Apple says the iPhone is a valuable readiness aid in a world impacted by climate change

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in General Discussion
To a degree, Apple could actually benefit from the impacts of climate change with the iPhone a crucial part of a customer's readiness for a crisis, the company said in an unusual statement made public on Tuesday.

Apple Watch Series 4


"As people begin to experience severe weather events with greater frequency, we expect an increasing need for confidence and preparedness in the arena of personal safety and the well-being of loved ones," the company wrote in a submission to the non-profit Carbon Disclosure Project, seen by Bloomberg. The CDP grades companies on their awareness and response to climate change.

Products like iPhones "can serve as a flashlight or a siren; they can provide first aid instructions; they can act as a radio; and they can be charged for many days via car batteries or even hand cranks," Apple said.

It's not clear whether Apple cited any downsides to the company's business as a result of climate change. Some direct impacts could include property damage from fire, storms, or flooding, and tougher water access at facilities like its Arizona data center. Apple has a presence in a number of at-risk places, ranging from San Francisco to Tokyo.

Indirectly, the economic hardship caused by climate change could sabotage the company's customer base.

Apple is presumably concerned, as it was one of 30 U.S. companies to receive an "A" from the CDP, some others being Home Depot and Johnson & Johnson. That may still not bode well for the environment though, given that north of 1,800 U.S. companies submitted CDP reports for 2018. Worldwide, over 7,000 businesses made submissions.

Some of Apple's attempts to offset carbon emissions include protecting forests and worldwide investments in clean power. All of its first-party operations use renewable energy, and the company has been working to soften the damage caused by its supply chain.

Observers have pointed out that Apple's logistics remain a pollution source, and that by its very nature the company depends on increasing resource consumption to turn a profit.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 77
    This article prompts me to get hang cranks / solar cel USB charger which I didn't realize it exists.
  • Reply 2 of 77
    normangnormang Posts: 118member
    Climate constantly changes, to think we can actually have any impact on significantly altering the climate is the height of arrogance. It's been warmer in the past than today and its been cooler, we know this..... but somehow altering a carbon footprint is going to save us? This is not to say that we should not try and be prudent in the use of resources, but the proposed changes all mandate government control of your life and all that will do is make things worse for people, not better.
    SpamSandwichbitmodElCapitancornchippatchythepiraterwx9901LordeHawk
  • Reply 3 of 77
    Very well said. I agree with your statement. This is all about increasing power and control of citizens. 
    tbornotElCapitanpatchythepirate
  • Reply 4 of 77
    normang said:
    Climate constantly changes, to think we can actually have any impact on significantly altering the climate is the height of arrogance. It's been warmer in the past than today and its been cooler, we know this..... but somehow altering a carbon footprint is going to save us? This is not to say that we should not try and be prudent in the use of resources, but the proposed changes all mandate government control of your life and all that will do is make things worse for people, not better.
    Quite right. Those who support authoritarian government love the idea that by fleecing taxpayers their pet projects can get funding and they can arbitrarily restrain the population. Total egomania.
    cornchippatchythepirate
  • Reply 5 of 77
    knowitallknowitall Posts: 1,648member
    So, not just trying to sell people stuff?
    cornchip
  • Reply 6 of 77
    LatkoLatko Posts: 398member
    Apple simplifying its own provisioning might be an elementary contribution - more than profiting from a potential crisis.
  • Reply 7 of 77
    normang said:
    Climate constantly changes, to think we can actually have any impact on significantly altering the climate is the height of arrogance. It's been warmer in the past than today and its been cooler, we know this..... but somehow altering a carbon footprint is going to save us? This is not to say that we should not try and be prudent in the use of resources, but the proposed changes all mandate government control of your life and all that will do is make things worse for people, not better.
    Yeah, f**k the climate. It's not like all that 97% of the scientific community (some of them dedicate their lives to study climate and the impact humans have on it) are right, right?
    boogerman2000tmayStrangeDaysminicoffeefastasleepiqatedoroundaboutnowbb-15steveaumuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 8 of 77
    normang said:
    Climate constantly changes, to think we can actually have any impact on significantly altering the climate is the height of arrogance. It's been warmer in the past than today and its been cooler, we know this..... but somehow altering a carbon footprint is going to save us? This is not to say that we should not try and be prudent in the use of resources, but the proposed changes all mandate government control of your life and all that will do is make things worse for people, not better.
    Nice cut and paste statement...Child's logic. 
    StrangeDaysminicoffeeiqatedoGeorgeBMacelijahgkiltedgreenjony0
  • Reply 9 of 77
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    normang said:
    Climate constantly changes, to think we can actually have any impact on significantly altering the climate is the height of arrogance. It's been warmer in the past than today and its been cooler, we know this..... but somehow altering a carbon footprint is going to save us? This is not to say that we should not try and be prudent in the use of resources, but the proposed changes all mandate government control of your life and all that will do is make things worse for people, not better.
    Human caused climate change is a fact. I've been following the subject for 40 years and the only constant is we keep underestimating people's impact. I will leave it to you to explain to your grandchildren why you didn't do anything.
    tmayStrangeDaysminicoffeefastasleepslprescottdedgeckoiqatedoroundaboutnowsteveaumuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 10 of 77
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    gutengel said:
    normang said:
    Climate constantly changes, to think we can actually have any impact on significantly altering the climate is the height of arrogance. It's been warmer in the past than today and its been cooler, we know this..... but somehow altering a carbon footprint is going to save us? This is not to say that we should not try and be prudent in the use of resources, but the proposed changes all mandate government control of your life and all that will do is make things worse for people, not better.
    Yeah, f**k the climate. It's not like all that 97% of the scientific community (some of them dedicate their lives to study climate and the impact humans have on it) are right, right?
    Have you actually read Cook’s paper where he came up with that number? It’s a polemic, including anything that mentions climate change.  It’s precisely political crap like “97%” that that gives oxygen to doubters.

    edit: anyway, fear of climate change apparently helps sell iPhones. A great adaptation strategy that also helps my shares, meaning I will be better placed financially to adapt too.. 
    edited January 2019 patchythepirate
  • Reply 11 of 77
    The people in Paradise, CA could have used an early warning to evacuate but there is no way to do that currently, If Apple wants to do something to actually help people deal with environmental disasters, perhaps a world wide local emergency alert system would be a good start. Make sure it can be used by people who have Android phones as well.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 12 of 77
    bellsbells Posts: 140member
    normang said:
    Climate constantly changes, to think we can actually have any impact on significantly altering the climate is the height of arrogance. It's been warmer in the past than today and its been cooler, we know this..... but somehow altering a carbon footprint is going to save us? This is not to say that we should not try and be prudent in the use of resources, but the proposed changes all mandate government control of your life and all that will do is make things worse for people, not better.
    I hate to tell you but worldwide government mandates are the only chance to fight climate change. 

    It also seems kind of silly to suggest things such as mass defortestion in combination with significant carbon output wouldn’t likely have an appreciable impact on the climate any more than saying lighting a fire in a small room won’t effect air quality. I certainly see appreciable changes where I live in Michigan. 

    Even if scientists somehow got got it wrong, which I doubt, planning to avoid the potential crisis seems prudent. I’m certainly not taking your word for it.

    Also combating climate change will be very profitable for the private sector, and if done correctly won’t have serious impact on people’s lives.


    tmayStrangeDaysfastasleeproundaboutnowbonobobmuthuk_vanalingamGeorgeBMacelijahg
  • Reply 13 of 77
    normang said:
    Climate constantly changes, to think we can actually have any impact on significantly altering the climate is the height of arrogance. It's been warmer in the past than today and its been cooler, we know this..... but somehow altering a carbon footprint is going to save us? This is not to say that we should not try and be prudent in the use of resources, but the proposed changes all mandate government control of your life and all that will do is make things worse for people, not better.
    I don't know how old you are Normang, but I suspect you may be young enough to regret your "it's not human caused climate change, the government is the problem (certainly not me)" comments.

    Check out this review.
    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/10/william-vollmann-carbon-ideologies/568309/. If you like read the book.  Warning: It will need a little attention span.

    Unfortunately Vollmann is wrong - his future readers won't even be able to eat insects . . .
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/10/15/hyperalarming-study-shows-massive-insect-loss/?utm_term=.9c0cbc5861b4
    tmayfastasleepmuthuk_vanalingamGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 14 of 77
    It's all a moot point. According to our favorite NY congresswoman the world will end in 12 years anyway. 
    patchythepirateLordeHawk
  • Reply 15 of 77
    DAalseth said:
    normang said:
    Climate constantly changes, to think we can actually have any impact on significantly altering the climate is the height of arrogance. It's been warmer in the past than today and its been cooler, we know this..... but somehow altering a carbon footprint is going to save us? This is not to say that we should not try and be prudent in the use of resources, but the proposed changes all mandate government control of your life and all that will do is make things worse for people, not better.
    Human caused climate change is a fact. I've been following the subject for 40 years and the only constant is we keep underestimating people's impact. I will leave it to you to explain to your grandchildren why you didn't do anything.
    No offense but that's nonsense. Look at all the scientists that were feeding Al Gore with all this misinformation. Just because science says it doesn't mean it's right. Scientists have constantly been proven wrong. Gore talked about polar bears dying in his documentary and scientists said they would. They were all wrong. The polar bear population keeps increasing and they are showing they can adapt with less ice. I'm not going to disagree that humans have caused a ton of damage to earth, but all these claims it's mostly humans are nonsense. Glaciers melting, warming oceans, ice sheets shrinking, etc is nothing new. Another huge natural factor that has caused drastic climate changes in the past are shifts in Earth's orbital tilt. That's happening now. There is no proven science that accurately will say how much greenhouse emissions the world needs to reduce or if its even possible to make a difference at this point. Natural carbon emissions are a lot more than what humans create. 
    patchythepirateelijahgSpamSandwichLordeHawk
  • Reply 16 of 77
    DAalseth said:
    normang said:
    Climate constantly changes, to think we can actually have any impact on significantly altering the climate is the height of arrogance. It's been warmer in the past than today and its been cooler, we know this..... but somehow altering a carbon footprint is going to save us? This is not to say that we should not try and be prudent in the use of resources, but the proposed changes all mandate government control of your life and all that will do is make things worse for people, not better.
    Human caused climate change is a fact. I've been following the subject for 40 years and the only constant is we keep underestimating people's impact. I will leave it to you to explain to your grandchildren why you didn't do anything.
    Good luck with that rational idea on this forum DAalseth ;-((((((((((((
  • Reply 18 of 77
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,309member
    The people in Paradise, CA could have used an early warning to evacuate but there is no way to do that currently, If Apple wants to do something to actually help people deal with environmental disasters, perhaps a world wide local emergency alert system would be a good start. Make sure it can be used by people who have Android phones as well.
    https://wildfiretoday.com/2018/12/31/modeling-the-spread-of-the-camp-fire/

    https://wildfiretoday.com/2019/01/15/lessons-learned-from-camp-fire-could-augment-data-utilization-and-community-resilience/

    Even assuming that residents were notified as early as possible, there is still the problem that the road network could not sustain the traffic, and in fact, many casualties were people trapped on various stretches of road by the fire. 

    https://wildfiretoday.com/2019/01/18/the-new-director-of-cal-fire-addressed-climate-change-9-years-ago/

    The result, amongst other things;

    https://wildfiretoday.com/2019/01/15/facing-liability-over-wildfires-pge-to-file-for-bankruptcy/

    Power distribution failures, ie downed power lines in extreme wind events, are a leading trigger for many of these massive fires in California, but surely construction practices and zoning laws are contributory factors.
    fastasleepmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 19 of 77
    normang said:
    Climate constantly changes, to think we can actually have any impact on significantly altering the climate is the height of arrogance. It's been warmer in the past than today and its been cooler, we know this..... but somehow altering a carbon footprint is going to save us? This is not to say that we should not try and be prudent in the use of resources, but the proposed changes all mandate government control of your life and all that will do is make things worse for people, not better.
    Nonsense. 7 billion people can affect a closed system quite readily, it’s not arrogance. The greenhouse gases model is readily accepted by the world’s actual scientists, only US conservatives seem to have a problem with science. Leave your car running in the garage and say it’s arrogant to believe we can affect a closed space. 


    fastasleeptmayroundaboutnowbb-15muthuk_vanalingamGeorgeBMackiltedgreen
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