[TheClimate.Vote] February16 , 2020 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Sun Feb 16 09:39:43 EST 2020
/*February 16, 2020*/
[NYT NEWS ANALYSIS]
*The End of Australia as We Know It*
What many of us have witnessed this fire season feels alive and
monstrous. With climate change forcing a relaxed country to stumble
toward new ways of work, leisure and life, will politics follow?
By Damien Cave - Feb. 15, 2020
SYDNEY, Australia -- In a country where there has always been more space
than people, where the land and wildlife are cherished like a Picasso,
nature is closing in. Fueled by climate change and the world's refusal
to address it, the fires that have burned across Australia are not just
destroying lives, or turning forests as large as nations into ashen
moonscapes.
They are also forcing Australians to imagine an entirely new way of
life. When summer is feared. When air filters hum in homes that are
bunkers, with kids kept indoors. When birdsong and the rustle of
marsupials in the bush give way to an eerie, smoky silence.
"I am standing here a traveler from a new reality, a burning Australia,"
Lynette Wallworth, an Australian filmmaker, told a crowd of
international executives and politicians in Davos, Switzerland, last
month. "What was feared and what was warned is no longer in our future,
a topic for debate -- it is here."
"We have seen," she added, "the unfolding wings of climate change."
Like the fires, it's a metaphor that lingers. What many of us have
witnessed this fire season does feel alive, like a monstrous gathering
force threatening to devour what we hold most dear on a continent that
will grow only hotter, drier and more flammable as global temperatures rise.
- - -
Since the fires started, tens of millions of acres have been incinerated
in areas that are deeply connected to the national psyche. If you're
American, imagine Cape Cod, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the Sierra
Nevadas and California's Pacific Coast, all rolled into one -- and burned.
It's "a place of childhood vacations and dreams," as one of Australia's
great novelists, Thomas Keneally, recently wrote.
For months on end, driving through these areas, where tourism,
agriculture, retirement and bohemian living all meet for flat whites at
the local cafe, has meant checking reports for closed roads and
wondering if the thick clouds of smoke in the distance mean immediate
danger...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/15/world/australia/fires-climate-change.html
[Poet filmmaker therapist - Denis Postle - new 50 min video in YouTube
and Vimeo]
*Feature Film: The Climate Tsunami (2020)*
Feb 12, 2020
Do we have a future? What kind of future?
The Climate Tsunami is a 50 minute video essay that aims to support a
realistic picture of current climate concerns.
The Climate Tsunami is fiction, it builds on the facts of climate
heating to enable the planet to speak about it.
In a sometimes shocking, often touching deep dive, the planet draws on
its long historical perspective to show and tell where we are with
climate heating and where it might be taking us;
--how human abuse of the planet as a living body has triggered an
autonomic response of climate heating;
--how humankind has a clear choice between voluntary shrinkage of its
civilizations or possible catastrophic collapse.
The Climate Tsunami is a personal, independent video production, based
on three years research, written, photographed and edited by Denis
Postle, a veteran documentary film director, therapist, writer and
musician.
For more from Denis Postle visit https://vimeo.com/user1576172
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX8tvvz60Mc
Climate Tsunami https://vimeo.com/376824623
[Opinion survey of people answering their phones]
*For the first time, environmental protection rivals the economy among
the public's top policy priorities*
For the first time in Pew Research Center surveys dating back nearly two
decades, nearly as many Americans say protecting the environment should
be a top policy priority (64%) as say this about strengthening the
economy (67%)...
- - -
The national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted Jan. 8-13 on
cellphones and landlines among 1,504 adults, finds that defending the
country against terrorism remains a top priority among the public
overall, as has been the case since 2002...
https://www.people-press.org/2020/02/13/as-economic-concerns-recede-environmental-protection-rises-on-the-publics-policy-agenda/pp_2020-02-13_political-priorities_0-01/
[All politics is local]
*An Unusual New York City Election Tests Whether Global Warming Can Win
A Local Race*
Costa Constantinides, a progressive candidate for Queens borough
president, is prioritizing climate issues in his platform.
Echoes Of The Presidential Primary
The realities of climate change hit home in Queens in October 2012.
Superstorm Sandy whipped Queens with winds of up to 85 miles per hour
and inundated the coastal neighborhoods with surges up to 6.5 feet high,
according to National Weather Service records. In total, 43 New Yorkers
died in the city, including several Queens residents in the beachfront
Rockaways who drowned in their homes...
By 2019, 79% of Queens residents understood climate change was
happening, 87% wanted schools to teach more about global warming, and
77% said they prioritize environmental protection over economic growth,
according to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication's
county-level polling. Perhaps more tellingly: 66% wanted local officials
to do more about global warming.
During Katz's final year as borough president, she budgeted $65 million
for renovations, construction and other projects across the borough.
That included $815,000 for a new boiler at the Queens Theatre, $1
million for affordable housing construction in the Jamaica neighborhood
and $3 million for upgrades to a park playground in the Flushing area.
Constantinides is proposing to redirect much of that budget toward
projects that would scale up solar, wind and battery power across Queens
and invest in coastal projects that provide much-needed flood and storm
protections.
- -
*Echoes Of The Presidential Primary*
The realities of climate change hit home in Queens in October 2012.
Superstorm Sandy whipped Queens with winds of up to 85 miles per hour
and inundated the coastal neighborhoods with surges up to 6.5 feet high,
according to National Weather Service records. In total, 43 New Yorkers
died in the city, including several Queens residents in the beachfront
Rockaways who drowned in their homes.
By 2019, 79% of Queens residents understood climate change was
happening, 87% wanted schools to teach more about global warming, and
77% said they prioritize environmental protection over economic growth,
according to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication's
county-level polling. Perhaps more tellingly: 66% wanted local officials
to do more about global warming.
During Katz's final year as borough president, she budgeted $65 million
for renovations, construction and other projects across the borough.
That included $815,000 for a new boiler at the Queens Theatre, $1
million for affordable housing construction in the Jamaica neighborhood
and $3 million for upgrades to a park playground in the Flushing area.
Constantinides is proposing to redirect much of that budget toward
projects that would scale up solar, wind and battery power across Queens
and invest in coastal projects that provide much-needed flood and storm
protections...
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nyc-climate-change-queens-borough-president_n_5e46c911c5b64433c61599d9
[scientist frustration]
*Crossing the Line: A Scientist's Road From Neutrality to Activism*
Nathan Phillips, who just ended a 14-day hunger strike, said he was
compelled to action by dissatisfaction with academia's passivity and the
fervor of his students...
- - -
Like other scientists around the country, he's endured the seeming
disdain for science shown by the Trump administration, in particular for
climate science, something the president has repeatedly called a "hoax."
Phillips is not the only scientist to respond by moving toward advocacy,
as researchers with a front row seat to the extent and impact of climate
change feel an increasing obligation to take on a more active role.
Thousands of scientists now participate in the March for Science, an
annual demonstration that began soon after Trump's inauguration in
2017. More than 1,500 scientists recently signed a petition in support
of Extinction Rebellion, an environmental organization that leads
non-violent protests over climate change. And last fall, 11,000
scientists warned of a looming climate emergency in the journal
BioScience...
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11022020/hunger-strike-nathan-phillips-natural-gas-compressor
[according to Snopes]
*Daily Debunker: How Climate Change Denial Works*
Featured on Snopes today: The five pillars of climate change denial, how
border wall construction threatens Native American burial sites, and
that time Rush Limbaugh referred to 12-year-old Chelsea Clinton as a dog.
A clear consensus exists among scientists about climate change -- that
it is real, and that it is largely caused by human activities -- yet
climate-change denialists keep pumping out propaganda designed to
convince the public otherwise.
Indeed, the fossil fuel industry, political lobbyists, media moguls, and
individuals have spent the past 30 years sowing doubt about the reality
of global warming, using familiar rhetoric and misinformation.
Mark Maskin, a professor of earth system science at University College
London, outlines their tactics in an article for The Conversation
entitled "The Five Pillars of Climate Change Denial."
- - -
*The Five Pillars of Climate Change Denial*
The fossil fuel industry, political lobbyists, media moguls and
individuals have spent the past 30 years sowing doubt about the reality
of climate change -- where none exists.
The fossil fuel industry, political lobbyists, media moguls and
individuals have spent the past 30 years sowing doubt about the reality
of climate change - where none exists. The latest estimate is that the
world's five largest publicly-owned oil and gas companies spend about
US$200 million a year on lobbying to control, delay or block binding
climate policy.
Their hold on the public seems to be waning. Two recent polls suggested
over 75% of Americans think humans are causing climate change. School
climate strikes, Extinction Rebellion protests, national governments
declaring a climate emergency, improved media coverage of climate change
and an increasing number of extreme weather events have all contributed
to this shift. There also seems to be a renewed optimism that we can
deal with the crisis.
But this means lobbying has changed, now employing more subtle and more
vicious approaches - what has been termed as "climate sadism". It is
used to mock young people going on climate protests and to ridicule
Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old young woman with Asperger's, who is simply
telling the scientific truth.
At such a crossroads, it is important to be able to identify the
different types of denial. The below taxonomy will help you spot the
different ways that are being used to convince you to delay action on
climate change.
*1. Science denial*
This is the type of denial we are all familiar with: that the science of
climate change is not settled. Deniers suggest climate change is just
part of the natural cycle. Or that climate models are unreliable and too
sensitive to carbon dioxide.
Some even suggest that CO₂ is such a small part of the atmosphere it
cannot have a large heating affect. Or that climate scientists are
fixing the data to show the climate is changing (a global conspiracy
that would take thousands of scientists in more than a 100 countries to
pull off).
All these arguments are false and there is a clear consensus among
scientists about the causes of climate change. The climate models that
predict global temperature rises have remained very similar over the
last 30 years despite the huge increase in complexity, showing it is a
robust outcome of the science.
The shift in public opinion means that undermining the science will
increasingly have little or no effect. So climate change deniers are
switching to new tactics. One of Britain's leading deniers, Nigel
Lawson, the former UK chancellor, now agrees that humans are causing
climate change, despite having founded the sceptic Global Warming Policy
Foundation in 2009.
It says it is "open-minded on the contested science of global warming,
[but] is deeply concerned about the costs and other implications of many
of the policies currently being advocated". In other words, climate
change is now about the cost not the science.
*2. Economic denial*
The idea that climate change is too expensive to fix is a more subtle
form of climate denial. Economists, however, suggest we could fix
climate change now by spending 1% of world GDP. Perhaps even less if the
cost savings from improved human health and expansion of the global
green economy are taken into account. But if we don't act now, by 2050
it could cost over 20% of world GDP.
We should also remember that in 2018 the world generated
US$86,000,000,000,000 and every year this World GDP grows by 3.5%. So
setting aside just 1% to deal with climate change would make little
overall difference and would save the world a huge amount of money. What
the climate change deniers also forget to tell you is that they are
protecting a fossil fuel industry that receives US$5.2 trillion in
annual subsidies - which includes subsidised supply costs, tax breaks
and environmental costs. This amounts to 6% of world GDP.
The International Monetary Fund estimates that efficient fossil fuel
pricing would lower global carbon emissions by 28%, fossil fuel air
pollution deaths by 46%, and increase government revenue by 3.8% of the
country's GDP.
*3. Humanitarian denial*
Climate change deniers also argue that climate change is good for us.
They suggest longer, warmer summers in the temperate zone will make
farming more productive. These gains, however, are often offset by the
drier summers and increased frequency of heatwaves in those same areas.
For example, the 2010 "Moscow" heatwave killed 11,000 people, devastated
the Russian wheat harvest and increased global food prices.
More than 40% of the world's population also lives in the Tropics -
where from both a human health prospective and an increase in
desertification no one wants summer temperatures to rise.
Deniers also point out that plants need atmospheric carbon dioxide to
grow so having more of it acts like a fertiliser. This is indeed true
and the land biosphere has been absorbing about a quarter of our carbon
dioxide pollution every year. Another quarter of our emissions is
absorbed by the oceans. But losing massive areas of natural vegetation
through deforestation and changes in land use completely nullifies this
minor fertilisation effect.
Climate change deniers will tell you that more people die of the cold
than heat, so warmer winters will be a good thing. This is deeply
misleading. Vulnerable people die of the cold because of poor housing
and not being able to afford to heat their homes. Society, not climate,
kills them.
This argument is also factually incorrect. In the US, for example,
heat-related deaths are four times higher than cold-related ones. This
may even be an underestimate as many heat-related deaths are recorded by
cause of death such as heart failure, stroke, or respiratory failure,
all of which are exacerbated by excessive heat.
*4. Political denial*
Climate change deniers argue we cannot take action because other
countries are not taking action. But not all countries are equally
guilty of causing current climate change. For example, 25% of the
human-produced CO₂ in the atmosphere is generated by the US, another 22%
is produced by the EU. Africa produces just under 5%.
Given the historic legacy of greenhouse gas pollution, developed
countries have an ethical responsibility to lead the way in cutting
emissions. But ultimately, all countries need to act because if we want
to minimise the effects of climate change then the world must go carbon
zero by 2050.
Deniers will also tell you that there are problems to fix closer to home
without bothering with global issues. But many of the solutions to
climate change are win-win and will improve the lives of normal people.
Switching to renewable energy and electric vehicles, for example,
reduces air pollution, which improves people's overall health.
Developing a green economy provides economic benefits and creates jobs.
Improving the environment and reforestation provides protection from
extreme weather events and can in turn improve food and water security.
*5. Crisis denial*
The final piece of climate change denial is the argument that we should
not rush into changing things, especially given the uncertainty raised
by the other four areas of denial above. Deniers argue that climate
change is not as bad as scientists make out. We will be much richer in
the future and better able to fix climate change. They also play on our
emotions as many of us don't like change and can feel we are living in
the best of times - especially if we are richer or in power.
But similarly hollow arguments were used in the past to delay ending
slavery, granting the vote to women, ending colonial rule, ending
segregation, decriminalising homosexuality, bolstering worker's rights
and environmental regulations, allowing same sex marriages and banning
smoking.
The fundamental question is why are we allowing the people with the most
privilege and power to convince us to delay saving our planet from
climate change?
https://www.snopes.com/collections/debunker-02-13-2020/
Read the original article -
https://theconversation.com/the-five-corrupt-pillars-of-climate-change-denial-122893
[Big PR has influenced our society]
*How Astroturfing Made Its Way from Tobacco to Oil*
- - -
Edelman was also an early proponent and practitioner of
"astroturfing":creating fake grassroots groups, with their funding by
industry obscured,, to counter real environmental and public health
activism. "Edelman was genius at it," says Christine Arena, a former
Edelman vice president.
Over the past three decades, several such groups have gone on to become
major players in confusing the public about climate change."Fossil fuel
industry organizations fund these fake front groups, and they give these
fake front groups these perfectly innocuous names, like the 'California
Drivers Alliance' or the 'Washington Consumers for Sound Fuel Policy,'"
Arena says, which. are actually run by the Western States Petroleum
Association, which is a top lobbyist for the oil industry." Another
prominent pro-industry group that tries to appear independent, the
Western States Petroleum Association, is funded by BP, Shell, Exxon
Mobil, and other Big Oil firms, says Arena. "It's fake activism. It's
corporate money posing as activism. And it's designed to undo all of the
progress that real activism makes."...
https://www.drillednews.com/post/how-astroturfing-made-its-way-from-tobacco-to-oil
[the unwanted gift]
*The Cost of Bearing Witness to the Environmental Crisis: Vicarious
Traumatization and Dealing with Secondary Traumatic Stress among
Environmental Researchers*
ABSTRACT
Researchers working on environmental issues are often unprepared to deal
with the traumatic potential of their studies. They often face traumatic
encounters in their first-hand experiences in fieldwork, for example, by
finding animals killed by poachers or seeing the disastrous effects of
climate change. However, environmental researchers also suffer from
forms of secondary trauma or vicarious trauma related to environmental
problems when they become affected by hearing or reading about the
suffering of others. Unfortunately, however, very little support
structures exist for students and researchers who experience secondary
trauma. This article discusses the phenomenon of secondary trauma among
researchers and students of environmental science. Through an analysis
of existing empirical studies, the article highlights that there are
clear signs of traumatic symptoms among environmental researchers. The
most common reactions include psychic numbing, compassion fatigue, and
burnouts. The article also makes suggestions for recognizing
vulnerabilities, and for enhancing resilience through self-care. Since
traumatic exposure by environmental researchers has not been
systematically studied or discussed in detail in the existing
literature, this article makes a significant contribution to the field
showcasing ideas for further research, including possible empirical
studies on the ways in which trauma and secondary trauma feature among
environmental researchers.
KEYWORDS: Ecological trauma, researcher, emotion, climate change
Additional information
Author information
Panu Pihkala
Dr. Panu Pihkala is a postdoctoral researcher who has specialized in the
psychosocial and spiritual dimensions of environmental problems. Pihkala
has written extensively on 'eco-anxiety', environmental education, and
spirituality. He is a leading Finnish expert in the psychosocial
dimensions of climate change and serves as an expert in many projects.
He was awarded the national prize for adult education (Sivistyspalkinto)
in 2018 for his work on eco-anxiety and hope.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02691728.2019.1681560?journalCode=tsep20&
[Digging back into the internet news archive]
*On this day in the history of global warming - February 16, 2002 *
In response to President George W. Bush's February 14, 2002 speech on
climate change, the New York Times editorial page declares:
"The obvious conclusion to be drawn from President Bush's latest
global warming strategy, unveiled this week, is that he does not
regard warming as a problem. There seems no other way to interpret a
policy that would actually increase the gases responsible for
heating the earth's atmosphere. That the policy demands little from
the American people, while insulting allies who have agreed to take
tough steps to deal with the problem, only adds to one's sense of
dismay."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/16/opinion/backward-on-global-warming.html
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