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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>May 23, 2021</b></font></i></p>
[it's called climate destabilization]<br>
<b>Twenty-one dead as extreme weather hits ultramarathon in China</b><br>
Hail, freezing rain and high winds hit runners at high-altitude,
100km race in Yellow River stone forest in Gansu province<br>
- -<br>
A “significant” drop in temperatures had been forecast in most parts
of Gansu over the weekend but there was anger on Chinese social
media that officials had failed to plan for bad weather.<br>
<br>
“Why didn’t the government read the weather forecast and do a risk
assessment?” one commentator wrote.<br>
<br>
“This is totally a man-made calamity. Even if the weather is
unexpected, where were the contingency plans?”<br>
<br>
At the news briefing on Sunday, Baiyin officials bowed and
apologised, saying they were saddened by the tragic deaths of the
runners and that they were to be blamed...<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/23/runners-dead-extreme-weather-hits-mountain-running-race-gansu-china">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/23/runners-dead-extreme-weather-hits-mountain-running-race-gansu-china</a><br>
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[better check again - 2 min video news ]<br>
<b>Report suggests Canada's methane emissions higher than previously
estimated</b><br>
May 22, 2021<br>
Global News<br>
Researchers in Nova Scotia say Canada's climate strategy may be
based on estimates of methane emissions that are inaccurately low. <br>
<br>
Even though we can't see it or smell it, it's considered a potent
greenhouse gas and the report suggests more methane is leaking from
Canada's oil patch than previously believed. <br>
<br>
Ross Lord explains the miscalculation and what it means for the
country.<br>
For more info, please go to <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://globalnews.ca">https://globalnews.ca</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN1mRGt8q_0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN1mRGt8q_0</a>
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[New living]<br>
<b>Off-the-grid homes are coming to your neighborhood, as climate
change creates suburban survivalists</b><br>
Diana Olick - MAY 21 2021<br>
-- Increasingly extreme weather from climate change is now a
year-round phenomenon. This has homebuilders reconsidering how they
design and power new homes, and how to take them off the grid.<br>
-- Major grid failure or “blackout” events in the United States,
impacting 50,000 or more people, jumped by more than 60% since 2015.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/21/climate-change-creates-demand-for-off-the-grid-homes-.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/21/climate-change-creates-demand-for-off-the-grid-homes-.html</a><br>
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[Wired]<br>
<b>The Ford F-150 Lightning Is the Electric Vehicle of Dystopia</b><br>
The automaker says the battery inside the pickup can power a home
for three days—useful in a world of fires, floods, and freezes. <br>
WHEN TESLA CEO Elon Musk took to a stage in 2019 to unveil the
company’s all-electric Cybertruck pickup, observers were shocked,
and that's putting it mildly. The look was, as one industrial
designer told WIRED at the time, “anti-humanistic,” a ride devised,
seemingly, for a Mad Max future. Despite his role as the mascot for
zero-emission vehicles, Musk is not always sanguine about humanity’s
future on Earth—hence all the Mars stuff—so the truck’s unorthodox
design made some sense.<br>
Aarian Marshall writes about autonomous vehicles, transportation
policy, urban planning, and everyone’s favorite topic: How to
destroy traffic. (You can’t, really.)<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.wired.com/story/ford-lightning-f150-electric-vehicle-dystopia/">https://www.wired.com/story/ford-lightning-f150-electric-vehicle-dystopia/</a><br>
- - <br>
[buy an electric vehicle]<br>
<b>This Electric Ford Is Climate-Change Ready</b><br>
Not only is it zero emissions, but it can power your home for up to
ten days in the event of an infrastructure collapse<br>
<blockquote>The truck will have one electric motor on each axle,
making for a total of 426 horsepower and 775 pound-feet of torque.
According to Ford, it should have a range of 230 miles in
real-world conditions.<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.outsideonline.com/2424045/electric-ford-f-150-lightning">https://www.outsideonline.com/2424045/electric-ford-f-150-lightning</a><br>
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[Greta's chops stick]<b><br>
</b><b>Greta Thunberg calls out Chinese state-run media for
'fat-shaming' her in a scathing article that questioned her
veganism</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/greta-thunberg-calls-out-china-for-fat-shaming-her-2021-5">https://www.businessinsider.com/greta-thunberg-calls-out-china-for-fat-shaming-her-2021-5</a><br>
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[Our Government at Work]<br>
<b>CONGRESS PLANS CLIMATE RESILIENCY — BUT MOSTLY FOR THE MILITARY</b><br>
Since 2019, Congress has repeatedly held hearings on climate
resiliency for bases, but hardly ever talks about schools, public
housing, or prisons.<br>
Alleen Brown - May 22 2021<br>
AT A CONGRESSIONAL hearing Wednesday, senators peppered military
leaders with questions about the resilience of Defense Department
infrastructure to the climate crisis. Members of both parties asked
the officials for updates on individual bases’ resiliency plans,
questioned how they were balancing climate adaptation with other
priorities, and discussed a list of the most climate-vulnerable
military installations — a congressional mandate that President Joe
Biden doubled down on last month.<br>
<br>
It was the type of detailed climate conversation that’s necessary in
an era of a deepening emergency — but a discussion that Congress has
relegated disproportionately to military matters. This week’s
session was the ninth congressional hearing focused on protecting
national security and military installations from climate risk since
early 2019, according to a list of around 300 climate-related
hearings held since the start of that year. A review of the list,
compiled by the Climate Action Campaign, suggests that Congress has
prioritized military climate readiness over climate resilience for
other types of publicly funded infrastructure.<br>
- -<br>
“Looking at climate change through a militarized frame promotes a
search for military solutions.”...<br>
- -<br>
“Instead of pouring more resources into DoD agencies to retool
military bases, we should start planning to close many of these
bases.”...<br>
- - <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://theintercept.com/2021/05/22/congress-climate-military/">https://theintercept.com/2021/05/22/congress-climate-military/</a><br>
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[trans-doomscrolling]<br>
<b>We Need to Change How We Talk About Climate Action</b><br>
BY HOLLY BUCK<br>
The Left needs a message on climate action that’s about giving more
opportunities for working-class people rather than restricting
individual behavior.<br>
The prospects for climate action are starting to look more
promising. Climate activists have injected the issue into the news
agenda and spooked investors. Coal has peaked, and there’s talk of a
peak in oil demand later this decade, too. Even the future of gas
has come into question. Around the globe, countries, cities, and
companies are making net-zero commitments...<br>
- -<br>
We may have ruled out the worst-case existential scenarios and will
now have to deal with a horrific 3°C of warming instead of 4, 5, or
6 degrees. Perhaps we can even cap it at 2°C. Can we stop to
breathe? And does the turn away from worst-case scenarios mean that
we can effectively rule out geoengineering as a necessary tool?<br>
<br>
It’s complicated. Let’s talk about three challenges we’ll have to
navigate during this decade, one possible opportunity, and one
near-term obstacle.<br>
<br>
<b>Understanding Net Zero</b><br>
The first challenge is becoming increasingly clear. Net-zero
emissions does not constitute a phaseout of fossil fuel production.
Rather, net zero implies there will be some amount of residual,
“difficult-to-abate” emissions balanced against some degree of
negative emissions. The quantity of this remaining amount is going
to be the focus of intense debate during the 2020s....<br>
- -<br>
Instead of phasing out production as a goal, we have “energy
transition” instead — a friendly alternative term that skips over
grimmer language such as “managed decline” or “exit” of fossil
fuels. The idea of energy transition allows for an organic switch to
renewables as they become cheaper than fossil fuels. The rise of
solar provides support for this: its price has fallen by 89 percent
over the past ten years and is now cheaper than coal, which is a key
reason why so many coal plants have closed.<br>
<br>
However, scientific analysis tells us that fossil fuels have to be
actively retired, not just allowed to die a natural death. If we are
going to stay under 1.5°C, production needs to decrease by 6 percent
per year this decade. Instead of pursuing this goal, the world’s
countries are planning an average increase of 2 percent per year,
according to a report that looks at the “Production Gap” between
existing plans and what we need to do...<br>
- - <br>
more at -
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/05/climate-change-green-new-deal-technology">https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/05/climate-change-green-new-deal-technology</a><br>
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[More of our government, ready to work]<br>
<b>Facing Hurricane and Wildfire Seasons, FEMA Is Already Worn Out</b><br>
Multiple missions, combined with years of record disasters, have
strained the agency — and scientists predict an unusually severe
disaster season ahead.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/climate/fema-staff-wildfires-hurricane-season.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/climate/fema-staff-wildfires-hurricane-season.html</a><br>
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[one form of grass roots demonstration]<br>
<b>Climate activists protest against BP sponsorship at British
Museum</b><br>
A demonstration also took place at the Science Museum in London
where Shell is a sponsor<br>
- -<br>
According to the campaign group, BP sponsorship provides less than
1% of the British Museum’s annual income. These cultural deals are
up for renewal this year, and for Danny, who helped organise the
protest, the British Museum is making an “active choice” in
upholding its sponsorship with BP.<br>
<br>
He said: “They’re choosing to stick with the sponsor, and they are
actively making a choice to keep propping up a company that is
incredibly complicit in the climate crisis.”...<br>
- -<br>
Also on Saturday, youth activists from UK Student Climate Network
(UKSCN) led a protest at the Science Museum, in response to a new
climate exhibition sponsored by Shell.<br>
<br>
Izzy Warren, 17, from west London, who was attending the
demonstration, said: “In the past, drawing links between oil
sponsorship and the impact of climate change has been hard. When
you’ve got an exhibition on climate change and solutions being
sponsored by an oil company, there is something very wrong with
that, and I think that’s why this one has got a lot of attention.”<br>
<br>
On Tuesday, the group launched a boycott of the new exhibition, Our
Future Planet, after the museum ignored an open letter demanding the
Science Museum drop its Shell sponsorship, backed by more than 170
scientists and climate organisations.<br>
<br>
Shell has come under huge pressure from shareholders voting for
carbon emission reductions, while the International Energy Agency
has said investments in new oil and gas exploration need to end if
the world is to reach net zero by 2050...<br>
- -<br>
Warren added: “I think it is a very cheap way for oil companies to
have social licence in our museums to operate and make it seem like
they are contributing more good. In reality, they are destroying our
planet, and destroying people’s homes and people’s livelihoods.”<br>
<br>
A spokesperson for the Science Museum said: “We received a peaceful
protest from UKSCN today. It took place without incident and
visitors continued to have safe access to the inspiration of our
museum and to the vaccination centre.”<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/22/climate-activists-protest-against-bp-sponsorship-at-british-museum">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/22/climate-activists-protest-against-bp-sponsorship-at-british-museum</a><br>
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<p>[BBC offers a comment & analysis and the answer is yes.]<br>
<b>Could humans really destroy all life on Earth?</b><br>
The seemingly insatiable human tendency to consume is changing our
planet and the life on it, but can we change our behaviour?<br>
- -<br>
The Weizmann Institute study estimates that on average, each
person on the globe now produces more anthropogenic mass than his
or her bodyweight every week. "The finding that anthropogenic mass
– human made stuff - now weighs as much as all living things, and
the fact that it keeps accumulating rapidly, gives another clear
perspective on how humanity is now a major player in shaping the
face of the planet," says Professor Ron Milo, whose laboratory
conducted this study. "Life on Earth is affected in a major
quantitative manner by the actions of humans." <br>
- -<br>
The scale and size of the anthropogenic matter is alarming. Take
the case of plastic – the birth of the modern plastics era came
only in 1907, but today we produce 300 million tons of plastics
every year. Further, the realisation that after water, concrete is
the most widely used substance on Earth is beyond comprehension.<br>
<br>
The massive geoengineering process initiated by humans took an
accelerated upswing when materials like concrete and aggregates
became widely available. These two materials make up a major
component of the growth in anthropogenic mass. Even the relatively
recent human adventures of space exploration, which began about 60
years ago, is triggering a disastrous space junk problem.
Alongside this we haphazardly observe polar cap melts, permafrost
thaws, and global temperatures getting hotter.<br>
- -<br>
Humans have been conditioned to believe that creating something
new is a meaningful purpose of life...<br>
- - <br>
The limits of science have never been more glaringly apparent when
trying to solve this conundrum. Reliance upon green technological
solutions alone is flawed because the focus is still based on new
stuff and more use – not to alter lifestyles or business models
that handed us this problem in the first place. Even if we can
replace all fossil fuel-based vehicles with electric ones, for
example, cities are already struggling to take road space from
cars and electric vehicles have their own footprint on the world's
resources due to the materials needed to build them...<br>
- -<br>
In the age of Anthropocene, humans may feel entitled to pin hope
on technology to fix any problems so that they can continue to do
what they are doing. Faced with the accumulation of long-lived
plastic in the environment, for example, a spurt of innovation led
to biodegradable coffee cups, bags for life and reusable straws.
But while it is true that a sustainable growth model that includes
our environment has much larger potential to persist, we need a
different approach to sustainability that addresses our massive
consumerism.<br>
- -<br>
The oceans may be acidifying faster today than they did in the
last 300 million years, primarily due to human activities<br>
- -<br>
While there is no proof that we will destroy ourselves, there are
clear indications that we ignore the effects at our own peril. For
example, some of the mass extinctions in the Earth's history are
related to acidification of oceans. The oceans absorb about 30% of
the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, which in turn
increases the ocean acidity. The oceans may be acidifying faster
today than they did in the last 300 million years, primarily due
to human activities.<br>
<br>
"Human life will be negatively affected because of the loss of the
many ecosystem benefits and services provided by biological
diversity," says Loria. "For example, water pollution may affect
provisioning services, such as food and water, by causing a
reduction in food diversity and/or in its quality and safety.
Widespread degradation of ecosystems threatens the conditions of
life on Earth, in particular the long-term survival of our own
species."...<br>
- -<br>
Our impact on the planet is much is deeper than carbon footprints
or global warming. It points to a future where the effects of
anthropogenic matter will take over – if it hasn't already – the
identity of the Earth and its life. In the face of this, humans
themselves might lose out in the evolutionary race.<br>
<br>
Eliminating materials like concrete or plastic or replacing them
with alternatives is not going to address the fundamental problem
with human attitudes and our unparalleled appetite for more. This
is exactly where materialism can seamlessly transform into a known
unknown risk factor in global catastrophe. The myriad of ways in
which it can turn this planet into a mundane world is something
our civilisation has never experienced before...<br>
- -<br>
In the absence of a fully secure evolutionary shield, we could
depend on our intelligence to survive. Nevertheless, as Abraham
Loeb, professor of science at Harvard University and an astronomer
who is searching for dead cosmic civilisations puts it, "the mark
of intelligence is the ability to promote a better future"...<br>
- -<br>
"If we continue to behave this way, we might not survive very
long," he says. "On the other hand, our actions could be a source
of pride for our descendants if they sustain a civilisation
intelligent enough to endure for many centuries to come."<br>
<br>
The story of Bhasmasura in Hindu Mythology offers an eerie
parallel to the impact of materialism. As a devotee of Lord Shiva,
he obtains a boon from Shiva, which empowers him to turn anyone
into ashes with a mere touch on the head. Immediately after
gaining this magical ability, he tries to test it on Shiva
himself. Shiva manages to escape, the story goes.<br>
<br>
But humans may not be lucky enough to flee from their own actions.
Unless, we offer a different vision rooted in reduction of
consumption, the flames of our own materialism might consume both
us and our Pale Blue Dot.<br>
<br>
Santhosh Mathew is a professor of physics and astronomy Regis
College, Greater Boston, and a science writer who has authored two
books.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210520-could-humans-really-destroy-all-life-on-earth">https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210520-could-humans-really-destroy-all-life-on-earth</a>
</p>
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<p><br>
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[recording the tab]<br>
<b>Climate change tied to over $820 billion in health care costs per
year: report</b><br>
BY ZACK BUDRYK - 5/21/21<br>
The impacts of climate change and fossil fuel production are tied to
more than $820 billion a year in physical and mental health care
costs, according to a report issued Thursday by the Natural
Resources Defense Council (NRDC).<br>
<br>
The report, co-produced with the Medical Society Consortium on
Climate & Health and Wisconsin Health Professionals for Climate
Action, found that health problems from soot air pollution alone
have a yearly price tag of $820 billion. Ozone pollution caused by
burning fuels and increased temperatures, meanwhile, adds roughly
$7.9 billion in annual health costs...<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/554750-climate-change-tied-to-over-820-billion-in-health-care-costs-per?rl=1">https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/554750-climate-change-tied-to-over-820-billion-in-health-care-costs-per?rl=1</a><br>
<p><br>
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<p><br>
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[always changing]<br>
CLIMATE NOTE · May 17, 2021<br>
<b>Global Warming’s Six Americas: A Review</b><br>
By Anthony Leiserowitz, Connie Roser-Renouf, Jennifer Marlon and
Edward Maibach<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Picture1.png">https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Picture1.png</a><br>
Strategic communication requires the identification and understanding
of target audiences for tailored communication. The Global Warming’s
Six Americas analysis segments the U.S. public into six distinct
audiences who each respond differently to the issue of climate
change. The segments include the Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious,
Disengaged, Doubtful, and Dismissive. <br>
<br>
We first developed this framework in 2008 and have been studying and
tracking changes in the groups for over a decade. The framework and
segmentation approach has also been used to assess specialized
audiences (e.g. broadcast meteorologists) and other countries (e.g.
India, Australia, and Germany).<br>
The article reviews how the Six Americas have changed over time,
underlying theory, methodological innovations, and how the framework
has informed the decision making of stakeholders ranging from
scientists to government officials, journalists, educators, and
advocates. We conclude by suggesting that future research should
further develop and investigate the application of the Six Americas
within the United States, while also developing tailored
segmentations and related tools for other countries.<br>
<br>
If you would like a copy, please contact us at
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:climatechange@yale.edu">climatechange@yale.edu</a> with the Subject Line: Six Americas Review
Paper request.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/global-warmings-six-americas-a-review/">https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/global-warmings-six-americas-a-review/</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[Content warning -- History of Denialism from the internet news
archive - contains lies, disinformation & opinion manipulation ]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming May
23, 2006 </b></font><br>
<p>May 23, 2006: In perhaps the most hilariously demented attack on
"An Inconvenient Truth," former Delaware Congressman and Governor
Pete Du Pont declares in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that we don't
need to reduce C02 emissions because C02 is "vital for plant
growth."</p>
<blockquote>
<p><b>Don't Be Very Worried</b><br>
The truth about "global warming" is much less dire than Al Gore
wants you to think.<br>
<br>
BY PETE DU PONT<br>
Tuesday, May 23, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT<br>
<br>
Since 1970, the year of the first Earth Day, America's
population has increased by 42%, the country's
inflation-adjusted gross domestic product has grown 195%, the
number of cars and trucks in the United States has more than
doubled, and the total number of miles driven has increased by
178%.<br>
<br>
But during these 35 years of growing population, employment, and
industrial production, the Environmental Protection Agency
reports, the environment has substantially improved. Emissions
of the six principal air pollutants have decreased by 53%.
Carbon monoxide emissions have dropped from 197 million tons per
year to 89 million; nitrogen oxides from 27 million tons to 19
million, and sulfur dioxide from 31 million to 15 million.
Particulates are down 80%, and lead emissions have declined by
more than 98%...<br>
- -<br>
The Climate Science study concludes that projections of global
warming over the next century "have decreased significantly
since early modeling efforts," and that global air temperatures
should increase by 2.5 degrees and the United States by about 1
degree Fahrenheit over the next hundred years. The environmental
pessimists tell us, as in Time magazine's recent global warming
issue, to "Be Worried. Be Very Worried," but the truth is that
our environmental progress has been substantially improving, and
we should be very pleased.<br>
<br>
Mr. du Pont, a former governor of Delaware, is chairman of the
Dallas-based National Center for Policy Analysis. His column
appears once a month<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060602003144/http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pdupont/?id=110008416">http://web.archive.org/web/20060602003144/http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pdupont/?id=110008416</a><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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