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Our Daily Planet: Kilauea Blowing Smoke, China Flooding, Puerto Rico's Grim Toll, and Valleys Under the Ice
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By: Monica Medina and Miro Korenha

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Wednesday, May 30th, 2018

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 Air

Photo: Marco Restivo
Clearing Up Kilauea Smoke-Blowing

There have been several rumors and misleading headlines about the ramifications of Kilauea's eruptions since the volcano sprang into increased activity almost a month ago. Volcanologists, however, want people to know that Kilauea will not set off earthquakes along America's West Coast, cause a tsunami, or trigger bigger eruptions like cataclysmic 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. Volcanologist Maarten de Moor told The New Republic that these things are “not gonna happen,” and emphasized that the notion that Kilauea's eruptions are going to worsen climate change “is just not based on any facts at all.”

The idea that volcanoes cause climate change (either through emitting CFCs or pumping out CO2) has been floating around the internet for a while and most recently and NBC News video, “What the Mount Kilauea eruptions mean for climate change,” helped disseminate the myth even further. The segment featured an argument that volcanoes emit Chlorofluorocarbons which deplete the ozone layer and cause climate change. Simon Carn, an associate professor at Michigan Tech  explained that "the climate change myth is most persistent as it comes up after every significant eruption.” Further explaining that "basaltic volcanoes don’t actually emit that much chlorine or bromine. And whatever they do emit is a naturally occurring form of those elements—and thus would not be chlorofluorocarbons, which are man-made combinations of those elements."

Why This Matters: Climate change deniers like to blame volcanoes for our warming planet instead of acknowledging that human activity is almost entirely to blame. This is just false and detracts from the urgent need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and halt our GH emissions. In fact, the current Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, perpetuated the falsehood on his old radio show: 
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 Forests

Photo: American Chestnut Foundation via Pittsburgh Gazette
Using Biotech to Bring Back the American Chestnut

The iconic American Chestnut tree was nearly wiped out by a fungus in the nineteenth century.  An op-ed in The Washington Post details the efforts by scientists at SUNY's College of Environmental Science and Forestry to use biotechnology to develop a pathogen resistant tree They copied a gene from wheat that breaks down a toxin called oxalic acid, which is produced by the fungus and kills American chestnut tissues, and transferred it into a surviving American chestnut tree.  They are now seeking government approval so that their genetically modified version of the American Chestnut can be planted outside their research plots.  But the government is very careful in granting such approvals, so this process may take up to five years

If approved, this would be the first time the government allowed genetically modified forest-type trees to be planted outside a controlled scientific setting.  Genetically modified plants, or GMOs, are controversial when used in agriculture to breed crops that can withstand the effects of herbicides -- they are thought to cause health and environmental problems and as a result, many countries ban them.  This technology has not been used in the past for restoration or conservation purposes.  

Why This Matters:  The author of the op-ed, Andrew Newhouse, argues that       "[t]here is widespread potential for related biotechnology tools to rescue other threatened wild species as well, from similar forest trees like ash and elm, to completely unrelated organisms like coralshorseshoe crabs or white rhinos."  Instead of being bad for nature, he believes these GMO trees will be good for sustaining species that might otherwise be lost.  And unlike GMO seeds and other agricultural products, these scientists do not intend to sell these trees for profit but instead to fully restore the American Chestnut population.  
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 Climate Change

Climate Change-driven River Flooding in China Will Harm US Economy

In the next 20 years, China is predicted to have an 80% increase in river flooding which will hurt manufacturing and the entire global network of supply and trade chains, predicts Sven N. Willner and colleagues of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Wilner further explained that "Through supply shortages, changes in demand and associated price signals, economic losses might be down-streamed along the global trade and supply network affecting other economies on a global scale -- we were surprised about the size of this rather worrying effect."

The US economy might be specifically vulnerable due to its unbalanced trade relation with China. Contrary to US president Trump's current tariff sanctions, the study suggests that building stronger and thus more balanced trade relations might be a useful strategy to mitigate economic losses caused by intensifying weather extremes.

Why This Matters: People think of climate change as a nebulous or localized issue but it has real global economic consequences that are becoming more tangible as our planet continues to warm. Countries like China which for a long time have denied its existence have now come around and are taking action, unlike the United States. As the Economist noted, it took a long time for China to wake up to climate change but in the coming years the country will become a world leader on tackling the causes of a warming planet.
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 Energy

Climate Lawsuits Going Strong

A series of legal challenges against the oil and gas industry have been demanding accountability for climate change after it was revealed that companies like Exxon knew about the dangers of fossil fuels for decades. An investigative series of stories by InsideClimate News, and later the Los Angeles Times, disclosed that Exon understood the science of global warming, predicted its catastrophic consequences, and then spent millions to promote misinformation. While we've covered this litigation previously, InsideClimate News published a thorough update of where it currently stands as well as detailed timelines of progress. We highly recommend that you check out their coverage! 

State Attorneys General Investigate Exxon

The attorneys general of New York, Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands launched investigations of Exxon in 2015 and 2016. Prosecutors want to see if the company lied to the public about the risks of climate change or to investors about how such risks might hurt the oil business. Though Exxon has relentlessly tried to derail the investigations of the AGs of Massachusetts and New York, federal judges have blocked their attempts. 

Cities Sue Over Climate Costs

Faced with the possibility of devastating consequences brought by rising sea levels, five cities and three counties in California, along with New York City, have filed civil lawsuits against several oil and gas companies. Three Colorado municipalities have now also sued, seeking to hold two oil companies accountable for the impacts of climate change. The lawsuits make a public nuisance claim and, in some cases, allege negligence. 

The Children's Climate Lawsuits  

Groups of young people are at the forefront of lawsuits that claim the federal government, and several state governments, are responsible for preventing and addressing the consequences of climate change. The litigation, organized by Our Children's Trust in 2015, relies on the public trust doctrine—a legal canon that stresses the government's hold on resources such as land, water or fisheries as a treasure for the people. Both the Obama and Trump administrations repeatedly tried to have the cases dismissed but they've persisted and could put the government's climate policies on trial as soon as October 2018. 
 

Why This Matters: This storm of litigation could have a broad impact if it succeeds in holding fossil fuel companies accountable for the kinds of damages they foresaw decades ago, said Harold Koh, a professor of international law at Yale Law School.  Since governments and private industry have often failed to do their part to abate climate change, courts have become the new front line for climate action. 
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 Food

Photo: World Central Kitchen Facebook
World Central Kitchen Getting Restaurants Back Up and Running in Puerto Rico

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which led the U.S. government's recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, has left the island, according to the Miami Herald, and now the local government must restore power to 16,000 remaining customers who still don't have it back. And many structures on the island must still be rebuilt.  Many islanders still do not have the ability to cook in their homes.  But, through a series of grants to local chefs and food trucks, World Central Kitchen is enabling the purchase of new equipment to rebuild kitchens that had been damaged by Hurricane Maria.  These local chefs and food trucks are feeding people in parts of the island that still lack reliable power.  These grants are helping to rebuild the local economy as chefs are able to restart their businesses and at the same time provide meals for the local population that still cannot cook for themselves.  

Take Eva Eva Bolivar -- she is a World Central Kitchen partner who has single-handedly served over 62,000 meals during the recovery efforts through her participation as one of the #ChefsForPuertoRico.  With a grant from World Central Kitchen, she was able to reopen her restaurant Bili earlier this year.   “I have changed my opening hours to only dinners so I can continue to work helping the community during the day,” Eva said. “With the support of WCK, I have become an advocate for this island and I will do everything in my power to make things better. I will not allow anyone to go hungry!”

Why This Matters:
  Nearly nine months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, things are still not back to normal in parts of Puerto Rico.  Only yesterday did the true death toll from the hurricane, now estimated to be more than 4600 people, become public, and it was orders of magnitude greater than previously reported.  As with Hurricane Katrina, when the devastation is this great, the recovery is slow and it takes a good deal of private investment and public-private partnership to get communities and small businesses back on their feet again.  Organizations like World Central Kitchen will continue to be a vital source of support to stricken areas.

What You Can Do:  Enter our contest!  We're giving away two tickets to WCK's annual benefit, Dine N' Dash, which is happening in Washington DC on June 6th. Leave your wallet at home and dine in 30 top DC restaurants in one night, including the chef's favorite dishes and drinks. It's one of DC's best events! To enter the giveaway all you have to do is be a current subscriber and get a friend to sign up for ODP. Then shoot us an email with your name and your referred friend's name and you're both entered! *  We'll pick a winner on Friday. Good luck!!!

*transportation/lodging are not covered so make sure you live in DC or can get yourself here June 6th
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 Oceans

Radar images of the subglacial valleys at the South Pole   Image: British Antarctic Survey via New Atlas
One Cool Thing:  The Antarctic Under the Ice

Using very cool airplane-mounted radar technology that can see through thick ice, the British Antarctic Survey has found three giant valleys that connect the two major ice sheets in Antarctica.  The study, published earlier this month, also details newly discovered mountain ranges under the ice as well.  The largest of the valleys, the "Foundation Trough" measures 217 miles long and 22 miles wide

Why This Matters:  The discovery of these valleys is significant because they help scientists to understand the flow of ice from the south pole to the sea, which is important for modeling the possible sea level rise caused by melting from beneath the glaciers at the south pole.  Scientists had not previously been able to see these mountains and valleys because it is hard to get good satellite images of the region.  
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