Support the Arctic Sea Ice Forum and Blog

Author Topic: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action  (Read 278663 times)

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #300 on: January 10, 2017, 07:47:05 PM »
Just sitting and watching streaming video can greatly increase your carbon footprint.

Binge-watching is going to make your carbon footprint soar
Quote
Greenpeace on Tuesday released its annual "Clicking Clean" report, which scores digital companies on their environmental performance.

The report lists Apple, Google, Facebook and data center operator Switch as the IT sector's top achievers. All of the firms have made significant investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency at their data centers, offices and, in Apple's case, manufacturing sites.
...
But video streaming companies, including Netflix, HBO and Amazon, are lagging, according to Greenpeace.

All three firms scored poorly in the new report after flunking categories such as "energy transparency" and "renewable procurement," which refer to efforts to purchase cleaner electrons or invest in wind and solar projects. ...
http://mashable.com/2017/01/10/greenpeace-report-video-streaming-carbon-emissions/
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

budmantis

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 1220
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 7
  • Likes Given: 34
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #301 on: January 11, 2017, 07:18:45 AM »
Ouch! Great post Sigmetnow, and very informative.

nicibiene

  • Frazil ice
  • Posts: 103
    • View Profile
    • www.nicibiene.de
  • Liked: 1
  • Likes Given: 4
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #302 on: January 11, 2017, 10:06:38 AM »
Just streamed a speech of Al Gore at YouTube  ;D. It is not brand-new but it was new to me. A real great, impressive presentation. I didn't knew by now about exact developement of renewables in the graphics he showed. Didn't knew about the number of stopped coal plants in US by now-just read about China. It leaves me with some more optimism. 😊 
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” –“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” Albert Einstein

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #303 on: January 12, 2017, 07:47:35 PM »
Tonight at 8pm Eastern, the documentary "We Know Not What We Do", featuring Katharine Hayhoe, Richard Alley and John Cook from Skeptical Science, airs on Link TV (channel 9410 on Dish Network and 375 on Direct TV). Air times:

Thursday Jan 12 - 8:00pm Eastern and again at 8:00pm Pacific
Tuesday Jan 24 - 12:00noon Pacific (3:00pm Eastern) and 11:00pm Pacific (2:00am Eastern Jan 25)
Saturday Jan 28 -  2:00am Pacific (5:00am Eastern)
Thursday Feb 2 - 6:00am Pacific (9:00am Eastern)
 Friday Feb 3 - 2:00am Pacific (5:00am Eastern)

“We Know Not What We Do” travels the world to spotlight areas, both rural and urban, interviewing some of the brightest minds alive today, to find out what exactly is being sacrificed because of our unbridled addiction for fossil fuels. The film explores our ideas of “wealth,” and questions our misconceptions of expansion and economic growth. Can we cut back, cut down or even completely change our course for alternative sustainable energies without throwing our world into chaos? Can we shift our priorities? Is it possible for our species to become a tight knit community of human beings that can work together for survival? As many ignore this puzzle altogether, “We Know Not What We Do” urges that we face this challenge, solve the dilemma, or run the risk of extinction.

Trailer here:  https://www.linktv.org/shows/we-know-not-what-we-do/episodes/we-know-not-what-we-do
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #304 on: January 19, 2017, 04:48:47 PM »
Oliver Milman:  Record number of Americans now view global warming as “very worrying” according to Yale
https://mobile.twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/821764807250485248
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

DrTskoul

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 1455
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 210
  • Likes Given: 60
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #305 on: January 19, 2017, 05:40:34 PM »
Oliver Milman:  Record number of Americans now view global warming as “very worrying” according to Yale
https://mobile.twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/821764807250485248

Still too damn low...

Archimid

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3511
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 899
  • Likes Given: 206
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #306 on: June 11, 2017, 02:39:33 PM »
“Believe In Climate Change” The Way You Believe In Gravity

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/06/10/believe-climate-change-way-believe-gravity/

Quote
The problem is that outside of the odd politician who was actually a climate scientist, the vast majority of people can’t claim to understand climate change or global warming with any degree of sincerity or completeness. At best, the average layperson or even well educated layperson will have a superficial understanding of anything beyond the basics.

Let’s take an analogy that might be useful. Do you understand gravity, or just believe in it? Let’s test this out.
I am an energy reservoir seemingly intent on lowering entropy for self preservation.

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #307 on: July 14, 2017, 06:25:20 PM »
It looks like American political leaders are wearing rose-colored glasses w.r.t. their accountability to voters on climate change

"Study: On climate change and elsewhere, politicians more conservative than citizens"

https://www.skepticalscience.com/politicians-more-conservative-than-citizens.html

Extract: "Academics have identified a skew in American politics, in which policies that are implemented are much more conservative than average Americans prefer. A new paper  by David Broockman at Stanford University and Christopher Skovron from the University of Michigan suggests a cause for this disparity: American politicians perceive their constituents’ positions as more conservative than they are in actuality on a wide range of issues; for example, Republican politicians tend to overestimate support for their conservative health care views by a whopping 20 percentage points. As Broockman and his colleague Christopher Warshaw of MIT put it in an article for the New York Times: “Research shows that politicians are surprisingly poor at estimating public opinion in their districts and state, Republicans in particular.” This in turn appears to be caused by greater political engagement among conservative constituents, who contact their members of Congress more frequently than liberal voters."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

TerryM

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 6002
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 893
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #308 on: July 14, 2017, 07:36:19 PM »
It looks like American political leaders are wearing rose-colored glasses w.r.t. their accountability to voters on climate change

"Study: On climate change and elsewhere, politicians more conservative than citizens"

https://www.skepticalscience.com/politicians-more-conservative-than-citizens.html

Extract: "Academics have identified a skew in American politics, in which policies that are implemented are much more conservative than average Americans prefer. A new paper  by David Broockman at Stanford University and Christopher Skovron from the University of Michigan suggests a cause for this disparity: American politicians perceive their constituents’ positions as more conservative than they are in actuality on a wide range of issues; for example, Republican politicians tend to overestimate support for their conservative health care views by a whopping 20 percentage points. As Broockman and his colleague Christopher Warshaw of MIT put it in an article for the New York Times: “Research shows that politicians are surprisingly poor at estimating public opinion in their districts and state, Republicans in particular.” This in turn appears to be caused by greater political engagement among conservative constituents, who contact their members of Congress more frequently than liberal voters."


A clarion call to man our pens?
Terry

rboyd

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 1334
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 226
  • Likes Given: 52
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #309 on: July 14, 2017, 08:44:17 PM »
The US politicians may also just be extremely effective at gauging the views of their major donors, rather than their constituents.

VeliAlbertKallio

  • Frazil ice
  • Posts: 286
  • Eheu fugaces labuntur anni
    • View Profile
    • Sea Research Society (SRS)
  • Liked: 118
  • Likes Given: 134
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #310 on: July 15, 2017, 12:09:04 AM »
    <Discussion moved here from 2017 melting season>

    High level of ice pulverization has the SAME ultimate effect as melt water ponds. Fact No. 1!
    The gaps within sea ice (albedo only 5%) mop up sunlight which turns into heat - that percolates into nearby ice. Warm and dark water on top of ice, or beside and under it - really NO difference.

    Whether warm water that licks the ice is due to water ponds, or warm water created by dark leads nearby --> water travels past and beneath (and also around) moving ice floes
    (sea ice warms <=> sea water cools).

    People fail to see the synergies of insolation, albedo and sea ice pulverization. In the past the sea ice pulverized only from the margins, leaving the affected area very small with a minimal effect to overall Arctic sea ice area tally (especially CAB wasn't ARIEL powder what it is today).

    The August 2012 shaker-storm was the eye-opener to many how pulverized ice makes its demise easier. The real psychological thriller to me here is that some people constantly deny the change or admit but fail to apply it. Sort of ice hopium, we already know that 2017 sea ice volume is low and ice is thinner than usual due to bad winter. Yet, the weather is an unpredictable trickster.

    In psychology a term 'mortality salience' describes people that live just beneath water dam. They think about the collapse danger of dam LESS than people who live 20 kilometers downstream. Why? I think we all have this issue here, the ice is bad, there is very bad, bad methane hidden under it, and then there is this big 'lump of ice on the land' next corner. So we shut up our minds.

    Sea ice is not a problem-isolate. It is linked to all problems with melting permafrost soils and methane storing seabed, coastal mountains glued together by frozen water only (recall July tsunami in Greenland): So, also problems have a synergy within them (the sum is greater than its the sum of its individual components), this last thing was my core message at UK Houses of Parliament in April:
https://www.academia.edu/33000316/MPs_to_review_UKs_role_in_Arctic_sustainability_-_24th_April_2017.docx [/li][/list]

: F.Tnioli  Today at 11:39:45 AM

    : VeliAlbertKallio  Today at 12:38:29 AM

        ... The countless leads also mop up sunlight near the Pole most efficiently. ...

    Obviously, yes. July is high insolation month, and lots of CAB now takes it head-on. Combined with lesser thickness in many places, this is nothing short of catastrophic development in me book, especially if it would last in significant proportions for mere 1 more week. Any clues whether it would, Veli?

Modify message
Report to moderator   92.41.60.203
"Setting off atomic bombs is considered socially pungent as the years are made of fleeting ice that are painted by the piling up of the rays of the sun."

Tigertown

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 1678
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 24
  • Likes Given: 20
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #311 on: July 15, 2017, 05:22:00 AM »
<Discussion moved here from 2017 melting season>

Thanks for re-posting this instead of tossing it, as I wanted to read it again.
 Especially this part,
 
Quote
High level of ice pulverization has the SAME ultimate effect as melt water ponds. Fact No. 1!
The gaps within sea ice (albedo only 5%) mop up sunlight which turns into heat - that percolates into nearby ice. Warm and dark water on top of ice, or beside and under it - really NO difference.
   I think this deserves pondering at the least, considering the situation this year.
"....and the appointed time came for God to bring to ruin those ruining the earth." Revelation 11:18.

magnamentis

  • Guest
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #312 on: July 15, 2017, 06:50:50 PM »

Thanks for re-posting this instead of tossing it, as I wanted to read it again.

+1 i indeed like to read K's posts as well and don't have a problem with their length, hence it is good we got a dedicated thread for those. keep going, a lot of valuable input for laymen like me.

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #313 on: July 20, 2017, 12:58:57 PM »
At first glance, this resolution appears laughingly inadequate.  And it is.  But remember, North Carolina is the state that passed a law in 2012 forbidding the use of sea level rise forecasts.

Wilmington City Council passes resolution addressing climate change
Quote
The resolution asks that state and national leaders support policies that would reduce carbon emissions. It also lists initiatives by the city to reduce emissions like increasing the number of hybrid vehicles used by the city and reducing waste through the landfill diversion program.

"We are almost at 100 percent compliance with our citizens in voluntarily recycling in the city of Wilmington," Saffo said. "That's telling me that the citizens want to do their part in improving the environment, recycling stuff they use in their everyday lives, and extending the life of our landfill here, which is very precious to all of us."
http://www.wect.com/story/35920918/wilmington-city-council-passes-resolution-addressing-climate-change?

The history (2015 article):
The State That 'Outlawed Climate Change' Accepts Latest [short term] Sea-Level Rise Report
Quote
Five years ago, the Science Panel of the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commissioner presented a report that outlined the possibility that sea levels along the coast could rise as much as 39 inches over the next 100 years. Reaction from local land managers and developers was quick and overwhelmingly negative. The General Assembly passed a law forbidding communities from using the report to pass new rules.

And then, Colbert happened.

North Carolina was ridiculed by news aggregators, traditional media, on social media and in op-eds. Now, almost three years later, the scientists have come back with a new report. It still predicts that sea levels will rise, but since it only looks 30 years out, the amount of rise is not anywhere near the levels predicted in the first report.

The changes made it much more palatable to the people who fought against the original.
http://wunc.org/post/state-outlawed-climate-change-accepts-latest-sea-level-rise-report


Here’s the hilarious Stephen Colbert piece from 2012:
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/w6itwj/the-colbert-report-the-word---sink-or-swim
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #314 on: September 04, 2017, 04:56:01 PM »
The relatively high economic losses from Hurricanes Harvey, Katrina and Sandy, are indicative of the fact that almost all US infrastructure is not built to withstand climate change, because policy makers get very little sustained political  pressure to up-grade that infrastructure.  Greens say that upgrading US infrastructure is a waste of money that would be better spent on reducing GHG emissions.  Climate skeptics say that upgrading US infrastructure will take away from economic growth.  Independents want government to shrink which means less money for infrastructure. 

In the meantime climate change damage to both people and the infrastructure is rapidly increasing. As Donald Trump would say: "Sad".

Title: "Insurance industry prices warming into Hurricane Harvey cost"

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/01/insurance-industry-prices-warming-into-hurricane-harvey-cost

Extract: "Because US infrastructure is not built to withstand climate change the cost of the disaster will be relatively high

Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was “the first taste of a bitter cup that will be proffered to us over and over again,” according to former US vice president Al Gore at the time.
Since then, Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and now Hurricane Harvey have borne out this prediction. The latest storm may turn out to be less fatal than Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people but in economic terms it may be as bad. Hurricane Katrina cost about $160bn (£124bn) in economic losses in today’s terms, accounting for the last decade’s inflation, while Sandy wrought about $70bn in damage.  Preliminary estimates for the damage caused by Harvey are wide apart, spanning $90bn to $190bn, reflecting the difficulty of judging an unfolding disaster."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

Bob Wallace

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3855
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 41
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #315 on: September 04, 2017, 07:12:36 PM »
It seems to me that we have to both harden our infrastructure and reduce carbon use.

We've already caused enough climate change to create Houstin floods and rising seas causing saltwater intrusion into freshwater supplies in South Miami along with frequently flooded streets.

A good first step would be to stop rebuilding in places which are flooded out.  Those people repairing their houses because they can't sell their house and no one will buy it?  Buy them out and remove the shell of their house.  Let that area be used for parks, agriculture, or wildlife.  We need to retreat to higher ground.

And we need to greatly increase our energy use in the replacement buildings.  Get as close to energy neutral as feasible.  Lots of insolation.  Solar roofs.

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #316 on: September 08, 2017, 03:45:00 AM »
U.S.:  Senate panel votes to fund UN climate agency
Quote
A Senate committee voted Thursday to contribute $10 million to the United Nations’ climate change agency.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 16 to 14 to approve an amendment by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to restore funding for the U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change in the State Department appropriations bill.

The payments that the United States had made annually since joining the convention in 1992 had been slated to be eliminated.

Merkley said at the committee meeting Thursday to vote on the bill that the amendment “fits in with Secretary [Rex] Tillerson’s desire that we both continue to monitor the changes in the world’s climate and that we keep a seat at the table.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) also spoke in support of the amendment.

“This is important,” she said. “You know, the world’s at risk.” ...
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/349693-senate-panel-votes-to-fund-un-climate-agency
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #317 on: September 12, 2017, 12:50:28 PM »
Twitter thread.  Should (U.S.) climate change discussion simply ignore the deniers?

Idea that climate reporting/discussion should aim to reach people who've tribally embraced denialism is itself a major problem in the field.
https://twitter.com/AlexSteffen/status/907308612116029440
...


tl;dr You simply can't do good climate journalism if you're concerned about what climate denialists in your audience think of your coverage.
https://twitter.com/alexsteffen/status/907327812222070784

Image: start of thread.
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Bob Wallace

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3855
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 41
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #318 on: September 12, 2017, 06:56:30 PM »
Ignore climate change deniers?  We can't always to that but we certainly should minimize the attention we give them.  And we should point out that climate change deniers, like those who believe the Sun orbits the Earth or that evolution does not occur are simply scientifically illiterate.


AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #319 on: September 25, 2017, 05:09:43 PM »
Changing denialist behavior requires getting inside their heads:

Title: "Why Hard Facts Aren't Enough to Alter Our Beliefs"

https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/why-hard-facts-aren-t-enough-alter-our-beliefs-ncna803946

Extract: "If we want to affect the behaviors and beliefs of the person in front of us, we need to understand what goes on inside their head."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #320 on: September 28, 2017, 07:27:37 PM »
So can we (the U.S.) talk about climate change now?

Poll: Majority says climate change responsible for severity of hurricanes
Quote
More than half of Americans believe that climate change is responsible for the severity of recent hurricanes, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll published Thursday.

The survey found that 55 percent of respondents blamed climate change for the rough 2017 hurricane season, while 41 percent said it was "just the kind of severe weather that happens from time to time."

The result is a big change from the same poll 12 years ago, which found that 39 percent blamed climate change and 54 percent blamed random severe weather for the hurricanes of the time. The 2005 poll was taken shortly after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on New Orleans.
...
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/352849-poll-majority-says-climate-change-is-responsible-for-severity-of
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #321 on: September 28, 2017, 09:53:49 PM »
Weather extremes, fossil fuel pollution cost US $240 billion: study
Quote
(Reuters) - Weather extremes and air pollution from burning fossil fuels cost the United States $240 billion a year in the past decade, according to a report on Wednesday that urged President Donald Trump to do more to combat climate change.

This year is likely to be the most expensive on record with an estimated $300 billion in losses from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and a spate of wildfires in western states in the past two months, it said.

"The evidence is undeniable: the more fossil fuels we burn, the faster the climate continues to change," leading scientists wrote in the study published by the non-profit Universal Ecological Fund.

Costs to human health from air pollution caused by fossil fuels averaged $188 billion a year over the past decade, it estimated, while losses from weather extremes such as droughts, heat waves and floods averaged $52 billion. ...
http://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUKKCN1C22AM
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #322 on: October 06, 2017, 06:27:53 PM »
The linked reference indicates that great challenge w.r.t. achieving optimal GHG emission policies is uncertainties about the implementability of policies to reduce such emissions; and thus it recommends introducing more such emission reduction policies in order to make-up for the ones that will not be implemented:

Botta, N., Jansson, P., and Ionescu, C.: The impact of uncertainty on optimal emission policies, Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-2017-86, in review, 2017.

https://www.earth-syst-dynam-discuss.net/esd-2017-86/

Abstract. We apply a computational framework for specifying and solving sequential decision problems to study the impact of three kinds of uncertainties on optimal emission policies in a stylized sequential emission problem. We find that uncertainties about the implementability of decisions on emission reductions (or increases) have a greater impact on optimal policies than uncertainties about the availability of effective emission reduction technologies and uncertainties about the implications of trespassing critical cumulated emission thresholds. The results show that uncertainties about the implementability of decisions on emission reductions (or increases) call for more precautionary policies. In other words, delaying emission reductions to the point in time when effective technologies will become available is sub-optimal when these uncertainties are accounted for rigorously. By contrast, uncertainties about the implications of exceeding critical cumulated emission thresholds tend to make early emission reductions less rewarding.
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #323 on: October 08, 2017, 07:51:30 PM »
When what's new is old: a look back at Rolling Stone magazine's coverage of the planet.

50th Anniversary Flashback: Reporting the World's Biggest Environmental Stories
From oil spills and nuclear waste to climate change, covering the environment has long been a crucial part of the magazine's mission
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/climate-change-oil-spills-nuclear-waste-50th-anniversary-w505603
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #324 on: October 19, 2017, 03:50:26 AM »
This is sad:

Title: "Republican Tactic Aims to Open Eastern Gulf, Arctic to Oil Rigs"

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-18/republicans-may-use-budget-to-open-arctic-atlantic-to-oil-rigs

Extract: "Congressional Republicans have found a way to use the federal budget to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling -- and they don’t plan on stopping there.

GOP leaders in the House and Senate are exploring ways to also expand drilling in the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans through congressional budget rules that allow them to pass major policy changes on a simple majority vote."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

Bob Wallace

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3855
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 41
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #325 on: October 19, 2017, 05:51:02 AM »
Odds of anything happening = low.

It takes about ten years to develop a new oil field. Within five years it should be clear that demand for oil is declining and there will be no market for oil in addition to what the lowest cost producers can supply.




TerryM

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 6002
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 893
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #326 on: October 19, 2017, 06:15:00 AM »
Odds of anything happening = low.

It takes about ten years to develop a new oil field. Within five years it should be clear that demand for oil is declining and there will be no market for oil in addition to what the lowest cost producers can supply.
I agree, and hope that we're both right.
Terry

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #327 on: November 07, 2017, 04:22:17 PM »
In order to begin to adapt now to coming climate change, policy makers need to increasingly work to diversify food supplies including increased introduction of ancient foods to modern diets.

Title: "Forget rice, dish up Aztec pigweed to help feed the world"

http://news.trust.org/item/20171106155623-ggeod/

Extract: "As rising temperatures wreak havoc on farmers worldwide, scientists are seeking new ways to feed a population that is set to boom to 9.8 billion by 2050"

Extract: "Ancient food like pigweed once eaten by the Aztecs can be eaten raw or be ground into flour - one of many crops that could add valuable nutrients to a limited modern diet, say experts.

"We must move beyond the 'business as usual' approach of relying on monocultures of major, well-known crops, and invest in agricultural diversity," Charles said in video message."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

Shared Humanity

  • Guest
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #328 on: November 07, 2017, 05:46:23 PM »
They need to change the name.

Bob Wallace

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3855
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 41
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #329 on: November 07, 2017, 07:19:26 PM »
Pigweed is amaranth.  Often eaten here on the West Coast.  One of the farms I pass on the way to town grew at least 40 acres this year.

Made a beautiful field when it ripened.

Pretty commonly eaten the the Andes. 

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #330 on: November 08, 2017, 04:03:36 PM »
People in developed countries who are breaking their arms patting themselves on their collective backs for limiting their recent CO₂ emissions, need to take responsibility for the emissions associated with the goods that they are importing from countries like China and India:

Title: "Guest post: How China has reduced the carbon footprint of developed countries"

https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-china-has-reduced-carbon-footprint-developed-countries

Extract: "… wealthy countries were producing fewer goods themselves and importing more from rapidly-developing nations, such as China and India. You can see how this affected production and consumption-based emissions in the chart …"

Caption: "The commonly reported production-based emissions (solid lines), and consumption-based emissions (dotted lines) showing emissions associated with consumption of products, differ substantially between countries because of international trade. Developed countries are usually net importers (US, EU) and developing countries net exporters (China, India). The gap between production and consumption emissions has recently closed in the EU and US primarily since the gap has closed in China. Source: Global Carbon Budget."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

Shared Humanity

  • Guest
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #331 on: November 08, 2017, 04:32:56 PM »
Great point. We (U.S.) have been exporting all types of pollution for decades. You could make a strong case for western nations having a responsibility for reducing the carbon emissions of 3rd world production.

Bob Wallace

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3855
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 41
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #332 on: November 08, 2017, 05:14:52 PM »
Quote
People in developed countries who are breaking their arms patting themselves on their collective backs for limiting their recent CO₂ emissions, need to take responsibility for the emissions associated with the goods that they are importing from countries like China and India:

But at some point the exportation of industries was pretty much over.  More recent drops in CO2 emissions are from a post-offshoring base.

Shared Humanity

  • Guest
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #333 on: November 08, 2017, 05:28:44 PM »
With Syria now endorsing the Paris Accords, the U.S. is the only nation on the planet that hasn't.

http://crooksandliars.com/2017/11/syria-signs-paris-agreement-leaving-us

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #334 on: November 08, 2017, 05:53:36 PM »
Quote
People in developed countries who are breaking their arms patting themselves on their collective backs for limiting their recent CO₂ emissions, need to take responsibility for the emissions associated with the goods that they are importing from countries like China and India:

But at some point the exportation of industries was pretty much over.  More recent drops in CO2 emissions are from a post-offshoring base.

One could make the argument that it is easier to clean up one country than an assortment of countries.  As China turns away from dirty production and increasingly makes clean energy products (for example, EVs), the rest of the world will be more likely to say, "Well, I guess we'll buy EVs," rather than start up dirty manufacturing themselves.
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #335 on: November 08, 2017, 06:05:17 PM »
Quote
People in developed countries who are breaking their arms patting themselves on their collective backs for limiting their recent CO₂ emissions, need to take responsibility for the emissions associated with the goods that they are importing from countries like China and India:

But at some point the exportation of industries was pretty much over.  More recent drops in CO2 emissions are from a post-offshoring base.

It is a bit like smoke and mirrors to point at reported (who knows how much cheating is going on) drops in anthropogenic CO2 emissions; when 2016 showed the largest increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration in decades and when the switch to a natural gas energy bridge (& increased methane emissions from agriculture) has driven up atmospheric CH4 concentrations to all time highs (see the attached NOAA plots).
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

Bob Wallace

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3855
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 41
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #336 on: November 08, 2017, 08:04:42 PM »
Quote
El Niño impacts the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by causing droughts that limit the uptake of CO2 by plants and trees.

Emissions from human sources have slowed down in the last couple of years

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41778089

There was some increase in coal  consumption in the US due to a rise in gas prices.  But over the long term coal use will continue to drop as more coal plant are closed.  But the coal increase was not enough to increase US CO2 emissions, they fell overall by 95 million tonnes (fossil fuel use).

Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels rose 128 million tonnes.  India was clearly the worst offender with a 114 million tonne increase.


AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #337 on: November 11, 2017, 05:29:03 PM »
Quote
People in developed countries who are breaking their arms patting themselves on their collective backs for limiting their recent CO₂ emissions, need to take responsibility for the emissions associated with the goods that they are importing from countries like China and India:

But at some point the exportation of industries was pretty much over.  More recent drops in CO2 emissions are from a post-offshoring base.

It looks like China is currently meeting their climate commitments by exporting their pollution (just like developed countries):

Title: "Is China really stepping up as the world’s new climate leader?"

https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-11-08/china-really-stepping-world-s-new-climate-leader

“China is in many respects simply exporting its pollution,” said Elizabeth Economy, director for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She’s talking about China’s massive “Belt and Road” initiative, a nearly trillion-dollar infrastructure investment plan that includes almost 70 countries.

“[China] is on track to export as many as 100 coal-fired power plants,” Economy said. “There’s also going to be plans to export steel capacity and cement production and many other polluting industries.”

Part of China’s commitment to addressing climate change, Economy said, must be a commitment to “green” the Belt and Road."

One could make the argument that it is easier to clean up one country than an assortment of countries.  As China turns away from dirty production and increasingly makes clean energy products (for example, EVs), the rest of the world will be more likely to say, "Well, I guess we'll buy EVs," rather than start up dirty manufacturing themselves.
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #338 on: November 20, 2017, 07:06:40 PM »
Florida:  the state’s climate-change-denier-in-chief governor puts money for sea level rise in his new budget

Governor Scott funding request to address sea level rise seen as turnaround for administration
Quote
Some longtime critics of Gov. Rick Scott said they saw progress this week on the issue of climate change in his 2018-19 state budget request.

Scott's $87.4 billion request includes $3.6 million for the Department of Environmental Protection to assist local governments in sea level rise planning and coastal "resilience" projects. ...
https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2017/11/17/scott-funding-request-to-address-sea-level-rise-seen-as-turnaround-for-administration-118725
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Bob Wallace

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3855
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 41
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #339 on: November 20, 2017, 10:10:56 PM »
I heard a bit on the news this morning about a program in Tulsa Oklahoma where the government is buying out houses which are in an area that has been repeatedly flooding.

Pullback time in oil country....

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #340 on: November 27, 2017, 03:48:27 AM »
“Our new report found 38% in US discuss #GlobalWarming with family and friends often or occasionally, an increase of 12 percentage points since 2015”

Climate Change in the American Mind: October 2017
Quote
This report documents an upward trend in Americans’ concern about global warming, as reflected in several key indicators tracked since 2008, including substantial increases in Americans’ certainty that global warming is happening and harming people in the United States now. The percentage of Americans that are very worried about global warming has more than doubled since its lowest point in 2011. Increasing numbers of Americans say they have personally experienced global warming and that the issue is personally important to them. Details on these and other measures of global warming beliefs and attitudes are described below....
http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-change-american-mind-october-2017/2/
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #341 on: November 29, 2017, 06:00:11 PM »
"Investors and governments alike are looking for clear market signals to pursue, and perhaps even more importantly, to defend investments in major adaptation and resilience projects to their constituents and taxpayers.  Outside of the rating agencies, it is not obvious who else could send a meaningful market-wide signal."

Coastal communities from Maine to California have been put on notice from one of the top credit rating agencies: Start preparing for climate change or risk losing access to cheap credit.

Moody's Warns Cities to Address Climate Risks or Face Downgrades
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-29/moody-s-warns-cities-to-address-climate-risks-or-face-downgrades
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #342 on: November 30, 2017, 01:08:45 AM »
Shocking revelation!  ;)

Trump's pick to lead NOAA actually accepts human-caused global warming
Quote
Perhaps the White House wasn't paying close attention when they picked Barry Myers to run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

During Myers' confirmation hearing on Wednesday, he repeatedly expressed support for climate science research, and admitted that a recent federal assessment clearly indicated that the vast majority of global warming is due to human activities.

This puts Myers, the former CEO of AccuWeather, out of step with other high-profile President Donald Trump nominees, including Jim Bridenstine, Trump's pick to lead NASA.

NOAA, nestled within the Commerce Department, forecasts the nation's weather, governs marine fisheries, and researches the global climate. Along with NASA and the Energy Department, NOAA is one of the largest funders of climate research in the government, and operates a slew of laboratories studying the subject. ...
http://mashable.com/2017/11/29/trump-noaa-pick-accepts-climate-change.amp
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

ghoti

  • Grease ice
  • Posts: 767
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 12
  • Likes Given: 15
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #343 on: November 30, 2017, 07:32:24 PM »
Quote
picked Barry Myers to run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
This pick has little to do with climate change (though Accuweather does promote its own denier). This appointment is about preventing NOAA's weather prediction from competing with private weather services like Accuweather.

Myers is on record saying the government should not be allowed to make its weather predictions public but instead provide data only to private for profit forecasters.

TerryM

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 6002
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 893
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #344 on: November 30, 2017, 09:20:05 PM »
Quote
picked Barry Myers to run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
This pick has little to do with climate change (though Accuweather does promote its own denier). This appointment is about preventing NOAA's weather prediction from competing with private weather services like Accuweather.

Myers is on record saying the government should not be allowed to make its weather predictions public but instead provide data only to private for profit forecasters.
Ouch!

I really thought we'd got one past the Trumpster - silly me.
Terry

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #345 on: December 01, 2017, 08:47:57 PM »
”Precisely because we've waited so long to take any significant action, physics now demands we move much faster than we want to.”

Bill McKibben on speed.

Bill McKibben: Winning Slowly Is the Same as Losing
The technology exists to combat climate change – what will it take to get our leaders to act?
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/bill-mckibben-winning-slowly-is-the-same-as-losing-w512967
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Sigmetnow

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 25761
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 1153
  • Likes Given: 430
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #346 on: December 10, 2017, 04:33:04 PM »
U.S.:  The ALEC group is becoming too extreme for even some Republicans and oil companies.

Koch-Backed Business Group Splinters in Climate-Change Dispute
Quote
A business-backed group that rose to prominence by prodding state legislatures to cut taxes, environmental regulations and gun restrictions, now finds itself at a crossroads amid declining membership and a bitter dispute over climate change.

The battle at the American Legislative Exchange Council erupted at the group’s winter meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, this week as members scrapped a measure declaring that climate change is not a risk after opposition from Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.

"It was corporate blackmail," said Steve Milloy, a policy adviser for the Heartland Institute, a group critical of climate science. "They basically said, ‘We’re going to leave.’ "

The dispute over the climate provisions highlights the internal discord for the Arlington, Virginia-based group, which gained fame fighting President Barack Obama’s regulatory agenda. Over the past five years, more than 100 businesses left the organization, illustrating corporate concerns that the group may be going too far.

ALEC, which has been funded by companies like Koch Industries Inc. and coal giant Peabody Energy Corp., has 2,000 mostly Republican state legislator members, which it pairs with representatives from corporations and free-market interest groups. In recent years it debated model measures for state legislatures that take aim at state renewable energy requirements, set stricter voter identification requirements and would have U.S. senators appointed by state legislatures, not elected. ...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-08/corporate-revolt-has-business-group-at-a-crossroads-over-climate
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Bob Wallace

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3855
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 41
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #347 on: December 10, 2017, 06:32:49 PM »
I'm noticing what seems to be a growing acceptance of climate change science within the Republican Party.   The most extreme will likely cling to their beliefs but they cling to all sorts of ridiculous beliefs. 

The important point is to get leadership to the point where they no longer stand in the path and try to block progress.  (I have to think the economic success of wind and solar has had some impact.)

TerryM

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 6002
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 893
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #348 on: December 10, 2017, 11:24:06 PM »
U.S.:  The ALEC group is becoming too extreme for even some Republicans and oil companies.

Koch-Backed Business Group Splinters in Climate-Change Dispute
Quote
A business-backed group that rose to prominence by prodding state legislatures to cut taxes, environmental regulations and gun restrictions, now finds itself at a crossroads amid declining membership and a bitter dispute over climate change.

The battle at the American Legislative Exchange Council erupted at the group’s winter meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, this week as members scrapped a measure declaring that climate change is not a risk after opposition from Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.

"It was corporate blackmail," said Steve Milloy, a policy adviser for the Heartland Institute, a group critical of climate science. "They basically said, ‘We’re going to leave.’ "

The dispute over the climate provisions highlights the internal discord for the Arlington, Virginia-based group, which gained fame fighting President Barack Obama’s regulatory agenda. Over the past five years, more than 100 businesses left the organization, illustrating corporate concerns that the group may be going too far.

ALEC, which has been funded by companies like Koch Industries Inc. and coal giant Peabody Energy Corp., has 2,000 mostly Republican state legislator members, which it pairs with representatives from corporations and free-market interest groups. In recent years it debated model measures for state legislatures that take aim at state renewable energy requirements, set stricter voter identification requirements and would have U.S. senators appointed by state legislatures, not elected. ...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-08/corporate-revolt-has-business-group-at-a-crossroads-over-climate


I'm sure you've followed the Koch brothers impending takeover of Time Magazine.


The subjugation of publications that once represented America's premier news sources is reaching a crescendo, and I don't believe that these are pendulums that will swing to the other side as time progresses.
These aren't rich people hoping to get richer on the profits from their purchases. These are rich people willing to lose money every day as long as they can manipulate public discourse to get the government that they prefer.


A democracy without a vibrant third estate is difficult to imagine, but with the Koch Brothers joining Bezos and Murdock, the press is on it's last legs.
Terry

Bob Wallace

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3855
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 41
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: What's New in Climate Change Acceptance and Action
« Reply #349 on: December 11, 2017, 12:01:56 AM »
Will people now under 50 (60?) ever take up reading magazines in any appreciable numbers?

I quit the Time/Newsweek type publications many years ago because the news was already very stale by the time the mag arrived.

What I miss (some) is a deeper dive into topics that one sometimes got in a news magazine.

What might work to replace that would be 'pay to read' system where one did not have to subscribe to a specific paywall site but could set up an account and be charged a few cents to read articles of interest.

Present a short abstract for free and charge a nickle/dime to read the full text.  The info in a short abstract is going to be free on the web one way or another.  But on some topics I'd like to read more detail and the reasoning.