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<font size="+1"><i>September 21, 2017</i></font><br>
<br>
<b></b><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/maria-back-over-water-after-devastating-hit-puerto-rico">Maria
Back Over Water After Devastating Hit to Puerto Rico</a></b><br>
After making landfall in southeast Puerto Rico near 6:15 am
Wednesday as a top-end Category 4 storm with 155 mph winds,
Hurricane Maria finished a devastating pummeling of the island near
1:30 pm, when its eye emerged over the ocean off the northwest
coast.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/maria-back-over-water-after-devastating-hit-puerto-rico">https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/maria-back-over-water-after-devastating-hit-puerto-rico</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://time.com/4949720/climate-change-united-nations/">Climate
Change Is Already Making People Sicker</a></b><br>
The impact of climate change on global health is also becoming
increasingly clear. At the end of last week, the United Nations <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/world-hunger-report/en/">released
a report</a> showing that global hunger is on the rise; 38 million
more people were affected in 2016 than in 2015. Climate change and
the spread of violent conflicts are responsible, the report says.
Other research has linked climate change to increased <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://time.com/3414449/6-ways-climate-change-is-making-us-sick/">respiratory
problems</a>, <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://time.com/4244617/climate-change-dietary-patterns/">poor
nutrition,</a> the spread of infectious disease and even anxiety.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://time.com/4949720/climate-change-united-nations/">http://time.com/4949720/climate-change-united-nations/</a><br>
<br>
<b><br>
</b><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/20/theresa-may-speaks-out-against-trump-climate-change-stance-at-un">Theresa
May speaks out against Trump climate change stance at UN</a></b><br>
PM ranks US plan to withdraw from Paris treaty alongside North
Korean nuclear tests as threat to global security<b><br>
</b><b><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://youtu.be/D9ACRtC0fgI">(YouTube)
Theresa May gives veiled warning to Donald Trump over Paris
climate accord – video</a></b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://youtu.be/D9ACRtC0fgI">https://youtu.be/D9ACRtC0fgI</a>
1:53<br>
Theresa May has given a veiled warning to Donald Trump over his
decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate change treaty.
The prime minister ranks Trump's plan alongside North Korean nuclear
tests as a threat to global security. May says countries which
'flout' the international rules-based order must be held to account.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/20/theresa-may-speaks-out-against-trump-climate-change-stance-at-un">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/20/theresa-may-speaks-out-against-trump-climate-change-stance-at-un</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://time.com/4947960/lindsay-graham-climate-change-carbon-tax/">Republican
Senator Endorses 'Price on Carbon' to Fight Climate Change</a></b><font
size="-1"><br>
</font>Sen. Lindsey Graham endorsed a "price on carbon" to fight
climate change, breaking with much of the Republican Establishment.<br>
Speaking at a climate change conference held by former Secretary of
State John Kerry at Yale University, the South Carolina Republican
called for a "price on carbon," saying he would take the idea to the
White House for consideration.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://time.com/4947960/lindsay-graham-climate-change-carbon-tax/">http://time.com/4947960/lindsay-graham-climate-change-carbon-tax/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/leonardo-dicaprio-spoke-on-climate-change-at-yale-then-committed-20-mil-to-fight-it">Leonardo
DiCaprio Commits $20 Million To Fight Climate Change</a></b><br>
At a two-day conference that just wrapped up on Tuesday at Yale
University, he announced The Leonardo DiCaprio foundation was
committing $20 million dollars in grants to 100 nonprofits working
to fight climate change. The foundation has six programs. They are:
Wildlife and Landscape Conservation, Climate Change, Indigenous
Rights, Innovative Solutions, Marine and Ocean Conservation, and
Transforming California. Up until now, the foundation has had a
direct financial impact of $80 million, which DiCaprio himself
raised.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/leonardo-dicaprio-spoke-on-climate-change-at-yale-then-committed-20-mil-to-fight-it">http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/leonardo-dicaprio-spoke-on-climate-change-at-yale-then-committed-20-mil-to-fight-it</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.wired.com/story/cities-turn-to-other-cities-for-help-fighting-climate-change/">Cities
Turn to Other Cities for Help Fighting Climate Change</a></b><br>
...in the end, executability and verifiability will be key. All the
pledges and coalitions in the world don't matter if cities don't
know what they need to do, or can't do it. Being "Paris-compliant"
means more than just setting a goal. "It's not just a visionary
document, but a well thought-through statement that we can have
confidence the city will deliver on," Doust says. That if isn't just
big-it's existential.<b><br>
</b><font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.wired.com/story/cities-turn-to-other-cities-for-help-fighting-climate-change/">https://www.wired.com/story/cities-turn-to-other-cities-for-help-fighting-climate-change/</a></font><b><br>
</b><b><br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2017/09/20/san-francisco-oakland-lawsuit-climate-change-bp-exxon-shell/">San
Francisco, Oakland Sue 5 Oil Giants for Climate Change Impacts</a></b><br>
The cities of San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.sfcityattorney.org/2017/09/19/san-francisco-oakland-sue-top-five-oil-gas-companies-costs-climate-change/">filed
suit on Wednesday</a> against five oil companies-ExxonMobil, BP,
Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell - in California state court to
hold them accountable for their role in global warming-driven sea
level rise, which is causing billions of dollars of current and
future damage.<br>
The lawsuits are part of mounting climate-related legal action
against Exxon and other fossil fuel producers, including investor
and employee suits and state investigations seeking to hold fossil
fuel companies responsible for actions that are exacerbating global
warming.<br>
The cities' <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.oaklandcityattorney.org/PDFS/SF%20Climate%20Change%20Complaint.pdf">litigation</a>
aims to force the companies to fund a sea level rise abatement
program that will be used to build sea walls and other structures to
protect about $49 billion in public and private property sitting
within six feet of the current sea level. The cities cited research
that says sea level may rise up to 10 feet by 2100, causing
"catastrophic" damage, according to a report California officials
released in April. <font size="-1"><a
href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2017/09/20/san-francisco-oakland-lawsuit-climate-change-bp-exxon-shell/"
target="_blank">https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2017/09/20/san-francisco-oakland-lawsuit-climate-change-bp-exxon-shell/</a></font><br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.sfcityattorney.org/2017/09/19/san-francisco-oakland-sue-top-five-oil-gas-companies-costs-climate-change/">San
Francisco and Oakland sue top five oil and gas companies over
costs of climate change</a></b><br>
September 19, 2017<b><br>
</b>Companies knew for decades that their products caused climate
change and posed 'catastrophic' risk, but misled the public and
continued to make enormous profits. <br>
"These fossil fuel companies profited handsomely for decades while
knowing they were putting the fate of our cities at risk," San
Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said. "Instead of owning up
to it, they copied a page from the Big Tobacco playbook. They
launched a multi-million dollar disinformation campaign to deny and
discredit what was clear even to their own scientists: global
warming is real, and their product is a huge part of the problem.
Now, the bill has come due. It's time for these companies to take
responsibility for the harms they have caused and are continuing to
cause."<br>
The cases are: People of the State of California v. BP P.L.C. et
al., San Francisco Superior Court Case No. CGC 17-561370, filed
Sept. 19, 2017. People of the State of California v. BP P.L.C. et
al., Alameda County Superior Court Case No. RG17875889, filed Sept.
19, 2017.<font size="-1"><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.sfcityattorney.org/2017/09/19/san-francisco-oakland-sue-top-five-oil-gas-companies-costs-climate-change/">https://www.sfcityattorney.org/2017/09/19/san-francisco-oakland-sue-top-five-oil-gas-companies-costs-climate-change/</a></font><br>
<b><a href="https://youtu.be/gC4QEkXhSig">(Video press conference)
San Francisco and Oakland sue top five oil and gas companies
over costs of climate change</a></b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://youtu.be/gC4QEkXhSig">https://youtu.be/gC4QEkXhSig</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a
href="https://phys.org/news/2017-09-revved-antarctic-glaciers.html">Wind,
warm water revved up melting Antarctic glaciers</a></b><br>
A NASA study has located the Antarctic glaciers that accelerated the
fastest between 2008 and 2014 and finds that the most likely cause
of their speedup is an observed influx of warm water into the bay
where they're located.<br>
The water was only 1 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit (0.5 to 1 degree
Celsius) warmer than usual water temperatures in the area, but it
increased the glaciers' flow speeds by up to 25 percent and
multiplied the rate of glacial ice loss by three to five times-from
7 to 10 feet of thinning per year (2 to 3 meters) up to 33 feet per
year (10 meters).<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://phys.org/news/2017-09-revved-antarctic-glaciers.html#jCp">https://phys.org/news/2017-09-revved-antarctic-glaciers.html#jCp</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://wp.me/p1t6fZ-3OV">U.S.
National Guard Chief: Climate "part of our job jar"</a></b><br>
Over the last month, the US National Guard has activated thousands
of members from across the country to help put out wildfires and
respond to three severe hurricanes. It is no wonder then that when
asked by a reporter on Tuesday how the climate was affecting
National Guard activities, General Joseph Lengyel, chief of the
National Guard Bureau, went into detail on why he takes it seriously
(see below). General Lengyel also emphasized that the impacts of
climate change are felt around the country. As the wildfires and
hurricanes demonstrate, natural disasters in one part of the country
are responded to by National Guard members from all across the
country – sometimes from states thousands of miles away. Secretary
of Defense James Mattis has stated that preparing for climate
requires a "whole of government" response. Gen Lengyel's comments
suggest it will also require a "whole of country" response<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wp.me/p1t6fZ-3OV">http://wp.me/p1t6fZ-3OV</a><br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://thehill.com/policy/defense/351404-national-guard-chief-climate-is-changing-possibly-causing-bigger-larger-more#bottom-story-socials"><br>
National Guard chief: Climate change possibly causing 'bigger,
larger, more violent' storms</a></b><br>
"So whether that's in Oklahoma, where you have a lot of tornadoes,
or whether that's in the northwest, where you have a lot of fires,
or whether that's in the Gulf or along the East Coast, we need force
structure that is in all 50 states, the territories and the District
of Columbia, so that we can respond."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://thehill.com/policy/defense/351404-national-guard-chief-climate-is-changing-possibly-causing-bigger-larger-more">http://thehill.com/policy/defense/351404-national-guard-chief-climate-is-changing-possibly-causing-bigger-larger-more</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a
href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/08/03/global-ocean-circulation-appears-to-be-collapsing-due-to-a-warming-planet/#39d34c49f6f4">Global
Ocean Circulation Appears To Be Collapsing Due To A Warming
Planet</a></b><br>
Melting of the Arctic sea ice has rapidly increased in the recent
decades. Satellite image records indicate that September Arctic sea
ice is 30% less today than it was in 1979. This trend of increased
sea ice melting during summer months does not appear to be slowing.
Hence, indications are that we will see a continued weakening of the
global ocean circulation system.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/08/03/global-ocean-circulation-appears-to-be-collapsing-due-to-a-warming-planet/#39d34c49f6f4">https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/08/03/global-ocean-circulation-appears-to-be-collapsing-due-to-a-warming-planet/#39d34c49f6f4</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/18/enough-tiptoeing-around-lets-make-this-clear-coal-kills-people">Enough
tiptoeing around. Let's make this clear: coal kills people</a></b><br>
Tim Hollo<br>
<b>Burning more coal, knowing what we know, is a deliberate act of
arson. We must urgently come to grips with this fact and reconnect
with nature and our communities</b><br>
Coal kills people. This isn't even slightly scientifically
controversial.<br>
From the mines to the trains to the climate disruption; from black
lung to asthma, heat stress to hunger, fires to floods: coal is
killing people in Australia and around the world right now.<br>
Yet we are once again having what passes for political debate about
extending the life of coal-fired power stations and,
extraordinarily, building new ones. The conversation is completely
disconnected from the fact that two thirds of Bangladesh was
reported to be under water, record-breaking hurricanes were
battering the US, and wildfires were roaring in both the northern
and southern hemispheres at the same time.<br>
Burning more coal, knowing what we know, is a deliberate act of
arson, lighting a match in dry bushland, with homes just around the
bend and a hot wind blowing in their direction.<br>
It's hard to say that. It's hard to read it. But we must come to
grips with this connection urgently.<br>
How is it that our politicians can be so drastically disconnected
from the consequences of their actions?<br>
The answer, I would suggest, is because connection is fundamentally
at odds with how we have trained ourselves to see the world. Our
economic, social and political system is based around disconnection.
And our most vital and urgent task is to find ways to get over that,
to draw each other and our ideas together, to see the world as the
glorious interconnected ecosystem it is.<br>
In capitalism, we have created the first social organising principle
based on selfishness, the first system to make greed, competition,
non-cooperation its credo. In Thatcherism, we have the declaration
that there is no such thing as society. In neoliberalism, we have a
system which alienates us from each other, from our labour, from
democracy; a system which declares we have great choice while
turning everything into a supermarket aisle full of different but
identical toothpastes; a system which insists we have great freedoms
while systematically removing more and more of our capacity to have
any real control or influence over, or stake in anything real in our
lives.<br>
That's why we can have politicians actively discussing doing
something which not only makes no economic sense but will actually
kill people, while most of the population turns away to binge-watch
the next series on Netflix.<br>
Bringing it right back to coal, tens of thousands of people are
bypassing the politicians and corporations altogether, frustrated by
their inability to think beyond coal, and setting up renewable
energy cooperatives. From Canberra to Copenhagen, people are pooling
their resources to jointly set up solar farms or windfarms, sharing
the benefits not only among themselves but with all of us.<br>
If all this seems terribly small, remember – going from 280 to 400
parts per million of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is already
causing havoc. With a few more parts per million, we could reach
tipping points in the climate beyond which unimaginable disaster
looms.<br>
But there are tipping points in society, too. And, if we work
together to rebuild connection, we can reach that tipping point
first. We can turn this around, and maybe not only survive, but
thrive.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/18/enough-tiptoeing-around-lets-make-this-clear-coal-kills-people">https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/18/enough-tiptoeing-around-lets-make-this-clear-coal-kills-people</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://phys.org/news/2017-09-mathematics-sixth-mass-extinction.html">Mathematics
predicts a sixth mass extinction by 2100</a></b><br>
In the past 540 million years, the Earth has endured five mass
extinction events, each involving processes that upended the normal
cycling of carbon through the atmosphere and oceans. These globally
fatal perturbations in carbon each unfolded over thousands to
millions of years, and are coincident with the widespread
extermination of marine species around the world.<br>
The question for many scientists is whether the carbon cycle is now
experiencing a significant jolt that could tip the planet toward a
sixth mass extinction. In the modern era, carbon dioxide emissions
have risen steadily since the 19th century, but deciphering whether
this recent spike in carbon could lead to mass extinction has been
challenging. That's mainly because it's difficult to relate ancient
carbon anomalies, occurring over thousands to millions of years, to
today's disruptions, which have taken place over just a little more
than a century.<br>
Now Daniel Rothman, professor of geophysics in the MIT Department of
Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and co-director of MIT's
Lorenz Center, has analyzed significant changes in the carbon cycle
over the last 540 million years, including the five mass extinction
events. He has identified "thresholds of catastrophe" in the carbon
cycle that, if exceeded, would lead to an unstable environment, and
ultimately, mass extinction.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://phys.org/news/2017-09-mathematics-sixth-mass-extinction.html">https://phys.org/news/2017-09-mathematics-sixth-mass-extinction.html</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuBobjyouv8">(video news)
Koch Brothers Fuel the GOP's War on Climate Science</a></b><br>
Published on Sep 18, 2017 <br>
Investigative journalist Bruce Livesy explains that the Koch
brothers have used their enormous wealth to force Republicans to tow
the line on climate change denial<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuBobjyouv8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuBobjyouv8</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<font size="+1"><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/10/us/watt-quits-post-president-accepts-with-reluctance.html">This
Day in Climate History September 21, 1983</a> - from D.R.
Tucker</b></font><br>
September 21, 1983: Interior Secretary James G. Watt, a symbol of
the Republican Party's declining interest in environmental concerns,
tells the US Chamber of Commerce that members of his advisory staff
on coal-leasing policy include "a black, a woman, two Jews and a
cripple." He resigns several weeks later.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/10/us/watt-quits-post-president-accepts-with-reluctance.html">http://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/10/us/watt-quits-post-president-accepts-with-reluctance.html</a></font><br>
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