Notices by Wolfgang Lucht (w_lucht@mstdn.social), page 2

"But a last-minute change of heart by Austria’s [...] minister, whose vote is credited with saving the proposal, led to fury in Vienna, with the party of the chancellor [...] announcing it would seek criminal charges against her for alleged abuse of power. 'Today’s decision is a victory for nature,' wrote Leonore Gewessler [...] 'My conscience tells me unmistakably [that] when the healthy and happy life of future generations is at stake courageous decisions are needed.'"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/17/eu-passes-law-to-restore-20-of-blocs-land-and-sea-by-end-of-decade

🔥🔥Fantastic news!
The EU has finally, finally passed the Nature Restoration Law, after Austria and Slovakia changed course to agree in the Council, creating a slim majority of 20 countries with 66% of the population.

👉 One cannot overemphasize how important this is. Already watered down a lot, it is absolutely critical for giving the ecological integrity of Europe a fighting chance. 👈

💬💥 Update to the remaining 🇩🇪 CO2 budget published today by @umweltrat.

This is what our team did:
* compatible with 2020 & 2022 updates
* updated to improved global CO2 budgets
* updated to emissions to 2023
* generous ceiling to fair budget based on population share from 2016

-> fair 🇩🇪 1.5 budget share used up ⚡
-> now count *exceedance budget*, accept responsibility for damages

Note: some use much CDR, action abroad & grandfathering to call much larger budgets 1.5.

https://www.umweltrat.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/04_Stellungnahmen/2020_2024/2024_03_CO2_Budget.html

The tragic bridge collapse in Baltimore reveals a few things:

* while so many slept for another day of anti-immigrant politics, it was a Honduran, an El Salvadoran, 2 Guatemalans & 3 Mexicans who worked in the night to fix the road

* this random container ship carried 764 tons of hazardous materials - stuff we do

* a huge concern is now: disruption of shipments of new cars - wow, how we depend on new cars!

* what an expensive loss - in Ukraine, Russian bombs cause such destruction, daily

😡🤯 German is a gendered language. The female version of "Professor" is "Professorin". If you wish to include everyone, it has become a great practice to write "Professor:in" (as I do) or some variant. One speaks it with a small stop.

Now Bavaria has outlawed this use of language by state employees, claiming it's ideologically motivated. If I were a professor in Bavaria, I could be sanctioned for the inclusive way I write.

Backlash against nature, women, immigrants ... it's all connected.

Bill McGuire at CNN (shortened): " I’m a climate scientist. If you knew what I know, you’d be terrified too".

"We’re experiencing, in our lifetimes, a heating episode that is probably unique in the last 4.6 billion years."

"In fact, this isn’t a matter of scaring people, but of informing them. As a climate scientist, it is my duty to tell you."

"Everyone has the right to know the facts so as to provide the opportunity to act upon the reality of what we are doing."

https://us.cnn.com/2024/03/07/opinions/climate-scientist-scare-doom-anxiety-mcguire/index.html

Next to GHG emissions, agriculture is the major cause for transgression of #PlanetaryBoundaries, critical to #Earth's stability. 💥

But #farmers are joining the backlash against the EU's #GreenDeal and national environmental regulations: demanding fossil subsidies, curbing of nature restoration, limits to animal welfare and less regulation of nitrogen pollution and pesticides.

Do farmers expect to win an economic race to the bottom? More exploitation is not the answer. It's not sustainable. 🤔

A "stumbling stone" marker in the pavement reminding today's inhabitants of my town that neighbours were deported and murdered under their predecessor's eyes, on their watch. #HolocaustRemembranceDay.

Ruth Olschowski was 40 when she was deported and murdered in Auschwitz, as was her son Hans-Peter. Both had been separately living in hiding until then, hoping to escape.

As @afelia reminded everybody, the Shoah did not begin with gas chambers.

Be vocal. #NeverAgain

@freemo
You argue based on false premises.
"Veterinarians in the US and across Europe have ruled out nitrogen as a euthanasia method for most animals other than pigs. Laboratory studies have shown it can cause distress in many species and scientists largely recommend against it on ethical grounds."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/24/supreme-court-nitrogen-gas-execution-case
Humans should not kill. It's called civilization.
@stux

Whoa! 👉 Our new perspectives paper just went online!

Introducing an important new paradigm: the notion of #Earth regulating "planetary commons" - a substantial and critical framing for building global governance fit for the #Anthropocene.

"Planetary Commons" are #Earth systems on nation's territories, under sovereignty and ownership - but maintaining them is vital for keeping Earth stable. How does humanity govern them? 🌏🌎🌍

More tomorrow!

👉 Open access:
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2301531121

Wow, what a HUGE demonstration against the right, far-right and neofascists in Hamburg this afternoon!

Very important and necessary that people stand up against this undermining of democracy, decency and all our values by these demagogues and authoritarians.

https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/hamburg/Demo-gegen-Rechtsextremismus-in-Hamburg-vorzeitig-beendet,hamburgstehtauf108.html

#Hamburg #HamburgStehtAuf

In the largest demonstration Potsdam has seen in recent years, thousands of citizens protested today against the rise of the far-right and their ultra-right sidekicks in Germany. Nationalists and neofascists throughout Europe are coordinating their subversion of democracy.

Legal: Blocking of roads throughout 🇩🇪 by farmers. The objective: continued subsidies for agricultural fossil fuels.

Legal: Rail workers bringing most train services in 🇩🇪 to a standstill for a full 3 days. The objective: more pay, less work hours.

Illegal: Limited blockades by climate activists. Considered undue force, pot. criminal. The objective: protecting Earth and our societies from large-scale disruption.

It took decades to gain the right to strike. We don't have decades for climate.

Farmers have blocked nearly all access ramps to major highways in the region. Similar blockades are happening throughout Germany.

And again the farmers are protesting not against the brutal pressure they face from food multi-nationals and grocery store chains - who force low prices, exploitation of the land, animals and people - but against policies protecting the environment, here demanding tax-free fossil fuel.

Politically, industry wins: low-wage sectors require cheap food to work.

💥 How about joining our team at the Potsdam Institute to work on Earth system modelling and planetary boundaries?

We will be advertising a large number of positions for Earth system scientists in 2024:

👉 for senior & junior researchers, modellers, science synthesis & coordination.

Here are the first two positions. One a senior position (potentially permanent, requires correspondingly advanced track record) and one a key project postdoc.

https://www.pik-potsdam.de/de/aktuelles/stellen/senior-earth-system-scientist-position-m-f-d

https://www.pik-potsdam.de/de/aktuelles/stellen/earth-system-scientist-position-m-f-d

So the decisive section of the #COP28 presidency's draft resolution text contains the word COULD prominently up front - making all the statements before that section about concern, urgency and commitment a bit of a farce by making none of it binding on anyone.

Full draft text:
https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/GST_2.pdf

#COP28 speech game:

Speak not of fossil fuels, speak of emissions being a problem.

Speak of phasing down, not phasing out.

Speak of tackling unabated fossil fuels, not fossil fuel use.

Speak of CO2 extraction scenarios that have stupendous amounts of it.

Speak not of a Paris climate limit - but of Paris climate targets (plural!).

Reaffirm your commitment to 1.5 but never mention carbon budgets.

Announce 100 mio rather than 100 bn as a breakthrough for a climate fund.

Keep 1.5 "in reach".

Since 2015, the Earth League (of which I'm a member), Future Earth & WCRP have published "10 New Insights in Climate Science" to COPs. This year's is out now as an accepted manuscript:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-sustainability/article/ten-new-insights-in-climate-science-20232024/F7F1C10C07FD241BFE30ACC4BA555A56
Some headlines:
* Overshooting 1.5°C is fast becoming inevitable, greatly increasing risks
* Fast-shrinking carbon budget calls for fossil fuel phase-out
* Concern: the uncertain future contribution of land and ocean carbon sinks
* Climate and biodiversity emergencies are linked
* Justice

Sometimes it's just too much to take. After all these years, all these warnings - the Washington Post still allows columnists like George Will to write things like "Voters are demanding less green bossiness" and "... wants to double by 2030 the capacity of public transit, which the public dislikes", while calling people engaged for climate protection "green obsessives". While citing fossil investments as proof for where the business is. What kind of journalism is that?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/11/10/fossil-fuel-era-continues/

Published today: 👉 The latest Emissions Gap Report of the UN's Environmental Programme.

⚡ Its exasperated title is: "Broken Record. Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again)" 💥

And indeed a broken record, but is anyone listening?

The figure shows that even the already existing fossil infrastructures are enough to blow right through 1.5 °C carbon budgets, and that is without the expansions and new developments so many are supporting.

https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2023