[✔️] March 21, 2022 - Daily Global Warming News Digest.

Mon Mar 21 10:19:39 EDT 2022

/*March 21, 2022*/

/[ Since we live on a globe - it's all connected ]/
*Climate change: Wildfire smoke linked to Arctic melting*
By Matt McGrath - Environment correspondent
The dense plumes of wildfire smoke seen in recent years are contributing 
to the warming of the Arctic, say scientists.
Their study says that particles of "brown carbon" in the smoke are 
drifting north and attracting heat to the polar region.

The authors believe the growing number of wildfires helps explain why 
the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the planet.

They're concerned that this effect will likely increase.

Over the past decade, smoke from raging wildfires in Australia, 
Portugal, Siberia and the US have changed the colour of the skies. The 
smoke has impacted human health, and the amount of carbon released by 
the burning has helped push emissions to record levels.

But now scientists say that all this burning has contributed to another 
serious issue - the loss of sea ice in the Arctic.

Researchers have long been familiar with "black carbon", the sooty 
particles that are emitted from diesel engines, coal burning, cooking 
stoves and other sources.

These aerosols, which absorb sunlight and turn it into heat, are known 
to be the second largest contributor to global warming.

The impact of these particles on the Arctic and on clouds has been well 
documented.
However, the same can't be said for brown carbon - which principally 
comes from the burning of trees and vegetation but is also created, to a 
lesser degree, from fossil fuels. The warming effect of this less dense 
substance has been either ignored or estimated with huge uncertainty in 
climate models.

To develop a better understanding of the impacts, researchers travelled 
around the Arctic ocean on the Chinese icebreaker, Xue Long, in 2017.

While some previous estimates had shown brown carbon was responsible for 
just 3% of the warming effect compared to black carbon, the scientists 
found that it is doing far more damage in the region.

"To our surprise, observational analyses and numerical simulations show 
that the warming effect of brown carbon aerosols over the Arctic is up 
to about 30% of that of black carbon," says senior author Pingqing Fu, 
an atmospheric chemist at Tianjin University in China.

The study found that wildfires were the main source of this brown 
material - contributing twice as much to the warming effect of brown 
carbon in the Arctic than was coming from fossil fuels.

The authors believe that while black soot has played the major role, 
brown carbon had a hand in the exceptional warming being felt in the 
Arctic region in recent decades.
Over the last 50 years, the icy north has been warming at three times 
the rate of the rest of the planet.

The main factor driving this difference is what's termed Arctic 
amplification.

What happens is that the ice and snow on the surface of the Arctic 
waters normally reflects most sunlight back to space, but as the ice 
melts the darker waters absorb much more heat, which in turn melts the 
ice even quicker.

But as wildfires in mid and northern latitudes have increased as the 
world warms, this new study finds that brown carbon from this source is 
having an increasing impact in the Arctic.

This is what scientists describe as a feedback loop, where the warmer 
world causes more fires, which in turn leads to less ice and more heat.
"The increase in brown carbon aerosols will lead to global or regional 
warming, which increases the probability and frequency of wildfires," 
says Dr Fu, explaining the way the feedback loop works.

"Increased wildfire events will emit more brown carbon aerosols, further 
heating the earth, thus making wildfires more frequent."

As a recent UN study has shown, wildfires are likely to increase by up 
to 50% by the middle of this century, so the authors believe this brown 
carbon trend will likely increase.

The scientists involved in the study say that their work shows that the 
importance of managing vegetation fires is not just about saving lives 
and limiting the damage done by burning - it also has a role in limiting 
the warming of the planet.

The study has been published in the journal, One Earth.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60782084

- -

/[Source matter]/
*Brown carbon from biomass burning imposes strong circum-Arctic warming*
Highlights
-- Brown carbon imposes strong Arctic warming
-- Warming effect of water-soluble brown carbon is ∼30% relative to 
black carbon
-- Biomass burning contributes ∼60% of the warming effect of brown carbon
-- Warming climate leads to increased wildfires that reinforce Arctic 
warming
*Science for Society*

    Rapid Arctic warming and associated glacier and sea ice melt have a
    great impact on the global environment, with implications for global
    temperature rise and weather patterns, shipping routes, local
    biodiversity, and methane release. Greenhouse gases and black carbon
    aerosols are well-known warming agents that accumulate in the Arctic
    atmosphere, but full warming agent picture remains incomplete,
    preventing accurate forecasts. The effects of brown carbon—an
    aerosol derived from biomass and fossil fuel burning—are
    particularly unclear. Through observations from a circum-Arctic
    cruise and numerical model simulations, we show that light-absorbing
    brown carbon, mainly from biomass burning, can impose a strong
    warming effect in the Arctic, especially in the summertime. If, as
    predicted, the frequency, intensity, and spread of wildfires
    continues to increase, this may reinforce circum-Arctic warming and
    further contribute to global warming, forming a positive feedback.
    In light of these results, the careful management of vegetation
    fires, especially in the mid- to high latitudes of the Northern
    Hemisphere, will prove important in mitigating the warming in the
    Arctic region.

*Summary*

    Rapid warming in the Arctic has a huge impact on the global
    environment. Atmospheric brown carbon (BrC) is one of the least
    understood and uncertain warming agents due to a scarcity of
    observations. Here, we performed direct observations of atmospheric
    BrC and quantified its light-absorbing properties during a 2-month
    circum-Arctic cruise in summer of 2017. Through
    observation-constrained modeling, we show that BrC, mainly
    originated from biomass burning in the mid- to high latitudes of the
    Northern Hemisphere (∼60%), can be a strong warming agent in the
    Arctic region, especially in the summer, with an average radiative
    forcing of ∼90 mW m−2 (∼30% relative to black carbon). As climate
    change is projected to increase the frequency, intensity, and spread
    of wildfires, we expect BrC to play an increasing role in Arctic
    warming in the future.

Open AccessDOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2022.02.006
https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(22)00091-4

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/[ Some free talk science from XR  - 34 min video 
https://youtu.be/wZteVx7Z3k8 ]/
*HOW FUCKED ARE WE?! IPCC summary with Clare Farrell & Charlie Gardner*
Mar 19, 2022
Extinction Rebellion UK
The IPCC reports are written in really difficult, technical language 
that makes them almost impossible to understand. We filmed this 
discussion about the most recent report, with the help of Dr Charlie 
Gardner from XR Scientists, to draw out the meaning behind the technical 
language and explain what’s really going on.

If you have friends and family who are not aware of the reports or do 
not understand their contents, please share this with them. We hope they 
might find this an easy-to-follow discussion.

The recent report, published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
Change, (6th Assessment Report, Working Group 2) summarises all the 
climate science that’s been carried out around the world, combining it 
all into a single document, that can be used by anyone who wants to 
understand the many different ways that climate change is going to 
devastate everything if we don’t stop it. The focus of this one is 
adaptation - what we need to do if we’re going to survive the crisis 
with a minimum of loss, suffering, and death.

We don't cover the entire content because the report itself is huge. We 
look at a few extracts from the “summary for policymakers” which is the 
shortened version of the report that is signed off by governments. You 
can find that version here.
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/

Help XR mobilise and donate: https://chuffed.org/project/xrapril2022

Extinction Rebellion UK: https://extinctionrebellion.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/xrebellionuk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XRebellionUK/
Map of UK XR groups: https://map.extinctionrebellion.uk/
International: https://rebellion.global/

    *1. Tell The Truth **
    **2. Act Now **
    **3. Beyond Politics*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZteVx7Z3k8

/[ Agency is asking for measuring and reporting data on impacts from CO2 ]/

*Finally! Publicly Traded US Companies Will Have To Report GHG Emissions*
A new rule could transform the SEC into one of the country’s leading 
enforcers of climate-related disclosures...
- -
The SEC’s proposed rule for publicly traded companies to report GHG 
emissions will go through a public comment period before a final rule is 
voted on by the agency’s 4 commissioners — 3 Democrats and one 
Republican. The regulation is likely to face legal challenges on the 
basis of whether the commission has the authority to tackle climate 
issues, said Kathleen Sgamma, head of the oil and gas industry group 
Western Energy Alliance.
https://cleantechnica.com/2022/03/20/finally-publicly-traded-us-companies-will-have-to-report-ghg-emissions/ 

- -

/[  significant change may be noticed, but may not be required to report ]/
*The U.S. may force companies to disclose climate risks, marking a 
historic change*
March 20, 2022
How much do companies contribute to climate change and how are they 
impacted by it? Those questions are at the heart of a major announcement 
expected on Monday from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The country's top financial regulator is expected to propose new 
disclosure rules that would require companies to report their 
contributions to greenhouse gas emissions as well as how climate change 
might affect their businesses.

It's part of a global push by regulators to acknowledge climate change 
as a risk to their economies and their financial systems...
- -
But in particular, businesses are worried the SEC could require 
companies disclose what are called "Scope 3" emissions. Those are 
emissions generated by a company's suppliers and customers. (Scope 1 is 
the emissions generated by the company themselves, while Scope 2 
measures the emissions from the energy consumed, like electricity for 
example)

Fed nominee Sarah Bloom Raskin withdraws after fight over her climate 
change stance
Any moves by the SEC to require Scope 3 disclosures could spark a big 
corporate pushback, and so could any disclosure rules that companies 
feel are too wide-ranging or comprehensive...
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/20/1087495296/sec-climate-change-disclosure-risks-greenhouse-gas-emissions

/[  perhaps manage water with regulations ] /
*Drought-stricken California imposes new round of water cuts*
MARCH 19, 2022
California's urban water users and farmers who rely on supplies from 
state reservoirs will get less than planned this year as fears of a 
third consecutive dry year become reality, state officials announced Friday.

Water agencies that serve 27 million people and 750,000 acres of 
farmland will get just 5% of what they've requested this year from state 
supplies beyond what's needed for critical activities such as drinking 
and bathing.

That's down from the 15% allocation state officials had announced in 
January, after a wet December fueled hopes of a lessening drought.

But a wet winter didn't materialize and unless several more inches of 
rain falls this month, the January-March period will be the driest start 
to a California year at least a century. That's when most of the state's 
rain and snow typically falls.

Mandatory restrictions on using water for outdoor activities like 
landscaping and other purposes may come from local water agencies as 
they continue to grapple with limited supplies, said Karla Nemeth, 
director of the California Department of Water Resources.

*California's Drought Goes From Bad To Worse *
Local water agencies that know their communities' unique needs are 
better poised than state officials to set water use restrictions, Nemeth 
said.

"I think with this reduced allocation we are going to see more urban 
areas in California move into some kind of mandatory water 
conservation," she said in an interview.

State officials will continue urging people to voluntarily cut water use 
by 15%, an amount designed to get Californians' collective water use 
back to what it was during the last drought, which lasted from 2012 to 
2016, Nemeth said.

Statewide water use in January actually went up 2.6% compared to the 
same month in 2020, due to dry conditions and warm temperatures.

About a third of Southern California's water comes from state supplies, 
mostly routed through the Metropolitan Water District of Southern 
California, which serves 19 million people. Abel Hagekhalil, the 
district's general manager, said in a statement Friday that the public 
needs to do more to save water.

"We all need to take this drought more seriously and significantly step 
up our water-saving efforts to help preserve our dropping storage levels 
and ensure we have the water we need into the summer and fall," he said.

California is in its second acute drought in less than a decade, and 
scientists say the U.S. West is broadly experiencing the worst 
megadrought in 1,200 years, made more intense by climate change.

People adapted their water use during the state's last drought, in part 
by ripping up sprinkler-hungry lawns and replacing them with 
drought-resistant landscaping. Many of those water-saving habits stuck.

But the dry conditions that began anew in 2020 are demanding more 
conservation, as reservoirs such as Lake Oroville and Shasta Lake remain 
below historical levels and less water from melting snow is expected to 
trickle down the mountains this spring.

Current predictions estimate the state will have about 57% of its 
historical median runoff this April through July, said Alan Haynes, 
hydrologist in charge for the California Nevada River Forecast Center of 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Melted snow 
traditionally provides about a third of the state's water supply.

A very wet December put water content in the snow at 160% of normal 
levels, but isn't resulting in as much water runoff as expected because 
warmer temperatures are causing some of that water to evaporate rather 
than flow into rivers and streams as it melts, said Nemeth, the 
Department of Water Resources director.

A persistent lack of water could produce a range of negative 
consequences for California, including farmers fallowing fields and 
endangered salmon and other fish dying...
- -
Critics of California's water policy say the state promises more water 
each year than it has to give. That's led to a continued diminishment of 
supply in federally and state run reservoirs, said Doug Obegi, an 
attorney focused on water for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"We basically have a system that is all but bankrupt because we promised 
so much more water than can actually be delivered," he said.

Officials on Friday also announced a plan to seek a temporary exemption 
from water quality requirements in Northern California's Delta, the part 
of the state's watershed where the freshwater rivers and salty ocean 
water mingle.

That would allow the state and federal water projects to release less 
water into the Delta from the Shasta, Folsom and Oroville reservoirs — 
which are the state's major water supply sources.

The water quality standards are designed, in part, to ensure the water 
doesn't get so salty it can't be used for farming, drinking and 
protecting the environment.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/drought-california-imposes-new-water-cuts/

/[  It used to be lush and green  ]/
*How climate change is turning once green Madagascar into a desert*
By Doloresz Katanich  with Reuters   20/03/2022
The once lush and green island of Madagascar is turning into a red 
desert and facing a severe food crisis seen as the world's first 
'climate change famine'.

The fourth-largest island on the planet and one of its most diverse 
ecosystems, Madagascar has thousands of endemic species of plants and 
animals such as lemurs. But in its far southern regions, the reality on 
the ground has changed.

With precious few trees left to slow the wind in this once fertile land, 
red sand is blowing everywhere: onto fields, villages and roads, and 
into the eyes of children waiting for food parcels.

Four years of drought, linked by the United Nations to climate change, 
along with deforestation caused by burning or cutting down trees to make 
charcoal and farming, have transformed the area into a dust bowl.
This period of years of drought, deforestation, environmental damage, 
poverty and population growth has led to a major food crisis in southern 
Madagascar where more than one million people currently need food 
handouts from the World Food Programme (WFP), a United Nations agency...
https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/03/20/how-climate-change-is-turning-once-green-madagascar-into-a-desert//

/[The news archive - looking back]/
*March 21,  2007 *

In her CBSNews.com "Notebook" segment, Katie Couric observes:

"The last time Al Gore came to Capitol Hill--six years ago--he was there 
to certify the electoral college results that made George Bush president.

"But today it was a triumphant return, this time as a private citizen, 
to declare that the world faces a 'planetary emergency' over climate 
change. And now, a lot of his skeptics agree that Gore makes a powerful 
point.

"The scientific consensus is clear, and Gore urged Congress to listen to 
scientists, not special interests. He pushed for an immediate freeze on 
greenhouse gases, as well as cleaner power plants, more efficient cars, 
and stronger conservation efforts.

"Gore said 'a few years from now...the kinds of proposals we're talking 
about today are going to seem so small compared to the scale of the 
challenge.'

"Here's hoping Congress puts partisanship aside, and comes together to 
act boldly on global warming."

http://youtu.be/sYpj2ZYfS3M

(In his remarks to Congress, Gore famously states: "The planet has a 
fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor 
says you need to intervene here, you don't say, 'Well, I read a science 
fiction novel that told me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on fire, 
you don't speculate that the baby is flame retardant. You take action." 
Also, at this hearing, former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a 
Republican, states, "I believe the debate over global warming is 
over"--an idea that would be considered heresy throughout the entire GOP 
just two years later.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032100945.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11437-al-gore-rallies-us-congress-over-climate.html#.UvtuMKa9LCQ

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