Something to keep in mind…

Extinction Rebellion 10-4-19

We’ve got a big act to follow: last week saw the biggest environmental mobilisation in history, with 7.6 million people in 185 countries marching and striking to call for a liveable climate. The Global Climate Strike began three days before the UN Climate Action Summit in New York. For all the talk of 'increased ambition' and a 'surge of engagement', the UN Secretary General was still frank that 'we have a long way to go'.  The Summit saw 77 countries commit to carbon zero by 2050. Even if this target wasn’t dramatically inconsistent with the IPCC’s own science, the commitments made are flimsy, naïve and inadequate.  Once again, world leaders have shown their inability to take the survival of their species seriously. With the Arctic sea ice now close to vanishing, financing of fossil fuels only increasing, and the broader ecological picture as grave as ever (for a summary, see our new pocket-book), it’s clear that we need to reach a new level of action before it’s too late. The Climate Strike alone was never going to be enough – we’ll need every person and every movement if we’re to win the change we need.  We’re so excited to share an incredible breadth of stories in this newsletter: actions held by Extinction Rebellion, Youth Strike, and so many other unions and movements; geographically ranging from Taipei to Lisbon, Beirut to Cape Town, and featuring countless other cities in an overflowing XR Unchained.

Specialist police assigned to Extinction Rebellion rallies
The Guardian 10-2-19

Specialist police teams will be heading to London this weekend to help deal with two weeks of protests planned by Extinction Rebellion, the environmental activists who brought the capital to a standstill over Easter. Metropolitan police will be put on 12-hour shifts from Monday, the first day of Extinction Rebellion’s action, to free up as many officers as possible from regular duties. Forces across England have already been asked to contribute specialist “protest removal teams” trained and equipped to deal with protesters using locks and glue to hamper efforts their removal as they attempt to block key routes.
The Met was criticised by politicians this year after protesters used such tactics to block four key locations in central London, some for more than a week, to establish semi-permanent protest zones. At a briefing at Scotland Yard on Wednesday, Nick Ephgrave, an assistant commissioner, said: “I think what we learned from Easter was that we need to be agile, we need to be probably slightly more proactive and more ready in anticipation of what we might expect.

Extinction Rebellion’s next chapter
Positive News 10-2-19

Extinction Rebellion says its forthcoming campaign, due to start on 7 October, will be much larger and better organised than April’s. “Last time we were hopeful, but this time we are organised,” said Lights, though she acknowledges that the police will also be more prepared. “They don’t have water cannons, although Boris Johnson did like that idea, but we are quite aware that there is going to be a crackdown. “They’re not going to let us just shut down London for two weeks, which is what we’re planning to do. It might be that things become heavy, but we will remain committed to non-violence.” Extinction Rebellion claims to have swelled its ranks by engaging with groups not traditionally associated with activism. “We have faith groups coming, we have farmers coming,” said Lights. “We haven’t had to work hard to engage farmers because they see firsthand what’s happening to the land – they want to get involved.” Will they bring tractors to help with the roadblocks? “A lot of our boats have been confiscated now – they’re sitting in Scotland Yard or wherever – so tractors would be great.”

Extinction Rebellion activists say – ‘Climate rebellion is making history’
Socialist Worker 9-30-19

The latest rebellion seeks to push the government even further. One of XR’s central tactics is mass arrests to get publicity and overwhelm the legal system. This doesn’t fundamentally challenge the system that keeps fossil fuel capitalism firmly in place. Yet with over 1,000 arrests during April’s action, it grabbed media attention. And it showed how thousands of ordinary people can take to the streets to demand a radical transformation of society. The threat of climate catastrophe can plunge some people into despair and inertia. But XR, the school student strike and workers’ action transform that despair into struggle. The starkness of the scientists’ warnings is finally being matched by the rage—and love—of a mass movement. The struggle for climate justice will continue far beyond 7 October. But for everyone fighting for a better world, it is a necessary next step.

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HOT AIR NEWS ROUNDUP

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Want To Save The Environment? De-Fund The Pentagon.
Caitlin Johnstone 9-28-19

There is no single, unified entity that is a larger polluter than America’s dishonestly labeled “Department of Defense”. Its yearly carbon output alone dwarfs that of entire first-world nations like Sweden and Portugal; if the US military were its own country it would rank 47th among emitters of greenhouse gasses, meaning it’s a worse polluter than over 140 entire nations. That’s completely separate from the pollution already produced by the US itself. None of the sociopathic corporations whose environmental impact is being rightly criticized today come anywhere remotely close to that of the Pentagon. They are going under the radar. And that’s just greenhouse gas emissions, which the Pentagon’s poisonous effects on our environment are in no way limited to. As journalist Whitney Webb highlighted in an excellent article for Mintpress News about the wildly neglected subject of the US military’s ecological toxicity: “Producing more hazardous waste than the five largest US chemical companies combined, the US Department of Defense has left its toxic legacy throughout the world in the form of depleted uranium, oil, jet fuel, pesticides, defoliants like Agent Orange and lead, among others.”

This is one of the articles referred to in the above article…

On Earth Day, Remembering the US Military’s Toxic Legacy
Mint Press 4-22-19

Media outlets gave minimal attention to recent news that the U.S. Naval station in Virginia Beach spilled an estimated 94,000 gallons of jet fuel into a nearby waterway, less than a mile from the Atlantic Ocean. While the incident was by no means as catastrophic as some other pipeline spills, it underscores an important yet little-known fact – that the U.S. Department of Defense is both the nation’s and the world’s, largest polluter. Producing more hazardous waste than the five largest U.S. chemical companies combined, the U.S. Department of Defense has left its toxic legacy throughout the world in the form of depleted uranium, oil, jet fuel, pesticides, defoliants like Agent Orange and lead, among others. In 2014, the former head of the Pentagon’s environmental program told Newsweek that her office has to contend with 39,000 contaminated areas spread across 19 million acres just in the U.S. alone.

Corporate Media Ignores Connection Between Militarism and Climate Change
The Real News 9-26-19
[video: https://youtu.be/fQEuIozYioo]
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As Climate Crisis Threatens to Put More Homes 'Literally Underwater,' Study Warns Big Banks Offloading Risky Mortgages Onto Taxpayers
Common Dreams 9-27-19

"They found that, after those hurricanes, lenders increased by almost 10 percent the share of those mortgages that they sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government-sponsored enterprises whose debts are backed by taxpayers," the Times reported. According to the newspaper: Selling mortgages to Fannie and Freddie allows banks to avoid the financial risk that homeowners will default on the mortgages. Hurricanes increase that risk: [Researchers] found that the odds of an eventual foreclosure rise by 3.6 percentage points for a mortgage originated in the first year after a hurricane. … Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are private companies created by the government to support mortgage and housing markets. After suffering massive losses during the 2008 financial crisis, the federal government essentially began to back their debts.

This is the study referred to above…

Mortgage Finance in the Face of Rising Climate Risk
NBER
9-30-19

Recent evidence suggests an increasing risk of natural disasters of the magnitude of hurricane Ka-trina and Sandy. Concurrently, the number and volume of flood insurance policies has been decliningsince 2008. Hence, households who have purchased a house in coastal areas may be at increasing risk ofdefaulting on their mortgage. Commercial banks have the ability to screen and price mortgages for floodrisk. Banks also retain the option to securitize some of these loans. In particular, bank lenders may havean incentive to sell their worse flood risk to the two main agency securitizers, the Federal National Mort-gage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation,known as Freddie Mac.

This is the article in the NYT that is referred to above…


Climate Risk in the Housing Market Has Echoes of Subprime Crisis, Study Finds
NYT 9-27-19

Banks are shielding themselves from climate change at taxpayers’ expense by shifting riskier mortgages — such as those in coastal areas — off their books and over to the federal government, new research suggests. The findings echo the subprime lending crisis of 2008, when unexpected drops in home values cascaded through the economy and triggered recession. One difference this time is that those values would be less likely to rebound, because many of the homes literally would be underwater. … Their findings show “a potential threat to the stability of financial institutions.” They warn that the threat will grow as global warming leads to more frequent and more severe disasters, forcing more loans to go into default as homeowners cannot or would not make mortgage payments.

The Forgotten Woman Who Unlocked the Greenhouse Effect
NEXT 4-15-19

Foote’s 1856 experiment was simple: she placed glass jars containing different gases out in the sun and measured their temperature. The jars with carbon dioxide were hottest, and therefore had absorbed the most heat. Writing up her results, she generalized this dynamic to the planet as a whole — and speculated that it might have caused past eras to be hotter or colder. “No one deconstructed the atmosphere, and tested that deconstruction, until Eunice Foote’s breakthrough experiments,” says Perlin. This paper was Foote’s first known mention in the scientific record, and when it was presented at that year’s meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), it was widely reported in newspapers. However, Foote didn’t present her research herself. … Foote was notable before she got press as a scientist; she was a well-connected political activist from a young age, growing up in progressive communities in central New York state and moving in the same circles as Frederick Douglass. She attended one of the few American schools that taught science to girls.

National movement of mothers is the only recipient of the award in the United States…

Mothers Out Front Receives 2019 UN Global Climate Action Award
News Wire 9-26-19

Mothers Out Front uses a deep community organizing approach to empower mothers to step into active leadership roles within community-based teams, providing the structure, training, support and tools they need to develop and win community and statewide campaigns of their own choosing. Founded in the Boston area in 2013, it has grown to have 47 community-based teams in nine states. Teams of mothers work towards getting clean energy legislation passed, stopping the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure, and addressing current health and safety issues linked to climate change and fossil fuel activity.

Why China’s Renewable Energy Transition Is Losing Momentum
Yale Environment 9-26-19

Growth of wind and solar in China is slowing as government funding for green energy falters and upgrades to the transmission infrastructure lag. With China’s CO2 emissions again on the rise, experts worry the world’s largest emitter may fall short of key climate goals.

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LEGISLATION • ELECTIONS • POLICY • POLITICS
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UN climate summit 2019: the gap between what was promised to tackle global warming and what needs to be done remains a chasm
MSM 9-29-19

The one-day summit concluded with a torrent of new announcements. These included the commitment by 66 countries, 93 companies and more than 100 cities to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Germany and Slovakia were among those to join an alliance to halt the construction of coal plants; in total 32 countries are members. Companies and industry groups announced measures to reduce emissions from shipping, buildings and more. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, set a new 450-gigawatt target for renewable energy capacity by 2030, more than five times the current level. … Even if all the pledges are acted on, though, the gap between what the summit promised and what needs to be done remains a chasm. America, China and India, the world’s three biggest emitters, were not among those to set targets for reaching net-zero emissions. … The chief executives of the world’s supermajors sat in the airy Morgan Library for a forum organised by the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, their joint effort to invest in technologies that will help mitigate climate change. For more than two hours, the bosses of companies including ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP defended their record as partners in the fight against rising temperatures. … But they also explained their decision to continue investing in new extraction projects; no supermajor has yet said it will reduce emissions from its products on an absolute basis.

The big pledges from the UN climate summit
Axios 9-23-19

Here's a sampling of steps announced Monday and over the weekend: The UN said "many" countries are using the summit to preview plans to update their Paris agreement pledges "with the aim to collectively reduce emissions by at least 45 percent by 2030." Expansion of the 2-year-old "Powering Past Coal Alliance" of nations pledging to phase out coal and stop building new plants. A bunch of huge multinationals — including L'Oréal, Nestle, Salesforce and Swiss Re — has signed onto a coalition of companies pledging to set targets "aligned" with 1.5°C and net-zero emissions by 2050. The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, a coalition of oil giants, rolled out plans Monday to bolster deployment of carbon capture systems. "Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government on Friday agreed to support a $60 billion package of climate policies aimed at getting Germany back on track to meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030," NYT reports.

UN Climate Action Summit Falls ‘Woefully Short’ of Expectations
EcoWatch 9-24-19

China did not increase its commitments under the Paris agreement, India made no pledge to reduce its use of coal and the U.S. did not speak at all. …In particular, he called for no new coal plants to be built after 2020. "The large number of coal power plants still projected to be built are a looming threat to us all,"

The Psychology: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion
Citizens Climate Lobby 9-14-19

How did American politics get to be so dysfunctional? It has a lot to do with psychology, and our guest this month, Jonathan Haidt, will help us wrap our heads around this phenomenon. A Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University Stern School of Business, he is the author of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. Haidt’s book explains the origins of the human moral sense and how variations in moral intuitions can help explain the polarization and dysfunction of American politics.

[video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTqZK-OIwo&feature=youtu.be]
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World Economic Forum and UN Sign Strategic Partnership Framework
WEF 6-13-19

New York, USA, 13 June 2019 – The World Economic Forum and the United Nations signed today a Strategic Partnership Framework outlining areas of cooperation to deepen institutional engagement and jointly accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The framework was drafted based on a mapping of existing collaboration between the two institutions and will enable a more strategic and coordinated approach towards delivering impact. … The partnership identifies six areas of focus – financing the 2030 Agenda, climate change, health, digital cooperation, gender equality and empowerment of women, education and skills – to strengthen and broaden their combined impact by building on existing and new collaborations.

200+ Groups Denounce UN-WEF Agreement That Entrenches Corporate Interests Driving Global 'Social and Environmental Crises'
Common Dreams 9-27-19

Over 200 civil society groups this week voiced their firm opposition to a recently-inked agreement between the United Nations and World Economic Forum that stands to further entrench transnational corporations and their interests in global governance. "It moves the world dangerously towards a privatized and undemocratic global governance," said Gonzalo Berrón of Transnational Institute. At issue is the "strategic partnership agreement" between the U.N. and WEF for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The agenda purports to be "a plan of action for people, planet, and prosperity." Signed in June, the agreement says the U.N. and WEF will "strengthen their partnership by focusing on jointly selected priorities and pursuing a more strategic and coordinated collaboration." But, according to the groups, the agreement threatens to "de-legitimize the United Nations and provide transnational corporations preferential and deferential access to the U.N. system," adding that the system "is already under a big threat from the US. government and those who question a democratic multilateral world."

Terminate the recently signed United Nations-World Economic Forum strategic partnership agreement: Open Letter to the UN
La Via Campesina 9-19-19

This agreement will de-legitimize the United Nations and provide transnational corporations preferential and deferential access to the UN System. The UN system is already under a big threat from the US Government and those who question a democratic multilateral world. However, this corporatization of the UN poses a much deeper long-term threat, as it will reduce public support for the UN system in the South and the North.

UN signs deal with Davos that threatens democratic principles
Global Policy 8-16-19

A global corporate and government marriage took place last week – and governments and citizens were not even invited as guests. The occasion was the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the corporate-led World Economic Forum (WEF) and the United Nations. The nuptial agreement commits the two institutions to unprecedented levels of cooperation and coordination in the fields of education, women, financing, climate change, and health. … This plan was a 600 page report entitled the Global Redesign Initiative, which called for a new system of global governing, one in which corporations would be granted equal status to nation-states and to which selected civil society representatives would also be invited. This would be a “multistakeholder” system that would draw on WEF’s experience of “blend[ing] and balanc[ing] the best of many kinds of organizations, from both the public and private sectors, international organizations and academic institutions”. It would turn the UN into a public-private institution.

New UN-World Economic Forum agreement gives multinationals influence over matters of global governance
Business & Human Rights Resource Center 8-30-19

A new corporate and government marriage quietly took place last week when the leadership of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the United Nations (UN) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to partner with each other. … Besides the institutional blessing of the United Nations, what does the WEF get from the MOU? The scope of each of the five fields for joint attention is narrowed down from the intergovernmentally negotiated and agreed set of goals to one with more in line with the business interests of WEF members. So under financing, the MOU calls only for ‘build[ing] a shared understanding of sustainable investing’ but not for reducing banking induced instabilities and tax avoidance. Under climate change, it calls for ‘ public commitments from the private sector to reach carbon neutrality by 2050’, not actions that result in carbon neutrality by 2030 . Under education, it re-defines the Sustainable Development education goal to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education’ into one that focuses on education to meet the ‘rapidly changing world of work.’

Terminate the recently signed United Nations-World Economic Forum strategic partnership agreement: Open Letter to the UN
La Via Campesina 9-19-19

This agreement will de-legitimize the United Nations and provide transnational corporations preferential and deferential access to the UN System. The UN system is already under a big threat from the US Government and those who question a democratic multilateral world. However, this corporatization of the UN poses a much deeper long-term threat, as it will reduce public support for the UN system in the South and the North.

The climate legislation this Congress could realistically pass
Grist 9-27-19

The federal government has given tax credits to power industries for wind (since 1991) and solar (since 2006), but those will start to phase out at the end of this year. If Congress extended those credits another decade, it would spur the construction of enough turbines and solar panels to provide between 19 and 31 percent of the country’s electricity — up from 8 percent today, according to the report. That could reduce greenhouse gas pollution from power plants to about half the level it was in 20

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THE FIRES
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Fewer Fires Burned the Amazon in September, But Deforestation Continues
Gizmode 10-4-19

While fewer fires are good news for people’s lungs and the forest in general, that doesn’t mean deforestation has stopped in the Amazon. The data from INPE Moutinho’s team analyzed shows as much. People have continued to illegally chop down trees, they’ve just stopped burning them. That means the Amazon deforestation crisis continues. Not only does it harbor unique life and peoples with invaluable ancient knowledge; it stores carbon that benefits the whole planet. With the climate crisis growing more urgent, we all lose if we lose the Amazon.

Amazon fires fall sharply in September, spread elsewhere
Miami Herald 10-1-19

But the Cerrado region, a vast tropical savanna, seems to now be home of most of the fires, which went up 76% in September compared to August. State workers at some of Brazil's environmental agencies say they are feeling increasing pressure from illegal loggers and miners, galvanized by Bolsonaro's pro-development agenda. … Bolsonaro mentioned that if he could find a legal frame for it, he possibly could send troops to the state of Para to help wildcat miners carry out their activities."The interest in the Amazon is not about the indigenous or the tree, it's about the minerals!" Bolsonaro told them, criticizing once again foreign countries meddling with what he sees as a Brazilian domestic matter.

Forgotten victims of Amazon fires as thousands of animals die 'horrific' deaths
Mirror 9-30-19

Dr Juan Carlos Murillo, who has been heading up an emergency response operation for World Animal Protection in recent weeks, told Mirror Online that the situation on the ground is dire. "The problem here isn't just directly with the fires, it's the suffering of the animals," he said. "When they inhale they are burning inside, but you sometimes don't see the effects until four or five days later. "It's affecting their kidneys and their internal organs, sometimes they did of septicemia days later. "They're dying horrible deaths. I've seen some horrible images, we've faced situations where animals have burned alive, and others have died because of internal issues." He said his team have rescued all kinds of animals, from sloths to alligators to tiny insects and huge felines. But it will take some time to find out how bad the damage to their ecosystems is.

Plant diversity a casualty of high-severity wildfires
EurekAlert 10-2-19

Sierra Nevada forests are losing plant diversity due to high-severity fires, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. These fires are turning patches of forest into shrub fields -- indefinitely, in some cases.

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THE ARCTIC
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Winter storms are speeding up the loss of Arctic sea ice
The Conversation10-2-19

These storms bring heat, moisture and strong winds into the Arctic, and next we look at how they impact sea ice and its surroundings. The heat from the storms warms up the air, snow and ice, slowing down the growth of the ice. Moisture from the storms falls as snow on the ice. After the storm, the blanket of snow insulates the ice from the cold air, further slowing the growth of the ice for the remainder of winter. The strong winds during the storms push the ice around and break it into pieces, making it more fragile and deforming it, more like a boulder field. The strong winds also stir the ocean below the ice, mixing up warmer water from deeper waters to the surface where it melts the ice from below. This melting of the ice in the middle of winter can happen for several days after the storms when the air is already back to well below freezing. The breakup of the ice opens big passages of open water between ice floes, called leads. In winter these passages end up refreezing rapidly, generating new super-thin ice. These thinner refrozen patches of ice let more light through in the following spring, allowing ocean plants (phytoplankton) to bloom earlier. The rougher sea ice landscape becomes a shelter for many ice-associated Arctic organisms, including ice algae, becoming biological hot spots in the following spring. The broken up and deformed ice drifts faster, reaching warmer waters where it melts sooner and faster. So really, winter storms precondition the ice to a faster melt in the following spring with an impact that continues well into the following season.

Thousands of meltwater lakes mapped on the east Antarctic ice sheet
EurekAlert 9-26-19

The number of meltwater lakes on the surface of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is more significant than previously thought, according to new research. A study led by Durham University, UK, discovered more than 65,000 supraglacial lakes using high-resolution satellite imagery covering five million square kilometres of the ice sheet, including areas where surface melting was previously thought to be less intense. This is the first time that researchers have been able to map the widespread distribution of lakes across a vast area of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet - the world's largest ice mass - within a single melt year.

Arctic breakdown: what climate change in the far north means for the rest of us
The Conversaton 9-26-19

The exceptional rate of Arctic warming is shrinking the temperature difference between the far north and the mid-latitudes, and there is mounting evidence that this reduces the intensity of the polar-front jet stream, which crosses the North Atlantic from west to east and determines the paths of weather systems. A slower and more contorted jet stream allows cold air to move further south and warm air to move further north, and it also allows weather systems to persist longer than usual. Under these circumstances, episodes of severe cold or protracted heat, as the UK experienced in spring and summer 2018 respectively, become more likely. … The Arctic contains the world’s second largest repository of freshwater: the Greenland Ice Sheet. As that water melts into the ocean and raises the sea level, the effects will be felt globally. Under a business-as-usual scenario, Greenland alone could lead to sea level rise this century of at least 14cm and as much as 33cm. By 2200, it could be a metre or more. Such estimates aren’t very precise, partly because the science is hard, but also because we simply don’t know if we’ll get our emissions under control. Whatever actually happens, it’s clear that many people will be affected: even under conservative growth assumptions, there could be 880m people living in flood-exposed coastal regions by 2030, and more than a billion by 2060.

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FOSSIL FUELS
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145,000 Tons of Indian Oil at Risk after US Blacklists Chinese Shipping Companies
Global Research 9-27-19

The US has put sanctions on several Chinese companies and their top officials for allegedly shipping Iranian oil, putting dozens of supertankers off limits to western energy traders. As a direct impact of the blacklisting of Chinese shipping company Cosco, 145,000 tonnes of Indian Oil is at risk. The US Treasury department on Wednesday blacklisted two oil tanker subsidiaries of Cosco, a leading Chinese shipping and logistics company, although the parent company remains unaffected. … The sanctions against Cosco subsidiaries alone could affect 40-50 tankers, about half of which are very large crude carriers — the giant supertankers used by international oil traders for long-haul voyages, said Erik Broekhuizen, head of tanker research and consulting at Poten & Partners, an energy broker in New York.

Journalist Sharon Lerner: “How the Plastics Industry Is Fighting to Keep Polluting the World”
Democracy Now 9-27-19

According to her investigation, in 2015, the United States only recycled 9% of its plastic waste, and since then, that figure has dropped even lower. Lerner is a health and environment reporter at The Intercept and a reporting fellow at Type Investigations. Her series “The Teflon Toxin” was a finalist for a National Magazine Award.


[video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZbIDPisw1U]
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Things you do every day are causing trillions of pieces of microplastic to flow into San Francisco Bay
SJM 10-2-19

Every year, 7 trillion tiny pieces of plastic, roughly equal to 1 million pieces each for every man, woman and child in the Bay Area, flow into San Francisco Bay, according to the most comprehensive scientific study yet on the subject. The three-year study found that billions of pieces of “microplastic” — particles smaller than 5 millimeters each, or roughly the size of a pencil eraser — pour through the Bay Area’s 40 sewage treatment plants every year. The particles come from synthetic fibers in clothing, like fleece jackets that shed in washing machines or baby wipes flushed down toilets, and then wash down sewer pipes, pass through treatment plant filters and empty into bay waters. But 300 times more of the relentless toxic confetti, the study revealed, comes from storm drains, the largest source of the particles. The drains collect plastic litter from roads, foam food packaging, rubber bits from car tires, and other sources, and deliver the debris to creeks and the bay, especially during wet winter months, where it breaks down but never fully disappears.

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WEATHER
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As the Monsoon and Climate Shift, India Faces Worsening Floods
Yale Environment 9-17-19

Extreme precipitation events are on the rise in India, driven by warming temperatures and changes in the monsoon. The resulting floods are being exacerbated by unplanned urban growth and environmental degradation, driving millions from their homes and causing widespread damage.

Extreme sea level events ‘will hit once a year by 2050
Climate News Network 9-25-19

Extreme sea level events that used to occur once a century will strike every year on many coasts by 2050, no matter whether climate heating emissions are curbed or not, according to a landmark report by the world’s scientists. … But far worse impacts will hit without urgent action to cut fossil fuel emissions, including eventual sea level rise of more than 4 metres in the worst case, an outcome that would redraw the map of the world and harm billions of people.

Drought-hit Australian towns prepare for 'unimaginable' water crisis
Reuters 9-27-19

The local authorities have been trucking in fresh water, built a pipeline to a local dam and will soon start drilling in the hope of finding new supplies. For Mayor Simon Murray, the biggest worry is that Guyra is not alone. “A lot of towns are forecast to run out at the same time - and then where do you get the water from?” he said, referring to an area that is home to some 180,000 people. It is part of a much bigger problem in a country unused to widespread financial hardship; Australia has enjoyed growth for a generation yet livelihoods are now at risk from drought worsened by climate change, a predicament more familiar to developing countries.
Parts of northern and inland New South Wales, along with southern Queensland, have been in drought since 2016, severely depleting river and dam levels.

Rhode Island prepares for flooding
Yale Climate Connections 9-25-19

shoreline are increasingly vulnerable to flooding. So are inland streams and rivers. The state is working to protect roads, dams, and water treatment plants that are at risk as the water rises. “We are seeing infrastructure vulnerabilities related to climate change all across the state, not just on our coasts, but in communities all around the state,” says Shaun O’Rourke of the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank. The bank provides loans to help cities and towns protect critical infrastructure. …A study by the National Institute of Building Sciences found that every dollar the federal government spends on protection from floods and other hazards can save $6 in future disaster costs.

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HEALTH
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Indonesian forest fires putting 10 million children at risk: UN
PHYS ORG 9-23-19

Air pollution from Indonesian forest fires is putting nearly 10 million children at risk, the United Nations warned Tuesday, as scientists said the blazes were releasing vast amounts of greenhouse gases. The fires have been spewing toxic haze over Southeast Asia in recent weeks, closing schools and airports, with people rushing to buy face masks and seek medical treatment for respiratory ailments. Jakarta has deployed tens of thousands of personnel and water-bombing aircraft to tackle the slash-and-burn blazes set to clear agricultural land. The fires are an annual problem but this year are the worst since 2015 due to dry weather. Almost 10 million people under 18—a quarter of them below five—live in the areas worst affected by fires on Indonesia's Sumatra island and the country's part of Borneo island, UN children's agency UNICEF said.

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ADAPTION AND RESILIENCE

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Ditch the delicate wash cycle to help save our seas
Science Daily 9-28-19

Delicate wash cycles in washing machines found to release more plastic microfibres than other cycles. New research led by Newcastle University has shown that it is the volume of water used during the wash cycle, rather than the spinning action of the washing machine, which is the key factor in the release of plastic microfibres from clothes. Millions of plastic microfibres are shed every time we wash clothes that contain materials such as nylon, polyester and acrylic.

New washing machine filter breaks down plastic microfibres
PHYS ORG 9-26-19

The "smart filter" catches microfibres and uses a set of enzymes to break down plastic into two by-products that are safe to be released into the water system. While these two compounds (terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol) can be toxic at high concentrations, the volume of water released during a wash is enough to dilute them to a safe level. At present, every wash cycle releases hundreds of thousands of fibres—and more than a third of microplastics in the oceans are thought to originate from clothing … "Although our current focus is washing machines, it's possible that filters based on similar principles could be used in places like clothing factories and water treatment plants."

Procter & Gamble And PureCycle Collaborate On Polypropylene Recycling Process
Clean Technica 9-27-19

As of 2015, approximately 6,300 million metric tons of plastic waste had been generated, of which only 9% had been recycled, 12% had been incinerated, and 79% had accumulated in landfills or been dumped in the ocean according to a study published in Science Advances.

Using GPS locators, crew collects 40 tons of ‘ghost nets’ floating in Pacific
Hawaii News Now 6-18-19

Over the past month, they collected more than 40 tons of “ghost nets.” The abandoned fishing gear accounts for nearly half the debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, catching and killing thousands of marine animals.

California partners on new initiative using satellites to monitor greenhouse gas emissions
Green Car Congress 9-26-19

California Governor Gavin Newsom, United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael R. Bloomberg, and Planet, a San Francisco-based earth imaging company, announced a new initiative that will use satellite data to monitor greenhouse gas emissions. The coordinated effort, called Satellites for Climate Action, will bring together governments, philanthropists, environmental groups and technology companies.

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WILDLIFE & THE ENVIRONMENT

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'We know they aren't feeding': fears for polar bears over shrinking Arctic ice
The Guardian 9-27-19

“Now the ice has gone way offshore we know that the bears aren’t feeding, and the bears that are forced on to land don’t find much to eat. The longer the sea ice is gone from the productive zone the tougher it is on the bears,” … The loss of sea ice this year was so pronounced early in the season that tagging crews from the US Geological Survey (USGS) concluded that the sea ice offshore in the western arctic was too thin and unstable to be able to conduct their studies – the first time the team have pulled their studies because of safety issues. That’s a far cry from the two decades to 2010 when Amstrup did two two-month field studies a year.

Climate Change Threatens the World’s Fisheries, Food Billions of People Rely On
Inside Climate News 9-27-19

The scientists determined that the sustainable fish catch—the amount of fish that can be caught without decimating populations—could drop by as much as a quarter by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions continue on their current trajectory. … "The current science suggests that as the ocean warms and loses oxygen, the body size of animals will be reduced, the distribution of fish will change and the surface production of phytoplankton is going to decline," said Lisa Levin, a professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a lead author of the fisheries chapter. "When there's less plankton at the base of the food web, there's going to be less fish."

New England moose deaths still worsening as climate warms
AP 9-28-19

The devastating toll of ticks on New England’s moose herd has caused the region’s population to shrink, and experts worry it could get worse with climate change. The northern New England states are home to thousands of moose, but the herd has dwindled in the last decade, in part because of the winter ticks. The ticks infest moose and suck their blood dry, and sometimes tens of thousands are found on a single animal. Maine has the largest moose population east of Alaska and was home to some 76,000 animals about seven years ago. The herd size is commonly estimated at 60,000 to 70,000 now, but Lee Kantar, Maine’s moose biologist, said that number might be as low as 50,000. The ticks are a worsening problem because of recent mild winters, which allow them to thrive.

Longest coral reef survey to date reveals major changes in Australia's Great Barrier Reef
EurekAlert 9-27-19

A new study -- the longest coral reef survey to date - provides an in-depth look at Australia's Great Barrier Reef over the past 91 years. Published today in the journal Nature Communications by researchers at Bar-Ilan University and Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Israel, and the University of Queensland in Australia, the study concludes that since 1928 intertidal communities have experienced major phase-shifts as a result of local and global environmental change, leaving few signs that reefs will return to their initial state in the near future. … "The degree to which reefs may shift from one state to another following environment change was overwhelming," said Prof. Fine. "The long-term implications of these changes highlight the importance of avoiding phase shifts in coral reefs which may take many decades to repair, if at all."

Increasing precipitation extremes driving tree growth reductions across Southwest
Science Daily 10-2-19

As the Earth's temperature warms, its hydrological cycle kicks into overdrive - wet years get wetter, and dry years get drier. According to a new study, these increased rainfall extremes could have dire consequences for the semi-arid forests of the western U.S.

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PROTESTS • EXTINCTION REBELLION • RESISTANCE

With Over 6 Million People Worldwide, Climate Strikes Largest Coordinated Global Uprising Since Iraq War Protests
Common Dreams 9-27-19

In a statement, 350 gave the numbers: From 20th to 27th of September, 1.4 million people took to the streets in Germany, over 1 million in Italy, over 600,000 in Canada, over 500,000 in the United States, 350,000 in Australia and another 350,000 in the United Kingdom, 195,000 in France, 170,000 in New Zealand, 150,000 in Austria, 50,000 in Ireland, 70,000 in Sweden, 42,000 in the Netherlands, 20,000 in Brazil, 21,000 in Finland, 15,000 in Peru, 13,000 in Mexico, 13,000 in India, 10,000 in Denmark, 10,000 in Turkey, 10,000 in Pakistan, 6,000 in Hungary, 5,000 in South Korea, 5,000 in Japan, 5,000 in South Africa, more than 3,500 in Chile, 3,000 in the Pacific, 2,000 in Singapore and much more, since many locations are still striking and the final count is not yet confirmed. "The week of Global Climate Strikes is on par with the 2003 anti-Iraq war protest as one of the largest coordinated global protests in history," 350 said.

Activists Shut Down DC Streets as Climate Activism Heats Up
Truthout 9-23-19

Building on Friday’s youth-led climate strike, which saw 4 million people protesting worldwide, Monday’s action was intended to disrupt business-as-usual in the nation’s capital to highlight the climate crisis. Liz Butler from Friends of the Earth Actions said, “We are proud to shut down D.C. with an inter-generational, multi-issue coalition.” The D.C. shutdown gave a sense of what’s to come: Friday’s climate strike was not a one-off moment. Instead, activists say, it was a beginning, signaling a wave of climate action that befits the emergency. Starting at 7 am on Monday, a coalition of 16 climate and social action groups shut down main intersections all over Washington, D.C.

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Fridays for Future
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Thousands in New Zealand kick off new climate change marches
The Hill 9-27-19

Another wave of worldwide climate change protests kicked off in New Zealand on Friday, one week after the Global Climate Strike happened around the world. New Zealand protesters marched on Parliament in the country's capital of Wellington. Thousands of other New Zealanders participated in Auckland and other parts of the country. The Hague in the Netherlands also saw sizable crowds. Over 100,000 people packed the streets of Rome, and in Berlin, thousands more battled the rain to protest a climate package that was passed by the German government last week. German climate activists believe the legislation falls well short of what is needed. 

Excellent pictures…

Second wave of Climate Strike protests take to the streets around the world
ABC 9-27-19

"Last Friday over 4 million people striked for the climate. This Friday we do it again. 170 countries and 6383 events so far in #weekforfuture," Thunberg tweeted.

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Greta Thunberg
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Make America Greta Again
Common Dreams 9-30-19

Look what Greta started and what she did to me! I took part in the recent climate-strike march in New York City -- one of a quarter-million people (or maybe 60,000) who turned out there, along with four million others across all seven continents. Then I came home and promptly collapsed. Which tells you one thing: I'm not 16 years old like Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teen who almost singlehandedly roused a sleeping planet and is now described as “the Joan of Arc of climate change.” Nor am I the age of just about any of the demonstrators I stopped to chat with that afternoon, however briefly, while madly scribbling down their inventive protest signs in a little notebook. But don’t think I was out of place either.

Greta: Grown-ups mock children because world view threatened
AP 9-27-19

When asked about U.S. President Donald Trump and others who have mocked her, the 16-year-old activist said they likely feel their world view and interests are being threatened by climate activism. “We’ve become too loud for people to handle so people want to silence us,” she said at a rally in Montreal after meeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “We should also take that as a compliment.” The youth climate movement has drawn criticism from some who accuse the students of overreacting and say they would be better off going to school. In an apparent sarcastic jibe at Thunberg this week following her haranguing of world leaders, Trump tweeted: “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”

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Extinction Rebellion
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JOIN XR USA: on their website
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XR NEWSLETTERS & EVENTS: on their website
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XR USA: on YOUTUBE
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The fresh face of the climate war: Camo-clad activist, 23, leads greenies as they chain themselves to a fence in the middle of Brisbane sparking chaos
Daily Mail 10-2-19

The protesters from Extinction Rebellion blocked Creek Street from about 8am until firefighters cut them free with bolt cutters and angle grinders about 9.40am. All six were carted away by police and charged with obstructing police officer and pedestrians and causing an obstruction, with Herbert also charged with willful damage. Photos from the stunt showed the temporary fencing arranged in triangles with protesters sitting down chained to each corner and Herbert standing in the middle. Extinction Rebellion said it targeted the street because it is home to the Queensland head offices of many of Australia's major banks, mining, and weapons contractors.

Extinction Rebellion: Police call for new legal powers over protests as fresh action to start in London
Independent 10-2-19

Police are seeking new legal powers against protesters after Extinction Rebellion demonstrators brought parts of London to a standstill. The environmental campaign group is planning to shut down much of Westminster with rallies outside key buildings over two weeks of action starting on Monday. The Metropolitan Police vowed to arrest an unlimited number of demonstrators if they break protest conditions, despite the “cost” to wider policing in the capital. Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave has written to the former policing minister, Nick Hurd, asking for a review of protest laws. Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, he said the Home Office had pledged to consider the proposals including the creation of “banning orders” for protesters who repeatedly break the law.

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CLIMATE STUDIES

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Seabed carbon storage may help in climate crisis
Climate News Network 9-27-19

In a detailed argument … [scientists] outline five areas of action that could mitigate potentially calamitous climate change driven by profligate use of fossil fuels. These include renewable energy, shipping and transport, protection of marine and coastal ecosystems, fisheries and aquaculture and – perhaps in future – carbon storage on the sea bed. “Make no mistake: these actions are ambitious, but we argue they are necessary, could pay major dividends towards closing the emissions gap in coming decades, and achieve other co-benefits along the way”, they write.

Humankind did not live with a high-carbon dioxide atmosphere until 1965
EurekAlert 9-23-19

Humans have never before lived with the high carbon-dioxide atmospheric conditions that have become the norm on Earth in the last 60 years, according to a new research study. Titled "Low CO2 levels of the entire Pleistocene Epoch" and published in Nature Communications today, the study shows that for the entire 2.5 million years of the Pleistocene era, carbon dioxide concentrations averaged 230 parts per million. Today's levels are more than 410 parts per million. In 1965, Earth's carbon dioxide atmospheric concentrations exceeded 320 parts per million, a high-point never reached in the past 2.5 million years, this study shows. "According to this research, from the first Homo erectus, which is currently dated to 2.1-1.8 million years ago, until 1965, we have lived in a low-carbon-dioxide environment -- concentrations were less than 320 parts per million,"

Feedback loop alert…

As soils warm, microbes pump more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere
Yale Climate Connections 9-26-19

A teaspoon of soil can contain more microbes than there are people on the planet. Those microbes affect the climate by helping determine how much carbon is trapped in the soil and how much is released to the atmosphere. It’s a delicate balance, and one that scientists say is shifting as temperatures rise. Thomas Crowther is professor of ecosystem ecology at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland. “As we warm those soils, those microbes become more active, and that means they release more carbon into the atmosphere,” he says. He says that makes the climate warmer, which in turn makes the microbes even more active, “which pumps more carbon out of the soil, which warms the planet further, leading to a feedback that can actually really accelerate the rate of climate change.”

Brave new world: Simple changes in intensity of weather events 'could be lethal'
Science Daily 9-30-19

Faced with extreme weather events and unprecedented environmental change, animals and plants are scrambling to catch up -- with mixed results. A new model helps to predict the types of changes that could drive a given species to extinction.

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Global Warnings

QMS: Time to disconnect greed from the welfare of earth, if survival means anything. I like trees.

Paul Beckwith: "I declare a global climate change emergency to claw back up the rock face to attempt to regain system stability, or face an untenable calamity of biblical proportions."

Kevin Hester: "There is no past analogue for the rapidity of what we are baring witness to. There has been a flood of articles ... 2C is no longer attainable and that we are heading for dangerous climate change"

Magi Amma: We need to turn on a dime at mach nine!

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Equivalencies:
• 1 gigatonne = 1 billion tons
• 1 gigatonne Carbon = 3.67 gigatonnes CO2
• 1 part per million (ppm) of atmospheric CO2 = 7.81 gigatonnes CO2
• 1 part per million of atmospheric carbon = 2.13 gigatonnes of carbon

Enjoy!