[TheClimate.Vote] September 27, 2020 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/*September 27, 2020*/

[UK Guardian takes notice]*
**Meet the doomers: why some young US voters have given up hope on climate*
Alexandra Villarreal - 21 Sep 2020
Politically active young people are often championed as the Earth's 
great hope to reverse the climate crisis - but many believe we've 
already passed the tipping point

'You're not seeing people who are planning for the future, because the 
future seems so precarious and so unpredictable.'

When Siddharth Namachivayam casts a ballot in Colorado this fall, he'll 
forego Democratic nominee Joe Biden, whom he sees as just a "Band-Aid," 
and instead support the longshot Green party candidate focused on 
climate action.

"I guess, yeah, it'd be marginally better if Biden was president, but I 
don't think Biden being president is more important than the Green party 
growing in the next couple of years," Namachivayam says.

If we continue on our current track, he predicts food shortages, global 
economic instability, refugee crises, populist reactionary movements: 
all the forces that are already plaguing humanity, intensified. He has 
little confidence that the world will do what's necessary to curtail the 
climate crisis, and he wrestles with the sheer scale of what needs to 
happen - such as disrupting the entrenched economic interests that run 
counter to disaster prevention.
"When I think about things like that, I'm just like, 'I don't know what 
to do,'" says Namachivayam, a college junior in California.

Generation Z - the cohort born after 1996 - has the most at stake in the 
effort to save the environment. They're often championed as Earth's 
great hope, the young people whose optimism and activism will help 
reverse catastrophic climate change. But while teens and young adults 
protest in droves, some of their peers fear the cards are already 
stacked against them.

Sometimes called "doomers", these deflated young people often insist 
that radical, systemic change is the only chance for salvation - but 
find it difficult to believe that the world will actually rise to the 
occasion.

"You're not seeing people who are planning for the future, because the 
future seems so precarious and so unpredictable," says Max Bouratoglou, 
a 19-year-old student in California, where 25 major wildfires are 
currently burning.

He believes "enormous devastation" is coming and that the world has 
accelerated toward "a climate singularity".

Because of Bouratoglou's position on the climate crisis, he's skeptical 
of getting married or having children. "Considering how nihilistic I 
feel about the future and how I will be immediately affected, do I wanna 
rain that burden upon someone else?" he asks.

Recent events haven't helped: American Gen Zers are living through a 
collapsed social safety net during the coronavirus pandemic, a 
presidential administration that has played into big polluters' 
interests, shrinking career opportunities coupled with a volatile gig 
economy, and the uphill battle to tackle structural racism, says Juanita 
Constible, senior adviser to the Natural Resources Defense Council 
Action Fund...
- -
The doomist argument largely relies on an unsubstantiated premise around 
"unstoppable tipping point-like responses" and a "runaway greenhouse 
effect", says Michael E Mann, a distinguished professor of atmospheric 
science at Pennsylvania State University. Scientific evidence doesn't 
back that conclusion, but its prominent peddlers have still garnered 
success through "climate doom porn", inspiring an entire cottage 
industry while discouraging hopeful youth climate activists.

"Promoting doom and despair, and the notion that it's too late to do 
anything, is literally stealing their future away from them," Mann says. 
"It is taking away agency on their part."

Meanwhile, an "ecosystem" of powerful agitators - from the Russian state 
to fossil fuel stakeholders - have deployed doomism and lies online to 
disillusion young progressives and craft a false equivalency between 
Biden and Donald Trump, says Mann, whose forthcoming book The New 
Climate War details how "forces of delay" are stifling fervor.

"These youth who have become dispirited about climate change and jaded 
about prospects for climate action, they are victims of a disinformation 
campaign by bad actors like Russia that have sought to undermine 
enthusiasm for climate action," he says. "Part of that is by driving a 
wedge within the environmental movement, and doomism is a great way to 
create [that] wedge."

There are also less nefarious forces at play, such as dystopian 
conclusions drawn from topical literature. Several young people 
referenced a book, The Divide, as foundational to their pessimistic 
views on climate. But its author, Jason Hickel, insists that his work 
actually argues against the idea that climate change is unstoppable.

"It is true that the existing approach to climate policy is not going to 
work," writes Hickel, an economic anthropologist. "But that is 
absolutely no reason for doom. It just means we have to be smarter about 
how we tackle the problem."

Through unprecedented access to technology, Gen Z has been exposed to 
websites, articles and social media pages propagating doom, explains 
Joseph Wilkanowski, an 18-year-old co-founder of the Re-Earth 
Initiative. "I think that especially at a young age, you really catch on 
very quickly, and you really immerse yourself into that," he says.

His organization, which instead espouses action, fields pushback from 
other, more fatalistic students who argue that promoting an 
environmental movement is a waste of time.

"These young people are right that what is missing is political will, 
but that is something that we collectively have to create," says 
Constible of the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund.

"Just throwing in the towel on that is consigning our current peers and 
future generations to a much more terrible future than is necessary."

Plenty of Gen Zers are still optimistic about the climate crisis and 
recognize an inherent fallacy within doomism. "If it is a point of no 
return, we're going down. But if we're saying this, even though it might 
not be, it's worth, like, putting in some effort to try and preserve our 
planet," says Valentina Doukeris, an 18-year-old international student 
at a Chicago-based school.

Tim Joung, a 20-year-old student in New York, agrees with almost 
everything that so-called doomers believe: individual action makes 
little difference, and unscrupulous corporations are at fault for 
climate change. But he also thinks that society can push for stricter 
regulations on big polluters.

"If we do nothing, the worst is gonna happen," he says. "If we at least 
do something, there might be a chance - maybe not now, but later down 
the line - for us to save as many people as we can."

After growing up in a polluted China, Michael He, a student at Pomona 
College, felt "doomed to have poisonous water and air" when he was only 
10 years old. But then he watched the Chinese economy make what he 
considered substantial progress diversifying from coal within a decade, 
challenging his preconceptions.

"We have a lot of work to do, but I do not believe in the end of 
history, you know, end of civilization claims by certain people," he says.

"If the Titanic's sinking, I don't wanna just dive into the ocean and 
then just not come back up. I'm still gonna struggle like, you know, 
Leonardo DiCaprio."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/21/meet-the-doomers-some-young-us-voters-have-given-up-hope-on-climate



[trending]
*What to Make of Some Young Evangelicals Abandoning Trump Over Climate 
Change?*
While conservative Christians remain staunch supporters of the 
president, the climate consciousness of Generation Z could bring a 
political shift in the long-term.
BY JAMES BRUGGERS - Sept 25, 2020...
- -
About a third to a half of all Trump supporters are evangelicals of some 
sort, and they're not moving, said Jason Husser, a political science 
professor at Elon University in North Carolina. "Most polling suggests 
they have stayed with Trump," Husser added. "If there was a big shift 
away from President Trump, we'd be seeing it."
-
Like other Christians, evangelicals who are concerned about the climate 
draw upon Biblical teachings.

"Climate change is a profound threat to all of God's creation, but 
especially to the vulnerable of God's creation," said the Rev. Jim Ball, 
a former Southern Baptist who has been at the forefront of the 
evangelical environmental movement for more than three decades. "That 
includes the poor, the children, and future generations."

He added, "It is essentially a way of taking back the blessing of God, 
in Genesis." Ball is a former executive director of the Evangelical 
Environmental Network, whose provocative "What would Jesus drive" 
campaign in the 2000s grabbed headlines by questioning the moral value 
of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles.

"Instead of doing what we were created to do, which is reflect God's 
care for his creation and for others, climate change does the opposite," 
Ball said.

The Rev. Mitchell C. Hescox, the president and CEO of the Evangelical 
Environmental Network, says that a "pro-life" stand must go beyond 
abortion...
- -
"There is an indisputable call for Christians to care about our fellow 
brothers and sisters. Coal is causing illness and death. It is not 
providing for human flourishing," she said.

Young people raised in evangelical churches are wrestling with "a 
panoply of issues that the religious right wants to lock together," such 
as views on science, gender roles and sexuality, said Kearns, the Drew 
Theological School professor. As a result, he added, evangelical 
churches are losing a lot of young people as they grow into adulthood.

Among evangelicals, younger members are more likely to have an awareness 
that Black and brown communities pay the highest cost for environmental 
pollution and will be the most affected by the impacts of climate 
changes, she said...
- -
Without explicitly telling her fellow students whom they should vote 
for, she said she will try to make it clear what voting for the climate 
means as a Christian.

"You can care about the Earth," she said. "God created it. We can listen 
to scientists and discern what we will from what they say. We can follow 
God's commandments, and we can be good stewards of the Earth, and we can 
vote with that in mind."
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24092020/evangelical-christian-voting-climate-change-biden-trump-2020

- -

[from 2018]
*Generation Climate: Can Young Evangelicals Change the Climate Debate?*
For students at this top evangelical college, loving God means 
protecting creation. That includes dealing with the human sources of 
climate change.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21112018/evangelicals-climate-change-action-creation-care-wheaton-college-millennials-yeca



[Cough, cough]
*Scientists fear the Western wildfires could lead to long-term lung damage*
Young children, older adults, and people with preexisting conditions 
face the highest risks.
https://www.vox.com/21451219/wildfire-2020-california-oregon-washington-health-air-quality
- -
[particle interest]
*What We Don't Know About Wildfire Smoke Should Scare Us*
When it comes to the long-term effects of smoke exposure, "we're all 
research subjects," one public health expert said.
By Lydia O'Connor
There's clear consensus that wildfire smoke is bad for us in the short 
term: It leaves people coughing and suffering from headaches and sore 
throats; it inflames some existing health conditions, such as asthma and 
heart problems; and it may even make a person more susceptible to 
COVID-19 symptoms. But when it comes to the long-term effects that 
wildfire smoke may have on people, the experts still have a lot more 
questions than answers.

"Unfortunately for all of us, we're all research subjects," said Dr. 
Gina Solomon, a principal investigator at the Public Health Institute 
and a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, 
San Francisco. "[There are] a lot of people that are being exposed 
repeatedly to wildfire smoke, so we're going to know a lot more in the 
coming years."...
- -
The outstanding question, Solomon said, is whether particulate matter -- 
the dangerous mixture of tiny particles and liquid droplets in the air 
-- in wildfire smoke is just as toxic as the air tainted by cigarettes, 
tailpipes and other year-round pollutants.

"If wildfire smoke particulate matter behaves just like other particles, 
then the picture is not good for for long-term health," she said. 
Exposure to particulate matter from air pollution reduces lung function, 
and it's especially harmful for children since their lungs are still 
developing, she added.

There are still big gaps in our knowledge, largely because wildfires 
have never been as bad as they've been in recent years and because smoke 
is so hard to isolate from other air pollutants.

A review of the research on this subject in 2017, when some of the worst 
wildfires in history hit California, emphasized the missing puzzle 
pieces in understanding the long-term impact of particulate matter in 
wildfire smoke. The review noted that it remains "completely unknown" 
what the cumulative effect of repeated exposure may have on a person's 
lung health.

One of the authors of that review was Dr. Lisa Miller, the associate 
director of research at the California National Primate Research Center 
and a professor at the University of California, Davis. Miller is one of 
the experts working to expand what we know about the long-term effects 
of smoke exposure.

When severe wildfires left her Davis-based research facility blanketed 
in smoke in 2008, Miller had the idea to observe wildfire smoke exposure 
on baby monkeys living in enclosed, half-acre fields outdoors at the 
facility. During the 10-day period of smoky conditions, the amount of 
particulate matter in the area was far above the federal standard for 
healthy air and sometimes more than doubled the safe amount per cubic meter.

The study followed those monkeys from infancy to around three years of 
age, and it led to grim findings.

"The animals that were exposed to the smoke during that period of time 
when they were babies had deficiencies in their immune system, and their 
lungs appear to be more stiff," Miller said.

A stiff lung in humans is early evidence of pulmonary fibrosis, a 
condition in which people's lungs become irreversibly scarred and less 
functional, leaving them short of breath, she added.

The study also showed some evidence that the animals affected by the 
smoke exposure passed on immune deficiencies to their offspring, leaving 
both of them more susceptible to disease...
- -
"I think it's important for people to really understand that this isn't 
just wood burning," she said.

Solomon agreed, saying, "There's other stuff in that smoke."

"If you live near the fire, there's a lot a lot of other material, 
including chemicals like benzene that are emitted from combustion that 
are very, very toxic substances," she said.

Solomon has seen that problem show up in unexpected places. When a small 
group of residents in Santa Rosa, California, returned home after the 
catastrophic Tubbs fire in 2017, several of them found that their tap 
water suddenly had a strong, foul odor. Testing found that their water 
contained extraordinarily high concentrations of benzene, a carcinogen 
known to cause leukemia in humans.

I think it's important for people to really understand that this isn't 
just wood burning.
Dr. Lisa Miller, associate director of research at the California 
National Primate Research Center
"Levels were about up to about 1,000 times higher than the legally 
allowable concentrations," Solomon said.

When the same phenomenon was observed in Paradise, California, after 
people returned home following the 2018 Camp fire, Solomon secured 
funding to try and figure out what was happening. She's still putting 
the data together, but one explanation appears the most likely: The 
water systems lost pressure when the fires stormed those communities and 
pipes instead sucked in wildfire smoke, which contains benzene, she 
said. Those levels of benzene were made worse by all the incinerated 
plastics inside people's homes and the charred plastic water pipes, 
which both released benzene when they burned.

"Anytime you have a fire come through and there's a loss of pressure in 
the system, there's a risk of having severe contamination of the water 
system afterwards," Solomon said.

"Unfortunately," she concluded, "this can happen again."
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/wildfire-smoke-what-we-dont-know_n_5f626f53c5b6c6317cff0f13



[on the record]
*Meteorologists determine the Creek Fire created two fire tornados*
Bill Gabbert - September 25, 2020...
The Mammoth Pool tornado, which touched down inside the Wagner 
Campground, snapped several two-foot-diameter trees about 20 to 30 feet 
above the ground; it was rated as having winds of 115 to 125 mph. The 
Huntington Lake fire tornado had winds of 90 to 107 mph, and the NWS 
noted that it was "the result of unprecedented fire activity."

The article reports that the NWS personnel on duty while the tornados 
were occurring had concerns about activating their severe weather 
warning system.

"A tornado warning was considered but not issued," said [Jerald Meadows, 
the warning coordination meteorologist at the Hanford Office], who 
feared that disseminating such an alert might leave people unnecessarily 
conflicted about deciding whether to shelter or evacuate.

"A tornado warning for a fire opens up a can of worms," he said. "We 
want to make sure we're messaging properly, and we were talking to fire 
crews letting them know of the circulations we were seeing."

https://wildfiretoday.com/2020/09/25/meteorologists-determine-the-creek-fire-created-two-fire-tornados/
- -
[first great firenado video]
*Fire Tornado Sucks Fire Hose Into Air*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eWv3cUzJvA


[CBS 60 minutes discovers global warming]
*Sir David Attenborough on why his new film is a "witness statement" to 
climate change*
Legendary wildlife filmmaker David Attenborough tells Anderson Cooper 
the terrible things people have done throughout history pale in 
comparison to the damage brought to the Earth from climate change. See 
the full interview, Sunday.

The world's foremost wildlife filmmaker tells Anderson Cooper humanity 
has committed a crime against his beloved natural world. BBC legend Sir 
David Attenborough, who at one time had been skeptical about climate 
change, now says scientists are right about the harm to the planet 
humans are causing and considers it a crime. Attenborough speaks to 
Cooper for a report to be broadcast on the next edition of 60 Minutes, 
Sunday, September 27 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Attenborough calls his latest film and book "A Life on Our Planet," a 
"witness statement."  Because "a crime has been committed," he says of 
dreadful damage humans have done. "And it so happens that I'm of such an 
age, I was able to see it beginning."

In his many films, including "Planet Earth" and "Blue Planet," 
Attenborough, 94, has taken hundreds of millions of television viewers 
to the mountains, valleys, deserts and the depths of the ocean but his 
newest documentary might be his most important. In "A Life on Our 
Planet," he says the Earth is headed for disaster. "Deserts in Africa 
have been spreading. There could be whole areas of the world, where 
people can no longer safely live. The hottest temperatures yet 
recorded…" Higher temperatures are coming, he says. "Wait another few 
months. Wait another year. See again," warns Attenborough.

He's convinced what's happening now to the natural world because of 
climate change is far worse than what humans have done over the ages. 
"Even the biggest and most awful things that humanity has done, 
so-called civilizations have done, pale to significance when you think 
of what could be around the corner, unless we pull ourselves together," 
says Attenborough.

He says the continuing use of fossil fuels and the destruction of the 
planet's natural habitat is tantamount to suicide. "If there were no 
more trees, we would suffocate." But in the current pandemic, he finds 
some hope with the new appreciation of nature. "In the course of this 
particular pandemic that we're going through, I think people are 
discovering that they need the natural world for their very sanity," he 
tells Cooper. "People who have never listened to a birdsong are suddenly 
thrilled, excited, supported, inspired by the natural world. And they 
realize they're not apart from it. They are part of it."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sir-david-attenborough-new-film-climate-change-witness-statement-60-minutes-2020-09-24/



[Movies]
*Rebuilding Paradise review - after the wildfire in a California town*
The town of Paradise tries to get back on its feet in Ron Howard's 
quietly harrowing documentary
Ellen E Jones - 25 Sep 2020
As America's west coast continues to burn, this Ron Howard-directed 
documentary tells of the aftermath of the 2018 wildfires in Paradise, 
California. At the time it was the deadliest and most destructive fire 
in California history. Paradise first entered the international 
consciousness via a Trumpian gaffe that seemed to encapsulate the 
administration's casual indifference to climate change; the president 
referred to the town as "Pleasure" while touring the devastation. That 
clip is featured again here, this time utterly drained of even the 
bitterest humour by the harrowing images that precede it.

Footage garnered from emergency response vehicle dashcams and survivors' 
mobiles shows the now-familiar ash clouds, orange skies and deadlocked 
queues of fleeing traffic - no less shocking for that familiarity. In 
one remarkable shot, four horses gallop away from the inferno, as if 
having already abandoned the four horsemen in their haste to escape the 
apocalypse. The irony is stark: Paradise sure looks a lot like hell.
It is the small-town heroes who are ultimately the film's centre, 
however. These include square-jawed local cop Matt Gates, tireless 
school district superintendent Michelle John and the 
town-drunk-turned-town-mayor Woody Culleton (how's that for living out 
the American Dream?). At one point the real-life Erin Brockovich even 
pops up to lend support to a class action suit. These displaced 
characters from a Frank Capra movie are now just displaced; scattered 
across the state, living half-lives in motels and trailers, while they 
await any news.

Rebuilding Paradise might easily have blazed with righteous fury, but 
its conclusions are quieter and bleaker. There are big societal, 
historical and pyrogeographical reasons why such disasters now happen 
with increasing frequency. But none of that is the fault of these good 
people. They just want to go home.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/sep/25/rebuilding-paradise-review-after-the-wildfire-in-a-california-town



[Internationalism]
*Climate change is making the Arctic more hospitable, says Russian 
nuclear icebreaker captain*
Experienced Arctic shipmaster Aleksandr Skryabin tells President Putin 
that it is time to take advantage of warmer weather and shrinking sea-ice...
- -
As shown from our working experience, the harsh Arctic has over the last 
years been very friendly towards our industry and, as I see it, adheres 
with great hospitality towards state corporation Rosatom."

He described how Rosatom soon will be able to operate along the whole 
Northern Sea Route for 9-10 months per year, up from the current 7-8 
months...
- -
*Dramatic warming*
Sea-ice conditions in the area has changed dramatically over the last 
decades. In 2020, two tankers sailed across the eastern part of the 
route already in May, and in July the route was completely ice-free.

The major changes come as temperatures in the region have reached an 
unprecedented high. This summer, the average Russian Arctic temperatures 
were as much as 3-5 degrees Celsius higher than normal.

Since measurements started in year 1881, the temperatures in the Arctic 
have never been this high, according to Russia's meteorological service 
Roshydromet.

The trend is leading to massive melting of sea-ice and 2020 marks the 
second lowest level on record, the National Snow and Ice Date Center 
informs.
https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/climate-crisis/2020/09/climate-change-making-arctic-more-hospital-says-russian-nuclear-icebreaker



[Article nearly a year old]
*Firms ignoring climate crisis will go bankrupt, says Mark Carney*
Bank of England governor warns of financial collapse linked to climate 
emergency
Failing to act would have severe consequences, he said. "I don't 
normally quote bankers, but James Gorman, who is the CEO of Morgan 
Stanley, said the other day: 'If we don't have a planet, we're not going 
to have a very good financial system.' Ultimately, that is true."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/13/firms-ignoring-climate-crisis-bankrupt-mark-carney-bank-england-governor


[Digging back into the internet news archive]
*On this day in the history of global warming - September 27, 1988 *

September 27, 1988: In a speech to the Royal Society in London, Margaret 
Thatcher addresses the environmental threats of global warming, the 
ozone layer and acid rain, noting the risk of rising sea levels to the 
Maldives.

http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107346


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