[✔️] June 10, 2023- Global Warming News Digest | Know bad air, GOP stand on global warming, Transphobia and Climate, Air quality talk Beckwith, History of CIA and global warming, 1963 JFK quote

Sat Jun 10 08:15:53 EDT 2023

/*June*//*10, 2023*/

/[  understanding bad air ] /
*Your Guide to Understanding the East Coast Smokepocalypse**
*/[clips from] /A twice-a-week digest of the most pressing 
climate-related news, released every Tuesday and Friday, written by 
Kristoffer Tigue.NEW YORK CITY—Millions of East Coasters awoke to 
clearer skies today after ash-laden smoke from raging Canadian wildfires 
turned much of the Northeast this week into a toxic, crimson hellscape.

The smoke, which began to billow into the U.S. from Quebec on Tuesday, 
engulfed entire skylines in a thick haze of soot, aggravating asthma 
attacks and prompting officials to declare air quality alerts from 
Pittsburgh to Baltimore to Provincetown, Massachusetts. By Wednesday 
afternoon, the haze had swallowed all of New York City, blotting out the 
sun and tinting the sky an ominous dark orange—like a scene from a 
post-apocalyptic movie.

It was some of the worst air pollution the region had experienced on 
record, causing major disruptions as schools and restaurants opted to 
close, professional sports leagues delayed their games and federal 
officials curbed air travel due to poor visibility. Nearly 600 flights 
across the country were delayed or canceled as of Thursday afternoon. 
Even the White House Pride celebration, which was expected to draw 
thousands of people to the South Lawn on Thursday, was postponed to 
Saturday.

But while the Smokepocalypse—as it’s been dubbed on the internet—clears 
in some places, experts say that the situation is far from over. This 
curated guide will arm you with everything you need to know, including 
how to protect yourself, your loved ones and even your car the next time 
you find yourself enveloped by wildfire smoke—because, yes, climate 
change is making that scenario more likely to occur again.

How, exactly, did all of this smoke get here from Canada?

There are roughly 430 wildfires burning in Canada right now, with more 
than 140 of them just north of New England in Quebec. Many of those 
fires are burning incredibly intense right now, and it’s producing a lot 
of smoke. The smoke that engulfed much of the East Coast this week came 
specifically from the Quebec hotspots, with help from a cold front that 
guided it hundreds of miles south into the U.S.

Satellite images like this one offer a good visual on how it played out. 
Vermont, for example, was spared thanks to the jet stream.

What’s next? Is the Smokepocalypse over?

Not quite. Yes, the air quality greatly improved by Friday morning in 
some of the hardest hit cities, including New York City and Washington, 
D.C. But those noxious wildfire fumes could be blown as far south as 
Florida and as far west as Ohio. As many as 18 states issued air quality 
alerts across the country this week, and some of that smoke has even 
traveled as far as Norway.

In general, people living on the East Coast and in the Midwest should be 
mindful of their air quality through at least the weekend, especially 
because the haze will likely appear much thinner than what many in the 
East Coast and Mid-Atlantic regions experienced on Wednesday and 
Thursday. That could mislead people into believing the smoke won’t 
affect their health. It definitely can.

In fact, air quality remained “moderately unhealthy” across much of 
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York as of Friday afternoon, according 
to the federal government’s air quality monitoring website. That’s a 
huge step down from the “very unhealthy” category—or “code purple”—that 
covered most of the region earlier this week, but it could still pose a 
risk to those with asthma or other breathing sensitivities.

It’s also a larger issue than this one event. New Yorkers and others 
living in the Northeast may be seeing more wildfire smoke throughout the 
summer—at least until the hundreds of blazes in Canada are finally 
squelched.

Just how dangerous is wildfire smoke?

Smoke in general is dangerous to inhale. It contains a host of 
byproducts that are harmful to human health, including nitrogen oxides, 
ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter. Those toxic materials 
can irritate your lungs, exacerbate asthma and other respiratory 
conditions, and over a long enough period, lead to increased risk of 
lung disease and other serious ailments.

But research has shown that wildfire smoke is especially dangerous for 
humans. In fact, one study found that wildfire smoke is up to 10 times 
more harmful to humans than other air pollution sources, such as car 
exhaust.

That’s largely because of the high concentration of particulate matter 
in wildfire smoke. Particulate matter, or PM2.5, are microscopic 
particles of soot that can embed deep within your lung tissue and even 
make it into your bloodstream, where it has the potential to cause 
serious, long-term health problems like cardiovascular disease.

Exposure to this type of pollution is very risky for the elderly, 
pregnant people, young children and those with compromised health. Too 
much exposure can even increase the chances of getting sick from colds, 
the flu and Covid 19. You can monitor your exposure risk through this 
federal website.

How can I protect myself, my loved ones and … my car?

The biggest way to protect yourself is to get away from the smoke, if 
possible. But if you’re stuck living with wildfire smoke, as many on the 
West Coast can attest to, there are some ways to reduce your exposure 
and safeguard your health. Dani Anguiano put together a bunch of useful 
tips for the Guardian, tapping some of the nation’s most qualified 
wildfire experts: Californians.

Here’s a quick breakdown: 1) Avoid going outside and limit outdoor 
activity 2) Wear a mask if you must go outside, preferably an N95 or 
similar quality mask 3) Run an air purifier day and night 4) If you’re 
using air conditioning, be sure it’s recirculating air from inside.

For those with central air conditioning, be sure it’s equipped with the 
right filters, such as the MERV 13. Emily Pontecorvo from Heatmap News 
does a good job of explaining filters—and even how to create your own 
makeshift air purifier with a floor fan.

Other tips include avoiding exacerbating indoor pollution while you wait 
out the Smokepocalypse in your home—so no cooking with a gas stove or 
anything involving fire, if possible. And for East Coasters who don’t 
know, wildfire ash can also ruin your car’s paint, as one veteran 
Californian explained online this week. “Don’t rinse it with water, 
which makes it worse,” she said. “Try to wipe it off dry, or cover your 
car if you can.” Ash plus water

Finally, climate change is to blame, right?

Well, kind of. It’s not that simple.

Determining the influence that climate change has played in a single 
weather event, or in this case, several hundred wildfires, is called 
attribution science. And it’s a tricky and complicated process.

So far, no attribution studies have made a climate connection with the 
ongoing wildfires in Canada, according to Carbon Brief. But as the 
London-based climate think tank notes, there are plenty of other studies 
that have generally shown how climate change is exacerbating heat waves, 
drought and other conditions that make wildfires more likely and more 
intense when they happen.

One study, for example, found that climate change made a 2020 Siberian 
heat wave at least 600 times more likely, and those extreme temperatures 
in turn led to an outbreak of massive wildfires. Research has also found 
that climate change is lengthening the wildfire season in North America, 
meaning it starts earlier and ends later. That may have influenced the 
current Canadian fires, considering Quebec and other parts of Canada’s 
Atlantic region have been experiencing droughts since February.
https://mailchi.mp/insideclimatenews/your-smokepocalypse-guide?e=ac506a0ba3

[ Ask the GOP - ASAP ]
*Where Republican Presidential Candidates Stand on Climate Change*
While many of them acknowledge that climate change is real, they largely 
downplay the issue and reject policies that would slow rising temperatures.

By Maggie Astor and Lisa Friedman
June 8, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/us/politics/wildfires-republicans-climate-change.html?unlocked_article_code=Je5tI5bdz8vG-ym9imid-SRLE-o590nZxn_thmAaiFMpByiFoOQe3aaOSwWB0hWgrDdOZpPa_qhGtc0ar0YJPcL6f4lsb5t9XKlgJxBOwbuqBlPqMJCky4gubCOiaCxsY_IDCNMHjzmThVmJDx8Dt0QFIp9SwA7-wIXytDegk_1eU1fZFrPSDSiCLlUqfmXT8Hzms2yk3zvOEONMT1VJAlvrrvE-EOFACikFQwGMxZnvN-M88F9kAirtzkO1IS8we1NlP1C1ynz1NTvT5KUoJ31izhjqdjQNKEHxL7k4dG0Js_ZZxUTiJZrt9es0ig-W1xnEUj6XNTa0qClZIp2ma2RCg0tdwssjr3TqnbMyyrtF3w&smid=url-share

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/us/politics/wildfires-republicans-climate-change.html

/[ Clip from Nexus Hot News -- from ClimateNexus -- it is a dangerous 
disinformation tactic to expand science denial to other topics  ]/
*Science-Denying Right-Wingers Use Transphobia To Undermine Climate Action*

So, right-wing disinformers reject science when it comes to both climate 
change and trans rights, but it’s also important to remember that these 
are not simply parallel issues: Right-wing disinformers deliberately use 
transphobia to undermine climate action.

This April, right-wing disinformation group The Heritage Foundation 
released an article filled with projection that distracts from the 
climate crisis by accusing Democrats of denying the science on trans 
issues, a standard rhetorical troll. “Forget climate change,” the 
article declares. “These Democrats are the true science deniers—deniers 
of biological reality, genetics, XX/XY chromosome science…”

The conservative campaign against environmental, social, and governance 
(ESG) investment considerations has also clearly used transphobia to 
obstruct climate solutions. At this week’s House Oversight Committee 
hearing on ESG, Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) shot down transphobia and 
stated, “It feels like every single hearing that I am in, whether it is 
in Oversight or whether it is in Budget or whether it is in a 
subcommittee, the witnesses find a way to bring in trans children into 
whatever conversation we’re trying to have here.”

And that's probably true, because right-wingers don’t actually have any 
factual arguments for why companies should be prohibited from 
considering environmental, social, and governance-related financial 
risks, they pivot to hateful and false claims about trans kids.

It's hard to overstate how saturated conservative, fossil-fueled media 
is with anti-trans content. There are multiple transphobic pieces of 
content every day from every single website that also runs climate 
disinformation as "news."
https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/2023-smoke-el-nino-al-jaber

/
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/
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///[ important paper with Beckwith commentary ]/
*Cascading Feedbacks and the Science Behind the Dystopian Orange Skies 
in NYC*
Paul Beckwith
Jun 8, 2023
Air quality in Ottawa was excellent today. The Air Quality Index (AQI) 
was 14, with PM2.5 count at 3 microgram per cubic meter.

Yesterday the AQI was over 500 in Ottawa, with PM2.5 (Particulate Matter 
2.5 micron and smaller) reaching a peak of 511 microgram per cubic meter 
overnight (air quality worsens at night since it’s colder). Thus, 
yesterday PM2.5 levels were extremely hazardous, and 170 times worse 
than todays normal levels. Two days ago the level was 270 micrograms per 
cubic meter, also very bad.

A low pressure region off the eastern coast drew the air in a 
counterclockwise direction, picking up the smoke from 150 wildfires in 
Quebec (110 out of control) and sending it southward hitting Ottawa and 
then moving on to the USA.

As this horrible, smoggy, yellowish orangish dystopian air moved 
southeasterly it hit much of the eastern USA, including the major cities 
New York City, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, etc. causing record 
levels of air pollution.

Interestingly, the atmosphere seemed to channel the wildfire smoke into 
narrower corridors in the atmosphere over NYC, since the density of the 
smoke and the opacity of the air (orange tinge) seemed extra dystopian 
in NYC compared to that in Ottawa nearer the source of the wildfires.

In this video, I focus on the science of how climate change caused this 
dystopian event. I also discuss how vast regions of northern Canada, 
across the breath of the country, have had record high temperatures 
throughout May, with exceptionally minimal rainfall. A year ago a 
powerful derecho (straight line winds) levelled many trees and branches, 
and this dead wood provided perfect fuel for these fires.

Remember the ice storm that Ontario and Quebec had in early May? This 
caused 1.2 million Quebecers to lose power, mostly from falling branches 
and trees laden with ice. With the record spring heat and lack of 
rainfall since then, these dead branches and trees act as perfect fuel 
for creating record setting wildfires.

This is yet another example of cumulative bad stuff leading to cascading 
severe events in our climate casino.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir8j4YuLwS0

/[ You knew the CIA would have a connection to global warming ]/
*How the CIA Secretly Spied On Climate Change*
Be Smart
Jun 1, 2023
Cold War… warming planet?

A few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a top-secret, 
first-of-its-kind US spy satellite program was declassified, leading to 
the unexpected story of how former enemies became scientific allies, and 
technology invented for Cold War espionage was repurposed to study and 
combat the newest and greatest threat to human civilization: Climate Change.

Thank you to the following for help in researching this video:
Michael McElroy
D. James Baker
The Office of Vice President Al Gore

    0:00 Peeking behind the Iron Curtain
    1:52 Spies in space
    2:53 A time machine… but for Earth
    3:41 Early days of the Space Race
    5:37 Code name: CORONA
    8:37 No more Iron Curtain… now what?
    10:48 Spies… but for the Earth
    13:20 New data & unlikely allies
    16:31 Teamwork makes the dream work
    17:46 Support us on Patreon!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-jNnr0zhFU

/[The news archive - looking back at some of the best political poetry ]/
/*June 10, 1963*/
June 10, 1963: In a commencement address at American University, 
President Kennedy famously observes:

"For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all 
inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish 
our children’s futures. And we are all mortal."

http://youtu.be/0fkKnfk4k40

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