The USA is more responsible for climate change than any country

When you can get conservatives and libertarians to admit that global warming is real, serious, and caused by humans, almost inevitably they start pointing fingers at India and China. What is the reality of the USA’s contributions to global warming vs the rest of the world’s?

Putting things in balance.

It’s worth casting our eyes back over different points in history with visualizations from Our World in Data’s site CO₂ and other Greenhouse Gas Emissions to help answer this question. Let’s start at the turn of the 20th Century.

Which countries were already racking up big emissions? The UK was in the lead with 17.7 billion tons as befits its status as origin of both the steam locomotive and the Industrial Revolution. The USA wasn’t far behind at 11.4 billion tons. Germany was lagging at 6.73 billion tons. China? 95 thousand tons.

But things have changed since then, right? Oh, yeah. Let’s fast forward to 1966.

Read the Medium story by Michael Barnard - “The USA is more responsible for climate change than any country.”

Why Aren’t the Media Covering Climate Change All Day, Every Day?

At a time when the president shouting “fake news” is old news and daily scandals are the new normal, it is both difficult and important for the media to strike a balance between the serious and the sensational. I understand how tough that tension is. Every day at The Nation, we try to cover what is important, but that’s not always easy—especially when much of the media privileges stories with the biggest shock factor.

The flooded banks of the Seine in Paris.

Over one seven-day period this summer, when children were being separated from their families at the border, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News dedicated only one hour and eight minutes to the crisis—combined. During that same span, the three networks spent 34 hours and 28 minutes covering Omarosa Manigault Newman and her tell-all book.

Read the story by Katrina vanden Heuvel from The Nation - “Why Aren’t the Media Covering Climate Change All Day, Every Day?”

Should I tell my Republican friend that her Florida mansion is doomed by sea-level rise?

Dear Sara,

My friend is a Republican who owns a very expensive mansion on Fisher Island in Miami. I’m fairly sure my friend believes that climate change is real but does not know how serious the situation may get within her or her children’s lifetimes. What year will I tell her is the last I’ll be able to visit her there, because it will be underwater? How many years ahead of that will she need to sell it before it’ll be rendered worthless? I’m thinking of getting her a garden gnome wearing a snorkel. – Climate Concerned in New York City.

Fisher Island.

Let’s begin with the facts, which are straightforward. Sea-level rise is not just a problem for 50 or 100 years from now. It’s already begun. Today, under certain conditions – when there’s an unusually high tide, for example – water spills into basements and low-lying streets across South Florida.

The problem will get worse. Another 6 to 10 inches of sea-level rise is expected in South Florida by 2030, and perhaps more than two feet by the time today’s high-school seniors turn 60. In response, Miami Beach, a wealthy community on a barrier island just north of your friend’s home on Fisher Island, is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to elevate roads, raise seawalls, and install pumps to suck the water away.

Read the story from Yale Climate Connections by Sara Peach - “Should I tell my Republican friend that her Florida mansion is doomed by sea-level rise?”

Many people feel lonely in the city, but perhaps ‘third places’ can help with that

Loneliness is a hidden but serious problem in cities worldwide. Urban loneliness is connected to population mobility, declining community participation and a growth in single-occupant households. This threatens the viability of our cities because it damages the social networks they rely on.

Third places are most effective when, like Waverley Community Garden
in Sydney, they appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds.

One response to these trends involves “third places”. These are public or commercial spaces that provide informal opportunities for local people to mix socially on neutral ground.

The concept of third place, developed by Ray Oldenburg, is distinct from first and second places. A first place is the private space of home. Second places are where people spend significant time, often formally. These include schools, universities and workplaces.

Read the piece on The Conversation by a PhD Candidate from Griffith University, Joanne Dolley, and a Lecturer in Urban and Environmental Planning, also the Griffith University, Tony Matthews - “Many people feel lonely in the city, but perhaps ‘third places’ can help with that.”

Linc Energy trial continues over alleged contamination on Queensland's Western Downs

A landmark case described by a District Court judge as "unusual" will hear how gas company Linc Energy allegedly contaminated strategic cropping land causing serious environmental damage to parts of Queensland's Western Downs.

Linc Energy is charged with five counts of wilfully and
unlawfully causing environmental harm at Chinchilla.

Linc Energy is charged with five counts of wilfully and unlawfully causing environmental harm between 2007 and 2013 at Chinchilla.

The charges relate to alleged contamination at Linc Energy's Hopeland underground coal gasification (UCG) plant.

The trial will enter its second day today in the District Court in Brisbane, with crown prosecutor Ralph Devlin QC expected to begin his opening address to the empanelled jury later this morning.

Read the ABC News story - “Linc Energy trial continues over alleged contamination on Queensland's Western Downs.”

Climate action is good business

YOU may have noticed a change in the emphasis of your morning coffee read.

Australians disappointed with Government's response to climate change.

The press has begun to devote serious column space to the issue of ‘climate change’ — including in the business pages. The banks are talking about climate change in their annual reports. As are companies with household brand-names, from Nike and Unilever to BHP. Even market watchdogs, such as the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), recently warned that, left unmanaged, climate change poses risks to our economic stability.

So why this business-sector interest on what was, historically, an issue only for ‘environmentalists’?

Read The Courier-Mail story by Sarah Barker - “Climate action is good business."

Healthcare Institutions across U.S. Treating Climate Change as a Top Priority

The Cleveland Clinic started thinking “green” more than a decade ago, as sustainability and energy efficiency were just starting to gain traction in serious conversations about climate change. Since then, the Ohio medical center’s environmentally conscious practices have become part of its culture, with everyone getting involved.

They are recycling, turning off lights and computers, planting trees in the community, and buying Energy Star-certified equipment, from MRI and ultrasound machines to kitchen appliances. They are reducing water usage through low-flow fixtures, cutting waste, and controlling operating room air to ensure it’s clean and fresh during surgery, but not squandered when the OR is empty.

Equally impressive: the facility aims to become carbon neutral within the next ten years. They hope to accomplish this by increasing their renewable energy sources, and expanding all of their existing efficiency and emission-reducing programs.

Read the Nexus Media story by Marlene Cimons - “Healthcare Institutions across U.S. Treating Climate Change as a Top Priority.”

India experiencing its own 'Black Saturday' prelude

V

ictoria’s “Black Saturday” bushfires in 2009 killed 173 people and destroyed 2029 homes.

The media focus, subsequently, was relentless with much being made of 173 people who died in the fearsome fires.

However, what went largely unnoticed by most was that nearly three times that many died in the oppressive heat in the week leading up to the first.

Yes, the fires were deadly and serious, but in the simple number of deaths, the extreme heat of the previous week was even more deadly and serious.

India, according to Sky News is now wrestling with something similar, at least from the point of view of extreme temperature.

Sky News reports: “At least 800 people have died in a major heatwave across India, melting roads in New Delhi as temperatures neared 50C.

“Hospitals are on alert to treat victims of heatstroke and authorities advise people to stay indoors with no end in sight to the searing conditions.

“In the worst-hit state of Andhra Pradesh, in the south, 551 people have died in the last week as temperatures hit 47C on Monday.”

Read the story - “India heatwave kills 800 as roads melt”.

Holy crap!

Holy crap!

That is the response of many to detail in a leaked Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that warns of serious difficulties as the impacts of climate change unfold.

Cries of “Why weren’t we told” are futile, for we were and this report, although leaked and subject to change, details the difficulties ahead.

The Mother Jones story, headed: “5 Terrifying Statements in the Leaked Climate Report” again explains how the atmosphere we have damaged is about to have the final say.