Thursday, November 30, 2023

The COP-28 Conference

From Wed. 11.29.23 NPR...

"As world leaders gather for the annual United Nations climate change summit, known as the Conference of the Parties or COP28, in Dubai tomorrow, one number will be top of mind: 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). It's the amount countries have agreed to limit warming by the end of the century — an amount they're not on track to meet. These are the climate impacts the U.S. will see if warming goes beyond 1.5 degrees. "

U.S. temperature increases will exceed the global warming average

Warming doesn’t happen evenly across the world. Scientists measure climate change by averaging temperatures across the planet, but U.S. temperature increases are expected to be higher than the global average increase. Temperature rises in parts of Alaska could be double the global average.

INCREASE IN ANNUAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE (°F)



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And From: 

 Annual climate negotiations are about to start. Do they matter? 


The 28th annual international climate negotiation known as the Climate of Parties takes place this week in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. World leaders will discuss climate change, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and who will pay for the costs of a hotter planet. President Biden will not attend. 

 Less wealthy nations need trillions of dollars to transition to renewable energy. Wealthy nations like the U.S. have not followed through on a promise from last year’s talks to set up a fund for the damage caused by climate change in poorer countries. So far, this fund is empty.

See how far good intentions go? While all the African and SE Asian delegates to the last conference looked them in the eyes, they acknowledged that they needed help.

No funds for those suffering already from climate change. They at least agreed that a fund should be established. But left it without any way to fund it, or distribute it!


World leaders are meeting from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 to discuss the effects of climate change, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the increasingly pressing question of who will pay for the costs of a hotter planet.

Attendance at the annual negotiations has ballooned and hit an estimated 45,000 people last year. Thousands of climate scientists, mayors, activists, corporate executives and representatives of major oil companies will also fly to the petroleum-dependent host country to attend hundreds of side events.

Background of COP-28:

At the end of the 2015 COP meeting, world leaders signed the landmark Paris climate agreement. 

The Paris Agreement requires virtually every country on Earth to pledge how much they'll cut planet-warming pollution and update those plans every few years. The goal is to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius compared to temperatures in the late 1800s, and ideally no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

This year, world leaders are required to review humanity's collective progress toward that goal. And the situation is not good.

A U.N. analysis released this month found that global greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, and the planet is on track for at least 2.5 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century. And while it's still possible to stay below 2 degrees of warming — and every tenth of a degree of warming the world avoids will save lives — scientists warn that the 1.5 degree target is slipping away. 

Last year's COP27 meeting in Egypt ended with a watered-down agreement that left out language calling for a phaseout of all fossil fuels — the biggest driver of global warming. 

The summits have become a circus, "with the petrostates as the ringmasters" and everyone else as "the clowns," Sandrine Dixson-Declève wrote last year, as co-president of The Club of Rome, a nonprofit in Switzerland that works on climate change 

Rishikesh Ram Bhandary, assistant director of the Global Economic Governance Initiative at Boston University, says he understands the public's frustration with the climate talks. Part of it seems to stem from a mismatch between the U.N.'s multilateral process, which ensures every country has a say but often delivers incremental progress, and the urgency people feel as the impacts of climate change get worse. 

That tension has only grown as the United Arab Emirates, a big oil producer, prepares to host this year's meeting 

Given its knowledge of oil and gas, the UAE has a chance to chart a practical but ambitious path to move the world off of fossil fuels, Dixson-Declève says. 

"That would be the perfect scenario," she says. 

But the world seems to be moving in the opposite direction. António Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, said earlier in November that governments "are literally doubling down on fossil fuel production." 

SOURCE: Annual climate negotiations are about to start. Do they matter? 

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And the big question which hasn't been brought up (again) which occurs with each world-wide meeting, is, "How BIG is the carbon footprint from the jet fuel to bring all those delegates and vendors to this meeting?" Much of a meeting could be held by Zoom these days. But I guess all the politicking has to occur in the halls and behind closed doors...which requires in-person conversations...or does it? 


Wednesday, November 29, 2023

End plastic waste and/or production - an international agreement?

 Excerpts from article about the UN Environmental Program (also mentioned in blog post HERE Nov. 19 :

An international agreement to end/reduce plastic waste is being developed now.

“The urgency of addressing plastic pollution cannot be overstated,” said Gustavo Adolfo Meza-Cuadra Velasquez, chair of the negotiating committee, at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi. “To bring a difference at the scale required, we must work collectively.”

The power dynamics and positions of different delegations became clear in the first two rounds of talks in Paris and Punta del Este, Uruguay. They echo some of the same positions as in international climate talks, and with good reason — many of the players are the same. Plastic is largely made from crude oil and natural gas, giving oil-producing countries and companies a large stake in any treaty.

Women sort plastics in recycling center in Pakistan, AP Photo/Perviz Mesih

Global negotiators last met in Paris in June and agreed to produce initial treaty text before reconvening in Nairobi. The draft was published in early September. The U.N. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution is charged with developing the first international, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution on land and at sea.

Kenya is a global leader in fighting plastic pollution, and in 2017, the country banned the manufacture, sale and use of single-use plastic bags. In what is one of the strictest bans on the products, lawbreakers face fines and up to four years in jail.

Two years later, Kenya banned single-use plastic like cutlery, straws and PET bottles from parks, forests, beaches and other protected areas. Kenya is also an important player in environmental matters as home to UNEP’s headquarters. The country generates more than 70% of its electricity from renewable sources.

Norway and Rwanda are leading a “high ambition coalition” of governments that want to end plastic pollution by 2040 by cutting production and limiting some chemicals used in making plastics.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is leading a group of countries that have large

"Leaders of the global plastics industry are advocating for a process called chemical or advanced recycling and said they were very disappointed the draft doesn’t have a strong focus on that. They view this as essential to solving the plastic waste crisis."

The gathering in Nairobi is the third in a compressed five-meeting schedule intended to complete negotiations by the end of next year.

The negotiations, which have attracted more than 2,000 participants, [ended] Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023."

SOURCE: AP News

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Today's quote:

The walls of books around me, dense with the past, formed a kind of insulation against the present world and its disasters. -Ross Macdonald, novelist (1915-1983)



Actual building in North Carolina



Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Some statistics in North Carolina

 From Progress NC Facebook 11.27.23 post:

"'Droughts, floods, off-season tornados, weird cold snaps and unseasonably warm temperatures: All are hallmarks of a changing climate, not in the future, but happening now.' And we're seeing all of these things right here in North Carolina."


Among the current North Carolina wildfire numbers:

833  acres – Size of the Sauratown wildfire in Stokes County. Last week’s rain helped crews to contain the fire, now at 69%. Fire officials are investigating the cause.

434 acres – Poplar Drive fire in Edneyville, in Henderson County; it is 100% contained. A man was burning debris, which then spread. He has since been charged with a misdemeanor.

1,888 acres – Black Bear fire in Haywood County, which is 80% contained. A car crash on I-40 started the blaze. NOTE: This is the one near the tunnel on I-40 near the TN border with NC.

80 acres – Branch fire in Wilkes County, 100% contained; the cause is under investigation.

5,505 acres – Collett Ridge fire in Cherokee and Clay counties; it is 100% contained. Lightning struck dry vegetation, sparking the fire.

4,589 – Number of wildfires so far in 2023

17,682 acres – Amount of land burned in those fires

6,099 – Number of wildfires in 2022

20,126 acres – Amount of land burned

63,547 acres – Largest amount of land burned because of wildfires in the past 20 years — in 2011

7,260 – Greatest number of wildfires in the past 20 years — in 2007

96 – Number of counties in some stage of drought, ranging from ‘abnormally dry’ to ‘extreme’

13 – Number of counties classified as 'extreme’

Sources: NC Drought Management Advisory Council, NC Forest Service

Monday, November 27, 2023

Lily Gladstone "In the Making" interview

 


I haven't seen the movie yet, but do intend to. The Killers of the Flower Moon.  Lily Gladstone is one of the stars.

Today's quote:

If there is a God, I don't think He would demand that anyone bow down or stand up to him. -Rebecca West, author and journalist (1892-1983)


Recent feast making brings serious questions about table setting.





Sunday, November 26, 2023

But wait...Ayana Elizabeth Johnson has a way to have joy in confronting Climate Change!


And a TED talk which is about finding joy in working on climate change

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"Ikigai (生き甲斐, pronounced [ikiɡai]) is a Japanese concept meaning "a reason for being". Everyone, according to the Japanese, has an ikigai. Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self. Such a search is regarded as being very important, since it is believed that discovery of one's ikigai brings satisfaction and meaning to life." -Wiki



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Last week CNN gave a report (excerpts follow)

No place in the US is safe from the climate crisis, but a new report shows where it’s most severe

This summer alone, the Phoenix area baked through a record 31 consecutive days above 110 degrees, a shocking heatwave that was partly responsible for more than 500 heat-related deaths in Maricopa County in 2023 – its deadliest year for heat on record.

In July, a torrential rainstorm deluged parts of Vermont in deadly floodwaters. Then in August, Maui was devastated by a fast-moving wildfire and Florida’s Gulf Coast was slammed by its second major hurricane in two years. 

The US needs “a transformation of the global economy on a size and scale that’s never occurred in human history” to “create a livable future for ourselves and our children,” White House senior climate adviser John Podesta told reporters.

And it continues with some takeaways from the Five Year Climate Report done by scientists and released last week.

The latest report contains an important advancement in what’s called “attribution science” – scientists can more definitively show how climate change is affecting extreme events, like heatwaves, droughts to hurricanes and severe rainstorms. 

There is no place immune from climate change, Biden administration officials and the report’s scientists emphasized, and this summer’s extreme weather was a deadly reminder. 

Some states – including California, Florida, Louisiana and Texas – are facing more significant storms and extreme swings in precipitation.

Landlocked states won’t have to adapt to sea level rise, though some – including Appalachian states like Kentucky and West Virginia – have seen devastating flooding from rainstorms. 

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Climate shocks on the economy are happening more frequently, the report said, evidenced by the new record this year for the number of extreme weather disasters costing at least $1 billion. And disaster experts have spent the last year warning the US is only beginning to see the economic fallout of the climate crisis. 

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Unlike the world’s other top polluters – China and India – planet-warming pollution in the US is declining. But it’s not happening nearly fast enough to stabilize the planet’s warming or meet the United States’ international climate commitments, the report explains.

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One of the report’s biggest takeaways centers on the precarious future of water in the US, and how parts of the country are facing a future with either extreme drought and water insecurity, or more flooding and sea level rise.

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Today's quote:

"I have great faith in optimism as a guiding principle, if only because it offers us the opportunity of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. So I hope we've learnt something from the most barbaric century in history — the 20th. I would like to see us overcome our tribal divisions and begin to think and act as if we were one family. That would be real globalization." Arthur C. Clark (1917-2007)



Yesterday's photo of Mickey and a broom was from the animated film Fantasia, which just celebrated it's 133 anniversary.

Saturday, November 25, 2023

The good news this week!

 Good news this week:


I realize some of these were on last week's list. Mmm, they should leave off the ones they've already posted!

Today's quote: When we are in circle with others, the energy stays contained within the group, giving back to all.

You probably know where this came from. If in doubt, I'll share it tomorrow!

Friday, November 24, 2023

Native American Heritage Day


 

National Native American Heritage Day is observed on November 24, 2023, a day after Thanksgiving. 

This day is different from Indigenous Peoples’ Day on October 24th. The Friday after Thanksgiving, American Indians are accorded special honor, and their rich cultures, accomplishments, contributions, and heritage are celebrated. The history of America begins with Native Americans. We can learn more about their culture and speak out against the grave injustices they have experienced by visiting: https://nationaltoday.com/native-american-heritage-day/. 

HISTORY OF NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE DAY

Dr. Arthur C. Parker of the Seneca nation first protested for National Native American Heritage Day between 1912 and 1915. At first, he was fighting for an “American Indian Day” to be recognized within the Boy Scouts of America. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed into law the legislation introduced by Congressman Joe Baca, to designate the day after Thanksgiving as American Indian Heritage Day. The law was established on November 28 as a day to pay respects to the Native Americans for their numerous contributions to the United States. The American Indian Heritage Day was supported by the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) and 184 federally recognized tribes.

The Native American Heritage Day encourages Americans of all backgrounds to appreciate the indigenous cultures appropriately, with ceremonies and activities. Schools are also encouraged to enhance their students’ awareness of Native Americans by providing classroom activities focused on their history, contributions, and achievements. 

The United States House of Representatives initially passed the Native American Heritage Day Act of 2009, with technical adjustments made by a collective consent in the United States Senate. The House of Representatives unanimously voted to pass the legislation again, including the Senate’s adjustments. The legislation was then signed into public law by President Barack Obama on October 30, 2009.

Native American Heritage Day and Month is a huge platform for Indigenous people to educate society about their communities. On this day, more than ever, they lead the discourse on culture, celebrate their heritage by donning traditional footwear (“rocking the moccasin”), and shed some light on the diverse tribal communities.

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 Nansemond Indian Nation Fights for Their Namesake River




Our Bass ancestry goes back to this tribe. Our great grandmother was Elizabeth "Bettie" Bass Rogers.