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<font size="+2"><i><b>December 5, 2021</b></i></font><br>
<br>
<i>[ Weather records set in only a few days ]</i><br>
<b>4 States Just Hit All-Time December Heat Records</b><br>
As much as a third of the continental U.S. experienced highs of over
70 degrees Fahrenheit this week...<br>
- -<br>
Montana, North Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming all set December
temperature records as a heat dome of high pressure set in, trapping
abnormal warmth in regions more accustomed to snow than t-shirt
weather at this time of year. According to the National Weather
Service, as much as a third of the continental U.S. experienced
highs of over 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) this week.
December really is the new September y’all.<br>
<br>
Across the central U.S., the National Weather Service said some
states experienced temperatures a whopping 30 to 40 degrees
Fahrenheit (17 to 22 degrees Celsius) higher than normal. In
Montana, record high temperatures mixed with high winds are
contributing to a series of unusual December prairie fires. One of
those fires tragically burned down at least two dozen homes and
businesses in the town of Denton. That includes the town’s grain
elevator, which caught fire in spectacularly heartbreaking fashion.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://gizmodo.com/4-states-just-hit-all-time-december-heat-records-1848156547">https://gizmodo.com/4-states-just-hit-all-time-december-heat-records-1848156547</a><br>
<p>- -<br>
</p>
<i>[ Climate changes ]<br>
</i><b>EXPLAINER: Stuck jet stream, La Nina causing weird weather</b><br>
by Seth Borenstein -- DECEMBER 4, 2021<br>
- -<br>
On Thursday, 65 weather stations across the nation set record high
temperature marks for Dec. 2, including Springfield, Missouri,
hitting 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 Celsius) and Roanoke, Virginia 72
degrees Fahrenheit (22 Celsius). Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Billings,
Montana, broke long-time heat records by 6 degrees.<br>
<br>
Parts of Canada and Montana have seen their highest December records
in recorded history. On Friday, parts of South Carolina and Georgia
hit record highs.<br>
<br>
In Washington state, Seattle, Bellingham and Quillayute all set
90-day fall records for rainfall. Bellingham was doused by nearly
two feet (60 centimeters) of rain. The Olympic and Cascade mountains
got hit harder, with more than 50 inches (127 centimeters) in three
months, according to the National Weather Service. Forks,
Washington, received more rain in 90 days than Las Vegas gets in 13
years...<br>
- -<br>
These bouts of extreme weather happen more frequently as the world
warms, said meteorologist Jeff Masters, founder of Weather
Underground who now works at Yale Climate Connections. But
scientists haven't done the required study to attribute these events
to human-caused climate change.<br>
<br>
In Boulder, Colorado, meteorologist Bob Henson enjoyed a rare
December bike ride on Thursday.<br>
<br>
Still, "there's a lot of angst about the lack of snow," he said. "It
puts you in a psychic quandary. You enjoy the warm weather while
keeping in mind it's not good for Earth to be warming."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://phys.org/news/2021-12-stuck-jet-stream-la-nina.html">https://phys.org/news/2021-12-stuck-jet-stream-la-nina.html</a><i><br>
</i>
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</i></p>
<i>[ Dr James Hansen is the esteemed grandfather of climate
science ] </i><br>
<b>A Realistic Path to a Bright Future</b><br>
3 December 2021<br>
James Hansen<br>
Why is nobody telling young people the truth? “We preserved the
chance at COP26 to keep global warming below 1.5°C.” What
bullshit! “Solar panels are now cheaper than fossil fuels, so all
we are missing is political will.” What horse manure! “If we would
just agree to consume less, the climate problem could be solved.”
More nonsense!<br>
<br>
Young people, I am sorry to say that – although the path to a bright
future exists and is straightforward – it will not happen without
your understanding and involvement in the political process. Ever
since 2008 I have been amazed by your acumen and your ability to
affect national elections and appreciate global issues. With
appropriate focus, you can alter the course of our world in a good
way. I hope that you find something in my experiences that helps
you in your pursuit of a bright future.<br>
<br>
Do not feel sorry for yourself or get discouraged. Yours is not the
first generation to be dealt a bad hand. Some were born into great
depressions. Some were sent to fight in world wars or senseless
conflagrations in far away places such as Viet Nam or Iraq. Your
battle will cover more years. Nature has a long time scale in its
response to human-caused forces, and it takes time to alter
human-made energy systems. But your cause is noble – your challenge
is nothing short of guiding humanity and other life on our planet to
a bright future. <br>
<br>
The long time scales should not dishearten you. The slow response
of nature provides the time that is needed to alter the
infrastructure of our energy systems and improve land use
practices. However, your task is now urgent. The next 10 years –
the fourth decade since the adoption of the Framework Convention on
Climate Change in 1992 – must be the decade in which young people
take charge of their own destiny.<br>
<br>
On the scientific front, several colleagues and I assert that IPCC
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has underestimated the
sensitivity of climate to growing freshwater injection from melting
ice. One potential consequence – if we continue with
business-as-usual emissions – is shutdown of the overturning North
Atlantic and Southern Ocean overturning ocean circulations by
midcentury, each of which will contribute to acceleration of mass
loss from the Antarctic ice sheet, with the likelihood of sea level
rise of several meters within the lifetime of children born today...<br>
- -<br>
I am sorry that we are leaving you – young people – with such a
burden, but I know that you will accept it as a challenge. You have
a magnificent opportunity to change the course of history this
decade, to move the world onto a realistic path to a bright future
for your own sake and for that of your children, grandchildren and
future generations. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://columbia.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0ebaeb14fdbf5dc65289113c1&id=50a244025a&e=cd4f052551">https://columbia.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0ebaeb14fdbf5dc65289113c1&id=50a244025a&e=cd4f052551</a><br>
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<br>
<i>[ weather changes after climate changes ]</i><br>
OPINION<br>
<b>USA TODAY investigation reveals a stunning shift in the way rain
falls in America</b><br>
Nicole Carroll<br>
USA TODAY Dec 3, 2021<br>
- -<br>
For our climate change investigation out this week, called Downpour,
USA TODAY reporters used 126 years of monthly data from the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to analyze average annual
precipitation at 344 climate divisions. They used daily
precipitation data from weather stations to measure the change in
frequency of extreme rain events across the U.S. from 1951-2020.<br>
<br>
"We were hearing a lot about extreme rainfall, stories of flooding,
people with sewer backups, people flooded out of their homes, and we
wanted to know, is this happening everywhere?," said Dinah Pulver,
one of the project's lead reporters. "How many people, how many
places, are contending with this kind of rainfall?<br>
<br>
We found more than half of the nation's 344 climate divisions had
their wettest periods on record since 2018. We calculated the same
rolling averages for states. <br>
<br>
"East of the Rockies, more rain is falling, and it’s coming in more
intense bursts," our report finds. "In the West, people are waiting
longer to see any rain at all.<br>
<br>
"Taken together, the reporting reveals a stunning shift in the way
precipitation falls in America."<br>
<br>
Specifically, our reporting finds:<br>
<blockquote>-- At some point over the past three years, 27 states –
all east of the Rocky Mountains – hit their highest 30-year
precipitation average since record keeping began in 1895.<br>
-- A dozen states, including Iowa, Ohio and Rhode Island, saw five
of their 10 wettest years in history over the past two decades.<br>
-- Michigan saw six of its wettest 10 years on record over the
past 13 years.<br>
-- In June, at least 136 daily rainfall records were set during
storms across five states along the Mississippi River.<br>
</blockquote>
At the opposite extreme, eight states – including five in the West –
had at least three record-dry years in the same time period. That’s
double what would be expected based on historical patterns.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/12/03/climate-change-warming-planet-slows-jet-stream-causing-downpours-drought/8829944002/">https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/12/03/climate-change-warming-planet-slows-jet-stream-causing-downpours-drought/8829944002/</a>
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<i>[ disinformation battles ]</i><br>
<b>Republicans Blame Biden’s Modest Climate Agenda for Gas Prices.
They’re Wrong.</b><br>
At a virtual hearing of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on
Energy and Natural Resources this week, Rep. Pete Stauber of
Minnesota, the ranking Republican, displayed a visual of President
Joe Biden pointing to a gas pump with the price set at $3.49 and the
words, “I did that!” Climate policies pushed by Biden and Democrats,
Stauber insisted, are driving up fuel prices.<br>
<br>
“Life is simply more expensive for Americans under the Biden
administration,” Stauber said.<br>
<br>
Blaming Biden and his modest climate agenda for everything from
post-lockdown inflation to high fuel prices is all the rage among
Republicans these days, but in reality, the bulk of Biden’s climate
proposals have not been enacted. Experts say current fuel prices are
the result of multiple domestic and international factors, including
the industry’s own moves to boost returns for shareholders by
limiting oil exploration as pandemic restrictions fade and demand
increases.<br>
Pieces of Biden’s climate agenda will be funded by a new
infrastructure package that passed Congress with bipartisan support,
but popular plans (which Stauber opposed) to update the
transportation and energy grids to be more energy efficient and to
withstand climate-fueled disasters were not the focus of the
Republican’s attack.<br>
<br>
Instead, Stauber pointed to orders issued by Biden shortly after the
presidential inauguration to block a key permit for the
controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and to pause sales of public
lands and waters for oil and gas drilling while the Interior
Department reviewed leasing programs that government watchdogs have
long criticized as dysfunctional.<br>
<br>
The non-partisan fact-checkers at PolitiFact recently examined the
Keystone XL talking point after a viral post linking high gas prices
to “shutting pipe lines down” was flagged on Facebook as
misinformation. The massive pipeline would have transported heavy,
carbon-intensive oil from Canada’s Alberta Tar Sands and bisected
much of the country, angering climate activists, tribal governments
and farmers in its proposed path.<br>
<br>
PolitiFact determined the post — which claimed that gas prices were
lower in other oil-producing countries because their governments are
not canceling pipelines like Keystone XL — to be false.<br>
<br>
“The pipeline shutdown has absolutely nothing to do with gas
prices,” Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis for
GasBuddy, told PolitiFact. “Prices are higher because production has
lagged behind, not because there isn’t enough pipeline capacity —
there is.”<br>
<br>
Biden has come under pressure to cancel permits for other pipelines,
including the Line 3 pipeline in Stauber’s home state of Minnesota,
which faced fierce resistance from Indigenous activists despite
intense police repression. After the pipeline went into operation in
October, water protectors from across the country converged on
Washington, D.C., for a mass protest demanding Biden turn the nation
away from fossil fuels.<br>
<br>
Climate activists say new fossil fuel infrastructure is unnecessary
and will keep the U.S. dependent on dirty energy into the future.
The U.S. has already become the world leader in oil and gas
production thanks to the fracking boom and plenty of infrastructure
that already exists.<br>
<br>
U.S. crude oil production dropped sharply in early 2020 as lockdowns
restricted commerce and travel. It still remains far below
pre-pandemic levels, according to federal data. Facing consumer
anger as the economy reboots and gas prices rise, Biden has
pressured the industry to lower prices and unlocked strategic
federal oil reserves.<br>
<br>
Experts say the oil industry is cutting costs and holding back on
efforts to expand crude oil production in order to boost cash
returns to shareholders, according to an analysis by Bloomberg News.
The fracking boom that sent U.S. fossil fuel production soaring in
recent years also led to a glut of fuel and plummeting prices,
especially for natural gas, which threw drilling companies into
bankruptcy and angered investors looking for a hefty return. Some
producers went out of business during the pandemic, which could also
be contributing to higher gas prices than consumers are used to.<br>
<br>
That’s one reason why the fossil fuel industry has aggressively
pushed to expand its industrial foothold across the country: The
U.S. is producing plenty of oil and gas as fracking booms continue
in Texas and beyond. Plus, new pipelines and other infrastructure
are needed to transfer and export fossil fuels into international
markets. Notably, Republicans aren’t saying much about exports to
other countries as they complain about high prices at home.<br>
<br>
Some experts say the Biden’s climate agenda and global efforts to
reduce emissions could chill private investment in oil and gas, but
investors make decisions based on a variety of factors, including
the growth of renewable energy and the myriad economic risks posed
by a changing climate. When the scientists warn that extreme
weather, rising seas, widespread drought and rising temperatures
will undermine already struggling energy grids and transform our way
of life, some financial investors undoubtedly take notice.<br>
<br>
The international market also plays a role in setting gas prices at
home, because oil is traded globally at prices shaped by speculation
and geopolitics as well as increased demand as travel and commerce
pick back up. Over the past month, Biden’s high-profile fight with
foreign producers such as Saudi Arabia over oil production has bled
over into other realms of diplomacy.<br>
<br>
Republicans argue that any attempt by the U.S. to reduce fossil fuel
production will make the nation more reliant on competitors like
China and Russia, and imports from these countries will simply
replace the domestic supply to meet America’s demands for energy.
However, Biden and Democrats in Congress are not actually advocating
for canceling the industry’s current operations. They’re mulling
options for reducing future drilling, and only on public lands and
ocean waters.<br>
<br>
In fact, the Biden administration recently offered to lease more
than 80 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling
companies, although the industry showed only a modest interest in
expanding its already wide foothold in the Gulf. The administration
is also planning on leasing up to 734,000 acres of public lands
across the country next year despite objections from environmental
groups, which filed lawsuits to stop both lease sales.<br>
<br>
Climate justice activists are demanding much more from the Biden
administration, including a halt to new pipelines and other
infrastructure expansions as well as reparations for communities
harmed by climate disruption and industrial polluters.<br>
<br>
Stauber claimed Biden’s “ban” on oil and gas leasing on public lands
threw the industry “into chaos,” but a federal judge blocked Biden’s
leasing moratorium earlier this year. Oil and gas companies are
already leasing at least 26 million acres of public lands, and less
than half of these acres are currently used for drilling, according
to Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee.<br>
Federal researchers estimate that nearly a quarter of domestic
carbon dioxide emissions came from fossil fuels produced on public
lands and ocean waters from 2005 to 2014, and Biden pledged on the
campaign trail to ban new leasing. Still, his executive order only
placed a temporary moratorium on oil and gas leasing, allowing the
Interior Department time to conduct an internal review of leasing
programs that the Government Accountability Office has flagged as
“vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement.”<br>
<br>
Regulators released the results of the internal review in a report
last week that identified “significant shortcomings” in the leasing
program and recommended several reforms supported by Democrats in
Congress, including an increase in royalties and rents paid by
drillers to provide a “fair return” for taxpayers.<br>
<br>
The Interior Department report on its leasing programs and the
climate-warming emissions from oil and gas drilling on public lands
were the focus of the House Energy and Mineral Resources
subcommittee hearing that saw Republicans attacking Biden over gas
prices on Thursday. For their part, Democrats on the subcommittee
said they are encouraged by the Interior Department’s embrace of
reform but are disappointed that the leasing report only mentions
emissions — and the “climate-related costs that must be borne by
taxpayers” — in passing.<br>
<br>
“In my view, this was a missed opportunity, and it’s a critical
issue we must address,” said Rep. Alan Lowenthal, a Democrat from
California and chair of the subcommittee. “America’s public lands
contain massive fossil fuel reserves, and Interior’s leasing
practices and its management of these resources are incredibly
outdated and destructive.”<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://truthout.org/articles/republicans-blame-bidens-modest-climate-agenda-for-gas-prices-theyre-wrong/">https://truthout.org/articles/republicans-blame-bidens-modest-climate-agenda-for-gas-prices-theyre-wrong/</a><br>
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<i>[ Everyone lives in a garden ] </i><br>
<b>Why climate-change gardening means breaking all the rules</b><br>
Manage your soil and your planting with global heating in mind and
you’ll not only save time and effort, but have a healthier plot<br>
Kim Stoddart -- Sat 4 Dec 2021 <br>
Early in 2010, I moved from a home with a small, tidy back garden in
Brighton to a wild smallholding more than 200 metres above sea level
in Llandysul in Wales. Concerns about the climate crisis were at the
heart of my move: I was living at sea level, near an underground
river, and worried about flooding. But more than anything, I longed
to live somewhere I could be self-sufficient...<br>
- -<br>
Today, I try to replicate the natural world where I can. I encourage
weeds and local flora, let plants self-seed, and use wild areas for
biodiversity (natural pest control) and protection against the
elements. My approach is organic and sustainable, but ultimately it
has evolved around a free-spirited instinct, and no following of
rules...<br>
- -<br>
Try not to use gloves. Stick your fingers in the soil to see if a
plant needs water or not. Look, smell and feel your way. Touching
soil is good for your own gut microbiome – research by Bristol
University and University College London in 2007 (published in
Neuroscience) suggested that coming into contact with soil bacteria
(Mycobacterium vaccae) can stimulate the release of serotonin, which
is a natural antidepressant and makes you feel better overall...<br>
- -<br>
<b>Break rules</b><br>
Question perceived wisdom, and try to think independently. For
example, out-of-date seed can often still be germinated, it just
needs planting more thickly. Leave plants in the ground for as long
as you can. Brassicas such as chard, flat-leaf kale and purple
spouting broccoli can be successfully grown on for many years,
saving you time, effort and money.<br>
<br>
I don’t use fertiliser for hungry Mediterranean fruits like tomatoes
(which I grow in a polytunnel) because it makes them needy for more,
and stops their roots seeking out natural resilience through
symbiotic relationships with underground fungi. Instead make your
own compost from leaf mould, and boost it with comfrey, nettles,
seaweed, chicken poo and borage.<br>
<br>
<b>Learn from your mistakes</b><br>
When my neat, long row of tomato plants succumbed to blight, I
realised that having plants so close together was making it easier
for this airborne fungus to spread. Now, with mixed planting, and at
more than a metre between similar plants, I don’t have blight, pests
or disease. I don’t have to use crop rotation now either.<br>
<br>
<b>Spend less and get creative</b><br>
Try to work with what you already have. I have turned old windows
into a makeshift cold frame, and created planters out of rubbish –
from old pallets and wellies to battered Belfast sinks and a
neighbour’s tractor tyres (to house comfrey plants). Repair and
maintain your tools.<br>
<br>
Save seed and grow on supermarket leftovers: citrus pips can be
grown into houseplants – they will be hybrids but still may
eventually bear fruit. Lime leaves can be used in cooking in the
interim. Organic ginger and turmeric stems can produce a viable
harvest: choose a golfball-sized piece with an eye – the nobbly,
protruding bit – and place in a plastic zip bag in your warmest
spot. Plant out when the eye goes green and starts trying to shoot
up. Plum, apricot and avocado stones can be germinated in compost in
spring (don’t expect homegrown avocados, but they make attractive
houseplants). Dried peas can be soaked in water and turned into
salad sprouts or planted in pots for pick-and-come-again pea shoots
over winter.<br>
<b>Grow what works best for your space</b><br>
Stop trying to grow high-maintenance plants that don’t naturally
flourish in your location and soil type. Look at easier, more
resilient alternatives.<br>
<br>
Avoid anything with exacting watering requirements (for example,
sprouts or cauliflower); instead, grow pick-and-come-again leaves
such as spinach, chard and kale. For ease of growing, I also favour
purple sprouting broccoli over the ordinary kind...<br>
- -<br>
<b>Protect your plants naturally</b><br>
I was told that I couldn’t grow fruit trees so high up, which
immediately made me determined to do so. I found that planting a row
of quicker-growing damson trees slowed the strong winds sufficiently
for my apple and pear trees to establish and grow after just two
years.<br>
<br>
Protect your soil all year round with ground cover. In summer, fill
any bare patches with plants to help protect against the drying
glare of the sun, and to minimise watering. Quick-growing lettuce,
herbs and edible flowers like nasturtium, as well as pumpkin and
squash, with their large leaves, can be trailed around plants to
shelter the ground.<br>
<p>Over winter, soil fertility can leach away with lots of rain, so
help bind it together with green manures, perennial plants and
spent crops left to rot naturally. Mulches and covers also protect
against erosion.</p>
<b>Favour natural pest control</b><br>
Seed heads, piles of leaf litter, dead branches or stinging nettles
all provide a winter haven for beneficial predators such as frogs,
toads, newts, ground beetles, hedgehogs, solitary bees, ladybirds
and lacewings – as well as providing food for birds.<br>
Embrace free planting (polyculture) as our medieval ancestors did –
mixing crops together makes it harder for pests to proliferate, and
you will have more natural biodiversity. Try companion planting: for
example, place strong-smelling plants such as onions or marigolds
around carrots to disguise the smell of the foliage and deter carrot
fly.<br>
<br>
<b>Go wild</b><br>
Look to the past and heritage varieties (try Garden Organic’s
Heritage Seed Library) for a wide variety of plants saved from
extinction. They may offer greater resilience against our changing
climate than the smaller pool of modern varieties commonly
available. Wild fruit trees, such as plum and crab apple, can grow
in the most extreme circumstances, and tend to adapt more readily to
local conditions. The Woodland Trust offers a nice range.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/dec/04/why-climate-change-gardening-means-breaking-all-the-rules">https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/dec/04/why-climate-change-gardening-means-breaking-all-the-rules</a><br>
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<br>
<i>[ Brazil ... ] </i><br>
<b>A Slow-Motion Climate Disaster: The Spread of Barren Land</b><br>
Brazil’s northeast, long a victim of droughts, is now effectively
turning into a desert. The cause? Climate change and the landowners
who are most affected.<br>
- -<br>
Desertification is a natural disaster playing out in slow motion in
areas that are home to half a billion people, from northern China
and North Africa to remote Russia and the American Southwest.<br>
<br>
The process does not generally lead to rolling sand dunes that evoke
the Sahara. Instead, higher temperatures and less rain combine with
deforestation and overfarming to leave the soil parched, lifeless
and nearly devoid of nutrients, unable to support crops or even
grass to feed livestock...<br>
- -<br>
“There is a huge body of evidence that desertification already
affects food production and lowers crop yields,” said Alisher
Mirzabaev, an agricultural economist at the University of Bonn in
Germany, who helped write a 2019 United Nations report on the topic.
“And with climate change, it’s going to get even worse.”...<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/03/world/americas/brazil-climate-change-barren-land.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/03/world/americas/brazil-climate-change-barren-land.html</a><br>
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<br>
<i>[ WAPO to the West ]</i><br>
<i> </i><b>Snow may vanish for years at a time in Mountain West
with climate warming</b><br>
Study warns of impending water supply problems due to nearly
snowless mountains in about 35 to 60 years<br>
<br>
A new study provides a glimpse into the future of Western U.S. snow
and the picture is far from rosy: In about 35 to 60 years,
mountainous states are projected to be nearly snowless for years at
a time if greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked and climate
change does not slow...<br>
- -<br>
“Banking” unused water in reservoirs, and storing excess water in
vast groundwater aquifers during wet years, could help to offset the
loss of snowpack storage.<br>
<br>
Improved seasonal forecasts can also help reservoir operators decide
when to hold or release water, avoiding unnecessary releases if
outlooks favor dry spells, or helping with flood control if an
extremely wet episode is expected.<br>
<br>
“The good news is that we can do this, but we’ve got to act with
much greater urgency,” Eklund, the Colorado water expert, said. “All
the aphorisms apply here: Hope is not a strategy. Failure is not an
option.”<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/12/03/snow-water-resources-california/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/12/03/snow-water-resources-california/</a><br>
<p>- -</p>
<i>[ Source maters ]</i><br>
<b>A low- to- no snow future and its impacts on water resources in
the western United States</b><br>
Abstract<br>
<blockquote>Anthropogenic climate change is decreasing seasonal
snowpacks globally, with potentially catastrophic consequences on
water resources, given the long- held reliance on snowpack in
water management. In this Review, we examine the changes and
trickle- down impacts of snow loss in the western United States
(WUS). Across the WUS, snow water equivalent declines of ~25% are
expected by 2050, with losses comparable with contemporary
historical trends. There is less consensus on the time horizon of
snow disappearance, but model projections combined with a new low-
to- no snow definition suggest ~35–60 years before low- to- no
snow becomes persistent if greenhouse gas emissions continue
unabated. Diminished and more ephemeral snowpacks that melt
earlier will alter groundwater and streamflow dynamics. The
direction of these changes are difficult to constrain given
competing factors such as higher evapotranspiration, altered
vegetation composition and changes in wildfire behaviour in a
warmer world. These changes undermine conventional WUS water
management practices, but through proactive implementation of soft
and hard adaptation strategies, there is potential to build
resilience to extreme, episodic and, eventually, persistent
low-to-no snow conditions. Federal investments offer a timely
opportunity to address these vulnerabilities, but they require a
concerted portfolio of activities that cross historically siloed
physical and disciplinary boundaries.<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-021-00219-y.epdf?sharing_token=DlqLXvs3U9XZGaoWrpcHE9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NrWxp67ZcZbEvHKiufGQcDN5txJh7MkiF_WXil18joDTFv_XIIsXx4gzKJUocMRN0YJs5nCfog1Ni1UsI1Mj9AGEkuew06VBimk7m3XbO3mGxe81Y0D4VeyMlZ71RgfFsWgqSdAsrwLiHHWivLf9Kp8wD-lxjFT4uiq0c5tulGsVAAOx-O48VrRJKZygYWSUA%3D&tracking_referrer=www.washingtonpost.com">https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-021-00219-y.epdf?sharing_token=DlqLXvs3U9XZGaoWrpcHE9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NrWxp67ZcZbEvHKiufGQcDN5txJh7MkiF_WXil18joDTFv_XIIsXx4gzKJUocMRN0YJs5nCfog1Ni1UsI1Mj9AGEkuew06VBimk7m3XbO3mGxe81Y0D4VeyMlZ71RgfFsWgqSdAsrwLiHHWivLf9Kp8wD-lxjFT4uiq0c5tulGsVAAOx-O48VrRJKZygYWSUA%3D&tracking_referrer=www.washingtonpost.com</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<i>[ Popular Science ]</i><br>
<b>4 new myths about climate change—and how to debunk them</b><br>
Pushing off climate change policy isn’t that far removed from
denying its existence.<br>
BY SARA KILEY WATSON | PUBLISHED DEC 4, 2021<br>
Ten years ago, it may have seemed like climate change denial was an
ordinary, if not misinformed, opinion shared among loads of people.
Nowadays, with climate disasters plaguing most everywhere in the
world, it’s not so practical to live in denial. As of September
2021, only one in every 10 Americans thinks climate change isn’t
happening, but around three out of every four believes it is. <br>
Of course, some leaders still hold on to the constantly debunked
idea that climate change isn’t happening. But businesses, even
fossil fuel ones, are changing their tune ever so slightly. <br>
<p>“Although some politicians continue to traffic in climate denial,
corporations are too smart for that because they realize it will
alienate most of their consumers,” says Edward Maibach, director
of George Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communication. Climate
change denial now comes in a variety of embellished,
truthful-sounding opinions—but in reality, they’re just as
mythical as the idea that climate change is a hoax. Here are three
examples of those altered arguments.</p>
<b>Myth no. 1: Clean energy will hurt working-class people</b><br>
It’s no secret that in the past, renewable energy was a far off and
expensive alternative to fossil fuels. But today we know that isn’t
the case: Solar and wind were the cheapest sources of energy in the
world in 2020, and prices continue to drop. “Renewables present
countries tied to coal with an economically attractive phase-out
agenda that ensures they meet growing energy demand, while saving
costs, adding jobs, boosting growth and meeting climate ambition,”
Francesco La Camera, director-general of the International Renewable
Energy Agency, said in June. <br>
<p>Still, there are plenty of op-eds boldly stating that renewable
energy policy will hurt the vulnerable—often to make the case for
expanding fossil fuels. But these arguments are simplistic and
overlook the bigger, more important picture, says John Cook, a
research fellow at the Climate Change Communication Research Hub
at Monash University in Australia. </p>
<p>“More broadly, these types of arguments ignore the harmful
impacts of climate change that damage society and the economy—the
costs of climate inaction will be far greater than the costs of
climate action,” Cook says. <br>
</p>
<p>Some opponents have brought up concerns about job losses,
specifically in the US, which despite global growth during the
pandemic, saw a downtick in employment. Whether it’s fossil fuel
workers in already-struggling communities or clean energy workers
who lost jobs during COVID-19, policy must prioritize working
class people in the energy transition.</p>
<b>Myth no. 2: Scientists and activists are overreacting; opponents
are being realistic</b><br>
Another way that climate denial views are being recast is in
“culture war terms,” says Cook, by painting proponents of climate
action as “extremist and pushing political agendas.” One example is
the idea of “climate realism”—which supposedly exists to counteract
panic. Fossil fuel-funded groups like the Heartland Institute have
gone so far as to find their own anti-Greta Thunberg who pushes
against “climate alarmism”—the idea that the climate crisis must be
combated with serious urgency. <br>
<br>
In reality, we’ve been in the loop on climate change for at least 62
years—and that we’re down to the wire to to keep the worst impacts
from happening. Making climate change political and dragging out
decision making is in some ways, a new excuse to do nothing at all.
<br>
<br>
“These kinds of arguments tap into people’s social identity and are
quite corrosive as they have a polarizing impact on society,” Cook
says. “When issues become culturally or politically polarized,
progress becomes more difficult.”<br>
<br>
Another reason politics and social identity have been injected into
climate conspiracies is through a fringe movement that correlates
immigration with environmental catastrophe. This has also been named
“eco-bordering” by British political scientists Joe Turner and Dan
Bailey. “This discourse seeks to blame immigration for national
environmental degradation, which draws on colonial and racialized
imaginaries of nature in order to rationalize further border
restrictions and ‘protect’ the ‘nativist stewardship’ of national
nature,” they wrote in a recent paper. And these ideas aren’t new:
John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club and often called the father of
the American national parks, discriminated against Black and
Indigenous people. <br>
<br>
This idea is based off a multitude of ethical problems and
scientific inaccuracies—namely that the majority of climate change
issues stem from overproduction and consumption in major economies,
while poorer nations will be the ones to bear the worst brunt of
climate change. <br>
<br>
<b>Myth no. 3: Corporations are already doing the necessary work</b><br>
Greenwashing is everywhere—from buying clothes to taking vacations
to offsetting carbon footprints by planting trees. But it very much
exists for once-climate denying industries, especially fossil fuels.
<br>
For example, Chevron may have set some goals for minimizing
emissions, but the vast majority of its footprint comes from scope 3
emissions (all of the emissions associated with making and
delivering a product) which isn’t addressed anywhere in its climate
goals. Instead of accounting for emissions associated with oil and
gas, according to environmental law group Client Earth, the company
“will develop a renewable energy business, invest in ‘low-carbon
technologies’ and sell offsets ‘to our customers around the world to
help them achieve their own lower-carbon goals.‘ ” Still, Chevron’s
shiny advertisements and rampant use of the terms net-zero and
sustainable fuels don’t give the slightest clue that it hasn’t
revealed how, or even if it plans to, move away from fossil fuels.<br>
<br>
A similarly concerning trend is “wokewashing,” where corporations
pose as champions for people of color and women through
advertisements. Exxon’s ad, which centers around the story of an
immigrant from India who now works for the fossil fuel giant, is one
example...<br>
“Big oil companies now spend a lot of money to convince us that they
are dealing with the problem, although their claims are highly
misleading,” says Maibach. “They have large advertising and PR
budgets which they use to convince us that they are responsible
actors who are working to solve climate change.”<br>
<br>
<b>Myth no. 4: We’re doomed</b><br>
The final kind of new climate change denial is the belief that the
apocalypse is inevitable, and there’s nothing we can do about the
climate crisis. And while global warming is certainly an
ever-looming and scary issue, it doesn’t have to signal the end of
the world. <br>
<br>
“The kind of hope we need—rational, stubborn hope—isn’t about
positive thinking, but it doesn’t begin with imitating an ostrich,
either,” Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist at The Nature
Conservancy, wrote in New Scientist. “It starts by acknowledging
just how serious climate change is and what is at risk: the future
of civilization as we know it.”<br>
Luckily, we know what we have to do—namely drop emissions to keep
the global temperature from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius, while
still prioritizing protection of biodiversity and human populations.
But we’re cutting it close to the roughly 2030 goalline. <br>
<br>
“While it’s true that our climate has already been changed and that
it will change for many decades to come, the actions we can take to
limit the extent of the change will have huge benefits,” Maibach
says, “many of which begin to pay off immediately in the form of
cleaner air and water, better health, and more jobs.”<br>
Sara Kiley Watson is an assistant editor at PopSci focusing on
sustainability, climate and energy. Her work has also been featured
in NPR and Business Insider. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.popsci.com/environment/climate-denier-myths/">https://www.popsci.com/environment/climate-denier-myths/</a>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
<i>[The news archive - looking back]</i><br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming
December 5, 2007 </b></font><br>
<br>
December 5, 2007: In a monologue that clearly explains why he had
spent the previous nineteen years claiming that climate change was a
hoax, Rush Limbaugh declares:<br>
<blockquote>"Can I give you a real simple reality? It may be
controversial, but it's inarguable. This is a world that runs on
fossil fuels, folks, and it's going to run on fossil fuels long
after you and I and your grandkids are dead. Wind, solar, all pipe
dream stuff, as we sit here and speak now. Would somebody explain
to me what is so immoral about the leaders of this country
attempting to maintain a supply and access to the fossil fuel that
runs the world and runs our economy?...What I'm suggesting here is
that even if a part of all of the strategy here [with the Iraq
War] is to maintain the free flow of oil at market prices, what in
the name of Sam Hill is wrong with that? What's the crime? Where's
the immorality in it?"<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2007/12/05/what_s_wrong_with_war_for_oil2">http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2007/12/05/what_s_wrong_with_war_for_oil2</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<p>/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------/</p>
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