iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-27--Wrightbus boss in push for £500m hydrogen subsidy

Fare-paying travellers can rejoice in subsidising the buses and the means of producing the fuel for them , i.e .
the wind turbines , under this plan .
Maybe do the same for trains too .
The owner of manufacturer Wrightbus has said he hopes to bring another 1,500 jobs to Ballymena as he pushes for a Government subsidy to fund the building of more than 3,000 buses in the town , reports the Belfast Telegraph .
Jo Bamford , executive chairman of the historic bus-builder , said the use of hydrogen could usher in a new era of environmentally-friendly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funding of £500m from the UK Government , with the aim of building over 3,000 hydrogen-fuelled buses in Ballymena by 2024 .
But he said expensive infrastructure located close to windfarms – which would account for £200m of the £500m – is needed to make the mass production of hydrogen a reality .
The company now employs around 550 people in Ballymena , following Mr Bamford ’ s purchase of the firm after its administration last year .
However , Mr Bamford told the Belfast Telegraph that 450 had been furloughed , though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We ’ d like to get an agreement on it as quickly as possible then build the infrastructure , and roll it out over a number of years .
“ Say you have 12,000 buses on the island – my plan is to decarbonise all buses and all trains , though to fill them up with hydrogen , you need to put money down to build infrastructure.
” Mr Bamford is the son of Lord Bamford , the chairman of machinery giant , JCB .

Fare-paying travellers can rejoice in subsidising the buses and the means of producing the fuel for them, i.e. the wind turbines, under this plan. Maybe do the same for trains too.
The owner of manufacturer Wrightbus has said he hopes to bring another 1,500 jobs to Ballymena as he pushes for a Government subsidy to fund the building of more than 3,000 buses in the town, reports the Belfast Telegraph.
Jo Bamford, executive chairman of the historic bus-builder, said the use of hydrogen could usher in a new era of environmentally-friendly transport.
It’s seeking subsidy funding of £500m from the UK Government, with the aim of building over 3,000 hydrogen-fuelled buses in Ballymena by 2024.
But he said expensive infrastructure located close to windfarms – which would account for £200m of the £500m – is needed to make the mass production of hydrogen a reality.
The company now employs around 550 people in Ballymena, following Mr Bamford’s purchase of the firm after its administration last year. However, Mr Bamford told the Belfast Telegraph that 450 had been furloughed, though about 100 engineers are still in employment.
“We’d like to get an agreement on it as quickly as possible then build the infrastructure, and roll it out over a number of years.
“Say you have 12,000 buses on the island – my plan is to decarbonise all buses and all trains, though to fill them up with hydrogen, you need to put money down to build infrastructure.”
Mr Bamford is the son of Lord Bamford, the chairman of machinery giant, JCB.
Continued here.
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April 27, 2020 at 04:00AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-27--MADNESS IS INFECTING THE WORLD – SEE THIS EXAMPLE

Amanda Liberty , 35 , lost her complaint against The Sun newspaper .
She said the coverage was inaccurate , as she was not yet married to the chandelier , only engaged .
A columnist for the newspaper gave her their “ Dagenham Award ( Two stops past Barking ) ” and was accused of making pejorative comments about her sexual orientation .
IPSO ruled that attraction to light fixtures is not an accepted sexual orientation .
She confesses to having a previous relationship with the US Statue of Liberty .
She travelled to see it six times , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” by deed poll .
Such was her infatuation .
Amanda Liberty argues that she was born “ objectum sexual ” , having a romantic desire for objects .
The Sun newspaper argued that it was not possible to marry a chandelier , and that the definition of sexual orientation in Clause 12 of the IPSO code did not cover objectum sexual .
The paper “ did not doubt that the complainant ’ s attraction to chandeliers was genuine , however it said that sexual orientation in the context of Clause 12 covered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same sex , the opposite sex , or both… ” The point here is that society is now giving a level of seriousness and importance to what would previously be dismissed without a second glance .
Nonsense like this increasingly clogging upour institutions , including the police and the courts .
Much of the climate change related news items are almost as daft .

IPSO, The Independent Press Standards Organisation, has concluded that no action will be taken against a newspaper that called a lady “barking” for being ‘married’ to a chandelier.
Amanda Liberty, 35, lost her complaint against The Sun newspaper. She said the coverage was inaccurate, as she was not yet married to the chandelier, only engaged.
A columnist for the newspaper gave her their “Dagenham Award (Two stops past Barking)” and was accused of making pejorative comments about her sexual orientation. IPSO ruled that attraction to light fixtures is not an accepted sexual orientation.
Liberty wants to ‘marry’ the 92-year-old German chandelier. “She makes me feel really special, she makes me feel whole, she makes me feel complete.”
In an interview with StoryTrender , Liberty admitted that there was a “lack of conversation” in their relationship, however she doesn’t “need that from her” because she has conversations with friends and family.
She confesses to having a previous relationship with the US Statue of Liberty. She travelled to see it six times, and even changed her surname to “Liberty” by deed poll. Such was her infatuation.
Amanda Liberty argues that she was born “objectum sexual”, having a romantic desire for objects.
The newspaper’s defence
The Sun newspaper argued that it was not possible to marry a chandelier, and that the definition of sexual orientation in Clause 12 of the IPSO code did not cover objectum sexual.
The paper “did not doubt that the complainant’s attraction to chandeliers was genuine, however it said that sexual orientation in the context of Clause 12 covered people who were attracted to people of the same sex, the opposite sex, or both…”


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-27--New Northern Hemisphere Temperature Reconstructions Are Devoid Of Michael Mann-Like Hockey Sticks

New paleoclimate records from , Scandinavia-Russia , China , and the northeastern USA indicate there has been no unusual modern warming .
Instead , these newly published reconstructions show warmer periods and more rapid centennial-scale warming events occurred in past centuries , or when CO2 concentrations were much lower than they are now .
In the late 1990s Dr. Michael Mann heavily weighted tree ring evidence from North American bristlecone pines to construct the notorious hockey stick temperature graph featuring a sharp uptick in modern warming .
A new 2,500-year tree ring reconstruction ( 411 B.C.E .
to 2016 C.E @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shows no unusual climate changes in recent decades have occurred in this region ( Pearl et al.
, 2020 ) .
The authors suggest the tree species used , Atlantic white cedar , is “ significantly correlated ” with this region ’ s temperature .
Another new dendroclimatology study ( Shi et al.
, 2020 ) affirms Northern Eurasia ( Sweden , Yamal ) warmed 3 to 6 times faster during the 4th , 15th and 19th centuries than during the 1900s-2000s .
For example , the temperature record suggests it warmed 0.37°C @ @ @ @ @ @ @ During the Roman and Medieval warm periods as well as the 19th century , regional temperatues rose at much faster rates of 1.37°C to 3.31°C per century .
Further , the record shows regional temperatures were warmer during the first millennium than during the last century .
Using ice cores , tree rings , lake sediments , and stalagmites from 28 proxy temperature reconstructions from throughout the “ whole country ” of China , Hao et al.
, ( 2020 ) find the “ longest warm period on the centennial scale ” occurred @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or during the Medieval Warm Period ( MWP ) .
The two warmest 30-year periods during the MWP are also “ comparable ” to the warmth of the most recent decades .
None of these Northern Hemisphere temperature reconstructions indicate there has been any unusual modern warming relative to the natural temperature variations of the last few millennia .

New paleoclimate records from Europe
United States
In the late 1990s Dr. Michael Mann heavily weighted tree ring evidence from North American bristlecone pines to construct the notorious hockey stick temperature graph featuring a sharp uptick in modern warming.
A new 2,500-year tree ring reconstruction (411 B.C.E. to 2016 C.E.) for the northeastern United States shows no unusual climate changes in recent decades have occurred in this region (Pearl et al., 2020). The authors suggest the tree species used, Atlantic white cedar, is “significantly correlated” with this region’s temperature.
Scandinavia, Russia
Another new dendroclimatology study (Shi et al., 2020) affirms Northern Eurasia (Sweden, Yamal) warmed 3 to 6 times faster during the 4th, 15th and 19th centuries than during the 1900s-2000s.
For example, the temperature record suggests it warmed 0.37°C to 0.85°C within the last century. During the Roman and Medieval warm periods as well as the 19th century, regional temperatues rose at much faster rates of 1.37°C to 3.31°C per century.
Further, the record shows regional temperatures were warmer during the first millennium than during the last century.
China
Using ice cores, tree rings, lake sediments, and stalagmites from 28 proxy temperature reconstructions from throughout the “whole country” of China, Hao et al., (2020) find the “longest warm period on the centennial scale” occurred during the 10th to 13th centuries, or during the Medieval Warm Period (MWP).
The two warmest 30-year periods during the MWP are also “comparable” to the warmth of the most recent decades.
None of these Northern Hemisphere temperature reconstructions indicate there has been any unusual modern warming relative to the natural temperature variations of the last few millennia.
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April 27, 2020 at 03:35AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-27--From Green Blindness to a New Reality

From Green Blindness to a New Reality

Nature is beautiful , romantic and the best there is on Earth .
But , nature is also fully unpredictable , dangerous and deadly .
For example , by means of a virus .
Romantically , we want to live close to nature .
But the closer we are to nature the more likely diseases will jump from animals to man .
This romance with nature resulted in a green blindness that reigned for decades .
Every imaginary and possible danger to nature had to be fought .
A little bit of warming or too much nitrogen in a nature @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and euros were spent .
Nature itself was not thought capable of finding a new equilibrium somewhere close to the old one .
According to the dominant ‘ Green ’ ideas whole societies should be transformed to avoid every possible damage to nature .
Every change by humans was an unprecedented attempt to totally destroy the natural equilibrium .
Nature was thought to be a very fragile system , delicately balanced , and unable to find a new equilibrium after she is nudged slightly by humans .
But every summer and every winter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adapting to half-yearly changes in the position of the Sun .
The Earth ’ s systems never collapse but are in a constant process of adaptation to daily changing situations in her environment – her position relative to the Sun is the main one .
Daily the Earth adapts , finding a new equilibrium for every new situation .
After decades of green madness nature finally showed her other side , after being quite nice to humans for decades .
The smallest possible enemy – a virus – was able to halt society @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been able to do .
This despite the rumours that mankind was already living in the ‘ Anthropogenic Era ’ or ‘ Anthropocene.
’ The blind arrogance of man , thinking that humans already dominated nature and ruled the whole Earth and all its parts .
That arrogance was knocked out in the first round by a virus so small that it is not even visible to the human eye .
Nature has always been stronger than man and for the foreseeable future nature will always dominate .
Humans will always have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A small virus showed our common failure .
The green blindness was able to put ‘ imaginary problems that could happen in the 21st century ’ in first place for decades and has dominated the minds of too many people .
The green movement never warned us about the hidden danger in the environment .
A virus living in a bat that could jump to man in order to kill many of us and by doing so , destroy our fragile societies .
The virus jumped without any ecologist warning us and without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to prepare in advance .
Green Blindness in optima forma .
The ‘ Old Green World , ’ fixated on imaginary problems for nature , disappeared from one moment to the other .
That blindness will not return .
How will it be replaced ?
The New Reality is the reality after the virus .
In a few months our new reality resulted in the impoverishment of all main economies , and it will get worse before it gets better .
And we have not defeated the virus .
In one moment nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is unclear when they will return and to what extent .
Our world was changed in a moment – by a virus .
For luxury ‘ future green fantasies ’ all money disappeared , although this is not yet realized by decision makers .
Many new problems appeared in our new world , a world that is no longer able to function the way we expect .
A change from one moment to the next .
And from one moment to the next a new reality is needed .
Over the last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that prevented the world from seeing and solving real problems .
Not only the virus but also problems like hunger , poor schools or no schools at all , health services that are too expensive or non-existent , and building a decent world-wide infrastructure .
Green blindness dominated political parties , our institutions , our countries and the United Nations .
Trillions have been requested to solve future possible problems for nature .
It is twenty-twenty and we are back in reality .
Nature again has proven its dominance over humans .
Not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by a meteor , by a massive volcanic eruption or by another huge natural force but by creating a real danger caused by one of the tiniest creatures of nature : a virus .
Man does not dominate the Earth , nature dominates and man has to follow .
The new reality will ask all world leaders to reinvent the future .
To reinvent societies to cope with a new virus that has established itself world-wide , lays a heavy burden on all of us for now and in the future .
One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ develop is because of how closely people live with nature .
The romantic idea of ‘ man and nature united ’ in the past has already resulted in a great number of epidemics that decimated populations and disrupted societies .
Nature dominates man in many ways .
The green arrogance made us forget that nature is dominant and full of surprises .
That arrogance has made us look in the wrong direction for decades .
No preparations have been made for real dangers like this new virus .
Our decision makers , like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ living in their virtual world of models .
The models made their plans for how to cope with the new epidemic .
Unfortunately , no translations from model fantasies to reality were made .
Our ‘ Old World ’ was not prepared to cope with a real problem like a new emerging virus .
When the virus appeared , there were no face masks , no protective clothing for health employees , no testing capacities , no pop-up hospitals , no preparations for vaccines , no training for people , there was nothing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our world of green madness we have been busy with imaginary problems that ‘ could , may , might ’ appear somewhere far in the future but we have not been busy with real problems that already existed or would surely develop during our lifetime , problems for which only the exact date is unknown .
Wrong ideas dominated the world for decades , wrong initiatives empowered our main institutions .
Our present situation urges world leaders to clean up the mess .
To start , we must clean up the mess of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money at bad ideas should be allowed .
In our new reality we will first have to learn how to cope with this virus .
Then we will have to repair all economic damage .
No room will be left to spend money on unproven imaginary ideas .
The new realism that should follow this 2020 disaster should first clean out the green fantasies that have poisoned the minds of people , making them blind to reality .
It is 2020 and the Old World must reinvent itself .
With regards to commenting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for this site : quote and react , not personal .
About the author : Wim Röst studied human geography in Utrecht , the Netherlands .
The above is his personal view .
He is not connected to firms or foundations nor is he funded by government ( s ) .
Thanks to Andy May for correcting and improving this article .

Guest opinion by Wim Röst
The Virus
Nature is beautiful, romantic and the best there is on Earth. But, nature is also fully unpredictable, dangerous and deadly. For example, by means of a virus.
Romantically, we want to live close to nature. But the closer we are to nature the more likely diseases will jump from animals to man.
Green Blindness
This romance with nature resulted in a green blindness that reigned for decades. Every imaginary and possible danger to nature had to be fought. A little bit of warming or too much nitrogen in a nature area and billions and trillions of dollars and euros were spent. Nature itself was not thought capable of finding a new equilibrium somewhere close to the old one. According to the dominant ‘Green’ ideas whole societies should be transformed to avoid every possible damage to nature. Every change by humans was an unprecedented attempt to totally destroy the natural equilibrium.
Nature was thought to be a very fragile system, delicately balanced, and unable to find a new equilibrium after she is nudged slightly by humans. But every summer and every winter the Earth finds a new equilibrium, adapting to half-yearly changes in the position of the Sun. The Earth’s systems never collapse but are in a constant process of adaptation to daily changing situations in her environment – her position relative to the Sun is the main one. Daily the Earth adapts, finding a new equilibrium for every new situation.
After decades of green madness nature finally showed her other side, after being quite nice to humans for decades. The smallest possible enemy – a virus – was able to halt society in a way that man has not been able to do. This despite the rumours that mankind was already living in the ‘Anthropogenic Era’ or ‘Anthropocene.’ The blind arrogance of man, thinking that humans already dominated nature and ruled the whole Earth and all its parts. That arrogance was knocked out in the first round by a virus so small that it is not even visible to the human eye. Nature has always been stronger than man and for the foreseeable future nature will always dominate. Humans will always have to adapt to the limits of nature.
A small virus showed our common failure. The green blindness was able to put ‘imaginary problems that could happen in the 21st century’ in first place for decades and has dominated the minds of too many people. The green movement never warned us about the hidden danger in the environment. A virus living in a bat that could jump to man in order to kill many of us and by doing so, destroy our fragile societies. The virus jumped without any ecologist warning us and without an environmentalist movement showing us the way to prepare in advance. Green Blindness in optima forma.
The ‘Old Green World,’ fixated on imaginary problems for nature, disappeared from one moment to the other. That blindness will not return. How will it be replaced?
The New Reality
The New Reality is the reality after the virus. In a few months our new reality resulted in the impoverishment of all main economies, and it will get worse before it gets better. And we have not defeated the virus. In one moment nearly all airplanes disappeared from the sky and it is unclear when they will return and to what extent. Our world was changed in a moment – by a virus.
For luxury ‘future green fantasies’ all money disappeared, although this is not yet realized by decision makers. Many new problems appeared in our new world, a world that is no longer able to function the way we expect. A change from one moment to the next. And from one moment to the next a new reality is needed.
Over the last decades it has been the green blindness that prevented the world from seeing and solving real problems. Not only the virus but also problems like hunger, poor schools or no schools at all, health services that are too expensive or non-existent, and building a decent world-wide infrastructure.
Green blindness dominated political parties, our institutions, our countries and the United Nations. Trillions have been requested to solve future possible problems for nature.
2020
It is twenty-twenty and we are back in reality. Nature again has proven its dominance over humans. Not by exposing us to a massive destruction by a meteor, by a massive volcanic eruption or by another huge natural force but by creating a real danger caused by one of the tiniest creatures of nature: a virus. Man does not dominate the Earth, nature dominates and man has to follow.
The new reality will ask all world leaders to reinvent the future. To reinvent societies to cope with a new virus that has established itself world-wide, lays a heavy burden on all of us for now and in the future.
One of the reasons this and other viruses develop is because of how closely people live with nature. The romantic idea of ‘man and nature united’ in the past has already resulted in a great number of epidemics that decimated populations and disrupted societies. Nature dominates man in many ways. The green arrogance made us forget that nature is dominant and full of surprises. That arrogance has made us look in the wrong direction for decades.
No preparation for real dangers
No preparations have been made for real dangers like this new virus. Our decision makers, like most of our modern academics, were living in their virtual world of models. The models made their plans for how to cope with the new epidemic. Unfortunately, no translations from model fantasies to reality were made. Our ‘Old World’ was not prepared to cope with a real problem like a new emerging virus. When the virus appeared, there were no face masks, no protective clothing for health employees, no testing capacities, no pop-up hospitals, no preparations for vaccines, no training for people, there was nothing at all. Only models.
In our world of green madness we have been busy with imaginary problems that ‘could, may, might’ appear somewhere far in the future but we have not been busy with real problems that already existed or would surely develop during our lifetime, problems for which only the exact date is unknown.
Wrong ideas dominated the world for decades, wrong initiatives empowered our main institutions.
Clean up
Our present situation urges world leaders to clean up the mess. To start, we must clean up the mess of wrong ideas. No more throwing good money at bad ideas should be allowed.
In our new reality we will first have to learn how to cope with this virus. Then we will have to repair all economic damage. No room will be left to spend money on unproven imaginary ideas.
The new realism that should follow this 2020 disaster should first clean out the green fantasies that have poisoned the minds of people, making them blind to reality.
It is 2020 and the Old World must reinvent itself.
With regards to commenting: please adhere to the rules known for this site: quote and react, not personal.
About the author: Wim Röst studied human geography in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The above is his personal view. He is not connected to firms or foundations nor is he funded by government(s).
Thanks to Andy May for correcting and improving this article.


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-27--What is the point of the lockdown?

What is the point of the lockdown?

Even though Sweden has not subjected their population to a tyrannical lockdown , that Nordic country has experienced fewer Covid-19 deaths as a percentage of its population than many other countries .
As of today , April 27th , Sweden has experienced 225 deaths per million of population .
How does that compare with other countries ?
Here are seven countries where the body-count percentage is even higher : Spain : 503 per million Italy : 446 per million France : 350 per million UK : 305 per million Belgium : 622 per million Brazil : 298 per million Netherlands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appear to be climbing toward that status : Ireland : 220 per million Switzerland : 189 per million USA : 169 deaths per million .
So what is the point of the lockdown ?
We were told that it would “ flatten the curve.
” Slow it down , in other words .
But I don ’ t recall anyone saying that it would reduce the eventual number of deaths .
Yes , it gave healthcare systems a chance to gear up , but the way I see it , if it doesn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , then continuing the lockdown will merely spread the misery and human suffering over a longer period of time and destroy the livelihood – and lives – of millions upon millions of otherwise healthy and undeserving victims .
The post What is the point of the lockdown ?
appeared first on Ice Age Now .

Even though Sweden has not subjected their population to a tyrannical lockdown, that Nordic country has experienced fewer Covid-19 deaths as a percentage of its population than many other countries.
As of today, April 27th, Sweden has experienced 225 deaths per million of population. How does that compare with other countries?
Here are seven countries where the body-count percentage is even higher:
Spain: 503 per million
Italy: 446 per million
France: 350 per million
UK: 305 per million
Belgium: 622 per million
Brazil: 298 per million
Netherlands: 264 per million
Three other countries appear to be climbing toward that status:
Ireland: 220 per million
Switzerland: 189 per million
USA: 169 deaths per million.
So what is the point of the lockdown? We were told that it would “flatten the curve.” Slow it down, in other words. But I don’t recall anyone saying that it would reduce the eventual number of deaths.
Yes, it gave healthcare systems a chance to gear up, but the way I see it, if it doesn’t reduce the number of deaths, then continuing the lockdown will merely spread the misery and human suffering over a longer period of time and destroy the livelihood – and lives – of millions upon millions of otherwise healthy and undeserving victims.
Source of numbers:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
The post What is the point of the lockdown? appeared first on Ice Age Now.
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April 27, 2020 at 01:20PM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-27--Climate Change Propaganda For 7-Year Olds

One of our readers sent me this power point presentation , which his seven year old was given for home @ @ @ @ @ I have not included all of the slides , but these are the key ones @ @ @ @ @ nothing but pure propaganda .
It most certainly is not factual , nor does it @ @ @ @ @ implications of the policies proposed by the likes of Greta .
Indeed , the suggestions @ @ @ @ @ help ” are infantile and risk making children think think that is all they need @ @ @ @ @ be seven year olds , but they should be treated with more respect and honesty @ @ @ @ @ know who produced this presentation or if it is officially approved .
If anyone has @ @ @ @ @ let me know .
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood
One of our readers sent me this power point presentation, which his seven year old was given for home schooling on Earth Day.
I have not included all of the slides, but these are the key ones:
What is Climate Change Powerpoint
The whole thing is nothing but pure propaganda. It most certainly is not factual, nor does it explain to kids the real implications of the policies proposed by the likes of Greta.
Indeed, the suggestions of “how we can help” are infantile and risk making children think think that is all they need to do.
They may be seven year olds, but they should be treated with more respect and honesty.
I don’t know who produced this presentation or if it is officially approved. If anyone has any more info, please let me know.
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April 27, 2020 at 01:15PM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-27--Grist on Joe Biden’s Climate Podcast: “The whole thing sounds like a voicemail two of your grandpare

Grist on Joe Biden’s Climate Podcast: “The whole thing sounds like a voicemail two of your grandparents left you”

On Climate Change with Joe Inslee is Joe Biden ’ s effort to explain his climate policies .
Joe Biden has a podcast , and there ’ s an episode on climate change By Zoya Teirstein on Apr 27 , 2020 at 3:55 am The public rarely gets access to the real Joe Biden .
His team keeps the gaffe-prone 77-year-old on a tight leash on the campaign trail .
That strategy has paid off handsomely ; the former vice president is now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president .
But there is a way to get access to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brain , and it doesn ’ t require sneaking past the Secret Service .
Biden has taken a tip from the entire male population of Williamsburg , Brooklyn , and started his own podcast .
It ’ s called Here ’ s the Deal — possibly the most on-brand title of a podcast in the history of the genre .
Inslee plugs his endorsement again on the podcast .
“ I can ’ t wait to have an optimist back in the White House , ” he tells Biden .
The whole thing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grandparents left you — wholesome , if a bit rambly .
Except in this case one of the grandparents is gearing up for what may be the most consequential election of our lifetimes .
“ Wash your hands , ” Inslee , sounding concerned , tells Biden toward the end of the episode .
“ I did !
” Biden assures him .

Guest essay by Eric Worrall
On Climate Change with Joe Inslee is Joe Biden’s effort to explain his climate policies.
Joe Biden has a podcast, and there’s an episode on climate change
By Zoya Teirstein on Apr 27, 2020 at 3:55 am
The public rarely gets access to the real Joe Biden. His team keeps the gaffe-prone 77-year-old on a tight leash on the campaign trail. That strategy has paid off handsomely; the former vice president is now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. But there is a way to get access to the inner workings of Uncle Joe’s brain, and it doesn’t require sneaking past the Secret Service.
Biden has taken a tip from the entire male population of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and started his own podcast. It’s called Here’s the Deal — possibly the most on-brand title of a podcast in the history of the genre.
…
Inslee plugs his endorsement again on the podcast. “I can’t wait to have an optimist back in the White House,” he tells Biden. The whole thing sounds like a voicemail two of your grandparents left you — wholesome, if a bit rambly. Except in this case one of the grandparents is gearing up for what may be the most consequential election of our lifetimes. “Wash your hands,” Inslee, sounding concerned, tells Biden toward the end of the episode. “I did!” Biden assures him.
…


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-27--Six feet of snow for SE Greenland in next ten days

“ Probably not very good golfing weather , ” says reader Oly .
Six feet of snow forecast for SE @ @ @ @ @ days .
When you get to this map ( link below ) , you can @ @ @ @ @ part of the map and it will show you the amount of new snow .
@ @ @ @ @ cursor around and it will show you the new amounts of snow in other areas @ @ @ @ @ this link The post Six feet of snow for SE Greenland in next ten days @ @ @ @ @ Now .

“Probably not very good golfing weather,” says reader Oly.
Six feet of snow forecast for SE Greenland in the next ten days.
When you get to this map (link below), you can put your cursor on any part of the map and it will show you the amount of new snow. You can also drag your cursor around and it will show you the new amounts of snow in other areas.
https://www.windy.com/-Show—add-more-layers/overlays?snowAccu,64.553,-34.893,6,m:ft6ae2i
Thanks to Oly for this link
The post Six feet of snow for SE Greenland in next ten days appeared first on Ice Age Now.
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April 27, 2020 at 11:05AM


Swedish Pandemic Wisdom

The public health strategy in Sweden and its rationale are explained in an interview with the State Epidemiologist published in Nature ‘ Closing borders is ridiculous ’ : the epidemiologist behind Sweden ’ s controversial coronavirus strategy .
Excerpts in italics with my bolds and images .
H/T Tony Heller Anders Tegnell talks to Nature about the nation ’ s ‘ trust-based ’ approach to tackling the pandemic .
As much of Europe imposed severe restrictions on public life last month to stem the spread of the coronavirus , one country stood out .
Sweden didn ’ t go into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Instead , it rolled out voluntary , ‘ trust-based ’ measures : it advised older people to avoid social contact and recommended that people work from home , wash their hands regularly and avoid non-essential travel .
But borders and schools for under-16s remain open — as do many businesses , including restaurants and bars .
The strategy ’ s architect is Anders Tegnell , an epidemiologist at Sweden ’ s Public Health Agency , an independent body whose expert recommendations the government follows .
Tegnell spoke to Nature about the approach .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to controlling the coronavirus ?
I think it has been overstated how unique the approach is .
As in many other countries , we aim to flatten the curve , slowing down the spread as much as possible — otherwise the health-care system and society are at risk of collapse .
This is not a disease that can be stopped or eradicated , at least until a working vaccine is produced .
We have to find long-term solutions that keeps the distribution of infections at a decent level .
What every country is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ apart , using the measures we have and the traditions we have to implement those measures .
And that ’ s why we ended up doing slightly different things .
The Swedish laws on communicable diseases are mostly based on voluntary measures — on individual responsibility .
It clearly states that the citizen has the responsibility not to spread a disease .
This is the core we started from , because there is not much legal possibility to close down cities in Sweden using the present laws .
Quarantine can be contemplated for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a school or a hotel .
But [ legally ] we can not lock down a geographical area .
What evidence was this approach based on ?
It is difficult to talk about the scientific basis of a strategy with these types of disease , because we do not know much about it and we are learning as we are doing , day by day .
Closedown , lockdown , closing borders — nothing has a historical scientific basis , in my view .
We have looked at a number of European Union @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any analysis of the effects of these measures before they were started and we saw almost none .
Closing borders , in my opinion , is ridiculous , because COVID-19 is in every European country now .
We have more concerns about movements inside Sweden .
As a society , we are more into nudging : continuously reminding people to use measures , improving measures where we see day by day the that they need to be adjusted .
We do not need to close down everything completely because it would be counterproductive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Agency make decisions ?
Around 15 people from the agency meet every morning and update decisions and recommendations according to the data collection and analysis .
We talk to regional authorities twice per week .
The big debate we are facing right now is around care homes for older people , where we registered very unfortunate outbreaks of the coronavirus .
This accounts for Sweden ’ s higher death rate , compared with our neighbours .
Investigations are ongoing , because we must understand which reccommendations have not been followed , and why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being too relaxed .
How do you respond to these criticisms ?
Do you think it risks people ’ s lives more than necessary ?
I do not believe there is that risk .
The public-health agency has released detailed modelling on a region-by-region basis that comes to much less pessimistic conclusions than other researchers in terms of hospitalizations and deaths per thousand infections .
There has been an increase , but it is not traumatic so far .
Of course , we are going into a phase in the epidemic where we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the next few weeks — with more people in intensive-care units — but that is just like any other country .
Nowhere in Europe has been able to slow down the spread considerably .
About schools , I am confident they are going to stay open on the national level .
We are in the middle of the epidemic and , in my view , the science shows that closing schools at this stage does not make sense .
You have to shut down schools fairly early in the epidemic to get an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the majority of Sweden ’ s cases , we are now close to the top of the curve , so closing schools is meaningless at this stage .
Moreover , it is instrumental for psychiatric and physical health that the younger generation stays active .
Researchers have criticized the agency for not fully acknowledging the role of asymptomatic carriers .
Do you think asymptomatic carriers are a problem ?
There is a possibility that asymptomatics might be contagious , and some recent studies indicate that .
But the amount of spread is probably @ @ @ @ @ @ @ symptoms .
In the normal distribution of a bell curve asymptomatics sit at the margin , whereas most of the curve is occupied by symptomatics , the ones that we really need to stop .
Do you think the approach has been successful ?
It is very difficult to know ; it is too early , really .
Each country has to reach ‘ herd immunity ’ [ when a high proportion of the population is immune to an infection , largely limiting spread people who are not immune ] in one way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to reach it in a different way .
There are enough signals to show that we can think about herd immunity , about recurrence .
Very few cases of re-infection have been reported globally so far .
How long the herd immunity will last , we do not know , but there is definitely an immune response .
What would you have done differently ?
We underestimated the issues at care homes , and how the measures would be applied .
We should have controlled this more thoroughly .
By contrast , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pressure , has nevertheless always been ahead of the curve .
Are you satisfied with the strategy ?
Yes !
We know that COVID-19 is extremely dangerous for very old people , which is of course bad .
But looking at pandemics , there are much worse scenarios than this one .
Most problems that we have right now are not because of the disease , but because of the measures that in some environments have not been applied properly : the deaths among older people is a huge problem and we are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ data showing that the flu epidemic and the winter norovirus dropped consistently this year , meaning that our social distancing and hand washing is working .
And with the help of Google , we have seen that the movements of Swedes have fallen dramatically .
Our voluntary strategy has had a real effect .

The public health strategy in Sweden and its rationale are explained in an interview with the State Epidemiologist published in Nature ‘Closing borders is ridiculous’: the epidemiologist behind Sweden’s controversial coronavirus strategy. Excerpts in italics with my bolds and images. H/T Tony Heller
Anders Tegnell talks to Nature about the nation’s ‘trust-based’ approach to tackling the pandemic.
As much of Europe imposed severe restrictions on public life last month to stem the spread of the coronavirus, one country stood out.
Sweden didn’t go into lockdown or impose strict social-distancing policies. Instead, it rolled out voluntary, ‘trust-based’ measures: it advised older people to avoid social contact and recommended that people work from home, wash their hands regularly and avoid non-essential travel. But borders and schools for under-16s remain open — as do many businesses, including restaurants and bars.
The strategy’s architect is Anders Tegnell, an epidemiologist at Sweden’s Public Health Agency, an independent body whose expert recommendations the government follows. Tegnell spoke to Nature about the approach.
Can you explain Sweden’s approach to controlling the coronavirus?
I think it has been overstated how unique the approach is. As in many other countries, we aim to flatten the curve, slowing down the spread as much as possible — otherwise the health-care system and society are at risk of collapse.
This is not a disease that can be stopped or eradicated, at least until a working vaccine is produced. We have to find long-term solutions that keeps the distribution of infections at a decent level. What every country is trying to do is to keep people apart, using the measures we have and the traditions we have to implement those measures. And that’s why we ended up doing slightly different things.
The Swedish laws on communicable diseases are mostly based on voluntary measures — on individual responsibility. It clearly states that the citizen has the responsibility not to spread a disease. This is the core we started from, because there is not much legal possibility to close down cities in Sweden using the present laws. Quarantine can be contemplated for people or small areas, such as a school or a hotel. But [legally] we cannot lock down a geographical area.
What evidence was this approach based on?
It is difficult to talk about the scientific basis of a strategy with these types of disease, because we do not know much about it and we are learning as we are doing, day by day. Closedown, lockdown, closing borders — nothing has a historical scientific basis, in my view. We have looked at a number of European Union countries to see whether they have published any analysis of the effects of these measures before they were started and we saw almost none.
Closing borders, in my opinion, is ridiculous, because COVID-19 is in every European country now. We have more concerns about movements inside Sweden.
As a society, we are more into nudging: continuously reminding people to use measures, improving measures where we see day by day the that they need to be adjusted. We do not need to close down everything completely because it would be counterproductive.
How does the Swedish Public Health Agency make decisions?
Around 15 people from the agency meet every morning and update decisions and recommendations according to the data collection and analysis. We talk to regional authorities twice per week.
The big debate we are facing right now is around care homes for older people, where we registered very unfortunate outbreaks of the coronavirus. This accounts for Sweden’s higher death rate, compared with our neighbours. Investigations are ongoing, because we must understand which reccommendations have not been followed, and why.
The approach has been criticized for being too relaxed. How do you respond to these criticisms? Do you think it risks people’s lives more than necessary?
I do not believe there is that risk. The public-health agency has released detailed modelling on a region-by-region basis that comes to much less pessimistic conclusions than other researchers in terms of hospitalizations and deaths per thousand infections. There has been an increase, but it is not traumatic so far. Of course, we are going into a phase in the epidemic where we will see a lot more cases in the next few weeks — with more people in intensive-care units — but that is just like any other country. Nowhere in Europe has been able to slow down the spread considerably.
About schools, I am confident they are going to stay open on the national level. We are in the middle of the epidemic and, in my view, the science shows that closing schools at this stage does not make sense. You have to shut down schools fairly early in the epidemic to get an effect. In Stockholm, which has the majority of Sweden’s cases, we are now close to the top of the curve, so closing schools is meaningless at this stage. Moreover, it is instrumental for psychiatric and physical health that the younger generation stays active.
Researchers have criticized the agency for not fully acknowledging the role of asymptomatic carriers. Do you think asymptomatic carriers are a problem?
There is a possibility that asymptomatics might be contagious, and some recent studies indicate that. But the amount of spread is probably fairly small compared to people who show symptoms. In the normal distribution of a bell curve asymptomatics sit at the margin, whereas most of the curve is occupied by symptomatics, the ones that we really need to stop.
Do you think the approach has been successful?
It is very difficult to know; it is too early, really. Each country has to reach ‘herd immunity’ [when a high proportion of the population is immune to an infection, largely limiting spread people who are not immune] in one way or another, and we are going to reach it in a different way.
There are enough signals to show that we can think about herd immunity, about recurrence. Very few cases of re-infection have been reported globally so far. How long the herd immunity will last, we do not know, but there is definitely an immune response.
What would you have done differently?
We underestimated the issues at care homes, and how the measures would be applied. We should have controlled this more thoroughly. By contrast, the health system, which is under unusual pressure, has nevertheless always been ahead of the curve.
Are you satisfied with the strategy?
Yes! We know that COVID-19 is extremely dangerous for very old people, which is of course bad. But looking at pandemics, there are much worse scenarios than this one. Most problems that we have right now are not because of the disease, but because of the measures that in some environments have not been applied properly: the deaths among older people is a huge problem and we are fighting hard.
Moreover, we have data showing that the flu epidemic and the winter norovirus dropped consistently this year, meaning that our social distancing and hand washing is working. And with the help of Google, we have seen that the movements of Swedes have fallen dramatically. Our voluntary strategy has had a real effect.
via Science Matters
https://ift.tt/2KAoQEo
April 27, 2020 at 09:29AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-27--Some Dilemmas of Climate Simulations

Some Dilemmas of Climate Simulations

A great deal of the recommendation that the world should modify its energy infrastructure to combat climate change , costing tens to hundreds of trillions of dollars , is based on computer simulations .
While this author is not what is called a ‘ climate scientist ’ , a great deal of science is interdenominational , and experience from one field often can fertilize another .
That is the spirit in which this opinion is offered .
The author has spent a good part of his more than 50-year scientific career developing and using computer simulations to model complex physical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experience , he now gives his own brief explanation of his opinion , on what computer simulations can and can not do , along with some examples .
He sees 3 categories of difficulty in computer simulations , where the simulations go from mostly accurate to mostly speculative .
He makes the case that the climate simulations are the most speculative .
First consider the case where the configuration and equations describing the complex system are known , and , where the system can be modified in known ways to test the accuracy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ circumstances .
An example of this is the development of the gyrotron and gyroklystron .
These are powerful microwave tubes at high frequency .
They are based on giving an electron beam energy transverse to the guiding magnetic field , and tapping this transverse energy to produce the radiation .
In the last 2 decades of the 20th century , I was involved in the theoretical , simulation , and experimental part of this effort .
I participated in writing one of the first simple simulation schemes capable of examining the nonlinear behavior @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radiation ( 1 ) .
The simulations schemes have become more and more complex and complete as the project developed .
The project , and the simulations were successful .
Figure ( 1 ) is a plot , with its caption , of power and efficiency of a gyroklystron as calculated by simulation , and the experimental results taken from ( 2 ) .
Clearly the simulations were successful .
Gyrotrons have been used now for heating fusion plasmas , and gyroklystrons have been used to power W band ( 94GHz ) radars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ photo of the 10 KW average power , 94 GHz radar WARLOC at the Naval Research Lab .
Prior to gyroklystrons the highest average power 94 GHz radar was about 1 Watt .
Second let us say that the configuration is well known , and can be varied in a controlled way , but the relevant physics is not .
In my career I have spent a considerable amount of time working on laser fusion .
The largest effort is the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab ( LLNL ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a gigantic laser , costing billions , which produces about a megajoule of ultraviolet light energy in a pulse lasting several nanoseconds .
Figure ( 3 ) is a photo of the laser bays , in a dedicated building , roughly half a kilometer in each direction .
Their target configuration places the millimeter size target in the middle of a cylindrical can called a hohlraum .
The laser is focused on the interior walls of hohlraum , producing X-rays which impinge on the target .
The target compresses and heats , so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ LLNL has done many computer calculations and simulations of the process and concluded that fusion energy should be ten times the laser light energy , i.e .
Q=10 ( 3,4 ) .
When they did the experiment , they found , to their dismay , that Q ~ 10-2 , on a good day .
Their estimate missed by more than a factor of 1000 !
What went wrong ?
The problem is that there is a great deal of physics going on in the target , which is not understood well .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the interaction of the laser with the plasma ; instabilities of the fluid implosion , generation of a small number of extremely energetic electrons , generation of a small number of extremely energetic ions , generation of intense magnetic fields , unpredicted mixing of various regions of the target , expansion of the hohlraum plasma , all in a very complex and rapidly changing geometry… Don ‘ t get me wrong ; LLNL is a first class lab , which hires only the very best scientists and computer engineers .
The problem is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too unforgiving .
In the 8 years since the end of their ignition campaign , when they had hoped to achieve Q=10 , they have only succeeded in getting the Q~ 2-3 % , better , but still nowhere near what they had promised in 2010 .
It is worth noting that there was considerable opposition to the construction of NIF ( 5 ) , opposition based on 2 suppositions ; first that LLNL could not get the laser to work , and second that the target and its interaction with the laser @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too many aspects of the physics which were uncertain and could not be modeled by their simulations .
The skeptics were half wrong and half right .
LLNL got the laser to work well ( years late and billions over the original budget ) , and this this is certainly a significant achievement .
However , the skeptics were correct in their assessment that the that the target would not fuse .
Now let us go to the third level of difficulty .
There are cases where neither the configuration , nor the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well known .
Add to that the fact that unlike with NIF , it is not possible to repeat experiments in any controlled way .
When this author first got to NRL , the problem we were all working on was to figure out plasma processes going on in a nuclear disturbed upper atmosphere , or High Altitude Nuclear Explosions ( HANE ) .
When a nuclear bomb , or multiple nuclear bombs explode in the upper atmosphere , the atmosphere forms ionized plasma .
With the strong flows generated there , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mechanics , but by the nonlinear behavior of plasma instabilities .
The key was to work out a theory of these extremely complicated processes by particle simulations as well as theory .
These results would then be put into the other computer codes used in the radar , tracking , communication , electronic warfare , etc .
An unclassified version of our conclusions is in ( 6 ) .
Was our theory correct ?
Who knows .
Will anyone ever do the experiment ?
Hopefully not .
If the experiment is done and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there be an opportunity to continue to work on it and improve it ?
Nobody will be alive to do it .
This author makes the case that the climate computer simulations , on which the governments have spent billions , are of this third level of complexity , if not even more complex .
The motivation is that we are presumed to be in a ‘ climate crisis ’ which is an existential threat to humanity .
For these climate simulations , the basic physical system is almost certainly much more complicated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for which the simulations failed .
The scientists at Livermore at least know what they are starting out with and can vary it .
First , there is there is the fact that these climate simulations involve the entire earth .
To do the simulations , the earth is broken up into a discrete grid , both around the surface and vertically .
Since the computer can only handle a fine number of grid points , the points are dozens of miles apart horizontally .
But many important atmospheric effects are on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cities are usually warmer than the surrounding countryside , so the computer calculation would have to somehow approximate this effect since it occurs on a space scale smaller than the grid spacing .
Then there is a great deal of uncertain physics .
The effect of clouds is not well understood .
Also , what effects arise from the deep ocean , the effect of CO2 on water vapor , aerosols and their content and size , cosmic rays , turbulent ocean , turbulent atmosphere , uncertain initial conditions , variations in solar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impurities are in the atmosphere and where and when were they here or there ….. ?
All these effects are handled by a method called ‘ tuning ’ the code .
When I was an undergraduate , we used to call these ‘ fudge factors ’ .
For years this has been kept under wraps by the various code developers .
More recently some of this has been discussed in the scientific literature ( 7 ) .
The different modelers use very different tunings .
It does not inspire confidence , at least @ @ @ @ @ @ @ introduction to climate simulations , let ’ s see how good these simulations are at predicting the earth ’ s rising temperature .
Figure ( 4 ) is a slide presented in congressional testimony by John Christy of the University of Alabama at Huntsville , along with his caption ( 8 ) .
Also , on the graph are the actual temperature measurements .
Christy , with Roy Spencer are the two scientists there mainly responsible for the obtaining and archiving the space-based earth temperature measurements .
The fact that he prepared this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he took extraordinary care in setting it up .
I certainly believe it .
Notice that all of the curves vastly overestimate the temperature increase .
As Yogi Berra said , “ It ’ s tough to make predictions , especially about the future ” .
The curves can not be making random errors , if they were , there would be about as many that underestimated the temperature rise .
Hence it seems that a bias for a temperature increase is built into the models .
Possibly there is other more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the 2020 , and then predicting disaster in 30 years .
But how credible would that be in the light of Christy ’ s viewgraph ?
It brings to mind John von Neuman ’ s famous parable “ With four parameters I can fit an elephant , and with 5 I can make him wiggle his trunk ” .
Figure 5 from ( 9 ) is a plot of the elephant wiggling his trunk , done with 5 parameters .
Yet at least in part due to these faulty simulations , there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our energy from coal , gas , oil and nuclear to solar and wind .
The cost of this would be astronomical .
Figure ( 6 ) is a graph of the worldwide cost of the switch to solar and wind in the last few years ( 10 ) .
The costs are in the neighborhood of half a trillion $ $ per year .
Yet according to ( 10 ) , this is not nearly enough .
Here is a quote While climate finance has reached record levels , action still falls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 1.5 ˚C scenario .
Estimates of the investment required to achieve the low-carbon transition range from USD 1.6 trillion to USD 3.8 trillion annually between 2016 and 2050 Of course , this author realizes that there is a place for computer simulations in earth science , just like in every other science .
But is it really worth this kind of societal effort , ~ $ 50-100T to attempt to accomplish this energy transformation , which probably is not even be possible ( 11,12 ) , and likely is not even needed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is based , at least in part on faulty computer simulations .
Furthermore , where windmills and solar panels take up a great deal of land , and use a tremendous amount of materials , concrete , steel , rare earths… .
how sure can we be that the enormous effects of this transformation would be environmentally beneficial ?
Where are the simulations that examine these aspects ?
Perhaps the climate modelers should have a little more humility and a little less hubris and certainty , in the face of the transformation they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ costs real money !
It is interesting , that as Christy points out , there is one curve that got it about right ; the Russian model !
In 1995 , in the Yeltsen era in Russia , I took an 8-month sabbatical as a visiting professor in the physics department of Moscow State University .
I learned there that Russia has had a very strong , independent scientific tradition dating at least since the time of Peter the Great , when he set up the Russian Academy of Science .
Even during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as independent of party control as any organization there could be .
So how could the Russian modelers have gotten it right when all the western models all got it wrong ?
My answer perhaps descends into speculation and might be judged frivolous , but it seems to the author to be well worth recording .
In the United States and the west , we do not arrest or execute dissident scientists , as the Russians did under the worst abuses of Stalin .
However , we do punish dissident scientists in other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deny their funding .
In fact , most vocal skeptics are retired or emeritus ; they do not have to worry about their next grant .
In my April 2020 essay in Forum on Physics and Society https : //www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/202004/media.cfm , I listed 9 expert skeptical scientists in the area of climate science ( several in the NAS ) .
Except for Spencer and Christy , who perform indispensable service for NASA and NOAA , I believe none are able to get any funding for their research .
In fact , none even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the standard scientific literature ; they use blogs .
I know of one expert at an Ivy League university , an NAS member , who expressed skepticism of the standard dogma ( 14 ) .
He was in charge of a large project in biophysics , which abruptly got canceled ( 15 ) .
He stopped being a public skeptic then , and told me he did so , in 2015 .
Was his project termination because of his climate heresies ?
Who knows , but it happened about when his climate stands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has the same worry about climate change that we do .
Perhaps Russian scientists do not have to ‘ tune ’ their codes to obtain politically correct results .
BTW , if anyone is interested in my experience in Russia , I wrote a diary as a pdf file .
Email me and I will send it to you .
To conclude , computer simulations are a vital and powerful scientific ( and societal ) tool .
But in utilizing them we should be cognizant of the fact that the ‘ tuning ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we approximate , are weakening links to the chain ; a chain which is only as strong as its weakest link .
If these tunings allow the simulation properly calculate the known data , that does not mean they will do so as new data comes in .
Remember the elephant .
We should be especially cognizant of the fact that that these ‘ tunings ’ might well be to please sponsors .
And of course , we should never forget GIGO .
1 .
P. Sprangle and W. Manheimer , Coherent nonlinear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Fluids 18 , 224 ( 1975 ) • J. Lindl et al , The physics basis for using indirect drive targets on the National Ignition Facility , Phys .
Plasmas , 11 , 329 , 2004 • S.W .
Haan et al , Point design targets and requirements for the 2010 ignition campaign on the National Ignition Facility , Phys .
Plasmas , 18 , 051001 , 2010 • M. Lampe , W. Manheimer , and K. Papadopoulos , Anomalous Transport coefficients for HANE applications due to microinstabilities , NRL Memorandum Report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ J. Mayer , K. Khairy , and J. Howard , Drawing an elephant with four complex parameters , Am .
J. Phys .
78 , 648 , 2010 11 .
Mark Mills , The “ New energy economy ” , and exercise in magical thinking , Manhattan Institute Report , March 2019 , https : //ift.tt/2OGp3qE To contact the author , use the contact form under the about tab and I will forward messages .
~ctm

Guest post by Wallace Manheimer
A great deal of the recommendation that the world should modify its energy infrastructure to combat climate change, costing tens to hundreds of trillions of dollars, is based on computer simulations. While this author is not what is called a ‘climate scientist’, a great deal of science is interdenominational, and experience from one field often can fertilize another. That is the spirit in which this opinion is offered. The author has spent a good part of his more than 50-year scientific career developing and using computer simulations to model complex physical processes. Accordingly, based on this experience, he now gives his own brief explanation of his opinion, on what computer simulations can and cannot do, along with some examples. He sees 3 categories of difficulty in computer simulations, where the simulations go from mostly accurate to mostly speculative. He makes the case that the climate simulations are the most speculative.
First consider the case where the configuration and equations describing the complex system are known, and, where the system can be modified in known ways to test the accuracy of the simulation in a variety of circumstances. An example of this is the development of the gyrotron and gyroklystron. These are powerful microwave tubes at high frequency. They are based on giving an electron beam energy transverse to the guiding magnetic field, and tapping this transverse energy to produce the radiation. In the last 2 decades of the 20th century, I was involved in the theoretical, simulation, and experimental part of this effort. I participated in writing one of the first simple simulation schemes capable of examining the nonlinear behavior of the electron beam coupled to the radiation (1). The simulations schemes have become more and more complex and complete as the project developed. The project, and the simulations were successful. Figure (1) is a plot, with its caption, of power and efficiency of a gyroklystron as calculated by simulation, and the experimental results taken from (2). Clearly the simulations were successful. Gyrotrons have been used now for heating fusion plasmas, and gyroklystrons have been used to power W band (94GHz) radars. Figure (2) is a photo of the 10 KW average power, 94 GHz radar WARLOC at the Naval Research Lab. Prior to gyroklystrons the highest average power 94 GHz radar was about 1 Watt.
Figure 1: Numerical simulations of the power and efficiency of a 4 cavity gyroklystron and the actual measurements. Clearly the simulations are reasonably accurate.
Figure 2: The NRL WARLOC radar
Second let us say that the configuration is well known, and can be varied in a controlled way, but the relevant physics is not. In my career I have spent a considerable amount of time working on laser fusion. The largest effort is the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) in Livermore California. The lab built a gigantic laser, costing billions, which produces about a megajoule of ultraviolet light energy in a pulse lasting several nanoseconds. Figure (3) is a photo of the laser bays, in a dedicated building, roughly half a kilometer in each direction. Their target configuration places the millimeter size target in the middle of a cylindrical can called a hohlraum. The laser is focused on the interior walls of hohlraum, producing X-rays which impinge on the target. The target compresses and heats, so that fusion reactions can take place. LLNL has done many computer calculations and simulations of the process and concluded that fusion energy should be ten times the laser light energy, i.e. Q=10 (3,4). When they did the experiment, they found, to their dismay, that Q ~ 10-2, on a good day. Their estimate missed by more than a factor of 1000! What went wrong? The problem is that there is a great deal of physics going on in the target, which is not understood well. For instance there are instabilities driven by the interaction of the laser with the plasma; instabilities of the fluid implosion, generation of a small number of extremely energetic electrons, generation of a small number of extremely energetic ions, generation of intense magnetic fields, unpredicted mixing of various regions of the target, expansion of the hohlraum plasma, all in a very complex and rapidly changing geometry… Don‘t get me wrong; LLNL is a first class lab, which hires only the very best scientists and computer engineers. The problem is that the physics is too complex; too unforgiving. In the 8 years since the end of their ignition campaign, when they had hoped to achieve Q=10, they have only succeeded in getting the Q~ 2-3%, better, but still nowhere near what they had promised in 2010.
It is worth noting that there was considerable opposition to the construction of NIF (5), opposition based on 2 suppositions; first that LLNL could not get the laser to work, and second that the target and its interaction with the laser was much too complex, there were too many aspects of the physics which were uncertain and could not be modeled by their simulations. The skeptics were half wrong and half right. LLNL got the laser to work well (years late and billions over the original budget), and this this is certainly a significant achievement. However, the skeptics were correct in their assessment that the that the target would not fuse.
Figure 3: The laser bays at the NIF laser at LLNL
Now let us go to the third level of difficulty. There are cases where neither the configuration, nor the basic physics needed for a simulation are well known. Add to that the fact that unlike with NIF, it is not possible to repeat experiments in any controlled way. When this author first got to NRL, the problem we were all working on was to figure out plasma processes going on in a nuclear disturbed upper atmosphere, or High Altitude Nuclear Explosions (HANE). When a nuclear bomb, or multiple nuclear bombs explode in the upper atmosphere, the atmosphere forms ionized plasma. With the strong flows generated there, the behavior is not governed by conventional fluid mechanics, but by the nonlinear behavior of plasma instabilities. The key was to work out a theory of these extremely complicated processes by particle simulations as well as theory. These results would then be put into the other computer codes used in the radar, tracking, communication, electronic warfare, etc. An unclassified version of our conclusions is in (6). Was our theory correct? Who knows. Will anyone ever do the experiment? Hopefully not. If the experiment is done and the theory does not work, will there be an opportunity to continue to work on it and improve it? Nobody will be alive to do it.
This author makes the case that the climate computer simulations, on which the governments have spent billions, are of this third level of complexity, if not even more complex. The motivation is that we are presumed to be in a ‘climate crisis’ which is an existential threat to humanity. For these climate simulations, the basic physical system is almost certainly much more complicated than the LLNL laser target configuration, for which the simulations failed. The scientists at Livermore at least know what they are starting out with and can vary it. First, there is there is the fact that these climate simulations involve the entire earth. To do the simulations, the earth is broken up into a discrete grid, both around the surface and vertically. Since the computer can only handle a fine number of grid points, the points are dozens of miles apart horizontally. But many important atmospheric effects are on a much smaller scale. For instance, cities are usually warmer than the surrounding countryside, so the computer calculation would have to somehow approximate this effect since it occurs on a space scale smaller than the grid spacing. Then there is a great deal of uncertain physics. The effect of clouds is not well understood. Also, what effects arise from the deep ocean, the effect of CO2 on water vapor, aerosols and their content and size, cosmic rays, turbulent ocean, turbulent atmosphere, uncertain initial conditions, variations in solar radiation, and solar flares? What impurities are in the atmosphere and where and when were they here or there …..? All these effects are handled by a method called ‘tuning’ the code. When I was an undergraduate, we used to call these ‘fudge factors’. For years this has been kept under wraps by the various code developers. More recently some of this has been discussed in the scientific literature (7). The different modelers use very different tunings. It does not inspire confidence, at least with this experienced scientist.
With that introduction to climate simulations, let’s see how good these simulations are at predicting the earth’s rising temperature. Figure (4) is a slide presented in congressional testimony by John Christy of the University of Alabama at Huntsville, along with his caption (8). Also, on the graph are the actual temperature measurements. Christy, with Roy Spencer are the two scientists there mainly responsible for the obtaining and archiving the space-based earth temperature measurements. The fact that he prepared this data for congressional testimony indicates to me that he took extraordinary care in setting it up. I certainly believe it. Notice that all of the curves vastly overestimate the temperature increase. As Yogi Berra said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future”. The curves cannot be making random errors, if they were, there would be about as many that underestimated the temperature rise. Hence it seems that a bias for a temperature increase is built into the models. Possibly there is other more recent literature showing perfect agreement from 1975 to the 2020, and then predicting disaster in 30 years. But how credible would that be in the light of Christy’s viewgraph? It brings to mind John von Neuman’s famous parable “With four parameters I can fit an elephant, and with 5 I can make him wiggle his trunk”. Figure 5 from (9) is a plot of the elephant wiggling his trunk, done with 5 parameters.
Figure 4: The viewgraph John Christy on the accuracy of numerical models for predicting temperature rise, which he presented in congressional testimony.
Figure 5: The elephant wiggling its trunk
Yet at least in part due to these faulty simulations, there is a large move afoot to switch our energy from coal, gas, oil and nuclear to solar and wind. The cost of this would be astronomical. Figure (6) is a graph of the worldwide cost of the switch to solar and wind in the last few years (10). The costs are in the neighborhood of half a trillion $$ per year. Yet according to (10), this is not nearly enough. Here is a quote
While climate finance has reached record levels, action still falls far short of what is needed under a 1.5 ˚C scenario. Estimates of the investment required to achieve the low-carbon transition range from USD 1.6 trillion to USD 3.8 trillion annually between 2016 and 2050
Figure 6: The global climate finance $$$ from 2013 to 2018
Of course, this author realizes that there is a place for computer simulations in earth science, just like in every other science. But is it really worth this kind of societal effort, ~$50-100T to attempt to accomplish this energy transformation, which probably is not even be possible (11,12), and likely is not even needed (13)? Especially where it is based, at least in part on faulty computer simulations. Furthermore, where windmills and solar panels take up a great deal of land, and use a tremendous amount of materials, concrete, steel, rare earths…. how sure can we be that the enormous effects of this transformation would be environmentally beneficial? Where are the simulations that examine these aspects? Perhaps the climate modelers should have a little more humility and a little less hubris and certainty, in the face of the transformation they are telling society to make. This costs real money!
It is interesting, that as Christy points out, there is one curve that got it about right; the Russian model! In 1995, in the Yeltsen era in Russia, I took an 8-month sabbatical as a visiting professor in the physics department of Moscow State University. I learned there that Russia has had a very strong, independent scientific tradition dating at least since the time of Peter the Great, when he set up the Russian Academy of Science. Even during the Communist era, the Academy was as independent of party control as any organization there could be. So how could the Russian modelers have gotten it right when all the western models all got it wrong?
My answer perhaps descends into speculation and might be judged frivolous, but it seems to the author to be well worth recording. In the United States and the west, we do not arrest or execute dissident scientists, as the Russians did under the worst abuses of Stalin. However, we do punish dissident scientists in other ways, we simply cut off or deny their funding. In fact, most vocal skeptics are retired or emeritus; they do not have to worry about their next grant. In my April 2020 essay in Forum on Physics and Society https://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/202004/media.cfm, I listed 9 expert skeptical scientists in the area of climate science (several in the NAS). Except for Spencer and Christy, who perform indispensable service for NASA and NOAA, I believe none are able to get any funding for their research. In fact, none even seem to be able to publish in the standard scientific literature; they use blogs. I know of one expert at an Ivy League university, an NAS member, who expressed skepticism of the standard dogma (14). He was in charge of a large project in biophysics, which abruptly got canceled (15). He stopped being a public skeptic then, and told me he did so, in 2015. Was his project termination because of his climate heresies? Who knows, but it happened about when his climate stands gained publicity.
It is unlikely Russia has the same worry about climate change that we do. Perhaps Russian scientists do not have to ‘tune’ their codes to obtain politically correct results. BTW, if anyone is interested in my experience in Russia, I wrote a diary as a pdf file. Email me and I will send it to you.
To conclude, computer simulations are a vital and powerful scientific (and societal) tool. But in utilizing them we should be cognizant of the fact that the ‘tuning’s we do, and physics uncertainties we approximate, are weakening links to the chain; a chain which is only as strong as its weakest link. If these tunings allow the simulation properly calculate the known data, that does not mean they will do so as new data comes in. Remember the elephant. We should be especially cognizant of the fact that that these ‘tunings’ might well be to please sponsors. And of course, we should never forget GIGO.
References:
1. P. Sprangle and W. Manheimer, Coherent nonlinear theory of a cyclotron instability, Physics of Fluids 18, 224 (1975)
M. Blank et. al, Demonstration of a 10 kW average power 94 GHz gyroklystron amplifier, Phys. Plasmas, 6, #12, p 4405, 1999
J. Lindl et al, The physics basis for using indirect drive targets on the National Ignition Facility, Phys. Plasmas, 11, 329, 2004
S.W. Haan et al, Point design targets and requirements for the 2010 ignition campaign on the National Ignition Facility, Phys. Plasmas, 18, 051001, 2010
5. NIF Moves Forward Amid Controversy, Physics Today, 54, Issue 1, p 21, 2001, https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.1349602
M. Lampe, W. Manheimer, and K. Papadopoulos, Anomalous Transport coefficients for HANE applications due to microinstabilities, NRL Memorandum Report, AD-A0014411, NRL-MR-3076, 1975
Paul Vossen, Climate scientists open their black boxes to scrutiny, Science, October 28, 2016, volume 354, Issue 6311, p401
J. Mayer, K. Khairy, and J. Howard, Drawing an elephant with four complex parameters, Am. J. Phys. 78, 648, 2010
Barbara Bushner et al , Landscape of global climate finance 2019, Climate policy initiative, November 2019, https://climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/global-landscape-of-climate-finance-2019/
11. Mark Mills, The “New energy economy”, and exercise in magical thinking, Manhattan Institute Report, March 2019, https://ift.tt/2OGp3qE
institute.org/sites/default/files/R-0319-MM.pdf
12.Wallace Manheimer, Midcentury carbon free sustainable energy development based on fusion breeding, Sections I and II; IEEE Access December 2018, Vol 6, issue 1, p 64954-64969, https://ift.tt/3cSrOQN
13. www.CO2coalition.org
14. APS News, December 2009, volume 18, #11
15, Gabriel Popkin, Nature, Weekly International Journal of Science, vol 524, August 5, 2015, (https://ift.tt/2Ybs8pE project-ac cused-of-losing-ambition-1.18122).
To contact the author, use the contact form under the about tab and I will forward messages. ~ctm


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-28--Bristol Temple Way Emissions

Bristol Temple Way Emissions

Following my look at air pollutants in Sheffield the other day , Adrian Kerton has now done the same with @ @ @ @ @ Particularly relevant as Bristol City Council are at the forefront of plans to ban diesel @ @ @ @ @ the city .
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By Paul Homewood
Following my look at air pollutants in Sheffield the other day, Adrian Kerton has now done the same with his local Bristol site. Particularly relevant as Bristol City Council are at the forefront of plans to ban diesel vehicles from the centre of the city.
Worth a read.
https://adriankerton.wordpress.com/070-bristol-temple-way-emissions/
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April 28, 2020 at 05:03AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-28--Apparent Paradoxes In The Relationship of Climate ‘Concerns, Skepticism, Activism, and Priority’, Ex

Explores the contrast between Allied and Core belief in the culture of climate catastrophe , and the relationships of these plus religiosity to Climate Change Activism ( XR and Children ’ s Strikes for Climate ) .
The opening post of this series demonstrated a strong correlation across nations between religiosity , and the responses per nation to unconstrained questions from a 2019 YouGov survey on attitudes to climate-change , which questions are aligned to Catastrophic Climate Change Culture ( CCCC ) .
Chart 1 below was shown towards the end of the prior post .
Y axis values show @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ responses to two climate survey questions : “ How much of an impact , if any , do you believe climate change will have on your life ?
” ( blue series ) , and “ how much power , if any , do you think each of the following have to combat climate change ?
” sub-option , “ International bodies ( e.g .
the United Nations ) ” ( pink series ) .
I term the effect causing these trends ‘ Allied Belief ’ ( ABel ) .
They occur @ @ @ @ @ @ @ religion , makes religious adherents feel comfortable with climate catastrophe narratives , as long as there are no reality constraints , thereby disabling their Innate Skepticism of CCCC .
As religiosity rises within nations ( going left to right ) , ISk about CCCC narratives falls , and so belief in said narratives rises .
The pink series is muted , as it ’ s only needed to show lower gradient for less emotive / existential / personal questions .
Note : ISk is an instinctive mechanism that is very different to rational @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2 in SI datafile ] .
The post Apparent Paradoxes In The Relationship of Climate ‘ Concerns , Skepticism , Activism , and Priority ’ , Explained by Religiosity appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum ( GWPF ) .

Explores the contrast between Allied and Core belief in the culture of climate catastrophe, and the relationships of these plus religiosity to Climate Change Activism (XR and Children’s Strikes for Climate).
Introduction
The opening post of this series demonstrated a strong correlation across nations between religiosity, and the responses per nation to unconstrained questions from a 2019 YouGov survey on attitudes to climate-change, which questions are aligned to Catastrophic Climate Change Culture (CCCC). Chart 1 below was shown towards the end of the prior post. Y axis values show the percentage of ‘a great deal’ responses to two climate survey questions: “How much of an impact, if any, do you believe climate change will have on your life?” (blue series), and “how much power, if any, do you think each of the following have to combat climate change?” sub-option, “International bodies (e.g. the United Nations)” (pink series).
I term the effect causing these trends ‘Allied Belief’ (ABel). They occur because the surface alliance between CCCC and religion, makes religious adherents feel comfortable with climate catastrophe narratives, as long as there are no reality constraints, thereby disabling their Innate Skepticism of CCCC. As religiosity rises within nations (going left to right), ISk about CCCC narratives falls, and so belief in said narratives rises. The pink series is muted, as it’s only needed to show lower gradient for less emotive / existential / personal questions. Note: ISk is an instinctive mechanism that is very different to rational skepticism. [Chart is simplified Chart 2 in SI datafile].
The post Apparent Paradoxes In The Relationship of Climate ‘Concerns, Skepticism, Activism, and Priority’, Explained by Religiosity appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF).
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April 28, 2020 at 04:57AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-28--Civil War On The Left: Michael Moore Against The Greens

Moore ’ s film not only exposes the green energy frauds , but reveals all too plainly the greens ’ latent misanthropy .
As John has already noted , the environmental left ( aka , “ the left ” ) is losing its lunch about the new Michael Moore-produced documentary “ Planet of the Humans.
” I have seen the the whole thing , and you might want to take it in , too , if you have 90 minutes to spare .
If not , I have prepared a 10-minute highlight reel below that has a few ( but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the best bits bashing “ green energy.
” In any case , I wouldn ’ t be surprised to see the film removed from YouTube and suppressed completely within the next few days , just as the ABC docudrama “ The Path to 9/11 ” was suppressed because it made the Clintons look bad .
The beauty of the film is that it makes a devastating case against so-called “ renewable energy ” entirely with left-wing observers , and does not feature any of the long-time critics from our camp .
Overall , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mess , because its central point is the old fashioned , undisguised Malthusianism that there are too many humans on the planet , and that we have to give up growth and shrink our material existence .
The greens these days are frantially trying to disguise their fundamentalism by calling it “ degrowth , ” but it ’ s the same old recycled doom and gloom and plea for green authoritarianism .
How this “ degrowth ” should be done the film does not say , and perhaps its real sin from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Moore ’ s film not only exposes their green energy frauds , but reveals all too plainly their latent misanthropy .
And given that we ’ re all going through a sample of what “ degrowth ” means right now , this film is very poorly timed .
By the way , I think the greens have only begun to exploit the virus crisis , but have no idea what a disaster it is for them .
The post Civil War On The Left : Michael Moore Against The Greens appeared first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GWPF ) .

Moore’s film not only exposes the green energy frauds, but reveals all too plainly the greens’ latent misanthropy.
As John has already noted, the environmental left (aka, “the left”) is losing its lunch about the new Michael Moore-produced documentary “Planet of the Humans.” I have seen the the whole thing, and you might want to take it in, too, if you have 90 minutes to spare. If not, I have prepared a 10-minute highlight reel below that has a few (but only a very few!) of the best bits bashing “green energy.” In any case, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the film removed from YouTube and suppressed completely within the next few days, just as the ABC docudrama “The Path to 9/11” was suppressed because it made the Clintons look bad.
The beauty of the film is that it makes a devastating case against so-called “renewable energy” entirely with left-wing observers, and does not feature any of the long-time critics from our camp. Overall, however, the film is a red-hot mess, because its central point is the old fashioned, undisguised Malthusianism that there are too many humans on the planet, and that we have to give up growth and shrink our material existence. The greens these days are frantially trying to disguise their fundamentalism by calling it “degrowth,” but it’s the same old recycled doom and gloom and plea for green authoritarianism.
How this “degrowth” should be done the film does not say, and perhaps its real sin from the point of view of the environmentalists is that Moore’s film not only exposes their green energy frauds, but reveals all too plainly their latent misanthropy. And given that we’re all going through a sample of what “degrowth” means right now, this film is very poorly timed.
By the way, I think the greens have only begun to exploit the virus crisis, but have no idea what a disaster it is for them.
The post Civil War On The Left: Michael Moore Against The Greens appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF).
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April 28, 2020 at 04:36AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-28--Tale Of Two Panics – Covid And Climate

Tale Of Two Panics – Covid And Climate

While they are occurring on vastly different time scales , the Covid-19 panic and the climate change panic are remarkably @ @ @ @ @ certain basic social panic mechanisms that always occur , which are yet to be discovered @ @ @ @ @ the striking similarities between these two are worth exploring a bit .
To begin with @ @ @ @ @ runaway computer models .
In the Covid case the U.S. death count was projected to @ @ @ @ @ calling for draconian government action , which soon followed .
That number now stands at @ @ @ @ @ same as a bad flu year , but the damage is well underway .
Claims @ @ @ @ @ the numbers down are belied by the countries that fared just as well without them @ @ @ @ @ what made the model so “ hot ” as it has not been analyzed , @ @

PA Pundits – International
By David Wojick, Ph.D. ~
While they are occurring on vastly different time scales, the Covid-19 panic and the climate change panic are remarkably similar. Perhaps there are certain basic social panic mechanisms that always occur, which are yet to be discovered. Yet in any case the striking similarities between these two are worth exploring a bit.
To begin with, each panic began with runaway computer models. In the Covid case the U.S. death count was projected to be around 2,000,000, clearly calling for draconian government action, which soon followed. That number now stands at about 60,000, about the same as a bad flu year, but the damage is well underway.
Claims that the ruinous actions brought the numbers down are belied by the countries that fared just as well without them. Nor do we know what made the model so “hot” as it has not been analyzed, or even…


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-28--Paleontologists identify most dangerous place on Earth

My first guess would have been Chicago , but , apparently it was the Sahara Desert region back during the Cretaceous Period… PALAEONTOLOGISTS REVEAL ‘ THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF PLANET EARTH ’ The biggest review in almost 100 years of fossil vertebrates from the Kem Kem Group has been published .
24 April 2020 100 million years ago , ferocious predators , including flying reptiles and crocodile-like hunters , made the Sahara the most dangerous place on Earth .
This is according to an international team of scientists , who have published the biggest review in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an area of Cretaceous rock formations in south-eastern Morocco , known as the Kem Kem Group .
The review , published in the journal ZooKeys , “ provides a window into Africa ’ s Age of Dinosaurs ” according to lead author Dr Nizar Ibrahim , an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Detroit Mercy and Visiting Researcher from the University of Portsmouth .
About 100 million years ago , the area was home to a vast river system , filled with many different species of aquatic and terrestrial animals .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ three of the largest predatory dinosaurs ever known , including the sabre-toothed Carcharodontosaurus ( over 8m in length with enormous jaws and long , serrated teeth up to eight inches long ) and Deltadromeus ( around 8m in length , a member of the raptor family with long , unusually slender hind limbs for its size ) , as well as several predatory flying reptiles ( pterosaurs ) and crocodile-like hunters .
Dr Ibrahim said : “ This was arguably the most dangerous place in the history of planet Earth , a place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very long .
”

Guest “thank God for asteroids” by David Middleton
My first guess would have been Chicago, but, apparently it was the Sahara Desert region back during the Cretaceous Period…
PALAEONTOLOGISTS REVEAL ‘THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF PLANET EARTH’
The biggest review in almost 100 years of fossil vertebrates from the Kem Kem Group has been published.
24 April 2020
100 million years ago, ferocious predators, including flying reptiles and crocodile-like hunters, made the Sahara the most dangerous place on Earth.
This is according to an international team of scientists, who have published the biggest review in almost 100 years of fossil vertebrates from an area of Cretaceous rock formations in south-eastern Morocco, known as the Kem Kem Group.
The review, published in the journal ZooKeys, “provides a window into Africa’s Age of Dinosaurs” according to lead author Dr Nizar Ibrahim, an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Detroit Mercy and Visiting Researcher from the University of Portsmouth.
About 100 million years ago, the area was home to a vast river system, filled with many different species of aquatic and terrestrial animals. Fossils from the Kem Kem Group include three of the largest predatory dinosaurs ever known, including the sabre-toothed Carcharodontosaurus (over 8m in length with enormous jaws and long, serrated teeth up to eight inches long) and Deltadromeus (around 8m in length, a member of the raptor family with long, unusually slender hind limbs for its size), as well as several predatory flying reptiles (pterosaurs) and crocodile-like hunters. Dr Ibrahim said: “This was arguably the most dangerous place in the history of planet Earth, a place where a human time-traveller would not last very long.”
[…]


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-04-28--Germany, Britain call for ‘green recovery’ from pandemic but dissenters disagree

They keep trotting out their ‘ little time left ’ alarm call , pretending to have the power to micromanage the Earth ’ s climates .
But others take a rather different view : Costly Climate Policies Must Be Abandoned To Save Economy .
Sucking the life out of ailing economies to try and control the weather isn ’ t everyone ’ s idea of a recovery .
– – – Germany and Britain said Monday that efforts to revive the global economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic must ensure a ‘ green recovery ’ that helps the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Speaking ahead of a virtual meeting of officials from some 30 countries , Germany ’ s environment minister said it was important for economic recovery programs to invest in future-proof jobs that would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in coming years , rather than aim for a return to business as usual .
“ We mustn ’ t invest in technologies of the past , ” Svenja Schulze told The Associated Press , noting that some countries are holding onto plans to build new coal-fired power plants .
Some German politicians have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on subsidizing car purchases , to boost the country ’ s auto industry .
Schulze suggested that one way to do this would be to help care workers buy electric vehicles for house calls .
“ These are many , many vehicles , ” she told The AP .
“ It would help the economy and it would move us forward ( in curbing emissions ) .
” Scientists have warned that there ’ s little time left if the world wants to achieve the headline goal of the 2015 Paris climate accord—keeping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( 3.6 Fahrenheit ) , ideally 1.5 C ( 2.7 F ) .
Some have also likened the strategy adopted by countries in fighting the pandemic—the idea of flattening the curve of infections so health systems don ’ t collapse—to the need to bring down the rate of greenhouse gas emissions that are driving global warming .
“ Unlike in the fight against the coronavirus , we already know the vaccines for the climate crisis , ” Schulze said , adding that they included renewable energy , electric mobility , recycling and low-energy @ @

They keep trotting out their ‘little time left’ alarm call, pretending to have the power to micromanage the Earth’s climates. But others take a rather different view: Costly Climate Policies Must Be Abandoned To Save Economy. Sucking the life out of ailing economies to try and control the weather isn’t everyone’s idea of a recovery.
– – –
Germany and Britain said Monday that efforts to revive the global economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic must ensure a ‘green recovery’ that helps the world tackle climate change, reports Phys.org.
Speaking ahead of a virtual meeting of officials from some 30 countries, Germany’s environment minister said it was important for economic recovery programs to invest in future-proof jobs that would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in coming years, rather than aim for a return to business as usual.
“We mustn’t invest in technologies of the past,” Svenja Schulze told The Associated Press, noting that some countries are holding onto plans to build new coal-fired power plants.
Some German politicians have called for stimulus money to be spent on subsidizing car purchases, to boost the country’s auto industry.
Schulze suggested that one way to do this would be to help care workers buy electric vehicles for house calls. “These are many, many vehicles,” she told The AP. “It would help the economy and it would move us forward (in curbing emissions).”
Scientists have warned that there’s little time left if the world wants to achieve the headline goal of the 2015 Paris climate accord—keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), ideally 1.5 C (2.7 F).
Some have also likened the strategy adopted by countries in fighting the pandemic—the idea of flattening the curve of infections so health systems don’t collapse—to the need to bring down the rate of greenhouse gas emissions that are driving global warming.
“Unlike in the fight against the coronavirus, we already know the vaccines for the climate crisis,” Schulze said, adding that they included renewable energy, electric mobility, recycling and low-energy housing.
Continued here.
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April 28, 2020 at 03:36AM