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<font size="+2"><i><b>November 13, 2022</b></i></font><br>
<br>
<i>[ Alternatives at COP27 Aljazeera report - clips] </i><br>
<b>COP27 protesters call for climate reparations, human rights</b><br>
Demonstrators call for the release of political prisoners, chanting
‘no climate justice without human rights’.<br>
- - <br>
Many demonstrators, alongside several vulnerable countries, have
called for “loss and damage” payments, or financing to help pay for
climate-related harms, to be central to negotiations. “Africa is
crying, and its people are dying,” Nbani said.<br>
- -<br>
Activists chanted “keep it in the ground” in reference to their
rejection of the continued extraction of fossil fuels.<br>
<br>
On Friday, some of them heckled US President Joe Biden’s speech and
raised an orange banner that read, “People vs. Fuels” before being
removed. One of the activists, Jacob Johns, had his access to the
conference revoked as a result.<br>
<br>
The demonstration came at the end of the first week of the two-week
summit, when typically protest action at climate summits is at its
height.<br>
<br>
COP27 featured a light agenda for Saturday, and a full day of rest
on Sunday before the focus shifts to discussions around a final
document meant to reflect what has been agreed upon and achieved at
the summit this year.<br>
- -<br>
Talks are expected to intensify through next week until the
conference concludes on November 18, as delegates jockey for their
priorities to be included in the closing declaration.<br>
<br>
Rallies also called for an end to a crackdown on environmental
activists and minorities and for the rights of Indigenous groups,
women, labourers and people with disabilities, especially in
developing nations.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/12/climate-protests-at-cop27-rally-behind-hunger-strikers-sister">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/12/climate-protests-at-cop27-rally-behind-hunger-strikers-sister</a><br>
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[ 19C = 66F ]<br>
<b>Scotland's temperatures hit record high for warmest ever
Armistice Day</b><br>
The mercury climbed to 19.1C in Lossiemouth on November 11 as
Scotland continues to experience record temperatures this year<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scotlands-temperatures-hit-record-high-28472076">https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scotlands-temperatures-hit-record-high-28472076</a>
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<i>[ Editorial from Africa Monitor ]</i><br>
<b>The cop out at COP27</b><br>
Saturday, November 12, 202<br>
- -<br>
In a nutshell, what Gore proposed was that we give up our fossil
fuel projects, the West keep theirs, we give up any hope for climate
finance and in return, we wait for a day in the not too distant
future when someone will organise a global finance conference and
tell lenders to give the same terms to Namibia or Uganda that are
given to Germany...<br>
- -<br>
The real solution to the climate crisis is not keeping Africans
poorer. The solution is to get the top emitters to reduce their
emissions. At the next COP we should hear less from climate
activists that have no solutions and only have sermons, and we
should hear more from climate realists.<br>
<br>
For now, Africa must stand firm and reject even the most eloquent
sermons from those who think we should preserve the environment by
conserving poverty.<br>
<br>
The writer is an advocate and partner at Kampala Associated
Advocates<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:elisonk@kaa.co.ug">elisonk@kaa.co.ug</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/oped/commentary/the-cop-out-cop27-4017186">https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/oped/commentary/the-cop-out-cop27-4017186</a><br>
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<i>[ Outside magazine notices the changes ]</i><br>
<b>How Bad Will Climate Change Get? Just Look at the U.S.</b><br>
“As the world warms, the United States warms more,” reads the latest
National Climate Assessment<br>
Wes Siler<br>
Nov 12, 2022<br>
Last month, the United Nations issued a warning that the world is on
track for at least 2.5 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the
century. Far more than the 1.5 degree increase targeted by the 2015
Paris Agreement. What will that look like? A draft of the National
Climate Assessment, released last month, suggests we only have to
look at the United States, right now, for at least some of the
answer. <br>
<br>
“Over the past 50 years, the U.S. has warmed 68 percent faster than
the planet as a whole,” the assessment reads. While the world has
already warmed about 1.1 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times,
the U.S. has warmed 1.4 degrees. <br>
<br>
That means we’re experiencing some of the impacts of climate change
sooner than other parts of the world might. And it’s going to get
even hotter. <br>
<br>
But average temperatures across an entire planet, or even just one
country, paint a vague picture. What do they mean for you and me
right now? “In the 1980s, the country experienced, on average, $1
billion-dollar (inflation-adjusted) event every four months,” says
the assessment. “Now, there is one every three weeks on average.”<br>
<br>
Those hundreds of billions are impacting our dollars and cents right
now. “Worsening extreme weather events are causing direct economic
losses through infrastructure damage, disruptions in critical
services, and losses in property values,” it says. “The things
Americans value most are at risk.”<br>
<br>
<b>National Climate Assessment Findings</b><br>
The National Climate Assessment is an apolitical,
Congressionally-mandated, interagency effort to summarize the past,
current, and future impacts of climate change on the country.
Published every four years, the report is legally mandated to employ
the best possible science and is intended to inform the work of
policy makers, emergency planners, financial risk managers, and
other institutions. Here’s the fifth installment’s primary
conclusions about how climate change is currently harming everyday
Americans. <br>
<br>
<b>Extreme Weather Is More Harmful in an Interconnected World</b><br>
The report finds that every region of the country is now impacted by
“compound events,” in which one or more climate-related problem
occurs at once. A good example is the record breaking heat that
spread across the Pacific Northwest over 2020 and 2021. The heat
coincided with drought, contributing to massive wildfires. Smoke
from those wildfires exposed people to multiple health risks, while
restricting outdoor activities (an important economic driver in the
region) and worsening the summer 2021 Northwest heatwave, which
killed 229 people. That heat also caused harmful algae blooms,
reducing access to clean drinking water, and caused a mass die-off
of shellfish and salmon. Altogether the heat cost the region at
least $36 billion. ..<br>
- -<br>
<b>Climate Change Exacerbates Inequality</b><br>
The effects of climate change are felt most by historically
disenfranchised communities, who are least prepared to deal with
them. “These frontline communities experience harmful climate
impacts first and worst, yet are often the least responsible for the
greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change,” reads the
report. “Climate change exacerbates existing risks to these
communities from unmet infrastructure needs, low-quality housing,
and other stressors creating cycles of worsening inequality.”...<br>
- -<br>
<b>Everyone in the United States Is Feeling the Effects </b><br>
While the risk an individual faces involves a myriad of factors, no
area, community, or person is immune to the effects of climate
change. The report breaks out these impacts by infrastructure, water
supply, health and well-being, food security, livelihoods and
heritage, and ecosystems, and assesses the risk by region. <br>
<br>
<b>Water Supplies Are Threatened</b><br>
Both droughts and floods pose threats to the country’s water supply,
in some areas combining to compound risks. “Urban and agricultural
environments are especially vulnerable to runoff and flooding, which
can damage crops and transport debris, fertilizers, chemicals,
sewage, and other contaminants that contribute to the development of
harmful algal blooms and contaminate drinking water supplies,” the
report reads. “During 1981 to 2016, excessive rainfall led to a U.S.
maize yield loss comparable to that from extreme drought.”<br>
<br>
Then, between 1980 and 2021, heatwaves and droughts caused $291
billion (inflation adjusted) in damage. Coastal areas aren’t immune
either. Sea level rise is causing saltwater to intrude into aquifers
and wetlands. And, of course, decreasing snowpack reduces streamflow
in the mountains, threatening downstream agriculture and municipal
water supplies, while exacerbating wildfire severity. <br>
<br>
<b>Food Is Becoming Scarcer and More Expensive</b><br>
Food is another area where multiple impacts cascade and hurt
everything from crops and the workers who harvest them to supply
chains that move food and supplies to and from consumers and
producers.<br>
<b>The report calls out three main areas of concern:</b><br>
<blockquote>-- “Rising CO2 levels, increasing temperatures, and
changes in precipitation reduce productivity, yield, and
nutritional content of many crops. These changes can also
introduce disease, disrupt pollination, and result in crop
failure, outweighing potential benefits of longer growing seasons
and increased CO2 fertilization.”<br>
-- “Heavy rain and storms damage crops and property and
contaminate water supplies. Drought and wildfires reduce forage
production and nutritional quality, diminish water supplies, and
increase heat stress on livestock.” <br>
-- “Increasing water temperatures, invasive aquatic species,
harmful algal blooms, and ocean acidification and deoxygenation
put fisheries at risk. Fishery collapses can result in large
economic losses, as well as loss of cultural identity and
generational livelihoods.” <br>
</blockquote>
<b>Americans’ Homes Are at Risk</b><br>
Heavy rainfall, flooding, and wildfire are risking the physical
safety of the places where we live. Less dramatically, older homes
weren’t designed for the extreme temperatures caused by climate
change, which is drastically increasing energy costs. And again, the
associated problems compound. <br>
<br>
“People who spend a high percentage of their income on energy
costs—such as rural, low-income, and older fixed-income households,
communities of color, and renters, are increasingly vulnerable to
extreme heat events,” says the report. “For example, Black Americans
are more likely than white Americans to live in older,
energy-inefficient homes with structural issues, outdated
appliances, and faulty energy systems. This disproportionate burden
of energy insecurity is associated with higher incidence of poor
health outcomes.”...<br>
<b>Climate Change Is Already Forcing Americans to Relocate</b><br>
One of the largest long-term concerns with climate change is that it
may render many current high-density population areas uninhabitable.
But the report finds that climate change is already displacing large
populations of Americans within their own country. <br>
<br>
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were hit by numerous extreme
events over the last two decades, driving migration of vulnerable
communities to the mainland,” the report reads. “More severe
wildfires in California, sea level rise in Florida, and more
frequent flooding in Texas are expected to displace millions of
people.”<br>
<br>
When talking about infrastructure impacts, consider healthcare. It’s
easy to see how more traffic traveling across an old bridge that’s
increasingly battered by more extreme storms might cause a problem.
It’s less obvious that those same climate change impacts are also
stressing our healthcare infrastructure. Higher temperatures,
exposure to storm or wastewater, and risks posed by events like
storms is increasing demand for healthcare, the report finds.
Climate change also increases the distribution and infectiousness of
pathogens, wildfire smoke stresses the respiratory system, and
exposure to pollen impacts reports of allergic reactions. These
health concerns combined with food and water insecurity increase
demand for already stressed healthcare resources, and impact the
nation’s mental health. <br>
<br>
<b>Climate Change Is Threatening Indigenous Culture</b><br>
“Indigenous communities, whose ways of life, cultures,
intergenerational continuity, and spiritual health are tied to
nature and the environment, are experiencing disproportionate health
impacts of climate change,” the report reads. “Rising temperatures
and increasingly extreme events are reducing biodiversity and
shifting the ranges of culturally important species like Pacific
salmon, wild rice, and moose, making it difficult for Indigenous
peoples to fish, hunt, and gather traditional and subsistence
resourcing within tribal jurisdictions. Heatwaves can prevent tribal
members from participating in tribal ceremonies, while flooding,
landslides, and wildfires increasingly disrupt or damage burial
grounds and ceremonial sites.” <br>
<b>Economic Growth Is Slowing</b><br>
The report finds that climate change is expected to reduce global
economic output by about $23 trillion annually by 2050. The United
States experiences half the annual global losses caused by extreme
weather, a bill that costs us about $150 billion each year. Risks
posed by climate change reduce the ability for governments to borrow
money to fund infrastructure projects to prepare for climate
change’s impacts. Household consumers are paying more for goods and
services as a result of all the above.<br>
<br>
<b>Traditional Industries Are Disappearing</b><br>
Climate change has already caused 14 major fishery collapses in
Alaska. The report was written before news broke that Alaska’s king
crab population has virtually vanished. Rapid shifts between wet and
dry conditions, along with stress caused by increases in pests and
pathogens is making it impossible to grow apples in the midwest, and
wine grapes on the West Coast. Oil and gas jobs across the plains
are disappearing. Recreation-dependent jobs like tourism in Hawaii
or skiing in the Rockies are experiencing “significant economic
loss.”<br>
<br>
“Many beloved sports and outdoor activities are already being
affected by climate change, with overall impacts projected to
further hinder recreation, tourism, and the ability of communities
to maintain a sense of place and heritage,” reads the report. <br>
<br>
<b>Climate Change Is Reducing Quality of Life </b><br>
Many American households are already feeling the economic impacts of
climate change,” reads the assessment. “Projected economic damages
in a warmer world mean that household incomes will be slower to grow
at the same time healthcare, food, insurance, building, and repair
costs become more expensive. American’s quality of life is also
threatened by climate change in ways that may be more difficult to
quantify or predict, such as increased crime and domestic violence
harm to mental health, reduced happiness, and fewer opportunities
for outdoor recreation and play. These compounding stressors can
increase segregation, reliance on social safety net programs, and
income inequality.” ...<br>
<b>What Can We Do?</b><br>
While many of these impacts are already occurring and are certain to
get worse over coming decades no matter what we do, the assessment
finds that cutting emissions in the near term remains the only way
reduce harm for future generations. <br>
<br>
Encouragingly, it also lays out some immediate benefits of cutting
those emissions: “Accelerating the deployment of low-carbon
technologies, promoting public transportation, providing subsidies
to incentivize renewable energy and electric vehicle purchases, and
improving building efficiency have significant near-term social and
economic benefits,” the report states.<br>
<br>
It also finds that, “reducing emissions of short-lived climate
pollutants like methane improves air quality and saves lives while
also reducing near-term warming.”<br>
<br>
And “improvements in cropland management and practices like reduced
tillage and diversification of crop rotations can increase soil
carbon uptake and storage and enhance agricultural yields,
strengthening the resilience and profitability of farms while also
sequestering hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 each year.” <br>
<br>
The list stops there. Less encouraging is the finding that
accompanied the UN’s prediction that at least 2.5 degrees Celsius of
warming by 2100 is already certain. Despite commitments to the
contrary and the certain conclusion that our only hope is to
drastically cut, if not entirely eliminate, the production of global
warming gases, the global economy is currently on track for a 10.6
increase from 2010 levels in annual emissions by 2030. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/environment/united-nations-climate-change-u-s/">https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/environment/united-nations-climate-change-u-s/</a><br>
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<i>[ Ooops, better check the science again ..]</i><br>
<b>Sea levels might rise much faster than thought, data from
Greenland suggest</b><br>
By Tereza Pultarova Nov. 9, 2022<br>
"If this is correct, the contribution of ice dynamics to overall
mass loss on Greenland will be larger than what current models
suggest."<br>
<br>
Greenland's largest ice sheet is thawing at a much higher rate than
expected, a new study has revealed, suggesting it will add six times
more water to the rising sea levels than previously thought. And the
trend may not be limited to Greenland, scientists worry.<br>
<br>
The study used GPS measurements and computer modeling to estimate
how much ice is being lost due to climate change from the Northeast
Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS), a prominent ice flow that drains ice
and meltwater from Greenland's inland ice-covered basin. <br>
<br>
The calculations revealed that, since 2012, NEGIS melting has been
speeding up so much that by the end of this century, it will add
more than 0.5 inches (1.3 centimeters) of water to the global ocean
level. That's equivalent to the past 50 years' worth of Greenland's
entire contribution to sea level rise.<br>
he NEGIS ice-melt acceleration started after the Zachariae Isstrøm
glacier that protected the coastal part of the ice stream broke off
in 2012, allowing warmer sea water to penetrate deeper inland. The
new data has revealed that the wave of rapid ice-thinning triggered
by this incident propagated much deeper upstream than previously
thought. Scientists were able to measure the thinning as far as 186
miles (300 kilometers) from Greenland's northeastern coast where
NEGIS meets the ocean.<br>
<br>
"Many glaciers have been accelerating and thinning near the margin
in recent decades — GPS data helped us detect how far inland these
changes happening near the coast propagate," study co-author Mathieu
Morlighem, a professor of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth College in New
Hampshire, said in a statement(opens in new tab). "If this is
correct, the contribution of ice dynamics to overall mass loss on
Greenland will be larger than what current models suggest."<br>
<br>
Morlinghem added that similar trends might be underway in other
parts of the Greenland ice sheet as the whole system might be much
more sensitive to changes happening in coastal areas than previously
thought. <br>
<br>
The study found that the accelerating melting continued even
throughout the winter of 2021 and the summer of 2022, which were
unusually cold in Greenland, suggesting the process will be quite
difficult to stop. <br>
<br>
"We can see that the entire basin is thinning and the surface speed
is accelerating," Shfaqat Abbas Khan, a researcher at the University
of Denmark and first author of the new study, said in the same
statement. "Every year, the glaciers we've studied have retreated
farther inland, and we predict that this will continue over the
coming decades and centuries. Under present-day climate forcing, it
is difficult to conceive how this retreat could stop."<br>
<br>
If confirmed, the findings will have consequences for current sea
level rise predictions, which foresee global ocean levels rising by
8 to 38 inches (22 to 98 cm) by the end of the century. The actual
sea level rise is likely to be much more significant, the authors
concluded, which will have catastrophic consequences for residents
in low-lying regions and coastal areas around the world. <br>
<br>
"We foresee profound changes in global sea levels, more than
currently projected by existing models," Eric Rignot, a professor of
Earth system science at the University of California, Irvine, who is
also a co-author of the paper, said in the statement. "Data
collected in the vast interior of ice sheets, such as those
described in our research, help us better represent the physical
processes included in numerical models and in turn provide more
realistic projections of global sea-level rise."...<br>
The study was released while countries are negotiating at the 27th
Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (COP27) in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm
el-Sheikh. The summit, building on the outcomes of last year's COP26
climate change gathering in Glasgow, Scotland, seeks to identify
solutions for a vast range of climate-related emergencies, including
the energy crisis and the increasing severity of extreme weather
events. <br>
<br>
The study(opens in new tab) was published in the journal Nature on
Nov. 9.<br>
<br>
Follow Tereza Pultarova on Twitter @TerezaPultarova(opens in new
tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom(opens in new tab) and on
Facebook(opens in new tab). <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.space.com/greenland-ice-melting-satellite-data-climate-change">https://www.space.com/greenland-ice-melting-satellite-data-climate-change</a>
<p>- -</p>
<i>[ in the Journal Nature - " moving at 100 kilometers per year "]</i><br>
Published: 09 November 2022<br>
<b>Extensive inland thinning and speed-up of Northeast Greenland Ice
Stream</b><br>
Shfaqat A. Khan, Youngmin Choi, Mathieu Morlighem, Eric Rignot, Veit
Helm, Angelika Humbert, Jérémie Mouginot, Romain Millan, Kurt H.
Kjær & Anders A. Bjørk <br>
Nature (2022)Cite this article<br>
<b>Abstract</b><br>
Over the past two decades, ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet
(GrIS) has increased owing to enhanced surface melting and ice
discharge to the ocean. Whether continuing increased ice loss will
accelerate further, and by how much, remains contentious. A main
contributor to future ice loss is the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream
(NEGIS), Greenland’s largest basin and a prominent feature of
fast-flowing ice that reaches the interior of the GrIS. Owing to its
topographic setting, this sector is vulnerable to rapid retreat,
leading to unstable conditions similar to those in the marine-based
setting of ice streams in Antarctica. Here we show that extensive
speed-up and thinning triggered by frontal changes in 2012 have
already propagated more than 200 km inland. We use unique global
navigation satellite system (GNSS) observations, combined with
surface elevation changes and surface speeds obtained from satellite
data, to select the correct basal conditions to be used in ice flow
numerical models, which we then use for future simulations. Our
model results indicate that this marine-based sector alone will
contribute 13.5–15.5 mm sea-level rise by 2100 (equivalent to the
contribution of the entire ice sheet over the past 50 years) and
will cause precipitous changes in the coming century. This study
shows that measurements of subtle changes in the ice speed and
elevation inland help to constrain numerical models of the future
mass balance and higher-end projections show better agreement with
observations.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05301-z">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05301-z</a><br>
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<i>[ Follow the money ]</i><br>
<b>How Oil & Gas Funding Distorts Energy Research</b><br>
Prominent energy centers at MIT, Stanford, and Columbia may be
biased toward natural gas because of funding, a new study says.<br>
By Molly Taft<br>
Published Nov. 11, 2022<br>
Journalists like me often seek out academics for comment and insight
on stories related to the energy transition, since these professors
have often done in-depth research into various fuel sources and
their impacts. The hope is that these sources are relatively
unbiased; their loyalty is to the data. But a study published
Thursday in Nature Climate Change found that prominent energy policy
centers at top-tier universities that are funded by the fossil fuel
industry may produce content more favorable to dirty energy than
other, similar centers. This is concerning, because it’s not just
journalists who seek the council of these academics—it’s
policymakers, too.<br>
<br>
“Reports by fossil-funded [centers] are more favorable towards
natural gas than towards renewable energy, while centers less
dependent on fossil fuel industry funding show a pro-renewable
energy preference,” Anna Papp, a PhD student in Sustainable
Development at Columbia University and one of the authors of the
paper, told Earther in an email.<br>
Academic centers focused on energy research have become an
increasingly respected and important voice in energy policy
conversations, as the U.S. and the world begin grinding the gears on
the energy transition. Representatives from places like Columbia’s
Center on Global Energy Policy and MIT’s Energy Initiative have
testified in Congress and are often featured on television as
experts; some of their reports have even been the subject of their
own Congressional hearings. But several of the most prominent
academic think tanks working on energy issues also have significant
funding from the fossil fuel industry. Columbia’s Center on Global
Energy Policy, for instance, lists its financial partnerships on its
website, which include big fossil fuel names like BP,
ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Occidental Petroleum. (Full
disclosure: While I was employed at a PR firm between 2014 and 2016,
Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy was a client; I
worked on some of their press needs and materials.) What’s more,
much of the research and whitepapers produced by these centers does
not undergo the peer review process that a scientific paper may
receive.<br>
<br>
“Given longstanding concerns about the objectivity of
corporate-funded research—for example, biomedical research—we wanted
to better understand industry-funded research in the context of
climate change,” Papp said.<br>
<br>
Papp and her coauthors set out to see if the reports and materials
put out by academic centers who did disclose their fossil fuel
funding were different from the centers that had no fossil fuel
funding or which did not prominently feature that funding. To more
accurately capture attitudes from these energy centers toward
certain topics, Papp and her colleagues used a machine learning
approach known as “text as data.”...<br>
“‘Text as data’ algorithms convert written text to data that can be
analyzed quantitatively,” Papp said. “A human reader forms an
opinion about the sentiment of sentences or paragraphs, e.g., how
positive or negative the text is. Of course, labeling sentences
manually is extremely time-consuming and subjective. Sentiment
analysis tools attempt to replicate this process computationally and
quantify emotions contained in text.”<br>
<br>
Using a sentiment analysis tool, Papp and her fellow researchers
compiled 1,706 research reports, consisting of more than one million
sentences, from 26 energy research centers at universities based in
the U.S., UK, and Canada published between 2009 and 2020. They chose
to focus the analysis on academic centers’ sentiment towards natural
gas.<br>
<br>
While natural gas has been promoted in the past as a “bridge fuel”
between coal and oil and renewables, the massive amount of methane
involved in its production has meant that its former
climate-friendly branding is coming under serious scrutiny. Despite
research showing that the world needs to cease all new fossil fuel
exploration immediately in order to keep the world from warming more
than 1.5 degrees Celsius, many oil and gas majors continue to
promote natural gas as part of a climate solution.<br>
<br>
“Natural gas is now the U.S.’s largest energy source for electricity
generation,” Papp said. “All major fossil fuel companies produce it.
So natural gas is very policy-relevant.”<br>
<br>
The researchers found that reports from the three prominently fossil
fuel-funded centers in the analysis at Columbia, MIT, and at
Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy were “more favorable”
toward natural gas than renewable energy. The positive sentiment in
content from these three centers was “indistinguishable,” the paper
found, from content produced by the American Gas Foundation and the
American Gas Association, industry groups “whose explicit purpose is
to promote the gas industry.” The 23 energy centers that did not
prominently advertise fossil fuel funders, meanwhile, produced
materials that were favorable to renewable energy and hydropower,
and more “neutral” toward natural gas.<br>
<br>
“Our scholars carry out their research by following facts and
evidence wherever they lead, independently and free from any
influence or control by funders or other interest groups,” the
Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy’s website states. “They
adhere to strict conflict of interest policies established by
Columbia University to protect against real or perceived risks to
the integrity of research.” A spokesperson from Columbia’s Center on
Global Energy Policy said that the staff of the Center had not had
time to review the paper but that they had confidence in their
scholars and their independent research.<br>
<br>
A spokesperson from MIT’s Energy Initiative said they had not seen
the paper and had no comment. “Our research reports are the work of
MIT faculty, staff and students with no influence–no approval or
rejection, no oversight, no opportunity to accept or reject any
findings—from any funders, whether MITEI members or not,” they said
in a statement.<br>
<br>
Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy did not get back to us.
We’ll update this story if they do.<br>
<br>
One of the main challenges of this research is that the three
centers identified as the most positive toward natural gas are
simply the ones who disclose their prominent relationships with
fossil fuel funders. Papp said it was difficult to find information
on funding from many centers’ public information sources. It’s not
out of the question that fossil fuel companies may be giving money
to other energy centers in this study who simply did not disclose
the funding publicly. And of the three centers at MIT, Stanford, and
Columbia that do disclose larger-scale funding, the research found
that less than 25% of the reports produced by these centers between
2009 and 2020 had explicit funding acknowledgements. With the
nebulous nature of universities disclosing financial interests and
without the guardrails built in by peer-reviewed research, it’s
tough to figure out who is paying for the perspectives presented by
university energy centers—even as the work they put out becomes more
and more important to policymakers...<br>
“The academically-branded but non peer-reviewed research of these
energy centers are increasingly used for policy making, but without
appropriate disclosures it is difficult for the public and
policymakers to determine whether there may be a threat to the
impartiality of these products,” Papp said.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://gizmodo.com/how-oil-gas-funding-distorts-energy-research-1849772161">https://gizmodo.com/how-oil-gas-funding-distorts-energy-research-1849772161</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<i>[ Some dynamic time-lapse video ]</i><br>
<b>This timelapse of a melting Italian glacier puts global warming
on epic display</b><br>
From the Watch Now: Hubble telescope captures merging galaxies, and
more of today's top videos series<br>
Nov 9, 2022<br>
This year glaciers in Europe had record levels of melt. Veuer’s Tony
Spitz has the details.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://buffalonews.com/news/world/this-timelapse-of-a-melting-italian-glacier-puts-global-warming-on-epic-display/video_47421c4b-3c2e-5f98-b94b-9f2eed9d2016.html">https://buffalonews.com/news/world/this-timelapse-of-a-melting-italian-glacier-puts-global-warming-on-epic-display/video_47421c4b-3c2e-5f98-b94b-9f2eed9d2016.html</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<i>[ boring but smart talk on the economics of climate change --
from Australia, video ]</i><br>
<b>What are the economic implications of a changing climate? Dr Tim
Neal lecture</b><br>
Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia<br>
Sep 13, 2022<br>
Given the warnings from scientists of potentially catastrophic
changes to our climate from greenhouse gas emissions, it might
surprise you to learn that we know very little about the potential
economic implications of these unprecedented changes to the Earth’s
climate. This lecture, directed at a general audience, will explore
the potential channels through which climate change will impact our
economy, and the unrealistic assumptions that underlie current
models used to predict the economic impact of a changing climate.
Insights from current research will be presented, as well as
directions of future research into this extremely important subject.<br>
<br>
Dr Timothy Neal is a recipient of the Academy of the Social Sciences
in Australia’s prestigious Paul Bourke Award for Early Career
Research.<br>
<br>
The Paul Bourke Lectures are named in honour of the late Paul
Francis Bourke (1938–1999), President of the Academy of the Social
Sciences in Australia from 1993–1997. These lectures are presented
each year by the recipients of the previous year’s Paul Bourke
Awards for Early Career Research.<br>
<br>
This lecture was jointly hosted by the Academy of the Social
Sciences in Australia and UNSW for Social Sciences Week.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfm0y1Z3QTA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfm0y1Z3QTA</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<i>[ Portugal ]</i><br>
<b>Climate protesters in Lisbon storm building and urge minister to
resign</b><br>
Portuguese economy minister António Costa e Silva was giving a
speech when demonstrators got on to the premises<br>
Reuters in Lisbon<br>
12 Nov 2022<br>
Hundreds of protesters angry about the climate crisis took to the
streets of Lisbon on Saturday, with dozens storming a building where
Portugal’s economy minister, António Costa e Silva, was speaking,
demanding that the former oil executive resign.<br>
<br>
Holding banners and chanting slogans, protesters demanded climate
action. As some demonstrators broke into the building, those outside
shouted: “Out Costa e Silva!”<br>
<br>
Police officers dragged the protesters out of the building.
Portuguese broadcaster RTP reported the minister left the building
through a backdoor.<br>
<br>
The economy ministry declined to comment.<br>
The protest in Portugal took place as world leaders, policymakers
and delegates from nearly 200 countries were gathered at the Cop27
UN climate summit in Egypt, where they hope to keep alive a goal to
avert the worst impacts of climate change...<br>
But some activists do not believe Cop27 will solve the problem.<br>
<br>
“Cops are not designed to face climate change because it would need
more participation from civil society, less participation from
lobbyists from the fossil industry,” said Pedro Franco, a
27-year-old student.<br>
Joao Duarte, 23, also pointed a finger at governments for favouring
the “monetary interests” of big companies instead of putting climate
change at the top of the political agenda.<br>
<br>
“There will be no change until governments stop being best friends
and allies of the big companies,” he said.<br>
<br>
UN experts said in a report on Tuesday that promises by companies,
banks and cities to achieve net zero emissions often amount to
little more than greenwashing.<br>
<br>
“The situation is serious and urgent,” Marta Leandro, the
vice-president of Portuguese environment group Quercus, said at the
protest in Lisbon. “What we do or do not do in this decade will have
a great impact on climate security.”<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/12/climate-protesters-lisbon-storm-building-urge-minister-resign">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/12/climate-protesters-lisbon-storm-building-urge-minister-resign</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<i>[ Opinion from Bloomberg $ Amanda Little ]</i><br>
<b>The Preppers Were Right All Along</b><br>
Once the domain of end-of-timers and right-wing radicals, the
survivalist mindset is pushing into the mainstream thanks to rising
climate-change disasters and civil unrest.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-11-06/climate-change-is-launching-a-new-generation-of-preppers#xj4y7vzkg">https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-11-06/climate-change-is-launching-a-new-generation-of-preppers#xj4y7vzkg</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<i>[ From National Geographic has very positive notion ]</i><br>
<b>How climate change can help heal conflicts—not just fuel them</b><br>
Increasingly, environmental cooperation is solving local conflicts
around the world that are caused in part by global warming.<br>
<br>
PETER SCHWARTZSTEIN<br>
NOVEMBER 10, 2022<br>
<br>
For years, pastoralists in northern Senegal had been at each other’s
throats. They tussled over prime pasture for their livestock,
particularly as the rains repeatedly failed and desert vegetation
shriveled. They competed for space and time at watering holes. In
2017, after a herder was murdered and tit-for-tat animal killings
began to proliferate, AVSF, an agricultural NGO with a local
presence, decided enough was enough.<br>
<br>
It recruited a representative from each village in the area and
established a “pastoral unit,” now one of 25 across Senegal. And
through that forum the local leaders were able to agree on maximum
herd numbers, their placement, and compensation for farmers in the
event of damage to their fields.<br>
<br>
This is a variation of so-called environmental peacebuilding (EP) in
action, and across the world increasing numbers of NGOs,
governments, and conflict resolution groups are using it to tackle
spiraling environmental woes and instability—especially instances
that combine the two.<br>
<br>
Several years on, and despite worsening climate shocks, herders
around Younouféré say there are now fewer disputes and less
systematic overgrazing than there have been for years. “Life is
still hard, but we’ve found that we can provide for most people and
protect the land with better coordination,” says Demboi Sow, a
Younouféré village elder. “I think we would have been slaughtering
each other without this mediation.”<br>
<br>
<b>EP 101</b><br>
Amid mounting awareness of climate and the environment’s capacity to
both fuel violence and suffer from it, EP’s champions insist that
the natural world can help bring people together every bit as much
as it is tearing them apart: Think of it as the optimistic flip side
of climate-related violence.<br>
<br>
In wonkish terms, environmental peacebuilding describes the full
spectrum of ways in which environmental issues can be harnessed to
prevent, reduce, resolve, and recover from conflict. That can mean
everything from securing access to farmland for former fighters who
might otherwise return to violence, to rebuilding the rule of law
after a conflict by training judges to better decide environmental
cases...<br>
- -<br>
For all EP’s good reputation, it can only deliver better
environmental and peace outcomes if local nuances are kept in mind,
says Silja Halle, Manager of the EU-UNEP’s Partnership Programme on
Climate Change and Security. “The evidence for environmental
peacebuilding at a local level is compelling,” she said. “The
challenge for us is scaling it up without losing that nuanced
understanding. A cookie-cutter approach simply won’t work.”<br>
<br>
Nevertheless, most environmental peacebuilders seem bullish about
their concept’s prospects over the coming years. Even a world that
begins to take climate change seriously might need their efforts.<br>
<br>
“Now we’re starting to hear questions such as, ‘What happens if we
are able to transition to a carbon neutral economy?’,” says Carl
Bruch. “Could that drive conflict? What of cutting off the cash
flows of oil producers? There’s a lot going on.”<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/climate-change-can-help-heal-conflicts-environmental-peacebuilding">https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/climate-change-can-help-heal-conflicts-environmental-peacebuilding</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
<i>[The news archive - looking back]</i><br>
<font size="+2"><i><b>November 13, 2005 </b></i></font> <br>
November 13, 2005: Fox News Channel airs "The Heat is On: The Case
of Global Warming," a special that reportedly (and surprisingly,
considering Fox's track record) does not feature any climate-change
deniers. After fossil-fuel-industry front groups attack Fox for not
including their viewpoint, Fox runs a special several months later
featuring the views of climate-change deniers.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2012/10/24/timeline-fox-news-role-in-the-climate-of-doubt/190906">https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2012/10/24/timeline-fox-news-role-in-the-climate-of-doubt/190906</a>
<br>
<br>
<p>======================================= <br>
<b class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag">*Mass media is
lacking, here are a few </span>daily summaries<span
class="moz-txt-tag"> of global warming news - email delivered*</span></b>
<br>
<br>
=========================================================<br>
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<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://insideclimatenews.org/">https://insideclimatenews.org/</a><br>
--------------------------------------- <br>
*<b>Climate Nexus</b> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://climatenexus.org/hot-news/*">https://climatenexus.org/hot-news/*</a>
<br>
Delivered straight to your inbox every morning, Hot News
summarizes the most important climate and energy news of the day,
delivering an unmatched aggregation of timely, relevant reporting.
It also provides original reporting and commentary on climate
denial and pro-polluter activity that would otherwise remain
largely unexposed. 5 weekday <br>
================================= <br>
<b class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>Carbon
Brief Daily <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/newsletter-sign-up">https://www.carbonbrief.org/newsletter-sign-up</a><span
class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b> <br>
Every weekday morning, in time for your morning coffee, Carbon
Brief sends out a free email known as the “Daily Briefing” to
thousands of subscribers around the world. The email is a digest
of the past 24 hours of media coverage related to climate change
and energy, as well as our pick of the key studies published in
the peer-reviewed journals. <br>
more at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.getrevue.co/publisher/carbon-brief">https://www.getrevue.co/publisher/carbon-brief</a>
<br>
================================== <br>
*T<b>he Daily Climate </b>Subscribe <a
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