Nuclear weapons treaty offers hope this Hiroshima Day
The Baltimore Sun ,Gwen L. DuBois, 5 Aug 17
This Hiroshima Day anniversary, 72 years after we dropped the first atomic bomb as a weapon of war, will be different.
Just ask Setsuko Thurlow, who was in Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. She was also present at the United Nations a month ago when Costa Rica ambassador, Elayne Whyte, announced that the treaty to ban nuclear weapons had been adopted.
“I have been waiting for this day for seven decades and I am overjoyed that it has finally arrived,” she said that day. “This is the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons.”
Ms. Setsuko was 13 years old when she saw the flash of the bomb. Bodies were thrown up in the air around her. The wooden building she was in collapsed, and she could hear the cries from her classmates in the darkness. She managed to extricate herself and escape to the hills, witness to grotesquely injured people trying to move away from the city in silence for lack of physical and emotional strength — whispering only for water. She remembers her 4-year-old nephew, a “blackened, scorched chunk of flesh wailing in a faint voice until his death released him from agony.”
On July 7th, 2017, the day Ms. Setsuko spoke before the U.N., 122 non-nuclear nations endorsed the treaty that, when ratified, binds signatories never to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess, stockpile, transfer, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons. Nations that have hosted these massively lethal bombs pledge not to station, install or deploy them. It establishes humanitarian and human rights for those that have been victims of nuclear weapons or weapons testing, including the right to live in an environment that has been remediated from the damage done by them. It notes that women and children are disproportionately harmed by radiation. The treaty is open for signatures through Sept. 20, and once 50 nations have signed and ratified, it becomes law 90 days later.
“These obligations (of this treaty) break new ground. The prohibition on threatening to use nuclear weapons, for example, sets up a fundamental challenge to all policies based on nuclear deterrence. From now on, deterrence advocates are on the wrong side of the law, as understood and accepted by the majority of countries in the world,” Zia Mian, a Princeton University professor, wrote in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist……..
Because of this treaty, there is hope.
Soon nuclear weapons will not only be immoral but also illegal. Citizens of the world take notice.
Dr. Gwen L. DuBois (gdubois@jhsph.edu) is president of Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility. She was also a citizen lobbyist in June at the United Nations Draft Conference to Ban Nuclear Weapons. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-0806-weapons-treaty-20170802-story.html
Climate change now a workplace hazard in Southern USA
In Sweltering South, Climate Change Is Now a Workplace Hazard Workers laboring outdoors in southern states are wrestling with the personal and political consequences of a worsening environment, NYT, By YAMICHE ALCINDORAUG. 3, 2017, GALVESTON, Tex. — Adolfo Guerra, a landscaper in this port city on the Gulf of Mexico, remembers panicking as his co-worker vomited and convulsed after hours of mowing lawns in stifling heat. Other workers rushed to cover him with ice, and the man recovered.
But for Mr. Guerra, 24, who spends nine hours a day six days a week doing yard work, the episode was a reminder of the dangers that exist for outdoor workers as the planet warms.
“I think about the climate every day,” Mr. Guerra said, “because every day we work, and every day it feels like it’s getting hotter.”……
to Robert D. Bullard, a professor at Texas Southern University who some call the “father of environmental justice,” the industrial revival that Mr. Trump has promised could come with some serious downsides for an already warming planet. Professor Bullard is trying to bring that message to working-class Americans like Mr. Guerra, and to environmental organizations that have, in his mind, been more focused on struggling animals than poor humans, who have been disproportionately harmed by increasing temperatures, worsening storms and rising sea levels.
“For too long, a lot of the climate change and global warming arguments have been looking at melting ice and polar bears and not at the human suffering side of it,” Professor Bullard said. “They are still pushing out the polar bear as the icon for climate change. The icon should be a kid who is suffering from the negative impacts of climate change and increased air pollution, or a family where rising water is endangering their lives.”
The “environmental justice movement” has, in fact, caught on with major environmental groups, but it has far to go before it begins moving the dial in the nation’s politics. Professor Bullard envisions the recruits for his movement coming not only from the liberal college towns of the Northeast and Midwest, but also from the sweltering working-class communities in the Sun Belt, which he sees as the front line of the nation’s environmental wars.
Residents of working-class communities in the Sun Belt often cannot afford to move or evacuate during weather disasters. They may work outside, and they may struggle to cover their air-conditioning bills. Pollution in their communities leads to health problems that are compounded by the refusal of most Sun Belt state governments to expand Medicaid access under the Affordable Care Act…….. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/us/politics/climate-change-trump-working-poor-activists.html
Australian Academy of Science warns on our shortage of climate scientists
Shortage of climate scientists ‘significant risk’ to Australia: Academy of Science, Australia’s ability to maintain world-class climate science research is being jeopardised by under-resourcing and a lack of staff, according to a new report by the Australian Academy of Science, SBS, By Marese O’Sullivan, 3 Aug 17,
Wildfires in Canada: over a million acres burned and still counting
Wildfires in western Canada on near-record pace, More than 1 million acres burned so far https://summitcountyvoice.com/2017/08/02/wildfires-in-western-canada-on-near-record-pace/ Staff Report Canada is on track for a near-record wildfire season this year. So far, there have been more than 500 fires just in British Columbia, burning across more than 1 million acres. Firefighting costs have already reached more than $172 million, and weeks of warm and dry weather will keep the fire danger high. Continue reading
Climate change brings killer heatwaves – to affect millions across south Asia
“If given just one word to describe climate change, then ‘unfairness’ would be a good candidate. Raised levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are expected to cause deadly heatwaves for much of South Asia. Yet many of those living there will have contributed little to climate change.”
Climate change to cause humid heatwaves that will kill even healthy people https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/02/climate-change-to-cause-humid-heatwaves-that-will-kill-even-healthy-people
If warming is not tackled, levels of humid heat that can kill within hours will affect millions across south Asia within decades, analysis finds, Guardian, Damian Carrington, 3 Aug 17, Extreme heatwaves that kill even healthy people within hours will strike parts of the Indian subcontinent unless global carbon emissions are cut sharply and soon, according to new research.
Even outside of these hotspots, three-quarters of the 1.7bn population – particularly those farming in the Ganges and Indus valleys – will be exposed to a level of humid heat classed as posing “extreme danger” towards the end of the century.
The new analysis assesses the impact of climate change on the deadly combination of heat and humidity, measured as the “wet bulb” temperature (WBT). Once this reaches 35C, the human body cannot cool itself by sweating and even fit people sitting in the shade will die within six hours.
The revelations show the most severe impacts of global warming may strike those nations, such as India, whose carbon emissions are still rising as they lift millions of people out of poverty. Continue reading
Climate change: widespread effects on air travel
How hot weather – and climate change – affect airline flights, The Conversation, Ph.D. Student in Earth & Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, Associate Research Scientist, Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University, August 3, 2017 Hot weather has forced dozens of commercial flights to be canceled at airports in the Southwest this summer. This flight-disrupting heat is a warning sign. Climate change is projected to have far-reaching repercussions – including sea level rise inundating cities and shifting weather patterns causing long-term declines in agricultural yields. And there is evidence that it is beginning to affect the takeoff performance of commercial aircraft, with potential effects on airline costs.USA Energy Secretary Tillerson contradicts Trump on policy re North Korea
Who speaks for US on N. Korea? Contradictions emerge as Tillerson heads to Asia By Joshua Berlinger, CNN August 2, 2017 Hong Kong US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson heads to Asia later this week for a regional meeting on security issues, which is expected to be attended by ministers from North Korea, China, South Korea and Japan.
Global Ocean Circulation Appears To Be Collapsing Due To A Warming Planet
https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/08/03/global-ocean-circulation-appears-to-be-collapsing-due-to-a-warming-planet/amp/Global ocean circulation appears to be slowing
Scientists have long known about the anomalous “warming hole” in the North Atlantic Ocean, an area immune to warming of Earth’s oceans. This cool zone in the North Atlantic Ocean appears to be associated with a slowdown in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), one of the key drivers in global ocean circulation.
A recent study published in Nature outlines research by a team of Yale University and University of Southhampton scientists. The team found evidence that Arctic ice loss is potentially negatively impacting the planet’s largest ocean circulation system. While scientists do have some analogs as to how this may impact the world, we will be largely in uncharted territory. Continue reading
Climate plays role in decline of one of Asia’s most critical water resources
Science daily, August 3, 2017, Kansas State University
- Summary:
- Climate variability — rather than the presence of a major dam — is most likely the primary cause for a water supply decline in East Asia’s largest floodplain lake system, according to an expert
Doubts about the future for China’s nuclear export business
Global interest in nuclear energy is experiencing a lull, prompting valid questions about China’s decision to invest in such technology as a long-term export market.
Many existing nuclear projects are dependent on Chinese financing; China’s Exim Bank is bankrolling 82 per cent of the cost of Pakistan’s new reactors and is thought to be contributing to the construction of reactors in Romania alongside the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. In November 2015, China National Nuclear Corporation invested $4.7bn in Argentina’s Nucleoelectrica. In the UK, China is to provide 33 per cent of the estimated £20bn for the Hinkley Point C project.
The current leader in the nuclear export market, Russia’s Rosatom, is reportedly shifting focus to hydropower and wind turbines rather than its usual reactor business. Speaking at the ‘Technoprom-2017’ conference in Novosibirsk, the deputy general director of Rosatom, Vyacheslav Pershukov, suggested that the export market for nuclear reactors has been exhausted.
China’s nuclear export ambitions run into friction https://www.ft.com/content/84c25750-75da-11e7-90c0-90a9d1bc9691 by: Matthew Cottee , 3 Aug 17, China is using infrastructure exports to build strategic relationships with a range of countries in Asia, eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. As part of its One Belt One Road (OBOR) policy, Beijing has pledged more money than went into the postwar Marshall plan on high-speed rail schemes around the world in an effort to secure diplomatic allies and develop new markets. The economic and diplomatic impact of its massive investment, however, remains questionable.
A critical fight against corporate villainy: Australia’s public interest versus Adani
Taking on Adani is not just about climate change. It’s taking back power from corporate plutocracy, Guardian, Sebastian Job, 2 Aug 17, The Adani Group almost seems like a crudely drawn corporate villain. And we should be thankful for the chance to reclaim the fight Sebastian Job is honorary associate in the department of anthropology at the University of Sydney
“……Those driving the Carmichael mine have had plenty of time to learn the climate change basics. They know coal has the highest carbon dioxide content of all fossil fuels. They know a large majority of climate scientists have identified rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as the major driver of global warming in the modern era. They know that extracting the bulk of existing global fossil fuel reserves is considered, by everyone from doctors to military commanders and the Davos economic elite, to spell calamity for human life on Earth.
Except, of course, that the warning sign is no longer neon. It is bone white. Courtesy of lethal coral bleaching the Great Barrier Reef is being redeveloped as a 2,300km-long offshore cemetery.
To add to the melancholy picture, public money used to build road and rail infrastructure for the Carmichael mine are supposed to open up the basin to many more mines, while the whole operation will be serviced by expanded coal ports cutting like centurions’ lances into the side of the reef.
Queensland: beautiful one day, bone yard the next.
Any halfway rational government would be quarantining the reef from further insults and mobilising the population for an emergency transition away from hydrocarbons. An all-hands-on-deck, bring-everybody-along effort. Not just for domestic electricity production, but for our exports.
Instead, both major parties at federal and state levels are supporting the establishment of a coalmine with a projected lifespan of 60 years.
That alone says everything……..
If global warming is to be seriously addressed then it will not be enough to speak “truth to power”, as the new documentary by Al Gore has it. The gun of state power has to be wrested from the hands of the fossil bloc. This is the great battle on our doorstep.
When our children, or simply our slightly older selves, ask us if we tried to salvage a liveable world for them, they are not going to be content with a bland “what did you do?” They are going to ask us very pointedly why we dawdled so long before throwing out this criminally irresponsible band of ecocidal know-nothings…….
Since at least the 1980s ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Peabody Energy, Shell and other diehard members of the fossil bloc have been fighting a covert war against activists, scientists and policy makers to stop action on climate change.
Now, after decades of windbaggery from the global political class, the transition away from hydrocarbons has become a desperate affair. We might already be doomed. Or we might make it. As for the present, two things are clear: the fossil bloc are not leaders, they are undertakers; and if we don’t take them down, they will take everyone down……
The Adani mine, let us recall, has it all. Not just climate change and damage to the reef, but habitat destruction, erosion of Indigenous land rights, ground water exhaustion and pollution, increased drought risk for local farmlands, loss of coastal employment, and long term health effects. And that’s without mentioning falling demand for coal and waste of taxpayers’ money that could be going on more toll roads and Joint Strike Fighters.
To take on Adani is not just to take on climate change. It is to take on the insane irresponsibility of the corporate plutocracy.
Join the fight. It will make you feel better. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/02/taking-on-adani-is-not-just-about-climate-change-its-taking-back-power-from-corporate-plutocracy
Solar energy revolution transforming the lives of women in the remotest parts of Asia.
Climate News Network 1st Aug 2017, A solar revolution is transforming the lives of women in the remotest parts of Asia. They no longer have to wait decades to be connected to a power grid but are able today to exploit the huge potential of the abundant sunshine.
In societies where women normally play a subservient role and spend much of their time on menial chores, solar businesses are creating a new breed of female entrepreneur who are bringing electricity to their villages.
In the last two years two schemes designed to encourage women to bring the solar revolution to parts of rural India and Nepal have won international Ashden Awards, which bring the organisations involved
£20,000 (US$26,360) each in prize money and a lot of guidance to improve
and extend their businesses. http://climatenewsnetwork.net/women-take-control-solar-revolution/
Garma 2017 pushes for nationwide Makarrata
Makarrata is a yolngu word for coming together or healing – the theme for #Garma2017 http://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2017/08/03/garma-2017-pushes-nationwide-makarrata Laura Morelli, 4 Aug 17
“This festival is Australia’s leading Indigenous cultural exchange event and a national hub for major forums with discussion, policy and action formulation. It brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians through youth forums, art, music, film, song, dance and stories.
“NITV is the official media supporter for the 19th Garma festival, which kicks off on Friday 4 – Monday 7 August in Gulkula, Arnhem Land. The channel will present a special four-day broadcasting slate, sharing Indigenous stories, from an Indigenous perspective, through an Indigenous lens. …
“This year sees inspiring women leading powerful discussions, with Sonia Smallacombe,
former Social Affairs Officer for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues,
joining NITV as political analyst,
Natalie Ahmat as anchor and
Karla Grant, Nakari Thorpe and Rachael Hocking as presenters. …
“2017 is a special year for Garma as it is the next major meeting for the nation’s Indigenous leaders
in the wake of the historic Uluru summit. Momentum is building for a nationwide Makarrata
– a Yolngu word for bringing peace after conflict leading to an agreement or treaty,
which forms the central theme this year. … “
Glencore, company with global history of corruption and environmental degradation urges “business before climate action
Focus on economy before climate deal, Glencore urges Australia, Perry Williams, SMH, 3 Aug 17 Australia may need to consider delaying its goals to combat global climate change in order to prioritise energy security and economic prosperity, according to a senior executive at Glencore.
4 August REneweconomy news
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No small beer: Foster’s, VB to go 100% renewable by 2025Some of Australia’s most iconic beers are set to be brewed using solar and wind after Foster’s Group and CUB parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev pledged to shift its 6 terrawatt-hours of annual energy consumption to 100 per cent renewables by 2025.
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S.A. could dump gas plans if batteries, demand response deliverSouth Australia has given itself the option to cancel installation of permanent government-owned gas generators. The huge response to ARENA’s demand response EOI, and new storage projects, make it hard to see why new plant is needed once next two summers negotiated.
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Superannuation trustee duties and climate riskA new legal opinion on climate change and trustee directors’ duties has wide-reaching ramifications for Australia’s $2.3 trillion superannuation industry, Environmental Justice Australia said today.
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 