Here are some of the brave souls who gave their lives in 2019 in defense of the environment. There have been an increasing number of environmental activists murdered in recent years. Many of the murders in 2019 took place in Brazil which is currently being ruled by far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. In Brazil a total of 56 defenders were assassinated in 2017 alone. At least eight land defenders were killed in 2018 in the Brazilian state of Para alone. Since becoming president Bolsonaro has all but declared war on the Amazon and the indigenous people of Brazil.Tashka Yawanawa, a chief of the indigenous Yawanawa people in the Brazilian Amazon says his community is facing "genocide". Some have suggested that the fires in Brazil are a form of genocide.
There are also concerns that Guatamalan Mayans could be facing genocide. By January 2019 reports surfaced that indicated Guatemala's community leaders were being killed for defending their land from from transnational companies. This comes after four decades of civil war that left more than 200,000 causalities, most of them indigenous Guatemalans. This has been described by some Guatemalan courts as genocide. In 2018 there were hundreds of attacks and dozens of murders in Guatemala. One such murder was that of 25 year old Ixil Maya nurse, Juana Raymundo, near the city of Nebaj. Raymundo was one of 20 similar murders that took place in Guatemala in the summer of 2018. Many of those that end up on U.S. borders are Guatemalans fleeing violence.
Also in July, dozens of armed gold miners murdered Emyra Wajãpia Waiapi, he was the leader of Yvytotõ an indigenous village in northern Brazil. In September Maxciel Pereira dos Santos, a defender of Brazil’s indigenous tribes was executed in the Amazon town of Tabatinga.
In October five indigenous leaders were massacred in the southwestern region of Cauca in Colombia. Cristina Bautista, chief of the Nasa Tacueyó reservation and four of the community’s unarmed guards were killed, 6 others were wounded. In the last four years at least 700 social leaders, mostly Afro-Colombian and indigenous activists, have been murdered in Colombia.
Each year environmental activists are killed for trying to defend the natural world. It is fitting that we start the year by remembering the brave souls who are on the front lines of efforts to protect their land, water or local wildlife. For every environmental activist killed hundreds more were assaulted. This includes the indigenous activists in Brazil who had their hands cut off with machetes by ranchers. To add insult to injury the perpetrators of these villainous acts are almost never caught. The murderers are linked to agribusiness, mining, poaching and wildlife trafficking. These killings commonly take place in corrupt tropical and subtropical countries, particularly in Central and South America. Some of the most deadly countries are Brazil, the Philippines, Colombia, Mexico and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Indigenous people make up a disproportionately large proportion of the victims. This is but the most recent manifestation of a long history of indigenous murders. In recent years these murders have reached their highest point since colonial times.
In 2010 at least 96 environmental activists were killed.
In 2011 at least 106 environmental activists were murdered.
In 2012 at least 147 environmental activists were slain.
In 2014 at least 116 environmental activists were assassinated.
In 2015 at least 185 environmental activists were killed.
In 2017 a total of 207 environmental activists were murdered.
As reported by the Guardian a recent report indicates that at least 1,558 environmental activists in 50 states were killed between 2002 and 2017. Even by these conservative estimates, this represents a doubling of such murders in the last 15 years. These murders now occur at an average rate of four per week.
People in the north are complicit in the murder of these environmentalists. Nathalie Butt, a researcher at the University of Queensland and the author of the study on murdered environmental activists said companies and consumers in wealthy countries in the northern hemisphere should take responsibility for products sourced in the south. "We need to make ethics and transparency an important part of the supply chain. We need to ensure that there is no blood on our hands," she said.
The trend of warmer Arctic temperatures and melting Arctic ice appears to be worsening. Less ice means more global warming. Last year was the warmest year on record replacing 2015. We saw a number of extreme weather events in 2016 and ongoing evidence of the global warming trend, particularly in the Arctic.
A WMO report presented at COP22 at the end of 2016 indicates that in recent years parts of Arctic Russia, temperatures were 6°C to 7°C above the long-term average. Many other Arctic and sub-Arctic regions in Russia, Alaska and northwest Canada were at least 3°C above average. The global average temperature increase is around 1.5°C above average.
The report also revealed a cascade of related phenomena including sea level rise associated with rapidly melting polar ice. Over the past five years, Arctic sea ice is 28 percent below the average of the previous 29 years. The impact from this melting trend is not only rising sea levels it is also decreasing global cooling from the ice associated with the albedo effect (light or radiation that is reflected by a surface). Simply put, less ice means more warming. Arctic ice reached its equal second-lowest extent in the satellite record in September 2016 and in the fall of 2016 the Arctic was very hot and the extent of sea ice covering the polar ocean was at a record low. The ice was also slower to freeze in the fall of 2016 and it is much thinner than normal.
While the winter, spring, and summer were abnormally warm in the Arctic, the departure from the mean increased in October, November, and December.
In November, Arctic ice normally increases, however, over a period of five days it saw 19,000 square miles of ice cover melt away. NOAA said this was very unusual and almost without precedent. In November Arctic temperatures were 18 degrees warmer than normal. The abnormally warm Arctic was partly responsible for second-warmest November global temperatures on record.
Richard James, a meteorologist who is also the author of a blog on Alaska weather, analyzed 19 weather stations surrounding the Arctic Ocean and found that the average temperature was about 2 C (4F) above the record set in 1998. Since November, temperatures have risen even higher. "It is amazing to see that the warmth has become even more pronounced since the end of October," James wrote on his blog. Towards the end of last year, Arctic temperatures were about 20°C (36 F) higher than normal above 80 degrees North Latitude despite the onset of the polar night.
"Despite onset of #PolarNight, temperatures near #NorthPole increasing. Extraordinary situation right now in #Arctic, w/record low #seaice," Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA posted to Twitter.
As reported by NASA, a large hot cyclone that crossed the Arctic in December 2015 thinned and shrunk the sea ice cover during a time of the year when the ice should have been growing thicker and stronger.
This phenomenon repeated in December 2016. As reported by the Washington Post, Arctic expert, James Overland with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration {NOAA), said that the jet stream transported warmth northward into the Arctic. This is highly abnormal in terms of both persistence and magnitude.
As reported in Slate, much warmer than usual temperatures have dominated the Arctic at the end of 2015 and into 2016. "[T]he northernmost permanent settlement, Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, has averaged 10 degrees C (18 degrees F) above normal this winter, with temperatures rising above the freezing mark on nearly two dozen days since Dec. 1. That kind of extremely unusual weather has prompted a record-setting low maximum in Arctic sea ice, especially in the Barents Sea area north of Europe."
Writing on his blog, former NASA scientist Roy Spencer said that February 2016 featured “whopping” temperature anomalies especially in the Arctic.
In a Huffington Postarticle, Michael Mann said that February stands out for its record-setting heat particularly in the NortherHemispherere.
"For the first time on record, we crossed the 2 degrees C ‘dangerous’ level of warming (for the Northern Hemisphere, the best-measured part of the globe)...It is unlikely we will see this anomalous warmth sustained for the remainder of the year, but it is a reminder of how perilously close we are now to permanent dangerous levels of warmth. It is yet another warning of the urgency of reducing global carbon emissions."
According to Mashable , February’s warmth was especially pronounced in the north. The Arctic saw record low sea ice and temperatures that were about 6 degrees C (almost 11 degrees F) above normal.
Mark Serreze, who heads the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., agreed that something odd is going on. Both air and water temperatures unusually warm. "There are some areas in the Arctic Ocean that are as much as 25 degrees Fahrenheit above average now," Serreze said in December. "It’s pretty crazy...The sea ice is at a record low right now, for this time of year, that’s one thing," Serreze said. "And why it’s so low — again, there’s so much heat in the upper ocean in these ice-free areas, the ice just can’t form right now. The ocean’s just got to get rid of this heat somehow, and it’s having a hard time doing so."
Another Washington Post article said, "it’s premature to say if these events are becoming more frequent, the intensity of the warm air reaching the Arctic is almost certainly increasing. "
“[T]he warmest midwinter temperatures at the North Pole have been increasing at a rate that is twice as large as that for mean midwinter temperatures at the pole,” a Nature study published in mid-December 2016 said. “It is argued that this enhanced trend is consistent with the loss of winter sea ice from the Nordic Seas that moves the reservoir of warm air over this region northwards".
The trend is unmistakable. A study by National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and NASA researchers revealed that the length of the melt season for Arctic sea ice is growing by several days each decade, and an earlier start to the melt season is allowing the Arctic Ocean to absorb enough additional solar radiation in some places to melt as much as four feet of the Arctic ice cap's thickness.
A Yale 360 article by Peter Wadhams indicates that melting sea ice is "triggering a cascade of effects that will amplify global warming and could destabilize the global climate system." Wadhams continued, "The planet is swiftly heading toward a largely ice-free Arctic in the warmer months, possibly as early as 2020."
Wadhams is a scientist who specializes in Arctic sea ice, he is professor emeritus of ocean physics at Cambridge University. Wadhams says that over his 46-year career as a scientist he has observed the thickness and extent of Arctic sea ice shrink by 50 percent since the early 1970s. Even steeper declines (75 percent) in volume have been observed. Wadhams explains that there are global feedback effects associated with the arctic ice "death spiral":
"The great white cap that once covered the top of the world is now turning blue [changing the region's albedo causing only 10 percent of solar radiation to be reflected back into space compared to 50 percent when the surface is covered with ice.]— a change that represents humanity’s most dramatic step in reshaping the face of our planet. And with the steady disappearance of the polar ice cover, we are losing a vast air conditioning system that has helped regulate and stabilize earth’s climate system for thousands of years."
Arctic waters have been generally below zero for tens of thousands of years in the summer. With much less ice in the warmest months, Arctic ocean temperatures have risen as much as 7 F in some places. Now rather than cooling the Earth the Arctic is contributing to global heating.
According to one recent study, a warm Arctic is responsible for 25 percent of global warming. Together these impacts are driving global warming. As explained by Wadhams, "overall ice/snow albedo effect in the Arctic could add as much as 50 percent to the direct global heating effect of CO2."
There are a number of complex feedback loops at play. Lower levels of sea ice increase ocean temperatures and warmer sea melt even more ice. declining sea ice creates another feedback loop. Less sea ice cover east of the Nordic Sea helps create a passageway for warm air. Other feedback loops affecting the Arctic include more waves that further dismantles ice, warmer terrestrial temperatures that increase the albedo effect on land and water runoff from the warming land or melting ice. Other feedback loops include water vapor, the slowing of the global ocean conveyor belt and major shifts in the northern hemisphere’s jet stream.
Wadhams says the most dangerous feedback loop is methane trapped in ice on the floor of the Arctic Ocean. Methane traps heat in the atmosphere 23 times more efficiently per molecule than carbon dioxide. More than five years ago Russian scientists had already documented methane seeping from Arctic ice.
"These changes represent a spiritual impoverishment of the earth, as well as a catastrophe for humanity" Wadhams said. This is a wake-up call Wadhams concluded, "the time for action has long since passed."
Maybe part of the problem is that people just don't relate to the Arctic on a personal level. With that in mind here is a historic performance in the middle of the Arctic Ocean by acclaimed Italian composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi. Described by Paul Hawkins as, "without question, the best video ever made on climate change."
"I've been about to see the purity and fragileness of this area with my own eyes and perform a song that I composed on the best stage in the world," Einaudi said. "It is important that we understand the importance of the Arctic, [and] stop its process and protect it." Einaudi is one of eight million people from across the world demanding protection for the Arctic.
The shots that killed Berta echoed around the globe. The world was outraged that the winner of the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize, was savagely gunned down for what can only be described as her noble efforts to defend the rights of her people and protect the land on which they live. After she was killed there was an unremitting cry for an independent international investigation. Berta's daughter even called for the suspension of aid to Honduras. As the pressure mounted, the Honduran government capitulated and arrested Berta's killers two months after she was murdered.
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune commented on the apprehension of Berta's assassins in the following statement:
"Berta Cáceres was a remarkable and inspiring leader who fought tirelessly for indigenous rights and environmental justice for her community and the world. It is clear that the Honduran government heeded the massive international call for justice, and these arrests represent a small victory for Berta’s family, friends, and the entire environmental justice and human rights community. Now we join with those demanding to know the truth about who orchestrated the assassination. Tragically, this kind of justice is increasingly rare, and the murder of activists is frighteningly common. The fight for a safe, clean, and equitable future for all is far from over, but we stand with activists across the world who continue to work toward this shared vision, and we will strive to honor Berta’s unparalleled passion. Berta’s life may have been tragically cut short, but her legacy will live on for generations to come."
In a world that can seem awash with ignorance and apathy, Berta stands out for being a dedicated soul who fought the good fight, to the bitter end. She called us all to, "undertake the struggle in all parts of the world."
Berta Cáceres, remember that name and be inspired by her legacy.
We may have signed a global climate agreement at COP21 in Paris but global levels of atmospheric emissions keep climbing along with temperature records.
The NOAA reports that we have passed 405 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere this year. According to NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the global average temperature was 1.13 degrees C, or slightly more than 2 degrees F, warmer in January 2016 than the long-term average (1951-1980) for this month. This beats the previous record for the warmest recorded January that was set in 2007.
While the so called super El Niño played a role the temperatures are also being driven upward by growing levels of CO2. Month after month the overall trend continues and this cannot be explained by El Niño.
While we must always make the distinction between climate and weather, January 2016 contributes to an ongoing decades long warming trend. One of the more troubling aspects of January's weather is the particularly warm temperatures in the north (above 60 degrees latitude). This includes the Canadian Arctic, Greenland and Siberia. This is part of what is called the Arctic Oscillation or differences in air pressure over the Arctic and lower latitudes. The phenomenon allows Arctic air to flow south while warmer air is pumped north. The Arctic is warming two or three times faster than the rest of the globe.
As reported by Discover, the president of the Sami Parliament of Norway said:
"Indigenous peoples are running out of time and are having fewer opportunities to adapt to changes."
There are many impacts associated with a warming Arctic that extend beyond the catastrophic impacts being felt by the regions indigenous populations. This includes changes in global weather patterns due to the disruption of the the jet stream which will also cause more extreme weather events like the polar vortex. Melting sea ice can also disrupt ocean circulation and currents. Greenhouse gases have caused the earth to warm and Arctic ice to retreat, this in turn is the cause of what is known as the albeido effect where more of the sun's energy is absorbed by the earth and less is reflected back into space. Simply put, less ice means more warming.
Sea ice coverage has declined by 40 percent since the late 70s and as of 2007 that trend appears to be accelerating. According to a report titled "Arctic Matters: The Global Connection to Changes in the Arctic" by the National Research Council of the National Academies, Arctic sea ice extent is the lowest it has been in over three decades. The expectation is that we will soon see ice free summers in the Arctic. This means that in the coming decades the Arctic will be navigable by ship traffic.
Melting arctic ice will also increase erosion and the rate at which methane seeps from the permafrost. Together the impacts of Arctic warming are directly related to everything from accelerated warming to the resultant food scarcity.
Warming temperatures are directly related to increasing levels of atmospheric carbon and other greenhouse gases. We have never seen such a rapid buildup of greenhouse gases than the one augured by the industrial revolution and our wanton burning of fossil fuels.
During the Pliocene 2.6 – 5.3 million years ago, there was between 350 and 400 ppm of atmospheric CO2. At that time global average temperatures were 2-3 degrees Celsius hotter than 1880s levels and sea levels were about 80 feet higher than current levels.
Arctic monitoring stations first reported atmospheric levels of CO2 at 400 ppm in June 2012 and other monitoring stations recorded this level of atmospheric carbon in April 2013.
The Mauna Loa Observatory has recently reported that CO2 levels have hit a new record global high of 405.66 ppm. Last year we saw the fastest growth of CO2 ever recorded. We can expect that by the time atmospheric carbon levels reach their annual maximum in May we will see levels of around 407 ppm. We have not seen these levels of atmospheric carbon since the Middle Miocene climate epoch, 15 to 17 million years ago. During this period temperatures were between 3 to 5 degrees Celsius hotter than they were in 1880 and sea levels were about 120 to 190 feet higher.
The trend is troubling as we may be on the cusp of tipping points. From the release of methane stored in the Arctic permafrost to the failure of traditional carbon sinks there are a host of concerns associated with these levels of emissions. For example it is known that the oceans which have long been a sink for carbon can no longer absorb as much CO2 as they used to.
The inter-relatedness of all these climate phenomenon (global average temperature, the Arctic, sea ice and global emissions) weave a troubling tale of a climate that is rapidly spiraling out of control.
Although the Obama administration has effectively shut down Arctic drilling the region is far from being protected from the dangers of fossil fuel extraction. The President has imposed stringent lease conditions on Arctic oil extraction but other Northern nations do not have such restrictive national laws. Countries including Russia and Norway continue to set their sights on Arctic oil.
Arctic drilling is a source of concern for many reasons including the risks of a spill. According to Greenpeace there is a 75 percent chance of a serious spill. This would prove catastrophic in this fragile and remote ecosystem. There is also the overarching issue of emissions contributions at a time when we already have more known oil reserves that can be safely burned. According to the US Geological Society the Arctic holds up to 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil reserves. Ironically, global warming caused largely by fossil fuels makes Arctic drilling even more attractive as there is now less ice to contend with.
Shell withdrew from the Arctic because the project became non-viable due to low oil prices. Citing "current market conditions" the Department of Interior has canceled two future auctions of Arctic offshore oil leases in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. They have also denied requests from Shell and other oil companies to secure more time on their existing leases. They have also indicated that existing leases will not be renewed after their expiration in 2020.
The Obama administration appears to have brought Arctic drilling to an end for the remainder of the President's term. Further, all the leading Democratic contenders for president have indicated that they are against Arctic drilling. However, this does not preclude a return of oil companies to the American Arctic at some future date. If a Republican were to take control of the white house we would almost certainly see such a return. Republicans in Congress, including Alaska's Lisa Murkowski have already made it clear that they want to extend the life of drilling leases.
While US companies may lead the race to extract Arctic oil, other countries are also looking to exploit the regions fossil fuel reserves. Russia's Arctic drilling operations have been delayed by sanctions over the Ukraine, however early in 2015 cooperation between Russian and Norwegian oil companies suggested that Arctic drilling would proceed despite the sanctions.
For example, the Norwegian company Statoil has increasingly close relations with the Russian oil company Rosneft and together they are planning to drill four wells in Russia. Rosneft has a stake in a license in the Barents Sea operated by Statoil. Russia's second biggest oil producer Lukoil is also working with Norwegian and Swedish firms.
It is only due to tensions over the ownership of the remote Arctic Svalbard islands that we are not seeing even more Arctic drilling cooperation between Norway and Russia.
In the largest single entity settlement in the Department of Justice's history, BP will have to pay $20.8 for its role in the infamous Gulf of Mexico oil spill in April, 2010. Since the disastrous explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform BP has been engaged in protracted negotiations with the federal government. Now the Department of Justice have finalized the settlement with BP. The settlement comes after years of legal wrangling. In July, the Supreme Court denied the company’s appeal to block benefits for those not directly affected by the spill. As reported by The Hill, the fine breaks down as follows
$5.5 billion to settle civil claims under the Clean Water Act
$7.1 billion for environmental restoration work
$700 million to compensate for still-unknown damages to natural resources in the region
$4.9 million to Gulf Coast states affected by the spill
$1 billion to local communities. Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas will split that portion of the settlement.
BP has also already spent more than $1 billion on environmental restoration work in the area
Almost $9 billion of the settlement money will be used by for a Gulf restoration fund. This money will be invested in coastal and habitat repair, water quality improvement in wetlands and recreational projects in the region.
Biologists have observed that the 3.19 million gallons of oil that pored into the Gulf is having long term effects that continue to this day.
"This is still the largest environmental penalty under the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act, ever," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said. "BP is receiving the punishment it deserves while also providing critical compensation to the damage to the Gulf region."
The punishment will serve as a deterrent that will hopefully prevent similar disasters in the future.
"The steep penalty should inspire BP and its peers to take every measure necessary to ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again," Lynch said.
The $20.8 billion fine is separate from the class-action settlement with businesses and individuals affected by the spill.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy noted that the settlement includes $700 million to address any potential environmental damages that officials have yet to discover.
"Justice is not about dumping a pile of money and walking away," McCarthy said. "It is about investing in sustainable ways that empower and strengthen the Gulf communities over the long term."
The settlement still needs to be approved by a federal court.
Shell may be drilling the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska this summer but they will only be able to do half of the drilling they had planned. On Tuesday June 30, the Obama administration announced that it has limited shell's drilling plans in the Arctic citing wildlife protections. The federal government has effectively prevented them from simultaneously boring two wells.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service indicated that they want to reduce the noise from the drilling and they are using a 2013 regulation that prohibits drilling less than 15 miles between wells. Shell's plan was to bore two holes 9 miles apart. Federal regulations demand that Shell have two rigs in the region in case an emergency forces the company to bore a relief well. However, they had planned to put the second rig to work simultaneously drilling a second exploratory well nearby.
This means that while Shell has moved two drilling rigs into the Burger prospect, only one exploratory well can be drilled at a time. Shell will spend $1 billion on the exploratory drilling in the Burger prospect this year bringing their total spend on drilling in the Arctic Ocean to more than $7 billion.
While this will reduce the amount of drilling that will take place in Chukchi Sea this summer, it will likely lengthen the amount of time Shell will be in the Arctic by a number of years. Shell's two rigs Transocean Polar Pioneer and the Noble Discoverer have a very limited drilling window that runs during the ice-out period between July 15th and September 28th.
Before it can begin drilling in the Arctic Shell still needs one more drilling permit from the Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
The last time Shell tried to drill in the Arctic it did not go well. They lost control of their rig and it ran aground. It was later revealed that they had inadequate safety equipment.
