[TheClimate.Vote] July 4, 2020 - Daily Global Warming News Digest.

[Richard Pauli]

/*July 4, 2020*/

[Climate politics team]
*Biden rolls out team to boost climate vote*
Ben Geman - July 3, 2020
Joe Biden's campaign is unveiling a "Climate Engagement Advisory 
Council" this morning aimed at "mobilizing" voters who prioritize 
climate change and environmental justice.

*Why it matters: *November's election is a stark contrast between Biden, 
whose platform goes much further than Obama-era policies, and President 
Trump, who largely dismisses the problem and is rolling back his 
predecessor's initiatives.

And activism stemming from the police killing of George Floyd is putting 
fresh focus on environmental justice -- that is, addressing the 
disproportionate pollution burdens facing people of color and poor 
communities.
How it works: Members of the newly unveiled council named this morning 
are...

    - Tom Steyer, the billionaire activist and donor
    - Dr. Cecilia Martinez, executive director of the Center for Earth,
    Energy & Democracy
    - Lonnie R. Stephenson, head of the International Brotherhood of
    Electrical Workers
    - Deb Haaland, a Democratic congresswoman from New Mexico
    - Carol Browner, a top climate official in the Obama years and
    current board chair of the League of Conservation Voters
    - Harold Mitchell, Jr., a former South Carolina state representative
    and founder of the ReGenesis Community Development Corporation

*The intrigue: *Climate change hasn't traditionally been a high-profile 
topic in national elections, and it's unclear how much that will change 
this campaign season and how much it will affect turnout.

However, several polls during the Democratic primary fight -- like this 
one -- showed that it was among the top tier of voters' priorities, and 
formation of the council suggests the campaign sees a political 
opportunity there.

*What's next: *"The council will work with the Biden campaign to develop 
and execute plans to engage key communities most affected by climate 
change and environmental injustices, including young Americans, 
communities of color, union households, and more," Biden's campaign said.

*What we're watching:* The new council's rollout comes ahead of expected 
changes to Biden's climate and energy platform.

In April the campaign said Biden planned to add more provisions on 
environmental justice, as well as "new, concrete goals we can achieve 
within a decade" and "more investments in a clean energy economy."
In addition, Biden and Bernie Sanders have formed joint task forces on 
topics including climate change, but the groups have yet to unveil their 
recommendations.
https://www.axios.com/biden-rolls-out-team-to-boost-climate-vote-abad6b06-2b89-4987-8ced-9d195e76449c.html



[WAPO notes growing concern]
*Rapid Arctic meltdown in Siberia alarms scientists*
Isabelle Khurshudyan - Foreign correspondent based in Moscow
Andrew Freedman and Brady Dennis
July 3, 2020
Wildfires are raging amid record-breaking temperatures. Permafrost is 
thawing, infrastructure is crumbling and sea ice is dramatically 
vanishing...
- -
In Siberia and across much of the Arctic, profound changes are unfolding 
more rapidly than scientists anticipated only a few years ago. Shifts 
that once seemed decades away are happening now, with potentially global 
implications...
- -
Much of Siberia experienced an exceptionally mild winter, followed by a 
warmer-than- average spring, and has been among the most abnormally warm 
regions of the world during 2020. During May, parts of Siberia saw an 
average monthly temperature that was a staggering 18 degrees Fahrenheit 
(10 Celsius) above average for the month, according to the European 
Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service...
- -
The persistent warmth has helped to fuel wildfires, eviscerate sea ice, 
and destabilize homes and other buildings constructed on thawing 
permafrost. It allegedly even contributed to a massive fuel spill in 
Norilsk in late May that prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to 
declare a state of emergency in the environmentally sensitive region.
- -
Scientists have long maintained that the Arctic is warming twice as fast 
as the rest of the world. But in reality, the region is now warming at 
nearly three times the global average. Data from NASA shows that since 
1970, the Arctic has warmed by an average of 5.3 degrees (2.94 Celsius), 
compared with the global average of 1.71 degrees (0.95 Celsius) during 
the same period. Scientists refer to the phenomenon as "Arctic 
amplification."

The melting of snow and ice earlier in the spring exposes darker land 
surfaces and ocean waters. This switches these areas from being net 
reflectors of incoming solar radiation to heat absorbers, which further 
increases land and sea temperatures. That means more warmth in the air, 
more melting of snow and ice, and drying of vegetation in a way that 
creates more fuel for wildfires.

What happens in the Arctic matters for the rest of the globe. Greenland 
ice melt is already the biggest contributor to sea level rise worldwide, 
studies show. The loss of Arctic sea ice is also thought to be leading 
to more extreme weather patterns far outside the Arctic, in a complex 
series of ripple effects that may be partly responsible for extreme heat 
and precipitation events that have claimed thousands of lives in recent 
years.

The fires that have erupted in Siberia this summer have been massive, 
sending plumes of smoke that have covered a swath of land spanning about 
1,000 miles at times. While much of the fire activity has occurred in 
the Sakha Republic, known for such blazes, scientists are observing more 
fires burning further north, above the Arctic Circle, in peatlands and 
tundra...
- -
One concern is that such fires could be destabilizing peatlands and 
permafrost -- the carbon-rich frozen soil that covers nearly a quarter 
of the Northern Hemisphere's land mass, stretching across large parts of 
Alaska, Canada, Siberia and Greenland.

Merritt Turetsky, director of the Institute for Arctic and Alpine 
Research at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said fires in Siberia 
are currently burning "in areas where we expect permafrost to be more 
vulnerable." Typically, these fires would break out in July and August, 
but this year they spiked in May, a sign of the unusual heat and early 
snow melt.

Turetsky said the fires are removing the blanket of vegetation that 
covers permafrost, making it more vulnerable to melting...
- -
Some of these blazes appear to be what are known as "zombie fires," 
which survived the winter season smoldering underground only to erupt 
again once snow and ice melts the following spring. Similar fires have 
been observed in Alaska this summer.

Ted Schuur, a professor at Northern Arizona University who researches 
permafrost emissions, said the rapid warming is turning the Arctic into 
a net emitter of greenhouse gases -- a disconcerting shift that 
threatens to dramatically hasten global warming. The unusually mild 
conditions in Siberia are particularly worrisome, as the region is home 
to the largest zone of continuous permafrost in the world.

There has long been concern throughout the scientific community that the 
approximately 1,460 billion to 1,600 billion metric tons of organic 
carbon stored in frozen Arctic soils, from Russia to Alaska to Canada, 
could be released as the permafrost melts. That is almost twice the 
amount of greenhouse gases trapped in the atmosphere. Recent research by 
Schuur and others shows that warmer temperatures allow microbes within 
the soil to convert permafrost carbon into carbon dioxide and methane.

A report late last year that Schuur co-authored found that permafrost 
ecosystems could be releasing as much as 1.1 billion to 2.2 billion tons 
of carbon dioxide per year -- nearly as much as the annual emissions of 
Japan and Russia in 2018, respectively.

"A decade ago we thought more of the permafrost would be resistant to 
change," said Schuur. The more scientists look for destabilizing 
permafrost and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, the more they 
find such evidence.

Rapid warming has altered those calculations. "We're basically setting 
records in the Arctic year after year," Schuur said. "These emissions 
are now adding to our climate change problem. What happens in Siberia is 
going to affect everything through the global climate system."

Researchers have watched as the changes sweeping the Arctic threaten 
major infrastructure, including homes and cities in the region.

"Will roads, buildings, oil and gas pipelines be able to survive without 
emergency [interventions], due to permafrost degradation?" Alexander 
Fedorov, deputy director of the Melnikov Permafrost Institute in the 
regional capital of Yakutsk, said in an email. "One must live on stable 
lands. In Siberia and the Arctic, many settlements and infrastructure 
were built before global warming, before there were problems. The main 
thing is not to be late with the solutions, because many villages are 
located in dangerous and vulnerable areas."
- -
"Certainly, 2020 is a strange year all around, for a lot of reasons 
beyond climate," Meier said. "But it's certainly setting up to be an 
extreme year in the Arctic."

That might seem like a distant problem to the rest of the world. But 
those who study the Arctic insist the rest of us should pay close attention.

"When we develop a fever, it's a sign. It's a warning sign that 
something is wrong and we stop and we take note," Turetsky said. 
"Literally, the Arctic is on fire. It has a fever right now, and so it's 
a good warning sign that we need to stop, take note and figure out 
what's going on."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/rapid-arctic-meltdown-in-siberia-alarms-scientists/2020/07/03/4c1bd6a6-bbaa-11ea-bdaf-a129f921026f_story.html


[CBS Climate Watch video]
*Jane Goodall on conservation, climate change and COVID-19: "If we carry 
on with business as usual, we're going to destroy ourselves"*
**BY JEFF BERARDELLI - JULY 2, 2020 - CBS NEWS
While COVID-19 and protests for racial justice command the world's 
collective attention, ecological destruction, species extinction and 
climate change continue unabated. While the world's been focused on 
other crises, an alarming study was released warning that species 
extinction is now progressing so fast that the consequences of 
"biological annihilation" may soon be "unimaginable."

Dr. Jane Goodall, the world-renowned conservationist, desperately wants 
the world to pay attention to what she sees as the greatest threat to 
humanity's existence.

CBS News recently spoke to Goodall over a video conference call and 
asked her questions about the state of our planet. Her soft-spoken grace 
somehow helped cushion what was otherwise extremely sobering news: "I 
just know that if we carry on with business as usual, we're going to 
destroy ourselves. It would be the end of us, as well as life on Earth 
as we know it," warned Goodall.

What follows is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation.

Jeff Berardelli: Destruction of nature is causing some really big 
concerns around the world. One that comes to the forefront right now is 
emergent diseases like COVID-19. Can you describe how destruction of the 
environment contributes to this?

Dr. Jane Goodall: Well, the thing is, we brought this on ourselves 
because the scientists that have been studying these so-called zoonotic 
diseases that jump from an animal to a human have been predicting 
something like this for so long. As we chop down at stake tropical 
rainforest, with its rich biodiversity, we are eating away the habitats 
of millions of animals, and many of them are being pushed into greater 
contact with humans. We're driving deeper and deeper, making roads 
throughout the habitat, which again brings people and animals in contact 
with each other. People are hunting the animals and selling the meat, or 
trafficking the infants, and all of this is creating environments which 
are perfect for a virus or a bacteria to cross that species barrier and 
sometimes, like COVID-19, it becomes very contagious and we're suffering 
from it.

But we know if we don't stop destroying the environment and 
disrespecting animals -- we're hunting them, killing them, eating them; 
killing and eating chimpanzees in Central Africa led to HIV/AIDS -- 
there will be another one. It's inevitable...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jane-goodall-climate-change-coronavirus-environment-interview/



[Exxon report from 2019]
*How Exxon Deceived The World (But Not Their Investors)*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGhYb-jjENw



[BBC]
*Greta Thunberg, the climate campaigner who doesn't like campaigning*
Justin Rowlatt
...
She articulates her message very clearly, there is no doubt about that.

But what makes Greta unique is the paradox of the vulnerable-looking 
young girl speaking her version of truth to the most powerful people on 
earth.

It explains why she has been such a potent advocate for the climate cause.

And she is certainly that. Greta Thunberg has done more to galvanise 
action on the issue than any other single individual in the last year.

But she constantly laments the lack of global progress on climate and 
tells me she is stunned by how little world leaders understand about the 
issue.

Their level of knowledge is, she says, "very, very low. Much lower than 
you would think."

When we first spoke, I asked whether she is ever afraid that she will 
end up like Cassandra, the figure from Greek mythology.

Cassandra was cursed to be able to see into the future but for everyone 
to disbelieve her prophecies.

Greta Thunberg said she had no such fears.

"Many people listen to me", she said.

"I don't beg to be heard. I just beg for the scientists to be heard."

She believes the message that individual action can make a difference is 
getting through.

She talks about a "social tipping point" having been passed, not just on 
climate but on race, gender and other social justice issues.

"People are starting to realise that we cannot keep looking away from 
these things," she says. "We cannot keep sweeping these things under the 
carpet."

And Greta does get some pleasure from her efforts to get the world to 
take climate change seriously.

She told me that campaigning lifted her out of a period of deep 
depression during her early teens.

"It makes me feel good that I'm not alone in this fight," she told me as 
we bobbed on the deck of the racing yacht that was about to whisk her 
across the Atlantic.

"It feels like my life has some kind of meaning lately and I feel that 
what I am doing is meaningful."

She is also delighted that so many autistic people have felt empowered 
by her decision to speak publicly about living with the condition.

Greta's incredible year off - she calls it a sabbatical - will be over 
in just a couple of weeks' time.

The 17-year-old is looking forward to going back to school, she has 
three years of studies left.

And you won't be surprised to hear she says she won't stop campaigning 
any time soon.
https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-53255535


[Positive news]
*MIT Energy Initiative awards eight seed fund grants for early-stage MIT 
energy research*
Recipients of the 2020 MITEI Seed Fund grants are as follows:

    - "Building Hurricane-Resilient Smart Grids: Optimal Resource
    Allocation and Microgrid Operation" -- Kerry Emanuel of the
    Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and Saurabh
    Amin of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering;
    - "DNA Nanostructure-Immobilized Electrocatalysts for Improved CO2
    Reduction Efficiency" -- Ariel Furst of the Department of Chemical
    Engineering;
    - "Enabling High-Energy Li/Li-Ion Batteries Through Active Interface
    Repair" -- Betar Gallant of the Department of Mechanical Engineering;
    - "Extremely Low-Cost Aluminum-Sulfur Battery Running Below 100
    Degrees Celsius for Grid-Level Energy Storage" -- Donald Sadoway of
    the Department of Materials Science and Engineering;
    - "Low-Cost Negative Emissions From Concentration Swing Absorption"
    -- Jeffrey Grossman of the Department of Materials Science and
    Engineering;
    - "Rapid Material Discovery for Solid-State Batteries: Coupling
    Low-Cost Processing With Material Screening and Performance
    Optimization Using Machine Learning" -- Jennifer Rupp of the
    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Wojciech Matusik of
    the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and
    Elsa Olivetti of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering;
    - "Sorption Enhanced Steam Methane Reforming With Molten Sorbents
    for Clean Hydrogen Production" -- T. Alan Hatton of the Department
    of Chemical Engineering; and
      -"Towards Zero-Emissions Neighborhoods: A Novel Building-Grid
    Optimization Framework" -- Audun Botterud of the Laboratory for
    Information and Decision Systems and Christoph Reinhart of the
    Department of Architecture.

http://news.mit.edu/2020/mit-energy-initiative-awards-eight-seed-fund-grants-early-stage-mit-energy-research-0630



[Digging back into the internet news archive]
*On this day in the history of global warming - July 4, 2014 *

The Fox News Channel celebrates its independence from reality by 
bringing on infamous climate-change denier Joe Bastardi to attack those 
concerned about carbon pollution.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2011/07/06/fox-celebrates-july-4-by-trying-to-debunk-globa/180569


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