climatedepot--2020-08-26--Stop Blaming Climate Change For California’s Fires–Michael Schellenberger

Fires have burned 1.3 million acres of California ’ s forests over the last month .
That ’ s one million acres more than burned last year , and is an unusually high number for this early in the fire season .
“ If you are in denial about climate change , come to California , ” Governor Gavin Newsom told the Democratic National Convention .
“ 11,000 dry lightning strikes we had over a 72 hour period [ led ] to this unprecedented challenge with these wildfires.
” The New York Times NYT -1.1 % , CBS News , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the wildfires destroyed a forest of ancient redwood trees in Big Basin state park .
“ Hundreds of trees burned at Big Basin Redwoods State Park , ” reported Shawn Hubler and Kellen Browning for The New York Times .
“ Park officials closed it on Wednesday , another casualty of the wildfires that have wracked the state with a vengeance that has grown more apocalyptic every year.
” “ The protected trees , some 2,500 years old , were nearly wiped out by loggers in the 1800s , ” claimed CBS News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ climate change has damaged or destroyed many of these ancient giants.
” “ Big Basin Redwoods State Park has burned through , ” reported New York Magazine ’ s David Wallace-Wells , pointing to climate change as the cause .
“ Some , older than Muhammad , had stood for a thousand years by the time Europeans set foot in North America .
The youngest are older than the Black Death.
” But every school child who has visited one of California ’ s redwood parks knows from reading the signs at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the trailheads that old-growth redwood forests need fire to survive and thrive .
Heat from fire is required for the release and germination of redwood seeds , and to burn up the woody debris on the forest floor .
The thick bark on old-growth redwood trees provides evidence of many past fires .
And , indeed , video footage taken by two San Jose Mercury News reporters , who hiked into Big Basin after the fire , shows the vast majority of trees still standing .
What was burned up was the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infrastructure .
Nor is it the case that California ’ s fires have “ grown more apocalyptic every year , ” as The New York Times reported .
In fact , 2019 saw a remarkably small amount of acreage burn , just 280,000 acres compared to 1.3 million and 1.6 million in 2017 and 2018 , respectively .
What about this year ’ s fires ?
“ I see [ the current California fires ] as a normal event , just not one that happens every year , ” Jon Keeley , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ On July 30 , 2008 , we had massive fires throughout northern California due to a series of lightning fires in the middle of the summer , ” he said .
“ It ’ s not an annual event , but it ’ s not an unusual event.
” California ’ s fires should indeed serve as a warning to the public , but not that climate change is causing the apocalypse .
Rather , it should serve as a warning that mainstream news reporters and California ’ s politicians can not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ climate change and fires .
The area that burns annually in California has declined over 80 % since the arrival of Europeans , and … [ + ] It ’ s Not About The Climate Nobody denies climate change is occurring and playing a role in warmer temperatures and heatwaves .
Keeley notes that , since 1960 , the variation in spring and summer temperatures explain 50 % of the variation in fire frequency and intensity from one year to the next .
But the half-century since 1960 is the same period in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out of ignorance , the suppression of regular fires which most forests need to allow for new growth .
For much of the 20th Century , U.S. agencies and private landowners suppressed fires as a matter of policy .
The results were disastrous : the accumulation of wood fuel resulting in fires that burn so hot they sometimes kill the forest , turning it into shrubland .
The US government started to allow forests in national parks to burn more in the 1960s , and allowed a wider set of forests on public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ When I hear climate change discussed it ’ s suggested that it ’ s a major reason and it ’ s not , ” Scott Stevens of the University of California , Berkeley , told me .
Redwood forests before Europeans arrived burned every 6 to 25 years .
The evidence comes from fire scars on barks and the bases of massive ancient trees , hollowed out by fire , like the one depicted in The New York Times photograph .
“ There was severe heat before the lightning that dried-out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stevens .
“ But in Big Basin [ redwood park ] , where fire burned every seven to ten years , there is a high-density of fuel build-up , especially in the forests.
” In 1904 , three large fires burned Big Basin for 20 days , scorching the crowns of many trees , just as the 2020 fire did .
Reporters for The New York Times were apparently as pyrophobic 116 years ago as they are today , reporting that year that Big Basin , “ seems doomed for destruction.
” But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fire in Humboldt Redwoods State Park burned 13,774 .
Forest in 2008 burned over 165,000 acres .
And a 2016 fire burned 130,000 acres .
Climate activists who in the winter excoriate those , like Senator James Inhofe , for pointing to snow as proof that global warming isn ’ t happening , turn around and point to summer fires as proof that it is .
“ In my [ five years ] as a Californian , ” wrote Leah Stokes in The Atlantic .
“ I ’ ve seen a years-long drought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a wildfire closed in .
I ’ ve lived through unprecedented heat waves… .
that climate is no more.
” Environmental scholars scoff at this ahistorical view .
“ The idea that fire is somehow new , ” said geographer Paul Robbins of the University of Wisconsin , “ a product solely of climate change , and part of a moral crusade for the soul of the nation , borders on the insane.
” The amount of California that burns year to year is not uniform , Keeley emphasizes .
“ It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2017 and 2018 to say ‘ This is the new normal ’ because 2019 was totally abnormal compared to 2017 and 2018.
” Is that amount abnormal ?
Not historically speaking .
Scientists calculate that , before Europeans arrived , 4.4 million acres of California burned annually , which is 16 times larger than the amount that burned in 2019 .
“ Of the hundreds of persons who visit the Pacific slope of California every summer to see the mountains , ” reported a U.S. government scientist in 1898 , who had surveyed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than the immediate foreground and a haze of smoke.
” Even if 1.5 million acres of burned area per year indeed ends up being the “ new normal ” for a decade , it will still be one-third of the pre-industrial , pre-European average .
Why do activist journalists and politicians get California ’ s fires so wrong ?
Part of the reason is their determination to blame climate change for everything .
“ If all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail , ” noted Keeley .
“ If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everything looks like it is caused by climate change .
Every climate change research center finds climate is a problem .
They are trying to find climate as the explanation.
” Climate bias is compounded by partisan bias .
For example , journalists ridiculed President Donald Trump for suggesting that California ’ s fires were due to the state ’ s failure to remove undergrowth from its forests , even though scientists agree that the build-up of wood fuel through fire suppression is a massive problem .
Part of the problem is that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the natural environment .
“ I ’ m not an environmentalist , ” confessed Wallace-Wells in his 2019 book , The Uninhabitable Earth , “ and don ’ t even think of myself as a nature person .
I ’ ve lived my whole life in cities… I ’ ve never gone camping , not willingly anyway… ” But if Wallace-Wells had been more of a “ nature person ” he might have known that fires are part of the cycle of life for redwood and many other forests .
The New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ photo of a large , ancient redwood tree whose inner trunk is on fire .
Many readers might have reasonably assumed the tree was dead , but that ’ s not necessarily the case .
In 1911 , a reporter for the Santa Cruz Sentinel stood inside one of the trees hollowed out by the 1904 fire and noticed that it was still growing .
“ To stand in the trunk of this tree and look up through the charred interior to the patch of blue sky far above , interlaced there with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nature when producing the strange and awe-inspiring.
” The picture that Wallace-Wells and other activist journalists paint has more to do with religious depictions of a burning underworld than scientific descriptions of burning underbrush .
“ Looking from the vantage of today , ” Wallace-Wells said last year , “ we see that world and can think of it basically as a hell.
” Facts seem unlikely to get in the way of his desire to tell a good story .
“ Fires are among the best and more horrifying propagandists for climate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terrifying and immediate , no matter how far from a fire zone you live.
” Analysis of the last couple of decades shows that a massive year-on-year variability in wildfire acreage in California , but no obvious trends .
And nationally this year so far is well below the long term average : But that won ’ t stop environmental journalists and politicians blaming every fire on climate change .


climatedepot--2020-08-26--Al Gore: Burning Fossil Fuels ‘a Precondition for Higher Death Rates from COVID-19’

Former Vice President Al Gore said Tuesday that burning fossil fuels should be understood as a “ pre-condition ” for higher death rates from the Chinese coronavirus .
A transcript is as follows : STEPHEN ADLER : When we were talking about Zika way back , you saw a cause and effect relationship with the warming climate and the changes in climate and how it affected mosquitoes .
Do you see cause and effect relationship between the change in climate and extreme weather and other aspect of climate change and the advent of the virus ?
AL GORE : Well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two important ones .
First of all , we now know from multiple studies that the burning of fossil fuels should be understood as a precondition for higher death rates from COVID-19 .
A massive study of 324 cities in China showed a significant linear increase in infections and serious infections related to cities and communities where there is more particulate pollution in the air .
Of course , the principal source of that is burning fossil fuels .
We are encountering , now , five new infectious diseases every year .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diseases , which I now know it means they come from animals to humans .
And of course , that ’ s where SARS-CoV-2 , the virus that causes COVID-19 , came from , from bats in a region near Wuhan .
And that ’ s happening because we are steadily encroaching more into the wild , previously wild areas of the world where there are literally millions of viruses that human beings have not encountered .
Now , the consequences of the climate crisis in disrupting the water cycle , creating storms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coast right now , creating the fires like those that are raging in California and Nevada right now and Oregon , actually shift the balance along — mainly , with the higher temperatures — in the relationship between humans and microbes , and they shift the balance in favor of microbes .
We ’ re seeing tropical diseases move pole-ward , north in the northern hemisphere , south in the southern hemisphere , and air travel has a lot to do with that .
But the places where they take root and become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changed climate conditions where these viruses travel .

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


climatedepot--2020-08-26--Two New Studies Offer New confirmation that climate models overstate atmospheric warming – Climate m

Two New Studies Offer New confirmation that climate models overstate atmospheric warming – Climate models for ‘entertainment purposes’ only

Two new peer-reviewed papers from independent teams confirm that climate models overstate atmospheric warming and the problem has gotten worse over time , not better .
The papers are Mitchell et al .
( 2020 ) “ The vertical profile of recent tropical temperature trends : Persistent model biases in the context of internal variability ” Environmental Research Letters , and McKitrick and Christy ( 2020 ) “ Pervasive warming bias in CMIP6 tropospheric layers ” Earth and Space Science .
John and I didn ’ t know about the Mitchell team ’ s work until after their paper came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t know about ours .
Mitchell et al .
look at the surface , troposphere and stratosphere over the tropics ( 20N to 20S ) .
John and I look at the tropical and global lower- and mid- troposphere .
Both papers test large samples of the latest generation ( “ Coupled Model Intercomparison Project version 6 ” or CMIP6 ) climate models , i.e .
the ones being used for the next IPCC report , and compare model outputs to post-1979 observations .
John and I were able to examine 38 models @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 48 models .
The sheer number makes one wonder why so many are needed , if the science is settled .
Both papers looked at “ hindcasts , ” which are reconstructions of recent historical temperatures in response to observed greenhouse gas emissions and other changes ( e.g .
aerosols and solar forcing ) .
Across the two papers it emerges that the models overshoot historical warming from the near-surface through the upper troposphere , in the tropics and globally .
Mitchell et al .
had , in an earlier study , examined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amplify surface warming too much as you go up in altitude , or whether they get the vertical amplification right but start with too much surface warming .
The short answer is both .
In this Figure the box/whiskers are model-predicted warming trends in the tropics ( 20S to 20N ) ( horizontal axis ) versus altitude ( vertical axis ) .
Where the trend magnitudes cross the zero line is about where the stratosphere begins .
Red= models that internally simulate both ocean and atmosphere .
Blue : models that take observed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ simulate the air temperature trends .
Black lines : observed trends .
The blue boxes are still high compared to the observations , especially in the 100-200hPa level ( upper-mid troposphere ) .
Overall their findings are : • “ we find considerable warming biases in the CMIP6 modeled trends , and we show that these biases are linked to biases in surface temperature ( these models simulate an unrealistically large global warming ) .
” • “ we note here for the record that from 1998 to 2014 , the CMIP5 models @ @ @ @ @ @ @ times faster than the observations , and in one model the warming is 10 times larger than the observations.
” • “ Throughout the depth of the troposphere , not a single model realization overlaps all the observational estimates .
However , there is some overlap between the RICH observations and the lowermost modelled trend , which corresponds to the NorCPM1 model.
” • “ Focusing on the CMIP6 models , we have confirmed the original findings of Mitchell et al .
( 2013 ) : first , the modeled tropospheric trends are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ notably in the upper troposphere , around 200 hPa ) and , second , that these biases can be linked to biases in surface warming .
As such , we see no improvement between the CMIP5 and the CMIP6 models.
” ( Mitchell et al .
2020 ) A special prize goes to the Canadian model !
“ We draw attention to the CanESM5 model : it simulates the greatest warming in the troposphere , roughly 7 times larger than the observed trends.
” The Canadian government relies on the CanESM models “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ climate change adaptation and mitigation in Canada and internationally.
” I would be very surprised if the modelers at UVic ever put warning labels on their briefings to policy makers .
The sticker should read : “ WARNING !
This model predicts atmospheric warming roughly 7 times larger than observed trends .
Use of this model for anything other than entertainment purposes is not recommended.
” Although the above diagram looks encouraging in the stratosphere , Mitchell et al .
found the models get it wrong too .
They predict too little cooling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the effects cancel in a linear trend .
The vertical “ fingerprint ” of GHG in models is warming in the troposphere and cooling in the stratosphere .
Models predict steady stratospheric cooling should have continued after late 1990s but observations show no such cooling this century .
The authors suggest the problem is models are not handling ozone depletion effects correctly .
The above diagram focuses on the 1998-2014 span .
Compare the red box/whiskers to the black lines .
The red lines are climate model outputs after feeding in observed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The predicted trends don ’ t match the observed trend profile ( black line ) – there ’ s basically no overlap at all .
They warm too much in the troposphere and cool too much in the stratosphere .
Forcing models to use prescribed sea surface temperatures ( blue ) , which in effect hands the “ right ” answer to the model for most of the surface area , mitigates the problem in the troposphere but not the stratosphere .
John Christy and I had earlier compared models to observations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a warming bias in all models .
This is one of several papers I ’ ve done on tropical tropospheric warm biases .
The IPCC cites my work ( and others ’ ) and accepts the findings .
Our new paper shows that , rather than the problem being diminished in the newest models , it is getting worse .
The bias is observable in the lower- and mid-troposphere in the tropics but also globally .
We examined the first 38 models in the CMIP6 ensemble .
Like Mitchell et al .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ each model .
Here are the 1979-2014 warming trend coefficients ( vertical axis , degrees per decade ) and 95 % error bars comparing models ( red ) to observations ( blue ) .
LT=lower troposphere , MT=mid-troposphere .
Every model overshoots the observed trend ( horizontal dashed blue line ) in every sample .
Most of the differences are significant at < 5 % , and the model mean ( thick red ) versus observed mean difference is very significant , meaning it ’ s not just noise or randomness .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ throughout the global atmosphere , even over an interval where modelers can observe both forcings and temperatures .
We used 1979-2014 ( as did Mitchell et al . )
because that ’ s the maximum interval for which all models were run with historically-observed forcings and all observation systems are available .
Our results would be the same if we use 1979-2018 , which includes scenario forcings in final years .
( Mitchell et al .
report the same thing . )
John and I found that models with higher Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not surprisingly ) , but even the low-ECS group ( < 3.4K ) exhibits warming bias .
In the low group the mean ECS is 2.7K , the combined LT/MT model warming trend average is 0.21K/decade and the observed counterpart is 0.15K/decade .
This figure ( green circle added ; see below ) shows a more detailed comparison .
The horizontal axis shows the model warming trend and the vertical axis shows the corresponding model ECS .
The red squares are in the high ECS group and the blue circles are in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the LT layer and open shapes are from the MT layer .
The crosses indicate the means of the four groups and the lines connect LT ( solid ) and MT ( dashed ) layers .
The arrows point to the mean observed MT ( open arrow , 0.09C/decade ) and LT ( closed arrow , 0.15 C/decade ) trends .
While the models in the blue cluster ( low ECS ) do a better job , they still have warming rates in excess of observations .
If we were to picture @ @ @ @ @ @ @ global tropospheric warming rates overlapping observations it would have to be positioned roughly in the area I ’ ve outlined in green .
The associated ECS would be between 1.0 and 2.0K .
I get it that modeling the climate is incredibly difficult , and no one faults the scientific community for finding it a tough problem to solve .
But we are all living with the consequences of climate modelers stubbornly using generation after generation of models that exhibit too much surface and tropospheric warming , in addition to running grossly exaggerated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Back in 2005 in the first report of the then-new US Climate Change Science Program , Karl et al .
pointed to the exaggerated warming in the tropical troposphere as a “ potentially serious inconsistency.
” But rather than fixing it since then , modelers have made it worse .
Mitchell et al .
note that in addition to the wrong warming trends themselves , the biases have broader implications because “ atmospheric circulation trends depend on latitudinal temperature gradients.
” In other words when the models get the tropical troposphere wrong @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other features of the model atmosphere .
Even if the original problem was confined to excess warming in the tropical mid-troposphere , it has now expanded into a more pervasive warm bias throughout the global troposphere .
If the discrepancies in the troposphere were evenly split across models between excess warming and cooling we could chalk it up to noise and uncertainty .
But that is not the case : it ’ s all excess warming .
CMIP5 models warmed too much over the sea surface and too much in the tropical troposphere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much throughout the global lower- and mid-troposphere .
That ’ s bias , not uncertainty , and until the modeling community finds a way to fix it , the economics and policy making communities are justified in assuming future warming projections are overstated , potentially by a great deal depending on the model .
Karl , T. R. , S. J. Hassol , C. D. Miller , and W. L. Murray ( 2006 ) .
Temperature Trends in the Lower Atmosphere : Steps for Understanding and Reconciling Differences .
Synthesis and Assessment Product @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subcommittee on Global Change Research McKitrick and Christy ( 2020 ) “ Pervasive warming bias in CMIP6 tropospheric layers ” Earth and Space Science .
Mitchell et al .
( 2020 ) “ The vertical profile of recent tropical temperature trends : Persistent model biases in the context of internal variability ” Environmental Research Letters .


climatedepot--2020-08-26--Hurricane Laura Expected to Strengthen Into a Category 4; Strike Ahead Near Louisiana & Texas Border

• Laura is expected to intensify into a Category 4 as it approaches landfall .
• Laura will make landfall Wednesday night into early Thursday near the border between Louisiana and Texas .
• Catastrophic storm surge and damaging winds will affect areas near where Laura makes landfall .
• Storm surge could penetrate as much as 30 miles inland in southwest Louisiana .
• Laura is also an inland flood risk as far north and east as Arkansas and the Ohio and Tennessee valleys .
• Isolated tornadoes are also expected from Laura .
Hurricane Laura is expected to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heads for a destructive landfall near the Texas and Louisiana border Wednesday night into early Thursday morning .
A catastrophic storm surge and damaging winds will batter the region and a threat of flooding rain and strong winds will extend well inland .
Laura is centered just over 200 miles south-southeast of Lake Charles , Louisiana .
It ’ s tracking to the northwest at 16 mph .
The hurricane is now a Category 3 with 125 mph winds and is expected to continue strengthening .
Laura is forecast to become a Category @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the northwest Gulf Coast .
Laura ’ s maximum sustained winds jumped from 75 mph to 125 mph in the 24 hours ending 10 a.m. CDT Wednesday .
That increase in maximum sustained winds easily meets the definition of rapid intensification in a hurricane .
Doppler radar shows that bands of rain and gusty winds are now beginning to pivot into the northwest Gulf Coast .
A wind gust to 107 mph was reported at a buoy near the center of Laura early Wednesday morning .


climatedepot--2020-08-26--Melbourne’s slide into Covid dystopia: ‘Democracy is now a health hazard that politicians won’t expo

Melbourne’s slide into Covid dystopia: ‘Democracy is now a health hazard that politicians won’t expose themselves to’

The perverse lockdown has destroyed democracy , liberties and the economy .
A couple are watching their child play in a playground .
They are fined by the police .
They are further than five kilometres from their home .
A man leaves his home at 9.30pm to buy some cigarettes .
He too is fined : $ 1,652 .
He has left his house during the city-wide curfew , which comes in at 8pm .
On Facebook , two men plan a protest against Victoria ’ s restrictions .
Police execute a search warrant and seize their mobile phones @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with incitement because he wanted to organise a protest – public gatherings are limited to two people and only for exercise ( physical , not of our basic rights ) .
This is the situation in Melbourne , Australia ’ s second-largest city , right now .
In a supposedly liberal democracy .
On 2 August , Daniel Andrews , the premier of Victoria , announced that Melbourne was in a ‘ State of Disaster ’ , and as of that evening would move to ‘ Stage 4 Restrictions ’ .
This meant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ essential ’ had to close .
Melburnians are forced to stay within five kilometres of their homes , can only leave the house for exercise for one hour per day , and only one member of a household can go shopping – once per day .
And we can not leave our homes between 8pm and 5am .
Any workers walking around outside of these times , or outside of the geographical confinements , must carry a government-issued ‘ permitted workers ’ permit .
This is the most perverse destruction of civil liberties @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in wartime we haven ’ t seen anything like this .
With just four hours ’ notice , the entire city was effectively placed under house arrest .
Livelihoods have been destroyed , social connections have been shattered , and for many , hope is lost .
The effects have been devastating from the outset , and will be devastating for years to come .
The Institute of Public Affairs estimates that an additional 300,000 jobs will be lost during this Stage 4 Lockdown – on top of the 168,600 people who have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March .
All this is happening without a shred of democratic oversight .
The lower house of the Victorian parliament has shut down on health advice .
Not moved to Zoom like the UK – simply shut down .
Democracy is now a health hazard that politicians won ’ t expose themselves to .
The upper house remains open despite the Andrews government ’ s attempts to get it closed .
When his ministers turn up , they have refused to answer questions about the handling of the virus – on health advice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ important time for democracy in Victoria .
We need answers .
When will Stage 4 end ?
When will restrictions in general end ?
Once we leave will we ever come back to Stage 4 ?
How many destroyed lives are acceptable in the fight against coronavirus ?
Are the draconian restrictions proportionate with the health risk ?
The only semblance of democracy we have is the premier ’ s daily media conferences .
Except these are attended not by elected parliament members whose voters have been thrown out of work , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happy for the lockdowns to continue .
Those journalists who are standing up for the affected and are asking tough questions are facing the wrath of Daniel Andrews ’ worshippers on social media .
When journalist Rachel Baxendale dared to ask tough questions of Andrews over the tragic mishandling of the state ’ s hotel quarantine scheme , the hashtags # thisisnotjournalism and # istandwithdan started trending on Twitter .
Unbelievable mishandling led us to Stage 4 restrictions .
Private security guards were hired to oversee hotel quarantine , instead of the police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the guards was not on the government ’ s panel of preferred security providers , but was likely chosen anyway for reasons of ‘ social inclusion ’ ( rather than say , ‘ experience ’ ) .
The government won ’ t tell us why exactly .
But it expects us to trust it can navigate its way out of this crisis it has created .
In fact , that ’ s what we have been asked to do for this whole pandemic – trust the elites .
The government doesn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – it has our best interests at heart .
Don ’ t question whether the restrictions are proportionate to the health risk – the governments ’ advisers know best .
Back in May , Australian prime minister Scott Morrison famously said ‘ we ’ re all in this together ’ .
What was cringeworthy then is now completely disingenuous .
Mainstream Victorians have paid far more of a cost for these restrictions than the elites of society have .
IPA analysis has found the real unemployment rate – which includes those who are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and available to work , those who have left the labour force since March , and those who are employed but are working zero hours – is 13.1 per cent .
Meanwhile , 14,000 jobs have been added to the public sector around Australia .
Of the politicians and senior members of the public service who have kept their jobs , not one has taken a pay cut .
In fact , politicians and tens of thousands of public servants in Victoria have seen their pay increase .
But we are all in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their jobs and lecture the rest of us on how to balance public-policy priorities .
They say they have got it right .
Have they ?
How things have changed .
Melbourne has been awarded the title of the ‘ world ’ s most liveable city ’ , according to the Global Liveability Index multiple times in the last decade .
It is now a city with a nightly curfew .
A city that has locked its most vulnerable citizens in tower blocks .
A city where police officers will ask you if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your house .
A city where you can be thrown out of work if the government says your industry is not ‘ essential.
’ I am writing these last paragraphs as the sun sets on another bleak day in this city .
There is a woman on the street outside taking her compulsory mask down so the person she ’ s calling on her mobile phone can hear her .
I am surprised .
Seeing someone without a mask on is now visually confronting , and I ’ m nervous a police officer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I wonder how long it will be before I see someone without a mask on and not worry that the police will soon arrive .
James Bolt is the co-host of the Young IPA Podcast with the Institute of Public Affairs .


climatedepot--2020-08-26--Climate Change & Coronavirus: We Are Victims of Deep State Hysteria – ‘The West, especially, has bee

Climate Change & Coronavirus: We Are Victims of Deep State Hysteria – ‘The West, especially, has been relentlessly propagandised into believing that the end of the world is imminent’

If you want to know why the world is in such a mess , don ’ t blame the feckless politicians , blame the paranoid , credulous , insidiously leftist Deep State .
This certainly seems to be true where the United Kingdom is concerned , as I ’ ve learned from two damning pieces — one by an anonymous Civil Service insider at Lockdown Sceptics ; the other one in The Critic , titled ‘ The BLM Takeover of Whitehall.
’ Both are simultaneously depressing and illuminating .
No matter how useless Boris Johnson and his ministers are , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Servants are both far more inept and far more dangerous .
But just like U.S. federal administrators in Washington ( according to City Journal ) , the mandarins in Whitehall have become partisans of “ Critical Race Theory ” and its radical tenets about “ systemic racism ” , “ white privilege ” , and “ white fragility ” .
They have adopted this left-wing ideology , promoted it , and are now institutionalising it throughout the Civil Service , root and branch , using new internal organisations such as “ Project Race @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” .
Your taxes have paid for these views : it ’ s about time you saw in the press what you were getting for your money .
And here is what for me is the killer paragraph by the Covid Civil Servant writing at Lockdown Sceptics .
There are few among our political elite and the supporting SCS who have STEM degrees and the consequence of this narrow pool is a failure to understand basic concepts , e.g .
they believe “ the science is settled ” when it comes to climate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ following the science ” regarding Covid-19 .
What they fail to appreciate is that science is rarely settled .
By its nature , it is about investigating and challenging assumptions , collecting and evaluating evidence to test hypotheses , and seeking to avoid bias and misrepresentation of results .
The current narrative regarding testing and ‘ cases ’ is a classic example of this lack of numeracy and statistical knowledge .
If you test more you are likely to find more occurrences and they may be actual positives or false positives .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a conversation I had recently with ‘ The Skeptical Environmentalist ’ Bjorn Lomborg — in which we agreed that the climate change scare was effectively a dry run for the Chinese coronavirus scare .
Of course , both problems are “ real ” to a degree .
Climate does change , potentially causing disruption .
Covid-19 is potentially fatal .
But neither problem , on the evidence we have now accumulated , has done anywhere near as much damage as the “ solutions ” .
Take Victoria , Australia , which — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Spiked !
illustrates — has used Chinese coronavirus as a justification for effectively imposing martial law on its citizens : A couple are watching their child play in a playground .
They are fined by the police .
They are further than five kilometres from their home .
A man leaves his home at 9.30pm to buy some cigarettes .
He too is fined : $ 1,652 .
He has left his house during the city-wide curfew , which comes in at 8pm .
On Facebook , two men plan a protest against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a search warrant and seize their mobile phones and a computer .
One is charged with incitement because he wanted to organise a protest – public gatherings are limited to two people and only for exercise ( physical , not of our basic rights ) .
This is the situation in Melbourne , Australia ’ s second-largest city , right now .
In a supposedly liberal democracy .
Does this sound a remotely proportionate response to a disease which so far , in the whole of Australia , has killed fewer than 500 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like Sweden , you ’ ll have had personal experience of this authoritarian lunacy – compulsory masks , extended quarantines , and so on .
To anyone familiar with the nature of the pandemic it seems as if the entire global political and administrative class has lost its head .
But the question is : why ?
Why are politicians and civil servants overreacting in this way ?
And why are so many people actually applauding as more and more of their freedoms are curtailed and their economies are destroyed in the name @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that the climate change scare has a lot to do with it .
For nearly three decades — it started with the 1992 Rio Earth Summit — the West , especially , has been relentlessly propagandised into believing that the end of the world is imminent and that urgent , expensive and disruptive action must be taken to prevent it .
As Lomborg says in his latest book False Alarm , “ We live in an age of fear.
” But the little girl won ’ t die of climate change any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of us will die from Covid-19 .
Yet across the world — in Britain , certainly , but I think in most other Western economies too — we are at the mercy of a leftist Deep State quite incapable of reason or objectivity , let alone of subjecting the policies it inflicts on us to a cost-benefit analysis .
I think things are going to get a lot worse before they get better , don ’ t you ?


climatedepot--2020-08-25--Guardian warns ‘last chance’ on climate change, after many other ‘last chances’

Anthony Watts has a good round up of some of the climate doomsday forecasts that never materialised : If we do not heed this latest last chance , I ’ m sure there will be another last chance in the near future , just like all the previous last chances we ’ ve been given in the past 30 years .
The Observer view on the climate catastrophe facing Earth Thirty years ago we were warned .
Now is our last chance to listen Thirty years ago this week , the population of Earth was given official notification that it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases , spewed into the atmosphere from factories and vehicles burning fossil fuels , were pinpointed , definitively , as triggers of future climate change .
Melting icecaps , rising sea levels and increasing numbers of extreme weather events would be the norm for the 21st century unless action were taken , warned the authors of the first assessment report of theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) .
Three decades later , it is clear that we have recklessly ignored that warning.Fossil fuels still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s energy , carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to rise and global temperatures are still increasing .
According to Met Office statistics , there was a 0.14C increase in global temperatures in the decade that followed publication of the first assessment report .
This was then followed by a 0.2C increase in each of the following two decades .
The world could easily heat by 3C by the end of the century at this rate , warn scientists .
The impact on the world will , by then , be catastrophic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is really the “ last chance ” , here are some previous last chances for your entertainment .
The Grandaddy of Climate Last Chances ?
In 1989 the United Nations gave us 10 years to save the world .
WUWT celebrated the 30th anniversary of this 10 year warning last year .
A senior U.N. environmental official says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000 .
… A Global Warming Treaty ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the Kyoto Protocol gets some emergency repair work this week as delegates from 180 countries gather in Bonn to work out problems that threaten to scuttle the deal altogether .


climatedepot--2020-08-25--Environmentalist: Stop Blaming Climate Change For California’s Fires

Fires have burned 1.3 million acres of California ’ s forests over the last month .
That ’ s one million acres more than burned last year and is an unusually high number for this early in the fire season .
“ If you are in denial about climate change , come to California , ” Governor Gavin Newsom told the Democratic National Convention .
“ 11,000 dry lightning strikes we had over a 72 hour period [ led ] to this unprecedented challenge with these wildfires.
” The New York Times , CBS News , and other news outlets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forest of ancient redwood trees in Big Basin state park .
“ Hundreds of trees burned at Big Basin Redwoods State Park , ” reported Shawn Hubler and Kellen Browning for The New York Times .
“ Park officials closed it on Wednesday , another casualty of the wildfires that have wracked the state with a vengeance that has grown more apocalyptic every year.
” “ The protected trees , some 2,500 years old , were nearly wiped out by loggers in the 1800s , ” claimed CBS News ’ Jonathan Vigliotti .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ or destroyed many of these ancient giants.
” “ Big Basin Redwoods State Park has burned through , ” reported New York Magazine ’ sDavid Wallace-Wells , pointing to climate change as the cause .
“ Some , older than Muhammad , had stood for a thousand years by the time Europeans set foot in North America .
The youngest are older than the Black Death.
” But every school child who has visited one of California ’ s redwood parks knows from reading the signs at the visitor ’ s center and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ redwood forests need fire to survive and thrive .
The heat from a fire is required for the release and germination of redwood seeds , and to burn up the woody debris on the forest floor .
The thick bark on old-growth redwood trees provides evidence of many past fires .
And , indeed , video footage taken by two San Jose Mercury News reporters , who hiked into Big Basin after the fire , shows the vast majority of trees still standing .
What was burned up was the visitor ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is it the case that California ’ s fires have “ grown more apocalyptic every year , ” as The New York Times reported .
In fact , 2019 saw a remarkably small amount of acreage burn , just 280,000 acres compared to 1.3 million and 1.6 million in 2017 and 2018 , respectively .
What about this year ’ s fires ?
“ I see [ the current California fires ] as a normal event , just not one that happens every year , ” Jon Keeley , a leading forest scientist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 30 , 2008 , we had massive fires throughout northern California due to a series of lightning fires in the middle of the summer , ” he said .
“ It ’ s not an annual event , but it ’ s not an unusual event.
” California ’ s fires should indeed serve as a warning to the public , but not that climate change is causing the apocalypse .
Rather , it should serve as a warning that mainstream news reporters and California ’ s politicians can not be trusted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fires .
It ’ s Not About The Climate Nobody denies climate change is occurring and playing a role in warmer temperatures and heatwaves .
Keeley notes that , since 1960 , the variation in spring and summer temperatures explain 50 % of the variation in fire frequency and intensity from one year to the next .
But the half-century since 1960 is the same period in which the U.S. government promoted , mostly out of ignorance , the suppression of regular fires which most forests need to allow for new growth .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. agencies and private landowners suppressed fires as a matter of policy .
The results were disastrous : the accumulation of wood fuel resulting in fires that burn so hot they sometimes kill the forest , turning it into shrubland .
The US government started to allow forests in national parks to burn more in the 1960s and allowed a wider set of forests on public lands to burn , starting in the 1990s .
“ When I hear climate change discussed it ’ s suggested that it ’ s a major reason @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Scott Stevens of the University of California , Berkeley , told me .
Redwood forests before Europeans arrived burned every 6 to 25 years .
The evidence comes from fire scars on barks and the bases of massive ancient trees , hollowed out by fire , like the one depicted in The New York Timesphotograph .
“ There was severe heat before the lightning that dried-out [ wood ] fuel , ” noted Stevens .
“ But in Big Basin [ redwood park ] , where fire burned every seven to ten years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ build-up , especially in the forests.
” In 1904 , three large fires burned Big Basin for 20 days , scorching the crowns of many trees , just as the 2020 fire did .
Reporters for The New York Times were apparently as pyrophobic 116 years ago as they are today , reporting that year that Big Basin , “ seems doomed for destruction.
” But redwood forests regularly burn .
A 2003 fire in Humboldt Redwoods State Park burned 13,774 .
Forest in 2008 burned over 165,000 acres .
And a 2016 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who in the winter excoriate those , like Senator James Inhofe , for pointing to snow as proof that global warming isn ’ t happening , turn around and point to summer fires as proof that it is .
“ In my [ five years ] as a Californian , ” wroteLeah Stokes in The Atlantic .
“ I ’ ve seen a years-long drought .
I ’ ve evacuated my home as a wildfire closed in .
I ’ ve lived through unprecedented heatwaves… .
that climate is no more.
” Environmental @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The idea that fire is somehow new , ” said geographer Paul Robbins of the University of Wisconsin , “ a product solely of climate change , and part of a moral crusade for the soul of the nation , borders on the insane.
” The amount of California that burns year to year is not uniform , Keeley emphasizes .
“ It was a mistake for the politicians in 2017 and 2018 to say ‘ This is the new normal ’ because 2019 was totally abnormal compared to 2017 and 2018.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ historically speaking .
Scientists calculate that , before Europeans arrived , 4.4 million acres of California burned annually , which is 16 times larger than the amount that burned in 2019 .
“ Of the hundreds of persons who visit the Pacific slope of California every summer to see the mountains , ” reported a U.S. government scientist in 1898 , who had surveyed the region , “ few see more than the immediate foreground and a haze of smoke.
” Even if 1.5 million acres of burned area per year indeed ends @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a decade , it will still be one-third of the pre-industrial , pre-European average .
Why do activist journalists and politicians get California ’ s fires so wrong ?
Part of the reason is their determination to blame climate change for everything .
“ If all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail , ” noted Keeley .
“ If all you study is climate change than everything looks like it is caused by climate change .
Every climate change research center finds climate is a problem .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ explanation.
” Climate bias is compounded by partisan bias .
For example , journalists ridiculed President Donald Trump for suggesting that California ’ s fires were due to the state ’ s failure to remove undergrowth from its forests , even though scientists agree that the build-up of wood fuel through fire suppression is a massive problem .
Part of the problem is that many environmental journalists are so disconnected from the natural environment .
“ I ’ m not an environmentalist , ” confessed Wallace-Wells in his 2019 book , The Uninhabitable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even think of myself as a nature person .
I ’ ve lived my whole life in cities… I ’ ve never gone camping , not willingly anyway… ” But if Wallace-Wells had been more of a “ nature person ” he might have known that fires are part of the cycle of life for redwood and many other forests .
The New York Times and other news media published a photo of a large , ancient redwood tree whose inner trunk is on fire .
Many readers might have reasonably assumed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s not necessarily the case .
In 1911 , a reporter for the Santa Cruz Sentinelstood inside one of the trees hollowed out by the 1904 fire and noticed that it was still growing .
“ To stand in the trunk of this tree and look up through the charred interior to the patch of blue sky far above , interlaced there with green branches , emphasizes the work of nature when producing the strange and awe-inspiring.
” The picture that Wallace-Wells and other activist journalists paint has more to do with religious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ descriptions of burning underbrush .
“ Looking from the vantage of today , ” Wallace-Wells said last year , “ we see that world and can think of it basically as a hell.
” Facts seem unlikely to get in the way of his desire to tell a good story .
“ Fires are among the best and more horrifying propagandists for climate change , ” he notes , “ terrifying and immediate , no matter how far from a fire zone you live.
” Michael Shellenberger was Time Magazine ’ s “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Book Award Winner , and president of Environmental Progress , a research and policy organization .
He is also the author of several bestselling books.
, his latest being Apocalypse Never .
The post Environmentalist : Stop Blaming Climate Change For California ’ s Fires first appeared on Climate Change Dispatch .


climatedepot--2020-08-25--Tucker Carlson: WHO Links Pandemic To Fighting Climate Change

Fox News host Tucker Carlson said Monday that the World Health Organization ( WHO ) and global elites are trying to link the coronavirus to climate change .
“ At first , authorities told us that we could resume our lives after the curb was flattened .
The curve stayed flat , ” Carlson said on “ Tucker Carlson Tonight.
” “ So , we have a new benchmark for when we can get back .
When we get a vaccine .
Everything will be fine once we can vaccinate against COVID-19 .
Many in authority told us that .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Carlson noted how Virginia is planning to make the vaccine mandatory when it is available .
Vaccine or not , that “ will not be the end of all of this , ” Carlson said .
“ It will never end .
You can get your injection , they ’ ll make you get it , but you ’ ll still be under arrest.
” “ The World Health Organization says that finding a vaccine is not the goal ; reordering society is the goal .
Quote , ‘ We will not , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way things were.
’ That ’ s a direct quote from the leader of the World Health Organization , Dr. Tedros , who by the way it is not really a doctor.
” Carlson said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus does not ultimately see the coronavirus as just “ a public health crisis really or even a mere virus .
COVID-19 … is really about global warming .
As he puts it , quote , ‘ The COVID-19 pandemic has given new impetus to the need to accelerate efforts to respond to climate change.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ pointed to comments from billionaire Bill Gates , who argued that the coronavirus pandemic is really a lesson in learning how to “ sacrifice even more to save the Earth from warming.
” In 2015 , Gates predicted an influenza pandemic that would kill millions of people .
“ Now , for people who are not billionaire global influencers , this is all pretty confusing .
Quick , what does the coronavirus have to do with climate change ?
Well , for one thing , China caused both of them.
” But Carlson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either Tedros or Gates .
“ No .
For Dr. Tedrose and Bill Gates , pandemic and climate change share a very different connection .
Both are useful pretexts for mass social control .
Both are essentially unsolvable crises they can harness to bypass democracy and force powerless populations to obey their commands.
” WHO has also linked the coronavirus with abortion , insisting that “ reproductive rights ” are essential medical services during the pandemic .
“ Now it makes sense .
Ever wondered why our leaders consider the coronavirus a major @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drug ODs ?
This is why .
When a 26-year-old mother in New Hampshire drops dead from fentanyl , Bill Gates and Dr. Tedros don ’ t get more powerful .
Her death is useless to them.
” The post Tucker Carlson : WHO Links Pandemic To Fighting Climate Change first appeared on Climate Change Dispatch .


climatedepot--2020-08-29--Europe’s Green New Deal climate goal: Revolution: To eliminate emissions by 2050, the EU will have t

Europe’s Green New Deal climate goal: Revolution: To eliminate emissions by 2050, the EU will have to ‘remake civilization’

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen likes to compare her Green Deal to “ Europe ’ s man on the moon moment.
” That ’ s almost certainly a galactic understatement .
Cutting the Continent ’ s emissions to “ net zero ” — meaning Europe would sequester at least as much greenhouse gases as it produces — by 2050 will require a radical overhaul of nearly every aspect of the modern economy .
Dramatic cuts in carbon will wipe out entire industries , transform others and force people to change the way they eat , work , live @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moon was a hobby , ” said Vincenzo Balzani , an Italian chemist , emeritus professor at the University of Bologna and author of several books on the transition to a cleaner world .
The EU ’ s ambition to decarbonize Europe , he said , is nothing less than “ a proposal to remake civilization.
” This is not policymaking on a normal scale .
French President Emmanuel Macron calls what follows “ the next world.
” Polish Climate Minister Michał Kurtyka , president of the 2018 U.N. climate conference , calls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will require a “ Copernican revolution ” to succeed .
There are few historical precedents of similar dimensions , all of them folkloric : Deng Xiaoping ’ s marketization of China ’ s economy , the Marshall Plan and the reconstruction of Europe and Japan after World War II , British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and U.S. President Ronald Reagan ’ s neoliberal revolutions .
Gary Gerstle , a professor of American history at Cambridge University in England , believes the closest historical parallel is U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ’ s 1930s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coincidence that the projects share a name .
U.S. advocates of combatting climate change , including Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden , refer to their proposals as their “ Green New Deal.
” The Commission has opted for “ The European Green Deal ” to describe the policy framework expected to push the Continent through the transition .
The New Deal ’ s goals were similarly ambitious .
Faced with the aching years of the Great Depression , the New Dealers explicitly wanted to remake U.S. capitalism through massive interventions and capital expenditure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to introducing work programs and social security retirement benefits , the program changed how U.S. citizens thought about their rights and responsibilities .
Roosevelt ’ s broadened vision for government ’ s role in the economy became the dominant political paradigm for half a century .
“ People don ’ t think of it as a ‘ deal , ’ ” said Gerstle .
“ They think of it as almost a revolution in American life.
” Raw cash comparisons have limited usefulness , but they can provide a sense of scale .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1933 and 1941 has been estimated to have run to $ 653 billion in 2009 dollars .
That ’ s less than Obama ’ s post-crash stimulus a decade ago , although significantly larger on a per capita basis .
The Marshall Plan gifted around $ 130 billion in today ’ s money for the post-war recovery in Europe .
The Apollo mission that put Neil Armstrong on the moon cost the U.S. government the equivalent of $ 288 billion .
Decarbonizing Europe will require combined private and public investment of €230 billion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to the European Commission — for a total of €4.6 trillion over two decades .
For scale , that ’ s roughly 18 times the cost of the Apollo program .
Another parallel between the New Deal and Europe ’ s Green Deal , says Balzani , is the lack of an appealing alternative .
Just as the Great Depression presented the U.S. with an unprecedented challenge , unrestrained climate change poses an existential threat to the European project .
The land area rated at “ high or very high ” risk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Balkans has grown to be the size of Germany and Hungary combined , according to a Romanian study published in 2017 .
Those fleeing drought and hunger in poorer countries will seek the relative safety of Europe , raising the prospect of a perpetual , destabilizing , dehumanizing refugee crisis .
The European economic model is built on trade with an open , prosperous world .
An unstable climate will contract GDP across the globe .
A sense of this being Europe ’ s last chance to offset these impacts , combined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Europe ’ s policymakers .
The coronavirus pandemic has only increased the historical alignments with the New Deal .
Suddenly Europe faces a “ shock without precedent since the Great Depression , ” European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni has said .
The €750 billion economic rescue package announced in May is also intended to jumpstart the Green Deal project .
Reaching net zero is in no way a given .
Preliminary figures for 2018 show the EU cut emissions by 2 percent , around 90 million tons of CO2 , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ average almost 140 megatons per year to reach zero in the middle of the century .
The jump doesn ’ t look huge , but many of the early wins have been comparatively easy ones , like replacing coal power with renewables or gas .
The further down the path Europeans travel , the harder and more expensive the work will become .
The final steps are especially unclear .
For some three-quarters of EU emissions , technologies exist that , over time and with some policy assistance , will unplug them from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent is tougher .
It will require “ innovation , ” according to modeling by the French consultancy Climact .
The models vary .
In 2018 , the Commission said it could see a path to cutting emissions to 90 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 .
The rest would require a fuzzy “ maximization ” of technological options .
“ We do not have all the answers yet , ” von der Leyen has admitted .
If Europeans truly mobilize around the delivery of the 2050 goal , every business decision , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hallmark of European culture — from annual ski trips , to Champions League Football matches , to French cheese — will need to be tested against its contribution to climate change .
The European Climate Law , proposed by the Commission in March , would submit every EU law , past and future , to a test of its compatibility with climate neutrality — a “ tectonic shift , ” according to E3G , a think tank that advocates for emission cuts .
We may not know how it can be done , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be done .
In a carbon-neutral Europe , cars and trucks will be powered by electricity or hydrogen and made increasingly from carbon fiber .
Nineteenth-century modes of haulage — riverboats and trains — will return with 21st-century power sources .
Steel , fertilizers and cement , the materials that built modernity , will be made in novel processes that cut their massive carbon footprints .
Buildings across the Continent will be transformed .
Boilers , windows and insulation will be replaced , generating work on a huge scale .
Meanwhile , every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ways to use more recycled materials .
Currently , just 12 percent of the stuff consumed by European industry has been used before .
At home , we will all participate in more complex rubbish sorting rituals .
No citizen , no industry , no government will reach the goal unchanged .
Through carbon pricing and policy nudges , citizens will be coerced or convinced to fly less , eat less red meat and use more trains , buses , trams and bicycles .
Some communities will have to remake themselves at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of coal power with renewable or nuclear energy .
Miners and oil workers will have to relinquish jobs bequeathed by previous generations .
Even after all this , significant quantities of greenhouse gases will still be wafting into the atmosphere .
To reach net zero , carbon will be captured and buried .
Agriculture and land management can provide some of the solution .
Forests will help take up some of the emissions .
Farmers ’ income will be as connected to the carbon going into their soil as the food coming out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for machines that suck CO2 directly from the air .
A Swiss startup called Climeworks , which builds SUV-sized machines that remove carbon from the atmosphere and bury it or turn it into climate-neutral fuel , recently announced it had raised $ 67 million from investors .
Christoph Beuttler , Climeworks ’ carbon dioxide removal manager ( a very 21st-century job title ) , believes the company will be able to get the price of its service down from $ 1,000 per ton currently , to $ 100 per ton by 2030 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ says Climeworks could be removing 5 gigatons of carbon each year by 2050 or just after .
At $ 100 per ton , that ’ s $ 5 trillion every year .
Building that many machines would consume roughly half the steel currently used by the entire global auto industry .
It would be “ one of the biggest industries there is , ” Beuttler said .
There is a school of thought that considers the net-zero goal as something less radical ; a continuation of a journey Europe is already some way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most technologies available , and we have already gone forward in this direction with innovative solutions , ” said French MEP Pascal Canfin , chair of the European Parliament ’ s environment committee .
As for the unknowns , he says , “ I ’ m pretty confident that we can bring these emissions to zero.
” That perspective shifts depending on who and where you are .
In Kilkenny , Ireland , Eamon Sheehan ’ s dairy farm is already transformed compared with when he took over from his parents 17 years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collars that surveil their every movement and bodily function .
A real-time weather station helps him finetune his decision-making .
Soil testing tracks the chemical composition and , vitally , the carbon content of the land .
While average consumption of cow ’ s milk may decline , it will remain a staple food under every scenario the EU has considered out to 2050 .
Yet cattle farming is a major contributor of methane , a powerful greenhouse gas .
Sheehan , who has a young family , worries farmers will be perceived @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the solution .
Irish farmers are enormously proud of their practices , he said .
Tell him what he needs to do , and he ’ ll do it .
If that happens , he believes he ’ ll still be producing milk in a net-zero Europe .
“ None of us consider [ action on climate change ] as a threat to be honest with you , ” Sheehan said .
“ Farmers have never been afraid to change and evolve and anything that we can do to improve how we farm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it.
” Things can certainly change quickly .
Coal power was 40 percent of the United Kingdom ’ s electricity mix just eight years ago .
The country just recorded two months without coal power for the first time since 1882 .
But the view is very different in Poland , where 80 percent of the country ’ s electricity still comes from coal .
For 100,000 families in the coal mining region of Silesia , net zero leaves no room for evolution .
In December , the Polish government told the European @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2050 climate neutrality goal , but could not see how it could be achieved at home .
The message was simple : If you want us to do this , you ’ re going to have to pay .
“ An electric car costs the same whether we are on this or the other side of the river , ” says Climate Minister Kurtyka .
“ And an average Pole earns half of an average German.
” Silesian families will pin their hopes on the EU ’ s Just Transition Mechanism , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ €100 billion between 2021 and 2027 to help impacted communities reimagine their futures .
The same uncertainty faces the auto industry .
Laura Reggiani and her husband Luca Zoboli work for Lamborghini in Italy .
According to Reggiani , the supercar brand famous for its “ very , very noisy cars ” is going to have to convince an attention-seeking clientele to accept the near silence of battery power .
It might take a while , she said .
But a more universal crisis is coming .
Reggiani is a mechanical engineer .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ components , an electric one just 200 , according to a 2015 German study .
Mechanical engineers “ will have to change specialty completely , because they won ’ t be so necessary in the production of a car , ” said Reggiani .
Zoboli , on the other hand , is a digital specialist , working on innovation in the production system .
“ I will be the future , ” he said .
But he is also active in the automotive union .
He worries about the decline in jobs across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ companies will have to become involved in much more than car-building to survive , including the roll-out of charging infrastructure .
That will create jobs , perhaps more than are destroyed .
But these jobs are as different as coal mining is from fitting solar panels and many older workers may struggle to adapt , said Zoboli .
These upheavals will be felt across the Continent , from Scotland ’ s North Sea oil capital of Aberdeen to Lupeni , in Romania ’ s coal-rich Jiu Valley , where fossil fuels have underwritten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s remarkable escape from coal in the last decade holds no positive lessons for these places .
The U.K. had few jobs to lose .
Its coal mining sector was crushed in the 1980s when Thatcher broke the unions .
Four decades later , former coal towns remain some of Britain ’ s most deprived .
Governments could look to the example set by Spain .
A deal with unions in 2018 sent older coal miners into early retirement , paid €10,000 redundancies to young miners and committed the government to develop new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that program has left many unhappy .
This demand for solidarity across regions , nations and classes is perhaps the strongest argument for why ending emissions will necessitate a different Europe — and why it also has the potential to shape the EU .
Europe doesn ’ t need more pain — an unjust transition that deepens inequality will feed nationalist , populist politics .
Take the U.K. ’ s mining towns : They once had the dignity of working to power their nation .
In 2016 , they voted for Brexit .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ European Green Deal isn ’ t just a halt to the greenhouse gases warming the world .
Many things will be better .
The air will be cleaner , work safer , homes warmer , cities more livable .
Poland ’ s Kurtyka wants his country to become a world leader in wind energy and electromobility tech .
There will be larger , more diverse forests in which to play .
People will be healthier .
Like the New Deal in the U.S. , the project has the potential to foster a sense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ help the EU answer the question : What is the union for ?


climatedepot--2020-08-28--Average American spends over $11K on toilet paper over a lifetime – enough to buy a Rolex! – Study F

Average American spends over $11K on toilet paper over a lifetime – enough to buy a Rolex! – Study Finds

NEW YORK — Toilet paper entered the spotlight in 2020 in way that no one saw coming .
Although most of us aren ’ t stockpiling rolls like many were a few months ago , a new survey finds that the average American will spend a staggering $ 11,198 on toilet paper over the course of their life .
That ’ s enough money to buy a car , Rolex , or engagement ring !
A total of 2,000 Americans were polled on their single-use household item spending habits .
On average , respondents spend $ 182 annually on toilet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ per month since the pandemic started ) .
The survey , put together by TUSHY , also notes that the Average adult will use 159 rolls of toilet paper , 145 rolls of paper towels , and 118 disposable razors during a full calendar year .
Puzzlingly , despite all that , nearly 75 % of respondents still say they “ try ” to lead a sustainable lifestyle .
Similarly , 69 % often feel guilty about all the disposable paper products they use .
Another 66 % would like to be more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t afford it right now .
To be fair , though , many Americans appear to have made a switch toward more sustainable practices .
For example , 62 % now use reusable grocery bags , 61 % have a reusable coffee mug or cup , and 59 % own a reusable water bottle .
In all , half of those surveyed consider their kitchen the most sustainable room in their home .
Conversely , many participants believe their bathroom is the least sustainable room in their home .
However , 39 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and close to 30 % own a bidet .
Also , 42 % say they are open to the idea of buying a bidet — as long as they can afford it .
“ Very few people realize how much money they ’ re spending in paper products annually , let alone the environmental cost of producing these products , ” says Miki Agrawal , TUSHY ’ s Founder & Chief Creative Officer .
It ’ s also clear from the poll ’ s results that many Americans underestimate just how detrimental their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It takes roughly 37 gallons of water to produce a single roll of toilet paper .
When asked about this , the average respondent guessed 19 gallons .
Besides the $ 11K estimate for toilet paper , the survey also put together lifetime spending averages for a number of other disposable products .
According to these calculations , the average adult will spend $ 10,518.82 in their life on paper towels , $ 9,469.15 on hygienic wipes , $ 9,454.37 on tissues , and $ 9,402.62 on plastic bags .
Additionally , $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , $ 8,537.76 on disposable razors , and $ 8,005.54 on plastic utensils .
The survey was conducted by OnePoll .


climatedepot--2020-08-28--Coal’s Share Of Global Energy Supply Has Been Increasing For 50 Years, IEA Reports

The share of coal in the world ’ s total energy supply has continued to rise steadily in the last 50 years , according to the IEA ’ s 2020 World Energy Statistics report .
The share of coal of total energy supply increased between 1973 and 2018 , while the share of oil shrunk by nearly 15 percentage points , as the share of energy supply from China surged at the expense of supply in developed economies , the International Energy Agency ( IEA ) said in its new report Key World Energy Statistics 2020 on Thursday .
Back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supply was more than half the current supply , coal held a share of 24.5 percent of global energy supply , while oil accounted for the largest share at 46.2 percent , according to IEA ’ s estimates .
In 2018 , the share of coal increased to 26.9 percent , while oil ’ s share of global energy supply dropped to 31.6 percent .
The share of natural gas rose from 16 percent in 1973 to 22.8 percent in 2018 , IEA ’ s statistics show .
In the OECD region , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supply significantly dropped between 1973 and 2018 , while natural gas and nuclear increased their shares .
China ’ s share of total global energy supply jumped from 7 percent back in 1973 to 22.5 percent in 2018 , and the Middle East also expanded its share from 0.8 percent to 5.3 percent .
At the same time , the OECD share of global energy supply declined from 61.3 percent to 37.5 percent .
In recent years , China has been the driver of global coal-fired capacity , while many developed countries – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – are phasing out coal-fired plants either because of clean energy commitments or because of cheaper natural gas .
The post Coal ’ s Share Of Global Energy Supply Has Been Increasing For 50 Years , IEA Reports appeared first on The Global Warming Policy Forum ( GWPF ) .


climatedepot--2020-08-28--Study published Environmental Research: Cold Weather Linked To Nearly All Temperature-Related Deaths

Study published Environmental Research: Cold Weather Linked To Nearly All Temperature-Related Deaths – ‘Cold responsible for 94% of temperature-related deaths’

With the number of extreme weather days rising around the globe in recent years due to global warming , it is no surprise that there has been an upward trend in hospital visits and admissions for injuries caused by high heat over the last several years .
But cold temperatures are responsible for almost all temperature-related deaths , according to a new study published in the journal Environmental Research .
According to the new study by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago , patients who died because of cold temperatures were responsible for 94 % of temperature-related deaths , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 27 % of temperature-related hospital visits .
“ With the decrease in the number of cold weather days over the last several decades , we still see more deaths due to cold weather as opposed to hot weather , ” said Lee Friedman , associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences in the UIC School of Public Health and corresponding author on the paper .
“ This is in part due to the body ’ s poorer ability to thermoregulate once hypothermia sets in , as well as since there are fewer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t have time to acclimate to cold when those rarer cold days do occur.
” Hypothermia , or a drop in the body ’ s core temperature , doesn ’ t require sub-arctic temps .
Even mildly cool temperatures can initiate hypothermia , defined as a drop in body temperature from the normal 98.7 degrees to 95 degrees Fahrenheit .
When this occurs , organs and systems begin to shut down in an effort to preserve the brain .
The process , once started , can be very difficult to get under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more regularly exposed to lower temperatures are better able to resist hypothermia .
“ People who were experiencing homelessness in the records we looked at were less likely to die from temperature-related injury , ” Friedman said .
“ Because they have greater outdoor exposure , they acclimate better to both heat and cold.
” Heat-related issues are more likely to self-resolve by getting to a cooler place or by hydrating , Friedman said .
The researchers looked at inpatient and outpatient heat- and cold-related injuries that required a hospital visit in Illinois @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 23,834 cold-related cases and 24,233 heat-related cases .
Among these patients , there were 1,935 cold-related deaths and 70 heat-related deaths .
[ That ’ s nearly 28 times more cold deaths versus heat ] Friedman said government data systems that track temperature-related deaths significantly undercount these deaths .
“ We found five to 10 times more temperature-related deaths by linking the hospital data to data from the National Weather Service and medical examiner ’ s data , ” he said .
“ There are a lot more people dying from temperature-related injuries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cold Weather Linked To Nearly All Temperature-Related Deaths first appeared on Climate Change Dispatch .


climatedepot--2020-08-28--UN-Backed Climate Fund Faces Wave Of Abuse Allegations From Staff – ‘Incidents of sexism, racism and

UN-Backed Climate Fund Faces Wave Of Abuse Allegations From Staff – ‘Incidents of sexism, racism and harassment’

Former and current employees describe incidents of sexism , racism and harassment at Green Climate Fund The UN-backed Green Climate @ @ @ @ @ s largest climate finance institution , is facing a wave of internal misconduct complaints including @ @ @ @ @ in the workplace , and criticism over the death of an employee from coronavirus .
@ @ @ @ @ told the Financial Times they had witnessed or been the victim of misconduct , including @ @ @ @ @ , sexism , harassment and inappropriate relationships at the fund ’ s 330-person headquarters in @ @ @ @ @ Songdo .
All of the individuals who spoke to the FT asked to remain anonymous @ @ @ @ @ more than $ 17bn and financed more than 140 projects .
It is the main @ @ @ @ @ countries achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris climate change accord but has faced previous @ @ @ @ @ making and project selection .
The post UN-Backed Climate Fund Faces Wave Of Abuse Allegations @ @ @ @ @ Global Warming Policy Forum ( GWPF ) .


climatedepot--2020-08-28--Astrophysicist Asserts The Globe Will Cool ~1°C During 2020-2053 Due To An Oncoming Grand Solar Mini

Astrophysicist Asserts The Globe Will Cool ~1°C During 2020-2053 Due To An Oncoming Grand Solar Minimum

From 1645 to 1710 , the Sun went into a quiet phase referred to as the Maunder Minimum .
During this period , the “ surface temperature of the Earth was reduced all over the Globe ” ( ) .
Cold summers and winters ensued , with glaciers extending onto farmland , sea ice expanding beyond the Arctic , and “ frost fairs ” on frozen rivers in Europe .
The coldest temperatures and most expansive ice extent ( glaciers , permafrost , sea ice ) of the last 10,000 years occurred during both this period and the surrounding centuries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ice Age ( LIA ) ( ) .
In a new paper , Dr. Valentina Zharkova asserts that during solar cycles 25-27 , the Sun may return to a modern Maunder-like Grand Solar Minimum .
This solar quiet phase is expected to substantially reduce the Earth ’ s solar magnetic field , which will , in turn , lead to an increase in cosmic rays extending into Earth ’ s atmosphere and thus an increase in high clouds reflecting the Sun ’ s radiation back to space .
The consequence ?
A reduction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what they were in 1710 .
The role of atmospheric CO2 as a temperature-driving mechanism is not mentioned in the paper .


climatedepot--2020-08-29--‘Damage from Hurricane Laura has turned out to be much less than originally predicted’

Fortunately , the damage from Hurricane Laura has turned out to be much less than originally predicted , although wind @ @ @ @ @ Charles , which bore the brunt , is still massive : Laura made landfall with @ @ @ @ @ Kts , though as is often the case satellite data suggests lower speeds of around @ @ @ @ @ ground data puts winds at no more than 101 mph , which was at Cameron @ @ @ @ @ : There is talk of Laura being the most powerful storm to hit Louisiana , @ @ @ @ @ the number of states where hurricanes can hit .
Interestingly though , according Philip Klotzbach @ @ @ @ @ tied with the Last Island hurricane , which hit Louisiana in 1856 .
Nationally , @ @ @ @ @ 4 and 5 hurricanes since 1856 , and undoubtedly others will have gone unrecorded in @ @ @ @ @ there have been four since 2017 , you have to go back to Charley in @ @ @ @ @ one , and evidence of bunching is apparent in earlier periods .


climatedepot--2020-08-29--Hurricane Laura & the Wind Speed Dilemma: ‘Looking at sustained winds, one would conclude that Laura

Hurricane Laura & the Wind Speed Dilemma: ‘Looking at sustained winds, one would conclude that Laura was only a weak category two hurricane’

Last night , Hurricane Laura made landfall on the southwestern coast of Louisiana , bring heavy rain ( 6-8 inches ) , strong winds ( gusting to 132 mph at one location ) , and a coastal storm surge ( roughly 10 feet at the most vulnerable locations ) .
The NWS Lake Charles radar image at midnight central time showed a well defined eye as the storm was making landfall .
Now the dilemma and interesting part .
Based on reconnaissance aircraft and other information , the National Weather Service ’ s National Hurricane Center had estimated that Laura @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to landfall , and according to the official Saffir-Simpson scale , that means the sustained surface ( 10-m ) winds , averaged over a few minutes , were between 130 and 156 mph ( see below ) .
Not gusts , sustained winds .
But here is the issue .
What were the maximum sustained winds that occurred last night as Laura made landfall ?
Looking at all available stations , the highest sustained wind was 98 mph at Lake Charles Airport .
The map below shows the sustained winds at 1 AM @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inland ( wind barbs show sustained winds , with gusts in red ) .
The blue arrow indicates Lake Charles Airport .
Looking at the sustained winds , one would conclude that Laura was only a weak category two hurricane ( 96-110 mph ) .
And then there are gusts .
Gusts are not used as part of the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale , but , let ’ s face it , gusts are very important .
The big damage in most storms are done by the gusts .
Below are the maximum gusts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Calcasieu Pass on the coast and Lake Charles , a few miles to the north ( 127 and 132 mph gusts , respectively )


climatedepot--2020-08-29--Hurricane Laura slammed Louisiana, but less damage than forecast

LAKE CHARLES , La .
( Reuters ) – Hurricane Laura tore through Louisiana on Thursday , killing six people @ @ @ @ @ wide swatch of the state before moving into Arkansas with heavy rains .
Laura ’ @ @ @ @ @ – and four people were crushed to death in separate incidents of trees falling on @ @ @ @ @ s department of health said late Thursday that there were two more fatalities attributed to @ @ @ @ @ who drowned while aboard a sinking boat and a man who had carbon monoxide poisoning @ @ @ @ @ his home .


climatedepot--2020-08-31--Watch Princeton Physicist Dr. Will Happer on the Benefits of CO2 – 4 New Videos

Professor Happer presents CO2 as the gas of life , for it is necessary for plant life and therefore all life .
In plants take CO2 and sunlight into sugar , as basic element of food energy .
With the higher levels of CO2 now the earth has greened .
Historically CO2 was at higher levels .
Rubisco is a complicated enzyme found in most plants but is destroyed in the presence of a large amount of O2 .
Therefore , plants have evolved from low to high O2 levels in a manner that you will find interesting .
CO2 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than in the atmosphere .
The levels of CO2 that represent a health risk to humans is also much higher than found currently in nature .
Submarines face the challenge of reducing CO2 .
Plants are fed at higher levels of CO2 in greenhouses because of the higher productivity .
In higher CO2 levels plants also use less water and can be more productive at higher temperatures as well .
This fact contrasts with some media claims .
CO2 is a greenhouse gas , just not a strong one .
Professor Happer discusses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the earth surface temperature .
The effect of CO2 saturates as the amount of CO2 increases even to the 2X amount , such that the change in temperature is small .
It is not likely to see the impact of 2x CO2 above 1 to 1.5 C. Exaggeration expands this impact greatly using feedback to achieve the artificial runaway warming .
This is not good science .
False popular media want to compare the future earth to Venus which has an atmosphere of all CO2 , which has atmospheric pressure 100x that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closer to the sun and therefore sees more of the sun ’ s energy .
It should be noted that Mars atmosphere is also largely composed of CO2 ( 95 % ) but Mars is cold because of its relative distance from the Sun .
Having small amounts of warming is good for the earth and nature .
The political efforts to make the warming from CO2 increases dangerous are intended for obvious reasons to drive energy policies , and it is not scientific or good science .
Born in India he made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ America , dodging German submarines on the way .
He was inspired to become a physicist .
After a degree at Princeton , he went to Columbia .
His work with the sodium laser to bring forth the adaptive optics system to correct for real-time atmospheric wave front turbulence in the 1980s , gave him credibility in the defense efforts , and he then became Director of Energy Research .
His review of many projects funded by the government put him in a position to review the climate research of that day , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ His experiences lead him to question certain climate physics of that era .
Leaving that he went back to Princeton to continue his research interests .
Working on a CO2 laser gave him great opportunity to understand the physics of CO2 and the quantum mechanics of this gas .
Realizing how questionable the alarmist claims for CO2 were becoming , he then turned towards commenting on this climate theory , which continues to this day .
This is a rare opportunity to hear the experiences of a scientist not driven by politics or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ views .


climatedepot--2020-08-31--Radical Greens Have Provided The Legal Tools To Stop Wind & Solar

Fracking ( horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing ) has unleashed bounties of US oil and natural gas , dramatically reduced energy prices from their historic 2008 peak , saved families and industries billions of dollars annually , helped create and sustain millions of American jobs , made the United States stronger militarily and turned it into a net energy exporter .
Those fixated on alleged climate dangers from fossil fuels don ’ t care .
In fact , they are aghast and angry about this oil and gas renaissance .
Unable to stop all production , they have focused on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t get oil and gas to markets , Greens reason that production will dwindle , companies will go bankrupt , and the case for supposedly renewable energy will grow stronger .
Acceding to their demands , tunnel-visioned federal judges recently blocked the Atlantic Coast Pipeline , told operators to shut down and drain the fully operational Dakota Access Pipeline , and mandated still more studies for Keystone XL and 75 other pipelines .
The judges issued these decisions in the name of preserving wetlands , preventing stream siltation , protecting endangered species , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emissions , and protecting other environmental values .
They effectively deemed it irrelevant that fossil fuels still provide over 80 % of all the energy that powers American industries , homes , and living standards , and that virtually invisible underground pipelines replace much more dangerous alternatives .
The Dakota Access Pipeline alone replaces some 255,000 oil tanker railcars going through our towns and cities , or 730,000 semi-trailer tanker trucks on our highways , every year !
The activists and judges said even short-term scenic , stream sedimentation , and ecological impacts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after a US Supreme Court decision reversed the ACP decision , the company sponsors canceled the project anyway , due to threats of more costly lawsuits and delays ad infinitum .
Even more extreme , Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want no fossil fuels , and net-zero carbon dioxide emissions , by 2050 .
They claim this will lead the world in eliminating climate and environmental catastrophes .
In reality , the impacts on the US and global environments would be monumental .
In 2018 , coal and natural gas generated 2.6 billion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Natural gas also provided the equivalent of 2.7 billion MWh of fuel for factories , businesses , and homes .
Internal combustion vehicles used over 2.0 billion MWh equivalent of gasoline and diesel .
Under the Biden-AOC Green New Deal , all those 7.3 billion megawatt-hours of electricity would come from “ clean , green , renewable , sustainable ” sources .
Wind and sunshine certainly fit that description .
However , harnessing this intermittent power definitely does not .
That would require unimaginable numbers of wind turbines and solar panels , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power for only a week of windless , sunless days – especially since the more wind and solar we demand , the more we must put turbines and panels in low-quality locations .
Without them , we would be hit by hundreds of rolling blackouts every year , like the ones that have been clobbering California .
A recent analysis concludes that generating all that electricity would require some 17 billion sun-tracking solar panels ; or 25 billion fixed thin-film panels ; or 3.5 million 1.8-MW onshore wind turbines ; or 260,000 monstrous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of those facilities .
We ’ d also need nearly two billion half-ton Tesla battery modules , and thousands of miles of new transmission lines across America .
Building and installing these massive facilities would require tens of billions of tons of concrete , steel , copper , aluminum , cobalt , rare earth elements , fiberglass composites , and dozens of other materials .
Getting those raw materials would require mining , processing , and smelting hundreds of billions of tons of ore , from all around the world , but mostly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – almost all with fossil fuels ; without regard for US pollution control , wildlife protection or workplace safety laws ; and all too often using child and near-slave labor .
The turbines and panels would sprawl across hundreds of millions of acres of crop , scenic , and habitat lands .
Construction would scar landscapes , remove mountaintops , rip through forests , destroy scenic vistas , obliterate wildlife habitats , fill streams with sediment during construction , and displace or kill endangered plants , animals , and birds .
Dominion Energy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rural Virginia on lands totaling eight times Washington , DC , to serve a small fraction of the state ’ s electricity needs .
Multiply that times 50 states and thousands of communities in a 100 % electric economy , and you can begin to envision the ecological devastation from this “ clean , green , renewable , sustainable ” energy .
The 600- to 850-foot-tall wind turbines would slaughter millions of raptors , other birds , and bats annually , completely eradicating them in many areas .
Residential , business , hospital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
America ’ s economy and job market would never recover from COVID .
A few landowners – and a lot of utility company officers and investors – would get rich .
But other people would suffer from infrasound and light flicker , watch their beautiful landscapes disappear forever , and get no compensation whatsoever .
The turbines , panels , and batteries have short lifespans and are generally non-recyclable .
Most would end up in enormous landfills .
Vast rural areas would be turned into energy and trash colonies for politically powerful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ note , years of pipeline lawsuits , human rights campaigns , and battles over mining and US and global air and water pollution have set powerful legal precedents .
Landowners , citizen groups , human rights defenders and environmentalists not fixated on climate change will be able to use them to delay , block , bankrupt and scuttle many or most of these destructive pseudo-renewable energy projects .
They will also demand that wind , solar , battery and electric vehicle metals , minerals , and components are responsibly sourced – in accordance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Utilities think they hit a buzz saw over pipelines .
Radical greens think they won this war .
It could be a Pyrrhic victory if those laws , regulations , EIS rules , and judicial decisions are applied to wind and solar .
In fact , they are potentially powerful pipeline precedents .
And if regulators , politicians , and the courts apply double standards – one for fossil fuels and one for pseudo-renewables , akin to one for rioters and another for churchgoers – the situation could become extremely troublesome , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into real resistance , rebellion , and conflict .
It ’ s time for civilized debates , with no cancel-culture interference , on all these issues , before that happens .
Craig Rucker is president of the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow ( www.CFACT.org ) , a public policy education organization devoted to both people and the planet .


climatedepot--2020-08-31--Scientific American: ‘What Climate Change Does to the Human Body’ – Doctor: ‘In my own practice, I e

Scientific American: ‘What Climate Change Does to the Human Body’ – Doctor: ‘In my own practice, I explain to patients how the climate crisis affects their health’

Neelu Tummala , M.D.
, is an ENT doctor with George Washington Medical Faculty Associates and a climate advocate with a special interest in the intersection of climate and health : `` In my own practice , I explain to patients how the climate crisis affects their health .
For example , apart from contributing to global warming , rising carbon dioxide levels increase the amount of pollen that plants produce as a consequence of higher rates of photosynthesis .
This rise in pollen levels can lead to worsening allergy symptoms . ''
`` Climate action is required of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it of ourselves .
It can be as simple as educating family and friends , while making sustainable shopping and traveling choices .
Climate action is required of our elected leaders , and we must mandate it of ourselves .
It can be as simple as educating family and friends , while making sustainable shopping and traveling choices . ''
h/t Dr. Willie Soon ; Dr. Neelu Tummala , MD claims she can see the effects of climate change increasingly impacting the bodies of her patients .
What Climate Change Does to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effects in her patients all the time I vividly remember a patient who came in late for her appointment during a July heat wave .
When I walked in , she said , “ I ’ m so sorry I ’ m late , I was up all night walking my grandbaby around the train station.
” Without air conditioning at home , the child was sweating through her clothes in the heat of the night , putting her at risk for dehydration .
Heat affects every part of our body .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stroke , anxiety , impaired cognitive function and even premature death from heart and lung disease .
Across the country , the health concerns of the climate crisis are increasingly being recognized , pushing thousands of medical providers—doctors , nurses , pharmacists , therapists , medical students—to become advocates for change .
In my own practice , I explain to patients how the climate crisis affects their health .
For example , apart from contributing to global warming , rising carbon dioxide levels increase the amount of pollen that plants produce as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This rise in pollen levels can lead to worsening allergy symptoms .
Another example is fine particulate matter ( known as PM ) associated with air pollution , much of it linked to the burning of fossil fuels that help drive the warming .
When we breathe in these particles , they travel down the airway and settle in the tiny air sacs called alveoli of the lungs , causing inflammation and potentially worsening asthma symptoms .
The explanations are simple , but the health risks are widespread and complex .
Ground-level ozone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weather , can also harm people with asthma and other respiratory diseases .
Climate action is required of our elected leaders , and we must mandate it of ourselves .
It can be as simple as educating family and friends , while making sustainable shopping and traveling choices .
Neelu Tummala , M.D.
, is an ENT doctor with George Washington Medical Faculty Associates and a climate advocate with a special interest in the intersection of climate and health .
She is a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project and the Yale @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her on Twitter @ NeeluTummala .
As someone who suffers severe asthma I am outraged when a doctor lends the weight of their professional qualifications to such sweeping and in my opinion grossly misleading generalizations .
Warmer temperatures would help many asthmatics .
Different asthmatics have different triggers .
My biggest trigger is dry cold winter air mixed with smoke emitted by people trying to keep warm , which is one of the main reasons I moved to the edge of the tropics .
Warm , moist tropical air for me is just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it helps control my symptoms .
No matter how extreme the heatwave I do just fine , so long as the air is humid .
Humans have far greater capacity to handle heat than most people realize .
Our ancestors evolved in the extreme tropics , many anthropologists believe our ancestors survived by persistence hunting , using our superior ability to handle extreme tropical heat to run prey into the ground – a tradition still practiced by some remote tribes .
Anywhere outside the extreme tropical zone where we evolved , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
If you feel too warm , give your body ’ s superb heat management system a chance , drink lots of water and remove items of your cold climate clothes until you feel comfortable .
I have no doubt Dr. Tummala sometimes sees patients suffering heat stress or suffering the effects of pollution triggered asthma .
But to blame all this on climate change , and to suggest a warming planet would be certain to make it worse is just absurd .


climatedepot--2020-08-31--NPR Pushes False Link Between Climate Change and Disease

National Public Radio ( NPR ) followed its sister organization Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS ) this week in pushing false climate claims .
Among the most egregious lies told in NPR ’ s story , “ Everything Is Unprecedented .
Welcome To Your Hotter Earth , ” was linking the seasonal outbreak of mosquito-borne tropical diseases to climate change .
However , as detailed in Chapter Four of Climate Change Reconsidered II : Fossil Fuels , the vast body of scientific literature refutes NPR ’ s claim that climate change is likely to exacerbate the spread of mosquito-borne diseases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Wales , to North and South America , to Thailand and beyond refute any link between climate change and the spread of malaria , Dengue fever , West Nile virus , and other vector-borne diseases .
For example , a 2010 study in the peer-reviewed journal Nature reports , “ [ The study ’ s authors ] compared historical and contemporary maps of the range and incidence of malaria and found endemic/stable malaria is likely to have covered 58 % of the world ’ s land surface around 1900 but only 30 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has become less prevalent and deadly as the climate has warmed .
The authors rebut potential assertions that there would be even further reductions in malaria but for global warming .
The authors write , ‘ widespread claims that rising mean temperatures have already led to increases in worldwide malaria morbidity and mortality are largely at odds with observed decreasing global trends in both its endemicity and geographic extent.
’ Vector-borne disease expert Paul Reiter , a member of the World Health Organization ’ s Expert Advisory Committee on Vector Biology and Control @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of vector-borne diseases .
Reiter concludes any links between such diseases and climate change are not supported by evidence .
For example , in a 2008 article in the Malaria Journal , Reiter writes , NPR and PBS should stick to entertainment topics for which they have better expertise – like Big Bird .
The post NPR Pushes False Link Between Climate Change and Disease first appeared on Climate Change Dispatch .