Something to keep in mind…
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I truly believe that together
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we can bring about the
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transformative change
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that is needed
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There is still time if we act with determination and urgency
Wednesday, May 1, 2019 the U.K. Parliament declared an environment and climate emergency. This after a week of climate protests by Extinction Rebellion (XR). Over 40 thousand people joined XR since the protests began.
Politics is a game of fear. Those who do not have the ability to frighten power elite do not succeed. All of the movements that opened up the democratic space in America—the abolitionists, the suffragists, the labor movement, the communists, the socialists, the anarchists, and the civil rights movement—developed a critical mass and militancy that forced the centers of power to respond. The platitudes about justice, equality, and democracy are just that. only when ruling elites become worried about survival do they react. Appealing to the better nature of the powerful is useless. They don’t have one.
From America: The Farewell Tour by Chris Hedges
HOT AIR NEWS ROUNDUP
‘Activism Works’: UK Parliament Makes History in Declaring Climate Emergency
Common Dreams 5-1-19
The U.K. Parliament made history on Wednesday by becoming the first to declare an environment and climate emergency. … “This can set off a wave of action from parliaments and governments around the globe,” Corbyn said … “Governments never act without pressure and we must keep the pressure up. I’m proud that the Labour Party brought this motion to the House, and now we will carry on this work by developing our plans to deliver a Green Industrial Revolution.”
A single person’s contribution is not irrelevant. Research in this article shows that individuals can make a difference…
Fighting climate change: It’s time to acknowledge that even the smallest act can make a difference
Independent 4-25-19
In the meantime, the debate about personal vs collective action will continue. My research supports the arguments that this is a false dichotomy: individual action is part of the collective. So, while you won’t save the world on your own, you might be part of the solution.
This impressive overview, narrated by David Attenborough, has inspired over 40,000 new people join Extinction Rebellion. Much of this we know but it is profoundly moving to see it all together. Well worth watching…
Climate Change: The Facts review – our greatest threat, laid bare
The Guardian 4-18-19
Yet as I kept on, scribbling down an increasingly grim list of statistics, most of which I knew, vaguely, though compiled like this they finally sound as dreadful as they truly are – 20 of the warmest years on record happened in the last 22 years; Greenland’s ice sheet is melting five times faster than it was 25 years ago … the experts served up unvarnished honesty. They lined up to lay out the facts, plain and simple. Fossil fuel companies are the most profitable businesses man has ever known, and they engage in PR offensives, using the same consultants as tobacco companies, and the resulting uncertainty and denial, designed to safeguard profits, has narrowed our window for action. It is unforgivable.
Climate Change – The Facts
BBC
After one of the hottest years on record, Sir David Attenborough looks at the science of climate change and potential solutions to this global threat.
Here’s the full length video – 57 minutes. Very hard to watch…
Renewables Offset 35 Times More CO2 Every Year Than All Carbon Capture Projects Ever, New Analysis Finds
Desmog 4-27-19
A new analysis by Clean Technica found that global investment in carbon capture and storage technology (CCS) adds up to roughly $7.5 billion total. It also examined how much, for that investment, CCS has reduced atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels compared to an equivalent investment in renewable power generation. … The analysis calculated that “wind and solar are displacing roughly 35 times as much CO2 every year as the complete global history of CCS.” Clean Technica’s Mike Barnard concluded, “CCS is a rounding error in global warming mitigation.” … However, “negative emissions technologies,” as they are also called, currently are neither technologically nor economically feasible to deploy on a scale with any meaningful impact.
Labour to force Commons vote on declaring environmental and climate emergency
Independent 4-28-19
Labour will force a Commons vote on the issue, one of the key demands of the Extinction Rebellion (XR) movement, whose activists paralysed parts of London in previous weeks. … Jeremy Corbyn said he hoped other countries would follow if the UK Parliament became the first in the world to declare a climate emergency. … On Wednesday, the UK Parliament will have the chance to be the first in the world to declare an environment and climate emergency, which we hope will trigger a wave of action from parliaments and governments around the world.”
As Climate Protests Rock Europe, Belgium Considers Amending Constitution To Stop Emissions
Forbes 4-25-19
In the Belgian case, an angry reaction to the suggestion forced Schauvliege to resign. … Unlike in most countries, politicians in Belgium have proposed robust action in response to the protests. They have even proposed to change the Belgian constitution to force future politicians to lower the country’s emissions in line with its commitments in the Paris Agreement.
Climate change: Is Greta Thunberg right about UK carbon emissions?
BBC 4-26-19
accusing the UK government of “very creative carbon accounting”. … She is right to say that the figure misses out these things. … It refers to the UK’s “territorial emissions” – that is a measure of what happens within the country’s borders, including things such as heating and powering homes, transport, domestic industry and agriculture. … The UK is not unique in producing its figures like this, though. It is sticking to internationally agreed standards.
‘Call It a Crisis’: New Report Details Failure of Cable and Network Outlets to Accurately Describe Climate Emergency
Commons Dreams 4-29-19
Name and shame. That’s the dual directive from a new report that calls on news organizations to use appropriate language when discussing the climate crisis—even as the report calls them out for inaction. … The report—titled “‘Call It a Crisis’: The Role of U.S. Network News in Communicating the Urency of Climate Change” (pdf)—analyzed the coverage of ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News to determine just how much urgency the influential outlets bring to their reporting.
FOSSIL FUELS
‘A town needs its self-respect’: new coal mine to open in the UK
Climate Change News 4-26-19
The plant sustains around 59 percent of jobs in Copeland, directly employing around 11,000 people. But 3,000 of these jobs are to disappear in the coming years as the plant abandons its reprocessing role. … Luckily for them, a small company called West Cumbria Mining was offering an aspirin: a new underground coal mine, just south of Whitehaven. … These may appear to be technicalities — coal consumption emits carbon dioxide, wherever it is used and whatever grade is extracted. But the fact that metallurgical coal is used to produce steel, and the emissions will largely be outsourced to other countries, means that West Cumbria Mining is not stymied by either the UK’s 2025 phase-out of unabated coal for power generation.
China promotes ‘green’ belt and road, but is pressured over coal investments
Climate Home News 4-25-19
China launched an “international green development coalition” … China is financing 102 gigawatts of coal power capacity outside the country, 26% of the total under development,
[UK] Government’s fracking commissioner resigns, bemoaning efforts to stop climate change and mini earthquakes
Independent 4-28-19
The government’s fracking tsar has resigned after six months in the post, saying the industry is being throttled by environmental activists and government rules preventing mini earthquakes.
Labour is right, there is a climate emergency. So why did it just back a new coal mine in Cumbria?
Yahoo 4-26-19
Britain’s first new deep coal mine in 30 years has been given the go-ahead by Cumbria County Council – backed by Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors. This decision is a slap in the face for the young people striking for a future.
Multiple coal deals emerge from China’s ‘green’ investment summit
Climate Home News 4-29-19
Chinese involvement in a recently opened coal mine and 660MW power plant in Thar desert, Pakistan; and Vietnam’s 1,200MW Nam Dinh coal power station. … announcements also flagged coal projects in Turkey, Cambodia and Indonesia, as compiled by Greenpeace campaigner Yan Wang. Most announcements signalled advancement on existing projects, rather than new deals.
Oil Companies Will Be Bad Investments Within Five Years, Predicts Survey of European Fund Managers
Desmog 4-28-19
European fund managers are casting an increasingly skeptical eye towards the oil industry, concluding that the industry’s financial future looks grim, according to a new survey published by a London-based organization today. … Just 18 percent of the responding fund managers, including representatives of firms based in the UK, France, Spain, and Italy, predicted that “oil companies will be good investments if their business is still focused on fossil fuels in five years’
Renagade Inc: The New Gold Rush
RTUK News 4-23-19
What if their industry is about to undergo a shift that will render their current polluting business model obsolete? Could the market, not policy makers, now demand cleaner and more efficient way to produce our energy? Host Ross Ashcroft is joined by the energy strategist, Kingsmill Bond to ask if we have reached peak fossil fuels and begun the shift to renewables?
The video is worth watching…
Renagade Inc: The New Gold Rush
WEATHER
Category 4 Kenneth Crashes Ashore in Mozambique; Devastating Rains Still to Come
Category Six 4-25-19
An unprecedented event for northern Mozambique … In records going back 50 years, far northern Mozambique has no record of storms of even minimal hurricane strength, much less a system as powerful as Kenneth. The landfall location (12°S) is quite close to the equator, in a latitude range where it becomes more difficult for cyclones to gather enough atmospheric spin to develop. Only a couple of tropical depressions and tropical storms have made landfall this far north in Mozambique or in Tanzania in the several decades of satellite coverage. … Kenneth ranks among the strongest landfalls on record for the entire African mainland.
Death Toll Rising in Kenneth’s Wake; Cyclone Fani Threatens India
Weather Underground 4-29-19
Although Kenneth weakened quickly as it moved inland, its remnants have continued to produce torrential rain across Cabo Delgado. Runoff and local rains have led to widespread flooding in Pemba, a city of 200,000 well south of where Kenneth made landfall. … Tropical cyclones are most common in eastern India during October and November, but there is a secondary peak in April and May.
Mozambique ‘faces climate debt trap’ as Cyclone Kenneth follows Idai
Climate Home News 4-26-19
The world’s sixth poorest country faces the second storm with an extra $118 million of debt, after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week granted an interest-free loan for rebuilding. … It unfairly saddles victims of climate disaster with the costs of a problem they did little to cause, campaigners argued, calling for better support systems.
Long, and well researched article…
Climate change forced these Fijian communities to move – and with 80 more at risk, here’s what they learned
The Conversation 4-30-19
Low lying coastal communities like these are especially vulnerable to threats of sea-level rise, inundation of tides, increased intensity of storm surges and coastal erosion. Extreme, sudden weather events such as cyclones can also force communities to move, particularly in the tropics. … But relocating communities involves much more than simply rebuilding houses in a safer location.
ADAPTION AND RESILIENCE
Long and detailed article about wasting food. An interesting read…
Most people waste more food than they think—here’s how to fix it
National Geographic 4-24-19
When it comes to mitigating climate change, Project Drawdown ranks reducing food waste as the third most impactful action, behind only better management of refrigerants and increased onshore wind power (for context, electric vehicles rank 26th).
Climate Mural Emerges After London Protests; Is It Banksy?
US News 4-26-19
Officials in London are trying to determine if a stenciled mural that appeared at a base camp for climate protests was created by the street artist Banksy. … The mural is on a wall at Marble Arch, where the group Extinction Rebellion had an encampment for 10 days until Thursday
Storytelling is key to understanding climate change
Yale Climate Connections 4-24-19
[The] Climate Narrative Project and “Ecopolis” theatre shows [has traveled] across the country, from Appalachia to Silicon Valley. He works with students, teachers, community groups, and urban planners to invest more in the media arts as a way of galvanizing action and advancing sustainable solutions.
WILDLIFE & THE ENVIRONMENT
Arbor Day Foundation to Plant 100 Million Trees by 2022
EcoWatch 4-26-19
“It can be easy to take trees for granted, but they are absolutely critical to maintaining balance on our planet—supporting clean air and water, healthy food and a livable climate,” Arbor Day Foundation President Dan Lambe said in a press release. “With an estimated 18 million acres of forests lost globally each year, that balance is being shaken.”
Great article with great pictures…
This map shows millions of acres of lost Amazon rainforest
National Geographic 4-26-19
Using satellite images, the Global Forest Watch researchers were able to see that 30 million acres of forest were lost around the world in 2018. Of that lost 30 million, over 880,000 acres were primary forests. Also called old-growth forests,
Trees must be planted across area half the size of London every year to offset climate damage of farming, experts say
Independent 4-27-19
Covering 70,000 hectares with new woodland across the UK annually would result in a net total of zero carbon emissions from farming, according to the think tank Green Alliance. … The mass tree-planting scheme needs to start immediately to meet the National Farmers Union’s target of net zero carbon emissions from land use by 2040, the alliance believes.
Alarming Rate of Forest Loss Threatens a Crucial Climate Solution
Inside Climate News 4-25-19
Last year, the planet saw its fourth-highest level of tropical tree loss since the early 2000s—about 30 million acres, according to a new analysis published Thursday.
… “Continued tropical forest loss pulls the rug out from under efforts to stabilize the global climate,” said Frances Seymour, a senior fellow with the World Resources Institute (WRI), which publishes the annual forest assessment. “For every hectare of forest lost, we’re one step closer to the scary scenario of runaway climate change, because forests not only store carbon, they continue to absorb it as they grow.”
PROTESTS • EXTINCTION REBELLION • RESISTANCE
Greenpeace activists board oil rig in Norwegian Arctic to protest new drilling
Independent 4-29-19
Four members of the group climbed onto the West Hercules rig, owned by deepwater drilling company Seadrill. … More protesters surrounded the rig in kayaks and others on shore unfurled banners reading “people versus oil” and “ban new oil”. … The rig is due to drill a well in the Equinor-operated production license 859 in the eastern part of the Barents Sea, some 435 kilometres (270 miles) northeast of the coast of continental Norway. It will be the most northern licence for drilling to ever be granted in Norway.
This is a very interesting video…
Rupert Read, “Everyone knows our democracy is broken…” – Politics Live – Extinction Rebellion
Fridays for Future
‘Outrage is justified’: David Attenborough backs school climate strikers The Guardian 4-26-19
The outrage of the students striking from school over climate change inaction is “certainly justified”, according to Sir David Attenborough, who said older generations had done terrible damage to the planet.
Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg has changed the course of history – what has Brendan O’Neill achieved?
Yahoo 4-23-19
I don’t mind admitting that when I met her in parliament today with Caroline Lucas, Ed Miliband and the speaker John Bercow I was a little starstruck. … We must now seize the opportunity created by Greta. Politicians from all sides of the political divide must come together to tackle the biggest issue affecting not just the UK, but the world.
Lots of tweets. Pretty funny…
50-Year-Old Men Are Viciously Attacking A 16-Year-Old Girl Because They Can’t Comprehend Her Arguments
ifl science 4-23-19
Attacking a young girl for how she speaks or who her parents are is not going to make a slight bit of difference to climate change. Saying she’s “cult-like” for being passionate about stopping climate change won’t alter the facts that unless we do something about climate change very soon, there will be serious consequences, and the science is entirely on her side.
Extinction Rebellion
JOIN XR USA: on their website
XR NEWSLETTERS & EVENTS: on their website
XR USA: on YOUTUBE
‘Extinction Rebellion’ disrupts traffic, London Stock Exchange on final day
UPI 4-25-19
Activists glued themselves to the entrance of the London Stock Exchange Thursday, with signs that read, “Climate emergency,” “Tell the Truth” and “You can’t eat money.” They also climbed onto the roof of the Canary Wharf and mocked London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s demand to end protesting and allow “business as usual.”
Extinction Rebellion protesters stop traffic in City of London
The Guardian 4-24-19
Earlier on Thursday, climate change activists glued themselves to the entrances of the London Stock Exchange wearing LED signs saying “Climate emergency”, “Tell the truth” and “You can’t eat money”. … The move came as it emerged the environment secretary, Michael Gove, had agreed to the meet representatives of the group. … Support for Extinction Rebellion has quadrupled in the past nine days as public concern about the scale of the ecological crisis grows. Since the protests began last Monday, 40,000 new backers or volunteers have offered support to the group. In the same period, it has raised almost £200,000 – mostly in small donations of between £10 and £50 – making a total of £365,000 since January.
So what if Extinction Rebellion are ‘hippies’? They’re fighting climate change better than the government ever has
Yahoo 4-28-19
All credit to them, they’ve seized the national conversation, but we are in a dangerous pause phase now. Attention may be one thing, but government action is an entirely different kettle of fish, and we need to make sure that the state is just as dedicated to battling climate change as activists are. … We have had, for example, many requests to “debate” how Emma Thompson’s support for Extinction Rebellion involved taking a flight to join the cause. Granted, emissions from aviation are awful. As environmental author Naomi Klein pointed out though, it isn’t coincidental that just when climate change started to get the attention it deserved, free market capitalism was really steroiding up.
Triumph for Extinction Rebellion as protests spark huge surge in ‘climate change’ web traffic
Independent 4-27-19
The [Google Analytics] analytics tool, which assigns search terms a popularity score out of 100 based on usage over a defined period, shows searches for ‘climate change’ and ‘Extinction Rebellion’ exploded at around the time the protests began. … In the week leading up to the protest, from 7 to 13 April, the term “climate change” was assigned a relative score of 13, while “Extinction Rebellion” was assigned a score of five.
CLIMATE STUDIES
Rapid melting of the world’s largest ice shelf linked to solar heat in the ocean
PHYS ORG 4-29-19
An international team of scientists has found part of the world’s largest ice shelf, Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf, is melting 10 times faster than expected due to solar heating of the surrounding ocean. … The melting is affected by a large area of open ocean in front of the ice shelf that is empty of sea ice due to strong offshore winds. …The potential for increasing melt rates in this region has implications for ice shelf stability due to the shape of the ice shelf.
Ocean acidification ‘could have consequences for millions’
Science Daily 4-26-19
Ocean acidification could have serious consequences for the millions of people globally whose lives depend on coastal protection, fisheries and aquaculture, a new publication suggests.
Research examines new links between retreating glaciers and global warming
PHYS ORG 4-29-19
data retrieved from probes in Skálafellsjökull, Iceland, showed that the increased volume of glacier melt water is increasing the speed in which glaciers in the area are shrinking. … [Daa] revealed how melt water produces a distinct seasonal style of glacier stick-slip motion and showed that relatively small events occur every day during the summer, and during the winter there are larger multi-day events related to warmer days.
Excellent article…
Antarctica’s effect on sea level rise in coming centuries
PHYS ORG 4-26-19
The melting of Antarctica’s ice sheet is currently responsible for 20-25% of global sea level rise. … “Unlike most current models, we included solid Earth processes – such as the elastic rebound of the bedrock under the ice, and the impact of changes in sea level very close to the ice sheet,” said JPL’s Eric Larour, first author of the study. “We also examined these models at a much higher resolution than is typically used.
Preventing collapse after catastrophe
Science Daily 4-25-19
As the impacts of climate change escalate, ecosystems will likely undergo events that will disrupt entire populations. In marine ecosystems, anthropogenic warming has subjected organisms to elevated temperatures, oxygen loss, and acidification. The increased frequency and severity of catastrophic events may inhibit a population’s ability to recover and, in turn, may spur collapse.
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