The New Normal

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Global heating has led to an increase in the frequency and severity of fire weather – the conditions in which wildfires are likely to start – around the world, a review of 57 recent scientific papers has shown.
The bushfires ravaging Australia are a clear sign of what is to come around the world if temperatures are allowed to rise to dangerous levels, according to scientists.

“This is what you can expect to happen … at an average of 3C above pre-industrial levels,” said Richard Betts, professor of geography at Exeter University. “We are seeing a sign of what would be normal conditions in a 3C world. It tells us what the future world might look like. This really brings home what climate change means.”
Average temperature rises in Australia were about 1.4C above pre-industrial levels before this season’s fires, showing a more rapid rate of heating than the global average of 1.1C.
Scientists warn that beyond a rise of 2C, the impacts of climate breakdown are likely to become catastrophic and irreversible, yet current global commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris agreement are estimated to put the world on track for 3C of heating.
“These are the impacts we are seeing at 1C [of heating] so these impacts will get more [severe] as long as we do not do what it takes to stabilise the world climate,” warned Corinne Le Quéré, professor of climate change science and policy at the University of East Anglia (UEA). “This is not a new normal – this is a transition to more impacts.”
Betts said the extreme bushfires in Australia showed what climate change would mean in reality, which many people found hard to imagine. The influence of human-induced climate change was clear in the Australian fires, he said, though more studies were likely to confirm this in the coming months.



Quote of the Day

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“Biofuels are not the magic solution to the climate emergency. The international dash to expand the use of bioenergy and biofuels has had significant impacts: displacing food production, harming biodiversity and seizing indigenous peoples’ land.” –  Mike Childs, Friends of the Earth’s head of policy.



More evidence of our warming planet

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The heat in the world’s oceans reached a new record level in 2019, showing “irrefutable and accelerating” heating of the planet.



The world’s oceans are the clearest measure of the climate emergency because they absorb more than 90% of the heat trapped by the greenhouse gases emitted by fossil fuel burning, forest destruction and other human activities.



The new analysis shows the past five years are the top five warmest years recorded in the ocean and the past 10 years are also the top 10 years on record. The amount of heat being added to the oceans is equivalent to every person on the planet running 100 microwave ovens all day and all night.

Hotter oceans lead to more severe storms and disrupt the water cycle, meaning more floods, droughts and wildfires, as well as an inexorable rise in sea level. Higher temperatures are also harming life in the seas, with the number of marine heatwaves increasing sharply.

The vast majority of oceans regions are showing an increase in thermal energy. This energy drives bigger storms and more extreme weather, said Prof John Abraham at the University of St Thomas, in Minnesota, US, and one of the team behind the new analysis.: “When the world and the oceans heat up, it changes the way rain falls and evaporates. There’s a general rule of thumb that drier areas are going to become drier and wetter areas are going to become wetter, and rainfall will happen in bigger downbursts.”
Hotter oceans also expand and melt ice, causing sea levels to rise. The past 10 years also show the highest sea level measured in records dating back to 1900. 
Dan Smale, at the Marine Biological Association in the UK, and not part of the analysis team, said the methods used are state of the art and the data is the best available. “For me, the take-home message is that the heat content of the upper layers of the global ocean, particularly to 300 metre depth, is rapidly increasing, and will continue to increase as the oceans suck up more heat from the atmosphere,” he said.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/ocean-temperatures-hit-record-high-as-rate-of-heating-accelerates

Money goes to money

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Despite having more than 10 million subscribers paying more than £860m in subscription fees each year in the UK, Netflix UK received a €57,000 (£51,000) rebate from the government in 2018.



  The company’s UK financial filing stated revenues of just €48m, and pre-tax profits of €2.3m, because the hundreds of millions of pounds from British subscribers are channelled via its European headquarters in the Netherlands.



The Taxwatch thinktank has estimated that in 2018 Netflix moved between $327m and $430m (£250m-£330m) in profits from international operations outside the US, including the UK, to low-tax jurisdictions such as the Netherlands.

This research shows that Netflix is ripping off our public services by channelling profits through tax havens even though it appears to have employees, property, and a substantial customer base in the UK,” said John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor. “What’s even worse is that Netflix is claiming tax reliefs in the UK at the same time as it’s channelling profits overseas.”

Netflix, which has a market value of $150bn, claimed £924,000 in tax relief as part of government incentives to make sure Britain remains a competitive location for making productions, according to the report. High-quality TV shows made in the UK that cost more than £1m per episode to make, such as The Crown, and films that pass a “cultural test” are eligible for relief. Netflix, which has more than 200 staff in the UK, spent $500m making more than 50 TV shows and films in the UK last year.



n September, Amazon revealed it received €241m in tax credits in 2018, despite efforts by EU authorities in Brussels to ensure the company pays more tax. Amazon Europe, which is based in Luxembourg and aggregates the billions of pounds of sales the retailer makes from individual countries across the continent, received the credits after reporting a pre-tax loss of €493m in 2018. Sales rose 11.6% to €28bn.



Amazon, which is being pursued by the European commission for more than €250m over “illegal tax advantages” in Luxembourg, paid just €55m in tax on European revenues of €24.9bn in 2017. In 2016, it paid €16.5m on revenues of €21.6bn.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/jan/14/netflix-accused-of-funnelling-uk-profits-through-netherlands

Global warming and the poor

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Extreme heat kills hundreds of people in the US every year – more than any other hazardous weather event, including hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Each year, more than 600 Americans die and 65,000 or so seek emergency medical care for excessive heat exposure. As heatwaves become increasingly frequent and severe, scientists expect to see an increase in deaths and illnesses, particularly among vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, economically disadvantaged communities, and those with pre-existing conditions like heart disease, asthma and diabetes. Heatwaves have been occurring more frequently since the mid-20th century, and are expected to become more common, more severe and longer-lasting due to the climate crisis.



However, exposure to extreme heat is unequal: temperatures in different neighborhoods within the same city can vary by 20F. It is mostly lower-income households and communities of color who live in these urban “heat islands” which have historically had fewer green spaces and tree canopy, and more concrete and pavements and thus are less equipped to cope with the mounting effects of global heating.

Current temperature disparities echo the legacy of past racially motivated town planning. Urban neighborhoods denied municipal services and support for home ownership during the mid-20th century are now the hottest areas in 94% of the 108 cities analysed by researchers at Portland State University and the Science Museum of Virginia.



“This systematic pattern suggests a woefully negligent planning system that hyper-privileges richer and whiter communities,” said Vivek Shandas, professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State University who authors the paper. “As climate change brings hotter, more frequent and longer heatwaves, the same historically underserved neighborhoods – often where lower-income households and communities of color still live – will face the greatest impact,” Shandas added.



Beginning in the 1930s, some, mostly African American neighborhoods – designated with red lines – were categorized as too risky for investment, and denied home loans and insurance. As a result, the housing stock fell into disrepair, and residents were unable to create wealth through homeownership or move into “better” suburban neighborhoods, which intensified segregation and wealth inequalities. Redlining was banned in the 1968 Fair Housing Act, but those neighborhoods are still predominantly home to lower-income communities and communities of color who are disproportionately exposed to a variety of environmental hazards such as lead, poor water and air quality, over development and limited shade. Redlined neighborhoods also had the lowest public and private investment. Researchers used satellite images to analyse the relationship between summertime surface temperatures and “redlining” in 108 cities across the country.
Nationally, the study found formerly “redlined” neighborhoods are 5F warmer, on average, than non-redlined neighborhoods. However, the difference is much starker in some cities. For instance in Portland, Oregon, and Denver, Colorado, researchers found a 12 to 13F difference between formerly redlined and non-redlined neighborhoods, compared with 1-2 F in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and Flint, Michigan.

“The patterns of the lowest temperatures in specific neighborhoods do not occur because of circumstance or coincidence. They are a result of decades of intentional investment in parks, green spaces, trees, transportation and housing policies that provided ‘cooling services’, which also coincide with being wealthier and whiter across the country … neighborhoods are not made equal,” said Shandas. “We are now seeing how those policies are literally killing those most vulnerable to acute heat.”



“This study is a textbook case of how structural racism in housing compounds environmental, climate and health risks,” Dr Robert Bullard, distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University, told the Guardian. “Zip code is still a potent predictor of health and well-being… environmental vulnerability maps closely with racial injustice.”



 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jan/13/racist-housing-policies-us-deadly-heatwaves-exposure-study

German Mayors – We can take more refugees

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The European Union has decreased its Mediterranean rescue efforts, while Greece and Italy are struggling to deal with displaced people who have already arrived. German cities are demanding permission to take action.

With EU efforts toward political solutions to rescue and distribute refugees effectively at a standstill, representatives from Potsdam, Düsseldorf and elsewhere told a joint press conference that it is their humanitarian duty to upend the current status quo on migration policy.



“We would be prepared to take in more people if we were allowed,” Mike Schubert, mayor of Potsdam and a member of the initiative Cities of Safe Harbours, told reporters. “We are currently experiencing a policy of wait and see, but that’s the opposite of acting.” He went on to remark, “What’s the alternative to saving people at sea? To allow people to drown? The number of those who stand at the ready to intercept this catastrophe is growing every day.”
With EU efforts toward political solutions to rescue and distribute refugees effectively at a standstill, representatives from Potsdam, Düsseldorf and elsewhere told a joint press conference that it is their humanitarian duty to upend the current status quo on migration policy.
The Cities of Safe Harbours initiative seeks to break that standstill by petitioning for special permissions to immediately accept refugees rescued on the Mediterranean and stranded in Greece, Italy and elsewhere. Cities of Safe Harbours has asked the government to trigger Section 23, Paragraph 1 of Germany’s Residence Act, which allows for the immediate distribution of specialty humanitarian residence permits without legislative acrobatics.



Business As Usual

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Siemens has decided to put profits ahead of the environment. 



Siemens has made its decision to provide infrastructure for the huge Carmichael coal mine in the Australian state of Queensland.  The division has signed a contract with Indian mining giant Adani to build a signaling system for the rail connection between its Carmichael coal mine in Queensland, Australia, and a terminal for shipping the coal abroad. A major point criticism of the project is the terminal in eastern Australia, which the activists claim will threaten the coral habitat of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. More general concern comes with the use of coal as such — a commodity which is in the firing line for its huge carbon emissions.



The contract may be worth €18 million ($20 million) 



Despite various efforts, humanity is now pumping more CO2 into the atmosphere than ever before. One reason is that governments do not do enough to keep companies in line, for fear that national economies will suffer. They do not give them sufficient incentive to introduce effective measures that are more than simply image-related. The pursuit of profits takes precedence over protecting the environment.
The likes of BlackRock, Vanguard, Goldman Sachs and others, so far,  show little enthusiasm for protecting the climate.

https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-siemens-chooses-profits-over-environment/a-51991877

https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-why-siemens-cannot-pull-out-of-the-adani-coal-mine/a-51990282

Australia’s Environment Emergency

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Melbourne has been hit by hazardous air pollution as smoke from bushfires in Victoria’s east and in New South Wales drifts through the state. 



Air quality been categorised as very poor by the Environmental Protection Authority.

Air quality forecasts for Geelong, Latrobe Valley, Melbourne, central region, all of Gippsland and the north central region were all listed as hazardous for Tuesday by the EPA.
Several areas in New South Wales and Victoria have already been issued with warnings about the quality of their drinking water.



Wrong Answer

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The popular American game show Jeopardy told a contestant that she had answered wrongly after identifying Jesus’s place of birth, the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, as being in Palestine.  Another contestants had his reply that it was in Israel accepted as correct.



The Church of Nativity,  a World Heritage Site, is located in Bethlehem which is located in the occupied West Bank, which is internationally-recognised as part of Palestine.



Imraan Siddiqi, executive director of Council of American Islamic Relations Arizona chapter, said, “This just shows how normalised the occupation.”

Tamara Nassar,  at Electronic Intifada, told Al Jazeera the Jeopardy! incident contributes to the “settler-colonial ideal of erasing Palestinians from their own cultural and religious sites – both in consciousness and in physical fact… the audience is fed ahistorical propaganda.
Jeopardy producers were not available for comment.



The Socialist Party’s Summer School 2020: Technology

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The Socialist Party’s 2020 Summer School on 7th- 9th August, looks at technological progress and its application in the past, present and future. This weekend of talks and discussion is an exciting opportunity to share and explore revolutionary ideas, in the relaxing setting of Fircroft College in Birmingham.



From the development of the first tools and the wheel through to the invention of the printing press, the steam engine, the microprocessor and beyond, technology has always shaped how we live. Scientific developments take place in the context of the social and economic conditions of the time. In capitalism, technological progress and how technology is used are driven by what is profitable and cost effective more than by what is really needed and wanted. This means that technology is often used in ways which go against our best interests, whether through environmental damage, the development of ever-more destructive weapons or the misuse of data gathered online and through social media. In a future socialist society based on common ownership and democratic organisation of industries and services, technology could really be used to benefit us, in harmony with the environment.



Full residential cost (including accommodation and meals Friday evening to Sunday afternoon) is £100, and the concessionary rate is £50. Day visitors are welcome, but please book in advance.



E-mail enquiries should be sent to spgbschool@yahoo.co.uk.



To book a place online, go to spgb.net/summer-school-2020 or send a cheque (payable to the Socialist Party of Great Britain) with your contact details to Summer School, The Socialist Party, 52 Clapham High Street, London, SW4 7UN.

Promoted by the Socialist Party of Great Britain, 52 Clapham High Street, London, SW4 7UN.

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