An Australian Holocaust: greenhouse gas emissions and mass deaths     By Julian Cribb

 

Australian governments and mining firms are cold-bloodedly contemplating the needless deaths of 5.3 million human beings – many of them our own citizens – from climate causes resulting from new Australian fossil fuels developments.

The death toll from climate impacts was highlighted in a recent paper by Canadian researchers Joshua Pearce and Richard Parncut who argued that a billion people will die worldwide if global warming is allowed to reach +2oC, from its current +1.2o.

Fatalities are the most important measure of the damage inflicted by climate change, the researchers argued – but one that is rarely used. Heat deaths are one of the many ways the warming climate kills – claiming 61,000 European lives last year alone – others include starvation from crop failure, thirst from water scarcity, drowning in floods and rising sea levels, wildfires, violent storms, power outages, resource wars and in perilous attempts to flee across borders and oceans.

A scientific metric increasingly widely used to estimate the human damage is the “thousand tonne rule”, which basically argues that for every thousand tonnes of fossil fuels mined, one person dies. Using this, Pearce and Parncut argue “If warming reaches or exceeds 2 °C this century, mainly richer humans will be responsible for killing roughly 1 billion mainly poorer humans through anthropogenic global warming, which is comparable with involuntary or negligent manslaughter.”

Applying the same measure to Australian coal and gas production, most of which is burnt overseas, around 540,000 human beings are presently dying worldwide every year, in order to maintain the Australian living standard. However, there is far worse in store.

As the Australia Institute has pointed out, Australian governments have lately approved three new coal projects – and have 28 more in the pipeline for approval. Those new mines are projected to yield a total of 528,000,000,000 tonnes of coal (equal to 12 billion tonnes of climate emissions) – which, using the Pearce/Parncut calculus, will claim no fewer than 5.3 million human lives.

Every politician and every mining executive in Australia – unless they are exceptionally stupid or brutish – knows there is a growing death toll from our heating climate, and that climate is driven by rising man-made emissions, mainly from fossil fuels and land clearing.

Yet they choose to ignore it. To look elsewhere. To lie to themselves, to their electors or shareholders and the world in general in arguably the most shameful act of lethal deception ever.

From now on, for every thousand tonnes of new coal or gas we unearth, a child dies in agony, somewhere far away, out of sight of a media that does not care much anyway. Albo knows it. Dutton knows it. The Minerals Council of Australia know it. Palaszczuk and Minns know it – though maybe not the actual numbers. But they are united in not wanting Australians to know it. To not know that our precious way of life rests on a sea of innocent blood.

The deception is nowhere more plain than in the fact that our ‘climate policy’ focuses exclusively on the 533 million tonnes of domestic climate emissions Australia produces internally each year – and purposefully ignores the far larger 1.4 billion tonnes of emissions from our fossil fuels exports. It is a deliberate ploy to make it appear that Australia’s contribution to global heating and lives lost is barely a quarter of what it in fact is.

Recognising that the shedding of blood – our own as well as that of people in other lands – is an immense ethical decision, Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR) has argued strenuously and with great justice and principle that the decision to go to war should rest with the whole Parliament, not with one man or a small group.

Every new fossil carbon mine approved represents a decision by Australia to shed innocent blood on a warlike scale. Signing off the 116 new coalmines and gas fields now in the Australian pipeline would constitute a decision to war on humanity on a scale comparable to that taken by Germany and Japan nearly a century ago. It would contribute a significant share of the billion deaths projected by Pearce and Parncut.

Because the weapon is fossil energy instead of military might does not make it any more ethical. Because those deaths are for profit, or political expedience, does not make them any more justifiable. Australian politicians and miners have chosen to blind themselves to the facts rather than risk their self-interest. Their denial makes this not ‘involuntary manslaughter’ but cold-hearted, deliberate killing for monetary advantage.

War criminals are now routinely put on trial at the International Criminal Court in the Hague. But war crimes are small in scale compared with climate crimes, which affect the whole planet and all of humanity. It a high time that climate crimes were accorded an equivalent world legal standing, and those most responsible put on trial. There is talk of making ‘ecocide’, the deliberate destruction of the life-sustaining environment, a crime in some countries, and maybe in the ICC too.

Australia, long ago and far away, was a young country that believed in the principles of equality, ethical and fair dealing towards all fellow humans. We were a prime mover in establishing the United Nations to end wars and the International Declaration of Human Rights. Those ideals have been abandoned by the present generation of our political and corporate rulers in their lust for power and money.

It is high time Australians stood again, shoulder to shoulder, to demand the restoration of our traditional values and ideals. To demand our leaders end the useless killing. To redeem our soiled honour by proposing the international prosecution of climate and environmental criminals responsible for wrecking the world our children will inherit.

https://johnmenadue.com/an-australian-holocaust-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-mass-deaths/

 

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By Chen Yingqun and Yang Ran

 

'When Alicia Wang traveled to the northern part of Italy, she never expected to encounter a horrible hail.

"The northern part of Italy has a Mediterranean climate and it seldom rains in summer, let alone hail," she said.

"However, when we arrived there, suddenly, there was strong wind, and then it started to hail and rain. The hail was as big as a plum, which shocked even local people who had never seen things like that happening in the region before."

Wang, having worked in Rome, Italy, for four years, notably observed a rise in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in the country.

In the southern part of Italy, wildfires are getting more frequent in summer and are beginning to spread to the central parts, she said.

Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, an environmental group in Beijing, said this year has again witnessed a significant increase in extreme weather events around the world.

From blistering heat waves and severe droughts to devastating hurricanes and rampant wildfires, the impact of climate change is becoming more evident.

Under the influence of global warming, extreme weather events such as heat waves and floods may become Europe's "new normal" in summer and have increasingly affected the European population, economy and nature, the European Environment Agency said in a recent report.

Between 1980 and 2021, weather- and climate-related extremes caused economic losses estimated at $606 billion in the European Union, while nearly 195,000 fatalities have been caused by floods, storms, heat and cold waves, forest fires, and landslides, the agency said.

More than 600 firefighters, including reinforcements from several European countries and backed by a fleet of water-dropping planes and helicopters, were tackling three major wildfires in Greece on Sunday, two of which had been raging for days.

In the past week, Greece has been continuously troubled by numerous fires as strong winds and dry summer weather have fueled the flames and made firefighting efforts more difficult.

On Sunday, there were a total of 105 wildfires being fought across the country, with 46 of them starting within a 24-hour period between Saturday evening and Sunday evening, the fire department said.

Italy also experienced its third major heat wave this summer, with 17 of its 27 largest cities on "red alert" for heat.

Europe's soaring temperatures are also hitting the region's highest peak, Mont Blanc, heightening the risk of rockfall and new crevasses opening on its glaciers, rescuers and climbers said on Wednesday.

In the United States, the Maui wildfires in Hawaii on Aug 8 have killed at least 115 and left hundreds of others missing, making them the deadliest in the US in more than a century. The fires also destroyed forests, wildlife habitats, and cultural sites.

Many other regions across the world have also experienced record-breaking temperatures and precipitation patterns, leading to disruptions in agriculture, infrastructure damage, and threats to human health and safety.

Qu Sixiao, senior project manager of the global consultancy Roland Berger, said extreme weather events are caused by the overall climate change, and the core reason for climate change is excessive greenhouse gas emissions from human activities since the industrial era, which surpassed the capacity of the environment.

Climate change has two main impacts, he said. On the one hand, it contributes to the rise in global temperatures, which, in turn, leads to increased sea levels, melting of polar ice, and so on.

On the other hand, because of global warming, certain areas are experiencing a significant increase in extreme weather events, including intensifying temperature variations, enhanced precipitation, and a rise in severe storms or hurricanes.

Extreme weather events can have a significant impact on the comfort, efficiency, and safety of individuals in their personal lives and work, Qu said.

"They also possess strong physical destructive properties, which can result in significant property damage caused by accidents such as floods and landslides. In the longer term and on a larger scale, extreme weather events have the potential to reshape global geopolitical relations, because some countries may even be submerged by the rising sea levels."

Monika Tothova, an economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, said extreme weather events and changing weather patterns have implications on agricultural production as well as the processing and transportation of food.

Some geographic areas might become more hostile to agricultural production, while weather conditions in others might make them more suitable, she said.

Transportation links might also be affected if, for example, rivers used to transport goods become seasonally too shallow to allow navigation.

"Overall, the keyword remains 'uncertainty': Uncertainty of changing temperatures, rainfall, and weather patterns," she said. "Thus, the food systems' transformation is also aimed at making them more resilient to the effects of climate change. There is much ongoing work in the area to increase the resilience of the agricultural sector by enhancing adaptation and mitigation measures."

Precise and comprehensive estimates of damages caused by extreme weather events — for example, recurrent drought in East Africa and floods in Pakistan — are usually not immediately available, Tothova said.

However, they impact not only total production and thus the availability of the food, but also the livelihoods of farmers, with particularly detrimental effects on small-scale farmers who often lack sufficient resilience capacity, she said.

Analysis done by the FAO shows that climate change will have an increasingly adverse impact on many regions of the world. Those in low latitudes are likely to be hit the hardest. This means that countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America will be disproportionately at risk.

"As many of these countries already suffer from poverty, food insecurity, and various forms of malnutrition, the cumulative impact of climate-related shocks as well as shocks caused by other factors, such as geopolitical changes, can exacerbate the challenges," she said.

Xu Qinhua, a professor of Renmin University of China and honorary professor of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said climate change is also "a multiplier of threats" that could exacerbate existing national security challenges.

It may increase regional competition for resources and the demand for military actions, posing a threat to national stability and security, she said.

Xu anticipated that the global decarbonization pressures would also intensify geopolitical tensions. According to her research, 11 countries, including India and Pakistan, would be financially vulnerable to climate change, leading to increasing risks of unrest and migration, and demand for foreign aid in the future.

Ma with the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs said the threat posed by climate change is indeed urgent, and it is a positive step that more than 190 parties have signed the Paris Agreement with a goal to combat climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees above preindustrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees. Nearly 150 countries and regions worldwide have made commitments to achieving carbon neutrality.

"But meanwhile, the world is facing the impacts of the pandemic, volatility in the energy market, and increasing geopolitical tensions, leading major economies to pay more attention to energy security, food security, and supply chain security. This makes global efforts to address climate change extremely challenging," he said.

In the past two years, carbon emissions have been increasing rather than decreasing. Therefore, there is currently no reliable pathway to achieve the 1.5-degree target, and the overall situation is very difficult, he said.

There are also disputes among developed countries and developing countries as to what kind of responsibilities they should shoulder in tackling climate change, Ma said.

Developing countries, such as those in Africa and small island nations, have very low historical cumulative emissions but are greatly affected by climate change.

Developed countries, on the other hand, have been responsible for the majority of historical emissions since the Industrial Revolution. Although they have recognized their responsibility and made commitments to providing financial compensation to developing countries for climate change mitigation, these promises have yet to be fulfilled, which becomes a major problem that undermines solidarity in global climate governance, Ma said.

The Paris Agreement ultimately reached an agreement on countries' voluntary contributions. However, the global climate situation is pressing and urgent, and the current global response measures are clearly insufficient, thus requiring further enhancement and reinforcement. Forming consensus on how to achieve a more fair and just global transition to low carbon is a challenging task, he said.

"To achieve genuine and effective global climate governance, efforts are required in terms of technological advancements, policies, and collaboration across sectors. The daunting challenges mean that we need to seek innovative ways in our climate response. Only through global cooperation and efforts can we address the challenges of climate change and safeguard the future of our planet."

 

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202308/29/WS64ed42e5a31035260b81eba4_1.html

 

 

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Cutting climate change research: cuts at the Australian Antarctic Division

 

Originally published: Countercurrents  on August 24, 2023 by Dr Binoy Kampmark (more by Countercurrents)  | 

 (Posted Sep 02, 2023)

 

Climate Change, Environment, Financialization, StrategyAustralasia, AustraliaNewswireAntarctic, Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), Department of Climate Change Energy the Environment and Water (DCCEEW)

Australia’s funding priorities have been utterly muddled of late. At the Commonwealth level, there is cash to be found in every conceivable place to support every absurd military venture, as long as it targets those hideous authoritarians in Beijing. It seemed utterly absurd that, even as the Australian federal government announced its purchase of over 200 tomahawk cruise missiles—because that is exactly what the country needs—there are moves afoot to prune and cut projects conducted by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD).

On July 10, an email sent to all staff by the head of division, Emma Campbell, claimed that the AAD “won’t be able to afford” all current positions. Since then, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) has given a flimsy assurance that no jobs will be lost. “The focus will be on finding areas where work performed by those on fixed-term contracts can be incorporated into the work of ongoing staff,” stated a spokesperson for the department.

This all seemed an odd state of affairs, given the promise by the previous Morrison government that an additional AUD$804.4 million would be spent over a decade for scientific capabilities and research specific to Antarctic interests.

Unfortunately for those concerned with the bits and bobs at the AAD, the undertaking was not entirely scientific in nature. Part of the package included AUD$3.4 million to “enhance Australia’s international engagement to support the rules and norms of the Antarctic Treaty system and promote Australia’s leadership in Antarctic affairs”.

Australia’s long-standing obsession with claiming 42 per cent of the Antarctic, one that continues to remain unrecognised by other states, has meant that any exploration or claims by others are bound to be seen as threats. In 2021, the People’s Republic of China built its fifth research station base in Australia’s Antarctic environs, sparking concerns that Beijing may be less interested in the science than other potential rich offerings. They are hardly the only ones.

The AAD, however, has shifted its focus to identifying necessary savings amounting to 16% of the annual budget, a crude, spreadsheet exercise that can only harm the research element of the organisation. As Campbell’s staff-wide email goes on to declare, a review of the future season plan is also being pursued, along with the concern about a “budget situation [that] has made the three-year plan process harder than expected.”

A spokesperson for DCCEEW claimed that the resulting AUD$25 million difference in funding could be put down to the planning difficulties around the commissioned Antarctic icebreaker, the Nuyina. Few could have been surprised that the process resulted in delays, leading to the AAD to seek alternative shipping options.

What proved surprising to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government (when will they ever change such excruciating names?) was that there had been “no cuts to the [AAD] at all”. As Federal Minister Catherine King went on to say, the Australian government had not altered administering “the $804 million budget that is there for the Antarctic Division. There are no cuts, we’re a bit perplexed as to where this story has come from.”

The difference between Canberra’s automatic assumption of reliable finance and delivery has not, it would seem, translated into the individual funding choices made in the ice-crusted bliss of Australia’s southern research stations. According to Nature, two of Australia’s permanent research stations—Mawson and Davis—will not be staffed to their full capacity over the summer period.

The implication for such a budget trim will have one logical consequence. As Jan Zika, a climate scientist working at the University of New South Wales reasons, “When someone says there’s a cut to the AAD, it basically means less science, less understanding of what’s going on.” Zika is unsparing in suggesting that this was “catastrophic” (the word comes easily) given the changes to the sea ice under study.

We’re seeing so little sea ice relative to what we normally see at this time of the year.

To have such gaps in data collection was also “catastrophic” to scientific and ecological understanding.

If we have data up to a certain date, and then we have a gap for three years, five years, and then we start to get the data again, it doesn’t make it useless. But it makes it really hard for us to get that understanding that we need.

Zika is certainly correct about the sea ice findings. On June 27, data gathered by the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center showed that the sea ice enveloping Antarctica was a record winter low of 11.7 million square kilometres, namely, more than 2.5 million square kilometres below the average for the time between 1981 and 2010.

Other researchers, notably those who collaborate with the AAD, fear the impeding effects of budget cuts. Christian Haas, a sea-ice specialist at the Alfred Wegener Institute of the Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany sees this as inevitable. Nathan Bindoff of the University of Tasmania, who specialises in physical oceanography, has also suggested that such funding cuts would delay investigative procedures with irreversible effect.

We’re probably going to be too late to address some of these questions.

This hideous disjuncture says it all: climate change research, trimmed and stripped, thereby disrupting the gathering of data; military purchases and procurement, all the rage and adding to insecurity. While such foolish, exorbitant projects as the nuclear submarine plan under AUKUS is seen as an industry, country-wide enterprise that will produce jobs across the economy, the study of catastrophic climate change is being seen as a problem of secondary relevance, ever vulnerable to the financial razor gang.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University.

Monthly Review does not necessarily adhere to all of the views conveyed in articles republished at MR Online. Our goal is to share a variety of left perspectives that we think our readers will find interesting or useful. —Eds. https://mronline.org/2023/09/02/cutting-climate-change-research/  

 

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