clair031

Background .   The International Energy Agency (IEA) issued its assessment, “ Global Energy and CO 2 Status Report, 2017 ” (Report) on March 22, 2018.   The IEA reviews aspects of global energy use and greenhouse gas emission rates annually.   This schedule has become even more important since the Paris Climate Agreement among virtually all nations of the world was concluded, under the auspices of the United Nations-sponsored organization, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in December 2015. The essence of the Paris Agreement is first, setting the goal of keeping the global average increase in temperature, measured from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, under 2 ° C (3.8 °F), and second, having every nation individually commit voluntarily to embark on its own program to reduce annual emission rates for CO 2 to achieve the temperature objective.   The emissions originate from humanity’s burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) to pro...

Just as a kind reminder, PR is not a subset of marketing.  Just saying... PR, Public Relations, is a term used to describe the activity responsible for managing organisational communication. This managerial venture should also generate a mutually beneficial environment for all parts involved in the communication process and in all spheres it will operate - internal, external, symbolic... Heads of PR, in theory, should report directly to the CEO of a company, with no intermediaries. In the largest companies in the world, this is how it is done. In the corporate world, PR is the very same as Corporate Communications. So it should not be treated as a tool of Marketing. When PR is considered purely as media relations and does not explore its full potential, much is left aside on what could be achieved with the powerful and broad umbrela of Public Relations. I still get surprised to see that among the Marcom community, not many people truly understand the essential difference between Ma...

Summary .   The day that Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas the water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico was about 3-7 °F higher than the average for 1961-1990.   This is important, because warmer water releases more moisture into the air than cooler water, feeding heavier rainfall.   This contributed to the extreme, unprecedented flooding in the Houston area caused by Harvey.   More moisture also leads to stronger winds in storms. Climate models project that if humanity continues to burn fossil fuels without restraint the added carbon dioxide produced will lead to sharply higher global average temperatures.   These will produce more frequent and intense extreme weather and climate events, which bring serious socioeconomic harms to society.   One model study of storm activity along the Texas coast finds that the probability of an event will triple, from 6% per year to 18% per year, by the end of this century if emissions continue unabated. Climate sci...

Summary.   The Environmental Protection Agency cancelled presentations by three EPA scientists at a conference about the effects of climate change on Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.   Their work focused on the effects of climate change on the ecology of the Bay.   EPA gave no reason.   It has been supporting this research for decades, but in its draft budget for the coming year the agency has zeroed out support for all 28 of its estuary projects. Administrator Pruitt has publicly rejected the role of humans in causing climate change, suggesting there remains some disagreement over the issue.   In fact, 99.99% of climate scientists affirm the reality that humans cause global warming.   Scientists the world over agree fossil fuel use emits excess carbon dioxide which retains extra heat in the earth system, leading to warming and its harmful consequences. Politicization of science harms the public because political considerations supersede scientific reality...

Summary .   Two extreme rainfall events with catastrophic flooding occurred in the U. S. recently.   The first was in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area in August 2016, and the second is ongoing at this writing in August 2017 in southeastern Texas including Houston. Attribution of extreme events to global warming has become more reliable as a result of increased capabilities built into the statistical procedures employed in such analyses.   Global warming likely contributed about 20% to the rainfall experienced in the Baton Rouge flooding event of 2016.   Global warming is now recognized to be due largely to emissions of greenhouse gases by humans.   It is projected to grow worse in coming decades if stringent efforts are not made to reduce these emissions.   In that case it is foreseen that extreme weather events may become more frequent and more severe.   Introduction .   The southern United States has suffered two episodes of unprecedented ra...

Summary A draft of the Fourth National Climate Assessment reports that the global average temperature for the 30-year period from 1986 to 2016 rose by 1.2 ° F (0.7 ° C). It is extremely likely that activities by humans have been the principal cause of this warming. Extreme temperature and rainfall events have increased over this time, as have forest wildfires.   Arctic land-based ice has been lost to melting, and the extent and thickness of sea ice has decreased.   The mean sea level has risen about 7-8 in (about 26-21 cm) since 1900.   Ocean waters have taken up 93% of the excess heat of the Earth system due to global warming since the 1950s.   Global greenhouse gas emissions are projected to continue and consequently global temperatures will continue increasing and related trends will continue.   Limits to the intended increase require that humanity reduce annual emissions to zero by 2100.     The draft states “Choices made today will determine the m...