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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Australia swelters through hottest day ever recorded Down Under; November 2019 was second hottest November on record; Ocean acidification accelerating off U.S. West Coast; Fracking costs far outweigh economic benefits, new study finds; PLUS: Goldman Sachs just says no to drilling in the Arctic... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Rich people and racing horses all made out better than renewable energy in Congress' budget deal; Coal baron Robert Murray funded climate denial as his company spiraled into bankruptcy; Puting pressure on the finance world could be one of the most effective ways to fight climate change; Trump’s crude bailout of dirty power plants failed, but a subtler bailout is underway; 20 carbon majors responsible for more than 20 percent of ocean acidification... PLUS: As corals suffer around the world, those in French Polynesia thrive... and much, MUCH more! ...

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

• Australia breaks national record for hottest day ever recorded:
• Australia heatwave: All-time temperature record broken again (BBC):
  
  A state of emergency has been declared in New South Wales, Australia, amid fears a record-breaking heatwave will exacerbate the state's bushfire crisis. The nation endured its hottest-ever day on Tuesday, but that record was smashed again on Wednesday - which saw an average maximum of 41.9C (107.4F).
• Australia has its hottest day for a second straight day as areas face ‘catastrophic’ fire conditions (Washington Post):
  
  Typically, all-time national temperature records are broken by fractions of a degree, making this week’s records particularly unusual. In addition, having back-to-back national temperature records is also rare. However, heat waves such as this one are being made more possible, severe and longer-lasting because of human-caused climate change.
• Australia claims 14 of the 15 hottest places in the world as heatwave continues (7News):
  
  A town in South Australia's west has recorded the state's hottest-ever December day, as it swelters through a four-day heatwave...when it hit 49.2°C on Thursday afternoon.
• VIDEO: New South Wales declares state of emergency as Australia bushfires rage (CNN)
• VIDEO: NSW state of emergency as bushfires and extreme heat take hold after hottest day (ABC Australia)
• Too hot for humans? First Nations people fear becoming Australia's first climate refugees (Guardian UK)
• Wildfires are getting worse, and so is the deadly smoke they bring with them (Grist)
• November 2019 second hottest November on record, 2019 caps hottest decade:
• November 2019 was 2nd hottest on record for the planet (NOAA)
• Earth's Hottest Decade on Record Marked by Extreme Storms, Deadly Wildfires (WMO)
• 2019 concludes a decade of exceptional global heat and high-impact weather (Inside Climate News):
  
  Arctic sea ice melted faster and took longer to form again in the fall. Big swaths of ocean remained record-warm nearly all year, in some regions spawning horrifically damaging tropical storms that surprised experts with their rapid intensification. Densely populated parts of Europe shattered temperature records amid heat waves blamed for hundreds of deaths, and a huge section of the U.S. breadbasket region was swamped for months by floodwater.
• With Second Warmest November, 2019 is Likely to Be Second Warmest Year Ever Recorded (Time)
• November 2019: Earth’s Second Warmest November on Record (Scientific American):
  
  The remarkable year-to-date warmth means that the six warmest years on record globally since 1880 will be the last six years—2014 through 2019—with the peak occurring during the strong El Niño year of 2016.
• Earth's temperature likely marks hottest decade on record: report (Reuters)
• U.S West Coast waters acidifying two times faster than global ocean:
• California Waters Are Acidifying Twice as Fast as the Rest of the Oceans (Earther),/li>
• Tiny shells reveal waters off California acidifying twice as fast as the global ocean (NOAA)
• Decadal variability in twentieth-century ocean acidification in the California Current Ecosystem (Nature Geoscience)
• California coastal waters rising in acidity at alarming rate, study finds (LA Times):
  
  [The study] also made an unexpected connection between acidification and a climate cycle known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation — the same shifting forces that other scientists say have a played a big role in the higher and faster rates of sea level rise hitting California in recent years.
• Ocean Acidification Could Eat Away at Sharks’ Teeth and Scales (Scientific American)
• Geoengineering and Ocean Acidification Off the Coast of California (Mother Jones)
• What is Ocean Acidification? (NOAA)
• Fracking costs far outweigh economic benefits in 3 states:
• Study: Shale gas development has brought economic benefits, but also premature deaths (State Impact PA/NPR):
  
  The study, published last month in the journal Nature Sustainability, found that between 2004 and 2016 shale development created a regional economic boost of $21 billion dollars, compared with $23 billion in the costs related to the 1,200 to 4,600 premature deaths linked to air pollution from the industry.
• Is shale development worth the costs? A CMU study says no. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Cumulative environmental and employment impacts of the shale gas boom (Nature Sustainability)
• 12 states propose cap and trade system to cut transportation emissions:
• Eastern States Introduce a Plan to Cap Tailpipe Pollution (NY Times):
  
  More than a fifth of the United States population would be affected by the plan, which sets a cap, to be lowered over time, on the total amount of carbon dioxide that can be released from vehicles that use transportation fuels, like gasoline and diesel fuel.
• East Coast states outline carbon pricing plan (Commonwealth Magazine)
• Regional Proposal for Clean Transportation Reaches Milestone (Transportation and Climate Initiative of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States)
• Goldman Sachs just says no to funding Arctic drilling projects:
• Goldman Sachs rules out financing for Arctic drilling. Will other U.S. banks follow? (Washington Post):
  
  Goldman Sachs just became the first big U.S. bank to say it will no longer finance new drilling or oil exploration in the Arctic. It may not be the last. That’s the hope of some Native Americans and environmentalists in Alaska who for years have pressured Wall Street to rule out financing oil and natural gas work in the world’s fastest-warming region.
• Goldman Sachs is first big US bank to rule out loans for Arctic drilling (CNN Marketwatch)
• VIDEO: Alaska governor on Goldman Sachs arctic drilling snub: will ‘revaluate’ relationship (Fox Business)
• Alaska Natives Demanded Goldman Sachs Not Fund Arctic Drilling—And It Listened (Earther)
• Environmental Policy Framework (Goldman Sachs)

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

For a comprehensive roundup of daily environmental news you can trust, see the Society of Environmental Journalists' Daily Headlines page

• Need an idea for a climate-friendly gift? We have 79. (Grist)
• Beer, Rich People, and Racing Horses All Made Out Better Than Renewable Energy in Congress' Budget (Earther)
• Coal Baron Funded Climate Denial as His Company Spiraled Into Bankruptcy (NY Times)
• As Coral Reefs Suffer Around World, Those In French Polynesia Thrive (Science)
• Putting Pressure on the Finance World Could Be One of the Most Effective Ways to Fight Climate Change (Time)
• Trump’s crude bailout of dirty power plants failed, but a subtler bailout is underway (Vox)
• VIDEO: Gas-free homes: a win for our climate, health, and safety (Sierra Club)
• Research: 20 Carbon Majors Responsible for More Than 20 Percent of Ocean Acidification (Climate Liability News)
• Warren proposes 'Blue New Deal' to protect oceans (the Hill)
• Trump Picks Aide Who Backed Him During Dorian Controversy To Head NOAA (The Hill)
• Interior Sec. Bernhardt's law firm makes bank since nomination (E&E News)
• Lawyer who fought Monsanto arrested on extortion charges (E&E News)
• Judge OKs Nearly $25 Billion For PG&E Fire Victims, Insurers (AP)
• What Does '12 Years to Act on Climate Change' (Now 11 Years) Really Mean? (Inside Climate News)
• VIDEO: A Message From the Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (The Intercept)
• This Is How Human Extinction Could Play Out (Rolling Stone)
• SEJ Backgrounder: Green New Deal Proposes Sweeping Economic Transformation (Society of Environmental Journalists)
• Explainer: The 'Green New Deal': Mobilizing for a just, prosperous, and sustainable economy (New Consensus)
• What genuine, no-bullshit ambition on climate change would look like: How to hit the most stringent targets, with no loopholes. (David Roberts, Vox)
• A Global Shift To Sustainability Would Save Us $26 Trillion (Vox)
• Project Drawdown: 100 Solutions to Reverse Global Warming (Drawdown.org)
• An Optimist's Guide to Solving Climate Change and Saving the World (Vice)
• The great nutrient collapse: The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat, for the worse. And almost nobody is paying attention. (Politico)
• The world's bleak climate situation, in 3 charts: We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there. (Vox)
• The Climate Risks We Face (NY Times):
  
  To stabilize global temperature, net carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced to zero. The window of time is rapidly closing to reduce emissions and limit warming to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the goal set in the Paris climate accord. The further we push the climate system beyond historical conditions, the greater the risks of potentially unforeseen and even catastrophic changes to the climate - so every reduction in emissions helps.
• The Uninhabitable Earth: When will climate change make earth too hot for humans? (New York Magazine):
  
  Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak - sooner than you think.
• A beginner's guide to the debate over 100% renewable energy (Vox):
  
  Clean-energy enthusiasts frequently claim that we can go bigger, that it's possible for the whole world to run on renewables - we merely lack the "political will." So, is it true? Do we know how get to an all-renewables system? Not yet. Not really.

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: Ohio, California, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Environment, Green News, Fracking, Natural gas, Oil, Climate change, Extreme weather, Australia, Oceans/Sea Level Rise, Transportation, Arctic, NOAA, Carbon Tax, Pollution