climatedepot--2020-07-01--UN Warns of Devastating Environmental Side Effects of Electric Car Boom – Raw materials extraction h

UN Warns of Devastating Environmental Side Effects of Electric Car Boom – Raw materials extraction harms environment

The UN warns that the raw materials used to produce electric car batteries are highly concentrated in a small number of countries and their extraction and refinement pose a serious threat to the environment .
The U.N. trade body , UNCTAD , has issued a new report breaking down some of the unintended negative consequences of the shift , which include ecological degradation as well as human rights abuses .
The report notes that metals such as cobalt , lithium , manganese , copper , and minerals like graphite “ play a significant role in energy-related technologies such as rechargeable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of applications ranging from electronics to electric vehicles as well as in renewable energies such as nuclear , wind , and solar power.
” The United Nations ( U.N. ) announced Sunday the electric car boom will result in a number of devastating ecological side effects for the planet .
While the shift to electric cars reflects ongoing efforts to reduce the world ’ s dependence on fossil fuels , the UN warns that the raw materials used to produce electric car batteries are highly concentrated in a small number of countries and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threat to the environment .
The U.N. trade body , UNCTAD , has issued a new report breaking down some of the unintended negative consequences of the shift , which include ecological degradation as well as human rights abuses .
The report notes that metals such as cobalt , lithium , manganese , copper , and minerals like graphite “ play a significant role in energy-related technologies such as rechargeable batteries that are used in a variety of applications ranging from electronics to electric vehicles as well as in renewable energies such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Several of these raw materials are quite rare and have few or no substitutes and they come from specific areas of the globe .
More than half the world ’ s supply of lithium , for example , a key component of lithium-ion batteries , comes from beneath the salt flats in the Andean region of Chile , Bolivia , and Argentina .
The production of these raw materials “ is often associated with undesirable environmental footprints , poor human rights and worker protection , ” the report asserts .
In Chile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ uses nearly 65 % of the water in the country ’ s Salar de Atamaca region , one of the driest desert areas in the world , to pump out brines from drilled wells , ” the U.N. notes , because nearly 2 million liters of water are needed to produce a ton of lithium .
This has “ contributed to environment degradation , landscape damage and soil contamination , groundwater depletion and pollution , ” the U.N. states .
In its report , UNCTAD estimates that some 23 million electric cars will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a result the market for rechargeable car batteries is forecast to rise by over 700 percent in just four years , from its current level of $ 7 billion to $ 58 billion by 2024 .
Along with lithium , another key component of electric car batteries is cobalt , and two-thirds of all cobalt production happens in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC ) , The U.N. observes .
The U.N. Children ’ s Fund ( UNICEF ) reports that about 20 percent of cobalt supplied from the DRC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human rights abuses have been reported , and up to 40,000 children work in extremely dangerous conditions in the mines for meagre income.
” The U.N. also fears that cobalt-copper mines in DRC may contain sulphur minerals that contribute to Acid mine drainage ( AMD ) , a phenomenon that causes pollution or contamination of surface water , thereby increasing the toxicity of rivers and drinking water .
“ The environmental impacts of graphite mining are very similar to those associated with cobalt mining , ” the report adds .
Last December , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ School said that attempts to rein in global warming by driving electric cars were nothing other than “ pointless virtue signaling.
” “ It is absurd for middle-class citizens in advanced economies to tell themselves that eating less steak or commuting in a Toyota TM-0.18 % Prius will rein in rising temperatures , ” stated Bjørn Lomborg , the director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and author of The Skeptical Environmentalist .


climatedepot--2020-07-02--‘Too crazy’: Watch: Reformed climate activist Shellenberger condemns ‘terrorizing school children’ w

‘Too crazy’: Watch: Reformed climate activist Shellenberger condemns ‘terrorizing school children’ with false climate scares

Former climate activist Michael Shellenberger has condemned alarmists for “ terrorising school children ” with false claims that the world is about to end .
The life-long environmentalist has given Sky News host Chris Kenny a lengthy interview about his decision to speak out against the alarmist rhetoric which he says is creating anxiety in young people .
“ I have a 14-year-old daughter and she is fine because I ’ ve explained the science to her ( but ) her friends are very alarmed , ” he said .
“ Adolescents these days have a lot to worry about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everyone really , certainly adolescents , and I thought it was not right to be terrorizing school children and giving them false information.
” Shellenberger – who has been invited to be an expert reviewer to the UN ’ s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – maintains that climate change is occurring but says it is not a “ catastrophic threat ” .
He says the science has been hijacked by a “ handful ” of activist scientists who are spreading “ science fiction ” .
“ The majority of scientists are not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ handful of scientists who feel the need to terrify people , ” he said .
“ I don ’ t think this is really that complicated , we need to lift everybody out of poverty , and we need to do our best to preserve natural places and things have just spiraled out of control.
“ This climate change thing has just got too crazy.
” Shellenberger said he had noticed a “ dark tradition ” of anti-human rhetoric spilling from climate change activists , including views that humans were a “ cancer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ second half of the interview – which will air on Sky News Australia on the Kenny Report at 5pm on Thursday night – Shellenberger also weighs into whether climate change was a significant cause of the Australian bushfires .
“ Yes there is evidence of that , ” he said .
“ However , It is massively outweighed by two factors ; the accumulation of wood fuel in the forests and the development of new houses near forests.
“ Is there some contributing role of climate change ?
Yes .
Is it very @ @ @ @ @

Thank you for being patient. We are doing some work on the site and will be back shortly.


climatedepot--2020-07-02--Flashback 2019: Shellenberger uses science to debunk HBO’s ‘Chernobyl’

< br / > Michael Shellenberger takes us through HBO ’ s “ Chernobyl ” to explain the truth about @ @ @ @ @ clip to learn how people looking at their iPhones while walking or driving is responsible @ @ @ @ @ than the Chernobyl catastrophe .


climatedepot--2020-07-02--Energy For Africa Week: Climate Activist Aid Groups Accused Of Colonial Mentality

1 ) Energy For Africa Week : Aid Groups Accused Of Colonial Mentality The Zimbabwean , 30 June 2020 1 ) Energy For Africa Week : Aid Groups Accused Of Colonial Mentality The Zimbabwean , 30 June 2020 Dr Peiser said it was important for donors and the World Bank to support local solutions rather than imposing what he called “ a new form of colonialism ” .
Zimbabwe can set an example to the world in domestic power supply , according to the head of a London think tank .
Dr Benny Peiser who leads the Global Warming Policy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Lake Kariba in the 1950s — still the world ’ s largest dam — and the coal-fired power station at Hwange “ are cases where Africa looked after itself ” .
Dr Peiser was speaking on Monday 29 June at the start of the Energy for Africa week .
“ Zimbabwe is now in a dire state economically due to mismanagement and a terrible record on human rights , ” he said , “ but Kariba is still there and the power stations near the coal fields are being re-tooled.
” Dr @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for donors and the World Bank to support local solutions rather than imposing what he called “ a new form of colonialism ” .
“ More than 600 million Africans lack something so basic as electricity and yet we have donors denying funds for a power plant because it uses fossil fuel .
Imagine that in a country like Tanzania with four billion tons of coal in the ground.
” In recent years , Nigeria , Tanzania , Mozambique , Botswana and Zimbabwe have all voiced criticism of aid groups over what they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Electricity is a human right , ” Dr Peiser said .
“ We accept that in Europe , the US , Australia , but somehow Africans should get by on diesel generators , or fire wood when the winter cold sets in.
” He said clean technology for coal has seen countries like India and China using it increasingly to reduce air pollution .
The GWPF was established by Lord Nigel Lawson who in the 1980s served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in charge of Margaret Thatcher ’ s reboot of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right ) with Dr Benny Peiser of the GWPF Dr Peiser said the GWPF had no preference for solar , wind , hydro or fossil fuel , and that every country had a right to make its own choice .
“ There is a new colonialism just as oppressive as the original , ” he said .
“ Some in the environmental movement believe they can sit in London , New York or Paris with the comforts of modern life and dictate to Africa how they should generate power.
” The week-long focus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of videos and discussion papers on how to lift the supply of electricity across the continent .
Ethiopia has embarked on a dam-building project for hydro power while South Africa , Botswana and Zimbabwe get almost all their energy from coal .
Kenya and Uganda are installing solar plants in arid regions .
Dr Peiser said industry was “ all but impossible ” with electricity and this lay at the heart of unemployment .
“ The loss of hope that comes with poverty drives young people to join militia and even terror groups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drowning or being taking hostage in their desperate attempt to reach Europe.
” Wits University in Johannesburg has one of the world ’ s most advanced clean-coal laboratories .
“ If we can burn fossil fuel cleanly there is no reason not to use it , ” Dr Peiser said .
“ But that decision must be taken by sovereign states in Africa and Asia , and not be imposed from outside .
“ The colonial mentality of the World Bank and in the donor industry needs to end and it needs to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2 ) Eco-Colonialism In Africa GWPF TV , 30 June 2020 In the 2010s , the World Bank ended its financial support for developing economies ’ fossil fuel projects such as coal-fired power stations .
Click on the image above to watch the short video That decision was the result of pressure from green campaigns , which continue to lobby public institutions such as universities to divest from fossil fuels .
Green political campaigns have also targeted financial institutions , warning them that their investments could become ‘ stranded ’ by climate policies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political agenda and diverted international development and aid funds towards green energy projects .
But the consequences of these campaigns and decisions are not felt in the places where they are made .
They are felt thousands of miles away , where the need for energy and development is urgent .
The result of switching emphasis away from the cheapest , most abundant and most reliable forms of energy has been a vast opportunity cost .
Western demands for sustainability put limits on economic growth in the developing world , that would not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ economic and industrial development has been inhibited by the ‘ sustainability ’ agenda that has been imposed on them .
3 ) Geoff Hill : Heart Of Darkness & Energy Security GWPF , 30 June 2020 You could have knocked me over with a candle .
It was October 2017 and I was with a group of journalists quizzing US energy secretary Rick Perry on his first visit to Cape Town , when someone asked why Washington was spending billions on electricity plants in Africa .
I expected a politician ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a policy that cares about the less fortunate .
‘ It ’ s a security issue ’ , he said .
‘ Militia and terror groups are a magnet for young men without jobs , and if there ’ s no grid or power , you can ’ t industrialise ’ .
He rolled off the numbers .
More than 600 million Africans – half the population – are not on the grid .
America uses more electricity in a day than Ghana or Tanzania generate in a year.Investors are keen on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capacity keeps them away .
Perry comes across as someone who understands how tough life can be for some Americans and how much harder it is in the developing world .
He hasn ’ t always been a politician ; he served in the US Air Force , rising to the rank of captain , and flying humanitarianmissions to Africa and Central America .
He has a grasp of the world outside Washington .
In his youth he worked in many roles , including as a door-to-door salesman .
And he holds the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Texas where , he says , he was exposed to ‘ the anguish of unemployment and the hopelessness people feel when they can ’ t get a job ’ .
The border between Mexico and the US is more than 3000 kilometres long , and two-thirds of it lies in Texas .
As governor , Perry took a special interest in immigration .
The number of illegal crossings fell during his 12 years in office , but he insisted that poverty , poor governance and unemployment is what drove people to seek a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same problem when young people trek hundreds of miles through the Sahara Desert to try crossing the Mediterranean into Europe ’ , he said .
‘ Thousands have drowned , others made it , but many are deported .
I don ’ t believe we should vilify these exiles , butthe answer also doesn ’ t lie in moving them somewhere else .
Rather , we need to make their countries of origin a better place to live ’ .
These , he said , were issues of conscience .
Good things to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American aid and foreign policy is about : making a better world ’ .
I sensed a ‘ but ’ coming on : But I and the administration , along with Congress , we represent the American people .
So while we ’ re helping Africa , there has to be something for the tax-payers because it ’ s their money .
Bringing real levels of power to Africa , the kind we take for granted at home , is good for America because it helps us end the scourge of terror .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ economies stronger , so they have the buying power to trade with the US and boost American jobs .
After nearly four decades of reporting on Africa , I have heard a lot about aid , usually from two perspectives .
The first says it ’ s some kind of moral responsibility for rich countries to help the poor , and I get that .
The second points to billions spent across half a century with little to show .
So Mr Perry made sense to me .
Widening access toelectricity wasn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s right .
It was money on the ground with potential for both sides to reap a profit .
Left or Right , from Donald Trump to French President Emmanuel Macron or Sweden ’ s Stefan Löfven , there ’ s agreement that Africa has a problem with jobs .
From a poor city like Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Africa ’ s richest shopping zone at Sandton in Johannesburg – with the likes of Chanel and Gucci plying their trade – there are young people out of work , or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grades for English and algebra .
When it comes to unemployment , numbers are hard to find , and not because the state doesn ’ t come up with them .
The UN , World Bank , and most national governments have detailed charts on the workforce .
In South Africa , for example , the figure depends on whether you count part-time jobs , subsistence agriculture and those not looking for work .
Pretoria puts the jobless rate at around 25 % , most of them urban .
However , when polling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a job ?
’ , more than double that number say ‘ No ’ .
The difference lies in what ’ s known as the informal sector .
Across cities and towns , you ’ ll see people from their mid-teens to middle age sharpening knives or fixing tyres and exhausts along the roadside .
Others stand at traffic lights , holding fruit or a tangle of phone chargers .
Officially , they have jobs but , when polled , most say the opposite .
Vending , they say , is a way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work .
South Africa is the continent ’ s richest nation , with a GDP of close on $ 400 billion , so what chance for the Central African Republic , whose total economy is less than 2 % of that ?
Nothing will change there without access to electricity ; according to the World Bank , close on nine out of ten are not on the grid .
In many places , it ’ s about what engineers call , ‘ the last half mile ’ .
Electricity is there , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
With rapid urbanisation , slums and squatter camps spring up around cities .
People use paraffin stoves or make illegal connections to a pylon , resulting in the so-called ‘ shack fires ’ that kill thousands every year .
Rick Perry ’ s speech made headlines .
I wrote a front-page story for The Washington Times and , after the press event , he held meetings with African energy ministers to set his plan in place .
But he had one more rider .
‘ When people don ’ t have electricity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it comes from ’ , he said .
‘ In Texas , we ’ ve done wonders with wind power , and Africa has potential there , and especially for solar .
But on a continent rich in gas and coal , countries must have a right to use their own resources ’ .
America , he said , was there to help , ‘ not to dictate ’ .
He closed as he ’ d begun .
This was a security issue , reducing the pull of al-Shabaab , Boko Haram and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ industry to a continent out of work .
‘ More than anything , our power project is there to give people hope ’ , he said .
‘ Because , make no mistake , if we don ’ t , someone else will ’ You can read Geoff Hill ’ s full essay here


climatedepot--2020-07-02--Climate Crisis? What Climate Crisis? ‘A rebound in U.S. production, the world soybean crop will be a

Climate Crisis? What Climate Crisis? ‘A rebound in U.S. production, the world soybean crop will be a record 364 million tonnes in 2020/21, up 8%’

With a rebound in U.S. production , the world soybean crop will be a record 364 million tonnes in 2020/21 @ @ @ @ @ this season , said the International Grains Council on Thursday .
Record-setting corn and wheat @ @ @ @ @ 2020/21 and would contribute to the first increase of global stocks in four years .
@ @ @ @ @ would be accompanied by record-large exports , so that the soybean stockpile would rise by @ @ @ @ @ Brazil was forecast to harvest a record crop for the second year in a row @ @ @ @ @ Brazil , 129.4 million tonnes , is slightly smaller than the USDA ’ s latest @ @ @ @ @ .
The IGC and the USDA say the U.S. crop will top 112 million tonnes @


climatedepot--2020-07-02--Alarmist Claims Of Increasing European Drought Are A Myth, New Scientific Findings Show

It sounds so simple : it is undoubtedly getting warmer in Central Europe , and this is leading to increasing droughts .
If you take the last two summers , this seems to be confirmed .
And just like that it was exploited by the media : There ’ s a strong link between past climate change and increasing drought .
“ Climate change leads to drought , ” wrote MDR “ Wissen ” in April 2020 , and many examples of the hype could be given about two summers in a row that were too dry , let ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is this true ?
Does the unmistakable signal of warming , which is man-made , really show an increasing trend in drought here and in Europe ?
This paper by a team of 20 authors from meteorological institutes in Europe gets to the bottom of this question by evaluating really long-lasting observations between 1850 and 2018 .
One could take the easy way out , because the result is already in the short summary : The results reveal the absence of statistically significant long-term trends in the area studied .
The warming is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increasing drought is not .
This is astonishing .
What have the authors done ?
The authors use the “ Standardized Precipitation Index ” ( SPI ) as a scientifically recognized measure of the occurrence of droughts to examine the European region .
For this purpose , they not only evaluate whole years , but also evaluate seasonally ( 3 months ) the very carefully validated data .
The evaluation valid for Central Europe can be found in the freely accessible “ Supporting Information ” : Fig .
4 : The paper ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vicente-Serrano et .
al ( 2020 ) .
If one also sees an anthropogenic warming trend in the temperatures since about 1980 , we are missing such a long-term trend in the drought index .
Frequent very dry periods also occurred in the 1920s , 1940s and 1970s .
The team of authors really wanted to know exactly and looked everywhere in Europe ( except Eastern Europe ) for long-term trends matching temperature developments for different time periods : Figure 5 : The geographical distribution of the evaluated station data for the period @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the paper .
There are occasional trends at individual stations , but nothing significant over longer periods over larger areas .
So the authors write in the summary : So why are all claims of climate-related droughts increasing in this country ?
Most of the time , according to the authors , these are based only on short-term observations using insufficiently validated data or areas that are too small .
With great meticulousness , the authors prove that these claims are not scientifically substantiated .
Up to now , readers could plead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drought caused by climate change ” in the media and elsewhere .
But from now on , one can assume the media are fibbing .
The scientifically based facts indicate that the connection simply does not exist .
So if you as an enlightened reader read such nonsense soon again , then take a close look at the authors of such reports : They are probably are trying to take you for a ride .


climatedepot--2020-07-02--WashPost ‘Science’ Reporter Sarah Kaplan Claims ‘Climate Change’ Is a ‘Racial Justice Problem’

“ Racism is ‘ inexorably ’ linked to climate change , said Penn State meteorologist Gregory Jenkins , because it dictates who benefits from activities that produce planet-warming gases and who suffers most from the consequences.
” Kaplan continued to tout Jenkins ’ s nonsensical theory : “ In a course he teaches called ‘ Climate Change , Climate Justice and Front Line Communities , ’ Jenkins traces this connection from slavery , which created the economic foundation for the industrial revolution , to modern-day policies that influence where people live and environmental risks to which they are exposed.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ historically been dominated by white men , said Dorceta Taylor , an environmental sociologist at the University of Michigan who studies the history of the environmental movement . ''
The leftist lunacy of The Washington Post knows no bounds .
Washington Post Climate and Science reporter Sarah Kaplan wrote a climate propaganda article masquerading as news .
The story was headlined : “ Climate change is also a racial justice problem.
” In the piece , Kaplan led readers off with the question : “ What does racism mean for climate change — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ piece , she admitted that “ Normally , I use this column to respond to questions from readers about climate change.
” She continued : “ But — amid our ongoing national reckoning with racism prompted by the unequal impacts of the covid-19 pandemic , the recent killings of African Americans at the hands of police , and 400 years of history — this was the question on my mind.
” OK , so this is an op-ed , not news .
Welcome to the leftist concept of intersectionality — where every agenda @ @ @ @ @ @ @ item .
According to Kaplan , “ If humanity is going to effectively tackle climate change , scientists and activists told me , it ’ s a question we have to answer.
” She cited Penn State meteorologist Gregrory Jenkins to push an asinine talking point : “ Racism is ‘ inexorably ’ linked to climate change , said Penn State meteorologist Gregory Jenkins , because it dictates who benefits from activities that produce planet-warming gases and who suffers most from the consequences.
” Kaplan continued to tout Jenkins ’ s nonsensical theory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called ‘ Climate Change , Climate Justice and Front Line Communities , ’ Jenkins traces this connection from slavery , which created the economic foundation for the industrial revolution , to modern-day policies that influence where people live and environmental risks to which they are exposed.
” [ Emphasis added . ]
From the vantage point of the left , apparently , even the radical environmentalist movement was racist and sexist : “ The world of climate activism has historically been dominated by white men , said Dorceta Taylor , an environmental sociologist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the history of the environmental movement , ” [ emphasis added . ]
Earlier , Kaplan pivoted off of a strange study , which she used to summarize that “ black and Hispanic communities in the U.S. are exposed to far more air pollution than they produce through actions like driving and using electricity.
” By contrast , Kaplan wrote that “ white Americans experience better air quality than the national average , even though their activities are the source of most pollutants.
” [ Emphasis added . ]
Tell The Washington Post @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is and move it to the op-ed section .
You can contact The Post via email at [ email protected ] or call 1-800-477-4679 and ask to speak to a customer service representative .


climatedepot--2020-07-02--The Green delusion continues to push costs upon the poor

Those marketing the green delusion have convinced themselves and the public that intermittent electricity from wind and solar are somehow “ clean , green , renewable and sustainable ” .
They have successfully kept transparency from those paying for the green delusion of any information that would damage their message .
Facts about greater human and ecological impacts around the world from intermittent electricity systems favored by the climate cult are numerous and purposely withheld from the Californians .
Of which are those who can least afford rates that are already among the highest in the nation for electricity and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ less than half of one percent ( 0.5 % ) of the world ’ s population ( 40 million vs. 8 billion ) .
Among a few subjects the climate cult avoids transparency are : • Moving to electricity ALONE and eliminating fossil fuels would mean America would have to replace 100 % of its gasoline and all oil and natural gas feed stocks for pharmaceuticals , cosmetics , paints , synthetic fibers , fertilizers , and plastics for cell phones , computers , car bodies , packaging , wind turbine blades , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ products that are manufactured from petroleum derivatives .
As a reminder , without transportation and the leisure and entertainment industries that did not exist before 1900 , we would have no commerce .
• Dependency on intermittent electricity from wind and solar resulted in California importing up to 29 percent of its electricity to meet its demands .
To the detriment of those that can least afford expensive energy , that lavishly expensive imported electricity has contributed to the poorest residents , particularly Latinos and African Americans , paying more than 50 percent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country .
• The impact of power plant closures in California are destined to increase the cost of power as California plans to shuttle three natural gas power plants and its last nuclear power plant .
Those four power plants have been providing continuous uninterruptible electricity to Californians .
With the state having no plans to replace the closure capacity with intermittent electricity from wind and solar , the state will need to import more high-priced electricity to fill the void and let residents and businesses pay the premium .
• The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all the mineral products and metals needed to make wind turbines , solar panels , and EV batteries are mined and processed in places like Baotou , Inner Mongolia , Bolivia , and the Democratic Republic of Congo , mostly under Chinese control , under minimal to nonexistent labor , wage , environmental , reclamation , and worker health and safety regulations .
The mere extraction of those exotic minerals presents social challenges , human rights abuses , and environmental degradations worldwide .
• Those numerous documentaries about the atrocities that the workers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , i.e .
actually digging the mines by hand along with the horrendous living conditions .
Amnesty International has documented children and adults mining cobalt in narrow man-made tunnels along with the exposure to the dangerous gases emitted during the procurement of these rare minerals .
• For cobalt alone , over 40,000 Congolese children , as young as four years old , slave away alongside their parents in mines , for a dollar a day , risking cave-ins and being exposed constantly to filthy , toxic , radioactive mud , dust , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and human rights travesties can happen only under a system of rampant double standards , i.e.
, if they do NOT occur in the backyard of the climate cult , they are okay with any and all adverse impacts on foreign sites .
• Even if California or the entire USA eliminated all fossil fuel use tomorrow – it would not make an iota of difference for global carbon dioxide levels as China and India have more than 5,000 coal fired power plants and are building 600 more to provide their populations with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that will continue to increase emissions .
Since 1990 CO2 emissions from the Developed world have decreased , whereas the Developing world has shown a fourfold increase since 1985 .
This differential has arisen because of : • • the off shoring of major CO2 emitting industries to parts of the world that have less rigorous environmental standards or who care less about CO2 emissions .
• the growing use of Coal-firing for electricity generation in the Developing world .
The primary reason that the climate cult is voraciously against transparency of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and solar favored by them , is that they would need to justify to the rural , poor , minority and working-class families and communities .
All of which the public needs to accept the worldwide ecological , health and economic damages being inflicted in pursuit of their pseudo-renewable electricity utopia .
Additionally , for those that can least afford the passion for intermittent electricity , they need to morally accept that Africans , Asians , and Latin Americans must endure slave labor status to advance the climate cult agenda .
Let us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , order , civil debate , thoughtful reflection on our complex history , and rational resolution of these thorny problems as current climate policies are essentially discriminatory toward poor people and minorities worldwide .


climatedepot--2020-07-02--Facebook oversight board urged to tackle climate ‘loophole’ – Steyer & Podesta form group dedicated

Facebook oversight board urged to tackle climate ‘loophole’ – Steyer & Podesta form group dedicated to censoring skeptics

Prominent environmentalists and Democratic activists say Facebook is “ allowing the spread of climate misinformation to flourish , unchecked ” and urging the company ’ s external oversight board to intervene .
Driving the news : A new open letter with signatories including Stacey Abrams , John Podesta and Tom Steyer takes aim at distribution of content from a group called the CO2 Coalition without warning labels or restrictions .
• The coalition argues more carbon emissions are a “ net benefit ” and rejects consensus science on warming .
Why it matters : The letter , organized by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could provide an early test for how the recently established oversight board deals with the topic .
The state of play : The letter to Helle Thorning-Schmidt , co-chair of the board , centers on recent reports about how Facebook addressed a CO2 Coalition post .
• “ Instead of heeding the advice of independent scientists and approved fact-checkers from [ the nonpartisan fact-checking group ] Climate Feedback , Facebook sided with fossil fuel lobbyists by allowing the CO2 Coalition to take advantage of a giant loophole for ‘ opinion ’ content , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loophole has allowed climate denial to fester by labeling it ‘ opinion , ’ and thus , avoiding the platform ’ s fact-checking processes , ” the letter adds .
What ’ s next : It ’ s hard to say !
Scott Rosenberg , Axios managing editor for tech , notes that the oversight board hasn ’ t formally begun operating yet and will have discretion about which complaints to take on .
This article appeared on the Axios website at https : //www.axios.com/facebook-oversight-climate-misinformation-12249815-a829-403b-a6cc-e659b25b760b.html


climatedepot--2020-07-02--Conservatives Must Have the Courage to Tell the Truth About Carbon Dioxide

All across America , virtually all of our educational , political , religious , commercial and media establishment have bought hook line and sinker into the climate scare .
When conservatives dare debate the issue at all , they do so entirely on their enemies ’ terms : ‘ carbon emissions , ’ from the burning of hydrocarbon fuels—coal , oil and natural gas—are assumed to be causing dangerous climate change .
The question is never whether we should bother reducing so-called ‘ carbon pollution ’ at all .
It is merely a question of how—a tax on emissions , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or a mass conversion to ‘ green energy—and who should go first—developed or developing countries .
“ A good general knows never to fight a battle on his enemy ’ s turf , terrain , and terms unless he has no other choice.
” So states David Kahane in his important book Rules for Radical Conservatives – beating the left at its own game to take back America .
Conservatives have , generally speaking , completely ignored this fundamental ‘ rule ’ in the climate change debate .
So , they continue to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , like arguing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin—a question used to debunk the mediaeval study of angels , conservatives have acquiesced to a debate that they should never have gotten into in the first place .
It simply makes no sense .
Angels do not exist , but , if they did , an infinite number of them could dance on the head of a pin since they are non-corporeal—they occupy no space at all .
Similarly , aside from soot and poisonous carbon monoxide , ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It is carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) , which every school child knows is plant food , the very opposite of ‘ pollution.
’ Unlike ‘ carbon , ’ which is a solid , CO2 is an invisible , odorless , benign gas on which all life on Earth depends .
This topic was thoroughly discussed in last week ’ s Malcolm Out Loud radio interview with Dr. Jay Lehr , the senior author of this piece and engineer Terigi Ciccone .
They exposed a novel but critically important truism : like so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ politics , the idea that we must reduce ‘ carbon ’ emissions is completely backwards .
In reality , we should be trying to intentionally increase CO2 as much as possible .
Ciccone said it well : “ I ’ ll take all I can get… If somebody tells me , oh my goodness , CO2 went up by 40 % in just the last 50 years , it ’ s all the way up to 400 parts per million ( ppm ) , I say to them , wake me up when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] because I ’ m going to be a lot happier to have it at 800 than at 400…carbon dioxide is the basis for all life on Earth.
” One of the most egregious examples of language distortion is being committed right now by former Vice-president Joe Biden , the presumptive Democrat nominee for the 2020 presidential election .
On his nonsensical web page , “ Joe ’ s Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice , ” Biden calls CO2 ‘ carbon ’ no less than 16 times using such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ‘ carbon footprint , ’ ‘ carbon emissions , ’ and , worst of all , taking a page from his former boss , Barack Obama , “ carbon pollution.
” Never once , on a gargantuous web page of over 10,000 words , does Biden refer to the gas by its proper name .
Just like in the dystopian society of George Orwell ’ s novel 1984 , Biden is using ‘ Newspeak , ’ a language created to control the thinking patterns of the populace .
After all , ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soot , lamp black and coal dust , none of which are warm and fuzzy .
Aside from the fact that CO2 contains a single atom of carbon , it bears no resemblance to elemental carbon .
It has about as much in common with carbon as lightning does with a lightning bug .
So , let ’ s lay out in clear , unequivocal language exactly what conservatives should be telling the public about carbon dioxide , wrongly accused of being America ’ s public enemy # 1 .
• CO2 is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; it combines with water and sunshine and produces plant sugars .
Plants are the food source for all animals , fish , fowl , and all humans as well on Earth .
Over the past 35-years , the Earth has increased its green vegetated land by an area equal to half the size of Australia .
As a result , NASA has calculated that deserts have shrunk significantly , especially where it has been most beneficial , such as in central Africa , southern Eurasia , and India , Pakistan and China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rich fertilizer and thus increased yields of food crops for the poorest people in the developing countries .
It is also natural fertilizer for forests and plains , and wilderness areas increasing food to sustain wildlife .
In Figure 1 we see four identical trees , all planted at the same time .
You see the benefits of more CO2 ( on placards ) staring at you .
Thanks to the emissions of fossil fuels from tractors , trucks , and ships , automobiles and factories , hunger in the world has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , plants need 40-70 % less water .
Figure 2 shows the underside of a leaf .
There we see the stomata , the mouths of the plants .
At low CO2 levels , the mouths need to open more and stay open longer to take in sparsely available CO2 .
But in doing so , they transpire or lose water through these openings .
At higher CO2 levels , the stomata quickly take in the CO2 and then close before losing much water .
No one will argue that life can be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Here are our recommendations as to how to achieve this by ending the false climate alarm .
• Take 50 % of all the money now wasted on the bogus CO2 research and grant it to the developing countries so they can build their modest generators to fire up their pumps , refrigerators , treatment plants and let these people have a chance for meaningful survival .
• Reduce or eliminate bogus CO2 restrictions and let developing countries use fossil fuel power plants to make electricity for their schools , hospitals , refrigeration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ madness at the World Development Bank that mandates that their grants can only be used for solar or wind plants , with no regard to their recognized failures .
Support for them would dwindle if the citizenry realized that for every kilowatt of wind or solar power placed on the electric grid that much more fossil fuel burning power must be added to replace the wind and sun when they do not blow or shine .
The primary greenhouse gas is water vapor accounting for about 95 % of the total .
Human-caused @ @ @ @ @ @ @ value to life on Earth .
While we are currently at odds with the Chinese , and may always be so , we can learn a lesson from them which allowed them to absorb all those who attempted to conquer their nation in centuries past .
Their rule of warfare was : Lure the tiger off its mountain lair .
It interprets to mean , never directly attack an opponent whose advantage is derived from its position .
Instead , lure him away from his position , thus separating him from his source @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stop arguing with the Global warming alarmists as to how much or little carbon dioxide is likely to warm the Earth and instead make it clear to everyone that carbon dioxide is a blessing to us all .


climatedepot--2020-07-03--New Study: ‘The Most Suitable Place In The World For Temperature Reconstruction’ Shows Net Cooling S

New Study: ‘The Most Suitable Place In The World For Temperature Reconstruction’ Shows Net Cooling Since The 1930s

A new 1876-present temperature reconstruction for Northern Finland shows the 1930s were the warmest period of the last 140 years .
And there has been no net warming since .
Tree density analysis , MXD , has a “ more prominent association with temperature ” than measuring tree ring widths because it can more clearly separate precipitation factors affecting tree growth from temperature-limiting factors ( Bjorklund et al.
, 2020 ) .
Northern Finland is characterized as “ the most suitable place in the world for temperature reconstruction ” because it sits on the edge of where trees can or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ due to clearly defined temperature limits on growth .
( For example , forests used to extend to the coast of the Arctic Ocean during the Early Holocene , indicating the Arctic region needed to have been 2.5 to 7°C warmer to accommodate such tree growth . )
Pinus sylvestris ( 29 trees ) from northeastern Finland indicate the warmest interval since 1876 occurred in the 1930s , and since then there has been no net warming .
This is visible in both tree ring width ( RW ) and density ( MXD @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” studies also show a similar temperature pattern of a warm early/mid-twentieth century and a subsequent cooling in the 1960s and 1970s prior to another warming in the 1990s-2000s .
For example , in China , tree ring evidence suggest such a pattern for soil temperatures ( Yuan et al.
, 2020 ) , and Keyimu et al .
( 2020 ) find “ A.D .
1940–1965 witnessed the longest extended warm period at Big Snow Mountain Scenic Area over the past 180 years ” .
Proxy evidence from across the Northern Hemisphere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pattern .
They also show the modern period is not climatically unusual relative to past ~1,500 years ( Stoffel et al.
, 2015 , Schneider et al.
, 2015 ) .


climatedepot--2020-07-03--Danes to sort trash into ten types under new green deal

Denmark ’ s climate minister Dan Jørgensen said that , with the average Danish resident throwing away 800kg of waste into general recycling a year , people in the country were worse than the European average , which is 490kg .
“ Some will say that we are 10 or 20 years late here .
In those years , many have known that the Danish waste sector is not delivering on the green front , ” he said a a press conference , according to TV2 “ We are changing that now .
We will ensure that more is recycled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hoped-for 0.7m tonnes reduction in emissions was equivalent to taking 300,000 cars off the road .
Under the agreement , which has the support of all parties except for the Danish People ’ s Party and the New right Party , Denmark ’ s municipalities have half a year to draw up a “ death list ” of incinerators that will be closed down , reducing Denmark ’ s incinerator capacity from 3.95 million tonnes to 2.6 million tonnes by 2030 .
The Social Democrats had previously planned to privatise the waste sector @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plan was stopped by the Red Green Alliance and the Socialist Left Party .


climatedepot--2020-07-03--Koalas extinct? Hardly. ‘Nearly everything you have read or heard about koalas is wrong’

Since Europeans arrived Koalas have been booming and busting The calls were out this week saying that koalas will be extinct in New South Wales in 30 years .
But they didn ’ t mention that Koalas thrive and multiply so fast that in the right conditions scientists talk of ‘ plagues ’ .
On Kangaroo Island last year , there were so many koalas , the South Australian government has been trying to sterilize or relocate thousands of them over the last twenty years .
Periodically scientists even discuss whether we have to cull them ( the horror !
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ megafires in 200 years .
They can recover .
Ponder that Koalas were only introduced to Kangaroo Island in the 1930′s but by the 1990′s there were 14,000 of them and even though they are considered a tourism asset they are also considered a problem and pest too .
“ Nearly everything you have read or heard about koalas , is wrong ” — Vic Jurskis Vic Jurskis is a veteran forester and fire expert who studied them for years .
He ’ s written The Great Koala Scam , Green propaganda , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jurskis estimates that thanks to European settlers there are more koalas now than there were 250 years ago .
He describes how koalas have been booming and busting for two centuries .
Before the first fleet arrived , koalas were so rare that the new settlers didn ’ t even see one for fifteen years !
But after the indigenous cool burns programs stopped , dense forests grew which were choc-full of tender new shoots that koalas love to eat .
So koala populations would flourish and boom right up until a fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ farmers cleared land , but the “ paddock ” trees would get sick and resprout continuously , which also worked out pretty well for koalas .
So koalas boomed in the valleys too .
Sooner or later a drought would come and the valley koalas would starve and get sick themselves .
Jurskis recommends we use koala rescue funds to start doing better forest management with cool burns so the megafires don ’ t incinerate the next oversupply of koalas .
It ’ s a man-made cycle of pain and suffering .
You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ABC would be able to give us a more rounded view , especially since they covered the boom stories and the Koala Wars .
Here ’ s the ABC in 2002 : Scientists say the only solution to this crisis is to begin culling Koalas .
Against the scientists are people who believe we need to be creating more habitats or the koalas .
The Australian Koala Foundation are planting wildlife corridors to link koala habitats .
But the scientists say this is just going to feed the problem – wherever the koalas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ destroy their habitat .
Last year gave up sterilizing them to stop the plague on Kangaroo Island : Koala and kangaroo culling considered as numbers become ‘ overabundant ’ A report from a parliamentary inquiry has recommended the state ’ s environment minister make an immediate decision to declare koalas , western grey kangaroos , long-nosed fur seals and little corellas overabundant in some areas .
The committee heard that sterilisation of the Kangaroo Island koala population had had little success.
“ Population numbers on the Island continue to rise and their impacts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ report says .
— The Guardian , 12th July 2019 This year , plagues in Victoria too : Eucalyptus trees provide the main food source for koalas , so it ’ s no surprise huge numbers of them are gravitating to the vast blue gum plantations in south west Victoria .
So much so that landowners nearby are reporting koala populations are growing to “ plague proportions ” .
New research shows the skyrocketing koala populations are becoming unsustainable and damaging vegetation .
— ABC February 2020 Koalas on Kangaroo Island went from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years From a blog called ConvictCreations , we get a colorful history of how South Australia dealt with the dilemma of culling cute koalas : Koalas were introduced to Kangaroo Island in the 1930s .
By the 1990s , their populations had reached almost 14,000 .
Although they were the jewel in the Kangaroo Island ’ s ecotourism crown , some scientists believed they had no right to be on the island .
According to David Paton , an environmental scientist from the University of Adelaide , there was a hierarchy of animals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ koalas ’ rights were close to the bottom .
In his own words : As a compromise between the environmental scientists that wanted to kill them and the tourism operators that wanted to conserve them , between 1997 and 2005 , the South Australian government paid for the sterilisation of 3,400 adult koalas and relocated a further 1,000 to the mainland .
Each sterilisation cost around $ 140 .
Needless to say , the remaining koalas kept breeding and environmental scientists kept asking for more money to manage the koala problem and run @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem .
For whatever reason , the government then decided there wasn ’ t a problem and ceased funding .
Mysteriously , the koalas then developed a disease which dropped their populations by half .
They ’ ve survived megafires , drought and disease .
Jurskis uses the term “ irrupting ” which means a sudden increase in an animal population .
Bushfires and Koalas : It ’ s Not That Simple Before Australia ’ s fire regime changed , koalas were naturally rare because they eat tender , juicy and nutritious new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ healthy , mature eucalypt forests .
Europeans didn ’ t see a live koala until 15 years after they arrived in Australia .
The Sydney Gazette of August 21 , 1803 , reported that “ its food consists solely of gum leaves , in the choice of which it is excessively nice ” .
This was common knowledge for more than a century .
In total , there were 20 megafires in 200 years .
Koalas are still there in unnaturally high densities .
There is an average of one koala per three @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gums or yellow stringybarks grow .
… koalas irrupted in the dense young forests that grew up after the demise of the Yowenjerre people .
Koalas have persisted for 150 years despite heavy clearing and repeated megafires .
The experts claim that clearing and hunting caused extreme declines and loss of genetic diversity in Victoria ’ s koalas .
However , the South Gippsland population is supposed to be “ of high conservation significance ” as a population retaining its naturally diverse gene pool .
The $ 3 million being handed out by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mild fire to areas burnt at high intensities , before the scrub bounces back .
This was the recommendation of traditional burning expert Victor Steffensen at the Koala Inquiry on December 9 ( p. 27 ) .
While-ever our leaders continue to take advice from green academics and bureaucrats , emergency services generalissimos and misguided children , instead of people who know and love the land , our future will get progressively sadder and badder .
Vic Jurskis , a veteran forester and fire expert , is the author of the just-published The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ junk science , government waste & cruelty to animals .
It can be ordered here Vic Jurskis explained the situation late last year to the NSW Parliament .
From page 7 onwards : I am one of very few who have studied natural koalas .
They live in large home ranges with thousands of trees , so you do not see them .
Healthy old trees mostly have poor , hard , dry leaves that can not sustain koalas .
They move long distances to find fresh browse .
Explorers did not see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not there .
John Gould wrote that they could rarely be detected , even with the help of Aborigines .
After settlers cleared paddocks , sowed pastures and disrupted Aboriginal burning , koalas erupted because dense young forests with millions of new shoots grew up in the foothills .
Paddock trees got sick and started turning over new shoots all the time , so koalas invaded the valleys .
The fur industry was a response .
In the Federation drought , trees were not able to keep reshooting , so koalas suffered starvation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the valleys but they survived in the forests .
After World War II , timber cutters got chainsaws and tractors .
Intensive harvesting created dense young forests and koalas bred up again .
Then we stopped burning and grazing and locked up most of the forests .
Trees got sick again ; now koalas and scrub are erupting through declining forests—both regrowth and old growth .
The dense population in the Pilliga crashed again in the millennium drought , whereas low-density populations continued to erupt .
Nearly everything you have read or heard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is wrong because it is based on denial of history and unwitting studies of unsustainably dense populations .
NGOs and national parks service rely on misinformation to support fundraising , political campaigns and land grabs .
The Senate inquiry swallowed it whole .
When Mr Singh , who is now the member for Coffs Harbour , called it out , AAP FactCheck said his statement was false .
They quoted the ridiculous Senate report and World Wildlife Fund report about millions of koalas in 1788 .
You have got my ecological history @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accepted as a review—the only reasonably comprehensive review of koalas that has ever been published .
After they announced its imminent publication , CSIRO rebadged it as an opinion piece , implying a low standard .
When I challenged AAP , they used this to deny the facts .
But I am here today to share the facts with you .
As I wrote in my submission in July , denial of history leads us to set up reserves of dying trees and scrub for unsustainable populations .
Then they face lingering death @ @ @ @ @ @ @ You have got five photos of a koala that I saw crossing the highway south of Eden Wednesday before last , where Dr Lunney says they are extinct .
I will use them to illustrate the problem with koalas and fires .
Thank you .
Here ’ s the nub of it : The Hon .
PENNY SHARPE : You are very critical of the NSW Koala Strategy .
What is wrong with it , in your view ?
Mr JURSKIS : It aims to stabilise and then increase populations , when there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the unhealthy , chronically declining forest .
That is the same reason why we are having uncontrollable wildfires : It is because of the structure of the forest .
As Victor Steffensen says , it is upside-down country : It is thinning on top and thick underneath .
I would like to refer to those photos that you have got .
For example , the first photo—if you have a look at the ground you can see it is all litter and dead wood .
There is no grass or herbs or anything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in a healthy forest : It is in the ground layer and the small animals that rely on that layer .
It is not there ; it has been choked out by scrub .
So you have got litter on the ground , and it is continuous with scrub in the middle and it is continuous with the thinning canopy on the top .
You get a fire in that , it is uncontrollable because in severe conditions you get fire storms and ember showers that can be tens of kilometres in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is why fires are uncontrollable .
The only thing that is unprecedented about these fires we are having at the moment is the amount of fuel in the bush .
It is right through Australia ; there is three-dimensionally continuous fuel and declining trees wherever you go because we no longer use mild burning .
In fact , in New South Wales it is illegal to manage the bush properly by burning it frequently and mildly .
It is against the regulations to do it properly .
One MP has trouble grasping how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ SHAYNE MALLARD : Thank you for your submission .
I am from the Blue Mountains and there are reports of one or two koala sightings up at Blackheath and Lapstone , but just one or two sightings .
If your hypothesis is right , would we not be seeing a bounce back of significant numbers of koalas in a habitat that did have thousands and thousands of koalas up until the turn of the last century ?
Mr JURSKIS : No , it did not have thousands and thousands of koalas .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : A natural koala population has a density of about one koala per 100 hectares .
The Hon .
SHAYNE MALLARD : There are a few thousand hectares , though .
Mr JURSKIS : Yes .
The first eruption of koalas was noted by surveyor Govett , who Govetts Leap is named after .
He described them as numerous in the dense stringybark forests on the Hawkesbury and on the Coxs River side of the Blue Mountains .
Those were new forests ; they grew up when we disrupted Aboriginal burning .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are not seeing evidence of an erupting koala population in the Blue Mountains .
Mr JURSKIS : We are .
If you can see koalas , it means they are erupting .
Naturally , you do not see them because you have got one koala per tens of thousands of trees .
A natural koala population is invisible .
When you can see them—like , for example , that koala in the photo there ; that is in an area where koalas are supposed to be extinct .
They are actually erupting .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ at both the last two articles — on Quadrant and the Parliamentary PDF .
Or buy Vic ’ s Book !
The Great Koala Scam , Green propaganda , junk science government waste and cruelty .
Things you need to know about Australian megafires and forest management : • Climate change and bushfires — More rain , the same droughts , no trend , no science • A history of droughts and flooding rains from 1782 – 1865 in Australia • Off the charts : Bushfires may be 20 times more intense than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Aboriginals didn ’ t need a water bomber God to save them from Government nurtured firestorms • On average bushfires burn an amazing 50 million ha every year in Australia • Royal Commission on Fires based on Myth of Hotter-Drier Summer h/t to CFACT and Climate Depot .
Thanks to Pat , Beowulf , TedM , PeterW , GeeAye .
( Does anyone know where Pat is ? )


climatedepot--2020-07-03--Myth of ‘noble eco-savage’ debunked? ‘Reservoirs in  heart of the ancient Maya city so polluted with

Myth of ‘noble eco-savage’ debunked? ‘Reservoirs in  heart of the ancient Maya city so polluted with mercury…that the water likely was undrinkable’ Toxics traced to Mayans clayware

Reservoirs in the heart of an ancient Maya city were so polluted with mercury and blue-green algae that the water likely was undrinkable .
Researchers from the University of Cincinnati found toxic levels of pollution in four central reservoirs in Tikal , an ancient Maya city that dates back to the third century B.C .
in what is now northern Guatemala .
UC ’ s findings suggest droughts in the ninth century likely contributed to the depopulation and eventual abandonment of the city .
“ The conversion of Tikal ’ s central reservoirs from life-sustaining to sickness-inducing places would have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the abandonment of this magnificent city , ” the study concluded .
A geochemical analysis found that two reservoirs nearest the city palace and temple contained extremely high and toxic levels of mercury that UC researchers traced back to a pigment the Maya used to adorn buildings , clayware and other goods .
During rainstorms , mercury in the pigment leached into the reservoirs where it settled in layers of sediment over the years .
Read more at University Of Cincinnati Photo : UC researchers Nicholas Dunning , left , Vernon Scarborough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take sediment samples during their field research at Tikal .
CREDIT : Liwy Grazioso Sierra


climatedepot--2020-07-03--CO2 Coalition responds to calls for Facebook censorship

Climate alarmist heavyweights are weighing in against the @ CO2Coalition .
I think we are making them nervous !
Will Facebook become a censor of opinions about climate or will they allow a spirited debate ?
C'mon @ TomSteyer & @ staceyabrams , bring it on !
We deal in science facts .
https : //t.co/gMAFDjYP31 Response of the CO2 Coalition to calls for Facebook censorship Statement by CO2 Coalition Chair Patrick Moore and Executive Director Caleb Stewart Rossiter on the Abrams-Steyer letter asking Facebook to shut down the Coalition ’ s page and censor its articles on other pages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signed by former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams , former presidential candidate Tom Steyer , and 13 leaders of groups working to ban the fossil fuels that are the source of over 80 percent of U.S. and world energy .
The letter calls on Facebook to shut down the page of the CO2 Coalition of 55 climate scientists and energy economists , and to censor posts of its members studies and articles on other users ’ pages .
The CO2 Coalition is proud to be the target of this letter , whose signatories represent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic misinformation about climate change and energy options .
The letter , like Facebook ’ s efforts to censor our posts and articles , is a badge of honor for our atmospheric physicists , climatologists , and statisticians ’ recent publications about how computerized climate models that project future temperatures work – and don ’ t work .
As E & E News recently wrote in its coverage of Facebook ’ s censoring of our opinions on climate models , these mathematical models “ are the foundation used to craft many carbon regulations.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ finding that has led to increased energy prices for businesses and households is entirely based on computerized temperature models that have since proven incorrect .
The CO2 Coalition publishes studies and articles explaining that these models are adjustable projections rather than oracles .
When tested after a few years against actual temperatures , the UN model projections have proved to run three times too hot .
It is these publications that Facebook has been censoring .
The UN IPCC and U.S. government scientific agencies agree that their data show no statistically significant increases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , floods , wildfires , and other dangerous or damaging weather in the 70 years since carbon dioxide emissions became a factor in global temperature .
The failure of the alarmists ’ predictions in these areas – and in this letter they simply ignore the UN consensus – has increased the importance of modeled projections of future temperatures in justifying calls to end the use of the fossil fuels .
Hence , these recent attacks on our explanations of why those modeled projections are by their nature too unlikely and uncertain to use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make energy around the world far less reliable and far more costly .
The movement of heat in the atmosphere and oceans is complex , with major contributions from both chaos and poorly-understood , decades-long cycles .
As a result , the models require the input of thousands of guesses about mathematical values for key processes .
As Oxford physicist Fred Taylor says in his textbook , Elementary Climate Physics , the models are “ opaque ” and “ in their infancy.
” As with stock market and COVID models , climate models @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make them line up with the temperature record to date , and then run forward with the same estimates .
As with stock market and COVID models , betting on climate models ’ projections is a good way to lose your shirt – and your economy and your health .
The letter labels our members as “ climate deniers.
” We ask each of the 15 signatories to Climate Power 2020 ’ s letter to identify a single denial of a scientific or economic fact in our publications or public statements .
Surely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ models .
Even though model projections are more opinion than fact , more mathematical art than physical science , we look forward to such a debate .
And since we are asking for the signatories ’ critiques , we will provide one ourselves .
One of the letter ’ s signers is the president of the Union of Concerned Scientists .
For 15 years the Union of Concerned Scientists has refused to discuss or publicly debate the science of its alarmist narrative and the economics of its subsidy-rich calls for transportation and electricity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” wind and solar energy .
Mining , shipping , refining , construction , transmission , and disposal of the infrastructure of these intermittent sources of power is almost entirely fossil-fueled and so hardly renewable .
Wind and solar are also four times more expensive than natural gas-fired electricity and gasoline transportation .
We invite this group , or any of the others involved in the Abrams-Steyer letter , to join us in debate at one of our upcoming congressional presentations of our research .


climatedepot--2020-07-04--Apocalypse Never: New Shellenberger book blows lid off climate panic tactics – ‘Climate activists ma

Apocalypse Never: New Shellenberger book blows lid off climate panic tactics – ‘Climate activists massively outspend climate skeptics’

Excerpt : According to the book , climate activists have the cash advantage over climate skeptics : The two biggest green groups , the National Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense Fund , have a combined annual budget of $ 384 million , dwarfing that of the two largest skeptic groups — the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Heartland Institute , which combine for about $ 13 million .
“ Climate activists massively outspend climate skeptics , ” Shellenberger said .
He traces the climate-change uproar to the zero-population movement , which was itself an outgrowth of theories promoted by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who warned that population growth would lead to starvation .
Environmentalist Michael Shellenberger planned to launch his new book with a column .
But the subject matter was so hot that even Forbes spiked the piece which apologized for his role in the “ climate scare.
” In response , contrarian websites , including Zero Hedge and Watt ’ s Up With That , reprinted the column in advance of Tuesday ’ s release of “ Apocalypse Never : Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All ” ( HarperCollins ) .
The new book @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bestseller charts , is a rare major release by a prestigious publisher “ that refutes widely repeated environmental talking points ; accuses climate activists of misleading the public , and contends that policy solutions such as green energy are making matters worse , ” a report noted .
Author Michael Shellenberger told The Washington Times : “ I actually argue that renewables are worse than fossil fuels .
It ’ s a physical manifestation of lower power densities .
More land , more materials , more mining , more metals , more waste @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the scholarly literature.
” “ Apocalypse Never : Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All ” ( HarperCollins ) , “ threatens to hit the climate movement harder than a wind turbine colliding with a bald eagle , ” Valerie Richardson wrote for The Washington Times on July 1 .
In the case of energy , Shellenberger said so-called natural solutions are worse for the environment .
Solar and wind energy require vast amounts of land and play havoc with bird and wildlife species .
Biomass essentially means burning wood and other plants , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emissions .
Shellenberger said in a June 15 tweet : “ Climate change is happening .
It ’ s just not the end of the world .
It ’ s not even our most serious environmental problem .
I may seem like a strange person to say this .
I ’ ve been a climate activist for 20 years & an environmentalist for 30 ” .
A Time magazine “ Hero of the Environment , ” Shellenberger has testified before Congress and was enlisted as an expert reviewer for the UN International Panel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year , I mostly avoided speaking out against the climate scare , ” Shellenberger said in a recent column .
“ Partly that ’ s because I was embarrassed .
After all , I am as guilty of alarmism as any other environmentalist .
For years , I referred to climate change as an ‘ existential ’ threat to human civilization , and called it a ‘ crisis.
’ ” But mainly , he said , “ I was scared , ” worried about losing his friends and funding .
Shellenberger said what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of rising climate alarmism on children and teens .
“ Definitely a big part of this is that my concern that the mental health of adolescents is being harmed by this apocalyptic alarmism , but it ’ s also hurting other things , ” said Shellenberger , who has two children and lives in Berkeley , California .
The climate movement is “ obviously anti-nuclear , even though nuclear is the only way to reduce emissions significantly , ” he said .
“ And it ’ s being used to deprive poor countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nuclear , because it comes from this Malthusian agenda that says there ’ s too many people in the world and everyone has to massively become much poorer.
” According to the book , climate activists have the cash advantage over climate skeptics : The two biggest green groups , the National Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense Fund , have a combined annual budget of $ 384 million , dwarfing that of the two largest skeptic groups — the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Heartland Institute , which combine for about $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outspend climate skeptics , ” Shellenberger said .
He traces the climate-change uproar to the zero-population movement , which was itself an outgrowth of theories promoted by Thomas Malthus , the 18th century economist who warned that population growth would lead to starvation .
“ It ’ s the same people , the same movement , ” said Shellenberger .
“ Climate emerges at exactly the moment when it was clear that overpopulation wasn ’ t going to be the big concern everybody thought it was .
When climate goes away as an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
No doubt about it.
” He said the “ demands are the same : Don ’ t let poor countries have fossil fuels , for heaven ’ s sake .
Don ’ t let them industrialize .
How terrible .
Don ’ t let them move to cities , keep them in the villages , let ’ s give them a solar panel and a battery , that ought to be good enough .
It ’ s pretty dark stuff.
” Richardson noted that , “ like Patrick Moore , the former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against the movement , Shellenberger will undoubtedly make some enemies — he anticipates an ‘ intensely negative reaction ’ to the book — but he believes the time is right for a fresh take on the climate.
” Shellenberger said in his column : “ Nations are reorienting toward the national interest and away from Malthusianism and neoliberalism , which is good for nuclear and bad for renewables .
The evidence is overwhelming that our high-energy civilization is better for people and nature than the low-energy civilization that climate alarmists would return us @ @ @


climatedepot--2020-07-06--Climate falls off ballots as virus disrupts campaigns – ‘Climate-related ballot initiatives are havi

Climate falls off ballots as virus disrupts campaigns – ‘Climate-related ballot initiatives are having a quiet election year’

The pandemic made signature gathering difficult and dangerous for activist groups that try to shape public policy by placing environmental initiatives in the hands of voters .
Some of those efforts were facing tough obstacles even before social distancing .
The race for president and congressional contests have absorbed much of the energy that activists might apply to getting climate-related questions on ballots .
And with pandemic conditions likely to persist into the 2022 election cycle , creating climate policy through petitions and referenda could remain even more challenging than normal .
“ Without a doubt , campaigns have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Amanda Zoch , a policy specialist at the National Conference of State Legislatures ’ elections and redistricting program .
Although some states have allowed flexibility with regard to ballot initiatives , those changes aren ’ t permanent .
The pandemic opened the door to electronic signature gathering — the holy grail for petitioners — but it ’ s only been implemented in Massachusetts , by court order , for a limited number of petitions that were already circulating .
“ It ’ s historic — it ’ s the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But it might be the last time for the foreseeable future , too , ” Zoch said .
About half as many initiatives are on track to appear on the ballot compared with recent presidential election years , according to NCSL and Ballotpedia , though some states haven ’ t yet passed their filing deadlines .
Only 26 states and the District of Columbia allow voters to petition for initiatives to appear on the ballot .
Legislatures can also propose ballot questions .
Few states have ballot measures related to the environment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nevada ’ s proposed constitutional amendment for a renewable portfolio standard — was already ratified by voters in 2018 and is up for second approval , per the Silver State ’ s Constitution .
But the stakes were lowered after the Democratic state government passed a law in 2019 codifying the proposed changes in statute .
The Nevada measure , which would require the state ’ s utilities to acquire 50 % of their electricity from renewable sources by 2030 , was one of several climate and environment measures up for a vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tax proposal in Washington state and a renewable portfolio standard in Arizona .
Both failed .
Another unsuccessful measure in 2018 was a Colorado proposal to restrict hydraulic fracturing with strict setback requirements , which industry said amounted to a de facto ban .
The measure failed with about 45 % of the vote .
Colorado Rising , the group behind the 2018 measure , was planning to try again but dropped its effort in June , citing the difficulty of collecting signatures during a pandemic .
But another green group , Safe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continue trying to collect signatures , according to Reuters .


climatedepot--2020-07-06--‘Die Zeit’ Slams Science Dogmatism, The ‘Delusion Of Total Controllability’…’Relapse Into Pre-Enligh

‘Die Zeit’ Slams Science Dogmatism, The ‘Delusion Of Total Controllability’…’Relapse Into Pre-Enlightenment’

A German weekly “ Die Zeit ” commentary criticizes the hostility directed at skeptical climatologists and epidemiologists .
“ Where do we end up if a scientist ’ s degree of alarm becomes a litmus test for his scientific respectability ?
” Science activism represents “ relapse into pre-enlightened thinking ” .
Dogmatists refusing to look through Galileo ’ s telescope .
Image cropped here .
Over the recent years , we ’ ve seen a number of alarmist climate scientists demanding we believe that they are the beholders of the truth , and so policymakers need to heed their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gotten so dreadful that journalist Thea Dorn has since felt compelled to pen a commentary appearing in the centre-left Die Zeit : “ Don ’ t preach , do research instead !
” Rather than arrogantly declaring that the science is settled , scientists shine through by remaining doubtful , Dorn writes .
She warns of climate scientists having become “ ideologists ” in the climate debate , and that this is threatening to happen in epidemiology/virology as well .
“ There is a world of difference between an irrational dogmatist and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ It is not acceptable to immediately defame anyone who expresses doubts about the reliability of epidemiological or climate models as a ‘ climate ’ or ‘ corona denier ’ ” .
In Germany there have been a number of renowned virologists who have recently come under fire for dissenting against the alarmist claims made by other virologists .
Dorn writes : “ In contrast to religion , modern science owes its success to its openness to doubt , criticism and self-correction.
” Thea Dorn particularly fires harsh criticism at Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , for suggesting in an essay in Spiegel in 2019 that mankind somehow had control over the “ earth system ” but was losing that control , an assumption that Dorn called “ absurd and highly questionable ” .
Dorn slams Rahmstorf and Prof. Hans-Joachim Schellnhuber for mischaracterizing the earth ’ s complexity as a mere set a dominoes on the verge of toppling , and claiming they have the models to predict the future , and they and the alarmist virologists and immunologists should be heeded .
On the role of skeptics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contrary : we can be thankful that – still ?
– there are enough scientists who reject the magic of the crystal ball and the delusion of total controllability.
” Dorn also sharply criticizes the concept of the “ activist scientist ” , which Hans Joachim Schellnhuber calls himself .
She comments : “ It represents a relapse into pre-enlightened thinking .
With a slogan like “ Unite behind the Science !
” one might swear crusaders to a holy mission .
”


climatedepot--2020-07-06--Hot Summer Epic Fail: Climatologist Dr. Roy Spencer explains how New Climate Models Exaggerate Midwe

Hot Summer Epic Fail: Climatologist Dr. Roy Spencer explains how New Climate Models Exaggerate Midwest Warming by 6X

For the last 10 years I have consulted for grain growing interests , providing information about past and potential future trends in growing season weather that might impact crop yields .
Their primary interest is the U.S. corn belt , particularly the 12 Midwest states ( Iowa , Illinois , Indiana , Ohio , Kansas , Nebraska , Missouri , Oklahoma , the Dakotas , Minnesota , and Michigan ) which produce most of the U.S. corn and soybean crop .
Contrary to popular perception , the U.S. Midwest has seen little long-term summer warming .
For precipitation , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ response to human greenhouse gas emissions has not occurred ; if anything , precipitation has increased .
Corn yield trends continue on a technologically-driven upward trajectory , totally obscuring any potential negative impact of “ climate change ” .
What Period of Time Should We Examine to Test Global Warming Claims ?
Based upon the observations , “ global warming ” did not really begin until the late 1970s .
Prior to that time , anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions had not yet increased by much at all , and natural climate variability dominated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it still does ) .
Furthermore , uncertainties regarding the cooling effects of sulfate aerosol pollution make any model predictions before the 1970s-80s suspect since modelers simply adjusted the aerosol cooling effect in their models to match the temperature observations , which showed little if any warming before that time which could be reasonably attributed to greenhouse gas emissions .
This is why I am emphasizing the last 50 years ( 1970-2019 ) …this is the period during which we should have seen the strongest warming , and as greenhouse gas emissions continue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of most interest to help determine just how much faith we should put into model predictions for changes in national energy policies .
In other words , quantitative testing of greenhouse warming theory should be during a period when the signal of that warming is expected to be the greatest .
Now that the new CMIP6 climate model experiment data are becoming available , we can begin to get some idea of how those models are shaping up against observations and the previous ( CMIP5 ) model predictions .
The following analysis includes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ KNMI Climate Explorer website .
The temperature observations come from the statewide data at NOAA ’ s Climate at a Glance website .
For the Midwest U.S. in the summer ( June-July-August ) we see that there has been almost no statistically significant warming in the last 50 years , whereas the CMIP6 models appear to be producing even more warming than the CMIP5 models did .
The observed 50-year trend is only 0.086 C/decade ( barely significant at the 1-sigma level ) , while the CMIP5 average model trend is 4X as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CMIP6 trend is 5.7X as large at 0.495 C/decade .
While the CMIP6 trend will change somewhat as more models are added , it is consistent with the report that the CMIP6 models are producing more average warming than their CMIP5 predecessors .
I am showing the average of the available models rather than individual models , because it is the average of the models which guides the UN IPCC reports and thus energy policy .
It is disingenuous for some to claim that “ not all IPCC models disagree with the observations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sort of vindication of all the models .
It is not .
If there are one or two models that agree the best with observations , why isn ’ t the IPCC just using those to write its reports ?
Hmmm ?
What I find particularly troubling is that the climate modelers are increasingly deaf to what observations tell us .
How can the CMIP5 models ( let alone the newer CMIP6 models ) be used to guide U.S. energy policy when there is such a huge discrepancy between the models and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one season ( summer ) in one region ( the U.S. Midwest ) , but it is immensely important .
The U.S. is the world leader in production of corn ( which is used for feed , food , and fuel ) and behind only Brazil in soybean production .
Blatantly false claims ( e.g .
here ) of observed change in Midwest climate have fed the popular opinion that U.S. crops are already feeling the negative effects of human-caused climate change , despite the facts .
This is just one example of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complicit in the destruction of rational climate debate , which is now extending to outright censoring of alternative climate views on not only social media , but also in mainstream news sources like Forbes which disappeared environmentalist Michael Shellenberger ’ s op-ed in which he confessed he no longer believes in a “ climate crisis ” .


climatedepot--2020-07-06--Book Review: Former NOAA Climate Scientist Dr. Rex Fleming calls carbon dioxide fear a ‘False Alarm’

This summer there are two new books and an older one newly relevant today with the same title : False Alarm .
Though physician Dr. Marc Siegal wrote False Alarm : The Truth about the Epidemic of Fear back in 2008 , right now Amazon Kindle has the book in heavy promotion .
Kindle boasts , “ More relevant than ever as the Coronavirus COVID 19 pandemic sweeps the globe , False Alarm reminds readers to look closely at the facts as the media covers the pandemic news and spread of the virus , as well as reinforces the notion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tactics….
” The two new books , however , address fear generated by politicians and doomsayers over “ manmade global warming ” for which carbon dioxide ( and the burning of fossil fuels that releases it into the atmosphere ) is cast as the chief culprit .
Due out on July 14th is “ skeptical environmentalist ” Bjorn Lomborg ’ s False Alarm : How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions , Hurts the Poor , and Fails to Fix the Planet .
[ We plan to review this book very soon .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Rex J. Fleming ’ s False Alarm : The Rise and Fall of the Carbon Dioxide Theory of Climate Change .
Fleming , who holds a Ph.D. in atmospheric science from the University of Michigan , promises that his tome ( replete with mathematical formulae ) will present “ in layman ’ s terms ” the proof that the United Nations ’ claim that carbon dioxide is the primary cause of climate change is a dangerous myth .
In this book , Fleming dissects the case against CO and shows how cosmic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ real cause of both beneficent warming and devastating cooling to the planet .
He also cautions that all signs point to a new wave of cold weather ahead .
The book contains a concise history of the highly politicized effort to tag increasing atmospheric CO ( and thus fossil fuels ) as a villain that must be vanquished .
The lure of big money , research grants , and favorable media coverage has led “ scientists ” to blame just about every human ailment on “ manmade global warming ” and curiously ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to demand a carbon-free society in the near future .
Fleming lauds the work of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change , which has countered the politicized Summaries for Policymakers ( and increasingly the interior content ) of the reports from the United Nations ’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change .
He castigates Al Gore and others who have profited from fear mongering on the alleged climate crisis , and expresses hope that society might realize that real climate change may soon arrive with the beginning of a new ice age ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s magnetic field ) .
Fleming offers three proofs that CO is not a culprit but rather a vital weapon against a colder , drier planet .
First , CO levels have had no correlation to climate change during prior ice ages or intervening warm periods – including the 35-year cooling in the 20th Century .
Second , every single computer-generated climate model has predicted much more warming than has occurred .
Third , Fleming offers proof that CO does not contribute any net heating to the atmospheric column despite the fact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contribute to a thermal blanket at the Earth ’ s surface .
In his chapter on “ Creation of the Universe , ” Fleming explains that supernovas generated by dying O-type stars are a major source of cosmic rays and thus a key source of climate change .
On the other hand , CO concentrations have ranged from 370 parts per million ( ppm ) to 40,000 ppm during different ice ages .
Fleming then notes that renowned scientist Svante Arrhenius postulated in 1896 that a doubling of CO resulting from industrial emissions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ temperature over a period of 3,000 years , a time frame chosen largely because he surmised the oceans would absorb most of the extra CO .
A few years later Knut Angstrom proposed that adding CO does not produce more heat because the wavelengths of infrared absorption for CO were already saturated and strong enough to absorb all of the radiation at those wavelengths .
Angstrom , however , had not discovered all of the relevant wavelengths , and thus both scientists saw only parts of the larger story .
About the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the energy intensity and frequency ( or wavelength ) of radiation .
His hypothesis that the energy emitted by a resonator could only take on discrete values , or quanta , was a first step towards a new quantum theory .
The Planck function , which expresses the intensity of radiation , is the key to showing why CO has NO ROLE in climate change .
But these facts did not matter to the emerging enviro-politicians and their fawning media , who have run with the long-disproven claim that increasing CO will melt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and bring about the end of all life ( while in reality using this ruse to seek huge profits and globalist praise ) .
Never mind that the cooling between 1940 and 1975 can not fit into the CO theory .
The only real point of correlation is that the last ice age ended about the same time the Industrial Revolution ( and thus the increased use of fossil fuels ) began .
But proving a negative [ that CO was not the cause ] was insufficient to explain why the Earth had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s theory provides that explanation .
He builds on the fact that a strong solar magnetic field provides a barrier that keeps cosmic rays from entering the Earth ’ s atmosphere , whereas a weak solar magnetic field allows the penetration of cosmic rays that greatly increase cloud cover that cools the planet .
The solar magnetic field , he explains , is generated by the solar dynamo in part due to the angular momentum of the Sun ’ s differential rotation .
This accounts for sunspot variability .
Longer term , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solar system barycenter adds to orbital angular momentum so that both contribute to the variability of the Sun ’ s magnetic field intensity .
Fleming provides a multitude of mathematical formulae and other documentation that will be of interest mostly to scientists and mathematicians .
But he also closes with a stark warning that the Modern Warming may soon come to an end .
Humanity , he pleads , should be preparing for a very long , very cold era that could have already begun .
A colder Earth grows fewer crops , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and forces relocation or massive efforts to protect people from freezing .
Addressing those concerns should be one of our highest priorities today and into the future .
But will we be ready ?


climatedepot--2020-07-06--Biden recruits Tom Steyer & Carol Browner For Biden’s ‘Climate Engagement Advisory Council’

Joe Biden ’ s campaign has recruited Tom Steyer , Carol Browner , and several other high-profile climate and labor figures to mobilize voters for the former vice president .
Biden ’ s Climate Engagement Advisory Council will target voters who care about climate and environmental justice , including young voters , people of color and union workers , the campaign announced Friday in a statement .
Biden is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee .
Steyer , the billionaire activist , ran for president himself in 2019 on a climate-heavy platform and criticized Biden during a November debate for not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden responded by criticizing Steyer ’ s past investments in coal .
Browner , the former EPA administrator and climate czar to President Obama , is the board chair of the League of Conservation Voters , which has endorsed Biden .
The council also includes Rep. Deb Haaland ( D-N.M. ) , one of the first Native American women elected to the House and a former co-chair of Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren ’ s presidential campaign .
The council ’ s other members are Cecilia Martinez , the co-founder and executive director @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Democracy ; Lonnie Stephenson , the international president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ; and Harold Mitchell Jr. , a former South Carolina state representative and founder of the ReGenesis Community Development Corp .


climatedepot--2020-07-06--The ‘Teenage God of Global Warming’ Greta Thunberg Now Feeling Sudden Lack Of Relevance

The ‘ Teenage God of Global Warming ’ Feeling Sudden Lack Of Relevance Sky News Australia , 29 June 2020 @ @ @ @ @ global warming ” Greta Thunberg is now feeling a sudden lack of relevance following her @ @ @ @ @ to remember they should feel ashamed according to Sky News host Andrew Bolt .


climatedepot--2020-07-06--Book Review: Bjorn Lomborg’s ‘False Alarm’ Brings Reason to Climate Debate

In a world where hyperbole and hysteria continue to displace reasoned discourse , Lomborg offers cogent , thoughtful arguments in an attempt to return perspective and reason to the climate change discussion .
No matter your predispositions regarding the climate change issue , you ’ re sure to find something alarmingly objectionable about skeptical environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg ’ s latest work , “ False Alarm.
” That ’ s precisely what makes this book so important .
In a world where hyperbole and hysteria continue to displace reasoned discourse , Lomborg offers cogent , thoughtful arguments in an attempt to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ change discussion .
He does so by using science and economics as those disciplines should be used : as broad floodlights illuminating all facets of an issue , not as laser pointers focused only on the data that support a cherished thesis .
The subtitle to “ False Alarm ” is “ How climate change panic costs us trillions , hurts the poor , and fails to fix the planet.
” As subtitles go , that ’ s a bit clunkier than most , but it ’ s a fair summation of what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statement early on : “ We ’ re scaring kids and adults witless , which is not just factually wrong but morally reprehensible .
If we don ’ t say stop , the current , false climate alarm , despite its good intentions , is likely to leave the world much worse off than it could be.
” Someone reading the above statement and who knows nothing about Lomborg might assume that this Danish professor is what one side of the climate change debate would call a “ denier.
” While he has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ critics recognize Lomborg as something else , neither fish nor fowl within the climate change menagerie .
He acknowledges that our climate is changing , and he admits that mankind has been and will continue to play a role in that change .
What he refuses to do , and what he wishes all of us would refuse to do , is panic .
Lomborg brings an accessible style to “ False Alarm , ” allowing a reader to digest facts and arguments without being overwhelmed .
He talks tothe reader , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ subject that lecture and harangue .
The nature of the climate change debate makes it impossible to have a wholly inclusive discussion in any single book , but Lomborg makes a valiant attempt .
Like any writer on the subject , he must pick and choose which facts , examples , and ideas to present , and these are , of course , designed to support his central thesis .
That said , Lomborg makes a heroic effort to be fair to all points of view .
When he rejects a popular argument @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , although his understandable frustration with the performance of journalists and politicians when addressing climate change is evident .
“ False Alarm ” is full of quotable moments .
Lomborg delivers one of the best early on as he makes what should be an obvious point : that the world—and particularly the developing world—faces a host of challenges that are much more immediate and potentially harmful than climate change and that it ’ s irresponsible to pretend that reducing carbon emissions is the key to solving all of them .
He concludes , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at every turn , we will often end up helping the world in one of the least effective ways possible.
” One of the bolder ideas Lomborg presents will surely draw the ire of critics : the idea that man may one day be able to manipulate the planet ’ s climate .
In a chapter titled “ Geoengineering : A Backup Plan , ” Lomborg argues that it may be possible to control the weather using heretofore undiscovered technologies .
Citing the substantial drop in global temperatures that resulted from the eruption @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may find ways to directly manage temperatures if needed .
He doesn ’ t advocate implementing such a solution anytime soon , but argues that we should still research such approaches .
“ It might just prove to be the earth ’ s best backup plan , ” he says .
He criticizes the Paris Agreement as poorly conceived and , even if fully implemented , ineffective .
He advocates for a ( modest ) carbon tax , is critical of solar power because of its cost and relative inefficiency , but is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alternative and renewable sources of energy .


climatedepot--2020-07-06--Coronavirus Derails EU’s Climate Focus: Germany’s EU presidency faces staunch opposition to ‘climate

Coronavirus Derails EU’s Climate Focus: Germany’s EU presidency faces staunch opposition to ‘climate protection’ measures

Expectations for climate protection were heaped onto 2020 .
The Paris Climate Convention means that Germany and its fellow signatories must sign up for higher climate targets before the year end .
The EU ’ s Green Deal , a package of pro-climate measures , is on the drawing board .
Against this backdrop , there were hopes that the Germany ’ s rotating council presidency would turn into a “ climate presidency ” .
But national and international priorities have been upended by the coronavirus pandemic , which ushered in an inevitable focus on healthcare and bids to insulate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been a clear shift in sentiment .
Even in late April in her weekly video podcast , chancellor Angela Merkel , acknowledged that the German EU presidency would focus on dealing with the social and economic impact of the new coronavirus as well as environmental issues , but admitted : “ It will be clearly dominated by the issue of combating the pandemic and its consequences ” .
[ … ] Despite these glimmers of hope , there remain precious few clues on the detail of what is in store during the upcoming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lack of specifics during this year ’ s Petersberg Climate Dialogue – an annual meeting which includes about 30 environment ministers from around the world .
This year it was particularly closely watched as the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow at the end of the year has been cancelled amid COVID-19 .
Speaking at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue , Merkel notably did not talk about the presidency at all , instead she talked in general terms about the Green Deal but she did endorse the commission ’ s proposal to raise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ target from 40 percent , to 50-55 percent .
[ … ] As the countdown to the German presidency picks up speed , it is clear that not all member nations are fans of pro-climate policies .
Amid the urgent need to react to the pandemic , a Polish government official has spoken out in favour of removing the EU emissions trading scheme while the Czech prime minister Andrej Babis has urged for the European Green Deal to be shelved .
This suggests a double challenge during Germany ’ s stint at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 .