Something to keep in mind…
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THE POSSIBILITY EXISTS SUCH THAT
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I am holding out for the possibility that we can design and implement a sustainable civilization. So I say, let ‘er rip, but always hold onto the hope that we do have the intelligence, knowledge and skills to create a sustainable civilization.
More and more people are waking up to the far-reaching repercussions of Climate Breakdown and to the ramifications of inaction.
It is a huge shock to folks when they get the enormity of it all.
There is no new normal. Only an increasingly faster slide down. Maybe we have one decade to seriously turn the climate disaster around. Or to at least slow it down enough to buy time.
It will not happen unless things radically change but, the possibility still exists that we could turn things around.
Will we move fast enough as a species?
So much must happen with mercurial speed. But first people have to wake up to the reality of ‘it’. But… it. is. not. happening. People are not waking up.
Many ‘US’ians still do not believe the climate is breaking down – that climate change is real.
Please wake them up. Yes, you… It’s time to “shock and awe” people. Bludgeon them with information, articles, comments, whatever. The internet is one of the few leveling tools we have. Use it. No more not-rocking-the-boat. The more that climate chaos is talked about the more it will be talked about. So, start talking, writing, posting, sharing already. Clearly the momentum is building. Let’s rock and roll.
HOT AIR NEWS ROUNDUP
Carbon dioxide levels highest in human history
DW 5-14-19
Atmospheric levels of planet-warming carbon dioxide have hit a record high of more than 415 parts per million. The accelerated rise of man-made greenhouse gas emissions has scientists alarmed. The last time there was more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was more than 3 million years ago, when global average temperatures were 3 or 4 degrees Celsius (5.4-7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than today, the oceans were several meters higher and parts of Antarctica supported forests. … Ralph Keeling, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s CO2 Program, said the trend would probably continue throughout 2019 with the possibility of an El Nino year in which temperatures rise due to warmer ocean currents.
Just go check this article out…
One Oil Company Expertly Predicted This Week’s CO2 Milestone Almost 40 Years Ago
Science Alert 5-13-19
As far back as 1982 – 37 years ago – scientists working for oil and gas giant Exxon expertly predicted the shape of climate change to come. … With chilling, unnerving prescience, they foretold the very future of human-made global warming and plotted its calculable trajectory. Then, they buried it. … This is not an allegation. It’s a documented fact.
World ‘Not on Track” to Curb Global Warming to 1.5°C Threshold: UN Chief “The paradox is that as things are getting worse on the ground, political will seems to be fading.”
Common Dreams 5-13-19
Despite clear manifestations of the climate and ecological crises—including record warm temperatures, a million species at risk of extinction, and atmosphere carbon levels at historic highs—global political leadership is not taking action in line with the needed urgency and scope, he said. … “We are facing a paradox,” said Guterres. … “We are feeling clearly by what happens on the ground that things are getting worse, even worse than it was forecast,” he added, referencing the recent storms in Mozambique and increasingly frequent droughts.
Another article about the same thing…
U.N. Secretary-General warns world ‘not on track’ to limiting temperature rise to 1.5 percent: TVNZ
Reuters 5-12-19
“Climate change is running faster than what we are … the last four years have been the hottest registered,” TVNZ quoted Guterres as saying. … Countries vowed under the 2015 Paris climate agreement to try to limit a rise in global warming even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The Green New Deal
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
[VIDEO]
Bernie And Ocasio-Cortez To Rally For Green New Deal At Howard University
Climate Change Dispatch 5-13-19
The rally is hosted by the Sunrise Movement, an environmental activist group attempting to build “an army of young people to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process” and will be the final stop on the Sunrise Movement’s “Road To The Green New Deal” tour across the United States to raise awareness of the Green New Deal. … About 1,500 people are expected to attend, according to The Hill.
Sanders urges political revolution, Green New Deal support
AP 5-13-18
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, said Republicans who denounce the Green New Deal as socialism ignore more than a century of tax breaks for the oil industry. … Referring to wind and solar power and other renewable energy sources, Markey said, “Give us some of that socialism that the oil industry has been enjoying for 100 years.”
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Report (IPBES)
Eden no more: An Editorial on the UN Biodiversity Report
Science Advances 5-6-19
The primary drivers of negative trends are also no surprise: In descending order, these adverse impacts include rapid changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of natural resources, climate change, pollution, and invasive species. Of monumental note is that, collectively, significant destructive forces arise from the actions of impoverished peoples living at the edges of society, working to eke out an existence often with little choice but to have minimal concern for environmental impact.
The role of climate change in biodiversity loss is also severely underestimated because of the lag between rising levels of CO2 concentration and the equivalent accumulation of the radiant heat that leads to warming and biological impact. Ironically, climate change is also, in part, the consequence of biodiversity destruction: The amount of carbon in the atmosphere from degraded and destroyed ecosystems is now equal to what remains in extant ecosystems. The additional CO2 emanating from the combustion of fossil fuels is in fact ancient solar energy that was trapped and converted by ancient ecosystems and is now being released in a geological instant.
… Adding to the flaws in the calculus of conservation and sustainability is the surprising inattention to the value of new discoveries from biodiversity and ecosystems to life sciences research. For example, researchers recently discovered that a soil fungus in Nova Scotia can functionally disarm antibiotic-resistant bacteria, a discovery that could transform practices in medicine, agriculture, and beyond. About 70% of drugs used for cancer are natural or bioinspired products. The polymerase chain reaction aided by an enzyme from a Yellowstone hot spring bacterium may have generated close to a trillion dollars of benefit through rapid multiplication of genetic material. The list of treasures uncovered in the elements and processes of the natural world grows daily; at present, however, these kinds of contributions from natural resources to human health and life sciences are neither recognized nor accounted for and so are treated as free and without value.
The IPBES report findings are more than sobering: 35 of 44 assessed targets of the Sustainable Development Goals depend on authentic transformational change to reverse trends of degradation. The assessment concludes that the current course of planetary degradation can be altered only with preemptive and precautionary actions, strengthened laws and related enforcement, dramatic changes in economic and social incentives, increased monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystems, and integrated decision-making across sectors and jurisdictions.
The Weekly Watch: IPBES Report Highlights
caucus99percent 5-12-19
The report’s 39-page summary highlighted five ways people are reducing biodiversity:
• Turning forests, grasslands and other areas into farms, cities and other developments. The habitat loss leaves plants and animals homeless. About three-quarters of Earth’s land, two-thirds of its oceans and 85% of crucial
• Overfishing the world’s oceans. A third of the world’s fish stocks are overfished.
• Permitting climate change from the burning of fossil fuels to make it too hot, wet or dry for some species to survive. Almost half of the world’s land mammals — not including bats — and nearly a quarter of the birds have already had their habitats hit hard by global warming.
• Polluting land and water. Every year, 300 to 400 million tons of heavy metals, solvents and toxic sludge are dumped into the world’s waters.
• Allowing invasive species to crowd out native plants and animals. The number of invasive alien species per country has risen 70% since 1970, with one species of bacteria threatening nearly 400 amphibian species.
US is hotbed of climate change denial, major global survey finds
The Guardian 5-7-19
“The Koch brothers and the fossil fuel industry have put billions of dollars into lying to the American public, even sending literature to science teachers in schools,” Salamon said. “They are so well organised and have managed to turn climate change into a controversial subject that gets shut down. It’s clearly working.
Mothers are more powerful than they think when it comes to the environment
The Narwhal 5-11-19
A quick look back at the economic and political influence of moms across North America is an important reminder that this often-overlooked social group can be a significant force for change. … As a family doctor, I have had the privilege of caring for women from diverse backgrounds and means. … here are steps almost any mother can take to reorient Canada towards a healthier present and future.
Proposal to spend 25% of EU budget on climate change
BBC 4-8-19
Eight European countries have called for an ambitious strategy to tackle climate change – and to spend a quarter of the entire EU budget on fighting it. … The joint statement says the EU should have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 “at the latest”. … It was signed by France, Belgium, Denmark, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.
Climate crisis: Huge VAT rise on solar panels makes installation ‘entirely uneconomic’, say experts
Independent 5-12-19
The VAT [value-added tax] hike on materials for solar panels and also battery storage, came as … “A climate emergency has been officially declared, yet we could not have had a clearer sign that the government has failed to even begin to grasp the urgency. … “The suppliers, including many small independent companies in communities around the country, have been buffeted by the sudden removal of the feed-in tariff and by the end of export tariff.”
‘Time is no longer on our side’: Cambridge scientists to test radical ways to stop climate change
The Independent 5-13-19
The University of Cambridge is launching a new research lab to explore radical ways of fixing the Earth’s climate. … The new centre is being established in response to concerns current efforts to tackle climate change by reducing emissions will not be enough to halt or reverse damage to the environment. … Refreezing the Earth’s polar regions and removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere are among the bold ideas being proposed for research. Known as geoengineering, such futuristic techniques could become a reality if scientists manage to figure out a way of implementing them.
EU ‘outright dangerous’ in its use of natural resources, says WWF
The Guardian 5-9-19
It would take 2.8 planets to extend the EU’s rate of consumption of fuels, food, fibres, land and timber to all the world’s people, according to data collected by WWF and the Global Footprint Network. … “We are running a pyramid scheme, taking resources from the future to run today’s economy. It needs no reminder that this is risky for Europe’s prosperity. Choosing to deplete our future does not serve us.”
New Map Shows All the Cities Leading the World in Climate Action
Climate Change News 5-15-19
Only 43 metropolises got As in the organization’s first-ever assessment, and nearly half of them are in the United States! … Twenty-one cities in the United States made the list. And a whopping nine cities in the San Francisco Bay area got As, too — making up 21 percent of all the cities on the list. Cities all across the map — like Cape Town, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, and Paris — qualified as A-listers, as well.
Islanders complain to U.N. over Australia’s climate change inaction
Reuters 5-12-19
A group of islanders off Australia’s north coast filed a human rights complaint to the United Nations against the Australian government on Monday over inaction on climate change, which they say is threatening their homes, their lawyers said. … The complaint by eight Torres Strait Islanders marks the first climate change litigation brought against Australia based on human rights
Firm of Top Biden Advisor Anita Dunn Works for Fracked Gas Giant Dominion Energy
Desmog 5-14-19
Heather Zichal, a former fossil fuel company board member, is serving as an advisor on climate change to presidential hopeful and former Vice President Joe Biden…. Anita Dunn, another Biden campaign advisor whose hiring was reported in late April, is a managing director at SKDKnickerbocker, a PR and lobbying firm with strong ties to top Democratic brass, which has been promoting natural gas for the utility and pipeline company Dominion Energy. …Biden’s team of advisors has other ties to fossil fuels through Anita Dunn’s position with SKDKnickerbocker. Dominion operates a sprawling system of gas transmission lines and LNG terminals. One of its most ambitious and controversial endeavors is the Atlantic Coast pipeline, a three-state 600-mile project that plans to bring fracked gas from the Marcellus Shale fields of Ohio and West Virginia south to North Carolina.
LEGISLATION, ELECTIONS & POLICY
EUROPEAN ELECTIONS 2019 Climate Action Call 5-7-19
A broad Coalition representing hundreds of European cities, regions, businesses, youth and faith groups and civil society organisations urge EU decision makers to take decisive action to respond to the climate emergency and profoundly alter the way we run our societies and economies to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C.
This election is only three days away…
Climate change takes centre stage in Australia’s election
The Guardian 5-7-19
In the year leading up to the election on 18 May, huge swathes of eastern Australia have endured their worst droughts in a century. There have been apocalyptic scenes along the Murray Darling river system in which up to 1 million fish have died. In Queensland, floods have wiped out half a million cattle and bushfires have burned close to pristine rainforests. In the usually cool southern state of Tasmania more bushfires have raged across 190,000 hectares of land and devastated old-growth forests. …In this election, the ruling Liberal and rural National Coalition – or “COALition” as they have been dubbed in attack ads – are pushing for a “climate solutions” fund that pays polluters to lower their emissions, with the aim of meeting Paris commitments of lowering emissions by 28%.
Ireland becomes second country in the world after UK to declare ‘climate emergency’
Independent 5-11-19
The move comes weeks after a national climate emergency was declared by the UK parliament on 1 May. … The symbolic motion followed 11 days of street protests and disruption in London by Extinction Rebellion environmental campaign group.
Merkel pledges to make Germany carbon neutral by 2050
Climate Home News 5-14-19
“I therefore propose that we have a discussion in the climate cabinet about how we could reach the goal of being CO2 neutral by 2050 and the discussion should not be about whether we can reach that goal but about how we will reach it.” … A net-zero emissions strategy would bring Germany in line with eight EU member states calling on the bloc to strengthen its mid-century target.
Eight EU countries call for 25% of budget go towards fighting climate change
The Independent 5-9-19
Eight European countries have proposed a quarter of the European Union‘s budget be spent on tackling climate change. … Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden also said the EU should cut greenhouse gas emissions to a net-zero level “by 2050 at the latest”.
Washington [State] Commits to 100% Clean Energy and Other States May Follow Suit
Inside Climate News 5-11-19
At least six other states are considering similar legislation to fight climate change by shutting down coal power and ramping up renewable energy. … Gov. Jay Inslee signed a law requiring that 100 percent of the state’s electricity come from clean energy sources by 2045. … Washington is now the fifth state or territory—following Hawaii, California, New Mexico and Puerto Rico—to commit to 100 percent clean electricity, and at least six other states are considering similar legislation.
The EU-US trade negotiation is the ultimate test for EU climate goals
Politheor 5-11-19
That the European Parliament did not approve the trade mandate shows that further obstacles in negotiations can be expected. Although a fully-fledged US-EU free-trade agreement is unlikely to be achieved, it could be argued that strengthened efforts should be made by the EU to conclude an FTA to continue dialogue and to prevent further political tensions between the two major economic powers. If the EU would make a shared effort, such an FTA could be concluded, as the US administration has an interest to agree on a trade deal.
FOSSIL FUELS
UK has more coal than it will ever need
Ecologist 5-14-19
UK coal stock is more than double projected demand. Why are coal-fired power stations are continuing to buy coal in excess of their projected life span? … In Russia and Colombia, two of the sources of the coal that is still being imported, opencast coal mining happens on a vast scale and has come with land-grabs, violent displacement, poisoning of river and watercourses, and cultural genocide of indigenous peoples. … Vladimir Slivyak, co-chairman for Russian environmental group Ecodefense, said: “The news that the UK power stations continue to buy Russian coal despite having too much already adds insult to injury to those on the frontline of opencast coal destruction. … “Coal mining in Russia means environmental destruction and human rights violations. The more coal tainted with blood the UK buys from Russia, the more damage caused.”
Support for fracking falls to lowest ever level, finds official government survey
Independent 5-14-19
The number of people opposing fracking rose to 40 per cent up from 35 per cent of people in December 2018. … Opposition to fracking was highest in northwest England with 50 per cent of people against it and lowest in London where only 30 per cent of people opposed it. … The main reason for opposing fracking was concern about destruction to the natural environment. Risk of earthquakes and contamination of water supplies were also key concerns.
Almost every country in the world agrees deal to cut plastic pollution – except US
Independent 5-10-19
The United Nations announced that 186 countries reached an agreement on Friday which means they will have to monitor and track movements of plastic waste outside their borders. … The deal affects products used in a broad array of industries, such as healthcare, technology, aerospace, fashion, and food and beverages.
As Oregon Sends Jordan Cove LNG Back to Drawing Board, Gulf Coast Projects Press Forward
Desmog 5-13-19
Oregon state regulators dealt a blow to the proposed Jordan Cove Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, refusing to issue a state water quality certificate required by the Army Corps of Engineers, citing unresolved concerns about water pollution and the company’s failure to answer information requests from the state in a timely manner.
WEATHER
After the floods: the struggle for survival in a tiny Mississippi town
The Guardian 5-11-19
‘Daily ongoing traumatic stress disorder’
Flooding is not new in the Mississippi basin, into which Tchula lake drains. But this spring brought historic devastation to homes and agriculture throughout the plains states, causing billions of dollars in losses. … In the most recent flooding, 20 Mississippi counties were designated disaster zones. Holmes wasn’t one of them. According to official state numbers, only two homes in the county were damaged, an undercount made obvious by even a cursory glance…. “We right here!” he said. “Tell them to come see my house! Tell me it wasn’t damaged.”
Don’t shoot messenger… take a look at model projected temperatures in Atlanta – Athens area…yes I see 100 deg F on there…Either way. HOT #gawx pic.twitter.com/olKOHLnyWc
— Marshall Shepherd (@DrShepherd2013)
Fueled by climate change, extreme weather disasters hit 62 million people in 2018, U.N. says
USA Today 3-29-19
Extreme weather events, supercharged by climate change, affected some 62 million people around the world in 2018, the United Nations’ weather agency said Thursday. … In its yearly “State of the Climate” report, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said the planet’s biggest weather woes last year were floods (which swamped some 35 million people), and droughts, which affected another 9 million.
Flooding Has Already Killed Dozens in the United States in 2019
Weather Channel 5-8-19
Flooding has killed 43 people in the United States so far this year. That’s already about half the annual average number of people killed by flooding. Most of the flooding deaths have occurred while driving.
POURING IT ON: How Climate Change Intensifies Heavy Rain Events
Climate Central 5-15-19
Since 1950, the wettest day of the year has gotten wetter in 79% of the cities analyzed. For 32 cities, that day’s extreme precipitation has increased by an inch or more, based on an analysis of the linear trend (detailed methodology below). Houston, Texas tops the list with an additional 2.78 inches of rain, followed by Greenville, North Carolina (2.44 inches), Hattiesburg, Mississippi (1.94 inches), and Baton Rouge, Louisiana (1.91 inches). All four are located in the Southeast, the wettest part of the nation, where cities average 50-70 inches of rainfall annually.
If the Old River Control Structure Fails: A Catastrophe With Global Impact
Category Six 5-15-19
Failure of the Old River Control Structure (ORCS) and the resulting loss of barge shipping that might result could well trigger a global food emergency. The U.S. is one of the world’s largest exporters of grain, and 60% of that grain is transported to market by barges travelling on the Lower Mississippi River. A multi-month interruption in the supplies of more than half of U.S. grain to the rest of the world can be expected to cause a spike in global food prices, and potentially create dangerous food shortages in vulnerable food-insecure nations.
ADAPTION AND RESILIENCE
Innovative farming or climate breakdown
Ecologist 5-9-19
Solutions … They show how we can sequester carbon in soils and trees, that we can survive without the chemicals that destroy wildlife and our health, how we can give our animals a good life without using endless antibiotics, and – crucially – that we can feed people well. … There is a new generation coming through, who are both learning from some amazing organic pioneers, and forging their own path. They are already experiencing the impacts of climate change and know that the answer lies largely in the soil. …These innovators are experimenting with agro-forestry, with reduced tillage methods, with non-chemical approaches to protecting their crops and livestock.
We Really Need More Sustainable Meat Alternatives. Singapore Is On It.
Vice 5-6-19
Singapore, clean meat alternatives are a route to self-sustainability. Being one of the most densely populated cities, feeding the five and a half million people on the small island poses to be an increasingly hard challenge. Especially if this has to be done sustainably and ethically.
If food production were a country, it would be the third largest CO2 emitter in the world after the US and China…
Fighting climate change by tackling food waste
DW 4-24-19
“According to 2011 estimates, one-third of all food produced globally ends up in the garbage,” says Rosa Rolle, head of the Food Loss and Food Waste Project at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). … In total, that is 1.3 billion tons of food per year that goes uneaten. The FAO estimates that collectively this food waste has a CO2 footprint of 3.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide. These figures don’t include the CO2 emissions produced when forests are cleared for animal farming or to create soybean or palm oil plantations. In other words, if food production were a country, it would be the third largest CO2 emitter in the world after the US and China.
From Mangroves to Tin Roofs: Fiji Uses Built and Natural Infrastructure for Climate Adaptation
World Resource Institute 5-9-19
Lautoka City’s efforts demonstrate that building resilience to climate change calls for communities to embrace both natural and built infrastructure. There may be communities where mangroves are enough, while others like Namoli Village need seawalls as well. Under other circumstances, improved buildings like those in Koroipita can save lives.
Cement giant Heidelberg pledges carbon neutral concrete by 2050
Climate Home News 5-13-19
The world’s fourth largest cement company pledged on Monday to bring its emission reduction targets in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement, in a first for the industry. …HeidelbergCement, which employs some 58,000 people in 60 countries, committed to slash direct emissions by 15% per tonne of its products by 2030 from 2016 levels.
WILDLIFE & THE ENVIRONMENT
The Amazonian forest price tag: trade benefits vs environment and human rights
Politheor 4-2-19
Brazil is the biggest player of Mercosur, a south-American trade bloc, which is currently negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU. The EU is Mercosur’s biggest trading partner and the largest part of Mercosur’s export to the EU are agricultural products such as beef and soybeans. … Nevertheless, at the current state of play, social and environmental impacts could be disastrous. … The EU should use its leverage not only to achieve better market access conditions for itself, but also to pursue climate and human rights agendas.
Activists plant trees against property developer
Ecologist 5-14-19
Twenty seven rebels planted 52 trees this week, to replace trees cut down by developer Queensberry Properties earlier this year. The trees were all different types, having been donated to the cause from various sources. … Some of the trees bear signs saying “They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our treedom”; “Harm to us = Harm to humans”, and “Tha mi beò, cum mi an seo!” among other statements.
Oldest known trees in eastern North America documented
Science Daily 5-13-19
A stand of bald cypress trees in North Carolina, including one least 2,624 years old, are the oldest known living trees in eastern North America and the oldest wetland tree species in the world. They show evidence of severe flooding and drought during colonial and pre-colonial times.
The Bark Beatle, Colorado
We haven’t seen cold enough temperatures in the winter time since the early 80s
[VIDEO]
Wildlife charity launches beetle survey
Ecologist 5-14-19
London-based wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and Royal Holloway University of London have joined forces to launch a new national beetle survey, in order to conserve the beautiful but threatened noble chafer beetle.
Yellowstone’s Grizzlies Wandering Farther from Home and Dying in Higher Numbers
Inside Climate News 5-14-19
“The level of destruction is hard to even fathom until you take people up to see it,” said MacFarlane, a senior research associate at Utah State University who conducted aerial surveys of whitebark pine trees in the region in 2009 and again in 2018. “It’s the deforestation of this ancient forest, arguably something in the order of one of the greatest losses of old-growth forests in the United States, in just the scale.”
PROTESTS • EXTINCTION REBELLION • RESISTANCE
Good summery to date…
A ‘Climate Spring’: UK protests embolden global climate movement
Reuters 5-3-19
Buoyed by the spectacle of Extinction Rebellion bringing parts of London to a standstill, climate campaigners in the United States are finalizing plans for a general strike this autumn — effectively encouraging adults to follow the example of children in the school strike movement.
‘For the Love of Our Children’: Mothers Rise Up in Global March for Climate Action
Common Dreams 5-12-19
Marking International Mother’s Day, thousands of moms took to the streets in London and across the world Sunday to demand transformative action on behalf of Mother Earth and their children, whose futures are under threat from the global climate crisis.
Fridays for Future
Fredericton [Canada] students, residents protest for government action on climate change
Global News 5-11-19
The protest is called Canada’s National Fridays for Future Strike, and organizers say we are in a climate emergency. … “It’s important to do something because there have been a lot of governments elected in Canada recently that don’t really listen to young people, and that don’t really see climate change as important issue,” said one student at the protest.
Greta Thunberg
Great article…
Activist Greta Thunberg ignites climate action among European students
The Straights Times 5-8-19
Noticing bald and badly grown patches of grass near his home, 13-year-old Nikita Shulga co-founded a project in Ukraine that turned food scraps from his school canteen into organic fertiliser to create healthy soils. … British student Ayrton Cable was only eight when he learnt about homelessness, putting him on a path to activism and establishing the Water, Air, and Food Awards (WAFA) for young people. … They are among the nearly four dozen teenagers who called on adults to solve the problems of climate change and hunger without further delay at a four-day food industry conference this week in the Italian city of Milan.
German far right targets Greta Thunberg in anti-climate push
Unearthed 5-15-19
EIKE is known for its annual climate conference, which is co-sponsored by the Heartland Institute, a US think-tank which has long financed projects which appear to undermine public confidence in climate science, and the US Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT).
Extinction Rebellion
JOIN XR USA: on their website
XR NEWSLETTERS & EVENTS: on their website
XR USA: on YOUTUBE
FB live, street dances and die-ins: How Extinction Rebellion is taking root in young India
TOI 5-7-19
“When four of us formed the group, it was not under the banner of Extinction Rebellion. Our focus was on ending coal use so we named ourselves ‘Citizens Campaigning for Energy Transition’. Later we heard of XR and realised that the battle was much bigger,” he says. … Tomar adds, “India is running out of underground water. Temperatures are rising and there will be droughts which will affect food security.” His group is also pushing for an alternative green energy plan for Bhopal.
Waste incinerator rejected after Extinction Rebellion protest
BBC 5-7-19
Proposals for a waste incinerator plant near Swansea have been rejected by city councillors in the face of protests. … thousands of people have opposed the plans, with Extinction Rebellion staging a protest at Biffa premises.
Fake blood flows at anti-extinction protest in Paris
AFP 5-12-19
Environmental protesters spilled fake blood Sunday on the steps of the Trocadero, a Paris tourist landmark, in a stunt to highlight the accelerated loss of biodiversity on Earth, … As sightseers and police looked on, members of the Extinction Rebellion campaign group emptied canisters containing around 300 litres of red liquid on the famous esplanade across from the Eiffel Tower.
‘Huge Moment for Justice’: Landmark Verdict as UK Jury Acquits Extinction Rebellion Co-Founder Who Argued Necessity Defense
Common Dreams 5-11-19
A jury in the United Kingdom acquitted a pair of climate activists—including a co-founder of the Extinction Rebellion movement—of vandalism charges Thursday after they defended their acts of civil disobedience as a proportionate response to the threats posed by the global climate crisis.
CLIMATE STUDIES
Wieslaw Maslowski talks with Guy McPherson about Arctic Ice
[VIDEO]
Impact of CO2 leakage through North Sea wells Researchers are investigating the limits and possibilities of the submarine storage of CO2
Science Daily 5-14-19
Realistic estimates show that global warming can only be kept below 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius if carbon dioxide is actively removed from the atmosphere. Storage beneath the seafloor is an option that has now been investigated intensively. …”Our data show that CO2 gas bubbles were completely dissolved close to the seafloor,” Dr. Vielstädte points out. The pH value of ambient bottom waters was lowered from a background value of 8.0 to a more acidic value of 7.0 at the release site as a consequence of the dissolution process. “This bottom water acidification has detrimental effects on organisms living at the seabed,”
Iceland turns carbon dioxide to rock for cleaner air
PHYS ORG 5-8-19
The technology mimics, in accelerated format, a natural process that can take thousands of years, injecting CO2 into porous basalt rock where it mineralises, capturing it forever. … The CarbFix project reduces the plant’s carbon dioxide emissions by a third, which amounts to 12,000 tonnes of CO2 captured and stored at a cost of about $25 a tonne. … Around 25 tonnes of water are needed for each tonne of carbon dioxide injected. … “That is the Achilles’ heel of this method,” says Snaebjornsdottir. … “I agree that the process uses a lot of water, but we gain a lot by permanently getting rid of CO2 that otherwise would be floating around the atmosphere,” says Aradottir.
Sea-ice algal phenology in a warmer Arctic
Science Advances 5-6-19
The Arctic sea-ice decline is among the most emblematic manifestations of climate change and is occurring before we understand its ecological consequences. … [the] shifting of the ice seasons toward more favorable photoperiods drives the increase in algal production above 74°N. These diverse latitudinal responses indicate that the impact of declining sea ice on Arctic sympagic production is both large and complex, with consequent trophic and phenological cascades expected in the rest of the food web.
Electrode’s ‘hot edges’ convert carbon dioxide gas into fuels and chemicals
Science Daily 5-14-19
A team of scientists has created a bowl-shaped electrode with ‘hot edges’ which can efficiently convert carbon dioxide from gas into carbon based fuels and chemicals, helping combat the climate change threat posed by atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Half of melting glaciers could go by 2100
Climate News Network 5-13-19
Around half of some of the world’s most beautiful mountain ranges are about to lose their melting glaciers, the force that shapes and highlights their beauty. … Swiss-based scientists investigated 46 world heritage sites nominated by UNESCO, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, and compiled an inventory of 19,000 glaciers. And then, they report in the journal Earth’s Future, they calculated recent changes and the glaciers’ present condition and projected the rate of mass loss into the future. … They warn that, if the world goes on burning fossil fuels at ever-increasing rates, almost half of all these glaciers will have vanished by 2100.
Tropical Pacific is major player in global ocean heat transport
MIT 5-14-19
Recent research indicates that these global-scale seawater pathways [great ocean conveyor belt] may play less of a role in Earth’s heat budget than traditionally thought. Instead, one region may be doing most of the heavy lifting. … A paper published in April … found that global ocean heat transport is dominated by heat export from the tropical Pacific. … researchers demonstrated the overwhelming predominance of the tropical Pacific in distributing heat across the globe, from the equator to the poles. In particular, they found the region exports four times as much heat as is imported in the Atlantic and Arctic.
Global Warnings
Paul Beckwith: “I declare a global climate change emergency to claw back up the rock face to attempt to regain system stability, or face an untenable calamity of biblical proportions.”
Kevin Hester: “There is no past analogue for the rapidity of what we are baring witness to. There has been a flood of articles … 2C is no longer attainable and that we are heading for dangerous climate change”
Magi Amma: We need to turn on a dime at mach nine!
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Equivalencies:
• 1 gigatonne equals one billion tons
• 1 gigatonne of carbon equals 3.67 gigatonnes of CO2
• 1 part per million of atmospheric CO2 is equivalent to 7.81 gigatonnes of CO2
• 1 part per million of atmospheric carbon is equivalent to 2.13 gigatonnes of carbon