic 
Report Card, costing billions of dollars in damages, inflicting 
irreplaceable cultural loss, and devastating the livelihoods of 
America's northernmost citizens. The Trump Administration should be more 
concerned about the imminent threat it is posing to Americans through 
climate inaction than Chinese and Russian ambitions."

*Malte Humpert*, The Arctic Institute's Founder and a Senior Fellow, 
explained: "It is now clear that the Trump administration and Secretary 
of State Pompeo have decided that it's time to 'Make the Arctic Great 
Again'. The administration has failed to acknowledge the ongoing and 
worsening challenges of Climate Change in the region and instead 
continues a sustained effort to re-frame Arctic issues as a security 
challenge aimed against Russia and China."

He further elaborated: "This approach goes counter to the very ideals of 
the Arctic Council, which over its almost 25-year history, has been a 
model for intergovernmental cooperation. Due to the U.S.' position and 
brash approach an Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting may end without a 
joint declaration for the first time."
Contacts
Malte Humpert, Washington, D.C.
malte.humpert at thearcticinstitute.org, +1 202 352 8162
Victoria Herrmann, PhD, Washington, D.C.
victoria.herrmann at thearcticinstitute.org, +1 201 247 9352
https://mailchi.mp/thearcticinstitute/new-report-business-index-north-829127?e=042b5ea54b


[IPBES Science and Policy for People and Nature]
*Media Release: Nature's Dangerous Decline 'Unprecedented'; Species 
Extinction Rates 'Accelerating'*
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem 
Services (IPBES)
Media Release
Summary for Policymakers, photos, 'B-roll', other media resources: 
bit.ly/IPBESReport
Media launch webcast live from #IPBES7 (Paris, France): bit.ly/IPBES...
Nature's Dangerous Decline 'Unprecedented'
Species Extinction Rates 'Accelerating'
Current global response insufficient;
'Transformative changes' needed to restore and protect nature;
Opposition from vested interests can be overcome for public good
Most comprehensive assessment of its kind;
1,000,000 species threatened with extinction
https://www.ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment
- - -
[Important]
https://apnews.com/aaf1091c5aae40b0a110daaf04950672
*UN report: Humans accelerating extinction of species*
By SETH BORENSTEIN
People are putting nature in more trouble now than at any other time in 
human history, with extinction looming over 1 million species of plants 
and animals, scientists said Monday.

But it's not too late to fix the problem, according to the United 
Nations' first comprehensive report on biodiversity.

"We have reconfigured dramatically life on the planet," report 
co-chairman Eduardo Brondizio of Indiana University said at a press 
conference.

Species loss is accelerating to a rate tens or hundreds of times faster 
than in the past, the report said. More than half a million species on 
land "have insufficient habitat for long-term survival" and are likely 
to go extinct, many within decades, unless their habitats are restored. 
The oceans are not any better off.
"Humanity unwittingly is attempting to throttle the living planet and 
humanity's own future," said George Mason University biologist Thomas 
Lovejoy, who has been called the godfather of biodiversity for his 
research. He was not part of the report.

"The biological diversity of this planet has been really hammered, and 
this is really our last chance to address all of that," Lovejoy said.

Conservation scientists from around the world convened in Paris to issue 
the report, which exceeded 1,000 pages. The Intergovernmental 
Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) 
included more than 450 researchers who used 15,000 scientific and 
government reports. The report's summary had to be approved by 
representatives of all 109 nations.

Some nations hit harder by the losses, like small island countries, 
wanted more in the report. Others, such as the United States, were 
cautious in the language they sought, but they agreed "we're in 
trouble," said Rebecca Shaw, chief scientist for the World Wildlife 
Fund, who observed the final negotiations.

"This is the strongest call we've seen for reversing the trends on the 
loss of nature," Shaw said.

The findings are not just about saving plants and animals, but about 
preserving a world that's becoming harder for humans to live in, said 
Robert Watson, a former top NASA and British scientist who headed the 
report.

"We are indeed threatening the potential food security, water security, 
human health and social fabric" of humanity, Watson told The Associated 
Press.

It's also an economic and security issue as countries fight over scarcer 
resources. Watson said the poor in less developed countries bear the 
greatest burden.

The report's 39-page summary highlighted five ways people are reducing 
biodiversity:

    -- Turning forests, grasslands and other areas into farms, cities
    and other developments. The habitat loss leaves plants and animals
    homeless. About three-quarters of Earth's land, two-thirds of its
    oceans and 85% of crucial wetlands have been severely altered or
    lost, making it harder for species to survive, the report said.

    -- Overfishing the world's oceans. A third of the world's fish
    stocks are overfished.

    -- Permitting climate change from the burning of fossil fuels to
    make it too hot, wet or dry for some species to survive. Almost half
    of the world's land mammals -- not including bats -- and nearly a
    quarter of the birds have already had their habitats hit hard by
    global warming.

    -- Polluting land and water. Every year, 300 to 400 million tons of
    heavy metals, solvents and toxic sludge are dumped into the world's
    waters.

    -- Allowing invasive species to crowd out native plants and animals.
    The number of invasive alien species per country has risen 70% since
    1970, with one species of bacteria threatening nearly 400 amphibian
    species.

"The key to remember is, it's not a terminal diagnosis," said report 
co-author Andrew Purvis of the Natural History Museum in London.

Fighting climate change and saving species are equally important, the 
report said, and working on both environmental problems should go hand 
in hand. Both problems exacerbate each other because a warmer world 
means fewer species, and a less biodiverse world means fewer trees and 
plants to remove heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the air, Lovejoy said.

The world's coral reefs are a perfect example of where climate change 
and species loss intersect. If the world warms another 0.9 degrees (0.5 
degrees Celsius), which other reports say is likely, coral reefs will 
probably dwindle by 70% to 90%, the report said. At 1.8 degrees (1 
degree Celsius), the report said, 99% of the world's coral will be in 
trouble.

"Business as usual is a disaster," Watson said.

At least 680 species with backbones have already gone extinct since 
1600. The report said 559 domesticated breeds of mammals used for food 
have disappeared. More than 40% of the world's amphibian species, more 
than one-third of the marine mammals and nearly one-third of sharks and 
fish are threatened with extinction.

The report relies heavily on research by the International Union for the 
Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, which is composed of biologists who 
maintain a list of threatened species.

The IUCN calculated in March that 27,159 species are threatened, 
endangered or extinct in the wild out of nearly 100,000 species 
biologists examined in depth. That includes 1,223 mammal species, 1,492 
bird species and 2,341 fish species. Nearly half the threatened species 
are plants.

Scientists have only examined a small fraction of the estimated 8 
million species on Earth.

The report comes up with 1 million species in trouble by extrapolating 
the IUCN's 25% threatened rate to the rest of the world's species and 
using a lower rate for the estimated 5.5 million species of insects, 
Watson said.

Outside scientists, such as Lovejoy and others, said that's a reasonable 
assessment.

The report gives only a generic "within decades" time frame for species 
loss because it is dependent on many variables, including taking the 
problem seriously, which can reduce the severity of the projections, 
Watson said.

"We're in the middle of the sixth great extinction crisis, but it's 
happening in slow motion," said Conservation International and 
University of California Santa Barbara ecologist Lee Hannah, who was not 
part of the report.

Five times in the past, Earth has undergone mass extinctions where much 
of life on Earth blinked out, like the one that killed the dinosaurs. 
Watson said the report was careful not to call what's going on now as a 
sixth big die-off because current levels don't come close to the 75% 
level in past mass extinctions.

The report goes beyond species. Of the 18 measured ways nature helps 
humans, the report said 14 are declining, with food and energy 
production noticeable exceptions. The report found downward trends in 
nature's ability to provide clean air and water, good soil and other 
essentials.

Habitat loss is one of the biggest threats, and it's happening 
worldwide, Watson said. The report projects 15.5 million miles (25 
million kilometers) of new roads will be paved over nature between now 
and 2050, most in the developing world.

Many of the worst effects can be prevented by changing the way we grow 
food, produce energy, deal with climate change and dispose of waste, the 
report said. That involves concerted action by governments, companies 
and people.

Individuals can help with simple changes to the way they eat and use 
energy, said the co-chairman of the report, ecological scientist Josef 
Settele of the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Germany. 
That doesn't mean becoming a vegetarian or vegan, but balancing meat, 
vegetables and fruit, and walking and biking more, Watson said.

"We can actually feed all the coming billions of people without 
destroying another inch of nature," Lovejoy said. Much of that can be 
done by eliminating food waste and being more efficient, he said.
https://www.apnews.com/aaf1091c5aae40b0a110daaf04950672


["and fossil fuel companies to be legally inoculated from any legal 
ramifications"]
*Microsoft joins group seeking to kill off historic climate change lawsuits*
Legal immunity would squash raft of climate lawsuits launched by cities 
and counties across the US seeking compensation for damages
Microsoft has joined a conservative-led group that demands fossil fuel 
companies be granted legal immunity from attempts to claw back damages 
from the climate change they helped cause.

The stated goals of the Climate Leadership Council (CLC) include a 
$40-a-ton fee on carbon dioxide emissions in return for the gutting of 
current climate change regulations and "protecting companies from 
federal and state tort liability for historic emissions".

Microsoft has become the first technology company to join the CLC, which 
includes oil giants BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, Total and ConocoPhillips 
among its founding members. Handing legal immunity to these oil 
companies would squash a cavalcade of recent climate lawsuits launched 
by cities and counties across the US, including one by King county, 
Washington, where Microsoft is based.

"When Microsoft is underwater it should ask itself if this is a good 
deal," said Matthew Pawa, a lawyer representing King county, which 
includes Seattle, in its lawsuit against five major oil companies. Pawa 
also represents New York City in its suing of the same five firms – BP, 
Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell.
"Microsoft and other tech companies have been looking for a whizz-bang 
technocratic solution to climate change and they think this is it," he 
said. "But they don't know what they are doing. This is a raw deal that 
would stick taxpayers with the bill for decades of carbon pollution. 
It's much like the NRA trying to get Congress to give them a free pass 
from our system of legal justice."...
This raft of legal action – waged by places including Rhode Island, San 
Francisco and Baltimore – would be nullified under the CLC plan, which 
was drawn up by veteran Republicans James Baker and George Shultz, both 
former secretaries of state, and backed by former Federal Reserve chairs 
Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen.

Citing the need for a "much-needed bipartisan climate breakthrough", the 
CLC is lobbying Congress for a gradually rising tax on CO2 emissions, 
with the proceeds returned directly to Americans. Under the plan, this 
would enable regulations on coal-fired power plants to be scrapped and 
fossil fuel companies to be legally inoculated from any legal 
ramifications...
Google and Microsoft also offer a range of technologies for fossil fuel 
companies, with both businesses recently criticized for co-sponsoring a 
conference that featured groups that deny the science of climate change.

"Microsoft is throwing King county taxpayers under the bus by endorsing 
the Baker-Schultz-Exxon proposal that would void the county's lawsuit 
against Exxon, leaving King county residents on the hook for all the 
costs of climate adaptation," said Richard Wiles, director of the Center 
for Climate Integrity.

"The Baker-Schultz-Exxon plan is lipstick on a pig, or worse, and 
Microsoft's endorsement doesn't earn them any real climate kudos."

Putting a price on carbon is viewed by proponents as the most effective 
way of both slashing emissions and garnering support among Republicans 
who have refused to address the existential threat of climate change. 
The concept was bolstered last year by the Nobel prize committee, which 
handed its economics award to Yale's William Nordhaus, who has long 
called for a tax on emissions.

There is evidence that any carbon fee would have to be ratcheted up 
swiftly in order to change behaviour and transition the world away from 
fossil fuels. A landmark report by the UN last year estimated that 
governments would need to impose carbon prices of $135 to $5,500 a ton 
by 2030 to help avoid disastrous climate change, with this figure 
ballooning to $27,000 a ton by the end of the century... (more)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/may/01/microsoft-joins-group-seeking-to-avoid-climate-change-lawsuit


[clever, quick video talk, "there is no planet B"]
*Climate Change : How Land Use is accelerating the crisis*
Just Have a Think
Published on May 6, 2019
Global Warming and Climate Change have two well known culprits : Energy 
and Transport. But there are two more co-conspirators contributing 
catastrophically to the crisis. Those partners are Land Use and 
Intensive Livestock Farming. A new book by Mike Berners-Lee looks at 
these and every other aspect of Climate Change in the 21st Century. This 
week we take a quick look at Chapter One : FOOD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scm46Ctn0Ig
[Vegan eating is the best response]


[coverview of fascinating practical studies on food and language]
*How Better Language Can Boost Sales of Plant-based Menu Items*
WorldResourcesInst
Published on Mar 11, 2019
In this webinar, WRIs Better Buying Lab takes an in-depth look at what 
works and what doesn't when it comes to describing plant-rich foods in a 
way that appeals to broad swaths of the United States and British 
populations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_P1AIP-LBg
- -
[classic study from the World Resources Institute]
*Better Buying Lab*
WorldResourcesInst
Uploaded on Aug 5, 2016
At the World Resources Institute we've learned that changing what people buy
can have huge benefits for the environment.
However consumption is an irrational process and so simply informing people
rarely changes behavior. Instead we believe that we need a range of much
more sophisticated strategies strategies that work in line with how people
actually shop to make this happen.
we're launching the better buying lab starting first with the challenge 
of driving
sales and consumption of plant-based proteins.
We're bringing together the brightest and best minds in consumer...
https://www.wri.org/our-work/project/better-buying-lab/



[Sarcastic skewering of Australian politicians - ruthless]
*Honest Government Ad | 2019 Election (Season Finale)*
thejuicemedia video
Published on May 6, 2019
The Australien Government has made a final ad before the 2019 Federal 
Election, and it's surprisingly honest and informative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJrXI3rBbSA


*This Day in Climate History - May 7, 2001 - from D.R. Tucker*

May 7, 2001: In a response to a question about whether President George 
W. Bush would encourage energy conservation, White House press secretary 
Ari Fleischer states:

    "That's a big no.  The President believes that it's an American way
    of life, and that it should be the goal of policy makers to protect
    the American way of life.  The American way of life is a blessed
    one.  And we have a bounty of resources in this country.  What we
    need to do is make certain that we're able to get those resources in
    an efficient way, in a way that also emphasizes protecting the
    environment and conservation, into the hands of consumers so they
    can make the choices that they want to make as they live their lives
    day to day."

http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/briefings/20010507.html
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