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<font size="+1"><i>January 7, 2018</i></font><br>
<br>
[Australia 47C = 117F]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/power-outages-and-fire-bans-as-sydney-temperatures-reach-highest-level-since-1939">Power
outages and fire bans as Sydney temperatures reach highest level
since 1939</a></b><br>
Sydney has sweltered through its hottest day in eight decades with
the Rural Fire Service issuing a severe fire danger rating for the
city.<br>
Updated Updated 5 hours ago<br>
Sydney has sweltered through its hottest day in almost eighty years
with the mercury in Penrith hitting 47.3C.<br>
Much of Sydney reached it's peak temperature around 3pm on Sunday,
with the city's west bearing the brunt of the heat.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/power-outages-and-fire-bans-as-sydney-temperatures-reach-highest-level-since-1939">https://www.sbs.com.au/news/power-outages-and-fire-bans-as-sydney-temperatures-reach-highest-level-since-1939</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.news.com.au/national/australia-sizzles-as-east-coast-temperatures-hit-up-to-45c/news-story/4c2c2098f54cd9ac5bc57e83ded657c9">http://www.news.com.au/national/australia-sizzles-as-east-coast-temperatures-hit-up-to-45c/news-story/4c2c2098f54cd9ac5bc57e83ded657c9</a><br>
</font>-<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-05/bom-warns-sydneysiders-to-check-on-neighbours-amid-45c-heatwave/9305586">The
Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) is urging Sydneysiders to "check up on
their elderly neighbours" on Sunday,...</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-05/bom-warns-sydneysiders-to-check-on-neighbours-amid-45c-heatwave/9305586">http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-05/bom-warns-sydneysiders-to-check-on-neighbours-amid-45c-heatwave/9305586</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[ReInsurance]<br>
Press release<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.munichre.com/en/media-relations/publications/press-releases/2018/2018-01-04-press-release/index.html">Natural
catastrophe review: Series of hurricanes makes 2017 year of
highest insured losses ever</a></b><br>
The hurricane trio of Harvey, Irma and Maria will cost the insurance
industry a record amount in 2017: the final insurance bill for those
and other natural catastrophes, including a severe earthquake in
Mexico, is expected to come to US$ 135bn - higher than ever before.
And overall losses - i.e. including uninsured losses - amounted to
US$ 330bn, the second-highest figure ever recorded for natural
disasters. The only costlier year so far was 2011, when the Tohoku
earthquake in Japan contributed to overall losses of US$ 354bn in
today's dollars.<br>
Torsten Jeworrek, Munich Re Board member responsible for global
reinsurance business: "This year's extreme natural catastrophes show
how important insurance is in absorbing financial losses in the wake
of such disasters. Munich Re is willing to develop this business
further - we have the necessary capacity and expertise. For me, a
key point is that some of the catastrophic events, such as the
series of three extremely damaging hurricanes, or the very severe
flooding in South Asia after extraordinarily heavy monsoon rains,
are giving us a foretaste of what is to come. Because even though
individual events cannot be directly traced to climate change, our
experts expect such extreme weather to occur more often in
future."...<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.munichre.com/en/media-relations/publications/press-releases/2018/2018-01-04-press-release/index.html">https://www.munichre.com/en/media-relations/publications/press-releases/2018/2018-01-04-press-release/index.html</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/un-chief-issues-red-alert-for-the-world/ar-BBHzUEA?li=BBnbfcL">UN
chief issues 'red alert' for the world</a></b><br>
As the world began to ring in 2018, UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres called for global unity to overcome growing challenges.<br>
In his New Year message on Sunday, Guterres said the world appeared
to have "gone in reverse" before adding, "On New Year's Day 2018 I
am not issuing an appeal, I am issuing an alert - a red alert for
our world."<br>
He continued: "As we begin 2018, I call for unity. ... We can settle
conflicts, overcome hatred and defend shared values. But we can only
do that together."<br>
Reflecting on his January message when he assumed the
secretary-general position - in which he called for peace - Guterres
said that conflicts have deepened, global anxieties about nuclear
weapons have increased, inequalities have grown and nationalism and
xenophobia are on the rise.<br>
He stressed cooperation and collaboration should be the way forward
in 2018, saying: "Unity is the path. Our future depends on it."<br>
He then urged leaders "everywhere to make this New Year's
resolution: Narrow the gaps. Bridge the divides. Rebuild trust by
bringing people together around common goals."<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/un-chief-issues-red-alert-for-the-world/ar-BBHzUEA?li=BBnbfcL">https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/un-chief-issues-red-alert-for-the-world/ar-BBHzUEA?li=BBnbfcL</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[State power]<b><br>
</b><b> </b><b><a
href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/01/05/hawaii-climate-environment-constitutional-right/">Hawaii
Joins Trend: Recognizes Constitutional Right to Safe Climate and
Environment</a></b><br>
Hawaii's highest court took an important step in December to hold
the state's agencies accountable for transitioning away from fossil
fuels as it affirmed the state's constitutional right to a clean
environment. The ruling cheered environmental activists at the end
of an otherwise stressful year.<br>
In <a
href="https://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/2017-12-14_Published_Opinion.pdf">deciding
a case </a>involving a power purchase agreement (PPA) between
Maui Electric Company and Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company,
the Hawaiian Supreme Court not only handed a a victory to the Sierra
Club of Hawaii, which claimed that the state's Public Utilities
Commission had ignored citizens' environmental rights, it gave teeth
to <a
href="http://khon2.com/2015/06/08/new-law-requires-100-percent-renewable-energy-in-hawaii-by-2045/">a
statute requiring the state </a>to transition to 100 percent
clean energy by 2045. <br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/01/05/hawaii-climate-environment-constitutional-right/">https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/01/05/hawaii-climate-environment-constitutional-right/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[video by Peter Sinclair]<br>
<b><a
href="https://climatecrocks.com/2018/01/05/bomb-psychlone-climate-sea-level-and-superstorms-in-a-warming-world/">Bomb
Psychlone: Climate, Sea Level, and Superstorms in a Warming
World. </a></b><br>
Video <a href="https://youtu.be/160zc_F8-ns">Climate, Sea Level,
and Superstorms</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://youtu.be/160zc_F8-ns">https://youtu.be/160zc_F8-ns</a><br>
with Peter Sinclair<br>
Bomb Psychlone: Climate, Sea Level, and Superstorms in a Warming
World.<br>
January 5, 2018<br>
As the Northeast is battered by a gigantic winter storm, a reminder
from the past of what can happen with sharper temperature
differentials in a warming world.<br>
Sea level rise is a force multiplier.<br>
Coastal floodwaters at peak of the #BombCyclone in Boston were
legit pic.twitter.com/Irh0UmdT3S<br>
- Brian L Kahn (@blkahn) January 5, 2018<br>
The East Coast is waking up to an arctic chill this morning
following the bombogenesis #BombCyclone. This type of rapidly
intensifying storm with hurricane force winds in this part of the
globe during winter is rare @NWS #blizzard2018 More imagery: <a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://t.co/mbgRYot60A">https://t.co/mbgRYot60A</a>
pic.twitter.com/v1y87b83ab<br>
- NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) January 5, 2018<br>
The view from Front Street in Scituate, MA. That's all salt
water, folks. #Scituate #bombcyclone pic.twitter.com/JVQDzSR9pe<br>
- Cristela Guerra (@CristelaGuerra) January 4, 2018<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://climatecrocks.com/2018/01/05/bomb-psychlone-climate-sea-level-and-superstorms-in-a-warming-world/">https://climatecrocks.com/2018/01/05/bomb-psychlone-climate-sea-level-and-superstorms-in-a-warming-world/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
['NUCLEAR' WINTER]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://grist.org/article/get-used-to-saying-bomb-cyclone-this-is-our-climate-now/">Get
used to saying 'bomb cyclone.' This is our climate now.</a></b><br>
By Eric Holthaus on Jan 5, 2018<br>
Now that one of the strongest nor'easters on record has swirled off
to Canada, it's time to talk about what everyone was thinking during
the storm: Is this just what happens now?<br>
Short answer: yes. Get used to it. Wild storms like this week's
massive coastal cyclone will be part of winters in the Anthropocene.<br>
This storm's frightening name - the "bomb cyclone" - was derived
from <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wjpg8m/bomb-cyclone-bombogenesis-winter-storm">an
obscure meteorological term</a> and caught on after President
Donald Trump's <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/948355557022420992">terrifying
tweet </a>about nuclear weapons. The storm wasn't as scary as all
that, obviously, but it still spread havoc....<br>
It's normal for winter storms to gather strength in a hurry - <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://twitter.com/shawnmilrad/status/948598834904563712">dozens
of them</a> do so every year <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://twitter.com/RyanMaue/status/948599905571962880">around
the world</a>. But the "bomb cyclone" intensified at a rate <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/948971829682671617">far
exceeding</a> any storm to come close to the East Coast since the
advent of weather satellites in the 1970s. After a day of searching,
the National Weather Service found <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://twitter.com/NWSWPC/status/949024167587926022">a
similar storm from 1989 </a>about 600 miles off the coast that
didn't affect land.<br>
Meteorologists and weather geeks spent the storm marveling at the
view from space, but as with every big storm of our new era, this
one felt like a harbinger...<br>
For some, all this evidence of an overheating world is too much to
accept.<br>
In <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?438924-1/us-senate-opens-session-115th-congress&start=16908">comments
on the Senate floor </a>this week, Senator James Inhofe <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://grist.org/climate-energy/inhofe-threw-a-snowball-on-the-senate-floor-and-therefore-climate-change-isnt-real/">of
snowball fame</a>, riffed on another recent presidential tweet in
the context of the current cold snap. "Where is global warming when
we need it?" he said. "We sure needed it this last week."<br>
Increasingly, it seems like the only time you hear a climate denier
talk about climate change is when a snowstorm hits. Hey, look! It's
really cold outside. This snowball sure isn't warm; therefore the
world isn't warming.<br>
Winter may be the last refuge of climate deniers, so it makes sense
that they'll work harder to seize on cold-weather storms. It's a
window into their view of the world. Appearance is enough evidence.
It's all that really matters. Given what's at stake <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://grist.org/article/heartbroken-scientists-lament-the-likely-loss-of-most-of-the-worlds-coral-reefs/">in
the oceans</a> and <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://grist.org/article/heartbroken-scientists-lament-the-likely-loss-of-most-of-the-worlds-coral-reefs/">on
land, </a>such views should be seen for what they are: a threat
to our safety, just as real as any bomb.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://grist.org/article/get-used-to-saying-bomb-cyclone-this-is-our-climate-now/">https://grist.org/article/get-used-to-saying-bomb-cyclone-this-is-our-climate-now/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Dark Snow Project]<b><br>
</b><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://climatecrocks.com/2018/01/05/dark-snow-project-fieldwork-findings-published/">Dark
Snow Project Fieldwork Findings Published </a></b><br>
After a long and arduous path to publication, results of Marek
Stibal's observations of ice algae, which I documented in the 2014
Dark Snow field work, have been published.<br>
I plan to interview co-authors Marek Stibal and Jason Box next week.<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/algae-growth-speeds-up-greenlands-melting/">Scientific
American:</a><br>
Algae growth as a result of climate change is making the
Greenland ice sheet, a primary contributor to sea-level rise, melt
faster, according to a new study.<br>
Algae grows naturally on the ice sheet, but it thrives under a
warmer climate. It makes the Greenland ice sheet, which is the
second-largest ice sheet on Earth, less reflective of the sun, which
means the ice absorbs more of the sun's heat. This, in turn, drives
more rapid melting, according to the paper published yesterday in
Geophysical Research Letters.<br>
Researchers found that algae accounts for about 5 to 10 percent
of total ice sheet melt each summer. That means algae plays a
greater role in melting than previously believed, said Marek Stibal,
a cryosphere ecologist at Charles University in the Czech Republic
and one of the lead authors of the new study.<br>
"As the climate warms, the area that the algae can grow in will
expand, so they'll colonize more of the ice sheet," he said in a
statement. "Additionally, the growing season will lengthen, so the
contribution of algae to melting of the ice will probably increase
over time."<br>
Black carbon and dust have been tracked by researchers as
contributors to melting of the Greenland ice sheet. Like algae, the
dark particles cut down on the albedo, or reflectivity, of the
otherwise white surface. The particles absorb the sun's rays and
warm the Earth underneath. Stibal said typically researchers have
only looked at inorganic materials when studying ice sheet behavior,
but the new research suggests that biological factors also play a
significant role.<br>
"Our analysis reveals that the impact of algae on bare
(snow-free) ice darkening was greater than that of other impurities
and, therefore, that algal growth was a crucial control of bare ice
darkening in the study area," the authors wrote. "Incorporating the
darkening effect of algal growth is expected to improve future
projections of the Greenland ice sheet melting."<br>
Since the Greenland ice sheet is a major contributor to
sea-level rise, the study has implications for future projections of
the rate of expected rise, the study found. Further study is needed
to determine how sea levels could be affected by more rapid growth
of algae that is expected as a result of global warming. The study
also has implications outside of the Arctic, the authors found.
Other areas of the world covered in ice, including the Himalayas,
also have algae on the ice, which could affect rates of melting
there.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/algae-growth-speeds-up-greenlands-melting/">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/algae-growth-speeds-up-greenlands-melting/</a><br>
- video <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://youtu.be/fIb00VMEIOc">It's Alive: Blooming Algae
Darken Greenland Ice</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://youtu.be/fIb00VMEIOc">https://youtu.be/fIb00VMEIOc</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://news.agu.org/press-release/algae-growth-reduces-reflectivity-enhances-greenland-ice-sheet-melting/">American
Geophysical Union:</a><br>
The authors of the new study headed into the Greenland ice sheet
in the summer of 2014 to quantify the contribution of algae to the
darkening effect. Several members of their team camped at a study
site in the southwestern region of the ice sheet for 56 days while
gathering data on the sheet's reflectivity and algal population.<br>
Stibal and his colleagues used portable spectrometers and
albedometers to measure the reflectivity spectrum of the bare ice
surface each day. They also collected samples of surface ice and
used a field microscope to characterize the algae and count the
number of algal cells in each sample. They analyzed the relationship
between the growth of the algae and the amount of light being
reflected by the ice sheet surface.<br>
The authors found the ice sheet reflected significantly less
light as the algal population grew. They calculated algal growth
accounted for approximately 70 percent of the variation in the light
reflectance data, making it the dominant contributor to the
phenomenon. The rest of the variation was due to rain and how much
time had passed, and non-algal impurities weren't significant in
their analysis.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://news.agu.org/press-release/algae-growth-reduces-reflectivity-enhances-greenland-ice-sheet-melting/">https://news.agu.org/press-release/algae-growth-reduces-reflectivity-enhances-greenland-ice-sheet-melting/</a><br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://climatecrocks.com/2018/01/05/dark-snow-project-fieldwork-findings-published/">https://climatecrocks.com/2018/01/05/dark-snow-project-fieldwork-findings-published/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Book Reviews]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://climateandcapitalism.com/2018/01/05/kim-stanley-robinsons-ecological-science-fiction-two-hits-and-a-miss/">Ecological
science fiction: Two hits and a miss</a><br>
</b>Three novels by Kim Stanley Robinson<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316098108/sr=1-1/qid=1515269598/ref=olp_product_details">Aurora
(Orbit, 2015)</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316098108/sr=1-1/qid=1515269598/ref=olp_product_details">https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316098108/sr=1-1/qid=1515269598/ref=olp_product_details</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.amazon.com/Shaman-Kim-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0316098086">Shaman
(Orbit, 2013)</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.amazon.com/Shaman-Kim-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0316098086">https://www.amazon.com/Shaman-Kim-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0316098086</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.amazon.com/New-York-2140-Stanley-Robinson/dp/031626234X/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_2">New
York 2140 (Orbit, 2017) </a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.amazon.com/New-York-2140-Stanley-Robinson/dp/031626234X/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_2">https://www.amazon.com/New-York-2140-Stanley-Robinson/dp/031626234X/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_2</a><br>
reviewed by Martin Empson<br>
Three novels by Kim Stanley Robinson: Aurora is monumental and
Shaman is a great evocation of the past, but New York 2140
understates both the climate crisis and the solutions needed<br>
Martin Empson is the author of Land and Labour: Marxism, Ecology and
Human History. <br>
These reviews were first published in his blog, Resolute Reader.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://climateandcapitalism.com/2018/01/05/kim-stanley-robinsons-ecological-science-fiction-two-hits-and-a-miss/">http://climateandcapitalism.com/2018/01/05/kim-stanley-robinsons-ecological-science-fiction-two-hits-and-a-miss/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<font size="+1"><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/07/us/warming-of-world-s-climate-expected-to-begin-in-the-80-s.html">This
Day in Climate History January 7, 1982</a> - from D.R.
Tucker</b></font><br>
January 7, 1982: The New York Times reports:<br>
<blockquote>"Mankind's activities in increasing the amount of carbon
dioxide and<br>
other chemicals in the atmosphere can be expected to have a<br>
substantial warming effect on climate, with the first clear signs
of<br>
the trend becoming evident within this decade, a scientist at the<br>
National Aeronautics and Space Administration said here today.<br>
<br>
"The changes are in prospect because of excess carbon dioxide put
into<br>
the atmosphere as humans burn coal, gas, oil and wood and cut
forests<br>
for agriculture and other purposes. More recently there has also
been<br>
an atmospheric buildup of methane, nitrous oxide and other
chemicals<br>
as a result of agriculture and industry, said Dr. James Hansen of
the<br>
space agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.<br>
<br>
"Dr. Hansen spoke at a session of the annual meeting of the
American<br>
Association for the Advancement of Science here and amplified some
of<br>
his remarks at a news conference."<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/07/us/warming-of-world-s-climate-expected-to-begin-in-the-80-s.html">http://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/07/us/warming-of-world-s-climate-expected-to-begin-in-the-80-s.html</a><br>
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