Climate Change News - August 1, 2016 | Newsletter

New NOAA Tool Lets Communities Map Their Climate Futures

On July 27, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a new Climate Explorer program online to expand American communities’ access to the organization’s historical climate data and climate change predictions. In coordination with the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, the Climate Explorer provides easy-to-read reports with maps, data tables and graphs showing the potential impact of climate change on counties across the contiguous United States. Herring, a communication and education program manager at NOAA’s Climate Program office, commented, “Projections of how much and how fast [climate] change is happening is crucial to help communities prepare and become resilient.”

For more information see:

NOAA Press Release, Gizmodo

EPA Takes Step Towards Regulating Airline Emissions

On July 25, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an endangerment finding for greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft, indicating that they are hazardous to public health and contribute to climate change. This finding is a preliminary step for the EPA to regulate aircraft greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides (NOx), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). U.S. regulations would complement global regulations from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which mandate an overall four percent decrease in fuel consumption for aircraft built after 2028, and for aircraft which are currently being built for delivery after 2023. EPA said in a press release that it will pursue standards that are “at least as stringent” as ICAO's.

For more information see:

The New York Times, The Guardian, EPA

Scientists Urge President Obama to End Coal Leasing on Public Lands

On July 27, a group of more than 65 scientists wrote a letter to the Department of Interior (DOI), advocating an end to coal leasing and extraction on public lands, which account for 41 percent of national coal production. The letter argues that in order for the United States to meet international climate commitments, coal production needs to be quickly phased out. The scientists reference a study that says approximately 95 percent of U.S. coal has to stay in the ground to “preserve a reasonable probability” of keeping warming below the goal of two degrees. Drew Shindell, a climate scientist from Duke who was one of the letter's authors, said an end to federal coal mining should be, “part of a broader effort to stop burning coal at all in order to save the American people from the disastrous damages that it causes.”

For more information see:

Center for Biological Diversity, Climate Central

Environmental Groups Delivers Hundreds of Thousands of Comments to Stop Federal Coal Leasing

On July 28, The Hill reported that a coalition of environmental groups has submitted 250,000 comments to the Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in support of ending coal leasing on public lands, before the comment period on BLM's coal leasing program ended July 29. Sierra Club alone says it delivered over 130,000 comments. The groups also sent a letter to President Obama describing the benefits of permanently halting coal leasing, including preventing 212 billion metric tons of carbon from being released. Michael Saul at the Center for Biological Diversity commented, "The science is clear that there's no reasonable path to avoiding the worst effects of climate change without the phaseout of coal mining and combustion."

For more information see:

The Hill, Morning Consult, Press Release

Commission in Philippines Accuses Fossil Fuel Companies of Human Rights Abuse

On July 27, the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR) ordered 47 fossil fuel, mining, and manufacturing companies to respond to allegations that carbon emissions released from their businesses are violating human rights. CHR's complaint asserts that the companies, which include Shell, Chevron, and BP, infringed on human rights to "life, food, water, sanitation, adequate housing, and to self determination." Zelda Soriano, a legal and political advisor for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, commented, “This [request is] . . . establishing the moral and legal ‘precedent’ that big polluters can be held responsible for current and threatened human rights infringements resulting from fossil fuel products.” The 47 companies have been given 45 days to formally respond, after which a more rigorous legal inquiry is expected to begin in October.

For more information see:

The Guardian, International Business Times, Greenpeace Press Release, CHR Petition Document

Climate Change Threatens Coastal Military Bases in United States

On July 27, the Union of Concerned Scientists published a report projecting how severe coastal flooding triggered by climate change will threaten the daily operations of U.S. coastal military bases. Through a study of 18 East and Gulf coastal military installations, the report concluded that increasingly extreme high tides and hurricane storm surges will place a majority of these bases “at risk of losing [consistent access to] land where vital infrastructure, training and testing grounds for thousands of its personnel currently exist” by as soon as 2050. The report further predicts that eight of the studied coastal military bases will be vulnerable to permanent land losses of 25 to 50 percent from rising sea levels by 2100.

For more information see:

Reuters, Union of Concerned Scientists Report

New Research Shows Links Between Climate Change and Violence

On July 25, a new study was published linking climate-related natural disasters and the risk of armed conflict. Researchers found that this link was especially strong in countries with ethnic divides, where 23 percent of armed conflicts were linked to climate change, compared with nine percent of armed conflicts everywhere. One of the study authors, John Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said that when climate-related natural disasters happen in places pre-fractured by ethnic divisions, the result is "explosive," likely because one group begins to scapegoat another due to location or income. The study concludes that central Asia and north and central Africa are "exceptionally vulnerable" to this kind of climate change-driven conflict in the future.

For more information see:

The Guardian, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Ocean Acidification Is Changing Fish Behaviors

On July 27, a new study was published indicating that ocean acidification from climate change has affected the reproductive habits of wild fish. Ocean acidification occurs when carbon dioxide (CO2), a potent greenhouse gas, dissolves into the ocean and reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid. The study analyzed the habits of Mediterranean ocellated wrasse at sites with high carbon dioxide input from volcanic vents as compared to those 100 miles away at a site with normal CO2 levels, and found the high CO2 area fish mated less frequently. Marco Milazzo, a researcher from University of Palermo, said, “For the first time in the wild, we showed fish species with complex reproductive behaviors to be affected by high carbon dioxide levels expected by this century’s end.”

For more information see:

The Royal Society Publishing, Climate Central