 home
archives
last week
feedback
Rolla Peace News March 5, 2019 |
|
Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter030519.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019 2. CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY STARTS NEW CHAPTER IN ROLLA 3. UPCOMING CLIMATE EVENTS a) Friday, March 15: Global school strike for the climate b) Monday, March 18: Great Rivers Environmental Law Center in Rolla 4. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Slouching Toward Nuclear War b) New Monthly Record Set for CO2 in the Atmosphere c) A Positive Feedback Loop: Climate Change and War 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office, THIS THURSDAY, MARCH 7 FROM NOON TO 1:00 PM (and most subsequent Thursdays until peace is established). Please try to join us. The temperature is predicted to be in the 40s. If you do not feel comfortable standing with us in front of the Post Office, please consider driving by and showing your support for our message by honking your horn and flashing a peace sign. 2. CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY STARTS NEW CHAPTER IN ROLLA Last Saturday Citizens Climate Lobby met in Rolla and opened a new chapter. Citizens Climate Lobby is attempting to lobby congress to pass the Energy Innovation Act. For more information email cclrolla1.5@gmail.com. 3. UPCOMING CLIMATE EVENTS a) Friday, March 15: Global school strike for the climate b) Monday, March 18, 1:00pm: Great Rivers Environmental Law Center in Rolla Friday, March 15: Global school strike for the climate. Here's a map of the world with all the climate strikes planned for the 15th. Rolla is not on the map yet; but you could put it there. Monday, March 18, 1:00pm: Kathleen Henry, president of Great Rivers Environmental Law Center and Sarah Willey, Director of Outreach and Development, will be visiting Rolla. They will hold an informal Coffee Conversation with Great Rivers at Panera. Everyone is invited, no fixed agenda. Great Rivers has been fighting for our environment since 2002. 4. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Slouching Toward Nuclear War b) New Monthly Record Set for CO2 in the Atmosphere c) A Positive Feedback Loop: Climate Change and War SLOUCHING TOWARD NUCLEAR WAR India and Pakistan have just become the only two nuclear-armed states to have ever bombed each other (albeit with conventional weapons). Arundhati Roy analyzes the latest in this 70-year-old war and concludes, “Kashmir is the real theatre of unspeakable violence and moral corrosion that can spin us into violence and nuclear war at any moment. To prevent that from happening, the conflict in Kashmir has to be addressed and resolved.” The second summit between US president Donald Trump and North Korean party chairman Kim Jong-un fizzled like a wet firecracker. North Korea wants a lifting of sanctions and humanitarian aid due to a poor harvest exacerbated by drought, climate change and sanctions. Trump wants North Korea to give up its nuclear bombs and missiles. The summit ended early with nothing accomplished. And the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons garnered no new signatories or ratifications in the month of February. Seems like a lot of folks out there are not interested in sticking around another year or two. Tom Lehrer sang about this 60 years ago. NEW MONTHLY RECORD SET FOR CO2 IN THE ATMOSPHERE CO2 in the atmosphere for February, 2019, as measured at Mauna Loa (the “gold standard” for CO2 measurements) was 411.75 ppm, beating out the previous monthly record of 411.24 set in May, 2018. Significantly, the monthly record for the year is typically set in May. Rarely has a record month been recorded as early as February and never by anywhere near the 0.51 ppm recorded this February. February also set a record at Mauna Loa in 2017 (by 0.16 ppm), 2013 (by 0.06 ppm), and 2010 (by 0.06 ppm). This could reflect an increase in CO2 produced by human activity, a failure of forests, oceans or other carbon sinks to absorb CO2, and/or other factors. A POSITIVE FEEDBACK LOOP: CLIMATE CHANGE AND WAR A colleague sent me a link to this 2009 report from the International Institute for Sustainable Development discussing how Climate Change in the Middle East has exacerbated water shortages, which has led to conflict and distrust, which has led in turn to lack of cooperation and poor water management, which leads to further water shortages. The Middle East is one of the world's most water-poor regions, and is likely to dry out even more in future years due to climate change. The authors write: Very prophetic words, indeed!“It is possible that climate change, a shared threat like no other, may encourage countries to work together despite their political and ideological differences. In so doing, climate change could become a vehicle for rapprochement and peacebuilding. Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesday evenings (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Grassroots Rolla: at the top of rightmost column). If you don't wish to get notices of peace events in the Rolla area, let me know and I'll take you off this list. If you want to be added to this list, let me know. Wage peace, Helen helenm (at) fidnet.com |