Saturday, February 8, 2020
Record-Breaking Temperature of Nearly 65ºF Logged in Antarctica as Scientists Sound Alarm Over Rapid Ice Melt
The Antarctic peninsula was warmer than the United Kingdom when the the temperature was recorded Friday.
Julia Conley, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/07/record-breaking-temperature-nearly-65of-logged-antarctica-scientists-sound-alarm?
Climate scientists on Friday revealed the latest troubling new observation in Antarctica, illustrating the consequences of the rapid warming of the area brought on by the manmade climate crisis.
As The Guardian reported Friday, researchers stationed at the Esperanza research station at the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula found that temperatures reached 64.9º Fahrenheit (18.3º Celsius)—the highest temperature logged since scientists began recording the continent's temperature in 1961.
The record-breaking temperature was logged a week after scientists at New York University and the British Antarctic Survey reported that the grounding line of the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica—where the ice meets ocean water—was 32º Fahrenheit.
The record-warm temperature was recorded in one of the fastest-warming regions of the world.
Lewis Pugh, an endurance swimmer and advocate for the world's oceans, posted an image on social media of a swim he took in East Antarctica "to demonstrate how it is changing."
"We need urgent and ambitious action to tackle this climate crisis!" Pugh tweeted.
Podcast host and climate advocate Assaad Razzouk added that when the researchers at the Esperanza station recorded the record-warm temperature, the Antarctic peninsula was warmer than the United Kingdom.
The peninsula has warmed by about 5.4º Fahrenheit over the past 50 years. The latest reading broke the previous record of 63.5º Fahrenheit (17.5º Celsius), which was recorded in March 2015.
"The reading is impressive as it's only five years since the previous record was set and this is almost one degree centigrade higher," James Fenwick, a climate scientist at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, told The Guardian. "It's a sign of the warming that has been happening there that's much faster than the global average."
Even minor increases in temperatures in Antarctica alarm climate scientists, especially as researchers have observed the retreat of glaciers and even a massive cavity beneath the Thwaites glacier a year ago.
The consequences of such warm temperatures "are the collapse of the ice shelves along the peninsula," Nerilie Abram, a climate scientist at the Australian National University, told The Guardian.
The void found beneath the Thwaites glacier last year intensified concerns among climate scientists that Antarctica is melting faster than experts have previously believed.
The collapse of the glacier is "completely plausible," Ted Scambos, a scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, who was not involved with the recent studies, told NBC News at the time.
"Thwaites has a really perfect storm going for it," he added, referencing the findings of Pietro Milillo, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who last year in a study pointed to "different mechanisms of retreat" leading to the glacier's melting.
While temperatures on the Antarctic peninsula have warmed and the cavity beneath Thwaites has formed, the glacier is retreating at a rate of about 650 feet per year. The melting of the glacier can be attributed to about 4% of global sea level rise, Scambos told NBC News.
Thwaits is often called the "Doomsday Glacier" by scientists, as the collapse of the ice mass could lead to a global sea level rise of two feet, flooding coastal cities all over the world.
Julia Conley, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/07/record-breaking-temperature-nearly-65of-logged-antarctica-scientists-sound-alarm?
Climate scientists on Friday revealed the latest troubling new observation in Antarctica, illustrating the consequences of the rapid warming of the area brought on by the manmade climate crisis.
As The Guardian reported Friday, researchers stationed at the Esperanza research station at the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula found that temperatures reached 64.9º Fahrenheit (18.3º Celsius)—the highest temperature logged since scientists began recording the continent's temperature in 1961.
The record-breaking temperature was logged a week after scientists at New York University and the British Antarctic Survey reported that the grounding line of the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica—where the ice meets ocean water—was 32º Fahrenheit.
The record-warm temperature was recorded in one of the fastest-warming regions of the world.
Lewis Pugh, an endurance swimmer and advocate for the world's oceans, posted an image on social media of a swim he took in East Antarctica "to demonstrate how it is changing."
"We need urgent and ambitious action to tackle this climate crisis!" Pugh tweeted.
Podcast host and climate advocate Assaad Razzouk added that when the researchers at the Esperanza station recorded the record-warm temperature, the Antarctic peninsula was warmer than the United Kingdom.
The peninsula has warmed by about 5.4º Fahrenheit over the past 50 years. The latest reading broke the previous record of 63.5º Fahrenheit (17.5º Celsius), which was recorded in March 2015.
"The reading is impressive as it's only five years since the previous record was set and this is almost one degree centigrade higher," James Fenwick, a climate scientist at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, told The Guardian. "It's a sign of the warming that has been happening there that's much faster than the global average."
Even minor increases in temperatures in Antarctica alarm climate scientists, especially as researchers have observed the retreat of glaciers and even a massive cavity beneath the Thwaites glacier a year ago.
The consequences of such warm temperatures "are the collapse of the ice shelves along the peninsula," Nerilie Abram, a climate scientist at the Australian National University, told The Guardian.
The void found beneath the Thwaites glacier last year intensified concerns among climate scientists that Antarctica is melting faster than experts have previously believed.
The collapse of the glacier is "completely plausible," Ted Scambos, a scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, who was not involved with the recent studies, told NBC News at the time.
"Thwaites has a really perfect storm going for it," he added, referencing the findings of Pietro Milillo, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who last year in a study pointed to "different mechanisms of retreat" leading to the glacier's melting.
While temperatures on the Antarctic peninsula have warmed and the cavity beneath Thwaites has formed, the glacier is retreating at a rate of about 650 feet per year. The melting of the glacier can be attributed to about 4% of global sea level rise, Scambos told NBC News.
Thwaits is often called the "Doomsday Glacier" by scientists, as the collapse of the ice mass could lead to a global sea level rise of two feet, flooding coastal cities all over the world.
'Bombshell': Iraqi Officials Say ISIS—Not Iran—Likely Behind Rocket Attack Trump Used to Justify Soleimani Assassination
"Al-Qaeda attacked the U.S. on 9/11 and we went to war with Iraq. If this report is true, ISIS attacked the U.S. and we nearly went to war with Iran."
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/07/bombshell-iraqi-officials-say-isis-not-iran-likely-behind-rocket-attack-trump-used?
In a "bombshell" revelation that calls into question one of the Trump administration's stated justificiations for assassinating Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani—a move that nearly sparked a region-wide military conflict—Iraqi intelligence officials told the New York Times that they believe ISIS, not an Iran-linked militia, was likely responsible for the Dec. 27 rocket attack that killed an American contractor at an air base near Kirkuk, Iraq.
The Times reported Thursday that "Iraqi military and intelligence officials have raised doubts about who fired the rockets... saying they believe it is unlikely that the militia the United States blamed for the attack" was responsible.
The Trump administration has not released a single piece of evidence showing that the Iraqi militia Khataib Hezbollah, which has ties to Iran, was responsible for the attack on K-1. The group has denied carrying out the attack."All the indications are that it was Daesh," Brigadier General Ahmed Adnan, the Iraqi chief of intelligence for the federal police at the K-1 air base, told the Times, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. "We know Daesh's movements."
The U.S. responded to the rocket attack days later with deadly airstrikes on Khataib Hezbollah targets in Iraq and Syria, setting off a dangerous escalatory spiral that brought Iran and the U.S. to the brink of war.
On Jan. 2, the U.S. assassinated Soleimani with a drone strike in Baghdad ordered by President Donald Trump. Following the assassination, which was widely condemned as an act of war, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a statement claiming without evidence that Soleimani "orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months—including the attack on December 27th—culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel."
But Iraqi officials told the Times that "based on circumstantial evidence and long experience in the area where the attack took place," there is good reason to be skeptical about U.S. claims that Khataib Hezbollah was behind it.
As the Times reported:
The rockets were launched from a Sunni Muslim part of Kirkuk Province notorious for attacks by the Islamic State, a Sunni terrorist group, which would have made the area hostile territory for a Shiite militia like Khataib Hezbollah.
Khataib Hezbollah has not had a presence in Kirkuk Province since 2014.
The Islamic State, however, had carried out three attacks relatively close to the base in the 10 days before the attack on K-1. Iraqi intelligence officials sent reports to the Americans in November and December warning that ISIS intended to target K-1, an Iraqi air base in Kirkuk Province that is also used by American forces...
These facts all point to the Islamic State, Iraqi officials say.
"We as Iraqi forces cannot even come to this area unless we have a large force because it is not secure," Brig. Gen. Adnan said of the area from which the rocket attack was launched. "How could it be that someone who doesn't know the area could come here and find that firing position and launch an attack?"
In response to the Times report, Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, tweeted: "Al-Qaeda attacked the U.S. on 9/11 and we went to war with Iraq. If this report is true, ISIS attacked the U.S. and we nearly went to war with Iran."
U.S. officials insisted to the Times that they have "solid evidence" showing that Khataib Hezbollah carried out the attack, but they have not released any of this evidence to the public or to Iraqi officials.
"We have requested the American side to share with us any information, any evidence, but they have not sent us any information," Lt. Gen. Muhammad al-Bayati, chief of staff for former Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, told the Times.
Ilan Goldenberg, Middle East security director at the Center for a New American Security think tank, tweeted that the U.S. Congress "must ask questions about this and get the intel."
Responsible Statecraft managing editor Benjamin Armbruster agreed.
"Congress needs to investigate ASAP," Armbruster tweeted.
'Which Side Are You On?': Sanders Calls Out Buttigieg for Raking in Billionaire Donations
"Do you think if you're collecting money from dozens of dozens of billionaires you're going to stand up to the drug companies and you're going to throw their CEOs in jail if they're acting criminally?"
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/07/which-side-are-you-sanders-calls-out-buttigieg-raking-billionaire-donations?
With just four days to go before the New Hampshire Democratic primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday sought to contrast his small dollar-fueled campaign with Pete Buttigieg's reliance on big money by highlighting the former South Bend, Indiana mayor's dozens of billionaire campaign contributors.
"I'm reading some headlines from newspapers about Pete Buttigieg: 'Pete Buttigieg Has Most Exclusive Billionaire Donors of Any Democrat.' That was from Forbes," Sanders said. "The Hill: 'Pete Buttigieg Tops Billionaire Donor List.' Fortune: 'Pete Buttigieg Takes Lead as Big Business Candidate in 2020 Field'."At a breakfast event at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire hours ahead of the sixth Democratic presidential debate Friday night, Sanders—who has rejected all billionaire campaign cash—rattled off the headlines of several recent news stories on Buttigieg's billionaire donors.
"I like Pete Buttigieg, nice guy, but we are in a moment where billionaires control not only our economy but our political process," said the Vermont senator. "Do you think if you're collecting money from dozens of dozens of billionaires you're going to stand up to the drug companies and you're going to throw their CEOs in jail if they're acting criminally?"
According to the December Forbes analysis Sanders cited, Buttigieg had received donations from forty billionaires and their spouses as of September 30th of last year.
Thirteen of those billionaires gave exclusively to Buttigieg, "by far the most of any Democrat running for president," Forbes found.
Sanders' presidential campaign, by contrast, has relied mostly on small donations averaging around $18. As Common Dreams reported Thursday, Sanders raised $25 million in January alone from over 1.3 million donations averaging $18.72.
Using the hashtag #PetesBillionaires, Sanders tweeted following the St. Anselm College event that "this election is fundamentally about whose side you are on."
Members of Sanders' presidential campaign also chimed in:
The Sanders campaign's effort to put Buttigieg's billionaire campaign contributors in the spotlight comes amid tightening poll numbers in New Hampshire. A Boston Globe/WBZ-TV/Suffolk University survey released Thursday showed Sanders leading Buttigieg by just one percentage point in the state—24% to 23%. The Emerson pre-primary tracking poll, meanwhile, still showed Sanders up in the Granite State, with the Vermont senator leading the former mayor by 9 points (32% to 23%).
In the wake of the Iowa debacle and with the New Hampshire primary just days away, Current Affairs columnist and Sanders supporter Paul Waters-Smith emphasized Friday that the senator's candidacy represents an "excellent opportunity to deepen a vision of a truly democratic society where working people own and control the economy and politics, all the while mobilizing behind an agenda which addresses our burning immediate needs."
"This election will affect the lives of millions who can't even vote or donate to the campaign," wrote Waters-Smith. "Given the stakes, we can afford to put our cynicism and dispassion aside. We can't let the nay-sayers, the dirty tricks, the smears, or the fear of failure hold us back from doing our part. We are on the brink of achieving something historic, and we can't let them stop us."
'Consistent With a Mass Extinction': New Study Warns Climate Chaos Driving Rapid Decline of Bumblebees
The research "adds to a growing body of evidence for alarming, widespread losses of biodiversity and for rates of global change that now exceed the critical limits of ecosystem resilience."
Jessica Corbett, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/07/consistent-mass-extinction-new-study-warns-climate-chaos-driving-rapid-decline?
The rising frequency of extremely hot temperatures tied to human-caused global heating is creating "climate chaos" that drives widespread declines of bumblebees, some of the planet's most important pollinators, according to a new study published in the journal Science.
Researchers at the University of Ottawa in Canada and University College London in the United Kingdom developed a new measurement of temperature based on species' heat tolerance. "We have created a new way to predict local extinctions that tells us, for each species individually, whether climate change is creating temperatures that exceed what the bumblebees can handle," explained study co-author Tim Newbold.
The team applied their technique to data on 66 different bumblebee species across North America and Europe collected from 1901 to 1974 and 2000 to 2014. They concluded that more frequent extreme heat "is increasing local extinction rates, reducing colonization and site occupancy, and decreasing species richness within a region, independent of land-use change or condition."
"We found that populations were disappearing in areas where the temperatures had gotten hotter," said the study's lead author, Peter Soroye. "Using our new measurement of climate change, we were able to predict changes both for individual species and for whole communities of bumblebees with a surprisingly high accuracy."
The researchers found that the rate at which bumblebees are declining is "consistent with a mass extinction." Over the course of a single human generation, the chances of a local bumblebee population surviving has fallen by an average of more than 30%. Soroye noted that the findings have implications for more than just the bees.
Although the study serves as a bleak warning about the need for urgent action to address the declines of bumblebees, the authors are hopeful that their technique for gauging the impact of extreme events like droughts and heatwaves can also aid with conservation efforts for other species."Bumblebees are the best pollinators we have in wild landscapes and the most effective pollinators for crops like tomato, squash, and berries. Our results show that we face a future with many less bumblebees and much less diversity, both in the outdoors and on our plates," he said. "If declines continue at this pace, many of these species could vanish forever within a few decades."
"We've known for a while that climate change is related to the growing extinction risk that animals are facing around the world," Soroye said. "In this paper, we offer an answer to the critical questions of how and why that is. We find that species extinctions across two continents are caused by hotter and more frequent extremes in temperatures."
"Perhaps the most exciting element is that we developed a method to predict extinction risk that works very well for bumblebees and could in theory be applied universally to other organisms," he added. "With a predictive tool like this, we hope to identify areas where conservation actions would be critical to stopping declines."
Study co-author Jeremy Kerr said that "predicting why bumblebees and other species are going extinct in a time of rapid, human-caused climate change could help us prevent extinction in the 21st century."
"This work also holds out hope by implying ways that we might take the sting out of climate change for these and other organisms by maintaining habitats that offer shelter, like trees, shrubs, or slopes, that could let bumblebees get out of the heat," he said. "Ultimately, we must address climate change itself and every action we take to reduce emissions will help. The sooner the better. It is in all our interests to do so, as well as in the interests of the species with whom we share the world."
Recent reports, including one published in November 2019 by University of Sussex biology professor Dave Goulson, have raised alarm about a decades-long human-caused insect "apocalypse" that has resulted from not only the climate crisis but also habitat loss and pesticide use.In a related "perspective" article published by Science, scientists Jon Bridle of the University of Bristol and Alexandra van Rensburg of the University of Zurich wrote that the new research "adds to a growing body of evidence for alarming, widespread losses of biodiversity and for rates of global change that now exceed the critical limits of ecosystem resilience."
Last month, 73 international scientists released a global roadmap to battle the "bugpocalypse," emphasizing that "insects are key to our own survival." Their recommendations included curbing planet-heating emissions; cutting back synthetic pesticides and fertilizers; limiting light, water, and noise pollution; and preventing the introduction of invasive and alien species.
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