Hurricane Maria May Be a Preview of Climate-Fueled Migration in America
Hurricane Maria’s devastation of Puerto Rico may offer a preview for Americans of one of the most jarring potential consequences of global warming: the movement of large numbers of people pushed out of their homes by the effects of climate change.
The storm, which destroyed houses, washed away roads and cut off power to the commonwealth’s 3.4 million residents, risks accelerating an exodus that’s already under way as people flee economic stagnation and rising taxes brought on by a fiscal and debt crisis.
On Tuesday, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello warned that without "unprecedented relief" from the U.S. government, "thousands if not millions" of residents could leave the island for the mainland. That would strain housing and job markets in the cities that received those people, as well as local government services.
In Puerto Rico, a further drop in population would make it harder to reverse its economic decline. The commonwealth declared bankruptcy in May and has stopped making payments on much of its more than $70 billion in debt. Fewer residents would mean less economic activity, further reducing tax revenue and leaving officials even less able to repay Puerto Rico’s loans.
Full story at https://bloom.bg/2wnGXVg
Source: Bloomberg
Majority of Americans now say climate change makes hurricanes more intense
A majority of Americans say that global climate change contributed to the severity of recent hurricanes in Florida and Texas, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. That marks a significant shift of opinion from a dozen years ago, when a majority of the public dismissed the role of global warming and said such severe weather events just happen from time to time.
In a 2005 Post-ABC poll, taken a month after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast and devastated New Orleans, 39 percent of Americans said they believed climate change helped to fuel the intensity of hurricanes. Today, 55 percent believe that.
The shift may in part reflect scientists’ increasing confidence — and their increasing amount of data — in linking certain extreme weather events such as hurricanes to climate change. Many researchers have been unequivocal that while hotter oceans, rising seas and other factors are not the sole cause of any event, the warming climate is contributing to more intense storms and more frequent, more crippling storm surges and flooding.
“[Hurricane] Harvey was not caused by climate change, yet its impacts — the storm surge and especially the extreme rainfall — very likely worsened due to human-caused global warming,” Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said in a statement after the hurricane.
Full story at http://wapo.st/2wnH1V0
Source: Washington Post
Dutch Regulator Warns Banks and Insurers to Factor in Climate Change
Banks, insurers, and other financial institutions must do more to take into account the risks posed by climate change to their business, a Dutch Central Bank study said.
As global warming increases the risk of extreme weather events, regulators are giving more attention to its economic and market implications, with estimates showing that a single high-impact storm could cause damages of as much as €60 billion ($71 billion), according to the report published on Thursday. The Netherlands, which is largely below sea level, runs an inordinate risk of being affected by such events.
“Dutch insurers will have to deal with an increasing claims-burden as a result of climate-related damage,” the central bank said in the report. “This in turn may lead to shock-induced price rises in premiums. Furthermore, climate change is making it more difficult to estimate the likelihood of extreme weather.”
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, chairman of the G20’s Financial Stability Board, is spearheading an initiative to standardize financial-sector guidelines on how to disclose risks arising from climate change. Carney in late 2015 appointed former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to lead the task force on climate-related financial disclosures, which issued its final recommendations in June. (Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)
Full story at https://bloom.bg/2kA219C
Source: Bloomberg
Bob Geldof: ‘Vulgar fool’ Trump has ignited a wave of climate-change activism
President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate deal has "ignited" widespread environmental activism, Bob Geldof said Wednesday.
The Live Aid benefit concerts organizer labeled Trump "a vulgar fool" and said Trump's stance on climate change has encouraged several U.S. states to do more to address the issue.
Geldof, who is known for his political activism, has previously called Trump a "racist" and a "liar."
In an interview Wednesday, the 65-year-old Irish singer-songwriter told CNBC: "What's interesting is that, parallel with the withdrawal from the Paris agreement is that the states and the cities have suddenly ramped up their acknowledgement of the problem, and started implementing far greater regulations than were actually asked for by the Paris agreement."
Full story at http://cnb.cx/2wlVeC3
Source: CNBC
Global carbon emissions stood still in 2016, offering climate hope
Global emissions of climate-warming carbon dioxide remained static in 2016, a welcome sign that the world is making at least some progress in the battle against global warming by halting the long-term rising trend.
All of the world’s biggest emitting nations, except India, saw falling or static carbon emissions due to less coal burning and increasing renewable energy, according to data published on Thursday by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (NEAA). However other mainly developing nations, including Indonesia, still have rising rates of CO2 emissions.
Stalled global emissions still means huge amounts of CO2 are being added to the atmosphere every year – more than 35bn tonnes in 2016 – driving up global temperatures and increasing the risk of damaging, extreme weather. Furthermore, other heat-trapping greenhouse gases, mainly methane from cattle and leaks from oil and gas exploration, are still rising and went up by 1% in 2016.
“These results are a welcome indication that we are nearing the peak in global annual emissions of greenhouse gases,” said climate economist Prof Lord Nicholas Stern at the London School of Economics and president of the British Academy.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2wnGUZA
Source: The Guardian
Majority Of Americans Want The Government To Fight Climate Change
A recent survey of Americans found that 61 percent of them think climate change is an issue and the government ought to do something to confront it. The political breakdown finds 43 percent of Republicans and 80 percent of Democrats see climate change as an issue the government needs to address.
The survey was conducted by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago and The Associated Press Center for Public Affairs Research. In total, the results represent all 50 states and D.C. and were randomly drawn from AmeriSpeak.
This stands in contrast to the current administration's stance on climate change and action to mitigate future threats. When surveyors asked about political decisions associated with climate change, the largest share stated that they oppose President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and repeal of the Clean Power Plan.
From Trump's standpoint, he stands in a position where the minority of his party supports government action on climate change, while the majority of the country supports action. However, the statistic involves two beliefs, one that climate change is happening and the other that the government should work to mitigate it.
Full story at http://bit.ly/2kAUMhB
Source: Forbes
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