<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<font size="+1"><i>February 4, 2018</i></font><br>
<br>
["coldest Superbowl in history"]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://weather.com/forecast/regional/news/2018-01-22-super-bowl-lii-minneapolis-forecast">Super
Bowl 52 Forecast: Bitterly Cold Temperatures Blast Minneapolis
This Weekend</a></b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://weather.com/forecast/regional/news/2018-01-22-super-bowl-lii-minneapolis-forecast">https://weather.com/forecast/regional/news/2018-01-22-super-bowl-lii-minneapolis-forecast</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[TV Forecasters to Trump]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-climate-change-america-scientists-offer-explanation-global-warming-us-president-a8189201.html">America's
top weather scientists offer to set Trump straight on climate
change</a></b><br>
Letter from American Meteorological Society points US President to
'wealth of comprehensive and accurate information' available via
government agencies like NASA.<br>
Donald Trump has been sent a letter by the US's top scientific
organisation for weather and climate researchers, correcting him on
points made in a recent interview...<br>
Many scientists have already been vocal in discrediting the ideas
suggested by the US President, and now the American Meteorological
Society (AMS) has offered to help him understand the science of
climate change.<br>
In a letter, AMS executive director Dr Keith Seitter pointed Mr
Trump in the direction of the "wealth of comprehensive and accurate
information on climate change" available via US government
agencies...<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-climate-change-america-scientists-offer-explanation-global-warming-us-president-a8189201.html">Letter
PDF document: </a></b>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.ametsoc.org/ams/index.cfm/about-ams/ams-position-letters/ams-letter-to-president-trump-on-climate-change/">https://www.ametsoc.org/ams/index.cfm/about-ams/ams-position-letters/ams-letter-to-president-trump-on-climate-change/</a><br>
Dr Seitter offered the services of the AMS to help educate the US
President about the facts of climate change.<br>
"The American Meteorological Society stands ready to provide
assistance in connecting Executive Branch staff with that knowledge
and expertise to ensure that you and your staff are working with
credible and scientifically validated information as you navigate
the many difficult policy areas impacted by the Earth's changing
climate," he wrote...<font size="-1"><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-climate-change-america-scientists-offer-explanation-global-warming-us-president-a8189201.html">http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-climate-change-america-scientists-offer-explanation-global-warming-us-president-a8189201.html</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[complicity]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/02/03/chevron-climate-liability-california-statoil/">Chevron
Wants More Companies Blamed in Climate Liability Cases</a></b><br>
By Dana Drugmand<br>
Chevron Corp., one of the defendants in a batch of climate change
nuisance lawsuits by communities in California, contends that the
suits are meritless, but just in case the company is deemed liable
for carbon pollution, it <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/legalnewsline/2018/02/01/facing-meritless-lawsuits-chevron-says-it-can-play-the-climate-change-blame-game-too/#6a63d35b7cd4">wants</a>
the Norwegian state-owned oil company Statoil to shoulder some of
the liability burden.<br>
In an interesting move that seems designed to hedge its own
culpability, Chevron <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://jnswire.s3.amazonaws.com/jns-media/f6/c8/760598/CHEVRONvNORWAY.pdf">filed
a complaint</a> for indemnity and contribution against Statoil in
December in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.<br>
"Chevron denies that Plaintiffs are entitled to any relief on their
Complaints," the company's complaint states. "However, in the event
that Chevron is held liable to Plaintiffs, Chevron is entitled to
indemnity and/or contribution from Statoil."<br>
According to the <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.statoil.com/en/about-us.html#statoil-at-a-glance">Statoil
website</a>, the Norwegian energy giant operates in more than 30
countries and is the world's largest offshore driller. The Chevron
complaint cites Statoil's production numbers, including
approximately 251,000 barrels of oil per day just in its U.S.
business. Statoil did not immediately respond to a request for
comment...<br>
"I don't view the move as demonstrating a fear of actual liability
so much as a strategic move to paint a more complicated picture
about global contributors to climate change," she said.<br>
Such legal maneuverings are expected in a complex liability case.<br>
Attribution science, however, shows that Chevron bears more
responsibility for historical emissions than Statoil.<br>
A <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-013-0986-y">study</a>
by Richard Heede in 2013 identified 90 companies responsible for
nearly two-thirds of carbon emissions since the Industrial
Revolution. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/02/03/chevron-climate-liability-california-statoil/">https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/02/03/chevron-climate-liability-california-statoil/</a><br>
-<br>
[The "But everybody does it" defense]<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://jnswire.s3.amazonaws.com/jns-media/f6/c8/760598/CHEVRONvNORWAY.pdf">[THIRD-PARTY
COMPLAINT OF <br>
DEFENDANT CHEVRON CORPORATION <br>
FOR INDEMNITY AND CONTRIBUTION <br>
AGAINST THIRD-PA<br>
RTY DEFENDANT <br>
STATOIL ASA ]</a><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://jnswire.s3.amazonaws.com/jns-media/f6/c8/760598/CHEVRONvNORWAY.pdf"><br>
<font size="-1">https://jnswire.s3.amazonaws.com/jns-media/f6/c8/760598/CHEVRONvNORWAY.pdf</font></a><br>
<font size="-1">Brief for the Tennessee Valley Authority as
Respondents Supporting Petitioners at 37, American Electric Power
Co. Inc. v. State of Connecticut, No. 10-74 (Jan. 2011); id. at
17, 37 <br>
(citing the extraordinary "breadth" of potential defendants in
common-law suits aimed at global climate change as one of many
reasons why such suits should be rejected). <br>
A finding that Plaintiffs' allegations against Chevron and the
other named Defendants in these actions are true and sufficient
would implicate a multitude of domestic and international actors
as parties allegedly responsible for a portion of the in-juries
and damages Plaintiffs claim, either on the same basis as they
would implicate Chevron, or, in <br>
the case of users and emitters of greenhouse gases, a more direct
basis. These include other fossil fuel producers (e.g., the
numerous unnamed fossil fuel companies (including others that are
agencies or instrumentalities of sovereign foreign states), <br>
the United States, and numerous states, including California, see
California Public Resources Code § 3106(d)); <br>
promoters (e.g., the unnamed manufacturers of automobiles,
aircraft, heavy machinery, farm equipment, home and commercial
heating equipment, etc.); <br>
and emitters (e.g., Plaintiffs themselves, private entities, and
individuals around the world who actually consume and burn the
fossil fuels that Plaintiffs allege give rise to global warming
and the sea-level rise of which Plaintiffs complain). <br>
Accordingly, this third-party complaint is one of many that
Chevron expects to file should this case proceed past motions to
dismiss. </font><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://jnswire.s3.amazonaws.com/jns-media/f6/c8/760598/CHEVRONvNORWAY.pdf">https://jnswire.s3.amazonaws.com/jns-media/f6/c8/760598/CHEVRONvNORWAY.pdf</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[Interactive Map for 2018]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.climate-change-performance-index.org/">The
Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI)</a></b> is an instrument
designed to enhance transparency in international climate politics.
Its aim is to put political and social pressure on those countries
which have, up until now, failed to take ambitious action on climate
protection. It also aims to highlight those countries with best
practice climate policies. On the basis of standardised criteria,
the index evaluates and compares the climate protection performance
of 56 countries and the EU, which are together responsible for more
than 90 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.<br>
These are the Overall Results of this year's Climate Change
Performance Index. The ranking results of this category are defined
by a country's aggregated performance regarding 14 indicators within
the four categories GHG Emissions, Renewable Energy, Energy Use and
Climate Policy.<br>
The CCPI 2018 Results illustrate the main regional differences in
climate protection and performance within the 56 evaluated countries
and the EU. Despite decreasing growth rates in GHG emissions, still
no country performed well enough to reach the rating "very high" in
this year's index and therefore the top three ranks remain left
open.<br>
In this year's index, Sweden is leading the list, followed by
Lithuania and Morocco, while Saudi Arabia, Islamic Republic of Iran,
Republic of Korea, Australia and the United States form the bottom
five of this classification, scoring "low" or "very low" across
almost all categories.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.climate-change-performance-index.org/">https://www.climate-change-performance-index.org/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[cryoseism = frost quake]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/feb/02/weatherwatch-frost-ice-quake-cryoseism-wisconsin-great-lakes-canada">Weatherwatch:
when cold makes the earth move</a></b><br>
A frost quake, or cryoseism, is a rare event in bitter conditions,
and several have shaken the earth in the US and in Canada recently<br>
esidents of Ozaukee County, Wisconsin were startled by a loud boom
with no visible source last Saturday. Some even reported that
windows rattled and their houses shook. What felt like a miniature
earthquake was actually a cryoseism, or frost quake.<br>
Cryoseisms have been documented since the early 19th century. They
are caused by an explosive release of pressure underground, when
water which has drained into cracks in rocks expands as it
freezes...<br>
While frost quakes affect a small area compared to earthquakes, they
can be intense, causing plaster to fall and moving furniture inside
buildings. However, there was no reported structural damage from the
Ozaukee quake.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/feb/02/weatherwatch-frost-ice-quake-cryoseism-wisconsin-great-lakes-canada">https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/feb/02/weatherwatch-frost-ice-quake-cryoseism-wisconsin-great-lakes-canada</a></font><br>
-<br>
[Still a mystery]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://globalnews.ca/news/3943723/alberta-beach-seismic-event-what-is-ice-quake/">Experts
still looking into what caused Monday's seismic events in
Alberta</a></b><br>
(Jan 5th) There were at least two seismic events in Alberta late
Monday evening and experts say their current best guess is that they
were non-traditional ice quakes.<br>
<blockquote><b>"That change in temperature is very similar to when
you take an ice cube and you put it into a pop and then it just
cracks in your drink".</b><br>
</blockquote>
The incidents caused damage to homes in Alberta Beach, where
residents reported hearing loud crashing and creaking noises
overnight.<br>
The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) oversees seismic activity in the
province. The AER’s geological survey branch confirmed that two
seismic events of approximately 2.0 magnitude each occurred at
approximately 11:45 p.m. on Monday: one near Gull Lake and one near
Pigeon Lake.<br>
"There very well could be events that are smaller than that
detection threshold that we’re not able to see," AER seismologist
Ryan Schultz said on Wednesday. "If it happens over a very long time
scale, we can’t see that."<br>
Since the phenomenon in Alberta Beach was reported, people in other
parts of Alberta are coming forward with similar experiences....<br>
Ice quakes - or cryoseisms - usually occur when there is a rapid
drop in temperature. Water that is in the ground freezes. Because it
has nowhere else to go, it cracks the soil or rock, causing a loud
noise and the shaking of the ground...<br>
There are two types of cryoseisms: a frost quake and an ice quake.
An ice quake occurs over bodies of water such as lakes and rivers.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://globalnews.ca/news/3943723/alberta-beach-seismic-event-what-is-ice-quake/">https://globalnews.ca/news/3943723/alberta-beach-seismic-event-what-is-ice-quake/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Rand Corporation audio call with experts]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.rand.org/multimedia/audio/2018/01/17/exploring-truth-decay.html">Exploring
"Truth Decay"</a></b><br>
"Call with Experts" Discussion with Rand president and CEO Michael
Rich. <br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.rand.org/multimedia/audio/2018/01/17/exploring-truth-decay.html">https://www.rand.org/multimedia/audio/2018/01/17/exploring-truth-decay.html</a></font><br>
-<br>
[Rand Corporation report]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2314.html">Truth
Decay - An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts
and Analysis in American Public Life</a></b><br>
by Jennifer Kavanagh, Michael D. Rich<br>
<blockquote>Truth Decay is defined as a set of four related trends:
increasing disagreement about facts and analytical interpretations
of facts and data; a blurring of the line between opinion and
fact; an increase in the relative volume, and resulting influence,
of opinion and personal experience over fact; and declining trust
in formerly respected sources of factual information. <br>
<br>
This report explores three historical eras - the 1890s, 1920s, and
1960s - for evidence of the four Truth Decay trends and compares
those eras with the past two decades (2000s - 2010s). Two of the
four trends occurred in earlier periods: the blurring of the line
between opinion and fact and an increase in the relative volume,
and resulting influence, of opinion over fact. Declining trust in
institutions, while evident in previous eras, is more severe
today. No evidence of an increase in disagreement about facts and
analytical interpretations of facts and data was seen in the
earlier periods.<br>
<br>
Four drivers, or causes, of Truth Decay are described: cognitive
bias, changes in the information system (including the rise of
social media and the 24-hour news cycle), competing demands on the
educational system that limit its ability to keep pace with
changes in the information system, and political,
sociodemographic, and economic polarization. Various agents also
amplify Truth Decay's trends.<br>
<br>
The consequences of Truth Decay manifest in many ways. The most
damaging effects might be the erosion of civil discourse,
political paralysis, alienation and disengagement of individuals
from political and civic institutions, and uncertainty about U.S.
policy.<br>
</blockquote>
Download 300+ page Document <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR2300/RR2314/RAND_RR2314.pdf">PDF
file</a> - <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR2300/RR2314/RAND_RR2314.epub">ePub
file</a> - <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR2300/RR2314/RAND_RR2314.mobi">mobi
file</a><br>
This report explores the causes and consequences of Truth Decay and
how they are interrelated, and examines past eras of U.S. history to
identify evidence of Truth Decay's four trends and observe
similarities with and differences from the current period. It also
outlines a research agenda, a strategy for investigating the causes
of Truth Decay and determining what can be done to address its
causes and consequences.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2314.html">https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2314.html</a><br>
-<br>
[Podcast WhoWhatWhy]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://whowhatwhy.org/2018/02/02/truth-decay-diminishing-role-facts-public-life/">Truth
Decay</a></b> Audio podcast<br>
Jeff Schechtman's guest on this week's WhoWhatWhy podcast is RAND
political scientist Jennifer Kavanagh, co-author of the report. <br>
The shrinking role of facts and evidence-based analysis in American
public life poses a threat to democracy, to policy making, and to
the very notion of civic discourse.<br>
<b>What the authors found, Kavanaugh says, is that disagreements
over objective facts have never been so wide and so deep. </b><br>
Read more at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/6217359/height/360/width/575/theme/legacy/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/#uHPs1wAmVQhbKkBF.99">https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/6217359/height/360/width/575/theme/legacy/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/#uHPs1wAmVQhbKkBF.99</a><br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://whowhatwhy.org/2018/02/02/truth-decay-diminishing-role-facts-public-life/">https://whowhatwhy.org/2018/02/02/truth-decay-diminishing-role-facts-public-life/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<font size="+1"><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9rZKJt4ZC4">This Day in
Climate History February 4, 1992</a> - from D.R. Tucker</b></font><br>
February 4, 1992: In one of the worst examples of mainstream media<br>
false-balance in US history, Ted Koppel hosts a “debate” on ABC's<br>
"Nightline" between Sen. Al Gore (D-TN) and Rush Limbaugh on global<br>
warming and other environmental issues.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9rZKJt4ZC4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9rZKJt4ZC4</a> (Part 1)<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://youtu.be/WbC-yWycHfM">http://youtu.be/WbC-yWycHfM</a> (Part 2)</font><br>
<font size="+1"><i><br>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
</i></font><font size="+1"><i><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/2017-October/date.html">Archive
of Daily Global Warming News</a> </i></font><i><br>
</i><span class="moz-txt-link-freetext"><a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote">https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote</a></span><font
size="+1"><i><font size="+1"><i><br>
</i></font></i></font><font size="+1"><i> <br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="a%20href=%22mailto:contact@theClimate.Vote%22">Send
email to subscribe</a> to news clippings. </i></font>
<blockquote>
<blockquote><small> </small><small><b>** Privacy and Security: </b>
This is a text-only mailing that carries no images which may
originate from remote servers. </small><small> Text-only
messages provide greater privacy to the receiver and sender.
</small><small> </small><br>
<small> By regulation, the .VOTE top-level domain must be used
for democratic and election purposes and cannot be used for
commercial purposes. </small><br>
<small>To subscribe, email: <a
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:contact@theclimate.vote">contact@theclimate.vote</a>
with subject: subscribe, To Unsubscribe, subject:
unsubscribe</small><br>
<small> Also you</small><font size="-1"> may
subscribe/unsubscribe at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/theclimate.vote">https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/theclimate.vote</a></font><small>
</small><br>
<small> </small><small>Links and headlines assembled and
curated by Richard Pauli</small><small> for <a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://TheClimate.Vote">http://TheClimate.Vote</a>
delivering succinct information for citizens and responsible
governments of all levels.</small><small> L</small><small>ist
membership is confidential and records are scrupulously
restricted to this mailing list. <br>
</small></blockquote>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>