iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-05-04--Energy & Environmental Newsletter: May 4, 2020

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions ( AWED ) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national , state , and local energy , environmental and education policies .
Our premise is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science ( please consult WiseEnergy.org for more information ) .
A key element of AWED ’ s efforts is public education .
Towards that end , every two± weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and the environment .
We appreciate MasterResource for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Some of the more important articles in this issue are : • China ’ s coronavirus actions are just one of many threats it poses • We Can ’ t Entrust US Interests to UN • Study : Systemic Misuse of Scenarios in Climate Research and Assessment • The Scientific Case for Vacating the EPA ’ s Endangerment Finding • US CO2 Emissions Have Declined More Than Anywhere Else • Earth Day at 50 : Progress , Not Politics , Cleaned Up America • Study : Federal Energy Subsidies and Support from 2010 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Latest version : A Summary of Suggestions and Commentary on COVID-19 The drugs and treatments that could stop COVID-19 Report : Pseudo-Science behind the Assault on Hydroxychloroquine ( HCQ ) The Wuhan Virus Pandemic has Exposed the American Ruling Class A Protest From France Congress Creates a Coronavirus Mess Pandemic Science , Media Panic , and Political Response Briggs Coronavirus Update XI — Robbing The Cemeteries To Pad Death Totals The Farce and Diabolical Agenda of a “ Universal Lockdown ” Ryan Kemper : The Case For Ending Lockdown The Paranoid Style @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deceived the world re COVID-19 The Facts That Prove That Almost Everyone Is Wrong About COVID-19 The data is in — stop the panic and end the total isolation New York State and COVID-19 : Coronavirus “ hero ” Cuomo helped create New York ’ s disaster With Legislature idle , Cuomo changed 262 laws in 55 days Cuomo ’ s Coronavirus Executive Orders 7 Steps to Recovery & Renewal for NYS Greed Energy Economics : Report : “ Clean energy ” is all about creating unproductive jobs Study : Federal Energy Subsidies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Down on Failure Wind Power : Subsidy after Subsidy As the Infant Never Grows Up What Engie ’ s tax equity deal tells us about financing renewables Fortress Vermont , a Multi-Billion Boondoggle Foisted on the Public The economics of industrial wind and solar in Iowa Renewable Energy Health and Ecosystem Consequences : Wind turbine noise affects dream sleep and perceived sleep restoration Bald eagle killed by wind turbine at Ohio wind project Hopefulness Despite 2.9 Billion Lost Birds Archive : Industrial Wind Energy ’ s Inconvenient Radioactivity Judge rules against wind developer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closure during pandemic is wrong , says climate group US Strategy to Restore Nuclear Energy Leadership Fusion Energy Gets Ready to Shine—Finally Natural Gas Energy : Water Scarcity Lessens As Natural Gas Plants Proliferate Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Banned by NY As Gas Need Grows Hydrogen Technology May Turn Gas Green and Fractivists Red with Rage Offshore Wind Energy : The Fight Over Wind Power in Lake Erie NYSERDA Holding Off on Nation ’ s Largest Offshore Wind Solicitation Vineyard Wind ’ s Timeline Slips as Government Further Delays Permits Miscellaneous Energy News : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Energy Video : Candace Owens Interviews Alex Epstein China Fires Up Coal Power Plant Construction Here ’ s What Negative Oil Prices Really Mean It ’ s All Over For Europe ’ s Green Deal As Merkel ’ s MEPs Say ‘ It ’ s No Longer Viable ’ End the Ethanol Mandate US energy production exceeded consumption for the first time in 62 years Book Review : Meeting the Terawatt Challenge Electricity Is More Than Power ; It ’ s A Fundamental Human Right Uncovering the Oil Industry ’ s Radioactive Secret @ @ @ @ @ @ @ full length Michael Moore movie : Planet of the Humans Michael Moore Documentary Reveals Massive Ecological Impacts Of Renewables “ Planet Of The Humans ” Skewers Renewables , Delivers Same Old Anti-Humanism Michael Moore stumbles upon the truth about so-called ‘ green ’ energy Moore Rolls Out Movie Destroying A Common Enviro Left Narrative Moore-backed Doc Tackles ‘ False Promises ’ of Green Energy Michael Moore Is Now the Green New Deal ’ s Worst Enemy Left-Wing Activists Are Trying to Cancel Michael Moore Professor Can ’ t Muzzle Moore Movie ; Must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : The five things Planet of the Humans gets ( mostly ) right Short video : Michael Moore Goes Nuclear On Green Energy Michael Moore pulls the chain on renewable energy Guardian : Contrarian eco-doc from the Michael Moore stable Moore Movie Acknowledges Green Energy Is Tommyrot Green Brownshirts Strike at Michael Moore Earth Day at 50 : Earth Day at 50 : Progress , Not Politics , Cleaned Up America Earth Day 2020 : The Exhaustion of the Climate Left Earth Day Is Time to Reflect on How Much Enviros Have Gotten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ got it wrong and who got it right ?
Eco-Reality Strikes Back : Earth Day at 50 Manmade Global Warming — Some Deceptions : Modeling Catastrophe in a Climate of Fear Model Madness – Parallels Between Failed Climate and Coronavirus Models Study : Systemic Misuse of Scenarios in Climate Research and Assessment Study : The Climate Noose Video/Report : Climate Curious Short Video : Most Dishonest Science in 1,200 Years Mutating virus panic into climate crisis scares Is Atmospheric CO2 Declining from the Covid Economic Collapse ?
The Forgotten Benefits of Global Warming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Scientific Case for Vacating the EPA ’ s Endangerment Finding US CO2 Emissions Have Declined More Than Anywhere Else Study : It Was Warmer In China During Medieval Warm Period Than Today Study : Strongest warming in 10,000 years by the Sun not CO2 Why Would ‘ Climate Migrants ’ Flee from Food ?
COVID-19 Could Help Solve Climate Riddles UN climate fund calls pandemic an ‘ opportunity ’ to re-shape the world Tale of Two Panics — COVID-19 & Climate US Politics and Socialism : How the pandemic upended climate politics We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ UN During coronavirus pandemic , totalitarianism doesn ’ t shock us anymore Don ’ t Mistake the Eco-Right for Genuine Conservatives Other US Politics and Related News : China ’ s coronavirus actions are just one of many threats it poses Designing the COVID-19 stimulus : what the 2008 crisis can teach us President George Bush ’ s 2005 short speech on pandemic preparedness Facebook ’ s ‘ fact checkers ’ are the real fake news after censoring Post story Science and Miscellaneous Matters : On Earth Day , don ’ t celebrate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Hold Fast What Is Good—But How ?
Gates – WHO – World Bank – just lost billions on virus pandemic bonds Fred Singer , RIP For Newsletter Archives , go here .

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy, environmental and education policies. Our premise is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science (please consult WiseEnergy.org for more information).
A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every two± weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and the environment. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.
Some of the more important articles in this issue are:
New & Noteworthy re COVID-19:
Latest version: A Summary of Suggestions and Commentary on COVID-19
The drugs and treatments that could stop COVID-19
Report: Pseudo-Science behind the Assault on Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)
The Wuhan Virus Pandemic has Exposed the American Ruling Class
A Protest From France
Congress Creates a Coronavirus Mess
Pandemic Science, Media Panic, and Political Response
Briggs Coronavirus Update XI — Robbing The Cemeteries To Pad Death Totals
The Farce and Diabolical Agenda of a “Universal Lockdown”
Ryan Kemper: The Case For Ending Lockdown
The Paranoid Style in Covid-19 America
Intel details how China deceived the world re COVID-19
The Facts That Prove That Almost Everyone Is Wrong About COVID-19
The data is in — stop the panic and end the total isolation
New York State and COVID-19:
Coronavirus “hero” Cuomo helped create New York’s disaster
With Legislature idle, Cuomo changed 262 laws in 55 days
Cuomo’s Coronavirus Executive Orders
7 Steps to Recovery & Renewal for NYS
Greed Energy Economics:
Report: “Clean energy” is all about creating unproductive jobs
Study: Federal Energy Subsidies and Support from 2010 to 2019
Doubling Down on Failure
Wind Power: Subsidy after Subsidy As the Infant Never Grows Up
What Engie’s tax equity deal tells us about financing renewables
Fortress Vermont, a Multi-Billion Boondoggle Foisted on the Public
The economics of industrial wind and solar in Iowa
Renewable Energy Health and Ecosystem Consequences:
Wind turbine noise affects dream sleep and perceived sleep restoration
Bald eagle killed by wind turbine at Ohio wind project
Hopefulness Despite 2.9 Billion Lost Birds
Archive: Industrial Wind Energy’s Inconvenient Radioactivity
Judge rules against wind developer regarding noise
Nuclear Energy:
Indian Point closure during pandemic is wrong, says climate group
US Strategy to Restore Nuclear Energy Leadership
Fusion Energy Gets Ready to Shine—Finally
Natural Gas Energy:
Water Scarcity Lessens As Natural Gas Plants Proliferate
Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Banned by NY As Gas Need Grows
Hydrogen Technology May Turn Gas Green and Fractivists Red with Rage
Offshore Wind Energy:
The Fight Over Wind Power in Lake Erie
NYSERDA Holding Off on Nation’s Largest Offshore Wind Solicitation
Vineyard Wind’s Timeline Slips as Government Further Delays Permits
Miscellaneous Energy News:
Study: Abandoning the Concept of Renewable Energy
Video: Candace Owens Interviews Alex Epstein
China Fires Up Coal Power Plant Construction
Here’s What Negative Oil Prices Really Mean
It’s All Over For Europe’s Green Deal As Merkel’s MEPs Say ‘It’s No Longer Viable’
End the Ethanol Mandate
US energy production exceeded consumption for the first time in 62 years
Book Review: Meeting the Terawatt Challenge
Electricity Is More Than Power; It’s A Fundamental Human Right
Uncovering the Oil Industry’s Radioactive Secret
Planet of the Humans Movie:
Excellent full length Michael Moore movie: Planet of the Humans
Michael Moore Documentary Reveals Massive Ecological Impacts Of Renewables
“Planet Of The Humans” Skewers Renewables, Delivers Same Old Anti-Humanism
Michael Moore stumbles upon the truth about so-called ‘green’ energy
Moore Rolls Out Movie Destroying A Common Enviro Left Narrative
Moore-backed Doc Tackles ‘False Promises’ of Green Energy
Michael Moore Is Now the Green New Deal’s Worst Enemy
Left-Wing Activists Are Trying to Cancel Michael Moore
Professor Can’t Muzzle Moore Movie; Must Pay Defendants’ Legal Fees
Alex Epstein: The five things Planet of the Humans gets (mostly) right
Short video: Michael Moore Goes Nuclear On Green Energy
Michael Moore pulls the chain on renewable energy
Guardian: Contrarian eco-doc from the Michael Moore stable
Moore Movie Acknowledges Green Energy Is Tommyrot
Green Brownshirts Strike at Michael Moore
Earth Day at 50:
Earth Day at 50: Progress, Not Politics, Cleaned Up America
Earth Day 2020: The Exhaustion of the Climate Left
Earth Day Is Time to Reflect on How Much Enviros Have Gotten Wrong
Half a century later: who got it wrong and who got it right?
Eco-Reality Strikes Back: Earth Day at 50
Manmade Global Warming — Some Deceptions:
Modeling Catastrophe in a Climate of Fear
Model Madness – Parallels Between Failed Climate and Coronavirus Models
Study: Systemic Misuse of Scenarios in Climate Research and Assessment
Study: The Climate Noose
Video/Report: Climate Curious
Short Video: Most Dishonest Science in 1,200 Years
Mutating virus panic into climate crisis scares
Is Atmospheric CO2 Declining from the Covid Economic Collapse?
The Forgotten Benefits of Global Warming
Manmade Global Warming — Miscellaneous:
The Scientific Case for Vacating the EPA’s Endangerment Finding
US CO2 Emissions Have Declined More Than Anywhere Else
Study: It Was Warmer In China During Medieval Warm Period Than Today
Study: Strongest warming in 10,000 years by the Sun not CO2
Why Would ‘Climate Migrants’ Flee from Food?
COVID-19 Could Help Solve Climate Riddles
UN climate fund calls pandemic an ‘opportunity’ to re-shape the world
Tale of Two Panics — COVID-19 & Climate
US Politics and Socialism:
How the pandemic upended climate politics
We Can’t Entrust US Interests to UN
During coronavirus pandemic, totalitarianism doesn’t shock us anymore
Don’t Mistake the Eco-Right for Genuine Conservatives
Other US Politics and Related News:
China’s coronavirus actions are just one of many threats it poses
Designing the COVID-19 stimulus: what the 2008 crisis can teach us
President George Bush’s 2005 short speech on pandemic preparedness
Facebook’s ‘fact checkers’ are the real fake news after censoring Post story
Science and Miscellaneous Matters:
On Earth Day, don’t celebrate pollution cuts from coronavirus
Test All Things, Hold Fast What Is Good—But How?
Gates – WHO – World Bank – just lost billions on virus pandemic bonds
Fred Singer, RIP
For Newsletter Archives, go here.


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-05-04--Gravitational waves could prove the existence of the quark-gluon plasma

Computer models of merging neutron stars predicts how to tell when this happens Neutron stars are among the densest objects in the universe .
If our Sun , with its radius of 700,000 kilometres were a neutron star , its mass would be condensed into an almost perfect sphere with a radius of around 12 kilometres .
When two neutron stars collide and merge into a hyper-massive neutron star , the matter in the core of the new object becomes incredibly hot and dense .
According to physical calculations , these conditions could result in hadrons such as neutrons and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found in our daily experience , dissolving into their components of quarks and gluons and thus producing a quark-gluon plasma .
In 2017 it was discovered for the first time that merging neutron stars send out a gravitational wave signal that can be detected on Earth .
The signal not only provides information on the nature of gravity , but also on the behaviour of matter under extreme conditions .
When these gravitational waves were first discovered in 2017 , however , they were not recorded beyond the merging point .
This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ begins .
They simulated merging neutron stars and the product of the merger to explore the conditions under which a transition from hadrons to a quark-gluon plasma would take place and how this would affect the corresponding gravitational wave .
The result : in a specific , late phase of the life of the merged object a phase transition to the quark-gluon plasma took place and left a clear and characteristic signature on the gravitational-wave signal .
Professor Luciano Rezzolla from Goethe University is convinced : “ Compared to previous simulations , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gravitational waves that is significantly clearer to detect .
If this signature occurs in the gravitational waves that we will receive from future neutron-star mergers , we would have a clear evidence for the creation of quark-gluon plasma in the present universe.
” Video : Visualisation of merging neutron stars : https : //www.youtube.com/watch ?
v=rj-r-YA9d6E & t=1s This simulation shows the density of the ordinary matter ( mostly neutrons ) in red-yellow .
Shortly after the two stars merge the extremely dense centre turns green , depicting the formation of the quark-gluon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : http : //www.uni-frankfurt.de/87973606 Caption Montage : Montage of the computer simulation of two merging neutron stars that blends over with an image from heavy-ion collisions to highlight the connection of astrophysics with nuclear physics .
Credit : Lukas R. Weih & Luciano Rezzolla ( Goethe University Frankfurt ) ( right half of the image from cms.cern ) Caption Simulation : Shortly after two neutron stars merge a quark gluon plasma forms in the centre of the new object .
Red yellow : ordinary matter , mostly neutrons .
Credit : Lukas R. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Frankfurt ) Current news about science , teaching , and society can be found on GOETHE-UNI online ( http : //www.aktuelles.uni-frankfurt.de ) Goethe University is a research-oriented university in the European financial centre Frankfurt am Main .
The university was founded in 1914 through private funding , primarily from Jewish sponsors , and has since produced pioneering achievements in the areas of social sciences , sociology and economics , medicine , quantum physics , brain research , and labour law .
It gained a unique level of autonomy on 1 January 2008 by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ foundation university ” .
Today , it is one of the three largest universities in Germany .
Together with the Technical University of Darmstadt and the University of Mainz , it is a partner in the inter-state strategic Rhine-Main University Alliance .
Internet : http : //www.uni-frankfurt.de Publisher : The President of Goethe University Editor : Dr. Markus Bernards , Science Editor , PR & Communication Department , Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1 , 60323 Frankfurt am Main

Computer models of merging neutron stars predicts how to tell when this happens
Goethe University Frankfurt
IMAGE: Montage of the computer simulation of two merging neutron stars that blends over with an image from heavy-ion collisions to highlight the connection of astrophysics with nuclear physics. view more Credit: Lukas R. Weih & Luciano Rezzolla (Goethe University Frankfurt) (right half of the image from cms.cern)
Neutron stars are among the densest objects in the universe. If our Sun, with its radius of 700,000 kilometres were a neutron star, its mass would be condensed into an almost perfect sphere with a radius of around 12 kilometres. When two neutron stars collide and merge into a hyper-massive neutron star, the matter in the core of the new object becomes incredibly hot and dense. According to physical calculations, these conditions could result in hadrons such as neutrons and protons, which are the particles normally found in our daily experience, dissolving into their components of quarks and gluons and thus producing a quark-gluon plasma.
In 2017 it was discovered for the first time that merging neutron stars send out a gravitational wave signal that can be detected on Earth. The signal not only provides information on the nature of gravity, but also on the behaviour of matter under extreme conditions. When these gravitational waves were first discovered in 2017, however, they were not recorded beyond the merging point.
This is where the work of the Frankfurt physicists begins. They simulated merging neutron stars and the product of the merger to explore the conditions under which a transition from hadrons to a quark-gluon plasma would take place and how this would affect the corresponding gravitational wave. The result: in a specific, late phase of the life of the merged object a phase transition to the quark-gluon plasma took place and left a clear and characteristic signature on the gravitational-wave signal.
Professor Luciano Rezzolla from Goethe University is convinced: “Compared to previous simulations, we have discovered a new signature in the gravitational waves that is significantly clearer to detect. If this signature occurs in the gravitational waves that we will receive from future neutron-star mergers, we would have a clear evidence for the creation of quark-gluon plasma in the present universe.”
###
Publication: Post-merger gravitational wave signatures of phase transitions in binary mergers Lukas R. Weih, Matthias Hanauske, Luciano Rezzolla, Physical Review Letters DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.171103 https://journals.aps.org/prl/
Video: Visualisation of merging neutron stars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj-r-YA9d6E&t=1s This simulation shows the density of the ordinary matter (mostly neutrons) in red-yellow. Shortly after the two stars merge the extremely dense centre turns green, depicting the formation of the quark-gluon plasma.
Pictures may be downloaded here: http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/87973606
Caption Montage: Montage of the computer simulation of two merging neutron stars that blends over with an image from heavy-ion collisions to highlight the connection of astrophysics with nuclear physics. Credit: Lukas R. Weih & Luciano Rezzolla (Goethe University Frankfurt) (right half of the image from cms.cern)
Caption Simulation: Shortly after two neutron stars merge a quark gluon plasma forms in the centre of the new object. Red yellow: ordinary matter, mostly neutrons. Credit: Lukas R. Weih & Luciano Rezzolla (Goethe University Frankfurt)
Further information:
Goethe University Frankfurt
Prof. Dr. Luciano Rezzolla
Chair of Theoretical Astrophysics
Institute for Theoretical Physics
https://astro.uni-frankfurt.de/rezzolla/
Current news about science, teaching, and society can be found on GOETHE-UNI online (http://www.aktuelles.uni-frankfurt.de)
Goethe University is a research-oriented university in the European financial centre Frankfurt am Main. The university was founded in 1914 through private funding, primarily from Jewish sponsors, and has since produced pioneering achievements in the areas of social sciences, sociology and economics, medicine, quantum physics, brain research, and labour law. It gained a unique level of autonomy on 1 January 2008 by returning to its historic roots as a “foundation university”. Today, it is one of the three largest universities in Germany. Together with the Technical University of Darmstadt and the University of Mainz, it is a partner in the inter-state strategic Rhine-Main University Alliance. Internet: http://www.uni-frankfurt.de
Publisher: The President of Goethe University Editor: Dr. Markus Bernards, Science Editor, PR & Communication Department, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main
From EurekAlert!


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-05-04--Vitamin D3 and the Chinese-virus #coronavirus

This column does not constitute medical advice .
Check with your doctor .
Many nostrums are being recommended , with varying justification , to reduce the harm from the Chinese virus .
Some , like hydroxychloroquine , have side-effects and should only be taken if prescribed ; others , like remdesivir , work ( if at all ) only during the early stages of disease ; others , like the BCG virus against TB , have not yet been subjected to clinical trials .
However , early studies showed an interesting result , which the Marxstream media lazily attributed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ darker your skin , the more your risk from the infection .
In Britain , all of the first ten doctors to die from Covid-19 were dark-skinned .
The pandemic has struck most severely above 35°N ( editorial in Aliment .
Pharm .
Therap.
, and Marik et al .
2020 ) , just as flu tends to end as summer comes .
When the skin is exposed to the sun , the body makes Vitamin D3 more efficiently than through diet : salmon , tuna , mackerel , milk , some cereals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ D. Vitamin D , used by the body to absorb calcium and grow bones , increases the production of antiviral proteins and decreases cytokines , the immune molecules known to cause a storm of dangerous inflammation , particularly in Chinese-virus patients .
A shortage is linked to rickets , cancers , heart disease and weight gain .
It is efficacious against many diseases : Vitamin D deficiency is common not only in dark-skinned people , whose pigment blocks sunlight , but also in obese people , where the vitamin gets sequestered in fat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diabetes , where Vitamin D improves sensitivity to insulin ; in the elderly , who avoid the sun and eat less ; city dwellers , who see less of the sun ; and men , who have lower Vitamin D levels than women in the winter .
All of these groups are more likely to suffer severely if infected with the Chinese virus .
A recent study in Manchester found that average levels of vitamin D were 30 % higher in summer than in winter and three times as high at all times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who had less than a quarter of the 25 nanograms per milliliter that is regarded as sufficient .
Vitamin D3 , in the form of gel tablets , is inexpensive and available without prescription , There are very few side-effects .
A daily dose of 1000-4000 international units ( 25-100 micrograms ) will maintain a sufficient Vitamin D level in most patients .
The lower dosage is suitable for whites ; darker-skinned people may need higher doses .
As already reported in this series , deficiency of Vitamin D3 is a long-proven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chinese virus chiefly attacks the lungs .
As Martineau et al .
( BMJ 2017 ) showed in a meta-analysis of clinical trials involving more than 10,500 patients , rectifying Vitamin D3 deficiency reduces the risk of respiratory infection by 70 % .
Recently , several commenters , notably William Astley and my good friend Dr Pat Frank , have provided additional evidence touching upon the efficacy of Vitamin D3 in keeping the pandemic at bay .
Here is a summary .
Vitamin D supplementation could possibly improve clinical outcomes of patients infected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mark Alipio of Davao Doctors ’ College , Philippines ( https : //ssrn.com/abstract=3571484 ) , reports retrospectively on 212 Chinese-virus cases .
The Vitamin D level was found to be lowest in critical cases and highest in mild cases .
Most of those infected had Vitamin D deficiency .
For each standard-deviation increase in serum 25-hydroxy-Vitamin D , the risk of a severe outcome was reduced eightfold , and the risk of a critical outcome was reduced 20-fold .
My noble friend Lord Ridley , reporting this result in The Times a couple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Of 49 patients with mild symptoms … only two had low levels of vitamin D ; of 104 patients with critical or severe symptoms , only four did not have low levels of vitamin D. ” Several doctors wrote to the BMJ last week drawing attention to Dr Alipio ’ s results : “ Vitamin D biology is a mature well-researched field , dating back 100 years .
Doses , and risks , within clinical parameters , are established and well quantified .
Governmental intake guidance exists .
Vitamin D deficiency is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In Britain , one in five are deficient in Vitamin D , which is why Public Health England recommends that everyone should take supplementation during the lockdown .
Evidence that Vitamin D supplementation could reduce risk of influenza and COVID-19 infections and deaths ( Grant et al.
, Nutrients , April 2 , 2020 ) found that “ through several mechanisms , vitamin D can reduce risk of infections .
Those mechanisms include inducing cathelicidins and defensins that can lower viral replication rates and reducing concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines that produce the inflammation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , leading to pneumonia , as well as increasing concentrations of anti-inflammatory cytokines.
” The paper provided some interesting evidence that Vitamin D reduces Chinese-virus risk : “ The outbreak occurred in winter , a time when 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are lowest ; the number of cases in the Southern Hemisphere near the end of summer are low ; that vitamin D deficiency has been found to contribute to acute respiratory distress syndrome ; and that case-fatality rates increase with age and with chronic disease comorbidity , both of which are associated with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Interestingly , the paper recommends much higher dosages than usual : “ To reduce the risk of infection , it is recommended that people at risk of influenza and/or COVID-19 consider taking 10,000 international units per day of vitamin D3 for a few weeks to rapidly raise 25 ( OH ) D concentrations , followed by 5000 international units per day.
” The paper also recommends doubling what had been regarded as the minimum threshold concentration of Vitamin D in the blood : “ … raise 25 ( OH ) D concentrations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nanomoles per liter ) .
For treatment of people who become infected with COVID-19 , higher vitamin D3 doses might be useful.
” Patterns of COVID-19 Mortality and Vitamin D : An Indonesian Study ( Rahasurun et al.
, April 26 , 2020 : https : //ssrn.com/abstract=3585561 ) looked at 780 patients .
“ … the majority of the death cases were male and older and had pre-existing conditions and below-normal Vitamin D serum levels … with increasing odds of death .
When controlling for age , sex , and comorbidity , Vitamin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mortality outcome … ” Vitamin D insufficiency is prevalent in severe COVID-19 ( Lau et al.
, doi : https : //doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.24.20075838 ) found that 11 of 13 intensive-care patients were deficient in Vitamin D , compared with only 4 of 7 not requiring intensive care .
All Chinese-virus patients under 75 had Vitamin D deficiency .
Prevalence and correlates of Vitamin D deficiency in U.S. adults ( Forrest & Stuhldreher , Nutr .
Res.
, January 2011 ) studied almost 5000 patients and found that 42 % were deficient in Vitamin D @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and 82 % of black patients were deficient .
“ Vitamin D deficiency was significantly more common among those who had no college education , were obese , with a poor health status , hypertension , low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level , or not consuming milk daily.
” Order now while stocks last .
Some weeks ago , my lovely wife ordered a year ’ s supply from the United States , which never came .
She ordered it from the UK instead and , at a small cost , now has enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next year .
I have been taking a 1000 IU ( 25 microgram ) Vitamin D supplement every day for some years , and have had not so much as a sniffle in all that time .
Today ’ s charts show Sweden ’ s case-growth rate at zero for the first time , in line with the mean growth rate for the world excluding China and occupied Tibet .
Aside from Canada , estimated active cases are declining in all the countries we are following .
Fig .
1 .
Mean compound @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of COVID-19 for the world excluding China ( red ) and for several individual nations averaged over the successive seven-day periods ending on all dates from April 8 to May 3 , 2020 .
Fig .
2 .
Mean compound daily growth rates in cumulative COVID-19 deaths for the world excluding China ( red ) and for several individual nations averaged over the successive seven-day periods ending on all dates from April 15 to May 3 , 2020 .
Ø High-definition Figures 1 and 2 are here .

By Christopher Monckton of Brenchley
This column does not constitute medical advice. Check with your doctor. Many nostrums are being recommended, with varying justification, to reduce the harm from the Chinese virus. Some, like hydroxychloroquine, have side-effects and should only be taken if prescribed; others, like remdesivir, work (if at all) only during the early stages of disease; others, like the BCG virus against TB, have not yet been subjected to clinical trials.
However, early studies showed an interesting result, which the Marxstream media lazily attributed to capitalism’s imagined failures: the darker your skin, the more your risk from the infection. In Britain, all of the first ten doctors to die from Covid-19 were dark-skinned.
The pandemic has struck most severely above 35°N (editorial in Aliment. Pharm. Therap., and Marik et al. 2020), just as flu tends to end as summer comes. When the skin is exposed to the sun, the body makes Vitamin D3 more efficiently than through diet: salmon, tuna, mackerel, milk, some cereals, mushrooms and eggs all contain Vitamin D.
Vitamin D, used by the body to absorb calcium and grow bones, increases the production of antiviral proteins and decreases cytokines, the immune molecules known to cause a storm of dangerous inflammation, particularly in Chinese-virus patients. A shortage is linked to rickets, cancers, heart disease and weight gain. It is efficacious against many diseases:
Vitamin D deficiency is common not only in dark-skinned people, whose pigment blocks sunlight, but also in obese people, where the vitamin gets sequestered in fat cells; in those with Type 2 diabetes, where Vitamin D improves sensitivity to insulin; in the elderly, who avoid the sun and eat less; city dwellers, who see less of the sun; and men, who have lower Vitamin D levels than women in the winter. All of these groups are more likely to suffer severely if infected with the Chinese virus.
A recent study in Manchester found that average levels of vitamin D were 30% higher in summer than in winter and three times as high at all times in white people as in South Asians, who had less than a quarter of the 25 nanograms per milliliter that is regarded as sufficient.
Vitamin D3, in the form of gel tablets, is inexpensive and available without prescription, There are very few side-effects. A daily dose of 1000-4000 international units (25-100 micrograms) will maintain a sufficient Vitamin D level in most patients. The lower dosage is suitable for whites; darker-skinned people may need higher doses.
As already reported in this series, deficiency of Vitamin D3 is a long-proven risk factor for respiratory infections. The Chinese virus chiefly attacks the lungs. As Martineau et al. (BMJ 2017) showed in a meta-analysis of clinical trials involving more than 10,500 patients, rectifying Vitamin D3 deficiency reduces the risk of respiratory infection by 70%.
Recently, several commenters, notably William Astley and my good friend Dr Pat Frank, have provided additional evidence touching upon the efficacy of Vitamin D3 in keeping the pandemic at bay. Here is a summary.
Vitamin D supplementation could possibly improve clinical outcomes of patients infected with COVID-19, a preprint by Dr Mark Alipio of Davao Doctors’ College, Philippines (https://ssrn.com/abstract=3571484), reports retrospectively on 212 Chinese-virus cases. The Vitamin D level was found to be lowest in critical cases and highest in mild cases. Most of those infected had Vitamin D deficiency.
For each standard-deviation increase in serum 25-hydroxy-Vitamin D, the risk of a severe outcome was reduced eightfold, and the risk of a critical outcome was reduced 20-fold.
My noble friend Lord Ridley, reporting this result in The Times a couple of days ago, wrote: “Of 49 patients with mild symptoms … only two had low levels of vitamin D; of 104 patients with critical or severe symptoms, only four did not have low levels of vitamin D.”
Several doctors wrote to the BMJ last week drawing attention to Dr Alipio’s results: “Vitamin D biology is a mature well-researched field, dating back 100 years. Doses, and risks, within clinical parameters, are established and well quantified. Governmental intake guidance exists. Vitamin D deficiency is a medically accepted condition, requiring treatment.” In Britain, one in five are deficient in Vitamin D, which is why Public Health England recommends that everyone should take supplementation during the lockdown.
Evidence that Vitamin D supplementation could reduce risk of influenza and COVID-19 infections and deaths (Grant et al., Nutrients, April 2, 2020) found that “through several mechanisms, vitamin D can reduce risk of infections. Those mechanisms include inducing cathelicidins and defensins that can lower viral replication rates and reducing concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines that produce the inflammation that injures the lining of the lungs, leading to pneumonia, as well as increasing concentrations of anti-inflammatory cytokines.”
The paper provided some interesting evidence that Vitamin D reduces Chinese-virus risk: “The outbreak occurred in winter, a time when 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are lowest; the number of cases in the Southern Hemisphere near the end of summer are low; that vitamin D deficiency has been found to contribute to acute respiratory distress syndrome; and that case-fatality rates increase with age and with chronic disease comorbidity, both of which are associated with lower 25(OH)D concentration.”
Interestingly, the paper recommends much higher dosages than usual: “To reduce the risk of infection, it is recommended that people at risk of influenza and/or COVID-19 consider taking 10,000 international units per day of vitamin D3 for a few weeks to rapidly raise 25(OH)D concentrations, followed by 5000 international units per day.”
The paper also recommends doubling what had been regarded as the minimum threshold concentration of Vitamin D in the blood: “… raise 25(OH)D concentrations above 40-60 nanograms per millilitre (100-150 nanomoles per liter). For treatment of people who become infected with COVID-19, higher vitamin D3 doses might be useful.”
Patterns of COVID-19 Mortality and Vitamin D: An Indonesian Study (Rahasurun et al., April 26, 2020: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3585561) looked at 780 patients. “… the majority of the death cases were male and older and had pre-existing conditions and below-normal Vitamin D serum levels … with increasing odds of death. When controlling for age, sex, and comorbidity, Vitamin D status is strongly associated with COVID-19 mortality outcome …”
Vitamin D insufficiency is prevalent in severe COVID-19 (Lau et al., doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.24.20075838) found that 11 of 13 intensive-care patients were deficient in Vitamin D, compared with only 4 of 7 not requiring intensive care. All Chinese-virus patients under 75 had Vitamin D deficiency.
Prevalence and correlates of Vitamin D deficiency in U.S. adults (Forrest & Stuhldreher, Nutr. Res., January 2011) studied almost 5000 patients and found that 42% were deficient in Vitamin D, but that 69% of Hispanics and 82% of black patients were deficient. “Vitamin D deficiency was significantly more common among those who had no college education, were obese, with a poor health status, hypertension, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, or not consuming milk daily.”
Order now while stocks last. Some weeks ago, my lovely wife ordered a year’s supply from the United States, which never came. She ordered it from the UK instead and, at a small cost, now has enough to see her through until this time next year. I have been taking a 1000 IU (25 microgram) Vitamin D supplement every day for some years, and have had not so much as a sniffle in all that time.
Today’s charts show Sweden’s case-growth rate at zero for the first time, in line with the mean growth rate for the world excluding China and occupied Tibet. Aside from Canada, estimated active cases are declining in all the countries we are following.
Fig. 1. Mean compound daily growth rates in estimated active cases of COVID-19 for the world excluding China (red) and for several individual nations averaged over the successive seven-day periods ending on all dates from April 8 to May 3, 2020.
Fig. 2. Mean compound daily growth rates in cumulative COVID-19 deaths for the world excluding China (red) and for several individual nations averaged over the successive seven-day periods ending on all dates from April 15 to May 3, 2020.
Ø High-definition Figures 1 and 2 are here.


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-05-04--The stroke virus? Covid causes hundreds of microclots throughout the lungs (and everywhere else)

Could a mass clotting event explain the excess death rate , the hypoxia , the delirium Stories are now appearing of a few youngish people losing fingers , toes or even getting a leg amputated .
And strokes have been seen in some as young as 30 .
Coronavirus , it seems , doesn ’ t just cause blood clotting , it causes the large and small sort , arterial ones , venous ones , and now microclots , and many of them all through the lungs and other tissues .
This might explain the hypoxia , and also the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while strokes in 33 year olds are still very rare ( even in Coronavirus patients ) the clotting could be the factor that matters most in the lungs , and in mortality .
This also might explain why ventilators are not working too well .
Ventilators are useful for “ wet lung pnumonia ” because they help use pressure to push fluid out of the lungs .
But if the problem is massive clotting , the ventilators that everyone worked so hard to get might be the wrong solution .
It also suggests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lookout for stroke type symptoms , and drinking plenty of water and keep moving around .

Could a mass clotting event explain the excess death rate, the hypoxia, the delirium
Stories are now appearing of a few youngish people losing fingers, toes or even getting a leg amputated. And strokes have been seen in some as young as 30. Coronavirus, it seems, doesn’t just cause blood clotting, it causes the large and small sort, arterial ones, venous ones, and now microclots, and many of them all through the lungs and other tissues. This might explain the hypoxia, and also the other cases of organ failure. And while strokes in 33 year olds are still very rare (even in Coronavirus patients) the clotting could be the factor that matters most in the lungs, and in mortality.
This also might explain why ventilators are not working too well. Ventilators are useful for “wet lung pnumonia” because they help use pressure to push fluid out of the lungs. But if the problem is massive clotting, the ventilators that everyone worked so hard to get might be the wrong solution.
It also suggests people in Covid-zones should be on the lookout for stroke type symptoms, and drinking plenty of water and keep moving around.
Mysterious blood clots are COVID-19′s latest […]
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via JoNova
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May 4, 2020 at 01:18PM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-05-04--“Woke” Capitalists High on ESG

“Woke” Capitalists High on ESG

Rupert Darwall writes at The Hill BlackRock ’ s choice : Investment fiduciary or political activist ?
Excerpts in italics with my bolds .
Something more disruptive and longer lasting than COVID-19 is at work in BlackRock ’ s New York offices — and its implications may well extend beyond one financial firm and its shareholders .
Astonishingly , BlackRock now threatens to vote against directors who don ’ t incorporate its views on environmental and social issues , the “ E ” and the “ S ” in ESG social-investing criteria .
( The “ G ” stands for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will take a “ harsh view ” of companies that fail to provide it with the hard data it demands , even though Fink himself tells corporate CEOs that such reporting requires “ significant time , analysis and effort.
” And it proposes to make good on its threat by aligning its proxy vote with single-issue activist campaigners when it judges a company is not effectively dealing with an issue it deems “ material ” or might not be dealing with ESG issues “ appropriately.
” Unsurprisingly , BlackRock camouflages this shift with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ customers — American savers and investors .
“ BlackRock ’ s primary concern is the best long-term economic interest of shareholders , ” its investment stewardship guidelines state .
“ We do not see it as our role to make social , ethical , or political judgments on behalf of clients.
” It ’ s hard keeping up the pretense , though — and sometimes the mask slips .
The goal can not be transparency for transparency ’ s sake , Fink says : “ Disclosure should be a means to achieving a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ must commit to serving all their stakeholders and embrace purpose , as distinct from profit .
This goal is nothing if not controversial .
It also is inherently political .
In their critique of the Business Roundtable ’ s recent adoption of such stakeholder capitalism , former Secretary of State George Shultz and his coauthors suggest that the demotion of profit and shareholder accountability should be seen as a response to a resurgence of a socialist impulse in American politics ; it will result in decisions that sacrifice shareholder value and is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In a March 2020 working paper , “ The Illusory Promise of Stakeholder Governance , ” Harvard Law School ’ s Lucian Bebchuk and Roberto Tallarita conclude that the stakeholderism advocated by the Business Roundtable and BlackRock should be viewed “ largely as a PR move.
” Yet , what may have started out as a sham , pain-free PR exercise to signal E & S virtue has morphed into something of a monster , with real-world consequences for BlackRock , the companies it invests in , its customers and for society @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the demarcation between the rightful domains of democratic politics and business .
BlackRock ’ s contention that its stewardship engagement is not about making political judgments on behalf of its clients falls apart when it comes to climate , reflecting its capitulation to shareholder activists .
At a minimum , BlackRock is imposing its political judgment on companies about climate regulation that future presidents and future Congresses might or might not enact .
Given the tortured political and judicial history of attempted climate legislation and regulation in the U.S. , this is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In fact , BlackRock goes much further .
In January , BlackRock joined Climate Action 100+ ( the clue ’ s in the name ) to press companies to “ take necessary action on climate change , ” a formulation that dispenses with any pretense that BlackRock is doing anything but acting as a political activist with a $ 3 trillion equity portfolio .
Thus , BlackRock and its shareholder activists are using corporate governance statutes to usurp regulatory functions that properly belong to government .
Whatever BlackRock ’ s motives in allowing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – expediency , political benefit or poor judgment – the outcome is that BlackRock is subordinating its core responsibility as an investor fiduciary to political activism .
This incurs a double democratic deficit : The first is not formally soliciting its clients ’ permission to use their money to advance BlackRock ’ s new political agenda ; the second is bypassing the democratic process of electing officials to political positions to pass laws and appoint regulators .
Whatever one ’ s views on climate change and ESG in general , the means used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capitulation to them amount to an abuse of corporate governance structures put in place to protect shareholders and not intended to be a channel for political campaigning by other means .
Addendum from the Financial Times Under draft proposals for the EU ’ s sustainable disclosure regime , the European authorities responsible for banking , insurance and securities markets define fossil fuels as only applying to “ solid ” energy sources such as coal and lignite .
This means asset managers and other financial groups would have to follow tougher disclosure requirements for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and gas company exposure .
The huge rise in popularity of ESG investing over the past decade has prompted regulators to take measures to confront the risk of greenwashing .
The latest EU proposals represent a significant watering down of its ambitious sustainable disclosure rules , which aim to give end investors clear information on the environmental , social and governance risks of their funds .
But critics also argue they risk undermining the EU ’ s commitment to becoming a world leader in sustainable finance , a key priority for the bloc @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recovery to creating a greener economy .

Rupert Darwall writes at The Hill BlackRock’s choice: Investment fiduciary or political activist? Excerpts in italics with my bolds.
Something more disruptive and longer lasting than COVID-19 is at work in BlackRock’s New York offices — and its implications may well extend beyond one financial firm and its shareholders.
Astonishingly, BlackRock now threatens to vote against directors who don’t incorporate its views on environmental and social issues, the “E” and the “S” in ESG social-investing criteria. (The “G” stands for “governance.”) BlackRock says it will take a “harsh view” of companies that fail to provide it with the hard data it demands, even though Fink himself tells corporate CEOs that such reporting requires “significant time, analysis and effort.” And it proposes to make good on its threat by aligning its proxy vote with single-issue activist campaigners when it judges a company is not effectively dealing with an issue it deems “material” or might not be dealing with ESG issues “appropriately.”
Unsurprisingly, BlackRock camouflages this shift with language about its fiduciary duty to its customers — American savers and investors. “BlackRock’s primary concern is the best long-term economic interest of shareholders,” its investment stewardship guidelines state. “We do not see it as our role to make social, ethical, or political judgments on behalf of clients.”
It’s hard keeping up the pretense, though — and sometimes the mask slips. The goal cannot be transparency for transparency’s sake, Fink says: “Disclosure should be a means to achieving a more sustainable and inclusive capitalism.” Companies must commit to serving all their stakeholders and embrace purpose, as distinct from profit. This goal is nothing if not controversial. It also is inherently political.
In their critique of the Business Roundtable’s recent adoption of such stakeholder capitalism, former Secretary of State George Shultz and his coauthors suggest that the demotion of profit and shareholder accountability should be seen as a response to a resurgence of a socialist impulse in American politics; it will result in decisions that sacrifice shareholder value and is a formula for endless legal wrangling and litigation. In a March 2020 working paper, “The Illusory Promise of Stakeholder Governance,” Harvard Law School’s Lucian Bebchuk and Roberto Tallarita conclude that the stakeholderism advocated by the Business Roundtable and BlackRock should be viewed “largely as a PR move.” Yet, what may have started out as a sham, pain-free PR exercise to signal E&S virtue has morphed into something of a monster, with real-world consequences for BlackRock, the companies it invests in, its customers and for society in general.
This raises the question of the demarcation between the rightful domains of democratic politics and business.
BlackRock’s contention that its stewardship engagement is not about making political judgments on behalf of its clients falls apart when it comes to climate, reflecting its capitulation to shareholder activists. At a minimum, BlackRock is imposing its political judgment on companies about climate regulation that future presidents and future Congresses might or might not enact. Given the tortured political and judicial history of attempted climate legislation and regulation in the U.S., this is an unusually difficult call to make.
In fact, BlackRock goes much further. In January, BlackRock joined Climate Action 100+ (the clue’s in the name) to press companies to “take necessary action on climate change,” a formulation that dispenses with any pretense that BlackRock is doing anything but acting as a political activist with a $3 trillion equity portfolio.
Thus, BlackRock and its shareholder activists are using corporate governance statutes to usurp regulatory functions that properly belong to government. Whatever BlackRock’s motives in allowing itself to be strong-armed by shareholder activists – expediency, political benefit or poor judgment – the outcome is that BlackRock is subordinating its core responsibility as an investor fiduciary to political activism.
This incurs a double democratic deficit: The first is not formally soliciting its clients’ permission to use their money to advance BlackRock’s new political agenda; the second is bypassing the democratic process of electing officials to political positions to pass laws and appoint regulators. Whatever one’s views on climate change and ESG in general, the means used by shareholder activists and BlackRock’s capitulation to them amount to an abuse of corporate governance structures put in place to protect shareholders and not intended to be a channel for political campaigning by other means.
Addendum from the Financial Times
Investors blast EU’s omission of oil from ESG disclosures
Under draft proposals for the EU’s sustainable disclosure regime, the European authorities responsible for banking, insurance and securities markets define fossil fuels as only applying to “solid” energy sources such as coal and lignite.
This means asset managers and other financial groups would have to follow tougher disclosure requirements for holdings in coal producers than for oil and gas company exposure.
The huge rise in popularity of ESG investing over the past decade has prompted regulators to take measures to confront the risk of greenwashing.
The latest EU proposals represent a significant watering down of its ambitious sustainable disclosure rules, which aim to give end investors clear information on the environmental, social and governance risks of their funds.
But critics also argue they risk undermining the EU’s commitment to becoming a world leader in sustainable finance, a key priority for the bloc as it seeks to tie the coronavirus recovery to creating a greener economy.
via Science Matters
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May 4, 2020 at 01:11PM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-05-04--Mark Jacobson and the Legalistic Scientific Method

There are a lot of analogies that can be drawn between science and law .
They both have their respective ( if not respectable ) practitioners , scientists and lawyers .
Scientists present their work to scientific journals , where it is evaluated , usually with a process called peer review , and hopefully becomes science .
Peer review is not the only method for evaluation .
It can also be based on recommendations and reputations .
Nobel prize winning physicist , Luis Alvarez ( Richard Muller ’ s mentor ) , actually preferred it that way .
Lawyers represent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either to a judge for arbitration or to their own lowbrow form of peer review : trial by jury .
Neither science nor legal judgments are immune from further evaluation .
Science is subject to falsification .
Legal judgments are subject to appeals , higher courts and ultimately , voters ( even Coup d ’ état , annexation or revolution ) .
Scientists make hypotheses and use the previously published science to make predictions and design experiments that will yield predicted results .
A lawyer will try to argue that the current body @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s case .
Currently , science has a lot of prestige .
Everybody likes to talk about how pro-science they are .
Lawyers , however , are thought of as a necessary evil .
A good way to evaluate lawyers is to check their teeth to make sure they have extra rows of them .
It all boils down to : scientists demonstrate their hypotheses , while lawyers do whatever they can get away with to advance their client ’ s case .
If you can combine those two areas , you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zachary Jacobson is well poised to take advantage of this .
He is a Stanford professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences .
He is also an atmospheric computer modeler who has created his own models from scratch .
He ’ s written his own textbook , Fundamentals of Atmospheric Modeling .
You can use Google to find lots of sites like this , where you can read from it for free .
From my limited knowledge of the various topics , it looks very competent and comprehensive , even clear .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scientific papers on the subject , including some influential ones on black carbon .
He ’ s expressed concern about the air pollution caused by fossil fuels .
With his considerable cognitive physique and endurance , he has now taken on the world ’ s fossil fuel energy infrastructure .
He wants to replace all fossil fuels with wind , water and solar .
Also for some reason , he really has it in for nuclear power .
To accomplish his new goals he ’ s moved from the cut and dried discreteness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of economic projection .
His methods have shifted from the empirical and experimental to the rhetorical .
He ’ s sort of moved from science to public relations .
He cuts an impressive figure as a tall , lanky former professional tennis player .
He has just a trace of gawkiness to impart a vibe of Aspergers-like focus .
To a renewable energy advocate , he ’ s a dreamy public relations dream .
The skills for this new task tend to be more those of the lawyer than of the scientist .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ s attention when he published a plan to power the world completely on wind , water and solar in Scientific American .
Then he did a plan for the state of New York , which I often deride for having 387 100MW concentrating solar plants for that sunny state .
Then he did plans for all 50 states and 139 countries .
He had a TED debate with Stuart Brand over nuclear power that has almost 400,000 hits on YouTube : Then he did a paper for the prestigious Proceedings of the National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He ’ s attracted a following of celebrities and politicians , most notably Mark Ruffalo , Leonardo DeCaprio , Andrew Cuomo and Bernie Sanders .
If you read some of this work or watch the videos , you ’ ll see repeated use of the word “ clean ” , which seems a bit vague and subjective for use as a scientific adjective .
You ’ ll find “ low-cost ” sprinkled throughout a followup to his PNAS paper .
In the Letterman interview , you hear “ science based ” a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he describes links to three of his papers as “ The scientific bases for all U.S. state laws and proposed laws to go to 100 % renewable , clean , 0-C , and/or 0-emissions & the # GreenNewDeal ” .
He ’ s known for pushing the arguments for his vision as far as he can , and maybe then some .
He ’ s famous for including smoke from an incinerated nuked city in his carbon footprint for nuclear power .
He seems blind to arguments from the other side .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I consider to be the biggest argument against his plans , namely his ridiculously absurd numerical results .
He even unwittingly tabulates them for us in nice tidy charts .
On page 112 of this paper ( it ’ s near the top—the PDF contains several paged collations ) , there ’ s a chart with a column titled “ Number of New Plants or Devices Needed for 139 Countries ” .
It shows the gargantuan numbers of wind turbines ( 1,580,000 onshore , 935,000 offshore ) , PV roofs ( 1,480,000,000 residential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plants ( 251,000 ) , utility CSP plants ( 21,000 ) and more .
There ’ s another column titled “ Percent Nameplate Capacity Already Installed 2015 ” that conspicuously draws attention to how much is NOT installed and will have to be in the 20 or so years that don ’ t give us enough time to install a few thousand nuclear plants .
Onshore wind is the only one of my examples to break single digits at 5.04 % .
Of course , being five years old , by now they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made by the examples shown in the movie , Planet of the Humans .
After Mark Jacobson started getting all this attention lavished on him and influencing energy policy , especially on the state level , other scientists started to take notice and give his work a critical look .
A group of fairly influential scientists under lead author Chris Clack wrote a response paper to Jacobson ’ s PNAS paper .
Jacobson was outraged and dialed things up from PR to legal action .
He filed what is probably one of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of American juris-imprudence .
The only person of note that I know of to support him was Brandon Shollenberger and he ’ s not all that notable .
He wrote a blog post that generated 565 comments .
He told me he thought some of Jacobson ’ s work sounded implausible .
He was defending the suit on some semantic argument way above my comprehension pay grade .
Jacobson later quietly dropped his suit .
He ’ s just been ordered to pay Chris Clack ’ s legal fees .
Robert Bryce broke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take it in stride and keep soldiering on .

There are a lot of analogies that can be drawn between science and law. They both have their respective (if not respectable) practitioners, scientists and lawyers. Scientists present their work to scientific journals, where it is evaluated, usually with a process called peer review, and hopefully becomes science. Peer review is not the only method for evaluation. It can also be based on recommendations and reputations. Nobel prize winning physicist, Luis Alvarez (Richard Muller’s mentor), actually preferred it that way. Lawyers represent their client and make their case, either to a judge for arbitration or to their own lowbrow form of peer review: trial by jury. Neither science nor legal judgments are immune from further evaluation. Science is subject to falsification. Legal judgments are subject to appeals, higher courts and ultimately, voters (even Coup d’état, annexation or revolution).
Scientists make hypotheses and use the previously published science to make predictions and design experiments that will yield predicted results. A lawyer will try to argue that the current body of law and precedent supports his client’s case. Currently, science has a lot of prestige. Everybody likes to talk about how pro-science they are. Lawyers, however, are thought of as a necessary evil. A good way to evaluate lawyers is to check their teeth to make sure they have extra rows of them. It all boils down to: scientists demonstrate their hypotheses, while lawyers do whatever they can get away with to advance their client’s case. If you can combine those two areas, you have something pretty powerful.
Dr. Mark Zachary Jacobson is well poised to take advantage of this. He is a Stanford professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences. He is also an atmospheric computer modeler who has created his own models from scratch. He’s written his own textbook, Fundamentals of Atmospheric Modeling. You can use Google to find lots of sites like this, where you can read from it for free. From my limited knowledge of the various topics, it looks very competent and comprehensive, even clear. He’s written an impressive amount of scientific papers on the subject, including some influential ones on black carbon. He’s expressed concern about the air pollution caused by fossil fuels.
With his considerable cognitive physique and endurance, he has now taken on the world’s fossil fuel energy infrastructure. He wants to replace all fossil fuels with wind, water and solar. Also for some reason, he really has it in for nuclear power. To accomplish his new goals he’s moved from the cut and dried discreteness of computer coding to the fuzzier realm of economic projection. His methods have shifted from the empirical and experimental to the rhetorical. He’s sort of moved from science to public relations. He cuts an impressive figure as a tall, lanky former professional tennis player. He has just a trace of gawkiness to impart a vibe of Aspergers-like focus. To a renewable energy advocate, he’s a dreamy public relations dream. The skills for this new task tend to be more those of the lawyer than of the scientist.
Jacobson first came to the public’s attention when he published a plan to power the world completely on wind, water and solar in Scientific American. Then he did a plan for the state of New York, which I often deride for having 387 100MW concentrating solar plants for that sunny state. Then he did plans for all 50 states and 139 countries. He had a TED debate with Stuart Brand over nuclear power that has almost 400,000 hits on YouTube:
He appeared on Letterman:
Then he did a paper for the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that started winning awards. He’s attracted a following of celebrities and politicians, most notably Mark Ruffalo, Leonardo DeCaprio, Andrew Cuomo and Bernie Sanders.
If you read some of this work or watch the videos, you’ll see repeated use of the word “clean”, which seems a bit vague and subjective for use as a scientific adjective. You’ll find “low-cost” sprinkled throughout a followup to his PNAS paper. In the Letterman interview, you hear “science based” a lot. In his pinned tweet, he describes links to three of his papers as “The scientific bases for all U.S. state laws and proposed laws to go to 100% renewable, clean, 0-C, and/or 0-emissions & the #GreenNewDeal”.
He’s known for pushing the arguments for his vision as far as he can, and maybe then some. He’s famous for including smoke from an incinerated nuked city in his carbon footprint for nuclear power. He seems blind to arguments from the other side. In fact he seems particularly blind to what I consider to be the biggest argument against his plans, namely his ridiculously absurd numerical results. He even unwittingly tabulates them for us in nice tidy charts. On page 112 of this paper (it’s near the top—the PDF contains several paged collations), there’s a chart with a column titled “Number of New Plants or Devices Needed for 139 Countries”. It shows the gargantuan numbers of wind turbines (1,580,000 onshore, 935,000 offshore), PV roofs (1,480,000,000 residential, 75.000,000 commercial), solar PV plants (251,000), utility CSP plants (21,000) and more. There’s another column titled “Percent Nameplate Capacity Already Installed 2015” that conspicuously draws attention to how much is NOT installed and will have to be in the 20 or so years that don’t give us enough time to install a few thousand nuclear plants. Onshore wind is the only one of my examples to break single digits at 5.04%. Of course, being five years old, by now they should have shared in half of advances made by the examples shown in the movie, Planet of the Humans.
After Mark Jacobson started getting all this attention lavished on him and influencing energy policy, especially on the state level, other scientists started to take notice and give his work a critical look. A group of fairly influential scientists under lead author Chris Clack wrote a response paper to Jacobson’s PNAS paper. Jacobson was outraged and dialed things up from PR to legal action. He filed what is probably one of the dumbest lawsuits ever attempted in the history of American juris-imprudence. The only person of note that I know of to support him was Brandon Shollenberger and he’s not all that notable. He wrote a blog post that generated 565 comments. He told me he thought some of Jacobson’s work sounded implausible. He was defending the suit on some semantic argument way above my comprehension pay grade.
Jacobson later quietly dropped his suit. He’s just been ordered to pay Chris Clack’s legal fees. Robert Bryce broke the story here. I expect Jacobson to take it in stride and keep soldiering on.


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-05-04--Extinction Rebellion’s plot to ‘sabotage the economy’-David Rose

Extinction Rebellion wants activists to stage rent strikes , halt tax payments and take out bank loans they never intend @ @ @ @ @ an economic system they claim is fuelling a climate catastrophe .
Internal documents obtained by @ @ @ @ @ out plans for a ‘ Money Rebellion ’ involving acts of financial sabotage to ‘ @ @ @ @ @ that govern our national and global economies ’ .
Despite dire warnings that the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ its worst recession for 300 years , the dossier details how the group – also @ @ @ @ @ to launch a rent strike later this month .
It seeks to legitimise the protest @ @ @ @ @ economic system is causing cancer in our planet ’ .
It adds : ‘ We @ @ @ @ @ Some of us will legally dispute debts , others will refuse to pay debts.
’ @ @ @ @ @ needed , that XR are only interested in one thing – destroying our economic system @ @ @ @ @ via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood
Good exposure from David Rose:
Extinction Rebellion wants activists to stage rent strikes, halt tax payments and take out bank loans they never intend to repay in protest at an economic system they claim is fuelling a climate catastrophe.
Internal documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday set out plans for a ‘Money Rebellion’ involving acts of financial sabotage to ‘directly challenge the fundamental principles that govern our national and global economies’.
Despite dire warnings that the coronavirus pandemic has plunged Britain into its worst recession for 300 years, the dossier details how the group – also known as XR – wants to launch a rent strike later this month.
It seeks to legitimise the protest by arguing that ‘our economic system is causing cancer in our planet’. It adds: ‘We will resist irresponsible lenders. Some of us will legally dispute debts, others will refuse to pay debts.’
Full story here.
Proof, if it was needed, that XR are only interested in one thing – destroying our economic system as we know it.
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
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May 4, 2020 at 12:09PM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-05-04--Claim: Dengue Spreading in South America Because Climate Change

“ The New Humanitarian ” claims global warming has caused deadly rise in Dengue Fever cases in South America ; but they admit mosquito spraying programme cutbacks might have played a role .
Is global warming driving the spread of dengue across Latin America ?
In 1970 , the tropical disease was only a danger in nine countries .
Now , it afflicts over 100. International scientists have for years warned that climate change is likely to lead to an increase in epidemics caused by pathogens and viruses .
While there ’ s no evidence to link the COVID-19 pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of dengue fever in Latin America are currently adding credence to the theory .
Just as the novel coronavirus takes hold in the region , severe dengue epidemics are already raging in Peru , Colombia , Bolivia , Brazil , Nicaragua , and Venezuela .
And Honduras experienced a record-setting outbreak that finally slowed late last year .
Adding to the concern is the fact that South America is experiencing dengue in temperate mountainous regions of the Andes that have no previous history of the once-tropical disease .
Scientists say global warming is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Simón Hasbun , a doctor in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula who was part of the effort to address the dengue epidemic , described a public health system in a state of near collapse after years of government neglect and corruption .
Hasbun said doctors were woefully ill-equipped to battle an epidemic .
“ In my town , the local government stopped fumigating for mosquitoes .
They still sent the fumigation trucks out empty to make it look like they were addressing the problem , but they weren ’ t spraying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ show !
” “ And now we are confronting coronavirus , ” she added .
“ No one is prepared for this.
” The WHO and the IPCC have been warning for years that climate change is altering the global distribution of species – such as mosquitoes – that serve as vectors for infectious diseases .
Should South America build more wind turbines ?
Or should they make more effort to kill mosquitoes ?
Even the Guardian once admitted that killing mosquitos might be the solution to controlling mosquito borne disease .
DDT @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has saved millions of lives Malaria , a scourge of much of the developing world , kills some 2.7m people every year , most of them children under five and pregnant women , while up to 500m become ill , can not work and need care .
A few decades ago , world health specialists talked of eradicating malaria .
Now they talk only of trying to regain control .
Malaria is endemic in more than half the world ’ s countries .
In the time it takes to name the disease , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fighting for their lives .
One child in four who dies in Africa has succumbed to malaria .
DDT has a bad name .
It is a pesticide that damages the environment and has been widely used in agriculture .
Since Rachel Carson exposed its depredations in her book Silent Spring in 1962 , environmentalists have campaigned to curb its use .
In the west they have been successful .
Advertisement But in the developing world it has saved millions of lives .
Sprayed inside houses , it kills or more often repels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and it is cheap .
Specialists argue that it does not migrate out of doors , and if we lose it through a global ban in 2007 millions who could have been protected will die .
Unusually warm wet weather undoubtably helps mosquitoes , but mosquito borne diseases don ’ t need global warming to thrive .
In the the Little Ice Age , one of the deadliest threats to public health in Northern Europe was Malaria .
Endemic northern malaria reached 68°N latitude in Europe during the 19th century , where the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the lower limit needed for sporogony of Plasmodium vivax .
Because of the available historical material and little use of quinine , Finland was suitable for an analysis of endemic malaria and temperature .
South America might choose to fight Dengue epidemics by focussing more resources on combatting global warming , but I can ’ t help thinking that ensuring mosquito spraying programmes are in order might help .
And perhaps a little DDT spraying , at least in the worst afflicted regions .

Guest essay by Eric Worrall
“The New Humanitarian” claims global warming has caused deadly rise in Dengue Fever cases in South America; but they admit mosquito spraying programme cutbacks might have played a role.
27 April 2020 Is global warming driving the spread of dengue across Latin America? In 1970, the tropical disease was only a danger in nine countries. Now, it afflicts over 100. International scientists have for years warned that climate change is likely to lead to an increase in epidemics caused by pathogens and viruses. While there’s no evidence to link the COVID-19 pandemic to global warming, major ongoing outbreaks of dengue fever in Latin America are currently adding credence to the theory. … Just as the novel coronavirus takes hold in the region, severe dengue epidemics are already raging in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. And Honduras experienced a record-setting outbreak that finally slowed late last year. Adding to the concern is the fact that South America is experiencing dengue in temperate mountainous regions of the Andes that have no previous history of the once-tropical disease. Scientists say global warming is one of the main drivers. … Jihan Simón Hasbun, a doctor in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula who was part of the effort to address the dengue epidemic, described a public health system in a state of near collapse after years of government neglect and corruption. … Hasbun said doctors were woefully ill-equipped to battle an epidemic. “In my town, the local government stopped fumigating for mosquitoes. They still sent the fumigation trucks out empty to make it look like they were addressing the problem, but they weren’t spraying anything. It was all just a show!” “And now we are confronting coronavirus,” she added. “No one is prepared for this.” The WHO and the IPCC have been warning for years that climate change is altering the global distribution of species – such as mosquitoes – that serve as vectors for infectious diseases. … Read more: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2020/04/27/dengue-fever-latin-america-climate-change
Should South America build more wind turbines? Or should they make more effort to kill mosquitoes?
Even the Guardian once admitted that killing mosquitos might be the solution to controlling mosquito borne disease.
DDT row: Pesticide that damages the environment has saved millions of lives Sarah Boseley, Health Correspondent Mon 30 Aug 1999 10.56 AEST Malaria, a scourge of much of the developing world, kills some 2.7m people every year, most of them children under five and pregnant women, while up to 500m become ill, cannot work and need care. A few decades ago, world health specialists talked of eradicating malaria. Now they talk only of trying to regain control. Malaria is endemic in more than half the world’s countries. In the time it takes to name the disease, 10 children will contract it and begin fighting for their lives. One child in four who dies in Africa has succumbed to malaria. DDT has a bad name. It is a pesticide that damages the environment and has been widely used in agriculture. Since Rachel Carson exposed its depredations in her book Silent Spring in 1962, environmentalists have campaigned to curb its use. In the west they have been successful. Advertisement But in the developing world it has saved millions of lives. Sprayed inside houses, it kills or more often repels the mosquitoes whose bite transmits malaria, and it is cheap. Specialists argue that it does not migrate out of doors, and if we lose it through a global ban in 2007 millions who could have been protected will die. … Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/aug/30/sarahboseley
Unusually warm wet weather undoubtably helps mosquitoes, but mosquito borne diseases don’t need global warming to thrive.
In the the Little Ice Age, one of the deadliest threats to public health in Northern Europe was Malaria.
Endemic malaria: an ‘indoor’ disease in northern Europe. Historical data analysed Lena Huldén, Larry Huldén & Kari Heliövaara Malaria Journal volume 4, Article number: 19 (2005) Cite this article Abstract Background Endemic northern malaria reached 68°N latitude in Europe during the 19th century, where the summer mean temperature only irregularly exceeded 16°C, the lower limit needed for sporogony of Plasmodium vivax. Because of the available historical material and little use of quinine, Finland was suitable for an analysis of endemic malaria and temperature. … Read more: https://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2875-4-19
South America might choose to fight Dengue epidemics by focussing more resources on combatting global warming, but I can’t help thinking that ensuring mosquito spraying programmes are in order might help. And perhaps a little DDT spraying, at least in the worst afflicted regions.


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-05-04--Subsidising Renewables Is Not The Way To Boost The UK Economy

Thanks to pro-renewable policies , electricity prices have doubled since 2002 .
The idea that ‘ green jobs ’ justifies a certain energy policy is not serious economics .
Making UK energy even more expensive will not create jobs , it will destroy them .
As we start to glimpse a chink of light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel , thoughts are starting to turn to the economic crisis that is now upon us , and a recovery plan that will deliver quickly .
One idea was put forward on this site a few days ago .
Sam @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Environment Network , says that renewables are cheap , and getting cheaper , and that the way to bring about recovery is therefore to keep building windfarms just as fast as we possibly can .
He cites in his support a recent report by the trade body for the global renewables industry , IRENA , which claims that there are big economic gains to be had by buying from their members .
The benefits , they say , will far outweigh the costs .
It is easy enough to dismiss these claims in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that , wouldn ’ t they ?
But it is worth looking at the claims in more detail .
We have been pointing out for some years that hard data shows that offshore windfarms in the UK are only achieving small cost reductions and only rather slowly .
A recent academic review of the accounts of UK offshore windfarms confirmed this , finding that the costs are still many times those of gas-fired power stations , even without considering the costs of dealing with their intermittent output and getting the electricity to where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ similar data shows that operating costs for onshore and offshore wind farms are increasing at 3–5 % per year in real terms , which means that they will be uneconomic once the generous prices guaranteed under the Contracts for Difference regime expire .
Hall is keen on what he calls the “ promising ” technology of floating offshore turbines , but the harsh reality is that they have much higher capital and operating costs .
He also raises the spectre of peak oil as another reason why our future should be renewables-driven .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to run out of oil in a world that is awash with it does not hold water .
Moreover , it is gas that is the chief competitor to renewables , both for electricity generation and for heating .
Gas is abundant , cheap and has low carbon emissions .
And with gas prices having fallen , the effective subsidy to renewables has become even more pronounced .
It ’ s small wonder then that the government has tried to “ socialise ” ( for which , read “ hide ” ) many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the grid .
To take a very recent example : SSE has just been given permission to build a subsea interconnector from Shetland to the mainland costing over £600 million .
This is solely for the benefit of a large wind project in Shetland .
Once built , the capital and operating costs of the link will be pooled with all transmission costs and charged to consumers in , say , Oxford and Southampton , who will gain nothing from it .
This is pure subsidy to a Scottish project paid by English @ @ @ @ @ @ @ electricity prices , which have doubled since green policies started to be introduced in 2002 , will continue to rise inexorably .
This , it is fair to say , is not a recipe for a rapid recovery from the virus .
In fact it is a clear plan for long-term decline .
The post Subsidising Renewables Is Not The Way To Boost The UK Economy appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum ( GWPF ) .

Thanks to pro-renewable policies, electricity prices have doubled since 2002. The idea that ‘green jobs’ justifies a certain energy policy is not serious economics. Making UK energy even more expensive will not create jobs, it will destroy them.
As we start to glimpse a chink of light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel, thoughts are starting to turn to the economic crisis that is now upon us, and a recovery plan that will deliver quickly.
One idea was put forward on this site a few days ago. Sam Hall, the director of the Conservative Environment Network, says that renewables are cheap, and getting cheaper, and that the way to bring about recovery is therefore to keep building windfarms just as fast as we possibly can. He cites in his support a recent report by the trade body for the global renewables industry, IRENA, which claims that there are big economic gains to be had by buying from their members. The benefits, they say, will far outweigh the costs.
It is easy enough to dismiss these claims in Mandy Rice-Davies style: they would say that, wouldn’t they? But it is worth looking at the claims in more detail.
We have been pointing out for some years that hard data shows that offshore windfarms in the UK are only achieving small cost reductions and only rather slowly. A recent academic review of the accounts of UK offshore windfarms confirmed this, finding that the costs are still many times those of gas-fired power stations, even without considering the costs of dealing with their intermittent output and getting the electricity to where it is needed.
Further work using similar data shows that operating costs for onshore and offshore wind farms are increasing at 3–5% per year in real terms, which means that they will be uneconomic once the generous prices guaranteed under the Contracts for Difference regime expire. Hall is keen on what he calls the “promising” technology of floating offshore turbines, but the harsh reality is that they have much higher capital and operating costs.
He also raises the spectre of peak oil as another reason why our future should be renewables-driven. But the insinuation that we are going to run out of oil in a world that is awash with it does not hold water. Moreover, it is gas that is the chief competitor to renewables, both for electricity generation and for heating. Gas is abundant, cheap and has low carbon emissions. And with gas prices having fallen, the effective subsidy to renewables has become even more pronounced.
It’s small wonder then that the government has tried to “socialise” (for which, read “hide”) many of the costs that renewables impose on the grid. To take a very recent example: SSE has just been given permission to build a subsea interconnector from Shetland to the mainland costing over £600 million. This is solely for the benefit of a large wind project in Shetland. Once built, the capital and operating costs of the link will be pooled with all transmission costs and charged to consumers in, say, Oxford and Southampton, who will gain nothing from it. This is pure subsidy to a Scottish project paid by English electricity users.
All this means that electricity prices, which have doubled since green policies started to be introduced in 2002, will continue to rise inexorably. This, it is fair to say, is not a recipe for a rapid recovery from the virus. In fact it is a clear plan for long-term decline.
The post Subsidising Renewables Is Not The Way To Boost The UK Economy appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF).
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May 4, 2020 at 10:03AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-05-04--Global Warming Solved! Scientists Find Reforestation Can Cool The Surface By 2-6°C Relative To Grass

Global Warming Solved! Scientists Find Reforestation Can Cool The Surface By 2-6°C Relative To Grassland Area

Reforestation removes CO2 from the atmosphere .
Reforestation substantially cools the Earth ’ s land surfaces .
Therefore , reforestation offers a “ meaningful opportunity for local climate mitigation and adaptation ” .
So why are we focused on CO2 mitigation via reduction in fossil fuel use ?
A few months ago NoTricksZone featured a new study that determined global warming can be reversed via land cover changes .
Forest losses can warm local temperatures by as much as 1°C within 10 years ( Alkama and Cescatti , 2016 ) .
Huang et al.
, 2020 found the opposite can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to forest and tree cover , cooling ensues .
And with a growing percentage of European forested areas returning , a “ predominant regional biophysical cooling ” with “ an average temperature change of −0.12 ± 0.20 °C , with widespread cooling ( up to −1.0 °C ) in western and central Europe in summer and spring ” has swept across Europe due to land cover changes in recent decades .
Another new study finds reforestation may cool the local surface climate by up to 6°C Now , results from another new study @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suggest reforestation can mitigate “ deleterious effects of climate warming ” as it dramatically cools surface temperatures .
Cooling from reforestation can reach magnitudes of 2-3°C for the air above the surface and 4-6°C for surface climate .
Further , as has been reported here recently , forest expansion substantially expands the Earth carbon sink and removes CO2 from the atmosphere such that future forest expansion , or greening , could offset 17 years of equivalent human CO2 emissions by 2100 .
This easily supersedes the effect of Paris Agreement CO2 mitigation policies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emissions mitigation could far more easily and inexpensively be achieved by focusing on reforestation rather than fossil fuel reduction policies .

Reforestation removes CO2 from the atmosphere. Reforestation substantially cools the Earth’s land surfaces. Therefore, reforestation offers a “meaningful opportunity for local climate mitigation and adaptation”. So why are we focused on CO2 mitigation via reduction in fossil fuel use?
Cooling the surface via reforestation
A few months ago NoTricksZone featured a new study that determined global warming can be reversed via land cover changes. Forest losses can warm local temperatures by as much as 1°C within 10 years (Alkama and Cescatti, 2016).
Huang et al., 2020 found the opposite can occur too. When a region returns to forest and tree cover, cooling ensues.
And with a growing percentage of European forested areas returning, a “predominant regional biophysical cooling” with “an average temperature change of −0.12 ± 0.20 °C, with widespread cooling (up to −1.0 °C) in western and central Europe in summer and spring” has swept across Europe due to land cover changes in recent decades.
Another new study finds reforestation may cool the local surface climate by up to 6°C
Now, results from another new study (Novick et al., 2020) suggest reforestation can mitigate “deleterious effects of climate warming” as it dramatically cools surface temperatures. Cooling from reforestation can reach magnitudes of 2-3°C for the air above the surface and 4-6°C for surface climate.
Further, as has been reported here recently, forest expansion substantially expands the Earth carbon sink and removes CO2 from the atmosphere such that future forest expansion, or greening, could offset 17 years of equivalent human CO2 emissions by 2100.
This easily supersedes the effect of Paris Agreement CO2 mitigation policies and suggests that global warming and CO2 emissions mitigation could far more easily and inexpensively be achieved by focusing on reforestation rather than fossil fuel reduction policies.
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May 4, 2020 at 09:44AM


iowaclimatescienceeducation--2020-05-04--Professor Deepak Lal Passes Away At 80

Professor Deepak Lal Passes Away At 80

Deepak Lal , one of the world ’ s leading economists and a founding member of the Global Warming Policy Foundation ( GWPF ) , passed away on April 30 .
Deepak Lal was deeply suspicious of governments and politicians .
That could have been one reason why he quit India ’ s foreign service in 1966 after just three years .
It was an inspired decision .
He would never have fitted into the bureaucracy , where brilliance is sneered at .
For five years , from about 2014 , whenever he was in India , he and I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ editorial meetings of this newspaper .
He would shuffle in with his walking stick , mask and , in the summer , his straw hat .
At first he would bring along his pipe but later on I think he gave up tobacco .
In these five years , I had just one grievance against him .
As the designated supplier of samosas , I took around 2,500 samosas to the meeting , at the rate of 10 per meeting over about 250 weeks .
He never took one , never , not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he didn ’ t touch the biscuits , either .
He was past his academic prime by then and had also developed fixed views on most things .
But this is better than those who develop fixed views in their forties .
It wasn ’ t such a bad thing in his case also because he was rarely wrong .
And , above all , he still knew his economic theory .
Most Indian economists have either forgotten it or never knew it to begin with .
Born in Lahore in 1940 and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ School , St Stephens and Oxford University , he drifted away to the US at the end of the 1980s .
Before that , he had taught in England .
He eventually became a professor of economics at UCLA .
His research interests were hugely varied and you could find the entire list on his webpage .
Not a lot of it was very influential in the mainstream economic thinking , but he did stick to his guns that always had two barrels — classicism and liberalism .
These two values defined the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he took a dim view of .
China was one of them .
He regarded its economic policies as bizarre .
In many articles in this paper as well as in other publications , he would praise its achievements and then go on to say these were not sustainable .
Human freedom is what makes for long-lived greatness , he believed , and the communist party ’ s lack of regard for them would hold China back .
The current dispensation in China was as much a source of annoyance for him as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US .
Stupid fellows , he said .
On Brexit he was a hawk which is not surprising , considering he was a member of the UK ’ s Shadow Chancellor ’ s advisory group for nine years from 2000 to 2009 .
The Labour Party was in power then .
He thought Britain would gain by opting out .
He said he had voted in 1975 , all bright eyed and bushy tailed , for Britain joining the common market .
But what “ I , along with many of my peers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Common Market , evolved into the EU ; we had been lied to by the Europhile political elites .
Whilst selling us a free-trading area they were in fact surreptitiously co-opting us in the creation of a political union , a United States of Europe : a state run by unelected technocrats.
” But it was not just China and the EU that annoyed him .
He was equally derisive of India .
The excessive focus on ‘ people ’ was all right for politics and politicians , he thought , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would quietly laugh at economists who batted persistently for redistribution without reference to its costs .
Many of Deepak Lal ’ s articles and columns on climate and energy can be found on the GWPF website The post Professor Deepak Lal Passes Away At 80 appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum ( GWPF ) .

Deepak Lal, one of the world’s leading economists and a founding member of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), passed away on April 30.
Deepak Lal was deeply suspicious of governments and politicians. That could have been one reason why he quit India’s foreign service in 1966 after just three years. It was an inspired decision. He would never have fitted into the bureaucracy, where brilliance is sneered at.
For five years, from about 2014, whenever he was in India, he and I sat in adjacent chairs at the weekly editorial meetings of this newspaper. He would shuffle in with his walking stick, mask and, in the summer, his straw hat. At first he would bring along his pipe but later on I think he gave up tobacco.
In these five years, I had just one grievance against him. As the designated supplier of samosas, I took around 2,500 samosas to the meeting, at the rate of 10 per meeting over about 250 weeks. He never took one, never, not once. In fairness, though, he didn’t touch the biscuits, either.
He was past his academic prime by then and had also developed fixed views on most things. But this is better than those who develop fixed views in their forties. It wasn’t such a bad thing in his case also because he was rarely wrong. And, above all, he still knew his economic theory. Most Indian economists have either forgotten it or never knew it to begin with.
Born in Lahore in 1940 and educated at the traditional triad of Doon School, St Stephens and Oxford University, he drifted away to the US at the end of the 1980s. Before that, he had taught in England. He eventually became a professor of economics at UCLA.
His research interests were hugely varied and you could find the entire list on his webpage. Not a lot of it was very influential in the mainstream economic thinking, but he did stick to his guns that always had two barrels — classicism and liberalism. These two values defined the man.
There were many things that he took a dim view of. China was one of them. He regarded its economic policies as bizarre. In many articles in this paper as well as in other publications, he would praise its achievements and then go on to say these were not sustainable. Human freedom is what makes for long-lived greatness, he believed, and the communist party’s lack of regard for them would hold China back. The current dispensation in China was as much a source of annoyance for him as was the current Democratic Party in the US. Stupid fellows, he said.
On Brexit he was a hawk which is not surprising, considering he was a member of the UK’s Shadow Chancellor’s advisory group for nine years from 2000 to 2009. The Labour Party was in power then. He thought Britain would gain by opting out.
He said he had voted in 1975, all bright eyed and bushy tailed, for Britain joining the common market. But what “I, along with many of my peers in 1975, came to see as the Common Market, evolved into the EU; we had been lied to by the Europhile political elites. Whilst selling us a free-trading area they were in fact surreptitiously co-opting us in the creation of a political union, a United States of Europe: a state run by unelected technocrats.”
But it was not just China and the EU that annoyed him. He was equally derisive of India. The excessive focus on ‘people’ was all right for politics and politicians, he thought, but not for economics and economists. He would quietly laugh at economists who batted persistently for redistribution without reference to its costs.
Many of Deepak Lal’s articles and columns on climate and energy can be found on the GWPF website
The post Professor Deepak Lal Passes Away At 80 appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF).
via The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF)
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May 4, 2020 at 09:33AM