[✔️] March 15, 2023- Global Warming News Digest | Yale tracks opinions, research reviews, climate emotions, Saudi floods, climate solutions, Oregon mandates learning, need to sue big oil

[Richard Pauli]

/*March 15, 2023*/

/[ Yale tracks American opinions ] /
*Most Americans are “Alarmed” or “Concerned” about climate change*
The increase in the number of Alarmed Americans tracks closely with the 
increase in the percentage of Americans who understand that global 
warming is a present-day problem that is already harming communities 
across the nation. In other words, Americans are increasingly coming to 
understand that climate change impacts are happening here and now.
It remains important to continue to communicate with the public about 
the many harms that climate change is already causing in American 
communities (e.g., health and economic impacts, damage to infrastructure 
from extreme weather). Our research has shown that many Americans trust 
NASA, climate scientists, TV weathercasters, their doctors, and a range 
of other experts for information on global warming. Additionally, most 
registered voters think schools should teach children about the causes, 
consequences, and potential solutions to global warming. Educators have 
key roles to play in helping Americans better understand the threats of 
and solutions to climate change.

For more information on the survey methods, please visit the Global 
Warming’s Six Americas, December 2022 Climate Note.
https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/about/projects/global-warmings-six-americas/
https://mailchi.mp/yale/most-americans-are-alarmed-or-concerned-about-climate-change



/[ reviews of recent research articles --   Beckwith video - 
https://youtu.be/kppNw-j0lE8 ]/
*Young People Get Climate Change Danger: What’s Wrong with Everybody Else?*
Paul Beckwith
Mar 14, 2023
A recent peer reviewed paper examined climate emotions and anxiety among 
young people in Canada. Young people get climate change. Nearly half of 
young Canadians think that humanity is totally doomed. Many young people 
do not want to have children. Society has failed young people, and they 
know it.

This study surveyed 1000 young people, aged 16 to 25 years old, across 
Canada. Some of the findings are as follows:

    - at least 56% reported feeling afraid, sad, anxious, and powerless

    - about 78% reported that climate change impacts their overall
    mental health

    - about 37% reported that their feelings about climate change
    negatively impact daily functioning

    - about 39% of respondents report hesitation about having children
    due to climate change

    - about 73% report thinking that the future is frightening

    - about 76% report that people have failed to take care of the planet

This survey is based upon a survey two years ago that looked at the same 
thing for 1000 young people (16 to 25 years old) in each of ten 
countries; namely:
- Australia
- Brazil
- Finland
-France
- India
- Nigeria
- Philippines
- Portugal
- UK
- USA
Results were similar to Canada, but countries that have been hard-hit 
already from climate change were worse. For example the Philippines has 
had a lot of coastal flooding from typhoons, so has much worse numbers 
(47.3% hesitant to have children, 73.3% think humanity is doomed, 91.5% 
think the future is frightening, etc…)

This video was hard to make…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kppNw-j0lE8

- -

/[ Research Article - - //The Journal of Climate Change and Health ]/
*Climate emotions and anxiety among young people in Canada: A national 
survey and call to action*
Lindsay P. Galway , Ellen Field
*Abstract*

    *Introduction*
    Young people have a unique positionality in relation to the mental
    and emotional dimensions of climate change: they have contributed
    the least to the crisis, they are and will be disproportionately
    impacted, and they have limited opportunities and invaluable
    perspectives for influencing action. Evidence increasingly
    illustrates that young people are particularly vulnerable to climate
    distress and anxiety. Methods: The purpose of this study was to
    generate knowledge about climate emotions and climate anxiety among
    young people using a representative survey. We surveyed 1000 young
    people (aged 16–25) across Canada. The online survey asked
    respondents about: (i) climate emotions and their impacts, (ii)
    perspectives on the future due to climate change, (iii) perspectives
    and feelings about government (in)action, (iv) perspectives on
    supports, programs, and resources needed to cope with climate
    emotions and anxiety, and (v) perspectives on climate change
    education (including socio-emotional dimensions). Data were weighted
    to improve representativeness according to age, gender, and region.
    Descriptive analyses were conducted, scales were generated, and
    textual responses were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results:
    Young Canadians are experiencing a diversity of challenging climate
    emotions. At least 56% of respondents reported feeling afraid, sad,
    anxious, and powerless. 78% reported that climate change impacts
    their overall mental health and 37% reported that their feelings
    about climate change negatively impact daily functioning. Data also
    illustrate that climate change is contributing to negative
    perceptions about their future. For example, 39% of respondents
    report hesitation about having children due to climate change, 73%
    report thinking that the future is frightening, and 76% report that
    people have failed to take care of the planet. Respondents rated
    governmental responses to climate change negatively and reported
    greater feelings of betrayal than of reassurance. The data show that
    young Canadians need a diversity of coping supports and believe the
    formal education system should be doing more to support them.
    Conclusion: This study adds to the emerging and increasingly
    concerning evidence base on climate emotions and anxiety among young
    people. We conclude by summarizing key directions for future research.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278223000032#:~:text=Overall%2C%20the%20survey%20data%20illustrate,%2C%20and%20powerless%20(56%25).


/[ Flooding in Saudi Arabia -- disaster cam -- video ]/
*Is it heaven's wrath or nature? Flood sweeps everything away in Jizan, 
Saudi Arabia*
Vulnerability
32,503 views  Mar 14, 2023  ДЖИЗАН
Natural disaster 14 March 2023. Is it heaven's wrath or nature? 
Catastrophic flood sweeps everything away in Jizan, Saudi Arabia

Moderate to heavy rainfall yesterday and today in the Jizan area, with 
strong winds, reduced visibility, hail, and torrential torrents.
Emergency crews in Jizan municipality began draining rainwater from 
streets and squares
The head of the municipality of Al-Darb governorate, said that the 
municipality sent human and field personnel from the very beginning to 
ensure the safety of lives and property.

He also urged everyone to cooperate with the municipality, reporting 
everything that poses a threat to the individual and society.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gai5GkIwJ1o



/[ listen to NPR report - or read the transcript ]/
*Climate solutions do exist. These 6 experts detail what they look like*
March 5, 2023
Scientists say there's a lot we can still do to slow the speed of 
climate change. But when it comes to "climate solutions", some are real, 
and some aren't, says Naomi Oreskes, historian of science at Harvard 
University. "This space has become really muddied," she says.

So how does someone figure out what's legit? We asked six climate 
scholars for the questions they ask themselves whenever they come across 
something claiming to be a climate solution.

*A big climate solution is an obvious one*
It may sound basic, but one big way to address climate change is to 
reduce the main human activity that caused it in the first place: 
burning fossil fuels.

Scientists say that means ultimately transitioning away from oil, coal 
and gas and becoming more energy efficient. We already have a lot of the 
technology we need to make this transition, like solar, wind, and 
batteries, Oreskes says.

"What we need to do right now is to mobilize the technologies that 
already exist, that work and are cost competitive, and that essentially 
means renewable energy and storage," she says.

*Think about who's selling you the solution*
It's important to think about both who's selling you the climate 
solution and what they say the problem is, says Melissa Aronczyk, 
professor of media at Rutgers University.

"People like to come up with solutions, but to do that, they usually 
have to interpret the problem in a way that works for them," she says.

Oreskes says pay attention when you see a "climate solution" that means 
increasing the use of fossil fuels. She says an example is natural gas, 
which has been sold as a "bridge fuel" from coal to renewable energy. 
But natural gas is still a fossil fuel, and its production, transport 
and use release methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon 
dioxide.

"I think we need to start by looking at what happens when the fossil 
fuel industry comes up with solutions, because here is the greatest 
potential for conflict of interest," Aronczyk says.

*A solution may sound promising, but is it available and scalable now?*
Sometimes you'll hear about new promising technology like carbon 
removal, which vacuums carbon dioxide out of the air and stores it 
underground, says David Ho, a professor of oceanography at University of 
Hawaii at Manoa.

Ho researches climate solutions and he says ask yourself: is this 
technology available, affordable, or scalable now?

"I think people who don't work in this space think we have all these 
technologies that are ready to remove carbon dioxide from the 
atmosphere, for instance. And we're not there," Ho says.

*If it's adding emissions, it's not a climate solution*
These days all kinds of companies, from airlines to wedding dress 
companies, might offer to let you buy "carbon offsets" along with your 
purchase. That offset money could do something like build a new wind 
farm or plant trees that would - in theory - soak up and store the 
equivalent carbon dioxide emissions of taking a flight or making a new 
dress.

But there are often problems with regulation and verification of 
offsets, says Roberto Schaeffer, a professor of energy economics at the 
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. "It's very dangerous, 
very dangerous indeed," he says.

He says with offsets from forests, it's hard to verify if the trees are 
really being protected, that those trees won't get cut down or burned in 
a wildfire.

"You cannot guarantee, 'Okay, you're gonna offset your dress by planting 
a tree.' You have no guarantee that in three years time that tree is 
gonna be there," he says.

If you make emissions thinking you're offsetting them, and the offset 
doesn't work, that's doubling the emissions, says Adrienne Buller, a 
climate finance researcher and director of research at Common Wealth, a 
think tank in the United Kingdom, "It's sort of like doubly bad."
*
**If a solution sounds too easy, be skeptical*
Many things sold as carbon offsets - like restoring or protecting 
forests - are, on their own, great climate solutions, Buller says. "We 
need things like trees," she says, "To draw carbon out of the atmosphere."

The problem is when carbon markets sell the idea that you can continue 
emitting as usual and everything will be fine if you just buy an offset, 
Buller says. "It's kind of a solution that implies that we don't have to 
do that much hard work. We can just kind of do some minor tweaks to the 
way that we currently do things," she says.

Schaeffer says there is a lot of hard work in our future to get off of 
fossil fuels and onto clean energy sources. "So people have to realize 
there is a price to pay here. No free lunch."

*It's not all about business. Governments must play a role in solutions, 
too*
We often think of businesses working on climate solutions on their own, 
but that's often not the case, says Oreskes. Government often plays a 
big role in funding and research support for new climate technology, 
says June Sekera, a visiting scholar at The New School who studies 
public policy and climate.

And governments will also have to play a big role in regulating 
emissions, says Schaeffer, who has been working with the United Nations' 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for 25 years.

That's why all the scholars NPR spoke with for this story say one big 
climate solution is to vote.

Schaeffer points to the recent election in Brazil, where climate change 
was a big campaign issue for candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Lula 
won, and has promised to address deforestation, a big source of Brazil's 
emissions.
*
**There's no one solution to climate change - and no one can do it alone*
Aronczyk wants to make one thing clear: there is no one solution to 
climate change.

"We're human beings. We encounter a problem, we wanna solve that 
problem," Aronczyk says, "But just as there is no one way to describe 
climate change, there's no one way to offer a solution."

Climate solutions will take different forms, Sekera says. Some solutions 
may slow climate change, some may offer us ways to adapt.

The key thing, Aronczyk says, is that climate solutions will involve 
governments, businesses, and individuals. She says: "It is an all hands 
on deck kind of a situation."
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/05/1160783951/6-scholars-explain-what-a-real-climate-solution-is



/[ Oregon mandates school lessons on global warming ]/
*Oregon eyes mandate for climate change lessons in schools*
Oregon lawmakers are deciding whether to make the state the second in 
the nation to mandate climate change curriculum from kindergarten 
through 12th grade

By CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press/Report for America
March 11, 2023,
SALEM, Ore. -- Oregon lawmakers are aiming to make the state the second 
in the nation to mandate climate change lessons for K-12 public school 
students, further fueling U.S. culture wars in education.

Dozens of Oregon high schoolers submitted support of the bill, saying 
they care about climate change deeply. Some teachers and parents say 
teaching climate change could help the next generation better confront 
it, but others want schools to focus on reading, writing and math after 
test scores plummeted post-pandemic.

Schools across the U.S. have found themselves at the center of a 
politically charged battle over curriculum and how matters such as 
gender, sex education and race should be taught — or whether they should 
be taught at all.

One of the bill's chief sponsors, Democratic Sen. James Manning, said 
even elementary students have told him climate change is important to them.

“We're talking about third and fourth graders having a vision to 
understand how this world is changing rapidly," he said at a Thursday 
state Capitol hearing in Salem.

Connecticut has the only U.S. state law requiring climate change 
instruction, and it's possibly the first time such a bill has been 
introduced in Oregon, according to legislative researchers. Lawmakers in 
California and New York are considering similar bills.

Manning's bill requires every Oregon school district to develop climate 
change curriculum within three years, addressing ecological, societal, 
cultural, political and mental health aspects of climate change.

It's unclear how Oregon would enforce the law. Manning told The 
Associated Press that he is going to scrap an unpopular proposal for 
financial penalties against districts that don't comply, but didn't say 
whether another plan was coming.

For now, the bill doesn't say how many hours of instruction are needed 
for the state’s education department to approve a district's curriculum.

Most states have learning standards — largely set by state education 
boards — that include climate change, although their extent varies by 
state. Twenty states and Washington, D.C., have specifically adopted 
what are known as the Next Generation Science Standards, which call for 
middle schoolers to learn about climate science and high schoolers to 
receive lessons on how human activity affects the climate...
- -
New Jersey’s education standards are believed to be the most 
wide-ranging. For the first time this school year, climate change is not 
just part of science instruction, but all subjects, like art, English 
and even PE.

Several teens testified at the state Capitol in favor of the bill. No 
students have submitted opposition testimony.

“In 100 years are we going to have to teach our children what trees are 
because there aren't any left? It's a thought that horrifies me,” said 
high school sophomore Gabriel Burke. “My generation needs to learn about 
climate change from a young age for our survival.”

Some teachers testified in support of the bill. But others say they're 
already struggling to address pandemic learning losses. Adding climate 
change on top of reading, writing, math, science and social studies is 
“a heavy lift that will end up coming down on the backs of teachers," 
said Kyler Pace, a grade school teacher in Sherwood, Oregon.

Recent surveys conducted by Columbia University’s Teachers College and 
the Yale Program on Climate Communication suggest that a majority of 
Americans think that climate change and global warming should be taught 
in school. But climate change is still seen by some as a politically 
divisive issue, and Pace said that mandating its instruction could 
inject more tension into schools.

Nicole De Graff, a self-described parents' rights advocate and former 
GOP legislative candidate, testified that her children, ages 9, 15, and 
16, are “done being overwhelmed with things that are fear-based, like 
COVID.”

In Pennington, New Jersey, wellness teacher Suzanne Horsley aims for 
age-appropriate lessons on what can be a daunting topic. In her K-2 
physical education classes at Toll Gate Grammar School, she plays a game 
with pretend trees, using bean bags representing carbon to show students 
that fewer trees leads to higher levels of atmospheric carbon.

In Horsley's lesson plan for teens, students learn how climate change 
disproportionately impacts low-income communities. They look at air 
quality maps in areas with higher industrial activity or car traffic.

There is a push for students to feel as though they have some ability to 
influence their world, Horsley said. "Whether it's conserving water or 
finding ways to plant more trees or take care of the trees that already 
exist ... they want to feel empowered.”
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/oregon-eyes-mandate-climate-change-lessons-schools-97790489



/[ rising notion --  "On a moral level - unforgivable to the world" - 
Planet Critical - video interview ]/
*How To Sue Big Oil | Benjamin Franta*
Planet: Critical
Feb 8, 2023  #politicalcrisis #climatecrisis #bigoil
The fossil fuel industry deceived the public for decades about its 
impact on the climate. It's time to pay up for the damage caused.

Benjamin Franta is the founder of the Climate Litigation Lab at the 
University of Oxford, informing climate litigation around the world. The 
lab researches how to bring—and win— lawsuits against companies, 
institutions, and individuals who have aided and abetted public 
deception, the suppression of information, and put the whole world in 
danger by driving the climate crisis.

In the episode, Ben reveals the “fossil fuel playbook”, explaining the 
industry’s long history of suppressing information about its impacts on 
the climate, and twisting the arms of the powerful in order to stop 
governmental action. He also discusses the lawsuits happening around the 
world, the fossil fuel defence, and what we can learn from these cases 
to reform the intimate relationship between corporate and political 
interests.

    00:00 Teaser
    00:34 Intro
    02:57 Politics of climate change
    09:11 Climate litigation
    11:38 Fossil fuel lobbyists
    16:04 The Fossil Fuel Playbook
    21:18 Climate litigation cases and precedent
    32:55 Climate Justice
    37:01 Who to target
    42:12 Systems reforms
    45:19 Fossil fuel defence
    49:54 Platform?
    52:14 Outro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5U8uT66u0A



/[The news archive - looking back]/
/*March 15, 1999*/
March 15, 1999: The paper "Northern Hemisphere Temperatures During the Past
Millennium: Inferences, Uncertainties, and Limitations," by Michael E. 
Mann, Raymond S. Bradley and Malcolm K. Hughes, is published in the 
journal Geophysical Research Letters. The paper features the "hockey 
stick" graph that makes Mann a target of unrelenting rhetorical and 
legal assaults by supporters and representatives of the fossil fuel 
industry.

http://www.meteo.psu.edu/holocene/public_html/shared/research/ONLINE-PREPRINTS/Millennium/mbh99.pdf 



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