If it’s hot outside, you’re more likely to believe in climate change.
The public perception of climate change is shaped by the weather that people experience, according to a study published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.
People who live in areas where high temperature records are broken
are more likely to believe in global warming than those who do not. In
areas that experienced record lows, people were less inclined to believe
in the mainstream climate science that shows human activity is warming
the Earth.
People see climate change through a local lens, said Robert Kaufmann,
the study’s lead author and director of the Center for Energy and
Environmental Studies at Boston University. And in many areas of the
country, the climate is not changing in the same way that it is for the
entire planet.
That, of course, doesn’t mean climate science is wrong, since it
doesn’t claim that all parts of the planet will warm in the same way.
But the study shows that people’s daily weather experiences does lead to
skepticism in areas not breaking heat records, he said.
“When personal experience and expert opinion don’t align on a topic
that’s not critical to an individual’s well-being, they’re going to go
with their gut rather than what the expert tells them,” Kaufmann said.
Researchers noted that the discrepancy resulted from the public’s
equating of weather with climate, which many assume are the same. When
they head outside and the weather is extremely hot and humid, they are
more likely to believe in a warming climate, which is a weather trend
that lasts for decades. In addition, the term “global warming” has
convinced many people that they must feel record warmth for the theory
of a hotter planet to hold true, researchers found.
The areas where many heat records are broken, and where public
perception is tilted in the direction of mainstream climate science,
included much of the West Coast and the Northeast. Areas where there is a
high level of climate skepticism and record-breaking cold include Ohio
and much of the Mississippi River Valley.
I’ll make up my own mind
The study was released on the same day that the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration declared November the fifth hottest on record
and again noted that 2016 would likely be the hottest year on record
for global temperatures. The contiguous United States experienced its
fifth warmest November ever recorded, according to NOAA.
Despite the gap in perception, a majority of Americans want more
political and corporate responsibility on climate change, according to a
survey from Yale University’s climate change communication program,
released last week.
A majority of Americans favor political action on global warming,
despite the presidential victory of Donald Trump, who questions climate
science, the survey found. It shows that almost two-thirds of registered
voters across all parties want the Trump administration and Congress to
do more to address global warming. Almost three-quarters of Republicans
and about 90 percent of Democrats want corporations to do more on
climate change.
“For the most part, Americans want major institutions that have a lot
of power and influence to do more on the issue on global warming,” said
Matt Cutler, a Yale University researcher.
Still, Kaufmann said it’s human nature to trust one’s own experience over scientific evidence or political wisdom.
“Unless it really affects my everyday life, I’m not going to spend
time studying this issue, and I’m not necessarily going to believe
scientists either, especially now that experts are held in such ill
repute, but I’m going to make up my mind based on how I can see and feel
climate change,” he said. “For many people, that is record-high and
record-low temperatures.”
Two separate investigations into allegations of trade-based money laundering by Adani companies underway
Federal Government considering granting Adani a $1b subsidy to build a railway
Adani denies wrongdoing
The business behind the planned Carmichael coal mine in
North Queensland is facing multiple financial crime and corruption
probes, with Indian authorities investigating Adani companies for
siphoning money offshore and artificially inflating power prices at the
expense of Indian consumers.
Companies under scrutiny for the alleged corrupt
conduct include Adani Enterprises Limited — the ultimate parent company
of the massive mine planned for the Galilee Basin.
Two separate
investigations into allegations of trade-based money laundering by Adani
companies are underway — one into the fraudulent invoicing of coal
imports and the other into a scam involving false invoicing for capital
equipment imports.
"They are very serious allegations and they are
being conducted by the premier Indian government agency investigating
financial crime," Australia's foremost expert on money laundering,
Professor David Chaikin of the University of Sydney, told the ABC.
"The allegations involve substantial sums of money with major losses to the Indian taxpayer."
Adani denies wrongdoing.
The
"modus operandi" of the claimed fraud is outlined in a circular issued
by India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, which was obtained by
the ABC.
"Intelligence obtained by the Directorate of Revenue
Intelligence indicated that certain importers of Indonesian coal were
artificially inflating its import value as opposed to its actual value,"
Professor Chaikin said.
"The objective … appears to be two-fold:
(i) siphoning off money abroad and (ii) to avail higher power tariff
compensation based on [the] artificially inflated cost of the imported
coal."
Adani Enterprises Ltd accused of bribery of public officials
Five Adani Group companies are among a number of power companies named in the circular as under investigation.
These
include Adani Enterprises Ltd, the ultimate parent company of the Adani
entity, which holds the environmental approvals for the planned
Carmichael Coal Mine and a railway to the mine.
Adani Enterprises
Ltd has also been accused of involvement in large-scale illegal iron ore
exports and bribery of public officials.
According to a 2011
report by the ombudsman of the Indian State of Karnataka, obtained by
the ABC, police seized documents from Adani Enterprises in raids "which
indicate that money has been regularly paid to port authorities, customs
authorities, police department, mines and geology and even to
MLAs/MPs".
The revelations come as the Federal Government
considers granting Adani a $1 billion subsidy to build a railway from
the Abbot Point Coal Terminal to the mine site 400 kilometres inland.
When asked on AM whether the Northern Australia Infrastructure
Facility (NAIF) would wait until the Indian investigations are concluded
before approving the loan, Minister for Resources and Northern
Australia Matt Canavan said that was a matter for it to decide.
"That's
a matter for the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility - as I
said, I'm very confident in the skills and experience we've got on the
board," he said.
"They will make an assessment of these things and provide me advice."
The ABC asked the Government's NAIF, which
has an application from Adani for the subsidised, non-commercial loan,
whether it was appropriate to consider it when Adani companies were
facing multiple fraud allegations.
It also asked NAIF how it could
conduct proper due diligence for the loan when the Adani companies in
Australia, established for the rail project, were ultimately owned by a
private company in the Cayman Islands, a secretive tax haven, as the ABC revealed yesterday.
NAIF did not respond.
When Senator Canavan was asked on AM whether he was aware of the investigations into Adani, he said he was seeking advice.
"I've
asked my department for advice about it. As your story indicated there
are no findings at this stage on this investigation," he said.
"It's
not unusual, of course, for tax authorities and others to investigate
large companies, as it happened in this country with many companies and
has involved large settlements with the Australian Taxation Office.
"But I don't know the status of these allegations apart from the fact that they remain allegations."
However, Professor Chaikin said Adani's loan application should be put on ice until it is cleared of wrongdoing.
"No Australian bank or financial institution
or government should finance any transaction where there are
allegations of financial impropriety or crime on foot," Professor
Chaikin said.
"They should wait until those investigations are
concluded before they complete their due diligence process and decide
whether to make a loan."
Team examining alleged fraud by Indian Adani power company
Ariane
Wilkinson, a lawyer for legal team Environmental Justice Australia,
said the proposal was "seriously concerning" for a range of reasons.
"Not
least of which is that the companies that will be applying for the
loan, whether it is Adani Mining or one of the other companies owned in
the Cayman Islands, are connected through their parent companies to
allegations of fraudulent invoicing and trade-based money laundering,"
she said.
A Supreme Court appointed special "black money" investigation team is
examining an alleged fraud by Adani power companies in India.
The
companies have also been accused of siphoning off money in a fraud that
used inflated invoices for capital equipment imports to shift funds
offshore via intermediaries created in a tax haven zone of the United
Arab Emirates and in Mauritius.
Companies that own the port and planned railway for Adani's Carmichael coal mine are linked to the alleged fraud via a director.
Directorate
of Revenue Intelligence documents — cited in news company Indian
Express — state that the Mauritius intermediary company, Electrogen
Infra Holdings Pvt Ltd, is "controlled and managed by Vinod Shantilal
Shah, alias Vinod Shantilal Adani".
"Vinod Adani is believed to be
the sole director of one of the companies who have allegations against
them of fraudulent invoicing," Ms Wilkinson said.
"He's also the
sole director of companies in Singapore, who are the ultimate owners of
the Australian Adani entities, who own the port and the rail for the
mine."
Company searches by the ABC confirm that Vinod Adani is sole director of the Singapore parent companies.
The ABC has tried to reach Vinod Adani for comment.
Allegations are 'far-fetched' from laws of the land
An Adani Group spokesman told the ABC "the import of all goods were made under internationally competitive bidding processes".
"Reputed consultants evaluated bids received and the lowest bidder
was allocated the final contract," the spokesman said in a statement to
the ABC.
"The process was evaluated by the regulated authorities and financial institutions.
"So these are baseless allegations and far-fetched from the laws of the land."
Aside
from shifting money offshore, the impact of the alleged fraudulent
invoicing has been to push up power prices for Indian people.
"There is an irony," Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analytics director Tim Buckley said.
"Our
government is saying that we need to export coal in order to alleviate
Indian energy poverty and yet at the same time the Indian Government is
charging that Adani has been inflating the price of coal imports at the
expense of the Indian people through higher electricity prices."
King County Superior Court Judge Hollis Hill says young petitioners deserve 'their day in court' to protect their rights
Petitioner Gabe Mandell, centre, 14, addresses media members and
supporters as he stands with other children asking Seattle court to
force state officials to adopt new rules to limit carbon emissions. Elaine Thompson/AP
Eight Seattle children should have “their day in court” to argue that Washington State and others aren't protecting them from climate change, a judge ruled.
King County Superior Court Judge Hollis Hill allowed the
young petitioners to move ahead in their case against the state, writing
that “it is time for these youth to have the opportunity to address
their concerns in a court of law, concerns raised under statute and
under the state and federal constitutions.”
The petitioners, between 12 and 16 years old, had asked the
judge last month to find the state Department of Ecology in contempt for
failing to adequately protect them and future generations from global
warming.
The judge on Monday said Ecology had complied with her
orders by adopting the Clean Air Rule within the timeline set by the
court, and so denied the youth's request to find Ecology in contempt.
But the judge allowed the young people to amend their
complaint and move ahead with their constitutional claims “so as to have
their day in court,” she wrote.
“The Court takes this action due to the emergent need for
coordinated science based action by the State of Washington to address
climate change before efforts to do so are too costly and too late,”
Hill wrote.
The petitioners can now go to court and argue that the state
has violated their rights under the state constitution and the legal
principle called the public trust doctrine, which requires the
government to protect shared resources, said Andrea Rodgers, a Western
Environmental Law Center attorney representing the youth.
All of the policies that the state has implemented in
response to climate change are not resulting in emissions reductions
that comply with state law and science, she said.
Ecology spokeswoman Camille St. Onge said the state has
adopted one of nation's most progressive carbon pollution reduction
regulations and “will continue to do our part to help slow climate
change.”
The case is part of a larger effort led by the Oregon-based
nonprofit Our Children's Trust to force governments to take action on
climate change.
Last month, a federal judge in Eugene, Oregon, allowed a
similar climate change case against President Barack Obama's
administration to proceed. In that lawsuit, 21 activists ages 9 to 20
argue that the federal government's actions violate their constitutional
rights to life, liberty, and property, and the government has violated
its obligation to hold certain natural resources in trust for future
generations.
A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Kira Morris
The judge in Seattle noted that the youth argued in their
initial petition for a rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions based on
the best available science. A rule was adopted but, the judge wrote,
Ecology agreed that it isn't intended to meet the requirements of a
state law requiring specific reductions of greenhouse gas emissions over
the next decades.
The petitioners say governments must adopt science-based
prescriptions that protect the rights of young people and future
generations to a stable climate.
The judge said she would retain jurisdiction in the case.
