More than 100 hazardous industrial sites on California’s coast are at risk of flooding severely — and spreading contaminants — due to rising sea levels if climate change continues to worsen, according to a study released Tuesday.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles and Berkeley, found that 129 sites including oil refineries, sewage treatment plants and nuclear and fossil fuel power plants could see flooding by 2050 and 423 hazardous sites could flood by 2100.
When flooded, these sites could pollute and contaminate nearby land, air and groundwater.
Communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles/Orange County regions are most at risk, the study concluded.
The flooding and resulting exposure to contaminants would probably disproportionately impact the socially disadvantaged, who would be less likely to be able to evacuate by car and to return to rebuild their homes. They include people of color, the elderly, low income residents and people in linguistically isolated households, the study said.
“Flood induced contaminant releases are more likely to impact low income households and people of color because they are more likely to live near industrial and hazardous waste facilities,” the study reads. “Socially disadvantaged communities also have fewer resources to anticipate, mitigate, cope with,or recover from the effects of flooding.”
The study used local county and Census data to determine the flooding’s possible impact on California residents.
California isn’t the only state facing potentially damaging floods due to climate change. Florida has been experiencing a consistent sea level rise that is leading to more frequent flooding, even inland.
In the study, researchers suggest prioritizing environmental justice when it comes to policy and community planning.
A new study shows that climate change is causing more instability in jet streams and making wind speeds faster, with turbulence predicted to triple in frequency between 2050 and 2080. What do you think?
“I can’t wait to take this out on a flight attendant!”
Jeremy Coit, Herb Farmer
Police Officers Explain Why They Are Resigning En Masse
A doctor talks to a TB survivor at a clinic in Manilla,
Philippines. Credit: Getty Images for TB Alliance
by Ed Holt (bratislava)
Inter Press Service
BRATISLAVA, May 02 (IPS) – While there is no established causal relationship between climate change and tuberculosis (TB), studies have begun to highlight the potential impact its effects could have on the spread of the disease.
Undernutrition, HIV/AIDS, overcrowding, poverty, and diabetes have all been identified as TB risk factors that are worsened by climate change. Worryingly, many countries with high burdens of TB, including, for instance, drought-hit Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, and Peru, have suffered from the kind of extreme weather associated with a heating planet.
But despite vying with COVID-19 for the grim distinction of the world’s deadliest infectious disease, claiming 1.6 million lives in 2021, TB is not often talked about in connection with climate change, with the link often overlooked by policymakers.
TB experts say this must change as the climate crisis accelerates.
“The effects of climate change, such as its impact on migration, for instance, are getting attention. What we want to see is for that attention to also get drawn to its effects on TB,” Maria Beumont, Chief Medical Officer at TB Alliance, a global nonprofit organisation developing TB drugs, told IPS.
In recent years, disease experts and climatologists have sounded increasingly dire warnings about the potential impact of the climate crisis on the spread of lethal diseases.
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned of the health impacts of global heating, including an increase in the incidence of infectious diseases. Meanwhile, other research has shown how changes in climate have aggravated the risks of hundreds of infectious diseases worldwide.
But much of the discussion around that has focused on how higher temperatures and increased incidence of flooding and drought could drive more vector, food and water-borne diseases with diseases.
What has often been overlooked in these conversations, say Beumont and others, is how the effects of the climate crisis could worsen what is de facto a global TB pandemic.
Part of this is because of the nature of those effects in relation to TB.
“The potential impact of climate change is more indirect than with some other infectious diseases,” Dr Mohammed Yassin, Senior Disease Advisor, TB, at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, told IPS.
TB experts point to how more frequent and more devastating natural disasters linked to climate change, or simply places on the planet becoming too hot to be habitable, are leading to mass displacement, which can create ideal conditions for TB to spread.
“Mass displacement can lead to overcrowding and poor living conditions of those displaced. If some of those people already have symptoms of TB, there is a higher chance of it spreading. There would also be people living under stress, and facing malnutrition, which are factors adding to the potential for TB to spread,” said Yassin.
Displacement also raises issues with access to healthcare for the displaced, which can negatively affect the management of treatment for those with TB because patients need to take treatment daily. Interruption of treatment can leave them infectious for longer and at risk of developing drug-resistant TB, which in turn is much more difficult and expensive to treat.
But displacement would also impact the treatment of those with other conditions, such as HIV and AIDS and diabetes, which weaken immune systems and leave people more susceptible to TB.
Meanwhile, displaced people are likely to find themselves living in crowded areas where, in the absence of adequate screening and diagnostic procedures, TB could spread.
But displacement is far from the only problem. Both extreme droughts and flooding can impact food security, devastating crops and killing livestock and leading to malnutrition and undernutrition—known risk factors for TB.
The impact of extreme weather on health, particularly TB, is already being seen in some parts of the world.
Somalia is in the grip of severe drought following five consecutive failed rainy seasons—something which the UN has said has not been seen for four decades—with five million people facing acute food shortages and nearly two million children at risk of malnutrition, according to the UN.
TB is a major cause of death in Somalia, and late last year, with TB services largely non-existent in settlements for displaced persons, the Global Fund committed USD 1.9 million for food support for thousands of TB patients and outreach activities in settlements. Officials at the time emphasised the importance of such action to help reach the most vulnerable and stop TB from spreading.
Meanwhile, the devastating floods in Pakistan last year, which affected an estimated 33 million people, not only brought an immediate threat of diseases such as malaria and dengue but interrupted vital vaccination programmes, including TB.
“The impact of flooding on TB is usually seen sometime later, but it, of course, has an immediate impact in disrupting treatment which can lead to problems such as drug-resistant TB,” said Yassin.
TB experts are calling for governments and leaders within the TB community itself to begin paying more attention to the issue and start thinking about current TB programs and where changes need to be made to deal with these potential impacts.
Some groups, like TB Alliance, are looking to mitigate some of these impacts through treatment developments. The group recently developed a new TB treatment regimen, BPaL, with a much shorter treatment length and fewer of the sometimes very toxic side effects of previous regimens.
An oral-only regimen involving only a few pills a day, it has been widely praised by patients and experts for the relative ease with which it can be taken, notably in Ukraine, where it has recently been rolled out programmatically and used among the many millions displaced there because of the Russian invasion.
“What we are focusing on is trying to find solutions to make treatment safer and shorter, which would overcome some of the negative effects of climate change related to TB, for instance, displacement, as there would be less chance of treatment interruption with shorter treatment,” said Beumont.
A doctor studies x-rays of a TB survivor at a clinic in Kyiv, Ukraine. Credit: Getty Images for TB Alliance
Yassin said that investment in health systems, especially in low-income countries which have some of the world’s highest TB burdens and where healthcare is already under-resourced, is also crucial.
“We learnt from Covid that health systems can’t cope with a pandemic, and TB is actually a pandemic. It is very important for countries to think about strengthening their health systems and making them more resilient. There needs to be investment now to prepare the systems for a pandemic, including climate change-driven TB,” said Yassin.
“There was a collapse of some healthcare systems during Covid, and because of that, all resources in some countries went to dealing with that, and TB was forgotten, and the TB burden of those countries rose. We need to invest now, not wait for another pandemic. We need more resources,” he added.
Meanwhile, others say that alongside these measures, individual, non-climate-specific interventions could help.
Dr Krishnan Rajendran of the ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT) in India, which has the highest burden of TB in the world according to the World Health Organisation, told IPS that lessons learnt from the Covid pandemic could be used to reduce TB spread.
“National and local authorities could take preventive measures, such as at least encouraging people to wear masks in seasons where TB incidence is high,” he said.
Whatever efforts are made to deal with the impact of climate change on the disease, they need to be made soon, said Yassin.
“We shouldn’t wait for climate change impacts before we act—we should do something now and deal with TB to prevent more deaths and disabilities,” he said.
Dutch government plans to drastically cut emissions of nitrogen pollution have cleared a key hurdle
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch government plans to drastically cut emissions of nitrogen pollution cleared a key hurdle Tuesday when the European Union’s executive arm gave the green light to farm buyout schemes worth nearly 1.5 billion euros ($1.65 billion).
The plans to reduce nitrogen deposits — mainly by livestock farms — on EU-designated areas of vulnerable nature have sparked heated debate and widespread protests by angry farmers in this small nation that is a major producer and exporter of farm products. Dutch agricultural exports were worth 122.3 billion euros last year, according to the national statistics office.
The Dutch ruling coalition wants to cut emissions of pollutants, predominantly nitrogen oxide and ammonia, by 50% nationwide by 2030. It was not immediately clear how much of that target could be met using the EU-approved funds.
Nitrogen pollution makes climate change worse and can harm biodiversity, according to the UN Environment Program.
A key part of the Dutch strategy involves buying up and halting work at farms responsible for large-scale emissions of nitrogen. However, that required confirmation from the European Commission that the buyouts do not amount to state aid that is banned under EU rules.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, said in a statement that the two schemes approved would clear the way for the “voluntary closure” of farms responsible for major nitrogen emissions.
“The schemes will improve the environment conditions in those areas and will promote a more sustainable and environmentally friendly production in the livestock sector, without unduly distorting competition,” she said.
The Dutch government had no immediate reaction. The minister responsible is expected to inform lawmakers about the decision later Tuesday.
A pro-agriculture political party won Dutch provincial elections in March, underscoring the depth of discontent among farmers and other sections of society that has been fueled by the nitrogen reduction plans. The Dutch central government has tasked provincial legislatures with formulating and implementing exact proposals to reduce nitrogen emissions.
Farmers have held several large demonstrations, blocking highways and supermarket warehouses last year to protest the reforms that they cast as an existential threat to their way of life.
The demonstrations have also spread to neighboring Belgium, where hundreds of farmers drove their tractors into downtown Brussels last month to protest plans to cut nitrogen pollution.
Carbon dioxide is captured from the air and buried underground as part of groundbreaking new technology to slow climate change. Bill Whitaker met with teams making it happen in Iceland.
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Last month the world’s top climate scientists delivered a sobering warning. Their mammoth report to the UN boiled down to one message: act now, before the climate breakdown becomes unstoppable. The report says extreme weather has forced millions of people from their homes and devastated food supplies. Oil and gas emissions are at a record high. The UN report calls for drastic cuts in fossil fuels. But if our old technologies got us into this mess, can new ones get us out? Among politicians, corporations and billionaires, one new technology is gaining traction. It’s called direct air capture that vacuums carbon dioxide out of thin air and locks it away underground. Sound like science fiction? We thought so too until we went to Iceland to see the world’s first commercial Direct Air Capture plant in operation.
Here on a frigid plain near the Arctic Circle, worries about an overheating planet seem far away. Yet tiny Iceland has put itself on the front line, with a new kind of machine that will fight climate change by sucking carbon dioxide out of the air. This is ORCA — the first commercial direct air capture plant on earth.
Bill Whitaker: What are these fans? How does this work?
Carlos Haertel: Here you see the back side of these collectors where the air is being pulled through the system by aid of these fans.
Carlos Haertel is chief technology officer for Climeworks, the Swiss company that built ORCA. He told us, as the fans draw air in, the carbon dioxide is trapped by a special filter inside these giant collectors—each the size of a shipping container. The captured CO2 is then siphoned off to storage tanks. We had to shout over the powerful fans as a bitter wind whipped around us.
Direct air capture vacuums carbon dioxide out of thin air and locks it away underground.
60 Minutes
Bill Whitaker: So you didn’t come for this wonderful weather?
Carlos Haertel: No, we did not. We knew that the winters were harsh, but it’s a good real-life test as well for the plant.
Bill Whitaker: What you’re describing almost sounds like science fiction, but what you’re saying is that we can actually do this?
Carolos Haertel: People never doubted the fundamental physics or chemistry of it. But realizing it under real-life conditions is a whole different matter. And that’s what this system shows. It can be done.
Climeworks is now building a new plant in Iceland 10 times the size of ORCA that will look like this—a modular design that Haertel told us can be easily assembled. But capturing the CO2 is only half of the story.
Sandra Osk: So this is where the magic happens.
The second half starts here in these metal igloos, where the CO2 is sent to be buried in the porous volcanic rock of iceland.
Sandra Osk: So this pipe is actually filled with water.
Sandra Osk is a geologist with Carbfix, an Icelandic company that pioneered the ground-breaking injection method.
Sandra Osk: Here we have the CO2 and the CO2 is actually dissolved in water. So, it’s actually just fizzy water.
Bill Whitaker: Just fizzy water?
Sandra Osk: Yeah and this fizzy water is being injected here into the injection well. This is–
Bill Whitaker: How far down does it go?
Sandra Osk: It actually reaches over a mile down.
Bill Whitaker: A mile down?
Sandra Osk: Yeah.
The fizzy water is shot like a soda stream into Iceland’s basaltic rock, where it reacts with the minerals and hardens to stone in less than two years.
Bill Whitaker: So the fizzy water turns into this?
Sandra Osk: Yes.
Bill Whitaker: In just a matter of years?
Sandra Osk and Bill Whitaker
60 Minutes
Sandra Osk: So you—so you take this gas that you can’t see, we turn it into fizzy water and then it turns to stone and you don’t have to worry about it.
Bill Whitaker: Turned into stone. That’s quite amazing.
Carbfix didn’t invent the process. Nature did. But nature takes millenia. After years of experimenting in Iceland’s grueling outdoor laboratory, Carbfix figured out how to speed things up. Aerospace engineer Carlos Haertel told us ORCA was a milestone. Now, the hard part starts: scaling up fast enough to slow climate change.
Carlos Haertel: Whether we are taking the right direction will depend as much on societal things than on technical matters. Am I optimistic as an engineer? I am, absolutely. Am I optimistic as a citizen? Maybe half-half. I haven’t made up my mind yet.
Bill Whitaker: This goal can be reached technically. It’s just whether we have the political and social will to do it.
Carlos Haertel: I think that’s the exact right way of looking at it.
There’s been a stampede of investment. Microsoft, Airbus, insurance giant Swiss Re, have poured in millions of dollars, but it’s a stupefying challenge. ORCA is built to take out the emissions of about 800 cars—or 4,000 tons of CO2 a year—a tiny fraction of the annual 1- billion tons scientists say we need to remove from the atmosphere.
Kari Helgason: It’s the problem of our generation. It’s like a moon shot.
Kari Helgason is an astrophysicist with Carbfix. He told us studying space helped him to think big. We met him on a barren stretch of rock that could have been Mars but Helgason told us he saw potential.
Kari Helgason: We need big solutions. We need to return the carbon back to where it came from, which is the Earth.
Bill Whitaker: Tell me what you’re doing here?
Kari Helgason: This will be a first of a kind carbon mineral storage terminal, which means that we are going to bring in CO2, transport it from industrial point sources in Europe, and ship it here, and inject it for full mineral storage.
It will be the world’s first industrial-scale underground disposal site for CO2, capable of handling 3 million tons a year. Helgason sketched out a new world where tankers—running on green methanol—would transport carbon dioxide from European businesses to Iceland.
Bill Whitaker: Is this going to happen fast enough to help us with climate change?
Kari Helgason of Carbfix speaks with Bill Whitaker
60 Minutes
Kari Helgason: I don’t know. To be perfectly honest um, we are demonstrating the first mineral storage hub here at the megaton scale. Whether that will happen in time, that is not entirely up to us. That is up to politicians, governance, financiers, societies and quite frankly, we are running out of time.
Direct air capture as it now exists is expensive and energy-intensive. In Iceland, that energy is geothermal—renewable and green. That’s not the case elsewhere. So, governments in Europe and the U.S. have dangled billions of dollars of tax breaks to encourage companies to take the plunge. But there’s a bigger question than just who writes the check.
Bill Whitaker: Do you fear that people will think “oh well, we can now clean the air. We can just take the CO2 out of the air, so we can carry on with business as usual?”
Kari Helgason: All the time, yeah. But that’s not how it works. We must stop the emissions and wean ourselves off of fossil fuels. That’s what we need to do right now. On top of that, we also must take down the carbon that we’ve already put up in the atmosphere. Only then will we reach our climate goals. So, can never be an excuse for continuing business as usual.
But it’s that “business as usual” that critics are warning against, as direct air capture expands to the U.S. That’s because here, oil companies are one of the technology’s biggest boosters. They have been capturing CO2 to inject into oil wells for decades. Not to bury it, but to flush out more oil. For Kari Helgason of Carbfix—and many others— that’s a non-starter.
Kari Helgason: We don’t see the need to work with the oil and gas sector.
Bill Whitaker: Well, if the oil and gas industry could help with the financing of the direct air capture, why not team up with them?
Kari Helgason: We don’t need them for direct air capture. And quite frankly, we don’t want there to be an oil and gas industry in 40, 50 years.
Vicki Hollub: There will still be an oil industry in 50 years. I have no doubt about that. I think our company though will be a different company by 2050.
That company is Occidental Petroleum and Vicki Hollub is CEO. She wants to turn Oxy into what she calls a carbon management company. It has set aside more than a billion dollars to build what will be the world’s largest direct air capture plant in Texas.
Bill Whitaker and Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub
60 Minutes
Vicki Hollub: So this would represent the CO2 that’s equivalent to taking 200,000 cars off the road.
Hollub showed us the Texas version of how CO2 would be sucked out of the air.
Vicki Hollub: These are air contact towers…
Some of the captured CO2 will be locked away underground—just as we saw in Iceland. Some will still be used to extract more oil. But Hollub told us using carbon sucked out of the air, means the new oil produced is what she calls carbon neutral. That was hard to wrap our heads around.
Bill Whitaker: But you’ll be using carbon that you’re capturing and taking out of the air, to produce more oil that will then generate more carbon?
Vicki Hollub: But the, the oil will emit less carbon than the CO2 we’ve injected to get it. So we’ve put more—at least the equivalent—and sometimes more CO2 in the ground to get that oil than the oil will emit when used.
Hollub told us producing oil this way is essential in the transition to a green economy. Airlines and ships, for example, would need to run on fossil fuels until a sustainable alternative is found. That could take years. Until then, Hollub argues, using CO2 to get that oil helps keep a lid on emissions.
Bill Whitaker: Your critics will say “you can’t trust an oil company talking about reducing CO2,” that your mission here is tantamount to greenwashing.
Vicki Hollub: I would first say that we would never spend $1.2 billion for greenwashing. So we’ve got a monumental task ahead of us. The way that the CO2 enhanced oil recovery process works is that we can reduce more outta the atmosphere than what our products will emit when used. And so, if that’s not a concept that people can get, then we—we will no—we will not have a chance to achieve what we need to achieve.
Hollub told us she knows critics of big oil are suspicious and that many feel industry isn’t moving fast enough to avoid a climate catastrophe. On that point, Hollub doesn’t disagree. She told us, with the help of tax incentives, Occidental plans to build 130 more direct air capture plants by 2035.
Vicki Hollub: We know how to make it happen. We know how to drill the wells. We know how to safely sequester it.
Bill Whitaker: We were in Iceland and we were talking to some of the direct air capture companies. And to be blunt, they don’t quite believe you.
Vicki Hollub: We’re gonna walk the talk. That’s the only way that does it. Words will never convince anybody. We need to get the direct air capture up and working. We need to um make it better, make it more economical and start having it developed all around the world.
The next decade will be critical if the direct air capture industry is to grow big enough to make an impact. Both Carbfix and Climeworks told us they will be expanding to the U.S. Neither plans to work with the American oil industry.
Produced by Heather Abbott. Associate producer, LaCrai Mitchell. Edited by Patrick Lee.
“There is no doubting the importance of the current foundations for the sustainability, from environmental protection to the fight against climate change, and green lifestyles. In the foreseeable future, upholding all these principles will be fundamental if humanity is to thrive.
To continue to grow, one must get out of the cradle, and it’s the same with the humanity. To achieve a genuinely sustainable future, we must go beyond the Earth, our cradle. Otherwise, what Arthur C. Clarke wrote in 2001: A Space Odyssey may come true: ‘In the midst of plenty, they were slowly starving to death’.
UN News
Chinese Sci-fi author Liu Cixin talks to UN headquarters remotely to initiate the celebrations for Chinese Language Day.
The modernization of all societies will need far more resources than our planet can provide, and this makes development a threat. But we could find whatever we need to survive and develop on the eight planets and asteroid belt of our Solar System, including water, metal, organics, and fuels for nuclear fusion; If the Earth is able to feed 100 billion people in total, then the resources in the Solar System could support the population of 100,000 Earths.
However, whether we hold on to Earth or dive into the universe, sustainable development needs the non-stop progress of science and technology, but the signs are not that promising.
Science fiction authors thought that 2023 would see magnificent space cities are moving on the geosynchronous orbits, with the Moon a suburb of Earth; cities on Mars, with millions of people living there; massive mining operations in the asteroid belt and even over the ice-covered seas of Jupiter and beyond the orbit of Neptune; and human beings exploring new worlds.
Unsplash/Markus Spiske
Information technology has ‘leapt forward’ over the past 30 years.
The only area where the reality of 2023 matches the imagination of science fiction is in the development of information technology. In the past 30 years, information technology has leapt forward far faster than other technologies and has penetrated all aspects of human society to revolutionize people’s life.
Nevertheless, this conceals the slow progress of other scientific and technological fields, creating an illusion of rapid technological progress in an all-round way. If the technological progress brought by scientific development is regarded as a big tree, then the most accessible fruits on the tree have been picked up today.
To get to a truly sustainable future, we need a greater spirit of pioneering and entrepreneurship. The international community needs a longer-term development plan, as well as full attention to, and investment in, basic research and technological innovation. Many undertakings in this area may only be accomplished with large-scale international cooperations, and the United Nations can undoubtedly play an important role in it.
Yet, the international community still suffers from division and confrontations, even when all mankind is facing common challenges. A conventional disaster occurs locally, and other parts of the world can offer help; but a doomsday crisis puts the entire world on the brink of destruction, and no one will come to rescue us.
But once the entire global society faces the doomsday crisis in science fiction, I think human beings will still come together to respond to the crisis). Collectively, we have the ability to self-regulate, in the way that we interact with nature.”
Liu Cixin was speaking at the UN as part of the Chinese Language Day celebrations on 20 April. You can watch the full event here
Cars, trucks, SUVs, and other vehicles drive in traffic on the 405 freeway through the Sepulveda Pass in Los Angeles, California, on August 25, 2022.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
California regulators on Friday voted to ban the sale of new diesel big rigs by 2036 and require all trucks to be zero-emissions by 2042, a decision that puts the state at the forefront of mitigating national tailpipe pollution.
The California Air Resources Board unanimously approved the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, the state’s second zero-emissions trucks rule and first in the world to require new commercial trucks, including garbage trucks, delivery trucks and other medium and heavy-duty vehicles, to be electric.
Supporters of the rule say it will improve public health in marginalized communities that have endured polluted air while mitigating the effects of climate change. The mandate is estimated to deliver $26.5 billion in public health benefits in California in avoided health impacts and deaths due to diesel pollution.
Heavy-duty trucks represent nearly one third of the state’s nitrogen oxide and more than one quarter of its fine particle pollution from diesel fuel, according to the California Air Resources Board While medium and heavy-duty trucks are just 10% of the vehicles on the country’s roads, they emit 25% of the greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit.
“Frontline communities across California who breathe in deadly diesel pollution every day can finally get some relief with the Advanced Clean Fleets rule,” said Andrea Vidaurre, senior policy analyst for the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice. “There is no acceptable level of exposure to deadly diesel pollution — so it has got to go, for the sake of our health and our lungs.”
Some of the country’s major truck manufacturersand their lobbying groups have strongly opposed the regulations, arguing that requirements are costly as electric models are more expensive than diesel trucks. Large trucks are more expensive to convert to electric models than smaller vehicles due to their size and weight.
The trucking industry has also said that the deadlines are unrealistic given the lack of EV charging infrastructure and available space at ports.
The mandate would require companies that operate 50 or more trucks to convert their fleets into electric or hydrogen models and achieve zero-emissions by 2042.
The earliest deadline is for drayage trucks, which carry cargo to and from major ports, which must be converted to electric models by 2035, while new sales starting in 2024 must be zero-emissions. Vehicles like garbage trucks and school buses must be zero-emissions by 2027.
California had sought waivers from the Clean Air Act to set stricter standards than the federal government for heavy-duty vehicles. The state’s stricter tailpipe emissions rules will have broader effects beyond California — which has significant authority over the U.S. auto industry — and could pave the way for other states to follow suit.
For instance, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Colorado have already adopted the California’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule.
The state has committed to achieving 100% renewable energy by 2045. Last year, it banned the sale of new gasoline-powered cars starting in 2035. Today’s mandate also comes a day after the state adopted a historic rule to limit emissions from diesel-powered trains.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) railed against climate change mitigation programs in Congress Wednesday, not merely because she doesn’t believe in man-made climate change — but because people during the ice age didn’t have to pay taxes to combat it.
“People are not affecting climate change,” said Greene. “You’re not going to tell me that back in the ice age, how much taxes did people pay, and how many changes did governments make to melt the ice? The climate is going to continue to change.”
She continued, “And there is no reason to just open up our borders and allow everyone in and continue to funnel over $50 billion or however many billions of dollars or trillions of dollars to foreign countries all over the world simply because they don’t like the climate change.”
Greene reportedly expounded on her beliefs at a town hall in Murray County, Georgia.
“How much taxes and how much money did the people back in the ice age spend to warm up the Earth?” Greene asked. “Maybe, perhaps, we live on a ball that rotates around the sun, that flies through the universe, and maybe our climate just changes.”
Greene directly denied man-made climate change and said “maybe our climate just changes.”
J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press
Unlike Greene, millions of scientists studying the climate have long agreed that people directly impact global carbon emissions and related temperature increases worldwide. NASA reported that 97% of “actively publishing climate scientists” agree.
“I’ll tell you what the New Deal and our new infrastructure plan will do,” said Greene. “It’s going to bring us down to net zero carbon emissions, right? So we’ve got to stop using oil and coal, right? Because that makes a lot of sense to a little girl named AOC from New York.”
Palau’s Marine Spatial Plan will provide a framework for managing ocean and coastal resources. Credit: SPC
by Busani Bafana (bulawayo)
Inter Press Service
BULAWAYO, Apr 28 (IPS) – Growing up in Palau in the western Pacific Ocean, Surangel Whipps Jr. played on the reefs and spearfished on an island teeming with birds, giant clams, fish, and turtles.
Today that has all changed as a result of growing sea level rise. Half of the turtle eggs nesting on beaches are not surviving because they are laid in the tidal zone and swallowed by the sea.
During the United Nations Ocean Conference in Portugal in June 2022, Whipps Jr., the President of Palau, emphasized the interconnectedness of the fate of the turtles, their homes, culture, and people, drawing global attention to the dire impact of climate change on this island nation that relies heavily on the ocean for its livelihood.
Protecting Palau’s Marine Treasures
The Pacific Ocean is the lifeblood of Palau, supporting its social, cultural, and economic development. Palau is an archipelago of over 576 islands in the western tropical Pacific Ocean. Its rich marine biota includes approximately 400 species of hard corals, 300 species of soft corals, 1400 species of reef fishes, and the world’s most isolated colony of dugongs and Micronesia’s only saltwater crocodiles.
Worried that the island would have no future under the sea, Palau has launched an ambitious Marine Spatial Plan (MSP) initiative for its marine ecosystems that are vulnerable to climate change and impacted by human activities such as tourism, fishing, aquaculture, and shipping. It will provide a framework for managing ocean and coastal resources in a way that balances economic, social, and environmental objectives. It also aims to minimize conflicts between different users of the ocean and coastal areas and promotes their sustainable use.
Marino-O-Te-Au Wichman, a fisheries scientist with the Pacific Community (SPC) and a member of the Palau MSP Steering Committee, explains that the initiative is particularly important for Palau due to the country’s dependence on the marine ecosystem for food security, livelihoods, and cultural identity.
“We recognize the critical role that MSP plays in the development of maritime sectors with high potential for sustaining jobs and economic growth,” Wichman said, emphasizing that SPC was committed to supporting country-driven MSP processes with the best scientific advice and capacity development support.
“The MSP can help balance ecological and economic considerations in the management of marine resources, ensuring that these resources are used in a sustainable way. Some of the key ecological considerations that MSP can help address include the conservation of biodiversity, restoration of habitats, and the management of invasive species. While on the economic front, MSP can help promote the sustainable use of marine resources: and promote low-impact economic activities such as ecotourism,” Wichman observed.
Climate Informed Decision Making
As climate change continues to impact ocean conditions, the redistribution of marine ecosystem services and benefits will affect maritime activities and societal value chains. Mainstreaming climate change into MSP can improve preparedness and response while also reducing the vulnerability of marine ecosystems.
Palau’s rich marine biota includes approximately 400 species of hard corals, 300 species of soft corals, 1400 species of reef fishes, and the world’s most isolated colony of dugongs and Micronesia’s only saltwater crocodiles. Credit: SPC
“MSP can inform policy making in Pacific Island countries in several ways to support sustainable development, particularly in the face of climate change impacts. The MSP initiative launched by Palau encompasses a Climate Resilient Marine Spatial Planning project that is grounded in the most reliable scientific data, including climate change scenarios and climate risk models,” said Wichman, noting that the plan can help identify areas that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise, ocean acidification, movement of key tuna stocks and increased storm intensity.
Increasing the knowledge base on the impacts of a changing climate is necessary for policymakers to ensure the protection of ecologically important areas and the implementation of sustainable development strategies. This includes building strong evidence that takes into account the potential spatial relocation of uses in MSP, the knowledge of conservation priority species and keystone ecosystem components, and their inclusion in sectoral analyses to promote sustainability and resilience.
Although progress has been made in understanding the impacts of climate change and its effects on marine ecosystems, there is still a need for thorough scientific research to guide management decisions.
“At SPC, we are dedicated to supporting countries in advancing their knowledge of ocean science. Our joint efforts have paid off, as Palau has made significant strides in improving their understanding of the ocean and safeguarding its well-being. Through the Pacific Community Centre for Ocean Science (PCCOS), Palau and other Pacific countries are given support to continue promoting predictive and sustainable ocean practices in the region,” explained Pierre-Yves Charpentier, Project Management Advisor for the Pacific Community Centre for Ocean Science.
A Long-Term Commitment To Protect the Ocean
In 2015, Palau voted to establish the Palau National Marine Sanctuary, one of the world’s largest marine protected areas, with a planned five-year phase-in. On January 1, 2020, Palau fully protected 80% of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), prohibiting all forms of extractive activities, including mining and all types of fishing.
A Palauan legend is told of a fisherman from the village of Ngerchemai. One day the fisherman went out fishing in his canoe and came upon a large turtle and hastily jumped into the water after it. Surfacing for a breath, the fisherman realized his canoe wasn’t anchored and was drifting away. He then looked at the turtle, and it was swimming away. He could not decide which one he should pursue. In doing so, he lost both the canoe and the turtle.
Unlike the fisherman, Palau cannot afford to be indecisive about protecting its marine treasures, Whipps Jr. said: “Ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development is our collective responsibility.”
The replanting of palm oil plants aimed at producing better trees through good agricultural practices. The UNDP’s Good Growth Partnership (GGP) in Indonesia included several projects under one umbrella. Credit: ILO/Fauzan Azhima
by Cecilia Russell (johannesburg)
Inter Press Service
JOHANNESBURG, Apr 27 (IPS) – Smallholder farmers are critical to the success of Indonesia’s efforts to address deforestation and climate change. Creating an understanding and supporting this group, internally and abroad, is a crucial objective for those working towards reducing deforestation and promoting good farming practices, especially as smallholders often work hand-to-mouth and are vulnerable to perpetuating unsustainable farming practices.
Musim Mas, a large palm oil corporation involved in sustainable production, says smallholders “hold approximately 40 percent of Indonesia’s oil palm plantations and are a significant group in the palm oil supply chain. This represents 4.2 million hectares in Indonesia, roughly the size of Denmark. According to the Palm Oil Agribusiness Strategic Policy Initiative (PASPI), smallholders are set to manage 60 percent of Indonesia’s oil palm plantations by 2030.”
Since last year a new World Bank-led programme, the Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration (FOLUR), incorporates the United Nations Development Programme Good Growth Partnership (GGP). It will continue to be involved in the success of palm oil production and smallholders’ support—crucial, especially as a study showed that the “sector lifted around 2.6 million rural Indonesians from poverty this century,” with knock-on development successes including improved rural infrastructure.
Over the past five years, GGP conducted focused training with about 3,000 smallholder farmers, says UNDP’s GGP Global Project Manager, Pascale Bonzom:
“The idea was to pilot some public-private partnerships for training, new ways of getting the producers to adopt these agricultural practices so that we could learn from these pilots and scale them up through farmer support system strategies,” Bonzom says.
Farmer organizations speaking to IPS explained how they, too, support smallholder farmers.
Amanah, an independent smallholder association of about 500 independent smallholders in Ukui, Riau province, was the first group to receive Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification as part of a joint programme, right before the start of GGP, between the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture, UNDP, and Asian Agri. This followed training in good agricultural practices, land mapping, high carbon stock (HCS), and high conservation value (HCV) methodologies to identify forest areas for protection.
“The majority of independent smallholders in Indonesia do not have the capacity to implement best practices in the palm oil field. Consequently, it is important to provide assistance and training on good agricultural practices in the field on a regular and ongoing basis,” Amanah commented, adding that the training included preparing land for planting sustainably and using certified seeds, fertilizer, and good harvesting practices.
A producer organization, SPKS, said it was working with farmers to implement sustainable practices. It established a smallholders’ database and assisted them with ISPO and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certifications.
Jointly with High Conservation Value Resource Network (HCVRN), it created a toolkit for independent smallholders on zero deforestation. This has already been implemented in four villages in two districts.
“At this stage, SPKS and HCVRN are designing benefits and incentives for independent smallholders who already protect their forest area (along) with the indigenous people,” SPKS said, adding that it expected that these initiatives could be used and adopted by those facing EU regulations.
SPKS sees the new EU deforestation legislation as a concern and an opportunity, especially as the union has shown a commitment to supporting independent small farmers—including financial support to prepare for readiness to comply with the regulations, including geolocation, capacity building, and fair price mechanisms.
Amanah also pointed to the EU regulations, which incentivize independent smallholders to adhere to the certification process.
“As required by EU law, the EU is also tasked with implementing programs and assistance at the upstream level as well as serving as an incentive for independent smallholders who already adhere to the certification process. The independent smallholder will be encouraged by this incentive to use sustainable best practices. Financing may be used as an incentive. The independent smallholders will be encouraged by this incentive to use sustainable best practices,” the organization told IPS.
SPKS would like to see final EU regulations include a requirement for companies importing palm oil into the EU to guarantee a direct supply chain from at least 30 percent of independent smallholders based on a fair partnership.
“In the draft EU regulations, it is not yet clear whether the due diligence is based on deforestation-related risk-based analysis. Indonesia is often considered a country with a high deforestation rate, and palm oil is perceived to be a factor in deforestation. Considering this, we hope the EU will consider smallholder farmers by ensuring that EU regulations do not further burden them by issuing Technical Guidelines specifically designed for smallholder farmers.”
In April 2023, the European Parliament passed the law introducing rigorous, wide-ranging requirements on commodities such as palm oil. The UNDP is now researching how it should step up its assistance to producers to meet the criteria.
Setara Jambi, an organization dedicated to education and capacity building for oil palm smallholders for sustainable agricultural management, says that while they are concerned about the EU regulations, small farmers have “many limitations, which are different from companies that already have adequate institutions.
“This concern will not arise if there is a strong commitment from both government and companies (buyers of smallholder fresh fruit bunches) to assist smallholders in preparing and implementing sustainable palm oil management.”
The next five years with FOLUR will face significant challenges. There is a need to ensure that the National Action Plan moves to the next level because it is going to expire at the end of 2024. It will require updating and expanding.
Traceability and Deforestation
In Indonesia, there are 26 provinces and 225 districts that produce palm oil. And at the time of writing, eight provinces and nine districts have developed their own versions of the pilot Sustainable Palm Oil Action Plan and developed their own provincial or district-level Sustainable Palm Oil Action Plans.
There is a lot to do, including supporting the Indonesian government’s multi-stakeholder process, capacity building for the private sector, supporting an enabling environment for all, and working with financial institutions to make investment decisions aligned with deforestation commitments.
The biggest issue is to get the smallholder farmers on board. Because they live a life of survival, often they are vulnerable to “short-termism.”
On the positive side, the FOLUR initiative has the government’s backing. At the launch in Jakarta last year, Musdhalifah Machmud, Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, said that the implementation of the FOLUR Project was expected to be able to create a value chain sustainability model for rice, oil palm, coffee, and cocoa through sustainable land use and “comprehensively by paying attention to biodiversity conservation, climate change, restoration, and land degradation.”
At that launch workshop in Jakarta, the World Bank’s Christopher Brett, FOLUR co-leader, noted: “Healthy and sustainable value chains offer social benefits and generate profits without putting undue stress on the environment.”
Bonzom agrees: “At the end of the day, they (smallholders) will need to see the benefits—better market terms, better prices, better, more secure contracts—that’s what is attractive for them.”
Rhine River, Cologne,,Germany,10.08.2022. Credit: Shutterstock.
by Baher Kamal (madrid)
Inter Press Service
MADRID, Apr 25 (IPS) – Apologies to those Western politicians and media who continue to say that Ukraine’s brutal proxy war stands behind whatever catastrophes, disasters or crises occur in the Planet.
Is this accurate?
Scientific evidence confirms that, much earlier than that war, Europe, like many other regions, was already walking closer to the edge of extreme weather consequences.
Europe’s worst drought in 500 years?
“The drought episode that affected Europe in 2022 could well be the worst in 500 years,” reports Copernicus, the Earth observation component of the European Union’s Space programme which “looks at our planet and its environment to benefit all European citizens and offers information services.”
This European service further explains that the 2022 drought episode “is attributable to a severe and persistent lack of precipitation, combined with a sequence of repeated heat waves that have affected Europe from May to October.”
Put simply, the reported climate extremes in Europe are not the consequence of the Ukraine war, and they were already there many years earlier to when it started in February 2022.
Anyway, European citizens now hear the devastating impacts of climate extremes in their own rich continent, which is one of the major global contributors to the ongoing climate emergency.
Are climate emergencies just an impoverished regions’ problem?
So far, the severe impacts of climate extremes in Africa and other impoverished regions, would jump to the news every now and then, by showing short videos of errant human beings and deserts… before analysing in-depth the latest soccer games or reporting on the new friend of a reality-show star. And highway accidents or a fight between young gangs.
Western citizens are also used to hearing that the horrifying numbers of hungry people (more than one billion human beings), in particular in East Africa due to long years of record droughts, is either caused by the war in Ukraine or that their situation was exacerbated by it.
Now European citizens wake up to the upsetting fact that they also fall under the heavy impact of the steadily rising human, economic, and environmental toll of climate change.
How come those impacts are now becoming news?
A swift answer is that such climate extremes, heat waves, severe droughts, water and food production shortages have been causing increasing damage to private businesses, as well as to medium-to-small-size agriculture activities. In short, damaging their pockets.
– Weather- and climate-related hazards, such as temperature extremes, heavy precipitation and droughts, pose risks to human health and the environment and can lead to substantial economic losses.
— Between 1980 and 2021, weather- and climate-related extremes amounted to an estimated EUR 560 billion (2021 values).
– Hydrological events (floods) account for over 45% and meteorological events (storms including lightning and hail, together with mass movements) for almost one-third of the total.
– When it comes to climatological events, heat waves are responsible for over 13% of the total losses while the remaining +/-8% are caused by droughts, forest fires and cold waves.
– The most expensive hazards during the period 1980-2021 include the 2021 flooding in Germany and Belgium (almost EUR 50 billion), the 2002 flood in central Europe (over EUR 22 billion), the 2003 drought and heatwave across the EU (around EUR 16 billion), the 1999 storm Lothar in Western Europe and the 2000 flood in France and Italy (both over EUR 13 billion), all at 2021 values.
– A relatively small number of events is responsible for a large proportion of the economic losses: 5% of the weather- and climate-related events with the biggest losses is responsible for 57% of losses and 1% of the events cause 26% of losses (EEA’s own calculations based on the original dataset).
– This results in high variability from year to year and makes it difficult to identify trends. Nevertheless, the average annual (constant prices, 2021 euros) losses were around EUR 9.7 billion in 1981-1990, 11.2 billion in 1991-2000, 13.5 billion in 2001-2010 and 15.3 billion in 2011-2020.
– The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that climate-related extreme events will become more frequent and severe worldwide. This could affect multiple sectors and cause systemic failures across Europe, leading to greater economic losses.
– Only 30% of the total losses were insured, although this varied considerably among countries, from less than 2% in Hungary, Lithuania and Romania to over 75% in Slovenia and the Netherlands.
Also at the medium-to-micro level
Most medium-to-small agricultural cooperatives, unions and associations in those European countries more stricken by droughts, have been rising their public protests, demanding their governments to compensate them for the big losses of their harvests.
In the specific case of Spain, farmers’ unions and agri-food cooperatives report crop losses of up to two-thirds of the expected harvest.
Back to Copernicus
The “historical drought” affected Europe as evidenced by the Combined Drought Indicator of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service European Drought Observatory for the first ten-day period of September 2022.
On this, Copernicus reports the following findings:
– Heatwaves: 2022 was also characterised by intense, and in some areas prolonged, heatwaves which affected Europe and the rest of the world, breaking several surface air temperature records.
– As reported in the July 2022 Climate Bulletin published by the Copernicus Climate Change Service July 2022 was the sixth warmest July in Europe.
– Temperature anomalies reached peaks of +4ºC in Italy, France, and Spain.
According to the European Union’s Copernicus:
– The prolonged drought that has affected various parts of the globe together with the record temperatures were contributing forces that have certainly caused an increased wildfire risk, which peaked during the summer season both in Europe, in the Mediterranean region, and in the north-west of the United States.
– The Combined Drought Indicator (which is published by the European Drought Observatory as part of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service) reported that more than one-fourth of the EU territory was in “Alert” conditions in early September.
– Another extreme phenomenon of 2022 was the marine heatwave that affected the Mediterranean Sea in the summer of 2022.
European countries are highly dependent on the Mediterranean Sea for shipping goods, including oil tankers; tourism (one country – Spain receives more than 80 million tourists a year, double its total population); industrial fishing; refineries; harbours, and a long etcetera.
Stony Brook University will anchor the New York Climate Exchange on Governor’s Island in New York City. The announcement was made Monday by New York City Mayor Eric Adams and The Trust for Governors Island.
Simons Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies pledged $150 million in combined support for the Stony Brook University-led center. Billed as a “first of its kind,” the center will develop and deploy “dynamic solutions to our global climate crisis, while also acting as a hub for New Yorkers to benefit from the rapidly evolving green economy,” according to a news release from Stony Brook University.
“Today, here in the heart of New York Harbor, we are taking a giant leap toward a cleaner, greener, more prosperous future for every New Yorker with the ‘New York Climate Exchange,’” Adams said in a statement.
“This first-of-its-kind project will make New York City a global leader in developing solutions for climate change while creating thousands of good-paying green jobs for New Yorkers and infusing $1 billion into our city’s economy,” Adams said. “Where some people see challenges, New Yorkers see opportunities, and this team and this project are leading the charge.”
The center will bring together world leaders and climate experts, as well as serve as a green job-training center for New Yorkers who want to build careers in this field.
The center will also partner with other institutions, including the Pratt Institute, Pace University, New York University, the City University of New York, SUNY Maritime College, Brookhaven National Labs and IBM. Together they will aim to address the challenges surrounding climate change, “including research that becomes commercially viable and ideas that lead to immediate action on the local and global levels,” according to Stony Brook University.
“We are honored, excited, and proud to partner with the City of New York to build this historic center that will cement New York City as the world leader on climate change, the most pressing issue of our time,” Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis said in a statement.
“Up until now, the development of climate solutions has been siloed, with world leaders separate from expert scientists separate from the on-the-ground green workforce,” she added. “As an international leader on climate and as the leading public research institution in New York, Stony Brook University will bring stakeholders together from the academic, government and business communities to make the Climate Exchange the center of research, innovation, education and collaboration to address this global crisis.”
The Simons Foundation, together with Simons Foundation International, pledged a total of $100 million as matching gift support for The Exchange – the largest gift to date under Simons Foundation President David Spergel’s leadership and the second-largest in Stony Brook’s history.
“We are honored to partner with Stony Brook and The Exchange,” Simons Foundation President David Spergel said in a statement.
“Our partnership with Stony Brook goes back many years and together we’ve made great progress in both basic and health sciences,” he added. “This enduring relationship is a source of great pride for all of us at the Simons Foundation. Stony Brook has catapulted to the forefront of higher education through its remarkable strength as a research institution and its unequaled focus on equity and access. I cannot think of a more qualified institution to lead this historic fight against climate change — a fight that must be met with innovation, intellect and tenacity.”
Bloomberg Philanthropies donated $50 million to the project, as part of the philanthropy’s commitment to New York City, the fight against climate change, and improving higher education in New York and beyond.
“This great news is 22-years in the making,” Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg LP.
“As a candidate for mayor in 2001, I proposed transforming Governors Island into a park and university campus, and the next year Gov. Pataki and I worked with President Bush to return the island to city and state for $1,” he added.
That’s when, Bloomberg said, his administration “opened a public school on the island and began building an extraordinary public park, but over time it became clear that the city needed greater control of its development. In 2010, we worked with Governor Paterson to cede the island to the city, which allowed us to lay the foundation for fulfilling our original vision of a year-round destination with a university presence that would bring new life and jobs. Now, thanks to Mayor Adams’ leadership, that vision is being fulfilled through a groundbreaking partnership with Stony Brook University that holds so much potential, The New York Climate Exchange. Bloomberg Philanthropies is glad to join Jim and Marilyn Simons and others in supporting it, as part of our global efforts to help cities lead the way in tackling climate change. This is a great day for the island, for New York City’s future, and for the fight against climate change.”
“It is becoming clear year-after-year in New York, and around the world, that the impacts of climate change are real and are here,” Kevin Reed, associate dean for research and associate professor at Stony Brook’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, said in a statement.
“By partnering with communities, industries, governments, and universities, The Exchange will help to accelerate the implementation of urban solutions to these climate impacts through an interactive research ecosystem where community engagement is paramount,” Reed said. “As a climate scientist, I recognize that New Yorkers need solutions to the climate crisis now, and The Exchange will help to make that a reality.”
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in collaboration with MNLA, Buro Happold, and Langan Engineering conceived the design and operations of The Exchange. The center is intended to serve as a model for sustainability with a net zero center that complements the natural landscape of Governors Island and the urban landscape of New York City.
“It is a tremendous honor to design a new kind of campus: one that not only sets the stage for our post-carbon world, but also centers a compelling new public realm for all New Yorkers,” Colin Koop, SOM design partner, said in a statement.
“Our design embodies this stewardship by weaving sinuous mass timber pavilions through the rolling landscape of the park and reusing the historic building fabric of Governors Island,” Koop added. “Together, these spaces will cultivate advances in climate research and pilot new technologies that can be deployed across the city, and eventually the world. We look forward to working with the Governors Island Trust, Stony Brook University, and our team of design and engineering collaborators to bring this important project to life.”
The Exchange will include a 400,000-square-foot interactive “living laboratory” with green-designed building space, including research labs, classroom space, exhibits, greenhouses, mitigation technologies, and housing facilities.
Officials say it will include all-electric buildings for the entire campus with on-site solar electrical generation and battery storage meeting 100% of energy demand with net-positive capability to serve the local grid. And 100% of non-potable water demand will be met with rainwater or treated wastewater. In addition, 95% of waste will be diverted from landfills, making this one of the first sites in the U.S. to achieve true-zero waste certification. Also featured is a climate-resilient design including new buildings raised to 18 feet, with no basements and living shorelines. All new and renovated buildings will meet “Living Building Challenge” standards, and will be the first buildings in the city to achieve this certification.
A research and technology accelerator will serve to source and nurture ideas, projects, and new ventures that aim to the climate crisis.
The center will also include a citizens advisory council, composed of key local stakeholders to ensure that partners’ and neighbors’ voices are heard and amplified as it looks to jointly develop and implement new climate solutions, including those that affect low-income communities of color.
Stony Brook University formed international partnerships with academic partners outside of New York City, research foundations and social justice organizations to create The Exchange.
For these kinds of partnerships – locally and nationally – the potential for collaboration brings promise.
“Brookhaven Lab researchers have played key roles in designing and conducting landmark climate studies from the Arctic to the Amazon for the U.S. Department of Energy,” Brookhaven National Laboratory Interim Director Jack Anderson said in a statement. “We’re excited at the prospect of collaborating with other researchers through the New York Climate Exchange as part of this new, important initiative focused on developing the next generation of climate experts and creating equitable climate solutions.”
Saturday is Earth Day, which was first created in 1970 to increase awareness about environmental issues. Environmental activists are blaming the unusual weather patterns that are being seen globally on climate change. Elise Preston has more.
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As scientists work to blunt the impacts of climate change, a controversial method called geoengineering is being considered as a way to help cool the planet. Ben Tracy has more.
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Amid the many scenes from Mad Men that still linger in one’s mind, one of the oddest (at least to modern eyes) is the moment where the Drapers, on a rare family outing together, happily discard all their trash after a picnic. Taking place in season two, episode seven—entitled “The Gold Violin”—the year of this particular nonchalant act on the part of the Drapers is meant to be in 1962. A different world from the “Don’t Be A Litterbug” one that we know today. Considering that popular discourse loves to place all responsibility for the current climate crisis on baby boomers, this scene is especially topical. And yet, being that the chemicals and technologies we’ve come to know as categorically detrimental (e.g., pesticides, nuclear power, Teflon, etc.) were still new and deemed beacons of “progress” rather than implements of destruction that only corporations would benefit from in the long-run, maybe it’s unfair to blame boomer consumers who didn’t know any better at the outset.
In fact, so “uncouth” were they with regard to environmental etiquette that they needed a campaign to tell them not to litter. Thus, people such as Don (Jon Hamm), Betty (January Jones), Sally (Kiernan Shipka) and Bobby (played by Aaron Hart in the second season) tossing their trash onto the ground like it was nothing would not be out of the ordinary for the (lack of) social mores of the day. Complete with Don chucking his beer can into the distance like a football and Betty shaking out their trash-filled picnic blanket onto the grass without a second thought. It’s not as though there was a nearby garbage can handily available, after all. For these were in the days before there was much initiative on the part of the government to regulate its population “correctly” disposing of waste, with fines for littering coming later. While, on the one hand, it can be taken as a sign of “barbaric” Silent Generation and boomer comportment, on the other, it’s apparent they couldn’t see the full weight of the mounting effects of “modern convenience,” including the Santa Barbara oil spill (which would ultimately bring about the first Earth Day in 1970), until the end of the 1960s. According to environmental historian Adam Rome, “I think [the oil spill] was one of the ultimately most important in a series of accidents or problems that made people realize that a lot of the modern technologies that seemed miraculous…posed unprecedented risks to the health of the environment and ultimately to ourselves.”
These were risks that the corporation never wanted the average American consumer to take note of. Indeed, the real reason the Keep America Beautiful campaign was even started served as part of a deflection from the real issue: corporations needing the consumer to keep buying shit over and over again by building it not to last. Ergo, more waste from manufacturing and packaging. So of course there was bound to be more potential for littering.
Per Mother Jones’ Bradford Plumer, “Keep America Beautiful managed to shift the entire debate about America’s garbage problem. No longer was the focus on regulating production—for instance, requiring can and bottle makers to use refillable containers, which are vastly less profitable. Instead, the ‘litterbug’ became the real villain, and KAB supported fines and jail time for people who carelessly tossed out their trash, despite the fact that, clearly, ‘littering’ is a relatively tiny part of the garbage problem in this country (not to mention the resource damage and pollution that comes with manufacturing ever more junk in the first place). Environmental groups that worked with KAB early on didn’t realize what was happening until years later.” When the indoctrination had already taken hold anyway. Americans held themselves accountable for being pieces of shit while corporations and their head honchos kept laughing all the way to the bank as a result of the misdirection.
As for Mad Men’s creator, Matthew Weiner, born in 1965, he likely would have still been witnessing casual, cavalier littering in his own childhood. For it wasn’t until 1971 that the first vehemently guilt-tripping Keep America Beautiful ad came out—the one with the famous “crying Indian.” Preying on the germinal phenomenon of white guilt, the ad has been described as one of the greatest ever made. We’re talking Don Draper-level shit. Focused on a Native American (played by an Italian, obviously) canoeing through trash in what turns out to be oil rig-filled waters, a narrator says, “Some people have a deep, abiding respect for the natural beauty that was once this country.” At this instant, the Native American finds himself at the side of a highway as someone throws a bag of trash out their window that explodes open as it lands at his feet. Here the narrator concludes, “And some people don’t.” Read: and some oblivious white yuppie cunts like the Drapers don’t. To that point, it’s appropriate that Sally, in this particular picnic scene, asks her parents if they’re rich. Betty, ever the avoider of real topics, replies, “It’s not polite to talk about money.” Nor is it polite to throw trash wherever one pleases, but Betty and Don hadn’t yet gotten the literal (litter-al?) message. Along with the rest of their generation and the one that they had just begat.
At the end of the “crying Indian” PSA, it’s declared, “People start pollution. People can stop it.” Ironically, the “people” who actually could stop it—corporations (legally deemed people, in case you forgot)—are not held accountable in any way in such ads that place all responsibility on the individual a.k.a. consumer to “do their part.” And yet, trying to put all the onus on the consumer to “self-regulate” feels like a small drop in an oil spill-filled ocean of what could actually be done if corporations weren’t a bottomless pit of profit-seeking.
While this moment of littering in “The Gold Violin” is an accurate re-creation of what would have gone down in 1962 after a picnic, it’s also a larger statement from Weiner (who co-wrote the episode) about the false veneer of perfection that existed in those days in general and in the lives of Mad Men’s characters in particular. Because, beneath the surface, it was all a steaming garbage heap waiting to spew forth. For example, although Don has just bought a shiny new convertible to match his shiny new success at the agency, the bubbling up of consequences resulting from his latest affair with Bobbie Barrett (Melinda McGraw) is about to explode his marriage as he once knew it. Elsewhere, Sal (Bryan Batt) invites Ken (Aaron Staton) over to his apartment for dinner, where his wife, Kitty (Sarah Drew), is made to feel like the third wheel—giving her that evermore uneasy sense about Sal that doesn’t crystallize until episode two of season three, when he does his Ann-Margaret in Bye Bye Birdie impression for her. Then there’s Bert Cooper’s (Robert Morse) acquisition of one of Rothko’s signature “red square” paintings. Prompting Ken, Jane (Peyton List), Harry (Rich Sommer) and Sal to enter his office without permission while he’s away so that they can view it. Although Sal, as “an artist,” claims that it “has to” mean something, Ken counters, “I don’t think it’s supposed to be explained… Maybe you’re just supposed to experience it.”
This idea that existence is dominated by total chaos as opposed to some “deeper meaning” would come to define the 1960s and beyond. Even as corporations did their best to insist that all chaos—especially of the environmentally-related variety—was simply the result of poor individual “manners” and “self-control.”
Dr. Calvin advises NASA leadership on its science programmes and related strategic planning and investments. Also serving as its senior climate advisor, she provides insights and recommendations for related science, technology, and infrastructure projects for climate action, from developing a new instrument to track pollution hourly to launching a water-tracking satellite.
“Space exploration is inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers that can help tackle challenges on Earth or in space.
With respect to climate, we’ve learned a lot about what happens on Earth by studying what happens on other planets. We learn about the ozone effect and greenhouse gas effect by studying Venus, and we can apply that to our understanding here on Earth.
Galactic science for use on Earth
There’s a ton we can learn both about other planetary bodies which can treach us a lot about what is going on here on Earth.
Space also provides the opportunity for technology and innovation. As we are living and working in space, we develop technologies that can help us here on Earth with sustainability issues.
Cosmic crops
There’s a lot of research on the International Space Station (ISS) that has applications here on Earth. There’s water processing – we reprocess the water we use on the ISS – and that technology has been used on Earth in places where we don’t have access to clean water.
We grow crops on the ISS, and the research we’ve done into LED lighting and fertilizer also has applications on Earth. We’ve worked on a fertilizer that directs nutrients at plant roots at the rate that they need it, which in space means less input; on Earth, less runoff into rivers and lakes.
Nutritious microgreens are grown at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.
Unique celestial perspective
There are so many great examples of how space has been important or could be in the future. Space offers us the opportunity to see the entire Earth, and so we can provide information that helps people understand how the climate is changing and [generate] ideas and inclusion and diversity of ideas to approach the different aspects of challenges.
We can observe trees, people, and land cover from space. People have used that information to understand how much carbon there is and where carbon is stored on land and how that changes over time.
I try to relate to what is going on where people are and talk about what science we know and what is on the horizon to help those decisions; like how the Earth is changing, how climate is changing, and this helps people adapt to changes where they live.
Space-based capabilities
We have space-based capabilities that can track wildfires as well as measure rising sea levels. Where fires are burning, we can look at emissions associated with fire, and that’s really important to people who live in affected communities.
Also, we’ve combined models, both produced by NASA and other organizations, to think about how sea levels might rise in the future.
The NASA SERVIR initiative works with local organizations on how they can use satellite information to face the challenges in their communities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
A NASA visualization shows water features on New York’s Long Island.
Interstellar inspiration
We also use space to inspire people. We have taken pictures of Earth from Apollo or from the recent Artemis mission, and you can see the little blue ball from far away.
On this Earth Day, let us cherish our planet and raise awareness about the role of space exploration and utilization in preserving its beauty.”
Returning to Florida to discuss climate change, Vice President Kamala Harris announced Friday that $562 million will be spent on 149 projects around the country aimed at improving resilience to threats such as rising seas and the kinds of coastal flooding that recently slammed the southeast part of the state.
Harris outlined the funding plan during an appearance at the University of Miami, where she also toured a lab immersed in coral restoration work and a hurricane simulator capable of generating Category 5-strength winds of more than 157 mph (253 kph).
Harris, who appeared in March at a Miami Beach climate summit, said the projects, which are spread across 30 states, are an example of how climate investments boost job creation and manufacturing while tackling a major environmental issue.
“When we invest in climate, we not only protect our environment, we also strengthen our economy,” Harris said in a tweet during her Miami visit.
The funding is part of what the Biden administration calls its Climate-Ready Coasts initiative. Of the $562 million total, about $477 million is to help towns and cities respond better to extreme weather events, restore wildlife coastal habitats and focus more attention on assistance for underserved communities in tackling climate and storm threats, according to a White House news release.
Florida would get about $78 million for projects ranging from oyster habitat restoration in Pensacola Bay to flood protection in Jacksonville to removal of 200,000 tires from Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico that were submerged decades ago as artificial reefs.
Harris toured the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Sciences — location of the hurricane simulator — where researchers have been studying the slowing down of ocean currents, building aquaculture to replenish and protect fisheries and examining how to repopulate dying coral reefs.
The vice president’s visit comes as Fort Lauderdale and its suburbs have been recovering from an April 12 deluge that dumped up to 2 feet (0.6 meters) of rain, flooding homes and businesses while forcing the closure of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and disrupting gas distribution operations at Port Everglades that led to vehicle fuel shortages for days afterwards across the southern part of Florida.
Climate scientists say these once-rare extreme rain events will occur more frequently as temperatures warm, made worse in coastal regions such as Florida due to sea level rise.
“These heavy rainfall events coupled with sea level rise on the Florida coast need to serve as significant ‘wake up calls’ for the residents of South Florida about the severe risks that climate change poses to them,” said University of Oklahoma meteorology professor Jason Furtado.
Harris’ quick trip to Miami came the same day as President Joe Biden signed an executive order that would create the White House Office of Environmental Justice. The goal is to ensure that poverty, race and ethnic status do not lead to worse exposure to pollution and environmental harm.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A commission that oversees how the Rio Grande is managed and shared among three Western states has adopted a recommendation that could set the stage for more involvement by Native American tribes that depend on the river.
The Rio Grande Compact Commission voted unanimously Friday during its annual meeting in Santa Fe to direct its legal and engineering advisers to look into developing protocols for formal discussions with six pueblos that border the river in central New Mexico.
Pueblo leaders have been seeking a seat at the table for years, saying their water rights have never been quantified despite an agreement made nearly a century ago between the U.S. Interior Department and an irrigation district to provide for irrigation and flood control for pueblo lands.
Isleta Pueblo Gov. Max Zuni told the commission that progress has been made over the last year after the Interior Department established a federal team to assess the feasibility of settling the pueblos’ claims to the river. He requested that commissioners extend an invitation to the pueblos to address the commission at its next annual meeting.
Zuni said any discussion of a water rights settlement with Isleta, Cochiti, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Santa Ana and Sandia pueblos would be of interest to the commission, which is made up of officials from Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. Each state is responsible for delivering a certain amount of water to downstream users each year.
While record snowpack in the mountains of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico is resulting in spring runoff not seen in years, commissioners acknowledged that future supplies remain uncertain as the region remains locked in a long-term drought.
For Isleta Pueblo, Zuni said the river is more than just a source of water for crops.
“We use it for traditional purposes,” he said. “I don’t know how we could quantify that amount of water but carrying on our traditions and our customs, our water is very essential to us. It is important to us, our livelihood. That river is very sacred.”
One of the longest rivers in North America, the Rio Grande supplies water for more than 6 million people and 2 million acres of land in the U.S. and Mexico.
There has been much disagreement over management over the decades, including one fight between New Mexico and Texas that is still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. The states have reached a proposed settlement, and commissioners at Friday’s meeting said they were hopeful a federal judge serving as special master will recommend approval of the agreement.
The commission’s engineers also presented accounting sheets for water deliveries based on a new accounting method that was approved last fall. That allowed the engineers to reconcile deliveries dating back to 2011 based on more timely streamflow and reservoir storage records and other data.
They say New Mexico still owes Texas about 93,000 acre feet of water. An acre foot is roughly enough to serve two to three U.S. households annually.
“We need that water,” said Bobby Skov, who represents Texas on the commission.
He also pointed to concerns his state has about evaporative losses in reservoirs along the Rio Grande, a proposed copper mine in New Mexico that he said could effect flows to the river and the build-up of sediment that is compromising reservoir storage capacities.
Mike Hamman, New Mexico’s state engineer and a member of the commission, noted that New Mexico marked its worst wildfire season on record in 2022 and that watersheds that feed the Rio Grande were damaged. That means there will be higher flows of ash and debris coming off the mountains and that runoff patterns will be altered for years to come.
Hamman said the Rio Grande system was designed over the last century to deal with flood control and the delivery of water downstream, but the pressures of climate change and the needs of endangered species have shifted the mission and complicated management.
He said it’s time to reevaluate how managers can balance demands on the Rio Grande.
“We can no longer afford to be micro-focused on our own interests,” he said. “This is one complete system. We need to manage it that way in order for us to survive as our water systems evolve here in the 21st century and that means some creativity and some work in Congress and work within our legislatures to make sure we can pull it off together.”
