[✔️] April 17, 2023- Global Warming News Digest | Follow the money, AI and climate, Energy storage, Sea Level Rise, Tech Overlords

Mon Apr 17 10:02:33 EDT 2023

/*April*//*17, 2023*/

/[ Inside Climate News on how fossil fuel money flows ]/
*Banks Say They’re Acting on Climate, But Continue to Finance Fossil 
Fuel Expansion*
Two new reports say banks are not shifting away from fossil fuels fast 
enough. While lending declined last year, it was likely because oil 
companies were “swimming in profits.”
By Nicholas Kusnetz
April 13, 2023
If money makes the world go round, it should be no surprise that fossil 
fuel still powers the global economy. Ever since world leaders reached 
the Paris climate agreement in 2015 to limit warming and slash the 
pollution driving it, environmental groups have chronicled the continued 
flow of finance from the wealthiest banks to the oil and gas industry.

Climate advocates have been increasing the pressure on banks to change 
course, and many lenders have responded by adopting policies to reduce 
the climate pollution generated by their vast portfolios. Some have also 
pledged to stop financing certain types of fossil fuel extraction 
altogether, such as coal mining and Arctic drilling. But have those 
policies made any difference?

A pair of new reports provides a muddled picture. Banks lent 
significantly less money to fossil fuel companies last year, according 
to a report by a collection of environmental groups led by Rainforest 
Action Network. However, the decline was likely driven not by choices 
the banks made, the report said, but because oil companies were sitting 
on so much cash they didn’t need to borrow any. Many oil firms, 
including ExxonMobil and Chevron, earned record profits last year.
All told, the world’s top 60 banks plowed $673 billion in financing into 
fossil fuel companies last year, according to the report, which is the 
lowest amount since the groups began tracking in 2016. Despite the 
decline, the report’s authors said the banks’ fossil lending policies 
remain weak and inadequate, and that such financing is not declining 
nearly fast enough to curb climate pollution in line with the Paris 
Agreement’s more ambitious target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees 
Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit...
- -
“We still see just this tremendous flow of finance into fossil fuel 
companies, including into companies that are expanding fossil fuels,” 
said April Merleaux, research manager at Rainforest Action Network and 
the report’s lead author. The report singled out the largest companies 
involved in fossil fuel expansion—those exploring new oil fields, for 
example, or building new pipelines—and found that banks had lent them 
$150 billion last year. “Every dollar that’s going into expansion is a 
dollar that is pushing us past that 1.5 degree target.”

In 2021, the International Energy Agency said that no new oil and gas 
fields should be developed if the world is to meet that goal of the 
Paris Agreement.

A second report analyzed the fossil fuel lending policies of the top six 
American banks and similarly found them to fall short of meeting the 
Paris Agreement goals. That report was published by the sustainable 
investment nonprofit Ceres and the Transition Pathways Initiative 
Center, a low-carbon research institute based at the London School of 
Economics and Political Science.

The reports come amid increased scrutiny of the role of financial 
markets in cutting emissions across the economy. Climate advocates have 
taken to the streets to urge banks to phase out fossil fuel lending, and 
the Biden administration has adopted new rules to increase climate 
disclosures in financial reporting. Meanwhile, Republicans have been 
pushing back, with some states enacting laws meant to punish banks that 
restrict lending.

Pavel Molchanov, an analyst with the financial firm Raymond James, 
agreed that the decline in lending last year was driven largely by the 
fact that many oil companies earned more money than ever. But new 
pressure from investors is beginning to have an effect on how oil 
companies spend their money, too, he added. Much of that pressure is 
from conventional investors seeking higher returns and more disciplined 
spending from the industry, rather than lower emissions. The result is 
the same, he said, “which is drill less.”
- -
Rothstein said the Biden administration’s target of cutting climate 
pollution 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 will remain out of reach 
unless banks move faster.

“We’re not going to get there as a society if the banks continue to 
finance new fossil fuel areas,” he said.

JPMorgan Chase has provided the most by far to fossil fuel companies 
since 2016, more than $434 billion, according to Rainforest Action 
Network, followed by Citi, Wells Fargo and Bank of America. The other 
two banks profiled by the Ceres report, Morgan Stanley and Goldman 
Sachs, lent substantially less...
- -
Rothstein said the Biden administration’s target of cutting climate 
pollution 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 will remain out of reach 
unless banks move faster.

“We’re not going to get there as a society if the banks continue to 
finance new fossil fuel areas,” he said.

JPMorgan Chase has provided the most by far to fossil fuel companies 
since 2016, more than $434 billion, according to Rainforest Action 
Network, followed by Citi, Wells Fargo and Bank of America. The other 
two banks profiled by the Ceres report, Morgan Stanley and Goldman 
Sachs, lent substantially less...
- -
“Our belief is that banks actually do play an important role in making 
these changes in the economy,” Merleaux said. They make risk 
calculations with broad social consequences, she added, and “this is a 
case where they are not evaluating the future climate risks with as much 
seriousness as they deserve.”
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13042023/banks-say-theyre-acting-on-climate-but-continue-to-finance-fossil-fuel-expansion/

/[ Artificial intelligence ]/
*Can Artificial Intelligence revolutionise Climate Action?! feat. 
@AnkurShah*
ClimateAdam
Mar 23, 2023  #ClimateChange
 From ChatGPT to Midjourney, it's clear A.I. (artificial intelligence) 
will change everything we do. And climate change and energy are two of 
the biggest things that we do. From understanding climate change, to 
developing new energy tech, and even building better climate policy, 
A.I. could mean huge amounts in our fight to stop global warming. But 
A.I. isn't a silver bullet, and there are a host of risks to relying to 
heavily on machine learning to tackle our problems for us.
Check out our video on Ankur's channel: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EapIRSBbUeM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PR27zlDN8I

/[ Just have a think - video ] /
*3 major energy storage breakthroughs in 2023.*
Just Have a Think
Apr 16, 2023
Energy storage breakthroughs. You've heard it all before, right? And it 
is true that apparently "game changing" new technologies are being 
announced on an almost weekly basis. It's a sign of a rapidly 
accelerating market disruption that will see western societies move 
rapidly away from fossil fuel combustion by 2030. Now there are 3 more 
to add to the list - each of which looks set to change their respective 
sectors for ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrL8OB761f8

/[ Sea Level rise = most difficult to control ]/
*Disturbing Sea Level Studies*
BY ROBERT HUNZIKER
APRIL 14, 2023
For decades, climate scientists have been sounding the alarm that unless 
the nations of the world stop emitting greenhouse gases global warming 
will bring dangerous consequences. Rather, greenhouse gases, like CO2, 
have escalated to new highs year-over-year without hesitation.

Now, new climate studies are exposing the results of decades of a 
couldn’t-care-less world interwoven within a deadly entrapment of 
free-market dictates of “not to worry, the market will handle it.” It 
hasn’t!

Ergo, the price for decades of jaded indifference is starting to run 
very high and maybe irreversible with a sea level calamity poised to 
spring loose, catching the world unprepared.

Two major new studies paint a sobering picture of unexpected sea levels 
well beyond anybody’s expectations. Indeed, the world is not braced for 
this:

1. According to an article in The Guardian d/d April 10, 2023: “What 
experts are calling a dramatic surge in ocean levels has taken place 
along the US south-eastern and Gulf of Mexico coastline since 2010. 
(referenced study: Jianjun Yin, Decadal Acceleration of Sea Level Rise 
Along the U.S. East and Gulf of Mexico During 2010-2022… Journal of 
Climate, March 2, 2023)

2. Another new study: Christine L. Batchelor, et al, Rapid, 
Buoyancy-Driven Ice-Sheet Retreat of Hundreds of Metres Per Day, Nature, 
April 5, 2023 demonstrates nightmarish rapid sea level rise based upon 
events in the past when ice sheets retreated in pulses of almost 2,000 
feet per day during the end of the last ice age. Conditions today may be 
similar...
- -
The infamous Thwaites (Doomsday) Glacier in West Antarctica has an 
ocean-bottom that matches the Batchelor study earmarked as a “danger 
zone” “which has a relatively flat area just a few kilometers inland of 
where it is currently… so it would be a good candidate of where you 
might see a pulse of rapid retreat in the future,” Ibid.

According to the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration: Thwaites 
is losing ice faster than at any time in the past 5,000 years. And based 
upon an article in Scientific American d/d November 1, 2022: “Two 
expeditions to the Thwaites Ice Shelf have revealed that it could 
splinter apart in less than a decade, hastening sea-level rise worldwide.”

The Batchelor study showed the fastest rate of ice sheet retreat on 
record, but accordingly, depending upon “the level of warming” even 
faster rates are possible. This may be what is happening today. 
According to US climate.gov: Today’s global warming is much faster than 
warm periods between ice ages over the last million years.

Rignot claims: “During the time period when these events were recorded, 
sea level was rising 4 meters (13 feet) per century… That is 10 times 
what we have today. Are you scared yet? Well, you should be,” Ibid.

Meanwhile, the Jianjun Yin, University of Arizona study published in 
Journal of Climate: “Provides an alarming new assessment of a key 
ingredient of the escalating climate emergency, particularly in popular 
but vulnerable areas of the US where millions of people live.” (Source: 
Miami and New Orleans Face Greater Sea-Level Threat Than Already Feared, 
The Guardian, April 10, 2023)

Scientists have detected “a dramatic surge in ocean levels” along the US 
south-eastern and Gulf of Mexico coastlines since 2010, an increase of 
5in. This is more than double the global average. The entire region is 
feeling the impact of sea-level acceleration. Climate scientists claim 
the surge is unprecedented and amplified by internal climate 
variabilities. Already, stories of cascading shoreline homes as well as 
physical movement of houses more inland occur regularly at the Outer 
Banks, North Carolina.

These are some of the first known studies to identify an actual surge in 
sea levels over the past decade as well as paleoclimate evidence of 
rapid pulses of ice sheet retreat and likely disintegration that are 
well beyond projections of sea levels by the Intergovernmental Panel on 
Climate Change, IPCC.

A certain level of wistfulness follows in the footsteps of these studies 
that depict a worsening, as well as absolutely frightening, global 
warming scenario that’s hastening the collapse of ice sheets that 
clearly and impactfully threaten modern-day civilization. But based upon 
blasé reactions by the world at large, it’s treated lightly, almost like 
it’s not reality. If it were otherwise, accepting a very harsh reality, 
major nations of the world would be pulling out all the stops to do 
whatever is necessary. Alas, this is not happening, not even close.

Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at 
rlhunziker at gmail.com.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/04/14/disturbing-sea-level-studies/

/[ Resilience opinion ]/
*Another offering from our tech overlords: A climate change solution 
without sacrifice*
By Kurt Cobb, originally published by Resource Insights
April 16, 2023
My expectations are never disappointed when I read the news each day and 
find out that the solutions to the problems created by our modern 
technology are to be found in more technology. We do not need to 
restructure our society, reduce our consumption, moderate our desires or 
change our habits. Technology will solve our problems without us having 
to make any substantial change in our way of life.

The breathless coverage of a university-based startup company that will 
draw carbon dioxide out of the ocean—thereby making room for more carbon 
dioxide from the air to be absorbed—may convince you that we can all sit 
back and let our tech overlords solve climate change. But if you read to 
the very bottom of the article, you will find out that there is one 
important sticking point. It’s an energy-intensive process and the 
energy must come from somewhere.

The company says its process will produce hydrogen as a by-product which 
will cover about half of the energy needs. What about the other half? 
Well, I suppose they could just use renewable sources. But that would 
seriously limit the scale of this technology because of the lack of 
available renewable energy in many locales and its low market 
penetration to date. According to the “Our World in Energy” site (using 
data from the BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy), less than 3 
percent of the world’s energy comes from wind. Only 1.65 percent is 
solar. Only seven-tenths of one percent is biofuels. Even if you add 
nuclear which is nonrenewable, nuclear makes up only 4.3 percent of 
world energy. And, this is not to mention other demands on these sources 
of energy.

There are more difficulties. It turns out that hydrogen when released in 
its gaseous form into the atmosphere makes climate change worse. And, 
hydrogen is notorious for leaking from just about anything you can put 
it in, partly because it’s a gas and mostly because it is the smallest 
molecule in the universe (which makes it easier for hydrogen to get 
around other molecules trying to block it).

Here’s the explanation for why hydrogen aggravates global warming:

    [Hydrogen] has an indirect global warming effect by extending the
    lifetime of other GHGs [greenhouse gases]. Certain GHGs such as
    methane, ozone, and water vapor are gradually neutralized by
    reacting with hydroxide radicals (OH) in the atmosphere. When H2
    reaches the atmosphere, however, the H2 molecule reacts with OH
    instead, depleting atmospheric OH levels and delaying the
    neutralization of the GHGs, which effectively increases the lifetime
    of these GHGs.

How potent is hydrogen in its indirect warming effects? The report cited 
above says 100 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Another source 
says 11 times. So, the transition to a hydrogen economy would also have 
to be coupled with serious measures to prevent hydrogen leaks which are 
hard to prevent. In fact, in most applications involving liquid 
hydrogen—which is the form in which it is normally stored and 
transported—it is expected that about 1 percent of it will boil off and 
escape each day. Proponents say even with leaks, burning hydrogen will 
be far better than burning carbon fuels. But that’s assuming that you 
make hydrogen fuel without burning carbon fuels.

Remember: There are no hydrogen reservoirs. If we want to separate it 
from water molecules through hydrolysis, it takes a considerable amount 
of energy, more than we get back by burning the hydrogen. That means 
that under currrent technology, hydrogen is not an energy source, only 
an energy carrier. (Another common way to obtain hydrogen is to strip it 
from natural gas—which, of course, is not a sustainable or climate 
friendly way to make it.)

I do not doubt the sincerity of the people behind extracting carbon 
dioxide from seawater. The oceans are believed to have absorbed about 
one-third of all human-made carbon dioxide emitted to date. 
Theoretically, it seems to make sense to extract that carbon dioxide in 
order to make room for more atmospheric carbon dioxide to dissolve in 
the oceans. But, of course, what makes even more sense is to stop 
emitting carbon dioxide into the air. But, human society continues to 
increase carbon emissions to the atmosphere.

Our tech overlords, whether cynical or sincere, do not want anything to 
interrupt their ability to profit from the introduction of more and more 
technology. I have previously defined this group as follows:

    The tech overlords are a grab bag technology companies, technology
    scientists and inventors, and technology investors and journalists
    who have bewitched the modern world through inventions that speed up
    our daily lives without necessarily making them better.

    The tech overlords purport to know how to feed the world, end
    poverty, empower the individual, solve climate change and colonize
    other planets. And the key to these feats is, of course, more and
    newer technology.

But as I said in the same piece:

    [G]rand techno-uptopian visions of the future are just tricks to
    make us think that humans know more than they do and that there are
    “experts” who know so much more than the rest of us that we should
    just leave everything to them.

I do not think we can wait for our tech overlords to solve our problems. 
In fact, I believe their kind of thinking only perpetuates them.
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2023-04-16/another-offering-from-our-tech-overlords-a-climate-change-solution-without-sacrifice/

/[The news archive - looking back at media talking about global warming ]/
/*April 17, 2008*/
April 17, 2008:
*Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection releases a commercial 
featuring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and former House 
Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican,* calling for a bipartisan effort to 
address human-caused climate change. Gingrich is rhetorically flogged by 
right-wing bloggers for participating in the commercial, and later 
disavows it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi6n_-wB154

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1COYhkzEXPI
- - *
**TIME magazine releases its April 28, 2008 issue, with the cover story: 
"How to Win the War on Global Warming."*

http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20080428,00.html

http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/printout/0,29239,1730759_1731383_1731363,00.html

=======================================
*Mass media is lacking, many daily summariesdeliver global warming news 
- a few are email delivered*

=========================================================
**Inside Climate News*
Newsletters
We deliver climate news to your inbox like nobody else. Every day or 
once a week, our original stories and digest of the web’s top headlines 
deliver the full story, for free.
https://insideclimatenews.org/
---------------------------------------
**Climate Nexus* https://climatenexus.org/hot-news/*
Delivered straight to your inbox every morning, Hot News summarizes the 
most important climate and energy news of the day, delivering an 
unmatched aggregation of timely, relevant reporting. It also provides 
original reporting and commentary on climate denial and pro-polluter 
activity that would otherwise remain largely unexposed.    5 weekday
=================================
*Carbon Brief Daily https://www.carbonbrief.org/newsletter-sign-up*
Every weekday morning, in time for your morning coffee, Carbon Brief 
sends out a free email known as the “Daily Briefing” to thousands of 
subscribers around the world. The email is a digest of the past 24 hours 
of media coverage related to climate change and energy, as well as our 
pick of the key studies published in the peer-reviewed journals.
more at https://www.getrevue.co/publisher/carbon-brief
==================================
*T*he Daily Climate *Subscribe https://ehsciences.activehosted.com/f/61*
Get The Daily Climate in your inbox - FREE! Top news on climate impacts, 
solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered week days. Better than coffee.
Other newsletters  at https://www.dailyclimate.org/originals/

/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------/ 

/Archive of Daily Global Warming News 
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 personal 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.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/attachments/20230417/ce6a8e3d/attachment.htm>