The ‘Trump Deviation’ on Climate

May 31, 2017

Sunshine and warmth this Wednesday evening on California’s north coast, a scenario of the good-as-it-gets category — not much wind helped the heat.
According to the NWS, however, tomorrow a change of pace with a forecast of ‘Slight Chance Showers,’ but we’ll wait and see.

And with climate change, we don’t need to wait any longer — via The Conversation this morning:

The data show that today’s aggregate warming effect of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) is higher than at any time over the past 800,000 years, according to ice core records…Global and regional greenhouse data can help nations to track the long-term global targets under the Paris agreement, and to inform actions needed to stabilise the climate.

The study just another in a huge-long list of scientific papers detailing the warming of the earth, and quickly, too. Nowadays, it’s not just the research papers, but physical evidence of higher, and then-getting-higher temperatures — the last three years the hottest on record, and this year on track to be the second-warmest, behind 2016, and reports the Arctic/Antarctic regions are melting like a Popsicle in July.
Beyond the obvious, the T-Rump supposedly plans on ditching the Paris agreement on climate change, and is set to make a decisions this week, and although the US leaving the accord won’t stop it, the damage is immeasurable.
Via NBC News this afternoon:

The agreement won’t fall apart overnight.
Already, reports suggest China and the European Union are prepared to publicly recommit to the agreement with or without the United States.
Some experts say China appears to be reducing emissions ahead of schedule, in part because the country is phasing out coal quicker to reduce choking smog in its major cities.
Trump also can’t technically withdraw from the agreement until November 2019.
It’s possible he could speed things up by abandoning the underlying Senate-approved climate treaty that the agreement is linked to.
It’s an open question whether the United States will hit its Paris emissions target with or without the agreement.
The economy is already moving away from carbon-heavy energy sources like coal in favor of cleaner natural gas and increasingly affordable renewable energy.
Trump’s actions may not be enough to alter that trend.
In addition, states like California have pledged to pick up the slack if Trump withdraws by instituting their own environmental restrictions.

The stage will be beyond America
Our governor, Jerry Brown, tried to keep positive in an interview today, and is looking to China to help — Brown didn’t mince words regarding the T-Rump: ‘“I don’t think the Trump deviation will stand…Yes, he’s making this announcement, but the rest of the world is against him. California is against him. New York is against him. We are for sensible, scientifically based climate action.
And this is unfortunate, even tragic, but we will overcome it. And through Trump’s outrageous action, the contrary movement is galvanized, and we’re mobilizing people, states, provinces and working with other countries to move in a direction that is sustainable and is compatible with what we know we must do to survive.”

And time will tell a terrible story…

(Illustration above found here).

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