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Up to 6 Billion People Threatened By Climate Change - The Wednesday AM Quickie 6/7/23

By Corey Pein —

The smoke in the air up here in Canada has cleared – where I live, at least – after we got some very welcome rain. I'm gonna take a little walk and breathe, very sorry if the haze has come your way. - Corey

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THE BIG NEWS

Half of Humanity Might Be Forced to Migrate

The BBC homepage yesterday carried some big climate change news:

Nearly a dozen cars have been damaged by environmental protestors, who have spray-painted phrases like "climate criminal" on them. ...
It's the second time climate protestors have damaged cars in Bristol - around 60 had their tyres let down last year.

Don't worry: "Officers will be carrying out increased patrols," a police spokesman says. Whew! I was almost worried.

ProPublica, meanwhile, reports that "3 to 6 billion people, or between a third and a half of humanity, could be trapped outside of [the planet's habitable] zone[s], facing extreme heat, food scarcity and higher death rates, unless emissions are sharply curtailed or mass migration is accommodated." The report is based on a study in the journal Nature Sustainability.

The findings show that climate change will pummel poorer parts of the world disproportionately, effectively sentencing the people who live in developing nations and small island states to extreme temperatures, failing crops, conflict, water and food scarcity, and rising mortality. The final option for many people will be migration. The estimated size of the affected populations, whether they’re 2 billion or 6 billion, suggests an era of global upheaval.

Please, won't someone think of the SUV owners?

In related news, the Washington Post reports that "dangerous extreme weather is already running rampant" this summer, with wildfires raging in Canada, temperatures soaring above 100 degrees Fahrenheit as far north as Siberia, record warm ocean temperatures and record low sea ice. Speaking of: "Unfortunately it has become too late to save Arctic summer sea ice," University of Hamburg professor Dirk Notz tells the Guardian about his new research. That research "shows that even if greenhouse gas emissions are sharply reduced, the Arctic will be ice-free in September in coming decades."

On a more hopeful note, Brazil's leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva this week unveiled his plan to save the Amazon rainforest, by putting an end to illegal logging and replanting as much as gets cut down. It sounds more productive than spray-painting random SUVs, but then everyone brings something to the table.

IAEA: 'No Immediate Nuclear Safety Risk' After Ukraine Dam Sabotage

The New York Times reports:

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine, which relies on the Kakhovka reservoir to cool its reactors, is not at immediate risk of meltdown as a result of an attack on the dam downstream of the facility on Tuesday, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, Ukrainian officials and a nuclear expert said.

So there's the silver lining. Floodwaters in the Kherson area, where thousands of people have been forced to evacuate, are expected to peak this morning. Much wildlife has perished and it could take decades for the area to recover from the ecological disaster. And the Ukrainian dam's destruction will, per the Washington Post, "have severe implications for the war, not only making it harder for Ukrainian troops to advance into Russian-occupied areas, but also threatening drinking water for the region." Finally, in a significant scoop based on leaked intelligence documents, the Post reports that the Biden administration was aware of Ukrainian plans to blow up the Nord Stream 2 pipeline at least three months before it happened.

Saudi Arabia Just Took Over Trump's Favorite Sport

"They're scary motherf*ckers to get involved with," pro golfer Phil Mickelson said a couple of years ago about the Saudi royal family-controlled investors moving in on his sport. Mickelson soon put his human rights concerns aside and struck a partnership with LIV Golf, a tournament backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which answers to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who approved the 2018 murder of a U.S.-resident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. Yesterday, in a shock announcement, the PGA Tour revealed that it was merging with LIV Golf to "unify" the sport. The two organizations had been in litigation. Many pro golfers were as surprised as anyone by the news. But not Mickelson, perhaps: "Awesome day today," he posted. In other news, Saudi Arabia will be cutting oil production to jack up prices and increase profits again, ahead of a friendly visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

  • House GOP Will Seek to Hold FBI Director Chris Wray in Contempt The FBI and Justice Department, under Republican Attorney General Bill Barr, reviewed the spurious corruption allegations against Joe Biden that have the House GOP frothing at the mouth, and determined they had no merit. via the Washington Post.
  • Anti-LGBTQ School Board Protesters Get in Brawl at Glendale, California Meeting Locals had expected it to get tense on account of the Proud Boys' purported attendance. via the Los Angeles Times.
  • SEC on a Roll! Regulator Sues Coinbase, Another Big Crypto Company This lawsuit, combined with yesterday's against Binance, reflect "a broad effort to end what U.S. authorities see as the era of lawlessness in the industry." via the New York Times.
  • Mark Meadows Testified to Special Counsel Grand Jury The Trump White House chief of staff testified at an unknown date about one or both of Jack Smith's Justice Department investigations, apparently in Washington, D.C.; a Trump-focused grand jury in Florida has also been convened. via the Times and the Associated Press.
  • Port Operators Ask Biden to Intervene in Dispute with Dockworkers "More than 22,000 dockworkers at 29 ports along the West Coast have been working without a contract since July," and the bosses are accusing union members of "concerted and disruptive work actions." via the Post.
  • Federal Judge Blocks Florida Trans Healthcare Ban Such unconstitutional laws are behind the Human Rights Campaign's declaration of a nationwide state of emergency for LGBTQ people. via the Tallahassee Democrat and NBC News.

SOME NUMBER

4

That's how many of the 350-plus people who spoke at an Atlanta City Council meeting this week about the infamous "Cop City" project were in favor of it, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The council approved the project 11-4, although none of the council members who voted to spend $67 million of city funds on the project bothered to explain why.

ON THE SHOW TODAY

6/7: It's Hump Day! Sam and Emma host independent journalist Erin Reed to discuss the recent spate of anti-trans bills working their way through state legislatures across the country. Then they're joined by Joshua Landis, head of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, to discuss Syria's recent re-introduction into the Arab League.

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

Glenn Beck's Defective Clone Says Trump Is Gay

Congratulations, Steve Deace. You got me to click.

Manchin Still Pretending to Maybe Run for President in 2024

You should totally do it, man! It'll be a blast.

PARTING WORDS

"This isn't Martha's Vineyard. Kidnapping charges?"

-- Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, threatening the "small, pathetic" Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with criminal charges for sending another group of migrants on a chartered flight from Texas to Sacramento. The Bexar County, Texas Sheriff's Office, meanwhile, has recommended criminal charges in another cruel DeSantis-chartered stunt last year, in which migrants from Venezuela were trafficked to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

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