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September 19, 2016
Developing and developed nations continue to disagree on an international proposal to cap carbon dioxide emissions for the commercial shipping industry. Image courtesy of Slawos at Wikimedia.org.
Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX), chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, continues to stand firm in his assertion that the committee possesses subpoena power over state attorneys general conducting an investigation of Exxon Mobil. A September 14 committee hearing explored the standing of Rep. Smith's subpoenas to the attorneys general of Massachusetts and New York. Several states, including those subpoenaed, are investigating Exxon Mobil on fraud charges relating to the petroleum firm's misinformation campaign to investors and the public on the scientific validity of anthropogenic climate change. Both attorneys general have refused to answer the subpoenas on the grounds that the committee has no jurisdiction in state criminal investigations. Witnesses provided mixed legal testimony on the issue, with former acting general counsel for the House of Representatives, Charles Tiefer, declaring, “The committee has failed to identify even one single House subpoena to a state attorney general in 200 years. The reason? It's never happened."
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Inside Climate News
A new rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and NASA will require all suppliers of federal agencies to declare whether or not they disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and emission reduction goals. UPS, an international delivery service, has been a longstanding supporter of the measure, and has been disclosing its emissions since 2002. Critics worry that the proposed rule will open the door to additional regulation in the future and may result in a bias against smaller companies seeking future contracts, but who are unable to meet the government's reporting requirements. Colleen Morgan, president of Corporate Sustainability Advisors, said, “The rule would prompt firms to track their emissions, potentially helping them lower their energy costs and save money.” The disclosure rule will apply only to companies that receive $7.5 million or more in federal contracts, which represents approximately 3.5 percent of all government contracts. The date for a final rule to be issued is uncertain.
E&E News
Researchers have observed a greater number of storms resulting in "100-year flood" conditions, while flooding has been extending beyond the historical flood plain for many regions across the United States. These extreme flooding events are running counter to the probabilities projected by scenario models. One study found that between 2007 and 2014 in Illinois, nearly all of the damage in urban areas was found outside the historical flood plain. The drastic shift in precipitation and flood patterns poses a challenge for the Federal Emergency Management Association's (FEMA) flood insurance policy. According to Kathy Schaefer, a former FEMA engineer and mapper, in the past "you had to ignore climate change [in drawing the maps]. All of the mapping had to be based on the existing [rainfall and flooding] conditions [at the time they were drawn, or many years earlier]." The agency has begun to account for climate-induced factors in recent years.
National Public Radio
Developing countries heavily reliant on maritime shipping are voicing their opposition to a proposal to cap emissions on the sector. An analysis commissioned by the United Nations' International Maritime Organization states that commercial shipping accounts for 2-3 percent of global emissions and stands to expand its carbon footprint by 50- 250 percent by 2050 if left unregulated. China, India, Brazil, and others are concerned that the measures will limit economic development for nations that rely upon maritime shipping for trade. Meanwhile, the United States, Norway, Canada, Japan, and Turkey have proposed compromise measures, including an emissions intensity target and a five-year review cycle. Members of the shipping industry concede that they must contribute their “fair share” to climate change mitigation, and have requested definitive action be taken as early as possible to allow companies time to adjust to a new regulatory regime.
Climate Change News
On September 14, the Center for Climate and Security published a consensus statement and report affirming the dangers of climate change to U.S. military installations and operations. The statement was signed by more than a dozen retired military and national security experts, including former Generals, Admirals, and Department of Defense officials. The bipartisan collection of signatories advised the incoming U.S. president to implement a new cabinet post to address the nexus of climate change and national security. The endorsements follow an emerging consensus among military and intelligence officials that defense assets and operations are increasingly vulnerable to climate change, with the U.S. Department of Defense designating it a "threat multiplier." Retired Air Force General Ronald Keys, former commander of the Air Combat Command, said, "Before, a minor storm was a nuisance, now it is a danger to some of our operations … It’s hard to energize people now, but it’s too late when the water is around your ankles … We need to do this threat analysis now.”
Reuters, Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, Reports
Citizens in North Dakota are quietly adopting land management policies to mitigate anthropogenic climate change as a large segment of the population still harbors doubts over the causes behind climate change. While modern agriculture practices have prioritized economic gains over environmental benefits, farmers and ranchers in North Dakota are pursuing a more balanced approach. Darrell Oswald, a rancher, has adopted holistic management practices that mimic natural cycles. The rotation of his herd around 34 different paddocks breaks up the soil, improving the health and resilience of the local ecosystem while promoting natural fertilization of the grazing fields. Oswald notes, “The soil has gotten more productive, the cattle have become healthier and a 3,000-acre ranch now in its fourth generation has grown more profitable.” While many in the state are adopting land management practices that help mitigate climate change, the influx of economic opportunity from longer growing seasons and natural gas extraction has left many citizens skeptical about whether climate change may ultimately harm the region.
On September 12, the journal Nature Climate Change published a new study highlighting the threat climate change poses to the world's wheat crop. An international team of scientists found that a one degree Celsius increase in global temperature could result in a 4.1-6.4 percent reduction in wheat production worldwide, translating into a loss of 35 million tons annually. Even greater losses were projected for countries in warmer regions. Predictions for 2016-17 from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization revealed 500 of the 741 million tons of wheat produced is expected to be consumed by humans, the highest percentage of direct human consumption for any crop. The study utilized statistical analysis and modeling techniques and focused solely on the effects of temperature rise, leaving uncertainty as to how other environmental factors may influence wheat production. The United States, China, India, and France are among the world's leading wheat producers.
Washington Post
On September 12, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a report challenging prior research on the origin of U.S. methane emissions. Experts had previously believed industrial fugitive methane emissions were decreasing, but the new report suggests they have actually increased by an average of a million tons annually since the 1980s. Methane is released in a variety of ways, including permafrost thaw, agriculture, and accidental leaks through fossil fuel extraction and transport operations. The existence of conflicting studies on the origin of methane emissions is a challenge for regulators, who must know where to look in order to curb emissions. Drew Shindell, a professor of climate sciences at Duke University, described the situation as "a major problem and a major opportunity," stating, “We need to control the methane leaks far better or our transition from coal to gas will provide no environmental benefits … if we were to apply best available technology to all [industrial] sites we could make a big difference.”
Ocean temperatures have been steadily increasing, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, according to a recent report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found, “since 1955, more than 90 percent of the excess heat retained by the Earth as a result of increased greenhouse gases has been absorbed by the oceans.” Despite the clear warming trend, many researchers caution that the ocean's mass heat absorption can shield the bulk of climate change's effects from typical human observation, translating into a lack of urgency toward climate action on behalf of the public. The ramifications of warmer oceans entail both long-term and immediate effects, including higher intensity storms and sea level rise as warming waters expand. The temperature trends cannot be entirely explained by natural cycles, such as El Niño, because those occurrences only alter temperature temporarily, as opposed to the decades-long increases that scientists have observed to date.
New York Times
Negative carbon emissions, the process by which carbon dioxide is physically removed from the air, is garnering increased attention as a potential tool for combatting global warming. Research funding for atmospheric carbon removal is scarce, while most policies target only emission prevention. Sabine Fuss, a sustainable energy expert with the Mercator Research Institute, points to the lack of public awareness as a roadblock to negative carbon research. Sabine says the first challenge is "how late we are with mitigation — i.e., how full the bathtub already is. The other relates to the lack of public acceptance of the technologies — i.e., the way you take water out of the bathtub.” Klaus Lackner, director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions at Arizona State University, stated, “We need to start working backward [to reduce emissions] as soon as we can … we need to do all the other things as well to stop emissions. Negative emissions combined with positive emissions will not get us there.”
Climate Central
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