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<i><font size="+1"><b>April 17, 2020</b></font></i><br>
<br>
[BBC on US drought]<br>
<b>Climate change: US megadrought 'already under way'</b><br>
By Matt McGrath<br>
Environment correspondent<br>
A drought, equal to the worst to have hit the western US in recorded
history, is already under way, say scientists.<br>
<br>
Researchers say the megadrought is a naturally occurring event that
started in the year 2000 and is still ongoing.<br>
<br>
Climate change, though, is having a major impact with rising
temperatures making the drought more severe.<br>
<br>
Some researchers are more cautious, saying that it is too early to
say if the region really is seeing a true megadrought.<br>
<br>
According to the authors of this new paper, a megadrought in North
America refers to a multi-decade event, that contains periods of
very high severity that last longer than anything observed during
the 19th or 20th centuries.<br>
<br>
The authors say there have been around 40 drought events over the
period from 800-2018 in the western US.<br>
<br>
Of these, only four meet the criteria for a megadrought.<br>
<br>
These were in the late 800s, the mid-1100s, the 1200s and the late
1500s...<br>
- - -<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52312260">https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52312260</a><br>
- - -<br>
[Source material in Journal Science]<br>
<b>Large contribution from anthropogenic warming to an emerging
North American megadrought</b><br>
<b>A trend of warming and drying</b><br>
<blockquote>Global warming has pushed what would have been a
moderate drought in southwestern North America into megadrought
territory. Williams et al. used a combination of hydrological
modeling and tree-ring reconstructions of summer soil moisture to
show that the period from 2000 to 2018 was the driest 19-year span
since the late 1500s and the second driest since 800 CE (see the
Perspective by Stahle). This appears to be just the beginning of a
more extreme trend toward megadrought as global warming continues.<br>
</blockquote>
<b>Abstract</b><br>
<blockquote>Severe and persistent 21st-century drought in
southwestern North America (SWNA) motivates comparisons to
medieval megadroughts and questions about the role of
anthropogenic climate change. We use hydrological modeling and new
1200-year tree-ring reconstructions of summer soil moisture to
demonstrate that the 2000-2018 SWNA drought was the second driest
19-year period since 800 CE, exceeded only by a late-1500s
megadrought. The megadrought-like trajectory of 2000-2018 soil
moisture was driven by natural variability superimposed on drying
due to anthropogenic warming. Anthropogenic trends in temperature,
relative humidity, and precipitation estimated from 31 climate
models account for 47% (model interquartiles of 35 to 105%) of the
2000-2018 drought severity, pushing an otherwise moderate drought
onto a trajectory comparable to the worst SWNA megadroughts since
800 CE.<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6488/314">https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6488/314</a><br>
full text <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6488/314.full">https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6488/314.full</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Three minute video plea]<br>
<b>The Solutions to the Climate Crisis No One is Talking About</b><br>
Greenpeace worked on this video with Robert Reich and Inequality
Media. <br>
I think this video is particularly important right now because, as
the COVID-19 pandemic shows yet again, crises fall most heavily on
the shoulders of those already facing systemic inequities. The
climate crisis is no different. And this film makes a compelling
case for opposing the fossil fuel industry and create a future that
puts people first.<br>
<b>Robert Reich Explains The Solutions To The Climate Crisis No One
Is Talking About</b><br>
Apr 16, 2020<br>
Greenpeace USA<br>
The climate crisis is worsening inequality, as those who are most
economically vulnerable bear the brunt of flooding, fires, and
disruptions to supplies of food, water, and power. At the same time,
environmental degradation and climate change are themselves
byproducts of widening inequality. The political power of wealthy
fossil fuel corporations has stymied action on climate change for
decades.<br>
Make no mistake: the simultaneous crisis of inequality and climate
is no fluke. <br>
Robert Reich explains the decades of deliberate choices made, and
policies enacted, by ultra-wealthy and powerful corporations that
have led us to this point.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://youtu.be/X194-G-_jbg">https://youtu.be/X194-G-_jbg</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Podcast with transcript]<br>
<b>There Will Be Fraud: How Big Oil Is Using the Pandemic to Push
More Plastic</b><br>
In a new report, the Center for International Environmental Law
looks at the way oil, gas and petrochemical companies are leveraging
the pandemic to push policy and increase profits, and whether these
efforts will ultimately be successful. Carroll Muffet, one of our S3
experts, joins to walk us through some of the key points of the
report, including how the industry is using the pandemic to push
more single-use plastics.<br>
<br>
Read the report: Pandemic Crisis, Systemic Decline: Why Exploiting
the COVID-19 Crisis Will Not Save the Oil, Gas, and Plastics
Industries <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.ciel.org/reports/pandemic-crisis-systemic-decline/">https://www.ciel.org/reports/pandemic-crisis-systemic-decline/</a><br>
Transcripts
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fi4n4g13nqt2f7m/AABRqV6p5_0q9tlllp-v357-a/S3%20Transcripts">https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fi4n4g13nqt2f7m/AABRqV6p5_0q9tlllp-v357-a/S3%20Transcripts</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.drillednews.com/podcasts">https://www.drillednews.com/podcasts</a><br>
- - - <br>
[Center for International Environmental Law]<br>
<b>Pandemic Crisis, Systemic Decline: Why Exploiting the COVID-19
Crisis Will Not Save the Oil, Gas, and Plastic Industries (April
2020)</b><br>
Amidst a global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, the oil,
gas, and plastic industries are exploiting the crisis by
aggressively lobbying for massive bailouts and special privileges in
a desperate attempt to revive an oil and gas industry already in
decline.<br>
<br>
Pandemic Crisis, Systemic Decline: Why Exploiting the COVID-19
Crisis Will Not Save the Oil, Gas, and Plastic Industries documents
how long-term systemic declines in the oil and gas industry had been
accumulating long before the coronavirus pandemic emerged.
Compounded by the impacts of the pandemic and related economic
crisis, the industry's collapse has accelerated, with leading
companies losing an average of 45% of their value since the start of
2020. <br>
<br>
While the current crises have exacerbated the industry's collapse,
its underlying risks remain unchanged. Ultimately, government
bailouts and regulatory rollbacks will not reverse the inevitable
decline of the oil, gas, and plastic industries. <br>
<br>
Recommendations:<br>
Public Officials taking policy action to respond to COVID-19 and the
economic collapse should not waste limited response and recovery
resources on bailouts, debt relief, or similar supports for oil,
gas, and petrochemical companies. <br>
Institutional Investors and Asset Managers should recognize the
overwhelming evidence that the risks of continued investment in
fossil fuels now substantially outweigh the benefits, and they
should rebalance their portfolios to eliminate their exposure to
volatile and declining oil and gas assets.<br>
Frontier Countries considering whether to open their lands, waters,
and democracies to new oil and gas extraction should urgently
reassess their prospects in light of the collapse in oil prices and
demand, demonstrated severe risks of economic dependence on volatile
oil markets, ongoing long-term decline of the sector, and its
fundamental incompatibility with climate action.<br>
Local Communities and Decisionmakers should reject demands from the
oil, gas, and petrochemical sectors for public subsidies, tax
abatements, lax environmental enforcement, or other special
concessions. They should interrogate industry promises of long-term
sustainable employment actively and skeptically, and they should
require evidence to support those claims that goes beyond simplistic
assumptions of market growth. In the rare circumstances where these
burdens are met, affected communities should require project
proponents to irreversibly commit the funds required to restore
communities and the environment when the project reaches the end of
its economic life.<br>
Read the full report.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.ciel.org/reports/pandemic-crisis-systemic-decline/">https://www.ciel.org/reports/pandemic-crisis-systemic-decline/</a><br>
- - -<br>
[Read the full report]<br>
<b>PANDEMIC CRISIS, SYSTEMIC DECLINE</b><b><br>
</b><b>Why Exploiting the COVID-19 Crisis Will Not Save the Oil,
Gas, and Plastic Industries</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Pandemic-Crisis-Systemic-Decline-April-2020.pdf">https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Pandemic-Crisis-Systemic-Decline-April-2020.pdf</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[BBC analysis]<br>
<b>Coronavirus: Don't bail out airlines, say climate campaigners</b><b><br>
</b>By Roger Harrabin<br>
BBC environment analyst<br>
6 April 2020<br>
More than 250 trades unions and environment groups have signed an
open letter opposing plans for bailing out the aviation industry.<br>
<br>
The letter to governments demands that any bailouts lead to better
labour conditions and a cut in emissions.<br>
<br>
They say aviation should make changes already evident in other
sectors amid the coronavirus lockdown.<br>
<br>
Thanks to a long-standing treaty, international aviation has largely
been able to make its own rules.<br>
<br>
The campaigners say this must change now that firms are asking for
new favours from governments<br>
<br>
Their informal group is called "Stay Grounded". Its spokesperson
Magdalena Heuwieser said: "For decades the aviation industry has
avoided contributing meaningfully to global climate goals and
resisted the merest suggestion of taxes on fuel or tickets.<br>
<br>
Bankruptcy risk<br>
"Now, airlines, airports and manufacturers are demanding huge and
unconditional taxpayer-backed bailouts. We cannot let the aviation
industry get away with privatising profits in the good times, and
expect the public to pay for its losses in the bad times."<br>
<br>
The aviation association IATA has conducted what it calls an
"aggressive" global campaign aimed at persuading governments to
introduce measures softening the effect of the virus emergency.<br>
<br>
It's asking for the immediate reduction of all charges and taxes;
deferral of any planned increases in charges and taxes for 6-12
months; and the creation of funds to help airlines restart or
maintain routes.<br>
<br>
It says without such measures, many airlines will go bankrupt -
leading to the loss of routes and damage to the economy, as well as
thousands of job losses.<br>
<br>
Duty freeze<br>
Several nations have agreed to some of the industry's demands but in
the UK the Chancellor Rishi Sunak has told airlines to look to its
own shareholders to keep them running.<br>
<br>
UK airports, meanwhile, are asking ministers to grant them a
suspension of Air Passenger Duty and other measures when the crisis
is over.<br>
<br>
Stay Grounded has a very different recipe for a successful outcome
at the end of the crisis.<br>
<br>
It wants a focus on protecting workers not shareholders; making
aviation firms contribute to emissions reductions by cutting air
travel demand and strengthening low-carbon alternatives like rail
travel; while imposing a kerosene tax and progressive levies on
frequent flying.<br>
<br>
Pablo Munoz from the Spanish organisation Ecologistas en Accion,
said: "While we are rightly focused on saving lives during the
immediate health threat of, our governments have a choice: they can
hand taxpayers' money to corporations unconditionally, or they can
seize the opportunity to start building an economy which doesn't
harm people or the planet".<br>
<br>
This touches on a much deeper debate about the nature of the
post-Covid recovery. There's a gulf between people who want to use
the crisis for a green stimulus to the economy, whilst others warn
that so much money will have been spent conquering the virus that
there will be little left for clean energy investment.<br>
IATA has been approached for a comment.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52190502">https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52190502</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
[An important video lecture with clear advice]<br>
<b>Climate Depression: Confronting Eco-Anxiety in the Age of
Crisis</b><br>
Mar 31, 2020<br>
Jennifer Atkinson<br>
As our climate crisis grows, new research shows that ecological
loss is taking a huge emotional toll. Terms like "eco-grief,"
"climate depression" & "pre-traumatic stress" are becoming
increasingly common. Meanwhile, frontline communities --
particularly poor & historically marginalized groups -- are
experiencing the brunt of climate disruption & suffering from
significant mental health impacts. In this talk, Dr. Jennifer
Atkinson will discuss the emotional dimensions of our climate
crisis & share strategies for addressing grief & anxiety
over environmental loss without retreating into despair. Having
taught one of the first college seminars on eco-grief, Atkinson
will draw on her experience helping students & activists build
the resilience to stay engaged in climate solutions over the long
run.<br>
<br>
This talk was hosted by the Pacific Science Center in Seattle as
part of the "Science in the City" (February 2020)<br>
<br>
Bio: Dr. Jennifer Atkinson is a Senior Lecturer at the University
of Washington, Bothell, where she teaches environmental
humanities, ethics, and environmental literature. Her seminar on
"Climate Anxiety and Grief" was one of the first college courses
of its kind in the U.S., and has been featured in The Washington
Post, the Los Angeles Times, NBC News, The Seattle Times, Grist,
and dozens of other outlets. Her most recent project, titled "An
Existential Toolkit for Climate Educators" received a grant from
the Rachel Carson Center in Munich & will launch in summer
2020, along with a podcast titled "Facing It." Dr. Atkinson is
also the author of Gardenland: Nature, Fantasy and Everyday
Practice, a book that explores how American gardens have promoted
community, joyful labor, contact with nature, and more vibrant and
democratic cities. She holds a Ph.D. in English from the
University of Chicago, and has taught at the University of
Washington for the past 11 years.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuRG9hwJ6aU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuRG9hwJ6aU</a><br>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
[Digging back into the internet news archive]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming -
April 17, 2008 </b></font><br>
<p>Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection releases a commercial<br>
featuring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and former House<br>
Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican, calling for a bipartisan
effort<br>
to address human-caused climate change. Gingrich is rhetorically<br>
flogged by right-wing bloggers for participating in the
commercial,<br>
and later disavows it.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi6n_-wB154">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi6n-wB154</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1COYhkzEXPI">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1COYhkzEXPI</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://thecenterholds.com/2013/04/17/happy-anniversary/">http://thecenterholds.com/2013/04/17/happy-anniversary/</a><br>
<br>
</p>
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