Climate Change News & Discussions

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caltrek
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Report Shows Nearly All Countries Off Track to Meet Paris Agreement Climate Goals
by Daniel Jackson
September 15, 2021

https://www.courthousenews.com/report-s ... ate-goals/

Introduction:
(Courthouse News) — Looking at dozens of countries responsible for 80% of the world's emissions, two research organizations tracking climate action determined Wednesday only Gambia is where it needs to be to hold back the warming of the globe by 1.5 degrees Celsius, the ultimate goal of the Paris Climate Accords.

A finger of a country that flanks the Gambia River in West Africa, the Republic of the Gambia stands apart from seven countries including the United Kingdom that the Climate Action Tracker's new rating system labels "almost sufficient." The United States and eight others are categorically insufficient, according to the report, which rates another 15 countries including China as "highly insufficient," and five countries — Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Thailand — as "critically insufficient." For those bottom five, the report warns, "global warming would reach beyond 4°C" if all governments were to follow their leads.

Merely insufficient is an improvement for the United States, which the report notes has seen a "U-turn" on climate change policy under President Joe Biden. After the Trump administration withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, the tracker had marked the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gas as “critically insufficient” in its last survey.

There were 196 countries that signed on to the Paris accord, sometimes called the COP 21.

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Chart from Climate Action Tracker released Sept. 15, 2021.
Image via Courthouse News
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caltrek
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Facebook Steps Up Fight Against Climate Misinformation – But Critics Say Effort Falls Short
by Kari Paul
September 16, 2021

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... nformation

Introduction:
(The Guardian) Facebook has announced new efforts to combat climate crisis misinformation on its platform, including by expanding its climate science center to provide more reliable information, investing in organizations that fight misinformation, and launching a video series to highlight young climate advocates on Facebook and Instagram.

But critics say the new push, announced on Thursday, falls short and will allow vast amounts of climate misinformation to slip through the cracks.

Facebook has long been criticized for allowing misinformation about the climate crisis to proliferate on its platform. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO, admitted in a 2021 April congressional hearing that climate misinformation is “a big issue”. In the past, the company has said such misinformation accounts for “a very low percentage of total misinformation on the service” but declined to share figures.

Climate change and misinformation experts have said lies on the platform can spread quickly. The climate denial watchdog groupInfluenceMap in October 2020 found dozens of climate denial ads had been viewed more than 8m times after slipping through the social network’s filters.

In March 2021, 13 environmental groups, including the Union of Concerned Scientists and Greenpeace, sent Zuckerberg a letter* calling on him to commit to monitoring climate disinformation and provide more transparency about the scale of the problem.
*https://foe.org/news/groups-facebook-cl ... e-disinfo/
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erowind
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This could just as easily go in the UK watch thread but I wanted to post it here because it demonstrates the sort of manufactured consent that we should watch out for in all countries.

This is a prime example of how capitalist countries don’t operate under the philosophical ideals of freedom of speech, press or a free marketplace of ideas too.

The activist in this clip is clearly in the right (if you personally reader are daft enough to disagree you’ll see your own folly in due time one way or another I promise.) Yet, the barrage of uncivil ganging up on him and robotic repetition of propaganda by the hosts is unbelievable in a so-called “democratic” country. It’s ironic, the moron in the suit claims fascism without even understanding what it is and is closer to being a fascist himself than he realizes.
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erowind wrote: Thu Sep 23, 2021 11:51 am
The activist in this clip is clearly in the right (if you personally reader are daft enough to disagree you’ll see your own folly in due time one way or another I promise.) Yet, the barrage of uncivil ganging up on him and robotic repetition of propaganda by the hosts is unbelievable in a so-called “democratic” country. It’s ironic, the moron in the suit claims fascism without even understanding what it is and is closer to being a fascist himself than he realizes.
Yeah, it's quite a common occurrence in nearly all "democratic" nations. It's been bothering me for a while.
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caltrek
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This is a public document, so copyright related size limitations to citation need not apply.

Biden Administration's Environmental Protection Agency to Limit Climate-warming Gases Used in Refrigeration

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo ... mmitments/

Introduction:
(White House) Today, the Biden Administration is announcing a set of historic actions to phase down super-polluting hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), bolster the competitiveness of American industries, and maintain and create hundreds of thousands of good-paying, union jobs across the country. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will release a new rule, alongside other interagency actions, that together represent one of the most impactful federal efforts to reduce climate pollution in decades. HFCs are potent greenhouse gases found in a range of appliances and substances, including refrigerators, air conditioners and foams. These harmful pollutants have an impact on warming our climate that is hundreds to thousands of times greater than the same amount of carbon dioxide. HFCs are exacerbating climate change and extreme weather events – and the corresponding public health threats, physical damage, and economic costs.

Today’s actions build on a foundation of widespread support from Democrats and Republicans, industry leaders, and environmental organizations, all of whom supported the bipartisan American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act passed last year. These steps are expected to result in reductions of more than 4.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent by 2050 — equal to nearly three years of U.S. power sector emissions at 2019 levels — making today’s announcement one of the most consequential climate actions taken by the federal government in years. Today’s actions will make the U.S. domestic approach consistent with key provisions contained in the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to reduce the consumption and production of HFCs. That amendment, if implemented worldwide, can prevent up to one half a degree Celsius of warming this century.

As directed in the AIM Act, the final rule from EPA will establish a landmark climate protection program that will phase down the production and consumption of HFCs by 85% below baseline levels within the next 15 years. The United States is already a leader in innovation and manufacturing of HFC alternatives, and today’s actions will ensure that American industries remain competitive in this expanding global market. EPA’s rule establishes an allowance allocation and trading program to reduce HFCs, and creates a robust compliance and enforcement system. In addition, EPA is committing to addressing the use of HFCs in products, and is currently reviewing more than a dozen petitions to restrict HFC use in a wide range of applications. Together, these actions will ensure that American communities and workers reap the climate and economic benefits of the phasedown of HFCs. EPA estimates the cumulative benefits of today’s rule — more than $272 billion through 2050 — will benefit populations that may be especially vulnerable to damages from climate change, and will result in significant compliance savings for industry.

Reflecting President Biden’s whole-of-government approach to tackling the climate crisis, six agencies are today taking several steps to build on this progress. Together, the new commitments will support U.S. industries and workers and protect communities from climate pollution and other impacts.

The Administration is taking coordinated steps across the federal government to catalyze reductions in HFCs, through four main action areas:

Preventing illegal trade, production, use, and sale of climate-damaging HFCs by leveraging collaboration across the federal government, and preparing for enforcement actions to deter and punish violations of the law.

Supporting the development of HFC alternatives in partnership with other federal departments and agencies, the private and public sector, states, and other key stakeholders.

Managing HFC stocks to promote use of recovered HFCs from retired equipment to offset the need for newly manufactured HFCs, and leveraging the federal government’s purchasing power to support use of alternatives and reclaimed HFCs for federal facilities, equipment, and fleets.
Advancing research and testing to identify HFC alternatives and technologies.
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California Pledges $15 Billion to Combat Climate Change
by Matthew Renda and Nick Cahill
September 23, 2021

https://www.courthousenews.com/californ ... te-change/

Introduction:
(Courthouse News) — California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will allocate $15 billion toward a suite of programs intended to help the state combat climate change while building resiliency in a region of increasing temperatures and declining precipitation.

Newsom signed the bill in Sequoia National Park in front of two large sequoia trees wrapped in foil due to the dangers of the nearby KPM Complex Fire, which has so far blackened 36,000 acres among some of the world’s oldest and largest trees.

“These trees date back to 3,300 years ago, so you can’t rebuild a giant sequoia,” Newsom said.

The governor used the ceremony to tout California’s approach to combating climate change but to also encourage the federal government to come to an agreement to pass President Joe Biden’s agenda that seeks to increase federal spending for a more climate-resilient infrastructure that is less dependent on fossil fuels.

“They are wringing their hands in Washington, D.C., and here we are in California getting things done,” Newsom said.
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Jon Wallace, Operations Section Chief, looks over General Sherman where the historic tree was protected by structure wrap from fires at Sequoia National Park, California, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021.
AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian
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Hundreds of Thousands Take to Streets Worldwide for 'Uproot the System'
by Jake Johnson
September 24, 2021

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/ ... te-strikes

Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Young people by the hundreds of thousands took to the streets across the globe on Friday to deliver a resounding message to world leaders: The climate crisis is getting worse, and only radical action will be enough to avert catastrophe and secure a just, sustainable future for all.

From Pakistan to Italy to Germany to the Philippines, the worldwide "Uproot the System" actions marked the largest climate demonstrations since the coronavirus pandemic forced campaigners to take their protests online last year. Climate activists in developing countries—where access to vaccines is limited due to artificial supply constraints and hoarding by rich nations—were still forced to limit the size of their demonstrations Friday as a public health precaution.

"Last time it was digital and nobody was paying attention to us," Yusuf Baluch, a 17-year-old activist from the Pakistani province of Balochistan, told Reuters. "In the global north, people are getting vaccinated so they might be out in huge quantities. But in the global south, we are still limited."
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, whose solitary sit-down strike outside her home country's parliament in 2018 helped spark the global Fridays for Future movement, said that "it has been a very strange year and a half with this pandemic."

"But of course, the climate crisis has not disappeared. It's the opposite—it's even more urgent now than it was before," said Thunberg, who on Friday joined a large demonstration in Berlin, which was hammered by massive, climate-linked floods in July.
Edit: Narrative for the Next Global Climate Strike: September 24, 2021: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b25 ... 7nNSE/edit
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Observations confirm that aerosols formed from plant-emitted compounds can make clouds brighter

by University of Eastern Finland
https://phys.org/news/2021-09-aerosols- ... ghter.html
Brighter clouds reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface, thereby cooling the surface. Emissions of organic compounds from vegetation increase with increasing temperature, thus having the capability to slow down climate warming.

Atmospheric aerosols scatter and absorb solar light, and influence the formation of clouds. However, these processes are not yet completely understood, which leads to significant uncertainties when estimating the role of aerosols in climate change. In order to reliably estimate the effect of humans on climate change, we need to be able to separate the effects of natural and anthropogenic aerosols.

The study by Finnish researchers, published in Nature Communications, estimated the impact of volatile organic compounds emitted by boreal forests on aerosol concentration and cloud properties. The analysis was based on aerosol observations at the Hyytiälä SMEAR II station in Finland and remote sensing observations of cloud properties over Southern Finland from NASA's spaceborne MODIS instrument. The observations showed that biogenic aerosols formed from volatile organic compounds reduced the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface by scattering more radiation back to space. Furthermore, these aerosols increased the amount of cloud droplets and made clouds more reflective. Both processes become stronger as temperature increases, indicating that these natural aerosols can slow down the warming of climate. The magnitudes of the radiative effects of these processes are similar and their combined effect is significant when compared with the radiative effect of anthropogenic aerosols in the boreal region. Therefore, this natural mechanism needs to be considered in more detail in climate model simulations.
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Biden Administration's Environmental Protection Agency to Limit Climate-warming Gases Used in Refrigeration
Here is a link to an article commenting on that news release:

https://theconversation.com/us-china-co ... ime-160241
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