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<i><font size="+1"><b>May 7, 2020</b></font></i><br>
<br>
[mindful, thoughtful, kind video - ~5 min]<br>
<b>Covid 19 - Corona, Climate and Grandma</b><br>
May 6, 2020<br>
INTERNATIONAL PSYCHOANALYTICAL ASSOCIATION<br>
Created by the IPA Climate Committee<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ind4g0HNkAE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ind4g0HNkAE</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[A wave of studies has recently emerged indicating that methane
emissions from the U.S. oil and gas sector are significantly higher
than thought prior and are a contributor to the unexpected global
surge in atmospheric methane. <i>thanks HC</i> ]<br>
<b>Unexpected Surge in Atmospheric Methane</b><br>
Summary<br>
A dramatic and surprising surge in atmospheric methane has emerged
over the past several years. If not mitigated, this new trend could
off-set the gains anticipated from the Paris Climate Agreement. In
response, scientists have begun ringing alarm bells in several
high-profile peer-reviewed publications. <br>
<br>
Several sources have been identified as significant contributors to
the surge, including the production of U.S. oil and gas. The full
balance among these factors is not clear. However, there is a firm
consensus among scientists that the best response to the surge is a
deep and rapid reduction in methane emissions from the production
and distribution of natural gas. <br>
<br>
Methane pollution from the fossil-fuel sector is responsible for a
lion's share of current anthropogenic emissions. Methane pollution
from the production of oil and gas in particular is the most easily
addressed source of methane. The International Energy Agency
estimates that the global oil and gas industry can reduce 40-50% of
methane emissions at zero net cost. Looking at options to replace
natural gas altogether, clean alternatives to gas-fired power (e.g.
utility-scale wind and solar power) are now cost-competitive and
often even less-expensive.<br>
<br>
In the United States, the fossil fuel industry is the largest source
of methane pollution, and emissions from the oil and gas sector in
particular have grown at least 40% over the last decade. And in
another disturbing trend, a string of field studies over the last
two years has revealed major unaccounted-for methane emissions from
the production of oil and gas...<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://climatenexus.org/climate-change-news/methane-surge/">https://climatenexus.org/climate-change-news/methane-surge/</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[Denialism cartooned]<br>
<b>Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change lecture (16 mins)</b><br>
May 6, 2020<br>
John Cook<br>
A compilation of animated videos debunking the most common myths
about climate change, using cartoons from the Cranky Uncle vs.
Climate Change book:<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://crankyuncle.com/book">http://crankyuncle.com/book</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hARJcK6FizA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hARJcK6FizA</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[BBC report]<br>
<b>Climate change and coronavirus: Five charts about the biggest
carbon crash</b><br>
By Matt McGrath - Environment correspondent<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/98CB/production/_112151193_global_co2_1900-976-nc.png">https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/98CB/production/_112151193_global_co2_1900-976-nc.png</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/9835/production/_112156983_tomtom_may2-nc.png">https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/9835/production/_112156983_tomtom_may2-nc.png</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/1053/production/_112097140_optimised-flights-nc.png">https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/1053/production/_112097140_optimised-flights-nc.png</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/1292F/production/_112097067_co2_emissions_in_march_976-nc.png">https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/1292F/production/_112097067_co2_emissions_in_march_976-nc.png</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/13853/production/_112155997_global_co2_emissions_976-nc.png">https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/13853/production/_112155997_global_co2_emissions_976-nc.png</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52485712">https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52485712</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[press release]<br>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 5, 2020 <br>
Contact: Mike Tidwell, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, <a
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org">mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org</a>,
240-460-5838<br>
<b>Sixty US House Members Send Letter to Leadership Opposing Fossil
Fuel Liability Relief Now and Always</b><br>
Representative Jamie Raskin Leads Members in Rejecting Attempts to
Use COVID-19 as an Excuse to Shield Industry from Ongoing Lawsuits
over Climate Change Damages<br>
<br>
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last night, 60 Members of Congress sent a letter
to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin
McCarthy to "categorically oppose any attempt to confer immunity on
the fossil fuel industry or to limit its liability for the damages
it causes to people or property." Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin
(D) authored the impassioned letter. <br>
<br>
The fossil fuel industry knowingly lied for half a century about the
catastrophic damage their product would cause and now they are
attempting to use the COVID-19 recovery to evade legal
accountability for its wrongdoings. Members of Congress are making
clear that the industry will have to pay for the damage it created.
<br>
<br>
Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network,
stated, "We applaud Congressman Raskin and all the lawmakers who put
their name on this letter. The fossil fuel industry needs to pay for
the damage it knowingly caused. The attempt of these companies to
exploit this pandemic and make taxpayers clean up their mess is
immoral."<br>
<br>
Those costs are becoming increasingly concrete. Already more than a
dozen city, county, and state governments across the country --
including the cities of Baltimore and Honolulu; the counties of
King, Washington, and Boulder, Colorado, and the state of Rhode
Island -- have sued fossil fuel companies in recent years to recover
billions of dollars in damages resulting from climate change the
companies knew their products would cause. Giving liability relief
to the fossil fuel industry could keep those cases from having their
day in court. <br>
<br>
The letter has been endorsed by the Sierra Club, National Resource
Defense Council (NRDC), 350.org, Earthjustice, Environmental Working
Group, Greenpeace, Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN),
American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Center for Climate
Integrity (CCI), Food & Water Watch, Food & Water Action,
Oxfam America, Union of Concerned Scientists, Oil Change
International, Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen, VOICES (Victory
over InFRACKstructure, Clean Energy Instead), Delaware Riverkeeper
Network, Women's Earth and Climate Action Network International
(WECAN International), Center for International Environmental Law
(CIEL), Climate Hawks Vote, Center for Biological Diversity (CBD),
Sustainable Energy & Economy Network, Center for Sustainable
Economy, EarthRights International, Rachel Carson Council (RCC),
Corporate Accountability, and the Institute for Governance &
Sustainable Development. <br>
<br>
The letter opposes liability relief for the fossil fuel under any
circumstances, not just during the COVID-19 recovery. The final line
reads, "Shielding carbon polluters from proper accountability is an
irrelevant and dangerous distraction from the task at hand. It has
no place in federal legislation--we think never, but especially not
now."<br>
###<br>
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the oldest and largest
grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness
about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in
the Chesapeake Bay region. For 17 years, CCAN has been at the center
of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland,
Virginia, and Washington, D.C.<br>
For more information, visit <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org">www.chesapeakeclimate.org</a>.<br>
- - -<br>
[partial text from the letter:]<br>
Although this brazen effort was defeated in the final bill we
passed, an early draft<br>
actually included language that would have immunized companies
engaging in "covered<br>
activities," and recent news stories suggest that the fossil fuel
companies are continuing to lobby<br>
hard for language that would absolve them of any accountability for
their part in the climate crisis.<br>
<br>
This is not the place to adjudicate the social costs of the carbon
industries, but we will do<br>
so if we must. Fossil fuel companies have known for more than 50
years that their industrial<br>
emissions were causing cataclysmic environmental consequences.
Instead of alerting the public,<br>
they launched a decades-long campaign of denial, deceit and
disinformation that succeeded in<br>
forestalling meaningful government action to avert climate change.
We now face the reality of<br>
climate chaos and the need to undertake aggressive and costly policy
changes--with very little<br>
time to accomplish them before it is too late.<br>
Climate adaptation and restoration from decades of burning fossil
fuels will cost in the<br>
trillions of dollars. A study by the Center for Climate Integrity
and Resilient Analytics found that<br>
just the most basic coastal defenses for the lower 48 states will
cost more than $400 billion over<br>
the next twenty years, and 132 coastal counties face an exorbitant
bill amounting to more than $1<br>
billion.<br>
<br>
If the fossil fuel companies do not pay their fair share, these
overwhelming costs will fall<br>
onto our communities which are already facing profound economic
hardship as a result of the<br>
COVID-19 pandemic.<br>
<br>
Our communities cannot bear these costs alone, nor should they have
to. Cities, counties,<br>
and states across the country are fighting back by taking the
companies that knowingly contributed<br>
to climate change to court to recover their damages. We should not
interfere with ongoing<br>
litigation by granting the culpable parties a license to destroy our
eco-system with financial<br>
impunity and legal immunity.<br>
<br>
The world is suffering through one of the worst public health
disasters we have ever known.<br>
History has placed on us an enormous burden to respond with speed,
wisdom, and foresight to help<br>
our constituents survive this crisis and to put the nation back on
its feet. That is where our focus<br>
must be. Shielding carbon polluters from proper accountability is an
irrelevant and dangerous<br>
distraction from the task at hand. It has no place in federal
legislation--we think never, but<br>
especially not now.<br>
Very truly yours,<br>
______________________<br>
Jamie Raskin<br>
Member of Congress<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://raskin.house.gov/sites/raskin.house.gov/files/5.4.20%20Letter%20to%20Leadership%20re%20Fossil%20Fuel%20Immunity%20Grabs%20FINAL.pdf">https://raskin.house.gov/sites/raskin.house.gov/files/5.4.20%20Letter%20to%20Leadership%20re%20Fossil%20Fuel%20Immunity%20Grabs%20FINAL.pdf</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
[Fox news keeps the controversy going]<br>
<b>Michael Moore says coronavirus is a warning before Earth gets
'revenge' over climate change</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/michael-moore-coronavirus-warning-earth-revenge-climate-change">https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/michael-moore-coronavirus-warning-earth-revenge-climate-change</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[Radio EcoShock]<br>
<b>RISING SEAS CRASH INTO COASTLINES: SEAN VITOUSEK</b><br>
Once in a lifetime record high seas can flood into cities and wash
away coastlines. New research shows within 30 years, that extreme
could be the new normal. Rising seas are the relentless new story
for the rest of our lives. Dr. Sean Vitousek is a Research
Oceanographer with the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center,
part of the U.S. Geological Survey. Sean is co-author of the new
paper "Sea-level rise exponentially increases coastal flood
frequency".<br>
<br>
It's not just that hundreds of billions of dollars of coastal real
estate is about to crash that market. Or that all the underground
infrastructure in major coastal cities from Miami to New York are
going under. The whole appearance of coastlines will have to be
remapped, as up to half of beaches disappear and cliffs fall into
the sea. Essential wetlands go salty and species go extinct.<br>
<br>
Sean has a special and personal connection to the sea and the
coasts. He was born and raised in Hawaii (really, I've seen his
Birth Certificate!). He grew up surfing, and was President of the
Princeton surf club. When many of the best California beaches are
predicted to disappear as rising seas go right to the cliffs,
Vitousek has a personal interest. He has gone around the country
making presentations like: "Can Beaches Survive Climate Change?
Predicting Long-Term Coastal Change in Southern California".<br>
Dr. Sean Vitousek, USGS<br>
<b>The Press Release for this new paper in the journal Nature says
it all clearly:</b><br>
"Extreme flooding events in some US coastal areas could double every
five years if sea levels continue to rise as expected, a study
published in Scientific Reports suggests. Today's
'once-in-a-lifetime' extreme water levels -- which are currently
reached once every 50 years -- may be exceeded daily along most of
the US coastline before the end of the 21st century.<br>
<br>
Mohsen Taherkhani, Sean Vitousek and colleagues at the U.S.
Geological Survey, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the
University of Hawaii, investigated the frequency of extreme water
levels measured by 202 tide gauges along the US coastline and
combined the data with sea-level rise scenarios to model the rate at
which flooding events may increase in the future.<br>
<br>
For 73% of the tide gauges used in the study, the difference in
water level between the 50-year extreme water level and the daily
average highest tide was found to be less than one meter, and most
sea-level rise projections exceed one meter by 2100. The authors'
model predicted that before 2050, current extreme water levels
transitioned from 50-year, once-in-a-lifetime flooding events to
annual events in 70% of US coastal regions. Before the end of 2100,
once-in-a-lifetime extremes were predicted to be exceeded almost
daily for 93% of the sites measured.<br>
<br>
The data suggest that present-day extreme water levels will become
commonplace within the next few decades. Low-latitude areas will be
the most susceptible, with their rate of coastal flooding predicted
to double every five years. At the most susceptible sites, along the
Hawaiian and Caribbean coast, the rate at which extreme water levels
occur may double with every centimeter of sea-level rise.<br>
<br>
Associated coastal hazards, such as beach and cliff erosion, will
likely accelerate in concert with the increased risk of flooding,
suggest the authors."<br>
<br>
But what happens to this relatively conservative model if sea level
rise is not gradual and predictable, but happens in relatively
sudden steps (as show by the coral study in Texas, or if a large ice
shelf breaks off in Antarctica? For the Texas coral study, listen to
my interview with Pankaj Khanna on Radio Ecoshock.<br>
<br>
Do the authors factor in more extreme storms, with storm surge much
higher than before? How often will the coasts experience another
Hurricane Sandy or worse? Sean was a co-author on this subject in
2016: "A multivariate extreme wave and storm surge climate emulator
based on weather patterns".<br>
<br>
Last year I spoke with the grand old man of coastal science, Dr.
Orrin Pilkey. He worried the story of rising seas would focus on
damage to big cities, while long stretches of the coastal ecology
are washed away by rising seas. What do your models tell us about
this?<br>
<br>
Orrin Pilkey told us it is time to start withdrawing from the
coastline now. We should not wait until it becomes a panic
emergency.<br>
<br>
Our whole system tries to prepare for a short emergency, like
hurricane response. We roll out people, supplies, and sometimes the
National Guard. But we are far less prepared for a constant,
relentless emergency that rising seas will bring. Reading this new
paper from McLaren et al, I was reminded of one aspect of
controlling the new Corona Virus. The authors suggest we try to
"flatten the curve" of warming, buying time to adapt to the impacts
of rising seas.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.ecoshock.org/2020/04/two-crises-on-a-small-planet.html">https://www.ecoshock.org/2020/04/two-crises-on-a-small-planet.html</a><br>
[at 45 min in, the answer is about 1 month] <br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[O no]<br>
<b>This is your brain on carbon emissions</b><br>
By the end of the century, indoor carbon dioxide could reach levels
known to impair cognition..<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/04/your-brain-on-carbon-emissions/">https://anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/04/your-brain-on-carbon-emissions/</a><br>
<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 -
May 7, 2001</b></font><br>
<p>In a response to a question about whether President<br>
George W. Bush would encourage energy conservation, White House
press<br>
secretary Ari Fleischer states: "That's a big no. The President<br>
believes that it's an American way of life, and that it should be
the<br>
goal of policy makers to protect the American way of life. The<br>
American way of life is a blessed one. And we have a bounty of<br>
resources in this country. What we need to do is make certain
that<br>
we're able to get those resources in an efficient way, in a way
that<br>
also emphasizes protecting the environment and conservation, into
the<br>
hands of consumers so they can make the choices that they want to
make<br>
as they live their lives day to day."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/briefings/20010507.html">http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/briefings/20010507.html</a><br>
</p>
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