wattsupwiththat--2020-12-01--EXPOSED: Return of Sue-and-Settle: State AGs, DC Swamp Preparing Biggest End-Run in History — “Green

EXPOSED: Return of Sue-and-Settle: State AGs, DC Swamp Preparing Biggest End-Run in History — “Green New Deal” with No Legislation, No Rulemaking Process, Just a Sweetheart Consent Decree

Activists who came up with plan now on Biden EPA transition team As reported in the Wall Street Journal , a trail of emails between progressive state attorneys generals ( AG ) offices and former Obama-Biden and career Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) officials – obtained over nine months by Energy Policy Advocates ’ dogged public record requests – reveal a plan to use the courts to impose the “ climate ” agenda early in the next administration , skipping Congress .
The chosen approach is even more aggressive than the disastrous and politically unattainable “ Green New Deal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zero ” ) and was previously rejected by the Obama EPA and green activists as too extreme .
The plan is for an otherwise Obama-like move : an end-run around the democratic process , avoiding political sign-off or accountability for what would be a massive , painful and ideological restructuring of the U.S. economy .
Obfuscating by AG spokespeople notwithstanding , the hope appears to be to revive “ sue-and-settle ” , a practice by which green activists sue , e.g.
, the EPA to impose rules that the regulators wanted but couldn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Instead of fighting the lawsuit , the EPA would then almost immediately surrender , agreeing to settle… consenting to whatever outrageous demands were being made by the agency ’ s handpicked ‘ adversary.
’ ” “ When citizens or business complained , EPA would claim its hands were tied by the settlement.
” The progressive state AGs take the line in the Journal story that , when their political fortunes turned in Biden ’ s favor , they stood down on their plan to use the courts to impose a ‘ climate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the courts — rather than turned to planing for a “ sue and settle ” .
Of course , they don ’ t dare file suit let alone acknowledge such a plan until a new EPA administrator is confirmed .
Any other position than New York ’ s “ we have no immediate plans to do so ” would make for a very difficult process for , e.g.
, the rumored EPA pick , whose work they claim in emails to be following as a roadmap , Mary Nichols .
As it still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this public straddle , not the least of which is that the AGs take the opposite position in court in refusing to release further records to Energy Policy Advocates : suit is pending , so we can ’ t release this !
One wonders to whom the AGs are telling the truth , the courts , or the Wall Street Journal .
Someone might ask .
After “ cap-and-trade ” legislation failed the Obama-Biden EPA sought to use the existing Clean Air Act to impose climate regulations , led by an individual named @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in West Virginia v. EPA , ended that effort , sending the climate industry back to the drawing board .
Now , after turning to Mr. Goffman for advice , AGs from California and Oregon to New York and Massachusetts developed an approach to impose what is called a National Ambient Air Quality Standard for climate , or NAAQS , under a Biden administration .
Conveniently , Goffman is now situated to finish preparations from his post on the Biden EPA transition team .
The plan requires massive central regulation of nearly all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s “ climate ” agenda on steroids , a perpetual “ Lockdown Economy ” , requiring truly massive reductions in energy use emissions .
Even Obama ’ s EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson rejected a climate NAAQS as not “ advisable ” .
One prominent green attorney said “ hell will freeze over ” before that came to pass .
Goffman referred the AGs to other former EPA officials-turned-activists .
Following their recommended plan , the AGs this past Spring entered agreements among themselves and Bill DeBlasio ’ s New York City , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work on the issue to be legally privileged to try and keep it secret from the public .
One of those groups with whom the AGs signed their secrecy pact is EarthJustice .
EarthJustice ’ s Patrice Simms was named to lead the Biden EPA transition team .
These public records obtained from a half-dozen AG offices show the plan has been fully baked for months .
It began to take shape in 2019 as a “ Hail Mary ” pass out of despair over a continued Trump presidency ; despair soon turned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accommodate their demands by agreeing to a “ consent decree ” to implement the agenda .
It seems clear that the AGs withheld filing their suit with this in mind .
Former Vice President Joe Biden ran for the White House on a promise of imposing these same policies , and like his running mate , he calls climate change an “ existential crisis ” .
A Biden-Harris administration would welcome this suit .
So would Nancy Pelosi and most congressional Democrats .
The “ climate ” agenda is one of those bright-line @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
When counting votes for her return as Speaker of the House after the 2018 elections , Pelosi “ was pressed on the need to shield centrist members from politically perilous votes… cit [ ing ] the cap-and-trade climate bill that House Democrats passed in 2009 ” .
Members who had been around longer than “ AOC ” recalled how that vote , which stirred great public opposition , played a significant role in the 2010 Republican House takeover .
Indeed , this time around only the Senate Republicans brought the “ Green @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , exposing its own co-sponsors , including Sen. Kamala Harris , as afraid to go on record supporting it .
Filing this lawsuit in 2020 would not have been helpful to a certain party ’ s election prospects .
But under sue-and-settle , it would be so long , political and legal problems , hello long-sought , radical agenda as the Biden administration moves on to other things .
Unless the public becomes sufficiently outraged over the abuse .
Absent that , politically , this is exceedingly clever , though it is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Economically , it would be disastrous .
If successful , the Biden administration would agree to impose a COVID-style economy , claiming as its authority the D.C.
Circuit ’ s approval of the agreement struck between friends , and citing to an existing law that was never designed to allow such a thing which is what necessitated such a deal to begin with .
Possibly this explains why , once public record requests by the group Energy Policy Advocates focused in on this scheme with outside activists , AG offices began forcing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any further details .
They needed to buy time .
In a September phone call in one of these lawsuits , a New Mexico assistant attorney general explained her Office ’ s remarkably obstinate stance on the matter by saying , “ This is a very confidential issue ” .
While curious for being legally irrelevant , the claim is telling .
In open court in October , Washington State Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Steele , arguing to keep these records secret , informed the court that “ the fact of the affirmative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s not — certainly not known to anyone.
” As late as November 12 , 2020 , these AGs claimed secrecy over the rest of the discussions they refuse to let the public see , on the grounds they were prepared “ in anticipation of litigation ” .
So much for mystery .
Will They Get Away With It ?
Sue-and-Settle Tsunami ?
This revolutionary act appears to be on its way , unless the public nip it in the bud with opposition of the kind shown to Obama ’ s rather less @ @ @ @ @ @ @ These revelations and the AGs ’ fight to delay further releases also serve as a reminder that we could soon see a tsunami of sue-and-settle moves on major progressive priorities , on which there is more appetite for the agenda among the political class than for openly taking public credit — which is to say , accepting political accountability .

Reposted from Government Accountability and Oversight
CHRIS HORNER GAO, In The News
Activists who came up with plan now on Biden EPA transition team
As reported in the Wall Street Journal, a trail of emails between progressive state attorneys generals (AG) offices and former Obama-Biden and career Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials – obtained over nine months by Energy Policy Advocates’ dogged public record requests – reveal a plan to use the courts to impose the “climate” agenda early in the next administration, skipping Congress. The chosen approach is even more aggressive than the disastrous and politically unattainable “Green New Deal” (now rebranded as “Net Zero”) and was previously rejected by the Obama EPA and green activists as too extreme.
The plan is for an otherwise Obama-like move: an end-run around the democratic process, avoiding political sign-off or accountability for what would be a massive, painful and ideological restructuring of the U.S. economy.
Obfuscating by AG spokespeople notwithstanding, the hope appears to be to revive “sue-and-settle”, a practice by which green activists sue, e.g., the EPA to impose rules that the regulators wanted but couldn’t attain through regular means. “Instead of fighting the lawsuit, the EPA would then almost immediately surrender, agreeing to settle… consenting to whatever outrageous demands were being made by the agency’s handpicked ‘adversary.’” “When citizens or business complained, EPA would claim its hands were tied by the settlement.”
The progressive state AGs take the line in the Journal story that, when their political fortunes turned in Biden’s favor, they stood down on their plan to use the courts to impose a ‘climate NAAQS’ and otherwise the agenda through the courts — rather than turned to planing for a “sue and settle”. Of course, they don’t dare file suit let alone acknowledge such a plan until a new EPA administrator is confirmed. Any other position than New York’s “we have no immediate plans to do so” would make for a very difficult process for, e.g., the rumored EPA pick, whose work they claim in emails to be following as a roadmap, Mary Nichols. As it still should.
There are other problems with this public straddle, not the least of which is that the AGs take the opposite position in court in refusing to release further records to Energy Policy Advocates: suit is pending, so we can’t release this! One wonders to whom the AGs are telling the truth, the courts, or the Wall Street Journal. Someone might ask.
Change of Plans, Transition Teams and Secrecy Pacts
After “cap-and-trade” legislation failed the Obama-Biden EPA sought to use the existing Clean Air Act to impose climate regulations, led by an individual named Joe Goffman. The Supreme Court, in West Virginia v. EPA, ended that effort, sending the climate industry back to the drawing board.
Now, after turning to Mr. Goffman for advice, AGs from California and Oregon to New York and Massachusetts developed an approach to impose what is called a National Ambient Air Quality Standard for climate, or NAAQS, under a Biden administration.
Conveniently, Goffman is now situated to finish preparations from his post on the Biden EPA transition team.
The plan requires massive central regulation of nearly all aspects of economic life – Obama’s “climate” agenda on steroids, a perpetual “Lockdown Economy”, requiring truly massive reductions in energy use emissions. Even Obama’s EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson rejected a climate NAAQS as not “advisable”. One prominent green attorney said “hell will freeze over” before that came to pass.
Goffman referred the AGs to other former EPA officials-turned-activists. Following their recommended plan, the AGs this past Spring entered agreements among themselves and Bill DeBlasio’s New York City, and with environmentalist pressure groups, declaring their work on the issue to be legally privileged to try and keep it secret from the public.
One of those groups with whom the AGs signed their secrecy pact is EarthJustice. EarthJustice’s Patrice Simms was named to lead the Biden EPA transition team.
Politically Toxic Lawsuit Held for “Sue-and-Settle”
These public records obtained from a half-dozen AG offices show the plan has been fully baked for months. It began to take shape in 2019 as a “Hail Mary” pass out of despair over a continued Trump presidency; despair soon turned into hope for an administration that would accommodate their demands by agreeing to a “consent decree” to implement the agenda.
It seems clear that the AGs withheld filing their suit with this in mind.
Former Vice President Joe Biden ran for the White House on a promise of imposing these same policies, and like his running mate, he calls climate change an “existential crisis”. A Biden-Harris administration would welcome this suit.
So would Nancy Pelosi and most congressional Democrats. The “climate” agenda is one of those bright-line distinctions that help clarify voters’ thinking. When counting votes for her return as Speaker of the House after the 2018 elections, Pelosi “was pressed on the need to shield centrist members from politically perilous votes… cit[ing] the cap-and-trade climate bill that House Democrats passed in 2009”.
Members who had been around longer than “AOC” recalled how that vote, which stirred great public opposition, played a significant role in the 2010 Republican House takeover.
Indeed, this time around only the Senate Republicans brought the “Green New Deal” up for a vote, exposing its own co-sponsors, including Sen. Kamala Harris, as afraid to go on record supporting it.
Filing this lawsuit in 2020 would not have been helpful to a certain party’s election prospects.
But under sue-and-settle, it would be so long, political and legal problems, hello long-sought, radical agenda as the Biden administration moves on to other things. Unless the public becomes sufficiently outraged over the abuse.
Absent that, politically, this is exceedingly clever, though it is a betrayal of our system of governance. Economically, it would be disastrous. If successful, the Biden administration would agree to impose a COVID-style economy, claiming as its authority the D.C. Circuit’s approval of the agreement struck between friends, and citing to an existing law that was never designed to allow such a thing which is what necessitated such a deal to begin with.
AGs Stonewall, Confess
Possibly this explains why, once public record requests by the group Energy Policy Advocates focused in on this scheme with outside activists, AG offices began forcing the group to go to court before releasing any further details. They needed to buy time.
In a September phone call in one of these lawsuits, a New Mexico assistant attorney general explained her Office’s remarkably obstinate stance on the matter by saying, “This is a very confidential issue”. While curious for being legally irrelevant, the claim is telling.
In open court in October, Washington State Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Steele, arguing to keep these records secret, informed the court that “the fact of the affirmative litigation is important here because it’s not — certainly not known to anyone.”
As late as November 12, 2020, these AGs claimed secrecy over the rest of the discussions they refuse to let the public see, on the grounds they were prepared “in anticipation of litigation”. So much for mystery.
Will They Get Away With It? Sue-and-Settle Tsunami?
This revolutionary act appears to be on its way, unless the public nip it in the bud with opposition of the kind shown to Obama’s rather less audacious “cap-and-trade” end run.
These revelations and the AGs’ fight to delay further releases also serve as a reminder that we could soon see a tsunami of sue-and-settle moves on major progressive priorities, on which there is more appetite for the agenda among the political class than for openly taking public credit — which is to say, accepting political accountability.
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wattsupwiththat--2020-11-30--Climategate: Another Anniversary (never forget ….)

[ Editor Note : It was during the Thanksgiving weekend 11 years ago that the Climategate ’ s unsettling oeuvre was first being disseminated and analyzed .
This post summarizes some remembrances from that period . ]
Climategate lives in infamy .
Then , and now , it is a case study of agendas driving science rather than science driving agendas .
Eleven years ago , climate alarmists and friends ( including Dessler above ) went into damage control .
But with such an evidentiary record of scientific malpractice , books solidified the record such as : • Hiding the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Affair , by A. W. Montford ( 2012 ) • Climategate : The Crutape Letters , by Steven Mosher and Thomas Fuller ( 2010 ) • A Disgrace to the Profession , by Mark Steyn ( 2015 ) Perhaps the most revealing book was by a fair broker of mainstream climate science , Fred Pierce , The Climate Files ( 2010 ) .
Pierce fairly identified Michael Mann as the worst of the bad actors–and Steve McIntyre as the data liberator .
Regarding Michael Mann ( p. 90 ) : Here are some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the record .
“ Of course , if you believe the mainstream media , Climategate was little more than a fake news story concocted by a small cabal of wicked deniers in order to discredit the noble cause of climate science .
This is a lie and a particularly dangerous lie at that.
” “ Climategate was the scandal that exposed this truth to the world .
And that ’ s why the increasingly powerful alarmist Establishment has long fought so hard to play down its significance .
The alarmists — helped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trying to do to the scandal what Harvey Keitel ’ s Winston ‘ The Wolf ’ Wolfe character did in Pulp Fiction : clean up the bodies , pretend nothing untoward ever happened.
” “ My own involvement in Climategate was actually quite modest .
At least , the heavy lifting was done by people much more diligent and scientifically minded than me , such as Steve McIntyre , Willis Eschenbach , Joanna Nova , Anthony Watts , Lucia Liljegren , Andrew Montford , Ross McKitrick , Fred Pearce , Roger Tallbloke , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Id , Jean S , Steven Mosher , and many others.
” “ What Climategate revealed , however , is that the climate change ‘ experts ’ we ’ re supposed to trust just aren ’ t trustworthy .
They lie , they cheat , they ’ re motivated more by grant-troughing and dodgy political activism than they are by — lol — the disinterested quest for knowledge .
That was the real shocker at the time of Climategate : that the people on whose ‘ expert ’ wisdom trillions of dollars worth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being spent on sundry green boondoggles are in fact a lousy bunch of fraudulent second-raters unfit to run a cookie bake sale , let alone a scam involving upwards of one percent of the global economy.
” “ In November 2009 I was in Brussels at a climate skeptic conference being put on by Hans Lobohm .
I remember the first message I got… .
“ You need to look at this !
“ .
Then reading the emails , wide-eyed , and realizing I [ decided ] … under no circumstances would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it until I was back on U.S. soil .
Then , after clearing customs at Dulles two days later , I sat down in the airport , and wrote the story , breaking the news on the 19th.
” “ Luckily , James Delingpole picked up the story for his column , and its entry into the British newspaper The Telegraph started the chain reaction that made the story grow , becoming the ‘ worst scientific scandal of our generation ‘ .
” “ But while proponents of ‘ the cause ’ ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a recent op-ed for Newsweek ) pat themselves on the back comforting each other with ‘ there ’ s nothing to see here ’ , there are reasons to rejoice about Climategate ten years later.
” “ Climategate brought chaos to Copenhagen aka COP15 – critically wounding the prospects of cap-and-trade legislation in the process .
It helped the world dodge the climate mania bullet for 5 years , until the Paris accord in 2015.
” Donald Trump became aware of the Climategate story , years before he became President , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has mentioned it ) that it affected his opinion… .
And as we know , as President , he fulfilled his campaign promises and pulled the USA out of the Paris Climate Accord , and gutted the draconian EPA .
“ For [ the above ] , I am proud to have had a part , along with the Heartland Institute , whose advice and support gave Trump even more ammunition to pull off the withdrawal from the Paris accord.
” “ There was no exoneration [ of Climategate ] by any objective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ McKitrick lays all this out in his article Understanding the Climategate Inquiries.
” “ The scientists involved in the email exchanges manipulated evidence in IPCC and WMO reports with the effect of misleading readers , including policymakers .
The divergence problem was concealed by deleting data to ‘ hide the decline.
’ The panels that examined the issue in detail , namely Muir Russell ’ s panel , concurred that the graph was ‘ misleading.
’ The ridiculous attempt by the Penn State Inquiry to defend an instance of deleting data and splicing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem only discredits their claims to have investigated the issue.
” “ The scientists privately expressed greater doubts or uncertainties about the science in their own professional writings and in their interactions with one another than they allowed to be stated in reports of the IPCC or WMO that were intended for policymakers .
Rather than criticise the scientists for this , the inquiries ( particularly the House of Commons and Oxburgh inquiries ) took the astonishing view that as long as scientists expressed doubts and uncertainties in their academic papers and among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to conceal those uncertainties in documents prepared for policy makers.
” “ … academics reading the emails could see quite clearly the tribalism at work , and in comparison to other fields , climatology comes off looking juvenile , corrupt and in the grip of a handful of self-appointed gatekeepers and bullies.
” “ Given the huge stakes and the serious structural issues surrounding the assessment of climate science and policy that had emerged from Climategate , these concerns of the climate scientists seem small-minded and naïve , not to mention counter-productive – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made the situation even worse.
” “ At the time of Climategate , public advocacy by climate scientists of climate policy was generally frowned upon , and only a few senior , well-established scientists dared to do this ( e.g .
Jim Hansen ) .
At this point , climate scientist/activists are very large in number , and such activism seems to be a ticket to professional success.
” “ … Climategate lives on in numerous lawsuits that Michael Mann has filed related to criticisms of his behavior related to the hockeystick .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ since they were filed about 8 years ago ( although Mann did lose his lawsuit against Tim Ball ) .
With these lawsuits , there is no denying that the impacts of Climategate are still playing out.
” Some of the involved scientists , such as Michael Mann , as well as a five-part series of blogs at DESMOG have felt it necessary to relive the controversy .
None dare do the most simple thing : provide the quotations .
( I provided a dirty dozen here that speak for themselves . )
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ history .
( It is still not known who hacked the emails ; just that they were hacked . )
And Michael Mann was at the center of it , inspiring one professional climatologist to humorously opine that Mann “ belongs in the state pen , not Penn State .
”

Reposted from MasterResource
By Robert Bradley Jr. — November 27, 2020
[Editor Note: It was during the Thanksgiving weekend 11 years ago that the Climategate’s unsettling oeuvre was first being disseminated and analyzed. This post summarizes some remembrances from that period.]
“The conflict between the two ideas about how science should be conducted–a closed system dominated by gatekeepers, or a more chaotic but less hierarchical open system–is the dominant story of the [Climategate] emails over more than a decade.” – Fred Pierce, The Climate Files (2010), p. 13.
“There is no doubt that these emails are embarrassing and a public-relations disaster for science.” – Andrew Dessler, “Climate E-Mails Cloud the Debate,” December 10, 2009.
Climategate lives in infamy. Then, and now, it is a case study of agendas driving science rather than science driving agendas.
Eleven years ago, climate alarmists and friends (including Dessler above) went into damage control. But with such an evidentiary record of scientific malpractice, books solidified the record such as:
The Hockey Stick Illusion, by A. W. Montford (2010)
Hiding the Decline: A History of the Climategate Affair, by A. W. Montford (2012)
Climategate: The Crutape Letters, by Steven Mosher and Thomas Fuller (2010)
Climategate, by Brian Sussmanh (2010)
A Disgrace to the Profession, by Mark Steyn (2015)
Perhaps the most revealing book was by a fair broker of mainstream climate science, Fred Pierce, The Climate Files (2010). Pierce fairly identified Michael Mann as the worst of the bad actors–and Steve McIntyre as the data liberator. Regarding Michael Mann (p. 90):
Mann has always been a tasty target. His voluble style has made enemies and exasperated his friends. “The goddam guy is a slick talker and super-confident. He won’t listen to anyone else,” one of climate science’s most senior figures … told me. “I don’t trust people like that. A lot of data sets he uses are shitty, you know. They are just not up to what he is trying to do….”
And in contrast, Steve McIntyre (pp. 13–14):
Climategate would not have happened without … Steve McIntyre. Whether you see him as a hero or a villain, his data wars with Mann, Jones, Briffa, and Santer helped create the siege mentality among the scientists, and set them on a path of opposition to freedom of information. By drawing in scores of data liberationists from both inside and outside the science community, he certainly inspired whoever stole and released the emails.
Here are some remembrances of the good guys and gals for the record.
James Delingpole
“Of course, if you believe the mainstream media, Climategate was little more than a fake news story concocted by a small cabal of wicked deniers in order to discredit the noble cause of climate science. This is a lie and a particularly dangerous lie at that.”
“Climategate was the scandal that exposed this truth to the world. And that’s why the increasingly powerful alarmist Establishment has long fought so hard to play down its significance. The alarmists — helped by a lazily complicit media — are trying to do to the scandal what Harvey Keitel’s Winston ‘The Wolf’ Wolfe character did in Pulp Fiction: clean up the bodies, pretend nothing untoward ever happened.”
“My own involvement in Climategate was actually quite modest. At least, the heavy lifting was done by people much more diligent and scientifically minded than me, such as Steve McIntyre, Willis Eschenbach, Joanna Nova, Anthony Watts, Lucia Liljegren, Andrew Montford, Ross McKitrick, Fred Pearce, Roger Tallbloke, Christopher Booker, David Rose, Jeff Id, Jean S, Steven Mosher, and many others.”
“What Climategate revealed, however, is that the climate change ‘experts’ we’re supposed to trust just aren’t trustworthy. They lie, they cheat, they’re motivated more by grant-troughing and dodgy political activism than they are by — lol — the disinterested quest for knowledge. That was the real shocker at the time of Climategate: that the people on whose ‘expert’ wisdom trillions of dollars worth of your money and my money are being spent on sundry green boondoggles are in fact a lousy bunch of fraudulent second-raters unfit to run a cookie bake sale, let alone a scam involving upwards of one percent of the global economy.”
Anthony Watts
“In November 2009 I was in Brussels at a climate skeptic conference being put on by Hans Lobohm. I remember the first message I got…. “You need to look at this!“. Then reading the emails, wide-eyed, and realizing I [decided] … under no circumstances would we write anything about it or release it until I was back on U.S. soil. Then, after clearing customs at Dulles two days later, I sat down in the airport, and wrote the story, breaking the news on the 19th.”
“Luckily, James Delingpole picked up the story for his column, and its entry into the British newspaper The Telegraph started the chain reaction that made the story grow, becoming the ‘worst scientific scandal of our generation‘.”
“But while proponents of ‘the cause’ (most notably the execrable Michael E. Mann in a recent op-ed for Newsweek) pat themselves on the back comforting each other with ‘there’s nothing to see here’, there are reasons to rejoice about Climategate ten years later.”
“Climategate brought chaos to Copenhagen aka COP15 – critically wounding the prospects of cap-and-trade legislation in the process. It helped the world dodge the climate mania bullet for 5 years, until the Paris accord in 2015.”
Donald Trump became aware of the Climategate story, years before he became President, and I have to think (since he has mentioned it) that it affected his opinion…. And as we know, as President, he fulfilled his campaign promises and pulled the USA out of the Paris Climate Accord, and gutted the draconian EPA.
“For [the above], I am proud to have had a part, along with the Heartland Institute, whose advice and support gave Trump even more ammunition to pull off the withdrawal from the Paris accord.”
Judith Curry
“There was no exoneration [of Climategate] by any objective analysis of the various inquiries. Ross McKitrick lays all this out in his article Understanding the Climategate Inquiries.”
“The scientists involved in the email exchanges manipulated evidence in IPCC and WMO reports with the effect of misleading readers, including policymakers. The divergence problem was concealed by deleting data to ‘hide the decline.’ The panels that examined the issue in detail, namely Muir Russell’s panel, concurred that the graph was ‘misleading.’ The ridiculous attempt by the Penn State Inquiry to defend an instance of deleting data and splicing in other data to conceal a divergence problem only discredits their claims to have investigated the issue.”
“The scientists privately expressed greater doubts or uncertainties about the science in their own professional writings and in their interactions with one another than they allowed to be stated in reports of the IPCC or WMO that were intended for policymakers. Rather than criticise the scientists for this, the inquiries (particularly the House of Commons and Oxburgh inquiries) took the astonishing view that as long as scientists expressed doubts and uncertainties in their academic papers and among themselves, it was acceptable for them to conceal those uncertainties in documents prepared for policy makers.”
“… academics reading the emails could see quite clearly the tribalism at work, and in comparison to other fields, climatology comes off looking juvenile, corrupt and in the grip of a handful of self-appointed gatekeepers and bullies.”
“Given the huge stakes and the serious structural issues surrounding the assessment of climate science and policy that had emerged from Climategate, these concerns of the climate scientists seem small-minded and naïve, not to mention counter-productive – ‘circling the wagons’ even tighter made the situation even worse.”
“At the time of Climategate, public advocacy by climate scientists of climate policy was generally frowned upon, and only a few senior, well-established scientists dared to do this (e.g. Jim Hansen). At this point, climate scientist/activists are very large in number, and such activism seems to be a ticket to professional success.”
“… Climategate lives on in numerous lawsuits that Michael Mann has filed related to criticisms of his behavior related to the hockeystick. Most of these lawsuits continue to languish since they were filed about 8 years ago (although Mann did lose his lawsuit against Tim Ball). With these lawsuits, there is no denying that the impacts of Climategate are still playing out.”
Update: The New “Denialists”
Some of the involved scientists, such as Michael Mann, as well as a five-part series of blogs at DESMOG have felt it necessary to relive the controversy. None dare do the most simple thing: provide the quotations. (I provided a dirty dozen here that speak for themselves.)
Mann states:
While the fossil fuel industry had for decades sought to forestall regulation of carbon emissions, Climategate illustrated the depths of dishonesty to which denialists were willing to sink in their efforts to sabotage action on climate. It was a tacit admission on their part that they no longer had a legitimate case to make. And so citing “Climategate” as a reason for inaction has become a simple “tell” in the climate discourse. Those who do it are acting in bad faith. They are not honest actors expressing true belief. They are dissemblers intentionally misrepresenting the science and the scientists to score political points on behalf of the fossil fuel interests whose bidding they are doing.
Such an interpretation is wishful versus actual history. (It is still not known who hacked the emails; just that they were hacked.) And Michael Mann was at the center of it, inspiring one professional climatologist to humorously opine that Mann “belongs in the state pen, not Penn State.”
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-01--Chinese Lunar Landing Mission Challenges US Space Supremacy

An in-progress low key Chinese robotic sample and return mission is challenging the commonly held assumption that the USA is still the dominant player in deep space missions .
China has reached a major milestone in its quest to bring home moon rocks , with its Chang ’ e 5 mission spacecraft separating into two pairs of vehicles in preparation for a lunar landing .
The on Nov. 23 intent on becoming the first mission to bring lunar samples to Earth since 1976 ; the on Nov. 28 .
According to China ’ s state-run news agency Xinhua , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lander/ascender vehicle separated in lunar orbit yesterday ( Nov. 29 ) at 3:40 p.m. EST ( 2040 GMT ; 4:40 a.m. Beijing time on Nov. 30 ) .
That move sets the stage for a landing near the peak of Mons Rümker , a mountain in the Oceanus Procellarum ( “ Ocean of Storms ” ) region of the moon .
“ The spacecraft is performing well and communication with ground control is normal , ” officials with China ’ s National Space Administration ( CNSA ) said .
Why do I think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such a threat to US space supremacy ?
The reason is if China decides on the basis of this mission to increase their Lunar activity , China ’ s friend Russia has spent over a decade developing nuclear launch technology which China could use to make a major expansion into space affordable .
In as little as 10 years , China could be building major industrial bases on the Moon , with the help of Russian nuclear powered reusable space launch vehicles .
By 2030 , with Chinese and Russian flags flying on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staring into the face of at least two decades of desperate catchup , to get back into a game which America once dominated .
Note : The Russian nuclear launch technology is based on the 1960s US NERVA programme .
Stationary ground based testing of NERVA at the time was perceived as an outstanding success , making NERVA a strong candidate for powering a manned mission to Mars , and resupplying a permanent moon base planned for 1981 .
Despite bipartisan support from Congress in 1972 , the programme was cancelled by President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through building a full scale NERVA launch vehicle , while Nixon was embroiled in the Watergate scandal .

November 24th Chang’e 5 Lunar Mission Launch
Guest essay by Eric Worrall
An in-progress low key Chinese robotic sample and return mission is challenging the commonly held assumption that the USA is still the dominant player in deep space missions.
China’s Chang’e 5 poised for historic moon landing to collect lunar samples By Meghan Bartels China has reached a major milestone in its quest to bring home moon rocks, with its Chang’e 5 mission spacecraft separating into two pairs of vehicles in preparation for a lunar landing. The Chang’e 5 spacecraft launched on Nov. 23 intent on becoming the first mission to bring lunar samples to Earth since 1976; the mission reached lunar orbit on Nov. 28. According to China’s state-run news agency Xinhua, the mission’s orbiter/return vehicle and its lander/ascender vehicle separated in lunar orbit yesterday (Nov. 29) at 3:40 p.m. EST (2040 GMT; 4:40 a.m. Beijing time on Nov. 30). That move sets the stage for a landing near the peak of Mons Rümker, a mountain in the Oceanus Procellarum (“Ocean of Storms”) region of the moon. “The spacecraft is performing well and communication with ground control is normal,” officials with China’s National Space Administration (CNSA) said according to Xinhua . .., Read more: https://www.space.com/china-chang-e-5-moon-lander-separates-from-orbiter
Why do I think a low key unmanned robotic mission poses such a threat to US space supremacy?
The reason is if China decides on the basis of this mission to increase their Lunar activity, China’s friend Russia has spent over a decade developing nuclear launch technology which China could use to make a major expansion into space affordable.
In as little as 10 years, China could be building major industrial bases on the Moon, with the help of Russian nuclear powered reusable space launch vehicles.
By 2030, with Chinese and Russian flags flying on the moon, the USA could be staring into the face of at least two decades of desperate catchup, to get back into a game which America once dominated.
Note: The Russian nuclear launch technology is based on the 1960s US NERVA programme. Stationary ground based testing of NERVA at the time was perceived as an outstanding success, making NERVA a strong candidate for powering a manned mission to Mars, and resupplying a permanent moon base planned for 1981. Despite bipartisan support from Congress in 1972, the programme was cancelled by President Richard Nixon in 1973, part way through building a full scale NERVA launch vehicle, while Nixon was embroiled in the Watergate scandal.
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-01--Climate Emergency! Save the Great British Bakeoff

According to Grist , the iconic “ Great British Bakeoff ” outdoor cooking competition is about to succumb to global warming , because anthropogenic CO2 is causing Britain to experience bouts of warm Summer weather in July .
Try to remember the fanciest spread of desserts you ’ ve ever seen .
Now picture what would happen if it sat outside in the summer heat for a couple of hours .
Mousse would morph into ooze , tiered cakes would start to slip and slide , and delicate chocolate decorations would melt into unrecognizable blobs .
The truth is , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it — just watch The Great British Baking Show on Netflix , where creating elaborate baked goods in oppressive heat has become the main drama .
The show , whose season finale appears on Friday for U.S. viewers , has always been filmed outdoors under an iconic white tent around England .
But in 2020 , a year from hell , the famously temperate British summer became too warm for the finicky process of baking .
Heat is now the show ’ s central villain .
“ It ’ s like Satan ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Adlington , one of this year ’ s bakers , joked in an episode filmed in July .
Following another sweat-inducing day in the tent , Paul Hollywood — the steely-eyed judge famous for his bread expertise — told his fellow co-hosts that he had to “ peel his jeans off ” at the end of the day .
They winced and laughed uncomfortably .
The most notable example of this was 1980s Week , an episode filmed this July that featured quiches , finger doughnuts , and ice cream cakes .
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when humanity almost solved climate change , but didn ’ t — the average global temperature was nearly 1 degree C [ 1.8 degrees F ] cooler than it is today . )
The doughnut challenge , filmed on the United Kingdom ’ s third hottest day on record , required contestants to deep-fry in near-100 degree F temperatures .
Contestant Marc Elliott held up his candy thermometer at one point , and it registered 35.8 degrees C. “ This is torture , ” Adlington said .
“ Whose idea was this ?
@

Guest essay by Eric Worrall
According to Grist, the iconic “Great British Bakeoff” outdoor cooking competition is about to succumb to global warming, because anthropogenic CO2 is causing Britain to experience bouts of warm Summer weather in July.
Another victim of global warming: ‘The Great British Baking Show’
By Kate Yoder on Nov 25, 2020
Try to remember the fanciest spread of desserts you’ve ever seen. Now picture what would happen if it sat outside in the summer heat for a couple of hours. Mousse would morph into ooze, tiered cakes would start to slip and slide, and delicate chocolate decorations would melt into unrecognizable blobs.
The truth is, you don’t have to imagine it — just watch The Great British Baking Show on Netflix, where creating elaborate baked goods in oppressive heat has become the main drama. The show, whose season finale appears on Friday for U.S. viewers, has always been filmed outdoors under an iconic white tent around England. But in 2020, a year from hell, the famously temperate British summer became too warm for the finicky process of baking. Heat is now the show’s central villain.
“It’s like Satan’s kitchen in here,” Laura Adlington, one of this year’s bakers, joked in an episode filmed in July. Following another sweat-inducing day in the tent, Paul Hollywood — the steely-eyed judge famous for his bread expertise — told his fellow co-hosts that he had to “peel his jeans off” at the end of the day. They winced and laughed uncomfortably.
…
The most notable example of this was 1980s Week, an episode filmed this July that featured quiches, finger doughnuts, and ice cream cakes. (In the real 1980s — the decade when humanity almost solved climate change, but didn’t — the average global temperature was nearly 1 degree C [1.8 degrees F] cooler than it is today.) The doughnut challenge, filmed on the United Kingdom’s third hottest day on record, required contestants to deep-fry in near-100 degree F temperatures. Contestant Marc Elliott held up his candy thermometer at one point, and it registered 35.8 degrees C. “This is torture,” Adlington said. “Whose idea was this?”
…


wattsupwiththat--2020-12-01--Ottawa’s latest climate plan bets on expensive and unproven carbon capture technologies

Last week , the federal government released its long awaited plan to tackle greenhouse gas emissions and climate change .
Bill C-12 , if passed , commits Canada to “ binding ” targets every five years as of 2030 with the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 .
The bill is thin on details , due to its focus on establishing an independent 15-member advisory board .
This is both a strength , in that it will hopefully include climate scientists , Indigenous people and other expert stakeholders , and a weakness , because it pushes the timeline for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ future , with 2030 the first target date .
What is most concerning is that by dragging its feet on specific measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions , the Trudeau government is shoehorning Canadians into expensive , unproven and unreliable technologies .
As a researcher who studies the governance of climate-altering technologies ( such as carbon capture and storage ) , I can assure you that we are already behind on tackling climate change and catching up is going to be expensive .
The government ’ s strategy will likely rely upon technology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way it hopes .
Canada has repeatedly failed to meet any of the climate targets it has set in place since 1992 .
This has left us further behind our Paris climate agreement targets and scrambling to catch up to meet our global commitments .
Not only do we need to meet these climate targets this time around — our international trade partners such as the EU and even China may see us as laggards , further eroding our international credibility — we need to make up for lost time .
The focus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solutions , including technologies that remove carbon from the air or emissions and lock them away .
But carbon capture and storage ( CCS ) and carbon dioxide removal ( CDR ) are not silver bullets in the fight against climate change .
Canada is home to some of the most successful CCS projects and companies in the world , including the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line , Boundary Dam and Carbon Engineering .
However , these are expensive demonstration projects .
Their use could be targeted to specific sectors ( such as aluminium @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effectively reduce Canadians ’ emissions at scale .
Capturing and storing carbon is expensive , and in some cases outright ineffectual .
The United States government spent US $ 5 billion from 2010 to 2018 on the technology , but it would take additional significant investments , more research and some technological breakthroughs for the technology to lower the cost of capturing carbon to US $ 94-232 per tonne .
This is staggering compared to Canada ’ s baseline carbon tax of $ 50 per tonne of emissions by 2022 , and when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Canadian oil , we are left with a most unhappy conclusion .
Who is paying for this ?
Typically , companies would pay taxes or levies over time into various programs to pay for negative externalities — the side effects of products or systems they run that cause social , economic or environmental harms .
These funds would then be used to pay for those associated costs .
This solution is dubbed “ Pigouvian taxation ” ( after Arthur Pigou ) .
Ireland , for example , introduced a plastic bag tax ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which resulted in a 90 per cent decrease in their use .
The problem is that in Canada companies are not paying into any such funds — nor have they — leaving Canadians with no source to pay for this new expense .
So how would Canada find the money to pay for expensive projects such as carbon capture and storage ?
As it stands , that cost will be passed to the taxpayer .
Our current carbon tax circulates the money back into the economy .
What about Prime Minister Trudeau ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
Planting trees is , after all , a natural method of carbon capture and storage .
Planting trees is a useful short-term exercise , but trees don ’ t live forever .
Although the soil in boreal forests contains carbon stored there generations ago , it can be released by logging or forest fires , which are getting more severe due to climate change .
These types of changes , if not properly managed , can lead to forests becoming carbon sources .
https : //www.youtube.com/embed/mqbJYIGx9HQ ?
wmode=transparent & start=0 As northern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forest fires are becoming more intense , meaning they burn deeper into the soil ( NASA ) .
In addition , the darkness of leaves can absorb more incoming energy than the potentially lighter ground surface .
Planting trees over areas that would otherwise be snow covered , could actually warm the planet while still absorbing carbon , though more analysis is necessary to understand this issue .
This is not to say that carbon capture and storage or carbon dioxide removal technologies do not have a role to play in the future @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cent of global emissions , and mandating that all concrete facilities be fitted with carbon capturing technologies could reduce their emissions .
While these are expensive , they may be necessary .
Even if the technology were applied to the energy sector , Canadian oil would likely be a net loss on every barrel produced — and who would pay for the cost of moving it to widespread use ?
The federal government is still reeling from the cost of the Trans Mountain pipeline , the private sector has no appetite to invest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ profitability and despite claims of well-financed conspiracy , environmental groups aren ’ t exactly flush with cash .
The current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) models rely on the deployment of significant amounts of carbon capture and storage in the latter part of the century to meet agreed-upon targets .
To rely upon such technologies as a silver bullet for addressing Canadian climate policy , however , is flawed and doomed to fail .
When the Government of Canada releases precise details for meeting the climate targets outlined in Bill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ carbon capture and storage or carbon dioxide removal if there is any hope in succeeding .
Burgess Langshaw Power , PhD Student , Global Governance program at the Balsillie School for International Affairs , University of Waterloo This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license .
Read the original article .

The Trudeau government has tabled a bill that, if passed, would legally bind Canada to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Burgess Langshaw Power, University of Waterloo
Last week, the federal government released its long awaited plan to tackle greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Bill C-12, if passed, commits Canada to “binding” targets every five years as of 2030 with the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
The bill is thin on details, due to its focus on establishing an independent 15-member advisory board. This is both a strength, in that it will hopefully include climate scientists, Indigenous people and other expert stakeholders, and a weakness, because it pushes the timeline for specific measures and action further into the future, with 2030 the first target date.
What is most concerning is that by dragging its feet on specific measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the Trudeau government is shoehorning Canadians into expensive, unproven and unreliable technologies.
As a researcher who studies the governance of climate-altering technologies (such as carbon capture and storage), I can assure you that we are already behind on tackling climate change and catching up is going to be expensive. The government’s strategy will likely rely upon technology that isn’t viable in the way it hopes.
Staying on target
Canada has repeatedly failed to meet any of the climate targets it has set in place since 1992. This has left us further behind our Paris climate agreement targets and scrambling to catch up to meet our global commitments.
Not only do we need to meet these climate targets this time around — our international trade partners such as the EU and even China may see us as laggards, further eroding our international credibility — we need to make up for lost time.
The focus of the federal government is on market-driven solutions, including technologies that remove carbon from the air or emissions and lock them away. But carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) are not silver bullets in the fight against climate change.
Historical greenhouse gas emissions and projections for Canada, 2005-30. Government data seems to suggest we can potentially meet our Paris Agreement targets (blue) or perhaps exceed them (green), but without drastic changes, meeting our 2030 goals (yellow) is likely impossible. (Environment and Climate Change Canada)
Canada is home to some of the most successful CCS projects and companies in the world, including the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line, Boundary Dam and Carbon Engineering. However, these are expensive demonstration projects. Their use could be targeted to specific sectors (such as aluminium manufacturing), but they will never effectively reduce Canadians’ emissions at scale.
Capturing and storing carbon is expensive, and in some cases outright ineffectual. The United States government spent US$5 billion from 2010 to 2018 on the technology, but it would take additional significant investments, more research and some technological breakthroughs for the technology to lower the cost of capturing carbon to US$94-232 per tonne. This is staggering compared to Canada’s baseline carbon tax of $50 per tonne of emissions by 2022, and when factored into the already low price of Canadian oil, we are left with a most unhappy conclusion.
Who is paying for this?
Typically, companies would pay taxes or levies over time into various programs to pay for negative externalities — the side effects of products or systems they run that cause social, economic or environmental harms. These funds would then be used to pay for those associated costs.
This solution is dubbed “Pigouvian taxation” (after Arthur Pigou). Ireland, for example, introduced a plastic bag tax (as opposed to banning them), which resulted in a 90 per cent decrease in their use.
The problem is that in Canada companies are not paying into any such funds — nor have they — leaving Canadians with no source to pay for this new expense.
So how would Canada find the money to pay for expensive projects such as carbon capture and storage? As it stands, that cost will be passed to the taxpayer. Our current carbon tax circulates the money back into the economy.
Two billion trees
What about Prime Minister Trudeau’s promise to plant two billion trees? Planting trees is, after all, a natural method of carbon capture and storage.
Planting trees is a useful short-term exercise, but trees don’t live forever. Although the soil in boreal forests contains carbon stored there generations ago, it can be released by logging or forest fires, which are getting more severe due to climate change. These types of changes, if not properly managed, can lead to forests becoming carbon sources. https://www.youtube.com/embed/mqbJYIGx9HQ?wmode=transparent&start=0 As northern summers get warmer and drier, boreal forest fires are becoming more intense, meaning they burn deeper into the soil (NASA).
In addition, the darkness of leaves can absorb more incoming energy than the potentially lighter ground surface. Planting trees over areas that would otherwise be snow covered, could actually warm the planet while still absorbing carbon, though more analysis is necessary to understand this issue.
This is not to say that carbon capture and storage or carbon dioxide removal technologies do not have a role to play in the future. Concrete produces four to eight per cent of global emissions, and mandating that all concrete facilities be fitted with carbon capturing technologies could reduce their emissions. While these are expensive, they may be necessary.
Even if the technology were applied to the energy sector, Canadian oil would likely be a net loss on every barrel produced — and who would pay for the cost of moving it to widespread use? The federal government is still reeling from the cost of the Trans Mountain pipeline, the private sector has no appetite to invest in such a venture without guarantees of profitability and despite claims of well-financed conspiracy, environmental groups aren’t exactly flush with cash.
The current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) models rely on the deployment of significant amounts of carbon capture and storage in the latter part of the century to meet agreed-upon targets. To rely upon such technologies as a silver bullet for addressing Canadian climate policy, however, is flawed and doomed to fail. When the Government of Canada releases precise details for meeting the climate targets outlined in Bill C-12, it cannot rely upon carbon capture and storage or carbon dioxide removal if there is any hope in succeeding.
Burgess Langshaw Power, PhD Student, Global Governance program at the Balsillie School for International Affairs, University of Waterloo
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-02--Roger Pielke Jr.’s 2020 Hurricane Season Recap

2020 Atlantic hurricane season ends today Here are updated CONUS normalized losses through 2020 2020 ranks 15th of 121 years @ @ @ @ @ al And CONUS landfalling hurricanes 1900-2020 Updated from @ philklotzbach et al And CONUS landfalling @ @ @ @ @ @ philklotzbach et al And for readers preferring a different trend CONUS landfalling hurricanes 1970-2020 @ @ @ @ @ al

2020 Atlantic hurricane season ends today
Here are updated CONUS normalized losses through 2020
2020 ranks 15th of 121 years
Based on @JessicaWeinkle et al
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0165-2
And CONUS landfalling hurricanes 1900-2020
Updated from @philklotzbach et al
https://journals.ametsoc.org/bams/article/99/7/1359/70330
And CONUS landfalling major hurricanes 1900-2020
Updated from @philklotzbach et al
https://journals.ametsoc.org/bams/article/99/7/1359/70330
And for readers preferring a different trend
CONUS landfalling hurricanes 1970-2020
Updated from @philklotzbach et al
https://journals.ametsoc.org/bams/article/99/7/1359/70330
Originally tweeted by Roger Pielke Jr. (@RogerPielkeJr) on November 30, 2020.
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-01--Aussie State Tasmania Declares itself 100% Renewable Energy

100 % renewable , except when Tasmania ’ s politicians run down their hydro dams to critical low levels selling green electrons to the mainland , burn out the undersea inter-connector with excessive current , and have to fire up emergency diesel generators .
Tasmania declares itself 100 per cent powered by renewable electricity The Tasmania government has declared that it has become the first Australian state , and one of just a handful of jurisdictions worldwide , to be powered entirely by renewable electricity .
In a statement released on Friday , Tasmanian energy minister Guy Barnett said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supplies of renewable electricity , supplied by the state ’ s wind and hydroelectricity projects .
“ We have reached 100 per cent thanks to our commitment to realising Tasmania ’ s renewable energy potential through our nation-leading energy policies and making Tasmania attractive for industry investment , which in turn is creating jobs across the State , particularly in our regions , ” Barnett said .
Tasmania has long had one of the greenest supplies of electricity in Australia , with the state ’ s significant hydroelectricity resources supplying the bulk of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s history with hydroelectricity dates back to 1895 , with the Duck Reach power plant in Launceston becoming the first publicly owned hydroelectric power station in the southern hemisphere .
What about that burned out interconnector ?
Tasmania ’ s electricity grid is facing its biggest challenge in years , with its hydro storage about to fall to its lowest levels ever , bushfires forcing the closure of some power facilities , and a faulty cable cutting the connection between the island and the country ’ s main electricity grid .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ electricity – hydro power – is being challenged by its driest ever spring , pushing reserves down to just 18.9 per cent .
The lowest level ever is 16.5 per cent , reached in 2007 , but overall storage levels are predicted to fall to a low of 14 per cent by the end of March – if normal rainfall patterns resume .
At current rates , however , some fear they may fall below those levels , although there has been some light rain in recent days .
To make matters worse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s grid to the mainland has been cut by technical problems , and will probably remain closed for another two months , while the raging bushfires have threatened power lines and forced the temporary closure of at least four hydro plants .
I guess the lesson is if most of your state is a giant mountainous watershed you can build enough hydro to go 100 % renewable .
So not an option for most parts of the world .
Having said that , even the cold , rainy island state of Tasmania @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their dams selling green electrons to the mainland , and the rains fail , all it takes is a little of their regular undersea inter-connector trouble at the wrong time and they ’ re back to expensive diesel power .
So not quite 100 % renewable then .
And of course we ’ re quietly ignoring the fact Tasmania imports a lot of energy intensive goods .
The saddest part of this story , most of the green campaigners who risked their lives opposing bulldozing and flooding pristine wilderness during the 70s and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sold out to the idea of big green .
Most of them are now fully on board with concreting the Tasmanian watershed .

That time when greens once opposed wilderness destruction and dams. The Anti Frankin Dam protests in Tasmania led to the formation of the Tasmanian Green Party
Guest essay by Eric Worrall
100% renewable, except when Tasmania’s politicians run down their hydro dams to critical low levels selling green electrons to the mainland, burn out the undersea inter-connector with excessive current, and have to fire up emergency diesel generators.
Tasmania declares itself 100 per cent powered by renewable electricity Michael Mazengarb
27 November 2020 The Tasmania government has declared that it has become the first Australian state, and one of just a handful of jurisdictions worldwide, to be powered entirely by renewable electricity. In a statement released on Friday, Tasmanian energy minister Guy Barnett said that state had effectively become entirely self-sufficient for supplies of renewable electricity, supplied by the state’s wind and hydroelectricity projects. “We have reached 100 per cent thanks to our commitment to realising Tasmania’s renewable energy potential through our nation-leading energy policies and making Tasmania attractive for industry investment, which in turn is creating jobs across the State, particularly in our regions,” Barnett said. Tasmania has long had one of the greenest supplies of electricity in Australia, with the state’s significant hydroelectricity resources supplying the bulk of the state’s power. Tasmania’s history with hydroelectricity dates back to 1895, with the Duck Reach power plant in Launceston becoming the first publicly owned hydroelectric power station in the southern hemisphere. … Read more: https://reneweconomy.com.au/tasmania-declares-itself-100-per-cent-powered-by-renewable-electricity-25119/
What about that burned out interconnector?
Tasmania grid struggles with drought, bushfires, lost connection Giles Parkinson 25 January 2016 Tasmania’s electricity grid is facing its biggest challenge in years, with its hydro storage about to fall to its lowest levels ever, bushfires forcing the closure of some power facilities, and a faulty cable cutting the connection between the island and the country’s main electricity grid. The Apple Isle’s main source of electricity – hydro power – is being challenged by its driest ever spring, pushing reserves down to just 18.9 per cent. The lowest level ever is 16.5 per cent, reached in 2007, but overall storage levels are predicted to fall to a low of 14 per cent by the end of March – if normal rainfall patterns resume. At current rates, however, some fear they may fall below those levels, although there has been some light rain in recent days. To make matters worse, the Basslink cable linking the island’s grid to the mainland has been cut by technical problems, and will probably remain closed for another two months, while the raging bushfires have threatened power lines and forced the temporary closure of at least four hydro plants. … Read more: https://reneweconomy.com.au/tasmania-grid-struggles-with-drought-bushfires-lost-connection-95757/
I guess the lesson is if most of your state is a giant mountainous watershed you can build enough hydro to go 100% renewable. So not an option for most parts of the world.
Having said that, even the cold, rainy island state of Tasmania suffers droughts. If they have drained their dams selling green electrons to the mainland, and the rains fail, all it takes is a little of their regular undersea inter-connector trouble at the wrong time and they’re back to expensive diesel power. So not quite 100% renewable then.
And of course we’re quietly ignoring the fact Tasmania imports a lot of energy intensive goods.
The saddest part of this story, most of the green campaigners who risked their lives opposing bulldozing and flooding pristine wilderness during the 70s and 80s hydro construction projects have pretty much sold out to the idea of big green. Most of them are now fully on board with concreting the Tasmanian watershed.
Update (EW): Added a link to an expert assessment that the 2016 undersea cable failure was caused by excessive power transmission, which led to overheating and degradation of the cable structure.
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-01--Massachusetts AG Tells Bloomberg Group of Plan to Use its Attorneys to Enforce Paris Climate Treaty

Miracle “ Not a Treaty ” Paris Climate Deal Apparently to be Subject of Law Enforcement Pursuits It was one thing when , academics being academics , some immediately invoked President Obama ’ s purported unilateral ratification of the Paris climate agreement as reason to compel imposition — indeed , judicial commandeering — of the “ climate ” /energy suppression agenda through federal policy .
( This was because “ The Paris Agreement reflects the broader global recognition that climate change poses significant threats to fundamental human rights and all governments have obligations to address these threats under established principles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was in the Climate Kidz case , Juliana v. United States ( dismissed by the 9th Cir .
on other grounds ) .
Depending on how things proceed in coming weeks , it won ’ t be the last time we see a court presented with that issue .
It is another thing entirely to see that Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has promised Michael Bloomberg ’ s group that , if it provided her Office with privately hired lawyers she would name as “ Special Assistant Attorneys General ” , they would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and neighboring states meet the long-term commitments set forth…in the Paris Agreement.
” Wait huh ?
You may be wondering , um , what long-term commitments are states bound to meet under the Paris climate treaty ?
A good question .
And given Healey ’ s activist use of her office and the courts to impose this agenda , the absence of a good answer doesn ’ t mean the threat is not a serious one .
Indeed , the eagle-eyed reader no doubt spotted another “ innovative ” vow there , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which Healey did .
At the request of tort lawyers and activists .
Pretty ugly stuff .
And pretty relevant , in another one of those coincidences the climate litigation industry is quite full of .
As Energy Policy Advocates informed a court this very day , in a filing against Healey ’ s Office for its refusal to let the public know more about these promises made to an activist , deep-pocketed donor : The Bloomberg Center/SEEIC placed two SAAGs to pursue this agenda out of OAG , one of whom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a former staff attorney with The Conservation Law Foundation , which is the group that – records released in this matter demonstrate – coordinated with Matt Pawa on “ the Exxon issue ” and [ “ climate nuisance ” lawyer Matt ] Pawa ’ s briefing of [ Healey ’ s Office ] .
[ FN : “ I have been in discussions with Brad Campbell of CLF about the Exxon issue and we are coordinating on this.
” January 4 , 2016 email from Pawa to OAG ’ s Christophe Courchesne @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warming , released by OAG on September 11 , 2019 after Plaintiff filed this suit . ]
The second SAAG , Nora J. Chorover , also has professional ties to CLF .
[ FN : See , e.g.
, https : //casetext.com/case/conservation-law-found-inc-v-roland-teiner-co ] .
Small world .
And — barring President Trump at long last transmitting the Paris climate treaty to the Senate — a world in which we should soon expect to see what we have all been assured would never happen : law enforcement suing to compel compliance with a purely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ binding and , you can be assured , “ not a treaty ” .

Reposted from Government Accountability and Oversight
CHRIS HORNER GAO
Miracle “Not a Treaty” Paris Climate Deal Apparently to be Subject of Law Enforcement Pursuits
It was one thing when, academics being academics, some immediately invoked President Obama’s purported unilateral ratification of the Paris climate agreement as reason to compel imposition — indeed, judicial commandeering — of the “climate”/energy suppression agenda through federal policy. (This was because “The Paris Agreement reflects the broader global recognition that climate change poses significant threats to fundamental human rights and all governments have obligations to address these threats under established principles of international law.”).
That was in the Climate Kidz case, Juliana v. United States (dismissed by the 9th Cir. on other grounds). Depending on how things proceed in coming weeks, it won’t be the last time we see a court presented with that issue.
It is another thing entirely to see that Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has promised Michael Bloomberg’s group that, if it provided her Office with privately hired lawyers she would name as “Special Assistant Attorneys General”, they would “be focused on ensuring that Massachusetts and neighboring states meet the long-term commitments set forth…in the Paris Agreement.”
…
Wait huh? You may be wondering, um, what long-term commitments are states bound to meet under the Paris climate treaty? A good question. And given Healey’s activist use of her office and the courts to impose this agenda, the absence of a good answer doesn’t mean the threat is not a serious one.
Indeed, the eagle-eyed reader no doubt spotted another “innovative” vow there, to pursue consumer fraud claims against disfavored targets, which Healey did. At the request of tort lawyers and activists. Pretty ugly stuff.
And pretty relevant, in another one of those coincidences the climate litigation industry is quite full of. As Energy Policy Advocates informed a court this very day, in a filing against Healey’s Office for its refusal to let the public know more about these promises made to an activist, deep-pocketed donor:
The Bloomberg Center/SEEIC placed two SAAGs to pursue this agenda out of OAG, one of whom is named Megan Herzog. Ms. Herzog is a former staff attorney with The Conservation Law Foundation, which is the group that – records released in this matter demonstrate – coordinated with Matt Pawa on “the Exxon issue” and [“climate nuisance” lawyer Matt] Pawa’s briefing of [Healey’s Office]. [FN: “I have been in discussions with Brad Campbell of CLF about the Exxon issue and we are coordinating on this.” January 4, 2016 email from Pawa to OAG’s Christophe Courchesne and Melissa Hoffer, Subject: global warming, released by OAG on September 11, 2019 after Plaintiff filed this suit.]
The second SAAG, Nora J. Chorover, also has professional ties to CLF. [FN: See, e.g., https://casetext.com/case/conservation-law-found-inc-v-roland-teiner-co].
Small world. And — barring President Trump at long last transmitting the Paris climate treaty to the Senate — a world in which we should soon expect to see what we have all been assured would never happen: law enforcement suing to compel compliance with a purely voluntary pact that most definitely is not binding and, you can be assured, “not a treaty”.
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-01--LIVE STREAM: Al Gore on using satellite data to measure climate change

Ironic , since the idea of satellite temperature data from Spencer and Christy et al is rejected by people like @ @ @ @ @ This panel discussion will examine ways in which new technological developments in satellites , artificial @ @ @ @ @ work towards an international data set to support implementation of the Paris Agreement .
Innovators @ @ @ @ @ on the lastest developments climate change data .
The panel will discuss the impacts of @ @ @ @ @ climate change regime.Moderator , Dr. Timiebi Aganaba-Jeanty , Arizona State University , Speakers : Al @ @ @ @ @ President , Matthew Gray , Climate TRACE , Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink , Director , Product @ @ @ @ @ Fagbeja , Head , Space Education Outreach Programme , National Space Research and Development Agency @ @ @ @ @ Stephane Germain , CEO at GHGSat

Ironic, since the idea of satellite temperature data from Spencer and Christy et al is rejected by people like Al Gore.
Description: This panel discussion will examine ways in which new technological developments in satellites, artificial intelligence and big data could work towards an international data set to support implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Innovators will present a multi-stakeholder perspective on the lastest developments climate change data. The panel will discuss the impacts of these technologies to the UN climate change regime.Moderator, Dr. Timiebi Aganaba-Jeanty, Arizona State University,
Speakers: Al Gore, Former USA Vice President, Matthew Gray, Climate TRACE, Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink, Director, Product Impact at Google.org, Mofoluso Fagbeja, Head, Space Education Outreach Programme, National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) Nigeria, Stephane Germain, CEO at GHGSat
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-02--Robot probes the Red Sea’s carbon storage system

Warming waters and oxygen depletion in the Red Sea could slow the flow of organic carbon from the surface into the deep ocean where it can be stored , out of reach of the atmosphere .
A KAUST team has used an underwater robot to investigate the little-studied mesopelagic , or “ twilight , ” zone , at depths of between 100 and 1000 meters .
The oceans absorb billions of tons of carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) from the atmosphere each year that either dissolves or is transformed into organic carbon by plants and phytoplankton in the sunlit shallows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this organic carbon is converted back into CO2 by microorganisms as it falls through the mesopelagic zone , but some of it eventually sinks into the deep ocean , where it can remain for centuries .
Understanding what controls the fate of organic carbon at different depths could help scientists predict how the oceans will absorb and store atmospheric CO2 in the future .
Malika Kheireddine and her team used an underwater robot equipped with bio-optical sensors to measure particulate organic carbon ( POC ) variations between the surface and the bottom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Red Sea , where sea temperatures are rising particularly fast .
“ The Red Sea offers unrivalled opportunities as a natural laboratory for studying the impact of climate change on the fate of organic carbon , ” says Kheireddine .
Throughout 2016 , the device also measured water temperature , salinity , density and oxygen concentrations .
“ Our observations allowed us to estimate the rates at which POC is converted back into CO2 by marine microorganisms , ” explains Giorgio Dall ’ Olmo , a co-author from the UK National Centre for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ microorganisms are affected by temperature and oxygen levels.
” In the Red Sea ’ s warm and oxygen-starved waters , the conversion occurred mainly in the shallowest , most productive layer of the mesopelagic zone ; only 10 percent of POC sank below 350 meters .
“ The conversion rates could be expressed as a function of temperature and oxygen concentration , ” adds Kheireddine , “ which could help us predict how climate change will affect these rates in the future.
” The team was surprised to find that more than 85 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a few days of entering the mesopelagic zone , whereas the rest drifted for weeks to months before being consumed .
There are multiple drivers of organic carbon transfer and transformation in tropical seas .
“ Underwater gliders in the Red Sea are collecting continuous data that could reveal the effects of physical processes , such as eddies and coastal currents , on these biogeochemical processes , ” says group leader Burton Jones , a marine scientist at KAUST .
“ The fate of organic carbon in the oceans affects the global climate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ findings will help refine models showing whether the amount of carbon sinking in the ocean is increasing or decreasing.
” The deeper organic carbon sinks before it is converted to CO2 , the longer it is likely to remain there , locked away from the atmosphere .

KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (KAUST)
Research News
IMAGE: BY STUDYING THE FATE OF ORGANIC CARBON IN THE RED SEA, KAUST RESEARCHERS HOPE TO REFINE MODELS THAT PREDICT THE CARBON SINK CAPACITY OF THE WORLD’S OCEANS IN THE FUTURE…. view more CREDIT: © SUSANN ROSSBACH
Warming waters and oxygen depletion in the Red Sea could slow the flow of organic carbon from the surface into the deep ocean where it can be stored, out of reach of the atmosphere. A KAUST team has used an underwater robot to investigate the little-studied mesopelagic, or “twilight,” zone, at depths of between 100 and 1000 meters.
The oceans absorb billions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere each year that either dissolves or is transformed into organic carbon by plants and phytoplankton in the sunlit shallows (0 – 100m). Most of this organic carbon is converted back into CO2 by microorganisms as it falls through the mesopelagic zone, but some of it eventually sinks into the deep ocean, where it can remain for centuries.
Understanding what controls the fate of organic carbon at different depths could help scientists predict how the oceans will absorb and store atmospheric CO2 in the future. Malika Kheireddine and her team used an underwater robot equipped with bio-optical sensors to measure particulate organic carbon (POC) variations between the surface and the bottom of the mesopelagic zone in the northern Red Sea, where sea temperatures are rising particularly fast. “The Red Sea offers unrivalled opportunities as a natural laboratory for studying the impact of climate change on the fate of organic carbon,” says Kheireddine.
Throughout 2016, the device also measured water temperature, salinity, density and oxygen concentrations. “Our observations allowed us to estimate the rates at which POC is converted back into CO2 by marine microorganisms,” explains Giorgio Dall’Olmo, a co-author from the UK National Centre for Earth Observation, “and how these microorganisms are affected by temperature and oxygen levels.”
In the Red Sea’s warm and oxygen-starved waters, the conversion occurred mainly in the shallowest, most productive layer of the mesopelagic zone; only 10 percent of POC sank below 350 meters. “The conversion rates could be expressed as a function of temperature and oxygen concentration,” adds Kheireddine, “which could help us predict how climate change will affect these rates in the future.”
The team was surprised to find that more than 85 percent of POC was broken down within a few days of entering the mesopelagic zone, whereas the rest drifted for weeks to months before being consumed. There are multiple drivers of organic carbon transfer and transformation in tropical seas.
“Underwater gliders in the Red Sea are collecting continuous data that could reveal the effects of physical processes, such as eddies and coastal currents, on these biogeochemical processes,” says group leader Burton Jones, a marine scientist at KAUST.
“The fate of organic carbon in the oceans affects the global climate,” says Kheireddine. “Our findings will help refine models showing whether the amount of carbon sinking in the ocean is increasing or decreasing.” The deeper organic carbon sinks before it is converted to CO2, the longer it is likely to remain there, locked away from the atmosphere.
###
From EurekAlert!
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wattsupwiththat--2020-12-02--Data Sonification: A New Cosmic Triad of Sound

A new trio of examples of ‘ data sonification ’ from NASA missions provides a new method to enjoy an arrangement of cosmic objects .
Data sonification translates information collected by various NASA missions — such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory , Hubble Space Telescope , and Spitzer Space Telescope — into sounds .
This image of the Bullet Cluster ( officially known as 1E 0657-56 ) provided the first direct proof of dark matter , the mysterious unseen substance that makes up the vast majority of matter in the Universe .
X-rays from Chandra ( pink ) show where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clusters has been wrenched away from dark matter , seen through a process known as “ gravitational lensing ” in data from Hubble ( blue ) and ground-based telescopes .
In converting this into sound , the data pan left to right , and each layer of data was limited to a specific frequency range .
Data showing dark matter are represented by the lowest frequencies , while X-rays are assigned to the highest frequencies .
The galaxies in the image revealed by Hubble data , many of which are in the cluster @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , within each layer , the pitch is set to increase from the bottom of the image to the top so that objects towards the top produce higher tones .
The Crab Nebula has been studied by people since it first appeared in Earth ’ s sky in 1054 A.D. Modern telescopes have captured its enduring engine powered by a quickly spinning neutron star that formed when a massive star collapsed .
The combination of rapid rotation and a strong magnetic field generates jets of matter and anti-matter flowing away from its poles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For the translation of these data into sound , which also pans left to right , each wavelength of light has been paired with a different family of instruments .
X-rays from Chandra ( blue and white ) are brass , optical light data from Hubble ( purple ) are strings , and infrared data from Spitzer ( pink ) can be heard in the woodwinds .
In each case , light received towards the top of the image is played as higher pitched notes and brighter light is played louder .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the southern hemisphere saw a new object in the Large Magellanic Cloud , a small satellite galaxy to the Milky Way .
This was one of the brightest supernova explosions in centuries and soon became known as Supernova 1987A ( SN 87A ) .
This time lapse shows a series of Chandra ( blue ) and Hubble ( orange and red ) observations taken between 1999 and 2013 .
This shows a dense ring of gas , which was ejected by the star before it went supernova , begins to glow brighter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As the focus sweeps around the image , the data are converted into the sound of a crystal singing bowl , with brighter light being heard as higher and louder notes .
The optical data are converted to a higher range of notes than the X-ray data so both wavelengths of light can be heard simultaneously .
An interactive version lets the user play this astronomical instrument for themselves .
The data sonification project is led by the Chandra X-ray Center ( CXC ) as part of the NASA ’ s Universe of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Science Activation program strives to enable NASA science experts and to incorporate NASA science content into the learning environment effectively and efficiently for learners of all ages .
The collaboration was driven by visualization scientist Kimberly Arcand ( CXC ) , astrophysicist Matt Russo and musician Andrew Santaguida ( both of the SYSTEMS Sound project . )
NASA ’ s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program .
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory ’ s Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington , Massachusetts .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ are based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute , working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC , Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian , Jet Propulsion Laboratory , and Sonoma State University .
For more Chandra images , multimedia and related materials , visit :

From NASA
Nov. 30, 2020
A new trio of examples of ‘data sonification’ from NASA missions provides a new method to enjoy an arrangement of cosmic objects. Data sonification translates information collected by various NASA missions — such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope — into sounds.
This image of the Bullet Cluster (officially known as 1E 0657-56) provided the first direct proof of dark matter, the mysterious unseen substance that makes up the vast majority of matter in the Universe. X-rays from Chandra (pink) show where the hot gas in two merging galaxy clusters has been wrenched away from dark matter, seen through a process known as “gravitational lensing” in data from Hubble (blue) and ground-based telescopes. In converting this into sound, the data pan left to right, and each layer of data was limited to a specific frequency range. Data showing dark matter are represented by the lowest frequencies, while X-rays are assigned to the highest frequencies. The galaxies in the image revealed by Hubble data, many of which are in the cluster, are in mid-range frequencies. Then, within each layer, the pitch is set to increase from the bottom of the image to the top so that objects towards the top produce higher tones.
This image of the Bullet Cluster (officially known as 1E 0657-56) provided the first direct proof of dark matter, the mysterious unseen substance that makes up the vast majority of matter in the Universe. X-rays from Chandra (pink) show where the hot gas in two merging galaxy clusters has been wrenched away from dark matter, seen through a process known as “gravitational lensing” in data from Hubble Space Telescope (blue) and ground-based telescopes. In converting this into sound, the data pan left to right, and each layer of data was limited to a specific frequency range. Data showing dark matter are represented by the lowest frequencies, while X-rays are assigned to the highest frequencies. The galaxies in the image revealed by Hubble data, many of which are in the cluster, are in mid-range frequencies. Then, within each layer, the pitch is set to increase from the bottom of the image to the top so that objects towards the top produce higher tones.Credits: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
The Crab Nebula has been studied by people since it first appeared in Earth’s sky in 1054 A.D. Modern telescopes have captured its enduring engine powered by a quickly spinning neutron star that formed when a massive star collapsed. The combination of rapid rotation and a strong magnetic field generates jets of matter and anti-matter flowing away from its poles, and winds outward from its equator. For the translation of these data into sound, which also pans left to right, each wavelength of light has been paired with a different family of instruments. X-rays from Chandra (blue and white) are brass, optical light data from Hubble (purple) are strings, and infrared data from Spitzer (pink) can be heard in the woodwinds. In each case, light received towards the top of the image is played as higher pitched notes and brighter light is played louder.
The Crab Nebula has been studied by people since it first appeared in Earth’s sky in 1054 A.D. Modern telescopes have captured its enduring engine powered by a quickly spinning neutron star that formed when a massive star collapsed. The combination of rapid rotation and a strong magnetic field generates jets of matter and anti-matter flowing away from its poles, and winds outward from its equator. For the translation of these data into sound, which also pans left to right, each wavelength of light has been paired with a different family of instruments. X-rays from Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue and white) are brass, optical light data from Hubble Space Telescope (purple) are strings, and infrared data from Spitzer (pink) can be heard in the woodwinds. In each case, light received towards the top of the image is played as higher pitched notes and brighter light is played louder.Credits: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
On February 24, 1987, observers in the southern hemisphere saw a new object in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy to the Milky Way. This was one of the brightest supernova explosions in centuries and soon became known as Supernova 1987A (SN 87A). This time lapse shows a series of Chandra (blue) and Hubble (orange and red) observations taken between 1999 and 2013. This shows a dense ring of gas, which was ejected by the star before it went supernova, begins to glow brighter as the supernova shockwave passes through. As the focus sweeps around the image, the data are converted into the sound of a crystal singing bowl, with brighter light being heard as higher and louder notes. The optical data are converted to a higher range of notes than the X-ray data so both wavelengths of light can be heard simultaneously. An interactive version lets the user play this astronomical instrument for themselves.
On February 24, 1987, observers in the southern hemisphere saw a new object in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy to the Milky Way. This was one of the brightest supernova explosions in centuries and soon became known as Supernova 1987A (SN 87A). This time lapse shows a series of Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue) and Hubble Space Telescope (orange and red) observations taken between 1999 and 2013. This shows a dense ring of gas, which was ejected by the star before it went supernova, begins to glow brighter as the supernova shockwave passes through. As the focus sweeps around the image, the data are converted into the sound of a crystal singing bowl, with brighter light being heard as higher and louder notes. The optical data are converted to a higher range of notes than the X-ray data so both wavelengths of light can be heard simultaneously.Credits: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
The data sonification project is led by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) as part of the NASA’s Universe of Learning (UoL) program. NASA’s Science Activation program strives to enable NASA science experts and to incorporate NASA science content into the learning environment effectively and efficiently for learners of all ages. The collaboration was driven by visualization scientist Kimberly Arcand (CXC), astrophysicist Matt Russo and musician Andrew Santaguida (both of the SYSTEMS Sound project.)
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts. NASA’s Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Sonoma State University.
Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
For more Chandra images, multimedia and related materials, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/chandra
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