[TheClimate.Vote] September 1, 2019 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

Sun Sep 1 10:53:21 EDT 2019

/September 1, 2019/

[over waters 2 degree hotter]
*Dorian Strengthens Into a Category 5 Hurricane, Catastrophic Strike in 
Northwest Bahamas is Beginning*
https://www.wunderground.com/news/storms/hurricane/news/2019-09-01-hurricane-dorian-category-5-near-bahamas-florida-georgia-carolinas 

[Repeat with more added]
AUGUST 30, 2019
*Draft UN report warns of rising seas, storm surges, melting permafrost*
- -
A resurgence of domestic coal-fired power and a relaxing of air 
pollution regulations, he said, point to a preoccupation with China's 
slowing economy and its trade war with the US.

And yet, all of these nations face many of the threats outlined in the 
IPCC report.

Shanghai, Ningbo, Taizhou and another half-dozen major coastal cities in 
China, for example, are highly vulnerable to future sea level rise, 
which is projected to add a metre by 2100 compared to the late 20th 
century global watermark, if CO2 emissions continue unabated. Mumbai and 
other coastal Indian cities are in harm's way as well.

Even in the United States, where billions are being spent to protect New 
York, Miami and other exposed cities, such efforts could easily be 
overwhelmed, say experts.

"There is a pervasive thread in the US right now promoted by 
techno-optimists who think we can engineer our way out of this problem," 
said Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at 
Pennsylvania State University.

"But the US is not ready for a metre of sea level rise by 2100," he told 
AFP...
- - -
Oceans not only absorb a quarter of the CO2 we emit, they have also 
soaked up more than 90 percent of the additional heat generated by 
greenhouse gas emissions since 1970....
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-seas-storm-surges-permafrost.html

[common sense and beyond]
*The air conditioning trap: how cold air is heating the world*
- -
One scheme to encourage engineers to build a more efficient air 
conditioner was launched last year by the Rocky Mountain Institute 
(RMI), a US-based energy policy thinktank, and endorsed by the UN 
environment programme and government of India. They are offering $3m to 
the winner of the inaugural Global Cooling prize. The aim is to design 
an air conditioner that is five times more efficient than the current 
standard model, but which costs no more than twice as much money to 
produce. They have received more than a hundred entries, from lone 
inventors to prominent universities, and even research teams from 
multibillion-dollar appliance giants...
- - -
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/29/the-air-conditioning-trap-how-cold-air-is-heating-the-world
   - - - -
[one year ago]
*Halfway to boiling: the city at 50C*
In a city at 50C, the only people in sight are those who do not have 
access to air conditioning. Illustration: Kevin Whipple
It is the temperature at which human cells start to cook, animals suffer 
and air conditioners overload power grids. Once an urban anomaly, 50C is 
fast becoming reality...
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/13/halfway-boiling-city-50c

[The UN offers some ideas]
*For developing nations facing climate shocks, Aid for Trade can offer 
hope for a more secure future*
- - -
A recent study by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), its research 
partners and the European Union showed that increasing trade in 
environmentally sound technologies--such as renewable energy, waste and 
water management technologies--can play an important role in supporting 
climate action and resilience building, as well as facilitating the 
transition towards more circular and greener economies...
- -
In a joint report published by UNEP and the World Trade Organization 
entitled Making trade work for the environment, prosperity and 
resilience, Aid for Trade is featured as an important tool for promoting 
resilience and ensuring trade works for sustainability and prosperity. 
The UN Environment Progamme and the World Trade Organization, in 
partnership, continue to explore innovative ways of using trade to 
mutually strengthen economies and environments, including through Aid 
for Trade....
- - -
https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/developing-nations-facing-climate-shocks-aid-trade-can-offer-hope-more
- - -
[source material]
Trade in ESTs Offers Triple-Win Opportunities for Environment, 
Prosperity, Development
- -
The report titled, 'Trade in Environmentally Sound Technologies: 
Perspectives from Developing Countries,' highlights the importance of 
developing country involvement in future trade in ESTs, which contribute 
to environmental protection and climate change mitigation. The report 
seeks to increase the understanding of the implications, capacity needs 
and enabling conditions for liberalization of trade in ESTs, 
particularly in developing countries. It focuses primarily on five ESTs: 
solar photovoltaic cells (PVs); water filters; waste incinerators; gas 
filtering machinery; and hemp and flax fibers.

According to the report, the value of trade in clean technology-related 
services has increased more than five-fold over the past decade, with 
global trade in clean technologies increasing by 60% from 2006 to 2016. 
Renewable energy technologies account for more than one-third of the 
total trade value, followed by wastewater management and water 
treatment, and solid and hazardous waste management technologies...
- -
https://sdg.iisd.org/news/trade-in-ests-offers-triple-win-opportunities-for-environment-prosperity-development/

[military tech]
*Heat-related illness increasing among U.S. military personnel*
By Marc Kodack
Heat-related illnesses (heat stroke and heat exhaustion) have increased 
among U.S. military personnel since 2008 according to a July 23, 2019, 
investigative news story jointly released by Inside Climate News, an 
independent news organization that focuses on climate, energy and the 
environment, and NBCNews.com. Increasing temperature driven by climate 
change has not only health, but security implications for U.S. military 
and local populations, and the issue is worth exploring further.

It is estimated that the health effects of heat to the U.S. military 
have cost almost $1 billion in "lost work, retraining and medical care" 
between 2008 to 2018. Background information for the story included 
examining reports on heat related deaths and interviews. "The reports 
document a poor level of awareness of the dangers of heat illness and 
the decisions of commanders who pushed troops beyond prudent limits in 
extremely hot conditions…The military continues to wrestle with finding 
a sustainable, comprehensive strategy for how to train in sweltering 
conditions" despite on-going efforts to revise policies and procedures 
to lower heat illnesses. New equipment is also being developed for both 
mounted and dismounted Soldiers to keep them cooler. Commercial 
individual Soldier equipment is now available.

Part of the reason that Soldiers train in elevated temperatures and 
heat, is the belief that it better prepares Soldiers for the kinds of 
conditions that they may encounter during actual combat in areas of the 
world where current or future military operations may occur, such as the 
Middle East and Africa. Future climate projections anticipate a 
continued rise in global temperatures exacerbating the conditions that 
the U.S. military personnel and their equipment will have to operate in. 
While training needs to be as realistic as possible, it also has to 
recognize the physiological limits of the human body under stress, such 
as heat effects and their implications to significantly degrade 
individual personnel performance.

Dr. Marc Kodack Dr. is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Center for 
Climate and Security. Before retiring from federal service in 2018 with 
over 31 years of experience, Marc served as the Water Program Manager in 
the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and 
Sustainability within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army 
for Installations, Energy and Environment.
https://climateandsecurity.org/2019/08/30/heat-related-illness-increasing-among-u-s-military-personnel/

[This is the list]
*Major Climate Change Rules the Trump Administration Is Reversing*
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/climate/climate-rule-trump-reversing.html

*This Day in Climate History - September 1, 2002 - from D.R. Tucker*
September 1, 2002: British Prime Minister Tony Blair laments the failure 
of the United States to join the Kyoto Protocol, even though the treaty 
is quite moderate relative to what the science demands in terms of 
worldwide emissions cuts.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2228741.stm
http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/africa/09/01/blair.climate.glb/
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

/Archive of Daily Global Warming News 
<https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/2017-October/date.html> 
/
https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote

/To receive daily mailings - click to Subscribe 
<mailto:subscribe at theClimate.Vote?subject=Click%20SEND%20to%20process%20your%20request> 
to news digest./

*** Privacy and Security:*This is a text-only mailing that carries no 
images which may originate from remote servers. Text-only messages 
provide greater privacy to the receiver and sender.
By regulation, the .VOTE top-level domain must be used for democratic 
and election purposes and cannot be used for commercial purposes.
To subscribe, email: contact at theclimate.vote 
<mailto:contact at theclimate.vote> with subject subscribe, To Unsubscribe, 
subject: unsubscribe
Also you may subscribe/unsubscribe at 
https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/theclimate.vote
Links and headlines assembled and curated by Richard Pauli for 
http://TheClimate.Vote <http://TheClimate.Vote/> delivering succinct 
information for citizens and responsible governments of all levels. List 
membership is confidential and records are scrupulously restricted to 
this mailing list.