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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Major earthquake rattles Oklahoma, linked to fracking; Violent confrontation erupts at Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's Dakota Access pipeline protest; Typhoons in Asia now 50 per cent stronger than in the 1970s; PLUS: President Obama in China formally signs the U.S. on to the landmark United Nations Paris Agreement... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Climate change makes major Gulf Coast deluges more likely: study; Battered Coal Companies Courted State AGs to Fight Climate Rules; Lloyd’s Fight Over Coverage for Oklahoma Earthquakes to be Heard by New York Court; The Truth Behind The Kochs’ New Fossil Fuel PR Campaign; Fish Deaths in Montana's Yellowstone River Tied to Warming Waters; Judge Blocks Central California Oil Development Over Fracking... PLUS: 13 Sperm Whales Found Dead with Stomachs Full of Plastic Trash... and much, MUCH more! ...

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...

• Hurricanes a-plenty, exhibiting unusual behavior:
• Sudden Storm, Lingering Storm: Hurricane Newton Hits Baja, Hermine Still Spinning (Weather Underground):
  
  Hurricane Newton is battering Mexico's Baja Peninsula after whipping into existence on Sunday and intensifying with frightening speed.
• Hermine to Linger Offshore after Soaking Southeast; Dangerous Surge Still Possible (Weather Underground)
• Sea level rise is worsening Hermine's coastal flooding (Mashable)
• One Hurricane Is Rare In Hawaii, And The State Might See Two This Week (538.com)
• Two hurricanes on course for historic encounter with Big Island of Hawaii (Mashable)
• The science behind Hawaii's double hurricane: (Smithsonian):
  
  Having two cyclones in the ocean is not rare, but when they get too close to each other, things can get crazy.
• Study: Pacific typhoons 50 per cent stronger than in 1970s
• Asian typhoons becoming more intense, study finds (Guardian UK):
  
  Giant storms that wreak havoc across China, Japan, Korea and the Philippines have grown 50% stronger in the past 40 years due to warming seas.
• Super typhoons becoming more powerful and more frequent, new study finds (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Standing Rock Sioux protest erupts in violent clash:
• A Pipeline Fight and America's Dark Past (Bill McKibben, New Yorker)
• Bakken Pipeline Construction Temporarily Halted As Protests Rage (Climate Progress):
  
  The emergency court hearing followed a weekend of protests that turned violent in North Dakota.
• VIDEO: Dakota Access Pipeline Company Attacks Native American Protesters with Dogs and Pepper Spray (Democracy Now!)
• VIDEO: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's Lawyer: Judge's Ruling Allows Dakota Access to "Desecrate" Sacred Ground (Democracy Now):
  
  "We're disappointed with what happened here today. We provided evidence on Friday of sacred sites that were directly in the pipeline's route. By Saturday morning, those sites had been destroyed. And we saw things happening out at Standing Rock-dogs being put on protesters-that haven't been seen in America in 40, 50 years."
• Judge Fails to Stop Dakota Pipeline Construction After Burial Sites Destroyed (InsideClimate News)
• Dakota Pipeline Was Approved by Army Corps Over Objections of Three Federal Agencies (InsideClimate News)
• What's Happening in Standing Rock? (Outside Magazine)
• Dakota Pipeline Fight Is Sioux Tribe's Cry For Justice (InsideClimate News)
• Oklahoma hit with new major earthquake, linked to fracking:
• Magnitudes for Oklahoma Earthquakes Shift Upward (US Geological Survey)
• State of Emergency Declared in Oklahoma After Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake (AP)
• Oklahoma Just Experienced Its Largest Earthquake on Record (Live Science)
• Oklahoma takes action on fracking-related earthquakes — but too late, critics say (LA Times)
• Oklahoma earthquake and oil drilling: What we know (CNN) [emphasis added]:
  
  Drillers also argue that recycling is more expensive, in part because they must pay to transport the wastewater to recycling facilities. Some drillers do recycle. For example, about 90% of wastewater in Pennsylvania is recycled. In Texas, drought has spurred an increase in recycling.
• Oklahoma Quake Matches Record Even After Fracking Waste Restricted (Bloomberg)
• U.S. and China sign historic Paris Agreement at G20 Summit:
• G20 reaffirms climate commitments – but dodges deadlines (Guaridan UK):
  
  Leaders back rapid implementation of the Paris agreement and ramping up of green finance, but fail to set timeline for phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies.
• U.S. and China Ratify Historic Paris Agreement, Upping Pressure on Other Nations (InsideClimate News):
  
  Ratification by the world's biggest carbon polluters is major step toward an early entry into force of the deal, which would have a "catalytic effect," the UN says.

'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (Stuff we didn't have time for in today's audio report)...

• Battered Coal Companies Courted State AGs to Fight Climate Rules (Bloomberg):
  
  Murray Energy Corp. made a $250,000 donation to the Republican Attorneys General Association last year and, in return, the coal mining company’s chief executive got a closed-door meeting with state prosecutors to discuss the Obama administration’s regulation of power plants. Eleven days later, the attorneys general went to federal court to fight the rules that Murray Energy says could put the coal industry out of business.
• Lloyd’s Fight Over Coverage for Oklahoma Earthquakes to be Heard by New York Court (Claims Journal):
  
  A federal judge in New York agreed Wednesday to decide the lawsuit by Lloyd’s seeking to be released from liability for earthquake damage in Oklahoma blamed on fracking...Arguments in the Lloyd’s case focus on whether pollution insurance policies it sold to the oil company in 2014 cover earthquakes. This year, New Dominion was hit with five lawsuits seeking compensation for damage caused by earthquakes in Oklahoma. The suits blamed the earthquakes on the company’s injection well operations
• The Truth Behind The Kochs’ New Fossil Fuel PR Campaign (Climate Progress):
  
  Behind the latest Koch-funded effort to hide the impacts of fossil fuels.
• Climate change makes major Gulf Coast deluges more likely: study (NOLA):
  
  "The probability of a 3-day precipitation extreme like the event observed August 12th-14th occurring anywhere in the Central Gulf Coast region has increased, and the increase is due to human-caused climate change," the authors said in a news release reporting their findings. "In our expert judgement and drawing upon results from multiple peer-reviewed methods, the increase in probability is at least 40 percent --- but it may be larger."
• 13 Sperm Whales Found Dead with Stomachs Full of Plastic Trash (The Inertia):
  
  At the time, necropsies hadn't been done, and speculation about the cause of the deaths ranged from global warming to pesticides. And although it has now been revealed that the most likely cause of death was acute cardiovascular failure, the contents of their stomachs was alarming, to say the least. Among the squid beaks and fish parts was a whole lot of plastic-just more damning evidence that plastic isn't worth the convenience.
• Fish Deaths in Montana's Yellowstone River Tied to Warming Waters (InsideClimate News):
  
  An outbreak of fish-killing disease along a 100-mile stretch of the Yellowstone River in Montana may be the latest sign that mountain stream ecosystems are being disrupted by climate change. Scientists point to warmer, slower rivers as a likely cause of the mass fish mortality.
• Judge Blocks Central California Oil Development Over Fracking (SF Gate):
  
  A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from opening more than 1 million acres in Central California to oil drilling because the agency did not properly explore the potential dangers of fracking.
• As Oceans Continue to Warm, Consequences Grow More Dire, Study Says (InsideClimate News):
  
  Much of the heat of global warming has been absorbed by the sea, with a steep cost to marine life, ecosystems and the people that depend on them.
• Secret 'Chemtrail' Spraying Not Real, Scientists Agree (ENS):
  
  Long-lasting white trails left behind by aircraft are caused by well-understood physical and chemical processes, not a secret, large-scale atmospheric spraying program, concludes new research from Carnegie Science, University of California-Irvine, and the nonprofit Near Zero.
• Environmental records shattered as climate change 'plays out before us' (Guardian UK):
  
  Temperatures, sea levels and carbon dioxide all hit milestones amid extreme weather in 2015, major international 'state of the climate' report finds.

FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page

• NASA climate change video: This is the U.S. in 2100 (NASA).

                 

Article Categories: United Nations, Environment, Republicans, Green News, Hawaii, Fracking, North Dakota, Oil, Climate change, Extreme weather, China, Oceans/Sea Level Rise, Native Americans, Paris Agreement, Dakota Access Pipeline