[GWSG] Rigid reactionaries; drop 2100 target?; emergency formula; 70% by 2030; 100k E trucks; building diversity

[Tilley, Al]

1. The suffering brought by the climate crisis can lead nations to tighter and more rigid structures—for example, the right wing regimes of Egypt, the US, and Brazil. In the US, the rates for the death penalty and for corporal punishment in schools are higher in states such as Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama which have suffered environmental stress. Right wing regimes have not been inclined to climate action. It’s a poor  time to replay our 1930s fascination with hollow strong men.  https://theconversation.com/could-climate-change-fuel-the-rise-of-right-wing-nationalism-123503?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20September%2025%202019%20-%201417913391&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20September%2025%202019%20-%201417913391+Version+A+CID_1fb1e4255748b36dd60e392945ada933&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=Could%20climate%20change%20fuel%20the%20rise%20of%20right-wing%20nationalism

2. A Nature article observes that by emphasizing a target of limiting warming in 2100 we risk complacency in our current emissions. A general strategy of reducing emissions as much and as soon as possible would be more productive, and more in line with the wellbeing of young people. http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/09/standard-way-of-planning-climate-mitigation-part-of-problem/?utm_source=Anthropocene&utm_campaign=477d85101d-Anthropocene+science+to+AM&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ececcea89a-477d85101d-294268545

3. Hans Joachim Schelinhuber, founder of the Potsdam Institute, warns that we are in a “deep state of climate emergency.” He supports the conclusion by using a formula of risk multiplied by urgency. He derived the measure of urgency from one used in air traffic control: divide the time required to react by the time left for action. The measure of risk comes from the insurance industry: multiply the prospective damage by the probability that the damage will occur.

“If we go into a runaway climate effect, the damage may be between €100 trillion and the loss of civilisation,” he said. ‘The probability, I would say, is about 10% that this is going to happen. And when it comes to the urgency of decarbonising society and keeping the forests alive, we need at least 20 years. We have only 30 years left to do this.

“It simply means that we are in a deep state of climate emergency. If you trust the numbers from science.” Shelinhuber’s climate action priorities are reducing emissions to zero and the protection of carbon sinks, such as forests.  https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/i-would-people-panic-top-scientist-unveils-equation-showing-world-climate-emergency.html

4. Nine Latin American countries have set a collective target of 70% renewable energy by 2030, the most ambitious of any region. The 2030 goal of the EU is 32%. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-un-colombia-idUSKBN1WA26Y

5.  Amazon has ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans to be delivered over the next decade from Rivian, which is associated with Plymouth. For 2021 Rivian also intends to offer an SUV and a four-passenger pickup truck with a 400 mile range, both to cost round $70,000. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2019/09/19/michigan-ev-startup-rivian-build-electric-vans-amazon/2373507001/

6. Connect two small fragments of pine savannah and new species begin to show up. Rewilding is a prominent way to preserve biodiversity as well as to sequester carbon. The UN has declared 2021-30 the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.  https://phys.org/news/2019-09-scientists-fragments-savanna-species.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter

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