Social and economic impacts of climate | Science

For centuries, thinkers have considered whether and how climatic conditions—such as temperature, rainfall, and violent storms—influence the nature of societies and the performance of economies. A multidisciplinary renaissance of quantitative empirical research is illuminating important linkages in the coupled climate-human system. We highlight key methodological innovations and results describing effects of climate on health, economics, conflict, migration, and demographics.

Because of persistent “adaptation gaps,” current climate conditions continue to play a substantial role in shaping modern society, and future climate changes will likely have additional impact. For example, we compute that temperature depresses current U.S. maize yields by ~48%, warming since 1980 elevated conflict risk in Africa by ~11%, and future warming may slow global economic growth rates by ~0.28 percentage points per year.

In general, we estimate that the economic and social burden of current climates tends to be comparable in magnitude to the additional projected impact caused by future anthropogenic climate changes. Overall, findings from this literature point to climate as an important influence on the historical evolution of the global economy, they should inform how we respond to modern climatic conditions, and they can guide how we predict the consequences of future climate changes.

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Former EPA Chief Apologizes for Calling Post-9/11 Air Safe

September 12, 2016 Headlines

The Bush administration’s former top environmental official has apologized for telling the public the air in Lower Manhattan was safe to breathe after the 9/11 attacks. Christine Todd Whitman was head of the Environmental Protection Agency in 2001. In the days after the World Trade Center towers collapsed, Whitman repeatedly stated there was no threat of toxic air pollution.

Christine Todd Whitman: “Everything we’ve tested for, which includes asbestos, lead and VOCs, have been below any level of concern for the general public health.”

Speaking to The Guardian, Whitman acknowledged for the first time that her statements put people’s lives in jeopardy. She said, “I’m very sorry that people are sick. I’m very sorry that people are dying, and if the EPA and I in any way contributed to that, I’m sorry.” Whitman’s apology came as The Guardian reported the death toll among those sickened by the toxic fallout of ground zero will soon exceed the number of people killed on the day of the 9/11 attacks.

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North Dakota Pipeline Construction Halted, But Fight For Native Rights Continues

September 12, 2016

Flags of Native American tribes from across the U.S. and Canada line the entrance to a protest encampment near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, where members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their supporters have gather to voice their opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), Sept. 3, 2016. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

On Friday, the federal government halted construction on a portion of the Dakota Access Pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois, after months of protests by native tribes who say the pipeline is a violation of their tribal rights and will poison their waterways.

But earlier that same day, a federal judge decided that construction on the pipeline could continue.

Here & Now‘s Robin Young speaks with tribal leaders Andrew Iron Shell and his son Terrell about the impact of last week’s decisions.

Guests

Andrew Iron Shell, community engagement coordinator for Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation.

Terrell Iron Shell, member of the International Indigenous Youth Council.

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Lakota Activist Debra White Plume from Pine Ridge: Why I am a Water Protector at Standing Rock

Democracy Now!

Published on Sep 12, 2016

http://democracynow.org – While Democracy Now! was covering the standoff at Standing Rock earlier this month, we spoke to longtime Lakota water and land rights activist Debra White Plume, who was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and lives along the banks of Wounded Knee Creek. She described what the Dakota Access pipeline means to her.

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In Dramatic Reversal, White House Halts Dakota Access Pipeline Construction Under Missouri River

Democracy Now!

Published on Sep 12, 2016

http://democracynow.org – To discuss Friday’s district court ruling in the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s lawsuit against the U.S. government to stop the Dakota Access pipeline, and the White House’s dramatic intervention less than an hour later, we go to Standing Rock to speak with Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault. We are also joined by attorney Jan Hasselman, who brought the tribe’s case to federal court.

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North Dakota v. Amy Goodman: Arrest Warrant Issued After Pipeline Coverage

Democracy Now!

Published on Sep 12, 2016

http://democracynow.org – In other Dakota Access pipeline news, last Thursday, Morton County, North Dakota, issued an arrest warrant for Amy Goodman. The charge: criminal trespass, a misdemeanor offense. The case, State of North Dakota v. Amy Goodman, stems from Democracy Now!’s coverage in North Dakota over the Labor Day weekend of the Native American-led protests against the Dakota Access pipeline. On Saturday, September 3, Democracy Now! filmed security guards working for the Dakota Access pipeline company using dogs and pepper spray to attack protesters.

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Water Protectors at Standing Rock React to Obama’s Intervention in Dakota Access Pipeline Battle

Democracy Now!

Published on Sep 12, 2016

http://democracynow.org – In a dramatic series of moves on Friday, the White House intervened in the ongoing fight against the Dakota Access pipeline, less than an hour after a federal judge rejected the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s request for an injunction against the U.S. government over the pipeline. “It’s not a solid victory now but just the weight, feeling that weight that I’ve been carrying for the last couple months is lifting. I feel like I could breathe right now,” says Floris White Bull. We feature the reactions to government’s intervention from some of the thousands of Native Americans who have gathered along the Cannonball River by the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to resist the pipeline’s construction.

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Native American Activist Winona LaDuke: It’s Time to Move On from Fossil Fuels

Democracy Now!

Published on Sep 12, 2016

http://democracynow.org – While Democracy Now! was covering the Standing Rock standoff earlier this month, we spoke to Winona LaDuke, longtime Native American activist and executive director of the group Honor the Earth. She lives and works on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota. She spent years successfully fighting the Sandpiper pipeline, a pipeline similar to Dakota Access. We met her right outside the Red Warrior Camp, where she has set up her tipi. Red Warrior is one of the encampments where thousands of Native Americans representing hundreds of tribes from across the U.S. and Canada are currently resisting the pipeline’s construction.

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North Dakota v. Amy Goodman: Arrest Warrant Issued After Pipeline Coverage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR0dqQhmH7k?&start=98&end=288
September 12, 2016 Headlines

In other Dakota Access pipeline news, last Thursday, Morton County, North Dakota, issued an arrest warrant for Amy Goodman. The charge: criminal trespass, a misdemeanor offense. The case, State of North Dakota v. Amy Goodman, stems from Democracy Now!’s coverage in North Dakota over the Labor Day weekend of the Native American-led protests against the Dakota Access pipeline. On Saturday, September 3, Democracy Now! filmed security guards working for the Dakota Access pipeline company using dogs and pepper spray to attack protesters.

Protester: “These people are just threatening all of us with these dogs. And she, that woman over there, she was charging, and it bit somebody right in the face.”

Amy Goodman: “The dog has blood in its nose and its mouth.”

Protester: “And she’s still standing here threatening us.”

Amy Goodman: “Why are you letting their—her dog go after the protesters? It’s covered in blood!”

Democracy Now!’s report went viral online and was viewed more than 13 million times on Facebook alone, and our footage was rebroadcast on many outlets, including CBS, NBC, NPR.org, CNN, MSNBC and Huffington Post. Also charged was Cody Hall for his alleged presence at the September 3 land defense action and for a subsequent protest on September 6. Hall is considered a lead organizer in the movement against the Dakota Access pipeline and was arrested at one of the checkpoints that have been erected by North Dakota authorities to restrict access to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and the growing pipeline opposition camps. Hall was denied bail and remained in jail throughout the weekend. Hall’s attorneys and several others we spoke to confirmed that it is highly unusual for a defendant charged with misdemeanor trespass to be jailed and denied bail.

According to the criminal complaint against Goodman, the charges are based on a viewing of Democracy Now!’s video report of the incident, conducted by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Special Agent Lindsey Wohl’s sworn affidavit states that I was there as a journalist. Wohl wrote, “Amy Goodman can be seen on the video identifying herself and interviewing protestors [sic] about their involvement in the protest.” The criminal complaint was approved by Assistant State’s Attorney for Morton County Gabrielle J. Goter. To date, none of the private security personnel shown in the video both assaulting protesters and commanding their dogs to attack them have been charged or arrested. Democracy Now! is consulting with attorneys in North Dakota as well as at the Center for Constitutional Rights. CCR Legal Director Baher Azmy said, “This is clearly a violation of the First Amendment … an attempt to repress this important political movement by silencing media coverage.”

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Federal Government Partially Halts Construction of Dakota Access Pipeline

September 12, 2016 Headlines

The Obama administration has ordered a halt to construction of part of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, which has faced months of resistance from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and hundreds of other tribes from across the U.S. and Canada in what’s being described as the largest unification of Native American tribes in decades. In a dramatic series of moves late Friday afternoon, a federal judge rejected the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s request for an injunction against the U.S. government over the pipeline. Then the Army, Department of Justice and Department of the Interior responded with an announcement that the Army Corps will not issue permits for Dakota Access to drill under the Missouri River until the Army Corps reconsiders its previously issued permits. The news was welcomed by the protesters who have gathered along the Cannonball River by the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to resist the pipeline’s construction. This is Francine Garreau Hall of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

Francine Garreau Hall: “I am very grateful, because in our government-to-government relationship, the federal government is bound by treaty law to protect our interests. And I’m glad that they stepped up to the plate today and did that.”

The agencies also asked Dakota Access to voluntarily cease construction 20 miles east and west of the Oahe Dam.

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