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<font size="+1"><i>May 13, 2018</i></font><br>
<br>
[Arizona wildfires]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-wildfires/2018/05/12/officials-report-200-acre-pinery-fire-douglas-arizona/605325002/">Pinery
Fire in southern Arizona swells to 675 acres; 6 hotshot crews
called to assist</a></b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-wildfires/2018/05/12/officials-report-200-acre-pinery-fire-douglas-arizona/605325002/">https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-wildfires/2018/05/12/officials-report-200-acre-pinery-fire-douglas-arizona/605325002/</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.azfireinfo.az.gov/">http://www.azfireinfo.az.gov/</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.azfireinfo.az.gov/wildfire-news">http://www.azfireinfo.az.gov/wildfire-news</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[Obscure phenomena]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/climate/the-wind-is-slowing-down">The
wind is slowing down</a></b><br>
Near-surface wind speeds over landmasses across the planet have
dropped by as much as 25% since the 1970s, and climate scientists
are taking note. Michael Lucy reports<br>
The wind isn't what it used to be. Scientists say surface wind
speeds across the planet have fallen by as much as 25% since the
1970s. The eerie phenomenon - dubbed 'stilling' - is believed to be
a consequence of global warming, and may impact everything from
agriculture to the liveability of our cities. It has taken more than
a decade for scientists to get a handle on stilling, a term coined
by Australian National University ecohydrologist Michael Roderick in
2007.<br>
Roderick had spent years studying a 50-year decline across Europe
and North America of a climate metric called pan evaporation. It
measures the rate at which water evaporates from a dish left
outside. With his colleague biophysicist Graham Farquhar, he found
the cause: the sunlight had dimmed due to air pollution. Less light
equals slower evaporation.<br>
In 2002, after publishing the explanation in the journal Science,
Roderick received a query from Roger Beale, the head of Australia's
federal department for the environment. Was pan evaporation also
declining in Australia? "To my embarrassment," Roderick recalls, "I
had to say I didn't know, because I'd never looked."<br>
Two years later, he had an answer: the pan evaporation rate was also
falling in Australia. It was puzzling, however, as air pollution
levels on the continent were lower than those of Europe or North
America...<br>
- - - - -<br>
In Australia in the 1970s, average wind speed a couple of metres
above the ground was 2.2 metres per second: in 2017 it was 1.6
metres per second.<br>
Over landmasses from as far north as Svalbard, 1,050 km from the
North Pole, to as far south as the coast of Antarctica,
"observations show that wind is stilling", McVicar says.<br>
Conversely, the wind is getting faster around the poles and in
certain coastal areas. In a perplexing twist, ocean winds also
appear to be accelerating.<br>
Several explanations have been proposed for the stilling... <br>
<font size="-1">more at: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/climate/the-wind-is-slowing-down">https://cosmosmagazine.com/climate/the-wind-is-slowing-down</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Excellent briefings on the science of modeling our future climate]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://youtu.be/WdRiYPJLt4o">A
Short Introduction to Climate Models - CMIP & CMIP6</a></b><br>
World Climate Research Programme<br>
Published on Jun 21, 2017<br>
As part of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP)
organized under the auspices of the World Climate Research
Programme's (WCRP) Working Group on Coupled Modelling (WGCM) many
hundreds of climate researchers, working with modeling centres
around the world, will share, compare and analyze the latest
outcomes of global climate models. These model products will fuel
climate research for the next 5 to 10 years, while its careful
analysis will form the basis for future climate assessments and
negotiations.<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://youtu.be/WdRiYPJLt4o">https://youtu.be/WdRiYPJLt4o</a><br>
- - - -<br>
</font><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGi2a0tNjOo">5.1
Introduction to Climate Modeling</a></b><font size="-1"><br>
Climate Literacy<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGi2a0tNjOo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGi2a0tNjOo</a><br>
- - - - -<br>
</font><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtoZoAkEY2Q">5.2 Choices
Climate Modelers Make</a></b><font size="-1"><br>
Climate Literacy<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtoZoAkEY2Q">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtoZoAkEY2Q</a><br>
</font>- - - - <br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.youtube.com/user/climateliteracy/featured">Climate
Literacy YouTube video channel</a></b><br>
<font size="-1">These are the lecture videos from the free UBC
course Climate Literacy: Navigating Climate Change Conversations,
which tackles the scientific and socio-political dimensions of
climate change. This course introduces the basics of the climate
system, models and predictions, human and natural impacts,
mitigative and adaptive responses, and the evolution of climate
policy. This course formed the basis of the book Understanding
Climate Change: Science, Policy, and Practice, which is available
at:University of Toronto Press:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.utppublishing.com/Understanding-Climate-Change-Science-Policy-and-Practice.html">http://www.utppublishing.com/Understanding-Climate-Change-Science-Policy-and-Practice.html</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/user/climateliteracy/featured">https://www.youtube.com/user/climateliteracy/featured</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[understatement]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10052018/epa-clean-air-act-standards-health-data-smog-science-scott-pruitt-american-lung-association-naaqs">Scott
Pruitt Plans to Radically Alter How Clean Air Standards Are Set</a></b><br>
Human health alone is supposed to drive air quality standards
decisions. The EPA administrator's new memo emphasizes economic cost
and impact on energy development. <br>
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said Thursday he wants to radically
revise how basic, health-based national air quality standards are
set, giving more weight to the economic costs of achieving them and
taking into account their impacts on energy development.<br>
Under the law, the standards, setting uniform goals for breathable
air, are supposed to be reviewed periodically asking only one
question: whether they are protective enough to ensure the health of
even the most vulnerable people, based on the best available
science.<br>
A foundational feature of the landmark Clean Air Act, the setting of
these standards based on health, and not cost or feasibility, was
defended adamantly on the Senate floor in 1970 by the bill's main
author, Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine, who declared: "That concept and
that philosophy are behind every page of the proposed legislation."<br>
It has withstood legal and political tests for a generation.<br>
Pruitt's proposal would jettison it.,,<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10052018/epa-clean-air-act-standards-health-data-smog-science-scott-pruitt-american-lung-association-naaqs">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10052018/epa-clean-air-act-standards-health-data-smog-science-scott-pruitt-american-lung-association-naaqs</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
Ocean Risk Summit Bulletin<br>
Volume 186 Number 12 | Sunday, 13 May 2018<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://enb.iisd.org/oceans/risk/summit-1/html/enbplus186num12e.html">Summary
of the Ocean Risk Summit</a></b><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://enb.iisd.org/oceans/risk/summit-1/html/enbplus186num12e.html"><br>
</a></b>8-10 May 2018 | Southampton, Bermuda<br>
Visit our IISD/ENB Meeting Coverage from Southampton, Bermuda at:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://enb.iisd.org/oceans/risk/summit-1/">http://enb.iisd.org/oceans/risk/summit-1/</a><br>
Organized by insurance and reinsurance group XL Catlin, in
partnership with Ocean Unite, the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Bermuda Institute of Ocean
Sciences, the Bermuda Business Development Agency, and other
scientific and Bermuda-based partners, the first Ocean Risk Summit
convened from 8-10 May 2018 at the Fairmont Southampton, Bermuda.
The Summit brought together more than 200 participants, including
scientists, business leaders, and policy makers.<br>
<br>
The Summit was organized around the following themes: our changing
ocean; managing and reducing ocean risk; building resilience; and
applied solutions. It served as a platform to showcase the latest
research on the interrelated changes taking place in the ocean,
covering issues from threats to global food security and human
health, to the impacts of hurricanes on communities, ecosystems, and
businesses.<br>
<br>
During the Summit, participants met in five working groups to
discuss: natural capital and ecosystems services; cities, islands,
coastal infrastructure and tourism; regenerating ocean life; fishing
and aquaculture; and marine pollution, including litter and
microplastics. The Summit also addressed technological advances for
ocean data collection and discussing innovative solutions, including
novel financial instruments, with the aim of creating the necessary
synergies to address ocean-related challenges.<br>
See:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://enb.iisd.org/oceans/risk/summit-1/html/enbplus186num12e.html">http://enb.iisd.org/oceans/risk/summit-1/html/enbplus186num12e.html</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[Arctic heats up]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/industry-and-energy/2018/05/norway-expands-arctic-oil-drilling-while-co2-levels-atmosphere-reach-new">Norway
expands Arctic oil drilling while CO2 levels in atmosphere reach
new pea</a></b>k<br>
Strongly criticized by environmental groups, Ministry of Petroleum
and Energy announces 56 new blocks in the Barents Sea.<br>
By Thomas Nilsen<br>
May 09, 2018<br>
"Awarding acreage in mature areas in annual predefined areas is an
important part of the Norwegian Government's commitment to a stable
and long-term petroleum policy," says Minister Terje Soviknes in a
press-statement from Oslo on May 9th.<br>
With the announcement, the predefined area off the coast of Northern
Norway has been expended with 103 new blocks, 47 in the Norwegian
Sea and 56 in the Barents Sea. For the Barents Sea, the new areas
include blocks east of the existing predefined areas, that means
closer to Norway's maritime border with Russia.<br>
Terje Soviknes is Minister of oil and energy. Photo: Thomas Nilsen<br>
Last summer, a major drilling campaign in the Barents Sea failed to
discover commercial oil-fields, but the Petroleum ministry remains
optimistic.<br>
"Access to prospective exploration acreage is crucial in order to
make new petroleum discoveries. New discoveries on the Norwegian
continental shelf ensure value creation, employment and Government
revenues," minister Soviknes says. He underlines it is an important
pillar of the Government's policy to facilitate oil companies in a
continued safe and effective exploration...<br>
<font size="-1">more at: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/industry-and-energy/2018/05/norway-expands-arctic-oil-drilling-while-co2-levels-atmosphere-reach-new">https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/industry-and-energy/2018/05/norway-expands-arctic-oil-drilling-while-co2-levels-atmosphere-reach-new</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[assisted migrations]<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.torreyaguardians.org/guardians.html">Torreya
Guardians in the Media</a></b><br>
Torreya Guardians is a self-organized group of naturalists,
botanists, ecologists, and others with a deep concern for
biodiversity protection, who have chosen to use the internet as a
tool for discussing ideas, posting plans, and taking a variety of
actions in behalf of our most endangered conifer tree: Torreya
taxifolia.<br>
There are no by-laws, officers, board, staff, overhead costs, dues,
formal organizational structure, or physical location to this
organization.<br>
Torreya Guardians does not speak or take action as a group, but
instead encourages subsets of those involved to post ideas and
initiatives on this website and to help establish links with
synergistic organizations and websites.<br>
"A common prediction for how plants will respond to climate change
is that it is humans who got them into this mess and so it is humans
who will have to get them out of it. That's why the idea of assisted
migration of species, although often illustrated with the proposal
to shift polar bears to the Antarctic, crops up more frequently in
conversations about how to preserve iconic trees. Indeed, in one of
the only real-world examples of assisted migration so far,
campaigners have planted the seeds of the critically endangered
conifer Torreya taxifolia hundreds of miles north of its Florida
home."<br>
- editorial, 4 December 2017<br>
"Grows well in sun and warmth - and shade and cold" - Nature<br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.torreyaguardians.org/guardians.html">http://www.torreyaguardians.org/guardians.html</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://dark-mountain.net/blog/dark-mountain-issue-13-bearing-witness-to-a-disappearing-world/">DARK
MOUNTAIN: ISSUE 13 - BEARING WITNESS TO A DISAPPEARING WORLD</a></b><br>
by Michael Malay - May, 2018<br>
Today we bring you the last in our series of extracts from our
thirteenth book, an anthology of new writing and art exploring what
'being human' means in an age of rapid ecological and social change.
Dark Mountain: Issue 13 is now available through our online shop for
£15.99 - or for less if you support our work by subscribing to
future issues.<br>
We finish the series with Michael Malay's essay on poetry and
extinction, accompanied by <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://bghooke.com/galleryone.php?photoID=188">an image by
Bruce Hooke</a>. <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://bghooke.com/galleryone.php?photoID=188">http://bghooke.com/galleryone.php?photoID=188</a><br>
<blockquote>It is easy to become despondent, indeed sorrowful, about
these losses: each day we are confronted with appalling statistics
about the loosening footholds (and wing-holds) of mammals and
birds in the UK, not to mention thousands of insect species whose
habitats are being fundamentally changed by human intervention. As
Ursula Heise reminds us, however, narratives of ecological
decline, which often borrow from genre conventions such as tragedy
and elegy, can easily turn into narratives of human decline.
Environmental 'crisis typically becomes a proxy for cultural
concerns,' she writes in Imagining Extinction, a way of telling
stories about the fallen experience of modernity. We therefore
need to understand when sorrow is misplaced - when it is a
projection of cultural anxieties onto nature - and when it stems
from a genuine reckoning of what is being lost. The risk of not
doing so is to tell a story that begins to tell us - a hopeless
story about inevitable decline.<br>
<br>
The other risk of declensionist narratives is that they ignore the
capacity of certain creatures to adapt during times of change. As
Chris Thomas argues in Inheritors of the Earth, some animals seem
to be thriving in the present era. We have damaged the planet
beyond any reasonable measure, he admits, altering its 'great
chemical cycles' and acidifying its oceans, but 'we are still
surrounded by large numbers of species, many of which appear to be
benefiting from our presence' and adapting to 'this human-altered
world'. He also argues that we should situate today's changes in
their 'appropriate historical context, which involves time spans
much longer than we are used to thinking about in our everyday
lives.' This is 'necessary because the story of life on Earth is
one of never-ending change: be that the arrival and disappearance
of species from a particular location (ecological change) or the
longer-term formation of new species and extinction of others
(evolutionary change).'<br>
<br>
This is not to discount the losses of anthropogenic extinction,
which are immense, nor the profligacy with which capitalism
exploits human and non-human life. The long view that Thomas takes
may also come with a subtle danger. Deep time consoles us by
reminding us of earth's endurance and continuity, but such a view
may also desensitise us to the present, to the precious and
fragile life being lost now. We are thus relieved of the duties we
have as citizens of the earth: the duty to articulate an
alternative to the economic systems that are ravaging the planet,
the duty to preserve our green and blue commons for future
generations, and the duty to foster a notion of citizenship that
places the human in humble relations to other creatures, as one
ecological fellow among others. Nevertheless, the persistence
Thomas celebrates in the natural world is real. And this
persistence may offer its own form of hope - that we too may find
ways of flourishing in uncertain times, or, more selflessly, that
animal life will continue evolving and proliferating with or
without their human fellows, inheritors of a future that will
continue despite us.<br>
<br>
All of which is to say that, although much has changed since his
era, Czeslaw Milosz may still offer a guide for our times. The
conditions for bearing witness have altered dramatically
(extinction threatens the very reality of the 'Particular') and it
may be harder to isolate the scene of the crime, such is the scale
of the current unravelling. And yet the poet's insistence on
celebrating the beauty of the world, even as one who kept a record
of 'those who wronged', is as vital as ever. To bear witness today
means to grieve over what is going and gone, to resist a culture
in which such losses go ungrieved, and to identify the forces -
political and economic - that drive environmental destruction and
extinction. But it also means to be captured and moved by the
natural world, which every day presents us with little gates
leading to heaven: the song of a blackbird on a summer evening,
sea trout returning to rivers to spawn, a hare flashing across a
wintry road.<br>
</blockquote>
<font size="-1">More at:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://dark-mountain.net/blog/dark-mountain-issue-13-bearing-witness-to-a-disappearing-world/">http://dark-mountain.net/blog/dark-mountain-issue-13-bearing-witness-to-a-disappearing-world/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
[Climate aware candidates]<br>
<b><a href="http://www.314action.org/endorsed-candidates-1/">314
Action is proud to endorse these scientists and other STEM
leaders who will fight to protect science and stand up to
climate deniers.</a></b><br>
<font size="-1"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.314action.org/endorsed-candidates-1/">http://www.314action.org/endorsed-candidates-1/</a></font><br>
<br>
<br>
<font size="+1"><b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/climate-change-denial-becomes-harder-to-justify/2011/05/13/AF44QQ4G_story.html">This
Day in Climate History - May 15, 2011</a> - from D.R. Tucker</b></font><br>
May 13, 2011: In an editorial, the Washington Post declares,
"Climate change denial becomes harder to justify."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/climate-change-denial-becomes-harder-to-justify/2011/05/13/AF44QQ4G_story.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/climate-change-denial-becomes-harder-to-justify/2011/05/13/AF44QQ4G_story.html</a><br>
<br>
<br>
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