‘Green News Report’ – October 9, 2018

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: The world’s scientists issue alarming report warning we are almost out of time to prevent worst impacts of global warming, but there’s still time to act; PLUS: Florida, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas brace for Hurricane Michael… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): What genuine, no-bullshit ambition on climate change would look like; The case for climate pessimism (or not); Even after Harvey, Houston keeps adding new homes in flood plains; As storms keep coming, FEMA spends billions in cycle of damage, repair; Conservatives stake claim on new Supreme Court; Zinke extends mining Ban Near Yellowstone; Elon Musk donates $480,000 to bring clean water to Flint schools; To tackle climate change, UN says put a price on carbon; Sea level rise could reach 50 feet by 2300, devastating coastal cities; CO2 is shriveling men’s balls… PLUS: The planet is on a fast path to destruction. The media must cover this like it’s the only story that matters… and much, MUCH more! …

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

• Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Carolinas brace for ‘dangerous’ Hurricane Michael:
• Hurricane Michael strengthens to Category 2, on collision course with Florida Gulf Coast (Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post):
  Florida’s Panhandle, from Pensacola to Apalachicola, and its Big Bend area are the zones of greatest concern. Michael is poised to push ashore a “life-threatening” surge of ocean water that will inundate those coastal areas. The storm also will unleash destructive winds and flooding rain starting late Tuesday night and continuing through Wednesday. “There are warnings for more than 300 miles of coastline,” the National Weather Service tweeted, predicting that Michael will become a “large and dangerous hurricane.”
• VIDEO: Hurricane Michael Intensifies to Category 2; May Be Florida Panhandle’s Strongest Landfall in 13 Years Wednesday (Weather Channel)
• Hurricane Michael Live Updates: Category 2 Storm Bears Down on Florida Panhandle (NY Times)
• Category 2 Hurricane Michael strengthens as ‘massive’ storm targets Florida (USA Today)
• Another rare hurricane threatens Ireland, Europe:
• Ireland braces itself as Storm Callum and Hurricane Leslie en route (Irish Central)
• Dr. Marshall Shepard: “Not normal, folks.” (Dr. Marshall Shepherd, twitter)
• Rogue hurricanes that head northwards may be new normal (Irish Examiner)
• IPCC dire warning: The world has 12 years to address climate catastrophe:
• Global Warming of 1.5 °C: an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming (U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
• The world has just over a decade to get climate change under control, U.N. scientists say (Washington Post):
  “There is no documented historic precedent” for the scale of changes required, the body found.
• We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN (Guardian UK):
  Urgent changes needed to cut risk of extreme heat, drought, floods and poverty, says IPCC.
• A major new climate report slams the door on wishful thinking (Vox):
  The IPCC says that even the most optimistic scenario for climate change is dire.
• VIDEO: IPCC SR15 Press Conference Live Oct 8th 2018 (United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
• IPCC climate change report calls for urgent action to phase out fossil fuels – live updates from the press conference (Guardian UK)
• 5 key findings of stark UN climate change report (Irish Times):
  More forest fires, heat deaths and water shortages among consequences of temperature overshoot.
• 37 things you need to know about 1.5C global warming (Climate News):
  The UN climate science panel has released its summary of the evidence around the tougher climate goal demanded by vulnerable countries. We break it down.
• Climate Scientists Struggle To Find The Right Words For Very Bad News (Washington Post)
• VIDEO: Final call to save the world from ‘climate catastrophe’ (BBC)
• To Tackle Climate Change, a New U.N. Climate Report Says Put a High Price on Carbon (NY Times)
• World leaders ‘have moral obligation to act’ after UN climate report (Guardian UK):
  Even half degree of extra warming will affect hundreds of millions of people, decimate corals and intensify heat extremes, report shows.

‘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

• The planet is on a fast path to destruction. The media must cover this like it’s the only story that matters. (Margaret Sullivan, Washington Post)
• What genuine, no-bullshit ambition on climate change would look like: How to hit the most stringent targets, with no loopholes. (David Roberts, Vox)
• To Tackle Climate Change, a New U.N. Climate Report Says Put a High Price on Carbon (NY Times)
• ‘Tipping points’ could exacerbate climate crisis, scientists fear: IPCC report ‘underestimates potential of these key dangers to send Earth into spiral of runaway climate change’ (Guardian UK)
• Sea Level Rise Could Reach 50 Feet by 2300, Devastating Coastal Cities Globally (Newsweek)
• Australian government backs coal in defiance of IPCC climate warning: Deputy PM Michael McCormack says policy will not change based on ‘some sort of report’ (Guardian UK)
• Carbon Dioxide Is Shriveling Men’s Balls (Mother Jones)
• Even after Harvey, Houston keeps adding new homes in flood plains (Houston Chronicle)
• US economists win Nobel prize for work on climate and growth: William Nordhaus and Paul Romer honoured over two of most ‘basic and pressing’ issues (Guardian UK)
• The Case for Climate Pessimism: A frightening report on climate change has some experts pondering the perils of optimism about the future. (The New Republic)
• Can Civilization Survive What’s Coming?: The new IPCC report on climate change will fill you with existential dread — rightfully so (Rolling Stone)
• Conservatives stake claim on new Supreme Court (E&E News)
• As Storms Keep Coming, FEMA Spends Billions in Cycle of Damage, Repair (NY Times)
• Zinke Extends Mining Ban Near Yellowstone (The Hill)
• Elon Musk Donates $480,000 To Bring Clean Water To Flint Schools (Huffington Post)
• Ohio Residents Fed Up with Fracking Wastewater (Allegheny Front)
• Quarter of World’s Seafood Caught Using Destructive Bottom-Trawling (Independent)
• Nationwide Class Action Lawsuit Targets Makers of PFAS Chemicals (The Intercept)
• A Global Shift To Sustainability Would Save Us $26 Trillion (Vox)
• Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)
• An Optimist’s Guide to Solving Climate Change and Saving the World (Vice)
• 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)
• 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).