[GWSG] Info works; $16tn heat; risk-less models; new magnet; smarter adaptation; transformative adaptation

[Tilley, Al]

1. A study at Yale found that a simple message about the scientific consensus on climate was enough to change opinions for all groups, whether alarmed, dismissive, or in-between, and persisted most among the most skeptical. (Not enough people among the Disengaged participated to allow analysis—of course.) Knowledge that there is a consensus of scientific opinion on climate does not appear to be general; the provision of basic truths has an effect on people’s opinions.   https://mailchi.mp/yale/communicating-the-scientific-consensus-on-climate-change-has-lasting-positive-effects-even-among-the-dismissive?e=4dee1d8b35

2.   Heat waves due to the climate crisis have cost the global economy about $16tn since the 1990s. The worst suffering has been in the lower-income countries of the global south.  The data on which the study is based cover about 2/3 of the world’s population. “The true costs of climate change are far higher than we've calculated so far."  https://phys.org/news/2022-10-driven-climate-global-economy-trillions.html

3. Economic models of the risks of climate change ignore such hard to quantify events as wars and such systematic changes as the collapse of the Atlantic’s circulation system to a lower mode of functioning. A Nature article calls for more collaboration between natural and social science researchers. https://phys.org/news/2022-10-drastic-climate-routinely-excluded-economic.html

4. China controls 80% of the world market for rare earth elements, used to make the magnets for electric motors. Mining operations for rare earth elements are destructive. The discovery of a way to produce tetrataenite for magnets cheaply and at scale obviates the need for rare earth elements. The impact on the production of electric vehicles promises to be liberating. https://cleantechnica.com/2022/10/29/researchers-discover-substitutes-for-rare-earth-materials-in-magnets/

5.  How should we protect ourselves against the rigors of the climate crisis? If we try to arm ourselves against today’s terrors, tomorrow’s will overwhelm us—risen seas, bigger storms, heat yet more roasting. Transformative adaptation would combine all our resources of knowledge, power, and technology to build a life in which we can flourish. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/30/opinion/hurricanes-climate-adaptation.html?smid=em-share

6. The abstract of the April 2021 Science article on transformative adaptation is open access. The article goes on to analyze the failure of our government to adapt adequately to the changing climate. Generally, our actions have provided only “delayed, uncoordinated, and potentially ineffective or even maladaptive response to growing climate risks.” Community-based groups, along with critiques by professionals, are exerting a counter-pressure toward adequate responses. However, I do not see that we have moved much further in our adaptation efforts—mostly reactions to disasters—than we were a couple of years ago. I believe help may be found in the literature on designing sustainable communities. The article suggests useful strategies. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abc8054

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