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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>March 16, 2021</b></font></i></p>
[history]<br>
<b>Climate crisis: recent European droughts 'worst in 2,000 years'</b><br>
Study of tree rings dating back to Roman empire concludes weather
since 2014 has been extraordinary<br>
Damian Carrington - 15 Mar 2021 <br>
The study, which was published in the journal Nature Geoscience,
analysed 27,000 growth rings from 147 oak trees. Living oaks were
used for the last century, then timber from old buildings such as
churches. For the middle ages, the researchers used oak that had
been preserved in river deposits or gravel beds, and for the Roman
period they used remains such as wood used to construct wells.<br>
<br>
Previous climate reconstructions from tree rings used width and wood
density to determine temperature. The Büntgen-led study used
measurements of carbon and oxygen isotopes to show how much water
was available to the trees, giving a record of droughts. This showed
that the high frequency of recent European droughts was
unprecedented, even compared with severe historical droughts such as
the Renaissance drought in the early 16th century.<br>
<br>
The wood samples come from the Czech Republic and Bavaria in
Germany, and represent climate conditions across central Europe.
High temperatures were the main cause of recent droughts, and these
have been seen across Europe.<br>
<br>
The climate crisis is also linked to extreme wet weather in winter.
The rainfall in the UK on 3 October 2020 was the highest in records
dating back to 1891, and a study published last Wednesday said this
had been made three times more likely by global heating. The
research by the UK Met Office also found that such downpours will be
10 times more likely by 2100 without major cuts to carbon emissions.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/15/climate-crisis-recent-european-droughts-worst-in-2000-years">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/15/climate-crisis-recent-european-droughts-worst-in-2000-years</a><br>
<p>- -</p>
[source material Nature]<br>
<b>Recent European drought extremes beyond Common Era background
variability</b><br>
<blockquote>Abstract<br>
Europe’s recent summer droughts have had devastating ecological
and economic consequences, but the severity and cause of these
extremes remain unclear. Here we present 27,080 annually resolved
and absolutely dated measurements of tree-ring stable carbon and
oxygen (δ13C and δ18O) isotopes from 21 living and 126 relict oaks
(Quercus spp.) used to reconstruct central European summer
hydroclimate from 75 BCE to 2018 CE. We find that the combined
inverse δ13C and δ18O values correlate with the June–August Palmer
Drought Severity Index from 1901–2018 at 0.73 (P < 0.001).
Pluvials around 200, 720 and 1100 CE, and droughts around 40, 590,
950 and 1510 CE and in the twenty-first century, are superimposed
on a multi-millennial drying trend. Our reconstruction
demonstrates that the sequence of recent European summer droughts
since 2015 CE is unprecedented in the past 2,110 years. This
hydroclimatic anomaly is probably caused by anthropogenic warming
and associated changes in the position of the summer jet stream.<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00698-0">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00698-0</a><br>
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<p><br>
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[Says the Insurance Journal]<br>
<b>How Everybody Ends Up Paying for Climate Crisis</b><br>
By David R. Baker and Mark Chediak | March 15, 2021<br>
Fallout from last month’s deadly deep freeze in Texas has quietly
spread to people living hundreds of miles away. Minnesota utilities
have warned that monthly heating bills could spike by $400, after
the crisis jacked up natural gas prices across the country. Xcel
Energy’s Colorado customers could face a $7.50 per month surcharge
for the next two years.<br>
<br>
This is a subtle demonstration of the way Americans already share
the collective financial burden of climate change, even if we don’t
realize it. The national bill for global warming is here, and it’s
rising.<br>
Perhaps it’s easier to see this dynamic playing out beyond
February’s Texas cold snap. That disaster left dozens dead, stranded
millions in dark homes, and sent a shockwave of higher gas prices
across the nation. But since there remains scientific uncertainty
over the role of global warming, let’s examine two other calamities
for which the climate link is clearer: wildfires and tropical
storms.<br>
The federal government spent about $2.3 billion fighting fires last
year, roughly 10 times what it spent in 1985, an increase tied to
the hotter, drier conditions of global warming has created in the
western U.S. That money comes from taxes. So, too, does funding for
the National Flood Insurance Program, which has piled up $20.5
billion in debt after a record-setting hurricane season across the
Southeast and Gulf Coast. The program now pays about $1 million in
interest per day, according to a recent federal report, and won’t be
able to repay its existing debts in the next decade as warmer oceans
bring more flooding.<br>
<br>
“There’s just no question that we’re paying the costs of climate
change today—this isn’t something that’s going to happen to polar
bears in 2050,” said Michael Wara, director of the climate and
energy program at Stanford University. “And in certain parts of the
country, those costs are becoming more apparent than others.”...<br>
- - <br>
<br>
U.S. lawmakers over the past two decades have failed to enact a more
cohesive approach to these costs. The government could impose a
carbon tax, which would prod businesses to cut their emissions while
creating a pool of money to help communities prepare for
climate-related disasters. “A carbon tax is a prudent choice because
we are already paying the climate disaster tax,” Grbusic said. “It’s
just that most of us aren’t aware of it.”...<br>
- -<br>
While federal spending is spread out nationwide, residents of
individual states may face their own climate costs. In California,
for example, many wildfire-prevention efforts are now funded through
utility bills. That socialization of costs came as a result of two
decades that saw an increasing number of fires triggered by fallen
power lines. The state has been warming up and drying out, leading
Governor Gavin Newsom last year to label wildfires “a climate damn
emergency.”<br>
<br>
PG&E Corp., the state’s largest utility, tumbled into bankruptcy
after its equipment sparked fires that killed more than 100 people
and destroyed thousands of homes. The utility emerged from Chapter
11 last year, having settled claims for $25.5 billion that will be
covered by the company’s shareholders. California’s three big
investor-owned utilities could spend an estimated total of $40
billion on wildfire prevention over the next decade, according to a
recent state report.<br>
<br>
To pay for that work, the average California utility customer will
see an additional charge on their bill this year that is estimated
to be in the range of $96 to $144 a year, according to the state
report. By 2030 those charges will likely rise by another $30.<br>
<br>
Handling those costs through utility rates presents a small part of
a big climate problem: inequality. Rates tend to be more regressive
than taxes, with a larger impact on low-income households than
wealthier families. “We’re not thinking systematically on this,”
Wara said.<br>
<br>
Considering the costs Americans already incur responding to
climate-related disasters, spending more to prevent them or reduce
their impact may seem a hard sell for politicians. Roy Wright, chief
executive officer of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home
Safety, says such investments can “absolutely save money,” just as
pre-emptively strengthening a roof can help a home survive a major
storm.<br>
<br>
“They don’t eliminate the storm, they don’t eliminate the wildfire,”
said Wright, who used to serve as the chief executive of the
National Flood Insurance Program. “But they can narrow the impact.”<br>
–With assistance from Brian Eckhouse.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2021/03/15/605419.htm">https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2021/03/15/605419.htm</a><br>
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[follow the real estate money]<br>
<b>What happens when you buy a house in a disaster zone – and no one
told you?</b><br>
In many states, laws don’t require sellers to disclose that a
property is in a flood or wildfire area, leaving homeowners with
unexpected damage and losses<br>
n New Year’s Eve in 2015, a storm called Goliath helped raise the
Meramec to a record historic crest of 44ft. Hayes heard a boom as
water crashed through their doorway. Muddy water swallowed their
basement. It covered the doorframe where she had marked the growth
of four children in pencil.<br>
<br>
“We would never live there if we could do it again,” Hayes, 45,
says.<br>
<br>
No laws require Missouri property owners to warn potential buyers
about past flooding – even though the National Flood Insurance
Program has paid out more than $813m in damage claims in the state,
on 33 federal disasters over 40 years.<br>
<br>
City ordinance prohibited the Hayes family from modifying their land
with berms or levees, and the government refused to buy them out.
Last year, after another record flood, the city of Sunset Hills
ordered the house demolished.<br>
<br>
Hayes refuses to sell her piece of the floodplain to a private
buyer. “We don’t want somebody to build a house there and have this
happen again,” she says. “It wouldn’t be right.”<br>
<br>
Every US state has seen high water in the last five years; flooding
is the largest and most frequent disaster in the country. But in 21
states, homeowners are guaranteed little information about flood
risk, according to an analysis by the Natural Resources Defense
Council and Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change
Law.<br>
<br>
“You can get a file on yourself from the FBI,” saysNatural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC) attorney Joel Scata. “Why can’t you get the
file on your property?”<br>
<br>
When it comes to a property owner’s risk from disasters like flood
or fire, “there’s a moral responsibility to ensure that anything
that is knowable is known,” says Roy Wright, president of the
Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety and the former
head of the National Flood Insurance Program.<br>
<br>
Still, no one place, public or private, holds all that information,
even as losses from natural disasters have risen over the last 40
years.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/sep/25/property-on-floodplain-laws-rights-climate-change">https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/sep/25/property-on-floodplain-laws-rights-climate-change</a>
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[Where along the Great Lakes is the beach today?]<br>
<b>Scientists: Don't be fooled by seasonal water level drops on
Great Lakes</b><br>
Forecast calls for continued above-average levels, erosion concerns<br>
By Sheri Mcwhirter Mar 14, 2021 <br>
- -<br>
Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit announced
last week that water levels on all of the Great Lakes are tracking
below last year’s. However, all but Lake Ontario are expected to
remain well above long-term averages, records show.<br>
<br>
“We do expect Lake Michigan-Huron to be near its seasonal low in the
next couple of weeks and then the seasonal rise will begin in
April,” said Deanna Apps, Corps physical scientist.<br>
<br>
She confirmed the forecast for water levels on Lakes Michigan and
Huron for the next six months suggests levels will be 9 to 11 inches
below last year, but between 22 and 26 inches above long-term
averages.<br>
<br>
“We are still in that two-foot range above average,” Apps said...<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.record-eagle.com/news/local_news/scientists-dont-be-fooled-by-seasonal-water-level-drops-on-great-lakes/article_732d71f6-828c-11eb-8992-7fd859b44956.html">https://www.record-eagle.com/news/local_news/scientists-dont-be-fooled-by-seasonal-water-level-drops-on-great-lakes/article_732d71f6-828c-11eb-8992-7fd859b44956.html</a><br>
<p>- -</p>
[Sea Grant Video]<br>
<b>Winter on the Great Lakes: Ice, Evaporation, & Water Levels
Impacts</b><br>
Mar 10, 2021<br>
Michigan Sea Grant<br>
Presenters explain the rather complicated interactions of ice,
evaporation and water levels impacts here in the Great Lakes. <br>
3:52 Dr. John Lenters (Michigan Technological University)<br>
55:14 practitioners Jack Cox P.E. and Greg Weykamp (Edgewater
Resources),<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2CbZxc7sDk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2CbZxc7sDk</a> (starts 6 mins in)<br>
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[it's called true-cost accounting]<br>
<b>Accounting needs to be stepped up for climate change costs</b><br>
Clearer standards are needed on the financial impact of carbon
emissions<br>
- -<br>
And the sums are not trivial for companies, particularly in sectors
such as steel and cement which emit large amounts of carbon. If BP’s
$100 carbon price was used as a benchmark, steelmaker Arcelor Mittal
and cement producer Buzzi Unicem generated emissions in 2019 worth
as much as 3.5 times their earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation and amortisation that year, based on FT calculations.<br>
<br>
Many corporates will not want more expenses heaped upon them. Yet
many shareholders should want a better idea of the financial risk
they face. Financial directors as well as investors are keen to find
some compromise.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.ft.com/content/92bc2cf3-ef4c-4496-b339-ee178e01d796">https://www.ft.com/content/92bc2cf3-ef4c-4496-b339-ee178e01d796</a> <br>
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<p><br>
</p>
[Dr Jennifer Atkinson podcast]<br>
<b>Episode 2: Why Climate Emotions Matter </b> <br>
Is reason or emotion more important in driving climate action? Will
solutions to mass extinction come from the head or the heart? Or are
these binaries themselves part of the problem? While some climate
activists argue that we should focus on facts instead of feelings,
others know that our intense emotional response to climate chaos is
far from irrational. Moreover, feelings like anger, hope, anxiety,
and fear profoundly shape our perceptions of the world, and can
motivate us to act or shut down and retreat. To better understand
how those mental and emotional states relate to environmental crisis
and public perceptions of risk, this episode explores why emotions
matter in the climate battle. <br>
<br>
"It is not half so important to know as to feel."<br>
<br>
- Rachel Carson<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.drjenniferatkinson.com/facing-it">https://www.drjenniferatkinson.com/facing-it</a><br>
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[Ariz newspaper on climate trauma]<b><br>
</b><b>Between anger and sadness: How the climate crisis has become
a mental health crisis</b><br>
Erin Stone<br>
Arizona Republic<br>
- -<br>
Surveys have found that 47% of Americans aged 18 to 34 feel that
stress related to climate change impacts their daily lives. That
number is even higher for teens, at 57%. Climate anxiety is
increasingly being seen as a public health issue, especially for
young people and children. <br>
There's good reason to be anxious, experts say. In 2018, scientists
warned world leaders they needed to achieve carbon neutrality by
2050 to avoid the worst effects of climate change. The world is not
on track to reach that goal.<br>
<br>
As a result, scientists say extreme heat, wildfires and other
disasters will likely become more frequent and destructive. Rising
sea levels, civil unrest and food shortages could displace billions
by 2050 if human-caused greenhouse gas emissions aren’t severely
cut.<br>
“I think younger people are generally more affected because they
know they’re going to see these changes actualized in their
lifetime,” said Collin Hagood, a therapist in Flagstaff who has seen
the issue come up with his clients.<br>
<br>
“It's an anticipatory grief,” Hagood said. “I think it’s really
important that we all are part of this conversation, being open
about it, being expressive about it, trying to connect with one
another and most importantly connect to nature so we can recognize
why this is such a big deal.”<br>
<br>
While climate grief is not the primary reason people come to see
Hagood, it's often an exacerbating factor. As climate change
increasingly becomes part of the news cycle, even those who are not
yet physically affected are feeling the effects mentally and it has
real-world consequences.<br>
<br>
A 7-year-old Tucson boy questioned the purpose of living in the face
of the mounting crises, leaving his parents to desperately seek
support for him. A Tucson mother talked with her two children about
how the world may not be a fit place to have their own children. A
Phoenix woman became estranged from her mother and watched her
marriage nearly fall apart over the issue.<br>
'It's going to have consequences'<br>
More and more, researchers are studying the mental health
implications of climate change outside the direct effects of
environmental disasters fueled by global heating.<br>
<br>
As ice melts and species suffer in the Arctic, Inuit communities are
facing higher rates of suicide and addiction, in part related to
these changes, research found. In the Maldives, where rising sea
levels are a short-term threat, a study found that children widely
experience existential anxiety. In Ghana, withered crops and "loss
of beauty" driven by climate change trigger strong emotions of
sadness...<br>
In much of the U.S. and other wealthy countries, mental distress is
less about the physical effects of climate change and more about
uncertainty for the future.<br>
<br>
University of Arizona researcher Sabrina Helm has made this
phenomenon a priority in her research. In a study published in 2017,
she found that some people experience high levels of stress, and
even depression, based on their perception of the threat of global
climate change.<br>
<br>
She surveyed 342 parents of young children and identified three
primary concerns: climate change's direct effects on the individual;
concern for humanity in general; and concern for nature, plants and
animals.<br>
- -<br>
Helm’s most recent work has focused on how this worry affects the
decision to have children. There are increasing reports that people
in high-income countries question having children because of climate
anxiety, but there is little empirical research. Helm wanted to fill
that gap...<br>
She conducted interviews with a sample of people in the U.S. and New
Zealand between the ages of 19 and 35. Most worried that having
children would only further the effects of overconsumption and
overpopulation, exacerbating global heating.<br>
<br>
“It's heartbreaking that that is a consideration people actually
have to have,” Helm said. “And if this reaches a broader level in
society, it's going to have some substantial consequences, not only
on mental health."<br>
<br>
<b>The pandemic as a case study</b><br>
Climate change is always on Ronda Seifert’s mind. It permeates small
talk about summer heat in Phoenix. Conversations about a happy
retirement. Chats with family and friends about their grandchildren.<br>
<br>
“It makes me so sad that I’m worried about having grandkids, not
because I would not love to have my children have children, but
because I know I will love them so much and I don't want to watch
them suffer,” Seifert said, her voice faltering as she spoke through
tears. “It's like a pretend button. I'm going to participate in
these conversations like we're on the same page when we're not on
the same page at all. It’s very alienating.”<br>
<br>
For Seifert, 52, the coronavirus pandemic has only heightened that
worry. The combination of science denial and lack of action leading
to deadly harm is a microcosm of the longer-term consequences of
climate change. The similarities have been difficult for her to
watch.<br>
“It's like a sped-up version of climate change reactions,” Seifert
said. “How do you help save people who won't do what is recommended
because they believe in a totally different reality even when the
truth is right in front of them?”<br>
<br>
She puts it like this: She’s on a beach with friends, family,
coworkers, neighbors. The tide’s gone out, but nobody notices except
for her. She doesn’t want her loved ones to panic, but she
desperately wants them to get off the beach.<br>
“I felt like everywhere — at work, with my neighbors, even with my
husband — I needed to act like the tsunami's not coming,” Seifert
said. “I'm going to pretend that we're going to talk about this
great retirement in the future, or how lovely it is that you've got
grandbabies, when in my head I'm thinking, 'oh my God, are they
going to be OK?'”<br>
<br>
The pandemic brought an immediacy to global disaster to people
around the world almost simultaneously. When it comes to climate
change, that sense of urgency is much less, especially in countries
like the U.S., the second-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the
world.<br>
<br>
Most individuals — and government officials — are not yet directly
experiencing the consequences. For many in the U.S., the worst
effects of climate change will be decades down the line, making
serious action hard to come by.<br>
<br>
“COVID-19 is reminding us that there are a lot of people suffering,
and that those of us who have privileges shouldn't turn a blind eye
to those who don't,” said Paul Hirt, a historian and former
professor at Arizona State University. “If you are worried about the
future, you can either stick your head in the sand, get depressed
and look the other way, or you roll up your sleeves and get busy
trying to make sure the worst-case scenario doesn't happen.”<br>
<br>
Seifert refuses to stick her head in the sand, though she finds it
exhausting to be surrounded by people who don’t see how urgent the
issue is. It has estranged her from her mother. She and her husband
attended couple’s therapy because of the tension their conflicting
degrees of concern caused.<br>
<br>
To cope, she does as much as she can at an individual level. She
joined Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a nonpartisan climate action group.
Recently, she’s found hope in regenerative agriculture, which can
increase ecosystems’ resilience and sequester carbon. She started a
backyard garden. She and her husband added solar panels to their
home and bought an electric vehicle.<br>
<br>
Though she once considered moving out of Phoenix because of the
worsening heat, Seifert’s heart remains in the place she calls home.
She grew up poor with unstable housing near 29th Avenue and Buckeye
Road. She and her mother and brother bounced between homelessness
and living in old rentals that couldn’t keep out the heat. Sometimes
their utility bills were so high they struggled to pay them. Too
often they had to choose between food and utility payments, relying
on help from family or food banks.<br>
<br>
“I know what it's like to not be able to afford a utility bill that
is going up and up and up,” Seifert said. “I want to try to think of
ways to help our communities that are experiencing a greater
burden.”<br>
<br>
Still, she fluctuates “between anger and sadness and guilt and
sometimes empowerment when I do something I feel makes a difference,
and I'm OK for a while.”<br>
<br>
“It's an ongoing struggle,” Seifert said. At times, she achieves
that elusive middle ground between grief for the future and joy for
the present.<br>
<br>
“Those of us who are facing this, we're brave,” Seifert said. “Even
though it's hard and it's scary, we refuse to turn away. I can't do
that because of my children. But I also have to find ways to enjoy
the moments we have right now.”<br>
<br>
<b>Finding hope in activism</b><br>
A band of activists crosses the intersection of Tatum and Shea
boulevards as they advocate for climate change solutions during a
weekend vigil.<br>
In March, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, First Friday was
bustling in downtown Phoenix. Along Roosevelt Row, music melted
together from block to block. Flat Earthers set up shop next to
Catholic truth vendors. Couples held hands as kids skateboarded
through the crowd.<br>
<br>
The evening was warm and joyful, a world that feels far away from
that of today.<br>
<br>
On a quieter stretch of sidewalk, a cardboard cutout of a kangaroo
leaned against a fence. There were tears drawn on its face and a
sign with the words “CLIMATE EMERGENCY” slung around its neck. A
photo of a mother and baby koala rested against its feet. At a
table, images of Australian animals were placed besides candles.
People stopped and took matches from the table to light them.<br>
<br>
The Phoenix chapter of Extinction Rebellion, a climate action group,
was raising awareness about the climate crisis as unprecedented
bushfires raged in Australia. The fires would kill nearly three
billion animals and some ecosystems will likely never recover. The
bushfires sparked intense grief in people all over the world.<br>
<br>
Heberling, the tornado survivor, stood at the table, wearing a black
dress, fishnet leggings and black platform boots. She joined
Extinction Rebellion during a severe bout of depression after a trip
to Germany in 2019. She had lived in the country in her early 20s,
but when she returned a mere four years later, she was appalled by
the changes she saw in the landscape.<br>
<br>
“Immediately I noticed that something was wrong with the trees,”
Heberling said. “They had this sickly brown yellow color. Seeing
everything look like that was really jarring. I thought I was going
crazy.”<br>
<br>
But she wasn’t. In the prior two years, Germany had experienced
uncommon heat and prolonged drought, putting the country’s iconic
forests in danger. Since 2018, hundreds of thousands of acres of
trees have died, driven by rising temperatures caused by
human-caused emissions.<br>
<br>
“I had a really, really intense emotional reaction,” Heberling said.
“Not only is this place that’s so special to me going through
something like this, but the whole world is, too.”<br>
<br>
Then an event popped up on her Facebook feed: A group called
Extinction Rebellion was hosting a climate strike. She decided to
pull herself out of bed and join.<br>
<br>
Young people have found solace and hope by joining the climate
movement. But when the pandemic hit and climate action initiatives
had to stop, many were tossed yet again into a sense of
hopelessness. <br>
<br>
“Students have been greatly impacted during the pandemic,” said
Brian Mecinas, a 19-year-old organizer with Arizona Youth Climate
Coalition and a sophomore at Arizona State University. <br>
<br>
“Things may have changed in their home life, whether that be their
employment, their parents’ employment, not having a quiet work
environment,” Mecinas said. “And on top of that, still feeling that
responsibility to deal with the climate crisis that everyone seemed
to forget about for a large chunk of this pandemic.”<br>
<br>
Brian Mecinas, 19, at Arizona State University's Tempe campus on
Dec. 30, 2020. Mecinas has dealt with mental health challenges as a
climate activist.<br>
Mecinas tried to keep organizing, but the activism itself became
overwhelming. He had been heavily involved since high school,
organizing climate strikes and showing up at local meetings to push
for action. But amid a pandemic, school and a job to support
himself, it became too much. He hit a wall, falling into lethargy
and depression.<br>
<br>
“I don't have the same motivation anymore that I had last year,”
Mecinas said. The fact he couldn’t will himself to push through the
lethargy only compounded his depression.<br>
<br>
“There is a mourning that I feel for the loss that is happening, has
happened, will continue to happen,” Mecinas said. “It seems like a
very uphill battle to prevent any more loss and pressure leaders to
do what needs to be done. At the same time, who am I to feel I can
stop doing this work when I'm one of the lucky few that doesn't have
to be feeling the effects of the climate crisis right now?”<br>
<br>
When the burnout infiltrated other aspects of his life, Mecinas
realized he needed professional help. <br>
<br>
“There’s not always a lot of space to talk about this kind of thing
when there's so much work to be done,” Mecinas said.<br>
<br>
Daylight saving time affects Arizonans even though we don't observe
it. Here's how<br>
COVID-19 in Arizona exposed health inequality. Will the new
awareness prompt long-term changes?<br>
Between anger and sadness: How the climate crisis has become a
mental health crisis<br>
Scottsdale City Council expected to pass anti-discrimination
ordinance. Here's what it would do<br>
With the help of a therapist and psychiatrist, Mecinas is slowly
regaining his energy. Heberling, too, is taking a break, but she
plans to return to the movement.<br>
<br>
“I’m realizing that the process of fighting and winning is
important, but it’s also important to enjoy the process of living,”
Heberling said. “That's the hard part, knowing how to balance those
two things. I guess it's a matter of trying to learn to enjoy the
simple things. Spend time with the people we care about. Take time
to have fun. That's the ideal I want to strive for.”<br>
<br>
Mental health resources<br>
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or a
mental health crisis, here are some available resources:<br>
<br>
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255.<br>
Text “HOME” to 741-741.<br>
Maricopa County Suicide and Crisis Hotline: 1-800-631-1314 or
602-222-9444.<br>
Teen Lifeline: 602-248-TEEN (8336).<br>
More resources are listed here:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.azahcccs.gov/BehavioralHealth/crisis.html">https://www.azahcccs.gov/BehavioralHealth/crisis.html</a><br>
Erin Stone covers the environment for The Arizona Republic and
azcentral.com. Send her story tips and ideas at
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:erin.stone@arizonarepublic.com">erin.stone@arizonarepublic.com</a> and follow her on Twitter @Erstone7.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2021/03/14/how-climate-change-worries-affect-young-peoples-mental-health/3956269001/">https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2021/03/14/how-climate-change-worries-affect-young-peoples-mental-health/3956269001/</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[WaPo poo-poo talk]<br>
<b>Kentucky Senate votes to criminalize insulting police in way that
could cause ‘violent response’</b><br>
March 12, 2021 <br>
By Marisa Iati<br>
The Washington Post<br>
Kentucky’s Republican-majority Senate on Thursday moved forward a
bill that would make it easier to arrest protesters for insulting a
police officer, a measure that critics say would stifle free speech.<br>
<br>
The bill, passed two days before the anniversary of the fatal police
shooting of Breonna Taylor, would make it a misdemeanor to taunt or
challenge an officer with words or gestures “that would have a
direct tendency to provoke a violent response from the perspective
of a reasonable and prudent person.” Conviction would be punishable
by up to 90 days in jail and fines of up to $250.<br>
<br>
State Sen. Danny Carroll, a Republican, who sponsored the bill, said
it would enable officers to arrest someone inflaming them before the
encounter turns violent. The provision is meant to apply to comments
that are “obviously designed to illicit a response from the officer
— something to push them to making a mistake, pushing them to
violence,” he said, although courts would have the final say in
interpreting the rule.<br>
<br>
“You don’t have a right to accost a police officer,” Carroll said.<br>
<br>
In addition to criminalizing taunting police, the bill would expand
the category of protest behavior considered illegal, heighten
sentences for offenses related to “riots” and prevent early release
for those violations. It comes as Louisville, Kentucky’s largest
city, prepares for hundreds of people to gather downtown Saturday to
recognize the anniversary of Taylor being fatally shot during an
early-morning raid.<br>
<br>
Hundreds of people were arrested in Louisville during last year’s
protests — most on misdemeanor charges, but some on felony
allegations.<br>
<br>
The national battle over police accountability is playing out in
legislatures across the country, as several states roll out bills
that seek to protect law enforcement by expanding their immunity to
lawsuits or reducing funding to localities that shrink police
budgets. But many Democratic lawmakers have pushed measures that
would make officers more liable for misconduct, and the U.S. House
also passed a bill this month that would increase officers’ legal
liability. Its fate in the Senate is uncertain.<br>
<br>
Tyra Thomas-Walker, co-chair of the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist
and Political Oppression, said she felt that her state’s bill
attacks the constitutional right to peacefully protest.<br>
<br>
“Some people are just emotional, and they’re saying things because
they’re angry, they’re mad, they’re traumatized, but they’re not
acting on it,” she said. “Why criminalize someone for their words?
We have to protest now with tape over our mouth?”<br>
<br>
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky called the measure
“an extreme bill to stifle dissent” with broad and ambiguous
language.<br>
<br>
“It’s criminalizing speech in a way that’s directed at protesters
and people who are speaking out against police action,” said Corey
Shapiro, ACLU of Kentucky’s legal director. “It is a bedrock
principle of the First Amendment that people should be able to
criticize police action, even if it’s using offensive speech.”<br>
<br>
The provision of the bill that would ban insulting police was
modeled on laws in other states prohibiting comments that could
reasonably push a person to violence, said Carroll, himself a former
police officer. Those statutes, which are not specific to
anti-police comments, rely on an exception to the First Amendment
known as the “fighting words doctrine,” which holds that words
inciting immediate violence are not constitutionally protected.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/kentucky-senate-votes-to-criminalize-insulting-police-in-way-that-could-cause-violent-response/">https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/kentucky-senate-votes-to-criminalize-insulting-police-in-way-that-could-cause-violent-response/</a><br>
<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 -
March 16, 2011 </b></font><br>
<p>March 16, 2011: CBS News reports on the aggressive anti-science
attitudes of the 112th Congress.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-republicans-reject-climate-change-science/">http://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-republicans-reject-climate-change-science/</a><br>
</p>
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