wattsupwiththat--2020-12-14--Bernie Sanders Announces Support for Climate Wrecking Consumerism

Bernie Sanders has just announced an amendment which would hand over vast quantities of free money to ordinary consumers .
@ @ @ @ @ Bernie reconcile handing people free money with his opposition to climate wrecking consumerism ?
Bernie @ @ @ @ @ to capitalist excess , yet at the same time he supports a universal basic income @ @ @ @ @ funding of consumerist excess .
There is a solution to this dilemma which avoids planet @ @ @ @ @ the value of the US dollar drops to zero , as happened with the Venezuelan @ @ @ @ @ looting the economy to fund unsustainable social programmes , then Bernie gets to hand out @ @ @ @ @ actually be used to purchase anything .

Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Bernie Sanders has just announced an amendment which would hand over vast quantities of free money to ordinary consumers. My question – how does Bernie reconcile handing people free money with his opposition to climate wrecking consumerism?
I introduced an amendment with @HawleyMO that would provide a direct payment of $1,200 for working-class individuals, $2,400 for couples and $500 for kids.
If that amendment was signed into law, what would it mean for you and your family? — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 12, 2020
Bernie Sanders says he is opposed to capitalist excess, yet at the same time he supports a universal basic income, a recipe for government funding of consumerist excess.
There is a solution to this dilemma which avoids planet wrecking consumerist excess. If the value of the US dollar drops to zero, as happened with the Venezuelan Bolivar when the government started looting the economy to fund unsustainable social programmes, then Bernie gets to hand out free money which cannot actually be used to purchase anything.
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-15--NIMBY’s are making more noise than wind turbines

There is increasing concern that electricity generation from fossil fuels contributes to climate change and air pollution .
In response to these concerns , governments around the world are encouraging the installation of intermittent electricity generation projects including Industrial Wind Turbines ( IWT ’ s ) .
But Whoa , Nelly !
NIMBY ’ s ( Not-In-My-Backyard ) around the globe from Germany to Australia , California , New York , and Massachusetts are speaking loudly , and acting , to put a halt to the invasion of noisy wind farms in their backyards .
Following numerous reports from Maryland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ noise , the NIMBY ’ s are becoming energized ( no pun intended ) .
• The National Center for Biotechnology Information located in Bethesda , Maryland ( NCBI ) reported that industrial wind turbine noise amplitude modulation , audible low frequency noise , tonal noise , infrasound , and lack of nighttime abatement have been identified as plausible noise characteristics that could cause annoyance and other health effects .
Documented symptoms reported by individuals exposed to wind turbines , include : Sleep disturbance , Headaches , Ear pressure , Dizziness , Vertigo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Problems with concentration and memory , and Panic episodes associated with sensations of internal pulsation or quivering when awake or asleep .
• The Green Energy Act ( GEA ) of Ontario , Canada may have been well-intended , but a recent analysis published by the Fraser Institute , Environmental and Economic Consequences of Ontario ’ s Green Energy Act , demonstrates that the GEA has had disastrous impacts on Ontario ’ s energy rates and is going to seriously threaten economic competitiveness for the manufacturing and mining sectors .
• The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Health Nuisance .
The planned extension of the terrestrial wind energy sector raises an increasing number of complaints from associations of local residents reporting functional disturbances achieving what is known as the “ wind turbine syndrome ” .
The report notes that noise is the most frequent complaint .
The noise is described as piercing , preoccupying , and continually surprising , as it is irregular in intensity .
The noise includes grating and incongruous sounds that distract the attention or disturb rest .
The spontaneous recurrence of these noises disturbs the sleep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wind rises and preventing the subject from going back to sleep .
Despite the political obsession for intermittent electricity generated from wind turbines , NIMBY ’ s are alive and well !
Here is a sampling of NIMBY ’ s around the globe from Germany to Australia , California , New York , and Massachusetts that are stepping up to stop the installation of those monstrosities in their backyards : • In Germany , thousands are being driven mad by practically incessant , turbine generated low-frequency noise and infra-sound , and are fighting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has rattled the wind industry .
There are now hundreds of anti-wind industry groups across Germany .
And many of those groups and individuals have launched litigation against developers and government to either prevent wind farms from being built , or to seek substantial financial compensation for the loss of the use and enjoyment of their homes .
In Germany , locals expressed their opposition in no uncertain terms – voting 25 to 1 against a giant wind project proposed for their patch of paradise .
• In Australia and New Zealand , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quality of life are also documented in Industrial Wind Turbines ( IWTs ) projects in their countries .
• In California , San Bernardino is the state ’ s largest county , and “ has banned the construction of large solar and wind farms of more than 1 million acres of private land.
” Residents do not want their rural desert community littered with renewables • In New York , America ’ s Rural Communities , like Arkwright , NY have gone on the offensive against big wind ’ s turbine onslaught .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ wind power obsessed Governor is determined to carpet his state with thousands of wind turbines .
Faced with the threatened onslaught , and already fed up with what they have had to suffer , the upstate New Yorkers have taken matters into their own hands and produced a documentary about noise from local wind turbines .
• In Massachusetts , the Town of Falmouth had documentation prior to the installations of its wind turbines that the megawatt wind turbines were too loud for residential locations .
The documentation includes emails , maps , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center in 2013 that “ mistakes ” were made in the original acoustic noise predictions .
The first Falmouth wind turbine started operating in 2010 .
Ultimately the wind turbine installations in Falmouth are far worse than any experiment ever conducted in the United States as state and local officials always had first-hand knowledge of the damage to health and the requirement to take property with no compensation .
State and local officials were following an agenda to achieve 2000 megawatts of commercial wind turbine power by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ NIMBY resistance goes on and on at locations like New York , Wisconsin , and Scotland , etc .
Before too hastily pursuing those wind turbines for the generation of intermittent electricity , politicians should read the numerous published reports from Maryland to Canada to France about the effects of wind turbine noise , and listen to their NIMBY constituents that are rejecting those monstrosities in their backyards .
Ronald Stein is an engineer who , drawing upon 25 years of project management and business development experience , launched PTS Advance in 1995 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and energy expert who writes frequently on issues of energy and economics .

Reposted from CFACT
By Ronald Stein |December 14th, 2020|Energy|
There is increasing concern that electricity generation from fossil fuels contributes to climate change and air pollution. In response to these concerns, governments around the world are encouraging the installation of intermittent electricity generation projects including Industrial Wind Turbines (IWT’s).
But Whoa, Nelly! NIMBY’s (Not-In-My-Backyard) around the globe from Germany to Australia, California, New York, and Massachusetts are speaking loudly, and acting, to put a halt to the invasion of noisy wind farms in their backyards. Following numerous reports from Maryland to Canada to France on wind turbine noise, the NIMBY’s are becoming energized (no pun intended).
The National Center for Biotechnology Information located in Bethesda, Maryland (NCBI) reported that industrial wind turbine noise amplitude modulation, audible low frequency noise, tonal noise, infrasound, and lack of nighttime abatement have been identified as plausible noise characteristics that could cause annoyance and other health effects. Documented symptoms reported by individuals exposed to wind turbines, include: Sleep disturbance, Headaches, Ear pressure, Dizziness, Vertigo, Nausea, Visual blurring, Irritability, Problems with concentration and memory, and Panic episodes associated with sensations of internal pulsation or quivering when awake or asleep.
The Green Energy Act (GEA) of Ontario, Canada may have been well-intended, but a recent analysis published by the Fraser Institute, Environmental and Economic Consequences of Ontario’s Green Energy Act, demonstrates that the GEA has had disastrous impacts on Ontario’s energy rates and is going to seriously threaten economic competitiveness for the manufacturing and mining sectors.
The French Academy of Medicine Declare Wind Turbines Health Nuisance. The planned extension of the terrestrial wind energy sector raises an increasing number of complaints from associations of local residents reporting functional disturbances achieving what is known as the “wind turbine syndrome”. The report notes that noise is the most frequent complaint. The noise is described as piercing, preoccupying, and continually surprising, as it is irregular in intensity. The noise includes grating and incongruous sounds that distract the attention or disturb rest. The spontaneous recurrence of these noises disturbs the sleep, suddenly awakening the subject when the wind rises and preventing the subject from going back to sleep.
Despite the political obsession for intermittent electricity generated from wind turbines, NIMBY’s are alive and well! Here is a sampling of NIMBY’s around the globe from Germany to Australia, California, New York, and Massachusetts that are stepping up to stop the installation of those monstrosities in their backyards:
The list of the NIMBY resistance goes on and on at locations like New York, Wisconsin, and Scotland, etc.
Before too hastily pursuing those wind turbines for the generation of intermittent electricity, politicians should read the numerous published reports from Maryland to Canada to France about the effects of wind turbine noise, and listen to their NIMBY constituents that are rejecting those monstrosities in their backyards.
Author
Ronald Stein is an engineer who, drawing upon 25 years of project management and business development experience, launched PTS Advance in 1995. He is an author, engineer, and energy expert who writes frequently on issues of energy and economics.
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-14--Stealth Green New Deal language being slipped into take-it-or-leave-it House spending package

AEA Urges Senate and House Leaders to Reject “ Sense of Congress ” Nonsense .
WASHINGTON DC ( December 14 , 2020 ) – The American Energy Alliance ( AEA ) , the country ’ s premier pro-consumer , pro-taxpayer , and free-market energy organization , sounded the alarm today on a proposed Sense of Congress resolution that if adopted , could cause a major disruption of America ’ s energy system .
AEA has obtained a page from a discussion draft dated December 13 at 5:28 PM that appears to include a provision from the Green New Deal-like energy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it a “ Sense of Congress ” to call for 100 % of power demand to come from “ clean , renewable , or zero-emission ” energy sources .
Information around these terms , or how they would be implemented , appears to be left intentionally vague .
Putting Congress on record supporting 100 % renewables is a major statement of policy and it should not be tacked onto a massive spending bill with no discussion or debate warns AEA .
To make matters worse , this provision appears to give the Secretary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Congress to impose 100 % renewables .
Thomas Pyle , President of the American Energy Alliance , issued the following statement : “ While most Americans are eagerly looking for news about access to a COVID-19 vaccine , or juggling their expenses and schedules this holiday season , some unnamed Members of Congress are making a last-minute attempt to to sneak bad energy policy into a take-it-or-leave it spending bill before checking out for the year .
It ’ s shameful and should be rejected outright .
“ Members of the House of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closed doors to jam a a stealth Green New Deal provision into a massive year-end bill to fund the entire federal government .
Language uncovered in a “ discussion draft ” would give the Secretary of Energy the authority to effectively change the Department of Energy into the Department of Climate Policy .
A major policy shift and resulting disruption of America ’ s energy system should never occur as the result of a backroom deal to secure a legacy legislative item for an outgoing chairperson .
It should be fully transparent , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s no wonder that Americans are losing faith in their government institutions.
” For more information , see our latest blog : The Stealth Green New Deal

AEA Urges Senate and House Leaders to Reject “Sense of Congress” Nonsense.
WASHINGTON DC (December 14, 2020) – The American Energy Alliance (AEA), the country’s premier pro-consumer, pro-taxpayer, and free-market energy organization, sounded the alarm today on a proposed Sense of Congress resolution that if adopted, could cause a major disruption of America’s energy system.
AEA has obtained a page from a discussion draft dated December 13 at 5:28 PM that appears to include a provision from the Green New Deal-like energy legislation, H.R. 4447, making it a “Sense of Congress” to call for 100% of power demand to come from “clean, renewable, or zero-emission” energy sources. Information around these terms, or how they would be implemented, appears to be left intentionally vague.
Putting Congress on record supporting 100% renewables is a major statement of policy and it should not be tacked onto a massive spending bill with no discussion or debate warns AEA. To make matters worse, this provision appears to give the Secretary of Energy a blank check authorization from Congress to impose 100% renewables.
Thomas Pyle, President of the American Energy Alliance, issued the following statement:
“While most Americans are eagerly looking for news about access to a COVID-19 vaccine, or juggling their expenses and schedules this holiday season, some unnamed Members of Congress are making a last-minute attempt to to sneak bad energy policy into a take-it-or-leave it spending bill before checking out for the year. It’s shameful and should be rejected outright.
“Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate are negotiating behind closed doors to jam a a stealth Green New Deal provision into a massive year-end bill to fund the entire federal government. Language uncovered in a “discussion draft” would give the Secretary of Energy the authority to effectively change the Department of Energy into the Department of Climate Policy.
A major policy shift and resulting disruption of America’s energy system should never occur as the result of a backroom deal to secure a legacy legislative item for an outgoing chairperson. It should be fully transparent, debatable, and subject to amendment. It’s no wonder that Americans are losing faith in their government institutions.”
For more information, see our latest blog: The Stealth Green New Deal


wattsupwiththat--2020-12-14--The moon controls the release of methane in Arctic Ocean

It may not be very well known , but the Arctic Ocean leaks enormous amounts of the potent greenhouse gas methane .
These leaks have been ongoing for thousands of years but could be intensified by a future warmer ocean .
The potential for this gas to escape the ocean , and contribute to the greenhouse gas budget in the atmosphere , is an important mystery that scientists are trying to solve .
The total amount of methane in the atmosphere has increased immensely over the past decades , and while some of the increase can be ascribed to human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well constrained .
A recent paper in Nature Communications even implies that the moon has a role to play .
The moon controls one of the most formidable forces in nature – the tides that shape our coastlines .
Tides , in turn , significantly affect the intensity of methane emissions from the Arctic Ocean seafloor .
“ We noticed that gas accumulations , which are in the sediments within a meter from the seafloor , are vulnerable to even slight pressure changes in the water column .
Low tide means less of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ methane release .
High tide equals high pressure and lower intensity of the release ” says co-author of the paper Andreia Plaza Faverola .
“ It is the first time that this observation has been made in the Arctic Ocean .
It means that slight pressure changes can release significant amounts of methane .
This is a game-changer and the highest impact of the study.
” Says another co-author , Jochen Knies .
Plaza Faverola points out that the observations were made by placing a tool called a piezometer in the sediments and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It measured the pressure and temperature of the water inside the pores of the sediment .
Hourly changes in the measured pressure and temperature revealed the presence of gas close to the seafloor that ascends and descends as the tides change .
The measurements were made in an area of the Arctic Ocean where no methane release has previously been observed but where massive gas hydrate concentrations have been sampled .
“ This tells us that gas release from the seafloor is more widespread than we can see using traditional sonar surveys .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ gas in the water .
Gas burps that have a periodicity of several hours won ’ t be identified unless there is a permanent monitoring tool in place , such as the piezometer.
” Says Plaza Faverola These observations imply that the quantification of present-day gas emissions in the Arctic may be underestimated .
High tides , however , seem to influence gas emissions by reducing their height and volume .
“ What we found was unexpected and the implications are big .
This is a deep-water site .
Small changes in pressure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ methane will still stay in the ocean due to the water depth .
But what happens in shallower sites ?
This approach needs to be done in shallow Arctic waters as well , over a longer period .
In shallow water , the possibility that methane will reach the atmosphere is greater.
” Says Knies .
High sea-level seems thus to influence gas emissions by potentially reducing their height and volume .
The question remains whether sea-level rise due to global warming might partially counterbalance the effect of temperature on submarine methane emissions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ways that we are still deciphering , and our study reveals one of such interconnections in the Arctic : The moon causes tidal forces , the tides generate pressure changes , and bottom currents that in turn shape the seafloor and impact submarine methane emissions .
Fascinating !
” says Andreia Plaza Faverola The paper is the result of a collaboration between CAGE , Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate , Environment and Climate at UiT The Arctic University of Norway , and Ifremer under the project SEAMSTRESS – Tectonic Stress Effects on Arctic @ @

UIT THE ARCTIC UNIVERSITY OF NORWAY
Research News
IMAGE: FULL MOON IN TROMSØ, NORWAY. PHOTO: MAJA SOJTARIC view more CREDIT: MAJA SOJTARIC
It may not be very well known, but the Arctic Ocean leaks enormous amounts of the potent greenhouse gas methane. These leaks have been ongoing for thousands of years but could be intensified by a future warmer ocean. The potential for this gas to escape the ocean, and contribute to the greenhouse gas budget in the atmosphere, is an important mystery that scientists are trying to solve.
The total amount of methane in the atmosphere has increased immensely over the past decades, and while some of the increase can be ascribed to human activity, other sources are not very well constrained.
A recent paper in Nature Communications even implies that the moon has a role to play.
Small pressure changes affect methane release
The moon controls one of the most formidable forces in nature – the tides that shape our coastlines. Tides, in turn, significantly affect the intensity of methane emissions from the Arctic Ocean seafloor.
“We noticed that gas accumulations, which are in the sediments within a meter from the seafloor, are vulnerable to even slight pressure changes in the water column. Low tide means less of such hydrostatic pressure and higher intensity of methane release. High tide equals high pressure and lower intensity of the release” says co-author of the paper Andreia Plaza Faverola.
“It is the first time that this observation has been made in the Arctic Ocean. It means that slight pressure changes can release significant amounts of methane. This is a game-changer and the highest impact of the study.” Says another co-author, Jochen Knies.
New methods reveal unknown release sites
Plaza Faverola points out that the observations were made by placing a tool called a piezometer in the sediments and leaving it there for four days.
It measured the pressure and temperature of the water inside the pores of the sediment. Hourly changes in the measured pressure and temperature revealed the presence of gas close to the seafloor that ascends and descends as the tides change. The measurements were made in an area of the Arctic Ocean where no methane release has previously been observed but where massive gas hydrate concentrations have been sampled.
“This tells us that gas release from the seafloor is more widespread than we can see using traditional sonar surveys. We saw no bubbles or columns of gas in the water. Gas burps that have a periodicity of several hours won’t be identified unless there is a permanent monitoring tool in place, such as the piezometer.” Says Plaza Faverola
These observations imply that the quantification of present-day gas emissions in the Arctic may be underestimated. High tides, however, seem to influence gas emissions by reducing their height and volume.
“What we found was unexpected and the implications are big. This is a deep-water site. Small changes in pressure can increase the gas emissions but the methane will still stay in the ocean due to the water depth. But what happens in shallower sites? This approach needs to be done in shallow Arctic waters as well, over a longer period. In shallow water, the possibility that methane will reach the atmosphere is greater.” Says Knies.
May counteract the temperature effects
High sea-level seems thus to influence gas emissions by potentially reducing their height and volume. The question remains whether sea-level rise due to global warming might partially counterbalance the effect of temperature on submarine methane emissions.
“Earth systems are interconnected in ways that we are still deciphering, and our study reveals one of such interconnections in the Arctic: The moon causes tidal forces, the tides generate pressure changes, and bottom currents that in turn shape the seafloor and impact submarine methane emissions. Fascinating!” says Andreia Plaza Faverola
###
The paper is the result of a collaboration between CAGE, Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, and Ifremer under the project SEAMSTRESS – Tectonic Stress Effects on Arctic Methane Seepage
From EurekAlert!
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-14--The geothermal energy revolution

The geothermal energy revolution

There is a revolution coming in geothermal energy .
How big it will be and how fast it can grow remains to be seen , but the revolutionary technology is here now .
We already know about the new technology by name — fracking .
But that is fracking for oil and gas , the energy revolution we are already living on , that the greens hate .
The geothermal revolution is fracking for heat .
Here is the technical bit .
The Earth ’ s crust we live on is just a thin film wrapped around an 8,000 mile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under the deep ocean this crust is estimated to be just 3 miles or so thick .
It is somewhat thicker under the continents but the point remains ; it gets hot fast as you drill down into the crust .
That heat is geothermal energy .
We have used geothermal energy to make electricity for a long time , but only in tiny amounts .
California does the most in the US and its entire generating capacity is about the size of a single large coal fired power plant , about 3000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to just have a minuscule 15,000 MW .
The obstacle to doing more has been that useful energy sources are hard to find .
You need a confined reservoir of hot water in fractured crust rock .
The reservoir size , location and temperature of the water are all determined by nature .
Suitable sites have been very few .
Now all of this has suddenly changed .
With hydraulic fracturing ( or fracking ) we can make these geothermal reservoirs where we want them , the size we want them , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ want , especially very hot .
This includes the so-called “ supercritical ” water at 400 degrees C , which is now used in the most advanced power-plants .
It is like the difference between living on wild edibles , if and when you find them , and farming .
Fracking for heat is literally a whole new world .
Of course there are still pesky things like cost , feasibility and regulation , but the principal is clear ; the technology of revolutionary thermal energy has arrived .
The greens are in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Geothermal juice looks like the ideal renewable .
Unlike wind and solar , geothermal electricity is constantly available and it is not a land hog .
But the greens despise fracking and have labeled it evil .
Some States and even whole Countries have banned fracking for oil and gas .
Whether this applies to fracking for heat remains to be seen , since the fracturing processes are rather different .
How this dichotomy will play out is anybody ’ s guess .
As they say here in the mountains : “ What @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is , don ’ t start trouble lest it bite you someplace soft .
The greens desperately need geothermal fracking , they just don ’ t know it yet .
The US Energy Department has a Geothermal Technologies Office and they are understandably optimistic .
They project something like 60,000 MW of advanced geothermal juice capacity by 2050 .
Mind you this is still small , given that our present generating capacity is around a million MW .
The amount of geothermal generating capacity installed by 2050 could be much larger , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the only way to make wind and solar work .
A number of analysts , including me , have pointed out that electricity storage on the scale needed to power America with intermittent renewables is impossible .
But many States have mandated a high level of renewables , even 100 % in extreme cases .
This makes geothermal the perfect renewable , because its power can be available whenever the intermittent generators can not provide the power we need .
The more power we want from renewables , the more geothermal capacity we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We could be talking about many hundreds of thousands of MW .
If the technology works cost wise it might actually be better than unreliable , land grabbing renewables .
Happily there is a massive frenzy of geothermal research going on , much of it aimed at reducing the obvious obstacles .
Searching the engineering and scientific literature for the last five years on the word combination “ geothermal ” and “ research ” yields over 100,000 technical articles .
That is a lot of research .
So there it is .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ revolution .
No question the heat is there , thanks to the big molten ball we call Earth .
And now we suddenly have the technology to create the infrastructure needed to tap into it .
How practical it is , and how acceptable , still remains to be seen .
Interesting times lie ahead .
David Wojick , Ph.D. is an independent analyst working at the intersection of science , technology and policy .
For origins see For over 100 prior articles for CFACT see Available for confidential research and consulting .

Reposted from CFACT
By David Wojick |December 14th, 2020|Energy|
There is a revolution coming in geothermal energy. How big it will be and how fast it can grow remains to be seen, but the revolutionary technology is here now.
We already know about the new technology by name — fracking. But that is fracking for oil and gas, the energy revolution we are already living on, that the greens hate. The geothermal revolution is fracking for heat.
Here is the technical bit. The Earth’s crust we live on is just a thin film wrapped around an 8,000 mile diameter molten ball. In some places under the deep ocean this crust is estimated to be just 3 miles or so thick. It is somewhat thicker under the continents but the point remains; it gets hot fast as you drill down into the crust. That heat is geothermal energy.
We have used geothermal energy to make electricity for a long time, but only in tiny amounts. California does the most in the US and its entire generating capacity is about the size of a single large coal fired power plant, about 3000 MW. The whole world is said to just have a minuscule 15,000 MW.
The obstacle to doing more has been that useful energy sources are hard to find. You need a confined reservoir of hot water in fractured crust rock. The reservoir size, location and temperature of the water are all determined by nature. Suitable sites have been very few.
Now all of this has suddenly changed. With hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) we can make these geothermal reservoirs where we want them, the size we want them, and where the heat is the temperature we want, especially very hot. This includes the so-called “supercritical” water at 400 degrees C, which is now used in the most advanced power-plants.
It is like the difference between living on wild edibles, if and when you find them, and farming. Fracking for heat is literally a whole new world. Of course there are still pesky things like cost, feasibility and regulation, but the principal is clear; the technology of revolutionary thermal energy has arrived.
The greens are in a bit of a bind here. Geothermal juice looks like the ideal renewable. Unlike wind and solar, geothermal electricity is constantly available and it is not a land hog. But the greens despise fracking and have labeled it evil. Some States and even whole Countries have banned fracking for oil and gas. Whether this applies to fracking for heat remains to be seen, since the fracturing processes are rather different.
How this dichotomy will play out is anybody’s guess. As they say here in the mountains: “What goes around, comes around.” That is, don’t start trouble lest it bite you someplace soft. The greens desperately need geothermal fracking, they just don’t know it yet.
The US Energy Department has a Geothermal Technologies Office and they are understandably optimistic. They project something like 60,000 MW of advanced geothermal juice capacity by 2050. Mind you this is still small, given that our present generating capacity is around a million MW.
The amount of geothermal generating capacity installed by 2050 could be much larger, for one simple reason. It is probably the only way to make wind and solar work. A number of analysts, including me, have pointed out that electricity storage on the scale needed to power America with intermittent renewables is impossible. But many States have mandated a high level of renewables, even 100% in extreme cases.
This makes geothermal the perfect renewable, because its power can be available whenever the intermittent generators cannot provide the power we need. The more power we want from renewables, the more geothermal capacity we will need. It is that simple. We could be talking about many hundreds of thousands of MW. If the technology works cost wise it might actually be better than unreliable, land grabbing renewables.
Happily there is a massive frenzy of geothermal research going on, much of it aimed at reducing the obvious obstacles. Searching the engineering and scientific literature for the last five years on the word combination “geothermal” and “research” yields over 100,000 technical articles. That is a lot of research.
So there it is. Geothermal energy is potentially the second fracking revolution. No question the heat is there, thanks to the big molten ball we call Earth. And now we suddenly have the technology to create the infrastructure needed to tap into it. How practical it is, and how acceptable, still remains to be seen. Interesting times lie ahead.
Author
David Wojick, Ph.D. is an independent analyst working at the intersection of science, technology and policy. For origins see
http://www.stemed.info/engineer_tackles_confusion.html
For over 100 prior articles for CFACT see
http://www.cfact.org/author/david-wojick-ph-d/
Available for confidential research and consulting.
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-14--Green recovery must end the reign of GDP, argue Cambridge and UN economists

Our fixation with Gross Domestic Product for over half a century as the primary indicator of economic health has rendered nature “ invisible ” from national finances , intensifying the biosphere ’ s destruction by omitting its value from the systems that govern us .
This is according to leading economists from Cambridge University and the United Nations , who meet on Tuesday 15 December to help launch a “ statistical standard ” that allows governments and banks to calculate the worth of natural “ dividends ” : from fish stocks and carbon ‘ sinks ’ to reduced health burdens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the making , the new statistical approach , called “ Ecosystem Accounting ” , had its final consultation on the first of this month , and will go before the UN General Assembly next year with hopes of ratification as the global standard for measuring how the natural world underpins national economies .
“ A focus on GDP without proper regard for environmental degradation or inequality has been a disaster for global ecosystems and undermined social cohesion , ” said Prof Diane Coyle , who leads ‘ Beyond GDP ’ research at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Policy and is a key speaker at Tuesday ’ s public event .
“ Statistics are the lens through which we see the world , but they have made nature invisible to policymakers .
Twenty-first century progress can not be measured using twentieth century statistics , ” she said .
While many talk of the need to ‘ build back better ’ from the ravages of Covid-19 , we can not recover better without better information to guide us , says United Nations Chief Economist Elliot Harris , who will also speak at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high time we moved beyond GDP and measured our wealth and success with tools that recognize the value of nature and people .
The developments to our System of Environmental Economic Accounting are a giant leap in the right direction , ” Harris said .
As part of a global team , economists from Cambridge ’ s Bennett Institute for Public Policy such as Dr Matthew Agarwala have been working with the UN to develop aspects of the new accounting methods .
With his colleague Dimitri Zenghelis , Agarwala has written a guide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ UN will roll out as a training programme .
“ Some of the ways we currently value nature , what we term ‘ natural capital ’ , are just absurd , ” said Agarwala .
“ Most parks in the UK , including huge parks in major cities , have an asset value of £1 , because they can ’ t be sold .
“ Local Authorities have a balance sheet with a £1 asset that costs many thousands in annual upkeep .
But this ignores revenues from higher property values in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the value of outdoor recreation , cleaner air , and the greatly reduced impact on local health services this creates .
“ We now have the framework for putting that information into everyday economic decisions and scaling it up to the national level , ” he said .
The Bennett Institute also works closely with the UK ’ s Office for National Statistics , early adopters of Ecosystems Accounting during its previous “ experimental ” phase .
ONS work published last year used these methods to reveal the startling value of nature .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ by greenery and waterways were valued at almost a quarter of a billion pounds a year in the UK through improved worker productivity and air-conditioning energy savings alone .
Just the green spaces and rivers in urban areas saved almost £163m annually in healthcare costs , and urban woodland was estimated to be worth £89m a year through carbon removal .
Recreation spent in nature just in urban areas was valued at some £2.5 billion a year in the UK .
“ We need statistics that can guide us through the new challenges @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , inequality , climate change , and automation , ” said Agarwala .
“ We are only just scratching the surface of what these accounting methods can reveal.
” Two Cambridge graduates at the Central Statistical Office – the precursor to the ONS – James Meade ( later a University professor ) and Richard Stone , laid the foundations for GDP as we know it : essentially , the value of things and services produced by a given country .
But Cambridge is also home to Prof Sir Partha Dasgupta , considered the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GDP from its pedestal and infuse economics with the worth of life on Earth : from nature to the value of human connection .
Prof Dasgupta will also be speaking at the Ecosystem Accounting event , discussing his landmark commission from the UK Treasury to investigate the economic benefits of global biodiversity – and the costs of its rapid loss .
“ Ecosystem services are simply absent from most national statistics , ” he said .
“ Vast intellectual energy is given to estimating GDP , but there is little data on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demand for natural goods and services.
” Dasgupta describes natural capital as a necessary step towards the creation of “ inclusive wealth ” , in which economics accounts for everything from health and skills to the value of communities – all fundamental to productivity , and all currently gaping holes in national balance sheets .
At the event , Prof Coyle will discuss the major Bennett Institute report she produced with Agarwala called ‘ Building Forward : Investing in a resilient recovery ‘ .
Published last month , it outlines how inclusive wealth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic and the UK ’ s longstanding “ productivity puzzle ” .
“ Gaps in economic measurement have contributed to chronic underinvestment in natural and social capital , ” said Coyle .
“ Assets such as public green space or personal networks do not have a market price and so are not counted in economic statistics.
” This omission of life ’ s fundamentals in national economic calculations is not just a missed opportunity for governments , but a massive risk .
“ The halls of power have yet to grasp how vital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the economy , ” added Agarwala .
“ Look at the precipitous falls in fossil fuel value , and that ’ s just one small part .
“ The extreme human and economic cost of the pandemic arise from a failure to manage natural capital .
It has proved far more costly than it would have been to protect wild habitats and biodiversity in the first place to avoid such zoonotic spillover .
”

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Science Business
Our fixation with Gross Domestic Product for over half a century as the primary indicator of economic health has rendered nature “invisible” from national finances, intensifying the biosphere’s destruction by omitting its value from the systems that govern us.
This is according to leading economists from Cambridge University and the United Nations, who meet on Tuesday 15 December to help launch a “statistical standard” that allows governments and banks to calculate the worth of natural “dividends”: from fish stocks and carbon ‘sinks’ to reduced health burdens from purified air.
Almost a decade in the making, the new statistical approach, called “Ecosystem Accounting”, had its final consultation on the first of this month, and will go before the UN General Assembly next year with hopes of ratification as the global standard for measuring how the natural world underpins national economies.
“A focus on GDP without proper regard for environmental degradation or inequality has been a disaster for global ecosystems and undermined social cohesion,” said Prof Diane Coyle, who leads ‘Beyond GDP’ research at Cambridge’s Bennett Institute for Public Policy and is a key speaker at Tuesday’s public event.
“Statistics are the lens through which we see the world, but they have made nature invisible to policymakers. Twenty-first century progress cannot be measured using twentieth century statistics,” she said.
While many talk of the need to ‘build back better’ from the ravages of Covid-19, we cannot recover better without better information to guide us, says United Nations Chief Economist Elliot Harris, who will also speak at the Cambridge-hosted event.
“It is high time we moved beyond GDP and measured our wealth and success with tools that recognize the value of nature and people. The developments to our System of Environmental Economic Accounting are a giant leap in the right direction,” Harris said.
As part of a global team, economists from Cambridge’s Bennett Institute for Public Policy such as Dr Matthew Agarwala have been working with the UN to develop aspects of the new accounting methods. With his colleague Dimitri Zenghelis, Agarwala has written a guide for treasuries and central banks that the UN will roll out as a training programme.
“Some of the ways we currently value nature, what we term ‘natural capital’, are just absurd,” said Agarwala. “Most parks in the UK, including huge parks in major cities, have an asset value of £1, because they can’t be sold.
“Local Authorities have a balance sheet with a £1 asset that costs many thousands in annual upkeep. But this ignores revenues from higher property values in the vicinity. Even worse, it ignores the value of outdoor recreation, cleaner air, and the greatly reduced impact on local health services this creates.
“We now have the framework for putting that information into everyday economic decisions and scaling it up to the national level,” he said.
The Bennett Institute also works closely with the UK’s Office for National Statistics, early adopters of Ecosystems Accounting during its previous “experimental” phase. ONS work published last year used these methods to reveal the startling value of nature.
“Shading and cooling services” provided by greenery and waterways were valued at almost a quarter of a billion pounds a year in the UK through improved worker productivity and air-conditioning energy savings alone.
Just the green spaces and rivers in urban areas saved almost £163m annually in healthcare costs, and urban woodland was estimated to be worth £89m a year through carbon removal. Recreation spent in nature just in urban areas was valued at some £2.5 billion a year in the UK.
“We need statistics that can guide us through the new challenges we’re facing – biodiversity loss, inequality, climate change, and automation,” said Agarwala. “We are only just scratching the surface of what these accounting methods can reveal.”
Two Cambridge graduates at the Central Statistical Office – the precursor to the ONS – James Meade (later a University professor) and Richard Stone, laid the foundations for GDP as we know it: essentially, the value of things and services produced by a given country.
But Cambridge is also home to Prof Sir Partha Dasgupta, considered the father of the modern movement to knock GDP from its pedestal and infuse economics with the worth of life on Earth: from nature to the value of human connection.
Prof Dasgupta will also be speaking at the Ecosystem Accounting event, discussing his landmark commission from the UK Treasury to investigate the economic benefits of global biodiversity – and the costs of its rapid loss.
“Ecosystem services are simply absent from most national statistics,” he said. “Vast intellectual energy is given to estimating GDP, but there is little data on the biosphere’s capacity to meet human demand for natural goods and services.”
Dasgupta describes natural capital as a necessary step towards the creation of “inclusive wealth”, in which economics accounts for everything from health and skills to the value of communities – all fundamental to productivity, and all currently gaping holes in national balance sheets.
At the event, Prof Coyle will discuss the major Bennett Institute report she produced with Agarwala called ‘Building Forward: Investing in a resilient recovery‘. Published last month, it outlines how inclusive wealth could be developed in response to the pandemic and the UK’s longstanding “productivity puzzle”.
“Gaps in economic measurement have contributed to chronic underinvestment in natural and social capital,” said Coyle. “Assets such as public green space or personal networks do not have a market price and so are not counted in economic statistics.”
This omission of life’s fundamentals in national economic calculations is not just a missed opportunity for governments, but a massive risk. “The halls of power have yet to grasp how vital it is to include natural capital in the economy,” added Agarwala. “Look at the precipitous falls in fossil fuel value, and that’s just one small part.
“The extreme human and economic cost of the pandemic arise from a failure to manage natural capital. It has proved far more costly than it would have been to protect wild habitats and biodiversity in the first place to avoid such zoonotic spillover.”
###
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-15--Claim: Arctic Ocean–climate change is flooding the remote north with light – and new species

Jørgen Berge , University of Tromsø ; Carlos Duarte , King Abdullah University of Science and Technology ; Dorte Krause-Jensen , Aarhus University ; Karen Filbee-Dexter , Université Laval ; Kimberly Howland , Université du Québec à Rimouski ( UQAR ) , and Philippe Archambault , Université Laval At just over 14 million square kilometres , the Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world ’ s oceans .
It is also the coldest .
An expansive raft of sea ice floats near its centre , expanding in the long , cold , dark winter , and contracting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ climbs higher in the sky .
Every year , usually in September , the sea ice cover shrinks to its lowest level .
The tally in 2020 was a meagre 3.74 million square kilometres , the second-smallest measurement in 42 years , and roughly half of what it was in 1980 .
Each year , as the climate warms , the Arctic is holding onto less and less ice .
The effects of global warming are being felt around the world , but nowhere on Earth are they as dramatic as they are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warming two to three times faster than any other place on Earth , ushering in far-reaching changes to the Arctic Ocean , its ecosystems and the 4 million people who live in the Arctic .
This story is part of our Oceans 21 series Five profiles open our series on the global ocean , delving into ancient Indian Ocean trade networks , Pacific plastic pollution , Arctic light and life , Atlantic fisheries and the Southern Ocean ’ s impact on global climate .
All brought to you from The Conversation ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unexpected .
The warmer water is pulling some species further north , into higher latitudes .
The thinner ice is carrying more people through the Arctic on cruise ships , cargo ships and research vessels .
Ice and snow can almost entirely black out the water beneath it , but climate change is allowing more light to flood in .
Light is very important in the Arctic .
The algae which form the foundation of the Arctic Ocean ’ s food web convert sunlight into sugar and fat , feeding fish and , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ humans .
At high latitudes in the Arctic during the depths of winter , the Sun stays below the horizon for 24 hours .
This is called the polar night , and at the North Pole , the year is simply one day lasting six months , followed by one equally long night .
Researchers studying the effects of ice loss deployed moored observatories – anchored instruments with a buoy — in an Arctic fjord in the autumn of 2006 , before the fjord froze .
When sampling started in the spring of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place for almost six months , collecting data throughout the long and bitter polar night .
What they detected changed everything .
At that time , scientists assumed the polar night was utterly uninteresting .
A dead period in which life lies dormant and the ecosystem sinks into a dark and frigid standby mode .
Not much was expected to come of these measurements , so researchers were surprised when the data showed that life doesn ’ t pause at all .
Arctic zooplankton — tiny microscopic animals that eat algae — take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beneath the ice and in the dead of the polar night .
Sea creatures in all the oceans of the world do this , migrating to depth during the day to hide from potential predators in the dark , and surfacing at night to feed .
Organisms use light as a cue to do this , so they shouldn ’ t logically be able to during the polar night .
We now understand the polar night to be a riot of ecological activity .
The normal rhythms of daily life continue in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , seabirds hunt in almost total darkness , ghost shrimps and sea snails gather in kelp forests to reproduce , and deep-water species such as the helmet jellyfish surface when it ’ s dark enough to stay safe from predators .
For most of the organisms active during this period , the Moon , stars and aurora borealis likely give important cues that guide their behaviour , especially in parts of the Arctic not covered by sea ice .
But as the Arctic climate warms and human activities in the region ramp up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many places be invisible , crowded out by much stronger artificial light .
Almost a quarter of all land masses are exposed to scattered artificial light at night , as it ’ s reflected back to the ground from the atmosphere .
Few truly dark places remain , and light from cities , coastlines , roads and ships is visible as far as outer space .
Even in sparsely populated areas of the Arctic , light pollution is noticeable .
Shipping routes , oil and gas exploration and fisheries extend into the region @ @ @ @ @ @ @ artificial light into the otherwise inky black polar night .
No organisms have had the opportunity to properly adapt to these changes – evolution works on a much longer timescale .
Meanwhile , the harmonic movements of the Earth , Moon and Sun have provided reliable cues to Arctic animals for millennia .
Many biological events , such as migration , foraging and breeding are highly attuned to their gentle predictability .
In a recent study carried out in the high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard , between mainland Norway and the north pole @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vessel were found to affect fish and zooplankton at least 200 metres down .
Disturbed by the sudden intrusion of light , the creatures swirling beneath the surface reacted dramatically , with some swimming towards the beam , and others swimming violently away .
It ’ s difficult to predict the effect artificial light from ships newly navigating the ice-free Arctic will have on polar night ecosystems that have known darkness for longer than modern humans have existed .
How the rapidly growing human presence in the Arctic will affect the ecosystem is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ questions for researchers .
If much of the information we ’ ve gathered about the Arctic came from scientists stationed on brightly lit boats , how “ natural ” is the state of the ecosystem we have reported ?
Arctic marine science is about to enter a new era with autonomous and remotely operated platforms , capable of operating without any light , making measurements in complete darkness .
As sea ice retreats from the shores of Greenland , Norway , North America and Russia , periods with open water are getting longer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sea floor .
Suddenly , coastal ecosystems that have been hidden under ice for 200,000 years are seeing the light of day .
This could be very good news for marine plants like kelp – large brown seaweeds that thrive in cold water with enough light and nutrients .
Anchored to the sea floor and floating with the tide and currents , some species of kelp can grow up to 50 metres ( 175 feet ) – about the same height as Nelson ’ s Column in Trafalgar Square , London .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ latitudes because of the shade cast by sea ice and its scouring effect on the seabed .
These lush underwater forests are set to grow and thrive as sea ice shrinks .
Kelp are not a new arrival to the Arctic though .
They were once part of the traditional Greenlandic diet , and polar researchers and explorers observed them along northern coasts more than a century ago .
Some species of kelp may have colonised Arctic coasts after the last ice age , or spread out from small pockets where they ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forests in the Arctic are smaller and more restricted to patches in deeper waters , compared to the vast swathes of seaweed that line coasts like California ’ s in the US .
Recent evidence from Norway and Greenland shows kelp forests are already expanding and increasing their ranges poleward , and these ocean plants are expected to get bigger and grow faster as the Arctic warms , creating more nooks for species to live in and around .
The full extent of Arctic kelp forests remains largely unseen and uncharted , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have shifted and grown in the Arctic since the 1950s .
Although large seaweeds come in all shapes and sizes , many are remarkably similar to trees , with long , trunk-like but flexible bodies called stipes .
The kelp forest canopy is filled with the flat blades like leaves , while holdfasts act like roots by anchoring the seaweed to rocks below .
Some types of Arctic kelp can grow over ten metres and form large and complex canopies suspended in the water column , with a shaded and protected understorey .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ marine forests provide habitats , nursery areas and feeding grounds for many animals and fish , including cod , pollack , crabs , lobsters and sea urchins .
Kelp are fast growers , storing carbon in their leathery tissue as they do .
So what does their expansion in the Arctic mean for the global climate ?
Like restoring forests on land , growing underwater kelp forests can help to slow climate change by diverting carbon from the atmosphere .
Better yet , some kelp material breaks off and is swept out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ocean where it ’ s effectively removed from the Earth ’ s carbon cycle .
Expanding kelp forests along the Earth ’ s extensive Arctic coasts could become a growing carbon sink that captures the CO₂ humans emit and locks it away in the deep sea .
What ’ s happening with kelp in the Arctic is fairly unique – these ocean forests are embattled in most other parts of the world .
Overall , the global extent of kelp forests is on a downward trend because of ocean heatwaves , pollution , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like sea urchins .
Unsurprisingly , it ’ s not all good news .
Encroaching kelp forests could push out unique wildlife in the high Arctic .
Algae living under the ice will have nowhere to go , and could disappear altogether .
More temperate kelp species may replace endemic Arctic kelps such as Laminaria solidungula .
But kelp are just one set of species among many pushing further and deeper into the region as the ice melts .
Milne Inlet , on north Baffin Island , Nunavut , Canada , sees more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arctic Canada .
Most days during the open-water period , 300-metre-long ships leave the port laden with iron ore from the nearby Mary River Mine .
Between 71 and 82 ships pass through the area annually , most heading to — or coming from ports in northern Europe .
Cruise ships , coast guard vessels , pleasure yachts , research icebreakers , cargo supply ships and rigid inflatable boats full of tourists also glide through the area .
Unprecedented warming and declining sea ice has attracted new industries and other activities to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen marine traffic triple in the past two decades .
These ships come to the Arctic from all over the world , carrying a host of aquatic hitchhikers picked up in Rotterdam , Hamburg , Dunkirk and elsewhere .
These species — some too small to see with the naked eye — are hidden in the ballast water pumped into on-board tanks to stabilise the ship .
They also stick to the hull and other outer surfaces , called “ biofouling.
” Some survive the voyage to the Arctic and are released into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discharged and cargo loaded .
Those that maintain their hold on the outer surface may release eggs , sperm or larvae .
Many of these organisms are innocuous , but some may be invasive newcomers that can cause harm .
Research in Canada and Norway has already shown non-native invasive species like bay and acorn barnacles can survive ship transits to the Arctic .
This raises a risk for Arctic ecosystems given that invasive species are one of the top causes for extinctions worldwide .
Concern about invasive species extends far beyond the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million people live in the Arctic , many of them along the coasts that provide nutrients and critical habitat for a wide array of animals , from Arctic char and ringed seals to polar bear , bowhead whales and millions of migratory birds .
As waters warm , the shipping season is becoming longer , and new routes , like the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route ( along Russia ’ s Arctic coast ) , are opening up .
Some researchers expect a trans-Arctic route across the North Pole might be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ traffic magnifies the numbers and kinds of organisms transported into Arctic waters , and the progressively more hospitable conditions improve their odds of survival .
Prevention is the number one way to keep invasive species out of the Arctic .
Most ships must treat their ballast water , using chemicals or other processes , and/or exchange it to limit the movement of harmful organisms to new locations .
Guidelines also recommend ships use special coatings on the hulls and clean them regularly to prevent biofouling .
But these prevention measures are not always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ environments is poorly understood .
The next best approach is to detect invaders as soon as possible once they arrive , to improve chances for eradication or suppression .
But early detection requires widespread monitoring , which can be challenging in the Arctic .
Keeping an eye out for the arrival of a new species can be akin to searching for a needle in a haystack , but northern communities may offer a solution .
Researchers in Norway , Alaska and Canada have found a way to make that search easier by singling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that could endure Arctic environmental conditions .
Nearly two dozen potential invaders show a high chance for taking hold in Arctic Canada .
Among these is the cold-adapted red king crab , native to the Sea of Japan , Bering Sea and North Pacific .
It was intentionally introduced to the Barents Sea in the 1960s to establish a fishery and is now spreading south along the Norwegian coast and in the White Sea .
It is a large , voracious predator implicated in substantial declines of harvested shellfish , sea urchins @ @ @ @ @ @ @ species , with a high likelihood of surviving transport in ballast water .
Another is the common periwinkle , which ruthlessly grazes on lush aquatic plants in shoreline habitats , leaving behind bare or encrusted rock .
It has also introduced a parasite on the east coast of North America that causes black spot disease in fishes , which stresses adult fishes and makes them unpalatable , kills juveniles and causes intestinal damage to birds and mammals that eat them .
New species like these could affect the fish and mammals people hunt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrive in Pond Inlet .
After just a few years of shipping , a handful of possibly non-native species have already been discovered , including the invasive red-gilled mudworm ( Marenzellaria viridis ) , and a potentially invasive tube dwelling amphipod .
Both are known to reach high densities , alter the characteristics of the seafloor sediment and compete with native species .
Baffinland , the company that runs the Mary River Mine , is seeking to double its annual output of iron ore .
If the expansion proceeds , up to 176 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during the open-water season .
Although the future of Arctic shipping remains uncertain , it ’ s an upward trend that needs to be watched .
In Canada , researchers are working with Indigenous partners in communities with high shipping activity — including Churchill , Manitoba ; Pond Inlet and Iqaluit in Nunavut ; Salluit , Quebec and Nain , Newfoundland — to establish an invasive species monitoring network .
One of the approaches includes collecting water and testing it for genetic remnants shed from scales , faeces , sperm and other biological @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) is easy to collect and can help detect organisms that might otherwise be difficult to capture or are in low abundance .
The technique has also improved baseline knowledge of coastal biodiversity in other areas of high shipping , a fundamental step in detecting future change .
Some non-native species have already been detected in the Port of Churchill using eDNA surveillance and other sampling methods , including jellyfish , rainbow smelt and an invasive copepod species .
Efforts are underway to expand the network across the Arctic as part of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Species Strategy to reduce the spread of invasive species .
The Arctic is often called the frontline of the climate crisis , and because of its rapid rate of warming , the region is beset by invasions of all kinds , from new species to new shipping routes .
These forces could entirely remake the ocean basin within the lifetimes of people alive today , from frozen , star-lit vistas , populated by unique communities of highly adapted organisms , to something quite different .
The Arctic is changing faster than scientists can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , such as growing carbon sinks , that could benefit the wildlife and people who live there .
Not all changes to our warming world will be wholly negative .
In the Arctic , as elsewhere , there are winners and losers .
Jørgen Berge , Vice Dean for Research , Arctic and Marine Biology , University of Tromsø ; Carlos Duarte , Adjunct Professor of Marine Ecology , King Abdullah University of Science and Technology ; Dorte Krause-Jensen , Professor , Marine Ecology , Aarhus University ; Karen Filbee-Dexter , Research Fellow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kimberly Howland , Research Scientist/Adjunct University Professor , Université du Québec à Rimouski ( UQAR ) , and Philippe Archambault , Professor & Scientific Director of ArcticNet , Université Laval This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license .
Read the original article .

Jørgen Berge, University of Tromsø; Carlos Duarte, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; Dorte Krause-Jensen, Aarhus University; Karen Filbee-Dexter, Université Laval; Kimberly Howland, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), and Philippe Archambault, Université Laval
At just over 14 million square kilometres, the Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world’s oceans. It is also the coldest. An expansive raft of sea ice floats near its centre, expanding in the long, cold, dark winter, and contracting in the summer, as the Sun climbs higher in the sky.
Every year, usually in September, the sea ice cover shrinks to its lowest level. The tally in 2020 was a meagre 3.74 million square kilometres, the second-smallest measurement in 42 years, and roughly half of what it was in 1980. Each year, as the climate warms, the Arctic is holding onto less and less ice.
The effects of global warming are being felt around the world, but nowhere on Earth are they as dramatic as they are in the Arctic. The Arctic is warming two to three times faster than any other place on Earth, ushering in far-reaching changes to the Arctic Ocean, its ecosystems and the 4 million people who live in the Arctic.
This story is part of our Oceans 21 series
Five profiles open our series on the global ocean, delving into ancient Indian Ocean trade networks, Pacific plastic pollution, Arctic light and life, Atlantic fisheries and the Southern Ocean’s impact on global climate. All brought to you from The Conversation’s international network.
Some of them are unexpected. The warmer water is pulling some species further north, into higher latitudes. The thinner ice is carrying more people through the Arctic on cruise ships, cargo ships and research vessels. Ice and snow can almost entirely black out the water beneath it, but climate change is allowing more light to flood in.
Artificial light in the polar night
Light is very important in the Arctic. The algae which form the foundation of the Arctic Ocean’s food web convert sunlight into sugar and fat, feeding fish and, ultimately, whales, polar bears and humans.
At high latitudes in the Arctic during the depths of winter, the Sun stays below the horizon for 24 hours. This is called the polar night, and at the North Pole, the year is simply one day lasting six months, followed by one equally long night.
Researchers studying the effects of ice loss deployed moored observatories – anchored instruments with a buoy — in an Arctic fjord in the autumn of 2006, before the fjord froze. When sampling started in the spring of 2007, the moorings had been in place for almost six months, collecting data throughout the long and bitter polar night.
What they detected changed everything.
The polar night can last for weeks and even months in the high Arctic. Michael O. Snyder, Author provided
Life in the dark
At that time, scientists assumed the polar night was utterly uninteresting. A dead period in which life lies dormant and the ecosystem sinks into a dark and frigid standby mode. Not much was expected to come of these measurements, so researchers were surprised when the data showed that life doesn’t pause at all.
Arctic zooplankton — tiny microscopic animals that eat algae — take part in something called diel vertical migration beneath the ice and in the dead of the polar night. Sea creatures in all the oceans of the world do this, migrating to depth during the day to hide from potential predators in the dark, and surfacing at night to feed.
Organisms use light as a cue to do this, so they shouldn’t logically be able to during the polar night. We now understand the polar night to be a riot of ecological activity. The normal rhythms of daily life continue in the gloom. Clams open and close cyclically, seabirds hunt in almost total darkness, ghost shrimps and sea snails gather in kelp forests to reproduce, and deep-water species such as the helmet jellyfish surface when it’s dark enough to stay safe from predators.
For most of the organisms active during this period, the Moon, stars and aurora borealis likely give important cues that guide their behaviour, especially in parts of the Arctic not covered by sea ice. But as the Arctic climate warms and human activities in the region ramp up, these natural light sources will in many places be invisible, crowded out by much stronger artificial light.
Artificial light
Almost a quarter of all land masses are exposed to scattered artificial light at night, as it’s reflected back to the ground from the atmosphere. Few truly dark places remain, and light from cities, coastlines, roads and ships is visible as far as outer space.
Even in sparsely populated areas of the Arctic, light pollution is noticeable. Shipping routes, oil and gas exploration and fisheries extend into the region as the sea ice retreats, drawing artificial light into the otherwise inky black polar night.
Creatures which have adapted to the polar night over millions of years are now suddenly exposed to artificial light. Michael O. Snyder, Author provided
No organisms have had the opportunity to properly adapt to these changes – evolution works on a much longer timescale. Meanwhile, the harmonic movements of the Earth, Moon and Sun have provided reliable cues to Arctic animals for millennia. Many biological events, such as migration, foraging and breeding are highly attuned to their gentle predictability.
In a recent study carried out in the high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, between mainland Norway and the north pole, the onboard lights of a research vessel were found to affect fish and zooplankton at least 200 metres down. Disturbed by the sudden intrusion of light, the creatures swirling beneath the surface reacted dramatically, with some swimming towards the beam, and others swimming violently away.
It’s difficult to predict the effect artificial light from ships newly navigating the ice-free Arctic will have on polar night ecosystems that have known darkness for longer than modern humans have existed. How the rapidly growing human presence in the Arctic will affect the ecosystem is concerning, but there are also unpleasant questions for researchers. If much of the information we’ve gathered about the Arctic came from scientists stationed on brightly lit boats, how “natural” is the state of the ecosystem we have reported?
Research in the Arctic could change considerably over the coming years to reduce light pollution. Michael O. Snyder, Author provided
Arctic marine science is about to enter a new era with autonomous and remotely operated platforms, capable of operating without any light, making measurements in complete darkness.
Underwater forests
As sea ice retreats from the shores of Greenland, Norway, North America and Russia, periods with open water are getting longer, and more light is reaching the sea floor. Suddenly, coastal ecosystems that have been hidden under ice for 200,000 years are seeing the light of day. This could be very good news for marine plants like kelp – large brown seaweeds that thrive in cold water with enough light and nutrients.
Anchored to the sea floor and floating with the tide and currents, some species of kelp can grow up to 50 metres (175 feet) – about the same height as Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, London. But kelp are typically excluded from the highest latitudes because of the shade cast by sea ice and its scouring effect on the seabed.
Badderlocks, or winged kelp, off the coast of Nunavut in the Canadian Arctic. Ignacio Garrido/ArcticKelp, Author provided
These lush underwater forests are set to grow and thrive as sea ice shrinks. Kelp are not a new arrival to the Arctic though. They were once part of the traditional Greenlandic diet, and polar researchers and explorers observed them along northern coasts more than a century ago.
Some species of kelp may have colonised Arctic coasts after the last ice age, or spread out from small pockets where they’d held on. But most kelp forests in the Arctic are smaller and more restricted to patches in deeper waters, compared to the vast swathes of seaweed that line coasts like California’s in the US.
A diver explores a four-metre-high sugar kelp forest off Southampton Island, Canada. Ignacio Garrido/ArcticKelp, Author provided
Recent evidence from Norway and Greenland shows kelp forests are already expanding and increasing their ranges poleward, and these ocean plants are expected to get bigger and grow faster as the Arctic warms, creating more nooks for species to live in and around. The full extent of Arctic kelp forests remains largely unseen and uncharted, but modelling can help determine how much they have shifted and grown in the Arctic since the 1950s.
Known locations of kelp forests and global trends in predicted average summer surface temperature increase over next two decades, according to IPCC models. Filbee-Dexter et al. (2018), Author provided
A new carbon sink
Although large seaweeds come in all shapes and sizes, many are remarkably similar to trees, with long, trunk-like but flexible bodies called stipes. The kelp forest canopy is filled with the flat blades like leaves, while holdfasts act like roots by anchoring the seaweed to rocks below.
Some types of Arctic kelp can grow over ten metres and form large and complex canopies suspended in the water column, with a shaded and protected understorey. Much like forests on land, these marine forests provide habitats, nursery areas and feeding grounds for many animals and fish, including cod, pollack, crabs, lobsters and sea urchins.
Kelp forests offer lots of nooks and crannies and surfaces to settle on, making them rich in wildlife. Ignacio Garrido/ArcticKelp, Author provided
Kelp are fast growers, storing carbon in their leathery tissue as they do. So what does their expansion in the Arctic mean for the global climate? Like restoring forests on land, growing underwater kelp forests can help to slow climate change by diverting carbon from the atmosphere.
Better yet, some kelp material breaks off and is swept out of shallow coastal waters and into the deep ocean where it’s effectively removed from the Earth’s carbon cycle. Expanding kelp forests along the Earth’s extensive Arctic coasts could become a growing carbon sink that captures the CO₂ humans emit and locks it away in the deep sea.
What’s happening with kelp in the Arctic is fairly unique – these ocean forests are embattled in most other parts of the world. Overall, the global extent of kelp forests is on a downward trend because of ocean heatwaves, pollution, warming temperatures, and outbreaks of grazers like sea urchins.
Unsurprisingly, it’s not all good news. Encroaching kelp forests could push out unique wildlife in the high Arctic. Algae living under the ice will have nowhere to go, and could disappear altogether. More temperate kelp species may replace endemic Arctic kelps such as Laminaria solidungula.
A crab finds refuge on Laminaria solidungula – the only kelp species endemic to the Arctic. Ignacio Garrido/ArcticKelp, Author provided
But kelp are just one set of species among many pushing further and deeper into the region as the ice melts.
Arctic invasions
Milne Inlet, on north Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada, sees more marine traffic than any other port in Arctic Canada. Most days during the open-water period, 300-metre-long ships leave the port laden with iron ore from the nearby Mary River Mine. Between 71 and 82 ships pass through the area annually, most heading to — or coming from ports in northern Europe.
Cruise ships, coast guard vessels, pleasure yachts, research icebreakers, cargo supply ships and rigid inflatable boats full of tourists also glide through the area. Unprecedented warming and declining sea ice has attracted new industries and other activities to the Arctic. Communities like Pond Inlet have seen marine traffic triple in the past two decades.
Passengers from a cruise ship arrive in Pond Inlet, Nunavut. Kimberly Howland, Author provided
These ships come to the Arctic from all over the world, carrying a host of aquatic hitchhikers picked up in Rotterdam, Hamburg, Dunkirk and elsewhere. These species — some too small to see with the naked eye — are hidden in the ballast water pumped into on-board tanks to stabilise the ship. They also stick to the hull and other outer surfaces, called “biofouling.”
Some survive the voyage to the Arctic and are released into the environment when the ballast water is discharged and cargo loaded. Those that maintain their hold on the outer surface may release eggs, sperm or larvae.
Many of these organisms are innocuous, but some may be invasive newcomers that can cause harm. Research in Canada and Norway has already shown non-native invasive species like bay and acorn barnacles can survive ship transits to the Arctic. This raises a risk for Arctic ecosystems given that invasive species are one of the top causes for extinctions worldwide.
Expanded routes
Concern about invasive species extends far beyond the community of Pond Inlet. Around 4 million people live in the Arctic, many of them along the coasts that provide nutrients and critical habitat for a wide array of animals, from Arctic char and ringed seals to polar bear, bowhead whales and millions of migratory birds.
As waters warm, the shipping season is becoming longer, and new routes, like the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route (along Russia’s Arctic coast), are opening up. Some researchers expect a trans-Arctic route across the North Pole might be navigable by mid-century. The increased ship traffic magnifies the numbers and kinds of organisms transported into Arctic waters, and the progressively more hospitable conditions improve their odds of survival.
Prevention is the number one way to keep invasive species out of the Arctic. Most ships must treat their ballast water, using chemicals or other processes, and/or exchange it to limit the movement of harmful organisms to new locations. Guidelines also recommend ships use special coatings on the hulls and clean them regularly to prevent biofouling. But these prevention measures are not always reliable, and their efficacy in colder environments is poorly understood.
The next best approach is to detect invaders as soon as possible once they arrive, to improve chances for eradication or suppression. But early detection requires widespread monitoring, which can be challenging in the Arctic. Keeping an eye out for the arrival of a new species can be akin to searching for a needle in a haystack, but northern communities may offer a solution.
Researchers in Norway, Alaska and Canada have found a way to make that search easier by singling out species that have caused harm elsewhere and that could endure Arctic environmental conditions. Nearly two dozen potential invaders show a high chance for taking hold in Arctic Canada.
Among these is the cold-adapted red king crab, native to the Sea of Japan, Bering Sea and North Pacific. It was intentionally introduced to the Barents Sea in the 1960s to establish a fishery and is now spreading south along the Norwegian coast and in the White Sea. It is a large, voracious predator implicated in substantial declines of harvested shellfish, sea urchins and other larger, slow moving bottom species, with a high likelihood of surviving transport in ballast water.
Another is the common periwinkle, which ruthlessly grazes on lush aquatic plants in shoreline habitats, leaving behind bare or encrusted rock. It has also introduced a parasite on the east coast of North America that causes black spot disease in fishes, which stresses adult fishes and makes them unpalatable, kills juveniles and causes intestinal damage to birds and mammals that eat them.
Tracking genetic remnants
New species like these could affect the fish and mammals people hunt and eat, if they were to arrive in Pond Inlet. After just a few years of shipping, a handful of possibly non-native species have already been discovered, including the invasive red-gilled mudworm (Marenzellaria viridis), and a potentially invasive tube dwelling amphipod. Both are known to reach high densities, alter the characteristics of the seafloor sediment and compete with native species.
A cargo ship passes through Milne Inlet, Nunavut. Kimberly Howland, Author provided
Baffinland, the company that runs the Mary River Mine, is seeking to double its annual output of iron ore. If the expansion proceeds, up to 176 ore carriers will pass through Milne Inlet during the open-water season.
Although the future of Arctic shipping remains uncertain, it’s an upward trend that needs to be watched. In Canada, researchers are working with Indigenous partners in communities with high shipping activity — including Churchill, Manitoba; Pond Inlet and Iqaluit in Nunavut; Salluit, Quebec and Nain, Newfoundland — to establish an invasive species monitoring network. One of the approaches includes collecting water and testing it for genetic remnants shed from scales, faeces, sperm and other biological material.
Members of the 2019 field team from Pond Inlet and Salluit filter eDNA from water samples collected from Milne Inlet. Christopher Mckindsey, Author provided
This environmental DNA (eDNA) is easy to collect and can help detect organisms that might otherwise be difficult to capture or are in low abundance. The technique has also improved baseline knowledge of coastal biodiversity in other areas of high shipping, a fundamental step in detecting future change.
Some non-native species have already been detected in the Port of Churchill using eDNA surveillance and other sampling methods, including jellyfish, rainbow smelt and an invasive copepod species.
Efforts are underway to expand the network across the Arctic as part of the Arctic Council’s Arctic Invasive Alien Species Strategy to reduce the spread of invasive species.
The Arctic is often called the frontline of the climate crisis, and because of its rapid rate of warming, the region is beset by invasions of all kinds, from new species to new shipping routes. These forces could entirely remake the ocean basin within the lifetimes of people alive today, from frozen, star-lit vistas, populated by unique communities of highly adapted organisms, to something quite different.
The Arctic is changing faster than scientists can document, yet there will be opportunities, such as growing carbon sinks, that could benefit the wildlife and people who live there. Not all changes to our warming world will be wholly negative. In the Arctic, as elsewhere, there are winners and losers.
Jørgen Berge, Vice Dean for Research, Arctic and Marine Biology, University of Tromsø; Carlos Duarte, Adjunct Professor of Marine Ecology, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; Dorte Krause-Jensen, Professor, Marine Ecology, Aarhus University; Karen Filbee-Dexter, Research Fellow in Marine Ecology, Université Laval; Kimberly Howland, Research Scientist/Adjunct University Professor, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), and Philippe Archambault, Professor & Scientific Director of ArcticNet, Université Laval
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-15--Aussie Resources Minister: UN Climate Emergency Demand an “Inconsequential “Grand Statement”

Australian Resources Minister Keith Pitt predicts global demand for Aussie coal will remain strong “ long into the future ” .
With Australia isolated on climate change , Resources Minister Keith Pitt has dismissed a global warming statement from the United Nations secretary-general .
Australia ’ s resources minister has castigated a climate change warning from the United Nations secretary-general as an inconsequential “ grand statement ” .
Antonio Guterres has warned the world is heading for a catastrophic temperature of rise of more than three degrees by the end of the century unless all countries declare climate emergencies .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ make , ” he told ABC radio on Monday .
“ If they made a difference ( Labor MPs ) Mark Butler and Pat Conroy made that exact statement in the parliament many months ago and I don ’ t seem to recall it changing anything .
“ It ’ s about outcomes , it ’ s about a plan , it ’ s about knowing where we ’ re going and what it will cost , and it ’ s about delivery.
” Mr Pitt is confident strong global demand for Australian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He has requested a parliamentary inquiry into lenders and insurers blacklisting companies linked to coal and gas producers .

Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Australian Resources Minister Keith Pitt predicts global demand for Aussie coal will remain strong “long into the future”.
Australia’s Resources Minister Keith Pitt dismisses UN chief’s climate change statement
With Australia isolated on climate change, Resources Minister Keith Pitt has dismissed a global warming statement from the United Nations secretary-general.
Australia’s resources minister has castigated a climate change warning from the United Nations secretary-general as an inconsequential “grand statement”.
Antonio Guterres has warned the world is heading for a catastrophic temperature of rise of more than three degrees by the end of the century unless all countries declare climate emergencies.
…
Resources Minister Keith Pitt dismissed the climate warning from Mr Guterres.
“Grand statements are quite simple to make,” he told ABC radio on Monday.
“If they made a difference (Labor MPs) Mark Butler and Pat Conroy made that exact statement in the parliament many months ago and I don’t seem to recall it changing anything.
“It’s about outcomes, it’s about a plan, it’s about knowing where we’re going and what it will cost, and it’s about delivery.”
…
Mr Pitt is confident strong global demand for Australian coal will continue long into the future.
He has requested a parliamentary inquiry into lenders and insurers blacklisting companies linked to coal and gas producers.
…