Senate confirms climate skeptic to head DOJ environment office

‘Clark is an attorney at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, where he has represented numerous industry clients, including oil giant BP in its efforts to fight certain claims from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster and spill, and the Chamber of Commerce. He’s said climate change science is “contestable.”’

E.P.A. to Disband a Key Scientific Review Panel on Air Pollution

‘The 20-person Particulate Matter Review Panel, made up of experts in microscopic airborne pollutants known to cause respiratory disease, is responsible for helping the agency decide what levels of pollutants are safe to breathe. Agency officials declined to say why the E.P.A. intends to stop convening the panel next year, particularly as the agency considers whether to revise air quality standards.’

Final call to halt ‘climate catastrophe’

‘It’s the final call, say scientists, the most extensive warning yet on the risks of rising global temperatures.

Their dramatic report on keeping that rise under 1.5 degrees C says the world is now completely off track, heading instead towards 3C.

Keeping to the preferred target of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels will mean “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society”.’

Trump administration sees a 7-degree rise in global temperatures by 2100

‘Last month, deep in a 500-page environmental impact statement, the Trump administration made a startling assumption: On its current course, the planet will warm a disastrous 7 degrees by the end of this century.

A rise of 7 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 4 degrees Celsius, compared with preindustrial levels would be catastrophic, according to scientists. Many coral reefs would dissolve in increasingly acidic oceans. Parts of Manhattan and Miami would be underwater without costly coastal defenses. Extreme heat waves would routinely smother large parts of the globe.’

Hurricane Maria Caused 2,975 Deaths In Puerto Rico, Independent Study Estimates

“I think Puerto Rico was an incredible, unsung success. Texas we’ve been given A-pluses for. Florida we’ve been given A-pluses for” — Trump on his handling of 2017 hurricanes.

The current death toll for Puerto Rico – revised upward from 64 initially – is now estimated at roughly the same as those on Sept. 11, 2001. Reminder: Roughly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico from storm and its aftermath.

The Associated Press reports that hunger stones are

‘A lengthy drought in Europe has exposed carved boulders, known as “hunger stones,” that have been used for centuries to commemorate historic droughts — and warn of their consequences.

The Associated Press reports that hunger stones are newly visible in the Elbe River, which begins in the Czech Republic and flows through Germany.

“Over a dozen of the hunger stones, chosen to record low water levels, can now be seen in and near the northern Czech town of Decin near the German border,” the AP writes.

One of the stones on the banks of the Elbe is carved with the words “Wenn du mich seihst, dann weine”: “If you see me, weep.” ‘