<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p><i><font size="+1"><b>July 19, 2021</b></font></i></p>
[Associated Press news]<br>
<b>Huge Oregon blaze grows as wildfires burn across western US</b><br>
Bootleg Fire, largest wildfire in US and one of at least 70
wildfires, torches more dry forest landscape in Oregon<br>
July 18, 2021<br>
The largest wildfire in the US torched more dry forest landscape in
Oregon on Sunday, one of dozens of major blazes burning across the
west as critically dangerous fire weather loomed in the coming days.<br>
<br>
The destructive Bootleg Fire just north of the California border
grew to more than 476 sq miles (1,210 sq km), an area about the size
of Los Angeles.<br>
- -<br>
Extremely dry conditions and heatwaves tied to climate change have
swept the region, making wildfires harder to fight. Climate change
has made the west much warmer and drier in the past 30 years and
will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more
frequent and destructive.<br>
- -<br>
There were about 70 active large fires and complexes of multiple
blazes that have burned nearly 1,659 sq miles in the US, the
National Interagency Fire Center said. The US Forest Service said at
least 16 major fires were burning in the Pacific north-west alone.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/18/the-largest-wildfire-in-the-us-has-torched-more-dry-forest-landscape">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/18/the-largest-wildfire-in-the-us-has-torched-more-dry-forest-landscape</a><br>
<p>- -<br>
</p>
[now 300,000 acres]<br>
<b>Bootleg Fire Evacuation Map Klamath County, Oregon</b><br>
INCIWEB<br>
Important Information<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://kcgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4bfb02b41eb7473ca95b04c3cbd1da21">https://kcgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4bfb02b41eb7473ca95b04c3cbd1da21</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
[Important scientific overview, gives a clear understanding - 40
min video]<br>
Or a brief digest - 9 min video -- <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://youtu.be/HxzvL8goGOc">https://youtu.be/HxzvL8goGOc</a><br>
The full lecture is <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvD0TgE34HA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvD0TgE34HA</a><br>
<b>The Anthropocene: Where on Earth are we Going? (Full)</b><br>
Apr 15, 2021<br>
The Royal Society of Victoria<br>
Human pressures on the planet as a whole – the ‘Earth System’ – have
now become so great that scientists have proposed that we have left
the Holocene, the 11,700-year geologic epoch that has been
humanity’s accommodating home, and have entered a new geologic
epoch, the Anthropocene, characterised by extremely rapid changes to
the climate system driven primarily by human emissions of greenhouse
gases and growing degradation of the planet’s biosphere, driven by a
range of direct and indirect human pressures. <br>
<br>
Where is the Anthropocene headed? The current trajectory of the
Earth System is a rapid exit from the Holocene, accelerating towards
a much hotter climate system and a degraded, ill-functioning
biosphere. Perhaps most concerning is a possible ‘fork in the road’
beyond which lies ‘Hothouse Earth’. The key element of this
trajectory is a ‘tipping cascade’, in which a series of interlinked
tipping points – the melting of polar ice, the conversion of forest
biomes to grasslands or savannas, changes in ocean and atmospheric
circulation – take control of the trajectory of the Earth System and
move it to a much hotter, biodiversity-impoverished, but stable
state.<br>
<br>
Professor Will Steffen (Climate Council of Australia, Australian
National University) argues that avoiding this possible tipping
cascade requires fundamental changes to human societies. These
changes include not only advances in technologies but also more
fundamental changes in societal structures and core values. <br>
Presented with the support of the Inspiring Victoria program. Brief
digest available at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://youtu.be/HxzvL8goGOc">https://youtu.be/HxzvL8goGOc</a>.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvD0TgE34HA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvD0TgE34HA</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Time for a Climate Jihad!]<br>
<b>More warming a threat to the Hajj – and human habitation – in the
Middle East</b><br>
Projected increased warmth threatens annual Islamic pilgrimage to
Muslims’ most holy city; this year's July 17-22 Hajj may have
dangerous levels of heat stress.<br>
by JEFF MASTERS and BOB HENSON - JULY 15, 2021<br>
It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. That simple phrase sums up a
major danger pilgrims face (in addition to COVID-19) during the
coming week during the Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca
(Makkah), the holiest city for Muslims. This year, the Hajj falls
during the period July 17-22, which is typically among the hottest
weeks of the year; levels of heat stress are predicted to approach
the danger level on several of the days.<br>
<br>
Mecca is located approximately 45 miles inland from the Saudi city
of Jeddah, which lies on the coast of the Red Sea. Humid air from
the Red Sea often penetrates inland to Mecca when winds blow out of
the west, raising the heat stress to dangerous levels for the two
million-plus pilgrims who typically attend the five-day Hajj. (This
year’s Hajj is limited to just 60,000 participants because of the
COVID-19 pandemic.)..<br>
- -<br>
Observations from the Mecca weather station indicate a significant
rise in average TW during the past 30 years – nearly 2 degrees
Celsius (3.6°F). This increase is well above the global average, and
can be largely attributed to human-caused global warming. High heat
stress events are common when the Hajj occurs during summer; over
the 30‐year period 1984-2013, the danger threshold (TW of 24.6
degrees Celsius) was exceeded in 58% of years. However, the “Extreme
Danger” threshold of 29.1 degrees Celsius was not reached...<br>
- -<br>
<b>Elderly Hajj participants at high risk of heat-related illness</b><br>
- -<br>
<b>Future summer Hajj events at high risk of dangerous heat</b><br>
The Hajj occurs every year on the same days of the Muslim calendar,
which follows the lunar cycle. Since the lunar year is shorter than
the solar year by about 11 days, the Hajj shifts about 11 days
earlier every year, and cycles back to the same date in the solar
calendar after about 33 years. The danger of extreme heat during
Hajj will wane this decade as the dates transition from July to June
and then May. But during the years 2045-2053, and again in
2079-2086, Hajj will fall during August-October. These are the
months when wet bulb temperatures peak in Mecca, as a result of the
combination of extreme heat and prevailing westerly winds that bring
humid air from the Red Sea.<br>
<br>
A 2019 paper by MIT scientist Suchul Kang and colleagues, “Future
Heat Stress During Muslim Pilgrimage (Hajj) Projected to Exceed
Extreme Danger Levels,” painted a very concerning picture for future
Hajj events in a warming climate. The researchers showed that under
a moderate global warming scenario, the maximum wet bulb temperature
could be expected to exceed the “Extreme Danger” threshold of 29.1
degrees Celsius 15% of the time during Hajj in the years 2045-2053,
and exceed the “Danger” threshold 91% of the time...<br>
- -<br>
Along similar lines, a 2021 paper led by Fahad Saeed (Climate
Analytics) and colleagues, “From Paris to Makkah: heat stress risks
for Muslim pilgrims at 1.5 °C and 2 °C,” warns that the odds of
exceeding the “danger” threshold at Mecca increase substantially for
global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C – levels that are likely to be
exceeded this century in the moderate scenario discussed above – and
that the “Extreme Danger” threshold may be surpassed during summer
months.<br>
<br>
<b>Deadly Hajj stampedes may be more likely during extreme heat</b><br>
The two deadliest stampedes during Hajj both occurred during days
with extreme heat and humidity, when the maximum wet bulb
temperature exceeded the 24.6 degrees Celsius “Danger” threshold. On
July 2, 1990, 1,426 pilgrims died in a stampede when the maximum
temperature (Tmax) reached 41.7 degrees Celsius (107°F) and wet‐bulb
temperature (TWmax) hit 25.1 degrees Celsius (77.8 °F). Similarly,
on September 24, 2015, more than 2,000 pilgrims died in a stampede
when Tmax and TWmax reached 48.3 degrees Celsius (118.9°F) and 27.3
degrees Celsius (81.1°F), respectively. The exact cause of these
stampedes is unknown, but extreme heat is known to increase
aggressive human behavior...<br>
- -<br>
<b>The data point to a logical conclusion: </b>It would be strongly
in the interest of the nations of Southwest Asia, and of other
regions, to support aggressive efforts to reign in climate change to
protect the Hajj … and the future of human habitability in their
countries.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/07/more-warming-a-threat-to-the-hajj-and-human-habitation-in-the-middle-east/">https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/07/more-warming-a-threat-to-the-hajj-and-human-habitation-in-the-middle-east/</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>[positive news]<br>
<b>Solid State Batteries - Autumn 2021 mass production in Japan.
Is it FINALLY happening?</b><br>
Jul 18, 2021<br>
Just Have a Think<br>
Solid state batteries are the long-promised Holy Grail of battery
technology. They're smaller and better than existing Lithium Ion
batteries. They charge more quickly and last much longer. What's
not to like? Trouble is, no-one's managed to mass produce one at
any useful scale yet. Turns out it's quite tricky to make them
reliable! Now though, two major Japanese companies are finally
firing up their full production lines. So will 2021 be the year?<br>
<br>
Video Transcripts available at our website<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.justhaveathink.com">http://www.justhaveathink.com</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdSqibMhBwg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdSqibMhBwg</a><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Sea level rise]<br>
<b>Building infrastructure to stop sea level rise can have an
unfortunate consequence</b><br>
Solutions that block water entirely just push the flooding into
other areas. A real solution is coasts that can absorb rising
waters.<br>
- -<br>
“Basically, the water has to flow somewhere,” says Anne Guerry,
chief strategy officer and lead scientist at Stanford University’s
Natural Capital Project. Guerry is also coauthor of a new paper in
the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that
models how seawalls in the Bay Area could lead to unintended
impacts. “What we found is that it ends up flowing into other
communities, making their flooding much worse,” she says...<br>
- -<br>
In some locations along the shoreline, a seawall might not cause
major problems elsewhere. An individual project might also not seem
to have significant impact. But without modeling the effects and
understanding how they interact with multiple other projects in an
area, it’s hard to know where heavily engineered protection makes
sense. Cities will have to work together to plan infrastructure,
something that isn’t happening now. It’s critical for equity: In
many areas, both in the U.S. and around the world, low-income
communities are already living in areas that are more likely to
flood. If richer neighborhoods can afford to build seawalls nearby,
the situation could get even more dire. “In some cases, building a
seawall might directly protect wealthier communities while leaving
poor neighboring communities at higher risk of flooding,” Guerry
says.<br>
<br>
“Every community around the Bay is hydrologically connected,” she
says. “So it makes sense for our adaptation plans to be connected as
well.”<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90655332/building-infrastructure-to-stop-sea-level-rise-has-an-unfortunate-consequence">https://www.fastcompany.com/90655332/building-infrastructure-to-stop-sea-level-rise-has-an-unfortunate-consequence</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[quite large infrastructure for the future]<br>
<b>DOE Quietly Backs Plan for Carbon Capture Network Larger Than
Entire Oil Pipeline System</b><br>
Obama Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and major labor group AFL-CIO
are behind the “blueprint” for a multi-billion dollar system to
transport captured CO2 — and offer a lifeline to fossil fuel plants.<br>
DOE Quietly Backs Plan for Carbon Capture Network Larger Than Entire
Oil Pipeline System<br>
Sharon Kelly -- Jul 18, 2021<br>
An organization run by former Obama-era Energy Secretary Ernest
Moniz, with the backing of the AFL-CIO, a federation of 56 labor
unions, has created a policy “blueprint” to build a nationwide
pipeline network capable of carrying a gigaton of captured carbon
dioxide (CO2).<br>
<br>
The “Building to Net-Zero” blueprint appears to be quietly gaining
momentum within the Energy Department, where a top official has
discussed ways to put elements into action using the agency’s
existing powers.<br>
<br>
The pipeline network would be twice the size of the current U.S. oil
pipeline network by volume, according to the blueprint, released by
a recently formed group calling itself the Labor Energy Partnership.
Backers say the proposed pipeline network — including CO2 “hubs” in
the Gulf Coast, the Ohio River Valley, and Wyoming — would help
reduce climate-changing pollution by transporting captured carbon
dioxide to either the oil industry, which would undo some of the
climate benefits by using the CO2 to revive aging oilfields, or to
as-yet unbuilt facilities for underground storage.<br>
- -<br>
Proponents of carbon capture, usage, and sequestration (CCUS) often
highlight ways that it could be used for sectors like steel and
cement whose carbon pollution is generally considered “hard to
abate.” Yet, the pipeline network envisioned by Moniz would be
capable of carrying over 10 times as much carbon dioxide as the
steel and cement industries emit in total nationwide, according to
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data from 2019. In fact,
it could transport more CO2 than the entire industrial sector emits
in the U.S., leaving the rest of the pipeline network’s capacity
available for carbon from fossil fuel-fired power plants or from
“direct air capture” technologies that would remove ambient CO2 but
don’t currently exist at a commercial level. ..<br>
- -<br>
A day before the blueprint launch event, the White House Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) sent a report to Congress on carbon
capture and its associated infrastructure.<br>
<br>
“CO2 pipelines are critical to the future nationwide deployment of
CCUS,” the CEQ wrote, leaving open the question of just how large of
a CO2 pipeline network the White House supports.<br>
<br>
The report calls carbon capture “especially important for
decarbonizing the industrial sector, where high-temperature heat can
be difficult and expensive to electrify” and carbon pollution
difficult to avoid. The CEQ was less sure about the role carbon
capture should play in electricity generation, writing that it “may
also play an important role in decarbonizing the global power
sector.” It also highlights the possibility that future technologies
that could draw carbon dioxide from the air might use the same kinds
of underground storage infrastructure...<br>
- - <br>
Even before the full effects of the pandemic unfolded in the U.S.,
the DOE itself warned that carbon capture projects aren’t
financially competitive. “Additionally, as is the case for the
[Petra Nova] Project, the economics of large-scale carbon capture
facilities are challenging,” DOE wrote in a March 31, 2020 final
scientific and technical report on Petra Nova.<br>
- -<br>
“From a purely economic perspective, [carbon capture and
sequestration] does not make sense,” the Center for International
Environmental Law wrote in a recent report. “The simpler, surer, and
cheaper solution is to end this and similar subsidies for the fossil
fuel economy and invest the savings in accelerating the transition
to clean energy.”<br>
<br>
“What they’re ignoring in this report are the massive risks that are
entailed in dramatically expanding pipeline infrastructure,” Muffett
told DeSmog, describing both the physical risks borne by people
living near CO2 pipelines and the financial risks of investing in
carbon capture rather than renewable energy. “These are communities
that have dealt with the impacts of environmental injustice and
environmental racism for decades and that’s laid the foundations
that leads to them being targeted for the build-out of these
pipelines.”<br>
<br>
“At its heart, the conversation about CCUS has never been about
addressing the climate crisis or about reducing CO2 emissions,”
Muffett added. “At its heart, the thing that has always driven this
conversation is how do we deal with the problem of stranded assets,
what can we do to go on burning coal, natural gas, and oil into the
indefinite future?”<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.desmog.com/2021/07/18/doe-moniz-blueprint-carbon-capture-pipelines/">https://www.desmog.com/2021/07/18/doe-moniz-blueprint-carbon-capture-pipelines/</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
<br>
[The news archive - looking back]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming July
19, 2001</b></font><br>
Proving that the wish is the father to the thought, White House
adviser Karen Hughes tells CNN, "The whole issue of global climate
change is something our administration is serious about."
<blockquote>
<blockquote>McEDWARDS: All right. Now, the administration has been
criticized for arriving again in Europe a second time without a
strategy on global warming. Can you respond to that?<br>
<br>
HUGHES: Well, Colleen, that's clearly an issue that President
Bush takes very seriously. The whole issue of global climate
change is something our administration is serious about. And our
Cabinet- level review is ongoing into that issue.<br>
<br>
I think that some in Europe had hoped that the president would
support a treaty that, frankly, just didn't have any support in
the United States of America. It was -- when the United States
Senate was asked to express its opinion, 95 to nothing it said
that the Kyoto Treaty was not -- was a flawed treaty. That was
not the way for the United States of America to go.<br>
<br>
Now, here in Europe, there are some nations who get a lot of
their energy from alternative sources of power such as nuclear
power, such as wind. And President Bush wants to explore those
alternatives in the United States of America. But it is not
realistic to expect that the United States of America can get,
at this moment, 80 percent of its energy from nuclear power --
as France does, for example -- or 30 percent of its energy from
wind sources, as other countries her in Europe do.<br>
<br>
So President Bush is -- takes this issue seriously and wants to
continue to discuss it with our friends and allies here in
Europe.<br>
<br>
McEDWARDS: And you know how controversial the issue has been in
Europe. I mean, is there anything going on behind the scenes now
to reach a compromise on this issue?<br>
<br>
HUGHES: Well, we have representatives attending the climate
change on -- in Bonn as we speak. As the president is here in
Europe, we also have representatives of our government attending
the Bonn summit on climate change.<br>
<br>
And so, again, President Bush will once again assure our allies
and friends here in Europe that this is an issue we take very
seriously. However, he is committed to protecting America's
interests and will not take any action that exempts -- the Kyoto
treaty, as you recall, exempts many -- much of the developing
world from its requirements. And, therefore, we feel it puts an
unfair burden on the United States of America, yet does not
address the problem in a truly global way.<br>
<br>
McEDWARDS: Ms. Hughes, the Senate's top Democrat, Tom Daschle,
has said that he thinks the administration is eroding the United
States leadership in the world.<br>
<br>
Let me quote from him. He says that the U.S. is isolating itself
and minimizing itself. I mean, do you think that U.S. positions
on issues like global warming and missile defense in any way
contribute to that perception?<br>
<br>
HUGHES: Well, I think a couple of things about that, Colleen.<br>
<br>
First of all, I think it's a very unseemly departure from
tradition for the Senate majority leader to engage in that kind
of partisanship when the United States president is carrying our
country's message abroad.<br>
<br>
There's a longstanding bipartisan tradition for support for
American foreign policy, particularly when the president is
representing our country and our citizens in a foreign nation,
as he is on this trip, and at a major international summit. So I
hope that that's just the sign that the Senate majority leader
is still learning the ropes of his new job. Still, there's
really no excuse. And I don't think the American people will
look very kindly on that type of unseemly departure from this
longstanding bipartisan tradition.<br>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20140427081627/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/07/19/hughes.access.cnna/">http://web.archive.org/web/20140427081627/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/07/19/hughes.access.cnna/</a><br>
<br>
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
<br>
/Archive of Daily Global Warming News <a
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/2017-October/date.html"
moz-do-not-send="true"><https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/2017-October/date.html></a>
/<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote</a><br>
<br>
/To receive daily mailings - click to Subscribe <a
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:subscribe@theClimate.Vote?subject=Click%20SEND%20to%20process%20your%20request"
moz-do-not-send="true"><mailto:subscribe@theClimate.Vote?subject=Click%20SEND%20to%20process%20your%20request></a>
to news digest./<br>
<br>
- Privacy and Security:*This mailing is text-only. It does not
carry images or attachments which may originate from remote
servers. A text-only message can provide greater privacy to the
receiver and sender. This is a hobby production curated by Richard
Pauli<br>
By regulation, the .VOTE top-level domain cannot be used for
commercial purposes. Messages have no tracking software.<br>
To subscribe, email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:contact@theclimate.vote" moz-do-not-send="true">contact@theclimate.vote</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:contact@theclimate.vote" moz-do-not-send="true"><mailto:contact@theclimate.vote></a>
with subject subscribe, To Unsubscribe, subject: unsubscribe<br>
Also you may subscribe/unsubscribe at <a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/theclimate.vote"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/theclimate.vote</a><br>
Links and headlines assembled and curated by Richard Pauli for <a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://TheClimate.Vote"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://TheClimate.Vote</a> <a
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://TheClimate.Vote/"
moz-do-not-send="true"><http://TheClimate.Vote/></a>
delivering succinct information for citizens and responsible
governments of all levels. List membership is confidential and
records are scrupulously restricted to this mailing list.<br>
<br>
<br>
</body>
</html>