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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>March 14, 2020</b></font></i></p>
[The bigger picture]<br>
<b>Social Distancing? You Might Be Fighting Climate Change, Too</b><br>
Isolation and other shifts in behavior during the coronavirus
outbreak could also alter our greenhouse gas emissions. But will the
changes stick?<br>
By John Schwartz<br>
March 13, 2020<br>
As the nation shifts abruptly into the fight against coronavirus, a
question arises: could social isolation help reduce an individual's
production of greenhouse gases and end up having unexpected
consequences for climate change?<br>
<br>
The biggest sources of carbon emissions caused by our lifestyles
come from three activities, said Kimberly Nicholas, a researcher at
the Lund University Center for Sustainability Studies in Sweden:
"Any time you can avoid getting on a plane, getting in a car or
eating animal products, that's a substantial climate savings." Many
people trying to avoid the coronavirus are already two-thirds of the
way there...<br>
- - -<br>
<b>Transportation: Big Reductions</b><br>
People are staying home and flying less. That's good for the planet,
Dr. Nicholas said. "For average Americans, the biggest source of
greenhouse gas emissions is driving," she said. Anything that
reduces driving, including working from home, "has a big impact on
our climate pollution." Avoiding air travel can have a large effect
as well: one round-trip flight from New York to London, she said,
produces as much greenhouse gas emissions as the preventive climate
impact of nearly eight years of recycling. Dr. Nicholas was an
author of a 2018 study that examines greenhouse gas emissions
reductions in actions people take to fight climate change, and is
currently writing a book about personal action and the climate
crisis...<br>
- - -<br>
<b>Food: A Big Maybe</b><br>
Dr. Jones has done research into the relative carbon footprints of
dining at home or dining out, but, so far, the results are fuzzy.
"We don't have conclusive evidence yet," he said, citing the
comparative efficiency benefits of eating out and the waste involved
in making meals at home. "We waste about 25 percent of the food that
we buy," he said. If you drive long distances to go to a favorite
place -- like Austinites who drive more than 30 miles to Lockhart,
Tex., for excellent barbecue, "that's going to swamp the emissions
from your food."...<br>
- - <br>
<b>At Home: It's Still Location, Location, Location</b><br>
For people who turn their thermostats down while they are out of the
house, staying home means more heat, and more greenhouse gases. But
when it comes to the greenhouse gas impact of heating your home,
"Where you live is by far the biggest factor in determining your
carbon footprint," Dr. Jones said. "If you live in a cold climate,
heating your home can more than offset the savings from driving your
vehicle."...<br>
- - <br>
<b>Shopping: More, Less, Differently?</b><b><br>
</b>If you're at home staring at your computer without the prying
eyes of your co-workers, you may be tempted to shop online a bit
more. Or maybe you'll avoid the supermarket or mass transit by
ordering your groceries. A bump in online shopping might be bad for
your wallet, but it could be good for the planet, Dr. Nicholas said.
She cited research suggesting that people who decide to use online
ordering and package delivery could well be reducing their effect on
climate change, thanks to the benefits of logistically organized,
centralized delivery routes and driving less. "I would expect in
general that having fewer vehicles on the road is better for the
climate," she said. (While online shopping can reduce greenhouse
gases, it is most effective when you order in bulk to limit the
number of trips delivery vehicles make to your home.)...<br>
- - -<br>
Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease
Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said that the
disease, for all of the pain and destruction it is causing, can
teach important lessons. "It's unfortunate to learn it this way, but
we're learning we can do a whole lot more today in terms of what we
do, how we do it and where we do it."<br>
<br>
"Never waste even a tragic crisis," he said.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/climate/coronavirus-habits-carbon-footprint.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/climate/coronavirus-habits-carbon-footprint.html</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[simple explanation from Yale]<br>
<b>Burning fossil fuels heats the climate. It also harms public
health.</b><br>
It's a double whammy.<br>
<br>
ir pollution kills people. This is not an abstract, faraway, or
uncertain conclusion.<br>
<br>
Public health researchers are beginning to conclude there is no safe
level of air pollution. Even small doses trigger health problems.
And the greater the concentration, the worse the health outcomes.
All told, outdoor air pollution is among the world's greatest public
health risks, responsible for nearly 4.5 million deaths worldwide in
2015.<br>
<br>
Why is this relevant to climate change? The primary solution to
climate change is also the most potent way to tackle air pollution:
Burn less fossil fuel. Resistance remains to taking action to
address climate change, particularly among Republican lawmakers, in
part because some of the worst consequences of climate change seem
far away in time and space. Some might see melting ice sheets, human
migrations in other parts of the world, or species extinctions in
boreal forests as unlikely or unimportant.<br>
<br>
But shifting the topic to air pollution allows for a more direct way
to connect the problem with its consequences.<br>
<br>
In the U.S., air pollution kills around 100,000 people every year.
It's the cause of 3% of all U.S. deaths, which is more deaths than
traffic accidents and homicides combined, and air pollution costs
the American economy up to $1 trillion per year. So while some still
debate the greenhouse effect, few can deny the importance of saving
American lives – and lungs...<br>
- - <br>
<b>The immediate benefits of addressing air pollution</b><b><br>
</b>Actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can be a hard sell
among skeptical audiences. Common avenues of resistance are that it
will cost too much, or that China is the real culprit of climate
change, or that the effects of climate action are too intangible.
But by shifting the topic to air pollution, those arguments may fall
away. Reducing air pollution by burning less fossil fuels offers
concrete, immediate, and local benefits for people and for the
economy.<br>
<br>
Case in point: A worldwide phase-out of fossil fuels would prevent
the premature deaths of 3 to 4 million people each year, according
to a 2019 study. Another study concluded that aggressive climate
policy would avert 150 million air-pollution deaths worldwide over
the next 80 years – and this is in addition to the social benefits
of reducing the climate impacts like heat stress, flooding, and crop
loss.<br>
<br>
As policymakers pencil out the costs for climate mitigation, it's
worth noting that the economic gains from reducing air pollution
substantially outweigh the cost of achieving greenhouse gas
emissions targets at either 1.5 degree Celsius or 2 degree Celsius
thresholds. In some cases, the savings from avoiding pollution would
be more than double the costs of emissions reduction, with the
biggest benefits going to nations like China and India. In the U.S.,
an estimated 10 to 41% of the price tag for lowering greenhouse
emissions could be offset by improvements in public health.<br>
<br>
A rhetorical advantage to talking about air pollution is that unlike
climate change, the issue dodges the steady drumbeat of dismissive
talking points. While cries of, "But the climate has changed
before!" resonate across any discussion of climate change, there are
few arguments that can be levied in support of air pollution.<br>
<br>
Better yet, a fresh angle on climate solutions can pave the way for
building common ground. By sidestepping the land mines of tired
talking points, it's easier to direct the discussion to where it's
needed most: how to ease the burden of pollution on the planet and
ourselves.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/03/burning-fossil-fuels-heats-the-climate-it-also-harms-public-health/">https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/03/burning-fossil-fuels-heats-the-climate-it-also-harms-public-health/</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
[safe strikes]<br>
<b>ClimateStrikeOnline</b><br>
Greta Thunberg, who started the Fridays for Future movement as a
solitary striker in front of Sweden's parliament in 2018, reassured
climate activists that the fight for aggressive climate policies is
still on. On Wednesday, she told her Twitter followers to "do as the
experts say" by avoiding large crowds to avoid spreading the virus.
In place of in-person protest, she encouraged activists to "post a
photo of you striking with a sign and use the hashtag
#ClimateStrikeOnline."<br>
<br>
This morning, Twitter users using the hashtags #ClimateStrikeOnline
or #DigitalStrike did just that -- posting pictures of themselves
holding homemade signs with slogans like "There Is No Planet B" and
"Stop Fossil Fools." Thunberg posted a picture of herself flanked by
her two dogs and holding her famous "Skolstrejk för klimatet"
("School strike for climate") sign.<br>
<br>
"We listen to the science, and right now the science says that mass
gatherings will cause harm. But that won't stop us from striking,"
Fridays For Future said in a statement. "The climate emergency is
the biggest crisis we have ever faced, it won't wait until after
COVID-19 is dealt with -- so we can't either."<br>
-- Rachel Ramirez<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://twitter.com/itsarigrace/status/1238550519615913984">https://twitter.com/itsarigrace/status/1238550519615913984</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
[Digging back into the internet news archive]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming -
March 14, 2012 </b></font><br>
"NBC Nightly News" reports on the risk of rising sea levels. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://youtu.be/DSy2UCNwchM">http://youtu.be/DSy2UCNwchM</a><br>
<br>
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