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2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #43
Posted on 27 October 2018 by John Hartz
Editor's Pick
They Know Seas Are Rising, but They’re Not Abandoning Their Beloved Cape Cod
Lifelong residents are building higher with each flood. But while they deal with climate change, some say they aren’t sure what to believe about the cause.
Sea level is rising at an accelerated pace along the Mid-Atlantic coast, from Cape Hatteras to north of Boston, while land in some of those areas is sinking. Residents can try to adapt or face more frequent flooding. Credit: Robert Scott Button
"It flooded in early January, and then it happened again two or three months later," says Matt Teague of Barnstable, Mass., about the slew of storms that hit Cape Cod in the winter of 2017. "We're like, what are we doing here?" he says, opening his arms skyward.
It is now the peak of summer as I stand with Matt in the seaside community of Blish Point at the front door of the house he owns—a house that's about to be demolished. Matt, 43, with a trim graying beard and a belt buckle in the shape of a fishhook, is the owner of REEF Design & Build, which works all across Cape Cod. He bought the house with his brother and father more than 10 years ago as an investment. Blish Point, an area where native fishermen once laid out their nets to dry, today contains a couple hundred homes nestled between the mouth of Barnstable Harbor and the verdant marsh of Maraspin Creek. Some of the homes are upscale; others are simple cottages. The Teague house, one of the simple cottages, was ruined by flooding: five major storms in the past three years alone have struck this area, and two of the four nor'easters last winter inundated the ground-level home.
Matt pushes his sunglasses atop his head, revealing a pale strip of untanned skin along his temple, as he stretches out his hand 2 feet above the door's threshold to show me where the water rose to during the storms. Over his shoulder, a hungry excavator sits ready to begin its work as Matt's extended family arrives, setting up lawn chairs across the street from the doomed house, joking about who forgot the popcorn. They have come to watch the carnage.
In spite of his own rhetorical question, after the demolition, Matt is going to rebuild—not elsewhere, but right here, only higher.
They Know Seas Are Rising, but They’re Not Abandoning Their Beloved Cape Cod by Meera Subramanian, InsideClimate News, Oct 26, 2018
Links posted on Facebook
Sun Oct 21, 2018
- How the Greenland ice sheet fared in 2018, Guest Post by Ruth Mottram, Peter Langen & Martin Stendel, Carbon Brief, Oct 17, 2018
- The latest thing climate change is threatening is our history by Chris Mooney & Brady Dennis, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Ot 16, 2018
- Slaying the Climate Dragon by Kate Marvel, Hot Planet Blog, Scientific American, Oct 11, 2018
- Man Whose Mexico Beach House Was One of Last Standing After Hurricane Michael Calls out Climate Denier Politicians by Julie Dermansky, DeSmog, Oct 21, 2018
- The Sky’s Limit and the IPCC Report on 1.5 Degrees of Warming by Kelly Trout, Oil Change International, Oct 17, 2018
- The 5 most important questions about carbon taxes, answered by David Roberts, Energy & Climate, Vox, Oct 18, 2018
- 'Dire' IPCC report ignites headlines, media coverage by Bud Ward, Yale Climate Connections, Oct 19, 2018
- Hurricane Willa Rapidly Intensifies to Dangerous Category 4 Hurricane Off Mexico's Pacific Coast; Moisture Could Enhance Rainfall in Texas by Linda Lam, Weather Underground, Oct 21, 2018
- Exxon is lobbying for a carbon tax. There is, obviously, a catch. by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 18, 2018
Mon Oct 22, 2018
- Eastern German states demand €60 billion for coal phaseout by Jefferson Chase, Deutsche Welle (DW), Oct 19, 2018
- Staying safe from climate risks makes financial sense, says new commission by Laurie Goering, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Oct 16, 2018
- Mapped: The Mediterranean world heritage sites at risk from sea level rise by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Oct 16, 2018
- Teen Climate Activist to Crowd of Thousands: 'We Can't Save the World by Playing by the Rules Because the Rules Have to Change' by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams, Oct 20, 2018
- 'Insurance gap' threatens disaster-vulnerable poor nations - Lloyd's by Megan Rowling, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Oct 21, 2018
- Potentially catastrophic Category 5 Hurricane Willa nearing Mexico's Pacific coast by Brandon Miller, CNN, Oct 22, 2018
- Kids Argue to Supreme Court to Keep Climate Case on Track: ‘We Will Be Irreparably Harmed’ by Karen Savage, Climate Liability News, Oct 22, 2018
- Trump thinks scientists are split on climate change. So do most Americans by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Environment, Washington Post, Oct 22, 2018
- Want to Build a Stronger Climate Movement? Integrate. Interview with Robert Bullard, Nexus Media, Oct 19, 2018
Tue Oct 23, 2018
- In-depth: Could ‘rewilding’ help to tackle climate change? by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Oct 22, 2018
- Ocean water too warm to cool Canadian science ship's engines by Paul Withers, CBC News, Oct 22, 2018
- Why climate change isn’t being heavily discussed by Republicans, Democrats ahead of next month’s midterm elections by Amand Schmidt, AccuWeather, Oct 22, 2018
- A priest says sceptics should stop demanding proof of climate change, as that’s not how science works by Chris Mulherin, The Conversation AU, Oct 23, 2018
- We're scientists. We know the climate's changing. And we know why. by Andrew Dessler & Daniel Cohan, Gray Matters, Houston Chronicle, Oct 22, 2018
- Why conservatives keep gaslighting the nation about climate change by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 23, 2018
- No, the US Is Not Upholding Its Paris Climate Agreement Commitments by Alex Lenferna, Common Dreams, Oct 22, 2018
- We need a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty – and we need it now, Opinion by Andrew Simms & Peter Newell, Comment is Free, Guardian, Oct 23, 2018
Wed Oct 24, 2018
- In 'Historic Moment' for Climate Action, Wales Pledges to Leave Its Remaining Coal in the Ground by Julia Conley, Common Dreams, Oct 22, 2018
- World hunger has risen for three straight years, and climate change is a cause by Jessica Else & Kenneth Foster, The Conversation US, Oct 22, 2018
- What Migrants Displaced By The Dust Bowl And Climate Events Can Teach Us by Francesca Paris, Then & Now, NPR News, Oct 20, 2018
- Some of the countries leading on climate change might surprise you by John Abraham, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Environment, Guardian, Oct 24, 1018
- Extreme Category 5 Typhoon Yutu makes a devastating landfall in Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post Oct 24, 2018
- New York sues ExxonMobil, saying it ‘misled’ investors about climate change risks by Steve Mufson, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Oct 24, 2018
- State of the climate: New record ocean heat content and a growing El Niño by Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief, Oct 23, 2018
- The Atlantic and Pacific Ocean hurricane season is most powerful on record this year by Doyle Rice, USA Today, Oct 23, 2018
Thur Oct 25, 2018
- Health experts slam government's 'contemptuous' IPCC report response by Peter Hannam, Environment, Sydney Morning Herald, Oct 25, 2018
- Why Australian company directors have started caring about climate change by, Nassim Khadem, ABC News (Australia), Oct 25, 2018
- US-China trade war spills into Green Climate Fund by Meghan Darby, Climate Home News, Oct 22, 2018
- How Scientists Cracked the Climate Change Case, Opinion by Gavin Schmidt, New York Times, Oct 24, 2018
- In potential reprieve for fossil fuels, climate efforts face political headwinds by James Osborne, Business, Houston Chronicle, Oct 23, 2018
- Scientists Push for a Crash Program to Scrub Carbon From the Air by Brad Plumer, Climate, New York Times, Oct 24, 2018
- Sucking CO2 out of the atmosphere, explained by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 25, 2018
- Document Shows Shell Aimed to Profit from a Melting Arctic by Karen Savage, Climate Liability News, Oct 24, 2018
Fri Oct 26, 2018
- As power prices surge, Victorians are embracing solar — and it's causing problems by Stephanie Anderson, ABC News (Australia), Oct 26, 2018
- French Communities Demand Climate Action by Oil Giant Total by Dana Drugmand, Climate Liability News, Oct 25, 2018
- Great Barrier Reef likely to be hit with another mass bleaching this summer, forecast shows by Michael Slezak, ABC News (Australia), Oct 26, 2018
- Redrawing the Map: How the World’s Climate Zones Are Shifting by Nicola Jones, Yale Environment 360, Oct 23, 2018
- Bolsonaro backers wage war on the rainforest by Dom Phillips. Guardian, Oct 25, 2018
- Canada passed a carbon tax that will give most Canadians more money by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Environment, Washington Post, Oct 26, 2018
- A Caucus and Bull Story by Natasha Geiling, Grist, Oct 23, 2018
- The Carbon Brief Interview: Dr Kate Marvel by Leo Hickman, Carbon Brief, Oct 24, 2018
Sat Oct 27, 2018
- Australia urged to model economic effects of 1.5C and 2C climate increases by Lisa Cox, Australia, Guardian, Oct 25, 2018
- Pollution And Climate Change Cause 'Dead Zones' In World's Oceans To Spread by David Bressan, Forbes, Oct 25, 2018
- Rising sea levels will claim homes around English coast, report warns by Damian Carrington, Environment, Guardian, Oct 26, 2018
- They Know Seas Are Rising, but They’re Not Abandoning Their Beloved Cape Cod by Meera Subramanian, InsideClimate News, Oct 26, 2018
- GM breaks with Trump administration and calls for nationwide electric-car sales program by Ryan Beene & John Lippert, Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times, Oct 26, 2018
- 'We have a duty to act': hundreds ready to go to jail over climate crisis by Matthew Taylor, Environment, Guardian, Oct 26, 2018
- Fossil Fuels on Trial: Where the Major Climate Change Lawsuits Stand Today by David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Oct 24, 2018
- New research, October 15-21, 2018 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Oct 26, 2018
Great article full of good people. You can almost see the cogs turning in their minds: agw climate change equals more taxes (eg a carbon tax), don't like taxes, better to just adapt to climate change and not try and cut emissions. It's understandable anyone could empathise.
However relying purely on adaptation will be very costly in the long run. Prevention is better than cure, but its a hard message to sell, yet its the message we must sell much better.
I think the culture wars and political tribalism between conservatives and liberals is getting dangerous and entrenched. The sad thing is all attention has now focussed on immigration, taxes gun rights and a few hot button issues, and the environment has been pushed into the background, however looming environmental disaster will make many of the other issues and arguments seem trivial.
America is heading towards civil war if this continues. I have said it before and now someone else is here.
nigelj,
The bigger issue is how easy it is to just claim that 'future generatons can adapt'. Whenever adaptation is mentioned, it is essential to understand that the adaptation is not by the people who get to benefit from creating the need to adapt. The most resistant people really like to benefit in ways that negatively affect Others. This was bluntly pointed out in the 1987 UN Report "Our Common Future" with the statement:
"25. Many present efforts to guard and maintain human progress, to meet human needs, and to realize human ambitions are simply unsustainable - in both the rich and poor nations. They draw too heavily, too quickly, on already overdrawn environmental resource accounts to be affordable far into the future without bankrupting those accounts. They may show profit on the balance sheets of our generation, but our children will inherit the losses. We borrow environmental capital from future generations with no intention or prospect of repaying. They may damn us for our spendthrift ways, but they can never collect on our debt to them. We act as we do because we can get away with it: future generations do not vote; they have no political or financial power; they cannot challenge our decisions.
26. But the results of the present profligacy are rapidly closing the options for future generations. Most of today's decision makers will be dead before the planet feels; the heavier effects of acid precipitation, global warming, ozone depletion, or widespread desertification and species loss. Most of the young voters of today will still be alive. In the Commission's hearings it was the young, those who have the most to lose, who were the harshest critics of the planet's present management."
It is primarily the Right-wing types who would object to that being pointed out because it essentially declares the unacceptability of the results of people freer to do as they please in competitions for popularity and profitability. It points out that much of what has developed does not deserve to be conserved, it needs to be corrected.
I am starting to consider that the political divides that are developing have a powerful one-side initiation. People resisting improved awareness and understanding are 'polarizing themselves away from detailed discussions on the issues they do not want to have to change their minds about'.
That can happen on the Left or the Right. But the group primarily doing that are Conservatives and the Right, especially the new political Unions forming collectives of greedy and intolerant people (Uniting the Right) who will vote to support each others unacceptable interests, because without uniting they would have little chance of political or popular success. They are United against the improving understanding of climate science (and many other developed improved understandings of the brilliant diversity of humanity that should be appreciated and accepted as they are, rather than being attacked for being "those Others").
It is primarily Right-wing Conservatives who do not want to get along with Others through discussions that would lead to common sense improved understanding, because they 'accurately' sense that doing so is likely to require them to change their minds, and Conservatives are not very willing to do that.
As the Gulf stream weakens, Coriolis weakens and stops pulling the ocean away from the East Coast of the USA. Less heat is transferred northward so the waters off the southern part of the coast warm up and of course there is the overall rise in sea level. Some time in the not too distance future one almighty storm will turn Cape Cod into a sand bank devoid of trees and houses
Many grateful thanks @John Hartz for continuously providing the list of weekly news posts: every saturday I .. well .. do not .. look forward to it (i.e. I look forward to the list, but not to the often sad things reported in it). Some of it I share with other people (also not on FB) and I regularly promote the weekly list as an invaluable source of information, just as the whole of SkS.
Jonas: Thank you for the positive feedback.