[✔️] March 4, 2022 - Daily Global Warming News Digest
👀 Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Fri Mar 4 10:04:27 EST 2022
/*March 4, 2022*/
/[ big energy and big army - clips - opinion ]/
*This is how we defeat Putin and other petrostate autocrats*
Bill McKibben
After Hitler invaded the Sudetenland, America turned its industrial
prowess to building tanks, bombers and destroyers. Now, we must respond
with renewables
25 Feb 2022 ...
- -
Imagine a Europe that ran on solar and wind power: whose cars ran on
locally provided electricity, and whose homes were heated by electric
air-source heat pumps. That Europe would not be funding Putin’s Russia,
and it would be far less scared of Putin’s Russia – it could impose
every kind of sanction, and keep them in place until the country
buckled. Imagine an America where the cost of gas was not a political
tripwire, because if people had to have a pickup to make them feel
sufficiently manly, that pickup would run on electricity that came from
the sun and wind. It would take an evil-er genius than Vladimir Putin to
figure out how to embargo the sun.
These are not novel technologies – they exist, are growing, and could be
scaled up quickly. In the years after Hitler invaded the Sudetenland,
America turned its industrial prowess to building tanks, bombers, and
destroyers. In 1941, in Ypsilanti, the world’s largest industrial plant
went up in six month’s time, and soon it was churning out a B-24 bomber
every hour. A bomber is a complicated machine with more than a million
parts; a wind turbine is, by contrast, relatively simple. In Michigan
alone (“the arsenal of democracy”), a radiator company retooled to make
20m steel helmets and a rubber factory retooled to produce the liners
for those helmets; the company that made the fabric for Ford’s seat
cushions stopped doing that and started pushing out parachutes. Do we
think that it’s beyond us to quickly produce the solar panels and the
batteries required to end our dependence on fossil fuel?...
- -
At the moment, big oil is using the fighting in Ukraine as an excuse to
try to expand its footprint – reliable industry ally Kristi Noem, the
governor of South Dakota, went on Fox this week to argue that stopping
the Keystone XL pipeline had empowered the Russian leader, for instance,
and the American Petroleum Institute today called for more oil and gas
development. But this is absurd – we may need, for the remaining weeks
of this winter, to insure gas supplies for Europe, but by next winter we
need to remove that lever. That means an all-out effort to decarbonize
that continent, and then our own. It’s not impossible.
We have to do it anyway, if we’re to have any hope of slowing the
climate change. And we can do it fast if we want: huge offshore
windfarms in Europe have been built inside of 18 months without any
wartime pressure.
We should be in agony today – people are dying because they want to live
in a democracy, want to determine their own affairs. But that agony
should, and can, produce real change. (And not just in Europe. Imagine
not having to worry about what the king of Saudia Arabia thought, or the
Koch brothers – access to fossil fuel riches so often produces
retrograde thuggery.) Caring about the people of Ukraine means caring
about an end to oil and gas.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/25/this-is-how-we-defeat-putin-and-other-petrostate-autocrats?
/[ a science examination of a social condition ]/
*IPCC report: how politics – not climate change – is responsible for
disasters and conflict*
February 28, 2022
Ilan Kelman - Professor of Disasters and Health, UCL
The latest UN report on the potential impacts of climate change gives a
grim verdict, with some effects now deemed unavoidable. But there are
also lessons on disasters and violent conflicts which could help save
lives and create safer societies regardless of human-caused climate change.
The main available text of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) report on “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability” is a 35-page
Summary for Policy Makers, which by IPCC rules, is approved by member
state governments.
IPCC scientists are appointed by member states and these contributing
researchers do not produce new science. They summarise the tens of
thousands of peer-reviewed scientific papers on climate change since the
previous assessment (the last major IPCC report on impacts, adaptation
and vulnerabilities was published in 2014)...
- -
https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg2/pdf/IPCC_AR6_WGII_SummaryForPolicymakers.pdf
*Summary of the summary*
The IPCC’s press release on the new report was headlined “Climate
change: a threat to human wellbeing and health of the planet”. Its stark
opening detailed “dangerous and widespread disruption”. Yet its
subtitle, “Taking action now can secure our future,” needs emphasising.
This is particularly the case for disasters and violent conflicts which,
the summary document states with high confidence, are not significantly
influenced by human-caused climate change.
Perhaps the press release mentions neither disasters nor violent
conflict because they represent comparatively positive news among the
bleakness. Ultimately, “taking action now” means applying the science of
disasters and conflict for prevention. Then, we save lives and
livelihoods, no matter what climate change does.
https://theconversation.com/ipcc-report-how-politics-not-climate-change-is-responsible-for-disasters-and-conflict-178071
- -
/[ The Conversation ]/
*Mass starvation, extinctions, disasters: the new IPCC report’s grim
predictions, and why adaptation efforts are falling behind*
February 28, 2022
Every small increase in warming will result in escalating losses and
damages across many systems. For example, the report found:
- under a high-emissions scenario (where global emissions continue
unabated), more frequent and extreme disasters will lead to over
250,000 unnecessary deaths each year worldwide.
- up to 3 billion people are projected to experience chronic water
scarcity due to droughts at 2℃ warming, and up to 4 billion at 4℃
warming, mostly across the subtropics to mid-latitudes
- projected flood damages may be up to two times higher at 2℃
warming and up to 3.9 times higher at 3℃, when compared with damages
at 1.5℃
- up to 18% of all those species assessed on land will be at high
risk of extinction if the world warms 2℃ by 2100. If the world warms
up to 4℃, roughly every second plant or animal species assessed will
be threatened
- even warming below 1.6℃ will see 8% of today’s farmland become
climatically unsuitable for current activities by 2100.
https://theconversation.com/mass-starvation-extinctions-disasters-the-new-ipcc-reports-grim-predictions-and-why-adaptation-efforts-are-falling-behind-176693
- -
/[ We can feel it, now scientists declare these are very serious times ]/
*222 scientists say cascading crises are the biggest threat to the
well-being of future generations*
February 11, 2020
The bushfires raging across Australia this summer have sharpened the
focus on how climate change affects human health. This season bushfires
have already claimed more than 30 human lives, and many people have
grappled with smoke inhalation and mental health concerns.
The changing nature of bushfires around the world is one of the tragic
consequences of climate change highlighted in “Our Future on Earth,
2020” – a report published on Friday by Future Earth, an international
sustainability research network...
- -
This is not a future issue, we’re already seeing health impacts in
Australia. Smoke from the fires has exposed about half of Australia’s
total human population to hazardous levels of air pollution for weeks.
And mental health experts are concerned about rising levels of anxiety
about bushfires.
https://theconversation.com/222-scientists-say-cascading-crises-are-the-biggest-threat-to-the-well-being-of-future-generations-131551
/[ a hyperobject pushes aside traditional ideas ]/
*Latest IPCC report on climate lays out an "atlas of human suffering"*
By Nick Lavars
February 28, 2022
Last year the UN's top climate scientists released the first in a trio
of reports detailing the dangers of unabated global warming, alluding to
dire consequences for humanity in the coming decades. The second report
is now in and the outlook is only becoming darker, with UN chief António
Guterres describing the abdication of leadership on the issue as
"criminal."..
“This report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction,” said
Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC. “It shows that climate change is a grave
and mounting threat to our wellbeing and a healthy planet. Our actions
today will shape how people adapt and nature responds to increasing
climate risks.”...
- -
Heightened heatwaves, droughts and floods are already more severe than
plants and animals are able to tolerate, driving widespread mortality in
a range of species. These types of weather events are already exposing
millions to water and food insecurity, with millions of people in
Africa, Asia, the Arctic and Central and South America bearing the brunt
of these effects.
*The facts are undeniable. This abdication of leadership is
criminal. The world’s biggest polluters are guilty of arson of our
only home.* - -António Guterres
The window for action is narrowing, the report says, with rapidly
reducing greenhouse gas emissions the obvious and most important course
of action. It also, however, points to the potential for nature to help
us adapt to climate change, highlighting the need to foster healthy
ecosystems in order to ensure the ongoing supply of vital resources. It
also means safeguarding soils to allow diverse plants to grow, for
example, and bringing nature into cities to soften the effects of urban
heating.
“Healthy ecosystems are more resilient to climate change and provide
life-critical services such as food and clean water,” said IPCC Working
Group II Co-Chair Hans-Otto Pörtner. “By restoring degraded ecosystems
and effectively and equitably conserving 30 to 50 per cent of Earth’s
land, freshwater and ocean habitats, society can benefit from nature’s
capacity to absorb and store carbon, and we can accelerate progress
towards sustainable development, but adequate finance and political
support are essential.”
In comments accompanying its launch, Guterres described the report as an
"atlas of human suffering." He went on to say, "unchecked carbon
pollution is forcing the world’s most vulnerable on a frog march to
destruction – now. The facts are undeniable. This abdication of
leadership is criminal. The world’s biggest polluters are guilty of
arson of our only home. It is essential to meet the goal of limiting
global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Science tells us that
will require the world to cut emissions by 45 percent by 2030 and
achieve net zero emissions by 2050."
The third report, which will focus on the mitigation of climate change,
is due for publication in early April 2022.
Source: IPCC, UN
https://newatlas.com/environment/ipcc-report-climate-atlas-human-suffering/
/[ Understanding our risk -- Stability of ice as explained at COP26]/
*Antarctica and Paris Goals: Risks of Massive Sea-level Rise*
Nov 10, 2021
International Cryosphere Climate Initiative
Recent published research shows the danger of massive, potentially
irreversible, global sea-level rise within the next couple of centuries
should temperatures overshoot 2°C. Perhaps most sobering, this loss may
become rapid and permanent, with no halt in ice loss even should CO2
concentrations return to pre-industrial levels.
Should today’s emissions levels continue, rate will approach 5 cm/year
by 2150, and 10 meters of sea-level rise by 2300. IPCC scientists
provide a clear-eyed look at risks from Antarctica, and implications for
the Paris Agreement temperature goals.
Main Presenter: Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, former Chair of the U.S. Polar Research Board.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxf_kO-8Sjc
/[ important message of psychological understanding - a YouTube video ]/
*CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR A SPECIAL EDITION ON CLIMATE CHANGE*
To all Psychotherapists, Counsellors, Researchers, Trainers, Trainees,
Psychologically trained Organisational Consultants etc.
It is an important time to be alive right now. In this consequential
decade, we will either manage to turn the course that humanity is on
around at the very last minute, or we will loose control of the
climactic system and it will matter less and less what we do after that.
Either way, change is upon us and familiar structures don’t offer all
the answers anymore.
The uncertainty of this transformational era we are in, is triggering
many people to grasp for certainty. Others are recognising that a
potential evolutionary junction for the human species is upon us, which
of course involves every profession, including psychotherapy.
In this special edition on climate change we explore the following question:
What is the role of psychotherapy in a world in which the familiar is dying?
As guest editor, I did not want to embark on this process from a
singular voice. The psychotherapists Bayo Akomolafe, Sally Weintrobe,
Francis Weller, and Mary-Jayne Rust kindly accepted the invitation to
join me for a discussion to kick us off by gathering around this one
central question.
This discussion is available here and may be of interest even if you
don’t plan to submit your own writing:
It also generated particular sub-themes for this call:
Anthropocentrism in psychotherapy
Individual and collective trauma
The dynamic relationship between the individual and the collective lens
The long shadow of colonialism
Therapy Training in a time when the familiar is dying
In the therapy room
Wider application of what therapists have to offer
We would appreciate for your submission to touch on one or several of
these sub-themes.
Thinking in complexity requires the ability to perceive across multiple
perspectives and contexts, which is why the call for submission is open
across all modalities.
If you are interested in submitting, please contact
editor at britishgestaltjournal.com
Deadline for submissions: 1 June 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TFH_xF4-M8
/[ everything is connected ] /
*War Abroad and Politics at Home Push U.S. Climate Action Aside*
Climate change, a central part of Biden’s agenda, was barely mentioned
in the State of the Union. And Europe is confronting its heavy reliance
on Russian gas.
By Somini Sengupta and Lisa Friedman
March 2, 2022
War and politics are complicating the efforts of the two biggest
polluters in history — the United States and Europe — to slow down
global warming, just as scientists warn of intensifying hazards.
On Tuesday evening, President Biden barely made a mention of his climate
goals in the State of the Union speech despite promises to make climate
an issue that drives his presidency. European politicians have their own
problem: They are struggling to get out from under one of the Kremlin’s
most powerful economic weapons — its fossil fuel exports, which Europe
relies on for heat and electricity...
- -
White House officials said Mr. Biden wove climate change and clean
energy throughout his speech. He noted that Ford and GM are investing
billions of dollars to build electric vehicles, creating millions of
manufacturing jobs in the United States. He also noted that funding from
the infrastructure package will build a national network of 500,000
electric vehicle charging stations.
But climate change policy is at a critical juncture in the Biden
administration. The President’s centerpiece legislative agenda, which he
had called the Build Back Better act, is dead. Democrats still hope to
pass approximately $500 billion of clean energy tax incentives that had
been part of the package, but opportunities to do so are waning. If that
investment does not come through and the Supreme Court also restricts
the administration’s ability to regulate emission, Mr. Biden’s goal of
cutting United States emissions roughly in half compared with 2005
levels could be essentially unattainable.
Even if climate wasn’t the stated focus of Mr. Biden’s Tuesday address,
administration officials said that Russia’s war against Ukraine has not
pushed climate change off the agenda. They noted that Mr. Biden has made
climate change an emphasis in virtually every federal agency, and has
moved ahead with major clean energy deployments including a
record-breaking offshore wind auction last week that brought in more
than $4 billion.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/climate/state-of-the-union-biden-ukraine-climate.html
/[The news archive - looking back at missteps ]/
*March 4, 2001*
March 4, 2001: At an international climate summit in Italy, EPA
Administrator Christine Todd Whitman insists that the Bush
administration will take aggressive action to reduce carbon pollution.
(By the end of the month, the Bush administration would officially
disavow the Kyoto Protocol.)
*Climate talks secure U.S. support pollution*
Carbon dioxide emissions pose a great threat to the environment
March 5, 2001
TRIESTE, Italy -- The United States has given the international
community a committment to improve the environment and help battle
the effects of global warming.
The new U.S. environment supremo told her G8 partners that
Washington is serious about cleaning up the planet.
Christine Todd Whitman attended the weekend's summit in Trieste
aware that there are doubts over President George W. Bush's position
on green issues -- particularly on global warming.
European Union countries wanted to know whether Bush would return to
negotiations on sealing the 1997 Kyoto pact on reducing pollution
blamed for climate change, an agreement he had called "unfair to
America" during his election campaign.
Whitman said: "The president has said global climate change is the
greatest environmental challenge that we face and that we must
recognise that and take steps to move forward."
The president would oversee bi-partisan legislation to limit carbon
dioxide -- the main "greenhouse gas" blamed by many scientists for
trapping heat in the earth's atmosphere -- from U.S. power plants
for the first time, she said.
Some EU countries had clashed with the U.S. at the last effort to
get the global warming strategy off the ground, in The Hague, last
November.
"Ms Whitman was very positive about climate change being a global
issue, about the scientific evidence and that the Kyoto framework
was something they should work within," a senior British official said.
Green groups also felt buoyed by the Whitman effect.
"Whitman led a move forward. She could have come to play a spoiler
role, but she came to build relationships and bring the message that
George Bush thinks that climate change is a serious problem," World
Wildlife Fund's climate campaigner Jennifer Morgan said.
Environmentalists have accused Bush of having a poor track record in
environmental policy while he was Texas governor.
A U.N. scientific panel has said the average global temperature is
likely to rise by between 1.4 and 5.8 degrees Celsius (2.5-10.4
Fahrenheit) over the next 100 years. Sea levels could rise by as
much as 88 cm (35 inches).
Such a change in temperature -- which many scientists believe is
being caused by pollution trapping heat in the atmosphere -- would
mean widespread droughts and floods and massive economic and natural
damage, experts say.
http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/italy/03/04/environment.climate/
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