Economic Assessments Overwhelmingly Support Climate Action

Conservatives commonly argue that acting on climate change is too costly, however, this is contradicted by a slew of economic assessments. When we look at the data it becomes clear that conservatives use economic insecurity to obscure the facts and control the narrative.

There are a number of studies that show global warming undermines economic growth, but the most compelling data comes from cost benefit assessments.

Republicans Censor Climate Information in Schools

Climate denial is alive and well in the GOP. Republican legislators are conspiring to deprive kids of a science based climate education. In at least one state they have already succeeded. Earlier this year Republican lawmakers in Idaho voted to remove all fact-based references to climate from the state's science curriculum.

The state's House Education Committee voted for the new K-12 statewide science standards in February.  Republican legislator Rep. Scott Syme said he wanted the standard to include what he called "both sides of the debate". However, rather than invoke the baseless claims that constitute the other side of the argument lawmakers opted to excise all mention of climate change.

Feedback Loop Between Extreme Weather and Fossil Fuels Makes the Case for Clean Energy

As clean energy continues to grow storms continue to highlight the dangers of oil and gas. Fossil fuels and storms are locked in a perilous relationship that sees each contribute to the destructive force of the other. Extreme weather events have repeatedly ravaged Texas oil infrastructure.

Storms wreak havoc with both the economy and the environment. Preliminary estimates put the economic cost of Hurricane Harvey at $190 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in US history. There are also costs in the fossil fuel sector associated with Hurricane Harvey passing right through the hub of the US petroleum and natural gas industries in southeast Texas.

Mother Nature Strikes Back: A Review of Extreme Weather in 2016

Extreme weather is a deadly corollary of climate change. A UN study found that between 1995 and 2015, 600,000 people died from natural disasters. Global warming is known to exacerbate the intensity of extreme weather events. We are already seeing clear evidence of climate change playing a role in a growing number of natural disasters. Thanks to advances in attribution science we can now see the role that climate change plays in driving a succession of increasingly severe extreme weather events.

The Eye of the Storm: Hurricane Matthew, Attribution Science and Climate Change (Video)

It is widely accepted that warmer seas contribute to hurricanes but there are also a number of other factors that contribute to extreme weather events. Here is a review of the evidence linking climate change and Hurricane Matthew.

Matthew has already wreaked havoc in Cuba and the Bahamas and it has killed almost one thousand people in Haiti. Four Americans are known to have died due to the storm. There are currently states of emergency in effect in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Although Matthew has been downgraded from a level 5 to a level 1 hurricane it still packs a punch.  It looks as though central Florida was spared the worst, but cities along the East Coast are bracing for the storm.

The Fossil Fuel Industry and Republican Climate Change Deception

Sen. Whitehouse attributes climate misinformation to the fossil fuel industry and their Republicans minions. He points to the scientific inaccuracy of the climate change hiatus as a classic case in point. Such lies are deliberately woven to prevent us from acting.

The science is clear, and comprehensive. Global warming is caused by carbon pollution. However, for decades the fossil fuel industry has bought off Republicans in the senate who proceed to use their position to undermine the facts and obstruct action on climate change.

Proof of Disinformation from Fossil Fuel Companies (Video)

The fossil fuel industry is widely known to be the driving force behind climate denying front groups and disreputable scientists. Their aim is to make the public question the veracity of climate scientists and by all accounts they have been successful. In the US they managed to increase public skepticism and gain control of the Republican party.

As revealed by a series of internal company and trade association documents the fossil fuel industry has funded climate denial. This summary of evidence from the Union of Concerned Scientists shows how the fossil fuel industry funds a campaign of deception. 

Here is an assemblage of some of the most compelling evidence to date:

Cold and Snow Steal Headlines but we are Still Warming

While it may seem as though the US is enduring a record cold winter it is actually quite warm. We have witnessed record breaking snowfalls and parts of the North East are indeed colder than usual. The US is still in the grips of global warming and record snowfalls are consistent with climate change particularly in the Northeast.

According to the National Climatic Data Center, the period from December 2014 to January 2015 is the sixth hottest ever recorded for the contiguous US. Globally the month of January was the second hottest on record.

Record Snowfalls in the Northeast are Consistent with Climate Change

The record snowfalls in the Northeastern and Midwestern portions of North America are consistent with climate change models.

In Late January and early February record snowstorms rolled across the Plains to the Northeast. These storms have killed at least a dozen people and forced the cancellation of classes, grounded thousands of flights and left many roads impassible. The Boston area is one of the worst hit areas with record setting snowfalls for a seven day period. Boston has had more snow in the last week than they get in an average year (the annual average is 47 inches). New York Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and northern Connecticut also were hit by massive snowfalls.

Snowstorms are Consistent with Climate Change

Another storm influenced by climate change has struck the US east coast and while Juno was not as bad as predicted in places like NYC in wreaked havoc across New England. Boston had 23 inches of snow and 78 mph winds caused widespread power outages in Nantucket, Cape Cod and other coastal communities. In Newport Rhode Island, the tall ship Providence was knocked over by heavy winds. The National Guard had to rescue people inundated by flooding in the community of Scituate and snowfall records were broken in places like Worcester north of Boston.

Video - Summary of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report Synthesis Report

Record Breaking Buffalo Snow Storm Consistent with Global Warming

The massive snow storm that shattered records and dumped more than seven feet of snow on Buffalo is consistent with what we can expect from a world ravaged by climate change. Far from being evidence to disprove global warming it actually supports the predictions of climate change models.

Not only did thirteen people die as a consequence of the storm, there were major cleanup costs, significant damage and thousands of hours of lost productivity. As of Sunday morning, more than 84,000 tons of snow had been removed from portions of South Buffalo and Kaisertown. At least 30 roofs are known to have collapsed from the weight of the accumulated snowfall. Economic costs related to the storm are expected to exceed $3.2 million for Erie County and $27 million for the state.

Graphs - IPCC Report: CO2, Temperatures and Emissions

IPCC Synthesis Report: Background and Summary

In November the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its final world Synthesis Report. This is the world's most comprehensive assessment of scientific knowledge on climate change. The conclusions in the report are the starkest warnings yet. Urgent action is required as we are rapidly running out of time.

The final Synthesis Report summarizes three massive climate investigations:

1. The report on the physical science of climate change was released in September 2013. It reiterated the finding that humans are the leading cause of climate change. They further demonstrated that as measured by a number of indicators (ice sheet melt, glacial melt and sea level rise), climate change is occurred faster than predicted. It further stated that this is impacting meteorological conditions by increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

Video - Remembering Haiyan and Working for Climate Justice

One year ago today, November 8, 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever to hit land, devastated the Philippines. Powerful winds and seven meter high storm surges killed as many as 7,300 people and forced a million families from their homes. A year later thousand of people are still homeless.

Event - Earth Science & Climate Change (Earth Science-2015)

The 4th International Conference on Earth Science & Climate Change (Earth Science-2015) will take place on June 15-17, 2015, in Alicante, Spain. The main theme of the conference is: An Insight into the Recent Advancements in Geosciences and Climate Change Control. This OMICS Group event aims to promulgate knowledge and facilitate the sharing of new ideas amongst the professionals, industrialists and students from research areas of Earth Science and Climate Change.

Infographic - Funding of Climate Denial

We are Running out of Time to Avert a Climate Catastrophe (PwC Report)

PricewaterhousCoopers (PwC) is hardly known for hyperbole, but their latest report warns of catastrophe if we fail to reign in carbon emissions. The report says that every passing year we are getting further away from averting a climate disaster.

PwC's “Low Carbon Economy Index,” chronicles our ongoing failure to act on the climate crisis. They refer to an “unmistakable trend” of growing emissions and a warming world. The report states that we have failed to do what we must to keep temperatures below the internationally agreed upon upper threshold limit of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

Peru's Massive Illegal Logging Industry

The murder of indigenous activists is drawing attention to the massive trade in illegal forest products from Peru. The vast majority of logging activities in the country are illegal. Although Peru has a large rainforest current rates of illegal logging are unsustainable.

According to a 2012 World Bank report, as much as 80 percent of Peru’s logging exports are harvested illegally. Sophisticated wood laundering schemes help to bring this wood to international markets. This involves doctored papers that make the wood appear legal.

The US is among the nations that buy this illegal timber. According to a 2012 report by the Environmental Investigation Agency, at least 40 percent of cedar exports to the US include illegally logged timber. The wood from a single old-growth mahogany tree can earn more than $11,000 on the US lumber market.

Failure to Reduce Emissions will Result in an Ecological and Economic Catastrophe (IPCC's Leaked "Synthesis" Report)

The latest leaked Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report reiterates three points that we already know and warns us of dire consequences if we fail to act. Climate change is here, it is caused by humans and it has a number of dangerous impacts. It is noted that extreme weather like heat waves, drought, flooding and rising seas are already serious problems today.

The document specifically states that as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise we can expect the situation to worsen. This means more "severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems."