Posted on 8 September 2018 by John Hartz

Editor's Pick

A powerful current just miles from SC is changing. It could devastate the East Coast.

Ben Franklin and Timothy Folger’s map of the Gulf Stream in 1768. Library of Congress

Off South Carolina, the ocean suddenly changes color, from green to deep blue. You’re in the Gulf Stream now, in warm and salty water from the tropics, with swordfish, tuna and squid, in a current so strong that it lowers our sea level.

Benjamin Franklin would learn about this current’s force. He was a Colonial postmaster before the American Revolution, and he’d noticed British mail ships were slow, much slower than other merchant ships. Why?

He mentioned this to his cousin, Timothy Folger, a ship captain who’d hunted whales off New England. Ah, yes, that current off the East Coast, Folger told Franklin. Any fishermen worth their nets cut in and out to make better time — the whalers had even warned the mail ships to steer clear. But the Brits “were too wise to be counseled by American fishermen.”

A map might help, and so they made a chart of this “Gulf Stream” from Florida toward Europe. It was one of the first maps to document its tremendous reach.

A powerful current just miles from SC is changing. It could devastate the East Coast. by Tony Bartelme, Special Reports, Charleston Post & Courier, Sep 5, 2018 

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Sep 2, 2018

• Lab-grown meat and the fight over what it can be called, explained by Tamar Haspel. Energy & Environment, Vox, Aug 31, 2018
• New York AG: Exxon Climate Fraud Investigation Nearing End by Nicholas Kusnetz & David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Aug 29, 2018
• The Swedish 15-year-old who's cutting class to fight the climate crisis by David Crouch, Science, Guardian, Sep 1, 2018
• Uncontrolled climate change could result in disaster for our kids. Will we do something?, Opinion by Mike Hoffman, USA Today, Aug 1, 2018
• Most weather signs are pointing to an El Nino weather pattern this fall and winter by Amy G. Hadachek, The Fence Post, Aug 31, 2018
• Christians globally unite in call for eco-justice, Lutheran World Federation, Sep 1, 2018
• I was deluded. You can't beat fake news with science communication by Jenny Rohn by Occam's Corner, Science, Guardian, Aug 29, 2018

Mon Sep 3, 2018

• California has 129 million dead trees. That’s a huge wildfire risk. by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Sep 1, 2018
• Drought puts Iraq at risk of extremist resurgence by AFP/Jordan Times, Sep 1, 2018
• Can crunch talks bring the Paris climate treaty to life?, AFP/The Economic Times, Sep 2, 2018
• The Next Financial Crisis Lurks Underground, Opinion by Bethany McLean, New York Times, Sep 1, 2018
• Tropical Storm Gordon lashes south Florida as it heads toward Gulf Coast by Susannah Cullinane & Eric Levenson, CNN, Sep 3, 2018
• California's response to record wildfires: shift to 100% clean energy by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Environment, Guardian, Sep 3, 2018
• Japan braces for likely landfall from strong typhoon Jebi by Elaine Lies, Reuters, Sep 3, 2018
• As global warming raises sea levels, Bangkok struggles to stay afloat, AFP/PTI/Business Standard, Sep 3, 2018

Tue Sep 4, 2018

• Governments 'not on track' to meet goal of capping temperatures at below two degrees: UN by Cristina Abellan Matamoros with Reuters, euronews, Sep 2, 2018
• What the drought warnings across Canada are telling us by Emma Lui, Council of Canadians, Aug 29, 2018
• Solar Installers Should Bundle Panels With Heat Pumps, Study Says, Opinion by Jeff McMahon, Green Tech, Forbes, Sep 2, 2018
• Donald Trump should take global warming more seriously – it's his voters in red states who suffer most by David Millward, The Telegraph (UK), Sept 2, 2018
• An ocean ‘heat wave’ just drove temperatures off Maine to near-record highs by Steve Mufson, Health & Sciences, Washington Post, Aug 31, 2018
• Typhoon Jebi, most powerful to hit Japan in 25 years, leaves trail of destruction in Kansai region, KYODO, Staff Report, Japan Times, Sep 4, 2018
• Don't Be Fooled: Weather Is Not Climate by Kate Marvel, Scientific American, Sept. 4, 2018
• Tropical Storm Gordon is nearing hurricane strength and landfall along the northern Gulf Coast by Jason Samenow, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 4, 2018

Wed Sep 5, 2018

• Hurricanes and wildfires overwhelmed FEMA in 2017, according to new GAO report by Joel Achenbach & Arelis R. Hernández, National, Washington Post, Sep 4, 2018
• 2018 now worst fire season on record as B.C. extends state of emergency by Bethany Lindsay, CBC News, Aug 29, 2018
• You’ve Heard of Outsourced Jobs, but Outsourced Pollution? It’s Real, and Tough to Tally Up by Brad Plumer, Climate, New York Times, Sep 4, 2018
• Deadly Gordon brings drenching rains to Gulf Coast after making landfall near the Alabama-Mississippi border by Alanne Orjoux, Ed Lavandera, and Nick Valencia, CNN, Sep 5, 2018
• Trump to name climate change skeptic as adviser on emerging technologies by Jenna McLaughlin, CNN, Sep 4, 2018
• Hurricane Florence, the first major hurricane of the year, could pose a threat to the US East Coast by Brandon Miller, CNN, Sep 5, 2018
• IN PICTURES: The terrifying force of Typhoon Jebi, Japan Times, Sep 5, 2018
• Kansai counts the cost of Typhoon Jebi by Erik Johnston, National, The Japan Times, Sep 5, 2018
• A global shift to sustainability would save us $26 trillion. Why aren’t we doing it? by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Sep 5, 2018

Thu Sep 6, 2018

• Fears over climate change hit highest level in a decade following heatwave, study says by Harry Cockburn, The Independent (UK), Environment, Sep 5, 2018
• Australia relationship with Pacific on climate change 'dysfunctional' and 'abusive' by Kate Lyons & Ben Doherty, Environment, Guardian, Aug 5, 2018
• Trump’s dirty environmental policies will echo for ages, Opinion by Andrew Dessler, San Antonio Express-News, Sep 3, 2018
• Trump Administration Removes Scientific Information about Climate Change in Proposed Rollback of Clean Power Plan, News Release, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Sep 4, 2018
• Massachusetts Can Legally Limit CO2 Emissions from Power Plants, Court Rules by Marianne Lavelle, InsideClimate News, Sep 6, 2018
• Dramatic vegetation changes in the past hint at dire future, Australian National University/Science Bulletin, Sep 3, 2018
• Artists and Activists Rise to Fight Climate Change by Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch, Sep 5, 2018
• Negotiators Are Racing the Clock to Implement the Paris Climate Accord by Jean Chemnick, E&E News/Scientific American, Sep 5, 2018

Fri Sep 7, 2018

• Australia signs declaration saying climate change 'single greatest threat' to Pacific by Ben Doherty, Environment, Guardian, Sep 5, 2018
• Revved up': Land being cleared at the rate of 14 football fields a day in northern NSW by Peter Hannam, Sydney Morning Herald, Sep 7, 2018
• Climate change is real. We must not offer credibility to those who deny it by Jonathan Porritt, Caroline Lucas, Clive Lewis and 57 other writers, politicians and academics, Letters, Guardian, Aug 26, 2018
• Florence forecast to restrengthen to a major hurricane before threatening US by Brandon Miller, CNN, Sep 7, 2018
• ACLU Fears Protest Crackdowns, Surveillance Already Being Planned for Keystone XL by Nicholas Kusnetz, InsideClimate News, Sep 7, 2018
• A plan to solve the mysteries of Congo’s vast tropical peatland, Guest Post by Simon Lewis, Carbon Brief, Sep 3, 2018
• A powerful current just miles from SC is changing. It could devastate the East Coast. by Tony Bartelme, Special Reports, Charleston Post & Courier, Sep 5, 2018
• Hurricane season 2018: what scientists are predicting by Brian Resnick, Energy & Environment, Vox, Sep 6, 2018
• Another hurricane is barreling toward Hawaii by Allison Chinchar & Haley Brink, CNN, Sep 7, 2018

Sat Sep 8, 2018

• Guest post: Six key policy challenges to achieving ‘negative emissions’ with BECCS by Dr Clair Gough, Dr Sarah Mander & Dr Naomi Vaughan, CarbonBrief, Aug 28, 2018
• Climate change science comeback strategies: 'In it for the money'  by Karin Kirk, Yale Climate Communication, Sep 05, 2018
• Hyperthermals - insights into our warm future from past rapid changes in climate by Gavin Foster, The Foster Lab Blog, Sep 04, 2018
• Poll: Death estimates tied to Trump coal rule make it less popular by Timothy Cama, The Hill, Sep 5, 2018
• Rise in insect pests under climate change to hit crop yields, study says by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Aug 30, 2018
• New research, August 27 - September 2, 2018 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Sep 7, 2018
• Hot nights: Summer low temperatures were warmest on record in Lower 48 by Jason Samenow, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 6, 2018
• Exclusive: BBC issues internal guidance on how to report climate change by Leo Hickman, Carbon Brief, Sep 7, 2018