iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-15--How to Pierce the Silicon Curtain

How to Pierce the Silicon Curtain

Bret Swanson explains at Real Clear Politics in his article The Technology Solution to Hysterical Mythmaking .
Excerpts in italics with my bolds .
In an MSNBC interview last Monday , Steve Coll , dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism , was contemplating a staggering dilemma .
He noted that Facebook had performed a bit better in 2020 than in 2016 at suppressing inconvenient election content , but it still is not adequately policing the ideas of its 3 billion users .
CEO Mark Zuckerberg “ profoundly believes in free speech , ” Coll lamented .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those of us in journalism have to come to terms with the fact that free speech , a principle that we hold sacred , is being weaponized against the principles of journalism .
And what do we do about that ?
As reporters , we march into this war with our facts nobly shouldered , as if they were going to win the day .
And what we ’ re seeing is that because of the scale of this alternate reality … our facts , our principles , our scientific method , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do we do ?
Coll is puzzled that citizens aren ’ t more impressed by the mainstream media ’ s noble marshaling of facts and science ( science ! )
.
Could it be that Americans are tired of actors playing roles in elaborately scripted illusions ?
That they instead prefer actual news and insight ?
An exploding new array of amateurs , subject matter experts , local reporters , and independent journalists , all leveraging the internet , are often delivering facts far more reliably than the old outlets .
When the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ theories , moralizes over a complex pandemic , blacks out real scandals , collaborates with those it is supposed to cover , and forgets to report on an entire presidential campaign , people will look elsewhere for their information .
Today , it ’ s often former portfolio managers , suburban mothers , lawyers , engineers , curious teenagers , and doctors who are telling us what ’ s actually happening .
The powerful but cheap tools of the new citizen journalists are tweets , video streams , and podcasts .
So , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Fourth Estate have been harassing technology and social media companies to erect a Silicon Curtain ( as James Freeman of The Wall Street Journal dubbed it ) between the American people and any content not slickly produced in Washington or New York .
They ’ d prefer a social media that is just as incurious , herd-oriented , and partisan as they are .
Differentiation is the enemy .
Silicon Valley has been far too willing to oblige .
Thus , disfavored people and content get shadow-banned , suspended , demonetized , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ironclad reliability of signature-less , address-less , mass-marketed , late-arriving mail-in ballots .
“ Learn how voting by mail is safe and secure , ” Twitter insisted a million times over .
Twitter even suspended Richard Baris , the pollster who most successfully predicted the 2020 state-by-state election results .
And last week , YouTube announced that going forward it will disallow all content questioning the validity of the 2020 election results .
Will it let users discuss the multitude of lawsuits , forensic audits , and law enforcement investigations still taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or merely wrong .
Censorship , however , is the refuge not of the confident but the deeply insecure .
In 2005 , former President Jimmy Carter and James Baker III issued an authoritative report on election integrity .
They found that mail-in ballots are a chief source of fraud .
International election monitors have long insisted that top indicators of fraud are stopping counts in mid-stream and prohibiting observation of ballot handling and counting .
Yet suddenly the Silicon Valley tech firms became experts in election law , insisting greater information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ risky behavior .
The soothing new admonition might as well be : “ Lamborghinis and whiskey are in fact a safe combination.
” The Silicon Curtain is frustrating , but it has backfired more than Big Media and Silicon Valley know .
Not only have they lost hundreds of millions of readers , viewers , and users , they ’ ve also locked themselves in a Faraday cage of ignorance .
One of the things they are most uninformed about is the hundreds of new tech channels and media outlets already challenging them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the rearview mirror .
As technologist and investor Balaji Srinivasan says , “ exit > voice.
” Meaning , the hope to be treated fairly by CNN , The New York Times , or Twitter is futile .
Don ’ t fight on their battlefield , at least not exclusively .
The far more fruitful solution is to exit and create new channels — with crypto communities , Substack newsletters , online magazines , the Brave browser , and video streaming alternatives such as Rumble and NewTube .
( The outlet that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to run this one .
Which is funny because it proves the point – exactly . )
This path is also more promising than a Washington solution .
A clarification and upgrade of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to reflect unforeseen dynamics , for example , is warranted .
Social media has perverted and exploited it .
But throwing it out wholesale and reinstituting a “ fairness doctrine ” would be unwise .
As I wrote last year , Just as social media offers a Fifth Estate to correct and replace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an open society can create a Sixth Estate to hold Big Tech ’ s feet to the fire .
No companies , news outlets , political parties , scientific organizations , or government agencies will ever be perfect .
That ’ s why we need continual openness to an Nth Estate , which can help correct our inevitable commercial and cultural mistakes .
A new Washington-based regime that seeks to regulate social media in particular and speech in general would do more harm than good .
By cementing today ’ s regime , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nth Estate .
One of our great remaining newsmen , Holman Jenkins of The Wall Street Journal , correctly laments that “ the increasing substitution of hysterical mythmaking for news is a malignancy of our time.
” An Nth Estate of American openness , innovation , exit , and free speech is the solution .
It is the regenerative vaccine .

Bret Swanson explains at Real Clear Politics in his article The Technology Solution to Hysterical Mythmaking. Excerpts in italics with my bolds.
In an MSNBC interview last Monday, Steve Coll, dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, was contemplating a staggering dilemma. He noted that Facebook had performed a bit better in 2020 than in 2016 at suppressing inconvenient election content, but it still is not adequately policing the ideas of its 3 billion users. CEO Mark Zuckerberg “profoundly believes in free speech,” Coll lamented. “And,” Coll continued,
“those of us in journalism have to come to terms with the fact that free speech, a principle that we hold sacred, is being weaponized against the principles of journalism. And what do we do about that? As reporters, we march into this war with our facts nobly shouldered, as if they were going to win the day. And what we’re seeing is that because of the scale of this alternate reality … our facts, our principles, our scientific method, it isn’t enough. So what do we do?
Coll is puzzled that citizens aren’t more impressed by the mainstream media’s noble marshaling of facts and science (science!). Could it be that Americans are tired of actors playing roles in elaborately scripted illusions? That they instead prefer actual news and insight? An exploding new array of amateurs, subject matter experts, local reporters, and independent journalists, all leveraging the internet, are often delivering facts far more reliably than the old outlets. When the prestige media pumps and dumps fake conspiracy theories, moralizes over a complex pandemic, blacks out real scandals, collaborates with those it is supposed to cover, and forgets to report on an entire presidential campaign, people will look elsewhere for their information. Today, it’s often former portfolio managers, suburban mothers, lawyers, engineers, curious teenagers, and doctors who are telling us what’s actually happening.
The powerful but cheap tools of the new citizen journalists are tweets, video streams, and podcasts.
So, naturally, Coll and his colleagues of the Fourth Estate have been harassing technology and social media companies to erect a Silicon Curtain (as James Freeman of The Wall Street Journal dubbed it) between the American people and any content not slickly produced in Washington or New York. They’d prefer a social media that is just as incurious, herd-oriented, and partisan as they are. Differentiation is the enemy.
Silicon Valley has been far too willing to oblige. Thus, disfavored people and content get shadow-banned, suspended, demonetized, and, most recently, scolded about the ironclad reliability of signature-less, address-less, mass-marketed, late-arriving mail-in ballots. “Learn how voting by mail is safe and secure,” Twitter insisted a million times over. Twitter even suspended Richard Baris, the pollster who most successfully predicted the 2020 state-by-state election results. And last week, YouTube announced that going forward it will disallow all content questioning the validity of the 2020 election results. Will it let users discuss the multitude of lawsuits, forensic audits, and law enforcement investigations still taking place? Perhaps Rudy Giuliani is crazy, or merely wrong.
Censorship, however, is the refuge not of the confident but the deeply insecure.
In 2005, former President Jimmy Carter and James Baker III issued an authoritative report on election integrity. They found that mail-in ballots are a chief source of fraud. International election monitors have long insisted that top indicators of fraud are stopping counts in mid-stream and prohibiting observation of ballot handling and counting. Yet suddenly the Silicon Valley tech firms became experts in election law, insisting greater information about elections is more dangerous than well-known risky behavior. The soothing new admonition might as well be: “Lamborghinis and whiskey are in fact a safe combination.”
The Silicon Curtain is frustrating, but it has backfired more than Big Media and Silicon Valley know.
Not only have they lost hundreds of millions of readers, viewers, and users, they’ve also locked themselves in a Faraday cage of ignorance. One of the things they are most uninformed about is the hundreds of new tech channels and media outlets already challenging them, and maybe soon looking at them in the rearview mirror.
As technologist and investor Balaji Srinivasan says, “exit > voice.” Meaning, the hope to be treated fairly by CNN, The New York Times, or Twitter is futile. Don’t fight on their battlefield, at least not exclusively. The far more fruitful solution is to exit and create new channels — with crypto communities, Substack newsletters, online magazines, the Brave browser, and video streaming alternatives such as Rumble and NewTube. (The outlet that regularly publishes my articles without question refused to run this one. Which is funny because it proves the point – exactly.)
This path is also more promising than a Washington solution. A clarification and upgrade of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to reflect unforeseen dynamics, for example, is warranted. Social media has perverted and exploited it. But throwing it out wholesale and reinstituting a “fairness doctrine” would be unwise. As I wrote last year,
Just as social media offers a Fifth Estate to correct and replace the corrupt and crumbling Fourth Estate, an open society can create a Sixth Estate to hold Big Tech’s feet to the fire.
No companies, news outlets, political parties, scientific organizations, or government agencies will ever be perfect. That’s why we need continual openness to an Nth Estate, which can help correct our inevitable commercial and cultural mistakes. A new Washington-based regime that seeks to regulate social media in particular and speech in general would do more harm than good. By cementing today’s regime, it would block the pathways to the Nth Estate.
One of our great remaining newsmen, Holman Jenkins of The Wall Street Journal, correctly laments that “the increasing substitution of hysterical mythmaking for news is a malignancy of our time.”
An Nth Estate of American openness, innovation, exit, and free speech is the solution. It is the regenerative vaccine.
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December 15, 2020 at 02:31PM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-15--The Case Against Sabotaging Biden’s Paris Agreement Plans

A few days ago WUWT published an article urging President Trump to kill the Paris Agreement by submitting it to the Senate .
I disagree with this view .
Quite apart from the risk the thing might actually be ratified , if enough RINOs cross the floor , an act of restraint which occurred in the final days of the Obama administration provides a reason to reconsider .
‘ The Planet Could Become Ungovernable ’ : Climate Scientist James Hansen on Obama ’ s Environmental Record , Scientific Reticence , and His Climate Lawsuit Against the Federal Government James Hansen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for NASA , the author of the legendary early “ zero model ” for climate change , and is now the lead scientific figure in a lawsuit being brought against the federal government alleging complicity on climate change , which Hansen and his fellow litigants argue is a violation of the equal protection clause — since the costs of change will fall unequally on future generations .
* Sounds like a political winner .
Yeah .
So why can ’ t we get it done ?
I wrote a letter to Obama after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tried to explain this .
What happened ?
I couldn ’ t get John Holdren to deliver the letter — he was chosen to be the science adviser .
He said he couldn ’ t do anything until he was confirmed .
And finally , near the end of the Obama administration , I tried to get Obama to settle our lawsuit .
Which would have made sense .
Actually the judge in Oregon was puzzled as to why Obama was fighting us .
Because Obama , when he talked about the planet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as soon as Trump was elected , I said , this is now really a time the Obama administration should settle the case .
It would have been a sneaky way to lock in some climate policies … So I sent an email to John Podesta , and surprisingly got a response almost immediately , asking me to use a different email address — I ’ d used the one that was hacked .
Wow .
And he did try to help .
Eventually , though , Obama rejected the idea , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his Clean Power Plan , which is being challenged in various courts .

Guest essay by Eric Worrall
A few days ago WUWT published an article urging President Trump to kill the Paris Agreement by submitting it to the Senate. I disagree with this view. Quite apart from the risk the thing might actually be ratified, if enough RINOs cross the floor, an act of restraint which occurred in the final days of the Obama administration provides a reason to reconsider.
‘The Planet Could Become Ungovernable’: Climate Scientist James Hansen on Obama’s Environmental Record, Scientific Reticence, and His Climate Lawsuit Against the Federal Government
By David Wallace-Wells
JULY 12, 2017
James Hansen is the former head of climate research for NASA, the author of the legendary early “zero model” for climate change, and is now the lead scientific figure in a lawsuit being brought against the federal government alleging complicity on climate change, which Hansen and his fellow litigants argue is a violation of the equal protection clause — since the costs of change will fall unequally on future generations.*
…
Sounds like a political winner.
Yeah. So why can’t we get it done? I wrote a letter to Obama after he was elected in 2008, and tried to explain this.
What happened?
I couldn’t get John Holdren to deliver the letter — he was chosen to be the science adviser. He said he couldn’t do anything until he was confirmed. And finally, near the end of the Obama administration, I tried to get Obama to settle our lawsuit. Which would have made sense. Actually the judge in Oregon was puzzled as to why Obama was fighting us. Because Obama, when he talked about the planet, he sounded like us.
…
Then, as soon as Trump was elected, I said, this is now really a time the Obama administration should settle the case.
It would have been a sneaky way to lock in some climate policies …
So I sent an email to John Podesta, and surprisingly got a response almost immediately, asking me to use a different email address — I’d used the one that was hacked.
Wow.
And he did try to help. Eventually, though, Obama rejected the idea, because his lawyers preferred his plan, his Clean Power Plan, which is being challenged in various courts.
…


Who’s stealing America?

This documentary may be just the thing for reaching the wide-eyed audience that thinks that CNN or the BBC are @ @ @ @ @ And we do need to reach those people .
Help defeat the iron curtain .
@ @ @ @ @ Epoch Times also did an excellent documentary exposing the origins of the CCP Virus which @ @ @ @ @

“Damning”
This documentary may be just the thing for reaching the wide-eyed audience that thinks that CNN or the BBC are giving them the whole truth…
And we do need to reach those people. Help defeat the iron curtain. Watch and share.
The Epoch Times also did an excellent documentary exposing the origins of the CCP Virus which we discussed in April.
h/t Kat H
Rating: 10.0/10 (2 votes cast)
Rating: 10.0/10 (2 votes cast)
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December 15, 2020 at 11:00AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-15--Scott Morrison right to shun Boris Johnson’s Global Deep Green Club

Last week , independent member for Warringah Zali Steggall was all in a tizz about Australia ’ s failure to be invited to present at a virtual climate jamboree sponsored by the UK , France and the UN held this past weekend .
She didn ’ t bother to mention neither New Zealand nor Canada had been invited to present — although in all likelihood she thinks that these countries should be awarded elephant stamps because they have committed to net-zero emissions by 2050 , and Saint Jacinda and Justin have both declared climate emergencies .
You see , committing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sine qua non for admission to the Global Deep Green Club of acceptable country behaviour .
Without that commitment , people like Steggall will continue to scoff at her own country .
Call me old-fashioned , but I rate deeds much more highly than words .
And vague intentions without a plan should just be dismissed .
They might get you a speaking engagement at some intensely political shindig — but the rubber will really hit the road when it comes to specifying exactly how a country actually intends to achieve its net-zero @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s take a look at the facts .
Between 2005 and 2018 , Australia reduced its emissions by 13 per cent .
Across the ditch , New Zealand ’ s emissions went up by 4 per cent , and this was achieved using some fancy accounting sidesteps involving forestry .
Canada ’ s emissions over this period fell by a mere 2 per cent .
You will be interested to know that China was given a speaking part at the climate shindig even though it ’ s the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by close to 70 per cent between 2005 and 2018 .
Somehow it ’ s OK for China to be commissioning multiple new coal-fired power plants while Steggall and her band of like-minded politicians — think Matt Kean , Lily D ’ Ambrosio , Annastacia Palaszczuk — want to accelerate the closure of coal-fired power plants in Australia .
The political leadership in China has been able to hoodwink the rest of the world by committing to net-zero emissions by 2060 while cashing in on the induced renewables boom in the rest of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the equipment .
That ’ s global climate politics for you .
Back in Australia , the Morrison government has walked away from using the Kyoto carry-over credits to meet our Paris agreement target of a reduction of between 26 and 28 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels .
The degree of hypocrisy of some other countries about the use of these credits has been breathtaking .
The countries that objected most strongly have no credits to use because they failed to meet their Kyoto targets — Canada being the standout .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ t have to use the credits because it only needs to reduce emissions by 56 million tonnes — annual emissions are about 540 million tonnes — by 2030 .
The poster child for the Global Deep Green Club is Boris Johnson , Prime Minister of the UK .
Having stumbled badly with his response to COVID-19 — the UK has one of the worst records in the world — and seemingly unable to secure a Brexit deal , he has used a look-over-there tactic to impress the doubters with his 10-point plan to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not before .
“ Imagine Britain when a Green Industrial Revolution has helped to level up the country and British towns and regions — Teesside , Port Talbot , Merseyside and Mansfield — are now synonymous with green technology and jobs , ” Johnson waxed lyrically recently .
The reality is quite different .
The UK is effectively a financial services hub centred on London with very little economic activity elsewhere .
It pretends that burning imported woodchips is a form of renewable energy and relies on importing electricity from Europe when the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ done recently .
Without cheap gas from the North Sea — which will run out in the coming decades — the UK would be even more of a basket-case than it is .
The post Scott Morrison right to shun Boris Johnson ’ s Global Deep Green Club appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum ( GWPF ) .

Last week, independent member for Warringah Zali Steggall was all in a tizz about Australia’s failure to be invited to present at a virtual climate jamboree sponsored by the UK, France and the UN held this past weekend.
She didn’t bother to mention neither New Zealand nor Canada had been invited to present — although in all likelihood she thinks that these countries should be awarded elephant stamps because they have committed to net-zero emissions by 2050, and Saint Jacinda and Justin have both declared climate emergencies.
You see, committing to net-zero emissions by 2050 is the sine qua non for admission to the Global Deep Green Club of acceptable country behaviour. Without that commitment, people like Steggall will continue to scoff at her own country.
Call me old-fashioned, but I rate deeds much more highly than words. And vague intentions without a plan should just be dismissed. They might get you a speaking engagement at some intensely political shindig — but the rubber will really hit the road when it comes to specifying exactly how a country actually intends to achieve its net-zero emissions by 2050.
So let’s take a look at the facts. Between 2005 and 2018, Australia reduced its emissions by 13 per cent. Across the ditch, New Zealand’s emissions went up by 4 per cent, and this was achieved using some fancy accounting sidesteps involving forestry. Canada’s emissions over this period fell by a mere 2 per cent.
You will be interested to know that China was given a speaking part at the climate shindig even though it’s the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world and its emissions rose by close to 70 per cent between 2005 and 2018.
Somehow it’s OK for China to be commissioning multiple new coal-fired power plants while Steggall and her band of like-minded politicians — think Matt Kean, Lily D’Ambrosio, Annastacia Palaszczuk — want to accelerate the closure of coal-fired power plants in Australia.
The political leadership in China has been able to hoodwink the rest of the world by committing to net-zero emissions by 2060 while cashing in on the induced renewables boom in the rest of the world by providing almost all of the equipment. That’s global climate politics for you.
Back in Australia, the Morrison government has walked away from using the Kyoto carry-over credits to meet our Paris agreement target of a reduction of between 26 and 28 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels. The degree of hypocrisy of some other countries about the use of these credits has been breathtaking. The countries that objected most strongly have no credits to use because they failed to meet their Kyoto targets — Canada being the standout. But it turns out Australia won’t have to use the credits because it only needs to reduce emissions by 56 million tonnes — annual emissions are about 540 million tonnes — by 2030.
The poster child for the Global Deep Green Club is Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the UK. Having stumbled badly with his response to COVID-19 — the UK has one of the worst records in the world — and seemingly unable to secure a Brexit deal, he has used a look-over-there tactic to impress the doubters with his 10-point plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, if not before.
“Imagine Britain when a Green Industrial Revolution has helped to level up the country and British towns and regions — Teesside, Port Talbot, Merseyside and Mansfield — are now synonymous with green technology and jobs,” Johnson waxed lyrically recently.
The reality is quite different. The UK is effectively a financial services hub centred on London with very little economic activity elsewhere. It pretends that burning imported woodchips is a form of renewable energy and relies on importing electricity from Europe when the wind dies down, which it has done recently. Without cheap gas from the North Sea — which will run out in the coming decades — the UK would be even more of a basket-case than it is.
The post Scott Morrison right to shun Boris Johnson’s Global Deep Green Club appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF).
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December 15, 2020 at 10:32AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-15--UC Davis Prof Dismisses Climate Doom By Livestock. Cows Lead To Greater Food Yield, “Carbon Sequestr

UC Davis Prof Dismisses Climate Doom By Livestock. Cows Lead To Greater Food Yield, “Carbon Sequestration”

UC Davis professor Frank Mitloehner dismisses the claims that livestock is bad for the planet , says ruminants in fact enhance global food production and sequester carbon .
Ruminants play a critical role in feeding the global population , sequestering carbon , says UC Davis professor Frank Mitloehner .
Photo : P. Gosselin Climate activists insist that people need to drastically reduce their consumption of meat , especially beef , if there is to be any hope of rescuing our climate .
Producing beef consumes huge quantities of fresh water , takes up great areas of land that could otherwise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to massive emissions of methane – a powerful greenhouse gas that is helping destabilize our climate .
But Frank Mitloehner , Professor of Animal Science Department at the University of California-Davis , disagrees with the alarmist claims made about cows and explains why in the following video : The first big misconception , Mitloehner says , is the belief that 70 % of agricultural land is being used by livestock and thus crowds out vegetable and plant-based food production .
“ Why not use it to grow plants directly ?
” Because it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Using a sheet of paper , Mitloehner demonstrates how much land is used globally for agriculture : about one third of the earth ’ s land surface , of which two thirds is so-called “ marginal land ” , i.e .
land that is not suitable for growing crops and is thus best used for ruminant livestock to graze on .
The advantage is that ruminants are able to convert the plants that are non-edible by humans , and thus “ convert them into animal-source food , ” says Mitloehner .
“ Without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use of that amount of agricultural land.
” In other words , crops can not be grown on marginal land , but livestock can graze on it and thus produce food for us .
The remaining one third of the agricultural land is so called “ arable land ” , which is land that is suitable for growing crops .
This is less than 3 % of the earth ’ s total surface .
Mitloehner reminds that the arable land needs to be fertilized , and that half of this fertilizer is organic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ marginal land .
Keeping livestock “ precisely what needs to be done ” “ If we were to forgo animal agriculture altogether , then it would effectively mean that we would throw away 70 % of all agricultural land and we would have to replace all the organic fertilizer that goes on this land with chemical fertilizers , which are very carbon-intensive in their production , ” says Mitloehner .
Keeping livestock on marginal land “ is precisely what needs to be done , ” he says .
Mitloehner is not alone in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impact on climate change .

UC Davis professor Frank Mitloehner dismisses the claims that livestock is bad for the planet, says ruminants in fact enhance global food production and sequester carbon.
Ruminants play a critical role in feeding the global population, sequestering carbon, says UC Davis professor Frank Mitloehner. Photo: P. Gosselin
Climate activists insist that people need to drastically reduce their consumption of meat, especially beef, if there is to be any hope of rescuing our climate.
Producing beef consumes huge quantities of fresh water, takes up great areas of land that could otherwise be used for growing vegetables and leads to massive emissions of methane – a powerful greenhouse gas that is helping destabilize our climate.
The great benefits of livestock
But Frank Mitloehner, Professor of Animal Science Department at the University of California-Davis, disagrees with the alarmist claims made about cows and explains why in the following video:
The first big misconception, Mitloehner says, is the belief that 70% of agricultural land is being used by livestock and thus crowds out vegetable and plant-based food production. “Why not use it to grow plants directly?” Because it isn’t feasible Mitloehner explains.
Using a sheet of paper, Mitloehner demonstrates how much land is used globally for agriculture: about one third of the earth’s land surface, of which two thirds is so-called “marginal land”, i.e. land that is not suitable for growing crops and is thus best used for ruminant livestock to graze on.
Ruminants produce food on land that can’t grow crops
The advantage is that ruminants are able to convert the plants that are non-edible by humans, and thus “convert them into animal-source food,” says Mitloehner. “Without ruminant animals, we could not make use of that amount of agricultural land.”
In other words, crops cannot be grown on marginal land, but livestock can graze on it and thus produce food for us.
Ruminants important in fertilizing arable land
The remaining one third of the agricultural land is so called “arable land”, which is land that is suitable for growing crops. This is less than 3% of the earth’s total surface.
Mitloehner reminds that the arable land needs to be fertilized, and that half of this fertilizer is organic manure coming from the ruminants on the marginal land.
Keeping livestock “precisely what needs to be done”
“If we were to forgo animal agriculture altogether, then it would effectively mean that we would throw away 70% of all agricultural land and we would have to replace all the organic fertilizer that goes on this land with chemical fertilizers, which are very carbon-intensive in their production,” says Mitloehner.
Keeping livestock on marginal land “is precisely what needs to be done,” he says.
Methane overstated by a factor of 4!
Mitloehner is not alone in contradicting claims that cows have a huge impact on climate change.
Leading climate scientist, Myles Allen “believes the effect of cattle on climate change has been overstated,” reports The Vancouver Sun here. “The traditional way of accounting for methane emissions from cows overstates the impact of a steady herd by a factor of four,” says Allen. Donate – choose an amount
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December 15, 2020 at 10:26AM


Tuesday Open Thread

Some site maintenance coming in the next day or two .
There may be some disruption .
Thanks for your @ @ @ @ @ serve a bit faster afterwards .

…
Some site maintenance coming in the next day or two. There may be some disruption. Thanks for your patience. Hopefully pages will serve a bit faster afterwards.
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December 15, 2020 at 10:10AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-15--The Beginning of the End – R.I.P. USA

The Beginning of the End – R.I.P. USA

In response to the post “ For Those Who Don ’ t Get It.
” ________ On July 4 , 1776 it all began , and on December 14 , 2020 this great experiment in Democracy came to an end .
“ We the People ” failed to carry out our civic duty and hold our elected officials accountable .
Instead we were far more concerned with our iPods and other trinkets that entertain us .
Sad that we didn ’ t realize that our LOSS of FREEDOM would be the price we pay either by choice OR under the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Sad , sad times ahead I fear for us all .
AmeriKa has been a Banana Republic at least for the past 20 years and more likely longer .
“ We The People ” FAILED in our civic duty to hold our elected representatives accountable and now we are paying the price .
Corruption and greed are the call of the day .
It ’ s not what you do but who you are .
Us serfs get locked away .
The lords and ladies up on Dung Hill get reprimanded , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told not to do it again….or at least if they do , then don ’ t draw media attention .
What an absolute FARCE !
And their attitude towards “ We The People ” ?
Problem is they don ’ t give us cake at all but only crumps .
What sad times we live in and what a sad state our people and our nation is in .
The picture is not that rosy .
Communists took charge of big countries twice in the last century and the consequences were far more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Over one hundred million people died by the hand of government and the rest lost every bit of freedom .
Those of us who are too complacent to fight now don ’ t realize that the opportunity to fight at all is about to disappear .
In the UK the media is either censored or toeing the US media line that there is no evidence of the Democrat fraud and Donald is just a bad loser .
If the law is not upheld and the correct result declared , I can see one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states and indeed any honest state will leave the Union .
Maybe the beginning of this process will finally draw some attention for outside the USA as to why this might be happening and it brings a resolution .
If not then there will be a new Central States of America .
The other option is a left vs right civil war .
Von Klausewitz described war as the pursuit of politics by other means .
If you can ’ t have an honest vote then it needs to be settled another way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Not sure what ’ s going to happen over the next 4 years if everything becomes too expensive guess most everyone middle class and below will have to resort to wellfare !
Seems that ’ s what they want !
Everyone waiting for a Archduke Ferdinand moment , and there hasn ’ t been one .
We probably need one… .
I remained hopeful during the Obama Administration that the Nation would survive , but I don ’ t feel the same under Harris/Biden .
( From the pace of decline in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 5-10 years left , at most . )
But given how entangled all the world ’ s finances are it won ’ t be just the US that implodes ; it will be the world in a financial collapse that will make the Great Depression look like a cake walk .
And that may be the Silver Lining in this Dark Cloud – when Governments can ’ t borrow or print money to buy off the people and people are forced to learn self-reliance , the value of hard work , the worth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Governments and politicians really are , they may reorganize and form new governments , rising like a Phoenix from the ashes of what they burned to the ground with their votes and greed .
Or we may get lucky and get hit by another meteor that takes out all life on Earth like it did the dinosaurs .
Its called the New World Order ( aka Great Reset ) by the elite .
Their goal is by 2030 you will own nothing ( and apparently be happy ) .
Yes , total enslavement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This is exactly what the Bible predicts for the End Times .
The post The Beginning of the End – R.I.P .
USA appeared first on Ice Age Now .

In response to the post “For Those Who Don’t Get It.”
________
On July 4, 1776 it all began, and on December 14, 2020 this great experiment in Democracy came to an end.
“We the People” failed to carry out our civic duty and hold our elected officials accountable. Instead we were far more concerned with our iPods and other trinkets that entertain us. Sad that we didn’t realize that our LOSS of FREEDOM would be the price we pay either by choice OR under the jackboot of TYRANNY! Get ready America. Sad, sad times ahead I fear for us all.
AmeriKa has been a Banana Republic at least for the past 20 years and more likely longer. “We The People” FAILED in our civic duty to hold our elected representatives accountable and now we are paying the price. Corruption and greed are the call of the day. It’s not what you do but who you are. Us serfs get locked away. The lords and ladies up on Dung Hill get reprimanded, a slap on the hands, and told not to do it again….or at least if they do, then don’t draw media attention. What an absolute FARCE! And their attitude towards “We The People”?
Answer: LOL Let the peasants eat cake!
Problem is they don’t give us cake at all but only crumps. What sad times we live in and what a sad state our people and our nation is in.
– Benito Lorez
……….
The picture is not that rosy. Communists took charge of big countries twice in the last century and the consequences were far more drastic than a change in lifestyle. Over one hundred million people died by the hand of government and the rest lost every bit of freedom. Those of us who are too complacent to fight now don’t realize that the opportunity to fight at all is about to disappear.
– T.C.
……….
In the UK the media is either censored or toeing the US media line that there is no evidence of the Democrat fraud and Donald is just a bad loser.
If the law is not upheld and the correct result declared, I can see one of two things happening. The Republican states and indeed any honest state will leave the Union. Maybe the beginning of this process will finally draw some attention for outside the USA as to why this might be happening and it brings a resolution. If not then there will be a new Central States of America.
The other option is a left vs right civil war. Von Klausewitz described war as the pursuit of politics by other means. If you can’t have an honest vote then it needs to be settled another way.
– Gerry England
……….
This country has definitely become divided. Not sure what’s going to happen over the next 4 years if everything becomes too expensive guess most everyone middle class and below will have to resort to wellfare! Seems that’s what they want!
– Brad H.
……….
Everyone waiting for a Archduke Ferdinand moment, and there hasn’t been one. We probably need one….
– Hoopman Greg
……….
I remained hopeful during the Obama Administration that the Nation would survive, but I don’t feel the same under Harris/Biden. (From the pace of decline in Venezuela I’d estimate we have 5-10 years left, at most.) But given how entangled all the world’s finances are it won’t be just the US that implodes; it will be the world in a financial collapse that will make the Great Depression look like a cake walk. And that may be the Silver Lining in this Dark Cloud – when Governments can’t borrow or print money to buy off the people and people are forced to learn self-reliance, the value of hard work, the worth of a penny and how useless most Governments and politicians really are, they may reorganize and form new governments, rising like a Phoenix from the ashes of what they burned to the ground with their votes and greed. Or we may get lucky and get hit by another meteor that takes out all life on Earth like it did the dinosaurs.
– Bob N.
……….
Its called the New World Order (aka Great Reset) by the elite. Their goal is by 2030 you will own nothing (and apparently be happy). Yes, total enslavement with Gates microchip for a cashless society. This is exactly what the Bible predicts for the End Times.
– Tina
……….
The post The Beginning of the End – R.I.P. USA appeared first on Ice Age Now.
via Ice Age Now
https://ift.tt/37jiaGL
December 15, 2020 at 10:07AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-15--Claim: Arctic Ocean–climate change is flooding the remote north with light – and new species

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

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

The vote in favour of true protection for free speech proves that the wokeists are not nearly as numerous as they claim When I wrote in this space two weeks ago supporting the defenders of free speech at Cambridge University , I thought they would lose .
After all , the university ’ s vice-chancellor , Stephen Toope , had opposed their amendment .
The university establishment had wanted free speech denied whenever it failed to show “ respect ” to the ideas and identity of others .
Like so many bludgeoned by jiggery-wokery , I assumed this bad view @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last week .
The senior members of the university voted , by a margin of roughly 4:1 , for three amendments which jettisoned the Toope wording .
Respect , said the rebels , can not be compelled whenever people choose to claim offence ; and it is wrong to respect ideas you think are idiotic or evil .
They substituted the word “ tolerance ” : where you can not respect , you can tolerate .
There are important lessons here .
One is the powerfully disparate nature of the victorious coalition .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ahmed , is a libertarian atheist philosopher , but his cause gathered support from feminists persecuted by transgender activists , Christians , conservatives and many scientists angry that their rigorous search for truth might fall foul of identity politics .
The role of the Free Speech Union was also significant .
So was that of many students ( not part of the senior franchise ) who were angry at the lack of intellectual freedom .
The vote proves that the wokeists are not nearly as numerous as they claim , and suffer from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life – as in museums and much of the public sector and big business – people are frightened that their careers will suffer if they step out of line .
They may even be called racists .
As a result of the Cambridge ballot – which was secret – they now know they are not alone .
This , in turn , seems to have frightened Professor Toope .
When the university disinvited Professor Jordan Peterson in 2019 , he justified this , saying that “ robust debate ” could not happen “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made to feel personally attacked , not for their ideas but for their very identity ” .
His doctrine has been overthrown , yet Professor Toope welcomes the result of the vote as if it had been what he wanted : “ Freedom of speech is a right that sits at the heart of the university .
This statement is a robust defence of that right… The statement also makes it clear that is unacceptable to censor , or disinvite , speakers whose views are lawful but may be seen as controversial.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Peterson ’ s visiting fellowship ?
Professor Toope seems to see which way the wind is blowing .
One must hope he will also retreat from his previous praise of the Communist rulers of China , and ensure that his university ’ s China projects – many reliant on Chinese money – now give platforms to critics of the regime .
As for the wider world – including most universities , which have less democratic governance structures than Cambridge – the vote ’ s free speech wording should provide a template .
If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that of enforced “ respect ” , this would profoundly affect public policy .
The post Charles Moore : Cambridge is a template for defending free speech appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum ( GWPF ) .

The vote in favour of true protection for free speech proves that the wokeists are not nearly as numerous as they claim
When I wrote in this space two weeks ago supporting the defenders of free speech at Cambridge University, I thought they would lose. After all, the university’s vice-chancellor, Stephen Toope, had opposed their amendment. The university establishment had wanted free speech denied whenever it failed to show “respect” to the ideas and identity of others. Like so many bludgeoned by jiggery-wokery, I assumed this bad view would prevail.
Yet the rebels won last week. The senior members of the university voted, by a margin of roughly 4:1, for three amendments which jettisoned the Toope wording. Respect, said the rebels, cannot be compelled whenever people choose to claim offence; and it is wrong to respect ideas you think are idiotic or evil. They substituted the word “tolerance”: where you cannot respect, you can tolerate.
There are important lessons here. One is the powerfully disparate nature of the victorious coalition. Its eloquent moving spirit, Dr Arif Ahmed, is a libertarian atheist philosopher, but his cause gathered support from feminists persecuted by transgender activists, Christians, conservatives and many scientists angry that their rigorous search for truth might fall foul of identity politics. The role of the Free Speech Union was also significant. So was that of many students (not part of the senior franchise) who were angry at the lack of intellectual freedom.
The vote proves that the wokeists are not nearly as numerous as they claim, and suffer from intellectual weakness when challenged. In academic life – as in museums and much of the public sector and big business – people are frightened that their careers will suffer if they step out of line. They may even be called racists. As a result of the Cambridge ballot – which was secret – they now know they are not alone.
This, in turn, seems to have frightened Professor Toope. When the university disinvited Professor Jordan Peterson in 2019, he justified this, saying that “robust debate” could not happen “when some members of the community are made to feel personally attacked, not for their ideas but for their very identity”. His doctrine has been overthrown, yet Professor Toope welcomes the result of the vote as if it had been what he wanted: “Freedom of speech is a right that sits at the heart of the university. This statement is a robust defence of that right… The statement also makes it clear that is unacceptable to censor, or disinvite, speakers whose views are lawful but may be seen as controversial.” So please will he bring back Professor Peterson’s visiting fellowship?
Professor Toope seems to see which way the wind is blowing. One must hope he will also retreat from his previous praise of the Communist rulers of China, and ensure that his university’s China projects – many reliant on Chinese money – now give platforms to critics of the regime.
As for the wider world – including most universities, which have less democratic governance structures than Cambridge – the vote’s free speech wording should provide a template. If the idea of tolerance were to replace that of enforced “respect”, this would profoundly affect public policy.
The post Charles Moore: Cambridge is a template for defending free speech appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF).
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December 15, 2020 at 08:38AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-16--British Airforce to Modify F-35s, Typhoons and Wildcat Choppers to Run on Biofuel

h/t Cautious Optimism ; The British Airforce has committed to modifying military aircraft to run on biofuel .
My question – does the war end when the chip fat runs out ?
British military looking to move aircraft to sustainable fuel sources Dec. 14 ( UPI ) — A plan to use sustainable sources for up to 50 percent of military aviation fuel was announced by British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace this week .
The British Ministry of Defense on Saturday said it would look to algae , alcohol , household waste , wood and biomass as potential sources of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Typhoon planes and Wildcat helicopters .
A 2017 research paper by U.S. Air Force Maj. Marcus McWilliams of the Air Force ’ s Air University noted that most U.S. military planes can operate on sustainable aviation fuel .
But no funding has been offered to modify the engines of F-35 and F-22 planes — which can ’ t run on it — and require a 12- to 24-month process of testing and certification .
Perhaps this is a good time for the Falkland Islanders to brush up on their Spanish .
One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still a diplomatic flashpoint between Britain and Argentina is they suddenly got valuable , after major oil deposits were discovered in the region .
But if Britain no longer values oil , and if the British military is too busy being green to stay focussed on operational readiness , the next Falklands war may not end as well for Britain as the last war .

Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon. By Chris Lofting – link, GFDL 1.2, link
Guest essay by Eric Worrall
h/t Cautious Optimism; The British Airforce has committed to modifying military aircraft to run on biofuel. My question – does the war end when the chip fat runs out?
British military looking to move aircraft to sustainable fuel sources By Ed Adamczyk Dec. 14 (UPI) — A plan to use sustainable sources for up to 50 percent of military aviation fuel was announced by British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace this week. The British Ministry of Defense on Saturday said it would look to algae, alcohol, household waste, wood and biomass as potential sources of fuel for the nation’s F-35 and Typhoon planes and Wildcat helicopters. … A 2017 research paper by U.S. Air Force Maj. Marcus McWilliams of the Air Force’s Air University noted that most U.S. military planes can operate on sustainable aviation fuel. But no funding has been offered to modify the engines of F-35 and F-22 planes — which can’t run on it — and require a 12- to 24-month process of testing and certification. … Read more: https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/12/14/British-military-looking-to-move-aircraft-to-sustainable-fuel-sources/5341607977557/
Perhaps this is a good time for the Falkland Islanders to brush up on their Spanish. One of the reasons the Falklands Islands are still a diplomatic flashpoint between Britain and Argentina is they suddenly got valuable, after major oil deposits were discovered in the region.
But if Britain no longer values oil, and if the British military is too busy being green to stay focussed on operational readiness, the next Falklands war may not end as well for Britain as the last war.
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iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-16--HadCRUT5 Adjusts Temperatures Upwards Again

The Morice paper claims the extra warming has come from an improved representation of Arctic warming and a better understanding @ @ @ @ @ temperature measurements from ships .
In fact it is not scientific to average together Arctic @ @ @ @ @ the planet , as it is comparing apples with oranges .
It all has to @ @ @ @ @ water vapour , as Tony Heller brilliantly explained : Climate scientists know all of this @ @ @ @ @ continue to promote unscientific gibberish ?
And it is of course the Arctic region where @ @ @ @ @ appeared : As for fiddling around with sea‐surface temperature measurements from ships , you can @ @ @ @ @ with any results you want .
The whole concept of a global temperature is , @ @ @ @ @ .
What matters are temperature trends at a local level .
And when we examine @ @ @ @ @ CET , we find nothing to alarm us whatsoever .
via NOT A LOT OF @ @ @

By Paul Homewood
Man made global warming!!
https://twitter.com/TimOsbornClim/status/1338862462846660614
The Morice paper claims the extra warming has come from an improved representation of Arctic warming and a better understanding of evolving biases in sea‐surface temperature measurements from ships.
In fact it is not scientific to average together Arctic temperatures with the rest of the planet, as it is comparing apples with oranges. It all has to do with latent heat and water vapour, as Tony Heller brilliantly explained:
https://realclimatescience.com/2017/12/melting-kevins-magic-red-crayon/#comment-76050
Climate scientists know all of this, so why do they continue to promote unscientific gibberish?
And it is of course the Arctic region where most of the warming has appeared:
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and-precip/global-maps/
As for fiddling around with sea‐surface temperature measurements from ships, you can use these to come up with any results you want.
The whole concept of a global temperature is, in any event, meaningless. What matters are temperature trends at a local level.
And when we examine these, for instance the CET, we find nothing to alarm us whatsoever.
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcet/cet_info_mean.html
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December 16, 2020 at 04:24AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-16--Climate activists lose legal battle to stop Heathrow’s third runway

The Supreme Court overturns a previous Court of Appeal ruling in a case brought by Friends of the Earth and others .
Climate activists have lost a long-running legal battle to stop a third runway at Heathrow .
The Supreme Court has overturned a previous Court of Appeal ruling in a case brought by Friends of the Earth and others against Heathrow Airport .
The court was asked to consider if the government ’ s failure to take into account the UK ’ s climate commitments rendered the planned third runway unlawful .
Tim Crosland , of the campaign group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by former transport secretary Chris Grayling to support the expansion made a “ mockery ” of the government ’ s commitment to show international leadership in the face of a climate emergency .
[ … ] The government and developers have stepped back from the legal process , saying they do not support a further appeal of the case .
Lawyers for Heathrow Airport Ltd told the court that the firm , which owns and operates the airport in west London , still wishes to go ahead with the expansion project .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrangling over whether or not to build a third runway at Heathrow .
Prior to becoming prime minister , Boris Johnson had vowed to “ lie down in front of bulldozers ” to stop it being built .
The decision is seen as hugely significant because it could influence other legal challenges on policies that aren ’ t seen as being compatible with tackling climate change .
The post Climate activists lose legal battle to stop Heathrow ’ s third runway appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum ( GWPF ) .

The Supreme Court overturns a previous Court of Appeal ruling in a case brought by Friends of the Earth and others.
Climate activists have lost a long-running legal battle to stop a third runway at Heathrow.
The Supreme Court has overturned a previous Court of Appeal ruling in a case brought by Friends of the Earth and others against Heathrow Airport.
The court was asked to consider if the government’s failure to take into account the UK’s climate commitments rendered the planned third runway unlawful.
Tim Crosland, of the campaign group Plan B, said the original decision by former transport secretary Chris Grayling to support the expansion made a “mockery” of the government’s commitment to show international leadership in the face of a climate emergency. […]
The government and developers have stepped back from the legal process, saying they do not support a further appeal of the case.
Lawyers for Heathrow Airport Ltd told the court that the firm, which owns and operates the airport in west London, still wishes to go ahead with the expansion project.
It is the latest in 17 years of wrangling over whether or not to build a third runway at Heathrow.
Prior to becoming prime minister, Boris Johnson had vowed to “lie down in front of bulldozers” to stop it being built.
The decision is seen as hugely significant because it could influence other legal challenges on policies that aren’t seen as being compatible with tackling climate change.
The post Climate activists lose legal battle to stop Heathrow’s third runway appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF).
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December 16, 2020 at 04:17AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-12-16--Wacky “War on Nature”

Wacky “War on Nature”

The usual suspects reported U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres announcing that humans are at war upon nature .
For example @ @ @ @ @ in italics with my bolds ) : The United Nations is calling on people worldwide @ @ @ @ @ on nature ” as the planet achieves disturbing milestones in the battle against climate change @ @ @ @ @ Columbia University , UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said , “ The state of the planet @ @ @ @ @ is suicidal , ” The Associated Press reported Wednesday .
Guterres pointed to “ apocalyptic @ @ @ @ @ and hurricanes ” that have only become more frequent in recent years , and in @ @ @ @ @ one of the three hottest years on record .
“ Human activities are at the @ @ @ @ @ chaos , ” he explained , noting this also means humans are the ones who @ @ @ @ @ John Osbourne explains at Real Markets how crazy is this latest meme in…

Science Matters
The usual suspects reported U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres announcing that humans are at war upon nature. For example, NY Daily News (in italics with my bolds):
The United Nations is calling on people worldwide to stop “waging war on nature” as the planet achieves disturbing milestones in the battle against climate change.
In a speech at Columbia University, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “The state of the planet is broken. … This is suicidal,” The Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Guterres pointed to “apocalyptic fires and floods, cyclones and hurricanes” that have only become more frequent in recent years, and in particular, during 2020, one of the three hottest years on record.
“Human activities are at the root of our descent towards chaos,” he explained, noting this also means humans are the ones who “can solve it.”
John Osbourne explains at Real Markets how crazy is this latest meme in…