‘Green News Report’ – August 2, 2018

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: 2017 shattered another global heat record; Firefighters begin to gain ground against deadly California wildfires; Global heat wave rages across Northern Hemisphere; PLUS: U.S. Supreme Court rules that climate kids will have their day in court… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Trump administration cites ‘safety’ to freeze mileage standard; Widespread disapproval greets Trump’s rollback of auto emissions and fuel efficiency standards; Warmer soil releasing more carbon, worsening climate change; Scientists discover degrading plastic pollution emits methane; New EPA chief makes clear, weakening environmental protections will continue; Canada looses carbon pollution restrictions for big polluters facing competition; Death Valley posts hottest month ever recorded on Earth, for the second July in a row; First big U.S. offshore wind farm offers $1.4 billion to customers… PLUS: An optimist’s guide to solving climate change and saving the world… and much, MUCH more! …

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…

• 2017 shattered another global heat record:
• 2017 State of the Climate: Highlights (Climate.gov)
• Last year was warmest ever that didn’t feature an El Niño, report finds (Guardian UK):
  tate of the climate report found 2017 was the third warmest with a record high sea level and destructive coral bleaching.
• Another Year, Another Warning The Earth Is Screwed (Huffington Post):
  The planet bombed its “annual physical” with another year of record heat and rising seas…NOAA climatologist and lead report author Deke Arndt said the report showed we have entered “a new neighborhood in terms of global temperature.”
• Grim report card for planet ranks 2017 one of hottest years in recorded history (CNN):
  It follows a string of record hot years in 2014, 2015 and 2016 — and while 2017 did not provide a fourth consecutive record, it was the hottest non-El Niño year seen.
• 2018 is on pace to be the 4th-hottest year on record (CNN)
• European heat wave made 2-5 times more likely due to global warming:
• Attribution of the 2018 heat in northern Europe (World Weather Attribution)
• Climate change made 2018 European heatwave up to ‘five times’ more likely (Carbon Brief)
• 2018’s global heat wave is so pervasive it’s surprising scientists (Axios):
  Daniel Swain, a climate researcher at UCLA, told Axios: “From my perspective as a climate scientist, one of the most striking (and disconcerting) aspects of this is that we’re now seeing decades-old scientific predictions being validated in the real world, right before our eyes.”
• Why is Europe going through a heatwave? (Guardian UK):
  Scientists say this ‘extreme’ weather in the northern hemisphere may soon be the norm…“The current hot and dry spell in the UK is partly due a combination of North Atlantic ocean temperatures, climate change and the weather,” said Len Shaffrey, a professor of climate science at the University of Reading.
• California: 17 major fires burning:
• Some residents start returning as Northern California fires keep raging (San Jose Mercury News):
  Some residents evacuated during a deadly fire that has charred more than 125,000 acres in Shasta County continued the process of returning to their neighborhoods Wednesday morning, while crews reached the halfway point of containment on one of two large fires burning in Mendocino and Lake counties.
• The Carr Fire, the 7th Most Destructive in California History, Rages On (NY Times)
• Why the Carr Fire in Northern California is so severe (Vox)
• California battling 17 large wildfires, spends one-fourth of annual fire budget in July (CNBC):
  At least eight deaths have been attributed to the fires, which have burned about 240,000 acres, or about 375 square miles.
• California fires rage, and Gov. Jerry Brown offers grim view of fiery future (LA Times)
• Evacuation orders can’t keep up as fires get faster — with deadly results (LA Times)
• How destructive wildfires create their own weather (Accuweather)
• Oregon Supreme Court upholds Portland’s right to limit fossil fuel infrastructure:
• Portland’s efforts to crack down on fossil fuels just won big (Climate Progress):
  Oregon’s Supreme Court has handed a major victory to Portland, upholding the city’s right to greatly restrict fossil fuel infrastructure. The measure has been a source of controversy and considerable back-and-forth over the past few years as business groups have sought to challenge the ordinance.
• Court Decision Means Portland Can Sharply Restrict Fossil Fuel Terminal Expansion (Portland Tribune)
• US Supreme Court rules 21 climate kids will have their day in court:
• Supreme Court refuses Trump administration’s request to have climate lawsuit thrown out (Climate Progress):
  The landmark lawsuit, which seeks to compel the government to preserve a clean atmosphere, argues that the government is violating its obligation to future generations by not doing so.
• U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Halt Teenagers’ Climate Lawsuit (Bloomberg):
  The justices’ order said the administration’s request was premature. The court added that breadth of the lawsuit’s claims was “striking” and the question of whether they can be decided by a court “presents substantial grounds for difference of opinion.” The justices said the trial judge should take those matters into account in considering whether to make a “prompt ruling” on other government efforts to end the lawsuit.
• Supreme Court Says Kids Can Sue Trump Over Climate Change (Mother Jones):
  Julia Olson, executive director and chief legal counsel of Our Children’s Trust, praised the Supreme Court’s order, saying, “We look forward to presenting the scientific evidence of the harms and dangers these children face as a result of the actions their government has taken to cause the climate crisis.”
• Nobel-Winning Economist to Testify in Children’s Climate Lawsuit (Inside Climate News)

‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…

For a comprehensive roundup of daily environmental news you can trust, see the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Daily Headlines page

• Trump administration cites safety to freeze mileage standard (Washington Post)
• Widespread disapproval greets Trump’s rollback of auto emissions and fuel efficiency standards (Climate Progress)
• An Optimist’s Guide to Solving Climate Change and Saving the World (Vice)
• Warmer soil releasing more carbon, worsening climate change (AP)
• Great, Scientists Have Discovered Plastic Emits Methane (Earther)
• How Record Heat Wreaked Havoc on Four Continents (NY Times)
• New EPA Chief Makes Clear: Easing of Environmental Rules Will Continue (Inside Climate News)
• Canada Loosens Carbon Pollution Restrictions for Big Emitters Facing Competition (Bloomberg)
• Death Valley posts hottest month ever recorded on Earth, for the second July in a row (Washington Post)
• First Big U.S. Offshore Wind Farm Offers $1.4 Billion to Customers (Bloomberg)
• Trump’s solar tariff isn’t working out how he hoped (Climate Progress)
• Trump walks back campaign promise, White House will defend Obama ozone rule (Climate Progress)
• The great nutrient collapse: The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat, for the worse. And almost nobody is paying attention. (Politico)
• The world’s bleak climate situation, in 3 charts: We’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there. (Vox)
• AUDIO: An Inconvenient ‘BradCast’ with Al Gore (The BRAD BLOG):
  Guest Host Angie Coiro’s exclusive interview with the former Vice President on elections, pollution, persuasion, activism, and hope…
• The Climate Risks We Face (NY Times):
  To stabilize global temperature, net carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced to zero. The window of time is rapidly closing to reduce emissions and limit warming to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the goal set in the Paris climate accord. The further we push the climate system beyond historical conditions, the greater the risks of potentially unforeseen and even catastrophic changes to the climate – so every reduction in emissions helps.
• The Uninhabitable Earth: When will climate change make earth too hot for humans? (New York Magazine):
  Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak – sooner than you think.
• A beginner’s guide to the debate over 100% renewable energy (Vox):
  Clean-energy enthusiasts frequently claim that we can go bigger, that it’s possible for the whole world to run on renewables – we merely lack the “political will.” So, is it true? Do we know how get to an all-renewables system? Not yet. Not really.
• No country on Earth is taking the 2 degree climate target seriously (Vox):
  If we mean what we say, no more new fossil fuels, anywhere.

FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page

• NASA climate change video: This is the U.S. in 2100 (NASA).