[GWSG] Lanterns at COP 22; loose ends; plants breathing; reactions to POTUS 45; Kolbert vs. Lovins; Kerry as magic flautist

[Tilley, Al]

1.  The Marrakech talks are underway, with a great display of solar lanterns.  Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa outlined five areas of focus for the conference.   http://www.ecowatch.com/marrakech-climate-change-cop22-2083399692.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=1a408c4a7e-MailChimp+Email+Blast&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-1a408c4a7e-85965093



2.  Tom Larson reported that Jason Box's video on Greenland "Faster than Expected," item 2 in the last email, is now marked "private" and will not open on the Climate Crocks site (or elsewhere, as I discovered).  Another matter: item 3 in that email was Doris Marlin's report from Marrakech; I should probably have used quotation marks to make that clear.



3.  Plants have taken up increasing amounts of CO2 this century, but not enough to offset our burning of fossil fuels.  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/08/global-greening-has-slowed-rise-of-co2-in-the-atmosphere-study-finds



4.  The Guardian has gathered reactions to our election of a climate denier and the implications of our choice for climate action.  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/09/us-election-result-throws-paris-climate-deal-into-uncertainty



5.  Elizabeth Kolbert writing in the New Yorker observes that Trump has stated the intention of blocking any effective climate action through a full return to fossil fuels, and may have the power to bring that about.  (The fossil fuel stocks are rocketing upward in anticipation.)  "With Trump, Coal Wins, Planet Loses":  http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/with-trump-coal-wins-planet-loses?mbid=nl_Daily%20Newsletter%20091716%20(2)&CNDID=18164692&spMailingID=9853352&spUserID=MTMzMTc5Njc3ODE1S0&spJobID=1040828731&spReportId=MTA0MDgyODczMQS2  Conversely, Amory Lovins trusts that the economics of the transition to renewables are now so compelling that we have a chance to build on the momentum summarized in the Paris agreement and overcome retrograde political maneuvers.    http://blog.rmi.org/doubling_down_on_the_market_based_transformation



6.  This afternoon I am watching Mozart's The Magic Flute, in which Tamino is given a magic flute to smooth out dangers and lead him to his proper future.  (The sinister and somewhat thick Monostatos is being played by Donald Trump in my experience, as I flip back and forth between the video and reports from the White House where Trump and Pence are trying out the chairs and balconies.  I suppose I cast us as a collective Tamino-Pamina.)   I sense a magic flute in our future.



Secretary of State John Kerry in now on a trip to the Antarctic on his way to Marrakech, where the 200 nations of COP 22 are working out the implementation of the Paris agreement.  Last April Margaret Davidson, NOAA's Senior Leader for Coastal Inundation and Resilience Science and Services, said that new findings from the Antarctic would soon lead to projections of multimeter sea level rise at midcentury.  Secretary Kerry is said to be conferring with scientists in the Antarctic on sea level rise.  If he were to announce to the Marrakech assembly that such a rise is in prospect, we would be compelled to begin planning for a massive relocation of coastal populations.  Such disastrous news might well also be salvational if it were to annul any attempts to resurrect the fossil economy.  We might be too busy to pay much attention to President Trump, or he might rise to the occasion and lead us where we must go.  Kolbert could be right that we are facing an immediate existential exigency, and Lovins might be right that the time is right for a thorough transition to renewables.  John Kerry might sound the notes which would lead us to build a sustainable way of living in the world.  He joins the meeting in Morocco November 15.  http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/11/08/501153007/john-kerry-heads-to-antarctica-and-to-a-new-travel-record  ?

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