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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: The devastation of Super Typhoon Haiyan, and the climate change signal; PLUS: The denial industry sinks to new lows, as the U.N. meets again to hammer out a global climate treaty … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen 11/12/2013

‘Green News Report’ – November 12, 2013  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...   · · · · ·   ‘Green News Report’ – November 12, 2013  |  With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): AP shocked – shocked! – to find corn ethanol is bad; Archbishop refuses communion to polluters; Billionaire Koch Brother says advocates of carbon tax ‘are on acid’; U.S. crushes ivory to save elephants from extinction; ARCO to pay $20m to residents near NV copper mine; Fossil fuels receive $500 billion a year in government subsidies worldwide; Another oil train explodes, this time in Alabama … PLUS: Map: What the U.S. coast will look like after we melt all the ice … and much, MUCH more! …

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…

• Super Typhoon Haiyan: Devastation in The Philippines:
• Typhoon Haiyan death toll closer to 2,500, Philippine president says (CNN)
• Haiyan Storm Surges Caught Philippines by Surprise (ABC News):
  [B]rick-and-mortar structures were simply no match for the jet-force winds and massive walls of waves that swept ashore Friday, devastating cities, towns and villages and killing thousands, including many of those who had huddled in government shelters.
• Why Typhoon Haiyan Caused So Much Damage (NPR)
• AUDIO: Aid Groups Struggle To Reach Survivors Of Typhoon Haiyan (NPR)
• Philippine typhoon: Tales of heartbreak, courage; hunger, anarchy (LA Times)
• U.S. military speeds aid to Philippines for Typhoon Haiyan victims (LA Times)
• Haiyan: The Record Super Typhoon & the Climate Change Signal:
• Best Overview: UPDATE: Supertyphoons and Global Warming (Phil Plait, Slate)
• Science of storms: The phenomenon that powered typhoon Haiyan (Financial Times)
• Haiyan is Dead, Better Weather Ahead for the Philippines; ‘We Can Stop This Madness’ (Dr. Jeff Masters’ Weather Underground) [emphasis added]:
  Haiyan’s place in history:
  [T]he super typhoon likely made landfall with winds near 195 mph. The next JTWC intensity estimate, for 00Z UTC November 8, about three hours after landfall, put the top winds at 185 mph. Averaging together these estimates gives a strength of 190 mph an hour after landfall. Thus, Haiyan had winds of 190 – 195 mph at landfall, making it the strongest tropical cyclone on record to make landfall in world history. The previous record was held by the Atlantic’s Hurricane Camille of 1969, which made landfall in Mississippi with 190 mph winds.
• Should the Saffir-Simpson scale go beyond 5? (Science Blogs)
• Typhoon in Philippines Casts Long Shadow Over U.N. Talks on Climate Treaty (NY Times) [emphasis added]:
  [S]cientists remain cautious about drawing links between extreme storms like this typhoon and climate change. There is not enough data, they say, to draw conclusions about any single storm. “Whether we’re seeing some result of climate change, we find that impossible to find out,” said Kerry A. Emanuel, an atmospheric scientist at M.I.T.

  Scientists largely agree that it appears that storms will become more powerful as the climate changes. Dr. Emanuel helped write a 2010 study, for example, that forecast that the average intensity of hurricanes and typhoons “” different names for the same phenomenon “” would increase by up to 11 percent by the end of the century.

• Super-Storm May Be Harbinger of Worse to Come (Voice Of America News)
• Super Typhoon Haiyan: A Hint of What’s to Come? (Climate Central)
• Haiyan: Climate Change Denial Industry Scrapes New Lows:
• While thousands may have died in Typhoon Haiyan, be prepared to “throw up in your mouth” at this article on WUWT (Hot Whopper Blog)
• WUWT Science Denialist Blog Hits New, Historic Low (Gred Laden, Science Blogs) [emphasis added]:
  At the moment, nobody is really saying that Haiyan’s strength, size, power, or even existence is specifically the direct result of global warming, although it is of course impossible to remove the effects of global warming from ANY weather event because global warming is part of climate change and guess what … weather arises from the climate. The climate has changed, so ALL of our weather is affected by climate change. This offensive post is preemptive denial, but it is denial that throws the lives and suffering of millions of people … of which thousands have lost relatives … under the bus.
• VIDEO: Fox Attacks “Foolish” George Clooney, Misquotes What He Said About Over Typhoon Haiyan (Media Matters)
• Haiyan Casts Shadow Over U.N. Climate Summit COP19 in Warsaw:
• VIDEO: Tearful Speech by Climate Change representative Yeb Sano to the UN after typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda (Frequency.com)


• “It’s time to stop this madness” ““ Transcript of Remarks by Philippines Chief Negotiator at UN climate talks (RTCC)
• Typhoon in Philippines Casts Long Shadow Over U.N. Talks on Climate Treaty (NY Times):
  Naderev Saà±o, the chief representative of the Philippines at the conference, said he would stop eating in solidarity with the storm victims until “a meaningful outcome is in sight.”

  “What my country is going through as a result of this extreme climate event is madness; the climate crisis is madness,” Mr. Saà±o said. “We can stop this madness right here in Warsaw.”

  His declaration, coupled with the scope of the disaster, moved many of the delegates to tears.

• Philippines urges action to resolve climate talks deadlock after Typhoon Haiyan (Guardian UK): UN negotiations in Warsaw must deliver emergency climate pathway as new storm brews in the Pacific, says government
• Typhoon Haiyan’s Deadly Surge Noted in Warsaw Talks (Climate Central)
• What Typhoon Haiyan Means For Climate Change “” And The UN’s Ongoing Climate Talks (Climate Progress)
• UN: Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions at Record High:
• : The Emissions Gap Report 2013 (UN Environment Programme)
• United Nations Group Warns on Emissions (NY Times):
  Major polluters must immediately begin to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if the rise in global temperatures is to be held in check, or else a higher price will have to be paid later, according to a report released Tuesday by the United Nations Environment Program.

‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…

• MAP: What Our Coastline Will Look Like After We Melt All The World’s Ice (Climate Progress):
  The best science suggests that on our current CO2 emissions path, by 2100 we could well pass the tipping point that would make 200+ feet of sea level rise all but unstoppable “” though it would certainly take a long time after 2100 for the full melt-out to actually occur.
• AP Shocked, Shocked To Find Corn Ethanol Is Bad (Earth Techling) [emphasis added]:
  Anybody who has been paying attention has long known that corn ethanol in the U.S. is of dubious environmental benefit, leads to the loss of valuable grasslands, puts pressure on food supplies and prices ““ and all in all is just plain stupid public policy. So congratulations to the Associated Press for getting off its ass, putting some of its vast reporting resources to work on a matter of public importance, doing an “investigation” and pulling together these and various other strands of the corn ethanol boondoggle.
• Naples Archbishop Refuses Communion To Polluters (Huffington Post Green):
  Archbishop of Naples Crescenzio Sepe didn’t mince words when speaking about the issue of pollution on Wednesday, going so far as to say, “Those who pollute are not in the grace of God and can not take communion.” His remarks came in the wake of revelations that local mafia had buried cancer-causing toxic waste around the city, posing a health risk to residents, reports Adnkronos.
• Billionaire Koch Brother Says Carbon Tax Supporters Are On Acid (Climate Progress):
  According to a report in the Palm Beach Daily News, Koch told an audience of around 600 people at the Florida city’s Chamber of Commerce that anyone who advocates for taxes on carbon dioxide emissions is “on LSD.” If people want to counter high levels of carbon, he reportedly said, they should just plant more trees.
• Alabama oil-train derailment raises issues about crude oil shipment safety: (Reuters):
  The second explosive oil-train derailment this year, which has finally burned out in rural Alabama, may raise new questions about the safety of the crude-by-rail boom, pointing to problems beyond those that surfaced following the earlier tragedy in Quebec.
• Look What’s Slowing Down Global Warming (Mother Jones):
  The recent slowdown in global temperature increases is partially the result of one of the few successful international crackdowns on greenhouse gases. Back in 1988, more than 40 countries, including the US, signed the Montreal Protocol, an agreement to phase out the use of ozone-depleting gases like chlorofluorocarbons (today the Protocol has nearly 200 signatories).
  …
  “The recent decrease in warming, presented by global warming skeptics as proof that humankind cannot affect the climate system, is shown to have a direct human origin.”
• U.S. crushes ivory to save elephants from extinction (SF Gate):
  The ivory crush in Denver, which was temporarily postponed by the government shutdown, is intended to “send a message to ivory traffickers and their customers that the United States will not tolerate this illegal trade.”
• “Pandora’s Promise”?: Myths And Facts About Nuclear Power (Media Matters) [emphasis added]:
  Media coverage of nuclear power often suggests that environmentalists are illogically blocking the expansion of a relatively safe, low-carbon energy source. However, in reality, economic barriers to nuclear power — even after decades of subsidies — have prevented the expansion of nuclear power.
• ARCO to pay up to $20 mln to Nevada copper mine neighbors over contamination (Reuters):
  Residents of a small Nevada city won up to $20 million in a class action lawsuit that claimed Atlantic Richfield Company and its parent corporation allowed a defunct copper mine to leak harmful chemicals into nearby soil and drinking water.
• Fossil Fuels Receive $500 Billion A Year In Government Subsidies Worldwide (Climate Progress):
  “If their aim is to avoid dangerous climate change, governments are shooting themselves in both feet,” the report, headed by ODI research fellow Shelagh Whitley, said. “They are subsidizing the very activities that are pushing the world towards dangerous climate change, and creating barriers to investment in low-carbon development and subsidy incentives that encourage investment in carbon-intensive energy.”
• A New Investment Project Could Point The Way To Renewables For The Global Poor (Climate Progress):
  “North Africa and the Middle East are at the beginning of an impressive energy transition based on wind and sun,” said Dii CEO Paul van Son. “A well-developed, shovel-ready project then builds the basis for the much larger amounts of private sector investment necessary for constructing a renewable energy power plant.”
• Why we don’t care about saving our grandchildren from climate change: (TIME’s Eco-Centric Blog) [emphasis added]:
  A new study shows that human beings are too selfish to endure present pain to avert future climate change. That’s why we need win-win solutions now….The Nature Climate Change study also underscores why “win-win” climate policies – like innovation investments that can lead directly to cheap clean energy, rather than policies that make dirty energy more expensive – are likely to be the most effective ones.

FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page

• Video Proof That Global Warming is a ‘Hoax’!: NASA Temperature Data 1888-2011 (The BRAD BLOG):



• NASA climate change video: This is the U.S. in 2100 (NASA).