[✔️] August 29, 2022 - Global Warming News Digest

[Richard Pauli]

/*August 29, 2022*/

/[ Fires across the nation.   NBC News delivers useful map ... Save this 
website page ]/
*Map: Track the wildfires burning across the U.S.*
More than 60 large wildfires are burning across the country. This map 
will be updated daily.
Notes: Data as of Aug. 28, 2022
https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/wildfire-map-united-states-rcna40306

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/[  Deluge in Pakistan - video report from India television WION ]
*Floods and incessant rainfall wreak havoc in Pakistan; over 1000 dead, 
50 million displaced | WION*
897 views  Aug 28, 2022  Pakistan deluge continues to wreak havoc on its 
people. The country marred by incessant rainfall is facing unprecedented 
floods that have killed over a thousand people while leaving more than 
50 million people displaced.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvhZ183FTn0/

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/[ psychology meets climate science - 50 min video  ]
/*Why can’t your brain comprehend climate change? | DW Documentary*
Aug 27, 2022  The science all points to one thing: we’re heading for a 
climate catastrophe that can still be averted. But humans remain 
reluctant to change their habits. What’s the reason for this inertia? 
What’s getting in our way?

Climate change is a reality that’s becoming clearer to us with every 
year that goes by. The facts speak loud and clear. More and more 
creatures are under threat; the ice caps are melting at record speed and 
all around the globe; we’re seeing more frequent natural disasters such 
as extreme drought, flooding and tornados. Well-respected scientists are 
warning of a total meltdown if global warming isn’t limited to less than 
two degrees Celsius by the end of the century. But although humanity is 
very aware of the danger, our response has been slow -- to say to the least.

Despite the forceful warnings, petitions, demonstrations and climate 
strikes, many people are doing little to change their lifestyle. This 
seems paradoxical, because we are fully aware of the risks attached to 
climate change and the destruction of ecosystems.

Investigations are now underway to decode the behavioral mechanisms 
preventing us from seeing the situation as it really is. What’s the 
cause of this lethargy? Why is it proving so difficult to act? Can the 
phenomenon be explained by the way our brain functions? Are we 
programmed to put our heads in the sand when we sense danger? Could it 
be that our brain is preventing us from making the right decisions?
The documentary hears from psychologists and sociologists and analyzes 
the various potential responses to the climate emergency. Insights from 
neuroscience, anthropology and social- and behavioral psychology help 
shed light on these human reactions and the reasons for our inaction. 
Once we’ve realized that our behavior is the result of complex cognitive 
processes, contradictions and fears, perhaps we can overcome our inertia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79bzxxMYMWw/
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/[ Social momentum ]/
*Americans keep moving to where the water isn’t*
People are still flocking to Sunbelt regions where the housing is 
cheaper and plentiful — but climate change and extreme weather are 
worsening.
By Bryan   Aug 28, 2022
Even with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act — which, name 
aside, is the most ambitious piece of climate-related legislation ever 
passed by Congress — the US is locked into decades of rising 
temperatures and more extreme weather. Just how warm it will get will 
depend on how quickly we can reduce carbon emissions and how sensitive 
the climate proves to be, but average global temperature increases of 
between 2 and 3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial norms seem most 
likely, with some regions experiencing much worse extremes.

Nonetheless, Americans are responding to these forecasts by moving in 
large numbers to some of the hottest, driest, and most vulnerable parts 
of the country.

According to an analysis published earlier this month by the Economic 
Innovation Group, 10 of the 15 counties last year were in the 
water-strained Southwest. Since 2012, an additional 2.8 million people 
have moved to counties that spent the majority of the past decade under 
“severe” to “exceptional” drought conditions.

Leading the way in growth was Maricopa County in Arizona, home to 
Phoenix, a desert metropolis that receives more sunshine than any other 
major city on Earth — and averages more than 110 days with highs of at 
least 100°F. Average temperatures in Phoenix are already 2.5°F hotter 
than they were in the middle of the last century, which helps explain 
why there were 338 heat-associated deaths last year in Maricopa County.
Despite that — and despite worse to come — the population in Maricopa 
increased by 14 percent over the last decade, to nearly 4.5 million 
people. A similar pattern is at work in states like Florida and South 
Carolina that experience high storm and flood risk, or in states like 
Colorado and Idaho that face major wildfire risk. Altogether, according 
to an analysis from the real-estate site Redfin, the 50 US counties with 
the largest share of homes facing high climate and extreme weather risk 
all experienced positive net migration on average between 2016 and 2020...
- -
*Americans move for climate, not climate change*
What should we take away from this?

One, while Americans do care about climate change, when it comes to the 
major decisions they make, it tends to rank far down on national priorities.
Gallup regularly polls Americans about what they consider to be the most 
important problem facing the country. In July, 3 percent of Americans 
polled said that “environment/pollution/climate change” was the most 
important problem, behind inflation, the government, abortion, 
immigration, racism, crime, and high oil/fuel prices, among other 
concerns. And while the most important issues tend to fluctuate based on 
what’s happening in the news, climate change has consistently ranked 
fairly low.

In other words, there’s a reason the Inflation Reduction Act was called 
the Inflation Reduction Act.

Two, given that economic concerns tend to rank so highly among 
Americans, it shouldn’t be surprising that cost of living is a much 
bigger driver of where people want to live than fear of climate change 
or disasters. Places like the Southwest and Texas aren’t just hot, dry, 
and vulnerable to climate change — they also tend to be much cheaper to 
live in than coastal cities in blue states.

According to Redfin’s data, of the 50 counties that had the largest 
share of homes facing high heat and storm risk, more than 50 percent had 
a median home sale price that was less than half the national average at 
the time. Williamson County in Texas, which includes parts of 
fast-growing Austin, has the highest heat risk in the US, yet it’s also 
the county that has seen the biggest population increase since 2016.

It’s not true that if you’re looking for a cheap place to live, your 
only choices are deserts and floodplains. Can I interest you in 
Syracuse, New York, or Cleveland, Ohio — two cities considered to be 
climate havens where housing is relatively cheap?...
- -
*More housing or more climate migrants*
I doubt we’re going to slake Americans’ apparent thirst for as much 
sunshine as possible. (Though, honestly, as someone who prefers it at 
least chilly, you can keep your Phoenix weather.) But unless we want a 
future where ever more people are in the path of ever greater climate 
change and weather disruptions, we’ll need to make it less expensive to 
live in places that aren’t subject to heat waves or droughts or wildfires.

California is one example. The state’s horrific wildfires have been 
producing climate migrants in recent years, in part because the fires 
can consume whole towns, and in part because there’s no real way to 
adapt to the constant threat of smoke and destruction....
- -
Fighting climate change first and foremost means reducing carbon 
emissions, but it will also require decades of adaptation — and that 
includes housing policies that can steer people away from those parts of 
the country that are already at risk by making it cheaper to live in 
safe areas.

This doesn’t mean that Americans can’t or shouldn’t ever move to hot, 
dry places in the country. In their own way, desert metropolises only 
exist because of technological adaptations to their extreme climates — 
population growth only truly took off in the Sunbelt after the advent of 
air conditioning in the second half of the 20th century. But continuing 
that growth in a hotter and drier 21st century will require much more 
than just massive AC units.

Cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas have taken major steps to get more use 
out of less water, banking aquifers, reducing waste, and recycling 
wastewater. In Phoenix, total water use is actually less than it was in 
the early 2000s, even as its population has continued to grow, and the 
average resident used 29 percent less water in 2019 than in 1990. 
Southern Nevada as well has reduced overall water use even while adding 
hundreds of thousands of people.

It won’t be easy, though, and the more extreme climate conditions 
become, the more difficult it is to adapt. Lake Powell and Lake Mead — 
the two biggest artificial reservoirs in the US, which help supply water 
to 40 million people — are now at just around 27 percent of capacity. 
Poorer residents are less able to afford the air conditioning that can 
make desert heat bearable, while agriculture — which accounts for the 
vast majority of water consumption in the American West — will keep 
draining dwindling supplies.

If we’re truly going to adapt to extreme weather, we’ll need to make 
climate havens cheaper and more attractive. And if you’re in the market 
for a move, give Buffalo a thought! It has new apartments, new jobs, 
even new people, along with something that will become increasingly rare 
in the future: snow.
https://www.vox.com/2022/8/28/23322006/climate-change-heat-wave-phoenix-drought-housing-population



[ book reminder ]
*PRIME: And you propose some promising solutions. We appreciate you 
joining us. “Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our 
World” is now available wherever books are sold.*
https://abcnews.go.com/International/book-makes-argument-addressing-climate-migration/story?id=88895091



/[ From the Mining.Com industry page - the importance of knowing the 
goal ] /
*Commodity prices influence development of climate change mitigation 
technology in mining industry*
Staff Writer | August 28, 2022 |
The development of climate change mitigation technology (CCMT) in the 
mining industry has been influenced by both the Paris Agreement and 
commodity price trends. However, the degree of influence varies by 
country and how much the sector contributes to the country’s economy, 
new research has found.

Such a conclusion followed a thorough analysis carried out by scientists 
at Japan’s Kyushu University and Sweden’s Luleå University, who looked 
at the trends in global patent applications from the mining and minerals 
sector to unearth strategies for promoting R&D in CCMT.
“The goal of CCMT development is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and 
the impact we have on the environment,” Hidemichi Fujii, lead author of 
the report, said in a media statement. “A good way to analyze how an 
industry’s technology is developing is to look at patents filed over 
time. Our team looked at patent data from 2001 to 2016 from seven 
regions to calculate three major indicators of CCMT development in the 
industry for each region: Priority, mining, and scale.”

Fujii explained that the ‘priority’ indicator is the number of 
mining-CCMT-related patents divided by the number of patents in the 
whole mining industry. That ratio would increase if inventors were 
prioritizing research into CCMTs....
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https://www.mining.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Commodity-prices-influence-development-of-climate-change-mitigation-technology-in-mining-industry_1.png
  - -
“The year-by-year analysis showed that the Paris Agreement contributed 
to an overall increase in green technology in the mining sector. 
Increases in metal prices contributed to the number of patents for the 
industry as well,” Fujii said.

Following these findings, the team hopes that both countries and the 
mining industry implement effective policies that promote the 
development of CCMTs for the industry.

“The differences and similarities in R&D strategies can be used as a 
starting point to formulate country-specific science and technology 
policies that can combat the climate crisis,” Fujii noted. “At the same 
time, they can make the most effective use of capital, and promote 
regulations that guarantee fair wages based on experience and skill.”
https://www.mining.com/commodity-prices-influence-development-of-climate-change-mitigation-technology-in-mining-industry/



/[ Amazon buys electric vehicles ]/
*How Amazon Is Giving Rivian An Edge In The EV Industry*
Aug 28, 2022  A new electric vehicle company hopes to take on Tesla with 
its outdoor adventure trucks and SUVs. And its deal with Amazon to build 
100,000 electric delivery vans could help it succeed.

Founded in 2009, Rivian is focusing on upscale electric trucks and SUVs 
with an emphasis on outdoor adventure. CNBC's John Rosevear calls them 
the "Patagonia of electric vehicles."

Rivian launched its first vehicle, the R1T electric truck, at the end of 
last year. It's been working to scale up production and is planning to 
ship its SUV — the R1S — built off of the same platform, later this year.

It's been a long and arduous road to get to this point. But Rivian has 
received some major assistance, including $700 million from Amazon in 
2019 and $500 million from Ford a few months later. Initially, Rivian 
and Ford sought to develop a joint vehicle together, but the companies 
ended up canceling those plans.

However, the partnership with Amazon is still on track. Following its 
investment, Amazon said it would purchase 100,000 custom-built electric 
delivery vans, part of its move to electrify its last-mile fleet by 2040.

When Rivian went public in November 2021, it had one of the largest IPOs 
in U.S. history. But the turbulent economy has cast a shadow over its 
rocketing success. As the market responded to inflation and fears of a 
recession, the stock took a big hit. But with the Amazon deal secured, 
some are confident the EV maker can weather the storm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBVoME8hZ-I



/[The news archive - looking back]/
/*August 29, 2005*/
August 29, 2005: In a Huffington Post piece, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. notes 
the irony of Hurricane Katrina assaulting the Gulf Coast just a few 
years after the Bush administration decided to give preferential 
treatment to the fossil fuel industry with regard to energy policy.

    *"For They That Sow the Wind Shall Reap the Whirlwind"*
    As Hurricane Katrina dismantles Mississippi's Gulf Coast, it's worth
    recalling the central role that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour
    played in derailing the Kyoto Protocol and kiboshing President
    Bush's iron-clad campaign promise to regulate CO2.
    By  Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Contributor
    President, Waterkeeper Alliance; Senior Attorney, NRDC
    Updated May 25, 2011
    This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor
    platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to
    our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.
    As Hurricane Katrina dismantles Mississippi's Gulf Coast, it's worth
    recalling the central role that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour
    played in derailing the Kyoto Protocol and kiboshing President
    Bush's iron-clad campaign promise to regulate CO2.

    In March of 2001, just two days after EPA Administrator Christie
    Todd Whitman's strong statement affirming Bush's CO2 promise former
    RNC Chief Barbour responded with an urgent memo to the White House.

    Barbour, who had served as RNC Chair and Bush campaign strategist,
    was now representing the president's major donors from the fossil
    fuel industry who had enlisted him to map a Bush energy policy that
    would be friendly to their interests. His credentials ensured the
    new administration's attention.

    The document, titled "Bush-Cheney Energy Policy & CO2," was
    addressed to Vice President Cheney, whose energy task force was then
    gearing up, and to several high-ranking officials with strong
    connections to energy and automotive concerns keenly interested in
    the carbon dioxide issue, including Energy Secretary Spencer
    Abraham, Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Commerce Secretary Don
    Evans, White House chief of staff Andy Card and legislative liaison
    Nick Calio. Barbour pointedly omitted the names of Whitman and
    Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, both of whom were on record
    supporting CO2 caps. Barbour's memo chided these administration
    insiders for trying to address global warming which Barbour
    dismissed as a radical fringe issue.

    "A moment of truth is arriving," Barbour wrote, "in the form of a
    decision whether this Administration's policy will be to regulate
    and/or tax CO2 as a pollutant. The question is whether environmental
    policy still prevails over energy policy with Bush-Cheney, as it did
    with Clinton-Gore." He derided the idea of regulating CO2 as
    "eco-extremism," and chided them for allowing environmental concerns
    to "trump good energy policy, which the country has lacked for eight
    years."

    The memo had impact. "It was terse and highly effective, written for
    people without much time by a person who controls the purse strings
    for the Republican Party," said John Walke, a high-ranking air
    quality official in the Clinton administration.

    On March 13, Bush reversed his previous position, announcing he
    would not back a CO2 restriction using the language and rationale
    provided by Barbour. Echoing Barbour's memo, Bush said he opposed
    mandatory CO2 caps, due to "the incomplete state of scientific
    knowledge" about global climate change.

    Well, the science is clear. This month, a study published in the
    journal Nature by a renowned MIT climatologist linked the increasing
    prevalence of destructive hurricanes to human-induced global warming.

    Now we are all learning what it's like to reap the whirlwind of
    fossil fuel dependence which Barbour and his cronies have
    encouraged. Our destructive addiction has given us a catastrophic
    war in the Middle East and--now--Katrina is giving our nation a
    glimpse of the climate chaos we are bequeathing our children.

    In 1998, Republican icon Pat Robertson warned that hurricanes were
    likely to hit communities that offended God. Perhaps it was
    Barbour's memo that caused Katrina, at the last moment, to spare New
    Orleans and save its worst flailings for the Mississippi coast.
    [UPDATE: Alas, the reprieve for New Orleans was only temporary. But
    Haley Barbour still has much to answer for.]
    www.StopGlobalWarming.org

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/for-they-that-sow-the-win_b_6396.html 




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