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Brittany Dyer Named American Forests California State Director

North Fork, CA (January 29, 2019) – Jad Daley, American Forests’ President and CEO, announced that former Madera County Chief of Staff, Brittany Dyer, has been named American Forests’ California State Director. This position is the first of a planned wave of new state and regional postings, bringing the nation’s oldest and most established forest organization into a new model of distributed staff leadership.

“Our forests are entering a new and more complicated era,” said Daley. “By creating new field staff positions, American Forests will have unprecedented capacity to deliver on-the-ground restoration results. Climate change demands this from us, and California is unquestionably the highest priority place to start.”

For the last five years, Dyer has worked with the Madera County Board of Supervisors in the Sierra Nevada to address the forest health crisis in the Southern Sierra that has resulted in millions of dead and dying trees and dangerous wildfire. She also has served on the State of California’s Forest Management Task Force, acting as the co-chair of the Tree Mortality Working Group, and will continue this important state-level leadership role at American Forests.

Dyer will ultimately work with diverse stakeholders throughout California to lead restoration of climate-resilient forest landscapes in the face of California’s urgent forest health crisis. Her initial priority will be to expand implementation of climate-smart restoration treatments in the hard-hit forests of the Southern Sierra working in partnership with local, state, federal and private partners to accelerate the pace and scale of forest restoration.

“Brittany’s knowledge, experience and drive make her ideal to serve in this vital role,” said Daley. “She has built trusted relationships from a community scale to state, federal and tribal governments, and brings impressive leadership strengths to incorporate into forest health solutions.”

Dyer has worked on forest health issues in California since 2009, where she served in leadership positions for a regional nonprofit and local government. Additionally, her experience includes working as a grant writer, project manager, program development manager, facilitator and legislative analyst.

Dyer is an AmeriCorps VISTA alumna, has a B.S. in Communications/Public Relations, and most recently obtained a Master of Natural Resources from the Forest Ecosystems and Society program at Oregon State University. Her husband, Gilbert, has worked with the U.S. Forest Service for over 15 years. He currently serves as a Fire Prevention Officer on the Sierra National Forest. In their spare time, the two backpack throughout the Sierra with their two dogs.

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ABOUT AMERICAN FORESTS

American Forests’ mission is to create healthy and resilient forests from cities to wilderness, in order to deliver essential benefits to climate, people, water and wildlife. Founded in 1875, American Forests is the oldest national nonprofit conservation organization in the U.S., and has been a catalyst for many key milestones in national forest policy and practices, from the founding of the U.S. Forest Service and the national forest system to public education efforts. Since 1990, we have planted more than 60 million trees in all 50 states and nearly 50 countries. These projects have restored many thousands of acres of wildlife habitat, protected vital watersheds and sequestered millions of tons of carbon and greenhouse gases. American Forests is also one of the nation’s leaders in expanding greenspace in cities and a leading urban forest initiatives that transform underserved communities across the country.

MEDIA CONTACT

Lea Sloan | Vice President of Communications | 202.370.4509 (direct) | 202.330.3253 (mobile) | lsloan@americanforests.org

The post Brittany Dyer Named American Forests California State Director appeared first on American Forests.

What the 2018 climate assessments say about the Gulf Stream System slowdown

Last year, twenty
thousand peer reviewed studies on ‘climate change’ were published. No single person
can keep track of all those – you’d have to read 55 papers every single day.
(And, by the way, that huge mass of publications is why climate deniers will
always find something to cherry-pick that suits their agenda.) That is why
climate assessments are so important, where a lot of scientists pool their
expertise and discuss and assess and summarize the state of the art.

So let us have a quick look what last year’s climate assessments say about the much-discussed topic of whether the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC, a.k.a. Gulf Stream System) has already slowed down, as predicted by climate models in response to global warming.

First, there is the IPCC 1.5 °C report (SR15) prepared for the Paris Climate Agreement and published in September
2018. It doesn’t say all that much about the AMOC, given that it is not a full
IPCC assessment, but it does say this:

It is more likely than not that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) has been weakening in recent decades, given the detection of the cooling of surface waters in the north Atlantic and evidence that the Gulf Stream has slowed by 30% since the late 1950s (Srokosz and Bryden, 2015; Caesar et al., 2018). There is only limited evidence linking the current anomalously week state of AMOC to anthropogenic warming (Caesar et al., 2018). It is very likely that the AMOC will weaken over the 21 st century. […]

Weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is projected to be highly disruptive to natural and human systems as the delivery of heat to higher latitudes via this current system is reduced.

Then, in November, the
4^th US National Climate
Assessment was
published that had been two years in the making. It says:

The primary concern related to ocean circulation is the potential slowing of the Atlantic Ocean Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). An AMOC slowdown would affect poleward heat transport, regional climate, sea level rise along the East Coast of the United States, and the overall response of the Earth’s climate system to human-induced change. […]

As the atmosphere warms, surface waters entering the North Atlantic may release less heat and become diluted by increased freshwater melt from Greenland and Northern Hemisphere glaciers. Both of these factors would slow the rate of sinking and weaken the entire AMOC.

Though observational data have been insufficient to determine if a long-term slowdown in the AMOC began during the 20th century, one recent study quantifies a 15% weakening since the mid-20th century and another, a weakening over the last 150 years. Over the next few decades, however, it is very likely that the AMOC will weaken.

Finally, Future Earth (a global Earth science
research programme) and the Earth League
(a grouping of leading institutions and individuals in the Earth sciences) have
issued a climate science update for the Katowice climate summit in early
December, called 10 New Insights in Climate Science 2018. It says:

A weakening of the Atlantic overturning circulation, often referred to as the Gulf Stream system, has been expected from model simulations. Recent studies confirm that it has slowed down by 15% since the middle of the 20th century and is at its weakest in over a thousand years. This is already having observed effects, such as extreme weather in Europe, and further weakening is expected to strongly affect European weather as well as exacerbating sea-level rise at the east coast of North America.

In December also a new
study – too late to be included in the assessments – was published by Thibodeau
et al in Geophysical Research Letters, which further supports an
unprecedented AMOC weakening during the past decades. The authors write:

In this study, we used geochemical evidence to highlight a slowdown in the North Atlantic Ocean circulation over the last century. This change appears to be unique over the last 1,500 years and could be related to global warming and freshwater input from ice sheet melt.

My view

Our regular readers
know that one of my topics of interest is the stability of the Gulf Stream
System – I’ve worked on this on and off for over 25 years, ever since finishing
my PhD in physical oceanography. So let me add my own comments on the findings
cited above.

First of all, while we don’t have regular direct measurements of the AMOC going back throughout the 20^th Century, indirect evidence for an AMOC slowdown is not new. Dima and Lohmann already concluded in 2010 that “the conveyor has been slowing down over the last seven decades” (where ‘conveyor’ refers to the AMOC).

Strangely, this
finding was not discussed at all in the fifth IPCC report published in 2013.
Therefore, the IPCC now finding that an ongoing slowdown is “more likely than
not” is progress, yet still a very cautious statement. Likewise the statement
about the “limited evidence” for the slowdown being human-caused is also very
cautious. Why do I
find this overly cautious?

The main points there are that an AMOC slowdown leads to a particular fingerprint pattern in sea surface temperature change – which is basically what Dima and Lohmann already identified, and this pattern is predicted by high-resolution climate models in response to rising greenhouse gases, and it is also found in the observations. There is no known alternative explanation for what might cause this fingerprint. That fingerprint is not subtle: it is so strong that the subpolar Atlantic is the world’s only region which has resisted global warming over the past hundred years and even has cooled down, reaching record low temperatures in 2015 when the globe as a whole was record-hot.

Although the AMOC slowdown fingerprint is most clearly seen in long-term sea surface temperature trends, it is also apparent in the 2018 temperature anomaly, despite a single year including a lot of short-term variability noise. No place on Earth had a larger cold anomaly than the subpolar Atlantic. Image: Berkeley Earth project.

In fact, the strength of this pattern and the conclusion that it corresponds to a 15% AMOC slowdown just matches the median slowdown found in the historic climate runs of the CMIP5 climate models – in other words, it is exactly what the models predict as a response to human-caused climate change. In addition, there are several independent data sets that show this slowdown to be unprecedented for at least a millennium.

In IPCC jargon, personally I would therefore give the statement that the AMOC has slowed down since the early-mid 20^th Century a “very likely” rating.

Forest Digest: January 27, 2019

January 27th, 2019|Tags: climate change, lifestyle, wildlife|

Check out what’s happened in forest and environmental news this week!

California’s trees are stressed, dying, and burning — here’s what you can do – Medium

American Forests CEO Jad Daley and SAG Awards® Executive Producer Kathy Connell join forces to explain how forests can help solve climate change, and how the two organizations are partnering to take action.

P.S. Catch the 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® TODAY, Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 8pm EST/5pm PST on TBS and TNT and follow along with us on the red carpet using #SAGAwardsForForests!

The Forest for the Trees: New Device Tells Scientists About Climate Effects – Learning English

A device called a TreeTalker is providing information about trees to people who oversee forests and woodlands and aims to measure the growth and general health of trees.

2019 can be the year we begin to save the world’s forests. Here’s how – World Economic Forum

Big ideas, big actions and broadening involvement with corporations are key to scale up forest restoration this year.

Conservation efforts help some rare birds more than others – Science Daily

Land conservation programs that have converted tens of thousands of acres of agricultural land in Illinois back to a more natural state appear to have helped some rare birds increase their populations to historic levels, a new study finds. Other bird species with wider geographic ranges have not fared as well, however.

The water in your toilet could fight climate change one day – WIRED

Researchers are exploring how wastewater treatment technology might change to capture CO₂ instead of emitting it.

Air pollutants from US forest soils will increase with climate change – Science Daily

Scientists predict that certain regions of the United States will experience higher levels of pollutants that cause smog, acid rain and respiratory problems due changes in forest soils from climate change.

The post Forest Digest: January 27, 2019 appeared first on American Forests.

Jason George on Fighting Fires

January 23rd, 2019|Tags: American Forests, Fire, wildfire|

Read our other interviews with Jason George on his connection to nature and diversity in entertainment.

George plays a firefighter on ABC’s Station 19. Credit: ABC

In honor of SAG-AFTRA’s partnership with American Forests to plant 25,000 trees, we sat down with Jason George, star of ABC’s Station 19, former Grey’s Anatomy surgeon, and the chair of SAG’s national Diversity Advisory committee. He had a lot to say, in this year of record-breaking wildfires in California and elsewhere, about the profession of firefighting.

George and the rest of the cast have become quite close to the local firefighters who serve as advisers to Station 19. “These folks are not just our friends, they’re also our heroes,” he says. Furthermore, George was surprised at how much technical education was essential to the field. “It’s not just brute strength,” he said. “You have to understand physics and architecture and the way the fire moves and breathes to properly fight it.”

Many of these same technical advisers battled the flames throughout California in the fall. “The stories will just kill you,” he says. “Many of them lost their own homes and they were still out there fighting fires. The rest of us at Station 19 do anything we can do to shine a light on what they do.”

Jason is a supporter of charities that help victims, like the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. And, maybe the most important thing you can do to help first responders is to get out of the way quickly when you hear a fire truck. “It seems like a small thing, but it’s not. I can’t tell you how many firefighters get killed or injured in accidents before they even get to the fire,” George says. “Move over as soon as you hear the siren. Wherever you’re going is not as important as where they’re going.”

George is excited that SAG is partnering with American Forests again this year. “Obviously we have to start replacing trees we lost, but, just as important, we have to address the underlying causes of the fires.”

The 25th Annual SAG Awards ceremony will be nationally simulcast live on TNT and TBS this Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019 at 8 p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (PT). Follow along at #SAGAwardsForForests before the ceremony!

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New Ocean Heat Content Histories

Guest commentary from Laure Zanna (U. Oxford) and G. Jake Gebbie (WHOI)

Two recent papers, Zanna et al. (2019) (hereafter ZKGIH19) and Gebbie & Huybers (2019) (hereafter GH19), independently reconstructed ocean heat content (OHC) changes prior to the instrumentally-based records (which start ~1950). The goals (and methodologies) of the two papers were quite different – ZKGIH19 investigated regional patterns of ocean warming and thermal sea level rise, while GH19 analyzed the long-term memory of the deep ocean – but they both touch on the same key questions of climate forcing and response.

The two studies independently show that subsurface temperature change is well described on century-long timescales by surface imprints that are transported by the modern ocean circulation. Both studies highlight the following points: changes in ocean circulation have very little impact on global OHC changes, and that the deep ocean adjusts slowly to surface temperature changes, showing a slow emergence of anthropogenic trends at depth in the recent decade.

The two methodologies are distinct: ZKGIH19 uses a Green’s function approach to derive the imprint on the deep ocean of changes in surface fluxes from the ECCO project (a reanalysis model that uses modern ocean data to reconstruct a state estimate of the ocean circulation). This is then combined with the history of observed SST (HadISST2) to infer the deep ocean changes.

GH19 use a functionally similar inversion technique for ocean tracers (outlined in Gebbie and Huybers (2011)) to create a forward model that produces an estimate of deep ocean changes given the surface forcing. They then constrain this estimate using the difference between the HMS Challenger data (1872–1876) and modern WOCE data to produce an optimised estimate of ocean temperature structure going back to 15 CE. Unfortunately, there isn’t an uncertainty quantification that goes with this.

GH19 estimate of global ocean heat content change over the common era over three depth ranges.

For 1955–2017, both estimates in the upper and deep ocean are similar to estimates made by infilling the available 3D time-dependent ocean temperature observations (GH19: 0.35 W/m2, ZKGIH19: 0.33 ± 0.07 W/m2 (one sigma)). The warming between 1921-1946 is also consistent between both estimates (ocean heat uptake GH19: 175 ZJ, ZKGIH19: 145±62 ZJ (1 sigma)) and is comparable to the 1990-2015 time interval (GH19 = 135 ZJ, ZKGIH19: 153 ± 44 ZJ). Even when the time interval is pushed back to 1880, the two numerical estimates of ocean heat uptake are self-consistent.

Below 2 kilometers depth and before 1880, the two estimates show larger differences. For the time period, 1871-2015, the GH19 total estimate (570 ZJ) is bigger than ZKGIH19 (436 ± 91 ZJ), but not significantly so. (Note that GH19 ends in 2015, ZKGIH19 in 2017.)

The differences probably have 2 major causes: 1) the lingering influence of surface climate from before 1870, and 2) discrepancies in the estimated surface warming in the late 19th century. Below 2 kilometers depth, the heat uptake has differing signs for the interval, 1871-2015 in the two analyses (GH19: -25 ZJ, ZKGIH19: approx. 14 ZJ ± 6 ZJ), due to a cooling up from 1971 until 1950 in the deep ocean in the reconstruction in GH19 compared to ZKGIH19. Surface warming is stronger in GH19 in the late 19th century due to ingestion of data from the HMS Challenger observations and Ocean2k paleo reconstructions (though errors are included in the reconstructions), while ZKGIH19 only used sea surface temperatures starting from 1871. The differences could also be due to the different transport models, GH19 used WOCE data in parts of the 1990s, while ZKGIH19 used ECCO over 1992-2003 (which nonetheless incorporated WOCE data as part of it’s input).

ZKGIH19 shows that regional changes in ocean circulation have an imprint on patterns of OHC and thermosteric sea level in the Atlantic Ocean over 1955-2016. By comparing with observations, they argue that up to half of the observed ocean warming and thermosteric sea level trends between 20ºS and 50ºN are due to time-dependent ocean horizontal and vertical redistribution. They showed that there are large variations in patterns of warming between the early and late periods. GH19 mostly focus on the deep Pacific and showed large OHC cooling trends over the past century, (but did not show global latitudinal distributions). They argue that the deep Pacific cooling is a signature of long-term adjustments of the ocean after the Little Ice Age. ZKGIH19 shows basin-scale estimates but those include the Southern Ocean and cannot be directly compared to GH19 basin estimates which are north of 45ºN. A more apples-to-apples comparison will take a bit more effort to produce.

Implications
(Additional text from gavin)

Given the average transit time for the deep Pacific (1000’s of years), it is expected that the deep Pacific won’t be in equilibrium with surface climate changes over shorter time scales. GH19 are not the first to quantify this deep dis-equilibrium (previous work had looked at the lingering impact of Tambora in 1815 for instance), but this might be the estimate most consistent with the (sparse) early observations. The caveats are (as usual) there are still imperfections in the ocean models being used and the systematic biases in old observations are always being looked at. The differences between the two studies are thus understandable from their study design.

These long-term estimates are however an interesting new metric to compare to the models. Just for fun, I plot (below) the total ocean heat uptake from the historical GISS CMIP5 model ensembles (normalized to 1871). These ensembles have two different ocean models (version R and version H), and two different treatments of atmospheric composition (non-interactive and interactive) and start from quasi-equilibrium in 1850. There are still residual drifts in the deep ocean which have been subtracted out using the control runs. The ocean model definitely makes a difference, and the GISS-E2-R runs had excessive mixing down of heat into the ocean (in the CMIP6 version this is reduced). Both sets of simulations have more cumulative heating than either the ZKGIH19 or GH19 estimates, though whether that is typical of the CMIP5 ensemble, or the new CMIP6 runs, is still to be determined. Note that an excessive uptake of ocean heat would be associated with a lower transient climate response (TCR), but the match in the upper ocean for more recent periods suggests it is likely that there may be issues with early 20th C forcings. It will also be interesting to see whether the longer millennial simulations (starting in 850 CE) might have a different pattern… Watch this space!

Selected CMIP5 historical (1850 onward) model runs compared (light lines are individual runs, thick lines are the ensemble means) to the two new estimates (95% CI for the ZKGIH19 number).

References

L. Zanna, S. Khatiwala, J.M. Gregory, J. Ison, and P. Heimbach, “Global reconstruction of historical ocean heat storage and transport”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pp. 201808838, 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1808838115
G. Gebbie, and P. Huybers, “The Little Ice Age and 20th-century deep Pacific cooling”, Science, vol. 363, pp. 70-74, 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aar8413
G. Gebbie, and P. Huybers, “How is the ocean filled?”, Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 38, pp. n/a-n/a, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011GL046769
G. Stenchikov, T.L. Delworth, V. Ramaswamy, R.J. Stouffer, A. Wittenberg, and F. Zeng, “Volcanic signals in oceans”, Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 114, 2009. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2008JD011673

25th Annual SAG Awards® Partners with American Forests to Enhance and Restore the Environment Through the Planting of 25,000 Trees

Los Angeles, CA (January 23, 2019) – The Screen Actors Guild Awards®, as part of its commitment to sustainable practices, announced an environmental partnership with nonprofit conservation organization American Forests, which will salute the SAG Awards’ Silver Anniversary by providing 1,000 trees for each of the ceremony’s 25 years. These 25,000 trees will be planted in the spring, in locations across the United States, and will benefit everyone by improving the quality of air, water and wildlife habitat.

The two organizations first joined forces in 2017 when American Forests planted 1,250 trees—one for each of that year’s SAG Awards’ attendees—in the fire-damaged Angeles National Forest. “The SAG Awards is proud to be joining with American Forests once again to make a positive impact on the world we all share,” said Kathy Connell, SAG Awards® Executive Producer. “We welcome this opportunity to help offset the carbon footprint of the 25th SAG Awards production. The devastation wreaked by the recent tragic fires is a timely reminder of how important it is to be good guardians of our environment. Trees, like the art of acting, sustain and inspire us.”

Jad Daley, President & CEO of American Forests, said, “We are pleased to expand our relationship with the SAG Awards and to be part of their 25th Anniversary show. American Forests is honored to partner with the SAG Awards to bring attention to the growing climate crisis, and the role that healthy, resilient forests can play in slowing climate change and protecting our communities. Together we will replant trees on forestlands damaged by climate change, using tree species selected to maximize natural carbon capture and resilience to climate threats like wildfire.”

The 25th Annual SAG Awards ceremony will be nationally simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019 at 8 p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (PT).

The SAG Awards: A Leader in Sustainable Production Practices
The Screen Actors Guild Awards is committed to reducing its environmental footprint. Since the 15th SAG Awards in 2009, each annual ceremony has been honored with the Environmental Media Association (EMA)’s Green Seal, recognizing progress in sustainable production. The SAG Awards is the only televised special event to have received this honor for ten consecutive years. In October 2013, the SAG Awards received the EMA’s prestigious Green Production Award, honoring the Awards’ ongoing outstanding efforts to implement green initiatives and promote environmental awareness.

Conservation Makes a Difference
The SAG Awards early adoption of online credentialing, submissions, and voting; and recently, its required mailing specs and digital delivery of “for your consideration” and media materials have saved nearly seven tons of paper per year. Impact on the environment has also been reduced through a production-wide recycling and reuse program; conscientious selection of green decorative materials and use of zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cell-powered red carpet power and lighting.

American Forests: Enhancing Life from Cities to Wilderness
Founded in 1875, American Forests is the oldest national nonprofit conservation organization in the country and has served as a catalyst for many key milestones in the conservation movement. Since 1990, American Forests has planted more than 60 million trees in all 50 states and 44 countries, resulting in cleaner air and drinking water, restored habitat for wildlife and fish, and the removal of millions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The Why and Where of These Trees
From climate change and equity to biodiversity and water availability, forests are at the center of our most important environmental challenges.

The specific trees being planted through the partnership between the SAG Awards and American Forests will be species native to the ecology of their new home.

California
- 2,500 Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffrey)
- Forest Lawn Boy Scout Reservation, San Bernardino County
- California’s native mixed conifer forests are being ravaged by fire, as well as by drought and pests. This project is an ongoing demonstration of scientifically developed strategies to repair damage and to develop forests that are more resilient to changes in climate.
Michigan
- 12,500 jack pine (Pinus banksiana) and red pine (Pinus resinosa)
- State-owned land, Northern Lower Peninsula, Foster Township, Ogemaw County
- These forests are a unique habitat type, essential to diverse flora and fauna including the endangered Kirtland’s warbler. This project preserves existing habitat and supports the habitat’s northward shift due to climate change.
Montana
- 2,500 whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis)
- Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Madison Ranger District, at the headwaters of the Ruby River in Madison County
- This project provides protection, scientific development and educational programs addressing high-elevation pines, which are under substantial attack from pest infestations, fatal diseases and intense wildfires.
South Carolina
- 5,000 longleaf pine (Pinus palustris)
- James W. Webb Wildlife Management Area
- Palachucola Wildlife Management Area, Manchester State Forest. Hampton County, Sumter County
- Less than 3 percent of longleaf pine remains in its historical range. This project is helping bring back these biologically rich forests, to create intact habitat areas for iconic wildlife like the red-cockaded woodpecker and gopher tortoise.
Texas
- 2,500 thornscrub trees, like honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa)
- Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Willacy County
- One of the most biodiverse areas in North America, the Texas thornscrub ecosystem has been fragmented by agricultural use and rapid development. This project will help restore critical habitat for migratory birds and butterflies, as well as for endangered mammals like the ocelot.

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ABOUT THE 25TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS®

The 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, presented by SAG-AFTRA with Screen Actors Guild Awards, LLC will be produced by Avalon Harbor Entertainment, Inc. and nationally simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019 at 8 p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (PT). Nominations were announced on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018.

One of the awards season’s premier events, the SAG Awards annually celebrates the outstanding motion picture and television performances from the previous calendar year. Of the top industry honors presented to actors, only the SAG Awards are selected entirely by performers’ peers in SAG-AFTRA. The SAG Awards was the first televised awards show to acknowledge the work of union members and the first to present awards to motion picture casts and television ensembles. For more information about the SAG Awards, SAG-AFTRA, TNT and TBS, visit sagawards.org/about.

ABOUT AMERICAN FORESTS

American Forests inspires and advances the conservation of forests, which are essential to life. We do this by protecting and restoring threatened forest ecosystems, promoting and expanding urban forests, and increasing understanding of the importance of forests. Founded in 1875, American Forests is the oldest national nonprofit conservation organization in the country and has served as a catalyst for many key milestones in the conservation movement, including the founding of the U.S. Forest Service, the National Forest System, establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps, and thousands of forest ecosystem restoration projects and public education efforts.

MEDIA CONTACT

Lea Sloan | Vice President of Communications | 202.370.4509 (direct) | 202.330.3253 (mobile) | lsloan@americanforests.org

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The Climate Scientists are Alright

Guest commentary from Eric Guilyardi (IPSL) and Valérie Masson-Delmotte (IPSL/IPCC)

[This is a translation of an article in Le Monde (Jan 11).]

In recent weeks in France, there has been a profusion of articles about the “climate scientist blues” (Le Monde 21/Dec, JDD 9/Dec, France Info 26/Sep), which has apparently affecting them “scientifically”. This follows a spate of similar articles in the US and Australian media (Esquire, 2015; The Monthly, 2018; Sierra Club Magazine, 2018). But what is the point of knowing the mood of scientists, or whether so-and-so is optimistic or pessimistic?

Are epidemiologists asked if they are depressed when they anticipate an epidemic outbreak, or meteorologists polled about their anxiety because they predicted a storm or a heatwave? In these cases, society organizes to manage the risk related to these forecasts (orange or red alerts, weather watches and warnings) and does not care about the emotions of the scientists. The main reason most climate scientists come out of the lab and engage publicly is not to share their subjective emotions about the state of the world, but rather to discuss the results and consequences of our science.

On an individual basis, the scientists can
sometimes be proud if their forecast has been useful for better managing the
consequences of an event, or be upset that it wasn’t, but the quality and
relevance of their expertise does not depend on their state of mind. But the
principle role for climate scientists is to inform the public debate about the
outcome of collective science efforts and the risks associated with the
different trajectories of greenhouse gas emissions, not how they feel about it.

More broadly, climate change science also provides
multiple insights into how to manage climate risks. It offers new opportunities
for partnership between the scientific researchers and society as a whole to
help make decisions in a context of uncertainty about the future evolution of
the climate, especially at the local and regional scale. New knowledge is emerging
on how to build ethical and just transitions, to maximize the synergies between
climate action and the other aspects of sustainable development.

With more than 20,000 scientific publications each year with the key word “climate change”, the production of new knowledge is proceeding quickly. The challenge in interpreting this is not the state of mind of researchers, but the regular synthesis of this knowledge and how to share it with the whole of society in order to encourage solutions to manage climate risks, preserve biodiversity, and allow everyone to live with dignity by improving the well-being of all.

As the last IPCC special report on 1.5°C reminded us, the real issue is that we currently face three types of major risk. The first risk is related to each additional fraction of warming, with humanitarian, agricultural, environmental and migratory crises, increasingly challenging to manage. The second risk is the burden passed on to today’s younger generations, who would face the triple trouble of coping with the impacts of global warming; having to accelerate abruptly the transitions to a low-carbon economy if we delay in putting it in place; and lastly, to have to choose options that are potentially very risky for both biodiversity (for example through massive use of biomass energy) or global governance (for example, geo-engineering) in an attempt to contain global warming or its consequences. The third risk is rapid transition to the economy and the current global financial system through the ‘stranded assets’ of capital invested in the fossil fuel industry.

The real challenge is therefore the mobilization of collective intelligence and democratic debate on the choices of risk that we are willing to take. The Paris Agreement seems to indicate that nations who have ratified it want to avoid the first two risks and organize themselves to face the third.

What if the focus on the moods of climate scientists was a way to disengage emotionally from the choices of risk or solutions to global warming? Since the experts are worrying about it for us (it’s their daily life, isn’t it?), let’s continue our lives in peace. If feelings and expressing emotions – fear, anger, anguish, feelings of helplessness, guilt, depression – in the face of risks are legitimate, even necessary, to take action demands that we go beyond that. Catastrophism often leads to denial, a well-known psychic mechanism for protecting oneself from anxiety. Managing risk is part of our daily lives and supposes that we are not in such denial (active or passive) as it prevents clear and responsible action. Because we know that many hazards carry predictable risks, human societies have learned to anticipate and cope, for example, to limit the damage of storms or epidemics. The challenge of climate change is to build a strategy not in response to an acute and clearly identified risk, but in anticipation of a gradual, chronic increase in climate risks.

The climate scientists are alright
(mostly), but that’s not the important question. The dispassionate management
of climate risk will require that everyone – citizens, decision makers,
teachers, intermediate bodies, companies, civil society, media, scientists – in
their place and according to their means, take the time for a collective
reflection, first of all through mutual listening. The news shows it every day:
this process is hobbling along, too slowly for some, too fast for others. It
will need to overcome emotional reactions, vested interests, and false
information from the merchants of doubt. Those who are unable to review their
strategy and have everything to lose from the exit from fossil-fuel based
energies will use nit-picks, manipulation, short-termism, and promote binary
and divisive visions, all of which undermine trust and pollute the debate. But
despite that…

Every degree of warming matters, every year
counts, every choice counts. The challenge is immense because of the nature and
magnitude of the unprecedented risk. It requires doing everything to overcome
indifference and fatalism.

Decluttering

Given some unexpected down time this month (and maybe next month too!), I’ve been trying to go through key old posts on this site. The basic idea is to update links to other sites, references and figures that over the years have died (site domains that were abandoned, site redesigns, deliberate deletions etc.). Most notably, the IPCC website recently broke all the existing links to elements of the reports which we had referenced in hundreds of places. Thanks guys!

Some folk have been notifying us of issues they found (thanks Marcus!) and I’ve been fixing those as they come up, but obviously there are more. Links to old blog posts from Deltoid, Scienceblogs, Pielke Sr. or Prometheus generally don’t work anymore though they can sometimes be found on the wayback machine. It turns out a lot has changed since 2004 and many hotlinked images in particular have disappeared.

It’s obviously not worth finding replacements for every dead link, but digital uncluttering and fixing up is useful. So, please use this thread to notify us of any useful fixes we can make (and if you have an updated link,, that’d be perfect). Additionally, please let us know if any of the old content is still useful or interesting to you. We know there is still substantial traffic to the back catalog, so maybe it should be highlighted in some way?

To those of you who might ask whether blogging still brings me joy… of course it does!

Forest Digest: January 20, 2019

January 20th, 2019|Tags: climate change, Pests and Disease, urban forests|

Check out what’s happened in forest and environmental news this week!

Colorado State Forest Service: Study shows our forests are in trouble from beetle kill – The Denver Channel

Colorado is currently seeing some of the worst outbreaks of threats from pests. Currently, the spruce beetle is the main culprit; the insect is responsible for the death of more spruce trees in North America than any other natural agent.

Climate-Driven Fires Could Turn Yellowstone Forests to Grassland By Midcentury – Earth Institute, Columbia University

Over the last three decades, the forests of Yellowstone have barely had enough time to recover from fire, let alone adapt to a changing climate.

More trees are the answer to cool down our cities – The Guardian

Leaving trees in the ground and planting new ones could help future proof new development sites against extreme heat.

Study: Climate Change Already Hurting Human Health – WebMD

In addition to threatening forest health, climate change has been described as a “health emergency” for humans, causing injuries, illnesses and deaths.

The post Forest Digest: January 20, 2019 appeared first on American Forests.

Nature’s Impact: A Q&A with Elizabeth McLaughlin

January 16th, 2019|Tags: climate change, lifestyle|

As part of the celebration of our second year partnering with the SAG Awards®, American Forests chatted with Elizabeth McLaughlin, actress and member of the SAG Awards Committee. McLaughlin is known for her roles in shows like Pretty Little Liars, First Day and Betrayal, and has a recurring role in the upcoming series Grand Hotel.

American Forests (AF): What inspires your commitment to environmental issues?

Elizabeth McLaughlin (EM): My personal commitment to environmental issues is inspired by knowing fighting for the betterment of the environment isn’t just for me. My generation will definitely continue to see the harsh realities of climate change in our lives. However, it’s inspiring to know that it is also my generation that will be able to turn it around, making true changes toward sustainability and putting the protection of the natural world where it belongs: as a priority. I hope that the activism I’ve seen in the last few years continues so that our children can enjoy the natural joys our planet so wonderfully and effortlessly provides.

AF: How do you practice your environmental commitment at home?

EM: I take living a greener lifestyle as an exciting challenge. It can often be overwhelming and feel like it’s too much at once. I’ve decided it’s easier to tackle living a greener and more environmentally friendly lifestyle by focusing on a single area. In my home, we focus a lot of that determination towards changing our habits in the kitchen. It was our 2019 resolution to cut our plastic use as much as possible. For example, we are trying to not buy products with plastic packaging, and reusing them if we have to. Also, we just ordered some reusable, compact straws! We try to shop for organic and sustainably produced food, as well as cutting back our meat and fish consumption, as that has more of an impact on the environment than most of us realize. We also try to compost as much of our food waste as we can. Another goal for the next year is to start growing some vegetables in our yard with our compost mix!

Elizabeth in Crater Lake National Park

AF: How do you think people in the film and television business could serve as important leaders in rising to meet today’s environmental challenges?

EM: I think a lot of people hold themselves back on making changes towards a greener lifestyle because it feels daunting, inaccessible and like everything has to change all at once. Most people really dislike change, myself included, especially when there is so much taking our attention these days. The easiest way to combat those apprehensions is to see how truly easy it is to make simple changes that ultimately really help the environment. The film and television industry’s public platform provides a unique opportunity to lead by example, big and small; from the studios and networks leading in large industry, to actors and talent leading personally. In fact, the last job I worked on, ABC’s upcoming show Grand Hotel, had a strict ‘no plastic bottles on set’ rule, which made the cast and crew bring their own reusable water bottles. Just that small action probably eliminated hundreds if not thousands of plastic water bottle waste. Social media is a great resource to get the ‘green’ message out and show just how easy it can be to make sustainable and impactful choices. If people can see how easy and cool it is to make a difference, it becomes a contagious, all-encompassing movement, which is key to making the kind of change that our planet really needs.

AF: What role has the natural world played in your and/or your family’s life? Do you have a story about a special forested place that affected you or left an impact on you?

EM: Most of my favorite memories throughout my life have been set in the natural world. When I was a kid, we had a small wood behind our home that I would often use as the setting for all my imaginative play, playing as characters from my favorite books, or pretending to be an explorer through uncharted land. I’m so thankful that my relationship to the natural world has remained sacred through being an adult. One of the best trips I have ever taken was a road and camping trip from Los Angeles to Glacier National Park in Montana. Seeing a wide scope of our country all at once, and most of it beautifully preserved and untouched, was deeply inspirational to me, and something I think everyone should do often. I’ve found that I need to give myself those moments to get out of town and be a part of nature as almost a reset button towards a better self. There is something so profoundly grounding to walking in a forest or standing in front of the sea that gives you an opportunity for a deep breath or wiping any slate clean. Once you truly have an awe-inspiring experience out in nature, you can’t help but feel the call to protect it.

Elizabeth in a forest near Lake Tahoe

AF: Do you have a favorite tree? Which one? Why?

EM: It’s surprisingly difficult to pick a favorite tree! I’d have to say my favorite trees are very old trees, especially great oak trees or redwoods. I love trees that make you feel like you are a small piece of its own history. I love few things more than feeling tiny next to a massive tree; I think it incites that childlike wonder again. As a kid, I used to go to my small town park which had these massive low hanging oak trees that were easily over a hundred years old. For a long time, our park didn’t have a jungle gym because those trees so graciously provided natural ones. Even after we got our exciting, new jungle gym, you’d still find me in the trees. I would spend all my time at that park climbing and conquering those oak trees. In fact, the scar I’m proudest of is from a humbling moment on one of those trees.

AF: Anything else you’d like to share?

EM: I just recently learned a new beautiful word!

KOMOREBI: The sunlight that filters through the leaves of the trees. (Japanese, noun)

Isn’t that wonderful?

The 25th Annual SAG Awards ceremony will be nationally simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019 at 8 p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (PT). Follow along at #SAGAwardsForForests before the ceremony!

The post Nature’s Impact: A Q&A with Elizabeth McLaughlin appeared first on American Forests.

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References

ABOUT THE 25TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS®

ABOUT AMERICAN FORESTS

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Jason George on Fighting Fires

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