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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>October 19, 2020</b></font></i> <br>
</p>
[Colorado Wildfire]<b><br>
</b><b>'It just exploded': Cameron Peak, CalWood fires drive
thousands from their homes in Colorado</b><br>
John Bacon - USA TODAY<br>
Oct 18th, 2020<br>
A Colorado wildfire had raced through more than 8,700 parched,
wind-blown acres in less than 24 hours on Sunday, forcing evacuation
of almost 3,000 people in Boulder County as wildfires continued to
batter the state and the West.<br>
<br>
The CalWood Fire began burning Saturday in Boulder County, about 50
miles southeast of the Cameron Peak Fire. That fire, the largest in
state history, has burned more than 317 square miles since
mid-August.<br>
<br>
"It just exploded," Mike Wagner, division chief with the Boulder
County Sheriff's Office, said of the CalWood fire. "We do believe
multiple homes were probably lost. It's still too dynamic to get in
and begin to assess."<br>
<br>
Courtney Walsh posted three pictures of her burned-out, Boulder area
home on social media.<br>
<br>
"It's all gone," she tweeted. "I'm gutted."<br>
<br>
Jessica Newmans posted an offer to house animals in her barn or
contained pasture after her property was removed from the evacuation
zone. An hour earlier she had been on the move.<br>
<br>
"One of the first things we grabbed before mandatory evacuations
hit? Our ballots," she tweeted. "Then our children & dog,
guitar, and a few nice bottles of wine, of course."<br>
- -<br>
"Anyone under an Evacuation WARNING for #CalWoodFire should be ready
to leave immediately," the Boulder Office of Emergency Management
said on social media. "Have a bag packed & be ready to leave
with very little notice. Winds on Sunday could create fast-moving
fire activity."...<br>
<p>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/10/18/colorado-wildfires-thousands-flee-cameron-peak-calwood-fires/3702819001/">https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/10/18/colorado-wildfires-thousands-flee-cameron-peak-calwood-fires/3702819001/</a></p>
<p>- - -</p>
[Region for Wildfires]<br>
<b>The 20-year history of fires in the Boulder, Colorado area</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://wildfiretoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Colorado-fire-history.jpg">https://wildfiretoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Colorado-fire-history.jpg</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://wildfiretoday.com/2020/10/19/the-20-year-history-of-fires-in-the-boulder-colorado-area/">https://wildfiretoday.com/2020/10/19/the-20-year-history-of-fires-in-the-boulder-colorado-area/</a>
<p>- - -</p>
[Podcast from Wired - risk study]<br>
<b>The New Science of Wildfire Prediction </b><br>
On this week's Get WIRED podcast, writer Dan Duane dives into the
inevitability of fires in the west and how better models would help
combat them. <br>
16 episode audio podcast<br>
<b>The Science of Fire Tornadoes</b><br>
America's best fire researchers have been trying to learn more about
what causes fires--especially extreme fire events like fire
tornadoes. Reporter Daniel Duane talks to Get WIRED Host Lauren
Goode about<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.wired.com/story/get-wired-podcast-13-fire-science/">https://www.wired.com/story/get-wired-podcast-13-fire-science/</a><br>
<p>- - <br>
</p>
[NYTimes]<br>
<b>Nearly Half of the U.S. Is in Drought. It May Get Worse.</b><br>
The most widespread drought in the continental United States since
2013 covers more than 45 percent of the Lower 48 states, federal
scientists said.<br>
Oct. 15, 2020<br>
Nearly half of the continental United States is gripped by drought,
government forecasters said Thursday, and conditions are expected to
worsen this winter across much of the Southwest and South.<br>
- -<br>
"The winter forecast doesn't bode well," Mr. Halpert added. Warmer
and drier conditions are expected across the South and Southwest and
drought is likely to develop in parts of Georgia and Florida and in
Central and Southern California, where the dry conditions could add
to the risk of wildfire in what has already been a catastrophic year
for fires in California.<br>
But northern parts of the country may see some relief, with wetter
conditions predicted across most of the north, said David Miskus, a
NOAA drought specialist.<br>
<br>
"The Pacific Northwest, the Northern Rockies, maybe the Northern
Plains and also New England, probably will show improvement," he
said.<br>
<br>
Cooler temperatures are also forecast for much of the north, he
said.<br>
<br>
Globally, 2020 has been exceptionally warm in many regions,
including much of the Arctic. There is about a two-thirds chance
that the year will be the warmest on record, eclipsing 2016, said
Ahira Sanchez-Lugo, a NOAA climatologist...<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/15/climate/noaa-climate-call-drought.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/15/climate/noaa-climate-call-drought.html</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[cryo-hubris]<br>
<b>Big oil's answer to melting Arctic: cooling the ground so it can
keep drilling</b><br>
Technology is keeping patches of Alaska permafrost frozen to
preserve energy infrastructure even as indigenous residents' world
is transformed by the climate crisis...<br>
- -<br>
One Alaska company, BeadedStream, sells equipment that measures and
transmits tundra temperature data, so that the oil industry can know
as soon as it is frozen solid enough to transport equipment,
according to National Public Radio. Another firm, Arctic
Foundations, is doing increasingly brisk business selling
thermosiphons - the tubes that pull heat out of the ground to keep
permafrost from thawing underneath oil infrastructure.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/19/oil-alaska-arctic-global-heating-local-cooling">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/19/oil-alaska-arctic-global-heating-local-cooling</a><br>
- - <br>
[see the technology for temperature hardware]<br>
<b>BeadedStream World-class temperature cables, loggers & data</b><br>
BeadedStream LLC | Alaska Proven, Global Application video
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://youtu.be/LlS_l6vzIPQ">https://youtu.be/LlS_l6vzIPQ</a> <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.beadedstream.com/">https://www.beadedstream.com/</a>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[psychological impact]<br>
<b>'Solastalgia': Arctic inhabitants overwhelmed by new form of
climate grief</b><br>
Solastalgia means a feeling of homesickness without ever leaving
home - and for Inuit in Canada's north it describes the
psychological impact of the climate crisis...<br>
- - <br>
When the goose hunters return to Iqaluit, they will go door-to-door
sharing their plump catch with friends and family to make sure
everyone has food for the upcoming shoulder season. No one knows how
intense or sudden the changes will be this year, but if Inuit are
anything they are adaptable.<br>
<br>
Kigutaq says that it is this adaptability in the face of the unknown
that has made Inuit leaders in the fight against climate change,
learning to recognize what is happening and to not feel paralyzed by
solastalgia. Above all, he says, it is particularly necessary to
realize you are not alone, and to find community with whom to face a
changing future.<br>
<br>
"[The term solastalgia] helps us to vocalize some of the feelings we
are having," Kigutaq says. "It can help create awareness and
conversations - and the ability to connect with others who are
experiencing the same thing."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/15/arctic-solastalgia-climate-crisis-inuit-indigenous">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/15/arctic-solastalgia-climate-crisis-inuit-indigenous</a>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Scientific American opinion]<br>
<b>Supreme Court Nominee Barrett Resisted Climate Science, but Other
Judges Have Embraced It</b><br>
Several law experts say it is important for judges to understand
issues of science relevant to cases they are hearing<br>
By Jennifer Hijazi, E&E News on October 16, 2020<br>
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett raised a remarkable question
among legal experts when she declined to affirm the presence of
rising temperatures and their human-driven causes.<br>
<br>
Would acknowledging climate change jeopardize her ability to appear
impartial when overseeing cases involving global warming?...<br>
The facts of climate change are well-established, and some experts
note that judges have a responsibility to acknowledge them
unequivocally in order to rule on questions related to the powers of
federal agencies.<br>
<br>
"Casting doubt on the validity and importance of [climate change]
itself, as Barrett does, raises serious concerns," Jason Rylander, a
lawyer with the Defenders of Wildlife, said in an email. "If you
cannot admit climate change is real and that humans are the cause,
how can you fairly assess the validity of laws and regulations
enacted to address it?"<br>
<br>
Other judges haven't had a problem affirming the science of climate
change, including Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was appointed to the
high court by President Trump in 2018.<br>
<br>
"The Earth is warming, and humans are contributing, and I understand
the international collective action problem here; I understand that
very well," Kavanaugh said in 2016 when serving on federal appellate
court.<br>
<br>
His comments came during arguments over the Obama-era Clean Power
Plan.<br>
<br>
He continued later: "There's a huge policy imperative here; there's
a moral imperative." He even mentioned that Pope Francis was
pressing for climate action.<br>
<br>
That contrasts sharply with Barrett's refusals during her Senate
confirmation hearing this week to give a clear answer on whether
climate change is happening.<br>
<br>
"I don't think I am competent to opine on what causes global warming
or not," Barrett said on Tuesday. She added later, "I don't think
that my views on global warming or climate change are relevant to
the job I would do as a judge" (Climatewire, Oct. 15).<br>
<br>
Some experts, like Jeff Holmstead, a partner with Bracewell LLP,
suggest that Barrett's personal views on climate science won't
affect how she actually applies the law, especially since climate
cases mostly focus on how to address the problem -- not whether it's
a problem at all.<br>
"I think what [advocates] would say is, 'We need justices who
understand just how serious this is, because if they understand that
this is a crisis, they will be more likely to let EPA take
aggressive action,'" Holmstead said.<br>
<br>
"But I just don't think that's the way even democratically appointed
justices ... view their role."<br>
Advertisement<br>
<br>
But there shouldn't be any dispute within the judiciary on the
question of human-caused warming after the Supreme Court's ruling in
the landmark climate case Massachusetts v. EPA, said Vicki Arroyo,
executive director of the Georgetown Climate Center. The ruling led
to EPA's endangerment finding for greenhouse gases and granted the
agency its authority to regulate them.<br>
<br>
She and others raised concerns about how the global warming
questions were asked by lawmakers, as though one can "believe" in
climate change as opposed to accepting it as undisputed.<br>
<br>
"It's a scientific fact, the same way that gravity or the
coronavirus virus being contagious, or smoking causing cancer is,"
Arroyo said, "and so the fact that you even have to ask that and get
a non-answer for three days is alarming to me."<br>
Accepting the science<br>
<br>
Judges often attempt to understand science as part of their
decisionmaking.<br>
<br>
Hana Vizcarra, a staff attorney with Harvard Law School, noted that
judicial questions regarding climate change are no different.<br>
Advertisement<br>
<br>
"At a time when many judges are recognizing the need to educate
themselves on the basic facts and science around the current state
of climate change, it is interesting that [Barrett] feels the topic
is not relevant to the job," she said in an email.<br>
<br>
In 2018, Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of California ordered lawyers involved in a
climate liability case to present lengthy presentations on climate
science. Alsup called it a tutorial.<br>
<br>
He ended up scrapping the case, but said in his ruling that the
"order accepts the science behind global warming" (Climatewire, June
26, 2018).<br>
<br>
Even specialized training for judges is known to happen.<br>
<br>
In a rare leaked email exchange between judges last year, District
Judge Emmet Sullivan suggested that his colleagues attend a judicial
climate information session held by the Environmental Law Institute
(Climatewire, Aug. 19, 2019).<br>
Advertisement<br>
<br>
Not everyone was receptive to the idea. Senior Judge Raymond
Randolph of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit lambasted Sullivan for flagging the session, telling him
that "the jurisdiction assigned to you does not include saving the
planet."<br>
<br>
Still, environmental law experts insist that grappling with basic
science is essential to deciding cases, especially as climate change
lawsuits proliferate.<br>
<br>
"Climate change is impacting our lives, businesses and communities
and, as it does, the law," said Vizcarra of Harvard. "It will
increasingly become part of the fact patterns [Barrett] will be
charged with evaluating should she be confirmed."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/supreme-court-nominee-barrett-resisted-climate-science-but-other-judges-have-embraced-it/">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/supreme-court-nominee-barrett-resisted-climate-science-but-other-judges-have-embraced-it/</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Northern Africa - the Sahel is the east-west band just below the
Sahara]<br>
<b>Sahel region is 'canary in the coalmine' on climate, says UN
official</b><br>
Mark Lowcock criticises 'totally inadequate' effort to help Sahel
countries adapt to global heating<br>
<br>
Africa's Sahel region is at the centre of accelerating climate
change and "a canary in the coalmine of our warming planet", the
United Nation's top humanitarian official has said.<br>
<br>
Mark Lowcock, the UN's undersecretary general for humanitarian
affairs, said the Sahel was facing tragedy after an "alarming
deterioration" in recent years that had led to tens of millions of
people being displaced, rising extremist violence, massive
violations of human rights and growing political instability.<br>
<br>
Some of the record 13.4 million people who need humanitarian
assistance across the border areas of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger
have been forced to leave their homes by unprecedented flooding
across west and central Africa, underlining the threat that erratic
weather caused by climate change poses to lives and livelihoods in
the region...<br>
- - <br>
Extremist violence in the Sahel surged after a coalition of
Islamists and local separatist tribesmen took control of much of
northern Mali in 2012. An eight-year campaign led by French troops,
the deployment of hundreds of US special forces, massive aid for
local militaries and $1bn-a-year UN peacekeeping operation have been
unable to decisively weaken the multiple overlapping insurgencies in
the region and security has continued to deteriorate.<br>
<br>
Many of the bloodiest recent attacks have been attributed to an Isis
affiliate, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS).<br>
<br>
Lowcock said groups were expanding their territory but a future
without Islamist militancy in the region was possible to imagine.
"This is a relatively new phenomenon," he said.<br>
<br>
The region has recently been rocked by renewed political upheaval,
with the second coup in a decade unseating the elected government of
Mali.<br>
<br>
Flagship environmental projects have failed to make a significant
impact. The Great Green Wall was conceived in 2007 by the African
Union as a 4,350-mile (7,000km) cross-continental barrier stretching
from Senegal to Djibouti that would hold back the deserts of the
Sahara and Sahel. Its supporters said it would improve livelihoods
in one of the world's poorest regions, capture carbon dioxide and
reduce conflict, terrorism and migration. So far only the project
has covered only 4% of its target area, according to a recent status
report.<br>
<br>
In a report this year, the International Crisis Group said that if
ongoing conflicts in the Sahel were attributed solely to climate
change, there was a risk of underestimating the role of politics in
the violence.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/19/sahel-region-is-canary-in-the-coalmine-on-climate-says-un-official">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/19/sahel-region-is-canary-in-the-coalmine-on-climate-says-un-official</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 -
October 19, 1992 </b></font><br>
<p>In the third presidential debate, President George H. W. Bush
accuses Democratic challenger Bill Clinton and his running mate,
Senator Al Gore, of pandering to "the spotted owl crowd or the
extremes in the environmental movement" by supporting an increase
in fuel efficiency standards. Clinton defends the idea of raising
fuel efficiency standards; in addition, he states, "We also ought
to convert more vehicles to compressed natural gas. That's another
way to improve the environment." <br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCGtHqIwKek">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCGtHqIwKek</a> - (26:30-29:00) </p>
<p><br>
</p>
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