[TheClimate.Vote] November 26, 2020 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Thu Nov 26 11:09:03 EST 2020
/*November 26, 2020*/
[see video, maybe talk about it at the table]
*Four Climate Scientists ask "Should We Have Kids?"*
Nov 25, 2020
Facing Future
Four climate scientists who have been living in Australia discuss their
concerns for the future quite candidly. All considering moving their
families to places that may fare better in what they know is to come,
realizing that no place will be safe from the various impacts of climate
change.
One major theme that arises is, "Should we have kids? Is it fair to
bring children into the world knowing what they will face?" The other
is, "To where should I move or migrate to best protect my family?"
Note that temperatures discussed are all in degrees Celsius, where
42C = 108F
45C = 113F, and
50C = 122F.
#ClimateDisruption #FridaysForFuture #ActNow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FCR-62CX9I
- -
[Juan Cole found a new process]*
* *Australia's Massive Solar Energy Hub in Outback to produce
coal-killer Green Ammonia*
JUAN COLE - 11/25/2020
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Asian Renewable Energy Hub is
planning a $16 billion solar and wind project in the part of the
Australian outback known as Pilbara, that is, in the north of the West
Australian desert. The panels work by converting photons or ordinary
light rays to electricity.
The consortium had earlier considered trying to export the electricity
as far away as Singapore by undersea cables, which would probably have
been feasible. They have now decided instead to use the renewable
electricity generated by the solar panels and the wind turbines for
hydrolysis, producing hydrogen and oxygen out of water (H2O). Then the
hydrogen will be bonded with nitrogen from the air to make ammonia. The
ammonia, which, although it is toxic is not volatile (unlike the
fertilizer, ammonium nitrate, which blew up Beirut this summer), can be
liquefied at -33 degrees, and there is already an infrastructure for
doing so and for transporting it. Liquefied ammonia can be transported
on ships, just as liquefied natural gas is now carried that way.
Ammonia does not produce greenhouse gas emissions when burned. Engineers
are working on ensuring that it also does not produce nitrogen oxides,
which are a pollutant that contributes to ozone. Ammonia can be used in
coal-fired electricity plants instead of coal. It is also suitable as a
fuel for, e.g., large ships.
Robin Hardy at the Financial Times reported this summer that Japan has
decided to make a big investment in ammonia as a fuel for its power
plants, given that the Fukushima nuclear complex was irreparably damaged
by a tsunami in 2011 and so has been the nuclear energy industry as a
whole. Japan has had to make up the lost electricity production with
imports of liquefied natural gas, which has significantly increased the
country's carbon footprint. Importing liquefied ammonia could help Japan
go green so as to meet its commitments under the Paris accords.
https://www.juancole.com/2020/11/australias-massive-outback.html
[smart]
*An ancient people with a modern climate plan*
After a brutal storm in 2006, the Swinomish tribe off the coast of
Washington state launched a strategy to deal with the effects of a
warming planet. Now, 50 other native tribes have followed suit...
- -
The Swinomish are rebuilding oyster reefs for the native Olympia oyster.
They're planning the first modern clam garden in the United States on
the reservation's tidelands, reviving an ancient practice. They're
monitoring deer and elk populations through camera traps to understand
the climate change pressures and to inform hunting limits. And they have
ongoing wetland restoration projects to explore preserving native plants
and to help naturally manage coastal flooding.
"They're doing really innovative climate adaptation," said Meade Krosby,
a senior scientist with the Climate Impacts Group at the University of
Washington. "They were way ahead of the curve. And that really shouldn't
be surprising, because the tribes have shown tremendous leadership in
climate adaptation and mitigation."...
- -
And in Alaska, a partnership of 11 tribes has formed to identify harmful
algae blooms so that it's clear when shellfish can be safely harvested.
Native Americans acutely feel the effects of the changing climate
because they were forced onto the most vulnerable lands, places that
were of little use to others, said Nikki Cooley, co-manager of the
Tribes and Climate Change Program for the Institute for Tribal
Environmental Professionals.
"There's that big push to address climate change because we're feeling
the effects more so than other places," said Cooley, 40, who grew up
without electricity or running water, herding sheep in the sprawling
Navajo Nation reservations of the Arizona desert.
The institute has consulted with more than 300 of the 574 tribes in the
United States, Cooley said. It's natural that Indigenous people who have
lived with the land for generations, attuned to the cycles of nature,
would be leaders in adapting to climate change and marrying that to
culture and health. "We've always been taught and are still being told
we have to preserve for the future generations," she added...
- -
Jamie Donatuto, the tribe's environmental health officer, and Larry
Campbell, a 71-year-old tribal elder, have created a tool, Indigenous
Health Indicators, that goes beyond typical morbidity and mortality
measures and considers ecosystem health, social and cultural beliefs,
and values integral to a community. "It's a very different way of
thinking about health," she said.
Seen through that lens, restoring "first foods" is important not just
for diet and nutrition but for nourishment of the soul. Living somewhere
for a long time fosters a sense of place, and a sense of place fosters
stewardship.
"It's a different worldview," said Donatuto, who has a doctorate in
resource management and environmental sustainability from the University
of British Columbia. "The salmon and the crabs and the clams are
relatives. They're living relatives. They're not just resources. And so
you treat them with a symbiotic respect. They feed you because you take
care of them. It's a very different way of thinking about why these
areas are important."
- -
A clam garden requires tribal members to work together to build and
maintain a low rock wall at the shoreline. Once in place, the garden
will create a spot for elders to share stories, passing on tribal
knowledge. It will supply a first food while serving as an example of
the tribe's resilience, self-determination and cultural stewardship, all
health indicators.
Krosby said the tribe's outreach is a lesson. "When we engage
communities and when we incorporate their knowledge and concerns into
climate planning, you wind up with a more equitable and robust outcome,"
she said. "You wind up with the backing of the community. You end up
with the benefit of their knowledge and expertise. And that's especially
important for front-line communities."
Mitchell and Shelly Vendiola, a tribal elder, are chairs of the Protect
Mother Earth Committee, working on involving the community in the plan's
update and creating a climate change curriculum for schoolchildren and
adults that marries an introduction to tribal lore with climate science.
The idea is to interest members in exploring science, going away to
study and perhaps returning to help develop and implement future climate
adaptation.
"Climate change," Mitchell said, "is going to last for a long time. So
what we set up now builds the foundation."
Consider it newly traditional knowledge to pass down across the generations.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2020/11/24/native-americans-climate-change-swinomish/?arc404=true
- -
[Report from 2010]
*Swinomish Climate Change Initiative **Climate Adaptation Action Plan *
Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
Office of Planning and Community Development
La Conner, WA 98257
https://swinomish-nsn.gov/climate_change/Docs/SITC_CC_AdaptationActionPlan_complete.pdf
[so asks the Financial Times]
*Is Jeff Bezos really serious about beating climate change?*
Amazon founder is donating $791m to green charities but it will take
more than money to help the planet..
- -
It's a nice gesture, but it feels like exactly that -- the sort of
cheque-writing exercise that middle-class Americans usually save for the
end of the year to maximise tax deductions. For Bezos, chief executive
of Amazon, routinely celebrated as one of the most disruptive innovators
on earth, his climate donations are distinctly lacking in either
disruption or innovation...
- -
Even if Bezos is not trying to buy off his critics or placate his
employees, there is one clear shortcoming in his approach: he has thrown
money at the problem, but hasn't apparently matched that with strategy.
Nor has he spoken or written much about the issue -- at least not when
compared with other climate billionaires...
- -
His vision is that humans will one day inhabit space, living in big
orbiting colonies. "We will have to leave this planet," he has said,
pointing to our growing population. His idea is that heavy industry will
also move into space, leaving some light manufacturing behind on Earth
-- along with any humans who want to stay. But Bezos himself hopes to be
on that rocket ship. Despite the grand ambitions of the Bezos Earth
Fund, would you really trust the planet to someone who is already
thinking of leaving it behind?
Leslie Hook is the FT's environment and clean energy correspondent.
leslie.hook at ft.com; @lesliehook. Gillian Tett returns next week
https://www.ft.com/content/16fb47c5-ca59-43f6-87b9-ba9b39e5c273
[Anything but wood]
*Rebuilding After A Wildfire? Most States Don't Require Fire-Resistant
Materials*
November 25, 20207
Heard on Morning Edition & transcript...
- -
GORHAM: There was one home in particular. An ember had ignited the mulch
in the backyard.
SOMMER: Most houses aren't ignited by the fire itself. It's the embers,
blown up to a mile away. Gorham could see that the mulch burned all the
way to the deck. But the deck wasn't made of wood, and the home didn't
ignite. He says it shows how fire-resistant materials can be crucial,
like for a roof or siding. Even small things can make a difference, like
covering up attic vents with mesh so embers don't get blown inside your
house.
GORHAM: These building coded for wildfire-resistant construction do make
a difference. We know that. We see that in the lab, and we see that in
the field.
SOMMER: In California, wildfire codes are mandatory in high-risk areas.
Almost every house that burned this year will have to meet them if
they're rebuilt. But that's not true across the West. According to an
NPR analysis, more than 6,000 homes in other states won't be required to
be wildfire resistant.
GORHAM: It does feel very much like a missed opportunity when it's right
there. We're right there with the opportunity to build back stronger.
SOMMER: Because in those other states, wildfire building codes have
gotten pushed back.
- -
CHRISTIANA RAINBOW PLEWS: I actually didn't know that my own home had
burned for a couple of days.
SOMMER: Christiana Rainbow Plews is fire chief of the Upper McKenzie
Rural Fire Protection District in central Oregon. In September, she and
her crew responded to a brush fire that turned into an inferno. Hot
weather made vegetation bone dry, conditions that climate change is
making worse.
PLEWS: It was really just a perfect, perfect setup for a disaster like that.
SOMMER: More than 400 homes burned, including her own. Now she's just
starting the slow process of rebuilding. She plans to use fire-resistant
materials, which isn't required, but she thinks others in her community
will struggle with that.
PLEWS: If they were underinsured or not insured, what they can afford
may not be what they actually want. They may have to settle for
something that's less fire resistant.
SOMMER: It's a lower priority, she says, when your basic needs aren't
met. Months later, hundreds of people are still in hotels.
PLEWS: It's awful, and the morale is just, you know, rock bottom.
SOMMER: It's why without help, the months after a disaster are actually
the hardest time to prepare for the next one.
Lauren Sommer, NPR News.
https://www.npr.org/2020/11/25/936685629/rebuilding-after-a-wildfire-most-states-dont-require-fire-resistant-materials
[Grist - the Beacon - "agreement"]
*Big Oil takes on its methane problem*
It's Wednesday, November 25, and oil and gas companies have agreed to
reduce their methane emissions.
Dozens of oil and gas companies have signed on to an agreement to track
and cut down their emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 86
times more potent than carbon dioxide over 20 years.
The initiative, known as the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership, was
launched in 2014 and updated this year. It now boasts 62 member oil and
gas companies, including BP, Shell, and Total. (Notably, no American
companies have signed on.) The agreement requires signatories to work
toward a 45 percent reduction in methane emissions by 2025 and a 60 to
75 percent reduction by 2030.
Methane emissions are a low-hanging fruit in the fight against climate
change. The gas has been responsible for about a quarter of the world's
warming since 1750, and it currently accounts for about 16 percent of
all global greenhouse gas emissions. The oil and gas industry
contributes to the problem through leaky wells and pipelines -- and by
intentionally venting the gas into the atmosphere as part of routine
operations.
While the agreement isn't legally binding, oil and gas companies may be
seeing the writing on the wall. President-elect Joe Biden has promised
to institute stricter methane regulations as soon as he takes office,
and the European Union has also signaled that it may take steps to more
strictly regulate the gas in the future.
-- Shannon Osaka
https://grist.org/beacon/big-oil-takes-on-its-methane-problem/
[Digging back into the internet news archive]
*On this day in the history of global warming - November 26, 2006 *
In an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
(R-CA) notes that fellow Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma is
someone who has his "thinking in the Stone Age" on climate.
http://youtu.be/gcZ7DWMeyQA
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
/Archive of Daily Global Warming News
<https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/2017-October/date.html>
/
https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote
/To receive daily mailings - click to Subscribe
<mailto:subscribe at theClimate.Vote?subject=Click%20SEND%20to%20process%20your%20request>
to news digest./
*** Privacy and Security:*This mailing is text-only. It does not carry
images or attachments which may originate from remote servers. A
text-only message can provide greater privacy to the receiver and sender.
By regulation, the .VOTE top-level domain must be used for democratic
and election purposes and cannot be used for commercial purposes.
Messages have no tracking software.
To subscribe, email: contact at theclimate.vote
<mailto:contact at theclimate.vote> with subject subscribe, To Unsubscribe,
subject: unsubscribe
Also you may subscribe/unsubscribe at
https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/theclimate.vote
Links and headlines assembled and curated by Richard Pauli for
http://TheClimate.Vote <http://TheClimate.Vote/> delivering succinct
information for citizens and responsible governments of all levels. List
membership is confidential and records are scrupulously restricted to
this mailing list.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/attachments/20201126/ae7e4119/attachment.html>
More information about the TheClimate.Vote
mailing list