[✔️] February 16, 2022 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
👀 Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Wed Feb 16 09:57:20 EST 2022
/*February 16, 2022*/
/[ ritual ending, never meet on thin ice - video and transcript ]/
*Hanover ends 25-year winter event due to climate change*
HANOVER, N.H. — A New Hampshire town is ending its annual winter event
because of unpredictable weather conditions due to climate change,
saying melting ice and lack of snow have made planning the event difficult.
John Sherman, the director of Hanover Parks and Recreation, said the
town's annual Occom Pond Party has been canceled multiple times within
the last seven years because of warming winters.
"Without reliable winter weather, the challenges become insurmountable
when planning an event that's dependent on snow and ice," Sherman said.
The almost 25-year event attracted thousands of people to participate in
activities such as ice skating, ice castles and snow sculptures on the
frozen Occom Pond in February, New Hampshire Public Radio reported Thursday.
The town says the decision to end the event was challenging but
officials will come up with another winter event that will not rely so
heavily on frozen ice.
https://www.wmur.com/article/hanover-nh-ends-winter-event-climate-change/39054749
/[ first of 3 radical videos from Unitarian minister -- first 33 min
https://youtu.be/nz6ePLhfwi8 ]/
*10 Inevitables: Post Doom, No Gloom (Appetizer)*
Feb 15, 2022
thegreatstory
(Version A) THESIS (33-min): Confusion and collective insanity reign
without a life-centered view of ecology, energy, and history. Enthralled
by gee-whiz technology, and blind to ten collapse-related
inevitabilities, we stumble into a future of ecological and societal
certainties that most people cannot see, or will vehemently deny.
Version (B): "Mid-size Healthy Meal" (49-minutes) is here:
https://youtu.be/BkapCiU2EUc
I SUGGEST YOU ALL PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING OUR "PDNG" ZOOM CALLS:
https://postdoom.com/discussions/
ALSO SEE or HEAR: https://soundcloud.com/michael-dowd-g... and
https://soundcloud.com/michael-dowd-g...
Here are the ten inevitables/certainties...
1. Most people will have a hard time trusting how & why our
civilization is collapsing.
2. Abrupt climate mayhem (rapid 2C+) locks in biospheric collapse &
extinctions.
3. Tipping points already crossed will be falsely framed as “still
avoidable”.
4. Without “Assisted Migration” love-in-action, most plant species
will go extinct.
5. Without urgent collective action, there will be dozens of nuclear
meltdowns.
6. As our biospheric and societal predicament worsens, so will our
mental health.
7. Most people will only reluctantly relinquish their faith in “the
Almighty We”.
8. If you proselytize only the doom side of collapse reality, expect
to be shunned.
9. Most people will crave distraction — and virtually anything that
offers “hope”.
10. Elite universities, IPCC, MSM, & pols will remain first-rate
legal hopium dealers.
PRESENTER: Michael Dowd: https://postdoom.com/about/
More info here: http://michaeldowd.org/ and here:
https://thegreatstory.org/michaeldowd...
https://youtu.be/nz6ePLhfwi8
/[ clips of new stuff ]/
*Criticism of corporate climate pledges ramps up *
BY RACHEL FRAZIN - 02/15/22
Corporate climate pledges are increasingly coming under the microscope,
with outside groups saying that a number of companies are relying on
shaky math to fulfill their vows.
Environmental groups and activists pressing for action on climate change
say the failures will only raise the pressure for governments to take
action on global warming.
“I think that corporations should be taking responsibility for the role
that they've played in this, and that they absolutely should be pushed
to make actual meaningful commitments,” said Stephanie Feldstein,
population and sustainability director at the Center for Biological
Diversity.
“But at the same time, they're not going to happen, and they're not
going to be effective if there is not also a regulatory push to actually
hold corporations accountable for their pollution,” she added.
One area of criticism has been the role of offsets, in which companies
can pay for activities that pull greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere,
like planting trees, instead of cutting their own emissions.
“If they're going to put out a pledge that says we're going to target
this level of absolute reductions from our operations, that's great,”
said Tim Donaghy, a senior research specialist with Greenpeace USA.
“Too many of the climate pledges are talking about ‘net-zero,’ which I
think kind of obscures the real issue here which is that continuing
business as usual but purchasing offsets is not going to get us to where
we need to go.”
Net-zero refers to when a company’s total emissions combined with its
activities that take emissions out of the air add up to a result of zero
emissions.
Offsets have particularly come under scrutiny amid reports that they may
not be effective as they purport to be.
A 2019 ProPublica review looked at 20 years worth of offset projects and
found a number of cases where they either didn’t deliver the reductions
they were supposed to or that their impacts were eventually reversed.
“Permanence is a big issue,” Donaghy said. “If you say, ‘I'm going to
continue polluting from my factory, but I'm going to buy an offset to
plant a forest or prevent a forest from being cut down’ and then 10
years later, the forest gets cut down anyway, what have you done?” ...
- -
Exxon and Chevron particularly received heat because their climate plans
only make net-zero promises for operations, like drilling, but not on
the selling their products, which is where most of their climate
contributions actually come from.
“ExxonMobil is really like a tobacco company which pledges to prohibit
smoking in their factories in 2050 while continuing to produce and sell
cigarettes,” said Mark van Baal, founder of Follow This, which seeks to
use shareholder action to push the oil companies to be greener.
Asked for comment on the general criticism, Exxon spokesperson Erin
McGrath highlighted the company’s commitment to “lower-emission”
projects including those using hydrogen and biofuels, as well as
technology that seeks to capture emissions from power plants when fuels
are burned.
McGrath said via email that these technologies are “important pathways
for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.”
- -
Hydrogen and carbon capture are still developing and costly, and many
argue that hydrogen energy, which can be produced from clean or fossil
sources, is only good for the planet when made with clean energy.
A Chevron spokesperson directed The Hill to its climate plan, which says
that the company hopes to lower the amount of planet-warming gases
released into the air from the burning of its products. It said that
this metric provides “transparency and replicability in calculations and
data with information from financial statements and emissions
disclosures.” ...
But during the House hearing, experts also criticized the idea of making
their fossil fuels cleaner while using more of them, with one comparing
it to eating a greater quantity of lower-fat potato chips in an attempt
to eat less fat.
In general, climate activists say that the issues with corporate plans
bolster the case for further government action.
“The big picture that we would advocate for is roughly the Green New
Deal idea where the government is putting a plan in place saying here
are the resources we need to get from Point A to Point B,” said Donaghy,
of Greenpeace.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/594202-criticism-of-corporate-climate-pledges-ramps-up
/[ or maybe they would be more comfortable in the heat ]/
*Lichens Could Need More than a Million Years to Adapt to Climate Change*
The composite organisms, formed from the symbiotic relationship between
fungi and algae, are crucial members of myriad ecosystems
By Jack Tamisiea on February 15, 2022...
- -
A mint-colored lichen clinging to a tree’s bark may seem like a single
organism, but it is actually a composite: fungi and algae (or sometimes
fungi and cyanobacteria) living as one in a mutually beneficial
relationship. As the algae photosynthesize, they produce sugars that
nourish the fungi. In exchange, the fungi offer the algae minerals and
water and construct a micro habitat where the algae can thrive—a sort of
fungal greenhouse.
When a fungus meets the right alga, they, in essence, become complete.
“It’s like a Transformer,” says Matthew Nelsen, an evolutionary
biologist at Chicago’s Field Museum, who specializes in lichens. “It
suddenly turns into something else and makes this new structure that’s
different from how that fungus looks on its own.”...
- -
The sum of the two species is greater than its parts, making lichens one
of nature’s most fruitful pairings. Recent research estimates these
organisms date back some 250 million years, and in that time, they have
persevered through an asteroid strike and several ice ages. Today
lichens cover an estimated 7 percent of the earth’s surface and can be
found almost everywhere, from arid deserts to rocky seashores. But new
research by Nelsen and his colleagues, published on Tuesday in Frontiers
in Microbiology, has revealed that even these adaptive organisms are
feeling the heat from climate change...
- -
The new study’s worrisome finding crystalized when Nelsen and other
Field Museum researchers were examining the climate preferences of
lichens powered by a genus of single-celled green alga called Trebouxia.
Algae of this type can be found inside some 7,000 species of fungi,
creating more than half of all known lichen species.
By comparing the DNA of several Trebouxia species and reconstructing the
evolutionary history of the alga, the researchers realized they could
essentially measure how long various lichens took to adapt to new
environments. Essentially, they could compare modern lichens’ climate
preferences with those of their ancestors. Using a battery of
statistical tests, the scientists created a time frame of lichens’
response to past episodes of climate change—and a potential framework
for predicting how they may fare in the future. “We can see the past
changes these groups have undergone and think about that in the context
of modern climate change,” Nelsen says. He and his colleagues determined
that current climate change projections far outpace these lichens’
ability to adapt...
- -
Although Nelsen and his co-authors focused on the adaptive capabilities
of algae, he notes that both components of the lichen would have to be
in sync in order to migrate to a more hospitable environment. “What if
the alga can move fast, but the fungus is slow? What does that mean for
the fungus?” Nelsen says. “Could the alga persist while the fungus that
needs it runs into trouble?”...
- -
According to James Lendemer, an associate curator and lichen specialist
at the New York Botanical Garden, who was not involved with the new
study, the findings join a growing trend of alarming research into how
lichens may fare in a warmer, drier future. “Every study of lichens and
climate change does not point to good things,” he says.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lichens-could-need-more-than-a-million-years-to-adapt-to-climate-change/
/[ Advice columnist and never let a plumber work on your car ] /
*Help! My Therapist Is a Climate Change Denier.*
ADVICE BY JENÉE DESMOND-HARRIS
FEB 15, 2022
Jenée Desmond-Harris is online weekly to chat live with readers. Here’s
an edited transcript of this week’s chat.
*Q. Therapist is a climate denier*: I (30, cis, bi woman) started seeing
a therapist in summer 2020. She’s been very helpful in dealing with my
bigoted conservative Christian future in-laws, who became extremely
radicalized throughout the pandemic. But I’m seriously contemplating if
I should stop seeing her.
During our last session, I brought up something I thought would be worth
discussing: that sometimes, the state of the world (climate change,
rising political turmoil) gets me down. And that being a
journalist/editor exacerbates this because knowing everything going on
is literally my job. I also explained this is a widespread problem in my
field and I’ve taken steps to combat it, such as unplugging outside of
work hours. I was shocked that she then launched into a long rant about
how climate change isn’t real. She thinks it’s absurd that anyone would
consider climate change when deciding where to buy a house or whether or
not to have children, which are decisions I will soon have to make. Her
only other response was a harsh directive that “I can’t obsess about
these things 24/7,” to which I replied that I don’t, that this was
literally the first time I ever brought this up, that occasionally
worrying about the world seems pretty normal, and that I just wanted
space to talk about it. This followed another recent session where I
brought up feelings about my family trauma (why I originally sought out
therapy), and she was also very dismissive then.
This was in early December. I had to cancel our next appointment because
of COVID, and we haven’t had contact since. I’m not sure what to do,
because I searched for a therapist for years. It’s so hard to find
affordable, accessible care. But on the other hand, I increasingly feel
like she’s being dismissive of me and that I can’t trust her. I’m not
even sure If I still need therapy. The in-law situation has improved,
but I’m worried about losing that lifeline if I ever were to need it
again. I think I need to at least schedule one more session to discuss
what happened, but should I break up with my therapist?
*A: It really is hard to find a therapist who’s a good fit.* But however
long you spent looking for this one, she’s still not right for you! You
kind of buried the part about her being dismissive of the main issue
that brought you to therapy. While her views on climate change and her
comfort lecturing you about them definitely call her judgment and
professionalism into question, her blowing off your family trauma means
she’s unlikely to be able to provide the support you need. You say she’s
been helpful on some topics, so you can consider continuing to see her
for now (and focus on conversations that feel valuable to you) so you
don’t have a huge gap without therapy. But in the meantime, start the
search for someone new. Once you’re booked with that person, use your
last session to explain why the relationship no longer felt like a good
fit, if you’re up for it. Email is also an option if that’s too awkward...
- -
*Q. Re: Therapist is a climate denier: *From someone training to become
a therapist… her rant was completely inappropriate. Therapists are not
supposed to use their position of power with vulnerable people to assert
their views. This may even violate the code of ethics. Their job is to
help clients understand themselves. Making judgments like calling things
and people “ridiculous” for their thoughts and feelings strongly
demonstrates a lack of compassion and nuance. Continuing to see a
therapist you don’t trust can actually harm you in the long run. There
are studies on this - look into the “therapeutic alliance” - it’s very
important to have a strong foundation of trust with your therapist. I
would not see this person again, and try out someone else next time you
need help. I’m sorry for the response you received when you shared some
of your fears. You deserve better.
A: Great advice. The letter writer definitely deserves better.
/https://slate.com/human-interest/2022/02/therapist-climate-change-denier-dear-prudence-advice.html
/
/
/
/
/
/[ New beaches - no matter what we choose ] /*
* *Ocean water along U.S. coasts will rise about one foot by 2050,
scientists warn*
February 15, 2022
REBECCA HERSHER
Sea levels along coastlines in the United States will rise about one
foot by 2050, with larger increases on the East and Gulf coasts,
according to a comprehensive new report by federal climate scientists.
- -
Beyond 2050, the report makes clear that humans have a choice: reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and control sea level rise, or keep burning
fossil fuels and face oceans that are two, three or even 10 feet higher
than today.
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/15/1080798833/ocean-water-along-u-s-coasts-will-rise-about-one-foot-by-2050-scientists-warn
/[ Hey Kids, this classic, fast moving video lesson, may be suitable
for schools ]/
*Climate Change Is An Absolute Nightmare - This Is Why*
Jul 9, 2020
UpIsNotJump
So. What is Climate Change? Do you know the facts? No?
Well I personally had no idea. One day it just hit me, I knew very
little about climate change. Even with a useless degree in chemistry,
climate change is a confusing mess of strange and difficult to
understand information.
I made this video to gather all the facts I could find about climate
change, in a fun way, and without any bias on my part. I wanted anyone
who watched this video (and myself too!) to understand all the important
facts relating to climate change. Non-scientists welcome.
Science is exciting! It’s just school and most of our education systems
aren’t…
In a few months this video will be uploaded as to remove any language or
scenes not suitable for schools, so it can be used to teach about
climate change in schools.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqwvf6R1_QY
/[The news archive - looking back]/
*On this day in the history of global warming February 16, 2002*
February 16, 2002: In response to President George W. Bush's February
14, 2002 speech on climate change, the New York Times editorial page
declares:
"The obvious conclusion to be drawn from President Bush's latest global
warming strategy, unveiled this week, is that he does not regard warming
as a problem. There seems no other way to interpret a policy that would
actually increase the gases responsible for heating the earth's
atmosphere. That the policy demands little from the American people,
while insulting allies who have agreed to take tough steps to deal with
the problem, only adds to one's sense of dismay."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/16/opinion/backward-on-global-warming.html
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
/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. This is a hobby production curated by Richard Pauli
By regulation, the .VOTE top-level domain 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.
More information about the TheClimate.Vote
mailing list