U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about climate change issues in the State Dining Room of the White House on January 27, 2021 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker-Pool / Getty Images
President Joe Biden signed a sweeping executive order Wednesday to address the climate crisis.
<p>The order set out a bold plan to prioritize climate action for both domestic and international policy while moving away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a>, creating jobs and emphasizing <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/environmental-justice" target="_self">environmental justice</a>.</p><p>"In my view, we've already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis and we can't wait any longer," Biden said in a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/01/27/remarks-by-president-biden-before-signing-executive-actions-on-tackling-climate-change-creating-jobs-and-restoring-scientific-integrity/" target="_blank">press briefing</a>. "We see it with our own eyes, we feel it, we know it in our bones, and it's time to act."</p><p>The Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad endorsed numerous actions, including:</p><ol><li>Hosting a Leaders' Climate Summit to boost international climate ambition ahead of the next UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties.</li><li>Determining new national emissions reduction goals per the terms of the Paris climate agreement.</li><li>Developing a financial plan to help developing countries act on and adapt to the climate crisis.</li><li>Creating a National Climate Task Force to shape the domestic response across agencies.</li><li>Working to ensure a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035.</li><li>Ensuring all federal vehicles are electric.</li><li>Increasing renewable energy production on federal land and waters, with a goal of doubling offshore wind power by 2030.</li><li>Pausing all oil and gas leases on public lands.</li><li>Ending fossil fuel subsidies.</li><li>Creating a Civilian Climate Corps.</li><li>Crafting a plan to conserve 30 percent of U.S. land and water by 2030.</li><li>Tasking fossil fuel workers with plugging methane gas leaks and handling other restoration work.</li><li>Creating a White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council to address the needs of communities that have been disproportionately harmed by pollution.</li><li>Mandating that 40 percent of federal climate investments are directed to marginalized communities.</li></ol>
<p>Also on Wednesday, Biden took executive actions to emphasize the importance of evidence-based decision making across the federal government. He created a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-presidents-council-of-advisors-on-science-and-technology/" target="_blank">President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology</a> and a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/memorandum-on-restoring-trust-in-government-through-scientific-integrity-and-evidence-based-policymaking/" target="_blank">Task Force on Scientific Integrity</a>. These actions follow attempts by the Trump administration to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-censorship-trump-2639315251.html" target="_self">dismiss mainstream climate science</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/national-climate-assessment-scientist-trump-2648849642.html" target="_self">interfere with government researchers.</a></p><p>"It is the policy of my Administration to make evidence-based decisions guided by the best available science and data," Biden wrote in the memorandum creating the scientific integrity task force.</p><p>Biden's actions were met with enthusiasm by environmental groups.</p><p>"The Biden-Harris administration has rolled out the most ambitious plan for a<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JustClimateFuture?src=hashtag_click" target="_blank"> #JustClimateFuture</a> in our nation's history," the Natural Resources Defense Council <a href="https://twitter.com/NRDC/status/1354502885774655490" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tweeted</a>.</p>
<p>The youth-based Sunrise Movement, meanwhile, noted that the executive order included many items they <span style="background-color: initial;">had been fighting for,</span> including the emphasis on green jobs and environmental justice.</p><p>"Seeing this type of action from the Biden administration is great but also just the beginning of what we need to fully address and stop the climate crisis," the group <a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/status/1354603918555312130" target="_blank">tweeted</a>.</p><p>However, the Indigenous Environmental Network <a href="https://twitter.com/IENearth/status/1354539231910223876" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">felt more cautious</a>. The group applauded the pause on fossil fuel extraction, but said it would wait to celebrate until extraction finally ended. </p><p>"As for Biden's pledge to address climate and environmental justice, we are optimistic about the chance to work with his administration in those endeavors, but we stand by our principles that such justice on these stolen lands cannot be achieved through market-based solutions, unproven technologies and approaches that do not cut emissions at the source," the group wrote.</p>
<p>The fossil fuel industry was predictably less pleased. The Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas companies in the Western U.S., immediately filed a lawsuit against the pause on new fossil fuel leases, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/climate/biden-climate-executive-orders.html?campaign_id=51&emc=edit_MBE_p_20210128&instance_id=26488&nl=morning-briefing&regi_id=88631294&section=topNews&segment_id=50446&te=1&user_id=d8eb7cee9d3c5ab39515239b6ec54d19" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p><p>"Penalizing the oil and gas industry kills good-paying American jobs, hurts our already struggling economy, makes our country more reliant on foreign energy sources, and impacts those who rely on affordable and reliable energy," Anne Bradbury, president of the American Exploration and Production Council, said in a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/27/biden-suspends-oil-and-gas-drilling-in-series-of.html" target="_blank">statement reported by CNBC</a>.</p><p>However, Biden and his top climate advisors pushed back against the oft-repeated assertion that climate action is bad for U.S. workers.</p><p>In <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/01/27/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-special-presidential-envoy-for-climate-john-kerry-and-national-climate-advisor-gina-mccarthy-january-27-2021/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">remarks to the press</a>, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry noted that fossil fuel jobs could take a toll on the workers who performed them.</p><p>"[Y]ou look at the consequences of black lung for a miner, for instance, and measure that against the fastest-growing job in the United States before COVID was solar power technician. The same people can do those jobs, but the choice of doing the solar power one now is a better choice," he said.</p>
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Area bordering Kaxarari Indigenous territory in Labrea, Amazonas state, Brazil, in August, 2020. Christian Braga / Greenpeace
Tropical forests are guardians against runaway climate change, but their ability to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is wearing down. The Amazon, which accounts for more than half of the world's rainforest cover, is on the verge of turning into a carbon source.
<p><br/></p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTU0NjM3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MzI0NTEyNH0.LiRJxETND8w2jTlQqMhF6FG8rYLgPqjNsxnkDuH2ads/img.jpg?width=980" id="f3111" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d4fbecfe6665dc592829aa1a4c66f368" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="800" />
Deforested peat forest in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay
<p>Overall, forests remain a carbon sink, stashing away 7.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide every year, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-00976-6" target="_blank">according to a recent study published</a> in <em>Nature Climate Change</em>. But in the last 20 years alone, forests in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia and Malaysia, have turned into net emitters of carbon, thanks to the spread of plantations, raging fires, and loss of peatlands.</p><p>Human activities are producing record-breaking emissions — atmospheric carbon dioxide hit a 4-million-year high last year — and they are hacking into the planet's sturdiest defenses.</p><p>Spread across 5.5 million square kilometers (2.1 million square miles) in nine countries in South America, the Amazon is still sucking out carbon from the air — but only just.</p><p>Most of the Amazon lies in Brazil, and between 2001 and 2019 the Brazilian Amazon acted as a net <em>emitter</em> of carbon, the study found.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTU0NjM4My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDg2MTMxOH0.fD1UsYx2S2FOoYsrLnXM2dsmUOr1FYdF8smCi3OmN_s/img.png?width=980" id="43f89" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="86f62e7cc3f99bf78b5aba4b767b8e07" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1349" data-height="925" />
<p>Since Jair Bolsonaro became president at the start of 2019, Brazil has seen increased deforestation through clearing land for cattle pastures and through fires. The 2019 fire season raised concerns across the world about the health of the forests in Brazil, but deforestation has been steadily eating away into its green cover for years.</p><p>Of the three great swaths of tropical rainforest left on Earth, only those of the Congo Basin still stand strong.</p><p>Tropical forests grow quickly and absorb the most carbon of any type of forest. During photosynthesis, they use carbon dioxide to produce energy and biomass. Because trees lock away carbon dioxide, when forests are destroyed, not only is this vital function lost, but the stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTU0NjM5MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MTU4NTQzNn0.48bs-bFfeEVUtBgE9eYPGwD-OTdv6ukOZLoq47Lc-f0/img.png?width=980" id="90dbd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0238d12f10a377952547696688fe25e1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1349" data-height="926" />
<p>Forests are considered a carbon sink when they absorb more carbon dioxide than is released through land-use changes and forest destruction.</p><p>A <u><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/tropical-forests-may-flip-into-carbon-sources-sooner-than-feared-study-finds/" target="_blank">2020 study predicted </a></u>the Amazon would turn into a carbon source in the next 15 years.</p><p>What is especially worrying is the loss of pristine swaths of forests that have kept carbon out of the atmosphere for decades, if not centuries. Madagascar, the world's oldest island, has lost nearly 90% of its natural forests in four decades. Since the turn of the century, unlike many African countries, it has turned into a carbon source, according to the analysis.</p><p>"Unlike secondary forests or fast-rotation pine or eucalyptus plantations, harvesting in old-growth forests releases CO2 that has taken centuries to accumulate — carbon that, once lost, is irrecoverable in our lifetime," the paper's authors write.</p><p>Forests lapsing into net producers of carbon emissions is terrible news for the planet, but it is also bad news for the forests themselves. Climate change is known to contribute to intense fire seasons and prolonged droughts that can prove fatal to trees.</p>
<p>One bright spot in the analysis is that more than a quarter of greenhouse gas removal occurred in forests in protected areas. The authors cite the example of the Menkragnotí Indigenous Territory in Brazil, where forests continue to absorb emissions equal to those from 2 million cars every year — even though surrounding forests have turned into net carbon sources. The researchers say mining activities, cattle ranching, and soy cultivation are to blame.</p><p>The research also represents an advancement in carbon accounting. The conventional method is to rely on data from individual countries. The new approach combines satellite data with ground measurements and presents a more refined picture. It evens out calculations on different scales, making it possible to estimate emissions and removals for small forest patches as well as countries and continents.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/amazon-is-on-the-brink-of-turning-into-a-carbon-source-study-warns/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Amazon Rainforest Will Collapse by 2064, New Study Predicts ... ›
- Plants Are Decades Away From Absorbing Less Carbon, Study ... ›
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For decades, Burt's Bees has been one of the leading names in cosmetic and skincare products developed with sustainability in mind. Not only do they create high-quality products from natural ingredients, but they're attentive to the ways in which their production, packaging, and distribution methods impact the world around them. For those who value environmental stewardship and wise corporate citizenship, Burt's Bees is iconic.
Perhaps it was only a matter of time before the company expanded its all-natural skincare and cosmetic line to include products that harness the potent, holistic effects of CBD. In this post, we'll offer a quick guide to the products included in the new Burt's Bees CBD line, as well as some further comments about the company as a whole.
<h2>Why CBD?</h2><p>First, it may be worth asking why all of this matters. What's the big deal about CBD, anyway?</p><p>CBD is short for cannabidiol, one of the most prevalent, active ingredients in the cannabis plant (marijuana). CBD has been linked with a <a data-linked-post="2648638251" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/organic-cbd-oil-2648638251.html" target="_blank">number of positive, holistic health effects</a>; in fact, it's been FDA-approved as a treatment for <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5767492/" target="_blank">epilepsy and seizures</a>, while much anecdotal evidence positions it as an <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2828614/" target="_blank">anti-inflammatory agent</a>.</p><p>Crucially, legally-available CBD products have little or no <em>THC</em>, which is the psychoactive ingredient in the marijuana plant; in other words, you can enjoy the therapeutic benefits of CBD without any risk of getting high.</p><h2>The Burt's Bees Story</h2><p>With that said, let's get back to Burt's Bees.</p><p>The company was founded in the early 1980s by Burt Shavitz and Roxanne Quimby, veterans of the art community who sought refuge and contemplation in the prairies of Maine. Eventually, their interests led them to beekeeping, and into developing lip and skincare products developed from homegrown beeswax.</p><p>From the very beginning, their mission was to develop products that drew from the power of nature, while also taking seriously their responsibility to preserve, protect, and respect nature.</p><p><br/></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-proxy-image">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Burt%27s_Bees_Products%2C_Sep_2012.JPG" target="_blank"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vbWVkaWEucmJsLm1zL2ltYWdlP3U9JTJGd2lraXBlZGlhJTJGY29tbW9ucyUyRjAlMkYwZSUyRkJ1cnQlMjUyN3NfQmVlc19Qcm9kdWN0cyUyQ19TZXBfMjAxMi5KUEcmaG89aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ1cGxvYWQud2lraW1lZGlhLm9yZyZzPTYzNCZoPWM1ZTJmZTNjZWU3YTQzYmQwN2JiMzA5NTQzODJmZDE5ZTI4NTVmODFjZWExY2IwZjEwNTMyM2VmZmI3NzVhMTQmc2l6ZT05ODB4JmM9MjMzMjg4MjMwMCIsImV4cGlyZXNfYXQiOjE2MzQ2MDIzNTB9.-xDHPO21EBocR2q-qehbyHJl9kdn7xtuoQ4yGq9AWig/img.jpg" id="5f2e7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="656954a7f6b3ca9326350734a85dea76" /></a>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">File:Burt's Bees Products, Sep 2012.JPG - Wikipedia</small>
</p><h3>Sustainability at Burt's Bees<br/></h3><p>There are a number of ways in which Burt's Bees continues to live out its commitment to sustainability to this day.</p><h3>All Ingredients Come from Nature</h3><p>The company strives for 100 percent natural ingredients in all of their products, and generally comes pretty close. (Their skincare products are all 95 percent natural, at a bare minimum.) Everything they make is absent <a data-linked-post="2628289611" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/chemicals-in-cosmetics-damage-childrens-health-2628289611.html" target="_blank">parabens</a> and other concerning, artificial chemicals.</p><h3>No Products are Tested on Animals</h3><p>Burt's Bees products are all "<a data-linked-post="1881939362" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/13-eco-labels-to-look-for-when-shopping-1881939362.html" target="_blank">Leaping Bunny Certified</a>." What this means is that they never test their products on animals, or ask any third parties to conduct animal testing on their behalf.</p><h3>Eco-Friendly Sourcing</h3><p>The company also demonstrates a responsible approach to sourcing, visiting all their ingredient harvesting sites to ensure a commitment to stewardship and sustainability.</p><h3>Environmentally Friendly Packaging</h3><p>All Burt's Bees products are completely recyclable. They avoid over-packaging, and their plastics are made up largely of recycled materials. </p><p>The bottom line: Burt's Bees is a company with serious eco-credentials… and that makes them a logical choice for expansion into the world of natural, sustainably sourced CBD.</p><h2>About Burt's Bees CBD Products</h2><p>Currently, Burt's Bees offers five products that are made with <a data-linked-post="2649092883" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/full-spectrum-cbd-oil-2649092883.html" target="_blank">full spectrum CBD</a>. What this means is that their CBD includes trace elements of all parts of the plant, including other <a data-linked-post="2649030477" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cannabis-terpenes-2649030477.html" target="_blank">cannabinoids and terpenes</a>. According to many CBD experts, this provides a more potent and effective product overall. </p><p>All of the company's CBD ingredients are sourced from hemp that's grown and harvested in Colorado, using the most sustainable, organic agricultural practices. </p><p>Another important note about Burt's Bees CBD products: All of them are rigorously third-party tested. Independent lab results are key whenever you buy CBD, because it allows you to get a good sense of the purity, quality, and potency of what you're buying. You can get batch-specific test results for any Burt's Bees product simply by visiting their website.</p><h2>So, what about the specific products in the Burt's Bees CBD line?</h2>
<h2>Sustainably Sourced CBD Products</h2><p>It's important to emphasize that <em>all </em>of these products are made with transparently sourced CBD ingredients, as well as the company's usual high standards of eco-friendly packaging. In other words, this is a great opportunity to enjoy some of the benefits of CBD skincare, with all the sustainability and sound environmental stewardship that Burt's Bees is known for.</p><p>We're happy to recommend these products as good entry points into CBD skincare. Always remember, when shopping for CBD products, look for third party test results and transparency about sourcing information, all of which Burt's Bees makes readily available.</p><p><em><strong>Josh Hurst</strong> </em><em>is a journalist, critic, and essayist. He lives in Knoxville, TN, with his wife and three sons. His writing on natural health, nutrition, and supplements has appeared in Health, Shape, and Remedy Review.</em></p>
CBD Hand and Foot Cream
<a href="https://cbdburtsbees.pxf.io/vo9nv" ><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTU0MzM0OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NDQwMzIwMX0.yut4GH7F5tlKS3t1NdEhuUEaqvr2XMWFGV0mdb4Lzds/img.jpg?width=980" id="cfaa6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2d6798afd5e1082f405a7c2d34d3ef6e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" /></a><p>Meanwhile, Burt's Bees also offers a cream that's perfectly soothing for your calloused feet or hard-working hands. It's made not only with 200mg of CBD, but also with a host of other natural ingredients designed to moisturize and replenish. You can get the CBD hand and foot cream for just $20. We especially recommend this product for anyone who has been thinking about trying CBD for psoriasis. </p>
$20
CBD Facial Oil
<a href="https://cbdburtsbees.pxf.io/NnvKV" ><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTU0MzM0Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNjg3NjAxNn0.5A-FpEfSoN7ltOiR8GeHZH_pHF2X3QiWJOCCVqrwlO8/img.jpg?width=980" id="70913" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="471a3ec6fee14af68b0960b05c79d581" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" /></a><p>Looking for a natural, soothing way to revitalize your skin? Burt's Bees' facial oil combines the replenishing powers of CBD with other proven ingredients from the natural world, including jojoba, rosehip, and evening primrose oils. This face oil is made with 100mg of CBD.</p>
$35
CBD Lip Oil
<a href="https://cbdburtsbees.pxf.io/O6vRW" ><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTU0MzM0OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTkxNTExOH0.8Z07egVJkChyX3IOJL4Oljf28JZbt9E__uxizfFMHdQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="b5e05" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d5ab7e24b0357917309d942794235f7a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" /></a><p>Burt's Bees is famous for their lip balms, so it's no surprise that they offer a CBD-infused variant. Made with 10mg of CBD, this balm has a wonderfully cooling effect on the lips. The addition of shea butter helps increase its moisturizing effect. </p>
$10
CBD Lip Treatment
<a href="https://cbdburtsbees.pxf.io/n9Z1A" ><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTU0MzM1MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjI3NzYyNn0.v5b0PL5yDE_TmcZgkCe4O5Bia3hm3e7kysu6tIxQqGI/img.jpg?width=980" id="f8767" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2cb9ac0fb9572ce3d54dffeda4f31a64" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" /></a><p>An additional option for those seeking CBD-powered lip care. This one is meant to be used while you sleep, allowing it plenty of time to revitalize and restore badly chapped lips. Made with 15mg CBD, you can get the Burt's Bees lip treatment online now.</p>
$14
CBD Body Cream
<a href="https://cbdburtsbees.pxf.io/KoveN" ><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTU0MzM1MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNTI2NTQyOX0.Q7UG8UhBwqPk45uu4iZP5HzSDVVDuMm0g2DY9UBRSKE/img.jpg?width=980" id="e2a7c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b9b0b1c5600a13e48cca46646edd195e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" /></a><p>Last but not least, check out the <a href="https://cbd.burtsbees.com/products/cbd-body-cream" target="_blank">Burt's Bees CBD Body Cream</a>, made with 250mg CBD plus rich, botanical scents. It's designed to leave your skin soft and fully moisturized for a full 24 hours, and you can get it for just $30.</p>
$30
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A monarch butterfly is perched next to an adult caterpillar on a milkweed plant, the only plant the monarch will lay eggs on and the caterpillar will eat. Cathy Keifer / Getty Images
By Tara Lohan
Fall used to be the time when millions of monarch butterflies in North America would journey upwards of 2,000 miles to warmer winter habitat.
<p>But these days the iconic butterfly's numbers are dwindling. The western migratory population is down 97% since the 1980s — a survey this month found <a href="https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/the-monarch-butterfly-population-is-in-danger-of-disappearing/5748017.html" target="_blank">fewer than 2,000</a> — and the eastern population has slipped 80% in just the past 15 years.</p><p>Because of these grim numbers the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-climate-change-wildlife-gardening-traverse-city-acf918688a623a77931a160e268dbc18" target="_blank">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruled</a> in December that monarchs deserved protection under the Endangered Species Act, but it would still be several years before the butterflies were listed as threatened or endangered.</p><p>It's time the species may not have.</p><p>Halting the precipitous decline of North American monarch populations hinges, in large part, on milkweed. It's the sole plant the caterpillars eat and where monarchs lay their eggs. It's also quickly disappearing with increasing urbanization and pesticide use.</p><p>Since monarchs can't survive without milkweed, conservation efforts have focused on planting more milkweed. But it's not as simple as it sounds.</p>
<p>"We've learned a good bit in the past two or three years about how to create these types of habitats, but there's not a whole lot of <em>evidence</em> guiding the way we create the plantings," says Adam Dale, an assistant professor in entomology at the University of Florida. "For example, the diversity of plants in a garden, the specific plants that are used and their arrangement — all of those things matter for how the butterflies are able to locate the hosts and move from one to the next."</p><p>In a <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/9/648" target="_blank">new study</a> published in the journal <em>Insects,</em> Dale and his colleagues tried to identify whether more diversity of wildflowers in milkweed gardens would be a boon for the beleaguered butterflies or whether plots should contain only milkweed plants.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTU0MTU4NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDYxMzg1Mn0.zEZfV2vaa9u8XW3icHcnbjs6cCW40P1vINhjXM_X5_I/img.jpg?width=980" id="5e49b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2ed856e3471e09fd659b9f3d20b2be85" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="799" data-height="533" />
A monarch butterfly caterpillar feeds on common milkweed on Poplar Island in Maryland. Photo: Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program, (CC BY-NC 2.0)
<p>Biological diversity in ecosystems is usually a good thing, but a large body of research has shown that more diverse habitat may not be good for species like monarchs that are so specialized in what they eat.</p><p>"There's a potential for actually reducing monarch success by increasing the diversity of plants," in these conservation gardens, says Dale.</p><p>One reason is that a more varied garden can make it harder for the insects to find their host plants if they're obscured visually or chemically. A <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2019.00474/full" target="_blank">recent study</a> from researchers at the University of Kentucky found that monarchs did better when milkweed was planted on the perimeter of gardens.</p><p>Another reason has to do with the "enemies hypothesis," where greater plant diversity means more natural enemies for specialist herbivores like monarchs. Increase the plant diversity and increase the chance of larvae being eaten.</p><p>That's why, Dale says, they were surprised by some of their findings.</p>
<p>In the study, areas where they planted a mix of native swamp milkweed and other wildflowers saw an increase in monarch eggs compared to areas planted with just milkweed. And even though there was an increase in the number of predatory insects, as suspected, it didn't have an effect on the number of monarch larvae that survived.</p><p>"So what we were concerned about didn't come through," he says.</p><p>While the study was done in Florida, Dale says in general the findings should be applicable to monarch populations in other places.</p><p>"Our main goal is to try to create conservation habitat in urban areas where we're replacing natural habitat with human habitat," he says. "So ultimately we're trying to figure out ways to integrate these types of gardens into our yards and green spaces, and just try to make them as good as they can be."</p><p>With monarchs teetering on the edge of extinction, Dale hopes applying what they've learned from research like this can help make conservation efforts more successful.</p><p>"I hope that people who are interested in conserving monarchs and other insects will see this because I think it provides a little more evidence that helps inform how people create these types of gardens," Dale says. "Whether that's a homeowner, a green-space land manager in an urban area, a golf course superintendent looking to create conservation habitat or anyone who's creating these spaces, I think they could use this to improve the condition of the habitat they're creating."</p>
<a href="https://therevelator.org/author/taralohan/" target="_blank"><em>Tara Lohan </em></a><em>is deputy editor of The Revelator and has worked for more than a decade as a digital editor and environmental journalist focused on the intersections of energy, water and climate. Her work has been published by The Nation, American Prospect, High Country News, Grist, Pacific Standard and others. She is the editor of two books on the global water crisis.<br/><br/></em><em>Reposted with permission from T<a href="https://therevelator.org/monarch-milkweed-study/" target="_blank">he Revelator.</a></em>
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The SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches on its maiden test flight from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 6, 2018. Jim Watson / AFP / Getty Images
Three men are paying $55 million each to travel to space, the AP reported.
<p>Announced on Tuesday, the first space crew consisting of private citizens plans to take off next January on a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/spacex" target="_blank">SpaceX</a> rocket and spend eight days aboard the<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/astronauts-return-international-space-station-2645750749.html" target="_blank"> International Space Station</a>.</p><p>"This is the first private flight to the International Space Station. It's never been done before," Mike Suffredini, chief executive and president of Axiom Space, a privately funded space company, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/1st-private-space-crew-pay-55m-each-2e8a78c31ae6309e69632f0f41feccbf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told the AP</a>. </p><p>Although the crew recognizes the crises currently happening on Earth, they feel their efforts as the first private space crew are "an enhancement of their other philanthropic efforts," <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/26/private-space-flight-axiom/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Washington Post reported</a>. </p><p>"There are a lot of issues — adversity, and in some regards, crises, here, not only in the U.S., but worldwide," Larry Connor, one of the crew's private citizens, told the Washington Post. "And those absolutely need to be a priority. But we cannot forget about the future. We cannot forget about having long-term visions... And hopefully this mission and the research we're going to do is going to be one small step on that journey."</p>
<p>While their efforts may open doors for the future of commercial space travel, some criticize their timing, as the Covid-19 pandemic, economic recession and increasing costs of the climate crisis continue to ravage communities on Earth.</p>
<p>This debate raises questions on whether space agencies should further their space exploration or use their technology and finances to research climate solutions. </p>
<p>Based on a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/17/how-americans-see-the-future-of-space-exploration-50-years-after-the-first-moon-landing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2019 Pew Research Center study</a>, 63 percent of Americans think <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/nasa" target="_blank">NASA'</a>s top priorities should be monitoring the Earth's climate. This public support is backed by Lori Garver, chief executive at Earthrise Alliance and former deputy NASA administrator. </p>
<p>In a 2019 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/forget-new-manned-missions-in-space-nasa-should-focus-on-saving-earth/2019/07/18/79e55eb8-a995-11e9-9214-246e594de5d5_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">opinion piece</a> published in The Washington Post, she wrote about the relationship between space exploration and climate change. </p>
<p>She explained how NASA's original purpose involved expanding human understanding and solving the nation's impossible problems. But "the impossible problem today is not the moon. And it's not Mars. It's our home planet," she wrote.</p>
<p>Today's aim of space travel should no longer focus on racing space rivals to the latest discovery, Garver added. "<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_blank">Climate change</a> — not Russia, much less China — is today's existential threat."</p>
<p>Space travel and research also come with a heavy environmental cost. For example, when Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon Heavy reaches orbit, it will have emitted more carbon dioxide than an average car would emit in two centuries, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-01-30/space-launch-carbon-emissions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The LA Times reported.</a> </p>
<p>But some claim space innovation can also fuel sustainable technology in the commercial sector. For example, ecology projects such as learning to grow plants in space have developed into an energy-saving practice for indoor agriculture, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-spaceflight-save-the-planet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scientific American reported</a>. Another space-funded project seeking to remove potent chemicals from dirty rocket launchpads has developed a frequently used compound to clean Superfund sites in the U.S.</p>
<p>Whether the environmental benefit of space exploration and research outweighs the environmental cost remains to be seen. Members of the private space station crew, however, think their experiences will benefit education outreach back home.</p><p>While in space, Connor said he does "not want to be a spectator," the Washington Post reported. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I want to do something of value."</p><p>Back home, Connor intends to teach lessons to students at Dayton Early College Academy, a K-12 charter school, according to the Washington Post. </p><p>"These guys are all very involved and doing it for... the betterment of their communities and countries, and so we couldn't be happier with this makeup of the first crew because of their drive and their interest," Suffredini told the AP.</p><p>While the crew's time in space may benefit others, some question if spending $35,000 a day for the privilege makes sense.</p><p>"The public doesn't understand the purpose of spending massive amounts of money to send a few astronauts to the moon or Mars," Garver wrote in her op-ed. "Is this the most valuable display of our scientific and technological leadership?" </p>
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#SaveSalla is a campaign launched by a Finnish community in partnership with the youth climate movement Fridays for Future. www.savesalla.org
By Jessica Corbett
With temperatures across the globe — and particularly in the Arctic — rising due to lackluster efforts to address the human-caused climate crisis, one of the coldest towns on Earth is throwing its hat in the ring to host the 2032 Summer Olympics.
<p>Salla is located in Finland's Lapland region and <a href="https://www.visitsalla.fi/en/" target="_blank">touts</a> the tagline, "in the middle of nowhere." The average temperature is <a href="https://en.climate-data.org/europe/finland/salla/salla-9790/" target="_blank">below freezing</a> and the area boasts a ski resort, reindeer park, Arctic Circle safaris, and even a snow and ice hotel.</p><p>With support from Fridays for Future — the youth-led movement launched by Swedish teenager <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/25/enough-blah-blah-blah-global-elites-greta-thunberg-declares-digital-davos" target="_blank">Greta Thunberg</a> — Salla announced its Olympic bid to build awareness about "the consequences of global warming and the need for urgent action."</p><p>"Our intention here is clear: we want to keep Salla as it is, and our winters cold and full of snow," said Salla Mayor Erkki Parkkinen. "So, there was this crazy idea: to host the Summer Games in one of the coldest towns on the planet."</p><p>"If we stand back and do nothing, letting global warming prevail," Parkkinen warned, "we will lose our identity, and the town we love — as well as many others around the world — will cease to exist as we know it."</p><p>The campaign, detailed at <a href="https://www.savesalla.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.savesalla.com</a>, includes a short video.</p><p>Watch:</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bcd9564786e4ebb966622be75b5d9fe8"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sSZSrjmmSIo?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>"Despite the obviousness of the global warming, the ideology of climate change denial is gaining traction all over the world and increasing every year," the campaign website says. "So, we've created this bid to raise attention about the climate emergency. Salla is changing. The whole planet is changing. Not in a good way."</p><p>As Common Dreams has reported, while <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/13/dire-assessment-scientists-warn-humanity-denial-looming-collapse-civilization-we" target="_blank">projections</a> for the entire planet are dire if policymakers don't urgently <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/09/25/un-climate-report-oceans-frozen-regions-warns-unprecedented-transitions-all-aspects" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">work to</a> "effect unprecedented transitions in all aspects of society, including energy, land and ecosystems, urban and infrastructure as well as industry," the Arctic is <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/11/deep-trouble-arctic-and-beyond-noaa-climate-report-warns-feedback-loop-may-already" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">particularly at risk</a>.</p><p>"We have only one planet to live in and an immense responsibility to future generations. We can all make a difference. What we cannot do under any circumstances is deny the problem and omit ourselves. The risks will be severe and unavoidable," said Joe Hobbs, a Fridays For Future activist and operations director for Climate Cardinals. "Global warming does not have to be a self-fulfilling prophecy and everyone can make a significant and decisive contribution to stop this process."</p>
<p>Hobbs joined Parkkinen and multiple experts for a <a href="https://videos.netshow.me/v/2R3fyFdLMN8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">press conference</a> about the campaign on Tuesday.</p><p>The event came a day after a new study that showed ice loss worldwide is increasing at a record rate. Lead author Thomas Slater of Leeds' Centre for Polar Observation and Modeling <a href="https://phys.org/news/2021-01-global-ice-loss.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> that "although every region we studied lost ice, losses from the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets have accelerated the most."</p><p>"The ice sheets are now following the worst-case climate warming scenarios set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change," Slater added. "Sea-level rise on this scale will have very serious impacts on coastal communities this century."</p><p>Also on Monday, Thunberg <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/25/enough-blah-blah-blah-global-elites-greta-thunberg-declares-digital-davos" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">delivered</a> an address to the World Economic Forum's annual meeting — held digitally rather than in Davos, Switzerland this year because of the raging coronavirus pandemic. She told political and business leaders that "when it comes to facing the climate emergency, the world is still in a state of complete denial."</p><p>"Safeguarding the future living conditions and preserving life on Earth as we know it is voluntary. The choice is yours to make," the 18-year-old Swede said. "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."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/26/planet-cooks-one-worlds-coldest-towns-bids-host-2032-summer-olympics?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Winter Sports Enthusiasts Call for Action on Climate Change ›
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By Katherine Kornei
Clear-cutting a forest is relatively easy—just pick a tree and start chopping. But there are benefits to more sophisticated forest management. One technique—which involves repeatedly harvesting smaller trees every 30 or so years but leaving an upper story of larger trees for longer periods (60, 90, or 120 years)—ensures a steady supply of both firewood and construction timber.
<p>To determine when this management practice first arose in Europe, researchers have analyzed oak construction timbers from historical buildings and archaeological sites dating from the 4th to 21st centuries. They spotted a characteristic tree ring pattern indicative of this technique in timber dating back to the 6th century. That was a surprise, the researchers noted, because this forest management practice shows up in historical documents beginning only in the 13th century.</p>
A Pattern in the Rings
<p>The <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/coppice-standards-0" target="_blank">coppice-with-standards</a> management practice produces a two-story forest, said <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bernhard_Muigg" target="_blank">Bernhard Muigg</a>, a dendrochronologist at the University of Freiburg in Germany. "You have an upper story of single trees that are allowed to grow for several understory generations."</p><p>That arrangement imprints a characteristic tree ring pattern in a forest's upper story trees (the "standards"): thick rings indicative of heavy growth, which show up at regular intervals as the surrounding smaller trees are cut down. "The trees are growing faster," said Muigg. "You can really see it with your naked eye."</p><p>Muigg and his collaborators characterized that <a href="https://ltrr.arizona.edu/about/treerings" target="_blank">dendrochronological pattern</a> in 161 oak trees growing in central Germany, one of the few remaining sites in Europe with actively managed coppice-with-standards forests. They found up to nine cycles of heavy growth in the trees, the oldest of which was planted in 1761. The researchers then turned to a historical data set — more than 2,000 oak <a href="https://eos.org/articles/podcast-discovering-europes-history-through-its-timbers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">timbers from buildings and archaeological sites</a> in Germany and France dating from between 300 and 2015 — to look for a similar pattern.</p>A Gap of 500 Years
<p>The team found wood with the characteristic coppice-with-standards tree ring pattern dating to as early as the 6th century. That was a surprise, Muigg and his colleagues concluded, because the first mention of this forest management practice in historical documents occurred only roughly 500 years later, in the 13th century.</p><p>It's probable that forest management practices were not well documented prior to the High Middle Ages (1000–1250), the researchers suggested. "Forests are mainly mentioned in the context of royal hunting interests or donations," said Muigg. Dendrochronological studies are particularly important because they can reveal information not captured by a sparse historical record, he added.</p><p>These results were <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-78933-8" target="_blank">published in December in <em>Scientific Reports</em></a>.</p><p>"It's nice to see the longevity and the history of coppice-with-standards," said <a href="https://www.teagasc.ie/contact/staff-directory/s/ian-short/" target="_blank">Ian Short</a>, a forestry researcher at Teagasc, the Agriculture and Food Development Authority in Ireland, not involved in the research. This technique is valuable because it promotes conservation and habitat biodiversity, Short said. "In the next 10 or 20 years, I think we'll see more coppice-with-standards coming back into production."</p><p>In the future, Muigg and his collaborators hope to analyze a larger sample of historic timbers to trace how the coppice-with-standards practice spread throughout Europe. It will be interesting to understand where this technique originated and how it propagated, said Muigg, and there are plenty of old pieces of wood waiting to be analyzed. "There [are] tons of dendrochronological data."</p><p><em><a href="mailto:katherine.kornei@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Katherine Kornei</a> is a freelance science journalist covering Earth and space science. Her bylines frequently appear in Eos, Science, and The New York Times. Katherine holds a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Los Angeles.</em></p><p><em>This story originally appeared in <a href="https://eos.org/articles/tree-rings-reveal-how-ancient-forests-were-managed" target="_blank">Eos</a></em> <em>and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Icebergs near Ilulissat, Greenland on Oct. 13, 2020. Climate change is having a profound effect with glaciers and the Greenland ice cap retreating. Ulrik Pedersen / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Earth's ice is melting 57 percent faster than in the 1990s and the world has lost more than 28 trillion tons of ice since 1994, research published Monday in The Cryosphere shows.
<p>"It was a surprise to see such a large increase in just 30 years," said Thomas Slater, a study co-author. There have been huge efforts to study ice loss research in individual regions of the world, allowing the researchers to combine data to assess ice loss worldwide. Their findings show that <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic">Arctic</a> ice is disappearing the fastest, with 7.6 trillion tons melting between 1994 to 2017. The report also found land ice melt alone contributed to a global average <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise">sea level rise</a> of 3.5 centimeters. However, land ice is only a small portion of the world's ice. Sea ice shelves, which float on water, are disappearing quickly. If they collapse, the land ice (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/glaciers">glaciers</a>) some sea ice shelves hold in place would be released and could accelerate sea level rise for centuries.</p>
<p>As reported by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/25/global-ice-loss-accelerating-at-record-rate-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>:</p><blockquote>The greatest quantities of ice were lost from floating ice in the polar regions, raising the risk of a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/jan/05/climate-change-feedback-loops" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">feedback mechanism</a> known as albedo loss. White ice reflects solar radiation back into space – the albedo effect – but when floating sea ice melts it uncovers dark water which absorbs more heat, speeding up the warming further in a feedback loop.</blockquote><blockquote><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/apr/18/glacier-loss-is-accelerating-because-of-global-warming" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Glaciers</a> showed the next biggest loss of ice volume, with more than 6tn tonnes lost between 1994 and 2017, about a quarter of global ice loss over the period. The shrinking of glaciers threatens to cause both flooding and water shortages in some regions, because as large volumes melt they can overwhelm downstream areas, then shrunken glaciers produce less of the steady water flow needed for agriculture.</blockquote><blockquote>Inès Otosaka, report co-author and a PhD researcher at the University of Leeds centre for polar observation and modelling, said: "As well as contributing to global mean sea level rise, mountain glaciers are also critical as a freshwater resource for local communities. The retreat of glaciers around the world is therefore of crucial importance, at both local and global scales."</blockquote>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong><br/></p><p><a href="https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2021/01/25/stories/1063723345?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=108160364&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--7OMtsTb9kCpSwUWAfK-1w4RfBTHXWMU81abwwTutRgGEIJA3fSnlDesdadRkMvsgcpBBP04YAuYMZxhOduTr8NZHJ5A&utm_content=108160364&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">E&E</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN29U0U0?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=108160364&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9-8UucsT6TVmReejromCcMzNZqdAHqhU0B_PfrC2LXLf3iFna_bB5Zyjhp46KfWOHrYKj2hvMQ-sx6iCBcLqTYW5jn9Q&utm_content=108160364&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25012021/global-ice-loss-sea-level-rise/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=108160364&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8k4dWFukZ_uwRfUUP32KwYlGvv30xk3sWoDBNuhdJbEBtrvEHaHcOeinehxKiPujeo3oJYCG_YeixY1dHOrgGo4RYMCg&utm_content=108160364&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">InsideClimate News</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/25/global-ice-loss-accelerating-at-record-rate-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/this-giant-ice-cube-represents-how-much-ice-were-losing-1846126447?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=108160364&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9k27-8HgLyeoO1YU5MVcUYsTclhB5hwreKiT2nJUY1C4E-smt8qDe23bOsQXJgCPu0MxGAKYKVx1ghM7zbJlT_7hlyDQ&utm_content=108160364&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Earther</a>, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/535670-the-worlds-ice-is-melting-57-percent-faster-than-in-the-1990s-study?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=108160364&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--MxyfdilgAnC-YLxaXsuWSUFAwCW93LFuLHL6TMrk7n5wDszpKfs9rBhv0PWJDJh03keVFojaBGVfqegQNpKhYnDY4mQ&utm_content=108160364&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Hill</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, sign up for daily </em><a href="https://www.linktrack.live/hot-news-sign-up" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>, and visit their news site, </em><a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nexus Media News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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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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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>
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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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Michael Mann photo inset by Joshua Yospyn.
By Jeff Masters, Ph.D.
The New Climate War: the fight to take back our planet is the latest must-read book by leading climate change scientist and communicator Michael Mann of Penn State University.
<p>Published Jan. 12, 2021, <em>The New Climate War</em> describes how outright <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-denier" target="_self">denial</a> of the physical evidence of human-caused climate change simply is no longer credible. It describes in explicit detail how forces of denial and delay – fossil fuel companies, right-wing partisans, media and talking heads, and oil-funded governments – continue to profit from our dependence on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a>. It explores how they have shifted to new tactics, using "an array of powerful Ds: disinformation, deceit, divisiveness, deflection, delay, despair-mongering, and doomism."</p>
<p>In better understanding how prospects for climate action still are threatened, readers will learn fascinating climate history and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a>, and will be uplifted by Mann's take on how close society may be to a tipping point on solving the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a>. "A clean energy revolution and climate stabilization are achievable with current technology," Mann writes. "All we require are policies to incentivize the needed shift."</p><p>The new Mann book consists of nine sections:</p><p>The first two chapters, "The Architects of Misinformation and Misdirection" and "The Climate Wars," outline the history of climate science denial over the years.</p>
<p><strong>The Crying Indian' and the Birth of the Deflection Campaign</strong> details how vested interests use <em>deflection</em> campaigns to defeat policies they dislike. A classic example is the iconic "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7OHG7tHrNM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Crying Indian</a>" commercial of the 1970s, which alerted viewers to accumulating glass bottle and can waste litter. The commercial was part of a successful deflection campaign by the beverage industry to blame the public rather than corporations, emphasizing individual responsibility over collective action and regulations.</p>
<p><strong></strong><strong>It's YOUR Fault</strong> describes how fossil fuel interests, using <em>deflection</em> campaigns, "are actually all too happy to talk about the environment. They just want to keep the conversation around individual responsibility, not systemic change or corporate culpability." Mann also details how deflection campaigns criticize individuals for their air travel to attend conferences.</p><p>Internet bots and trolls from oil-rich Russia are also involved in deflection campaigns, Mann writes. He writes that barbs aimed at 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton "appeared to come from the environmental left, criticizing her climate policies (for example, her position on fracking). We now know that many of those attacks were actually Russian trolls and bots seeking to convince younger, greener progressives that there was no difference between the two candidates (so they might as well stay home)." Mann writes also that Russia is believed to have helped instigate the 2018 'Yellow Vest' revolts that undercut French governmental efforts to introduce a carbon tax.</p><p>Mann describes a number of "wedge" campaigns run to divide climate advocates. He points to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/21/climate-tweets-twitter-bots-analysis" target="_blank">a 2020 news story in The Guardian</a> reporting that "the social media conversation over the climate crisis is being reshaped by an army of automated Twitter bots." That article estimated that "a quarter of all tweets about climate on an average day are produced by bots," with a goal of "distorting the online discourse to include far more climate science denialism than it would otherwise."</p>
<p><strong>Put a Price on It. </strong><em><strong>Or Not.</strong></em> This chapter begins with Mann's concerns that "the fuel industry has been granted the greatest market subsidy ever: the privilege to dump its waste products into the atmosphere at no charge." When <em>implicit</em> subsidies are included like the health costs and environmental pollution damage, including the damage done by climate change, Mann writes, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-the-challenge-of-defining-fossil-fuel-subsidies" target="_blank">estimated</a> subsidies of over $5 trillion were paid in the year 2015 alone. These subsidies need to end, Mann argues, preferring a price on carbon emissions to force polluters to pay for the climate damage done by their product, fossil fuels, and a tilt giving an advantage to clean and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> forms.</p><p>Mann rejects flat-out concerns over a potential carbon tax. For instance, he writes that "whether a carbon tax is progressive or regressive depends on how it is designed. A fee-and-dividend method, for example, returns any revenue raised back to the people."</p><p>Mann also expresses support for supply-side measures like "blocking pipeline construction, banning fracking, stopping mountain-top-removal coal mining, divesting in fossil fuel companies, and putting a halt to most new fossil fuel infrastructure."</p>
<p>In <strong>Sinking the Competition</strong>, Mann backs explicit incentives for renewable energy and elimination of incentives for fossil fuels. He says fossil fuel interests and their backers have "put their thumbs on the scale by promoting programs that favor fossil fuel energy while sabotaging those that incentivize renewables, and engaging in propaganda campaigns to discredit renewable energy as a viable alternative to fossil fuels."</p>
<p><strong>The Non-Solution Solution</strong> chapter details Mann's concerns that those opposing climate action promote "solutions" (natural gas, carbon capture, geo-engineering) that Mann argues aren't real solutions at all. "Part of their strategy is using soothing words and terms – 'bridge fuels,' 'clean coal,' 'adaptation,' 'resilience' – that convey the illusion of action but, in context, are empty promises," he writes. Mann's preferred "viable path forward on climate involves a combination of energy efficiency, electrification, and decarbonization of the grid through an array of complementary renewable energy sources. The problem is that fossil fuel interests lose out in that scenario, and so they have used their immense wealth and influence to stymie any efforts to move in that direction."</p>
<p><strong>The Truth Is Bad Enough</strong> decries obsessive pessimism and "doomism" as unhelpful to tackling the climate crisis. "Exaggeration of the climate threat by purveyors of doom – we'll call them 'doomists' – is unhelpful at best," he writes. "Indeed, doomism today arguably poses a greater threat to climate action than outright denial. For if catastrophic warming of the planet were truly inevitable and there were no agency on our part in averting it, why should we do anything?"</p>
<p><strong>Meeting the Challenge</strong> presents a summary of Dr. Mann's four-point battle plan, which he outlines in the introduction to the book:</p><p><em>Disregard the Doomsayers:</em> The misguided belief that "it's too late" to act has been co-opted by fossil fuel interests and those advocating for them, Mann argues. It's just another way of legitimizing business-as-usual and a continued reliance on fossil fuels. Overt doom and gloom arguments should be ignored.</p><p><em>A Child Shall Lead Them:</em> Youths are fighting to save their planet, and there is a moral authority and clarity in their message that only the most jaded can disregard. Youths are the game-changers climate advocates have been waiting for, and their actions, methods, and idealism are models for all.</p><p><em>Educate, Educate, Educate:</em> Most hard-core climate-change deniers are unmovable, with an ideology impervious to facts. Don't waste time and effort trying to convince them. Instead, work with and help inform victims of climate change disinformation campaigns so they can join efforts to combat the climate challenge.</p><p><em>Changing the System Requires Systemic Change:</em> Those responsible for fossil fuel disinformation engage in either-or arguments rather than address larger systemic issues and consider incentives. Policies need to incentivize shifts away from fossil fuel burning toward a clean, green global economy, and those policies warrant the support of elected leaders.</p><p>The bottom line on <em>The New Climate War</em>: The book could benefit from more graphics and cartoons as complements to its 267 pages of text. Overall, though, the book still is a must-read for every climate-savvy and climate-dependent. (Only air breathers need apply!)</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/01/scientist-mike-manns-must-read-book-the-new-climate-war/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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