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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>February 4, 2021</b></font></i></p>
[Associated Press]<br>
<b>Study: Pandemic’s cleaner air added heat to warming planet</b><br>
BY SETH BORENSTEIN - Feb 3, 2021<br>
<br>
Earth spiked a bit of a fever in 2020, partly because of cleaner air
from the pandemic lockdown, a new study found.<br>
<br>
For a short time, temperatures in some places in the eastern United
States, Russia and China were as much as half to two-thirds of a
degree (.3 to .37 degrees Celsius) warmer. That’s due to less soot
and sulfate particles from car exhaust and burning coal, which
normally cool the atmosphere temporarily by reflecting the sun’s
heat, Tuesday’s study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters
reported.<br>
- -<br>
This temporary warming effect from fewer particles was stronger in
2020 than the effect of reduced heat-trapping carbon dioxide
emissions, Gettelman said. That’s because carbon stays in the
atmosphere for more than a century with long-term effects, while
aerosols remain in the air about a week.<br>
<br>
Even without the reduction in cooling aerosols, global temperatures
in 2020 already were flirting with breaking yearly heat record
because of the burning of coal, oil and natural gas — and the
aerosol effect may have been enough to help make this the hottest
year in NASA’s measuring system, said top NASA climate scientist
Gavin Schmidt, who wasn’t part of this study but said it confirms
other research.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-china-asia-pacific-russia-0b61f1cf57eabd6b8c92ed47c4ca8451">https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-china-asia-pacific-russia-0b61f1cf57eabd6b8c92ed47c4ca8451</a><br>
- -<br>
[Source matter]<br>
<b>Geophysical Research Letters</b><br>
Climate Impacts of COVID-19 Induced Emission ChangesA. Gettelman1,2
, R. Lamboll3 , C. G. Bardeen1 , P. M. Forster4 , and D.
Watson-Parris2 1National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder,
CO, USA,<br>
<b>Abstract </b><br>
<blockquote>The COVID-19 pandemic led to dramatic changes in
economic activity in 2020. We use estimates of emission changes
for 2020 in two Earth System Models (ESMs) to simulate the impacts
of the COVID-19 economic changes. Ensembles of nudged simulations
are used to separate small signals from meteorological
variability. Reductions in aerosol and precursor emissions,
chiefly black carbon and sulfate (SO4), led to reductions in total
anthropogenic aerosol cooling through aerosol-cloud interactions.
The average overall Effective Radiative Forcing (ERF) peaks at
+0.29±0.15Wm2 in spring 2020. Changes in cloud properties are
smaller than observed changes during 2020. Impacts of these
changes on regional land surface temperature range up to +0.3K.
The peak impact of these aerosol changes on global surface
temperature is very small (+0.03K). However, the aerosol changes
are the largest contribution to radiative forcing and temperature
changes as a result of COVID-19 affected emissions, larger than
ozone, CO2 and contrail effects.<br>
</blockquote>
<b>Plain Language Summary </b><br>
<blockquote>The COVID-19 pandemic changed emissions of gases and
particulates. These gases and particulates affect climate. In
general, human emissions of particles cool the planet by
scattering away sunlight in the clear sky and by making clouds
brighter to reflect sunlight away from the earth. This paper
focuses on understanding how changes to emissions of particulates
(aerosols) affect climate. We use estimates of emissions changes
for 2020 in two climate models to simulate the impacts of the
COVID-19 induced emission changes. We tightly constrain the models
by forcing the winds to match observed winds for 2020. COVID-19
induced lockdowns led to reductions in aerosol and precursor
emissions, chiefly soot or black carbon and sulfate (SO4). This is
found to reduce the human caused aerosol cooling: creating a small
net warming effect on the earth in spring 2020. Changes in cloud
properties are smaller than observed changes during 2020. The
impact of these changes on regional land surface temperature is
small (maximum +0.3K). The impact of aerosol changes on global
surface temperature is very small and lasts over several years.
However, the aerosol changes are the largest contribution to
COVID-19 affected emissions induced radiative forcing and
temperature changes, larger than ozone, CO2 and contrail effects.<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2020GL091805">https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2020GL091805</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
[NYTimes Daily podcast - a must hear or read transcript]<br>
<b>Assessing Biden’s Climate Plan</b><br>
by Michael Barbaro; et at.<br>
The president has signed several executive orders for environmental
policies since taking office. But the real work of reducing
America’s emissions has just begun.<br>
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2021<br>
President Biden’s plans for curbing the most devastating impacts of
a changing climate are ambitious.<br>
<br>
His administration is not only planning a sharp U-turn from the
approach of the Trump White House — former President Donald Trump
openly mocked the science behind human-caused climate change — but
those aims go even further than the Obama administration’s.<br>
<br>
Policies will have to tackle three main sources of emissions in
order to solve the problem: Pollution from cars, pollution from
power plants, and methane leaks from oil and gas wells.<br>
<br>
Today, we look at the Biden administration’s environmental plans, as
well as the potential roadblocks and whether these changes can last.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/podcasts/the-daily/biden-climate-agenda.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/podcasts/the-daily/biden-climate-agenda.html</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
[video news - court <br>
<b>French court rules France not doing enough on climate change</b><br>
Feb 3, 2021<br>
FRANCE 24 English<br>
#France's government must do more to combat #climate change, a
French court said on Wednesday, in what environmental campaigners
called a landmark ruling that could ramp up pressure on other
countries to act on global warning. FRANCE 24's Environment Editor
Mairead Dundas explains.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVnZMdqlIEw<br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Time to Plan Ahead ]<br>
<b>A bad omen for 2021? There were 297 wildfires in California in
January, nearly tripling five-year average.</b><br>
Damon Arthur - Redding Record Searchlight<br>
It's not supposed to be wildfire season in California. Yet, a month
into 2021, the Golden State has more than doubled the number of
wildfires from 2020 – a record-setting year with more than 9,600
blazes that blackened more than 4 million acres.<br>
<br>
And the number of acres burned on nonfederal land last month was
more than 20 times the state’s five-year average for January.<br>
<br>
While the rain and snow of the past week may make last year’s fire
season seem like a distant memory, those numbers are a reminder that
wildfires have become a year-round concern in the nation's most
populous state.<br>
<br>
In January, there were 297 fires that burned 1,171 acres statewide
on nonfederal lands, according to the California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection.<br>
<br>
During the same period last year, there were 97 wildfires that
burned 22 acres. The five-year average for January is 108 fires,
with 58 acres burned, according to Cal Fire...<br>
more at -
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/02/california-wildfires-january-cal-fire/4368052001/">https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/02/california-wildfires-january-cal-fire/4368052001/</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Digging back into the internet news archive]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming -
February 4, 1992 </b></font><br>
<p>February 4, 1992: In one of the worst examples of mainstream
media false-balance in US history, Ted Koppel hosts a “debate” on
ABC's "Nightline" between Sen. Al Gore (D-TN) and Rush Limbaugh on
global warming and other environmental issues.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9rZKJt4ZC4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9rZKJt4ZC4</a> (Part 1)<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://youtu.be/WbC-yWycHfM">http://youtu.be/WbC-yWycHfM</a> (Part 2) <br>
</p>
<p><br>
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