tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49217895331559942592024-03-09T21:46:36.705-05:00Climate Change NewsNews related to climate change aggregated daily by David Landskov. Link to original article is at bottom of post.Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.comBlogger11085125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-17812105929099016182019-11-30T00:30:00.000-05:002019-11-30T00:30:05.872-05:00Is This the Only Way to Curb Global Warming?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6bG0gp8c2htd_ErCFmHme6RKtQuFasJhoclhkXQblU8iyH-0J3hHTXB7pBYP0BgwqAWSuDdDm3PMiqIgUHU3wPZeauysxVb48i20LP6OBrqnoqLoIrCTMPSbwSrJ95J4UtMIWvnqIz2Y/s1600/c95da009bedbb80b0a41d2549a2eedc9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Click to Enlarge." border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="718" height="83" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6bG0gp8c2htd_ErCFmHme6RKtQuFasJhoclhkXQblU8iyH-0J3hHTXB7pBYP0BgwqAWSuDdDm3PMiqIgUHU3wPZeauysxVb48i20LP6OBrqnoqLoIrCTMPSbwSrJ95J4UtMIWvnqIz2Y/s200/c95da009bedbb80b0a41d2549a2eedc9.jpg" title="Click to Enlarge." width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A new report from the United Nations environment program (Unep) finds that on current pledges, the world is heading for a 3.2 degree rise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Although G20 nations collectively account for 78 percent of all emissions, only five members have committed to a long-term emissions target.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of these, the UK and France are the only two to have passed legislation confirming their commitments in law.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Germany, Italy and the EU28 are currently in the process of passing laws to this effect.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change warned that going beyond the 1.5 degree rise agreed under the Paris Agreement in 2015 would increase the frequency and intensity of climate impacts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">UN secretary-general António Guterres said: “For ten years, the Emissions Gap Report has been sounding the alarm – and for ten years, the world has only increased its emissions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“There has never been a more important time to listen to the science. Failure to heed these warnings and take drastic action to reverse emissions means we will continue to witness deadly and catastrophic heatwaves, storms, and pollution.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The report calls for all nations to substantially increase their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), as the Paris commitments are known, in 2020.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Inger Andersen, Unep’s executive director, said: “Our collective failure to act early and hard on climate change means we now must deliver deep cuts to emissions – over 7 percent each year, if we break it down evenly over the next decade.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“This shows that countries simply cannot wait until the end of 2020, when new climate commitments are due, to step up action. They – and every city, region, business and individual – need to act now.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">According to new data from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have hit a new record high.</span></div>
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://oilprice.com/The-Environment/Global-Warming/Is-This-The-Only-Way-To-Curb-Global-Warming.html">Is This the Only Way to Curb Global Warming?</a></span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-36020494312195251402019-11-29T23:30:00.000-05:002019-11-29T23:30:08.780-05:00Friday 29 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s1600/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="876" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s320/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" title="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" width="320" /><</a></div>
Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-20992643403016507412019-11-29T01:30:00.000-05:002019-11-29T01:30:04.925-05:00Climate Tipping Points Are Closer Than We Think, Scientists Warn<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From melting ice caps to dying forests and thawing permafrost, the risk of ‘abrupt and irreversible changes’ is much higher than thought just a few years ago.</span></i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQANnKZuSkBjmFCSfeVleDXyAQRSAnYf0hT7Jp5w1eBa2xSfkAE7vHlmdHmFj9AuLqcrA6CLSnDVDIcBDo1yup__J4x4ZT5M5UHN1PWm67MSVtuGN2vzCvRUAzZlvTH24GcmSkq59p3w/s1600/Greenland-ice-canyon-900_+Ian-Joughin-UWash-APL-Polar-Science-Center.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="“What we’re talking about is a point of no return, when we might actually lose control of this system,” said Will Steffen, a coauthor of a paper released ahead of the annual UN climate summit. (Credit: Ian Joughin/University of Washington APL Polar Science Center) Click to Enlarge." border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQANnKZuSkBjmFCSfeVleDXyAQRSAnYf0hT7Jp5w1eBa2xSfkAE7vHlmdHmFj9AuLqcrA6CLSnDVDIcBDo1yup__J4x4ZT5M5UHN1PWm67MSVtuGN2vzCvRUAzZlvTH24GcmSkq59p3w/s200/Greenland-ice-canyon-900_+Ian-Joughin-UWash-APL-Polar-Science-Center.jpg" title="“What we’re talking about is a point of no return, when we might actually lose control of this system,” said Will Steffen, a coauthor of a paper released ahead of the annual UN climate summit. (Credit: Ian Joughin/University of Washington APL Polar Science Center) Click to Enlarge." width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Humans are playing Russian roulette with Earth's climate by ignoring the growing risk of tipping points that, if passed, could jolt the climate system into "a new, less habitable 'hothouse' climate state," scientists are warning ahead of the annual UN climate summit.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Research now shows that there is a higher risk that "abrupt and irreversible changes" to the climate system could be triggered at smaller global temperature increases than thought just a few years ago. There are also indictations that exceeding tipping points in one system, such as the loss of Arctic sea ice or thawing of permafrost, can increase the risk of crossing tipping points in others, a group of top scientists wrote Wednesday in the scientific journal <i>Nature</i>.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"What we're talking about is a point of no return, when we might actually lose control of this system, and there is a significant risk that we're going to do this," said Will Steffen, a climate researcher with the Australian National University and co-author of the commentary. "It's not going to be the same conditions with just a bit more heat or a bit more rainfall. It's a cascading process that gets out of control."</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/27112019/climate-tipping-points-permafrost-forests-ice-antarctica-greenland-amazon-nature">Climate Tipping Points Are Closer Than We Think, Scientists Warn</a></span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-85937875318937263082019-11-29T01:00:00.000-05:002019-11-29T01:00:03.828-05:00In Rural and Urban Communities Alike, Energy Costs Burden Low-Income FamiliesIn Rural and Urban Communities Alike, Energy Costs Burden Low-Income Families<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Weatherization programs can help.</span></i></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As the leaves turn and the temperature drops, many people worry about the cost of home heating.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ariel Drehobl of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy says that for low-income families, it can cause stress around figuring out how to pay your bills and a tradeoff between keeping your heat on and being able to afford other necessities like food, medication, and things for your children.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy recently studied how much of their income Americans spend on energy.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“We found that low-income households in urban areas experience energy burdens three times as high as non-low-income households, and we’ve seen the same story in rural areas as well,” Drehobl says. “This shows that energy costs are not currently equitable and affordable for all households in this country.”</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Weatherizing a home can help, and there are utility and federal programs to help offset the costs.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But to prevent disparities, Drehobl says low-income communities need to be informed about these programs. States should also set goals and track how many low-income residents participate.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“It’s really important for energy to be affordable for all families in the country in order to maintain health and economic prosperity,” she says.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/11/in-rural-and-urban-communities-alike-energy-costs-burden-low-income-families/">In Rural and Urban Communities Alike, Energy Costs Burden Low-Income Families</a></span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-43768763955214280162019-11-29T00:30:00.000-05:002019-11-29T00:30:07.259-05:00UN report: Pollution From Planned Fossil Fuel Production Would Overshoot Paris Climate Goals<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To protect the climate, most coal, oil, and natural gas must be left in the ground, a recent study reported.</span></i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYLYjbMm0NACRrqmnrS1qDFMh-IZx-FVeN9fKXAsz8mk3Isy7xmc3rgg68Ghv6rUxTt-z0AP-3wvVvQkv9PrxAhSVheBrD1S23o9KVqJGt6Nvo7hKKlirzxOyzm5vyCAz4otoS5VGZTa8/s1600/13CLI-EPALAWSUIT1-jumbo-v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="(Credit: yaleclimateconnections.org) Click to Enlarge." border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYLYjbMm0NACRrqmnrS1qDFMh-IZx-FVeN9fKXAsz8mk3Isy7xmc3rgg68Ghv6rUxTt-z0AP-3wvVvQkv9PrxAhSVheBrD1S23o9KVqJGt6Nvo7hKKlirzxOyzm5vyCAz4otoS5VGZTa8/s200/13CLI-EPALAWSUIT1-jumbo-v2.jpg" title="(Credit: yaleclimateconnections.org) Click to Enlarge." width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the 2015 international Paris Climate Agreement, nearly every country agreed to try and limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and preferably closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial temperatures. Achieving these goals will require dramatic changes, as the world has already warmed 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit), and temperatures, fossil fuel consumption, and carbon pollution all are continuing to rise.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To determine how far off track emissions are with respect to the Paris goals, groups like the International Energy Agency and Climate Action Tracker evaluate each country’s climate policies. According to their analyses, were each country to follow through only with current policies, global temperatures would rise about 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial temperatures by the year 2100 – a level of warming that would result in severe and dangerous climate changes.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In addition, a new report produced by the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, and a coalition of research organizations takes a different approach: The report examines government plans for fossil fuel production and the amount of carbon pollution and global warming that would result if all these fuels were burned.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Our collective failure to act early and hard on climate change means we now must deliver deep cuts to emissions”, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said in a statement releasing the report. So urgent is the need for action, he said, that “every city, region, business, and individual need(s) to act now”.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The resulting picture is indeed bleak – total carbon emissions between now and 2030 from global fossil fuel production plans are about 10% higher than those from the current climate policies that would put the world on track for 3 degrees Celsius warming by 2100. These fossil fuel plans present a difficult impediment to meeting the Paris climate goals.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/11/pollution-from-planned-fossil-fuel-production-would-overshoot-paris-climate-goals/">UN report: Pollution From Planned Fossil Fuel Production Would Overshoot Paris Climate Goals</a> </span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-43395318544116400912019-11-27T23:30:00.000-05:002019-11-28T16:51:28.924-05:00Wednesday 27 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-63292493378796872222019-11-24T01:00:00.001-05:002019-11-24T01:00:05.452-05:00New Report Finds Costs of Climate Change Impacts Often Underestimated<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigfoTds4n32fn5liOJqTKR9bfvwYR7Dt1Mef0WiCRLKjSgHVXbRikkTM9igoRALb-6UsaML72XvPb_Cyh9IaTfdLOPrAnurbniO8-GCQMF5XUbdR_zJK1fz2ykYoQQmOV0XQkqYOxpnWo/s1600/1119_Harvey_flooding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Flooding in Port Arthur, Texas during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. (Credit: yaleclimateconnections.org) Click to Enlarge." border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="680" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigfoTds4n32fn5liOJqTKR9bfvwYR7Dt1Mef0WiCRLKjSgHVXbRikkTM9igoRALb-6UsaML72XvPb_Cyh9IaTfdLOPrAnurbniO8-GCQMF5XUbdR_zJK1fz2ykYoQQmOV0XQkqYOxpnWo/s200/1119_Harvey_flooding.jpg" title="Flooding in Port Arthur, Texas during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. (Credit: yaleclimateconnections.org) Click to Enlarge." width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Climate economics researchers have often underestimated – sometimes badly underestimated – the costs of damages resulting from climate change. Those underestimates occur particularly in scenarios where Earth’s temperature warms beyond the Paris climate target of 1.5 to 2 degrees C (2.7 to 3.6 degrees F).</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That’s the conclusion of a new report written by a team of climate and Earth scientists and economists from the Earth Institute at Columbia University, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. It’s a conclusion consistent with the findings of numerous recent climate economics studies.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once temperatures warm beyond those Paris targets, the risks of triggering unprecedented climate damages grow. However, because the rate and magnitude of climate change has entered uncharted territory in human history, the temperature thresholds and severity of future climate impacts remain highly uncertain, and thus difficult to capture in climate economics models. Put simply, it’s difficult to project the economic impacts resulting from circumstances which are themselves unprecedented.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/11/new-report-finds-costs-of-climate-change-impacts-often-underestimated/">New Report Finds Costs of Climate Change Impacts Often Underestimated</a></span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-38494060545760977072019-11-24T00:30:00.000-05:002019-11-24T00:30:05.816-05:00Bloomberg Is a Climate Leader. So Why Aren’t Activists Excited About a Run for President?<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michael Bloomberg has poured his time and hundreds of millions of dollars into projects aimed at getting the world 'beyond carbon,' but can he win the presidency?</span></i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQeFSuz7vDJHM9H2j9N8TjvujddnSZiA_6BAPoCxPxqVk-313TKDD0AFLSn2Vq-XlLa2_FC-gDhCTKz0efb9ivs_yBXmI7LpMhn-yPSXF8lh7RKHBJyPKKSx1AL0Ix6wtVCv_llmgGAs/s1600/bloomberg-c40-2019-900_ole-jensen-getty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, UN climate envoy and head of the C40 cities group focused on climate action, filed papers this week with the Federal Election Commission to be a Democratic candidate for president. Credit: Ole Jensen/Getty Images Click to Enlarge." border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQeFSuz7vDJHM9H2j9N8TjvujddnSZiA_6BAPoCxPxqVk-313TKDD0AFLSn2Vq-XlLa2_FC-gDhCTKz0efb9ivs_yBXmI7LpMhn-yPSXF8lh7RKHBJyPKKSx1AL0Ix6wtVCv_llmgGAs/s200/bloomberg-c40-2019-900_ole-jensen-getty.jpg" title="Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, UN climate envoy and head of the C40 cities group focused on climate action, filed papers this week with the Federal Election Commission to be a Democratic candidate for president. Credit: Ole Jensen/Getty Images Click to Enlarge." width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the Trump administration's favorite environmental talking points is that the United States has reduced carbon emissions more than any other country.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not an achievement that Trump can take any credit for. But his latest potential challenger, Michael Bloomberg, arguably can take some.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As market forces and regulatory controls were driving coal from its perch as the dominant electricity fuel in the U.S., they got a big assist from the Sierra Club's multimillion-dollar Beyond Coal campaign, launched in 2012 and bankrolled by Bloomberg.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/23112019/michael-bloomberg-president-climate-change-activists-concerns-green-new-deal-wealth-tax">Bloomberg Is a Climate Leader. So Why Aren’t Activists Excited About a Run for President?</a></span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-81088717803099120912019-11-23T23:30:00.000-05:002019-11-23T23:30:07.518-05:00Saturday 23 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s1600/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="876" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s320/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" title="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" width="320" /><</a></div>
Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-15402661642507359032019-11-23T11:17:00.001-05:002019-11-23T11:17:36.239-05:00Untold Suffering Lies Ahead in Hotter World<b>Global heating could bring “untold suffering” for humans. It could also mean less fresh water and less rice, though tasting more of arsenic.</b><br />
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In an unprecedented step, more than 11,000 scientists from 153 nations have united to warn the world that, without deep and lasting change, the climate emergency promises humankind unavoidable “untold suffering”.</div>
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And as if to underline that message, a US research group has predicted that – on the basis of experiments so far – global heating could reduce rice yields by 40% by the end of the century, and at the same time intensify levels of arsenic in the cereal that provides the staple food for almost half the planet.</div>
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And in the same few days a second US group has forecast that changes to the world’s vegetation in an atmosphere increasingly rich in carbon dioxide could mean that – even though rainfall might increase – there could be less fresh water on tap for many of the peoples of Europe, Asia, and North America.</div>
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Warnings of climate hazard that could threaten political stability and precipitate mass starvation are not new: individuals, research groups, academies, and intergovernmental agencies have been making the same point, and with increasing urgency, for more than two decades.</div>
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<b>New Analysis</b></div>
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The only argument has been about in what form, how badly, and just when the emergency will take its greatest toll.</div>
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But the 11,000 signatories to the statement in the journal BioScience report that their conclusions are based on the new analysis of 40 years of data covering energy use, surface temperature, population growth, land clearance, deforestation, polar ice melt, fertility rates, gross domestic product, and carbon emissions.</div>
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Read more at <a href="https://climatenewsnetwork.net/untold-suffering-lies-ahead-in-hotter-world/">Untold Suffering Lies Ahead in Hotter World</a>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-27064953571159328472019-11-22T18:06:00.001-05:002019-11-22T18:06:37.912-05:00Could Kennedy Space Center launch Pads Be at Risk as Climate Changes? Experts Say Yes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkylS7W9GefOHAKRlWUxVPCcEDOugf3nmu79HfFX7ZOMJdwijFjUlMaTaUhvzuiXQi_q25VMmd4QyCZw0kpo9o2VgxJFJvR0PufuNHaAP6yPVJflPda-YDvBNpoJGFBTojkDcjeScmD6w/s1600/13CLI-EPALAWSUIT1-jumbo-v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="(Credit: Ayurella Horn-Muller, Climate Central and Rachael Joy, FLORIDA TODAY) Click to Enlarge." border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkylS7W9GefOHAKRlWUxVPCcEDOugf3nmu79HfFX7ZOMJdwijFjUlMaTaUhvzuiXQi_q25VMmd4QyCZw0kpo9o2VgxJFJvR0PufuNHaAP6yPVJflPda-YDvBNpoJGFBTojkDcjeScmD6w/s200/13CLI-EPALAWSUIT1-jumbo-v2.jpg" title="(Credit: Ayurella Horn-Muller, Climate Central and Rachael Joy, FLORIDA TODAY) Click to Enlarge." width="200" /></a></div>
Created to propel humankind beyond the limits of Earth, Kennedy Space Center is now facing a terrestrial threat — the warming of our home planet, leading to sea level rise, erosion and catastrophic flooding — that could hinder our push to deep space.<br />
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To protect the nation’s most historic launch pads and the only place in the United States capable of launching humans to orbit, NASA is building a massive dune along the coast but experts say that isn’t enough, leaving some to consider the unthinkable:<br />
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What if Kennedy Space Center had to move to higher ground?<br />
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“It’s almost the same type of thing as saying ‘We’re going to move the White House two blocks to the left.’ You wouldn’t, right? Because you’ve invested in the infrastructure. It’s the hand we’ve been dealt since the ‘60s when the pads were first built,” NASA’s Public Affairs Officer Gregory Harland said.<br />
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<a href="https://www.climatecentral.org/news/could-kennedy-space-center-launch-pads-be-at-risk-as-climate-changes-experts-say-yes">Could Kennedy Space Center launch Pads Be at Risk as Climate Changes? Experts Say Yes</a>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-83448312807645580112019-11-22T17:04:00.002-05:002019-11-22T17:04:29.418-05:00World’s Current Fossil Fuel Plans Will Shatter Paris Climate Limits, UN Warns<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Within a decade, planned coal, oil and gas production will more than double what’s allowable to avoid 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming, and that gap only grows.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The world's top fossil fuel-producing nations are on track to extract enough oil, gas and coal to send global temperatures soaring past the goals of the Paris climate agreement, according to a United Nations report published Wednesday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If countries follow through on their current plans, they will produce about 50 percent more fossil fuels by 2030 than would be compatible with the international goal of keeping global warming under 2 degrees Celsius, the report said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They would blow past the more ambitious target of keeping warming under 1.5°C, the report found, with countries poised to produce twice as much oil, gas and coal by 2030 than would be allowable to meet that goal. A UN scientific report released last year laid out the risks that would bring, including worsening droughts, heat waves and extreme rainfall and accelerating sea level rise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20112019/fossil-fuel-production-climate-change-goals-subsidies-policies-un-report">World’s Current Fossil Fuel Plans Will Shatter Paris Climate Limits, UN Warns</a></span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-24619545069489064592019-11-22T16:48:00.001-05:002019-11-22T16:48:20.933-05:00Can America’s First Floating Wind Farm Help Open Deeper Water to Clean Energy?<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The floating turbines off Maine’s coast could be operational b</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7J1DxRcD6yF6UmvmgCCxcX980THfx_o6EiuOIu92Rrf6u2wYPfW326cRfVdDWLcwQN4T4QBDi2F5vV2v3vAObElFBjruwx_uVwK6QJ2CbLfuEtmKAwEaRAsvRYRjwFGL7PPjjvcI647Y/s1600/hywind-floating-wind-farm-00900_lars-christopher-cc-by-sa-20+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt=""The world is awash in fossil fuels," the Production Gap report released by the United Nations on Nov. 20, 2019, says. Credit: David McNew/Getty Images Click to Enlarge." border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7J1DxRcD6yF6UmvmgCCxcX980THfx_o6EiuOIu92Rrf6u2wYPfW326cRfVdDWLcwQN4T4QBDi2F5vV2v3vAObElFBjruwx_uVwK6QJ2CbLfuEtmKAwEaRAsvRYRjwFGL7PPjjvcI647Y/s200/hywind-floating-wind-farm-00900_lars-christopher-cc-by-sa-20+%25281%2529.jpg" title=""The world is awash in fossil fuels," the Production Gap report released by the United Nations on Nov. 20, 2019, says. Credit: David McNew/Getty Images Click to Enlarge." width="200" /></a></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">y 2022. The technology could be a model for other states with deep waters, and deep local opposition.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The state with perhaps the greatest untapped potential for harnessing its ocean breezes for electricity could soon have turbines spinning off its coast after years of political resistance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's a small project—up to two offshore wind turbines serving as many as 9,000 homes—but it would blaze a new trail: If all goes as planned, in 2022, Aqua Ventus will become the first floating offshore wind farm in the nation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Less than a year after Democrat Janet Mills replaced Republican Paul LePage as Maine's governor, state utility regulators approved a contract this month under which the utility Avangrid will buy the power generated by Aqua Ventus. The vote followed legislation Mills signed this summer requiring the Public Utilities Commission to approve the pilot project, which has been six years in the making.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20112019/first-floating-wind-turbine-maine-renewable-energy">Can America’s First Floating Wind Farm Help Open Deeper Water to Clean Energy?</a></span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-57633514123467670232019-11-20T19:42:00.001-05:002019-11-20T19:42:27.970-05:00Climate Change Threatens 60% of Toxic Superfund Sites, GAO Finds<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hundreds of polluted sites face an increased risk of inundation from sea level rise, flooding exacerbated by global warming, or wildfires, Congress’s watchdog warns.</span></i></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sixty percent of the nation's heavily polluted Superfund sites—nearly 950 of them—are at risk from the impacts of climate change, including hurricane storm surges and flooding that could spread their toxic legacies into waterways, communities and farmland, a new federal report warns.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The U.S. Government Accountability Office report, released Monday, describes the increased risk of toxic substances being washed out by floo</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNCKerPBUWPLBdJ9NAIbqI2efeujHY8-jSP0eaAXAaPWFsjsEmBnZBAooZEsSS5h6LC8BWaMj1Mwh4VvNVsHPaFutW96saRYiD9NDc1TO0bLY6HVu2eq7Lvp9pRTkQUEEomRfxaZSD9wI/s1600/gowanus-canal-cleanup-900_drew-angerer-getty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="The Gowanus Canal, once a bustling transportation and shipping route in Brooklyn, New York, was declared a Superfund cleanup site in 2010. A new GAO report shows the polluted site is one of several that would be affected by even a Category 1 hurricane. (Photo Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Click to Enlarge." border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNCKerPBUWPLBdJ9NAIbqI2efeujHY8-jSP0eaAXAaPWFsjsEmBnZBAooZEsSS5h6LC8BWaMj1Mwh4VvNVsHPaFutW96saRYiD9NDc1TO0bLY6HVu2eq7Lvp9pRTkQUEEomRfxaZSD9wI/s200/gowanus-canal-cleanup-900_drew-angerer-getty.jpg" title="The Gowanus Canal, once a bustling transportation and shipping route in Brooklyn, New York, was declared a Superfund cleanup site in 2010. A new GAO report shows the polluted site is one of several that would be affected by even a Category 1 hurricane. (Photo Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Click to Enlarge." width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ding at sites across the country, as well as wildfire risks that could send health-harming pollutants airborne.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It recommends that the Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the federal Superfund program, start providing clear, agency-wide instructions on how its officials should incorporate climate change into Superfund site risk assessments and response decisions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That would be a change for the current administration. Currently, the EPA does not include climate change in its agency-wide goals and objectives, preventing the agency from addressing the added risks at contaminated sites across the country as the planet warms, the report concluded.</span></div>
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19112019/superfund-flooded-climate-change-toxic-health-risk-sea-level-rise-wildfires-gao-report-epa">Climate Change Threatens 60% of Toxic Superfund Sites, GAO Finds</a></span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-66474090563808886822019-11-19T23:30:00.000-05:002019-11-20T19:49:12.298-05:00Wednesday 20 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s1600/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="876" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s320/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" title="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" width="320" /><</a></div>
Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-73392991463790573832019-11-16T01:30:00.001-05:002019-11-23T21:52:12.274-05:00The Climate Science Is Clear: It's Now or Never to Avert Catastrophe - by Bill McKibben<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Disastrous global heating will soon become irrevocable – but despite politicians’ inaction millions are taking to the streets to fight the planet’s fever.</span></i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBuY4swde-4H0-8jW7A4Rf9a7UwiM1_6kxuT8m4RNcuPnxMhZPloAnpwXhU6_aYOVQGqOijWrdzKnL_LCihs04nUPOgbZSzDHW6NDYVSAhut15beGDfhYTauF6Rr0IQi1jESs-Z5K0FP0/s1600/3000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="(Illustration Credit: Francisco Navas/Guardian Design) Click to Enlarge." border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="1240" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBuY4swde-4H0-8jW7A4Rf9a7UwiM1_6kxuT8m4RNcuPnxMhZPloAnpwXhU6_aYOVQGqOijWrdzKnL_LCihs04nUPOgbZSzDHW6NDYVSAhut15beGDfhYTauF6Rr0IQi1jESs-Z5K0FP0/s200/3000.jpg" title="(Illustration Credit: Francisco Navas/Guardian Design) Click to Enlarge." width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The one thing never to forget about global warming is that it’s a timed test.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But the climate crisis doesn’t work like that. If we don’t solve it soon, we will never solve it, because we will pass a series of irrevocable tipping points – and we’re clearly now approaching those deadlines. You can tell because there’s half as much ice in the Arctic, and because forests catch fire with heartbreaking regularity and because we see record deluge. But the deadlines are not just impressionistic – they’re rooted in the latest science.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the aftermath of the Paris climate accords in 2015, for instance, many researchers set 2020 as the date by which carbon emissions would need to peak if we were to have any chance of meeting the accord’s goals. Here’s an example of the math, from Stefan Rahmstorf and Anders Levermann. Under the most plausible scenario, they wrote, “even if we peak in 2020 reducing emissions to zero within 20 years will be required,” and that is an ungodly steep slope. But if we wait past 2020 it’s not a slope at all – it’s just a cliff, and we fall off it. As the former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres put it when she launched Mission 2020, “Everyone has a right to prosper, and if emissions do not begin their rapid decline by 2020, the world’s most vulnerable people will suffer even more from the devastating impacts of climate change.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here’s another way of saying it: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported last autumn that if we hadn’t managed a fundamental transformation of the planet’s energy systems by 2030, our chance of meeting the Paris temperature targets is slim to none. And anyone who has ever had anything to do with governments knows: if you want something big done by 2030, you better give yourself a lot of lead time. In fact, it’s possible we’ve waited too long: the world’s greenhouse gas emissions spiked last year, and – given Trump, Bolsonaro and Putin - it’s hard to imagine we won’t see the same depressing thing this year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Which is why, I guess, it’s a good thing that 2020 is an election year in the US, and that the Democratic party finally seems willing to talk seriously about climate change. If it nominates Sanders or Warren, maybe the kind of aggressive approach that shakes things up is possible. But America is just one country; we also need to pressure our real global government, which has its headquarters not in Washington but in Wall Street. Last year banks increased their already staggering lending to the fossil fuel industry; if that continues there’s no chance of turning this round in time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you’re looking for optimism, at least we come into 2020 on a roll. The great climate strikes of this September were the largest demonstration of climate activism in history, with 7 million people in the street. And April 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day – it could be a day for an even more massive outpouring.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/20/climate-crisis-its-now-or-never-to-avert-catastrophe">The Climate Science Is Clear: It's Now or Nver to Avert Catastrophe - by Bill McKibben</a></span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-45382519386370757692019-11-16T01:30:00.000-05:002019-11-23T21:22:29.810-05:00The Climate Science Is Clear: It's Now or Never to Avert Catastrophe - by Bill McKibben<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Disastrous global heating will soon become irrevocable – but despite politicians’ inaction millions are taking to the streets to fight the planet’s fever.</span></i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYaunbj_HWyZnVr5hJoePhLYjabX-3XS9yqIw1gt46pZTUpvhc9dr2TqAS6Y311GgbCsL98vB_-S9hJrw-7rR5PhlTpcvOZZdKNfEju5c4sRbzoa3QPZjbg4avCPSeMZs5CBr0J4T48EM/s1600/3000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="(Illustration Credit: Francisco Navas/Guardian Design) Click to Enlarge." border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="1240" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYaunbj_HWyZnVr5hJoePhLYjabX-3XS9yqIw1gt46pZTUpvhc9dr2TqAS6Y311GgbCsL98vB_-S9hJrw-7rR5PhlTpcvOZZdKNfEju5c4sRbzoa3QPZjbg4avCPSeMZs5CBr0J4T48EM/s200/3000.jpg" title="(Illustration Credit: Francisco Navas/Guardian Design) Click to Enlarge." width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The one thing never to forget about global warming is that it’s a timed test.</span></div>
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...</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But the climate crisis doesn’t work like that. If we don’t solve it soon, we will never solve it, because we will pass a series of tipping points – and we’re clearly now approaching those deadlines. You can tell because there’s half as much ice in the Arctic, and because forests catch fire with heartbreaking regularity and because we see record deluge. But the deadlines are not just impressionistic – they’re rooted in the latest science.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the aftermath of the Paris climate accords in 2015, for instance, many researchers set 2020 as the date by which carbon emissions would need to peak if we were to have any chance of meeting the accord’s goals. Here’s an example of the math, from Stefan Rahmstorf and Anders Levermann. Under the most plausible scenario, they wrote, “even if we peak in 2020 reducing emissions to zero within 20 years will be required,” and that is an ungodly steep slope. But if we wait past 2020 it’s not a slope at all – it’s just a cliff, and we fall off it. As the former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres put it when she launched Mission 2020, “Everyone has a right to prosper, and if emissions do not begin their rapid decline by 2020, the world’s most vulnerable people will suffer even more from the devastating impacts of climate change.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here’s another way of saying it: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported last autumn that if we hadn’t managed a fundamental transformation of the planet’s energy systems by 2030, our chance of meeting the Paris temperature targets is slim to none. And anyone who has ever had anything to do with governments knows: if you want something big done by 2030, you better give yourself a lot of lead time. In fact, it’s possible we’ve waited too long: the world’s greenhouse gas emissions spiked last year, and – given Trump, Bolsonaro and Putin - it’s hard to imagine we won’t see the same depressing thing this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Which is why, I guess, it’s a good thing that 2020 is an election year in the US, and that the Democratic party finally seems willing to talk seriously about climate change. If it nominates Sanders or Warren, maybe the kind of aggressive approach that shakes things up is possible. But America is just one country; we also need to pressure our real global government, which has its headquarters not in Washington but in Wall Street. Last year banks increased their already staggering lending to the fossil fuel industry; if that continues there’s no chance of turning this round in time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you’re looking for optimism, at least we come into 2020 on a roll. The great climate strikes of this September were the largest demonstration of climate activism in history, with 7 million people in the street. And April 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day – it could be a day for an even more massive outpouring.</span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/20/climate-crisis-its-now-or-never-to-avert-catastrophe">The Climate Science Is Clear: It's Now or Never to Avert Catastrophe - by Bill McKibben</a></span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-79634820810647321462019-11-16T00:30:00.000-05:002019-11-16T00:30:15.680-05:00U.S. Electric Bus Demand Outpaces Production as Cities Add to Their Fleets<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cities are still working through early challenges, but they see health and climate benefits ahead. In Chicago, two buses save the city $24,000 a year in fuel costs.</span></i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLtTHwDWenWivxnvSdr83HhipnFCLY-ekKpjoEAjWuaDJr09Vrn94_YXX2m44ScRIHwLcqskzZAb6fBahUnaA1pun4mgAo2T6fswHdB161wAhyz2HniAru7hHoRQkyWt03ufEWUKzij30/s1600/byd-factory-lancaster-ca_xinhua-li-ying-via-getty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="China's BYD electric bus company has a factory in Lancaster, California. While the vast majority of the world's electric buses are in China, the U.S. numbers are growing. (Credit: Li Ying/Xinhua via Getty Images) Click to Enlarge." border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="900" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLtTHwDWenWivxnvSdr83HhipnFCLY-ekKpjoEAjWuaDJr09Vrn94_YXX2m44ScRIHwLcqskzZAb6fBahUnaA1pun4mgAo2T6fswHdB161wAhyz2HniAru7hHoRQkyWt03ufEWUKzij30/s200/byd-factory-lancaster-ca_xinhua-li-ying-via-getty.jpg" title="China's BYD electric bus company has a factory in Lancaster, California. While the vast majority of the world's electric buses are in China, the U.S. numbers are growing. (Credit: Li Ying/Xinhua via Getty Images) Click to Enlarge." width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the coastal city of Gulfport, Mississippi, the state's first fully-electric bus will soon be cruising through the city's downtown streets.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The same goes for Portland, Maine—it just received a grant to buy that state's first two e-buses, which are set to roll out in 2021. And Wichita expects to have Kansas' first operating electric bus picking up passengers as early as this month after receiving a federal grant.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As cities and states across the country set ambitious mid-century climate change goals for the first time and as prices for lithium-ion batteries plummet, a growing number of transit agencies are stepping up efforts to replace dirtier diesel buses with electric ones.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nearly every state has a transit agency that now owns—or will soon own—at least one electric bus, according to a recent report from CALSTART, a clean transportation advocacy group.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14112019/electric-bus-cost-savings-health-fuel-charging">U.S. Electric Bus Demand Outpaces Production as Cities Add to Their Fleets</a></span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-72393621766947579582019-11-15T23:30:00.000-05:002019-11-15T23:30:03.831-05:00Friday 15 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s1600/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="876" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s320/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" title="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" width="320" /><</a></div>
Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-42195968093534724992019-11-15T00:30:00.000-05:002019-11-15T00:30:09.587-05:00The Climate Change Health Risks Facing a Child Born Today: A Tale of Two Futures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIowECnVjVYJUbsi44Mkzi1jXFuLKnTJ8haD0MumHcUYP-KtS_sbnFHrZoQa6LDG3sMIRWd9xH96ekS6waTn0G-Au9CchEzVbCWm4Daq0JFdG9rMbzVdr5kIMHtk5MhxVGDdo9rpNgtY/s1600/climate-protest-900_lisa-maree-williams-getty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIowECnVjVYJUbsi44Mkzi1jXFuLKnTJ8haD0MumHcUYP-KtS_sbnFHrZoQa6LDG3sMIRWd9xH96ekS6waTn0G-Au9CchEzVbCWm4Daq0JFdG9rMbzVdr5kIMHtk5MhxVGDdo9rpNgtY/s200/climate-protest-900_lisa-maree-williams-getty.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The latest Countdown report from the medical journal Lancet lays out the risks ahead, from womb to adolescence.</span></i></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A child born today faces two possible futures. In one, the world continues to burn fossil fuels, making the child more likely to develop asthma from air pollution, at greater risk of vector-borne diseases, and more vulnerable to anxiety as extreme weather events threaten his community.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the other, those risks are diminished because the world has responded quickly and adequately to climate change, with a large-scale shift away from fossil fuels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These two, starkly different paths are the focus of a report published Wednesday by the medical journal <i>The Lancet</i> that shows how the future health of a child born today will be intrinsically linked to climate change, from womb to adolescence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Without accelerated intervention, this new era will come to define the health of people at every stage of their lives," the authors write.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13112019/health-children-infants-climate-change-impact-pollution-heat-lancet-countdown-study">The Climate Change Health Risks Facing a Child Born Today: A Tale of Two Futures</a></span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-664814072045646272019-11-13T18:33:00.002-05:002019-11-13T18:33:23.426-05:00Wednesday 13 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s1600/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="876" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s320/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" title="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" width="320" /><</a></div>
Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-34572731254383481262019-11-13T12:18:00.000-05:002019-11-13T12:18:01.069-05:00‘Profound Shifts’ Underway in Energy System, Says IEA World Energy Outlook<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsIhCefZwiS8RYs4kgPJV3koIy1360KIRbDHlyjXS2KcS-LYU5AQyu-dIyMNX__wRlfZcXyJnpGoBHmbxbRkQeiAmu8tpCRao3YjpIpWwp1DMjcoKCmT3WxOz2mAkKvLAlTtlA23dgWY/s1600/TomH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Click to Enlarge." border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsIhCefZwiS8RYs4kgPJV3koIy1360KIRbDHlyjXS2KcS-LYU5AQyu-dIyMNX__wRlfZcXyJnpGoBHmbxbRkQeiAmu8tpCRao3YjpIpWwp1DMjcoKCmT3WxOz2mAkKvLAlTtlA23dgWY/s200/TomH.jpg" title="Click to Enlarge." width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The world’s CO2 emissions are set to continue rising for decades unless there is greater ambition on climate change, despite the “profound shifts” already underway in the global energy system.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is one of the key messages from the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2019, published today. This year’s 810-page edition is notable for its renamed central “Stated Policies Scenario” (STEPS), formerly known as the “New Policies Scenario”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this scenario, which aims to mirror the outcome of policies already set out by governments, a surge in wind and solar power would see renewable sources of energy meeting the majority of increases in global energy demand. But a plateau for coal, along with rising demand for oil and gas, would mean global emissions continue to rise throughout the outlook period to 2040.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In contrast, the report’s “Sustainable Development Scenario” (SDS) sets out what would be required to give a 50% chance of limiting warming to 1.65C, which the IEA describes as “fully in line with the Paris Agreement”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It says the SDS would require a “significant reallocation” of investment away from fossil fuels towards efficiency and renewables, as well as the retirement of around half the world’s fleet of coal-fired power stations and other changes across the global economy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The IEA has this year also explored, but not modeled in detail, what it would take to limit warming to no more than 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures, the aspirational goal of the Paris Agreement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/profound-shifts-underway-in-energy-system-says-iea-world-enetlorgy-ouok">‘Profound Shifts’ Underway in Energy System, Says IEA World Energy Outlook</a></span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-44234754714696556012019-11-13T12:05:00.002-05:002019-11-13T12:05:47.115-05:00Tuesday 12 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s1600/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="876" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s320/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" title="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" width="320" /><</a></div>
Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-77912859706706148802019-11-08T00:30:00.000-05:002019-11-08T00:30:01.423-05:00The Paris Climate Problem: A Dangerous Lack of Urgency<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Most countries aren’t cutting emissions fast enough, and their pledges for the next 10 years fall far short of what's needed, a new analysis warns.</span></i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJOehX0_6AFhy9hRhE1EDV0EvswvA7vtouNbGEk14TqQbVZ-PJrvsbiA0PB9kEjusRgaUfKFk4KQIoT638JQ83orBAxomZdL6xVqeL5bYWQcJDKn6PbX5UYzr-45tIciXNbwFjr3dpYg/s1600/wind-coal-power-0900_sean-gallup-getty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt=""The current pledges, even if fully implemented, are placing us on a pathway to a world 3 to 4 degrees Celsius warmer—a world that would have devastating impacts on food and water security, human health, displacement of people, and loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystem services,” said former IPCC Chair Robert Watson. (Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Click to Enlarge." border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJOehX0_6AFhy9hRhE1EDV0EvswvA7vtouNbGEk14TqQbVZ-PJrvsbiA0PB9kEjusRgaUfKFk4KQIoT638JQ83orBAxomZdL6xVqeL5bYWQcJDKn6PbX5UYzr-45tIciXNbwFjr3dpYg/s200/wind-coal-power-0900_sean-gallup-getty.jpg" title=""The current pledges, even if fully implemented, are placing us on a pathway to a world 3 to 4 degrees Celsius warmer—a world that would have devastating impacts on food and water security, human health, displacement of people, and loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystem services,” said former IPCC Chair Robert Watson. (Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Click to Enlarge." width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While nearly all of the world's countries have pledged to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, the reductions they're planning in the short term—over the next 10 years—aren't nearly enough, leading scientists warn in a new report.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nearly two-thirds of the pledges under the Paris climate agreement are "totally insufficient" to meet critical climate targets, the report by scientists who have been involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7°F) compared to pre-industrial times, the IPCC has found that global greenhouse gas emissions need to fall by about half by 2030 and then reach net zero by mid-century. The longer countries stall, the steeper the necessary emissions cuts become.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more at <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07112019/paris-climate-agreement-pledges-lack-urgency-ipcc-timeline-warning">The Paris Climate Problem: A Dangerous Lack of Urgency</a>.</span>Sustainable Arlingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11224862076544912379noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4921789533155994259.post-9581907195222449262019-11-07T23:30:00.000-05:002019-11-07T23:30:01.159-05:00 Thursday 7 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s1600/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1en; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="876" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGTqIpA6WMhevxE_KNSXiag_tBtkMXgAuiOt36RBh0qWja-m3PwG0Nn-V_3UTeZk-V2jSuYHvFXLUXG_Zmtr-4bcz0k2lTfHEMtWrvG2ZEN6jfPItVsumLdBkhCeBjlBvB6jzXNCtIzBw/s320/Atmospheric+CO2+--Hansen+2018-10-18.png" title="Atmospheric CO2 and Global Surface Temperature 800 to 2020" width="320" /><</a></div>
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