Weather experts in Midwest say climate change reporting brings burnout and threats

A lot of people choose to uninformed and ignorant because of biases, but chime in like they’re actually informed on subjects.

1.) Congress Climate History

Congress has debated climate change for nearly 30 years with varying results. Laws and congressionally approved funding have led to new programs to reduce emissions and incentives to speed the deployment of clean energy. Other efforts to address climate change more holistically, including by using market-based approaches, have not advanced.
Some major milestones on climate in Congress include:
1992: Senate approves U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. The process of designing a global agreement to tackle climate change began in the early 1990s. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which committed all nations to take action and laid the foundation for future agreements. At the time, President Bush declared, “The United States fully intends to be the world’s pre-eminent leader in protecting the global environment.” The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty in October 1992.

1992: Renewable energy gets a boost

1997: Senate pre-empts Kyoto Protocol

2003-2007: Bipartisan bills in the Senate. By the 108th Congress (2003–2004) significant bipartisan efforts to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions started to gain traction. Among other bills in 2003, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) offered The Climate Stewardship Act of 2003 to institute a cap-and-trade program to reduce emissions from electricity, manufacturing, commercial, and transportation sectors of the economy (representing 85 percent of U.S. emissions). The bill had a House companion and was reintroduced in the 109th and 110th Congresses.

2007: Congress mandates emissions reporting

2008–2010: Cap-and-trade legislation passes the House

Other major climate legislation was proposed during this period:

* The American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009 would have established a renewable energy standard and addressed several other energy-related issues.

* John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) worked outside of the committee process in an attempt to broaden the base of support for climate legislation within the Senate. Kerry and Lieberman released a draft discussion of their American Power Act in May 2010 that would have established a cap-and-trade system for utilities and industry, and a fee for transportation fuels.

* Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced a Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal Act, which would have capped carbon dioxide emissions while allowing very limited emissions trading, and rebating the revenue from this system directly back to the public on a per-capita basis.

* Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the Practical Energy and Climate Plan, intended to reduce oil imports, improve and create new efficiency standards, and establish a clean energy standard.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was expected to combine elements of the climate and energy legislative proposals into a comprehensive climate bill. Citing a lack of bipartisan support in the Senate, however, Reid announced in July 2010 that upcoming energy legislation would not include a cap on greenhouse emissions. This effectively ended action on climate legislation for the 111th Congress.

2012: Shoring up flood protection

2012: Clean Energy Standard.

2015: Extension/phasedown of renewable energy tax credits

2016: Formation of the Climate Solutions Caucus.

2018: Tax credits and carbon pricing

2019: Renewed interest in climate change. Climate change has become a priority since Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives. While most activities have been led by democrats, republicans have become more responsive to climate issues and some bipartisan efforts have emerged. Some significant developments include:

* The introduction of a Green New Deal resolution in the House and the Senate.

* The formation of a Select Committee on the Climate Crisis in the House, which released a majority staff report containing policy recommendations to address climate change.

* The formation of a bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus in the Senate.

* The continued introduction of market-based climate measures (e.g., carbon taxes and clean energy standards).

2020: Major energy legislation. In December 2020, Congress passed an omnibus package which includes the first major energy policy since 2007. The bipartisan bill includes research and development and deployment for clean energy technologies, clean energy tax incentives, and directs EPA to phase down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) over a 15-year period.

SOURCE : https://www.c2es.org/content/congress-climate-history/#:~:text=By%20the%20108th%20Congress%20(2003,emissions%20started%20to%20gain%20traction.


2.) Climate in the United States

The United States has experienced a wide variety of extreme weather over the last 125 years, impacting people, communities, and geographies. Track monthly data on how counties experience severe
weather, including precipitation and temperature.

Data Updated Sep 2023

SOURCE : https://usafacts.org/issues/climate/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ND-Climate&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqP2pBhDMARIsAJQ0CzoY0Njc788N64wYL2Gk7txLw3lv6ftgVgDTiNpHOeYupCvFAClCUUMaAs9OEALw_wcB


3.) From 1800 to COP26: A history of key climate conversations

This year's UN climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, marks the 26th time since 1995 that world leaders have gathered to confront global warming. But the realization that industrial activity was causing climate change, and discussions about what to do about it, began much earlier.

OCTOBER 31, 2021
Here are some key moments in the global climate conversation:

1800s – Throughout the 1800s, several European scientists study how different gases and vapours can trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere. In the 1890s, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius calculates the temperature effect of a doubling of atmospheric CO2, showing that burning fossil fuels would likely warm the planet.

1938 – By compiling historical weather data, British engineer Guy Callendar for the first time shows the planet’s temperatures are rising in the modern era. He correlates the temperature trends with measured rises in atmospheric CO2, and proposes the temperature change is linked.

1958 – American scientist Charles David Keeling starts systematically measuring atmospheric CO2 levels over Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory. His findings result in the “Keeling Curve,” a graph showing CO2 concentrations steadily increasing.

1988 – James Hansen, an American climate scientist, testifies before Congress that the planet is warming because of a human-caused buildup of greenhouse gasses, and notes that this is already altering the climate and weather.

1990 – At the UN’s so-called Second World Climate Conference, scientists highlight the risks of global warming to nature and society. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher says binding emissions targets are needed.

1992 – Countries sign onto the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change at the Rio Earth Summit. The UNFCCC’s goal is to control emissions to prevent extreme climate change, but it also enshrines the idea of “common but differentiated responsibilities,” meaning developed countries must do more because they are responsible for most historical emissions. The treaty does not set out binding emissions targets.

1995 – UNFCCC treaty members gather for a first “conference of parties,” or COP, in Berlin. The final document calls for legally binding emissions targets.

1997 – At COP3 in Kyoto, Japan, parties agree to the first treaty that requires specific emissions reductions. Under the Kyoto Protocol, developed countries are obligated to reduce emissions between 2008 and

2012 from 1990 levels, with different limits assigned to different countries. In the United States, key Senate Republicans denounce the accord as “dead on arrival.”

2001 – US President George W. Bush takes office and calls the Kyoto Protocol “fatally flawed,” with his rejection signaling the country’s effective exit.

2005 – The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect after Russia ratifies it, fulfilling the requirement that at least 55 countries accounting for at least 55% of emissions ratify the treaty.

2007 – Delegates agree at COP13 in Bali to work on a new binding agreement to include both developed and developing countries.

2009 – COP15 talks in Copenhagen nearly collapse amid wrangling over binding commitments for when the Kyoto Protocol expires. Instead of creating a new framework, as proposed by the Bali Roadmap, countries vote to “take note of” a nonbinding political statement.

2010 – COP16 in Cancun again fails to set new binding emissions targets. The Cancun Agreements, however, establish a Green Climate Fund to aid developing nations with adaptation and mitigation, and set a goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial average.

2011 – COP17 talks in Durban, South Africa falter after China, the United States and India refuse to sign onto binding emissions cuts before 2015. Instead, the UNFCCC parties agree to extend the Kyoto Protocol through 2017.

2012 – As Russia, Japan, and New Zealand resist new emissions targets that do not extend to developing nations, countries agree at COP18 in Doha to extend the Kyoto Protocol through 2020.

2013 – At COP19 in Warsaw, representatives from poorer nations walk out for several hours over the lack of agreement on how to handle climate-related losses and damage. A watered-down deal is eventually reached.

2015 – Global warming passes 1 degree Celsius. Extreme weather events including floods, droughts and wildfires continue to get more frequent and more severe around the globe, and countries are increasingly confronted with these immediate climate change threats.

2015 – The Paris Agreement is the first global pact to call for emissions pledges from both developed and developing countries, who are asked to pledge Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), with increasing ambition every five years. Signatories promise to try to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees C of the preindustrial average.

2017 – President Donald Trump calls the Paris treaty bad for the economy and says the United States will withdraw. That becomes official in 2020.

2018 – Teen activist Greta Thunberg captures global attention while protesting outside Swedish parliament, and over time rallies youths across the world to join her Fridays for the Future movement to demand climate action.

2019 – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls the lack of ambition shown at COP25 in Madrid a lost opportunity.

2020 – The annual COP is postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

2021 – One of U.S. President Joe Biden’s first acts in office is to rejoin the Paris Agreement.

2021 – COP26 is scheduled to go ahead Oct. 31-Nov. 12 in Glasgow. Key points to be discussed include emissions pledges, climate financing, and phasing out coal use.

SOURCE : https://climatechampions.unfccc.int/from-1800-to-cop26-a-history-of-key-climate-conversations/

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