Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666
This is a collection of interesting news articles about the environment and related topics over the last week. This is a Tuesday evening regular post at GEI.
Please share this article – Go to very top of page, right hand side, for social media buttons.
CRISPR: Are gene-edited ingredients already in your food? — In a gleaming laboratory hidden from the highway, a researcher with the biotech firm Calyxt works the controls of a boxy robot.The robot whirs like an arcade claw machine, dropping blips of DNA into tubes with pipettes. It’s building an enzyme that rewrites DNA – and transforming food and agriculture in the process. Thanks to a cutting-edge technology called gene editing, scientists can now turn plant genes “on” and “off” almost as easily as Calyxt scientists flip a switch to illuminate the rows of tender soybean plants growing in their lab.. Calyxt’s “healthier” soybean oil, the industry’s first true gene-edited food, could make its way into products such as chips, salad dressings and baked goods as soon as the end of this year. Scientists at Calyxt, a subsidiary of the French pharmaceutical firm Cellectis, developed their soybean by turning “off” the genes responsible for the trans fats in soybean oil. Compared with the conventional version, Calyxt says, oil made from this soybean boasts far more “healthy” fats, and far less of the fats that raise bad cholesterol. Unlike older genetic modification methods, the new techniques are precise, fast and inexpensive, and companies hope they will avoid the negative reputation and regulatory hurdles that hobbled the first generation of genetically modified foods. But the speed of change has startled consumer and environmental groups, who say the new technology has not been adequately vetted, and they have petitioned regulators to add further safety reviews.
Drug-resistant superbug spreading in hospitals: study — A superbug resistant to all known antibiotics that can cause “severe” infections or even death is spreading undetected through hospital wards across the world, scientists in Australia warned on Monday. Researchers at the University of Melbourne discovered three variants of the multidrug-resistant bug in samples from 10 countries, including strains in Europe that cannot be reliably tamed by any drug currently on the market. “We started with samples in Australia but did a global snapshot and found that it’s in many countries and many institutions around the world,” Ben Howden, director of the university’s Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory told AFP. “It seems to have spread.” The bacteria, known as Staphylococcus epidermidis, is related to the better-known and more deadly MRSA. It’s found naturally on human skin and most commonly infects the elderly or patients who have had prosthetic materials implanted, such as catheters and joint replacements. “It can be deadly, but it’s usually in patients who already are very sick in hospital… it can be quite hard to eradicate and the infections can be severe,” Howden said. His team looked at hundreds of S. epidermidis specimens from 78 hospitals worldwide.They found that some strains of the bug made a small change in its DNA that led to resistance to two of the most common antibiotics, often administered in tandem to treat hospital infections. “These two antibiotics are unrelated and you would not expect one mutation to cause both antibiotics to fail,”
Highest levels of viruses at airports found in plastic security trays, study reveals – Plastic security trays retain the highest levels of viruses at airports, a study has found. Pandemic experts found evidence of viruses on 10% of airport surfaces tested – which also included shop payment terminals, staircase rails, passport checking counters and children’s play areas. The various surfaces were swabbed at Helsinki-Vantaa airport at peak-time as part of a scientific investigation carried out by experts from the University of Nottingham and the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare during the winter of 2016. The research found viruses were most commonly found on the plastic trays that are circulated along the passenger queue at the hand luggage X-ray checkpoint. Experts concluded that hand washing and careful coughing hygiene are crucial to the control of contagious infections in public areas with high volumes of people passing through. The University of Nottingham said the most common virus found in the survey was rhinovirus, which causes the common cold, while the swabs also picked up the influenza A virus. No respiratory viruses were found on toilet surfaces.
Plane quarantined at JFK amid reports of sick passengers A plane has been quarantined amid reports a number of passengers have become ill aboard a flight from Dubai that arrived at New York’s Kennedy Airport.The Emirates flight landed at JFK at about 9.10am (2.10pm BST).The airline said about 10 passengers were sick and were getting medical attention “as a precaution”. Video footage shot by news helicopters showed the jet sitting on the tarmac surrounded by emergency vehicles and ground control personnel.A spokesman for New York City mayor Bill de Blasio said representatives of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention are on the scene.Eric Phillips, a spokesman for the mayor, tweeted that the flight stopped in Mecca, which is experiencing a flu outbreak, and “early indications point to that as a possibility.” A New York Police counter-terrorism division tweeted that it is monitoring what appeared to be a “medical situation”.
CDC Investigating After Multiple Passengers Fall Ill At Philadelphia Airport – One day after 19 passengers fell ill during a JFK flight from Dubai, CBS Philadelphia reports that multiple passengers fell ill on separate international flights coming into Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday. Officials said that 12 passengers arriving at the airport on American Airlines flights from Paris and Munich experienced flu-like symptoms, with multiple ambulances dispatched to the airport. BREAKING: Several passengers on two international flights are complaining of flu-like symptoms. Here is a statement from the airport. @CBSPhillypic.twitter.com/lX7NPvsbij All 250 passengers and crew on the flights were held for a medical review and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was notified to investigate.Furthermore, the CDC, Philadelphia Health Department and the Philadelphia Fire Department personnel performed medical evaluations on the passengers.The passengers who did not fall ill are in the process of being released according to Fox 29. It’s not yet known what caused the people to become sick.
Lead in US school water “disturbing” – Detroit just shut off all fountains –Students returning to school in Detroit next week will find their water fountains entirely shut off over concerns of elevated lead and copper levels – something that federal lawmakers say is part of a “disturbing and unacceptable” nationwide issue.The decision to shut off the drinking water in Detroit was based on a first round of results from testing that the school district carried out in its 106 schools earlier this year. The results from just 24 schools so far surfaced 16 that had water sources tainted with excessive levels of lead, copper, or both. For instance, tests at the district’s Academy of the Americas Elementary school found a kitchen and drinking faucet in a basement cafeteria that had lead levels of 182 micrograms per liter (ug/L) and 154 ug/L, respectively. Those are more than ten ties the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended limit of 15 ug/L. The full testing results can be found here. Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD), announced the shutoff Wednesday. In a statement to the Detroit Free Press, Vitti explained:Although we have no evidence that there are elevated levels of copper or lead in our other schools where we are awaiting test results, out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety of our students and employees, I am turning off all drinking water in our schools until a deeper and broader analysis can be conducted to determine the long-term solutions for all schools. In a joint statement, the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) and the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) were quick to point out that the contamination is not due to a problem with the region’s water system. Rather, the pair blamed aging plumbing within the schools for the contamination.
New Study Links Air Pollution to Dementia – There’s no question that air pollution is bad for your body, from lung cancer to heart disease. Even President Trump‘s coal-friendly U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) admits that dirty air can increase adverse health effects and cause death.Now, researchers from Arizona State University have determined another air pollution risk: dementia.The new paper, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, compared fifteen years of Medicare records for 6.9 million older adults with the EPA’s air quality data. They tested whether these individuals’ onset of dementia was correlated with long-term exposure to tiny pollution particles known as PM2.5.Indeed, the researchers found that a 1 microgram-per-cubic-meter (μg/m³) increase of PM2.5 over the course of a decade increases a person’s odds of receiving a dementia diagnosis by 1.3 percentage points.PM2.5, which is particulate matter with a length of 2.5 microns or less, is often a cocktail of toxins from power plants, automobiles and other industrial sources. The World Health Organization has PM2.5 guidelines of 10 μg/m³ – a threshold that 95 percent of the world’s population does not meet.
Waste Watch: Burberry Pledges to Stop Burning Unsold Goods — Jerri-lynn Scofield – Burberry triggered an avalanche of bad publicity earlier this summer when the company disclosed that in 2017, it had burnt £28.6 million worth of product – clothing, accessories, and perfume – to protect its brand. The value of unsold goods Burberry destroyed over the last five years totalled £105 million. As ABC News (e.g., Australian Broadcasting Corporation) reported in Burberry burns unsold products and not everyone is buying why in July: Fashion firms including Burberry destroy unwanted items to prevent them being stolen or sold cheaply. The Times reported shareholders were unhappy with the practice – critics have reacted angrily on social media, concerned luxury brands don’t want “poor people” to wear the items.” The company’s initial response to criticism after its disclosure was to defend its actions, in terms that suggested it was missing the point. As The Guardian reported in Burberry destroys £28m of stock to guard against counterfeits: Burberry said it only destroyed items that carried its trademark and only worked with specialist companies able to harness the energy from the process in order to make it environmentally friendly. Well, alrighty then. As long as they harnessed energy from the process, that makes things hunky-dory, no? Perhaps not – as Burberry has belatedly come to realize. The company has just announced that with immediate effect, it will no longer destroy unsold goods, according to the BBC in Burberry stops burning unsold goods and using real fur. Instead, Burberry will now reuse, repair, donate or recycle all unsold products, thus reducing the waste it generates. Burberry has also pledged to cease using animal fur in its products.
‘Never Forget’: Gov’t Said The Air Was Safe, Now Thousands Of 9/11 First Responders Have Cancer – In early August the New York Post reported on newly released numbers of reported 9/11 related illnesses, including 9,795 total case of 9/11-related cancer. The numbers were released by the federally funded World Trade Center Health Program. According to the program there have been more than 400 documented cases of death from 9/11-related cancers. However, unfortunately, the plight of the men and women who rushed into “Ground Zero” on September 11, 2001 and the following months is often forgotten in the public conversation. Seventeen years after the attacks the first responders are still fighting for their lives. On Thursday the Los Angeles Times reported 15 FBI agents have died from cancers linked to exposure to various toxins during investigation and cleanup of the wreckage. The Times notes that three FBI agents have died since March. In addition, News 12 in Westchester reports that Kathleen O’Connor, a 20-year veteran with the New Rochelle Police Department, recently died from a 9/11-related illness.WECT News reports that retired NYPD detective Chuck McLiverty lives with skins allergies and a crushed hand due to his role as a first responder. The former detective spent nearly every day for six months working 12-hour shifts, often without breathing protection.“We may make light of it, joke about it, but you’re always just wondering, am I next? Or is the guy or girl sitting next to, are they a walking time bomb that’s going to explode? You get tired of going to funerals,” McLiverty told WECT.“All you could see for miles and miles was big plumes of black, billowing smoke. All you could see was stuff falling down, out of the air. The air was so thick, it’s like you could wave your hand, like being in a snow storm.”The New York Daily News also recently announced the death of retired firefighter Michael McDonald who died from lung and brain cancer from 9/11 cleanup efforts. McDonald’s entire career was spent at Ladder 128 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. With his death he comes the 181st member of the FDNY to die from 9/11-related illnesses. The NY Daily notes that this is more than half of the 343 FDNY members killed during the collapse of the twin towers on September 11, 2001. An NYPD spokesman told the Daily that 185 city cops have died of illnesses connected to their time as first responders. Each of these stories offer a small glimpse into the everyday reality of these first responders. They are literally watching their friends and associates die around them while the American people pay little attention. How did this happen? How did we get to the point where nearly 10,000 people who risked their lives to help others are now waiting to die from cancer?
15 male Ground Zero first responders have breast cancer – The 9/11 attack has produced another health nightmare – at least 15 men who were in the vicinity of Ground Zero defied astronomical odds and have been stricken with breast cancer. Men account for only 1 percent of all breast cancers nationally. Jeff Flynn is one of the unlucky ones. Flynn, 65, was an account manager for data-storage company Dell EMC assigned to Goldman Sachs on Maiden Lane when planes smashed into the nearby World Trade Center towers. He spent months around Ground Zero helping Goldman and other financial services firms get back up. It was in 2011 – a decade later – when Flynn noticed a lump in his chest. When he returned home, he got a biopsy and was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. He underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment and then had reconstructive surgery. “During my mastectomy, surgeons excised 36 lymph nodes and 35 were cancerous,” Flynn recalled. And his ordeal was far from over. Three years later, a new lump appeared on his neck. Stage 4 cancer had invaded Flynn’s lymph nodes. That cancer is now being kept at bay with hormone shots and the cancer-fighting drug iBrance. “I do feel like my breast cancer was related to exposure to 9/11 toxins. There’s no history of breast cancer in my family,” he said. “I spent months breathing that crap in. You can wind up with any cancer from being down there.” Flynn retired early because of his health problems. He received a six-figure award from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, and the World Trade Center Health Program is helping cover the co-pays for his medications. The Barasch McGarry law firm, which represents 9/11 health cases, said it has 15 male clients with breast cancer who either worked or lived around the World Trade Center. Five are 9/11 responders, including two city firefighters, an NYPD sergeant, an ironworker and a highway repairman. Others worked for private businesses in the area and one was a student downtown at the time.
Chemically Induced Frankenstein-Humans – One of the biggest open questions of this century is whether 144,000 different chemicals swirling throughout the world are properly tested and analyzed for toxicity. By almost all accounts, the scale of toxic risk is unknown. This may be the biggest tragedy of all time, a black eye of enormous proportions. Correspondingly and very likely, as a result of ubiquitous chemical presence, one hundred fifty million (150,000,000) Americans have chronic disease, including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, fibromyalgia, cancer, stroke, asthma, cystic fibrosis, obesity, and osteoporosis (Rand Corporation Review 2017). Why? According to Dr. Paul Winchester, who discovered the link between chemicals, like pesticides atrazine and glyphosate aka Roundup and epigenetic human alteration, the findings are: “The most important next discovery in all of medicine.” Dr. Winchester was one of the researchers/authors of “Atrazine Induced Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Disease, Lean Phenotype and Sperm Epimutation Pathology Biomarkers,” PLOS, published September 20, 2017. The grisly underlying message of that study is as clear as a bell: Chemicals found far and wide throughout America alter human hormones as well as human DNA, which passes along generation-to-generation known as transgenerational inheritance. Frankly, nothing more should need to be said to spur outrage and pissed-off people all across the land because, if that seminal study is correct in its analysis that chemicals mess up/distort/disrupt human hormones and alter human DNA in a destructive manner, then the streets of America should be filled with people wielding pots and pans, probably pitchforks, and ready for the fight of a lifetime because, by any account, there has been massive failure of ethical standards and regulations of chemicals for decades and decades. The chemicals in the aforementioned study include the herbicide atrazine, one of the most widely used herbicides in the country and commonly detected in drinking water. The study demonstrated that atrazine is an endocrine disruptor that negatively alters human hormonal systems, as chronic diseases overwhelm American society. Yet, the most disturbing issue is the epigenetic impact, meaning that environmental factors impact the health of people and also their descendants. It stays with and passes along the human genome generation-by-generation-by-generation.
USDA Projects Record Corn Yields for 2018-19 – The United States is on track for another record-setting year of corn yields. USDA’s first survey-based yield forecast of the 2018/19 corn crop reported a yield gain of 4.4 bushels per acre to a record 178.4 bushels. This eclipses the record set during the 2017/18 marketing year, which runs from September through August.Over the long term, corn yields trended upward with limited interruption until 2010/11 when a severe drought impacted much of the Southern and Central United States.The drought continued through 2012/13 when yields reached their lowest point since 1995/96 at 123.1 bushels per acre.Since then, yields per acre have recovered significantly and are now on track for three consecutive record years. While per acre yields have reached new heights, the number of acres of corn harvested has declined slightly over the same period. As a result, total U.S. corn production in 2018/19 is projected to be just the third highest on record.
Hotter climate means hungrier insects will munch millions more tons of crops – For every one degree Celsius (1.8F) rise in average temperatures, insects will consume an extra 2.5 percent of the world’s rice, maize and wheat crops, researchers said. That means a 2-degree Celsius rise in surface temperature would see a total loss of 213 million tons of these staple crops – up from 166 million tons today – according to the study published in the journal Science. “Temperate regions are currently cooler than what’s optimal for most insects. But if temperatures rise, these insect populations will grow faster,” “They will also need to eat more, because rising temperatures also increase insect metabolism. Together, that’s not good for crops,” he said in a statement. Researchers said higher temperatures would see food prices rise, with the poor most affected. Globally, one in nine people already lack enough food, and the world’s population is expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050, the United Nations says. Most of the world relies on maize, rice or wheat, and demand for these crops is projected to increase by a third by 2050, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Using climate projection data, crop yield statistics and insect metabolic rates, the study concluded that Europe – the world’s most productive wheat-growing region – could see up to 16 million tons of wheat lost to crop-chomping pests by 2050. The United States, the world’s largest maize producer, is projected to see its maize-loss rise 40 percent – or by about 20 million tons each year. Insects are also predicted to eat about 27 million tons of rice annually in China, where a third of all rice is produced, the report said. “Under virtually all climate change scenarios, pest populations will be the winners, particularly in highly productive temperate regions, causing real food prices to rise and food-insecure families to suffer,”
Rising CO2 levels could push ‘hundreds of millions’ into malnutrition by 2050 –An additional 290 million people could face malnutrition by 2050 if little is done to stop the rise of greenhouse gas emissions, a study finds.The increased presence of CO2 in the atmosphere could cause staple crops to produce smaller amounts of nutrients such as zinc, iron and protein, the researchers say.Using international datasets of food consumption, the study estimates that these changes could cause an additional 175 million people to be zinc deficient and an additional 122 million people to be protein deficient by 2050.The findings show that malnutrition is most likely to affect parts of the world that are already grappling with food insecurity, such as India, parts of North Africa and the Middle East, the lead author tells Carbon Brief. Climate change is known to threaten food security by increasing the chances of extreme weather events such as heatwaves and drought – which can cause crop failures.However, climate change could also threaten food security by worsening malnutrition.Across the world, humans get the majority of the key nutrients they need from plants. Crops, including cereals, grains and beans, provide humans with 63% of their protein, which is needed to build new body tissue.Plants also provide humans with 81% of their iron, a nutrient that facilitates the flow of blood around the body, and 63% of their zinc, a nutrient that helps fight off disease. (Other sources of these nutrients include meat and dairy.) However, recent experiments show that, when food crops are exposed to high levels of CO2, they tend to produce lower amounts of these three key nutrients.
Botswana: 87 elephants killed near wildlife sanctuary – The carcasses of 87 elephants have been found near a wildlife sanctuary in Botswana, in what conservation group Elephants Without Borders called “the largest scale of elephant poaching to date”. The remains were discovered during an aerial survey near a protected elephant sanctuary, the group said on Facebook. Talking to the BBC, Mike Chase of Elephants Without Borders said he was shocked by the discovery of the elephants, who had their tusks removed for their ivory. “When I compare this to figures and data from the Great Elephant Census, which I conducted in 2015, we are recording double the number of fresh poached elephants than anywhere else in Africa,” Chase said. According to the organisation’s elephant census, Botswana hosts the biggest number of African savanna elephants with about 130,000 elephants, more than triple the size of Tanzania’s elephant population and almost eight times that of South Africa.”The poachers are now turning their guns to Botswana. We have the world’s largest elephant population and it’s open season for poachers,” Chase added.Botswana’s anti-poaching unit underwent budget cuts in May, shortly after newly elected President Mokgweetsi Masisi was sworn in.Its shoot to kill policy was dropped as members of the unit were disarmed.Since then, poachers have crossed into Botswana’s territories more frequently, edging ever closer to its protected elephant sanctuaries. According to the Great Elephant Census, the number of elephants decreased by 30 percent between 2007 and 2014, or about 144,000 animals.
China Wolfs Down Southeast Asia’s Wildlife – There is a monster chewing its way through the wildlife of its smaller, weaker Southeast Asian neighbors. The monster can change forms – like a shape-shifter – but it goes by one name: China. The region’s wildlife is rapidly disappearing, being sucked into the vortex of the illegal wildlife trade that leads to China.In the Burmese border town of Mong-La, everything from tree-dwelling civets to clouded leopards, from tiger claws to elephant skin, and from pangolin scales to bear gall bladder is on sale, with the vast majority of customers coming over the border from Yunnan. National Geographic just this month ran a stunning if disturbing article on the plight of the “dinosaur of the skies” – the majestic Helmeted Hornbill.The Hornbills’ numbers are crashing and in a few short years have been downgraded from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered by the IUCN. The Chinese are after their heads, literally. Their solid red casques are considered “red ivory” They are actually made of keratin, the same stuff as your fingernails and, incidentally, rhino horn, and rhinoceros are another species which have been virtually wiped off the face of the Southeast Asian map thanks to a misplaced belief that ground rhino horn can cure cancer and a host of other human ailments. So dire is the situation of the Helmeted Hornbill that governments in this species range (Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, and Myanmar) have recently formed a joint management and conservation plan to attempt to ensure that this otherworldly bird has a future outside of China’s markets. Asia Sentinel also published a story specifically about the hornbill hunters of Sumatra last year, and how those hornbill heads are sold to Chinese middlemen in the city of Medan. Mainland Chinese investors in Singapore and Chinese Singaporeans are buying – mostly illicitly – so much sand from Cambodia’s coastal Koh Kong province that irreparable environmental damage is now becoming manifest. A well-informed source told me that one sand barge was so enormous that it took eight tugboats to pull it to Singapore. The removal of riverbed sand – which is prized construction material – annihilates the river’s ecology, decimating fish populations and the wildlife that depends on them, such as river dolphins, otters, and fishing cats. Chinese investors are also behind the recent clearing of mangrove forests in Koh Kong, another nefarious activity that will cause significant environmental degradation.
Zinke hires Endangered Species Act critic for senior post – Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has hired an outspoken critic of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for a senior position as the Trump administration undertakes a historic effort to ease industry compliance with the law. Robert Gordon – who recently penned a report alleging that the ESA has cost the country hundreds of billions of dollars – recently started work at the Interior Department as deputy assistant secretary for policy, management and budget, said Interior spokeswoman Faith Vander Voort. He works under Susan Combs, who is the acting assistant secretary for policy, management and budget, a position akin to a chief financial officer for the 70,000-person agency. “He has extensive experience working on natural resource issues in Congress and at national think tanks,” Vander Voort said in a statement. “Interior is proud to welcome top-tier talent. Rob Gordon brings impressive and diverse experience to the department, and we are excited to have him on our team.”Gordon has fought for decades while in positions both in an out of government to change the ESA. He most recently worked as an adjunct fellow at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute. Days before leaving for the government, he published a major report arguing that official estimates have dramatically underestimated the cost to industry and states for complying with the ESA, and that some single species can cost billions of dollars to protect.
Why Florida’s red tide is killing fish, manatees, and turtles — In July, a 26-foot whale shark was found dead on Sanibel Island, on Florida’s southwestern Gulf Coast, its body riddled with the neurotoxin produced by tiny algae in the sea. Marine scientists don’t know for sure how it died, but they suspect the Karenia brevis algae – a single-celled organism that’s currently in a massive bloom cycle, called a red tide.The red tide has claimed many many victims this year on the southwestern Florida coast, which has become a rotting marine graveyard. A hundred manatees, a dozen dolphins,thousands of fish, 300 sea turtles, and more have died or washed along shores in putrid-smelling masses. They were all likely felled by the red tide.You can’t blame would-be Gulf bathers for avoiding the smell of rotting fish, or the risk of skin and eye irritation from swimming in red tide waters. The neurotoxin produced by the red tide can go airborne and cause issues in people with asthma or other respiratory issues. Even lifeguards on the hardest-hit stretches of shoreline are wearing gas masks. The red tide isn’t showing many signs of letting up as it moves northward up the coast. In its most recent assessment, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found it’s currently impacting 145 miles of coastline. In a bloom, millions of these tiny organisms produce a paralyzing neurotoxin that prevents fish and marine life from respirating. It’s mildly dangerous for humans too: The toxin can go airborne and be dangerous for some people with respiratory sensitivities. And doctors aren’t sure what the long-term effects of breathing air with the toxin may be. It’s really dangerous to eat shellfish steeped in K. brevis. (Commercial shellfish operations strictly monitor for red tide, and recreational shellfish gathering is banned during red tide events.) Red tide isn’t the only harmful algal bloom occurring in Florida right now. There’s also a bloom of toxic blue-green algae in Florida’s fresh waterways, like Lake Okeechobee. Red tide is a separate phenomenon, caused by a different organism, but both sorts of algal blooms are often fueled by the same thing – agricultural runoff (i.e., fertilizer) and warm water.
Algae bloom in Lake Superior raises worries on climate change and tourism – Lake Superior has been unusually balmy and cloudy this year, with thick mats of algae blanketing the shoreline. “I have never seen it that warm,” Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes with more than 2,700 miles of shoreline, is the latest body of water to come under increased scrutiny by scientists after the appearance this summer of the largest mass of green, oozing algae ever detected on the lake. From the Gulf Coast to the northernmost shores of the United States, scientists and government officials are working to decipher algae bloomsto help them interpret the causes of the blooms, changes to their climates, and the effects the blooms have on public health and regional environments. Scientists generally agree that algae blooms are getting worse and more widespread, and are exacerbated by the warmer water, heat waves and extreme weather associated with climate change. They are alsointensified by human activity, such as from farm and phosphorus runoff, leakage from sewer systems, and other pollution.The problems that algae blooms pose to fresh and marine waters have been propelled to the forefront in recent years by high-profile events like the shutdown of the water supply in Toledo, Ohio, in 2014 after toxic algae formed over the city’s water-intake pipe in Lake Erie, as well as the production of a toxin by a species of algae off the West Coast in 2015.More recently, in the waters off southwestern Florida, a toxic algal bloom known as a red tide persisted this year for more than nine months, the longest time period since 2006. The overgrowth killed wildlife and made some beaches noxious. Other areas, including the Finger Lakes in New York and Utah Lake south of Salt Lake City, have also experienced an unusually high number of blooms in recent years.
Trump administration re-opens Boundary Waters watershed to mining – Almost a quarter-million acres of Superior National Forest lands that drain toward the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness will soon be available for mine proposals again, after being protected for the past 18 months by an Obama decision. Sonny Perdue, Secretary of Agriculture, announced today he has withdrawn an application to remove the lands from mineral development for the next 20 years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees the Forest Service, which manages the 1.1 million acre Boundary Waters wilderness and more than 2 million more acres that are part of the Superior National Forest. Late last year, the government renewed public mineral leases in the area for mining company Twin Metals, which the Obama administration had denied. Today’s decision halts what was supposed to be a two-year environmental review to determine if mining could be done safely in areas around the BWCAW. The USDA said that the 15 months of an abbreviated study it has already conducted were sufficient. “It’s our duty as responsible stewards of our environment to maintain and protect our natural resources. At the same time, we must put our national forests to work for the taxpayers to support local economies and create jobs,” Perdue said in a statement. “We can do these two things at once: protect the integrity of the watershed and contribute to economic growth and stronger communities.” The agency says mining companies will soon be able to apply for mineral leases in the wilderness watershed again. Unlike iron or taconite mining, copper-nickel mining can cause dangerous pollution that has contaminated waters around the world.
Over Half Of America Suffering Drought As Lake Powell, Lake Mead Drop To Dangerous Low Levels — The worst drought in years in the western half of the United States has sparked hundreds of wildfires, has crippled thousands of farms, and has produced what could ultimately be the worst water crisis in modern American history. As you will see below, Lake Powell and Lake Mead have both dropped to dangerously low levels, and officials are warning that we may soon be looking at a substantial shortfall which would require rationing. Unfortunately, many in the eastern half of the country don’t even realize that this is happening. The mighty Colorado River once seemed to be virtually invulnerable, but now it doesn’t even run all the way to the ocean any longer. Demand for water is continually increasing as major cities in the Southwest continue to grow, and this is happening at a time when that entire region just keeps getting drier and drier. To say that we are facing a “water crisis” would be a major understatement. I have written quite a bit about the drought in the Southwest in recent months, and it just keeps getting worse. According to Forbes, more than half the nation is now experiencing some level of drought…Drought conditions across the United States have worsened throughout the summer, culminating in more than half the country experiencing abnormally dry or drought conditions by the end of August.The latest update of the United States Drought Monitor shows that more than half of the country – nearly 56 percent – is abnormally dry or mired in a full-on drought. More than a third of the country is experiencing drought conditions, and almost eight percent is in an extreme or exceptional drought.Of course most Americans don’t really care as long as water keeps coming out of the taps. And for the moment, nobody is going without water. But that could change if this drought continues to intensify.
New California Wildfire Closes Miles of Major Freeway – Another explosive wildfire ignited in California Wednesday, shutting down about 45 miles of the major highway Interstate 5 near the Oregon border, The Associated Press reported.The so-called Delta Fire grew to 15,294 acres, or 23.9 square miles, and suspended the Wednesday night Amtrak service between California and Oregon, USA Today reported.Fire officials told The Associated Press that the fire was started by humans, but they did not say if it was an accident or arson.That initial spark was then fueled by “mixed conifer and decadent brush with no recent fire history and heavy dead and down surface fuels,” USA Today reported that InciWeb said.The fire broke out in Shasta County just six days after the deadly Carr Fire that ravaged the area was finally contained, USA Today reported. That fire killed eight people and destroyed more than 1,600 structures, devastating the town of Redding, California in July.The Delta fire is not currently burning close to any major settlements, Shasta-Trinity National Forest spokesperson Chris Losi told The Associated Press. But the fire did cause chaos on I-5, causing truckers to abandon 17 big-rigs. Lt. Cmdr. Kyle Foster of the California Highway Patrol’s Mount Shasta office told the Los Angeles Times that four trucks lit on fire and that firefighters, forest workers and other truckers helped the affected drivers, according to The Associated Press. “There’s vehicles scattered all over,” Brandon Vaccaro with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection told the Redding Record Searchlight, as The Associated Press reported. “Whatever occurred here was probably pretty ugly for a while.”
The land falls silent: Australian farmers battle life without rain – Drought has dominated the media debate in Australia in the past month after the whole of New South Wales was drought declared. Further north though, a majority of Queensland has been in drought for up to seven years. Myriad charities have sprung up raising cash, fodder and services for farmers. Tradesmen are offering to fix sheds, knitting clubs are making little jackets for orphaned lambs, city residents are travelling inland to inject cash into small towns via a coffee and a pie.Debate over drought and climate change was only briefly eclipsed by the latest overthrow of an Australian prime minister as Malcolm Turnbull was deposed by members of his own Liberal party. He toppled the previous prime minister Tony Abbott in 2015, a few years after this latest drought began.. While most Australian farmers prepare for drought, the latest dry in the eastern states is lingering on and most have eaten through their reserves; of fodder, cash and patience. In a normal year, the Cameron family gets 19 inches of annual rainfall on Nive Downs, yet near the end of August they have only had six. Talk turns to what normal is. “The new norm seems to be drier and hotter over the years we have been here with our average summer temperatures,” Rachelle says. “I wouldn’t say [climate change] is not happening. It seems to be all or nothing in the country.”The Cameron’s have cut their breeder herd of Angus Charolais cross down from 1,300 to 900 and they are preparing for the possibility they will not get their usual summer rain. Again. They are also trying to increase cash flow by diversifying into production of Nive Beef jerky. It was an idea Doug hit on after a cattle price crash due to a temporary live export ban in 2011 which caused prices to plummet to $50 a head. He stopped at a roadhouse on the way back from the saleyards and saw a 25g packet of beef jerky for $5. “I thought I could sell 10 of those and it’s the same as the price for the whole cow,” says Doug. “It didn’t matter what I did to the cattle, we could have the best genetics, the best everything, but outside influences just crushed us.”
Most land-based ecosystems worldwide risk ‘major transformation’ due to climate change – Without dramatic reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions, most of the planet’s land-based ecosystems – from its forests and grasslands to the deserts and tundra – are at high risk of “major transformation” due to climate change, according to a new study from an international research team. The researchers used fossil records of global vegetation change that occurred during a period of post-glacial warming to project the magnitude of ecosystem transformations likely in the future under various greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. They found that under a “business as usual” emissions scenario, in which little is done to rein in heat-trapping greenhouse-gas emissions, vegetation changes across the planet’s wild landscapes will likely be more far-reaching and disruptive than earlier studies suggested. The changes would threaten global biodiversity and derail vital services that nature provides to humanity, such as water security, carbon storage and recreation, according to study co-author Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. “If we allow climate change to go unchecked, the vegetation of this planet is going to look completely different than it does today, and that means a huge risk to the diversity of the planet,” said Overpeck, who conceived the idea for the study with corresponding author Stephen T. Jackson of the U.S. Geological Survey.
September Heatwave Is Closing Northeast Schools – Schools across the northeastern U.S. are cutting the school days short this week as extreme heat and a lack of air conditioning combine to make dangerous conditions inside classrooms.Numerous districts in Connecticut and New Jersey, at least two districts in New York state, and one in the Washington, DC metro area sent kids home early at least one day this week, while schools in Ohio and Massachusetts also closed early due to heat.Some public schools in Baltimore, where more than 60 buildings have “inadequate cooling” or no air conditioning at all, shuttered altogether earlier in the week. “Teachers across the region described buildings with internal temperatures over 100 degrees, listless students, and flagging attention in the classroom,” the New York Times reported. For more: New York Times, Baltimore Sun, CBSNewYork, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Cleveland.com
Most weather signs are pointing to an El Nino weather pattern this fall and winter – With all signs highlighting a switch, from the La Nina to the forecast El Nino (formally called El Nino Southern Oscillation or ENSO) climate pattern for this fall 2018, and winter too, meteorologists and climatologists expect to have a better idea of how strong this El Nino event will become by late October into November. “Looking at the latest 30-day and 90-day maps generated (for this Autumn 2018 which the Climate Prediction Center issued Aug. 16, 2018) it appears we’re witnessing the incorporation of an El Nino event into the outlooks,” said Allen Dutcher, associate state climatologist, Nebraska State Climate Office-Lincoln. “During the past four weeks, there’s been a subtle shift toward a wetter pattern across the southern Plains, while the northern Plains has slipped towards the dry side.” “If typical El Nino conditions develop in earnest this fall, I’d expect the southern Plains, the southeast, and eastern seaboard to tilt toward the wet side, especially during the second half of the three-month forecast period,” Dutcher said. He noted the dryness in the Pacific Northwest is already spreading across the northern Plains, which typically experiences warmer and drier weather during these events. “The general concept of El Nino’s influence on the continental U.S. has its strongest impact during the winter, but those influences can extend to the fall and spring period depending on the strength and longevity of the event,” Dutcher said. Current projections are for a weak event, possibly making it to the threshold of a moderate event. “We typically see a relaxation of the northern jet, while the southern jet becomes stronger.”The official CPC statement:“During the autumn and winter 2018-19, the temperature and precipitation outlooks are consistent with the elevated probability of El Nino development and its impacts. Temperature outlooks for winter 2018-2019 were modified over parts of the central Plains and southwest regions to represent (moderation of probabilities for above normal temperatures by a potential shift of the jet stream and storm tracks southward, due to the impacts of a potential El Nino. areas of probably above-normal precipitation in late winter 2018-2019 and early spring 2019 outlooks were expanded westward into southren California, representing impacts of the potential shift in the storm track due to El Nino,”
Global warming is intensifying El Niño weather — Perhaps the most important natural fluctuation in the Earth’s climate is the El Niño process. El Niño refers to a short-term period of warm ocean surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific, basically stretching from South America towards Australia. When an El Niño happens, that region is warmer than usual. If the counterpart La Niña occurs, the region is colder than usual. Often times, neither an El Niño or La Niña is present and the waters are a normal temperature. This would be called a “neutral” state. The ocean waters switch back and forth between El Niño and La Niña every few years. Not regularly, like a pendulum, but there is a pattern of oscillation. And regardless of which part of the cycle we are in (El Niño or La Niña), there are consequences for weather around the world. For instance, during an El Niño, we typically see cooler and wetter weather in the southern United States while it is hotter and drier in South America and Australia. It’s really important to be able to predict El Niño/La Niña cycles in advance. It’s also important to be able to understand how these cycles will change in a warming planet. Fortunately, a study just published in Geophysical Research Letters helps answer that question. The authors include Dr. John Fasullo from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and his colleagues. To see if something new was happening, the authors of this paper looked at the relationship between regional climate and the El Niño/La Niña status in climate model simulations of the past and future. They found an intensification of El Niño/La Niña impacts in a warmer climate, especially for land regions in North America and Australia. Changes between El Niño/La Niña in other areas, like South America, were less clear. The intensification of weather was more prevalent over land regions. So, what does this mean? It means if you live in an area that is affected by an El Niño or La Niña, the effect is likely becoming magnified by climate change. For instance, consider California. There, El Niño brings cool temperatures with rains; La Niña brings heat and dry weather. Future El Niños will make flooding more likely while future La Niñas will bring more drought and intensified wildfire seasons.
Reduced Arctic Sea Ice May Be Suppressing July Tornadoes – A notable drop since the 1990s in the number of July days with significant U.S. tornadoes may be related to the dramatic loss of midsummer Arctic sea ice, according to a study published this month in the open-access journal npj Climate and Atmospheric Science. The new work may help explain a more general drop in U.S. tornado days, part of a recent clustering of tornado activity into highly active periods interspersed with distinct quiet spells.The new study, by Robert Trapp (University of Illinois) and Kimberly Hoogewind (Purdue University), is the first to delve into potential connections between tornado activity and Arctic sea ice. The two phenomena appear to be more closely correlated in July than in other months, noted the authors, who provide several possible reasons for the connection and its timing. July does not tend to produce the most severe U.S. tornado outbreaks, but on average, July contributes more tornadoes rated at least EF1 to the annual total than April does (12.7% vs. 11.4%), and it produces many weaker tornadoes (EF0). “The month of July is in fact a significant contributor to the annual tornado occurrence, especially given that low-end (F/EF0-1) tornadoes comprise the majority of the U.S. tornado population,” note the authors. On July 19, 2018, Iowa experienced 21 tornadoes, including two rated EF3; one caused 13 injuries near Pella, while the other tore through the heart of Marshalltown, injuring 22 people and causing more than $200 million in damage. The average number of U.S. days with at least one EF1-or-stronger tornado has dropped more dramatically in July than in any other month, decreasing from 11 to 20 tornado days per July in the 1990s to 6-13 tornado days per July in the early 2010s. Beyond the end of the study period (2015), there were 13 tornado days each in July 2016 and 2017, according to Patrick Marsh (NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center); the numbers for July 2018 are still being finalized, said Marsh.
Typhoon Jebi: Nine dead as strongest storm in 25 years hits Japan – At least nine people have been reported dead and more than 300 injured as Typhoon Jebi – the strongest in 25 years – pummelled Japan. The reports on Tuesday came after the Japanese government issued evacuation advisories for more than a million people following the storm’s landfall on Shikoku, the smallest main island. Jebi – whose name means “swallow” in Korean – raked across the western part of the largest main island, Honshu, near the city of Kobe, several hours later, heading rapidly north. NHK, the national public broadcaster, reported that one of the nine fatalities was a 71-year-old man, who died in western Shiga prefecture after being trapped under a warehouse that collapsed in the strong winds. Jebi is considered a category-3 typhoon, out of five, on the Saffir-Simpson scale. According to Kyodo News, it was the strongest typhoon to make landfall in Japan since 1993. Tides in some areas were the highest since a typhoon in 1961, NHK said, with storm surge covering the runways at Kansai International Airport in Osaka. NHK also reported that an estimated 3,000 passengers are stranded at the Kansai airport, as airline companies cancelled hundreds of flights. Several hundred airport workers were also stranded.
Japan Paralyzed After Strongest Typhoon In 25 Years Makes Landfall, Killing 8 – Typhoon Jebi struck the heart of one of Japan’s largest metro areas on Tuesday, killing at least eight people and shutting down Osaka’s main international airport indefinitely, leaving close to 3,000 people trapped inside. The storm – the strongest on earth so far in 2018 – made landfall on Tuesday, bringing widespread flooding and winds of up to 130 miles an hour; it paralyzed swaths of the country shuttering shops, factories and amusement parks. The storm was the strongest to make a direct hit on the nation’s main islands in 25 years, causing high tides that flooded Kansai International Airport, a key gateway for flights from China and other Asian countries that was built on an artificial island in 1994.The typhoon prompted government evacuation orders for more than 49,000 people across southern Japan, with an additional 2 million people advised to flee, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. Early in the afternoon on Tuesday, an oil tanker unmoored by the storm crashed into the only bridge that connects Kansai International Airport in Osaka Bay to the mainland. The Coast Guard was using a helicopter and patrol boats to rescue crew members, the public broadcaster NHK said. The storm traversed Japan’s main island of Honshu before traveling up its western coast, leaving a trail of death. Among the fatalities was the owner of a warehouse that collapsed on him, news reports said. At least 700 flights have been canceled across Japan. Kansai Airport will not reopen on Wednesday. The local police said that travelers stranded at the airport, which sits on a man-made island, had been issued emergency water, bread and blankets, and that ferries were expected to start bringing people to safety Wednesday morning. Kansai is the nation’s third largest airport, after Narita, outside of Tokyo in Chiba Prefecture, and Haneda, near central Tokyo. In 2017, it handled 28 million passengers, three quarters of them from overseas. One of the airport’s two runways and the ground floor of a terminal building, used for sorting luggage and other activities, were under dozens of centimeters of water. The airport’s ground vehicles were partly submerged by the deluge, and an access bridge that connects the airfield was damaged by a 2,591-ton tanker that the storm unmoored and cast adrift. Public broadcaster NHK aired footage showing a huge crater in the bridge. The tanker had 11 crew aboard, and a helicopter rescue operation was underway.
Major Earthquake Strikes Japan in Latest String of Natural Disasters – A powerful earthquake rocked Hokkaido, Japan in the early hours on Thursday, triggering landslides, destroying roads and buildings and left the northern island’s 5.3 million residents without power. The 6.7-magnitude quake struck at 3:09 a.m. local time at a depth of 40 kilometers (24 miles), according to the Associated Press. Meteorological agency officials told the public broadcaster NHK that the earthquake reached the maximum level on Japan’s seismic intensity scale.”We punched in seismic data from new locations to analyze today’s earthquake. In the town of Atsuma, the earthquake measured 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale,” Toshiyuki Matsumori of the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Five people are confirmed dead and another four people do not have vital signs. About 300 are injured and about 30 more are missing, NHK reported.Video footage of the temblor’s destructiveness shows collapsed buildings, buckled roads, landslides that exposed entire hillsides in the hard-hit town of Atsuma and vehicles submerged in mud. The quake also grounded flights and halted train and bus services.Power has been restored for about 330,000 buildings but Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko told NHK, “It will take more than a week to fully restore the power supply in Hokkaido.”The earthquake comes just days after Typhoon Jebi, the strongest typhoon in 25 years, hit Japan on Tuesday that caused widespread flooding, pushed an oil tanker into a major bridge, forced Kansai International Airport to close and stranding 3,000 travelers and killed at least 11 people, according to NHK. The country also suffered from a summer of record-breaking heat that sent 70,000 people to hospitals and left 80 people dead, and historic flooding and mudslides that killed hundreds of people.
The Whole System Is Rigged – Chris Martenson: As the dog days of summer wind down, it’s hard not to notice how the climate is suffering brutally right now across many areas of the globe. Crop failures have hit hard across Europe. Australia is under an intense drought. Warm water representing ‘archived heat’ has penetrated deep into the arctic. Coral reefs are dying through mass bleachings. The stocks of ocean fisheries are in deep trouble. Insect and bird populations remain in a state of collapse. It couldn’t be any more clear that our society’s demands for ever-more “growth” are taking an increasingly dangerous toll. “Growth” is now the enemy of life on the planet; yet there are precious few leaders willing to admit as much. What we need is less pressure on vital ecological systems and precious remaining resources. But good luck finding a politician willing to admit that. Most politicians appear to think that there are no big issues out there ecologically-speaking. Of course, very few of them spend any time outside or understand where their food even comes from. Most subsist on the blind faith that our planet will somehow always bounce back from the abuses we inflict on it, despite reams of mounting evidence that it’s hitting a mulitplying number of breaking and tipping points. Sadly, the mainstream media chooses to toss wedge issue after wedge issue, ususally in the most inflammatory ways it can, at an increasingly irate general populace that has almost zero clue about the true source of the shocks (financial, economic, and ecological) they are experiencing. This prevents society from having an informed discussion about the real risks we should be concerned with. As heart-tugging a topic as ‘border kids’ might be, the monster asset price bubbles blown by the central banks get almost no attention in the media — despite their ability to destroy the futures and dreams of pretty much everyone reading this article. Our media is failing us, badly, by focusing on symptomatic issues that enrage and divide us, while remaining silent on the causal matters of vital importance to all of us.
Miami Will Be Underwater Soon – Its Drinking Water Could Go First – “We have a very delicate balance in a highly managed system,” Douglas Yoder, deputy director of the county’s water and sewer department, said. “That balance is very likely to get upset by sea-level rise.” What nobody knows is when that will happen, or what happens next. From ground level, greater Miami looks like any American megacity. But from above, the proportions of water and land are reversed. The glimmering metropolis between Biscayne Bay and the Everglades reveals itself to be a thin lattice of earth and concrete laid across a puddle that never stops forming. Water seeps up through the gravel under construction sites, nibbles at the edges of fresh subdivisions, and shimmers through the cracks and in-between places of the city above it. Miami-Dade is built on the Biscayne Aquifer, 4,000 square miles of unusually shallow and porous limestone whose tiny air pockets are filled with rainwater and rivers running from the swamp to the ocean. The aquifer and the infrastructure that draws from it, cleans its water, and keeps it from overrunning the city combine to form a giant but fragile machine. Without this abundant source of fresh water, made cheap by its proximity to the surface, this hot, remote city could become uninhabitable. Barring a stupendous reversal in greenhouse gas emissions, the rising Atlantic will cover much of Miami by the end of this century. The economic effects will be devastating: Zillow Inc. estimates that six feet of sea-level rise would put a quarter of Miami’s homes underwater, rendering $200 billion of real estate worthless. The permeability that makes the aquifer so easily accessible also makes it vulnerable. “It’s very easy to contaminate our aquifer,” says Rachel Silverstein, executive director of Miami Waterkeeper, a local environmental protection group. And the consequences could be sweeping. “Drinking water supply is always an existential question.” The questions hanging over Miami and the rest of Southeast Florida are how long it can keep its water safe, and at what cost. As the region struggles with more visible climate problems, including increasingly frequent flooding and this summer’s toxic algae blooms, the risks to the aquifer grow, and they’re all the more insidious for being out of sight. If Miami-Dade can’t protect its water supply, whether it can handle the other manifestations of climate change won’t matter.
NASA Discovers Bubbling Lakes in Remote Arctic – A Sign Of Global Warming (see video) NASA has released videos of bubbling lakes in the remote Arctic tundra, where warming continues to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at unprecedented rates. The international research team, funded by NASA as part of their Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), recently published their results in Nature Communications. What they found are bubbling lakes as greenhouse gases are released from the previously frozen ground, leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions and a warming positive feedback. The Arctic is one of the largest natural reservoirs of organic carbon, trapped within the frozen soils. If a tree dies, say in the Amazon rainforest, it is quickly eaten (rot) away by bacteria, which respire the same as humans. As bacteria eat the tree they inhale oxygen and release carbon dioxide. Hence, the carbon taken up by the tree through photosynthesis is then released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide for the cycle to start all over again.However, in the case of the Arctic, when something dies (trees, algae, animals, etc.) they are immediately frozen. This, in essence, stops the carbon cycle as both bacteria and their food are frozen in place for potentially tens of thousands of years. This means the Arctic continues to pack away carbon from the atmosphere and store it in frozen soil, which can be over 250 feet thick. However, when that soil begins to thaw, the bacteria wake up and find a feast of untouched carbon laid out for them, they begin to eat the carbon, releasing carbon dioxide and methane gas as they do. In the NASA video what you see is the resulting carbon dioxide and methane gases released from the thawing of Arctic lake beds. As the sediment beneath these lakes begins to melt, they become greenhouse gas factories.
Governments ‘not on track’ to cap temperatures at below 2 degrees: U.N. (Reuters) – Governments are not on track to meet a goal of the 2015 Paris agreement of capping temperatures well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) before the end of the century, a United Nations official said on Sunday ahead of climate-change talks in Bangkok this week. Patricia Espinosa, head of the Executive Secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which steers the climate talks, said both the public and private sector need to act with urgency to avoid “catastrophic effects”. The Paris climate agreement, adopted by almost 200 nations in 2015, set a goal of limiting warming to “well below” a rise of 2 degrees C above pre-industrial times while “pursuing efforts” for the tougher goal of 1.5 degrees C. “1.5 is the goal that is needed for many islands and many countries that are particularly vulnerable to avoid catastrophic effects. In many cases it means the survival of those countries. With the pledges we have on the table now we are not on track to achieve those goals,” Espinosa told Reuters in a telephone interview on Sunday in Bangkok. A Europe-wide heat wave this summer and bush fires in Australia, among other things, should give new impetus to the talks, said Espinosa. The Bangkok talks come ahead of a December meeting in Katowice, Poland, where government ministers will meet to agree rules for the 2015 Paris climate accord. That accord set a sweeping goal of ending the fossil fuel era this century, but the text was vague on details. Espinosa said she hopes that a draft text for negotiation on the “rule book” of the 2015 agreement will emerge at the end of the week-long Bangkok talks.
Where is the promised money? developing countries ask at climate talks in Bangkok – (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Developed countries are dragging their feet on meeting their pledges of billions of dollars to help developing nations tackle climate change, leaving poor nations with mounting costs from rising temperatures, rights groups said. Rich governments have promised to mobilise $100 billion per year in climate finance by 2020 to help poorer nations make the transformation to clean energy and cope with the impact of higher temperatures. But there is no clear pathway to reach that goal, and poor countries are struggling to cope with losses from floods and drought, campaigners said ahead of a meeting in Bangkok to produce a negotiating draft for the next United Nations climate conference. “Rich nations are attempting to escape full accountability for their role in causing and exacerbating climate change, and their obligation to deliver climate finance,” said Lidy Nacpil of the Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development. “Inadequate climate finance compromises the capacity of the developing world to survive the climate crisis,” she said. Many of the programmes developing countries have promised as part of their efforts to curb climate-related risks and turn to green energy depend on adequate international climate finance. Negotiators are meeting in Bangkok this week to prepare for the UN climate conference in Poland at the end of the year, which aims to set rules for implementing the 2015 Paris climate accord on reducing greenhouse emissions. Record heatwaves, wildfires and devastating floods across the world this summer will put pressure on almost 200 governments to reach a deal in Poland, said Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary, UN Climate Change. “Every year, the impacts of climate change are getting worse. This means that the poorest and most vulnerable, who have contributed almost nothing to the problem, suffer more,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Espinosa said that broader funding – beyond money channeled through specific climate funds – will be needed to adequately address the needs to reduce emissions and cut risks. Experts say insufficient cash and board disagreements over key decisions are hampering the flagship Green Climate Fund (GCF) that was established at U.N. climate talks in 2010 to channel a substantial portion of the $100 billion per year wealthy nations had pledged.
The Upside Of ‘Global Warming’ – An interview from the Russian Ministry for Maritime and River Transport published on website PortNews says that Arctic ports along the Northern Sea Route are experiencing a surge in cargo. Up to August 24th of this year, 9.95 million tons of goods went through ports in the region, an 81 percent increase on last year’s 5.5 million.As Statista’s Niall McCarthy notes, even though the passage is only feasible for three months of the year, global warming is making it increasingly viable for major shipping companies. This year, temperatures in the Arctic Circle have been unusually warm, topping 30C on several occasions.That resulted in Maersk confirming that it was sending a ship with a 3,600 container capacity, the Venta Mersk, over the top of Russia on a test run. The decision has been welcomed in Russia where it’s hoped the Arctic route will compete with the southern route through the Suez Canal and Straits of Malacca. The Northern Sea Route runs from Murmansk near Russia’s border with Norway all the way to the Bering Strait in Alaska with all transiting ships requiring a permit from the Russian authorities.Even though travel-time can be reduced by two weeks compared to the southern route, costs are generally higher because vessels have to be accompanied by a nuclear-powered icebreaker.The Venta Maersk left Vladivostock before docking in Pusan, South Korea. It embarked on its long journeythrough the Arctic and its expected to pass through the Bering Strait at the start of September before finishing the trip in St. Petersburg at the end of the month. The following infographic shows how a general container-ship would travel between Europe and East Asia, using Hamburg and Shanghai as example ports.
California Puts Customers on Hook for Utility’s Wildfire Liability – A last-minute measure by California lawmakers to rescue the state’s largest utility from a potential bankruptcy sets up a contentious process whereby its customers could foot the bill for billions in liability costs it faces following the state’s catastrophic 2017 wildfires. The bill passed Friday night in the final hours of California’s legislative session would give PG&E Corp. a path to pass on to ratepayers legal damages and other costs stemming from fires that swept California’s wine country in October. The blazes killed more than 40 people and destroyed or damaged about 21,000 homes and 2,800 businesses.Democratic California Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign the measure, addressing a broad array of wildfire-related issues, into law. But that is unlikely to end controversy over how much PG&E customers should pay for what critics call the utility’s failure to invest in maintenance and safety measures in a state prone to severe fire risk.State investigators have so far concluded that equipment from PG&E’s Pacific Gas & Electric Co. unit caused 16 of last year’s blazes, and the utility has said it expects to incur losses related to at least 14 of them. PG&E faces at least 780 civil lawsuits brought by individuals, municipalities and insurance companies alleging it was negligent and seeking to recoup money for fire-related damage and deaths. PG&E provides electricity and natural gas to about 16 million people living in Central and Northern California. . Some analysts have pegged PG&E’s potential liability from the 2017 fires at as much as $15 billion. The utility currently has less than $900 million in insurance to help pay for wildfire liability. S&P Global Ratings has said continued liability concerns related to the wildfires could push PG&E and its peers in California below investment grade. The provisions lawmakers approved Friday would “meaningfully alleviate the potential risk of bankruptcy or utility instability arising from exposure to both future and some past wildfires,”
California’s response to record wildfires: shift to 100% clean energy — In America today, it’s rare to see political leaders respond to a threat with an appropriate evidence-based policy solution. At the national level, more often we see actions that aggravate existing problems or create new ones. California – the country’s most populous and economically powerful state – has been a welcome exception. California has been battered by extreme weather intensified by climate change. From 2012 to 2016 the state was scorched by its worst drought in over a millennium. Weather whiplash struck in 2017, when much of the state broke precipitation records. This combination led to devastating mudslides and created the conditions for the most destructive and costly wildfire season on record in 2017, followed by the state’s largest-ever wildfire in 2018, which broke the previous record (set in 2017) by more than 60%. All of these impacts have been exacerbated by global warming. The past five years have been California’s five hottest on record. And so, the state’s leaders decided to do something about it. California had already set a renewable portfolio standard in 2002, strengthened by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2008 executive order requiring that 33% of electricity be generated by renewable sources by 2020. Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill (SB) 350 in 2015, expanding the requirement to 50% renewables by 2030. Last week, California state lawmakers passed State Senator (and candidate for US Senate) Kevin de León’s SB 100, which amps up the target to 50% renewables by 2026, 60% by 2030, and 100% from “renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources” by 2045. The more aggressive clean energy targets are justified. Not only does California need to make up some of the climate slack created by the Trump administration, but the state is now ahead of its targets, with 29% of electricity last year generated from renewables and over 50% from zero-carbon sources (including nuclear and hydroelectric power).
California’s climate moon shot — California may be done waiting for everyone else to get their act together on climate change.Earlier this week, by a vote of 44 to 33, the state Assembly passed a bill that would require California to get 100 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2045. An equivalent measure already passed the state Senate. A whopping 72 percent of Californians support the measure. All that’s left is for Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to sign the bill. And he’s expected to do so. You only have to look at the news to see why. The biggest wildfire in state history has been burning for over a month, scorching some 400,000 acres, killing one firefighter, and clogging cities and towns with smoke. Meanwhile, sea level rise threatens the state’s prosperous coastal communities even as skyrocketing temperatures dry up farmland in the Central Valley. So assuming Brown signs the bill, can California actually pull it off? “From a technological, economic point of view it’s possible to do it,” Mark Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, told Scientific American last year. Jacobson is one of the lead authors of a 2014 paper that laid out an entire roadmap for how California could do just this.The first step is building the power generation. Jacobson’s roadmap envisions 1,200 new solar plants, 25,000 wind turbines, plus a smattering of geothermal, tidal, and wave energy generators.The next step is to ensure this power supply is steady and reliable. California’s average electricity demand fluctuates between 20,000 and 35,000 megawatts, but it can jump as high as 50,000 megawatts. Right now, traditional fossil fuel plants can be turned on and off to respond – particularly natural gas “peakers” in California. But renewables generate power on their own schedule; whenever the sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and the tides are moving. Thus, California would need to increase its energy storage capacity – i.e. batteries – around 200 fold. It would also have to repair and update its power grid, so it can move power that’s either stored or generated in one place to where it needs to go. Needless to say, such a massive infrastructure effort will cost a pretty penny. Under the 2045 mandate, the costs of all those solar plants and wind turbines and batteries and grid updates will fall on utility companies. They, in turn, will pass the costs onto consumers as much as they’re able.
California’s Car Emissions Rise as Trump’s Auto Standards Plan Looms – A new report shows California is failing to cut greenhouse gas pollution from automobiles just as the Trump administration is poised to revoke the state’s right to regulate its tailpipes in pursuit of a single, national standard.Climate pollution from transportation hasn’t slowed since 2012 and now represents more than 40 percent of the state’s total, according to an annual assessment from Next 10, a San Francisco based non-profit. The figure represents a “worrisome trend” in a state that has achieved its overall 2020 climate change goal — to push annual emissions below 1990 levels — four years early.The report could become part of an expected confrontation between the state and White House. The Environmental Protection Agency and theNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed earlier this month new auto efficiency regulations, including a provision that would revoke California’s ability to issue tailpipe limits that are tougher than federal ones.A combination of factors keeps pushing transportation emissions higher, according to Next 10’s 10th annual California Green Innovation Index. Californians have shown an increasing aversion to use public transit. Difficulty finding affordable housing near work means people have to drive more to their jobs. Lower gasoline prices are always greeted warmly — but attract drivers to pick-ups and sport utility vehicles from more fuel-efficient smaller cars.Emissions from cars and other light-duty vehicles in 2016 hovered near the 2008 level of 118 million metric tons of carbon dioxide or its equivalent. Truck emissions continued to decline at a rate insufficient to make up for the added tailpipe pollution.
Toyota is recalling 1 million hybrids at risk of catching fire – Toyota is recalling more than 1 million of its hybrid vehicles worldwide over a potential fire risk. The automaker said Wednesday that the safety recall covers its Prius, Prius plug-in hybrid and C-HR SUV models and is intended to repair a problem with their electrical systems, which in some cases can cause fires. More than half of the affected vehicles are in Japan, while just under 200,000 are in the United States. The rest were sold in Europe and other markets. US drivers will start receiving recall notices by mail this month. Toyota (TM) said the problem involved wire harnesses that connect to the cars’ power control units. These can wear away over time, generating heat. “If sufficient heat is generated, there is an increased risk of a vehicle fire,” a Toyota spokesman in Tokyo told CNN on Wednesday. He declined to comment on whether the defects have resulted in any injuries or deaths.
You’ve heard of outsourced jobs, but outsourced pollution? It’s real, and tough to tally up- Over the past decade, both the United States and Europe have made major strides in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions at home. That trend is often held up as a sign of progress in the fight against climate change.But those efforts look a lot less impressive once you take trade into account. Many wealthy countries have effectively “outsourced” a big chunk of their carbon pollution overseas, by importing more steel, cement and other goods from factories in China and other places, rather than producing it domestically. Britain, for instance, slashed domestic emissions within its own borders by one-third between 1990 and 2015. But it has done so as energy-intensive industries have migrated abroad. If you included all the global emissions produced in the course of making things like the imported steel used in London’s skyscrapers and cars, then Britain’s total carbon footprint has actually increased slightly over that time.“ Dr. Hasanbeigi is an author of a new report on the global carbon trade, which estimates that 25 percent of the world’s total emissions are now being outsourced in this manner. The report calls this a “carbon loophole,” since countries rarely scrutinize the carbon footprint of the goods they import. But dealing with imported emissions remains a thorny problem. The new report, which analyzes global trade from 15,000 different sectors – from toys and office equipment to glass and aluminum – builds onprevious academic research to provide one of the most detailed pictures yet of the global carbon trade. Not surprisingly, China, which has become the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, remains the world’s factory. About 13 percent of China’s emissions in 2015 came from making stuff for other countries. In India, another fast-growing emitter, the figure is 20 percent. The United States, for its part, remains the world’s leading importer of what the researchers call “embodied carbon.” If the United States were held responsible for all the pollution worldwide that resulted from manufacturing the cars, clothing and other goods that Americans use, the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions would be 14 percent bigger than its domestic-only numbers suggest.
Duke Energy plans to close all of its NC coal plants – Duke Energy plans to close its seven North Carolina coal plants during the next 30 years, according to filings this week with state regulators. “As we lower our carbon footprint, Duke Energy is increasingly moving away from coal-fired generation and we are not including the addition of coal-fired generation going forward,” said Meredith Archie, spokeswoman for Duke. “This is not a Duke Energy phenomenon,” said David Doctor of E4 Carolinas, an association for Carolinas energy sector members. “This is a national phenomenon.” It is opportune for utilities to retire their coal plants because of environmental reasons and because the demand for power overall is not growing, he said. Utilities can retire coal plants and then add solar, wind and waste energy or natural gas plants to their systems, putting new capital on their books that will help them maintain their earnings, Doctor said.
McIntyre: FERC not working with Trump White House on coal, nuke bailout – Staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has not communicated with the White House over a proposal to bail out coal and nuclear generators, the chairman of FERC said in a letter to Congressional Democrats released Thursday. FERC staff “has not discussed the merits of any ‘grid resilience’ proposal that would seek to prefer one form of generation over another with executive branch officials,” Chairman Kevin McIntyre wrote. The staff, however, routinely communicates with the Department of Energy on “a host of matters of shared responsibility including intelligence, personnel and legal process.”The assurance came in response to an August letter raising concern about the about comments made by FERC Chief of Staff Anthony Pugliese, who told a nuclear energy conference the agency was communicating with the White House on a support plan for the plants. McIntyre wrote that he authorized Pugliese to speak at the conference, but one former FERC staffer implied that the chief of staff to step down over the comments. McIntyre’s letter seeks to assuage growing concerns in Washington that FERC – an independent federal agency – may be falling under the political influence of the Trump administration. Last month, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., sent a letter to McIntyre saying that Pugliese’s comments “call into question the impartiality and independence of the Commission.” The letter referenced comments by Pugliese at a meeting of the American Nuclear Society, where he said FERC is helping identify coal and nuclear plants essential to the grid – the first step in a bailout plan leaked from the administration this spring. Commissioner Richard Glick told Utility Dive last month that FERC regulators outside McIntyre’s office had no knowledge of the comments or communications with the White House. Soon after the comments were first reported by E&E News, FERC released a statement saying that Pugliese was “simply stating that the federal government is working to ensure that important critical infrastructure, like hospitals, remains operational.” McIntyre’s response, released by the Democrats Thursday afternoon, reiterates that message. The chief of staff, like any any other FERC employee, is not authorized to speak on issues pending before the commission, he wrote.
Coal ships line up off the Queensland coast as Aurizon dispute with miners worsens – More than 50 coal ships are waiting off the Queensland coast this week as the multibillion-dollar dispute between listed rail company Aurizon and Australia’s biggest coal producers looks set to spill over into next year. The long-running dispute over how much Aurizon can charge its customers has concerned key markets of Queensland’s coal, including Japanese steel makers, and has threatened the state’s reputation as a key exporter. The QCA was due to hand down its final decision this month on the access undertaking, which Aurizon has warned will result in 20 million tonnes less coal being exported from the state’s coal network each year. But with Aurizon’s application for a judicial review of the draft decision due in October, the QCA has decided to err on the side of caution and will hold fire on the final determination.
Coal shows resilience in global comeback – Coal is clinging to the top spot in power generation, accounting for as much of the world’s electricity as it did two decades ago, despite heightened concerns about climate change and a slowdown in financing for projects involving the dirtiest of fossil fuels. U.S. exports of coal more than doubled in 2017 and are set to grow this year, according to the Energy Information Administration. Countries across Asia and Africa are expected to increase their use of coal for expanding power generation through 2040, says the EIA. The rebound shows coal’s resilience, especially in emerging regions, and recent events suggest the market for black combustible rock will remain strong. In the U.S., the Trump administration has proposed to reverse U.S. rules on coal emissions, and countries including India and Vietnam are planning major coal projects. Coal accounted for 38% of the world’s electric power generation in 2017, putting it at the same level as in 1998, according to a recent report by BP PLC. Meanwhile, global carbon emissions from coal and other fossil fuels increased by 1.4% in 2017 after three flat years. The rise is attributed to economic growth and increasing energy demand in Asia, according to the IEA. Emissions are linked to rising global temperatures and more extreme weather patterns, experts say, and coal is a leading contributor to human health problems. The World Bank stopped financing coal in 2010 because of the hydrocarbon’s link to global warming, and many international banks are turning away from fossil fuel projects. Last year, Deutsche Bank said it wouldn’t grant financing for new coal mining or coal-powered projects. In July, Lloyds Banking Group said it would stop extending loans for new coal ventures.Still, coal plants are attractive because they are less expensive to build than renewable energy facilities. The cost of constructing a renewables plant is roughly double the outlay of a fossil-fuel facility, experts say.
Japanese Government Admits First Fukushima Radiation Death – Over seven years after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that crippled Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, the Japanese government has admitted that a former plant worker has died as a result of radiation exposure. While the 2011 earthquake and tsunami killed approximately 19,000 people, as NPR’s Elise Hu reported, and “most drowned within minutes,” this is the first radiation-exposure-based death since the incident (the radiation plumes caused by Fukushima’s meltdowns spread up to 25 miles away) NPR reports that the country’s health and labor ministry has said the man’s family should be paid compensation, according to state broadcaster NHK.It’s not clear precisely when the man died. He was in his 50s, NHK said, and his duties included “measuring radiation levels at the plant immediately after the severe nuclear accident.”He left his job there in 2015, and was diagnosed with lung cancer before his death.The ministry said that he “developed cancer due to total radiation exposure of around 195 millisieverts,” NHK reported. According to Reuters, exposure to 100 millisieverts of radiation in a year “is the lowest level at which any increase in cancer risk is clearly evident.”
.