A resource for people looking to find out about the science and the impacts of Climate Change and Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW). This is accomplished by curating scientific, political and business videos, news reports, surveys and polls as well as creating original content. (CHECK OUT OUR HSAWR ORIGINAL VIDEOS) The Pentagon," calls CLIMATE CHANGE an “urgent and growing threat to America's national security” and blames it for “increased natural disasters” that will require more American troops designated to combat bad weather.
Nature is taking a devastating toll in both the U.S. mainland and in countries like India, Bangladesh and Nepal, where monsoons rains are causing floods and hundreds of casualties.
Featuring
Radley Horton: Climate scientist at Columbia University. Research focuses on extreme weather events, the limitations of climate models, and adaptation.
Kerry Emanuel is an American professor of meteorology currently working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. In particular he has specialized in atmospheric convection and the mechanisms acting to intensify hurricanes
Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd serves as a resource for professional colleagues, media contacts, and perspective collaborators and students. Dr. Shepherd is considered a leading international expert, scientist, author, host, and communicator. He is a former NASA Scientist, and was a 2004 PECASE award recipient at the White House. Dr. Shepherd is the host of the only nationally-televised Sunday Talk Show focused on science, The Weather Channel's Weather Geeks.
There’s a growing consensus that the end of ever-rising oil consumption is in sight. The big question that many oil companies are debating is when.
Energy Analyst is from energy trader with a background in the Coal, Gas and Power markets. Over 10 years of international experience in the commodities sector. Worthwhile for a visit or 2 on a regular basis
Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman interviews Dr. James Hansen has been called the "father of climate change awareness."
Dr. James Hansen has been called the "father of climate change awareness." In 1988, Hansen first warned about the dangers of global warming when he testified before Congress. At the time, he was the top climate scientist at NASA, where he headed the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. We speak with world-renowned climatologist Dr. James Hansen on what role climate change played in unleashing Hurricane Harvey.
Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Pioneering the largest public media collaboration in the U.S., Democracy Now! is broadcast on Pacifica, NPR, community, and college radio stations; on public access, PBS, satellite television (DISH network: Free Speech TV ch. 9415 and Link TV ch. 9410; DIRECTV: Free Speech TV ch. 348 and Link TV ch. 375); and on the internet. DN!’s podcast is one of the most popular on the web.
Chris Hayes interviews Neena Satija about Why Houston Wasn't Ready For A Big Hurricane Like Harvey
Sprawl and a quick pace of development make it hard for Houston to be prepared for natural disasters such as Hurricane Harvey.
Hell and High Water
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the country. It’s home to the nation’s largest refining and petrochemical complex, where billions of gallons of oil and dangerous chemicals are stored. And it’s a sitting duck for the next big hurricane. Why isn’t Texas ready?
7 things Nat Geo would like you to know about Climate Change...
"It's not a myth, hoax or a conspiracy among scientists. As we argue about the path we take, let’s recall the facts that compel the journey." Surely this is not your Daddy Murdoch's company anymore.
The Juneau World Affairs Council presents “Vulnerable Vietnam:
A Photo Story Focused on Climate Change in the Mekong Delta” with Lione Clare.
Clare is a photographer from Sitka with a professional interest in climate change and conservation. She was in Vietnam earlier this year documenting effects of climate change.
The Sitka Conservation Society (SCS) has been working to protect Southeast Alaska’s quality of life and the Tongass National Forest since 1967.We are based in the small coastal town of Sitka, Alaska on the west coast of Baranof Island and surrounded by the Tongass. We are committed to the conservation of wilderness areas and to the sustainable development of Southeast Alaska’s natural resources.
Unicorn of the sea: Narwhals' Arctic home is melting
Narwhals are one of the most mysterious ocean species, but as their icy home melts, it's becoming easier to study them, but more deadly to the narwhals.
So what have scientists found? Jane O'Brien reports.
In Texas, tens of thousands of residents began evacuating coastal communities Thursday, as forecasters predicted Hurricane Harvey could make landfall late Friday as a major category-three storm, delivering a life-threatening 35 inches of rain to some parts of the Gulf Coast. Texas Governor Greg Abbott called out 700 members of the National Guard as several coastal counties ordered mandatory evacuations. Hurricane trackers expect the storm’s eye to come ashore near the city of Corpus Christi, where mayor Joe McComb called for a voluntary evacuation. For more we speak with Dan Kammen who just resigned as science envoy for the U.S. State Department.
Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Pioneering the largest public media collaboration in the U.S.
Exxon Mobil has been criticized for allegedly hiding what it knew about the perils of climate change. Now researchers from Harvard University have published a study alleging that the oil and gas giant tried to systematically mislead the public about climate change for 40 years. William Brangham learns more from science correspondent Miles O’Brien.
PBS NewsHour - Published on Aug 23, 2017
What Exxon Mobil Didn’t Say About Climate Change
By GEOFFREY SUPRAN and NAOMI ORESKESAUG. 22, 2017
MARUM scientists Ursula Röhl and Alex Wülbers are investigating what the ocean floor has to tell us about the climate in the past.
DW conveys Germany as a nation rooted in European culture and as a liberal, democratic state based on the rule of law. DW is known for its in-depth, reliable news and information and promotes exchange and understanding between the world’s cultures and people. Deutsche Welle also provides access to the German language.
Neil Morisetti explains that apart from more traditional threats to global stability, there are now also non-traditional threats – environmental threats or resource threats – emerging. These threats, Morisetti says, are most likely to materialize into conflict where governments don’t have sufficient capacity to build resilience. Morisetti is Director of Strategy at the UCL Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy Department.
Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti is the Climate and Energy Security Envoy of the UK Ministry of Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti joined the Royal Navy in 1976. After initial training and university, he held various appointments at sea before assuming command of HMS CYGNET, a member of the Northen Ireland Squadron in 1986. Subsequent commands have included HMS CARDIFF and the aircraft carrier HMS INVINCIBLE. His staff appointments include three Ministry of Defence tours, in the Resources and Plans area, and as director TOPMAST he was responsible for developing the manpower system for the Future Navy.
Let's talk 'Climate change' - watch as Angor, the former vice-president of the US tells you how serious climate change is right now and how we can actually make a difference. The new upcoming film, 'The Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power" drops real soon in theatres!
Scientists are drilling down through kilometers of Arctic ice to read the world's climate history as a way to predict the planet's future.
“It was 2 in the afternoon on Friday, 4 July 1980 when Willi Dansgaard came and asked me if I wanted to go to Greenland and work on the drilling project for eight weeks. I thought it sounded exciting and was already on my way by Tuesday morning. We flew to Greenland and further into the Dye3 drilling site on the ice with a Twin Otter. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. The idea had been that I would cut the ice cores, but when I came down into the drilling hall, Niels Gundestrup pulled me into the drill control room and now I had to learn to drill ice cores. Among the researchers, Henrik Clausen was also very interested in history and he would say that now we had now reached this layer and it corresponded to the time in which the French Revolution broke out and that they had been cold years, which meant poor harvests and hunger, or now we were in the years when the Vikings went out and settled in Iceland and Greenland. The ice cores could tell about the climate in the different periods and what impact it might have had on the course of history and I was wildly fascinated,” explains Peder Steffensen.
Doctor Richard Munang , Environment and Regional Climate Change Coordinator for UNEP shades more light on the situation in relation to climate change
"Richard Munang's leadership on climate action as a way of addressing Africa's socio-economic development priorities is a fresh way of looking at climate change on the continent," said Dr. Gregory Clem, Convener of the Environmental Roundtable. "Africa cannot afford to act on climate change in separation from its development needs and objectives. By joining the two areas with his pioneering work, Dr. Munang has become a true Africa Environmental Hero. "
The Bishops have called on members of parliament and government authorities to have a particular duty and is to promote long term economic and social development.
And least we forget this is what the Pope said in 2015:
"A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system. ... A number of scientific studies indicate that most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides and others) released mainly as a result of human activity."
Along with...
"The Earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish."
"Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last 200 years."
"We are not God. The Earth was here before us and was given to us."
"The idea of infinite or unlimited growth, which proves so attractive to economists, financiers and experts in technology ... is based on the lie that there is an infinite supply of the earth's goods, and this leads to the planet being squeezed dry at every limit."
"Yet all is not lost. Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start."
"The exploitation of the planet has already exceeded acceptable limits and we still have not solved the problem of poverty."
"Doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain."
"The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all."
"We need to strengthen the conviction that we are one single human family."
"We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it."
Or perhaps you wanna join The Climate Reality Project with millions of others using their voices and everyday choices to tackle the climate crisis.
Al Gore talks about his latest film 'An Inconvenient Sequel.
WWF’s report - the first of its kind - shows that 29 of Europe’s major asset owners, mainly pension funds, from the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland have already implemented changes to bring their public equity portfolio more in line with the well under 2°C climate goal. Almost all of them have cut funding to coal mining; however many of them are investing too much in coal power and still lagging behind on renewable power.
NASA scientists and ice sheet modelers, Ryan Walker and Christine Dow, traveled to a remote location on the coast of Antarctic to investigate how tides affect the movement and stability of the Nansen Ice Shelf, a 695-mile extension of ice protruding into Antarctica’s Ross Sea. Relatively understudied, Nansen’s manageable size lends itself to becoming a proxy for predicting how larger ice shelves will contribute to sea level rise in the decades and centuries to come. By studying the impact of tides, Walker and Dow are able to determine how the rise and fall of floating ice sheets may impact the likelihood of an eventual ice shelf collapse.
The Climate and Radiation Laboratory seeks a better understanding of Earth's climate on all time scales, from daily, seasonal, and interannual variability through changes on geologic time scales. Our research focuses on integrated studies of atmospheric measurements from satellites, aircraft and in-situ platforms, numerical modeling, and climate analysis.
University of Michigan biologist Melissa Duhaime recently spent a month on a Russian research vessel off the coast of Antarctica, filtering bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms from thousands of gallons of seawater.
A few years ago, she sailed the South Pacific leg of a global expedition that led to a tripling in the number of genetically distinct viruses—15,222 of them in 867 genus-level groups—known to live in the world's oceans.
Sen. Ed Markey's leadership has focused on finding solutions to address the energy, economic and national security challenges associated with America’s dependence on foreign oil and increasing carbon pollution, and he will bring this fight to the Senate.
Addressing climate change is a generational challenge, and Ed has been the Congressional leader promoting solutions and urgent action to address the carbon pollution warming our planet. As Senator, Ed will bring a green agenda to the Senate by advancing legislation on climate change, clean energy, and clean-tech jobs.
Climate change is a hot topic right now, particularly since the US’ controversial decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. US scientists are urging The New York Times to release the national climate assessment without the approval of the Trump administration. The report allegedly presents evidence of severe climate change episodes.
UC Davis is using an underwater robot with the hopes of understanding Lake Tahoe’s climate change. Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) deployed the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) earlier this month. More commonly known as a glider, the autonomous vehicle will coast 150 meters under Lake Tahoe’s surface, going back-and-forth taking measurements. The response of Lake Tahoe to climate change
...results indicate that continued climate changes could pose serious threats to the characteristics of the Lake that are most highly valued. Future water quality planning must take these results into account.
Scientists Fear Trump Will Dismiss Blunt Climate Report
The New York Times obtained a draft report created by government scientists, which cites the drastic impact of climate change in the US.
The draft report by scientists from 13 federal agencies, which has not yet been made public, concludes that Americans are feeling the effects of climate change right now. It directly contradicts claims by President Trump and members of his cabinet who say that the human contribution to climate change is uncertain, and that the ability to predict the effects is limited.
“Evidence for a changing climate abounds, from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans,” a draft of the report states.
Europe's death toll from extreme weather could rise to more than 150,000 people a year by 2100 if nothing is done to curb the effects of climate change, study says
"Climate change is one of the biggest global threats to human health of the 21st century, and its peril to society will be increasingly connected to weather-driven hazards," said Giovanni Forzieri, one of the authors of the study.
"Unless global warming is curbed as a matter of urgency and appropriate measures are taken, about 350 million Europeans could be exposed to harmful climate extremes on an annual basis by the end of the century."
Background
The observed increase in the effects on human beings of weather-related disasters has been largely attributed to the rise in population exposed, with a possible influence of global warming. Yet, future risks of weather-related hazards on human lives in view of climate and demographic changes have not been comprehensively investigated.
India are pushing for a greener future, and China is leading the way in wind and solar manufacturing and the jobs that come with it, while Donald Trump holds the U.S. back with a focus on coal.
The 13th Renewable Energy Development Five Year Plan (2016-2020) was adopted by National Energy Administration on 10th of December 2016 establishing targets for renewable energy deployment until 2020. Targets are aligned with objectives of the 13th FYP on National Economy and Social Development and respective FYP for each renewable energy technology.
Key objectives of China are to:
Increase share of non-fossil energy in total primary energy consumption to 15% by 2020 and to 20% by 2030.
Increase installed renewable power capacity to 680 GW by 2020.
Increase installed wind capacity to 210 GW.
Promote offshore wind and ocean power development.
Lead renewable energy technology innovation.
Further support development of the renewable energy industry in China and decrease reliance on foreign companies in the domain.
Resolve renewable power curtailment issue problem.
Hope springs eternal in the human breast; Man never is, but always to be blessed: The soul, uneasy and confined from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come. – Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man
Here’s an Al Gore time line, in which many darlings have been killed:
1. As the lady from Long Island would have it, Gore should have become the president in 2000—like Hillary Clinton, he won the popular vote. But when the Electoral College win came down to Florida and a few hundred contested votes there, a majority-conservative Supreme Court ruled in favor of George W. Bush.
2. For a time, Gore sported an impressive beard known as either an “achievement beard,” per the New Yorker, or a “failure beard,” per the Internet, that seemed emblematic of his movement from politics into postpolitics.
3. While the following should not necessarily be viewed as cause and effect, Gore shaved the beard, and Laurie David talked him into turning his climate-change slide show into An Inconvenient Truth. It all started, oddly enough, with the global-warming disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow, which twigged people’s fears about how real the climate calamity might actually be. “The producers wanted to do a town hall with Al Gore and asked me to host it,” David remembers. “Al presented a four-minute version of his slide show. I was floored by how simple it was, how he’d communicated it. After that event, I said, ‘Just give me two dates, and I will present this to opinion leaders.’ I booked hotel ballrooms in L.A. and New York. It was very hard to get interest at first, because people were still pissed at him for losing the election. At both events, he got standing ovations.”
That was the moment David knew that Gore had to do more than a slide show. The movie won two Oscars in 2006. Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Hundreds of thousands—maybe millions—of us were moved to change our ways, reduce our emissions, recycle, even compost.
4. Meanwhile, Gore had become a savvy investor, having cofounded the managed-asset fund Generation Investment Management in 2004. To borrow from the Atlantic, Generation is a “demonstration of a new version of capitalism, one that will shift the incentives of financial and business operations to reduce the environmental, social, political, and long-term economic damage being caused by unsustainable commercial excesses.” Between 2005 and 2015, the average annual return for Generation’s global equity fund was 12.1 percent; the average stock market return in the same period was around 7 percent.
5. In 2010, Al and Tipper Gore separated after 40 years of marriage and four kids (Karenna, Kristin, Sarah, and Albert). That was sad. They’d seemed like Paul and Linda, Goldie and Kurt.… A few years ago, the vice president began dating a politically connected environmental activist named Elizabeth Keadle. He took her to Cannes in May! (See number 8.)
6. He sold his Current TV cable channel to Al Jazeera in 2013 for a reported several hundred million dollars. Al Jazeera then used the frequency to launch (the now shuttered) Al Jazeera America, which fed animus against Gore; he’s also been a lightning rod for animus from the likes of Oklahoma senator James Inhofe, former vice president Dick Cheney, and the Koch brothers.
7. He can get Tesla’s Elon Musk on the phone anytime, including evenings and weekends.
8. An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, which screened in Cannes in May and is out this month, is both more hopeful and scarier than the first film. It dwells on Gore’s many climate-change triumphs and setbacks since losing the 2000 election and has higher production values. (It’s directed by documentarians Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, who filmed Gore for more than a year on multiple continents.) An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power GO WATCH IT!
Columbia’s Earth Institute blends research in the physical and social sciences, education and practical solutions to help guide the world onto a path toward sustainability.
Forests in the south-central United States are some of the country’s most productive and diverse. A team from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory is studying how they may react to changing climate.
Professor Aranda gives an overview of the challenges coral reefs are facing due to rapidly
changing climate. He explains the importance of coral reefs and the current loss
of ecosystems.
A major point of his talk is that technology can be developed, in time, to
save coral reef ecosystems, but he draws upon each individual to help slow the pace
of climate change.
Dr. Aranda's main research interests lie in the development of functional genetic tools for reef building corals and other cnidarian model organisms that will allow the systematic analysis of the molecular processes governing symbiosis and coral bleaching.
The coral-algal symbiosis hereby serves as a model system to address questions regarding the molecular basis of symbiosis in order to extend our knowledge on the mechanisms and factors determining the nature of symbiotic relationships i.e. mutualistic, commensalistic or parasitic.
Central part of this research is the elucidation of the function of key proteins involved in the initiation, maintenance and breakdown of the symbiotic relationship in both partners.
The short documentary “Linking the Islands” looks at concrete ways Tuvalu is addressing the challenges communities face, including the installation of a disaster early warning system.
Challenges Tuvalu faces as a result of climate change
As low-lying islands lacking a surrounding shallow shelf, the communities of Tuvalu are especially susceptible to changes in sea level and undissipated storms.
At its highest, Tuvalu is only 4.6 metres (15 ft) above sea level, and Tuvaluan leaders have been concerned about the effects of rising sea levels for a few years.
It is estimated that a sea level rise of 20–40 centimetres (8–16 inches) in the next 100 years could make Tuvalu uninhabitable.
Whether there are measurable changes in the sea level relative to the islands of Tuvalu is a contentious issue. There were problems associated with the pre-1993 sea level records from Funafuti which resulted in improvements in the recording technology to provide more reliable data for analysis.
The degree of uncertainty as to estimates of sea level change relative to the islands of Tuvalu was reflected in the conclusions made in 2002 from the available data. The uncertainty as to the accuracy of the data from this tide gauge resulted in a modern Aquatrak acoustic gauge being installed in 1993 by the Australian National Tidal Facility (NTF) as part of the AusAID-sponsored South Pacific Sea Level and Climate Monitoring Project. The 2011 report of the Pacific Climate Change Science Program published by the Australian Government, concludes:
"The sea-level rise near Tuvalu measured by satellite altimeters since 1993 is about 5 mm (0.2 in) per year."
Tuvalu has adopted a national plan of action as the observable transformations over the last ten to fifteen years show Tuvaluans that there have been changes to the sea levels. These include sea water bubbling up through the porous coral rock to form pools at high tide and the flooding of low-lying areas including the airport during spring tides and king tides.
The atolls have shown resilience to gradual sea-level rise, with atolls and reef islands being able to grow under current climate conditions by generating sufficient sand and coral debris that accumulates and gets dumped on the islands during cyclones. Gradual sea-level rise also allows for coral polyp activity to increase the reefs.
However, if the increase in sea level occurs at faster rate as compared to coral growth,[280] or if polyp activity is damaged by ocean acidification, then the resilience of the atolls and reef islands is less certain.
The 2011 report of Pacific Climate Change Science Program of Australia concludes, in relation to Tuvalu, states the conclusions that over the course of the 21st century:
Surface air temperatures and sea‑surface temperatures are projected to continually increase
Annual and seasonal mean rainfalls are projected to increase
The intensity and frequency of extreme heat days are projected to increase
The intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall days are projected to increase
The incidence of drought is projected to decrease
Tropical cyclone numbers are projected to decline in the south-east Pacific Ocean basin
Laura Storm has spent the past decade bringing together individual consumers and activists with businesses, NGO’s, and policy makers around sustainable solutions. An entrepreneurial mind-set and a visionary leader, Laura most recently co-built SUSTAINIA, the global mega-brand for sustainable solutions that has helped expose hundreds of sustainable solutions to investors and millions of consumers across the world.
Sustainia is an international sustainability think tank and consultancy working to accelerate action towards a sustainable future. In order to realize this, we work with companies, cities, and organizations to map their position, navigate the changing landscape, and communicate with impact.
They can help you:
-Map and identify sustainable solutions
-Prepare for the future with trend analysis
Today’s young people can and should hold their parents’ generation to account for their present actions. They can elicit an emotional response that can motivate action. If thinking about the lives of unborn future generations seems too abstract to motivate you to act, try instead looking a young child or grandchild in the eye and asking yourself what sort of future you are leaving for them. There is something that, on reflection, many adults would surely find repugnant in the idea that they will leave their children a damaged planet that will radically affect their life possibilities. Lord Nicholas Stern
Kiribati President Anote Tong
"…I remember I had been trying to convince him to visit Kiribati and he did in 2011. He came to Kiribati and I remember he went to visit one of these communities that was flooded every time there is very high tides and there was this young boy who stepped up to the Secretary General and said Mr. Secretary General, you are a very important man you know, is there something that you can do to ensure I will have a future, that I will have a home. And the Secretary General came back and he said Mr. President I have been listening to you at the General Assembly but I never truly understood what it was you trying to communicate but now I do and I feel and I understand I would do everything that I can”
