The Community Flood Watch Project is collecting resident reports of flooding in Jamaica Bay, Queens. Bjoertvedt / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 3.0
Many of New York City's coastal residents are plagued by flooding – during storms and on sunny days.
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<p>"There are certain times of the year associated with the new and full moons where it brings higher-than-normal high tides. And with that, those tides can bring flooding into communities," says Helen Cheng, a former coastal resilience extension specialist with <a target="_blank" href="https://seagrant.sunysb.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer">New York Sea Grant</a> and with the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.srijb.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Science and Resilience Institute</a>.</p><p>She says in the Jamaica Bay watershed, flooding can block access to the subway station that people need to get to work from day to day.</p><p>"Even services, sometimes – you know, the delivery of mail – can get impacted by water on the streets."</p>
<p>Cheng says tidal flooding is getting worse as sea levels rise, and it's important to know how people are affected. So as part of the Community Flood Watch Project, residents document and report flooding.</p><p>"There's a lot of value in on-the-ground information and community data, right? Because they're living in these places and experiencing these events 24/7," she says.</p><p>Cheng says the data improves flood warnings and sea-level-rise predictions, and it helps city leaders understand how flooding affects people's lives.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/09/new-york-city-residents-document-sea-level-rise-in-coastal-neighborhoods/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections.</a></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Finding fresh produce can be more challenging in the dead of winter, especially in cold regions. Pixnio / CCO
It's harvest time, and by eating what's in season locally, people can reduce the carbon pollution caused by trucking food long distances.
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<p>That's easy to do when farmers markets are open. But it can be more challenging in the dead of winter, especially in cold regions.</p><p>So Brooke Knisley of <a target="_blank" href="http://alternativerootsfarm.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html">Alternative Roots Farm</a> in Minnesota encourages her customers to do what their ancestors did: preserve food now to enjoy later.</p><p>"Items like berries, peppers, are super easy to freeze," she says.</p><p>And root vegetables can be kept in a cool pantry.</p>
<p>"We installed a new large walk-in cooler system where we can store our apples and other winter storage crops – squash, onions, garlic – late into the winter," Knisley says.<br></p><p>She provides those items to her customers, along with canned foods and greens that she grows in a passive solar greenhouse.</p><p>She says local farmers may offer more in winter than you realize. And talking to a farmer is also a chance to learn about their growing methods.</p><p>"Don't be afraid to connect with your farmers in a deeper way or reach out to them at a point in the season to find out what they might have," Knisley says. "So just rethinking what eating in season means and how you can integrate that into your life."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/08/how-preserving-produce-can-help-you-eat-more-local-food/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>
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From raising livestock to growing vegetables, farmers help put food on our plates. But agriculture also creates emissions that warm the climate. And the most warming is caused by nitrous oxide, an especially potent global warming gas.
<p>"The use of synthetic fertilizers is the biggest source of nitrous oxide emissions," said Lauren Snyder, an education and research program manager with the <a href="https://ofrf.org/" target="_blank">Organic Farming Research Foundation</a>.</p>
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<p>"Fertilizers are basically providing a form of nitrogen to the plant," she said. "And so when you add that to the soil, a lot of it is lost to the atmosphere as nitrous oxide."</p><p>But she says that farmers can reduce those emissions by changing some of their practices.</p><p>For example, she recommends planting cover crops in the offseason instead of leaving fields bare. Some cover crops can reduce the need for fertilizer because they naturally fix nitrogen in the soil.</p><p>"Legume cover crops are excellent at taking atmospheric nitrogen and putting it in the soil in the form that plants can use. And so that's another way that we can provide fertility to plants," Synder said. "And it doesn't result in the same kind of pulse of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere."</p><p>So by enriching soil naturally, farmers can also help reduce global warming.</p><p><span></span><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/08/synthetic-fertilizers-are-heating-the-planet-but-theres-an-alternative/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2647065829#/" target="_self"></a></em></p>
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Yale Climate Connections highlights 13 reports covering climate change.
By Michael Svoboda
If measured by the number of reports put out in just the first half of this year, the coronavirus has not slowed the work of the international, national, and non-governmental organizations keeping an eye on climate change.
<p>And that's a good thing. Because although it has temporarily reduced the amount of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, the coronavirus crisis has done nothing to slow the climatic effects of the carbon dioxide already there after decades of fossil fuel combustion. The planet is still warming, the oceans are still acidifying, and more and more humans are experiencing the consequences.</p><p>In this edition of our bookshelf feature, Yale Climate Connections highlights a baker's dozen of these reports, selected to reflect the broad range of concerns that intersect with climate change, including water, national security, media, health, food, finance, energy, and climate and environmental justice.</p><p>Readers can also find a link to <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/dl/YCC_2020_Reports.doc" target="_blank">a much longer list of reports</a>, which provides a measure of depth rather than breadth. Food security, for example, is the subject of six separate reports released since the start of the year, but only one is included in this month's baker's dozen.</p><p><span></span>The descriptions of the 13 reports are adapted from copy provided by the organizations that published them. All of the reports, those profiled below and those included in the larger downloadable list, are available free, in pdf form online. In some cases, however, interested readers may need to register with the organizations that released them.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.ametsoc.org/ams/index.cfm/publications/bulletin-of-the-american-meteorological-society-bams/state-of-the-climate/">State of the Climate 2019: Special Supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society</a>, edited by J. Blunden and D.S. Arndt (BAMS 2020, 435 pages, free download available <a target="_blank" href="https://watermark.silverchair.com/2020bamsstateoftheclimate.pdf">here</a>; a 10-page executive summary is also available)</p><p><em>Compiled by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information and published as a supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, State of the Climate provides a detailed update on global climate indicators, notable weather events, and other data collected by monitoring stations and instruments located on land, water, ice, and in space. State of the Climate in 2019 is the 30th issuance of the annual assessment, which has been published by the Bulletin since 1996. The main function of each volume is to document the status and trajectory of many components of the climate system. As a series, however, the report also documents the status and trajectory of our capacity and commitment to observe the climate system.</em></p><p><em><a target="_blank" href="https://firststreet.org/press/2020-first-street-foundation-flood-model-launch/">The First National Flood Risk Assessment: Defining America's Growing Risk</a>, by Flood Modelers (First Street Foundation 2020, 163 pages, free download available <a target="_blank" href="https://assets.firststreet.org/uploads/2020/06/first_street_foundation__first_national_flood_risk_assessment.pdf">here</a>)</em></p><p><em><em>The nonprofit research and technology group First Street Foundation has publicly released flood risk data for more than 142 million homes and properties across the country. The data assigns every property in the contiguous United States a "Flood Factor™" based on its cumulative risk of flooding over a thirty-year mortgage. When adjusting changing sea levels, warming sea surface and atmospheric temperatures, and changing precipitation patterns, the Foundation's model finds the number of properties with substantial risk grows to 16.2 million by the year 2050. "The First Annual National Flood Risk Assessment: Defining America's Growing risk" highlights these significant national, state, and city findings of the First Street Foundation Model.</em></em></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.unwater.org/publications/world-water-development-report-2020/">World Water Development Report 2020: Water and Climate Change</a>, by UN Water (UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization 2020, 235 pages, free download available <a target="_blank" href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000372985.locale=en">here</a>)</p><p><em>Climate change will affect the availability, quality and quantity of water for basic human needs, threatening the effective enjoyment of the human rights to water and sanitation for potentially billions of people. The alteration of the water cycle will also pose risks for energy production, food security, human health, economic development, and poverty reduction. The 2020 UN World Water Development Report focuses on the challenges that can be addressed through improving water management. Combining climate change adaptation and mitigation, through water, is a win-win proposal, improving the provision of water supply and sanitation services and combating both the causes and impacts of climate change, including disaster risk reduction.</em></p><p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.fao.org/3/ca9692en/online/ca9692en.html">The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020: Transforming Food Systems for Affordable Healthy Diets</a>, by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO (United Nations 2020, 320 pages, free download available <a target="_blank" href="http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca9692en">here</a>)</p><p><em>This year, the UN's annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World includes a special focus on transforming food systems for affordable healthy diets. It analyses the cost and affordability of healthy diets around the world, by region and in different development contexts. New analysis is presented on the "hidden" health and climate-change costs associated with our current food consumption patterns, as well as the cost savings if we shift towards healthy diets that include sustainability considerations. The report also offers policy recommendations to transform current food systems and make them able to deliver affordable healthy diets for all – crucial to all efforts to achieve Zero Hunger – Sustainable Development Goal No. 2.</em></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240000377">WHO Global Strategy on Health, Environment, and Climate Change: The Transformation Need to Improve Lives and Wellbeing through Healthy Environments</a>, by WHO (UN-WHO 2020, 36 pages, free download available <a target="_blank" href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240000377">here</a>)</p><p><em>The burden of disease attributable to the environment is high and persistent (~ one quarter of all deaths), and further health concerns are posed by global climate change and rapid urbanization. To respond to this situation, a new global strategy on health, environment and climate change has been developed to transform the way we tackle environmental risks by accounting for health in all policies and scaling up disease prevention and health promotion. It needs to be supported by a strengthened health sector, adequate governance mechanisms, and enhanced communication, thereby creating a demand for healthy environments. The new strategy is timely – it responds to and is in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the GPW13.</em></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/report/cooling-emissions-and-policy-synthesis-report">Cooling Emissions and Policy Synthesis Report: Benefits of Cooling Efficiency and the Kigali Amendment</a>, by UNEP-IEA (UNEP and IEA 2020, 50 pages, free download available <a target="_blank" href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/33094/CoolRep.pdf">here</a>)</p><p><em>In a warming world, prosperity and civilization depend more and more on access to cooling. But the growing demand for cooling will contribute significantly to climate change, both through the leaking of HFCs and other refrigerants, and through emissions of CO2 and black carbon from the mostly fossil fuel-based energy powering air conditioners and other cooling equipment. By combining energy efficiency improvements with the transition away from super-polluting refrigerants, the world could avoid cumulative greenhouse gas emissions of up to 210-460 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) over the next four decades. This is roughly equal to 4-8 years of total annual global greenhouse gas emissions, based on 2018 levels.</em></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.2035report.com/">The 2035 Report: Plummeting Solar, Wind, and Battery Costs Can Accelerate Our Clean Electricity Future</a>, by Sonia Aggarwal and Mike O'Boyle (Goldman School of Public Policy 2020, 37 pages, free download available <a target="_blank" href="http://www.2035report.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2035-Report.pdf">here</a>)</p><p><em>Most studies aim for deep decarbonization of electric power systems by 2050, but this report shows, with the latest renewable energy and battery cost data, that we can get there in half that time. The U.S. can achieve 90% clean, carbon-free electricity nationwide by 2035, dependably, at no extra cost to consumers, and without new fossil fuel plants. On the path to 90% over the next 15 years, we can inject $1.7 trillion into the economy, support a net increase of more than 500K energy sector jobs each year, and reduce economy-wide emissions by 27%. This future also retires all existing coal plants by 2035, reduces natural gas generation by 70%, and prevents up to 85,000 premature deaths by 2050. But without robust policy reforms, this future will be lost.</em></p><p><em><a target="_blank" href="https://www.ceres.org/resources/reports/addressing-climate-systemic-risk">Addressing Climate as a Systemic Risk: A Call to Action for U.S. Financial Regulators</a>, by Veena Ramani (Ceres 2020, 68 pages, free download available <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ceres.org/sites/default/files/reports/2020-06/Financial%20Regulators%20FULL%20FINAL.pdf">here</a>, registration required)</em></p><p><em><em>This Ceres report outlines how and why U.S. financial regulators, who are responsible for protecting the stability and competitiveness of the U.S. economy, need to recognize and act on climate change as a systemic risk. It provides more than 50 recommendations for key financial regulators to adopt, including the Federal Reserve Bank (the Fed), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC), state and federal insurance regulators, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC).</em></em></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/report/gender-climate-security-sustaining-inclusive-peace-frontlines-climate-change">Gender, Climate & Security: Sustaining Inclusive Peace on the Frontlines of Climate Change</a>, by UN Women (UN Environment & Development Programs 2020, 52 pages, free download available <a target="_blank" href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/32638/GCS.pdf">here</a>)</p><p><em>Climate change is a defining threat to peace and security in the 21st century – its impacts felt by everyone, but not equally. Gender norms and power dynamics shape how women and men of different backgrounds experience or contribute to insecurity in a changing climate. Grounded in a series of case studies from research and programming experience, this report offers a comprehensive framework for understanding how gender, climate and security are inextricably linked. The report assesses entry points for action across existing global agendas and suggests concrete recommendations for how policymakers, development practitioners and donors can advance three inter-related goals: peace and security, climate action and gender equality.</em></p><p><em><a target="_blank" href="https://careclimatechange.org/evicted-by-climate-change/">Evicted by Climate Change: Confronting the Gendered Impacts of Climate-Induced Displacement</a>, by Care International (Care International 2020, 33 pages, free download available <a target="_blank" href="https://careclimatechange.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/CARE-Climate-Migration-Report-v0.4.pdf">here</a>)</em></p><p><em><em>This report outlines the causes and consequences of climate-induced displacement, and how the triple injustice of climate change, poverty and gender inequality must be met by transformative action. In this report, CARE draws on key scientific findings as well as its own experience and, most importantly, the experiences of the people CARE seeks to support in managing compound risks: women and girls in vulnerable situations. To tackle climate-induced displacement in a gender-transformative and human-rights based way, CARE calls on all relevant actors to do their part to build a safer, more equitable, inclusive and resilient future that harnesses the power of women and girls within their communities.</em></em></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/defending-tomorrow/">Defending Tomorrow: The Climate Crisis and Threats Against Land and Environmental Defenders</a>, by Global Witness (Global Witness 2020, 52 pages, free download available <a target="_blank" href="https://www.globalwitness.org/documents/19939/Defending_Tomorrow_EN_low_res_-_July_2020.pdf">here</a>)</p><p><em>For years, land and environmental defenders have been the first line of defense against climate breakdown. Time after time, they have challenged those companies rampaging through forests, skies, wetlands, oceans and biodiversity hotspots. Yet the crucial role they play, businesses, financiers and governments fail to safeguard the vital and peaceful work of these defenders. The climate crisis is arguably the greatest global and existential threat we face. As it escalates, it will exacerbate many other problems. The question is whether we want to build a better, greener future for our planet and its people. The answer lies in following the leadership, the campaigns and solutions that land and environmental defenders have been honing for generations.</em></p><p><em><a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2020/07/23/breaking-the-plastic-wave-top-findings">Breaking the Plastic Wave: A Comprehensive Assessment of Pathways Towards Stopping Ocean Plastic Pollution</a>, by Pew Charitable Trust and System IQ (Pew Charitable Trust 2020, 153 pages, free download available <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2020/07/breakingtheplasticwave_report.pdf">here</a>)</em></p><p><em><em>Plastic has become ubiquitous. From wrapped food and disposable bottles to microbeads in body washes, it's used widely as packaging or in products because it's versatile, cheap, and convenient. But this convenience comes with a price. Plastic waste is entering the ocean at a rate of about 11 million metric tons a year. How did we get here? We have produced vast quantities of plastic products but have had few ways to regulate their use or properly manage their disposal. "Breaking the Plastic Wave" shows that we can cut annual flows of plastic into the ocean by about 80% in the next 20 years. But no single solution can achieve this goal; rather, we can break the plastic wave only by taking several immediate, ambitious, and concerted actions.</em></em></p><p><em><em><a target="_blank" href="https://medium.com/centerforcooperativemedia/climate-specific-reasons-help-propel-growth-in-journalism-collaborations-4696dc2f672c">Adapting to a Change Climate: How Collaboration Addresses Unique Challenges in Climate-Change and Environmental Reporting</a>, by Caroline Porter (Center for Cooperative Media 2020, 24 pages, free download available <a target="_blank" href="https://collaborativejournalism.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2020/07/climate-change-caroline-porter-july-16-2020.pdf">here</a>)</em></em></p><p><em><em><em>As part of its collaborative journalism program, the Center for Cooperative Media (CCM) at Montclair State University tracks journalism collaborations. In early 2019 the number of climate change-related collaborations seemed to be ticking upward, spurred by the launch of Covering Climate Now, the biggest such collaboration on record. CCM decided to take a look at how journalists are working together to tackle the topic and all of its related issues. The result is the new report researched and written by Caroline Porter. Based on her assessments of 40 climate-related collaborations, she found that there are some climate change-specific reasons that journalism collaborations make sense, beyond the usual economic reasons for such efforts.</em></em></em></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/08/13-major-climate-change-reports-released-so-far-in-2020/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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An aerial photo shows a flooded New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on September 11, 2005. NOAA / Wikimedia Commons
When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, the convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph was severely damaged by flooding.
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<p>The nuns moved elsewhere while repairs began. But the following year, lightning struck the roof and started a fire. The convent could not be saved.</p><p>"We began to pray for some kind of insight that would enable us to use the property in a way that would minister to the people of New Orleans," says Sister Pat Bergen.</p><p>She says an architect came to the nuns with an idea – converting the 25 acres into a wetland that helps prevent flooding in nearby areas.</p>
<p>They're calling the project the <a target="_blank" href="https://nola.gov/resilience-sustainability/areas-of-focus/green-infrastructure/hazard-mitigation-stormwater-projects/mirabeau-water-garden-phase-i/">Mirabeau Water Garden</a>. Plans for the site include recreational areas, meadows that absorb stormwater, and retention ponds.</p><p>When the city's drainage system is overwhelmed, water will be diverted to the property and held there until it can be safely released.</p><p>"Healing, strengthening, restoring Earth was a major part of our decision-making, and that's why this design resonated with our hearts right away," Bergen says.</p><p>So when the city breaks ground, it will turn what was once a major loss into a gain for the flood-prone city of New Orleans.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/08/nuns-agree-to-convert-damaged-convent-into-flood-prevention-project/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Official weather station at the Furnace Creek Visitor's Center in Death Valley, California. The white box houses the fan-aspirated temperature sensor. Jeff Masters
By Jeff Masters
Death Valley, California hit an astonishing 129.9 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4°C) at 3:41 p.m. PDT Sunday, August 16, 2020, which was rounded to 130 degrees Fahrenheit in the final report from NOAA.
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<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/08/death-valley-california-may-have-recorded-hottest-temp-in-world-history/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>
<p>According to weather records experts Christopher Burt, who wrote the comprehensive weather records book "Extreme Weather," and Maximiliano Herrera, who tweets under the Twitter handle <a href="https://twitter.com/extremetemps?lang=en" target="_blank">Extreme Temperatures Around the World</a>, the observation may be the hottest reliably recorded temperature in world history, breaking the 129.2 degrees Fahrenheit readings at <a href="https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/historic-heat-wave-reponsible-for-death-valleys-129f-gradually-weak.html" target="_blank">Death Valley in 2013</a> and in <a href="https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/eastern-hemispheres-alltime-temperature-record-kuwait-fries-in-54.html" target="_blank">Kuwait in 2016</a>.</p>
Cautions About the Record
<p>Herrera and Burt are cautious about accepting the new record set at the Furnace Creek Visitor's Center in Death Valley. The measurement came in mid-August. But extreme high temperature records are much easier to set in July, which is the hottest month of summer. Also concerning was the fact that Sunday's temperatures at Furnace Creek showed some odd jumps during the day. (See the raw high-resolution data <a href="https://hads.ncep.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/hads/interactiveDisplays/displayMetaData.pl?table=dcp&nesdis_id=19021366" target="_blank">here</a> by choosing a time up to six days in the past from the drop-down menu, then choosing "Decoded Data.")</p><p>However, there were some relevant wind direction changes at Furnace Creek that occurred during these temperature jumps, bolstering the idea that the temperature changes were real. The National Weather Service noted that transient <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSWPC/status/1295137837361139712" target="_blank">high cirrus clouds</a> may have played a role in the temperature changes. Further support for the 130 degrees Fahrenheit reading at Furnace Creek came from the nearby Stovepipe Wells site in Death Valley, which peaked at <a href="https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/timeseries.php?sid=ISWC1&num=72&banner=gmap&raw=0&w=325" target="_blank">125 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday</a>. That site, which lies in a cooler part of the valley and is 200 feet higher in elevation, is typically three to five degrees cooler than the Furnace Creek site.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU2MzQ3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1ODk1OTcyMX0.MdJPgDEb_5hSaIuqBNna62gQweOH-wALUW13MB3lkeA/img.jpg?width=980" id="2c1d7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7d7cb144991a8d960a84f2e4897a5b68" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The Greenland Ranch USWB weather shelter in Death Valley, California, site of the official world record extreme temperature of 134 degrees Fahrenheit on July 10, 1913. Photo is the oldest known photograph of the weather station (circa late 1910s to as late as 1921) and is looking west. NWS Las Vegas archives via Chris Burt
The Official World Record Will Remain 134°F
<p>"If Sunday's observation passes an investigation (instrument calibration, etc.) then, yes, this a new reliably measured global extreme heat record," Burt wrote by email.</p><p>But the observation will not count as an official world record. In 2013, the World Meteorological Organization <a href="https://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/world-heat-record-overturneda-personal-account.html" target="_blank">officially decertified</a> the official all-time hottest temperature in world history, a 136.4 degrees Fahrenheit reading from Al Azizia, Libya, in 1923. (Burt was a member of the WMO team that made the determination.) After the abandonment of the Libya record, the <a href="https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-meteorological-organization-global-weather-climate-extremes-archive" target="_blank">official world record</a> was given to a 134 degrees Fahrenheit measurement taken at Death Valley on July 10, 1913.</p><p>However, this record has been strongly disputed by Burt and Herrera.</p><p>"The old Death Valley record from July 1913 is 100% bogus (not just 99.9% such), as are all other temperature readings of 130 degrees Fahrenheit or higher from Africa in the past," Burt said.</p><p>Burt wrote a detailed <a href="https://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/an-investigation-of-death-valleys-134f-world-temperature-record.html" target="_blank">2016 blog post at Weather Underground</a> challenging the 1913 record at Death Valley, explaining that official readings of 134, 130, and 131 degrees Fahrenheit taken on July 10, 12, and 13, 1913 were likely the result of an inexperienced observer. In order for the 1913 Death Valley record to be decertified, though, an official World Meteorological Organization investigation committee would have to be assembled to look into the matter, a years-long process for which there is currently no motivation.</p><p>The only other temperature of at least 130 degrees Fahrenheit officially recognized by the World Meteorological Organization is a 131-degree reading at Kebili, Tunisia, set July 7, 1931, which is considered to be Africa's hottest temperature.</p><p>Burt disputed this record: "I mentioned to the WMO about the Kebili temperature of 131 degrees Fahrenheit back in 2012, when asked what I thought the next hottest temperature in Africa (after Al Azzia) might be, since that was the only temperature over 130 degrees Fahrenheit that had an actual date attached to it. However, the Kebili 'record' is even more bogus than even the Al Azzia record, and I said so. Kebili is a relatively cool spot in Tunisia (an oasis) and never since the 1930s ever again recorded a maximum temperature above 118 degrees Fahrenheit. The WMO wanted something for their 'Africa' section at that time, and somehow the 131 degrees Fahrenheit made it into the database with no consideration of its validity whatsoever. Nowhere in Africa has any reliably observed temperature been measured above 126 degrees Fahrenheit."</p>
A Weird Weather Day in California
<p>Another argument supporting Sunday's 130 degrees Fahrenheit measurement at Death Valley was the unusual weather setup over California.</p><p>"I'm coming around to thinking that this 129.9° reading just might be for real," Burt said. "For one thing, the weather today in California has been unique. All kinds of strange local weather occurred. In fact, the folks at most of the state's National Weather Service offices are saying there has never been a day like today in recorded history in the state: all kinds of weird dynamics at work and the models just can't handle the details."</p><p>Yale Climate Connections contributor <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/author/bhenson/" target="_blank">Bob Henson</a> had these observations on Sunday's weird weather in California: "Among the strange developments over the weekend in California were a <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=bay%20area%20thunderstorms&src=typed_query" target="_blank">highly unusual round of pre-dawn thunderstorms</a> in the Bay Area on Sunday, with only scant rain but <a href="https://twitter.com/Weather_West/status/1295031504226009088" target="_blank">profuse lightning</a> that started multiple new wildfires. <a href="https://twitter.com/YubaNetFire/status/1295049825768022017" target="_blank">More than 4,800 lightning strikes</a> were recorded in California on Saturday alone. Also on Saturday, a fire-based thunderstorm (pyrocumulonimbus) in Lassen County spawned what appear to be multiple fire whirls and 'fire tornados,' as indicated by radar and documented in <a href="https://twitter.com/nevada_traveler/status/1294799157241118720" target="_blank">photos</a> and <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/That1GirlTasha/status/1294810824993734656" target="_blank">videos</a>. The storm prompted what is apparently the first-ever NWS tornado warning related to pyrocumulonimbus. It will take further study to establish how many vortexes developed and how many might have been fire whirls (smaller-scale, shorter-lived spin-ups akin to dust devils) versus more unusual fire tornadoes, which extend up into a pyrocumulonimbus and which can generate surface winds of more than 100 mph.</p><p>"These events are related to an infusion of moisture from the tropical northeast Pacific, some of it from ex-Hurricane Elida, coupled with one of the strongest, hottest upper-level domes of high pressure ever recorded across the western United States in August. When such air is forced to descend, it warms up even more, which can lead to record-setting temperatures at the surface."</p>From Your Site Articles
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Visible satellite image of Tropical Storm Kyle and Tropical Storm Josephine as of 9:10 a.m. EDT Saturday, August 15, 2020. RAMMB / CIRA / Colorado State University
By Jeff Masters, Ph.D.
The record-busy 2020 Atlantic hurricane season brought another addition to its bevy of early-season storms at 5 p.m. EDT August 14, when Tropical Storm Kyle formed off the coast of Maryland.
<p>Kyle arrived well ahead of the previous earliest appearance by the Atlantic season's eleventh named storm – Katrina on August 24, 2005. Seven other Atlantic storms have set similar records during this already-hyperactive 2020 season.</p><p>However, the majority of 2020's impressive herd of early-season storms have been short-lived; only two made it to category 1 hurricane strength. As a result, the Accumulated Cyclone Energy, or ACE – a measure of the total destructive power of a hurricane season – has been unusually low for the first 10 storms of a season, according to statistics <a href="https://twitter.com/splillo/status/1294293510896508930" target="_blank">tweeted by Sam Lillo</a>:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2020 currently has a total ACE of 23.6 through 10 storms. Though the 10th storm is ongoing, it's becoming more apparent that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Josephine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Josephine</a> is unlikely to be a big ACE producer.<br>The lowest ACE on record from the first 10 storms is 27.2, in 2013. <a href="https://t.co/4xC0ZObNcV">pic.twitter.com/4xC0ZObNcV</a></p>— Sam Lillo (@splillo) <a href="https://twitter.com/splillo/status/1294293510896508930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>Notwithstanding its historic timing, Kyle is not expected to bring major impacts to land. As of 5 a.m. EDT Saturday, Kyle was located 280 miles southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, moving east-northeast at 21 mph with top sustained winds at 45 mph.</p><p>Kyle was over the Gulf Stream, where waters were a record-warm 27-28 degrees Celsius (81-82°F), which is about 2 degrees Celsius (3.6°F) above average. <a href="https://tropicaltidbits.com/sat/satlooper.php?region=12L&product=ir" target="_blank">Satellite images</a> showed that high wind shear resulting from strong upper-level winds out of the southwest were keeping the low-level center exposed to view, and all of Kyle's heavy thunderstorms were confined to the east side of the center. High wind shear will affect Kyle throughout the weekend, and it is unlikely that the storm will become a hurricane.</p><p>Well-defined steering currents will take Kyle rapidly to the east-northeast over the weekend, and Kyle's winds and rain are not expected to impact any land areas. By Monday, Kyle will leave the warm waters of the Gulf Stream and move over cold waters, bringing an end to its brief life as an inconsequential tropical storm.</p>
Tropical Storm Josephine Also No Threat to Land
<p>Meanwhile, the season's record-earliest tenth named storm, Tropical Storm Josephine, was also struggling with high wind shear as it traced out a path over the open ocean.</p><p>At 5 a.m. EDT Saturday, Josephine was located about 310 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands, moving west-northwest at 15 mph with top sustained winds at 45 mph. Josephine is expected to bring one to three inches of rain over portions of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico over the weekend. Josephine will encounter steadily rising wind shear through Monday, peaking at a very high 30 – 35 knots. This high shear is likely to destroy Josephine's circulation by Monday, before the storm can affect any other land areas.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/08/tropical-storm-kyle-forms-unlikely-to-affect-land/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>. </em><em></em></p>
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A quality engineer examines new solar panels in a factory. alvarez / Getty Images
Transitioning to renewable energy can help reduce global warming, and Jennie Stephens of Northeastern University says it can also drive social change.
For example, she says that locally owned businesses can lead the local clean energy economy and create new jobs in underserved communities.
"We really need to think about … connecting climate and energy with other issues that people wake up every day really worried about," she says, "whether it be jobs, housing, transportation, health and well-being."
To maximize that potential, she says the energy sector must have more women and people of color in positions of influence. Research shows that leadership in the solar industry, for example, is currently dominated by white men.
"I think that a more inclusive, diverse leadership is essential to be able to effectively make these connections," Stephens says. "Diversity is not just about who people are and their identity, but the ideas and the priorities and the approaches and the lens that they bring to the world."
So she says by elevating diverse voices, organizations can better connect the climate benefits of clean energy with social and economic transformation.
Reposted with permission from Yale Climate Connections.
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Atlantic puffins courting at Maine Coastal Island National Wildlife Refuge in 2009. USFWS / Flickr
When Europeans first arrived in North America, Atlantic puffins were common on islands in the Gulf of Maine. But hunters killed many of the birds for food or for feathers to adorn ladies' hats. By the 1800s, the population in Maine had plummeted.
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<p>"Puffins were almost completely lost," says Don Lyons of the Audubon Seabird Institute.</p><p>He says that about 50 years ago, conservationists started bringing puffin chicks from Canada and hand-raising them on the Maine islands.</p><p>When those birds reached adulthood, they came back to the islands where they were raised and began nesting themselves.</p><p>Now the puffin colony in Maine has recovered to more than 1,000 nesting pairs. But global warming threatens to undo some of that progress.</p>
<p>"The Gulf of Maine is actually now one of the most rapidly warming water bodies on the planet," Lyons says.</p><p>That's driving many fish to cooler waters, so the puffins are forced to fly farther or dive deeper to catch enough food.</p><p>"The most intense warm years during the last decade have made it very difficult for puffins to raise chicks because of the additional work involved in finding food for them," Lyons says.</p><p>So reducing global warming can help Maine's beloved puffins survive.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/08/global-warming-threatens-atlantic-puffin-recovery-in-maine/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Researchers have turned to hydrophones, instruments that use underwater microphones to gather data beyond the reach of any camera or satellite. Pxfuel
By Kristen Pope
Melting and crumbling glaciers are largely responsible for rising sea levels, so learning more about how glaciers shrink is vital to those who hope to save coastal cities and preserve wildlife.
<p>But it is hard to get good pictures and measurements because glaciers typically are in remote, difficult-to-reach, and even dangerous locations. Satellites are often used to measure glacial retreat, but these images are far from complete, especially when it's cloudy, foggy, raining, or snowing.</p><p>So researchers have turned to hydrophones, instruments that use underwater microphones to gather data beyond the reach of any camera or satellite. Hydrophones can record underwater in all conditions. Originally used by the military to detect submarines, hydrophones are now one more tool scientists have to learn about climate change. The devices collect data continuously and they are relatively inexpensive and easy to deploy and maintain in many different areas of the world to monitor sea ice, underwater earthquakes, ship noise, and even wildlife patterns.</p>
Groans, Creaks, Icebergs’ Calving Splashes
<p>Oskar Glowacki already knew that melting glacial ice sounds like frying bacon. As ice bubbles burst, anyone nearby can hear crackling and popping, said Glowacki, a postdoctoral scholar at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Using hydrophones, he and other scientists now can make more nuanced measurements of how a changing climate sounds underwater, from the groans, creaks and splashes of a calving iceberg to the changes in whale songs as the ocean warms.</p><p>Glowacki recently used a pair of hydrophones to study the underwater world of glaciers, publishing his findings in <a href="https://www.the-cryosphere.net/14/1025/2020/" target="_blank">The Cryosphere</a>. He and co-author Grant B. Deane measured glacier retreat by <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/melting-glaciers-sound-like-frying-bacon/" target="_blank">recording the sounds of ice</a> – from small chunks to enormous slabs – falling off the glacier and splashing into the water.</p><p>During the summer of 2016, Glowacki's team placed two hydrophones near Hansbreen Glacier in Hornsund Fjord, Svalbard. For a month and a half, they recorded sounds, also using three time-lapse cameras to collect images – including the "drop height" (how far the ice fell into the water) – so they could compare photos to the recordings. The team created a formula to represent the relationship between the size of a piece of ice falling from a glacier and the sound it makes underwater, also accounting for the pieces of ice falling from varying heights. (Hear an example of the sound an iceberg makes while calving <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-248456662/iceberg-calving-hansbreen-glacier" target="_blank">here</a>.)</p><p>"Iceberg calving, defined as mechanical loss of ice from the edges of glaciers and ice shelves, is thought to be one of the most important components of the total ice loss," they note in their paper. They mention also that 32-40% of the Greenland ice sheet's mass loss is from solid ice discharge. However, Glowacki says it isn't just one process leading to glaciers losing mass: Surface melt, calving, and under-sea melting are all contributing factors.</p><p>Satellites are often used to measure glacial retreat, but the images they provide don't present a complete picture, and Glowacki and other scientists say they hope hydrophones can help provide more answers. Given that glaciers are typically remote and difficult to reach, collecting data remotely is key. Hydrophones, on the other hand, can record underwater in all these conditions.</p><p>Hydrophones also collect acoustic data and smaller events hard to find from a satellite image. "In a single day, [you] can have 100 or 200 icebergs breaking off from a single glacier," Glowacki says.</p><p>Glowacki says he and his team plan to further study iceberg calving, including studying additional glaciers, and collecting data for longer periods of time.</p>
Unlocking Information About Antarctic Ice Shelf
<p>Other researchers also are using hydrophones to learn more about crumbling glaciers. Bob Dziak, research oceanographer with the NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory <a href="https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/acoustics" target="_blank">acoustics research group</a>, captured a massive calving event of the Nansen Ice Shelf in Antarctica with a hydrophone. He published the results with colleagues in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2019.00183/full" target="_blank">Frontiers in Earth Science</a></p><p>On April 7, 2016, satellite images showed a massive calving event had occurred on the ice shelf. The paper described it as the "first large scale calving event in >30 years."</p><p>However, once Dziak and colleagues delved into the data from three hydrophones deployed 60 kilometers east of the ice shelf, they uncovered a series of "icequakes" from January to early March 2016. He and other researchers believe that much of the ice actually broke free in mid-January to February, but it remained in the same location until an April storm – which their paper described as the "largest low-pressure storm recorded in the previous seven months" – broke the ice free.</p><p>"We suspected that the icebergs broke apart but remained in place – kind of pinned in place – until a major storm with high winds passed through the area and, finally, it was that last push that pushed the icebergs out to sea," Dziak says.</p><p>He and his co-authors wrote that "fortuitous timing and proximity of the hydrophone deployment presented a rare opportunity to study cryogenic signals and ocean ambient sounds of a large-scale ice shelf calving and iceberg formation event."</p>Listening to Songs of Humpback Whales
<p><a href="https://www.mbari.org/" target="_blank">Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute</a> studies the ocean, including its acoustics. One of the institute's projects involves examining the soundscape of California's Monterey Bay, including sounds from animals, humans, weather, and geologic processes like earthquakes. The researchers once even recorded an under-sea landslide. They also focus on recording and analyzing the <a href="http://www.mbari.org/humpback-song/" target="_blank">songs of humpback whales</a>. Male humpback whales' songs can be over 15 minutes in length, and they can be repeated for long periods of time – even hours. Listening to these songs and analyzing them can provide unique insights into the lives of these complex animals.</p><p>"Any time we want to study marine mammals, sound gives us a window into their lives because they use sound for all of their essential life activities, really," says institute biological oceanographer John Ryan. "Communication, foraging, reproduction, navigation – depending on the species, of course."</p><p>Previously, scientists had thought singing occurred only during courtship and mating, but now they think whales may also use song while migrating and hunting. They know song has a crucial role in the whales' lives.</p><p>"There's a whole other dimension to humpback whale song," Ryan says. "It is a mode of cultural transmission in this species. They learn songs from each other. They share songs as a population, and when populations mix and mingle, they learn new ideas, they explore with their song, improvise, and it's a real essential part of their culture."</p><p>In 2015, institute researchers placed a hydrophone 3,000 feet deep, recording and analyzing humpback whale songs. Between 2015 and 2018, they collected over 26,000 hours of audio, which they used computer software to analyze. The researchers determined "peak singing season" in November through January, and they found most singing occurred at night. During peak season, songs were heard around 70% of the night.</p><p>However, from September 2015 to May 2016, they detected whales singing only about 11% of the time. Those months correlated with a period when the water temperature was especially high, depleting stocks of vital food sources like anchovies and krill, and correlating also with a toxic algal bloom. Scientists think the whales may have had to devote more time and energy to finding food, leaving less for singing. As researchers continue to study the worlds' oceans, they will undoubtedly learn more about underwater mysteries.</p><p>Listen to MBARI's live stream from beneath the bay <a href="https://www.mbari.org/soundscape-listening-room/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/hearing-the-under-sea-whispers-of-a-warming-climate/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>
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Oregon's coastline, where ocean acidification threatens entire ecosystems. James St. John / Flickr / CC by 2.0
In 2007, baby oysters began dying by the millions at the Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery on the Oregon coast.
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<p>At first, the owners suspected bacterial contamination was to blame.</p><p>"Once they partnered with academics and other regional managers, they found out it was actually ocean acidification," says Charlotte Regula-Whitefield.</p><p>Regula-Whitefield works with the Oregon Coordinating Council on Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia.</p><p>"When you burn fossil fuels you release carbon dioxide, CO2, and that does get absorbed into our oceans … and it makes the water more acidic," she says.</p>
<p>That more corrosive water can prevent marine species from properly forming shells, which can kill them.</p><p>The Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery learned to adapt. It now monitors the acidity of the ocean water that flows into its tanks and has a system to adjust the pH when needed. Over the years, its harvest levels have returned to normal.</p><p>But outside of those tanks, ocean acidification threatens entire ecosystems.</p><p>"All the things that actually live in the ocean – from the kelp to the fish to the sea urchin – are all tied to ocean acidification," Regula-Whitefield says. "So when small changes occur, these organisms are at risk."</p><p>And protecting them requires reducing carbon pollution.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/what-is-ocean-acidification/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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The Huntley coal plant in Tonawanda, New York, contributed to the local economy — and pollution levels. youtu.be
The Huntley coal plant in Tonawanda, New York, was once the area's biggest polluter. But it was also the town's biggest taxpayer.
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<p>So when the plant was slated to close, the town was concerned about job losses – not just for company employees, but public sector workers like teachers and paramedics.</p><p>"Those tax dollars that company pays … goes to the folks picking up garbage, and goes to people fixing the roads, and helps fund special ed," says Rebecca Newberry, executive director of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cacwny.org/">Clean Air Coalition of Western New York</a>.</p><p>To ease the transition, her group partnered with the town, local businesses, unions, residents, and community groups.</p>
<p>Together they created <a target="_blank" href="http://tonawandatomorrow.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2017/08/TonawandaTomorrowPlanJune15SinglePages.pdf">an economic development plan</a> to help the town make up lost revenue over time. It's designed to grow local businesses and create new jobs, especially in manufacturing and technology.</p><p>The group also helped convince the state to provide funds that fill the more immediate gap in revenue.</p><p>The plant closed in 2016, and Newberry says that since that time, "not one public sector employee, to our knowledge, has lost their job because of the closing of this plant."</p><p>So Tonawanda has moved away from a coal-powered economy while helping protect the community.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/how-tonawanda-ny-protected-its-economy-after-its-coal-plant-closed/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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James Bradley's latest novel, Ghost Species, encompasses themes of ecological loss and climate catastrophe. Yale Climate Connections
By Amy Brady
Australian author and critic James Bradley stunned with his previous novel, Clade, a multi-generational story about a swiftly changing planet. His latest novel, Ghost Species, encompasses similar themes of ecological loss and climate catastrophe.
<p>It introduces us to Kate Larkin, a scientist who takes part in a secret project to resurrect extinct species that will, in theory, help to re-engineer the planet. Questions of ethics and biological authenticity circulate the project, only to grow more complex when the scientists extend their work to bringing back one of humanity's closest ancient relatives – a Neanderthal. After the baby's birth, Kate begins to question the very things that make us human.</p><p>Timely and beautifully written, <em>Ghost Species</em> is an elegiac exploration of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/" target="_self">science</a> and compassion against a backdrop of planetary trauma. In this interview, I asked James what inspired the novel, what he learned about the real-life science of recreating ecosystems, and his feelings about the future.</p>
<p><strong>Amy Brady:</strong> Before we discuss <em>Ghost Species</em> specifically I'd like to talk about your writing interests more generally. Your previous novel, <em>Clade</em>, dealt acutely with the climate crisis, and you've written essays about the issue as well. What continues to draw you to the subject of climate change in your writing?</p><p><strong>James Bradley:</strong> I have a friend who talks about "the knowledge," by which she means that moment when you fully appreciate the scale and urgency of the climate crisis and its implications. I'm not sure I really think it's quite as simple or as singular as that – it seems to me most of us continue to resist that understanding in various ways, and to struggle with the complex and often frightening feelings that come with it – but I think she's right that once you've got there, nothing is the same. Politics, art, love, relationships: they're all transformed. A lot of my writing over the past decade or so has been trying to <a target="_blank" href="https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/essay/an-ocean-and-an-instant/">think my way into that awareness</a>, and then to try to make sense of <a target="_blank" href="https://meanjin.com.au/essays/unearthed/">what you do with it once you're there</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Amy Brady:</strong> <em>Ghost Species</em> explores the questions surrounding the science and ethics of de-extinction. Unlike other novels I've read on the subject, yours feels remarkably plausible. Tell us about your research process and what surprised you the most about what you learned.</p><p><strong>James Bradley:</strong> I decided quite early on that I didn't want to spend pages and pages discussing the technicalities of the science, partly because I didn't think most readers would be terribly interested in them, partly because I felt they'd detract from the emotional questions that seemed to me to be at the heart of the book. But interestingly, my route into the idea was actually a bit like the one Davis, the billionaire who finances the project, follows. So I began by reading about rewilding and recreating ecosystems rather than reading about the nuts and bolts of recreating extinct species in the lab. That led me to the story of the ways in which reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q">altered the physical structure of the rivers</a>, and that led me to the idea that you might try to slow down the melting of the permafrost by using de-extinct ice age animals to re-engineer the climate in the north, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/pleistocene-park/517779/">in the way Sergey and Nikita Zemov are in Siberia</a>.</p><p>Perhaps because I began thinking about ecosystems and interconnectedness and cycles of energy, when I came to start looking at the actual science of de-extinction I was less focussed on the technicalities than I was on the question of what extinction – and by implication de-extinction – might mean, not just as a metaphor for all the ways in which environmental crisis is upsetting and unhinging time and temporality, but for the kind of loneliness we all feel in a world where so much is being lost all around us.</p>
<p><strong></strong><strong>Amy Brady:</strong> A question at the heart of your new novel is whether an extinct animal – or even an extinct human relative, the Neanderthal – can be considered "real" once resurrected. Is this a question that scientists are taking seriously? Is it one that you yourself have landed on an answer to?</p><p><strong>James Bradley:</strong> When an animal or a species disappears from the world it's not just their biological identity that's lost, it's also a way of being in the world, and a whole host of complex entanglements with other species and their environment. That absence is profound and immense, but it also means that even if we do find the means to bring back vanished species, they will lack those connections and meanings. For Eve that disconnection is manifested through a larger sense of separation and loneliness, the feeling she's always an outsider. But what also happens in the book is that both Eve and some of the other recreated species begin to change and adapt – to go wild, I suppose – and as they do their lives begin to take on new shapes and new meanings, although not necessarily the ones their creators might have expected.</p>
<p><strong></strong><strong>Amy Brady:</strong> Your novels emphasize compassion, how humans can find deep wells of love and sympathy and beauty even in times of great distress. So often in public debate climate change is discussed in terms of fear and anger, or on the other side of the spectrum, hope and courage. What roles might love and compassion play in not only climate debate, but perhaps in climate action?</p><p><strong>James Bradley:</strong> I think it's really difficult to describe the scale or the trauma of last summer's bushfires here in Australia. Dozens of people were killed, thousands of homes were destroyed, and a whole range of animals and plants were pushed to the brink of extinction. But <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/11/terror-hope-anger-kindness-the-complexity-of-life-as-we-face-the-new-normal">as I wrote at the time</a>, what was really striking wasn't the anger and fear and grief, all of which was real and palpable (and given our government's appalling record on climate, justified), it was the outpouring of generosity and kindness. Truckies and tradies organized food deliveries, other people set up websites to find people who'd lost their homes a place to stay, members of the Muslim and Sikh communities took food to the firefighters, all of whom were volunteers, and many of whom had been fighting the fires for weeks or even months on end, and people gave millions of dollars to charities.</p><p>That didn't come out of nowhere. People did it because they saw people were suffering, and they wanted to help. That recognition other people's suffering is real is incredibly important, because once we do that it's much harder to look away, or to treat other people's lives as expendable.</p>
<p><strong></strong><strong>Amy Brady:</strong> Speaking of love, I loved your protagonist Kate Larkin. Where did she come from? Is she inspired by anyone in real life?</p><p><strong>James Bradley:</strong> I think all my writing is pretty personal, but with this book I really wanted to find a way of writing that erased all the barriers between me and the work, so I was writing out of somewhere very intimate, and undefended. I did that because I wanted to find a way of articulating a range of feelings of grief and fear that I usually need to keep under control so I can keep functioning. But it also meant I ended up using a lot of material from my own life in a pretty direct way: certainly the material about parenting and children is drawn from my own experience, and addiction and alcoholism have had a big impact on people very close to me. I suppose that desire to write without distance is also about the context in which I wrote the book. I began it just after my father died, and my mother died just as I was finishing it, and it's very much bookended by those losses, and a recognition of what they both meant to me.</p>
<p><strong></strong><strong>Amy Brady:</strong> Climate change is often depicted as a slow-moving phenomenon, but so much has happened since the last time we did an interview together for this column in late 2017 – a mere two and a half years ago. North America experienced one of its worst hurricane seasons in history, and Australia suffered one of its worst bushfires in history. And that's just in our respective home countries. I asked you back in 2017 if you were hopeful for the future, and you gave a thoughtful and elegant answer that I will paraphrase as "I'm wary of despair." Have your feelings about what's in store for us changed? Are you still at least cautiously hopeful about what the future might bring?</p><p><strong>James Bradley:</strong> When I wrote <em>Clade</em> one of the things I wanted the book to do was to push back against the idea the future is set, and make a space for possibility and change. I think over the past few years it's become much harder to hold onto the idea we might avoid the worst of what's coming. Having said that, I still think despair is a cop-out and an indulgence, and that even if the odds of staying under two degrees of warming are now slim, there's a big difference between two degrees and three, or three degrees and four, and which of those we end up with depends on what we do now.</p>
<p><strong>Amy Brady:</strong> What's next for you?</p><p><strong>James Bradley:</strong> It's a really good question! In fact, I've just finished a draft of a new novel, and I'm working on a book of non-fiction about the ocean, but both of them are still a way off. In the meantime, I've got a couple of long essays that should be out in the next few months, and I'm working on a couple of articles and a new novella. So I've got a lot of things on the boil, which is always nice.</p><p>SCIENCE FICTION<br><a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/ghost-species-9781926428666" target="_blank"><em>Ghost Species</em></a>, by James Bradley, Hamish Hamilton, published April 20, 2020.</p>
<p><em>Reprinted with permission from <a href="https://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2020/07/the-art-and-science-of-resurrection-in-ghost-species/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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