TEEC
Temple Energy & Environment Committee
NEWS and LINKS
"Today the planet is warming 10 times faster
than anytime in the last 65 million years
and we are living through the sixth mass extinction of life."
But another world is still within reach. One where we protect the living world, thrive in harmony with nature, We can get there -- but with deadlines this urgent, we need a surge of people-power unlike anything we've done before."
COP 27 UN Conference on Climate Change
November. 6 -22 in Egypt
" COP 27 held high-level and side events, key negotiations, and press conferences, hosting more than 100 Heads of State and Governments, over 35,000 participants "
Although the long sought reparation commitments from developed nations to help vulnerable undeveloped countries cope wth the climate catastrophes they are experiencing was a hard fought victory at the conference. But it was far from what is needed.
"Progress on eliminating fossil fuel useage - the key to slowing climate change - again seemed beyond the international community"
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/cop27
The COP 26 UN Conference on Climate Change
in Scotland - 10/31 - 11/12/21
COP 26 is a ‘minute to midnight moment,’ U.K.’s Johnson says.
"G-20 must lead efforts to reduce emissions", UN’s Guterres says
"Biden: ‘None of us can escape the worst that’s yet to come if we fail to seize this moment".
President Biden also told delegates that there is only a “brief window left to rise to meet the task that’s rapidly narrowing.”
He said this would be the “decisive decade” in which to prove that the goal of limiting global warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius could be met."
The International Energy Agency announced that pledges made by governments to cut carbon and methane emissions could limit global warming to 1.8 degrees Celsius, or just over 3 degrees Fahrenheit, this century. But 1.5 degrees Celsius is the LIMIT we need to not exceed for us to not have climate change become completely and unimaginably catastrophic. And we are already beyond that TOP LIMIT!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/11/02/biden-methane-rule-epa/
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3/15/22 - The Enormous Conger Ice Shelf Collapsed Off Eastern Antarctica,
The Size of Los Angeles
At 460 square miles, that massive ice shelf collapse shocked scientiests who were convinced of the solidity and stability of the eastern side of the Antarctic ice shelves. It is a strong indication of the impact of global warming, particularly since it happened during a heat wave when the temperature
rose to 40 degrees above normal.
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/25/1088840912/antarctica-ice-shelf-collapses
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In 2021 - 1/3 of Pakistan Was Underwater
Followed By an Unbearable
"Heat Apocalypse"
Deadly flooding throughout 1/3 of the country from rains 508% beyond the norm
was followed by "51 days straight of 100 degrees Fahrenheit with
"high humidity and temperatures up to 123.8 degrees F, pushing the limits of
livability on a warming planet."
www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-third-of-pakistan-is-underwater-amid-its-worst-floods-in-history
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Wildfires in the West
Severe heat plus the most extreme drought in 1200 yrs. continue to escalate massive wildfires year-round in the US West to the extent that in 2022, it is no longer reasonable to talk about the "fire season," fire experts say.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/is-there-still-a-fire-season-in-california/
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History-Making Tornado
“The 1st quad-tornado in US history” carved a 250 mile path through 4 states
–”a mile wide, its severity and time on the ground unprecedented."
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/quad-state-tornado-may-be-longest-lasting-ever/
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The US Is Joined by 32 Other Countries Pledging to
Slash Methane Emissions - 10/11/21
Scientists say the "promised cuts could help avert the worst consequences of climate change." Methane is largely produced by fracked gas ("natural" gas).".
US and China Commitment - 4/18/21
"The United and China are committed to cooperating with each other
and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis," their joint statement said.
The two countries will continue to discuss "concrete actions in the 2020s to
reduce emissions aimed at keeping the Paris Agreement-aligned temperature
limit within reach."
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BUT
“We are on the verge "of the abyss,
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at a press conference announcing the findings of the World Meteorological Organization’s flagship 'State of the Global Climate' report."
"The global average temperature in 2020 was 'dangerously close' to the 1.5-degree Celsius limit advocated by scientists to stave off
the worst impacts of climate change.
The six years since 2015, have been the warmest on record, and the decade beginning up to this year, was the warmest ever."
The annual rate of increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide over the past 60 years is about 100 times faster than previous natural increases, such as those that occurred at the end of the last ice age 11,000-17,000 years ago.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/04/1090072
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"Two Thirds of North American Birds
Are at an Increasing Risk of Extinction
Due to Climate Change and Higher Temperatures"
"389 bird species are on the brink"
https://www.audubon.org/climate/survivalbydegrees
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“The Worlds’ Ice is Melting Faster Than Ever”
"Alaskan glaciers are melting 100 times faster than previously thought," raising sea levels & causing the release of long-sequestered methane from the newly thawing permafrost, further escalating GHG emissions. As the tundra thaws, it is also capable of releasing ancient bacteria, viruses and fungus, such as the anthrax that was released in Siberia in 2016, killing over 2,000 reindeer and a child as well as sickening 13 individuals before the entire village could be evacuated.
For eons “ice had helped regulate earth’s temperature!” But now it's melting!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/01/25/ice-melt-quickens-greenland-glaciers/
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Battery Storage Steps Up to Support Renewables
From the Clean Economy Newsletter, May 7, 2021
Southern California Edison plans to build "an eye-popping 770 megawatts of battery storage" by 2021 via 7 lithium-ion battery storage projects in CA. "The 300-megawatt Moss Landing project in central CA will be the largest battery storage project in the world when it opens near the end of this year, according to developers. It's being led by a different utility, Pacific Gas and Electric." And the Manatee Energy Storage Center in Florida, "scheduled to go online in late 2021, will be 409 megawatts". "This is an important part of fighting climate change because the combination of renewable energy and battery storage can function much like a traditional power plant, capable of being dispatched when needed by grid operators during times of high demand".
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100% Renewable Energy by 2030
Temple's citizens voted at our 2018 Town Meeting to adopt a Warrant Article requesting the creation of a Renewable Energy Task Force to recommend options for powering all of our municipal energy usage with 100% renewable energy by 2030.
A volunteer task force, charged with manifesting that mission, is meeting monthly to study various cost-effective and viable paths to implementing that goal.
We are also evaluating a variety of options for establishing a Community Power Plan to provide more local control and cost savings for Temple's entire community.
The CPP opportunity has arisen from the passage of NH state legislation RSA-E and Senate Bill 286, signed by the governor and effective as of October, 2019.
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US Rejoins the Paris Accord in January 2021
The Paris Agreement came into force on November 4, 2016, committing 197 nations to an aspirational goal of holding global temperature rise to “well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels” and cutting net greenhouse gas emissions to zero in the second half of this century. Negotiations "lead to strong transparency and accountability measures to ensure that China and India do their fair share. It included the ability for every country — including the U.S to set its own non-binding emissions reduction targets, known as Nationally Determined Contributions. The U.S. target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 26–28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025."
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/paris-climate-agreement-everything-you-need-know
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To Sustain Civilization as We've Known It
for the Last 10,000 Years . . .
the SAFE LIMIT for C02 in the atmosphere is 350 parts per million.
But in April 2021, CO2 hit the UNSAFE measurement of
421.36 ppm
"not seen in 4 MILLION YEARS
since the Mid-Pliocene Epoch
when sea levels were 78 feet higher."
Recorded at NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii
by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
https://www.co2.earth/
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03595-0
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/07/1004097672/atmospheric-carbon-dioxide-fueling-climate-change-hits-a-four-million-year-high
The Planet is Relentlessly Heating
with 19 of the last 20 years the warmest on record."
NOAA has predicted . . .
"2020 is on track to be the hottest year on record",
without even an El Nino event.
And on June 20, 2020, the small Siberian town of Verkhoyansk recorded
the hottest temperature ever recorded ABOVE the ARCTIC CIRCLE -
100.4° Fahrenheit!"
in spite of that town's highest winter temperatures typically being
MINUS 44 degrees Fahrenheit
https//www.sciencenews.org/article/siberia-verkoyansk-record-heat-wave-arctic-circle
"One of the Highest Temperatures Ever Recorded
On the Planet -
130 degrees Fahrenheit",
occurred on 8/16/20 and AGAIN on 7/9/21 in Death Valley, CA.
It was also 120 degrees in Los Angeles on 8/16/20.
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"CA's record heat
exacerbated the region's most severe drought
in the last 1,200 years" (Stanford Univ. study),
fueling the "unprecedented wildfire season in CA" -
burning over a staggering 5 million acres by 9/27/20.
CA Dept. of Forestry & Fire Protection
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In 2019, "Greenland’s Ice Sheet Melted
at the Fastest Rate Ever Recorded”
And scientists have discovered that "Arctic glacial Ice is
melting 100 times faster than previously thought".
Now “the flammable peat forests along Greenland’s shorelines are
burning, releasing long-ago-sequestered carbon into the atmosphere”
The newly discovered “warm water flowing UNDER
Greenland’s sheet is causing it to melt faster.”
“Currently, it’s the single largest driver of sea level rise globally.”
And it is a climate tipping point" - it can no longer be stopped.
"Observations from 11 satellite missions monitoring the ice sheets
in the Antarctic and Greenland have revealed that the regions are
losing ice six times faster than they were in the 1990s."
Discovering the warm water flowing below both the Antarctic
glaciers and Greenland's, lead to the 5th IPPC's Assessment
prediction that "global sea levels would rise by 28 inches by 2100 - its worst case scenario."
https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2958/greenland-antarctica-melting-six-times-faster-than-in-the-1990s/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200129174526.htm
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The Ocean's Regulation of Global Temperatures Nears a Crisis
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)
is "a conveyor belt of ocean water that loops the planet,
regulates global temperatures
and could be heading for a tipping point.”
"Changes in the conveyor belt have been responsible for
some of the strongest and most rapid climate shifts
during the past 2.6 million years!”
“Greenland’s melting of glacial ice is now DISRUPTING that current!”
Glacial fresh-water melt is not as heavy as the frigid salt water that has plunged deeply down into the ocean depths for eons, pumping the conveyor belt of icy salt water down and pushing up the southern warm water from the Gulf Stream, moderating northern hemisphere temperatures..
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04086-
The AMOC
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The Oceans' Rate of CO2 Absorption Threatens Mass Extinctions
"When the rate at which CO2 enters the ocean pushes passed
a critical threshold it can trigger a reflex of severe ocean
acidification that lasts for 10,000 years".
And "today's oceans are absorbing CO2 at a rate faster than
the worst case in the geologic record".
Ocean acidification is destructive to marine eco-systems and
lethal to many species, threatening sea food world-wide.
MIT Study, July, 2019
https://news.mit.edu/2019/carbon-thresthold-mass-extinction-0708
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AIRS instrument on NASA’s Aqua spacecraft shows
high carbon dioxide concentrations in the Northern Hemisphere
"Unprecedented State" in the Arctic
47 Years of Data Lead Over 20 Scientists to Warn
About Faster Changes and Dangers Than Previously
Predicted.
"Among the most detrimental findings are the extreme rise in temperatures. The Arctic has gotten warmer by 3.1 C in the cold season (October to May), leading to greener and wetter climates, less snow cover, and less land and sea ice.
"Associated with Arctic warming is an intensification of the hydrologic cycle, with increases in humidity, cloud covers, more rainfall, increases in Arctic river discharge, increase snowline altitude, and accelerating loss of land ice.”
In 2019, Its Warmest Summer Ever,
“Alaska’s Sea Ice Completely Melted Away.”
In August, there was “no sea ice
within 150 miles of the shoreline. NONE!"
Reported by the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.
Greta Thunberg Inspires Students
Students worldwide march and protest against the continued use of fossil fuels
https://www.facebook.com/moveon/videos/373044046797017
Youtube video of marches worldwide -
NY City Student March for Climate Protection
Three US Military Reports
1. "The Military Could Collapse Within 20 years Due to Climate Change"
A 2019 report commissioned by the Pentagon states, "A combination of global starvation, war, disease, drought, and a fragile power grid could have cascading, devastating effects."
"The senior US government officials who wrote the report are from several key agencies including the Army, Defense Intelligence Agency, and NASA."
"The study called on the Pentagon to urgently prepare for the possibility that domestic power, water, and food systems might collapse due to the impacts of climate change as we near mid-century."
2. 2019 - Military Unpreparedness for Climate Change
3. 2012 Military PowerPoint
Fossil Fuel Dependence "Our Nation's Greatest Security Threat"
View Military PowerPoint Address from 2012
NH Local Energy Solutions Conference
http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/les2012/documents/Presentations/LES_Breen_Keynote_3-31.pdf
November 26, 2018
Federal Climate Change Report
Senator's Shaheen & Hassan Respond to Findings for Northeast Region
(Washington, DC)— U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie
++Hassan (D-NH) issued the following statements after the Trump administration released on Friday a report on the effects of climate change, which includes specific findings for the Northeast region. The report details the profound impact climate change is having, and will continue to have, on the region’s environment, economy and public health:
“Ignoring climate change is not an option,” said Shaheen. “This report makes it clear that every Granite Stater is impacted by climate change, and the threat to our state will worsen over time unless aggressive action is taken.
This report also praises the region’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and suggests that it could serve as a model for the nation. I wholeheartedly agree, and urge leaders in Concord to maintain New Hampshire’s leadership in controlling harmful greenhouse gas emissions through RGGI. It’s time for the nation to catch up to the Northeast region in tackling climate change head-on.”
"Among the findings in this report for the Northeast region:
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Climate change threatens coastal marshes, fisheries, ecosystems and coastal infrastructure;
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In particular, warming waters are a direct threat to lobster and cod catches;
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Increased precipitation will lead to more inland flooding;
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Warming weather will lead to poorer air quality and allergens, with health-related impacts;
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Shifting seasonality is negatively affecting the health of forests and harming migratory patterns of birds and parasite infections for animals such as moose;
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Changing seasons are also threatening maple syrup production because of increased variability in the tapping season;
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And coastal and inland flooding will necessitate investments in aging infrastructure."
"The Disruption of Climate Poses One of the Greatest
Public Health Threats of Our Time."
"Pipelines as the mainstay of fossil fuel infrastructure are major drivers of that change in climate and extreme weather patterns. Rubber stamping of pipelines without considering the climate impacts is akin to pushing an unnecessary pill and disregarding its serious side effects.
The decisions that FERC makes have significant impact on communities and policy makers have a duty to protect the public by holding FERC accountable."
Pouné Saberi, MD, MPH
Physicians for Social Responsibility
In 2021, The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
is Finally Going to Make Positive, Long-sought Changes
And ,many of the beneficial new steps reflect suggestions that have come through previous initiatives such as the Congressional Bill first introduced in 2017 by NH's Congressional leaders, Senator Shaheen and Rep[resentative Kuster.
New steps have been taken to protect NH from other pipelines and to stop the rubber stamping of all pipeline applications at FERC!!
1. NH Senator Shaheen and Congresswoman Kuster have initiated companion bills in Congress to rein in the unchecked power of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and give the public a voice at FERC!
It will fund the Office of Public Participation at FERC, populate it with a Consumer Advocate, and will fund intervenor status for state and local community representatives impacted by potential fracked gas infrastructure.... giving their needs and concerns a voice and a vote in FERC proceedings!
2. The NH Energy Impacts on Health Study Group worked with the NH Site Evaluation Committee (SEC) to create adequate and appropriate new Rules and Regulations that will prepare our state for any future applications for permits to site or construct "high pressure pipelines" in NH.
They informed the SEC that the public health threats posed by compressor station toxic emissions and the contamination of aquifers and wells from any pipeline construction process demanded several new Rules and Regulations for NH which the SEC adopted and were later accepted by the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules.
3. The Health Study Group has also been working with the Air Quality Division of the NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) to change and update the state's Toxic Air Statutes and list of toxins allowed in NH.
Fracked gas has brought new toxic emissions and substances into the environment and atmosphere surrounding natural gas infrastructure, particularly within 2 -3+ miles of compressor stations and in the proximity of metering stations, creating serious public health impacts.
The Climate Could Hit a State Unseen in 50 Million Years!
www.climatecentral.org/news By Brian Kahn Published: April 4th, 2017
https://www.climatecentral.org/news/greenhouse-gases-atmosphere-21618
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Carbon Dioxide levels are unprecedented in human history.
If carbon emissions continue on their current trajectory, new findings show that by mid-century, the atmosphere could reach a state unseen in 50 million years.
Back then, temperatures were up to 18 degrees warmer (10 degrees Celsius), ice was almost nowhere to be seen and oceans were dramatically higher than they are now.
The implications of the research, published in Nature Communications, are some of the starkest reminders yet that humanity faces a major choice to curtail carbon and methane pollution pushing the climate outside the bounds that have allowed civilization to thrive.
Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide have varied for millennia, fluctuating largely on natural cycles. Humans have added dramatically more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution, though, raising carbon dioxide from 280 parts per million to 410 parts per million in 2017. (up to 415 ppm - 2019)
Scientists have been able to track the historic changes in carbon dioxide through a number of methods, from air pockets in Antarctic ice cores to sludge on the deep sea floor. The new research compiles 1,500 of these carbon dioxide estimates.
The carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere today are ones that likely haven't been reached in 3 million years, as shown above.
https://earthsky.org/earth/carbon-dioxide-co2-levels-2020-highest-in-3-million-years/
https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-the-world-passed-a-carbon-threshold-400ppm-and-why-it-matters
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and President Obama struck a deal to limit greenhouse gases
China committed for the first time to cap carbon emissions and Obama unveiled a plan for deeper U.S. emissions reductions through 2025.
BEIJING — China and the United States made common cause against the threat of climate change, staking out an ambitious joint plan to curb carbon emissions as a way to spur nations around the world to make their own cuts in greenhouse gases.
The landmark agreement, jointly announced here by President Obama and President Xi Jinping, includes new targets for carbon emissions reductions by the United States and a first-ever commitment by China to stop its emissions from growing by 2030.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/12/china-and-us-make-carbon-pledge
CLIMATE CHANGE and ECONOMIC CHANGE
The ties between the economy and the climate — both in the way that the current system is hampering progress in addressing the issue and how worsening change will hurt the economy — are hard to dispute.
It may sound like it’ll cost a lot to fight climate change. But it may cost more to stay on our current course of taking little action.
The cost of failing to adapt could be a staggering $1,240 trillion, compared to $890 trillion if we make changes.
Following the hurricanes in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, S. Carolina and the Caribbean Islands plus the wildfires in CA, OR, WA, and MT in 2017, COSTS ARE RISING MUCH FASTER THAN PREDICTED!
The U.S. Director of the Office of Management and Budget has estimated that it will cost the United States billions of dollars if we fail to act, given the cost of increasingly intense damage from storms, wildfires, and drought.
https://bay169.mail.live.com/?tid=cmMRPKdwhD5BGSRwAiZMKAdg2&fid=flinbox
The U.S. is #1 in Wind Power
Because we have...
Outstanding wind resources –The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that our wind energy potential is 10 times the amount of electricity consumption for the entire country.
The most productive wind turbines in the world – Taller towers and longer blades have made wind turbines more efficient, and project developers have been smart about siting the turbines in environmentally friendly and wind resource-rich locations.
Thus, our turbines are nearly twice as productive as those in China and Germany.
We’ve also had a policy incentive that rewards electricity production. A key policy at the federal level – the production tax credit (PTC) – has offered tax relief to projects based on how much power they produce. This incentive spurred the wind power development that has made the U.S. #1. Once again, though, the PTC has expired, putting wind power’s momentum at risk.
Arctic Is Getting Darker, Absorbing More Heat...
Earth's ability to reflect solar radiation is decreasing owing to the dramatic melting of Arctic Ocean sea ice.
February 19, 2014 By Kristine Wong
Climate scientists have hypothesized for decades that melting sea ice at the North Pole hastens global warming by decreasing the amount of heat from the sun that’s reflected back into space.
More dark ocean and less snow-covered ice equals less reflection—makes sense, right? While researchers developed models to demonstrate how this could happen, its occurrence has never been confirmed by data—until now.
According to a new study conducted at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, between 1979 and 2011 the average levels of Arctic albedo—the technical
term for the fraction of solar energy reflected from Earth’s surface —decreased from 52 percent to 48 percent.
Here’s the problem:
Reduced albedo creates a feedback loop. Higher temperatures lead to less albedo lead to higher temperatures lead to less albedo…and so on.
And the observed percentage is twice as much as model-based studies had forecast.
US Solar Industry Provides Employment for More People than Coal and Oil Combined
Published: Friday 7 February 2014
By Christina Sarich
"In the past four years, 50,000 well paying jobs were added—many of them building and installing solar panels and this employment rate is expected to continue growing at a steady pace."
"The high cost of solar, which was one factor slowing the industry’s growth is also now quickly changing. More than 51 percent of people are now installing solar not just to protect the environment, but because it is cheaper.
https://www.iflscience.com/solar-employs-more-people-than-oil-coal-and-gas-combined-in-the-us-39944
New Hampshire in Top 10 States for Per Capita Oil Savings From Solar Hot Water
Concord, NH- New Hampshire could reduce pollution and dependence on fossil fuels through the deployment of off the shelf, cost-effective solar hot water technology, according to a new report by Environment New Hampshire. New Hampshire ranks 7th in the nation for oil savings from solar hot water.
According, by taking advantage of this cost effective technology that harnesses solar energy to produce hot water for homes and businesses, New Hampshire could reduce global warming pollution by the equivalent of taking 22,000 cars off the road.
Across the country, polls reveal an America more committed than ever to a Clean energy path.
Nearly 90 percent of us want more renewable energy from our utilities. Nearly 80 percent of us want measures that will give us better gas mileage in our cars and more energy savings in our homes and offices.
Most representatives who supported the House clean energy bill won their races. In California, voters soundly thrashed Proposition 23, a measure that would have derailed that state’s visionary global warming law.
Here are some recent findings from a Kelton Research survey of solar/climate issues:
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94% of Americans polled believe it's important to develop and use solar power;
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80% want federal subsidies shifted from fossil fuels to solar;
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70-80% want the Government to tackle climate change;
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49% would pay more for clean, reliable solar energy
https://www.ecowatch.com/clean-energy-us-election-2648530393.html
Plankton Decline Across Oceans as Waters Warm
Microscopic marine algae known as"phytoplankton" have been declining globally over the 20th century, and scientists say the decline appears to be linked to rising water temperatures.
"Phytoplankton is the fuel on which marine ecosystems run. A decline of phytoplankton affects everything up the food chain, including humans," the lead author said (Science Daily, 7/28/10).
Marine Biodiversity Strongly Linked to Ocean Temperature
A team of scientists has mapped and analyzed global biodiversity patterns for over 11,000 marine species ranging from tiny zooplankton to sharks and whales.
The researchers found that temperature was strongly linked to biodiversity for all groups studied. These results imply that future changes in ocean temperature, such as those due to climate change, may greatly affect the distribution of life in the sea. Science Daily, 7/29/10.