[TheClimate.Vote] August 6, 2020 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

Thu Aug 6 09:21:51 EDT 2020

/*August 6, 2020*/

[US power outage after hurricane NY, NJ, CT]
*Over 1.5M in Tri-State still without power 2 days after Isaias*
https://1010wins.radio.com/articles/over-15m-in-tri-state-still-without-power-after-isaias
- -
*When Will Power Be Back In CT? Power Restoration Estimates*
It may not be until the weekend before power is restored in Connecticut. 
Gov. Lamont is calling for an investigation.
https://patch.com/connecticut/across-ct/ct-power-outages-town-town-list
- -
https://outagemap.eversource.com/external/default.html

[promising promises]
*BP built its business on oil and gas. Now climate change is taking it 
apart.*
Oil giant aims for 40 percent output cut and tenfold increase in 
spending on low-carbon energy
- -
The London-based BP said that it will transform itself by halting oil 
and gas exploration in new countries, slashing oil and gas production by 
40 percent, lowering carbon emissions by about a third, and boosting 
capital spending on low-carbon energy tenfold to $5 billion a year.

"This makes the BP the first supermajor to spell out, in detail, what 
the energy transition will actually entail, in practical terms," said 
Pavel Molchanov, senior energy analyst for the investment firm Raymond 
James...
- -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/08/04/bp-built-its-business-oil-gas-now-climate-change-is-taking-it-apart/

[new science models speedy movement of ice caps - video explanation]
*Geological fingerprint suggest rapid glacier retreat*
Aug 3, 2020
Climate State
At the end of the last ice age, geological fingerprints recorded in 
ocean sediments suggests glacier retreat of 50 meters a day, 18 km a 
year. For comparison the fastest retreating glaciers in Antarctica today 
are the Pope, and the Smith glacier system, retreating about 2.9 km a 
year. 
http://climatestate.com/2020/08/03/geological-fingerprint-suggest-rapid-glacier-retreat/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT8lfMNb6as

[Great idea from the Guardian]
*Letter from economists: to rebuild our world, we must end the carbon 
economy*
The carbon economy amplifies racial, social and economic inequities, 
creating a system that is fundamentally incompatible with a stable future
Jeffrey Sachs, Joseph Stiglitz, Mariana Mazzucato, Clair Brown, Indivar 
Dutta-Gupta, Robert Reich, Gabriel Zucman and others.
 From deep-rooted racism to the Covid-19 pandemic, from extreme 
inequality to ecological collapse, our world is facing dire and deeply 
interconnected emergencies. But as much as the present moment painfully 
underscores the weaknesses of our economic system, it also gives us the 
rare opportunity to reimagine it. As we seek to rebuild our world, we 
can and must end the carbon economy.
Even as climate breakdown looms around the corner, the pressure to 
return to the old carbon-based economy is real – and all the more 
dangerous, given the fundamental instability of an economy rooted in 
injustice. Sources of large-scale human suffering, such as crop 
failures, water shortages, rising tides, wildfires, severe weather, 
forced migration and pandemics, go hand-in-hand with a warming world. 
For example, exposure to airborne pollution heightens the risk of 
complications from diseases like Covid-19, and deforestation and rising 
temperatures make the emergence of future infectious diseases more 
likely. When these consequences manifest, it is no accident that they 
are disproportionately felt by communities of color, low-income 
communities, the most vulnerable nations and peoples, and other 
historically marginalized groups.

It is Black people in America, for instance, who bear some of the 
highest rates of exposure to polluted air. The carbon economy amplifies 
and begets racial, social and economic inequities, creating a system 
that is fundamentally incompatible with a stable future. If we fail to 
act now, the present moment may merely be a preview of what is to come, 
as we are forced into ever-more-painful situations and tradeoffs. It is 
naive, moreover, to imagine that we can simply nudge the fossil fuel 
industry – an industry that has lied about climate change for decades, 
actively opposed serious climate solutions and continues to plan for a 
fossil fuel-dependent future – into good behavior.
Instead, we should recognize that the present moment creates an 
opportunity to bring about a better future for ourselves and our 
children. By taking on the carbon economy, we can begin charting a 
pathway towards economic recovery while building a fairer, more 
sustainable world in the process.
Governments must actively phase out the fossil fuel industry. Bailouts 
and subsidies to big oil, gas and coal companies only further delay the 
essential energy transition, distorting markets while locking us into a 
future we cannot afford. Instead, a coordinated phaseout of exploration 
for and extraction of carbon resources allows governments to redeploy 
funds towards green technology, infrastructure, social programs and good 
jobs, spurring an economic transition that benefits people and the planet.
Institutions of financial power must end their fossil fuel investments 
and funding. When our largest banks, most influential investors and most 
prestigious universities place bets on the success of the fossil fuel 
industry, they provide it with the economic and social capital necessary 
to maintain the dangerous status quo. Instead, these institutions should 
divest from fossil fuel companies and end financing of their continued 
operations while reinvesting those resources in a just and stable future.
People must build political power to advocate for a fairer economic 
system. If we attempt an economic rebuilding whose guiding principle is 
a return to "business as usual" we will simply substitute one crisis for 
another. Instead, we must recognize that when crises strike, the 
disaster amplifies along society’s fault lines, and that when we don’t 
prepare for disasters, the costs of inaction fall most heavily on the 
most vulnerable. A green recovery can and must uplift those who need it 
most, at home and around the world, creating a more resilient and 
regenerative society in the process.

By achieving a large-scale economic transformation that dismantles the 
carbon economy and brings about a greener world, we have an opportunity 
to begin the process of economic recovery while working to undo the 
injustices at the heart of our modern system. As the undersigned experts 
in economics, we call on our policymakers to recognize the role that 
meaningful climate action has to play in rebuilding our world – to 
recognize that a healthy economy and society require a healthy planet.

This letter has been signed by more than 100 economists. See the full 
list of signatories at - 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tLtEZQ7ogI7C0s0wlkAZa9ade164BpeT19rWQJj0ucE/edit?usp=sharing
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/04/economists-letter-carbon-economy-climate-change-rebuild

[Bill] GatesNotes
*COVID-19 is awful. Climate change could be worse.*
But there are lessons from the current crisis that should guide our 
response to the next one.
By Bill Gates| August 04, 2020
A global crisis has shocked the world. It is causing a tragic number of 
deaths, making people afraid to leave home, and leading to economic 
hardship not seen in many generations. Its effects are rippling across 
the world.

Obviously, I am talking about COVID-19. But in just a few decades, the 
same description will fit another global crisis: climate change. As 
awful as this pandemic is, climate change could be worse...
- -
The key point is not that climate change will be disastrous. The key 
point is that, if we learn the lessons of COVID-19, we can approach 
climate change more informed about the consequences of inaction, and 
more prepared to save lives and prevent the worst possible outcome. The 
current global crisis can inform our response to the next one.

    In particular, we should:

    *1. Let science and innovation lead the way. *The relatively small
    decline in emissions this year makes one thing clear: We cannot get
    to zero emissions simply--or even mostly--by flying and driving less.
    Of course, cutting back is a good thing for those who can afford to
    do it, as I can. And I believe that many people will use
    teleconferencing to replace some business travel even after the
    pandemic is over. But overall, the world should be using more
    energy, not less--as long as it is clean.

    So just as we need new tests, treatments, and vaccines for the novel
    coronavirus, we need new tools for fighting climate change:
    zero-carbon ways to produce electricity, make things, grow food,
    keep our buildings cool and warm, and move people and goods around
    the world. And we need new seeds and other innovations to help the
    world’s poorest people--many of whom are smallholder farmers--adapt
    to a less predictable climate.

    Any comprehensive response to climate change will have to tap into
    many different disciplines. Climate science tells us why we need to
    deal with this problem, but not how to deal with it. For that, we’ll
    need biology, chemistry, physics, political science, economics,
    engineering, and other sciences.

    *2. Make sure solutions work for poor countries too.* We don’t yet
    know exactly what impact COVID-19 will have on the world’s poorest
    people, but I am concerned that by the time this is over, they will
    have had the worst of it. The same goes for climate change. It will
    hurt the poorest people in the world the most.
    Consider climate’s impact on death rates. According to a recent
    study published by Climate Impact Lab, although climate change will
    push the overall death rate up globally, the overall average will
    obscure an enormous disparity between rich and poor countries. More
    than anywhere else, climate change will dramatically increase death
    rates in poor countries near or below the Equator, where the weather
    will get even hotter and more unpredictable.

    The economic pattern will probably be similar: a modest drop in
    global GDP, but massive declines in poorer, hotter countries.

    In other words, the effects of climate change will almost certainly
    be harsher than COVID-19's, and they will be the worst for the
    people who did the least to cause them. The countries that are
    contributing the most to this problem have a responsibility to try
    to solve it.

    In addition, clean sources of energy need to be cheap enough so that
    low- and middle-income countries can buy them. These nations are
    looking to grow their economies by building factories and call
    centers; if this growth is powered by fossil fuels--which are now
    the most economical option by far--it will be even harder to get to
    zero emissions.

    When there’s a vaccine for the coronavirus, organizations like GAVI
    will be ready to make sure it reaches the poorest people in the
    world. But there is no GAVI for clean energy. So governments,
    inventors, and entrepreneurs around the world need to focus on
    making green technologies cheap enough that developing countries
    will not only want them, but be able to afford them.

    *3. Start now. *Unlike the novel coronavirus, for which I think
    we’ll have a vaccine next year, there is no two-year fix for climate
    change. It will take decades to develop and deploy all the
    clean-energy inventions we need.
    We need to create a plan to avoid a climate disaster--to use the
    zero-carbon tools we have now, develop and deploy the many
    innovations we still need, and help the poorest adapt to the
    temperature increase that is already locked in. Although I am
    spending most of my time these days on COVID-19, I am still
    investing in promising new clean energy technologies, building
    programs that will help innovations scale around the world, and
    making the case that we need to invest in solutions that will limit
    the worst impacts of climate change.

    Some governments and private investors are committing the funding
    and the policies that will help us get to zero emissions, but we
    need even more to join in. And we need to act with the same sense of
    urgency that we have for COVID-19.

Health advocates said for years that a pandemic was virtually 
inevitable. The world did not do enough to prepare, and now we are 
trying to make up for lost time. This is a cautionary tale for climate 
change, and it points us toward a better approach. If we start now, tap 
into the power of science and innovation, and ensure that solutions work 
for the poorest, we can avoid making the same mistake with climate change.
https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/Climate-and-COVID-19?WT.mc_id=20200804100000_COVID19-and-Climate_BG-TW_&WT.tsrc=BGTW

[See some data on data]
*Google searches for climate refugee up 47% in past week *
Facebook    Twitter
Worldwide-Thursday, July 30, 2020 - Wednesday, August 5, 2020
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=now%207-d&q=climate%20refugee

[Digging back into the internet news archive]
*On this day in the history of global warming - August 6, 2010 *

"ABC World News Tonight" reports on the link between extreme heat and 
human-caused climate change.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/extreme-heat-evidence-global-warming-11346623

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