The Green Energy Revolution Will Happen in USA Without Trump

States and cities supporting Paris Agreement

In the wake of President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement, a dozen states and more than 300 cities have pledged to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in line with the Paris targets.

The move suggests a possible future for climate change policy in the Trump era: States and cities are taking on the brunt of climate responsibility, building green energy capabilities and meeting ambitious climate targets in the process.

There is no replacing the federal role in setting the larger climate agenda, without which the country is unlikely to meet more ambitious targets. But states and cities should still do all they can to fight for sensible climate policy in the absence of a sensible president. In many cases, that work is already underway and shows no signs of slowing.

Read more in the editorial observer opinion published in NYT at:

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1797146003484871507#editor/target=post;postID=2369145402471604991

Die hot, 30% of the world's population at risk

http://abonnes.mobile.lemonde.fr/climat/article/2017/06/19/mourir-de-chaud-un-risque-pour-30-de-la-population-mondiale_5147554_1652612.html

All the indicators of climate change are in red

https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-climate-201703
 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-climate-201703
http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2017/05/09/tous-les-indicateurs-du-rechauffement-climatique-sont-au-rouge_5124694_3244.html

Barack Obama warns climate change could create refugee crisis ‘unprecedented in human history’

Climate change could produce a refugee crisis that is “unprecedented in human history”, Barack Obama has warned as he stressed global warming was the most pressing issue of the age.
Speaking at an international food conference in Milan, the former US President said rising temperatures were already making it more difficult to grow crops and rising food prices were “leading to political instability”.

If world leaders put aside “parochial interests” and took action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by enough to restrict the rise to one or two degrees Celsius, then humanity would probably be able to cope.
Failing to do this, Mr Obama warned, increased the risk of “catastrophic” effects in the future, “not only real threats to food security, but also increases in conflict as a consequence of scarcity and greater refugee and migration patterns”.
Read more at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/barack-obama-climate-change-refugee-crisis-human-history-unprecedented-global-warming-paris-a7727881.html 

Itis a must to tackle climate change that causes hunger in East Africa

Oxfam is now warning the drought in East Africa, where nearly 11 million people are already affected by food shortages, is threatening to become a humanitarian “catastrophe”.
Issuing a “desperate” appeal for the international community to meet a request from the United Nations for about £1.5bn of aid, the charity also said the worst drought in living memory demonstrated why the world must act to reduce global warming.

It pointed to several scientific studies which found evidence that climate change was likely driving up temperatures and making the situation significantly worse.
“Nearly 11 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia are dangerously hungry and in need of humanitarian assistance,” Oxfam said in a briefing.
“There is mounting evidence that climate change is likely to be contributing to higher temperatures in the region, and that increased temperatures are exacerbating the impacts of drought,” Oxfam said.
“Temperatures have been consistently higher in East Africa in recent years, part of a trend seen in Africa and around the world.
“Higher temperatures result in greater evaporation, meaning soil moisture is reduced, reinforcing drier conditions and intensifying the impacts of failed rains. Crops and pasture have less water, and the chance of failed harvests or lack of feed for livestock increases.
“In pastoral regions like northern Somalia, higher temperatures over the past six months have turned very low rainfall last year into a terrible loss of soil moisture – helping to desiccate all the available fodder for many of Somalia’s pastoralists.”
Read more at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/east-africa-drought-starving-famine-catastrophe-climate-change-oxfam-kenya-ethiopia-sudan-somalia-a7704026.html 

Conflicts, Climate Change and Famine

http://abonnes.mobile.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2017/03/28/conflits-et-climat-pourquoi-les-famines-sont-de-retour_5101632_3212.html
 http://abonnes.mobile.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2017/03/30/les-conflits-et-l-insecurite-principales-causes-de-la-famine-en-afrique-de-l-est_5103257_3244.html

How to halve CO2 emissions by 2040

http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/analysis/3008900/energy-transitions-commission-halving-global-emissions-by-2040-within-reach
http://abonnes.mobile.lemonde.fr/energies/article/2017/04/25/climat-comment-reduire-de-moitie-les-emissions-mondiales-de-co2-en-2040_5116891_1653054.html

The clever practice of communications of climate-change sceptics overshadows the true advice of experts

Ministers should still weigh the importance of scientific evidence but “where they do not follow the results they must ensure that they do not dismiss or discredit legitimate scientific evidence”, a report of  the British Commons’ Science and Technology Committee said. It called for a “robust redress mechanism” – possibly including fines – in cases where science is misreported by the media.
In an age of claim and counter-claim about ‘fake news’, spin and misinformation about science risked causing real harm, warned Stephen Metcalfe MP, who chairs the committee.
“Robust consideration of scientific evidence is crucial to policy making and really affects our daily lives and we have seen over many years through the debates around BSE [‘mad cow disease’], climate change, [vaccine] MMR and new medical treatments,” he said.
“However too often the clever practice of communications overshadows the true advice of experts, and the public are left bewildered, and not knowing who to believe.
“This affects Government policy too, Ministers and decision makers must take greater care to set out exactly how scientific evidence is being considered, and ensure they cannot be accused of discrediting or skewing the evidence for financial reasons or to suit political aims.
“Reporting scientific and particularly health issues accurately is also a big responsibility for media organisations if they are to retain public trust, and we need to give the public greater reassurances that they are being properly informed and engaged.”
Read more at:

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change-sceptic-mislead-pulbic-inaccurate-statements-free-speech-plea-mps-a7657951.html

Weigh the alternative between the nuclear and the renewable energies

http://abonnes.mobile.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/03/23/peser-l-alternative-entre-nucleaire-et-energies-renouvelables_5099542_3232.html

10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/rex-tillerson-secret-emails-exxon-ordered-to-hand-over-wayne-tracker-climate-change-a7646711.html#

2016 was the Earth’s Hottest Year on Record

 Earth’s 2016 surface temperatures were the warmest since modern recordkeeping began in 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Globally-averaged temperatures in 2016 were 1.78 degrees Fahrenheit (0.99 degrees Celsius) warmer than the mid-20th century mean. This makes 2016 the third year in a row to set a new record for global average surface temperatures.

The planet’s long-term warming trend is seen in this chart of every year’s annual temperature cycle from 1880 to the present, compared to the average temperature from 1980 to 2015. Record warm years are listed in the column on the right.

Credits: NASA/Joshua Stevens, Earth Observatory

The 2016 temperatures continue a long-term warming trend, according to analyses by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. NOAA scientists concur with the finding that 2016 was the warmest year on record based on separate, independent analyses of the data.
Because weather station locations and measurement practices change over time, there are uncertainties in the interpretation of specific year-to-year global mean temperature differences. However, even taking this into account, NASA estimates 2016 was the warmest year with greater than 95 percent certainty.
“2016 is remarkably the third record year in a row in this series,” said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt. “We don’t expect record years every year, but the ongoing long-term warming trend is clear.”
The planet’s average surface temperature has risen about 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.
Read more at:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-noaa-data-show-2016-warmest-year-on-record-globally

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/18/science/earth/2016-hottest-year-on-record.html
http://www.lemonde.fr/climat/article/2017/03/21/climat-2016-bat-un-record-de-chaleur-la-planete-entre-en-territoire-inconnu_5097869_1652612.html

Climate change helped cause war in Siria and Brexit, Al Gore said

Brexit was caused in part by climate change, former US Vice-President Al Gore has said, warning that extreme weather is creating political instability “the world will find extremely difficult to deal with”.
Mr Gore, speaking at an event in which he previewed a sequel to his landmark 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, said the “principal” cause of the Syrian Civil War had been the worst drought in 900 years, which forced 1.5 million people to move from the countryside to the cities.
There they met a similar number of Iraqis who had fled the conflict in their homeland, creating powder keg conditions that Syrian government officials privately feared would explode.
 The resulting war brought more refugees into Europe, causing political instability and helping convince some in the UK to vote to leave the European Union.
Read more at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/brexit-climate-change-al-gore-says-global-warming-syria-war-helped-leave-vote-a7645866.html

The Netherlands, European champion of the electric bus

http://abonnes.mobile.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2017/03/11/les-neerlandais-champions-europeens-du-bus-electrique_5093051_3234.html

Donald Trump denies the climate change, having his feet in water.

http://abonnes.mobile.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/02/20/donald-trump-les-pieds-dans-l-eau_5082187_3232.html

World Growth in GDP, Oil and Energy

http://petrole.blog.lemonde.fr/2014/04/19/gael-giraud-du-cnrs-le-vrai-role-de-lenergie-va-obliger-les-economistes-a-changer-de-dogme/

Post-truth on climate change

http://abonnes.mobile.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/02/07/climat-denoncons-le-discours-de-la-post-verite_5075653_3232.html