[TheClimate.Vote] April 21, 2020 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Tue Apr 21 08:55:14 EDT 2020
/*April 21, 2020*/
[CNBC opinion]
*The coronavirus crisis means we may have already reached peak carbon*
KEY POINTS
- The Covid-19 outbreak has meant countries around the world have
effectively had to shut down, with many governments imposing draconian
restrictions on the daily lives of billions of people.
- A side-effect of these confinement measures has been a dramatic fall
in the level of global carbon emissions.
- "This time could be different as we have potentially already reached
peak energy-related carbon," analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a
research note.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/20/the-coronavirus-crisis-means-we-may-have-already-reached-peak-carbon.html
[Climate and Security]
*Coronavirus shows we are not at all prepared for the security threat of
climate change*
- - -
While traditionally a great power like the US might step forward to
direct a collective international response, instead the Trump
administration has repeatedly chosen to blindside its allies with the
introduction of new limitations on trade and movement of peoples. This
mismanagement has led to each nation going on its own, despite the fact
that working together would net greater gains for all. As the New York
Times's Mark Landler put it, the voices of world leaders are forming
"less a choir than a cacophony", leading to mixed global messages,
undetected spread, and ongoing fights over limited resources...
- - -
A warming world will only result in more disaster-related events for
power-hungry leaders to take advantage of in the years ahead. From the
nationalisation of resources to the deployment of militaries in response
to climate shocks, it can be all-too-easy for public safety needs to
bleed into personal political opportunities. The second-order effects of
climate change, from supply chain instability to the migration of
peoples, will also provide authoritarian leaders more fodder for their
ethno-nationalist ideologies, which inflame divisions in society and
could help broaden their personal appeal. Without clear and sturdy
limits on executive power, the disruptive impacts of climate change will
be used to further chip away at democratic freedoms across the world...
*Overlapping shocks are the new normal*
Finally, this situation is teaching the globalised world new lessons on
the devastating consequences of compounding shocks. Managing a deadly
global pandemic is bad enough, even before you layer on the massive
unemployment, trade disruptions and economic shutdown that its
mitigation sets in motion.
The months ahead will bring about additional crises - some related to
the pandemic, like a massive uptick in public debt used to bail out
national economies. But other near-term shocks may themselves be climate
change-induced, from new forecasts for large-scale floods this spring in
the central US, to a prospective repeat of 2019's severe summer heat
waves across Europe.
These disasters have the potential to strike just at the time when
people are being advised to shelter inside, many in at-risk areas and
without adequate indoor cooling. Overlapping, historic shocks like this
are becoming the new normal in our climate-changed era. As public
disaster response budgets spiral and loss of life mounts each year,
governments will continue to struggle to contain their compounding damage.
Scientists and security professionals alike have long warned about the
devastating potential of climate change, alluding to how it might rattle
our global governance systems to breaking point. But few could have
expected that the fissures in our institutions would be revealed so
soon, let alone on such a disturbingly large scale.
We can treat the current global crisis as a sort of "stress test" on
these institutions, exposing their vulnerabilities but also providing
the urgent impetus to build new resilience. In that light, we could
successfully rebound from this moment with more solid global security
and cooperation than we knew going into it. Decision-makers should take
a hard look at their current responses, problem-solving methods, and
institutional design with future climate forecasts like our Threat
Assessment in mind.
We know that even steeper and more frequent global shocks are in store,
particularly without serious climate change mitigation efforts. What we
don't yet know is whether we'll repeat current patterns of mismanagement
and abuse, or if we'll chart a more proactive and resilient course
through the risks that lie ahead.
https://climateandsecurity.org/2020/04/20/coronavirus-shows-we-are-not-at-all-prepared-for-the-security-threat-of-climate-change/
- - -
[released in Feb 2020]
*A Security Threat Assessment of Global Climate Change*
A Security Threat Assessment of Global Climate Change: A Product of the
National Security, Military and Intelligence Panel on Climate Change
- - -
"Even at scenarios of low warming, each region of the world will face
severe risks to national and global security in the next three decades.
Higher levels of warming will pose catastrophic, and likely
irreversible, global security risks over the course of the 21st century."
The report, titled "A Security Threat Assessment of Global Climate
Change: How Likely Warming Scenarios Indicate a Catastrophic Security
Future," is a first of its kind, bringing together a panel of security
professionals to analyze the security implications of two future warming
scenarios (near term: 1-2C and medium-long term: 2-4+C). It identifies
major threats, including heightened social and political instability,
and risks to U.S. military missions and infrastructure, as well as
security institutions, at both warming scenarios and across all regions
of the world. Key findings and recommendations include:
*Key findings*
1. A near-term scenario of climate change, in which the world warms
1-2C/1.8-3.6F over pre-industrial levels by mid-century, would pose
'High' to 'Very High' security threats. A medium-to-long term scenario
in which the world warms as high as 2-4+C/3.6-7.2F would pose a 'Very
High' to 'Catastrophic' threat to global and national security. The
world has already warmed to slightly below 1C compared to pre-industrial
temperatures.
2. At all levels of warming (1-4+C/1.8-7.2+F), climate change will pose
significant and evolving threats to global security environments,
infrastructure, and institutions.
3. While at lower warming thresholds, the most fragile parts of the
world are the most at risk, all regions of the world will face serious
implications. High warming scenarios could bring about catastrophic
security impacts across the globe.
4. These threats could come about rapidly, destabilizing the regions and
relationships on which U.S. and international security depend.
5. Climate change will present significant threats to U.S. military
missions across all of its geographic areas of responsibility (AORs), as
well as to regional security institutions and infrastructure that are
critical for maintaining global security.
*Key recommendations*
1. Mitigating these risks requires quickly reducing and phasing out
global greenhouse gas emissions. We call for the world to achieve
net-zero global emissions as soon as possible in a manner that is
ambitious, safe, equitable, and well-governed, in order to avoid severe
and catastrophic security futures.
2. The world must also "climate-proof" environments, infrastructure,
institutions, and systems on which human security depends, and so we
call for rapidly building resilience to current and expected impacts of
climate change. With future-oriented investments in adaptation, disaster
response, and peacebuilding
3. In the United States, we call for renewed efforts to prioritize,
communicate, and respond to climate security threats, and to integrate
these considerations across all security planning...
- - -
full report at -
https://climateandsecurity.org/a-security-threat-assessment-of-global-climate-change/
[Wednesday 22nd April is the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day.]
*THE THREE DAYS*
Earth Day Live will feature a three-day livestream where millions of
people can join activists, celebrities, musicians, and more in an epic
moment of community and hope for the future.
*Strike, divest, and vote for our future.*
From April 22, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, to April 24,
activists, performers, thought leaders, and artists will come together
for an empowering, inspiring, and communal three day livestream
mobilization.
The fights against the coronavirus and the climate crisis go
hand-in-hand, and as we work to flatten the curve of this pandemic, we
must strive toward the longer term goal of building a society rooted in
sustainability and justice.
https://www.earthdaylive2020.org/?source=earthdaylivebanner
[Global food report - serious, succinct data ]
*5 Most Impacted Regions: 2019 Climate & Crop Overview*
Geosys is producing an annual report in which we review the past
agricultural seasons weather and growing conditions to better understand
the impacts of climate change on major crops. Using unbiased satellite
data analytics, we complied our inaugural report to see what took place
in 10 major growing regions.
Few industries - if any - feel the direct impacts of climate change more
than agriculture. As weather patterns become more extreme, so do the risks.
Geosys has been monitoring crops across the globe using industry-leading
satellite and weather data for more than 30 years. Through the unbiased
lens of data analytics, our team has evaluated the impact of climate
change on crop production in key growing regions. The need for
sustainable agricultural practices is undeniable. Through enhanced crop
monitoring, we can support better management decisions in-season and
mitigate risk in order to meet the demands of a growing population.
Here we provide an overview of the 5 most impacted crop regions based on
the 2019 Climate & Crop Report.
https://bit.ly/19climatecrop - which includes a link to the complete
report.
https://www.urthecast.com/5-most-impacted-regions-2019-climate-crop-overview/
[long known]
*Climate Change Multiplies the Threats of Infectious Diseases*
"Climate change didn't cause the pandemic, and climate change directly
causes very few of them," Hayhoe told Truthout. "But what climate change
does is it interacts with, and in many cases has the potential to
exacerbate the impacts."
https://truthout.org/articles/climate-change-multiplies-the-threats-of-infectious-diseases/
[Public Health]
*Covid-19 and Climate Change Threats Compound in Minority Communities*
Port Arthur, Texas, is a case in point: disproportionately hit by
hurricanes, fossil-fuel pollution and now, the coronavirus
- - -
The Gulf Coast city of 55,000 is home to a disproportionately high
number of industrial polluters in relation to its population, as well as
to the largest oil refinery in the country. When combined with its
neighboring town of Beaumont, the region hosts one of the highest
concentrations across Texas of facilities that emit chemicals toxic
enough that they must be reported to the Environmental Protection
Agency, according to agency data. The city is also inhabited
predominantly by people of color, with a third of the population African
American.
"Apparently we are being looked upon as a sacrifice zone for the nation
and the rest of the world to have sulfur free gasoline," Kelley said,
referring to the way refining removes sulfur from crude oil.
- - -
African Americans are three times more likely to die from asthma than
white Americans, Hollis said, and they also have the highest rate of
deaths from heart disease-all of which compounds the group's
susceptibility to coronavirus.
"By him [Trump] relaxing these laws and regulations, it's a sure nail in
the coffin for a lot of folks here in the Jefferson County area," said
Port Arthur's Kelley. "It is a death sentence is what it is. We are
already dying."
It's not the only recent action the administration has taken that is
likely to harm communities most vulnerable to both Covid-19 and climate
change. In 2018, the Trump administration proposed a rule that would
place limits on the science used in decision-making by the Environmental
Protection Agency, including studies that could hold clues to Covid-19.
And this week, the administration ignored the advice from government
scientists to strengthen the national air quality standard for fine
soot, despite recent research linking exposure to the particles with
higher coronavirus death rates.
"In the last four years, the actions engineered by this administration
to put profits over people have been especially detrimental to
environmental justice communities, which include people of color, poor
people and our indigenous brothers and sisters," Hollis said in a statement.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/covid-19-and-climate-change-threats-compound-in-minority-communities/
[Internet webcast]
*Seattle Arts & Lectures Journalism Series presents Elizabeth Kolbert*
April 22 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm $10
...an online event with Pulitzer Prize-winning environmental journalist
Elizabeth Kolbert on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, at
7:30 PM. Kolbert is the author of The Sixth Extinction, and has traveled
from Alaska to Greenland, visiting top scientists to get to the heart of
the debate over global warming. This lecture is only available to ticket
holders, and we have introduced a special Digital Pass ticket for $10. A
Q&A conversation between Elizabeth Kolbert and Sam Howe Verhovek will
follow and is free and open to the public.
https://earthdaynw2020.org/event/seattle-arts-lectures-journalism-series-presents-elizabeth-kolbert/
[NYTimes designs the ultimate Web page for book reviews]
*The Year You Finally Read a Book About Climate Change*
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/climate-change-books.html
- - -
[Video call]
*The Greenhouse: This Climate Book Is For You*
APRIL 22, 2020
Want to read more about climate change but don't know where to start?
Let us help. On Earth Day, check out this list of essential climate
change books. Whatever your specific interest, we have something that
can help you pass the time.
- -
In the third session of The Greenhouse, our digital event series about
climate change, join our climate reporter, Kendra Pierre-Louis, and Gal
Beckerman, an editor at The New York Times Book Review, as they discuss
some of our top climate book picks. They will also be joined by Amitav
Ghosh, author of The Great Derangement.
https://timesevents.nytimes.com/climate-book
[Digging back into the internet news archive]
*On this day in the history of global warming - April 21, 1993 *
President Clinton pledges to combat carbon pollution in an Earth Day
address.
http://c-spanvideo.org/program/DayAd
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=46460
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