Lethal Heating: 11/23/19

23/11/2019

(US) Kelsey Juliana: 'What If Fashion Came To Represent A New Way Of Living?'

The Guardian - Jess Cartner-Morley

The climate activist who joined forces with a billionaire designer

Kelsey Juliana: ‘We need a new way of living and fashion can help us do that.’ Photograph: Robin Loznak/Robin Loznak/Our Children's Trust

Kelsey Juliana, a youth climate activist from Oregon, is joining forces with Gabriela Hearst, a fashion designer whose clothes are worn by Lady Gaga and the Duchess of Sussex, to ignite a trend they hope will become a global sensation.

Juliana, 23, is the lead plaintiff in a group lawsuit suing the US government for breaching the human rights of her generation by failing to take action to protect the environment.
The case, Juliana v United States – which goes by the unofficial name of Youth v Gov – aims to have the US supreme court order the government to dramatically change energy policy.
Hearst – who, with her husband, John Augustine Hearst, the scion of the magazine empire, has a net worth estimated at £1.5bn – is providing financial backing for the case.
As they prepare to speak in front of an audience of designers, supermodels, editors and luxury industry CEOs at the Business of Fashion Voices conference, Juliana and Hearst hope that their constitutional action to protect the rights of young people to a clean environment can snowball into the next decade’s most era-defining trend.

Kelsey Juliana (right), Gabriela Hearst designer (centre) and Kelsey’s fellow plaintiff, Levi Draheim (left) Photograph: max.tobias@camronpr.com

“Fashion sets the tone for society. Right now, we need to imagine a new way of living and fashion can help us do that,” says Juliana. “And fashion has young people driving it, just like climate action does.”
Juliana, who filed her case aged 15, has taken part in many protest events, including marching 1,600 miles from Nebraska to Washington DC in 2016, but believes that lawsuits give those too young to vote a way to stand up for their right to a habitable planet.

“All movements – the women’s movement, the gay rights movement – have cemented themselves in law and in the culture with a constitutional change,” says Hearst of their choice of a legislative rather than protest-based challenge. “It’s important to solidify this by going through the traditional route.”
There are currently 1,390 lawsuits against governments and fossil fuel corporations in more than 25 countries, according to the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Last month, a group of 15 young Canadians filed La Rose v Her Majesty the Queen, alleging that the Canadian government’s energy policies have violated their rights to a stable climate. Juliana notes that “there are more cases coming up all over the world”.
Many climate activists would decline an invitation to speak at a fashion event, given that it represents one of the world’s most polluting industries and sits uncomfortably at the crossroads of still-growing consumerism and increasing awareness of the need for change, but Juliana is “excited to be here. All facets of our society currently operate in a way that is problematic – the way we eat, the way we travel, what we buy. I am totally guilty of buying fast fashion, because I don’t have the resources to buy luxury fashion. But I was in Amsterdam recently and it was inspiring to see how much secondhand clothes and taking care of clothes are part of the culture there. What if we saw fashion come to represent a new way of living?”

New York fashion week’s first carbon-neutral catwalk show, hosted by Hearst in September 2019 Photograph: PIXELFORMULA/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock

Fashion has always symbolised intergenerational strife and is, in that sense, a fitting stage for a crisis in which the Greta Thunberg generation are voicing increasing anger towards older people.
“I want to be on stage to showcase how young people are stepping up to the bat, and ask the professionals and heads of industries in the audience to stand with us,” says Juliana. “My future is at risk in a way that isn’t the case for old people. I won’t sugarcoat it – I feel disappointment, disgust and rage. But my primary emotion is love – a deep, deep love for life and for the planet.”
Hearst staged New York fashion week’s first carbon-neutral catwalk show in September, working with the consultancy EcoAct to calibrate and offset each element of the carbon footprint. However, shesays: “Sometimes, I think I should just stop producing products. Definitely, people should buy less.”
Britain, she says, is better placed to lead a change of lifestyle than the US, “because here you experienced world war two and so you understand frugality and resilience, which is the mentality we are going to need to access. In America, those challenges haven’t been seen since the civil war.”
Other speakers at the Voices conference, which begins on Thursday, include the Observer journalist Carole Cadwalladr, Clare Farrell of Extinction Rebellion and the photographer Juergen Teller.

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(AU) Some Hope Amongst The Climate Change Foolishness

Canberra Times - Mary McMillan*

Regular readers of my column will know I usually try to take a light-hearted approach in my writing - exploring current issues in science with, hopefully, a touch of humour.
But today, I am not feeling particularly light hearted. And there's nothing funny about the situation we are currently facing.
I live in an area that, like much of Australia, is being affected by bushfires. An area where people have lost their properties, their livelihoods and their lives.
And yet, daily, we see in newspapers, on social media and coming out of politicians' mouths, a denial of the science that says climate change is behind this.
So here's a brief lesson in climate science.
Human activities - burning fossil fuels, our transportation, agricultural practices and changes in land use - produce greenhouse gasses. They produce more greenhouse gas than can be taken up by carbon sinks - plants, soil and oceans. The excess gas released into the atmosphere creates an insulting blanket around the earth, trapping more solar radiation. The end result: the earth gets hotter.
We learn in primary school science classes that fire needs three things: it needs fuel, it needs a source of ignition, and it needs oxygen. Climate change is causing increased temperatures. Climate change is resulting in less rainfall. Combined these create more dry fuel, ready to burn. Add a source of ignition, whether the action of an individual person, or work of nature, and, well ... we all know the result.
Yes, bushfires have always been a threat in Australia. But the science tells us that, unless we do something, this threat is only going to increase.
But there is hope. Around the world we have smart people working on solutions that can help to stop the progression of climate change.
We have scientists and engineers developing more efficient alternative energy sources, which can reduce our reliance on burning coal and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
We have companies starting to provide new, more environmentally friendly transport options.
We have researchers developing materials and products that can be used to replace plastics and concrete, again reducing emissions.
We have scientists who can advise on ways we can change our land usage and management to capture more carbon.
Scientists have been warning us about what is going to happen, and why. Scientists are also providing solutions.
Now we just need our politicians, our decision-makers, to listen.

*Dr Mary McMillan is a lecturer at the School of Science and Technology, University of New England

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(US) As Smoke From Bushfires Chokes Sydney, Australian Prime Minister Dodges On Climate Change

TIME - Rachael Bunyan

As hazardous smoke from raging bushfires blanket Sydney’s landmarks on Thursday, the Australian Prime Minister refused to admit a direct link between the fires and the country’s carbon emissions, which are among the highest per capita in the world.

Health officials have issued warnings over “hazardous” air pollution levels as Sydney’s Opera House was shrouded with smoke. The smoke around Sydney and the north-coast is set to settle and remain in the area for the rest of Thursday, fire officials said. Members of the public, especially those with respiratory health issues, are advised to avoid all outdoor physical activities.
Fires have devastated large areas of the country since Oct. 20. New South Wales has seen the most severe and dangerous fires, with six people killed and around 1.7 million hectares burned. Climate Change has played a key role in the bushfires, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology has said. They said: “Climate change is influencing the frequency and severity of dangerous bushfire conditions in Australia and other regions of the world.”

A fire rages in Bobin, 350km north of Sydney on Nov. 9, as firefighters try to contain dozens of out-of-control blazes that are raging in the state of New South Wales. Peter Parks—AFP/Getty Images

However, amid the bushfire crisis, Scott Morrison, Australia’s Prime Minister has argued that there is no direct link between Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions and the severity of the fires burning across the country.
He told ABC AU during a radio interview on Thursday that there was no “credible scientific evidence” that cutting carbon emissions could reduce the severity of the fires.

At first, Morrison acknowledged the contribution of climate change has had on the bushfires in Australia.
“These are things that are very well known to the government — the contribution of these issues to global weather conditions and to conditions here in Australia are known and acknowledged,” he said. “In February I acknowledged the contribution of those factors to what was happening in Australia — amongst many other issues.”
But, he then argued that the actions of Australia are not impacting the bushfires.
“The suggestion that in any way shape or form that Australia, accountable for 1.3% of the world’s emissions, that the individual actions of Australia are impacting directly on specific fire events, whether it’s here or anywhere else in the world, that doesn’t bear up to credible scientific evidence either.
“Climate change is a global phenomenon and we’re doing our bit as part of the response to climate change — we’re taking action on climate change,” he added. “But I think to suggest that at just 1.3% of global emissions, that Australia doing something more or less would change the fire outcome this season — I don’t think that stands up to any credible scientific evidence at all.”

Raging Bushfires Devastate Large Areas Of Australia

Australia only accounts for 1.3% of global emissions when calculating the carbon dioxide released within a country. According to research by science and policy institute Climate Analytics, Australia also produces another 3.6% in global emissions as a result of coal, oil and gas exports.
This latest research, published in July this year, argues that Australia is in fact responsible for nearly 5% of global emissions. In addition, Australia’s population is 0.3% of the global total, meaning this level of global emissions is highly disproportionate, argues Peter Thorne, a climate change expert at Maynooth University in Ireland. “[The 1.3% figure] doesn’t include exports either,” he said. “It ignores the fact that it makes Australia per capita one of the very worst offenders.”
Indeed, Climate Analytics argue that Australia remains one of the world’s highest per capita carbon dioxide emitters. On a per capita basis, they argue, Australia’s carbon footprint, including exports, surpasses China, the U.S. and India.
In February this year, Australia’s sparse drought-stricken lands featured on TIME’s cover. The conditions Australia experienced earlier this year count as the most severe in its modern history.
Scientists have long warned that increasingly hot and dry climates, the result of the climate crisis, will lead to a worsening of wildfires around the world. And we are seeing the effects in Australia with unprecedented early fires. The wildfires also aggravate climate change by destroying treats that could absorb carbon in the atmosphere.
“Climate change is a likely factor,” argues Thorne. “It’s changing the odds because it’s hotter and is drier on average in the summer in Australia.”
Thorne said that while it is difficult to attribute particular events exactly to climate change, “what is undoubtedly true is that we are changing and shifting the odds of the events occurring to be much more likely.”
“Historically, Australian emissions have had a demonstrable impact, along with the emissions of other countries.”

RFS Firefighters battle a spot fire on Nov. 13 in Hillville, Australia. Sam Mooy—Getty Images

The Bureau of Meteorology argue that in southern and eastern Australia, where the fires are currently spreading, they have observed more extreme conditions during the summer months, including an earlier start to the bushfire season.
“These trends towards more dangerous bushfire conditions are at least partly attributable to human-caused climate change, including through increased temperatures,” they added.
Morrison has faced criticism this month of avoiding the issue of climate change a group of former Australian fire chiefs. They said that the government “fundamentally doesn’t like talking about climate change” and that politics is getting in the way.
“Just a 1 C temperature rise has meant the extremes are far more extreme, and it is placing lives at risk, including firefighters,” Greg Mullins, the former chief of NSW Fire and Rescue, said on Nov. 14. “Climate change has supercharged the bushfire problem.”
Politicians and mayors residing over areas affected by the bushfires have also been critical of Morrison’s response to the climate emergency. For them, there is no doubt that the devastating bushfires area a result of climate change.
Carol Sparks, the Mayor of Glen Innes, where two people died in early November, argued that the government, including Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, needed to refer to scientific evidence. “I think that Michael McCormack needs to read the science, and that is what I am going by, is the science,” she said.
“It is not a political thing — it is a scientific fact that we are going through climate change,” she added.
Chris Bowen, the Australian Labor Party’s health spokesperson accused the Australian government and international community of not acting quick enough on climate change.
“The world, and Australia, has failed to act with appropriate seriousness and haste, and so we will need specific policies to deal with the health impacts of climate change,” Bowen said at a lecture at Sydney University on Wednesday.
“The Australian government needs to be far more proactive in looking for climate solutions,” echoes Thorne. They could easily produce enough renewable energy from wind and solar, not just for themselves but for others.”
Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Since Morrison’s government scrapped the national carbon price in 2014, total national emissions have increased each year, according to a report published by Australia’s environment department in August this year.
National emissions increased by 3.1m tonnes in the year up to March 2019 and are estimated to be 538.9m tonnes, according to the report. The 0.6% increase in emissions are largely due to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export industry.

Air Pollution

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