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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>February 15, 2021</b></font></i></p>
[some weather sites]<br>
<b>Cold Weather Doesn't Mean Climate Change Isn't Happening</b><br>
While temperatures are the focus this week, they're just one part of
the overall story. Climate change impacts everything from drought to
wildfires to sea level rise to flooding and beyond. Scientists say
it will drive even worse extreme weather in the future.<br>
<br>
The bottom line in all this? Short-term bouts of cold don't cancel
out decades of warmer temperatures.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://weather.com/science/environment/news/2021-02-14-does-cold-weather-disprove-climate-change">https://weather.com/science/environment/news/2021-02-14-does-cold-weather-disprove-climate-change</a><br>
- -<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://twitter.com/StuOstro/status/1360755283350405121">https://twitter.com/StuOstro/status/1360755283350405121</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://twitter.com/WeatherProf/status/1360950199582138368">https://twitter.com/WeatherProf/status/1360950199582138368</a><br>
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<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://rammb-slider.cira.colostate.edu/?sat=goes-17&z=1&angle=0&im=12&ts=1&st=0&et=0&speed=130&motion=loop&maps%5Bborders%5D=white&lat=0&opacity%5B0%5D=1&hidden%5B0%5D=0&pause=20210214024031&slider=-1&hide_controls=0&mouse_draw=0&follow_feature=0&follow_hide=0&s=rammb-slider&sec=full_disk&p%5B0%5D=geocolor&x=9561.5&y=7682.2083740234375">https://rammb-slider.cira.colostate.edu/?sat=goes-17&z=1&angle=0&im=12&ts=1&st=0&et=0&speed=130&motion=loop&maps%5Bborders%5D=white&lat=0&opacity%5B0%5D=1&hidden%5B0%5D=0&pause=20210214024031&slider=-1&hide_controls=0&mouse_draw=0&follow_feature=0&follow_hide=0&s=rammb-slider&sec=full_disk&p%5B0%5D=geocolor&x=9561.5&y=7682.2083740234375</a><br>
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[60-Minutes video Bill Gates talks tech and global warming]<br>
<b>Bill Gates: How the world can avoid a climate disaster</b><br>
"Without innovation, we will not solve climate change. We won't even
come close," Gates says. Anderson Cooper reports for 60 Minutes.<br>
2021 Feb 14<br>
CORRESPONDENT Anderson Cooper<br>
- - <br>
Now he is focusing on climate change, agreeing with the overwhelming
majority of scientists who warn of a looming climate disaster. The
good news is Gates believes it's possible to prevent a catastrophic
rise in temperatures. The bad news? He says in the next 30 years we
need scientific breakthroughs, technological innovations and global
cooperation on a scale the world has never seen.<br>
<br>
Anderson Cooper: You believe this is the toughest challenge humanity
has ever faced?<br>
<br>
Bill Gates: Absolutely. The amount of change, new ideas. It's way
greater than the pandemic. And it needs a level of cooperation that
would be unprecedented. <br>
<br>
Anderson Cooper: That doesn't sound feasible--<br>
<br>
Bill Gates: No, it's not easy. But hey, we have 30 years--<br>
<br>
Anderson Cooper: It sounds impossible.<br>
<br>
Bill Gates: We have more educated people than ever. We have a
generation that's speaking out on this topic. And, you know, I got
to participate in the miracle of the personal computer and the
internet. And so, yes, I have a bias to believe innovation can do
these things...<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bill-gates-climate-change-60-minutes-2021-02-14/">https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bill-gates-climate-change-60-minutes-2021-02-14/</a><br>
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[down and under]<br>
<b>Australia's lack of effort on climate change is going to cost us</b><br>
Bill Hare<br>
Australia is deeply exposed to carbon border tax adjustments due to
our lack of action in reducing emissions<br>
Sun 14 Feb 2021 <br>
Global momentum is building on increasing climate action to meet the
Paris agreement’s 1.5C limit, with all countries under pressure to
increase their 2030 emission reductions ahead of the next United
Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this year. But
Australia appears to be going backwards.<br>
<br>
Now another issue has arisen from its inaction: border taxes.<br>
<br>
Climate change is firmly on the G7 agenda. Along with two other
countries, India and South Korea, Australia has been invited to join
the G7 process this year under the presidency of the United Kingdom.
With many large countries, including the US, the EU, China, Japan,
South Korea, looking at deeper emission reductions – the whole
question of how to deal with those who are not moving as fast to
decarbonise is naturally rising to the surface.<br>
<br>
The instrument of choice in the international policy community has
long been carbon border tax adjustments, constructed in such a way
as to be World Trarde Oranisation-compatible and which add to the
cost of imports from climate-laggard countries into those that are
pressing ahead...<br>
- -<br>
Australia is, sadly, the global poster child for a lack of effort.
Its 2030 target, translated into a comparable baseline to the EU,
would be a reduction of just 8-11% below 1990 levels, compared with
the EU’s 55% target. The government’s “technology neutral” approach
has translated into increased support for the fossil fuel industry.<br>
<br>
Federal climate policies have gone backwards – investments into
renewables have dropped, and the government is promoting a
carbon-intensive, gas-led recovery entirely inconsistent with the
Paris agreement. Most recently, the government’s electric vehicle
policy transmuted into an anti-EV policy called the Future Fuels
Strategy, with the bizarrely appropriate acronym FFS. There is no
price on carbon anywhere in the Australian system today, and each
time the Morrison government goes near any climate policy, the
result has been to weaken it, to advantage the fossil fuel industry.<br>
<br>
It could all have been very different. Australia did once have a
carbon price mechanism, set up under the Gillard government in 2012,
and that would have ratcheted up over time, increasing the price on
carbon and driving fossil fuel emissions out of Australia’s energy
mix. But it saw its demise just two years later when the Senate
voted through Tony Abbott’s “pledge in blood” to “axe the tax”.<br>
<br>
Australia looks like becoming totally isolated from the G7 and
internationally on climate change and the Morrison government’s
attempt to fight a large movement towards border tax adjustments
linked to carbon intensity is a symptom of this. Our leaders need to
focus on adopting a real net zero goal by 2050, backed by
legislation, with Paris-compatible 2030 targets well north of 50%
reductions.<br>
<br>
It would be foolish, ultimately futile and damaging for our country
to continue down our current path.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/15/australias-lack-of-effort-on-climate-change-is-going-to-cost-us">https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/15/australias-lack-of-effort-on-climate-change-is-going-to-cost-us</a><br>
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[Book reviews from the Guardian]<b><br>
</b><b>How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates; The New
Climate War by Michael E Mann – review</b><br>
Bob Ward - Sun 14 Feb 2021<br>
President Joe Biden has promised a new era of American leadership on
global climate action, after four years of unscientific denial and
misinformation under Donald Trump. Two important new books by
prominent American authors, both written before the result of the
presidential election was known, should help to capitalise on the
new spirit of cautious optimism by laying out bold but well-argued
plans for accelerating action against climate change.<br>
<br>
<u>How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the
Breakthroughs We Need</u> by Bill Gates presents a compelling
explanation of how the world can stop global warming by reducing
greenhouse gas emissions effectively to zero. Gates and his wife,
Melinda, are well known for their foundation’s tremendous work on
improving health and tackling disease around the world, particularly
in poor countries. It is this concern for the most vulnerable people
on the planet that has meant Gates has occasionally appeared
equivocal about climate and energy policies that he thought could
undermine the fight against poverty and illness. However, this book
lays out forcefully his understanding that the impact of climate
change poses a far bigger threat to lives and livelihoods in
developing countries – it is thwarting efforts to raise living
standards because poor people, in every country, are the most at
risk from droughts, floods and heatwaves.<br>
<br>
Gates rightly emphasises the importance of improving the resilience
of both rich and poor countries to current and future climate change
that cannot now be avoided. But his book leaves no doubt that
adapting to the impact is not a solution on its own – we must also
eliminate global emissions of greenhouse gases.<br>
<br>
His strategy for reaching zero emissions is laid out in a very
straightforward way, using numbers to help guide the reader to the
magnitude of the challenge. He notes that annual emissions of
greenhouse gases before the Covid-19 pandemic were well over 50bn
tonnes worldwide, and rising. Getting to zero within the next few
decades will be no mean feat.<br>
<br>
The book breaks down the sources of these emissions into a few broad
categories – making things, plugging in, and getting around – and
Gates knows how to frame issues in terms with which everybody should
be able to engage, without dumbing down the material.<br>
<br>
At its highest level, his strategy is simple: make power generation
zero-carbon by replacing fossil fuels with renewables and nuclear
power, and then electrify as much of our activities as possible.
This works in theory, but creates significant challenges, such as
how to manage the intermittency of supply from sources such as solar
panels and wind turbines.<br>
<br>
A key device used by Gates is to calculate the cost of clean
alternatives relative to fossil fuels, and where they are currently
more expensive, to quantify the difference as a “green premium”. He
then explains how this premium can be reduced through innovation and
government policies. The credibility of the strategy is strengthened
by references throughout to technologies in which Gates is investing
his own money, such as novel ways to capture carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere and then store it. He also acknowledges that his
sincerity will be doubted by some because of his wealth and use of
private jets, for instance. But I think readers will discover from
his book that he is a serious and genuine force for good on climate
change.<br>
<br>
Mann says that, far from needing a miracle, we could achieve 100%
clean electricity with current renewable technologies<br>
<br>
The only major concern I have is that in emphasising, correctly, the
importance of rich countries reaching zero emissions by 2050, he
appears to suggest that cuts in greenhouse gases over the next 10
years are less important. In fact, the amount of warming we face
depends on cumulative emissions, so countries such as the US and UK
need to be cutting sharply from now, and for the next 30 years.<br>
<br>
Gates is also caught in the crosshairs in Professor Michael E Mann’s
book, The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet, which
criticises the 2016 edition of the billionaire’s annual letter,
written with Melinda, for highlighting the challenges of cutting
emissions and declaring “we need an energy miracle”. Mann, America’s
most famous climate scientist, points out that many zero-carbon
alternatives to fossil fuels are now cost-competitive with fossil
fuels. He even suggests that, far from needing a miracle, we could
achieve 100% clean electricity with current renewable technologies
alone.<br>
<br>
The main focus of Mann’s book is a call to arms in the new war
against “inactivists” who are using new tactics of “deception,
distraction and delay” to prevent the phase-out of fossil fuels.
Mann is a robust character, and has fought off several disgraceful
onslaughts against him and his work by climate change deniers in US
politics and the media over the past 20 years. He warns that vested
interests and ideological extremists who oppose efforts to eliminate
fossil fuels no longer deny outright the reality of climate change
because people can now see the evidence for it all around them.
Instead, opponents of action now rely on slightly subtler arguments,
and Mann reveals how they are sometimes unwittingly assisted by
clumsy communications from climate scientists and campaigners.<br>
<br>
He cautions against highlighting in particular the need for action
by individual citizens and consumers. As important as personal
efforts are, they can distract attention away from the critical role
of governments and companies in making systemic changes.<br>
<br>
Mann criticises the practice of flight-shaming climate researchers,
because it creates the false impression that experts have to
experience personal sacrifice and deprivation to be taken seriously,
regardless of how successful they are in persuading politicians to
act. Despite the attention devoted to it, flying is responsible for
about 3% of annual greenhouse gas emissions.<br>
<br>
Mann also attacks “doomsayers”, including some members of Extinction
Rebellion, who claim that we have already passed the point of no
return, condemning us all to imminent climate destruction. Such
claims are not based on science and have the effect of making people
give up on efforts to rid the world of fossil fuels.<br>
<br>
Mann does not pull his punches, but his aim is usually strong and
true. This book will no doubt prove controversial for some climate
campaigners, as well as the deniers, but I hope it will be read by
everybody who is engaged in making the case for action.<br>
<br>
Both Mann and Gates appear optimistic that the world can stop
climate change, but they are also under no illusions about the scale
of the challenge we face and the many obstacles that lie in our way.
They also show just how wrong those people are who think we cannot
or should not succeed.<br>
<br>
Bob Ward is policy and communications director at the Grantham
Research Institute on climate change and the environment at the
London School of Economics and Political Science<br>
<br>
• <u>How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the
Breakthroughs We Need</u> by Bill Gates is published by Allen Lane
(£20). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges
may apply<br>
<br>
• <u>The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet</u> by
Michael E Mann is published by Scribe (£16.99). To order a copy go
to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply<br>
<br>
With the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, American
democracy has a chance to reset. The new administration has a
historic opportunity to address the country’s deepest systemic
challenges, and steer it toward a path of fairness, equality and
stability.<br>
<br>
It won’t be easy. Donald Trump’s chaotic presidency has ended, but
the forces that propelled him – from a misinformation crisis to a
surge in white nationalism to a crackdown on voting rights – remain
clear threats to American democracy. The need for fact-based
reporting that highlights injustice and offers solutions is as great
as ever. In the coming year, the Guardian will also continue to
confront America’s many systemic challenges – from the climate
emergency to broken healthcare to rapacious corporations.<br>
<br>
We believe everyone deserves access to information that’s grounded
in science and truth, and analysis rooted in authority and
integrity. That’s why we made a different choice: to keep our
reporting open for all readers, regardless of where they live or
what they can afford to pay. In these perilous times, an
independent, global news organisation like the Guardian is
essential. We have no shareholders or billionaire owner, meaning our
journalism is free from commercial and political influence.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/14/how-to-avoid-a-climate-disaster-by-bill-gates-the-new-climate-war-by-michael-e-mann-review">https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/14/how-to-avoid-a-climate-disaster-by-bill-gates-the-new-climate-war-by-michael-e-mann-review</a><br>
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<br>
POWER PLAYERS<br>
<b>Bill Gates on climate change: I’m another ‘rich guy with an
opinion’ — but here’s why you should listen</b><br>
Published Sun, Feb 14 2021<br>
Catherine Clifford<br>
Bill Gates is a philanthropist and climate change evangelist.<br>
<br>
But he knows full well that his life as a billionaire and business
tycoon also makes him “an imperfect messenger on climate change,” he
writes in his new book, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.”<br>
<br>
“I can’t deny being a rich guy with an opinion,” writes Gates, who
is worth more than $100 billion, has a massive home in Medina,
Washington (known as “Xanado 2.0″) and uses a private jet (which
helps him do the global work of the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, he’s said on Reddit).<br>
<br>
“It’s true that my carbon footprint is absurdly high,” Gates writes
in his new book.<br>
<br>
“I own big houses and fly in private planes — in fact, I took one to
Paris for the climate conference — so who am I to lecture anyone on
the environment?” he writes.<br>
<br>
Gates says he’s long felt guilty about his high emissions, but
“working on this book has made me even more conscious of my
responsibility to reduce them,” he writes. “Shrinking my carbon
footprint is the least that can be expected of someone in my
position who’s worried about climate change and publically calling
for action.”<br>
<br>
(Gates’ disproportionate consumption of carbon-emitting fossil fuels
is representative of a larger trend globally: The “1%” are the main
drivers of climate change, while the poorest are hit the hardest by
its consequences.)<br>
<br>
According to Gates’ book, in 2020 he started using sustainable jet
fuel and “will fully offset my family’s aviation emissions in 2021.”<br>
<br>
Sustainable jet fuel is not made from fossil fuels, according to the
International Air Transport Association (IATA), the trade
association for the world’s airlines. It can be made from any number
of raw materials including cooking oil, plant oils, municipal waste,
waste gases and agricultural residues, IATA says.<br>
<br>
For Gates’ non-aviation emissions, he writes that he is “buying
offsets through a company that runs a facility that removes carbon
dioxide from the air.”<br>
<br>
A carbon offset is a reduction in carbon emissions to compensate for
emissions produced elsewhere. Specifically, a “carbon offset
represents a reduction or removal of one metric ton of carbon
dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere,” says Anne Thiel, the
Communications Manager for Verra, a Washington, DC-based non-profit.
Carbon dioxide is the used as a point of reference because it is the
most common greehhouse gas in the atmosphere and “remains in the
climate system for a very long time,” Thiel says.<br>
<br>
It is worth noting that some criticize the idea of carbon offsets as
a convenient stop-gap for more permanent solutions. Others, however,
see it as better than nothing.<br>
<br>
“Companies should set and work towards a net-zero target diligently
and we should all hold them to those goals. But, in the meantime, we
need a way to reduce emissions now in order to avoid catastrophic
climate change,” says Naomi Swickard, the chief program officer at
Verra. “Offsets provide one of the most efficient and near-term ways
to drive finance to real emission reductions to help us bend the
curve and keep below the planet’s tipping points — buying us time to
make the longer-term transition.”<br>
<br>
Gates writes that he is also investing in clean energy companies and
non-profits. For instance, in 2015, Gates spearheaded the creation
of Breakthrough Energy, a venture capital fund investing in climate
innovation technology “that will lead the world to net-zero
emissions.”<br>
<br>
Net zero emissions means getting to a place where collectively,
there are no new emissions being added to the atmosphere. “Emissions
will continue, but will be balanced by absorbing an equivalent
amount from the atmosphere,” according to the United Nations.<br>
<br>
“I have put more than $1 billion into approaches that I hope will
help the world get to zero, including affordable and reliable clean
energy and low-emissions cement, steel, meat and more,” Gates writes
in his book.<br>
<br>
“Of course, investing in companies doesn’t make my carbon footprint
smaller. But if I have picked any winners at all, they’ll be
responsible for removing much more carbon than I or my family is
responsible for,” Gates writes.<br>
<br>
“Besides, the goal isn’t simply for any one person to make up for
his or her emissions; it’s to avoid a climate disaster.”<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/14/bill-gates-on-his-carbon-footprint.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/14/bill-gates-on-his-carbon-footprint.html</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[witty, fun 30 min video explains & contains many links to
source material ]<br>
<b>Climate Change Is An Absolute Nightmare - This Is Why</b><br>
Jul 9, 2020<br>
UpIsNotJump<br>
So. What is Climate Change? Do you know the facts? No?<br>
<br>
Well I personally had no idea. One day it just hit me, I knew very
little about climate change. Even with a useless degree in
chemistry, climate change is a confusing mess of strange and
difficult to understand information.<br>
<br>
I made this video to gather all the facts I could find about climate
change, in a fun way, and without any bias on my part. I wanted
anyone who watched this video (and myself too!) to understand all
the important facts relating to climate change. Non-scientists
welcome. <br>
<br>
Science is exciting! It’s just school and most of our education
systems aren’t…<br>
<br>
In a few months this video will be uploaded as to remove any
language or scenes not suitable for schools, so it can be used to
teach about climate change in schools. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://youtu.be/uqwvf6R1_QY">https://youtu.be/uqwvf6R1_QY</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 15, 2010 </b></font><br>
<p>February 15, 2010: <br>
<br>
NPR's Christopher Joyce reports:<br>
<br>
"Most [climate scientists] don't see a contradiction between a
warming world and lots of snow. That includes Kevin Trenberth, a
prominent climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric
Research in Colorado.<br>
<br>
"'The fact that the oceans are warmer now than they were, say, 30
years ago means there's about on average 4 percent more water
vapor lurking around over the oceans than there was, say, in the
1970s,' he says.<br>
<br>
"Warmer water means more water vapor rises up into the air, and
what goes up must come down.<br>
<br>
"'So one of the consequences of a warming ocean near a coastline
like the East Coast and Washington, D.C., for instance, is that
you can get dumped on with more snow partly as a consequence of
global warming,' he says.<br>
<br>
"And Trenberth notes that you don't need very cold temperatures to
get big snow. In fact, when the mercury drops too low, it may be
too cold to snow."<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123671588&sc=emaf">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123671588&sc=emaf</a>
<br>
<br>
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