Rotary Club of Bellingham Tattler - FEBRUARY 12, 2024
Tattler Reporter Tom Grinstad
Tattler Editor Steve Ban
Photographer Mike Diehl
Ray Kamada
"Where is Global Warming Headed?"
Opening Welcome:
The decibels really jumped in astonishment when President Doug Cole smote the bell to open the meeting. To this reporter it seemed that he may have smoted the bell too hard, cracking it similar to the Liberty Bell. But no – it survives unscathed. After his welcome, he reminded the membership about Rotary’s emphasis on Peace Building.
Guests:
Mark Knittel introduced friend and speaker, Ray Kamada
Catherine Riordan introduced her husband Phil Thompson
Del VandeKerk introduced Mark Moder with Wildbird Charities
Members on Zoom: Nancy Jordan, Ken Marzocco, Nathan Twining, Jack Westford, Mike Bradburn, Dick Tucker and John Pedlow
Visiting Rotarians: Ferndale Rotary Club members Bryan Hennessey and Pete Juhle
Club Events and Committee Announcements
Honoring PaulHanson, today. The Board made him an Honorary Member and President Doug and Sandee presented him with a certificate. He is now living at Brookdale Senior Living and would welcome visitors. It is 2600 Old Fairhaven Pkwy, Room 64. When entering, sign-in and someone will direct you. His room is at the end of the hall left of the dining room.
He entertained us with one of his Ole and Nina jokes and hasn't lost his touch. The joke went something like this, “Ole and Lena were on the porch of the retirement home, rocking away. And Ole says to Lena ‘Lena, whatever happened to our sexual relations?’ After a moment or two she replied, ‘You know Ole, I don’t tink we got a Christmas card from them last year.’” Paul welcomes visitors.
Mike Diehl asked us to inform you that Bob Diehl's outdoor service will be Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 1:00pm at the Whatcom Rowing Association, 2202 Electric Ave with reception following. CLICK HERE FOR FULL OBITUARY
More Sad news about the passing of Dr. Charles V. "Chuck"Farrell February 12, 2024. He was 90 years old. Chuck was a former memberand Past President in 2000-2001. He received the Karen W. Morse Vocational Service Award in 2007-2008 for all of his teaching at the UW in Dentistry. His service will be Wednesday February 21st at 11:00 am at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bellingham with a reception following in the Parish Hall CLICK HERE FOR FULL OBITUARY
Roland Trenouth asked for volunteers for the meal packing day, May 4, at Assumption School gym. Last year we packed 37,000 with 106 volunteers. Had Rotaract members and other clubs’ volunteers as well. - May 4, 2024 CLICK HERE TO REGISTER & DONATE
February 12, 2024 Board Briefs:
A new membership application has been approved by the Classification Committee and the RCOB Board of Directors:
James Lemerond proposed by Scott Herman and Rick Kaiser to fill the classification "Education-Technical College". He is the President of Bellingham Technical College and past Rotarian. He will be eligible for membership February 24th unless a letter of objection is received on or before by Sandra Lindhout, 2200 Vining St., Bellingham, Wa. 98229.
The June 17, 2024 Annual Cruise will be cancelled this year due to reduction in participation and lack of boats.
Stay tuned for additional exciting projects in the planning stage.
A Service Fund Grant was given to Wildbird Charity sponsored by Del VandeKerk. Accepting was Mark Moder, the executive director. Wildbird provides weekend meals to low-income kids. They began with only a couple of schools five or six years ago, and now are up to 27 schools. Every kid who wants is covered. A couple of years ago they helped 450 kids, now up to 950. They have no association with birds as such, the name came from the originators who wanted to do something wild and unpredictable, “let’s be wild birds”. And so, it came to be. Our club was the first ones in and have continued to support the mission.
Del gave a short presentation in his Rotary moment, showing photos of bicycling Rotary friends. The friends from our club have biked in such places as the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain and in France. They ride most weekends around the county. Several have ridden the Seattle to Portland (STP). Del showed a short dance video, bikers need more dance instruction. And he showed pix of bike trips in Arches Nat. Park, the Erie Canal and the Selkirks in NE Washington.
Sandy McIntire gave a book report on Freezing Order by Bill Browder, describing Browder’s confrontations with the Russian government. He was thrown out of Russia, and Russia had Interpol issue a red Notice, which meant he could be arrested in a number of participating countries and extradited to Russia for trial. He basically was responsible for the Magninsky Act, which made him Mr. Putin’s #1 enemy. The act authorizes our government to sanction human rights offenders and freeze their assets. The book sets out the corruption and plundering of the Russian economy by Putin and his friends, and recounts the Russian interference in our 2016 presidential election. Sounds like a good read.
Mystery Photo: Shauna Naf
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Mark Knittel introduced the program speaker, Ray Kamada, who is a world-class expert on climate change. He will try to answer the question “Where Is Global Warming Headed?" Mark's experience with Ray is sending him an email asking a question, which is answered in a few days with a six-page dissertation, full of facts and figures.
Ray started off with data which showed that global warming is occurring. He showed statements from several big oil companies that concede that burning fossil fuels causes global warning. In fact, Exxon states that, “At the same time there is growing recognition among parties that emission reductions are not yet sufficient to achieve a 2 degree C pathway.” He showed graphs and charts that illustrated the point that what is causing the rate of warming is not the sun, volcanoes, nor cosmic radiation. Greenhouse gases (GHG) are the culprit. Nights are warming faster than days, and winters are warming faster than summers. These are fingerprints of GHGs. What we as a global society are doing is not enough to limit the temperature increase, since the industrial age began, to that 2dC. And a 1.5dC mark many people think is the tipping point.
If we continue existing policies, the consequences will be harsh. Even with the Paris Accords, there will be excessive warming. Even if we do far beyond the Accords, there will be warming. And with this warming comes melting ice caps and sea level rise. A 3dC temperature rise results in no ice caps. The warming is exponential; as the sea rises, the ice melts faster. And the acceleration shows up around 2150 AD. We would see the eastern seaboard under water, the San Juaquin Valley, which produces a large portion of our country's food, become an inland sea, and the Mississippi Bay come up to around Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
A consequence of climate change that we are experiencing now is extreme weather. The arctic is warming about three times faster than the tropics. The temperature difference between the arctic and tropics is what controls the jet stream. When the gradient is large the jet stream is smooth – tending to flow along a narrow path. When the gradient lessens the jet stream tends to meander, wandering north and south. This means warm air reaches the north latitudes and frigid air comes south more often. And the result is extreme heat waves and cold snaps occur in unusual places and more frequently.
Two more reasons to switch from fossil fuels to renewables: 1) fossil fuels have become environmentally unaffordable and 2)energy scarcity due to population increases. So, our choice is increased energy scarcity or increasing energy efficiency. To increase efficiency means, for example, using more electric vehicles. Electric motors are three times as efficient as internal combustion engines. Batteries have round-trip efficiency exceeding 80% and electric heat pumps are at least three times as efficient as gas furnaces. Energy efficiency reduces the need for more powerplants. But this means more electrification, doubling the amount of electric energy we now have. That’s a costly transition. But what other choice do we have? The bottom line is that electrification could slash the total energy use of our community by around 40% once we’ve gone through the transition.
In summary, climate change is mostly man-made, continued earth warming is not compatible with civilization, and the consequences are devastating for coastal communities. Unsubsidized utility-scale wind and solar energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels. Battery storage is now cheaper than nuclear. Due to our rising population, we have a falling energy per capita problem. Solving it requires electric motors and heat pumps.
Closing:
Doug thanked those who would break down the room, and rang the bell. This reporter plugged his ears, worrying that he would smack it so hard.
RCOB apparel, including polo shirts, dress shirts, vests and hats is now available. These are items that every Club member simply must have in his/her wardrobe! Besides looking great, Club members will be contributing to branding for the RCOB as well as supporting our Club's Foundation, which will receive part of the proceeds.
Click on the button below for the the clothing catalogue, with the Order Form on the last page. Fill out the order form, turn it into Vinson Latimore at a meeting or email a scanned copy to embroidery@choicesscrubs.com.
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