30/04/2020

Climate Experts Call For 'Dangerous' Michael Moore Film To Be Taken Down

The Guardian - 

 Planet of the Humans, which takes aim at the green movement, is ‘full of misinformation’, says one online library

A still from Planet of the Humans, which has provoked a furious reaction. Photograph: Erik Pedersen/Handout

A new Michael Moore-produced documentary that takes aim at the supposed hypocrisy of the green movement is “dangerous, misleading and destructive” and should be removed from public viewing, according to an assortment of climate scientists and environmental campaigners.

The film, Planet of the Humans, was released on the eve of Earth Day last week by its producer, Michael Moore, the baseball cap-wearing documentarian known for Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine.

 Describing itself as a “full-frontal assault on our sacred cows”, the film argues that electric cars and solar energy are unreliable and rely upon fossil fuels to function. It also attacks figures including Al Gore for bolstering corporations that push flawed technologies over real solutions to the climate crisis.

Planet of the Humans has provoked a furious reaction from scientists and campaigners, however, who have called for it be taken down.

Films for Action, an online library of videos, temporarily took down the film after describing it as “full of misinformation”, though they later reinstated it, saying they did not want accusations of censorship to give the film “more power and mystique than it deserves”.

A free version on YouTube has been viewed more than 3m times.

A letter written by Josh Fox, who made the documentary Gasland, and signed by various scientists and activists, has urged the removal of “shockingly misleading and absurd” film for making false claims about renewable energy.

Planet of the Humans “trades in debunked fossil fuel industry talking points” that question the affordability and reliability of solar and wind energy, the letter states, pointing out that these alternatives are now cheaper to run than fossil fuels such as coal.

Michael Mann, a climate scientist and signatory to Fox’s letter, said the film includes “various distortions, half-truths and lies” and that the filmmakers “have done a grave disservice to us and the planet by promoting climate change inactivist tropes and talking points.”

The film’s makers did not respond to questions over whether it will be pulled down.

Planet of the Humans has been shown at Moore’s Traverse City film festival, where the producer said it was “perhaps the most urgent film we’ve shown in the 15-year history of our film festival”.

Jeff Gibbs, who wrote and directed the film, has suggested that unrestrained economic and population growth should be the target of environmentalists’ efforts rather than technological fixes.

Climate activist Bill McKibben, one of the targets for the film for allegedly being influenced by corporate money and for supporting the burning of biomass such as wood chips for energy, said the characterisations are untrue.

McKibben has previously changed his views on biomass energy, which he now sees as being detrimental to climate action, and claims he has “never taken a penny in pay” from any environmental group.

“I am used to ceaseless harassment and attack from the fossil fuel industry, and I’ve done my best to ignore a lifetime of death threats from rightwing extremists,” McKibben said. “It does hurt more to be attacked by others who think of themselves as environmentalists.”

Renewable energy has long been portrayed as expensive and unreliably intermittent by oil and gas companies and their lobby groups, which have spent several decades questioning the veracity of climate science and undermining efforts to radically reduce planet-heating emissions.

In fact, the technology used for wind and solar energy has improved markedly in recent years, while the costs have plummeted. While electric cars often require fossil fuel-generated energy to produce them and provide the electricity to fuel them, research has shown they still emit less greenhouse gas and air pollutants over their lifetime than a standard petrol or diesel car.

Generating all power from renewables will take significant upgrades of grid infrastructure and storage but several researchers have declared the goal feasible, most likely with carbon-capture technology for remaining fossil fuel plants.

Scientists say the world must reach net zero emissions by 2050 to head off disastrous global heating, which would likely spur worsening storms, heatwaves, sea level rise and societal unrest.

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Parallel Threats Of COVID-19, Climate Change, Require ‘Brave, Visionary And Collaborative Leadership’: UN Chief

UN News

Niger is faced with a food-deficit and low-income levels. WFP/Simon Pierre Diouf


Actions for a
climate-positive recovery

  1. Deliver new jobs and businesses through a green and just transition while accelerating the decarbonization of all aspects of the economy.
  2. Use taxpayers’ money to create green jobs and inclusive growth when rescuing businesses.
  3. Shift economies from grey to green, with using public financing that makes societies more resilient.
  4. Invest public funds in the future, to projects that help the environment and climate.
  5. Consider risks and opportunities for your own economy, as the global financial system works to shape policy and infrastructure.
  6. Work together as an international community to combat COVID-19 and climate change. 
To combat the COVID-19 pandemic and the “looming existential threat of climate disruption”, the only credible response is “brave, visionary and collaborative leadership” anchored in mutilateralism, the UN Secretary General António Guterres, said on Tuesday, during an international discussion focused on climate change.

And against the backdrop of threatened lives, crippled businesses and damaged economies, the UN chief warned the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are also under threat.

“The highest cost is the cost of doing nothing”, he spelled out, underscoring the need to urgently “strengthen resilience and cut greenhouse gas emissions to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees” above pre-industrial levels, to mitigate climate change.

Political will required

 Heartened by technology and public opinion, especially among the younger generations, he observed that many cities and businesses are taking action.

“But we still lack the necessary political will”, he said, advocating for “significantly more ambition” on mitigation, adaptation and financing.

On mitigation, all countries must commit to carbon neutrality by 2050. And developing countries – least responsible for climate change but most vulnerable to its impacts – need resilience-building support. This requires adequate financing, beginning with a promised $100 billion dollars a year for mitigation and adaptation efforts, added Mr. Guterres.

‘Profound opportunity’

 In planning the coronavirus pandemic recovery, there is “a profound opportunity” to steer the world on “a path that tackles climate change, protects the environment, reverses biodiversity loss and ensures the long-term health and security of humankind”, the Secretary-General said.

“By making the transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient growth, we can create a world that is clean, green, safe, just and more prosperous for all”, he emphasized.

As such, he proposed six different climate-related actions that countries can take, to shape the recovery.
Recognizing that like the coronavirus, greenhouse gases respect no boundaries, Mr. Guterres maintained that isolation is a trap in which “no country can succeed alone”.
“We already have a common framework for action – the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change”, he reminded.

Carbon neutrality by 2050

 Pointing out that 121 States have already committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, the Secretary-General asked all countries to “prepare enhanced national climate action plans”, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), “to reach net zero emissions by 2050”.

“I encourage the European Union to continue showing global leadership by presenting, by the end of the year, a Nationally Determined Contribution in line with its commitment to become the first climate neutral continent by 2050”, he said.

“The key to tackling the climate crisis is the big emitters”, upheld Mr. Guterres.

Noting that the world’s 20 leading economies collectively account for more than 80 per cent of global emissions and over 85 per cent of the global economy, he flagged that “all of them must also commit to carbon neutrality by 2050”.

“Without the contribution of the big emitters, all our efforts risk to be doomed”, he conceded.

“Let us use the pandemic recovery to provide a foundation for a safe, healthy, inclusive and more resilient world for all people”.

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Insect Numbers Down 25% Since 1990, Global Study Finds

The Guardian - Damian Carrington

Scientists say insects are vital and the losses worrying, with accelerating declines in Europe called ‘shocking’

An adult female western glacier stonefly from the Grinnell glacier in Glacier national park, Montana, US. It is endangered because climate change is melting the glaciers. Photograph: Joe Giersch/AP

The biggest assessment of global insect abundances to date shows a worrying drop of almost 25% in the last 30 years, with accelerating declines in Europe that shocked scientists.

The analysis combined 166 long-term surveys from almost 1,700 sites and found that some species were bucking the overall downward trend. In particular, freshwater insects have been increasing by 11% each decade following action to clean up polluted rivers and lakes. However, this group represent only about 10% of insect species and do not pollinate crops.

Researchers said insects remained critically understudied in many regions, with little or no data from South America, south Asia and Africa. Rapid destruction of wild habitats in these places for farming and urbanisation is likely to be significantly reducing insect populations, they said.

Insects are by far the most varied and abundant animals, outweighing humanity by 17 times, and are essential to the ecosystems humanity depends upon. They pollinate plants, are food for other creatures and recycle nature’s waste.

The previous largest assessment, based on 73 studies, led scientists to warn of “catastrophic consequences for the survival of mankind” if insect losses were not halted. Its estimated rate of decline was more than double that in the new study. Other experts estimate 50% of insects have been lost in the last 50 years.

Recent analyses from some locations have found collapses in insect abundance, such as 75% in Germany and 98% in Puerto Rico. The new, much broader study found a lower rate of losses.

However, Roel van Klink, of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research in Leipzig, who led the research, said: “This 24% is definitely something to be concerned about. It’s a quarter less than when I was a kid. One thing people should always remember is that we really depend on insects for our food.”

The research, published in the journal Science, also examined how the rate of loss was changing over time. “Europe seems to be getting worse now – that is striking and shocking. But why that is, we don’t know,” said van Klink. In North America, the declines are flattening off, but at a low level.

Elsewhere, data is much more sparse. “But we know from our results that the expansion of cities is bad for insects because every place used to be more natural habitat – it is not rocket science,” said van Klink. “This is happening in east Asia and Africa at a rapid rate. In South America, there is the destruction of the Amazon. There’s absolutely no question this is bad for insects and all the other animals there. But we just don’t have the data.”

Van Klink said the research showed that insects were faring only slightly better in nature reserves than outside protected areas. “We found that very striking and a bit shocking – it means something’s going wrong there.”

Losses of insects are driven by habitat destruction, pesticides and light pollution. The impact of the climate crisis was not clear in the research, despite obvious local examples. Van Klink said changes in heat and rain could harm some species while boosting others, even in the same location.

But he highlighted another study showing that rising carbon dioxide levels are reducing the nutrients in plants and significantly cutting grasshopper abundances on prairies in Kansas, US. ”That is absolutely shocking, because that could be happening all over the world.”

Prof Dave Goulson, of the University of Sussex, who was not involved in the new analysis, said: “People should be as concerned as ever about insects. It is great news that some aquatic insects seem to be increasing, probably from a very low level. But the bulk of insects are terrestrial and this new study confirms what was already clear: they have been declining for many decades.”

Matt Shardlow, the head of the conservation charity Buglife, said: “Many insect species are threatened with extinction and this study shows insect abundance is also declining at an unsustainable rate. While the estimate in this study is lower than some, it is still very steep. Massive abundance declines in flying insects remains a developing ecological disaster."

In a comment article in Science, Maria Dornelas, of the University of St Andrews, and Gergana Daskalova, of the University of Edinburgh, said the new study was the largest and most complete meta-analysis to date. “Embracing nuance allows us to balance accurate reporting of worrying losses with hopeful examples of wins,” they said.

Van Klink said: “We definitely have a lot of reason for concern, but I don’t think it’s too late. The increase in freshwater species makes us at least hopeful that if we put the right legislation in place, we can reverse these trends.”

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