[TheClimate.Vote] March 15, 2021 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Mon Mar 15 09:37:39 EDT 2021
/*March 15, 2021*/
[Cough, cough]
*A Sandstorm in China Revives Memories of ‘Airpocalypses’ Past*
The Communist Party has made great strides in reducing China’s
pollution, but a perfect storm of northern winds and an industrial
rebound has created dangerously high levels of pollution countrywide.
When China’s leader, Xi Jinping, met with Communist Party delegates from
Inner Mongolia last week, he urged them not to relent in the fight to
improve the environment.
“We must adhere to the concept that clear waters and green mountains are
as good as mountains of gold and silver,” he said.
On Monday, large parts of China experienced just how bad the environment
can still be.
The largest and strongest dust storm in a decade swept across northern
China, grounding hundreds of flights, closing schools in some cities and
casting a ghastly shroud over tens of millions of people — from Xinjiang
in the far west across to the Bohai Sea, according to China’s
meteorological service...
In Beijing, the authorities ordered children, the elderly and the sick
to remain indoors.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/world/asia/china-sandstorm.html
[audio explanation from Living on Earth]
*Warming Planet Slows Ocean Currents*
Researchers combined data from ice core and ocean sediments
going back centuries to show melting in Greenland is disrupting
the delicate balance between dense sea water and lighter fresh
water that propels the currents. Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering
asked Stefan Rahmstorf, a Professor at Potsdam University and a
study co-author, to explain.
RAHMSTORF: We're talking about the so-called Atlantic Meridional
Overturning Circulation. I like to call it Atlantic overturning.
It basically consists of surface water that's flowing northward,
along the entire Atlantic from the Southern Ocean across the
equator, up to the far north to the sub-polar Atlantic, near
Greenland, and even right into the Arctic Ocean. And there in
the high latitudes these waters sink because they get cold and
have a very high density. And they returned south as a cold,
deep current. And this works exactly like a central heating
system, because warm surface waters are flowing towards the
northern Atlantic, and cold, deep waters are flowing away from
the North Atlantic and this transports a huge amount of heat,
which is released in the sub-polar North Atlantic.
DOERING: Wow. So how does all that heat that's being transported
affect what we feel here on the East Coast, in the United States
and in Europe?
RAHMSTORF: Well, it actually makes the whole northern hemisphere
warmer than the southern hemisphere. And especially the region
surrounding the North Atlantic, so including North America
especially on the eastern side, and Western Europe.
more
DOERING: So your research shows that the Atlantic overturning
actually shut down at some point in the past. When was that, and
why do we think that happened?
RAHMSTORF: In earth history, there is clear indication that you
see in sediment data and ice core data that this Atlantic
overturning has completely collapsed several times. The last one
happened again, because of a global warming at the end of the
last ice age. There was a major ice melt around the northern
Atlantic, and this shut down the Atlantic overturning and
plunged the area surrounding the Atlantic back into ice age
temperatures. And that cold lasted for about 1,000 years.
DOERING: So Professor, it sounds like this shutting down of this
Atlantic overturning could have some pretty severe consequences.
What should we do about it?
RAHMSTORF: Well, basically, the short answer is stop global
warming. And of course, the world has already agreed to do that
in the Paris Agreement 2015. We have to cut global greenhouse
gas emissions in half in the next 10 years, and then further
down to zero. And if we do that, then I think the risk of
reaching a tipping point where we shut down the Atlantic
overturning circulation will be extremely small.
BASCOMB: That’s Stefan Rahmstorf, a professor of Physics of the
Oceans at Potsdam University, speaking with Living on Earth’s
Jenni Doering.
https://loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=21-P13-00011&segmentID=1
- -
[NYT explains]
*In the Atlantic Ocean, Subtle Shifts Hint at Dramatic Dangers*
The warming atmosphere is causing an arm of the powerful Gulf Stream to
weaken, some scientists fear.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/02/climate/atlantic-ocean-climate-change.html?referringSource=articleShare
[opinion battleground]
*A Large PR Firm Pledged To Fight Climate Change. Then It Took Millions
From A Notorious Fossil Fuel Trade Group.*
Edelman, a PR firm that’s pledged to “work with an environmental
conscience,” was paid $4 million to promote one of the most extreme
fossil fuel trade groups in the country, new tax filings show.
Edelman, one of the largest public relations firms in the world, has
pledged never to work with climate deniers and proudly touts its work on
environmental justice campaigns with brands like Tazo Tea.
"Edelman is basically misleading the public about its so-called green
reputation,” Robert Brulle, an environmental sociologist at Brown
University who studies climate lobbying and advertising, told BuzzFeed News.
The fossil fuel industry is a huge potential source of revenue for
public relations firms. Research by the Brown sociologist Brulle found
that five big oil companies combined have “spent nearly $3.6 billion in
advertising purposes for corporation promotion” from 1986 to 2015.
In recent blog posts, CEO Richard Edelman has heralded the business
community for being “prepared to take the lead in fighting the twin
evils of climate change and inequality” and urged companies to consider
setting climate science–based targets.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zahrahirji/edelman-fossil-fuel-pr-climate
[Naval gazing]
*USNA CHIEF: ANNAPOLIS SEA LEVEL RISE PUTS ACADEMY’S MISSION AT RISK*
March 8, 2021
The Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) says sea level rise
in Annapolis is putting the service academy’s buildings, historic
infrastructure, and entire military mission at risk.
USNA Superintendent Vice Admiral Sean S. Buck gave a statement before
the U.S. House Subcommittee on Defense last week, highlighting how
vulnerable the Naval Academy is to storm surge and localized high-tide
flooding. Vice Admiral Buck says that kind of nuisance flooding has
increased from 2–3 times a year, historically, to 30–40 times a year
today...
- -
The Naval Academy has implemented stormwater surge strategies with the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since Isabel, but USNA is also in the midst
of developing a major, long-term Military Installation Resilience Plan
with the city of Annapolis due to be complete by the end of 2021. It
will give a course of action and year-by-year strategy to address sea
level rise, ground settling, coastal flooding and storm surge, and
stormwater management, says Vice Admiral Buck.
https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/usna-chief-annapolis-sea-level-rise-puts-academys-mission-at-risk/
[facing up to climate psychology]
*Episode 1: Facing Down Climate Grief *
The age of climate crisis is upon us, and grief and anxiety are on the
rise. Our pilot episode introduces the emotional burden of climate
change, and why despair leaves so many people unable to respond to this
existential threat. Overcoming that paralysis is the first step in
moving to action, and yet official climate strategies rarely address
this emotional toll. Meanwhile, frontline communities — particularly
people of color, indigenous communities, and other
historically-marginalized groups — are experiencing the heaviest mental
health impacts of climate disruption and displacement.
"To be numb to the world is another form of suicide."
-Terry Tempest Williams
https://www.drjenniferatkinson.com/facing-it
[Difficult, classic Satire 2017 from the Onion]
*Climate Change Researcher Describes Challenge Of Pulling Off Worldwide
Global Warming Conspiracy*
Sep 8, 2017
The Onion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnX0-TayVjk
[classic questions about media]
*Jon Stewart on Crossfire*
Jan 16, 2006
Alex Felker
This is the reason CNN's Crossfire is no longer on the air. Jon Stewart
shows up these two ignorant political show hosts... 2 against 1, on
their own show, and brings to light how these shows "Hurt America."
Thank you Jon for always pointing out political hypocrisy. I hope
continuing to broadcast this video of you helps your voice continue to
be heard.
https://youtu.be/aFQFB5YpDZE
- -
[Fresh commentary in information battles - John Oliver skewers Tucker
Carlson]
*Tucker Carlson: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)*
Mar 15, 2021
LastWeekTonight
Tucker Carlson is admired by white nationalists, elected officials, and
maybe some of your relatives or coworkers. Given that he has the ear of
so many Americans, John Oliver explains where Tucker came from, what his
rhetorical tactics are, and what he represents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMGxxRRtmHc
[Digging back to the day the Hockey Stick Chart was born]
*On this day in the history of global warming - March 15, 1999*
March 15, 1999: The paper "Northern Hemisphere Temperatures During the Past
Millennium: Inferences, Uncertainties, and Limitations," by Michael E.
Mann, Raymond S. Bradley and Malcolm K. Hughes, is published in the
journal Geophysical Research Letters. The paper features the "hockey
stick" graph that makes Mann a target of unrelenting rhetorical and
legal assaults by supporters and representatives of the fossil fuel
industry.
http://www.meteo.psu.edu/holocene/public_html/shared/research/ONLINE-PREPRINTS/Millennium/mbh99.pdf
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