[MCN] 4 on climate change, 1 on democracy

[Lance Olsen]

6 Arizona counties may be uninhabitable in next 30 years due to climate change, study shows <https://news.google.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?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen>
ARIZONA, USA — Six of Arizona's counties are at risk of being uninhabitable in the near future due to climate change, a ProPublica and Rhodium Group study ...
12news.com <http://12news.com/> KPNX
2 hours ago

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Shrinking Margins of Greenland: At Least 200 Coastal Glaciers Have Retreated Over the Past 20 Years <https://news.google.com/articles/CBMifGh0dHBzOi8vc2NpdGVjaGRhaWx5LmNvbS9zaHJpbmtpbmctbWFyZ2lucy1vZi1ncmVlbmxhbmQtYXQtbGVhc3QtMjAwLWNvYXN0YWwtZ2xhY2llcnMtaGF2ZS1yZXRyZWF0ZWQtb3Zlci10aGUtcGFzdC0yMC15ZWFycy_SAQA?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen>
A recent study of Greenland's ice sheet found that glaciers are retreating in nearly every sector of the island, while also undergoing other physical changes.
SciTechDaily
5 hours ago

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Geophysical Research Letters First published: 28 December 2020 
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091377 <https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091377>
Increasing synchronous fire danger in forests of the western United States

John T. Abatzoglou <https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorStored=Abatzoglou%2C+John+T>  Caroline S. Juang <https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorStored=Juang%2C+Caroline+S>  A. Park Williams <https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorStored=Williams%2C+A+Park>  Crystal A. Kolden <https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorStored=Kolden%2C+Crystal+A> Anthony LeRoy Westerling <https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorStored=LeRoy+Westerling%2C+Anthony>
This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. 
Please cite this article as doi: 10.1029/2020GL091377

Abstract
Widespread fire activity taxes suppression resources and can compound wildfire hazards. We examine the geographic synchronicity of fire danger across western United States forests as a proxy for the strain on fire suppression resource availability. Interannual variability in the number of days with synchronous fire danger – defined as fire weather indices exceeding the local 90th percentile across ≥ 40% of forested land – was strongly correlated (r=0.85) with the number of days with high strain on national fire management resources. A 25‐day increase in the annual number of days with synchronous fire danger was observed during 1979‐2020. Climate projections show a doubling of such days by 2051‐2080. Increased fire‐danger synchrony would escalate the likelihood of years with extended periods of synchronous fire danger that have historically strained suppression efforts and contribute to additional burned area, therein requiring additional management strategies for coping with anticipated surges in fire suppression demands.[ Bold italic underline emphasis added ]

Plain Language Summary

The amount of area burned per year in forests across the western United States has been increasing over the past half‐century alongside warmer and drier weather conditions in the summer months of the western US, called the “fire season”. These conditions lead to a number of dangerous impacts on ecosystems and society with mounting challenges for fire suppression. The occurrence of widespread fire danger and fire activity during active fire seasons has overwhelmed fire suppression resource capacity, limiting the effectiveness of managing fires and potentially increasing fire impacts. We find a strong link between fire danger days across western US forests and the number of days with high strain on national fire suppression resources. We show a 25‐day increase in the annual number of days of regionally widespread connected fire danger‐fire resource strain over the past four decades – and a doubling of such days by the mid‐21st century. These findings suggest that—if fuel availability, ignition patterns, and land management approaches do not substantially change over time—climate change may continue to overburden fire management efforts across the region, requiring careful strategy when fire resources are strained in future dangerous, prolonged fire seasons.

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Cambridge, MA Becomes First U.S. City to Mandate Climate Warnings on Gas Pumps <https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiECCoICR9zNjrvqYawyGs6IsqMwgEKioIACIQVtxBmyfa_mqpa0goyYax6CoUCAoiEFbcQZsn2v5qqWtIKMmGsegw_OHVBg?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen>
The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts will mandate climate change warning labels on fuel pumps. The yellow stickers warn drivers that burning gasoline, diesel ...
EcoWatch <https://news.google.com/publications/CAAiEFbcQZsn2v5qqWtIKMmGsegqFAgKIhBW3EGbJ9r-aqlrSCjJhrHo?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen>
20 hours ago

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"Controlled capitalism … had been a truly colossal success. From the end of the Second World War until the mid-1970s the American and European economies were uplifted by many years of rapid growth, bringing affluence from the relatively few to almost all."

"In the late 1970s the tendency to control capitalism was abruptly reversed."

“ … the most striking feature of our turbo-capitalist times, the hollowing-out of democratic governance over the economy.”

Edward Luttwak, Turbo-Capitalism. 
1998 in Great Britain by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 
1999 in the U.S. by Harper Collins.

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A core question: What is “resilience”?

2018 — “Resilience is a popular narrative for conservation and provides an opportunity to communicate optimism that ecosystems can recover and rebound from disturbances.” (Emily S. Darling and Isabelle M. Côté, Science, March 2, 2018). 

2014 — “Emerging from a wide range of disciplines, resilience in policy-making has often been based on the ability of systems to bounce back to normality, drawing on engineering concepts. This implies the return of the functions of an individual, household, community or ecosystem to previous conditions, with as little damage and disruption as possible following shocks and stresses”  (Tanner et al, Nature Climate Change,  December 18, 2014). 

1938 — Resilience. 1- The act or power of springing back to a former position or shape. 2. The quantity of work given back by a body that is compressed to a certain limit and then allowed to recover itself, as a spring under pressure suddenly relaxed.”  (Funk & Wagnall’s New Standard Dictionary of the English Language, vol.2, M-Z 1938

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