I am scheduled to be on the PBS Newshour tonight on Sandy.

Satellite image of Superstorm Sandy taken at 10 am EDT Tuesday. Image NASA GSFC via Masters.

Climate science explains how global warming can make a superstorms like Sandy more destructive in several ways:

1. Warming-driven sea level rise makes storm surges more destructive. In fact, a recent study found “The sea level on a stretch of the US Atlantic coast that features the cities of New York, Norfolk and Boston is rising up to four times faster than the global average.”
2. “Owing to higher SSTs [sea surface temperatures] from human activities, the increased water vapor in the atmosphere leads to 5 to 10% more rainfall and increases the risk of flooding,” as Kevin Trenberth explained to me in a 2011 email about Hurricane Irene. He elaborates on that point for Sandy here and for all superstorms in this article.
3. “However, because water vapor and higher ocean temperatures help fuel the storm, it is likely to be more intense and bigger as well,” Trenberth added (see another of his articles here). Relatedly, warming also extends the range of warm SSTs, which can help sustain the strength of a hurricane as it steers on a northerly track into cooler water (much as apparently happened for Irene). September had the second highest global ocean temperatures on record and the Eastern seaboard was 5°F warmer than average (with global warming  responsible for about 1°F of that).
4. The unusual path of the storm — into the heavily populated east coast rather than out to see — was caused by a very strong blocking high pressure system that recent studies have linked to warming.  Meteorologist and former Hurricane Hunter Jeff Masters has an excellent analysis of this, “Why did Hurricane Sandy take such an unusual track into New Jersey?“

I have put these in order from most scientific certainty to least. The first two — the impact of sea level rise and increased water vapor — are unequivocal. The third is extremely likely. The fourth is more speculative.

Remember, climate scientists and others have for quite some time been warning New York City that climate change was dramatically increasing the odds of a devastating storm surge — see Greg Laden’s post, “Peer Reviewed Research Predicted NYC Subway Flooding by #Sandy.” See also today’s NY Times story, “For Years, Warnings That It Could Happen Here.” Also a brand new study of storm surges since 1923 finds “that Katrina-magnitude events have been twice as frequent in warm years compared with cold years” — so more severe surges are on the way.

And that’s the other key reason we must make the connection to climate change: Scientists worst-case scenarios are already happening — so their latest findings deserve attention so that Sandy doesn’t become just another Cassandra whose warnings are ignored. Now climate scientists project that we risk up to 10 times as much warming this century as in the last 50 years — with many devastating consequences from dramatic sea level rise to Dust-Bowlification (see my review of more than 60 recent studies).

That means the 4 factors described above are going to have a greater and greater impact over time. That’s one of the many, many reasons we must act to reduce emissions ASAP, so we don’t keep getting “new normals” that ultimately make Sandy and Irene seem tame.

The media coverage of the link between Sandy and climate change started (too) slowly, as Climate Progress reported, but has vastly improved. NBC News in particular had a great story with Trenberth that touched on the points above.

Unfortunately, while more of the media are getting the story right, some are still not.

Read more

by Katie Valentine

After more than two months of protests against construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in Texas and Oklahoma, the arrest count has reached 33.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was the latest to get arrested after she brought supplies to activist treesitters attempting to block construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in Texas. Stein issued a statement criticizing both President Obama and Governor Romney for their policies on fossil fuels:

“I’m here to connect the dots between super storm Sandy and the record heat, drought, and fire we’ve seen this year – and this Tar Sands pipeline, which will make all of these problems much worse. And I’m here to connect the dots between climate devastation and pipeline politicians – both Obama and Romney – who are competing, as we saw in the debates, for the role of Puppet In Chief for the fossil fuel industry. Both deserve that title. Obama’s record of ‘drill baby drill’ has gone beyond the harm done by George Bush. Mitt Romney promises more of the same.”

Stein’s arrest follows the Oct. 4 arrest of 78-year-old great grandmother Eleanor Fairchild, who was charged with trespassing on her own land after standing in the path of bulldozers. Fairchild, who was joined in her protest by actress Daryl Hannah, said in a video that she blocked the bulldozers for environmental reasons beyond her land.

“This is not just about my land; it’s about all of our country,” she said. “It needs to be stopped.”

Protests and acts of civil disobedience have been going on in Texas and Oklahoma since mid-August, after construction of the pipeline’s southern leg, which runs from Cushing, Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast, began in Texas on Aug. 9. Activists have chained themselves to logging machinery and pipeline transportation equipment and have hung banners at equipment storage sites. On Sept. 24, eight people climbed trees outside Winnsboro, Texas and refused to come down until pipeline construction stops, beginning what is said to be the first tree blockade in Texas history. As of last week, there were two protesters living in the tree houses and platforms constructed in the 80-ft. trees, each with no plans of coming down.

Though the arrest count has remained low compared to last year’s protests at the White House, interactions between police and protesters have been far more contentious. Last month, police reportedly used pepper spray and Tasers on two protesters chained to logging equipment before eventually removing and arresting them. Tar Sands Blockade describes police interaction at the tree blockade site:

During the last month TransCanada has tried everything to deter us from doing what we know is right. They’ve encouraged police to use torture tactics, operated heavy machinery dangerously close to peaceful protestors, confiscated our cameras, hit us with a SLAPP law suit, hired local law enforcement to set up a police state around the blockade, denied us food and water, arrested journalists, subjected blockades to 24/7 surveillance and floodlights…the list goes on.

The latest round of Texas protests also comes as Canadians protested the Northern Gateway Pipeline in British Columbia. Last Wednesday, in a show of solidarity, one protester hung a banner from the gate she chained herself to, which read: “Defend All Coasts from British Columbia to the Gulf Coast.”

Katie Valentine graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Journalism. She is currently an intern with the international climate team at the Center for American Progress.

Credit: Paul K. Anderson

by Jessica Goad

Exporting coal from Montana and Wyoming’s Powder River Basin to markets around the world by way of shipping terminals in the Pacific Northwest is shaping up to be one of the next big environmental fights.

Currently five export terminals are proposed for Oregon and Washington, which would also require additional infrastructure like new coal trains running from the interior West to the coast.

There is serious money to be made from shipping coal abroad. As David Roberts at Grist pointed out: “the health of the U.S. coal industry hinges on its ability to increase exports to China and India.” So it’s no surprise that the coal, rail, and shipping industries spent nearly a million dollars in one month on television ads supporting the construction of coal export terminals.

A ThinkProgress analysis of the Kantar Media Group’s CMAG data reveals that the Alliance for Northwest Jobs and Exports spent approximately $866,000 in Oregon and Washington in September on TV spots lauding the benefits of building coal export terminals.

The Alliance — which the Seattle Post-Intelligencer referred to as “astroturf” this summer — is a trade association consisting of major Powder River Basin coal mining companies like Arch Coal, Peabody Energy, and Cloud Peak Energy, as well as the interests promoting the various shipping terminals like Ambre Energy and SSA Marine. Rail and shipping companies, other business associations, and local labor groups are also part of the alliance.

Most of the coal that will be shipped from the five proposed terminals is from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana.  The vast majority of this coal is found under federal public lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, meaning that it belongs to American taxpayers (about 43 percent of all the coal mined in the U.S. is from public lands).  As ClimateProgress has reported before, taxpayers are getting a raw deal in this equation:

Over the last 30 years, the Bureau of Land Management has held “auctions” with one bidder and sold the resource for almost nothing, keeping coal prices artificially low…In one recent auction, the largest private coal company in the world, Peabody Energy, secured taxpayer-owned coal for $1.11 per ton. The company will likely be able to sell it in China for around $100 per ton.

While the industry touts the jobs and economic development that will come with the shipping terminals, railways, and other infrastructure associated with coal exports, local communities along the rail routes and the coast worry about health and land impacts like coal dust and noise. Sportsmen have also warned that coal exports could damage salmon and other wildlife habitat.  And exporting coal to be burned overseas also presents a “moral crossroads” on climate change.

It is unclear exactly how much influence the group’s spending will have on the political, media, and legal battles growing around coal exports.  But the Energy Information Administration determined earlier this week that the U.S. is on track to ship record amounts of coal abroad in 2012.

Jessica is the Manager of Research and Outreach for the Public Land Project at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Coverage of climate change from television news outlets has dropped precipitously since 2009. And during the lead-up and arrival of Superstorm Sandy, the climate connection to extreme weather was conspicuously absent.

But as broadcast journalists transition from tracking Superstorm Sandy to covering its aftermath, some television outlets are starting to explore the role of climate change in more detail. Starting yesterday afternoon, there was an increase in climate-related stories, with extensive segments appearing on Al Jazeera, Current TV, MSNBC, and NBC. (There were also a couple segments on Fox, both of which were used to raise doubts about climate science).

Below are some of the top pieces covering the link between a warming planet and extreme weather events like Superstorm Sandy.

NBC News science reporter Robert Bazell had a terrific piece on yesterday’s Nightly News called, “Dramatic weather patterns the ‘new normal’ “:

Chris Matthews hosted an extensive eight-minute segment on MSNBC’s Hardball last night, featuring geosciences professor Michael Oppenheimer and Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), a vocal advocate of climate action:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Also last night, Al Gore was featured on Jennifer Granholm’s show, The War Room. Gore discussed the link between “dirty weather” and “dirty energy”:

Read more

Gov. Cuomo (D-NY):  ”There has been a series of extreme weather incidents. That is not a political statement, that is a factual statement. Anyone who says there is not a dramatic change in weather patterns is denying reality.”

Floodwaters inundate Ground Zero construction site in NYC (AP)

At a press conference yesterday, New York Governor Cuomo talked about the need to plan for this permanent change in extreme weather. Cuomo has already had to deal with two devastating superstorms  since taking office in 2011 — Sandy and Irene.

He said, I don’t believe that” this is “the last occurrence we will have.” He told reporters, ”We have a one-hundred year flood every two years now.”

His remarks are worth noting particularly since the 55-year-old governor is widely mentioned as a potential candidate in 2016 or beyond.

Yes, Cuomo didn’t specifically mention global warming, but his entire point was that there is a “new normal” but an old infrastructure, and it’s time to do some serious planning:

You did not have ocean water, salt water, breaching the banks the way you’ve had it in Manhattan, you know, in my lifetime…..

When you start to fill the subway tunnels with salt water—much of the Con Ed equipment is in the tunnels, is underground—when hot electrical equipment hits cold salt water, that is a bad combination. And that is a design flaw, I believe, for our system now, if you anticipate these extreme weather conditions.

Obviously we didn’t when we designed this system. We did not anticipate water coming over the Hudson River, coming over the banks, being five feet deep on the West Side Highway, and filling subway grates and every opening and filling that massive infrastructure we have below ground.

Going forward, I think we do have to anticipate these extreme types of weather patterns. And we have to start to think about how do we redesign the system so this doesn’t happen again. After what happened, what has been happening in the last few years, I don’t think anyone can sit back anymore and say “Well, I’m shocked at that weather pattern.” There is no weather pattern that can shock me at this point. And I think that has to be our attitude. And how do we redesign our system and our infrastructure assuming that?”

Note: The video of the press conference appears to be down, but I transcribed these remarks yesterday.

Related Posts:

• Did Climate Change Help Create ‘Frankenstorm’?
• CNN Bans Term ‘Frankenstorm’, But It’s A Good Metaphor For Warming-Driven Monster: ‘Largest Hurricane In Atlantic History’
• How Does Global Warming Make Hurricanes Like Irene More Destructive?

by Mike Casey, via Scaling Green

Cleantech deniers are spending big these days to bolster their lobbying agenda. They’re airing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of anti-clean energy “Super PAC” advertisements, trying to block congressional renewal of the wind power production tax credit. And they just pushed a “No More Solyndras Act” through the U.S. House of Representatives. It’s all part of an aggressive, ongoing effort by the fossil fuel lobby to push clean energy policy into the culture wars (hat tip to J. Patrick Coolican of the Las Vegas Sun).

But if you look through the propaganda haze, the fact remains that Americans, even in very red states, overwhelmingly support growing the clean economy. If regular people (not lobbyists) had their way, politicians from both parties would be trying to out-compete themselves on who could be better at growing the clean economy. Instead, in many states, clean economy sectors are faced with a choice between one candidate who might be favorably inclined to help, and another who mocks what we do or even cheers on the demise of American clean economy companies.

In Virginia, which has one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country between two former governors, there has been an interesting contrast. Former Senator George Allen has routinely and aggressively mocked clean energy, while former Governor Tim Kaine actually sought out a meeting meet with clean economy leaders.

In an effort to grow our options, we got 10 mid-Atlantic clean economy players together for a roundtable discussion with Governor Kaine at our headquarters (list of participants below).

Our message was:

Read more

Most television news outlets have given minimal airtime to the connection between global warming and Hurricane Sandy. In Fox’s case, it mentioned global warming in its Sandy coverage in order to mock climate science.

Fox News turned to climate denier Joe Bastardi at least twice in the last two days, where Bastardi presented debunked arguments that unprecedented extreme weather “has nothing to do with global warming” and “everything to do with nature.”

Bastardi appeared on Sean Hannity on Monday (he was also on Fox and Friends, Tuesday):

BASTARDI: When you see CO2 continue to go up and the global temperature goes up, levels off, and you can associate it with the natural cyclical pattern of the oceans and you look at the big picture. And also a lot of these people are just weather voyeurs. What if you’ve been studying since the day you were born? Some of them just study it now.

In fact, the world continues to warm. September marked the 331st month in a row that global temperatures were above the 20th century average. And scientists are increasingly making a direct connection between global warming and the probability and intensity of extreme weather events.

Although scientists reject Bastardi’s claims as “utter nonsense,” “simply ignorant” and “completely wrong,” Fox has often relied on the weather forecaster for climate denier arguments.

While Fox mocks climate scientists, other outlets have ignored climate change altogether, despite its relevant to Sandy’s destruction. (Some outlets did break the silence last night — more on that later this morning). Like a baseball player on steroids, the effects of human-caused climate change fuels the probability for more frequent extreme weather, such as superstorms.

AP Photo/Charles Sykes

Superstorm Sandy will end up causing about $20 billion in property damages and $10 billion to $30 billion more in lost business, according to IHS Global Insight, a forecasting firm. [Associated Press]

Monday’s mammoth storm that caused severe flooding, damage and fatalities to the eastern U.S. will raise pressure on Congress and the next president to address the impacts of climate change as the price tag for extreme weather disasters escalates. [Chicago Tribune]

A few months ago, forecasters were predicting a “near-normal” hurricane season. Now, the East Coast is dealing with one of the most damaging storms to date. [ABC News]

The warnings came, again and again. For nearly a decade, scientists have told city and state officials that New York faces certain peril: rising sea levels, more frequent flooding and extreme weather patterns. [New York Times]

Raw sewage, industrial chemicals and floating debris filled flooded waterways around New York City on Tuesday. Left in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the toxic stew may threaten the health of residents already dealing with more direct damages from the disaster. [Huffington Post]

A new poll released Monday shows Americans rank the presidential candidates’ views on energy policy as more important to their 2012 vote than environmental policy. [The Hill]