While rain this week provided California with some relief from a long spell of high temperatures and dry weather, it scarcely made a dent in the state's multi-year drought. And they'll hardly be encouraged by a new study, which says the drought is the worst in the region in 1,200 years.
In the study published this week in the American Geophysical Union's Geophysical Research Letters, researchers Daniel Griffin, University of Minnesota assistant professor and Climate & Global Change fellow of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Kevin J. Anchukaitis of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute pointed to California's last three years of the worst drought conditions in a century, and asked "But how unusual is this event?
Scientist Kevin Anchukaitis measures tree rings to determine drought conditions going back over a millennium. Photo credit: Daniel Griffin
Extremely unusual, was the answer they arrived at, based on a study of blue oak tree growth rings in central and southern California, which Griffin called "as close to nature’s rain gauges as we get." The two scientists found 66 dry periods, with only three close to the current one—and none quite as severe. And they learned that 2014 was the worst drought year in the region in 1,200 years.
"There is no doubt that we are entering a new era where human-wrought changes to the climate system will become important for determining the severity of droughts and their consequences for coupled human and natural systems," said Anchukaitis in announcing the study.
"We demonstrate that while three-year periods of persistent below-average soil moisture are not uncommon, the current event is the most severe drought in the last 1200 years, with single year (2014) and accumulated moisture deficits worse than any previous continuous span of dry years," said the study. "Tree-ring chronologies extended through the 2014 growing season reveal that precipitation during the drought has been anomalously low but not outside the range of natural variability. The current California drought is exceptionally severe in the context of at least the last millennium and is driven by reduced though not unprecedented precipitation and record high temperatures."
"We were genuinely surprised at the result," said Griffin. "This is California—drought happens. Time and again, the most common result in tree-ring studies is that drought episodes in the past were more extreme than those of more recent eras. This time, however, the result was different."
Its California, drought happens. Then it rains. Sometimes heavily. Prove Steinbeck wrong California, don't forget pic.twitter.com/vzmL4noETj
— Daniel Griffin (@locallyabsent) December 3, 2014
This week's U.S. Drought Monitor, out yesterday, showed that 99.7 percent of California of the state is still in one of its drought categories, with more than half the state still in the highest category "exceptionally drought." Since the results were based on rainfall through Tuesday, they did not take into account this week's rains.
"Despite respectable amounts of precipitation falling across the northern half of the state, no changes were rendered to the California drought depiction this week," the agency said. "Snowpack is just starting to form and is below what is normally expected for December 1, while reservoirs are just starting to receive more water than is being lost, which is later than would normally occur. December 1 marks the start of the wettest time of the year for California. Typically, about one-half of California’s annual precipitation is expected to fall during the December-February season. However, more than this is needed to offset the accumulated deficits. Finally, stream base flow levels in many areas are still low and indicative of a lack of groundwater response in watersheds so far this cold season. This suggests that groundwater reservoirs still require replenishment."
More than half of California is still under "exceptional drought." Image Credit: U.S. Drought Monitor
"It's going to take a couple years of average or above-average rainfall so that we can not only fill our reservoirs, build our snowpack, but also recharge our groundwater basins," Bill Croyle of California Department of Water Resources told USA Today. "The ground is so dry, and the groundwater basins in those higher elevations have no water in them."
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NASA Satellite Images Reveal Shocking Groundwater Loss in Drought-Stricken California
The western edge of the Greenland ice sheet in West Greenland as seen from the air. Ashley Cooper / Getty Images
As the world's ice sheets melt at an increasing rate, researchers are looking for explanations beyond just a hotter climate. A recent study found one answer may lie in the dust.
<p>Published on Monday in Nature Communications, the study found that phosphorus, a mineral found in dust, is a key nutrient for an extensive glacier algae bloom on Greenland's ice sheet, known as the "dark zone." As the algae grow, the ice becomes darker, decreasing its ability to reflect sunlight and causing the ice to melt faster and sea levels to rise. </p><p>"It's important to understand the controls on algal growth because of their role in ice sheet darkening," Dr. Jenine McCutcheon, who led the study published in Nature Communications, <a href="http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4757/blowin_in_the_wind_the_mineral_dust_linked_to_ice_melt" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told the University of Leeds</a>. "Although algal blooms can cover up to 78 percent of the bare ice surfaces in the Dark Zone, their abundance and size can vary greatly over time," Dr. McCutcheon added. </p><p>Since 2000, the dark zone's melting season has "progressively started earlier and lasted longer," according to the University of Leeds. Glacier algal blooms are responsible for up to 13 percent of surface melting in this region, the study noted. </p><p>But until recently little was known about how these algal blooms developed.</p>
<p>Researchers found that phosphorus can cause the photosynthesis rate of the ice algae to improve significantly, McCutcheon said, according to the University of Leeds.</p><p>Although researchers examined dust sourced from local rock, they warned that dust can be transported thousands of miles by the wind. </p><p>"As dryland areas in northerly latitudes become even drier under climate change, we can expect to see more dust transported and deposited on the Greenland Ice Sheet, further fueling algal blooms," Associate Professor Dr. Jim McQuaid, who co-authored the study, noted.</p><p>"The findings of this study will improve how we predict where algal blooms will happen in the future, and help us gain a better understanding of their role in ice sheet albedo reduction and enhanced melting," Dr. McCutcheon added. </p>
<p>Researchers are also asking how these algal blooms will grow and darken in a warming climate.</p><p>"In 2019 our glaciers and ice sheets [are] already being darkened by dust, soot, and ash from our industrial world, which provides the perfect home for algae to flourish," Alexandre Anesio, a professor in Arctic biogeochemistry from Aarhus University, who was not affiliated with the University of Leeds study, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/18/tiny-algae-ground-zero-greenland-melting-glaciers" target="_blank">told The Guardian</a>. "As the organisms reproduce, they melt even more snow, which in turn allows them to proliferate again. So it's like a cycle. A very bad one."</p><p>Darkening ice is not just occurring on Greenland's ice sheets, according to The Guardian. It's happening globally, Professor Liane Benning of the German Research Center for Geosciences noted, also impacting the Alpine and Himalayan glaciers. </p><p>In Western Canada, wildfires fueled by climate change are also leaving ash on glaciers, staining the ice, creating habitats for algae and "accelerating the warming process in a feedback loop," <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-mountainsummit/algae-blooms-to-make-glaciers-melt-faster-than-thought-scientists-idUSKBN1XA1WQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a> reported.</p><p>"To be honest, I'm massively worried," Anesio told The Guardian. As the planet warms, researchers are rushing to find answers on glacial melting and its impact on biodiversity.<br></p><p>"I just hope that we are not crossing that tipping point because I don't think humans can adapt to the rates of changing climates at the moment," Anesio added.</p>
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Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg protests during a "Fridays for Future" protest in front of the Swedish Parliament Riksdagen in Stockholm on October 9. Jonathan Nackstrand / AFP / Getty Images
By Greta Thunberg
- Greta Thunberg calls for urgent action to address the climate and ecological crisis.
- She reminds the world of the promises made to children and grandchildren — a promise they expect to be kept.
- The proposals being discussed and presented at the moment are 'very far from being enough.'
<ul class="ee-ul"></ul><p>My name is Greta Thunberg and I'm not here to make deals. You see, I don't belong to any financial interest or political party. So I can't bargain or negotiate. I am only here to once again remind you of the emergency we're in. The crisis that you and your predecessors have created and inflicted upon us. The crisis that you continue to ignore.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="10605be96f226155a2e82011293d251f"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KjRDUlkEbu4?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>I am here to remind you of the promises that you have made to your children and grandchildren. And to tell you that we are not willing to compromise on the very minimum safety levels that still remain.</p><p>The climate and ecological crisis can unfortunately no longer be solved within today's systems. According to the current best available science that is no longer an opinion; that's a fact.</p><p>We need to keep this in mind as countries, businesses and investors now rush forward to present their new so-called "ambitious" climate targets and commitments. The longer we avoid this uncomfortable truth, and the longer we pretend we can solve the climate - and ecological emergency — without treating it like a crisis — the more precious time we will lose. And this is time we do not have.</p>
<p>Today, we hear leaders and nations all over the world speak of an "existential climate emergency". But instead of taking the immediate action you would in any emergency, they set up vague, insufficient, hypothetical targets way into the future, like "net-zero 2050." Targets based on loopholes and incomplete numbers. Targets that equal surrender. It's like waking up in the middle of the night, seeing your house on fire, then deciding to wait 10, 20 or 30 years before you call the fire department while labeling those trying to wake people up alarmists.</p><p>We understand that the world is very complex and that change doesn't happen overnight. But you've now had more than three decades of bla bla bla. How many more do you need? Because when it comes to facing the climate and ecological emergency, the world is still in a state of complete denial. The justice for the most affected people in the most affected areas is being systematically denied.</p><p>Even though we welcome every single climate initiative, the proposals being presented and discussed today are very far from being enough. And the time for "small steps in the right direction" is long gone. If we are to have at least a small chance of avoiding the worst consequences of the climate and ecological crisis, this needs to change.</p><p>Because you still say one thing, and then do the complete opposite. You speak of saving nature, while locking in policies of further destruction for decades to come.</p><p>You promise to not let future generations down, while creating new loopholes, failing to connect the dots, building your so called "pledges" on the cheating tactics that got us into this mess in the first place. If the commitments of lowering all our emissions by 70, 68 or even 55 percent by 2030 actually meant they aim to reduce them by those figures then that would be a great start. But that is unfortunately not the case.</p><p>And since the level of public awareness continues to be so low our leaders can still get away with almost anything. No one is held accountable. It's like a game. Whoever is best at packaging and selling their message wins.</p><p>As it is now, we can have as many summits and meetings as we want, but unless we treat the climate and ecological crisis like a crisis, no sufficient changes will be achieved. What we need — to begin with — is to implement annual binding carbon budgets based on the current best available science.</p>
<p>Right now more than ever we are desperate for hope. But what is hope? For me hope is not more empty assurances that everything will be alright, that things are being taken care of and we do not need to worry.</p><p>For me, hope is the feeling that keeps you going, even though all odds may be against you. For me hope comes from action not just words. For me, hope is telling it like it is. No matter how difficult or uncomfortable that may be.</p><p>And again, I'm not here to tell you what to do. After all, safeguarding the future living conditions and preserving life on earth as we know it is voluntary. The choice is yours to make.</p><p>But I can assure you this. You can't negotiate with physics. And your children and grandchildren will hold you accountable for the choices that you make. How's that for a deal?</p>
<ul class="ee-ul"></ul><p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/greta-thunberg-message-to-the-davos-agenda/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2650141679#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
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A dugong, also called a sea cow, swims with golden pilot jacks near Marsa Alam, Egypt, Red Sea. Alexis Rosenfeld / Getty Images
In 2010, world leaders agreed to 20 targets to protect Earth's biodiversity over the next decade. By 2020, none of them had been met. Now, the question is whether the world can do any better once new targets are set during the meeting of the UN Convention on Biodiversity in Kunming, China later this year.
<p>To help turn the tide, a group of 22 research institutions have come together to develop four steps to protect life on Earth, the <a href="https://environmentjournal.online/articles/researchers-outline-four-key-steps-to-mitigate-climate-crisis/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Environment Journal reported</a>.</p>
<p>"The upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting, and adoption of the new Global Biodiversity Framework, represent an opportunity to transform humanity's relationship with nature," the researchers wrote in <a href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(20)30657-6?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2590332220306576%3Fshowall%3Dtrue" target="_blank">One Earth Friday</a>. "Restoring nature while meeting human needs requires a bold vision, including mainstreaming biodiversity <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> in society."</p><p>By mainstreaming biodiversity, the researchers mean that biodiversity should be considered by everyone who makes decisions about the use of natural resources, not just specialized conservation organizations.</p>
<p>To help with this goal, the researchers, led by the University of Oxford's <a href="https://www.iccs.org.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science</a>, developed a framework they are calling the "4Rs," according to a University of Oxford <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-01-22-four-steps-earth-holistic-approach-saving-planet" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">press release</a>. The point of the 4Rs is that they can be used by any group or individual, from the national to the local level, that needs to make a decision that will impact species and ecosystems.</p><p>The 4Rs are:</p><ol><li>Refrain: Avoiding negative impacts on nature.</li><li>Reduce: Minimizing the harm caused by any unavoidable impacts.</li><li>Restore: Acting to quickly counteract any harm caused to nature.</li><li>Renew: Working to improve damaged ecosystems.</li></ol>
<p>"This paper represents a real team effort, with authors from academia, business and government," lead author and Oxford professor E.J. Milner-Gulland said of the goals in the press release. "We're excited to launch this idea and hope that it will be useful to many different groups as they work to realise the vision of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. It's a huge challenge, with many different facets, and we hope that Four Steps for the Earth will provide an intuitive and flexible framework for tying all the threads together."</p>
<p>In the paper, the researchers provided examples of how the framework has been used by groups ranging from the city of London to Indigenous communities. In one example, a fishery in Peru used it to reduce the accidental catching of sea turtles. Goals were set for limiting the number of different species of sea turtle accidentally caught at the local level, and this was connected to regional conservation efforts for the animals.</p><p>The researchers also explained how different institutions could use their framework to guide their actions in the future.</p><p>"This framework will, hopefully, present a turning point in the way institutions such as Oxford think about their biodiversity impact," Oxford project coordinator Henry Grub said in the press release. "Our impacts cannot be overlooked because of the positive research we do – rather we hope the '4Rs' will transform efforts to tackle the environmental impacts of the food we eat in canteens, the paper we put in printers, the land we build on, and much more."</p>
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President Joe Biden signs executive orders in the State Dining Room at the White House on Jan. 22, 2021 in Washington, DC. Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post via Getty Images
By Andrew Rosenberg
The first 24 hours of the administration of President Joe Biden were filled not only with ceremony, but also with real action. Executive orders and other directives were quickly signed. More actions have followed. All consequential. Many provide a basis for not just undoing actions of the previous administration, but also making real advances in public policy to protect public health, safety, and the environment.
<p><br/></p>
<p>These first executive orders address huge challenges — the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/biden-coronavirus-executive-actions/2021/01/21/9a4ab954-5b56-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pandemic</a>, <a href="https://ucsusa.org/about/news/biden-expected-rejoin-paris-agreement-day-one-bring-us-back-international-fold" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate change</a>, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">racial justice</a>, and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/22/fact-sheet-president-bidens-new-executive-actions-deliver-economic-relief-for-american-families-and-businesses-amid-the-covid-19-crises/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">economic</a> uncertainty. Among these actions, President Biden also issued a critically important order on "<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-protecting-public-health-and-environment-and-restoring-science-to-tackle-climate-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis</a>," which includes some provisions that have received much less attention than they warrant. They go to the heart of much of UCS' work and advocacy.</p>
<p>Section 1 of the order is clear and inspiring:</p><p>"Policy. Our Nation has an abiding commitment to empower our workers and communities; promote and protect our public health and the environment; and conserve our national treasures and monuments, places that secure our national memory. Where the Federal Government has failed to meet that commitment in the past, it must advance environmental justice. In carrying out this charge, the Federal Government must be guided by the best science and be protected by processes that ensure the integrity of Federal decision-making. <em>It is, therefore, the policy of my Administration to listen to the science; to improve public health and protect our environment; to ensure access to clean air and water; to limit exposure to dangerous chemicals and pesticides; to hold polluters accountable, including those who disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities; to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; to bolster resilience to the impacts of climate change; to restore and expand our national treasures and monuments; and to prioritize both environmental justice and the creation of the well-paying union jobs necessary to deliver on these goals."</em> (emphasis added)</p>
<p>Music to my ears. Listening to the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a> is not just about the pandemic, it is about serving the needs of the public. For protecting public health and safety in our communities. For worker safety. For protections for all with justice and equity, particularly communities of color and low-income communities that have long suffered much of the burden of pollution and environmental harms. These are exactly the <a href="https://ucsusa.org/resources/roadmap-science-decisionmaking" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">changes</a> that UCS has been advocating for and will pay enormous dividends in improving public health and safety, with specific attention to ensuring those benefits are for all communities.</p><p>As ordered by our president, all agencies and departments in the Executive Branch must immediately review and address actions taken between January 20, 2017 and January 20,2021 that conflict with these policy goals. And suspend, revise, or rescind those found to be in conflict with the new president's policy goals as soon as possible.</p>
<p>For example, these actions will include, but are not limited to:</p><ul><li>Reversing the climate- and health-harming rollback of <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/julie-mcnamara/epa-methane-rollbacks-natural-gas-bridge-becomes-piece-of-crumbling-infrastructure" target="_blank">methane emissions</a> standards.</li><li>Redoing the fuel economy and emissions standards for cars and light trucks that were <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-cooke/trump-administration-finalizes-car-rule-which-will-worsen-economy-public-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">gutted</a> under the <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-cooke/trump-administration-finalizes-car-rule-as-handout-to-fossil-fuel-industry" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">last administration</a>, while also moving forward with <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-cooke/under-biden-administration-a-new-decade-has-dawned-passenger-car-regulations-must-keep-up?_ga=2.51189737.1374580234.1611258477-310247935.1607440719" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ambitious standards</a> that will dramatically reduce emissions and increase transportation electrification in the future.</li><li>Reconsidering rollbacks of <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/julie-mcnamara/while-you-werent-looking-energy-efficiency-became-one-of-our-nations-top-energy-resources" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">energy efficiency standards</a>.</li><li>Undoing attacks on <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/julie-mcnamara/epas-brazen-mercury-rule-proposal" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mercury and air toxics</a> standards for coal plants.</li><li>Reconsidering changes to the way <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/julie-mcnamara/manipulation-of-benefit-cost-analysis-hides-bodies-in-the-fine-print" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">costs and benefits</a> are calculated.</li><li>Revoking the rule that <a href="https://ucsusa.org/about/news/epa-rule-restricting-science-puts-agencys-mission-risk-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">limits the science</a> that the EPA can use in rulemaking.</li><li>Reestablishing the interagency working group on the "<a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/rachel-cleetus/the-social-cost-of-carbon-underscores-an-obvious-fact-climate-change-is-costly" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">social cost</a> of greenhouse gas emissions to determine the social benefits of limiting global warming as critical input to evaluating regulatory proposals, and requiring an interim SCC, SCN and SCM within 30 days which will be used until final values are published.</li><li>Erasing the shortcutting of <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/derrick-jackson/environmental-racism-in-action-the-trump-administrations-plans-to-gut-nepa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">environmental reviews</a> of federal projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).</li></ul><p>Within 30 days agencies must submit a full list of actions from the last four years that will be considered for review and revision or cancellation within the next year.</p>
<h3>(Measured) Excitement at UCS</h3><p>I danced around the room with my dogs at the push toward restoring NEPA analyses. Doing a thorough NEPA analysis, which the shortcuts held back, means that agencies must seek public input more extensive than just notice and public comment during the rulemaking process. And critically it means that alternatives to a proposed action must be considered and vetted with the public, with the full analysis available to anyone who wants to understand the ramifications of a particular policy action. That includes, now with the new order, considering the impacts of climate change and on environmental justice. We need these analyses and public discussion — they are a key part of decisionmaking in our constitutional democracy.</p><p>I am definitely not the only one at UCS who gets excited by these wonky, technical pronouncements.</p><p>My colleague <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/author/jonna-hamilton" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jonna Hamilton</a> raised a glass to toast the drive to more ambitious fuel economy and emissions standards, saying it's time to ensure that the auto companies make the next generation of vehicles that consumers want to drive. Strong standards will help the transition to electric vehicles, which <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-reichmuth/are-electric-vehicles-really-better-for-the-climate-yes-heres-why" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reduce emissions</a>, no matter where they are charged.</p><p><a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/author/rachel-cleetus" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rachel Cleetus</a> breathed a sigh of relief that the government will be restoring the use of the social cost of carbon (and the social cost of methane and the social cost of nitrous oxide) for regulatory purposes. And that the Council on Environmental Quality will be updating its guidance on the consideration of greenhouse gases for NEPA analyses. With <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/brenda-ekwurzel/2020-ends-hottest-decade-on-record-decadal-temperature-chart-as-iconic-as-co2-keeling-curve" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2020 ending the hottest decade on record</a> globally, and bringing a record-breaking <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/stories/record-number-of-billion-dollar-disasters-struck-us-in-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">22 extreme weather and climate related disasters</a> in the US that killed at least 262 people and each cost more than a billion dollars, it's high time we took the costs of climate change seriously!</p><p>And <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/author/gretchen-goldman" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gretchen Goldman</a>, swinging her young sons in the air in joy, was thrilled to see that revoking the limits on science was named as a top priority of the Biden administration! The so-called Transparency Rule would do <a href="https://ucsusa.org/about/news/epa-rule-restricting-science-puts-agencys-mission-risk-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">widespread damage</a> to the EPA's ability to use the best available science on everything from air pollution standards to pesticide regulation. Finding a way to get rid of <a href="https://undark.org/2019/11/21/opinion-trump-epa-transparency-rule/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this harmful rule</a> will allow the EPA to fully carry out its mission of protecting public health and the environment.</p><p>This order does a lot more to revoke bad policies. It also calls on the Secretary of the Interior to review the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/national-monuments">national monuments</a> with a view to restoring them to 2017 boundaries. It declares the environmental review of oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge inadequate, placing a moratorium on leasing. It revokes the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline because it is inconsistent with the economic and climate goals of the new administration. And part of those stated goals as laid out in the policy section of the order includes respecting the voices of the Indigenous communities whose lands, livelihoods, and culture were given short shrift in the permitting process to date.</p>
<h3>Another Less Noticed, Even Wonkier, Remarkable Day One Action</h3><p>Another <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/modernizing-regulatory-review/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Presidential Directive</a> of critical importance to the mission and work of UCS is titled "Modernizing Regulatory Review." It calls for the Office of Management and Budget, through its Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), to re-focus the role and content of reviews of regulations proposed by federal agencies.</p><p>The new process OIRA is tasked with designing and implementing in consultation with agencies across the government will:</p><ul><li>Reflect new developments in science.</li><li>Fully account for benefits of regulations that are difficult to quantify.</li><li>Take into account the distributional consequences of regulations to ensure they appropriately benefit, and not inappropriately burden, disadvantaged, vulnerable or marginalized communities.</li><li>Find ways for OIRA to work more proactively and effectively with agencies to obtain the benefits to the public that come with regulatory initiatives.</li><li>Improve efficiency, transparency, and inclusiveness in the interagency review process.</li></ul><p>For example, consider the review of the previous administration's rules that would limit the science that the EPA can use as the basis for implementing public health protections. That rule requires that the underlying data of any study be publicly available to be fully considered by the agency. That would necessarily exclude studies that rely on confidential health information in most cases, or give those studies lower credence, not on the basis of their scientific merit, but because of an artificial barrier labeled as "transparency" concerns. <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/we-told-omb-why-epas-so-called-transparency-rule-is-a-trap" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">OIRA has reviewed</a> both the proposed and final rules and deemed them not economically significant, despite the fact that they affect all of the work that EPA does. Under an improved review process, the rule would have never moved through the process because it will in fact overburden, yet again, vulnerable communities.</p><p>Though OIRA's work is often behind the scenes and rarely fully acknowledged, the agency plays a critical role in either advancing or hindering the regulatory process. In order for the Biden administration to meet its goals on climate, the pandemic, racial justice, and economic recovery, that process has to become better and more effective. OIRA involvement must add real value to the benefit of the public. It is heartening and remarkable that this directive is a Day One action of the new administration.</p>
<h3>Toward Real Action</h3><p>By no means do the first executive orders accomplish the huge tasks before this administration. But it is an extraordinarily good start.</p><p>Now these orders need to turn into real actions from top to bottom in the federal government and in partnership with state and tribal governments as well as internationally. None of the challenges we face will be solved without action at all levels.</p><p>Our excitement at UCS is tempered by the enormous amount of work that needs to turn this promising vision into a reality. We will make our voices heard to hold the administration and Congress to account. Please join us in doing so.</p>
<p><em>Andrew Rosenberg is the director of the UCS Center for Science and Democracy.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/andrew-rosenberg/consequential-biden-actions-nobody-is-talking-about" target="_blank">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Melting ice forms a lake on free-floating ice jammed into the Ilulissat Icefjord during unseasonably warm weather on July 30, 2019 near Ilulissat, Greenland. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
A first-of-its-kind study has examined the satellite record to see how the climate crisis is impacting all of the planet's ice.
<p>The answer? Quite a lot. The rate of worldwide ice loss has increased by more than 60 percent in the past three decades, a study published in <a href="https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/233/2021/" target="_blank">The Cryosphere</a> on Monday found.</p><p>"The ice sheets are now following the worst-case climate warming scenarios set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change," Dr. Thomas Slater, study lead author and research fellow at Leeds' <a href="https://cpom.org.uk/" target="_blank">Center for Polar Observation and Modeling</a>, said in a <a href="http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4756/global_ice_loss_increases_at_record_rate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">University of Leeds press release</a>. "<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">Sea-level rise</a> on this scale will have very serious impacts on coastal communities this century."</p><p>Previous studies have used satellite data to assess ice loss from individual sources, such as polar ice caps, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/25/global-ice-loss-accelerating-at-record-rate-study-finds" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian explained</a>. However, this is the first one to consider all sources of ice loss. The study found that the world lost around 31 trillion U.S. tons between 1994 and 2017. During that time, the rate of ice loss also increased 65 percent, from 0.9 trillion U.S. tons a year to 1.4 trillion U.S. tons a year. Ice loss from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ice-sheets" target="_self">ice sheets</a> in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antarctica" target="_self">Antarctica</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greenland" target="_self">Greenland</a> largely contributed to that number, the press release stated.</p>
<p>The paper also broke down which sources had lost the most ice in total terms between 1994 and 2017. Amounts are approximate and in U.S. tons:</p><ol><li><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic" target="_self">Arctic</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-ice" target="_self">sea ice</a>: 8.4 trillion</li><li>Antarctic ice shelves: 7.2 trillion</li><li>Mountain <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/glaciers" target="_self">glaciers</a>: 6.7 trillion</li><li>Greenland ice sheet: 4.2 trillion</li><li>Antarctic ice sheet: 2.8 trillion</li><li>Southern Ocean sea ice: one trillion</li></ol><p>The study also examined the leading cause of ice melt for each source, according to the press release. For Arctic sea ice and mountain glaciers, rising atmospheric temperatures have driven melting. For the Antarctic ice sheet, rising <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a> temperatures have been the main cause. And for the Greenland ice sheet and Antarctic ice shelves, melting has been increased by a combination of the two.</p><p>All told, melting from Antarctica, Greenland and mountain glaciers have increased sea levels by around 34.6 millimeters, the study found. While this might not sound like a lot, every centimeter of sea level rise puts around a million people in low-lying areas at risk of being flooded out of their homes, the press release said. Moreover, sea level rise isn't the only threat from melting ice.</p><p>"As well as contributing to global mean sea level rise, mountain glaciers are also critical as a freshwater resource for local communities," Inès Otosaka, report co-author and Leeds PhD researcher, said in the press release. "The retreat of glaciers around the world is therefore of crucial importance at both local and global scales."</p>
<p>Melting Arctic sea ice is also a problem because it reduces the ice cover that reflects solar energy back into space.</p><p>"As the sea ice shrinks, more solar energy is being absorbed by the oceans and atmosphere, causing the Arctic to warm faster than anywhere else on the planet," Dr. Isobel Lawrence, coauthor and Leeds research fellow, explained in the press release. "Not only is this speeding up sea ice melt, it's also exacerbating the melting of glaciers and ice sheets which causes sea levels to rise."</p><p>Climate scientist Gavin Schmidt, who was not involved in the study, <a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateOfGavin/status/1353682889045667840" target="_blank">called it</a> a "thorough accounting of how ice is disappearing from the Arctic, Antarctic and mountain ranges."</p><p>However, he disagreed with the paper's claim that the melting of floating sea ice does not contribute directly to sea level rise. He pointed to a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/170/1/145/2019346" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2007 paper</a> that found that if all currently floating sea ice were to melt, sea levels would rise around four centimeters. Slater <a href="https://twitter.com/_tslater/status/1353716525170098176" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">agreed</a> that the language should be changed to make it clear that melting floating sea ice does slightly contribute to sea level rise.</p>
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