[✔️] August 10, 2021 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
👀 Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Tue Aug 10 08:54:08 EDT 2021
/*August 10, 2021*/
[Here it is: 41 pages - succinct, mostly readable, professional language ]
Approved Version - Summary for Policymakers - IPCC AR6 WGI
*IPCC Climate Change 2021 - The Physical Science Basis****Summary for
Policymakers*
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_SPM.pdf
[NYTimes has the best headline]
*A Hotter Future Is Certain, Climate Panel Warns. But How Hot Is Up to Us.*
Some devastating impacts of global warming are now unavoidable, a major
new scientific report finds. But there is still a short window to stop
things from getting even worse.
By Brad Plumer and Henry Fountain - - Aug. 9, 2021
Nations have delayed curbing their fossil-fuel emissions for so long
that they can no longer stop global warming from intensifying over the
next 30 years, though there is still a short window to prevent the most
harrowing future, a major new United Nations scientific report has
concluded.
Humans have already heated the planet by roughly 1.1 degrees Celsius, or
2 degrees Fahrenheit, since the 19th century, largely by burning coal,
oil and gas for energy. And the consequences can be felt across the
globe: This summer alone, blistering heat waves have killed hundreds of
people in the United States and Canada, floods have devastated Germany
and China, and wildfires have raged out of control in Siberia, Turkey
and Greece.
But that’s only the beginning, according to the report, issued on Monday
by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of scientists
convened by the United Nations. Even if nations started sharply cutting
emissions today, total global warming is likely to rise around 1.5
degrees Celsius within the next two decades, a hotter future that is now
essentially locked in.
At 1.5 degrees of warming, scientists have found, the dangers grow
considerably. Nearly 1 billion people worldwide could swelter in more
frequent life-threatening heat waves. Hundreds of millions more would
struggle for water because of severe droughts. Some animal and plant
species alive today will be gone. Coral reefs, which sustain fisheries
for large swaths of the globe, will suffer more frequent mass die-offs.
“We can expect a significant jump in extreme weather over the next 20 or
30 years,” said Piers Forster, a climate scientist at the University of
Leeds and one of hundreds of international experts who helped write the
report. “Things are unfortunately likely to get worse than they are today.”
Not all is lost, however, and humanity can still prevent the planet from
getting even hotter. Doing so would require a coordinated effort among
countries to stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by around
2050, which would entail a rapid shift away from fossil fuels starting
immediately, as well as potentially removing vast amounts of carbon from
the air. If that happened, global warming would likely halt and level
off at around 1.5 degrees Celsius, the report concludes.
But if nations fail in that effort, global average temperatures will
keep rising — potentially passing 2 degrees, 3 degrees or even 4 degrees
Celsius, compared with the preindustrial era. The report describes how
every additional degree of warming brings far greater perils, such as
ever more vicious floods and heat waves, worsening droughts and
accelerating sea-level rise that could threaten the existence of some
island nations. The hotter the planet gets, the greater the risks of
crossing dangerous “tipping points,” like the irreversible collapse of
the immense ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica.
“There’s no going back from some changes in the climate system,” said Ko
Barrett, a vice-chair of the panel and a senior adviser for climate at
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But, she added,
immediate and sustained emissions cuts “could really make a difference
in the climate future we have ahead of us.”
The report, approved by 195 governments and based on more than 14,000
studies, is the most comprehensive summary to date of the physical
science of climate change. It will be a focal point when diplomats
gather in November at a U.N. summit in Glasgow to discuss how to step up
their efforts to reduce emissions...
- -
The new report is part of the sixth major assessment of climate science
from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was created in
1988. A second report, set to be released in 2022, will detail how
climate change might affect aspects of human society, such as coastal
cities, farms or health care systems. A third report, also expected next
year, will explore more fully strategies to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and halt global warming.
more at -
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/09/climate/climate-change-report-ipcc-un.html
[First Dog on the Moon is an amusing looking cartoon]
*It should not come as a surprise that climate change is worse than we
thought and also getting worser*
First Dog on the Moon
"We don't need hope, we need action"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/09/it-should-not-come-as-a-surprise-that-climate-change-is-worse-than-we-thought-and-also-getting-worser
[BBC video report]
*Climate change IPCC report is 'code red for humanity', UN scientists
say - BBC News*
Aug 9, 2021
BBC News
Heating from humans has caused irreparable damage to the Earth that may
get worse in coming decades, a UN climate report has concluded.
Humanity's damaging impact on the climate is a "statement of fact", UN
scientists have found in unprecedented research combining more than
14,000 studies.
The past five years have been the hottest on record since 1850. Extremes
including heatwaves have become more frequent and more intense since the
1950s, while cold events have become less frequent and less severe.
The authors also show that a rise in sea levels approaching 2m by the
end of this century "cannot be ruled out".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdJmyhqElTc
[Best, brief, spoken word analysis]
*IPCC 2021 Report: Hottest Decades Coming, Extreme Weather, and Tipping
Points with Dr. Ed Hawkins*
Aug 9, 2021
The Climate Pod
#ipccreport #climatechange2021 #ar6 #climateemergency #cop26
The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released
part of a major report on the current state of the climate crisis, AR6
Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Hundreds of climate
scientists were tasked with providing a physical science basis for
policymakers to understand the past, present, and future of global
warming. This is the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report on the state of the
climate crisis.
Dr. Ed Hawkins, one of the lead authors of the report, joins the show to
explain some of the report's biggest findings, what it means for our
climate future, and what we should learn to act now to avoid the worst
consequences yet to come. Dr. Hawkins is a professor of climate science
at the University of Reading and internationally known for the creation
of the climate stripes, which are the visualization of warming over
time. Everywhere you look you see Dr. Hawkins' climate stripes, on
social media with #ShowYourStripes, on t-shirts, even during the opening
ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL5r3XEL5PA
- -
[graphic technique -- show your stripes]
https://www.climatecentral.org/showyourstripes
https://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/2019-warming-stripes-how-temperatures-have-trended-in-your-region
- -
[Commentary]
*IPCC reveals how we are changing the climate*
Aug 9, 2021
ClimateAdam
The first major IPCC report for seven years sheds light on the past,
present and future of climate change. But what do we now know about
global warming, and how will it reshape the path we choose over the next
decades and centuries? I break down my key take aways from the IPCC AR6
WG1 (6th assessment report, working group 1).
Support ClimateAdam on patreon: http://patreon.com/climateadam
#CreatorsForChange #ClimateChange #IPCC
twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ClimateAdam
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClimateAdam
instagram: http://instagram.com/climate_adam
[The Full IPCC report - thousands of pages]
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf
https://www.ipcc.ch/
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/
*Full report
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-IPsCWVIRA
[Democracy Now video]
*Greta Thunberg: New IPCC Report Is a Wake-Up Call for All About the
Escalating Climate Emergency*
Aug 9, 2021
Democracy Now!
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg says the latest report from the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change should serve as a “wake-up
call” for governments to do more to lower emissions. In its first major
report in nearly a decade, the IPCC says the Earth could face runaway
global warming unless drastic efforts are made to eliminate greenhouse
gases and that humans are “unequivocally to blame for the climate
crisis,” which is already causing widespread and rapid changes. “The
climate crisis is not going away,” Thunberg said. “It’s only escalating,
and it’s only growing more intense by the hour.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4SgyttmU9g
[Most important now - from VOX]
*How to fight climate despair*
We’re not powerless, even if it feels that way.
By Anna North Aug 6, 2021, 8:00am EDT
Summer 2021 has been a season of disasters.
In June, a heat dome descended over the Pacific Northwest, sending
temperatures soaring 30 to 40 degrees above normal. It was so hot that
plants scorched in the soil, roads cracked, and streetcar cables melted
in temperatures that reached over 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
Then, in July, extreme floods ripped through northwest Europe, leaving
at least 199 dead. The same happened in China’s Henan province, where
subways flooded, roads collapsed, and at least 99 people died. And last
week, yet another heat dome swept the US, putting 17 states under some
form of heat advisory.
Scientists and activists have been warning about climate change for
decades — and plenty of people around the world have experienced its
effects long before now. John Paul Mejia, for example, became a climate
organizer as a Miami high school student, after seeing what Hurricane
Irma did to “people who both looked like me, and came from the same
background as I did.” (Climate change didn’t cause Hurricane Irma, but
it did worsen its impacts.)..
- -
*Here are some ways Americans can think about — and act on — climate change*
Giving up on our climate is not an option, experts and advocates say. As
Mejia puts it, “cynicism serves no purpose but to uphold the status quo.”
Instead, people who’ve been steeped in climate action for years or
decades have some advice for those who might feeling powerless today in
the face of the problem.
*Don’t try to do everything. Do what you can.*
Individual “green” behaviors aren’t enough to stop climate change on
their own. And not all people have the same ability to reduce their
carbon footprints. Many Americans can’t afford solar panels or
insulation for their hot water heaters — many others don’t live in
places where they can control such things. Time is also a factor —
reducing waste in a society designed to produce a lot of it is
labor-intensive, and that labor often falls disproportionately on women,
as Alden Wicker reported at Vox.
So rather than beating ourselves up when we fall short of environmental
perfection — or criticizing others when they do — we can choose the most
meaningful actions that are doable for us. Things like reducing
consumption of animal products, driving less, and taking fewer airplane
flights likely have the biggest impact on our personal carbon use.
Everyone’s capabilities are different. Overall, “it’s important to find
the ways that you can reduce your consumption, that work for your
lifestyle and within your means,” Heglar said.
And it’s important to remember that those consumption decisions are just
the beginning. “It’s a good starting point, but it’s a really dangerous
stopping point,” Heglar said. People need to exercise their power as
consumers, but remember that they have power as citizens and community
members, too.
*Think communally*
The most important step, many say, is collective action. In America, “we
have such a myth of individualism,” said Humboldt State’s Ray, also the
author of A Field Guide to Climate Change: How to Keep Your Cool on a
Warming Planet. That myth can make people feel “that they have no power,
because they can’t do anything against such as something so big as
climate change.” For many in climate movements, the antidote to that
feeling — and the way to build real power — is to band together.
At the Sunrise Movement, for example, that means advocating for a Green
New Deal, alongside other priorities like climate investment in the
infrastructure deal currently before Congress. The movement has hosted
marches across the country in recent months to bring the Biden
administration’s attention to the problem, as well as reaching out to
more than 6.5 million voters in the 2020 election. “Since the winds of
change are blowing,” Mejia says, “why don’t we make them sail in our
direction?”
The Sunrise Movement is just one of many groups working on climate
advocacy today, and for some, getting involved with collective action
can seem as daunting as reducing your individual carbon footprint: Where
do you even start? For Heglar, the answer is simple: “You do what you’re
good at, and you do your best.”
“If you’re good at organizing, organize. If you’re good at taking care
of people, take care of people who do other things, Heglar said. And “no
matter who you are, build community.”
Around the world, people are already working on communal solutions to
environmental degradation, and have been for generations, whether that’s
Indigenous firefighting practices or the fight to protect the rainforest
in Colombia. And for Americans looking for ways to join together to help
one another and the planet, there are many options, like local mutual
aid groups that help communities cope with the impact of climate change,
such as by providing water and sunscreen during heat waves. Local Buy
Nothing groups can help people reduce waste by giving away and sharing
used items.
Putting pressure on elected officials is one of the most important
collective actions people can take. People can urge their
representatives in Congress, state legislatures, and city governments to
support climate investments, public transit, and clean energy standards,
for example. The Natural Resources Defense Council has a guide to
lobbying your legislator.
Getting involved in communities doesn’t just multiply your impact — it
can also stave off despair. Ray has seen this in her classes at Humboldt
State, in which she encourages students to build trust, express their
feelings about climate change, and essentially practice for going out
into the wider world. “The alleviation of anxiety that happens when
you’re working towards a common goal, even if it’s a really depressing
one, in community is actually very joyful and very fulfilling,” she said.
*Think long-term*
Just as no one person can fix climate change, the crisis isn’t going to
be solved overnight — and it may not be “solved” in a conventional way
at all. In order to confront this fact, people need to think of fighting
climate change as a long-term process they engage with over time, Heglar
said.
We should see the problem “in the same realm that you would see
reproductive justice or racial justice or any other justice issue,” she
explained. “You would never say, what’s the one thing I can do about
racism?”
Especially since the uprisings last summer following the murder of
George Floyd, more Americans — especially white people — are beginning
to internalize the idea that the fight against racism will be a
long-term struggle, one that probably won’t ever be “over,” but that
they have a responsibility to keep committing to, again and again. And
racial justice activists have experience working for a cause that can
seem hopeless, and confronting an existential risk to themselves and
their families — but they keep doing the work anyway.
It’s also important to remember that for many communities the world
over, facing a major threat to the present and future is nothing new.
Anti-colonial and abolitionist movements “have had long traditions of
movement resilience that have a lot to teach the climate movement,” Ray
noted, including the message that climate change is not “the first and
only existential threat we’ve ever faced.”
Indeed, social movements from the opposition to apartheid in South
Africa to Indigenous rights activism here in the US have “seen a lot of
reason for despair, and no evidence for hope, and have still figured out
how to fight the fight,” Ray said.
*Seek joy, but allow for grief*
The fight against climate change can be slow, difficult, and painful.
But in order to stay committed for the long haul, people need to think
about the positive too, Ray said, to “actively discipline into your life
the cultivation of joy.”
That could mean something as simple as reading news about environmental
success stories or successful activism in your local community. Ray is
involved in a local group with the Just Transition movement, which works
toward an equitable shift away from fossil fuels, and says “the
newsletter that they send me is enough to keep me going.”
It’s also okay to feel the awfulness of the world. After all, climate
change for many Americans today means risk to themselves or their loved
ones, or destruction of their homes or places they’ve come to love. And
part of acknowledging climate anxiety and grief, for people not yet
personally affected by disasters, can be asking yourself, “If I am
hurting so much, what is happening to people who are less privileged?”
Kritee, a senior climate scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund,
recently told the New York Times.
People who have been involved in climate science or activism for years
still feel sorrow, despair, or rage, Heglar said. In fact, “I feel
comforted by the fact I can still feel that way, because it means I’m
not desensitized,” she said. “I never want to be that person who can
look at the world burn and feel fine.”
But when climate grief or despair become overwhelming, the key is to
reach out to others in your community. “You are not the only one feeling
this way,” Heglar said, adding that “it benefits the fossil fuel
industry when you think you are. So find the other people who are
feeling it too.”
https://www.vox.com/22595896/climate-change-fire-heat-wave-anxiety
- -
[Rebecca Leber also from VOX]
*ExxonMobil wants you to feel responsible for climate change so it
doesn’t have to*
A new study reveals how the oil company used “cutting-edge propaganda”
to focus on fossil fuel consumption.
By Rebecca Leber at rebleberrebecca.leber@vox.com Updated May 13, 2021
https://www.vox.com/22429551/climate-change-crisis-exxonmobil-harvard-study
[The news archive - looking back at what we forgot to remember] *
**On this day in the history of global warming August 10, 2013*
CBS News reports on a new study linking rising temperatures to more
violence.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-may-increase-violence-new-study-finds/
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