[GWSG] Ant. snowier?; LA SAFE; anoxic zones growing; coral reefs shrinking; banning the i.c. engine; right to clean env.

[Tilley, Al]

1. Snowfall in the western Queen Maud Land region of the Antarctic has increased 25% over preindustrial levels. If that proves general on the continent, it will offset part of the sea level rise from melting ice. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/01/03/large-antarctic-snowfall-increases-could-counter-sea-level-rise-scientists-say/?utm_term=.62fa59fde47a



2. As flooding increases around the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana is finalizing a plan to retreat from its coastal plain. It will prohibit new homes, provide buyouts for those who leave their property, and hike the taxes of those who stay. Commercial developers will need to provide funds for the eventual demolition of their constructions. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-22/louisiana-sinking-fast-prepares-to-empty-out-its-coastal-plain

The plan is Louisiana's Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments, LA SAFE, and is meant to be a model for low-lying coastal communities. https://lasafe.la.gov/



3. Warming water holds less oxygen. In coastal areas, fertilizer and sewage runoff deplete the oxygen further. Weakening temperature differentials between the equator and the poles causes currents to diminish, weakening the mixing of oxygen from the surface with deep waters. Since 1950, anoxic zones have quadrupled in deep waters and grown tenfold close to the coasts, from fewer than fifty to over 500. The result is to snuff out sea life. The study was published in Science. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/04/oceans-suffocating-dead-zones-oxygen-starved

As time goes on sulfur chemistry takes over in anoxic zones and the oceans release great deadly burps of hydrogen sulfide which can drift over land. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoxic_waters

Releases of H2S have been implicated in past mass extinctions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoxic_event

A summary of the Science article on the growing anoxic zones: http://www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagazine/05_january_2018?sub_id=KOh704Udnq9u&u1=20117138&folio=46&pg=48#pg48



4. An article in the same Science issue describes the growing bleaching and shrinking recovery of coral reefs. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/climate/coral-reefs-bleaching.html?emc=edit_th_20180105&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=43628374&_r=0

The article itself: http://www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagazine/05_january_2018?sub_id=KOh704Udnq9u&u1=20117138&folio=80&pg=102#pg102





5. California is joining France, India, and China in proposing to ban internal combustion vehicles. The proposed CA ban would take effect in 2040. https://cleantechnica.com/2018/01/04/california-legislation-proposes-ban-gas-cars-2040/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29  I usually avoid listing proposed legislation, but the CA proposal is part of a pronounced international movement, with a ban already enacted in France for 2040 and being planned by India to begin in 2030. I thought that given the bad news in items 3 and 4 people would be glad to see something vigorous being done on climate change mitigation. One message of both Science articles is that it is not too late to act, and that we have great cause to applaud such actions.



6. Hawaii's highest court has affirmed the constitutional right to a clean environment. More than 170 countries guarantee such a right. https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/01/05/hawaii-climate-environment-constitutional-right/ ?

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