Joe Romm at Climate Progress writes
Labor Day 2050: Global Warming And The Coming Collapse Of Labor Productivity:
Global warming is projected to have a serious negative impact on labor productivity this century. Here is a look at what we know.
In 2013, a NOAA study projected that “heat-stress related labor capacity losses will double globally by 2050 with a warming climate.” If we stay near our current greenhouse gas emissions pathway, then we face a potential 50 percent drop in labor capacity in peak months by century’s end.
Many recent studies project a collapse in labor productivity from business-as-usual carbon emissions and warming, with a cost to society that may well exceed that of all other costs of climate change combined. And, as one expert reviewing recent studies put it, “national output in several [non-agricultural] industries seemed to decline with temperature in a nonlinear way, declining more rapidly at very high daily temperatures.” […]
If carbon pollution remains unrestricted, we are risking catastrophic drops in labor productivity.
Andrew Gelman, director of the Applied Statistics Center at Columbia University, summed up the research this way in a 2012 post: “2% per degree Celsius … the magic number for how worker productivity responds to warm/hot temperatures.” The negative impact appears to start at about 26°C (79°F).
This loss of productivity is by no means the most life-threatening of climate impacts when compared to, say, Dust-Bowlification and its impact on food security. But it is one of the most important unmodeled climate impacts that makes the likely cost of climate change far higher than standard economic models suggest.
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Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2008—The Police State in Minneapolis:
McCain's bizarre Palin pick did more than just turn the national media feeding frenzy away from Obama's remarkable and strong speech, and the great feeling of and commitment to unity the Democrats left Denver with, but also knocked out of the national media--if ever it would reach there, anyway--the excessive actions the Minneapolis police--along with and perhaps at the direction of the federal government--are taking to prevent protests at the RNC.
Glenn Greenwald, I-Witness Video, Feministing, and FireDogLake have been reporting from Minneapolis about the excessive and unprovoked actions of the FBI and the Minneapolis police. Here's Glenn, today:
As the police attacks on protesters in Minnesota continue -- see this video of the police swarming a bus transporting members of Earth Justice [see update below], seizing the bus and leaving the group members stranded on the side of the highway -- it appears increasingly clear that it is the Federal Government that is directing this intimidation campaign. Minnesota Public Radio reported yesterday that "the searches were led by the Ramsey County Sheriff's office. Deputies coordinated searches with the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation." |
Today's Star Tribune added that the raids were specifically "aided by informants planted in protest groups." |
Tweet of the Day
Would the libertarian movement disband completely if the NSA devoted itself to releasing nude celebrity pics?
— @LOLGOP
On today's
Kagro in the Morning show, it's the 9/3/13 episode.
Greg Dworkin rounded up local news Newtown, national news from Congress (h/t to
Doctor Who), and international news on Syria. Richard Cohen has somehow become the Twitter talk of the morning, for... well, it was too annoying to really talk about. Facepalm-worthy GunFAIL from Lodi, CA.
Armando joined in for the Syria discussion.
NYC City Council candidate and longtime netroots friend
Debra Cooper, updated us on the state of the race, with some surprising background on another Dem candidate's previous support for Rudy Giuliani—in his brief bid for the Senate against Hillary Clinton, no less!
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