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<font size="+1"><i>March 25, 2018</i></font><br>
<br>
[Maine Maple Sunday is today]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://mainepublic.org/post/how-climate-change-affecting-maine-maple-syrup-industry">How
Climate Change Is Affecting The Maine Maple Syrup Industry</a></b><br>
On a spring day so cold the sap froze in the few old-fashioned
buckets that Mark Cooper of Coopers Maple Products still uses, the
Windham maple producer talked about the changes he has noticed over
the 31 years he's been in business.<br>
The season used to start in late February and run through early
April.<br>
"It was pretty consistent," he said.<br>
Not anymore. These days, it's not uncommon for him to make maple
syrup in January or to have balmy 65 degree February days followed
by huge snow storms and frigid temperatures in March. He's noticing
his maple trees have struggled some, with fungal diseases or
branches on otherwise healthy trees that drop to the ground for no
reason he can ascertain. Red maples are moving in and sugar maples
are losing ground, he's noticed. Big wind and snow storms also have
taken a toll on the trees. And even when the sap is running, there's
just not as big a flow as there used to be.<br>
"We certainly have seen a change, and not for the better," Cooper
said.<br>
- - - - -<br>
"Sweeping climate change under the rug won't change anything,"
Kristin Jackson, the NRCM federal outreach coordinator, said.<br>
Cooper has already made a couple of major technological shifts
during his decades as a maple producer. He started with buckets,
then moved to a gravity tubing system, then most recently to a
vacuum pump-operated system. That system lets him collect sap even
when the conditions are less than ideal, and makes his trees more
productive. That's a help, he said, but can only do so much.<br>
"Our biggest challenge is getting decent weather to produce enough
sap flow," Cooper said. "We've had below average production over the
last seven years, compared to the previous 20 years. Those wide
swings of temperatures are something we didn't use to deal with."<br>
Still, despite everything, he loves making syrup and is looking
forward to the crowds and festivities of Maine Maple Sunday, which
will mark its 35th year on Sunday, March 25. The people who come to
his farm will enjoy a big breakfast, complete with maple syrup, of
course. They'll have the chance to meet some of his farm animals and
will smell the fragrant aroma of simmering maple sap. And maybe
they'll come away with an understanding of how weather and climate
changes can affect his industry.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://mainepublic.org/post/how-climate-change-affecting-maine-maple-syrup-industry">http://mainepublic.org/post/how-climate-change-affecting-maine-maple-syrup-industry</a><br>
</font>- - - -<br>
[Map of Maple Sugar Producers]<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://mainemapleproducers.com/about-maine-maple-sunday/">About
Maine Maple Sunday - Maine Maple Producers Association</a><br>
The Maine Maple Producers Association welcomes you to join Maine's
Maple Syrup Producers, statewide, as they celebrate Maine Maple
Sunday. Most sugarhouses offer free maple syrup samples and
demonstrations on how pure Maine maple syrup is made. Many farms
offer games, activities, treats, sugarbush tours, ...<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://mainemapleproducers.com/about-maine-maple-sunday/">http://mainemapleproducers.com/about-maine-maple-sunday/</a><br>
<br>
<b><br>
</b>[Ready to act] <b><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://grist.org/article/from-wildfires-to-floods-climate-change-keeps-coming-for-montecito-california/">From
wildfires to floods, climate change keeps coming for Montecito,
California</a></b><br>
This time it might have been the people of Montecito, and this time
the storm might have passed without turning the hillsides into a
deathtrap. But that's the thing about California; there's always
another drought and another fire and another flood around the
corner. Which means in the Golden State, it's always evacuation
season.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://grist.org/article/from-wildfires-to-floods-climate-change-keeps-coming-for-montecito-california/">https://grist.org/article/from-wildfires-to-floods-climate-change-keeps-coming-for-montecito-california/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[coal messes will get messier]<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/03/15/obama-official-trump-cuts-will-leave-coal-clean-agency-unable-function/">Obama
official: Trump cuts will leave coal clean-up agency unable to
function</a><br>
Published on 15/03/2018<br>
The number of mine site inspections is falling and proposed budget
cuts at the federal regulator will further erode oversight, a former
top official warns<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/03/15/obama-official-trump-cuts-will-leave-coal-clean-agency-unable-function/">http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/03/15/obama-official-trump-cuts-will-leave-coal-clean-agency-unable-function/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[PBS Frontline]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/mailings-to-teachers-highlight-a-political-fight-over-climate-change-in-the-classroom/">Mailings
to Teachers Highlight a Political Fight Over Climate Change in
the Classroom</a></b><br>
MARCH 23, 2018 / by KATIE WORTH<br>
Last spring, science teachers across the nation began receiving
unsolicited packages containing classroom materials from a
libertarian group that rejects the scientific consensus on climate
change.<br>
This spring, some of the same teachers are opening packages
containing very different materials: A book written by a Cornell
University affiliate called "The Teacher-Friendly Guide to Climate
Change," which embraces the prevailing science, explains the
phenomenon in detail and includes recommendations for how to teach
the subject to children...<br>
This rare back-and-forth of direct mailings to teachers demonstrates
how classrooms have emerged as a battleground in the American
political war over climate change. While those who reject mainstream
climate science have long advocated their view in Washington and
statehouses across the country, their efforts to influence educators
– and the counter-efforts from the science community – shows the
extent to which the minds of children are also being targeted.<br>
Last year's mailings were sent out by the Heartland Institute, an
Illinois-based think tank that holds an annual conference that has
become a pilgrimage for those who reject the overwhelming findings
of the scientific community that humans are causing the earth's
climate to change. The packages contained pamphlets, a DVD and a
book titled "Why Scientists Disagree about Global Warming." A
spokesman for the group said it sent more than 350,000 packages to
K-12 and college-level science teachers last year...<br>
- - - - - - -<br>
Among those who've picked up a copy of the PRI book is Lisa Ballard,
an environmental science teacher at Glendale Union High School
District in Phoenix. She said she and other teachers at her school
received the Heartland packages last year. She said she was shocked
to find a colleague was considering using those materials in her
class.<br>
"I had a talk with her," she said. "I told her it wasn't credible
and not aligned with our standards, and she said she'd had no idea."<br>
Ballard suspects there are many other teachers out there like her
colleague.<br>
"Teachers don't get a lot of free stuff, so when they do – even if
it's just slightly relevant to their class – they'll be inclined to
use it," she said.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/mailings-to-teachers-highlight-a-political-fight-over-climate-change-in-the-classroom/">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/mailings-to-teachers-highlight-a-political-fight-over-climate-change-in-the-classroom/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Bill Maher video 6:06]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://youtu.be/Syc6CpF3GZw">Gina
McCarthy on Bill Maher: "All Out Attack on Science"</a></b><br>
March 24, 2018<br>
Former EPA Administrator and Harvard Center for Health and the
Global Environment Director Gina McCarthy joins Bill to discuss the
intersection of science, safety, and policy. <br>
Gina McCarthy | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://youtu.be/Syc6CpF3GZw">https://youtu.be/Syc6CpF3GZw</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[FactCheck.Org: FALSE] <br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.factcheck.org/2018/03/smiths-error-filled-climate-op-ed/">Smith's
Error-Filled Climate Op-Ed</a></b><br>
By Vanessa Schipani, Posted on March 23, 2018<br>
<blockquote><b>Lamar Smith,U.S. Representative</b><br>
Wrote that climate scientists have predicted "global temperatures
would increase more than one degree Celsius by 2020," but observed
temperatures have been only "half as high."<br>
Op-ed for Fox News – Monday, March 12, 2018<br>
</blockquote>
- Smith took a quote by climate scientist Stephen Schneider out of
context, claiming he advised other researchers in his field to
"never express doubt" about their work to the public.<br>
- Smith said climate scientists have predicted "global temperatures
would increase more than one degree Celsius by 2020," but observed
temperatures have been "half as high." Since the late 19th century,
the planet has already warmed about 1.1 C, says NASA.<br>
- He said research shows the Paris agreement "would decrease warming
only 0.16 degree Celsius by 2100." But the author of that study said
his research was cherry-picked.<br>
- He claimed the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has
"low confidence" that climate change contributes to extreme weather.
The IPCC's confidence in 2012 varied from medium to low. Newer
reports by other organizations have increased confidence.<br>
- He said "the historical record disproves" climate scientists who
have "tried to link [hurricanes] and climate change." But there is
evidence to suggest there's a link.<br>
- He claimed wildfires are "decreasing in frequency." But they've
increased in total acreage - the metric scientists use to measure
fire behavior.<br>
- Smith, who announced his retirement from Congress when his term
ends this year, primarily argued in his March 12 op-ed that the
House Science, Space and Technology Committee - unlike "climate
alarmists" - "follows the scientific method, which welcomes
critiques, avoids exaggerated predictions, and relies on unbiased
data."<br>
Yet his op-ed is filled with scientifically inaccurate claims.<br>
- - - - - -<br>
Smith took a quote by Stephen Schneider, a professor at Stanford
University who died in 2010, out of context when he claimed the
climate scientist "has said, '…we have to offer up scary scenarios,
make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any
doubts we might have.' " Smith added, "His message is clear: never
express doubt and never accept any critiques." That was not
Schneider's message.<br>
The quote comes from an article published in Discover magazine's
1989 issue. Schneider, who also served as a co-author or lead author
on all five IPCC reports, provides the full quote from that article
in an editorial he wrote for the American Physical Society's
newspaper in 1996. (We verified this quote's accuracy with a
microfilm version of that issue of Discover.)<br>
<blockquote>Schneider, Oct. 1989, Discover: On the one hand, as
scientists we are ethically bound to the scientific method, in
effect promising to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but – which means that we must include all the doubts, the
caveats, the ifs, ands, and buts. On the other hand, we are not
just scientists but human beings as well. And like most people
we'd like to see the world a better place, which in this context
translates into our working to reduce the risk of potentially
disastrous climatic change. To do that we need to get some
broadbased support, to capture the public's imagination. That, of
course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we have to
offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements,
and make little mention of any doubts we might have. This 'double
ethical bind' we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by
any formula. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is
between being effective and being honest. I hope that means being
both.<br>
</blockquote>
- - - - - - <br>
Smith also made a couple of faulty claims about global temperatures.
For one, he claimed that global warming predictions scientists made
in the 1970s "are so far off" observed temperatures.<br>
<blockquote>Smith, March 12: Since the late 1970s, climate
scientists have told the American people that global temperatures
would increase more than one degree Celsius by 2020. However,
actual satellite temperature observations do not support these
predictions. Observed temperatures were less than half as high as
the climate models' predictions. When the predictions are so far
off, we should not make policy decisions based on them.<br>
</blockquote>
We couldn't find any support for Smith's claims, and his office
didn't provide us with any solid support either. The spokesperson
said that "climate models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change consistently predict temperatures that are higher
than the temperature[s] that are observed by satellites."<br>
- - - - - -<br>
Lastly, Smith claimed in his op-ed: "Examination of patterns of
other extreme weather events in the United States shows that a
changing climate does not increase the frequency of these events,"
adding, "U.S. wildland fires are decreasing in frequency." But
scientists look at the total acreage of fires - not the number of
fires - to evaluate links with global warming. And the total acreage
has increased since at least the 1980s.<br>
Kari Cobb, a spokesperson for the National Interagency Fire Center,
explained to us by email: "It's important to look at the acreage
burned over the number of fires reported because that is what is
indicative of fire behavior."<br>
The "acres burned can be tied to environmental factors like climate
and availability of fuels," such as dry leaves, brush or grass. But
the number of fires "does not provide a correlation to most
environmental factors that truly affect fire." In other words, "All
it provides is how many of fires were reported, not how that fire
behaved or moved across the landscape," she said.<br>
We also spoke with Cobb for an article we wrote back in October that
looked at whether global warming is linked to the increase in the
total acreage of wildfires in the West - an increase that dates back
to at least the 1980s. As we pointed out in that piece, researchers
say a hot and dry summer - conditions more likely in a warmer world
- caused widespread wildfires in Western states last year. But land
use changes dating back to the 1800s have also played a role.<br>
When we asked Cobb in October what role climate change plays in the
severity and length of the fire season, she pointed to "longer
summers, higher temperatures, decreased precipitation, and longer
episodes of drought." She added, "The combination of these changes
has increased the availability of dry fuels and the ease at which
fire ignites and spreads." <br>
Overall, Smith's Fox News piece twisted the words, findings and
methods of climate scientists, making it what we'd call an
error-filled op-ed.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.factcheck.org/2018/03/smiths-error-filled-climate-op-ed/">https://www.factcheck.org/2018/03/smiths-error-filled-climate-op-ed/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Automotive News]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.autonews.com/article/20180323/OEM11/180329841/cafe-moves-bring-uncertainty">Moves
on CAFE could just bring uncertainty</a></b><br>
March 23, 2018 - Eric Kulisch<br>
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration finally will tip its hand this
week about how it intends to treat fuel efficiency rules in place
for early next decade, but clear answers on potential changes likely
will take several months.<br>
Clean-air advocates expect the White House to significantly water
down Obama-era standards aimed at addressing global warming,
throwing into doubt the unified national program that automakers say
protects them from the cost and complexity of building vehicles to
disparate government specifications.<br>
Automakers lobbied a year ago for a second look at the EPA's
tailpipe emission standards for the 2022-25 model years and got
their wish with the new Republican administration. But the outcome
of that effort is replete with risks for all stakeholders -- not
least the automakers themselves.<br>
The forthcoming decisions may be anticlimactic. The EPA has a
regulatory deadline to issue a final determination by Sunday, April
1. The administrator widely is expected to announce that the
standards are not appropriate, which would then kick off a new
rule-making process. The explanation for the decision could provide
insight into which way the agency is headed. A proposal for new
standards could take months, although some reports say officials are
shooting for a release this summer.<br>
Bloomberg and Reuters, both citing anonymous sources, reported
Friday that EPA officials have decided that <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.autonews.com/article/20180323/OEM11/180329782/epa-poised-to-side-with-automakers-calls-to-ease-fuel-rules-report">the
2022-2025 standards should be relaxed</a>. <br>
Car companies insist they only wanted the government to stick to the
original timetable for evaluation of the corporate average fuel
economy standards, rather than the Obama administration's
accelerated review, in hopes of gaining some flexibility with
compliance. But environmentalists say the gambit could backfire if
an administration with strong deregulation instincts and skepticism
about climate change opts for greater revisions.<br>
"Based on what we've seen from this administration, it's entirely
within the realm of possibility that the standards will be
completely rolled back and flatlined," said David Cooke, senior
vehicles analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Automakers
should have recognized ... this was always a possibility. If all
they wanted was minor tweaks, they didn't need to roll back the
final determination."<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.autonews.com/article/20180323/OEM11/180329841/cafe-moves-bring-uncertainty">http://www.autonews.com/article/20180323/OEM11/180329841/cafe-moves-bring-uncertainty</a><br>
</font><br>
<br>
[Coal looks backwards]<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/03/15/obama-official-trump-cuts-will-leave-coal-clean-agency-unable-function/">Obama
official: Trump cuts will leave coal clean-up agency unable to
function</a><br>
Published on 15/03/2018 By Mark Olalde<br>
The number of mine site inspections is falling and proposed budget
cuts at the federal regulator will further erode oversight, a former
top official warns<br>
Trump-era budget cuts will leave the office that oversees the
clean-up of the nation's coal mines unable to do its job, according
to an official who headed up the division under Barack Obama.<br>
Donald Trump's administration has proposed to slash $130 million
from the annual discretionary budget for the Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE). Savings are to come from
axing a pilot programme that couples reclamation of abandoned sites
with economic development projects and cutting staff numbers 12% to
381 full-time employees.<br>
But Joe Pizarchik, who led OSMRE for seven years until Trump's
inauguration, said it would struggle to fulfil its mandate under the
proposed budget.<br>
"If OSMRE is going to fulfil its legal obligations to assist the
states and tribes, to work with the citizens, to do the statutory
mandated oversight, OSMRE should have approximately 570 employees,"
said Pizarchik.<br>
OSMRE did not respond to requests for comment.<br>
- - - - - <br>
Campaigners expressed fears that enforcement will be further
weakened under Trump's "energy dominance" strategy to promote fossil
fuels.<br>
"It's really been frustrating to watch these lawmakers double down
on their commitment to the industry at the expense of the citizens
and the taxpayers who are really going to have to bear the cost of
the legacy of these mines," said Peter Morgan, a senior attorney at
the Sierra Club who focuses on the coal industry.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/03/15/obama-official-trump-cuts-will-leave-coal-clean-agency-unable-function/">http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/03/15/obama-official-trump-cuts-will-leave-coal-clean-agency-unable-function/</a></font><br>
- - - -<br>
Related Posts:<br>
<a
href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/03/15/investigated-coal-industrys-clean-funds/"
rel="bookmark" title="Why and how we investigated the coal
industry’s clean-up funds" style="box-sizing: border-box;
background-color: transparent; color: rgb(33, 117, 155);
text-decoration: none; font-weight: 700;">Why and how we
investigated the coal industry's clean-up funds</a><br>
<a
href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/03/15/crackdown-coal-mine-self-bonds-stalls-trump/"
rel="bookmark" title="Crackdown on coal mine ‘self-bonds’ stalls
under Trump" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color:
transparent; color: rgb(33, 117, 155); text-decoration: none;
font-weight: 700;">Crackdown on coal mine 'self-bonds' stalls
under Trump</a><br>
<a
href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/03/14/us-coal-hasnt-set-aside-enough-money-clean-mines/"
rel="bookmark" title="US coal hasn’t set aside enough money to
clean up its mines" style="box-sizing: border-box;
background-color: transparent; color: rgb(33, 117, 155);
text-decoration: none; font-weight: 700;">US coal hasn't set aside
enough money to clean up its mines</a><br>
<a
href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/01/11/arch-coal-goes-bankrupt-as-us-sector-declines/"
rel="bookmark" title="Arch Coal goes bankrupt as US sector
declines" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color:
transparent; color: rgb(33, 117, 155); text-decoration: none;
font-weight: 700;">Arch Coal goes bankrupt as US sector declines</a><br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/03/15/obama-official-trump-cuts-will-leave-coal-clean-agency-unable-function/">http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/03/15/obama-official-trump-cuts-will-leave-coal-clean-agency-unable-function/</a></font><br>
- - - <br>
[meanwhile]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/02/01/chile-declares-start-coal-power-phase/">Chile
declares start of coal power phase-out</a></b><br>
Published on 01/02/2018<br>
President Michelle Bachelet says the country will not build new coal
plants without carbon capture and begin talks to replace existing
capacity with cleaner sources<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/02/01/chile-declares-start-coal-power-phase/">http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/02/01/chile-declares-start-coal-power-phase/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[SMU Research]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://blog.smu.edu/research/2018/03/20/radar-images-show-large-swath-of-texas-oil-patch-is-heaving-and-sinking-at-alarming-rates/">Radar
images show large swath of West Texas oil patch is heaving and
sinking at alarming rates</a></b><br>
Analysis indicates decades of oil production activity have
destabilized localities in an area of about 4,000 square miles
populated by small towns, roadways and a vast network of oil and gas
pipelines and storage tanks<br>
Two giant sinkholes near Wink, Texas, may just be the tip of the
iceberg, according to a new study that found alarming rates of new
ground movement extending far beyond the infamous sinkholes.<br>
That's the finding of a geophysical team from Southern Methodist
University, Dallas that previously reported the rapid rate at which
the sinkholes are expanding and new ones forming.<br>
Now the team has discovered that various locations in large portions
of four Texas counties are also sinking and uplifting.<br>
Radar satellite images show significant movement of the ground
across localities in a 4000-square-mile area - in one place as much
as 40 inches over the past two-and-a-half years, say the
geophysicists.<br>
"The ground movement we're seeing is not normal. The ground doesn't
typically do this without some cause," said geophysicist Zhong Lu, a
professor in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences at
SMU and a global expert in satellite radar imagery analysis.<br>
- - - - - -<br>
Ground movement associated with oil activity<br>
The SMU researchers found a significant relationship between ground
movement and oil activities that include pressurized fluid injection
into the region's geologically unstable rock formations.<br>
Fluid injection includes waste saltwater injection into nearby
wells, and carbon dioxide flooding of depleting reservoirs to
stimulate oil recovery.<br>
Injected fluids increase the pore pressure in the rocks, and the
release of the stress is followed by ground uplift. The researchers
found that ground movement coincided with nearby sequences of
wastewater injection rates and volume and CO2 injection in nearby
wells.<br>
Also related to the ground's sinking and upheaval are dissolving
salt formations due to freshwater leaking into abandoned underground
oil facilities, as well as the extraction of oil...<br>
- - - - - -<br>
At two wastewater injection wells 9.3 miles west of Wink and Kermit,
the radar detected upheaval of about 2.1 inches that coincided with
increases in injection volume. The injection wells extend about
4,921 feet to 5,577 feet deep into a sandstone formation.<br>
In the vicinity of 11 CO2 injection wells nearly seven miles
southwest of Monahans, the radar analysis detected surface uplift of
more than 1 inch. The wells are about 2,460 feet to 2,657 feet deep.
As with wastewater injection, CO2 injection increased pore pressure
in the rocks, so when stress was relieved it was followed by uplift
of about 1 inch at the surface...<br>
Radar analysis by the SMU team detected rapid subsidence ranging
from three-fourths of an inch to nearly 4 inches around active
wells, abandoned wells and orphaned wells...<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://blog.smu.edu/research/2018/03/20/radar-images-show-large-swath-of-texas-oil-patch-is-heaving-and-sinking-at-alarming-rates/">http://blog.smu.edu/research/2018/03/20/radar-images-show-large-swath-of-texas-oil-patch-is-heaving-and-sinking-at-alarming-rates/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[video, diplomacy]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://youtu.be/1IwjwkKW_X0">Should
the UN Security Council take up climate change and if so how?
Interview with Prof. Ken Conca</a></b><br>
Adelphi, Berlin Published on Mar 12, 2018<br>
The UN Security Council is under increasing pressure to incorporate
climate threats under its global security umbrella. Ken Conca,
Professor of International Relations at the American University,
highlights current barriers for the UNSC to take up the issue and
suggests steps to a transformation of the body.<br>
The Climate Diplomacy initiative is a collaborative effort of the
German Federal Foreign Office in partnership with adelphi (<a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.climate-diplomacy.org">http://www.climate-diplomacy.org</a>).
<br>
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- - - - -<br>
"So there have been several proposals to try to get the Security
Council more active and engaged on the question of climate change.
One thing our work shows it that there are a few really difficult
challenges to doing that more effectively.<br>
First, the Council really struggles with information flows. It does
not have any independent capacity to generate good analyses and
information. The countries on the Council that do have that capacity
often don't share that information and information is shared very
poorly with other parts of the United Nations system. For example
the humanitarian organs.<br>
Second problem is: the Council is almost inevitably a reactive body.
And so much of the climate security agenda is preventive. What we
keep hearing when we talk to people in and around the Council is
that until crisis hits, until refugees start showing up its very
difficult to know what it is that the Council could do. <br>
And a third problem is many other countries around the Council are
very weary of seeing it intrude upon the responsibilities of other
parts of the UN system, the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Chance, the activities of some of the specialised agencies. There is
lots of suspicion about the Council as being a hierarchical,
unrepresentative body. And there is a strong preference on the part
of many countries to move climate conversations into the more
legitimate parts of the United Nations. Those that are governed by
the climate change convention for example....<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://youtu.be/1IwjwkKW_X0">https://youtu.be/1IwjwkKW_X0</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[science overview video]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://youtu.be/fDJP5RgKkj4?t=9m25s">2017 Fall Meeting -
U23A: Climate Science Special Report</a></b><br>
U23A: Climate Science Special Report: An Assessment of the Science
Focusing on the United States <br>
Tuesday, 12 December 2017 13:40 - 15:40 <br>
Donald J Wuebbles, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign<br>
Patrick C Taylor, NASA Langley Research Center<br>
David R Easterling, NOAA Asheville<br>
Robert E Kopp, Rutgers University, Department of Earth &
Planetary Sciences<br>
Michael F Wehner, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory<br>
Benjamin Joseph DeAngelo, US Global Change Research Program<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://youtu.be/fDJP5RgKkj4?t=9m25s">https://youtu.be/fDJP5RgKkj4?t=9m25s</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<font size="+1"><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="March%2025,%202005:%20In%20a%20Boston%20Globe%20column%20later%20republished%20in%20the%20New%20York%20Times,%20Derrick%20Z.%20Jackson%20notes,%20%22Every%20time%20the%20world%20calls%20for%20action%20on%20climate%20change,%20the%20United%20States%20emits%20more%20White%20House%20gases.%22,,http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/03/25/hot_air_and_global_warming/">This
Day in Climate History - March 25, 2005</a> - from D.R.
Tucker</b></font><br>
March 25, 2005: In a Boston Globe column later republished in the
New York Times, Derrick Z. Jackson notes, "Every time the world
calls for action on climate change, the United States emits more
White House gases."<br>
<blockquote>Earlier in the month, the former chief scientific
adviser to the British government, Lord May of Oxford, bluntly
compared Bush to a modern-day Nero. Last fall, British Prime
Minister Tony Blair said, ''If what the science tells about
climate change is correct, then unabated it will result in
catastrophic consequences for our world. The science almost
certainly is correct."<br>
<br>
At the recent London conference, Brown said, ''Environmental
issues including climate change have traditionally been placed in
a category separate from the economy and from economic policy. But
this is no longer tenable. Across a range of environmental issues,
from soil erosion to the depletion of marine stocks, from water
scarcity to air pollution, it is clear now not just that economic
activity is their cause, but that these problems in themselves
threaten future economic activity and growth."<br>
<br>
Nero and his fiddlers would hear none of that. Asked last month
what the science was on global warming, Connaughton said on CNBC,
''There are many different views."<br>
<br>
The science ceased to have many views years ago. The very first
sentence in the executive summary of the 2001 National Academies
of Science report on climate change begins with, ''Greenhouse
gases are accumulating in Earth's atmosphere as a result of human
activities . . . " The report further said, ''Global warming could
well have serious adverse societal and ecological impacts by the
end of this century." The science continues to choke under the
White House effect.<br>
</blockquote>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/03/25/hot_air_and_global_warming">http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/03/25/hot_air_and_global_warming</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
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