iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-26--Study suggests great earthquakes as cause of Arctic warming

A researcher from MIPT has proposed a new explanation for the Arctic ’ s rapid warming .
In his recent paper in Geosciences , he suggests that the warming could have been triggered by a series of great earthquakes .
Global warming is one of the pressing issues faced by civilization .
It is widely believed to be caused by human activity , which increases the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere .
However , this view does not explain why temperatures sometimes rise fairly abruptly .
In the Arctic , one of the factors driving climate warming is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ metastable gas hydrates in the shelf zone .
Since researchers began to monitor temperatures in the Arctic , the region has seen two periods of abrupt warming : first in the 1920s and ’ 30s , and then beginning in 1980 and continuing to this day .
Leopold Lobkovsky , who authored the study reported in this story , is a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the head of the MIPT Laboratory for Geophysical Research of the Arctic and Continental Margins of the World Ocean .
In his paper , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ temperature changes could have been triggered by geodynamic factors .
Specifically , he pointed to a series of great earthquakes in the Aleutian Arc , which is the closest seismically active area to the Arctic .
To test his hypothesis , Lobkovsky had to answer three questions .
First , did the dates of the great earthquakes coincide with temperature jumps ?
Second , what is the mechanism that enables the lithospheric disturbances to propagate over more than 2,000 kilometers from the Aleutian Islands to the Arctic shelf region ?
Third , how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The answer to the first question came from historical data analysis .
It turned out that the Aleutian Arc was indeed the site of two series of great earthquakes in the 20th century ( more details below the text ) .
Each of them preceded an abrupt rise in temperature by about 15 to 20 years .
It took a model of lithospheric excitation dynamics to answer the second question .
The model used by the researcher describes the propagation of so-called tectonic waves and predicts that they should travel at about 100 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the delay between each of the great earthquake series and the subsequent temperature hike , as it took the disturbances 15 to 20 years to get transmitted over 2,000 kilometers .
To answer the third question , the researcher proposed the following explanation : The deformation waves arriving in the shelf zone cause minor additional stresses in the lithosphere , which are sufficient to disrupt the internal structure of the metastable gas hydrates and permafrost storing captured methane .
This releases methane into the water of the shelf and atmosphere , leading to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the greenhouse effect .
“ There is a clear correlation between the great earthquakes in the Aleutian Arc and the phases of climate warming .
A mechanism exists for physically transmitting the stresses in the lithosphere at the appropriate velocities .
And these added stresses are capable of destroying metastable gas hydrates and permafrost , releasing methane .
Each of the three components in this scheme is logical and lends itself to mathematical and physical explanation .
Importantly , it explains a known fact — the abrupt rise in temperature anomalies in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the previous models , ” Lobkovsky commented .
According to the researcher , his model will benefit from discussion and will likely be improved , and there is much to be done in order to confirm or rule out the proposed mechanism .
The research reported in this story was carried out at MIPT with the support of the Russian Science Foundation , grant No .
20-17-00140 .
Two great earthquake series .
The first one started with a magnitude 8 earthquake in 1899 in the eastern part of the Aleutian Arc , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the western part of the islands , with magnitudes of 8.3 and 8.4 .
The second series began with an 8.6 magnitude earthquake in 1957 , followed by the 9.3 magnitude 1964 Alaskan earthquake .
The following year , an 8.7 magnitude earthquake shook the western part of the arc .
Each of these devastating seismic events had underground sources spanning hundreds of kilometers .

MOSCOW INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY
Research News
IMAGE: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS ARE AN ARCHIPELAGO COMPRISING DOZENS OF ISLANDS WITH 40 ACTIVE AND 17 DORMANT VOLCANOES view more CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK
A researcher from MIPT has proposed a new explanation for the Arctic’s rapid warming. In his recent paper in Geosciences, he suggests that the warming could have been triggered by a series of great earthquakes.
Global warming is one of the pressing issues faced by civilization. It is widely believed to be caused by human activity, which increases the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. However, this view does not explain why temperatures sometimes rise fairly abruptly.
In the Arctic, one of the factors driving climate warming is the release of methane from permafrost and metastable gas hydrates in the shelf zone. Since researchers began to monitor temperatures in the Arctic, the region has seen two periods of abrupt warming: first in the 1920s and ’30s, and then beginning in 1980 and continuing to this day.
Leopold Lobkovsky, who authored the study reported in this story, is a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the head of the MIPT Laboratory for Geophysical Research of the Arctic and Continental Margins of the World Ocean. In his paper, the scientist hypothesized that the unexplained abrupt temperature changes could have been triggered by geodynamic factors. Specifically, he pointed to a series of great earthquakes in the Aleutian Arc, which is the closest seismically active area to the Arctic.
To test his hypothesis, Lobkovsky had to answer three questions. First, did the dates of the great earthquakes coincide with temperature jumps? Second, what is the mechanism that enables the lithospheric disturbances to propagate over more than 2,000 kilometers from the Aleutian Islands to the Arctic shelf region? Third, how do these disturbances intensify methane emissions?
The answer to the first question came from historical data analysis. It turned out that the Aleutian Arc was indeed the site of two series of great earthquakes in the 20th century (more details below the text). Each of them preceded an abrupt rise in temperature by about 15 to 20 years.
It took a model of lithospheric excitation dynamics to answer the second question. The model used by the researcher describes the propagation of so-called tectonic waves and predicts that they should travel at about 100 kilometers per year. This agrees with the delay between each of the great earthquake series and the subsequent temperature hike, as it took the disturbances 15 to 20 years to get transmitted over 2,000 kilometers.
To answer the third question, the researcher proposed the following explanation: The deformation waves arriving in the shelf zone cause minor additional stresses in the lithosphere, which are sufficient to disrupt the internal structure of the metastable gas hydrates and permafrost storing captured methane. This releases methane into the water of the shelf and atmosphere, leading to climate warming in the region due to the greenhouse effect.
“There is a clear correlation between the great earthquakes in the Aleutian Arc and the phases of climate warming. A mechanism exists for physically transmitting the stresses in the lithosphere at the appropriate velocities. And these added stresses are capable of destroying metastable gas hydrates and permafrost, releasing methane. Each of the three components in this scheme is logical and lends itself to mathematical and physical explanation. Importantly, it explains a known fact — the abrupt rise in temperature anomalies in the Arctic — which remained unaccounted for by the previous models,” Lobkovsky commented.
According to the researcher, his model will benefit from discussion and will likely be improved, and there is much to be done in order to confirm or rule out the proposed mechanism.
###
The research reported in this story was carried out at MIPT with the support of the Russian Science Foundation, grant No. 20-17-00140.
Two great earthquake series. The first one started with a magnitude 8 earthquake in 1899 in the eastern part of the Aleutian Arc, followed by two more great earthquakes in the western part of the islands, with magnitudes of 8.3 and 8.4. The second series began with an 8.6 magnitude earthquake in 1957, followed by the 9.3 magnitude 1964 Alaskan earthquake. The following year, an 8.7 magnitude earthquake shook the western part of the arc. Each of these devastating seismic events had underground sources spanning hundreds of kilometers.
From EurekAlert!
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Climate Warning Stickers

Cambridge , Massachusetts is going to post climate warning stickers on their gas pumps .
Massachusetts city to post climate @ @ @ @ @ stations | Massachusetts | The Guardian According to John Cook , total annual CO2 emissions @ @ @ @ @ … Continue reading →

Cambridge, Massachusetts is going to post climate warning stickers on their gas pumps. Massachusetts city to post climate change warning stickers at gas stations | Massachusetts | The Guardian According to John Cook, total annual CO2 emissions from earth’s surface … Continue reading →
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December 26, 2020 at 06:21PM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-26--Inside The Bayesian Priory

Inside The Bayesian Priory

Here are a few random quotes and thoughts about the paper called An observation-based scaling model for climate sensitivity estimates and global projections to 2100 .
This was the first statement that caught my eye : I always get nervous when someone says that they are using “ Bayesian inference ” .
The problem is not with the Bayesian theory , which is correct .
It basically says that the probability of something happening depends in part on what went before , called the “ Bayesian Priors ” .
And clearly , in many situations this is true .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ priors .
This depends on human judgement , plus some pre-existing theory as to what is going on … I ’ m sure you can see the problems with that .
First , human judgment is … well … let me call it “ not universally correct ” and leave it at that .
And next … just what pre-existing theory of climate are we supposed to use when we are investigating the theory of climate ?
Then came this statement .
This one makes the sweat break out on my forehead , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ building blocks of a whole host of theories … but it is rarely supported by even the flimsiest of evidence .
It is just stated as undeniable truth , as in this paper .
They do not make even the slightest attempt to justify it .
Every realistic description that I ’ ve read about the gradual warming over the last three centuries or so contains some verifiable facts : • Things are warmer now than during the Little Ice Age .
• In general that increased warmth has been a benefit for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
• There have been no “ climate catastrophes ” from that warming .
Couple that with the following data … … and it becomes very difficult to believe that “ the ecological consequences of global warming could be dire ” .
Confronted with these facts , the fallback position of the alarmists is usually “ But mah sea level !
Mah sea level is gon na drown everyone ” … however , as I ’ ve shown over and over , even the longest sea level records don ’ t show any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we are starting out from way behind , crippled by false assumptions .
And these false assumptions , these “ Bayesian priors ” are driven by the initial mistake made by the IPCC , what I ’ ve termed the “ Picasso Problem ” .
Picasso said At first I didn ’ t either understand this or believe it .
I mean , I ’ m a computer guy , why is a painter questioning my computer use ?
… but eventually I saw that looking for the right answers is not what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should be focusing on instead is looking for the right questions .
As the old saying goes , “ Ask a stupid question , get a stupid answer.
” And tragically , the IPCC at its inception was asked the wrong question .
When IPCC was first set up , it was tasked to answer the question : In fact , they should have been tasked to answer the question : And obviously , the current paper suffers from the same problem—it is answering the wrong question … and not only that , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ … For the next issue , let me preface it with a few definitions from the paper : With those definitions , they go on : The problem with this is that they say it as though it was a good thing … when in fact it is a clear indication that they are operating on false assumptions .
In fact , as they are clearly unwilling to admit , the likely range has increased , not stayed the same .
You can see this issue below : And this increase in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be a huge danger signal .
I mean , in what other field of science has there not only been no advance in forty years on a central question , but in fact the uncertainty has increased ?
I know of no scientific field other than climate science in which this is true .
There are a couple of problems with this .
First , these assumptions of future forcings form another part of the Bayesian priors discussed above .
And given that these priors are based on “ complex economic projections , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ , they are infinitely adjustable to match the desires and theories of the investigators .
A more fundamental problem , however , is the relationship between the forcings and the response of the models .
As Kiehl pointed out over a decade ago in “ Twentieth Century Climate Model Response and Climate Sensitivity ” : This is a crucial paper which has been conspicuously ignored by scientists in the field .
It says that if you assume larger forcings , the model shows a smaller climate sensitivity , and vice versa .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ showed in Life Is Like A Black Box Of Chocolates , the relationship between the forcings and the model output is both linear and ridiculously simple , viz : The outputs of the climate models are very well emulated by a simple lagged and scaled version of the inputs .
Here is an example of my analysis showing how well the model output can be emulated by that absurdly simple formula : This formula has only three tuned parameters—lambda ( the scaling factor ) , tau ( the lag factor ) , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the current paper agrees that there needs to be a volcanic adjustment , saying “ the instantaneous temperature response [ to the eruptions ] is weaker than expected using linear response theory.
” ) This shows that with all of their complexity , the outcome of the climate models can be almost perfectly emulated by a simple formula .
And another implication is that the calculations of equilibrium climate sensitivity ( ECS ) and transient climate response ( TCR ) from the outputs of these models are completely meaningless … as supported by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ progress made in refining the estimates of ECS and TCR over the last forty years .
In continuing to read , I finally lost both the plot and all further interest in the paper when they said ( emphasis mine ) : To translate that , they are defining reality on the basis of whether or not their description of reality matches the output of computer models … and at that point , I quit reading .
Seriously , I could go no further .
Any study claiming that a description of reality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ output of absurdly simplistic climate models is not worth my time to investigate .
Best holiday regards to all on this day after Christmas ,

Here are a few random quotes and thoughts about the paper called An observation-based scaling model for climate sensitivity estimates and global projections to 2100. This was the first statement that caught my eye:
We estimate the model and forcing parameters by Bayesian inference which allows us to analytically calculate the transient climate response and the equilibrium climate sensitivity as: 1.7+0.3−0.2 K and 2.4+1.3−0.6 K respectively (likely range).
I always get nervous when someone says that they are using “Bayesian inference”. The problem is not with the Bayesian theory, which is correct. It basically says that the probability of something happening depends in part on what went before, called the “Bayesian Priors”. And clearly, in many situations this is true.
The problem is in the choice of the priors. This depends on human judgement, plus some pre-existing theory as to what is going on … I’m sure you can see the problems with that. First, human judgment is … well … let me call it “not universally correct” and leave it at that. And next … just what pre-existing theory of climate are we supposed to use when we are investigating the theory of climate?
Then came this statement.
The ecological consequences of global warming could be dire; therefore, better constraining climate sensitivity is of utmost importance in order to meet the urgency of adjusting economical and environmental policies.
This one makes the sweat break out on my forehead, because it is one of the fundamental building blocks of a whole host of theories … but it is rarely supported by even the flimsiest of evidence. It is just stated as undeniable truth, as in this paper. They do not make even the slightest attempt to justify it.
Every realistic description that I’ve read about the gradual warming over the last three centuries or so contains some verifiable facts:
Things are warmer now than during the Little Ice Age.
In general that increased warmth has been a benefit for man, beasts, and plants alike.
There have been no “climate catastrophes” from that warming.
Couple that with the following data …
… and it becomes very difficult to believe that “the ecological consequences of global warming could be dire”.
Confronted with these facts, the fallback position of the alarmists is usually “But mah sea level! Mah sea level is gonna drown everyone” … however, as I’ve shown over and over, even the longest sea level records don’t show any acceleration due to the warming.
So we are starting out from way behind, crippled by false assumptions. And these false assumptions, these “Bayesian priors” are driven by the initial mistake made by the IPCC, what I’ve termed the “Picasso Problem”. Picasso said
“What good are computers? They can only give you answers …
At first I didn’t either understand this or believe it. I mean, I’m a computer guy, why is a painter questioning my computer use? … but eventually I saw that looking for the right answers is not what we should be doing. What we should be focusing on instead is looking for the right questions. As the old saying goes, “Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.”
And tragically, the IPCC at its inception was asked the wrong question. When IPCC was first set up, it was tasked to answer the question:
“What level of CO2 is dangerous to humanity??”
In fact, they should have been tasked to answer the question:
“Is increasing CO2 a danger to humanity?”
And obviously, the current paper suffers from the same problem—it is answering the wrong question … and not only that, it is answering the question with computers …
For the next issue, let me preface it with a few definitions from the paper:
Emergent properties of the Earth’s climate, i.e. properties which are not specified a priori, are then inferred from GCM simulations. The equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) is such a property; it refers to the expected temperature change after an infinitely long time following a doubling in carbon dioxide (CO2) atmospheric concentration. Another is the transient climate response (TCR), which is defined as the change in temperature after a gradual doubling of CO2 atmospheric concentration over 70 years at a rate of 1% per year.
With those definitions, they go on:
Since the United States National Academy of Sciences report (Charney et al. 1979), the likely range for the ECS has not changed and remains [1.5,4.5] 𝐾.
The problem with this is that they say it as though it was a good thing … when in fact it is a clear indication that they are operating on false assumptions. In fact, as they are clearly unwilling to admit, the likely range has increased, not stayed the same. You can see this issue below:
And this increase in the range of the equilibrium climate sensitivity should be a huge danger signal. I mean, in what other field of science has there not only been no advance in forty years on a central question, but in fact the uncertainty has increased? I know of no scientific field other than climate science in which this is true.
They continue:
Future anthropogenic forcing is prescribed in four scenarios, the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), established by the IPCC for CMIP5 simulations : RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, RCP 6.0 and RCP 8.5 (Meinshausen et al. 2011). They are named according to the total radiative forcing in Wm−2 expected in the year 2100 and are motivated by complex economic projections, expected technological developments, and political decisions.
There are a couple of problems with this. First, these assumptions of future forcings form another part of the Bayesian priors discussed above. And given that these priors are based on “complex economic projections, expected technological developments, and political decisions“, they are infinitely adjustable to match the desires and theories of the investigators.
A more fundamental problem, however, is the relationship between the forcings and the response of the models. As Kiehl pointed out over a decade ago in “Twentieth Century Climate Model Response and Climate Sensitivity”:
It is found that the total anthropogenic forcing for a wide range of climate models differs by a factor of two and that the total forcing is inversely correlated to climate sensitivity. Much of the uncertainty in total anthropogenic forcing derives from a threefold range of uncertainty in the aerosol forcing used in the simulations.
This is a crucial paper which has been conspicuously ignored by scientists in the field. It says that if you assume larger forcings, the model shows a smaller climate sensitivity, and vice versa. Not only that, but as I showed in Life Is Like A Black Box Of Chocolates, the relationship between the forcings and the model output is both linear and ridiculously simple, viz:
The outputs of the climate models are very well emulated by a simple lagged and scaled version of the inputs.
Here is an example of my analysis showing how well the model output can be emulated by that absurdly simple formula:
This formula has only three tuned parameters—lambda (the scaling factor), tau (the lag factor), and a volcanic adjustment. (Curiously, the current paper agrees that there needs to be a volcanic adjustment, saying “the instantaneous temperature response [to the eruptions] is weaker than expected using linear response theory.”)
This shows that with all of their complexity, the outcome of the climate models can be almost perfectly emulated by a simple formula. And another implication is that the calculations of equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) and transient climate response (TCR) from the outputs of these models are completely meaningless … as supported by the fact that there has been no progress made in refining the estimates of ECS and TCR over the last forty years.
In continuing to read, I finally lost both the plot and all further interest in the paper when they said (emphasis mine):
In order to make progress, Hasselmann et al. (1997) proposed a response function consisting of a sum of N exponentials – effectively an N box model (although without using differential equations: the boxes were only implicit). Nevertheless, they ultimately chose 𝑁=3 out of practical necessity—so as to fit GCM outputs.
To translate that, they are defining reality on the basis of whether or not their description of reality matches the output of computer models … and at that point, I quit reading.
Seriously, I could go no further. Any study claiming that a description of reality is only worthwhile if it matches the output of absurdly simplistic climate models is not worth my time to investigate.
Best holiday regards to all on this day after Christmas,
w.
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Snowstorm hitting Algeria

26 Dec 2020 – The Meteorological Center in Algeria warns of a snowstorm and heavy snowfall on heights that reach @ @ @ @ @ will start on Saturday morning and continuing until Sunday .
The thickness of the snow @ @ @ @ @ centimeters .
It is expected that 14 provinces will be affected .
The Meteorological Center @ @ @ @ @ several states .
According to the special statement , the rain will continue to tomorrow @ @ @ @ @ fall more than 50 millimeters of rain , especially in the coastal states , along @ @ @ @ @ kilometers per hour and waves exceeding four meters on the eastern coasts of the country @ @ @ @ @ for these links The post Snowstorm hitting Algeria appeared first on Ice Age Now .

26 Dec 2020 – The Meteorological Center in Algeria warns of a snowstorm and heavy snowfall on heights that reach 800 meters.
The snow will start on Saturday morning and continuing until Sunday. The thickness of the snow is likely to reach 20 centimeters.
It is expected that 14 provinces will be affected.
The Meteorological Center also warned of thunderstorms in several states.
According to the special statement, the rain will continue to tomorrow.
It is expected to fall more than 50 millimeters of rain, especially in the coastal states, along with strong winds exceeding 50 kilometers per hour and waves exceeding four meters on the eastern coasts of the country.
https://www.afrigatenews.net/article/تحذير-من-عاصفة-ثلجية-تضرب-الجزائر/
https://www.afrigatenews.net/static/files/20201226-033957image.jpg
Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for these links
The post Snowstorm hitting Algeria appeared first on Ice Age Now.
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December 26, 2020 at 03:43PM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-26--Surprise! Surprise! Any Greenland melting is….volcanic

No , it is not a surprise .
This is what I ’ ve been saying for years .
The Greenland ice is melting from below .
“ Newly Discovered Greenland Hot Rock Mantle Plume Drives Thermal Activities in the Arctic , ” reads the title .
“ A team of researchers discovered a flow of hot rocks , known as a mantle plume , rising from the core-mantle boundary beneath central Greenland that melts the ice from below ( emphasis added ) .
“ The results of their two-part study were published in the Journal of Geophysical Research .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ bolster our understanding of volcanic activities in these regions and the problematic issue of global sea-level rising caused by the melting of the Greenland ice sheet , ” said Dr. Genti Toyokuni , co-author of the studies .
“ The North Atlantic region is awash with geothermal activity ( emphasis added ) .
Iceland and Jan Mayen contain active volcanoes with their own distinct mantle plumes , whilst Svalbard — a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean — is a geothermal area .
Toyokuni was able to utilize seismographs he installed on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Greenland Ice Sheet Monitoring Network .
Set up in 2009 , the project sees the collaboration of researchers from 11 countries .
The US-Japan joint team is primarily responsible for the construction and maintenance of the three seismic stations on the ice sheet .
Thanks to Bill Sellers for this link The post Surprise !
Surprise !
Any Greenland melting is….volcanic appeared first on Ice Age Now .

No, it is not a surprise. This is what I’ve been saying for years. The Greenland ice is melting from below.
“Newly Discovered Greenland Hot Rock Mantle Plume Drives Thermal Activities in the Arctic,” reads the title.
“A team of researchers discovered a flow of hot rocks, known as a mantle plume, rising from the core-mantle boundary beneath central Greenland that melts the ice from below (emphasis added).
“The results of their two-part study were published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.
“Knowledge about the Greenland plume will bolster our understanding of volcanic activities in these regions and the problematic issue of global sea-level rising caused by the melting of the Greenland ice sheet,” said Dr. Genti Toyokuni, co-author of the studies.
“The North Atlantic region is awash with geothermal activity (emphasis added). Iceland and Jan Mayen contain active volcanoes with their own distinct mantle plumes, whilst Svalbard — a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean — is a geothermal area.
Toyokuni was able to utilize seismographs he installed on the Greenland ice sheet as part of the Greenland Ice Sheet Monitoring Network. Set up in 2009, the project sees the collaboration of researchers from 11 countries. The US-Japan joint team is primarily responsible for the construction and maintenance of the three seismic stations on the ice sheet.
Thanks to Bill Sellers for this link
The post Surprise! Surprise! Any Greenland melting is….volcanic appeared first on Ice Age Now.
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December 26, 2020 at 03:21PM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-26--National Journal on Possible Trump Submission of Paris Climate Treaty to Senate

Speaking at a virtual G-20 summit last month , President Trump championed his decision to bow out of the Paris climate accord .
“ I withdrew the United States from the unfair and one-sided Paris climate accord , a very unfair act for the United States , ” Trump told leaders of the globe ’ s biggest economies , all of whom are currently party to the pact.
“ It was designed to kill the American economy , ” he said .
Only months after taking office in 2017 , Trump , accompanied by then-Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conservative fanfare in the White House Rose Garden .
According to the terms of the pact , the U.S. formalized that withdrawal a day after Americans wrapped up voting in the 2020 electoral cycle .
But now conservative critics of the accord , both on and off Capitol Hill , want more from Trump in the waning weeks of his presidency…The push for Trump to submit the ratification documents is sparking a messaging war over whether it would actually have any legal bearing on Biden ’ s engagement with the pact .
Paris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ carry legal weight , but conservative attorneys argue it would hamstring Biden ’ s justification for regulatory measures at the EPA and other agencies designed to pare down greenhouse-gas emissions .
“ Transmitting Paris as the treaty it is thoroughly neuters any of the certain 2021 claims that Paris is the reason for EPA to do anything , or for any ruling that we are compelled to undertake any particular action or inaction , ” said Chris Horner , a longtime Washington D.C. attorney and current board member at Government Accountability & Oversight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Any claim that Paris compels U.S. action or inaction would now confront doubt that a U.S. commitment to Paris was anything but a political commitment , ” Horner said .
“ The commitment will not be ‘ settled ’ but inarguably ambiguous and obviously weakened .
It is a political question , and transmittal severely undermines adventurous courts or commissions from the desired and otherwise certain rulings grounded in that Paris commitment .
”

Reposted From Government Accountability & Oversight
CHRIS HORNER
Brian Dabbs @BRIANDABBS Dec. 22, 2020, 8 p.m.
Speaking at a virtual G-20 summit last month, President Trump championed his decision to bow out of the Paris climate accord.
“I withdrew the United States from the unfair and one-sided Paris climate accord, a very unfair act for the United States,” Trump told leaders of the globe’s biggest economies, all of whom are currently party to the pact.“It was designed to kill the American economy,” he said.
Only months after taking office in 2017, Trump, accompanied by then-Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, launched the Paris withdrawal process to conservative fanfare in the White House Rose Garden. According to the terms of the pact, the U.S. formalized that withdrawal a day after Americans wrapped up voting in the 2020 electoral cycle.
But now conservative critics of the accord, both on and off Capitol Hill, want more from Trump in the waning weeks of his presidency…The push for Trump to submit the ratification documents is sparking a messaging war over whether it would actually have any legal bearing on Biden’s engagement with the pact.
Paris supporters say the move wouldn’t carry legal weight, but conservative attorneys argue it would hamstring Biden’s justification for regulatory measures at the EPA and other agencies designed to pare down greenhouse-gas emissions.
“Transmitting Paris as the treaty it is thoroughly neuters any of the certain 2021 claims that Paris is the reason for EPA to do anything, or for any ruling that we are compelled to undertake any particular action or inaction,” said Chris Horner, a longtime Washington D.C. attorney and current board member at Government Accountability & Oversight, a nonprofit conservative law firm. “Any claim that Paris compels U.S. action or inaction would now confront doubt that a U.S. commitment to Paris was anything but a political commitment,” Horner said. “The commitment will not be ‘settled’ but inarguably ambiguous and obviously weakened. It is a political question, and transmittal severely undermines adventurous courts or commissions from the desired and otherwise certain rulings grounded in that Paris commitment.”
Read the entire piece here.
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iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-26--Climate Of Violence: Prominent AGW Skeptic Threatened With “Baseball Bats”…”Smash Your Face”…”Bye By

Climate Of Violence: Prominent AGW Skeptic Threatened With “Baseball Bats”…”Smash Your Face”…”Bye Bye Family”

Over the recent weeks , leading AGW science skeptic Marc Morano of Climate Depot has received messages threatening him and his family with bodily injury ( or worse ) .
Copies of the criminally threatening messages have been made available to NTZ and other skeptics .
The threats of bodily injury to Mr. Morano and his family members made in the messages meet the criminal threshold in Europe , experts say .
In the first message , an e-mail sent from a fake email account on 27 November , 2020 , the sender claimed to be “ Dr .
Prof. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a “ spécialiste en modélisation du climat et des océans.
” That email included two files : 1 ) a purported UN history of Dr. Melice ( top ) and 2 ) an unfriendly appearing photo of Dr. Melice ( bottom ) : Did criminal threats aimed at prominent AGW skeptic Marc Morano come from a distinguished researcher or someone who stole his identity ?
Photo : Dr. Prof. Jean-Luc Mélice .
It is unclear whether the criminal threat came from Dr. Melice himself or more likely from someone who had stolen his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Melice , then he really needs to be concerned about another malicious party stealing his identity and using it to conduct criminal activity .
Among ethnic insults and slurs written in the November 27 email , the author also wrote ( excerpt , emphasis added ) : You must must remember me…if your brain is not completely fucked… ” I am going to write you in french , remember that french is the language of every educated gentleman… which is not your case.
” You are getting very old now , your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like the Donnie the con , the orange agent.
” In fact , you are typically an old mafiosi-type italian immigant.
” Of course , you have no scientific training , your brain is to small to understand science , your IQ is under 100 ( I have that information ) ” My scientist friends here in France welcoming you … with a baseball bat.…Funny , we are all waiting for you if you have the stupid idea to travel to Europe ” … I am a NASA expert and travel many times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your kids and of of yourself .
So , try to be very careful ... ” Donnie the don is terminated , this will be he case with yourself and the oil industry… ” As the text indicates , the author of the threatening email masters the French language , but not so much the English language , so it was indeed likely written by a native French speaker .
In a subsequent email sent a day later , on November 28 , the same author added yet more ethnic hate slurs , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were ( excerpts ) : The origin of your name comes from Calabria in Italy…lots of mafiosi over there !
!
!
” Morano in Spanish means north African nigger .
I now understand your complex of inferiority , and your ugly face .
Indeed , you are not of WASP origin.
” Note that I was living in the USA during the Kennedy time .
I remember very well the 3 dark days after he was shot by a fucking moron as yourself .
At that time , I was in an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not anti-science as they are now.
” Besides aSouth African nationality , I have also an US passport.
” Please also that I have worked as a diplomat , besides being a super top scientist.
” I would love to be in front of you during a FOX interview .
I would destroy you in a few seconds… ” Remember , we are following you , and are very keen to smash your ugly obese face with a baseball bat.
” Just fokoff … as we say in afrikaans… ” Again to remind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 3rd party who is using Dr. Melice ’ s identity to conduct his criminal threats .
Don ’ t assume anything !
Coincidentally , Dr. Melice does appear to have a history of making aggressive and angry comments directed at skeptics of AGW science .
The whole affair needs to be cleared up .
The real person behind the threats and potential identity misuse needs to be dealt with legally .
In Europe such vicious threats are criminal acts .
Then just two days ago , on December 24th , Marc Morano @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but this time by a person not providing any identity .
In that text message the author wrote : The tone and hate level are similar to that seen in the earlier emails of November 27 and November 28 , but it is impossible to determine if it originated from the same author .
When asked if such graphic threats have been increasing , Mr. Morano replied by email : “ Yes .
They are increasing .
My books and movies and Congressional testimony have increased the flow.
” Earlier in 2019 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delivered to his home address by regular post , postmarked Eureka , California .
That letter blamed skeptics like Morano for the Arkansas River flooding .
It contained : Real threats , or not to be taken seriously ?
It would be very easy to dismiss these threatening messages as something coming from a sick-minded coward , a bitter person in a basement , hopelessly engulfed by hatred .
Yet on the other hand , they also show us the person making the threats is mentally unstable , perhaps unpredictable , and so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a real danger .
One thing is clear : sending someone such messages is a criminal offence in Europe .
Anyone receiving such terrible threats needs to take them to the responsible authorities for investigation .
It ’ s wrong for people to steal identities and/or to criminally act in this way .
We have multiple potential victims here : Marc Morano , his family , his colleagues , science free speech and even the researcher who maybe had his identity stolen and used to conduct criminal acts .

Over the recent weeks, leading AGW science skeptic Marc Morano of Climate Depot has received messages threatening him and his family with bodily injury (or worse).
WARNING: PROFANE LANGUAGE!
Copies of the criminally threatening messages have been made available to NTZ and other skeptics. The threats of bodily injury to Mr. Morano and his family members made in the messages meet the criminal threshold in Europe, experts say.
Thanksgiving threats
In the first message, an e-mail sent from a fake email account on 27 November, 2020, the sender claimed to be “Dr. Prof. Jean-Luc Edouard Germain Michel Mélice”, a “spécialiste en modélisation du climat et des océans.” That email included two files: 1) a purported UN history of Dr. Melice (top) and 2) an unfriendly appearing photo of Dr. Melice (bottom):
Did criminal threats aimed at prominent AGW skeptic Marc Morano come from a distinguished researcher or someone who stole his identity? Photo: Dr. Prof. Jean-Luc Mélice.
Stolen identity?
It is unclear whether the criminal threat came from Dr. Melice himself or more likely from someone who had stolen his identity. If it did not come from Melice, then he really needs to be concerned about another malicious party stealing his identity and using it to conduct criminal activity.
Among ethnic insults and slurs written in the November 27 email, the author also wrote (excerpt, emphasis added):
You must must remember me…if your brain is not completely fucked…” I am going to write you in french, remember that french is the language of every educated gentleman… which is not your case.” Je suis français et spécialiste en modélisation du climat et des océans, est-tu capable de comprendre ce que j’écris ?” You are getting very old now, your also bald, looking more and more like the Donnie the con, the orange agent.” In fact, you are typically an old mafiosi-type italian immigant.” Of course, you have no scientific training, your brain is to small to understand science, your IQ is under 100 (I have that information)” […] My scientist friends here in France welcoming you … with a baseball bat.…Funny, we are all waiting for you if you have the stupid idea to travel to Europe”… I am a NASA expert and travel many times in the USA…I know the addresses of your kids and of of yourself. So, try to be very careful...” Donnie the don is terminated, this will be he case with yourself and the oil industry…” Dr. Prof. Jean-Luc Edouard Germain Michel Mélice”
As the text indicates, the author of the threatening email masters the French language, but not so much the English language, so it was indeed likely written by a native French speaker.
“Smash your ugly face”
In a subsequent email sent a day later, on November 28, the same author added yet more ethnic hate slurs, among these comments (emphasis added) were (excerpts):
The origin of your name comes from Calabria in Italy…lots of mafiosi over there!!!” Morano in Spanish means north African nigger. I now understand your complex of inferiority, and your ugly face. Indeed, you are not of WASP origin.” […] Note that I was living in the USA during the Kennedy time. I remember very well the 3 dark days after he was shot by a fucking moron as yourself. At that time, I was in an american high school and the Americans were not anti-science as they are now.” Besides aSouth African nationality, I have also an US passport.” Please also that I have worked as a diplomat, besides being a super top scientist.” I would love to be in front of you during a FOX interview. I would destroy you in a few seconds…” Remember, we are following you, and are very keen to smash your ugly obese face with a baseball bat.” Just fokoff … as we say in afrikaans…”
Again to remind readers, the email likely came from a 3rd party who is using Dr. Melice’s identity to conduct his criminal threats. Don’t assume anything!
Hateful past
Coincidentally, Dr. Melice does appear to have a history of making aggressive and angry comments directed at skeptics of AGW science. The whole affair needs to be cleared up.
The real person behind the threats and potential identity misuse needs to be dealt with legally. In Europe such vicious threats are criminal acts.
Christmas threats
Then just two days ago, on December 24th, Marc Morano received yet another criminally threatening text message, but this time by a person not providing any identity. In that text message the author wrote:
Go fuck yourself and eat shit, you fucking most corrupt ass piece of shit fucking ass cunt as THOSE GROUPS FUCKING HATE YOU!” Worst-Case Scenario! Bye-bye political establishment! Bye-bye media! Hollywood, bye-bye! Tissues! How bad? So bad! How much death? So much death!” Worst-Case Scenario! Watch your back bitch! You can run but you cannot hide! Bye-bye you corrupt fucking cunt ass piece of shit! Bye-Bye family!”
The tone and hate level are similar to that seen in the earlier emails of November 27 and November 28, but it is impossible to determine if it originated from the same author.
Threats becoming more frequent
When asked if such graphic threats have been increasing, Mr. Morano replied by email: “Yes. They are increasing. My books and movies and Congressional testimony have increased the flow.”
Earlier in 2019 Mr. Morano also received an angry threat delivered to his home address by regular post, postmarked Eureka, California. That letter blamed skeptics like Morano for the Arkansas River flooding. It contained:
Real threats, or not to be taken seriously?
It would be very easy to dismiss these threatening messages as something coming from a sick-minded coward, a bitter person in a basement, hopelessly engulfed by hatred.
Yet on the other hand, they also show us the person making the threats is mentally unstable, perhaps unpredictable, and so capable of any act, thus posing a real danger.
One thing is clear: sending someone such messages is a criminal offence in Europe.
Anyone receiving such terrible threats needs to take them to the responsible authorities for investigation. It’s wrong for people to steal identities and/or to criminally act in this way.
We have multiple potential victims here: Marc Morano, his family, his colleagues, science free speech and even the researcher who maybe had his identity stolen and used to conduct criminal acts.
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December 26, 2020 at 11:53AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-26--Hard freeze warning for Florida

Hard freeze warning for Florida

26 Dec 2020 – National Weather Service Tampa Bay Ruskin FLland Levy – Including the cities of Chiefland , Bronson @ @ @ @ @ WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 9 AM EST SUNDAY… * IMPACTS…Frost and freeze @ @ @ @ @ other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing .
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for @ @ @ @ @ be the second hard freeze in Florida , ” says Kenneth The post Hard freeze @ @ @ @ @ on Ice Age Now .

Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 25 (-3.9C) expected.
26 Dec 2020 – National Weather Service Tampa Bay Ruskin FLland Levy –
Including the cities of Chiefland, Bronson, and Williston
ARD FREEZE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 9 AM EST SUNDAY…
* WHAT…Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 25 expected.
* WHERE…Inland Levy County.
* WHEN…From midnight tonight to 9 AM EST Sunday.
* IMPACTS…Frost and freeze conditions will kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing.
https://www.weather.gov/tbw/
Thanks to Kenneth Lund for this link
“This will be the second hard freeze in Florida,” says Kenneth
The post Hard freeze warning for Florida appeared first on Ice Age Now.
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December 26, 2020 at 11:13AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-26--Heavy snowfall and blizzards in Iran

Heavy snowfall and blizzards in Iran

Heavy snowfall , slippery roads and blizzards closed the roads to 50 villages in the regions of Kalat and Dargaz in northern Khorasan Razavi .
On Friday evening , the General Directorate of Highways and Road Transportation of Khorasan Razavi closed the two main roads of Mashhad-Kalat and Quchan-Dargaz within the city of Quchan and the side road of Dargaz-Kalat due to heavy snowfall , blizzard and reduced drivers ’ visibility .
The governor of Dargaz told IRNA : “ The rural roads in the mountainous areas have been blocked due to snowfall.
” Ali Farahi added : 24 villages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dargaz cities , 10 villages in Zanglanlu village on the border of Kalat city with Dargaz and five mountainous villages in Kalate Chenar region , Nokhandan district have been closed due to snow and blizzard .
The governor of Dargaz said rescue forces have released eight vehicles trapped on the snowy roads of the city and have provided assistance to them .
The governor of Kalat also said : due to snowfall and slippery roads in this mountainous city , the communication road of Jorf , Momenabad , Babafarji , Aghdash , Babar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ash , crossroads , old line , old leather and old tray is currently blocked .
Is.Mehdi Naseri added : A passenger bus traveling from Kalat to Mashhad was caught in a blizzard in the area of Gojgi Pass , which passed safely with the help of traffic forces and reached Mashhad .
He continued : Red Crescent forces , traffic police and traffic police today helped 6 families caught in the snow and blizzard .
The center of the 75,000-strong city of Dargaz is located 254 km north of Mashhad .
Dargaz @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parts , Lotfabad , Chapeshloo and Nokhandan .
30,000 people of this city live in villages .
Dargaz borders the Republic of Turkmenistan to the north .
The General Meteorological Office of Khorasan Razavi also announced that the snow and rain will intensify Saturday and will increase in size .
Blizzards are expected to continue in mountainous areas of the province .
Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for these links The post Heavy snowfall and blizzards in Iran appeared first on Ice Age Now .

26 Dec 2020 – Snow closed 50 villages in Khorasan Razavi.
Heavy snowfall, slippery roads and blizzards closed the roads to 50 villages in the regions of Kalat and Dargaz in northern Khorasan Razavi.
On Friday evening, the General Directorate of Highways and Road Transportation of Khorasan Razavi closed the two main roads of Mashhad-Kalat and Quchan-Dargaz within the city of Quchan and the side road of Dargaz-Kalat due to heavy snowfall, blizzard and reduced drivers’ visibility.
The governor of Dargaz told IRNA: “The rural roads in the mountainous areas have been blocked due to snowfall.”
Ali Farahi added: 24 villages in Miankuh village, between Quchan and Dargaz cities, 10 villages in Zanglanlu village on the border of Kalat city with Dargaz and five mountainous villages in Kalate Chenar region, Nokhandan district have been closed due to snow and blizzard.
The governor of Dargaz said rescue forces have released eight vehicles trapped on the snowy roads of the city and have provided assistance to them.
The governor of Kalat also said: due to snowfall and slippery roads in this mountainous city, the communication road of Jorf, Momenabad, Babafarji, Aghdash, Babar Mozan, Sang Divar, Robat, Ash, crossroads, old line, old leather and old tray is currently blocked. Is.Mehdi Naseri added: A passenger bus traveling from Kalat to Mashhad was caught in a blizzard in the area of Gojgi Pass, which passed safely with the help of traffic forces and reached Mashhad.
He continued: Red Crescent forces, traffic police and traffic police today helped 6 families caught in the snow and blizzard.
The center of the 75,000-strong city of Dargaz is located 254 km north of Mashhad. Dargaz has 139 villages consisting of four central parts, Lotfabad, Chapeshloo and Nokhandan. 30,000 people of this city live in villages. Dargaz borders the Republic of Turkmenistan to the north.
The General Meteorological Office of Khorasan Razavi also announced that the snow and rain will intensify Saturday and will increase in size.
Blizzards are expected to continue in mountainous areas of the province.
https://www.asriran.com/fa/news/762306/برف-در-خراسان-رضوی-راه-50-روستا-بسته-شد
https://cdn.asriran.com/files/fa/news/1399/10/6/1168259_621.jpg
Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for these links
The post Heavy snowfall and blizzards in Iran appeared first on Ice Age Now.
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December 26, 2020 at 11:13AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-26--Climate Change Stops Play!

Climate Change Stops Play!

You will probably remember this report from the BBC a couple of years ago , which claimed how sport was being wiped out by climate change .
In particular , rain was apparently wreaking havoc with English cricket .
According to the Climate Coalition report , cricket will be `` hardest hit '' by climate change out of all the major pitch sports , with more rain resulting in more delays and abandonments .
Cardiff-based club Glamorgan have lost 1,300 hours of cricket since 2000 as a result of extreme weather and rainfall .
`` Losing so much cricket is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it affects the club at every level , '' said Glamorgan head of operations Dan Cherry .
`` It ’ s difficult even for first-class counties to be commercially viable with such an impact .
`` T20 Blast is a great way to get new people through the gates and into cricket – but they won ’ t come back if this keeps happening and it ’ s damaged the club to the tune of £1m . ''
More than a quarter ( 27 % ) of England ’ s home one-day international @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of rain disruptions , while the rate of rain-affected matches has more than doubled since 2011 .
The England and Wales Cricket Board ( ECB ) spent £1m in emergency grants in 2016 and £1.6m in 2017 to support clubs and restore their facilities and have set aside £2.5m a year for small grants to help club sides keep matches on .
There is the risk that increasingly disrupted cricket will lead to people no longer getting involved in the sport .
According to the report , nearly 40,000 fewer people played cricket @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fall of almost 20 % .
`` There is clear evidence that climate change has had a huge impact on the game in the form of general wet weather and extreme weather events , '' said ECB national participation manager Dan Musson .
As I pointed out at the time , the cranks at the Climate Coalition had not bothered to count up how many days used to be lost to rain in the old days , so we had no way of telling whether things were actually getting worse or not .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ from ECA & D to shed some light on the matter .
Oxford is without doubt the best weather station we have , to give a good summary of weather trends at the majority of English cricket grounds .
Although Oxfordshire is not a first class county , it is surrounded by a large number of county teams , with similar climate .
To the west there is Gloucestershire and Worcestershire , to the north Warwickshire , to the east we have Northants and Leicestershire , and the south Hampshire .
It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Surrey .
We can use ECA & D to chart rainfall data for the six “ summer months ” , April through September .
First total rainfall , which shows a declining trend if anything .
Obviously 2012 stands out as exceptional , and I suspect the reports findings are skewed by this one summer .
However there has been no other summer since 2000 , which has been in any way unusual or extreme .
If we look at rain days , we find that we actually tend to get more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Average rainfall per rain day varies little , showing the claim of extreme rainfall to be an outright lie .
And finally , the number of heavy rainfall days , the sort which would see a whole day ’ s play lost , has also been at low levels since that summer of 2012 .
In short , rainfall is not becoming more extreme at English cricket grounds , certainly not in the southern half of the country .
And there are no trends in the number of rain days or the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which could possibly justify the Climate Coalition claim that English cricket is losing more days to rain .
Yet another climate scare report which can be consigned to the garbage can !
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood
You will probably remember this report from the BBC a couple of years ago, which claimed how sport was being wiped out by climate change.
In particular, rain was apparently wreaking havoc with English cricket.
According to the Climate Coalition report, cricket will be "hardest hit" by climate change out of all the major pitch sports, with more rain resulting in more delays and abandonments.
Cardiff-based club Glamorgan have lost 1,300 hours of cricket since 2000 as a result of extreme weather and rainfall.
"Losing so much cricket is a county’s worst nightmare – it affects the club at every level," said Glamorgan head of operations Dan Cherry. "It’s difficult even for first-class counties to be commercially viable with such an impact.
"T20 Blast is a great way to get new people through the gates and into cricket – but they won’t come back if this keeps happening and it’s damaged the club to the tune of £1m."
More than a quarter (27%) of England’s home one-day international since 2000 have seen reduced overs because of rain disruptions, while the rate of rain-affected matches has more than doubled since 2011.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) spent £1m in emergency grants in 2016 and £1.6m in 2017 to support clubs and restore their facilities and have set aside £2.5m a year for small grants to help club sides keep matches on.
There is the risk that increasingly disrupted cricket will lead to people no longer getting involved in the sport. According to the report, nearly 40,000 fewer people played cricket in 2015-16 than in 2005-06, a fall of almost 20%.
"There is clear evidence that climate change has had a huge impact on the game in the form of general wet weather and extreme weather events," said ECB national participation manager Dan Musson.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/42936199
As I pointed out at the time, the cranks at the Climate Coalition had not bothered to count up how many days used to be lost to rain in the old days, so we had no way of telling whether things were actually getting worse or not.
Fortunately we now have the climate tool from ECA&D to shed some light on the matter.
Oxford is without doubt the best weather station we have, to give a good summary of weather trends at the majority of English cricket grounds. Although Oxfordshire is not a first class county, it is surrounded by a large number of county teams, with similar climate. To the west there is Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, to the north Warwickshire, to the east we have Northants and Leicestershire, and the south Hampshire.
It is also not far from counties like Middlesex and Surrey.
We can use ECA&D to chart rainfall data for the six “summer months”, April through September.
First total rainfall, which shows a declining trend if anything. Obviously 2012 stands out as exceptional, and I suspect the reports findings are skewed by this one summer.
However there has been no other summer since 2000, which has been in any way unusual or extreme.
If we look at rain days, we find that we actually tend to get more dry days now than in the past.
Average rainfall per rain day varies little, showing the claim of extreme rainfall to be an outright lie.
And finally, the number of heavy rainfall days, the sort which would see a whole day’s play lost, has also been at low levels since that summer of 2012.
https://www.ecad.eu/indicesextremes/customquerytimeseriesplots.php
In short, rainfall is not becoming more extreme at English cricket grounds, certainly not in the southern half of the country. And there are no trends in the number of rain days or the amount of rain in the last century, which could possibly justify the Climate Coalition claim that English cricket is losing more days to rain.
Yet another climate scare report which can be consigned to the garbage can!
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December 26, 2020 at 10:30AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-27--China And Iran Start Drilling In This Super Giant Gas Field

Drilling operations of the first well of the game-changing but highly-controversial Phase 11 of Iran ’ s supergiant South Pars non-associated natural gas field officially began last week .
Significant gas recovery from the enormous resource will commence in the second half of the next Iranian calendar year that begins on 21 March 2021 .
The long-stalled Phase 11 development supposedly saw the withdrawal of all Chinese involvement in October 2019 .
In reality , though , China is still intimately involved in its development and is looking to further scale up its activities following the inauguration of Joe Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The new field is expected to eventually produce 57 million cubic metres per day ( mcm/d ) , about a tenth of Iran ’ s current output .
The article goes on to describe how China got around US sanctions on Iran , after taking over Total ’ s 50.1 % stake in the project in 2018 : As the U.S. ramped up pressure on China in the Trade War , however – especially looking to increase sanctions on its most important technology companies , including Huawei – and with China already locked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iran , Beijing made a policy decision to take a lower public profile on project work on Iran ’ s high-profile oil and gas fields wherever possible .
Top of this list was Phase 11 of South Pars , so CNPC publically withdrew from the project in October 2019 , having supposedly suspended further investment in it in December 2018 .
In reality , though , China ’ s activities on Phase 11 – and elsewhere in Iran and Iraq – did not cease but merely changed appearance into a less high-profile and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was one thing for China to quietly ignore all sanctions that the U.S. had imposed on importing Iranian oil and gas , but it was quite another thing for it to blatantly put its major state companies on the ground in Iran .
Consequently , China switched to developing Iran ’ s oil and gas fields – including the , and the South Pars gas site – by engaging in a series of ‘ contract-only ’ projects , such as drilling-only , field maintenance-only , parts replacement-only , storage-only , technology-only , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are being done through seemingly smaller firms that are less well-known than the big state players that attract little or no publicity but , as all companies in China are part of the state and are legally bound to work towards what they are told to do by the Communist Party , it doesn ’ t make any difference to the eventual outcome , ” said the Iran source .
In an earlier article last month , OilPrice.com gave more detail : Thus specific project-by-project ‘ contract-only ’ mode of working has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ever since it – officially at least – China National Petroleum Corporation ( CNPC ) withdrew from the flagship Phase 11 development of South Pars in October last year .
“ It was obvious to anyone who knows how China works in such situations , including in neighbouring Iraq , that it was not going to walk away from its investment either in Phase 11 or in Iran as a whole , especially as it was in the process of with the country , ” said the Iran source .
Indeed , quite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iran ( and close ally Iraq ) to China , the 25-year deal means that in exchange for at least US $ 400 billion from China , Chinese companies will be given the first option to bid on any new – or stalled or uncompleted – oil , gas , and petrochemicals projects in Iran .
China will also be able to buy any and all oil , gas , and petrochemicals products at a minimum guaranteed discount of 12 per cent to the six-month rolling mean average price of comparable benchmark products @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cent of that metric for risk-adjusted compensation .
Additionally , China will be able to pay in soft currencies accrued from doing business in Africa and the Former Soviet Union states and , this , given the exchange rates involved , means that China is looking at another 8 to 12 per cent discount , which means a total discount of around 32 per cent for China on all oil gas , and petrochemicals purchases .
In fact , China ’ s links with Iran go much deeper : Last August , Iran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , paid a visit to his China counterpart , Wang Li , to present a roadmap on a comprehensive 25-year China-Iran strategic partnership that built upon a previous agreement signed in 2016 .
Many of the key specifics of the updated agreement were not released to the public at the time but were uncovered by OilPrice.com at the time .
Last week , at a meeting in Gilan province , former Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad alluded to some of the secret parts of this deal in public for the first time , stating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to enter into a secret agreement with foreign parties without considering the will of the Iranian nation and against the interests of the country and the nation , and the Iranian nation will not recognize it.
” According to the same senior sources closely connected to Iran ’ s Petroleum Ministry who originally outlined the secret element of the 25-year deal , not only is the secret element of that deal going ahead but China has also added in a new military element , with enormous global security implications .
One of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year is that China will invest US $ 280 billion in developing Iran ’ s oil , gas , and petrochemicals sectors .
This amount will be into the first five-year period of the new 25-year deal , and the understanding is that further amounts will be available in each subsequent five year period , provided that both parties agree .
There will be another US $ 120 billion of investment , which again can be front-loaded into the first five-year period , for upgrading Iran ’ s transport and manufacturing infrastructure , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ subsequent period should both parties agree .
In exchange for this , to begin with , Chinese companies will be given the first option to bid on any new – or stalled or uncompleted – oil , gas , and petrochemicals in Iran .
China will also be able to buy any and all oil , gas , and petchems products at a minimum guaranteed discount of 12 per cent t o the six-month rolling mean average price of comparable benchmark products , plus another 6 to 8 per cent of that metric @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be granted the right to delay payment for up to two years and , significantly , it will be able to pay in soft currencies that it has accrued from doing business in Africa and the Former Soviet Union states .
“ Given the exchange rates involved in converting these soft currencies into hard currencies that Iran can obtain from its friendly Western banks , China is looking at another 8 to 12 per cent discount , which means a total discount of around 32 per cent for China on all oil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the Iran sources underlined .
There is no way China would be investing such huge amounts in Iran ’ s petrochemicals sector , unless it was planning to secure supplies of oil and gas for many decades to come .
Iran ’ s gas reserves , for instance , have an estimated life of about 100 years .
Iran is naturally delighted to take China ’ s money , as well as getting into bed militarily with them , something , as the report points out , that has global security @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extraordinarily dangerous game by turning a blind eye to China ’ s real global intentions , in the hope that they might one day start to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide .
The advent of Sleepy Joe will , I am afraid to say , make matters considerably worse .
Generations to come will not look favourably on our current crop of leaders .
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood
From OilPrice.Com:
Drilling operations of the first well of the game-changing but highly-controversial Phase 11 of Iran’s supergiant South Pars non-associated natural gas field officially began last week. Significant gas recovery from the enormous resource will commence in the second half of the next Iranian calendar year that begins on 21 March 2021. The long-stalled Phase 11 development supposedly saw the withdrawal of all Chinese involvement in October 2019. In reality, though, China is still intimately involved in its development and is looking to further scale up its activities following the inauguration of Joe Biden as U.S. President on 20 January.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/China-And-Iran-Start-Drilling-In-This-Super-Giant-Gas-Field.html
The new field is expected to eventually produce 57 million cubic metres per day (mcm/d), about a tenth of Iran’s current output.
The article goes on to describe how China got around US sanctions on Iran, after taking over Total’s 50.1% stake in the project in 2018:
As the U.S. ramped up pressure on China in the Trade War , however – especially looking to increase sanctions on its most important technology companies, including Huawei – and with China already locked into the new supercharged 25-year deal with Iran, Beijing made a policy decision to take a lower public profile on project work on Iran’s high-profile oil and gas fields wherever possible. Top of this list was Phase 11 of South Pars, so CNPC publically withdrew from the project in October 2019, having supposedly suspended further investment in it in December 2018. In reality, though, China’s activities on Phase 11 – and elsewhere in Iran and Iraq – did not cease but merely changed appearance into a less high-profile and therefore less U.S.-sanctionable form . “It was one thing for China to quietly ignore all sanctions that the U.S. had imposed on importing Iranian oil and gas, but it was quite another thing for it to blatantly put its major state companies on the ground in Iran. Consequently, China switched to developing Iran’s oil and gas fields – including the South Azadegan, North Yaran, and South Yaran oil fields , and the South Pars gas site – by engaging in a series of ‘contract-only’ projects, such as drilling-only, field maintenance-only, parts replacement-only, storage-only, technology-only, and so on. “Most of these are being done through seemingly smaller firms that are less well-known than the big state players that attract little or no publicity but, as all companies in China are part of the state and are legally bound to work towards what they are told to do by the Communist Party, it doesn’t make any difference to the eventual outcome,” said the Iran source.
In an earlier article last month, OilPrice.com gave more detail:
Thus specific project-by-project ‘contract-only’ mode of working has been employed by China at scale in Iran ever since it – officially at least – China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) withdrew from the flagship Phase 11 development of South Pars in October last year. “It was obvious to anyone who knows how China works in such situations, including in neighbouring Iraq, that it was not going to walk away from its investment either in Phase 11 or in Iran as a whole, especially as it was in the process of widening out the 25-year deal with the country,” said the Iran source. Indeed, quite aside from the massive geopolitical importance of Iran (and close ally Iraq) to China, the 25-year deal means that in exchange for at least US$400 billion from China, Chinese companies will be given the first option to bid on any new – or stalled or uncompleted – oil, gas, and petrochemicals projects in Iran. China will also be able to buy any and all oil, gas, and petrochemicals products at a minimum guaranteed discount of 12 per cent to the six-month rolling mean average price of comparable benchmark products, plus another 6 to 8 per cent of that metric for risk-adjusted compensation. Additionally, China will be able to pay in soft currencies accrued from doing business in Africa and the Former Soviet Union states and, this, given the exchange rates involved, means that China is looking at another 8 to 12 per cent discount, which means a total discount of around 32 per cent for China on all oil gas, and petrochemicals purchases.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Irans-Mega-South-Pars-Gas-Field-Nears-Completion.html
In fact, China’s links with Iran go much deeper:
Last August, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Zarif, paid a visit to his China counterpart, Wang Li, to present a roadmap on a comprehensive 25-year China-Iran strategic partnership that built upon a previous agreement signed in 2016. Many of the key specifics of the updated agreement were not released to the public at the time but were uncovered by OilPrice.com at the time. Last week, at a meeting in Gilan province, former Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad alluded to some of the secret parts of this deal in public for the first time, stating that: “It is not valid to enter into a secret agreement with foreign parties without considering the will of the Iranian nation and against the interests of the country and the nation, and the Iranian nation will not recognize it.” According to the same senior sources closely connected to Iran’s Petroleum Ministry who originally outlined the secret element of the 25-year deal, not only is the secret element of that deal going ahead but China has also added in a new military element, with enormous global security implications.
One of the secret elements of the deal signed last year is that China will invest US$280 billion in developing Iran’s oil, gas, and petrochemicals sectors. This amount will be front-loaded into the first five-year period of the new 25-year deal, and the understanding is that further amounts will be available in each subsequent five year period, provided that both parties agree . There will be another US$120 billion of investment, which again can be front-loaded into the first five-year period, for upgrading Iran’s transport and manufacturing infrastructure, and again subject to increase in each subsequent period should both parties agree. In exchange for this, to begin with, Chinese companies will be given the first option to bid on any new – or stalled or uncompleted – oil, gas, and petrochemicals projects in Iran. China will also be able to buy any and all oil, gas, and petchems products at a minimum guaranteed discount of 12 per cent t o the six-month rolling mean average price of comparable benchmark products, plus another 6 to 8 per cent of that metric for risk-adjusted compensation. Additionally, China will be granted the right to delay payment for up to two years and, significantly, it will be able to pay in soft currencies that it has accrued from doing business in Africa and the Former Soviet Union states. “Given the exchange rates involved in converting these soft currencies into hard currencies that Iran can obtain from its friendly Western banks, China is looking at another 8 to 12 per cent discount, which means a total discount of around 32 per cent for China on all oil gas, and petchems purchases,” one of the Iran sources underlined.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/China-Inks-Military-Deal-With-Iran-Under-Secretive-25-Year-Plan.html
There is no way China would be investing such huge amounts in Iran’s petrochemicals sector, unless it was planning to secure supplies of oil and gas for many decades to come. Iran’s gas reserves, for instance, have an estimated life of about 100 years.
Iran is naturally delighted to take China’s money, as well as getting into bed militarily with them, something, as the report points out, that has global security implications.
The West is playing an extraordinarily dangerous game by turning a blind eye to China’s real global intentions, in the hope that they might one day start to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. The advent of Sleepy Joe will, I am afraid to say, make matters considerably worse.
Generations to come will not look favourably on our current crop of leaders.
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December 27, 2020 at 05:00AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-27--On the Hunt for a Missing Giant Black Hole

The mystery surrounding the whereabouts of a supermassive black hole has deepened .
Despite searching with NASA ’ s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope , astronomers have no evidence that a distant black hole estimated to weigh between 3 billion and 100 billion times the mass of the Sun is anywhere to be found .
This missing black hole should be in the enormous galaxy in the center of the galaxy cluster Abell 2261 , which is located about 2.7 billion light years from Earth .
This composite image of Abell 2261 contains optical data from Hubble and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cluster and in the background , and Chandra X-ray data showing hot gas ( colored pink ) pervading the cluster .
The middle of the image shows the large elliptical galaxy in the center of the cluster .
Nearly every large galaxy in the Universe contains a supermassive black hole in their center , with a mass that is millions or billions of times that of the Sun .
Since the mass of a central black hole usually tracks with the mass of the galaxy itself , astronomers expect the galaxy in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supermassive black hole that rivals the heft of some of the largest known black holes in the Universe .
Using Chandra data obtained in 1999 and 2004 astronomers had already searched the center of Abell 2261 ’ s large central galaxy for signs of a supermassive black hole .
They looked for material that has been superheated as it fell towards the black hole and produced X-rays , but did not detect such a source .
Now , with new , longer Chandra observations obtained in 2018 , a team led by Kayhan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ann Arbor conducted a deeper search for the black hole in the center of the galaxy .
They also considered an alternative explanation , in which the black hole was ejected from the host galaxy ’ s center .
This violent event may have resulted from two galaxies merging to form the observed galaxy , accompanied by the central black hole in each galaxy merging to form one enormous black hole .
When black holes merge , they produce ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves .
If the huge amount of gravitational waves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in one direction than another , the theory predicts that the new , even more massive black hole would have been sent careening away from the center of the galaxy in the opposite direction .
This is called a recoiling black hole .
Astronomers have not found definitive evidence for recoiling black holes and it is not known whether supermassive black holes even get close enough to each other to produce gravitational waves and merge ; so far , astronomers have only verified the mergers of much smaller black holes .
The detection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scientists using and developing observatories to look for gravitational waves from merging supermassive black holes .
The galaxy at the center of Abell 2261 is an excellent cluster to search for a recoiling black hole because there are two indirect signs that a merger between two massive black holes might have taken place .
First , data from the Hubble and Subaru optical observations reveal a galactic core — the central region where the number of stars in the galaxy in a given patch of the galaxy is at or close to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than expected for a galaxy of its size .
The second sign is that the densest concentration of stars in the galaxy is over 2,000 light years away from the center of the galaxy , which is strikingly distant .
These features were first identified by Marc Postman from Space Telescope Science Institute ( STScI ) and collaborators in their earlier Hubble and Subaru images , and led them to suggest the idea of a merged black hole in Abell 2261 .
During a merger , the supermassive black hole in each galaxy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coalesced galaxy .
If they become bound to each other by gravity and their orbit begins to shrink , the black holes are expected to interact with surrounding stars and eject them from the center of the galaxy .
This would explain Abell 2261 ’ s large core .
The off-center concentration of stars may also have been caused by a violent event such as the merger of two supermassive black holes and subsequent recoil of single , larger black hole that results .
Even though there are clues that a black hole @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hubble data showed evidence for the black hole itself .
Gultekin and most of his co-authors , led by Sarah Burke-Spolaor from West Virginia University , had previously used Hubble to look for a clump of stars that might have been carried off by a recoiling black hole .
They studied three clumps near the center of the galaxy , and examined whether the motions of stars in these clumps are high enough to suggest they contain a ten billion solar mass black hole .
No clear evidence for a black hole was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the stars in the other one were too faint to produce useful conclusions .
They also previously studied observations of Abell 2261 with the NSF ’ s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array .
Radio emission detected near the center of the galaxy showed evidence that supermassive black hole activity had occurred there 50 million years ago , but does not indicate that the center of the galaxy currently contains such a black hole .
They then turned to Chandra to look for material that had been superheated and produced X-rays as it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Chandra data did reveal that the densest hot gas was not in the center of the galaxy , they did not reveal any possible X-ray signatures of a growing supermassive black hole — no X-ray source was found in the center of the cluster , or in any of the clumps of stars , or at the site of the radio emission .
The authors concluded that either there is no black hole at any of these locations , or that it is pulling material in too slowly to produce a detectable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gigantic black hole ’ s location therefore continues .
Although the search was unsuccessful , hope remains for astronomers looking for this supermassive black hole in the future .
Once launched , the James Webb Space Telescope may be able to reveal the presence of a supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy or one of the clumps of stars .
If Webb is unable to find the black hole , then the best explanation is that the black hole has recoiled well out of the center of the galaxy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ accepted for publication in a journal of the American Astronomical Society , and is also available online at https : //arxiv.org/abs/2010.13980 .
Gultekin ’ s co-authors are Sarah Burke-Spolaor ; Tod R. Lauer ( National Optical Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , Tucson , Arizona ) ; T. Joseph W. Lazio and Leonidas A. Moustakas ( Jet Propulsion Laboratory , California Institute of Technology , Pasadena , California ) ; and Patrick Ogle and Marc Postman ( Space Telescope Science Institute , Baltimore , Maryland ) .
NASA ’ s Marshall Space Flight Center @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Astrophysical Observatory ’ s Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington , Massachusetts .
For more Chandra images , multimedia and related materials , visit :

From NASA
Dec. 17, 2020
Back to Gallery
The mystery surrounding the whereabouts of a supermassive black hole has deepened.
Despite searching with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have no evidence that a distant black hole estimated to weigh between 3 billion and 100 billion times the mass of the Sun is anywhere to be found.
This missing black hole should be in the enormous galaxy in the center of the galaxy cluster Abell 2261, which is located about 2.7 billion light years from Earth. This composite image of Abell 2261 contains optical data from Hubble and the Subaru Telescope showing galaxies in the cluster and in the background, and Chandra X-ray data showing hot gas (colored pink) pervading the cluster. The middle of the image shows the large elliptical galaxy in the center of the cluster.
Nearly every large galaxy in the Universe contains a supermassive black hole in their center, with a mass that is millions or billions of times that of the Sun. Since the mass of a central black hole usually tracks with the mass of the galaxy itself, astronomers expect the galaxy in the center of Abell 2261 to contain a supermassive black hole that rivals the heft of some of the largest known black holes in the Universe.
Using Chandra data obtained in 1999 and 2004 astronomers had already searched the center of Abell 2261’s large central galaxy for signs of a supermassive black hole. They looked for material that has been superheated as it fell towards the black hole and produced X-rays, but did not detect such a source.
Now, with new, longer Chandra observations obtained in 2018, a team led by Kayhan Gultekin from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor conducted a deeper search for the black hole in the center of the galaxy. They also considered an alternative explanation, in which the black hole was ejected from the host galaxy’s center. This violent event may have resulted from two galaxies merging to form the observed galaxy, accompanied by the central black hole in each galaxy merging to form one enormous black hole.
When black holes merge, they produce ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves. If the huge amount of gravitational waves generated by such an event were stronger in one direction than another, the theory predicts that the new, even more massive black hole would have been sent careening away from the center of the galaxy in the opposite direction. This is called a recoiling black hole.
Astronomers have not found definitive evidence for recoiling black holes and it is not known whether supermassive black holes even get close enough to each other to produce gravitational waves and merge; so far, astronomers have only verified the mergers of much smaller black holes. The detection of recoiling supermassive black holes would embolden scientists using and developing observatories to look for gravitational waves from merging supermassive black holes.
The galaxy at the center of Abell 2261 is an excellent cluster to search for a recoiling black hole because there are two indirect signs that a merger between two massive black holes might have taken place. First, data from the Hubble and Subaru optical observations reveal a galactic core — the central region where the number of stars in the galaxy in a given patch of the galaxy is at or close to the maximum value — that is much larger than expected for a galaxy of its size. The second sign is that the densest concentration of stars in the galaxy is over 2,000 light years away from the center of the galaxy, which is strikingly distant.
These features were first identified by Marc Postman from Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and collaborators in their earlier Hubble and Subaru images, and led them to suggest the idea of a merged black hole in Abell 2261. During a merger, the supermassive black hole in each galaxy sinks toward the center of the newly coalesced galaxy. If they become bound to each other by gravity and their orbit begins to shrink, the black holes are expected to interact with surrounding stars and eject them from the center of the galaxy. This would explain Abell 2261’s large core. The off-center concentration of stars may also have been caused by a violent event such as the merger of two supermassive black holes and subsequent recoil of single, larger black hole that results.
Even though there are clues that a black hole merger took place, neither Chandra nor Hubble data showed evidence for the black hole itself. Gultekin and most of his co-authors, led by Sarah Burke-Spolaor from West Virginia University, had previously used Hubble to look for a clump of stars that might have been carried off by a recoiling black hole. They studied three clumps near the center of the galaxy, and examined whether the motions of stars in these clumps are high enough to suggest they contain a ten billion solar mass black hole. No clear evidence for a black hole was found in two of the clumps and the stars in the other one were too faint to produce useful conclusions.
They also previously studied observations of Abell 2261 with the NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. Radio emission detected near the center of the galaxy showed evidence that supermassive black hole activity had occurred there 50 million years ago, but does not indicate that the center of the galaxy currently contains such a black hole.
They then turned to Chandra to look for material that had been superheated and produced X-rays as it fell towards the black hole. While the Chandra data did reveal that the densest hot gas was not in the center of the galaxy, they did not reveal any possible X-ray signatures of a growing supermassive black hole — no X-ray source was found in the center of the cluster, or in any of the clumps of stars, or at the site of the radio emission.
The authors concluded that either there is no black hole at any of these locations, or that it is pulling material in too slowly to produce a detectable X-ray signal.
The mystery of this gigantic black hole’s location therefore continues. Although the search was unsuccessful, hope remains for astronomers looking for this supermassive black hole in the future. Once launched, the James Webb Space Telescope may be able to reveal the presence of a supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy or one of the clumps of stars. If Webb is unable to find the black hole, then the best explanation is that the black hole has recoiled well out of the center of the galaxy.
A paper describing these results has been accepted for publication in a journal of the American Astronomical Society, and is also available online at https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.13980. Gultekin’s co-authors are Sarah Burke-Spolaor; Tod R. Lauer (National Optical Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, Tucson, Arizona); T. Joseph W. Lazio and Leonidas A. Moustakas (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California); and Patrick Ogle and Marc Postman (Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland).
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.
Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Michigan/K. Gültekin; Optical: NASA/STScI and NAOJ/Subaru; Infrared: NSF/NOAO/KPNO
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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iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-27--New York Can’t Buy Its Way Out Of Blackouts

New York City will soon be home to the world ’ s biggest utility-scale battery system , designed to back @ @ @ @ @ intermittent renewables .
At 400 MWh this batch of batteries will be more than triple @ @ @ @ @ in Australia .
The City of New York ’ s director of sustainability ( I @ @ @ @ @ up ) , Mark Chambers , is ecstatic , bragging : “ Expanding battery storage @ @ @ @ @ how we advance momentum to confront the climate emergency while meeting the energy needs of @ @ @ @ @ ’ s announcement demonstrates how we can deliver this need at significant scale.
” ( @ @ @ @ @ the scale here is incredibly insignificant .
In the same nonsensical way , Tim Cawley @ @ @ @ @ Edison , New York ’ s power utility , gushes thus : “ Utility scale @ @ @ @ @ vital role in…

PA Pundits – International
By David Wojick, Ph.D. ~
New York City will soon be home to the world’s biggest utility-scale battery system, designed to back up its growing reliance on intermittent renewables. At 400 MWh this batch of batteries will be more than triple the 129 MWh world leader in Australia.
The City of New York’s director of sustainability (I am not making this title up), Mark Chambers, is ecstatic, bragging: “Expanding battery storage is a critical part of how we advance momentum to confront the climate emergency while meeting the energy needs of all New Yorkers. Today’s announcement demonstrates how we can deliver this need at significant scale.” (Emphasis added)
In reality the scale here is incredibly insignificant.
In the same nonsensical way, Tim Cawley, the president of Con Edison, New York’s power utility, gushes thus: “Utility scale battery storage will play a vital role in…


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-27--A Social Conscience Is Nice, But Business Is Business!!

Norway ’ s top court dismissed an attempt by climate activists to halt Arctic oil exploration by Western Europe ’ s biggest petroleum-producing nation .
The Nordic government beat back a lawsuit by environmental groups in the country ’ s Supreme Court , which ruled on Tuesday the authorities had acted lawfully by awarding exploration licenses in the Barents Sea to companies including Equinor ASA , Aker BP ASA and Lundin Petroleum AB .
Greenpeace and Nature and Youth , a local environmental organization , argued in the lawsuit that the 2016 license award in the Arctic Barents Sea breaches @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under the Paris Agreement .
Of course , it is great news that the world will have some more oil reserves , if the exploration is successful .
But I do find it slightly ironic , because we are constantly being told how “ green ” Norway is .
After all , they are getting rid of all their petrol cars , building wind farms in the North Sea ( with the help , of course , of oil money ) .
Yet , when it comes to down to petrol dollars , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ !
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
Good news from Bloomberg:
Norway’s top court dismissed an attempt by climate activists to halt Arctic oil exploration by Western Europe’s biggest petroleum-producing nation.
The Nordic government beat back a lawsuit by environmental groups in the country’s Supreme Court, which ruled on Tuesday the authorities had acted lawfully by awarding exploration licenses in the Barents Sea to companies including Equinor ASA, Aker BP ASA and Lundin Petroleum AB.
Greenpeace and Nature and Youth, a local environmental organization, argued in the lawsuit that the 2016 license award in the Arctic Barents Sea breaches Norway’s constitution and its commitments under the Paris Agreement.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-22/norway-top-court-rules-against-climate-activists-over-arctic-oil
Of course, it is great news that the world will have some more oil reserves, if the exploration is successful.
But I do find it slightly ironic, because we are constantly being told how “green” Norway is. After all, they are getting rid of all their petrol cars, building wind farms in the North Sea (with the help, of course, of oil money).
Yet, when it comes to down to petrol dollars, all of that goes out the window!
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December 27, 2020 at 04:07AM