[TheClimate.Vote] August 30 , 2020 - Daily Global Warming News Digest..
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Sun Aug 30 10:34:34 EDT 2020
/*August 30, 2020*/
[the new future]
*California and Colorado Fires May Be Part of a Climate-Driven
Transformation of Wildfires Around the Globe
*Wildfires from Australia to Siberia are not just larger, hotter and
faster, but burning in areas and seasons where they were previously rare./*
*/https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22082020/california-colorado-wildfires-climate-change-global-transformation/*
[clips - doctor to Scientific American]
*What Climate Change Does to the Human Body*
An ENT physician sees the effects in her patients all the time
By Neelu Tummala on August 29, 2020...
- -
July 2019 was the hottest July on record; September 2019 was the hottest
on record; January 2020 was the hottest on record; May 2020 was the
hottest on record. This is not a coincidence. It is a pattern. Carbon
dioxide, an important greenhouse gas contributing to global warming, has
increased by 9 percent since 2005 and by 31 percent since 1950. A U.N.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special report pointed out
that the world has already warmed about one degree Celsius from
pre-industrial levels. It stressed the urgency to act to limit warming
to 1.5 degrees, and that a two-degree increase will lead to
unprecedented extreme heat, water scarcity and food shortages around the
globe.
Heat affects every part of our body. It can lead to heat exhaustion,
heat stroke, anxiety, impaired cognitive function and even premature
death from heart and lung disease. Across the country, the health
concerns of the climate crisis are increasingly being recognized,
pushing thousands of medical providers--doctors, nurses, pharmacists,
therapists, medical students--to become advocates for change.
In my own practice, I explain to patients how the climate crisis affects
their health. For example, apart from contributing to global warming,
rising carbon dioxide levels increase the amount of pollen that plants
produce as a consequence of higher rates of photosynthesis. This rise in
pollen levels can lead to worsening allergy symptoms. Another example is
fine particulate matter (known as PM2.5) associated with air pollution,
much of it linked to the burning of fossil fuels that help drive the
warming. When we breathe in these particles, they travel down the airway
and settle in the tiny air sacs called alveoli of the lungs, causing
inflammation and potentially worsening asthma symptoms. The explanations
are simple, but the health risks are widespread and complex.
Ground-level ozone pollution, which is worse in hotter weather, can also
harm people with asthma and other respiratory diseases.
And that harm falls disproportionately on the poor. Wealthier people
living in North America have a per capita carbon footprint that is 25
percent higher than those of lower-income residents, with some affluent
suburbs producing emissions 15 times higher than nearby neighborhoods.
These carbon emissions contribute to global warming, and the subsequent
health consequences are felt far beyond the neighborhood that produces
them. Older adults, children, low-income communities and communities of
color are less resilient on average to the health impacts of climate change.
The climate crisis is thus leading to a disproportionate public health
crisis--and worse, it is a threat multiplier. At a time when many
Americans are economically challenged, continued heat waves and the
higher energy bills they trigger threaten access to water and energy
security. The economic benefits of a low-carbon economy are clear.
Estimates suggest that without climate investments, the United States
will face economic damage from climate change equivalent to 1–3 percent
of GDP per year by 2100.
The majority of Americans think global warming is happening. The climate
crisis has unfairly been labeled as political, when in fact, people
recognize that something needs to be done about it. Even for those who
are seemingly unaffected, there is increasing global recognition that
the safeguards of living in a protected community and affording expert
medical care will eventually fail if global warming continues unchecked.
Unfortunately, there will be no vaccine in six months or a year for the
climate crisis. The only treatment is collective climate action in the
present.
Climate action is required of our elected leaders, and we must mandate
it of ourselves. It can be as simple as educating family and friends,
while making sustainable shopping and traveling choices. It includes
eating less meat, unplugging electronics and raising a voice against the
fossil fuel industry. With a rise in demand for absentee ballots for the
election this November, it is crucial to request mail-in ballots right
away to make sure our voices are heard. The United States is the second
largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and we must vote for green policy.
Legislative action and policy change work, as evidenced by the Clean Air
Act and its subsequent amendments, which are projected to save 230,000
lives in 2020.
The climate crisis is a public health issue, and we must start healing
the planet in order to heal each other. Fighting against the climate
crisis is one of the most patriotic things we can do right now; it will
protect our health and the health of our neighbors across the country
and the globe, and will allow all of us to live on this planet, the only
home we have.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-climate-change-does-to-the-human-body/
[adaptation]
*Tropical Songbirds Have an Extreme Drought Survival Tactic: They Stop
Breeding*
https://www.sciencealert.com/tropical-songbirds-have-an-extreme-drought-survival-tactic-they-stop-breeding
- -
[source material - Nature Climate Change]
*The privilege of longevity*
*Theory and observation suggest that populations of long-lived organisms
fare worse than short-lived counterparts when submitted to increased
mortality. Now, research shows that longevity affords the prospect of
reducing mortality by breeding less under stress.*
image - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0890-1/figures/1
Seven centimetres of sea-level rise brought the Bramble Cay Melomys to
extinction, the first reported species loss due to anthropogenic climate
change. When the consequences of climate change are less abrupt,
scientists may inform wildlife management by sorting out which species
are most vulnerable to environmental change. Because evolution tends to
produce either fast or slow species with corresponding ensembles of
life-history traits, it is reasonable to ask whether high longevity -- a
typical slow life-history trait -- is associated with vulnerability to
environmental change. Indeed, theory and data indicate that populations
of slow-breeding, long-lived organisms have relatively high extinction
probabilities. However, it is not clear if longevity hinders population
growth under climate change conditions. Writing in Nature Climate
Change, Thomas Martin and James Mouton5 report that populations of
long-lived bird species show lower mortality under drought conditions
and higher predicted population growth in drought scenarios driven by
climate change than short-lived species...
more at - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0890-1
["clear signals of accelerating ice melt - 14 thousand tons per second"]
*Professor Jason Box: How Greenland fits into the climate system*
Jul 24, 2020 - Nick Breeze
"It's not hyperbolic to talk about Mad Max scenarios"
Subscribe to the podcast here:
https://climateseries.com/climate-change-podcast/57-jason-box-greenland-climate-system-podcast
Welcome to Shaping The Future Podcast. In this episode, I am speaking to
Professor Jason Box at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.
We are discussing how the colossal Greenland ice sheet is changing as
the Earth warms and what impact this will have on the global climate system.
So much of Jason's work bridges the void between climate science in
obscure corners of the planet, and the risks posed by pollution from
industry, as well as how we in wealthier countries conduct our lives.
Shaping the future means envisioning the world we want and committing to
a pathway to achieve it. In that vane, we end this discussion by
considering the social movements that are emerging as part of the
growing awareness of the necessity to change.
Thank you for listening, please do subscribe on whatever podcast channel
you use to hear more forthcoming episodes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDlgqbOOcoQ
- - -
[Scientists discussing future needs - video]
*Arctic Glaciers, Greenland, and Sea Level Research Needs: Glaciers &
Sea-Level August 2020 Meeting*
Aug 13, 2020
IARPC Collaborations
The August meeting of the Glaciers & Sea-Level Collaboration Team
focused on the development of the next Arctic Research Plan. The meeting
goal was to provide community an accessible, practical chance to share
what they see as the most pressing scientific problems and critical
knowledge gaps that hinder complete and actionable understanding of
Arctic land ice.
Want to join this meeting or future meetings? Request an account on our
member space where U.S. Federal government program managers and
scientists from state, academic, NGO, and industry organizations team up
to solve hard problems to carry out the research laid out in the Arctic
Research Plan. Visit » https://www.iarpccollaborations.org
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X7TPgLlVKk
[from the Insurance Journal]
*Germany's Merkel Urges Stronger Global Effort on Climate Change*
August 28, 2020
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that global efforts to
combat climate change were insufficient, and that she would accelerate
the fight to combat it in coming years.
At a news conference, she said the European Union needed to adjust the
climate goals it has set for 2030, and that she wanted a carbon pricing
mechanism for the industry and transport sectors...
- -
Germany is Europe's largest greenhouse gas emitter, and the country's
environment ministry said last week that, while it can meet its climate
target for 2020, it would have missed the goal if the economic havoc
wrought by the coronavirus pandemic had not caused a large drop in
emissions.
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg last week urged Merkel "to be brave
enough to think long-term" in a meeting where they discussed the climate
crisis and measures to fight global warming.
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2020/08/28/580740.htm
[clips from E&E News ]
*Antarctica's Ice Shelves May Be at Growing Risk of Collapse*
Surface melting that causes fractures in the ice could threaten more
than half of the continent's floating ice platforms - E&E News on August
27, 2020
By Chelsea Harvey,
Antarctica's Larsen B ice shelf--a large ledge of ice, jutting out from
the edge of the continent into the ocean--captured international
attention in 2002. Over the course of just a few weeks, the ice shelf
splintered, broke into pieces and collapsed entirely into the sea.
Nearly 20 years later, it's still one of the most dramatic events that
scientists have observed in Antarctica.
- -
Scientists believe surface melting on the Antarctic ice sheet was a
major contributor to the collapse of Larsen B. The process goes
something like this: As the ice melts, liquid meltwater flows along the
surface of the continent and seeps into cracks in the ice. The water
then refreezes inside these cracks, expanding as it turns back into ice.
The expansion widens the cracks, putting more stress on the ice.
Eventually, the pressure becomes too much and the ice splinters and
breaks into pieces. In extreme situations, this process can cause entire
ice shelves to disintegrate.
It's a process known as "hydrofracturing." And a new study, published
yesterday in Nature, suggests that more than half of Antarctica's ice
shelves could be at risk...
- -
The study doesn't suggest they're in danger of collapse any time soon.
Hydrofracturing doesn't happen until enough liquid water is flowing over
the top of the ice.
But it warns that enough future melting could put them at risk.
- -
In published commentary on the new research, he noted the findings "show
that large sections that are currently stable could collapse as
atmospheric temperatures continue to rise."
And the combination of warming ocean waters and rising atmospheric
temperatures could be a dangerous pair, he added. Antarctic ice shelves
may increasingly be at risk of a double whammy: simultaneous weakening
of the top and bottom.
A "deeper understanding of the effects of both the ocean and the
atmosphere is needed to accurately predict the fate of ice shelves in a
warming climate," he wrote, "because ice shelves are vulnerable to
attack from above and below."
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/antarcticas-ice-shelves-may-be-at-growing-risk-of-collapse/
- - -
[from the journal Nature]
26 AUGUST 2020
*Crevasse analysis reveals vulnerability of ice shelves to global warming*
An ingenious combination of satellite imaging, machine learning and
stress analysis has revealed the Antarctic ice shelves that are most at
risk of disintegrating as a result of atmospheric warming.
In 2002, a large part of the Larsen B ice shelf -- one of the freely
floating platforms of ice that surround the Antarctic ice sheet --
disintegrated in less than six weeks. This allowed the glaciers that
previously fed it to flow more quickly to the ocean. Neither the speed
nor the timing of the disintegration was predicted by ice-sheet models
used to project future sea-level rise. Glaciologists have spent the past
two decades looking at the aftermath of ice-shelf disintegrations, to
learn lessons that will help them predict which ice shelf will be the
next to fall, and how this will contribute to the discharge of grounded
ice to the ocean. Writing in Nature, Lai et al. report progress in this
area. The authors combined simple theories of fracture formation with
machine-learning techniques to determine which portions of an ice shelf
are most vulnerable to break-up and most likely to lead to sustained
drawdown of the grounded ice sheet on collapse.
Ice shelves restrain the flow of ice from the grounded portions of the
ice sheet into the ocean. The boundary between a grounded ice sheet and
a floating ice shelf is called the grounding line. The demise of ice
shelves around parts of the ice sheet where the underlying bedrock
slopes downwards from the grounding-line sheet as it passes beneath the
sheet can lead to an irreversible cycle of increased discharge of
grounded ice to the ocean. This cycle is called a marine ice-sheet
instability5, and directly contributes to global sea-level rise...
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02422-1
[radical words in an audio interview]
*NASA climate scientist, Peter Kalmus, speaks out*
Nick Breeze
Welcome to Shaping The Future - in this episode, I interview NASA
climate scientist and author, Peter Kalmus, about the extreme fires in
California and Hurricane Laura that struck Louisiana.
Peter talks about the underlying drivers of these frightening impacts
that stem from our collective addiction to burning fossil fuels.
He also talks very personally about his conscious decision to speak out
about how terrified he is with regard to the worsening climate breakdown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8MdWec5eb0
[Digging back into the internet news archive]
*On this day in the history of global warming - August 30, 2005 *
In an essay published in the Boston Globe, and republished the next day
in the New York Times, Ross Gelbspan writes:
"The hurricane that struck Louisiana yesterday was nicknamed Katrina
by the National Weather Service. Its real name is global warming."
http://web.archive.org/web/20130618033413/http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0830-22.htm
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