[✔️] January 8, 2022 - Daily Global Warming News Digest

Sat Jan 8 10:47:45 EST 2022

/*January 8, 2022*/

/[  China offers a 'big whoop' reduction first ]/
*China clips hydrofluorocarbon production to reduce global warming*/
/China has started to phase down the production of hydrofluorocarbons 
(HFCs) – potent greenhouse gases responsible for depleting the Earth's 
ozone layer and contributing significantly to global warming.

The Ministry of Environment and Ecology (MEE) barred companies from 
expanding HFC production capacity from January 1. "Companies shall not 
build or expand the HFC chemical production facilities. Enterprises that 
violate the new regulations will be liable to punishment," said a 
notification issued by the ministry.

HFCs are used widely in cooling systems such as air conditioners and 
refrigerators. Under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Convention, 
which came into effect in 2019, countries decided to phase down 
production and use of HFCs by 80 percent in the next 30 years.

China became the 122nd country to accept the amendment last year. 
Currently, the global action focuses on reducing the manufacturing of 
HFC-23, the most potent gas among HFCs...
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-01-04/China-clips-hydrofluorocarbon-production-to-reduce-global-warming--16y6Q45Dh8Q/index.html 

/- -
/

/[ also a dangerous impulse in China]/
*Major coal-fired power project launches first unit*
WHAT: A major coal-fired power project in Inner Mongolia launched the 
first of its four 1,000-megawatt (MW) generating units on 27 December 
after it had passed a trial run of 168 hours. The project’s operator – a 
subsidiary of the state-run GD Power Development – announced the news 
through social media on the same day. The firm said that the project – 
situated in an energy and chemical base called Shanghaimiao – is the 
largest coal-fired power project under construction in China. A 
seven-kilometre (4.3-mile) railway linking the base with the town’s 
train station has been built to help with coal transport, according to a 
separate release.

WHERE: The project is situated in Ordos, a city known for its rich coal 
resources. Ordos is one of China’s nine “large-scale coal-fired power 
bases’” responsible for generating and transmitting power to more 
economically developed areas in eastern China...
- -
BIGGER PICTURE: China’s president Xi pledged last September that the 
country “will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad”. But 
international leaders and politicians – such as Boris Johnson – have 
urged China to phase out the domestic use of coal, too....
- -
*Average temperature of China in 2021 ‘highest’ on record*
https://www.carbonbrief.org/china-briefing-6-january-2022-new-giant-coal-power-plant-hottest-year-on-record-hfc-policy
- -
/[from China] / https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/lVj6mENXEbjJp5x4S7kuVg

/[  Serious data from India ] /
India Listed Among World's Largest Emitters and Drivers of Global 
Warming by Study
By IANS2 -- TWC India
Jan 7
According to a new scientific paper published in Communications, the 
emissions of just five economies—India, China, the US, the EU and 
Russia—over the period 1991-2030 will double the number of countries 
experiencing extreme hot years every second year by 2030. The results 
highlight the outsized role these emitters play in driving warming and 
temperature extremes worldwide.

The study led by scientists at ETH Zurich and Climate Analytics looks at 
the impacts of these top five emitters over two periods: 1991-2030 and 
2016-2030. They will contribute 52 per cent and 53 per cent of global 
emissions, respectively.

Under current emissions reductions targets, 92 per cent of all countries 
are expected to experience extreme hot years every second year by 2030, 
twice as many countries as without the 1991-2030 emissions from the top 
five polluters (46 per cent).

Notably, 15 per cent of this increase would be attributable to the 
emissions of these five economies between 2016 and 2030, after the Paris 
Agreement was signed.

"Our work shows that over a relatively short-time period, the emissions 
of these five economies will have a strong impact on extreme heat 
experienced around the globe by 2030. We're talking about annual mean 
temperatures that would only be experienced once every 100 years in 
preindustrial times happening every second year", said ETH Zurich 
researcher Lea Beusch, lead author of the study.

The paper also looked at the per capita emissions of these significant 
emitters. It found that if all countries had the same projected per 
capita emissions as the US—the highest per capita emitter in the 
group—in the period after the Paris Agreement was signed (2016-2030), 
global means warming in 2030 would be 0.4 degrees Celsius higher than 
under currently pledged emission reductions.

This is a full 0.5 degree higher than if all countries followed India's 
same per capita emissions trajectory, which has the lowest emissions per 
capita in the high emitters group.

The study comes in the wake of the COP26 Glasgow Climate Pact that 
requests countries revisit their 2030 climate targets to align them with 
the 2015 Paris Agreement temperature goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

"Our results underscore that the actions of the world's top emitters 
will have a huge impact on our global temperature trajectory in this 
decade. How they respond to the COP26 outcome will be fundamental to 
whether 1.5 degrees Celsius stays within reach—none of their targets is 
currently sufficient", said Alexander Nauels of Climate Analytics, who 
co-authored the study.
https://weather.com/en-IN/india/news/news/2022-01-07-india-listed-among-worlds-largest-emitters-and-drivers-of-global-warming 

/[  Soon we will know... setting records  ] /
*More than 400 weather stations beat heat records in 2021*
Maximiliano Herrera, watcher of extreme weather, says last year likely 
to be in top five or six hottest in history
More than 400 weather stations around the world beat their all-time 
highest temperature records in 2021, according to a climatologist who 
has been compiling weather records for over 30 years.

Maximiliano Herrera keeps track of extreme weather around the world, and 
publishes an annual list of records broken in the previous year. He and 
many other climatologists and meteorologists who follow these issues 
closely expect that 2021 will probably not be the hottest year in 
history (Noaa and Nasa will publish their results in the next few days).

But it is likely to be in the top five or six, continuing the long-term 
upward trend. The past six years have been the six hottest on record...
- -
Ten national temperature records were broken or equalled in 2021, 
including the highest ever reliably measured on Earth..

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/07/heat-records-broken-all-around-the-world-in-2021-says-climatologist

/[  asking for help from Congress ] /
*‘Everything is at risk’: flood survivors urge Congress to change 
inadequate insurance*
The petition argues that the federal government’s current flood 
insurance policies are ill-equipped for an era of climate crisis..
- -
A lot of people are suckered into buying in these places because there’s 
no federal disclosure laws. This is turning into a crisis, especially 
for poorer people..
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/07/flood-survivors-congress-overhaul-insurance-policy

- -

/[risk to the world of finance]/
*Climate change threatens ability of insurers to manage risk*
This article is more than 5 years old
Wed 7 Dec 2016
Extreme weather is driving up uninsured losses and insurers must use 
investments to fund global warming resilience, says study
The ability of the global insurance industry to manage society’s risks 
is being threatened by climate change, according to a new report.

The report finds that more frequent extreme weather events are driving 
up uninsured losses and making some assets uninsurable.

The analysis, by a coalition of the world’s biggest insurers, concluded 
that the “protection gap” – the difference between the costs of natural 
disasters and the amount insured – has quadrupled to $100bn (£79bn) a 
year since the 1980s.

Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, warns in the new 
report that: “Over time, the adverse effects of climate change could 
threaten economic resilience and financial stability [and] insurers are 
currently at the forefront.”..
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/07/climate-change-threatens-ability-insurers-manage-risk

/[  Dave Roberts Opinion -- audio podcast ] /
*Climate legislation and Congress: the current state of play*
Still tense.
David Roberts
The Child Tax Credit kept millions of children out of poverty last year 
and could potentially cut child poverty by almost half. It ran out at 
the end of the year, and now at least 50,000 children in West Virginia 
stand to slip back into poverty. Manchin is choosing to allow millions 
of children to suffer a little more based on vague and ill-founded 
worries about inflation. It’s ghoulish and unforgivable...
- -
Meanwhile, there’s been no word about any of this from Sinema, who was 
last on record opposing any changes to the filibuster.

At least for now, there’s no reason to think that this isn’t just 
wheel-spinning symbolism, which is going to delay moving forward on BBB.

On the other hand, the fate of the republic is at stake, so maybe a 
little symbolism is warranted. If Manchin and Sinema think the 
filibuster is more important than the right of every American to vote, 
let them say so affirmatively and publicly, on the record.

On the other other hand, the fate of the atmosphere is also at stake, 
and if Democrats dump all over Manchin for blocking filibuster reform, 
it might piss him off and make him even more recalcitrant on BBB.

In the coming weeks and months, there will be votes on both these bills 
and we will have a much better sense of where things stand. The path to 
(some measure of) success, on climate or much of anything else, is 
narrow and getting narrower, but it isn’t closed off yet.

In the meantime, we begin the year where we ended the last one: in deep 
uncertainty and anxiety, as matters of unfathomable significance are 
decided by a small handful of vain old white guys. So much fun.

https://www.volts.wtf/p/climate-legislation-and-congress?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyMzY4NzE5OSwicG9zdF9pZCI6NDY2NzcyMDcsIl8iOiJyNzJObSIsImlhdCI6MTY0MTU4NDUzMywiZXhwIjoxNjQxNTg4MTMzLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMTkzMDI0Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.tqDsDhunID9L_jw4BN1Klr-VCF6RLvuvg-9uzzkrTmw&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email#play

/[The news archive - looking back]/
*On this day in the history of global warming January  8, 2013*
Media Matters releases an analysis showing that "...news coverage of 
climate change on ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX remained low in 2012 despite 
record temperatures and a series of extreme weather events in the U.S. 
When the Sunday shows did discuss climate change, scientists were shut 
out of the debate while Republican politicians were given a platform to 
question the science."...
- -
Scientists, Democrats Shut Out Of Sunday Show Discussions On Climate Change
Sunday Shows Quoted No Democratic Politicians On Climate Change.  In 
2012, the Sunday shows did not quote a single Democratic politician on 
climate change. Most of the politicians quoted were Republican 
presidential candidates, including Rick Santorum, who went unchallenged 
when he called global warming “junk science” on ABC's This Week. More 
than half of climate mentions on the Sunday shows were Republicans 
criticizing those who support efforts to address climate change. This 
imbalance was also present, though less dramatic, on the nightly news 
programs, which quoted 60 percent Republicans and 40 percent Democrats 
on climate change.
http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/01/08/study-warmest-year-on-record-received-cool-clim/192079 

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