Climate Change threatens to make bread less tasty
Over at The Conversation the panic is rising. Life is not going to be the same. Get ready for the bland future — if we stop all plant breeding tomorrow, and don’t change our fertilizers at all, it possible, by 2050, in dry years, wheat may have a 6% decrease in protein.
It’s that serious.
Everyone likes the high protein kind of wheat, and it’s worth more. Glenn Fitzgerald, at The Conversation argues that Australian wheat is going to be lower in protein, and downgraded, making us less competitive and our farmers poorer. (Cynics among us note that authors at The Conversation only seem to care about farmers when climate change might hurt them, not when climate-change-action actually sends them broke, makes them homeless or puts them in jail. Y’know — whatever.)
As for Australia’s export earnings, I say, forgive me, but I thought the CO2 elevation was a global thing — so unless we are competing with aliens and intergalactic wheat, color me unconcerned. All the wheat producers on Earth will be dealing with the same issue.
How to make a good thing sound bad
The bottom line in biology is that because CO2 is plant food, and makes the molecular carbon backbone of carbon-life-forms, if there is more of it in the air, plants grow faster and the extra carbon will dilute everything else.
The benefits of carbon dioxide are greatest in dry years because CO2 makes it easier for plants to cope with less water and droughts. It takes some effort to construe this as a bad thing, but with enough government funding, and years of academic training, it’s possible. (Thank Glenn Fitzgerald, Honorary Associate Professor of Agriculture and Food, University of Melbourne).
Carbon dioxide is such a basic part of biology — plants wake up in the morning and drink in the CO2 from the air around them. In a cornfield, the plants will even change the atmospheric concentration of CO2 in the air over the field. By lunchtime every day, CO2 will have dropped, and growth slows. Carbon dioxide is that important.
This graph from Chapman in 1954 really shows how intrinsic CO2 is:
Fig. 1. Variations in the C02 content of air in a corn field and 152 m above it on a still day. A C02 deficit of more than 100 lbs an acre was developed within 3 hrs after sunrise, to remain nearly constant until late afternoon. See this for more detail.
That’s not to say that we shouldn’t be discussing this, or preparing for it, but honestly, Climate change will make bread taste bad? Fergoodnesssake.
Our lower protein diet, solved with a chickpea
Fitzgerald tells us that people might be malnourished because of nutrient changes thanks to excess CO2. We’ve been through this line of thinking before. The problem is so easy to solve, yet so obviously missed by our experts.
Even if the projected protein deficiency occurs in wheat, it is so small and irrelevant that all we have to do is eat slightly less wheat and slightly more of nearly anything else bar other grains. I calculated that a person could make up for the deficiencies in rice-of-the-future by swapping some rice for a chickpea: specifically, one extra chickpea for every 100g of rice:
According to the USDA nutrient profiles Gelatinous White Rice, Cooked (doesn’t that sound delicious) has all of 0.14mg of iron per 100 grams and 0.41mg of zinc. Chick peas on the other hand have 2.89mg of iron per 100g and 1.53mg of zinc. So chickpeas have 20 times the iron content, and 3.7 times the zinc content. In other words, to solve a shortage of a 10% reduction in iron and zinc in rice, the average person eating 100g of rice would need to eat an extra 2.6 grams of chickpeas (or is that chickpea, singular?). As a bonus they would be getting five times more iron than what they are missing out on in the rice.
Wheat is richer than rice, and contains significant protein for people without access to meat. But a mere 5- 10% deficiency is still easily solveable with a shift in dietry composition. Indeed, even if all food types became slightly diluted (like if poorer grain-feed leads to poorer beef steak) the principle still works.
Where are the grownups when you need them?
REFERENCES
[1^]Chapman H. W .,Gleason L. S., Loomis W. E. (1954): The carbon dioxide content of field air. Plant Physiology 29,6, pp 500-503 [PDF freely available]
Sounds like GMO wheat might need some more tweeking in the future.
81
Climate Science is Toast?
263
Where do they get this ever more shrill garbage? Record low ice in Antarctica, record high temps in Antarctica, and now this! All in a week! Surely they must max out soon.
70
Ted, I made the point years ago that this type of garbage goes unchallenged simply because the filters aren’t there. Trump’s MSM attacks are entirely valid. We all swim against a well designed and very deliberate left wing agenda within the media. Jo’s battle couldn’t be more fore and centre since the entire MMGW is a function of the left wing fight for survival and lets face it, the left are on the serious decline. They are on the decline because they lack credibility and integrity, and people are smart and can see through the BS. On the left there is a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth because they simply can’t understand why people won’t DO AS THEY ARE TOLD!!!
60
I hope you are right about them being on the decline. They may have peaked, but if an election was held in Australia tomorrow “the left” would achieve the objective they have been working towards since the end of WWII, to abolish private management of industry. Our system is primed by their reckless spending for collapse. The trap is set.
Where and when will the rocketing house prices finish up? Why does no commentator mention that it is the banks that determine house prices? I doubt that they understand this.
10
Judging by the second comment the experimental conditions do not reflect foreseeable CO2 concentrations of the atmosphere.
‘In reply to Anita Spinks
I was thinking of this very issue myself, Ms S … but it’s worth remembering that the toxicity results came with a massive 100% increase on current CO2. We’ll all be toast well before that.’
I think the whole thing is a careful play for more funding.
As in
‘A combination of management adaptation and breeding may be able to maintain grain protein while still increasing yields. But, there are unknowns under elevated CO₂such as whether protein make-up is altered, and whether there are limitations in the plant to how protein is manufactured under elevated CO2. We may require active selection and more extensive testing of traits and management practices to understand whether varieties selected now will still respond as expected under future CO₂ conditions.’
The irony is that the expectation is that CO2 levels will rise anyway, despite all the windmills, otherwise why play the CO2 card?
10
.
One of their usual gurus on climate stuff has displayed his great wisdom –
“Production can also be increased by increasing the area sown with wheat.”
Betcha didn’t know that.
281
These guys have a special think tank. Thinkers are urged to consume large quantities of really strong & smelly cheese before bedtime to produce ideological green dreams & nightmares of global warming scenarios,
60
All mammals except Climate Alchemists must die. All fish must die.
When [CO2] falls below 180 ppmV, grass will stop growing and the ice caps will cover most land masses. Then the IPCC, on a solitary barge amongst the icebergs, can say it has won.
But it will be too late to save the planet.
202
Except by accelerating continental drift so that the thermohaline circulation stops, then reintroducing cold-blooded species.
61
Quick: get the IPCC to change to bioengineering using dinosaur DNA…………
62
Use Soros as the source?
60
“then reintroducing cold-blooded species.”
There are more than enough “climate scientists™” and Greens voters already. !!
134
“When [CO2] falls below 180 ppmV, grass will stop growing and the ice caps will cover most land masses.”
Do you mean,
When [CO2] falls below 180 ppmV because the ice caps cover most land masses, grass will stop growing and the first link in the food chain will break.
41
… and when it drops to 150ppmv (or less), plant life dies. If the plant life dies, all these klimate X-spurts will also die. The downside is that all other life will, too … 🙁
The atmospheric concentration of CO2 dipped to around 190ppmv about twenty-five thousand years ago, during this Ice Age’s last glaciation. That was cutting things pretty fine.
10
Looking at this stuff is depressing when there are so many real scientific issues requiring attention.
It seems that the biggest industry in the world today is the production of CO2 Tack-Ons for every conceivable and inconceivable situation.
Can’t we find something useful and beneficial to put human talents to work on?
KK
191
KK
See where the “app – industry” gets you?
10
… umm, petrol-powered SUVs?
🙂
00
This is not the first time this fairytale has been told , it’s usually put out after and during record grain harvests .
How does it go ” look over there it’s a mouse” .
100
So with increased crop yields, the quality is dropping off???
Gee, there must have been some tasty stuff around during the famines.
THE CO2 HORSESH*T HAS TO STOP.
282
I am not a biologist, so forgive me if this is a stupid question. Wouldn’t more CO2 result in just more plant material in the same relative proportion of proteins to the other parts? How does more CO2 “dilute” the nutrition?
131
Simple. Global warming alarmists only believe in fairy tales.
111
It has been reported that the carbohydrate part can bulk-up faster than the micro-nutrients are added. Thus, the relative ratio of “other things” to carbohydrates goes down slightly.
As Jo writes, this is not a problem. Besides, Chickpea (garbanzo bean, Hummus) is a better source of nutrients. Hummus, the paste form, seems to have caught on in the USA. Go for it:
https://kathdedon.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/hummus.jpg
30
Who else experiences the “wind” at 11:00pm?
The SA turbines rarely experience the wind.
70
I sat and looked at the article title, and it occurs to me that CAGW/The Rabid Left will suck the life out of everything if left unchallenged….. The local hardware store has a special on wooden stakes, they may come in handy ..
131
Do they have a supply of pitch forks too?
Hmmm, and tar, feathers?
30
But that isn’t what bothers me. Climate change has sucked all the usefulness out of my daily news. How many times do I need to be reminded that a non problem is expected to occur some day or another way off in the future or maybe today if they can get their models tuned up properly?
Does that make sense? Probably not but it’s as sensible as climate change hysteria.
211
Climate change is becoming less and less palatable!
80
Wanst it Hitler who said “paraphrasing” – “truth isnt what is, thruth is what people percive it to be”
I guess if you can pound the sheeple long enough, it sticks….
40
Oh and a permenant disclaimer regards my posts…. I have fat fingers and my phone keyboard is small, my typing is usually rushed, so nistakes will be occasionally made… 🙂
Have a great Friday & weekend!
30
Miss Steaks have been know to win beauty pageants, in the food processing industry.
30
If a typo was a disqualification from saying anything here I would be the first one to be banned permanently from commenting. Bad fingers doesn’t begin to say it. 🙁
00
Now this really sucks. I got a new phone a few weeks ago to replace a perfectly serviceable one I had that started to crack apart at the hinge. I wanted something similar, the simple flip phone of yesteryear and the salesman had exactly the right model. And as all phones do this one has various “features” tucked away where you have to go looking for them so I’ve been exploring through the maze.
A Couple of days a go I discovered (are you ready to have all the air sucked right out of you?) a carbon footprint calculator. I was sitting in a hospital waiting room so I couldn’t scream at the fools who made this thing but I sure wanted to. How can you win against this, “I’ll swallow anything if you put it in front of me enough times,” attitude?
I guess I should be grateful the phone works. 🙁
00
We all know the answer. Make Tony PM. Food will taste better immediately. 🙂
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As long as he awards me with an Imperial gong KcGM or the like,then he’s in.Then again he’d have to change his support for safe schools and get some consistency.Its ok now that he rejects RET and wimping freedom of speech. I think he was apisspoor PM .He might be be better if he gets another shot. Like,whatever as the kids say.
10
There’s a lot of work done in soil nitrogen fixing, plant nitrogen fixing (in conventional breeding and GMO, along with other bacterial symbiosis with C3 and C4 plants). To claim protein levels or flavour is waining in future crops is unfounded pessimistic speculation.
110
Don’t want that nitrogen fixing to go too far though.
Might end up with too many CN compounds.. not good !!
happens in potatoes occasionally
54
Andy,
Potatoes were bred from poisonous plants. They were a bit protective of their tuberous energy store.
30
The childish concerns of the ABC doomsayers are amazing. To think of all the problems of the last 3,000 years, all the wars, upheavals, religions, persecutions, invasions and tragedies and this new generation are worrying whether a potential 10% drop in protein from higher and more productive CO2 levels might make their food slightly less enjoyable. What a tragedy!
North Korea building missiles and atom bombs, assassination with Nerve gas at the airport in Malaysia. Iran building atom bombs and invading Syria. The overpopulated Arab countries of the Mediterranean on the march into Europe and of course extremism and the Arab/European culture clash appears again after another century of relative peace since the fall of the last caliphate but the Conversation want to talk about their own more important concerns. Will the balsamic oil taste the same?
80
It goes to show what passes as intellectual discourse over at the conversation. Science equivalent of man bites dog. Or aliens ate my Petunias.
70
Remember the mantra of the pathological regressive/progressive left? It is the seriousness of the charge that counts. The evidence for or against the charge is irrelevant and need not be presented nor considered. Then all they have to do is get a cherry picked judge to say “guilty as charged” and they win.
The alternate version of this is that if a reason based, reality oriented individual makes one mistake, no matter how small, he can do nothing right forever after. If a pathological regressive/progressive leftist gets something right, no matter how small, he cannot make a mistake forever after no matter what he does nor what the consequences.
The most powerful thing we have in our favor is that reality doesn’t work the way the pathological regressive/progressive left want to pretend it does. Our challenge is that we must know this and act accordingly.
171
That and we just call them out as pathological liars who cant ever be trusted….and hit them with the physical evidence and let the double whammy hang them….Australians hate being diddled….
50
Warmies want us to fret over our gruel’s nutrient content, maybe add some repellent insects or grubs to boost protein and generally punish. That’s because warmies are uncultured brutes disconnected from tradition and custom.
The cultured skeptic has a hundred ways to enjoy all types and colours of beans, peas, lentils, chick peas, soy (fermented!)…And he has the pressure cooker to hasten on all that vegetable meatiness and deliciousness.
Basically, as well as sucking generally, your warmie has no culture. That’s why warmies write sterile, sciencified, alarmist drivel about protein loss for The Conversation. No culture.
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Um, I think one might find a very high correlation between warmies / greenies and various cultures, such as yogurt and a cornucopia of pre / pro biotic substances…
31
My dog does that and I hate stepping in it….
40
It’s worse than we thought. If the wrong proteins are diminished then gluten can’t form to hold all those little bubbles of CO2 that the yeasties (is that the plural?) are busily farting while they digest the starches. The bread will be bland and FLAT and all that CO2 will enter the atmosphere without hindrance. Oh, I hate to think what that will mean for the polar bears. Of course the seals will probably feel better about things. They may be the only winners when it’s all said and done.
90
A beautiful example of fake news. Last year I read a report on a lower protein content of a plant grown in a high CO2 environment (by the way, that’s how many greenhouses operate today). The most abundant protein on the Earth is RuBisCO which plants use to convert CO2 to sugars. With more CO2 available, there is less need for RuBisCO. The report did not bother to measure RuBisCO, or a protein content of grains. They simply crushed the whole plant and measured.
111
Generally, if wheat is badly affected by drought or frost it produces “shriveled grain”. This grain has not filled out properly and is low in carbs and energy, as a consequence by weight it is high protein. It is used as stock feed and has a reduced price.
The point is, the relative protein as a measure is not necessarily an indication of the health, flovour or nutrition of a plant or seed.
50
.
Please ‘splain how that works. Is RubItCo a catalyst? Have you an equation? How does this match Le Châtelier’s principle? Please amplify.
40
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuBisCO
30
People concerned for their own health and well-being are cuttting back heavily on bread, pasta, rice, as the scientific fraud behind “Fat is a Killer” is exposed.
What the Fat?
https://whatthefatbook.com/about/
20
Thing is, in some parts of the world millions are malnourished while elsewhere there is an obesity epidemic.
Its an obscenity.
The green left wanted to introduce a sugar tax in Oz and everyone rolled around laughing, even though it would have extended the lives of millions and make us all look great again.
00
make us all look great again
I don’t know about you, but I have always looked great and still do. So says my optometrist.
Pictures of me from many years ago, on the other hand, suggest the “again” part will not make it through peer review.
30
O/T. J. Delingpole has at T. Steyer and his deep Russian connections.
And Steyer has the gall to accuse Jeff Sessions?
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/03/02/delingpole-tom-steyer-is-in-so-deep-with-the-russians-they-should-call-him-impaled-by-vlad/
Heh.
50
There is also a big difference between supplying constant CO2 as would be done in any experiment, and what happens in real life.
The graph of CO2 over that corn field that Jo gives above shows that the plant only had enough CO2 for rapid growth for a short period of the day. All that extra atmospheric CO2 would do is lengthen that period of rapid growth.
62
Andy,
Yes, that is so but other nutrients need to be available in proportion. For example, if too much nitrogen is applied rapid growth causes weakness and some lack in micronutrients maybe induced. Extra CO2 will generally give the plant more energy for less water use to power required reactions but there maybe a shift in the rate determining factors…but that’s farming.
10
If levels of CO2 in air over a single cornfield varied that wildly during the day in 1954, how did Al Gore and the UN’s IPCC manage to get a Nobel Prize for telling the public about the dangers of global levels of CO2 in air fifty-three years later?
72
We know who the Nobel committee suck up to dont we..;)
20
Yes, Obama received one of those two. So did “scientists” who adjusted experimental data to find “97% consensus scientific evidence” for STANDARD MODELS of
The Climate,
Cosmology,
The Sun and
The Nucleus
21
Hell, the entire Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won a Nobel prise for something.
21
By 1 April 2017 I hope to publish a new paper to:
1. Celebrate the Centennial of Paul K Kuroda’s birth on 1 April 1917;
2. Celebrate Kuroda’s major research achievements in Japan and in the US;
3. Document opposition to Kuroda’s major research accomplishments here.
00
Eventually, Greg, the Swedish and Norwegian National Academies of Sciences may be asked to explain the awarding of Nobel and Crafoord Prizes to scientists who misused science to deceive the public.
20
O/T
Warning from BHP.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/bhp-billiton-warns-for-crisis-in-power-market/news-story/2fd327cdc5258667701754788883bcb9
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Paywalled but could relate to the announcement A week ago about the losses during the power outage.
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Yes. They report that they lost $105 million or nearly the whole yearly profit from Roxby Downs. Any expansion is out of the question until the power supply problem is fixed. The question they may be asking is “why run Roxby Downs at all if it doesn’t make money?”
Of course with BHP taking 9% of SA electricity any shut down would reduce the risk of blackouts. And all those extra unemployed would require payouts with money the State Government hasn’t got. They would have to cut costs, and the biggest cost is public servant salaries.
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Not off topic at all. It’s all part of the same scam.
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David, Keith,
This ABC story seems to cover the same BHP story, but the Oz story is also paywalled to me.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-03/bhp-backs-carbon-price-funding-for-carbon-capture/8322030
Oversall the BHP position sounds good, except for their support of CCS which, in my view, is an expensive solution to a non-existant problem.
Cheers,
Dave B
20
For those interested, Ken Stewart attempts to explain the method used by the BOM when they try to accurately measure our temps around OZ.
https://kenskingdom.wordpress.com/2017/03/01/how-temperature-is-measured-in-australia-part-1/#comments
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Thanks for that Neville.
20
Climate change to suck the flavour out of bread? Sounds more like the anti-science continually sprouted by Bill Nye. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSGfRdZJJ-8
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Deficiencies are not a significant issue in the developed world, so no worries there. The problem is the developing world, where calories and general food availability are more of an issue. The last study I looked into saw a small drop in nutrients per unit of food (about 20%) but a near doubling of output. What this ACTUALLY represents is about a 50% increase in available nutrients along with greatly amounts of food. And none of this takes into account the fact that it is relatively easy to breed/genetically modify the plants so they produce more of those nutrients.
41
IMHO organic food has a lot going for it, I find normal shop bought food consistently defficient so I find I need vitamin tablets.
The doomsday vault in the artic is one thing the globalists should hand over ( but they wont ) – I think its their ace in the hole when they use food as a weapon…it tells me its going to be a nasty fight…..
Revelation 6:5-8 comes to mind which talks of great hunger :
“5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”
54
And in the same breath we are told to eat less protein and reduce caloric intake to combat obesity. Looking around me during my daily commute into Sydney CBD I would say that a lot of folks would benefit from a lower protein level in their bowl of cereal in the morning.
10
Plimmer once stated that modern plants are living in a CO2 starved atmosphere, considering they evolved with much higher levels, in order of 7%, ~250My bp.
31
This is what passes for science in a world where global warming science is considered normal.
Forget the chickpea compromise, it doesn’t add anything to the discussion when it suggests a solution to a non-existent problem.
30
How can that be?
There’s no flavour in the bread sold in supermarkets these days to suck out!
80
So the People Against Everything believe that whatever the situation, today is ideal. The temperature, the sea level, the rainfall, the number of storms per year, the type of grass, the tiny CO2 level. So do not build dams or cut down trees or plant new things or fly or operate cars or heat your home or do anything because you might change something and nature has no way of adapting to change. Any slight variation is an abomination as without our help, nature cannot cope?
It is a new attitude, that we and governments in particular now control our world so tightly that we control CO2 levels, we determine rainfall, we tell nature which species should prosper and any change we do not understand like coral bleaching must be someone’s fault and they should be taxed and punished.
This sort of science commentary by non scientists has the same infantile flavour as all those news sites which make Ripley’s Believe it or Not! seem like a serious reference work and the National Enquirer factual. Trivial, uninformed, illogical, sensationalist pub talk by paid commentators, expert in nothing. Australia used to have news and informed opinion. Now it is all click bait.
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You have to wonder how the planet, flora, fauna, ice ages, dinosaurs ever lived without the Greens to determine how the planet should work? For them plants cannot adapt. Sea level rises should not happen. Plants and animals should not migrate, evolve, adapt. Whatever species exist today should be the end of it. The final set, the perfect species. Even though 99.9% of species which ever existed are gone, victims of change, competition and evolution, the Greens are against it. Against evolution. More importantly for them there is only one type of bread, their favorite bread.
I suppose if the Greens were around in Egyptian times, they would be against the addition of yeast. Perhaps they are. It’s hard to get a rise out of the Greens.
52
I propose to toast the Greens
40
I propose that the Greens be toasted!
50
Make that 5 …
Here are 4 ways [97% Doomsday Global Warming] is messing with our brains — for the worse.
http://grist.org/briefly/here-are-4-ways-climate-change-is-messing-with-our-brains-for-the-worse/?utm_content=buffereebb1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
~ ~ ~
This nine-step program is like Alcoholics Anonymous for climate anxiety.
http://grist.org/briefly/this-nine-step-program-is-like-alcoholics-anonymous-for-climate-anxiety/
. . .
Further evidence, as if it is needed, that 97% believers are crazy.
If you don’t ‘believe’ in a 97% doomsday, life is good everyday.
21
I was interested to learn that since at least the 1980s researchers at the University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia have teamed with researchers at 3M Company, Minnesota, US to develop more productive types of Wheat seed.
20
Funny, I first read “more productive tapes…..”
Perhaps I need more scotch.
00
Climate change will suck the common sense from politicians …
Tweed Council to explain new bin system
“The new three bin system will incorporate a green-lid organics bin for food and garden waste and will be collected weekly.
But its the red bin pick-up schedule changing from weekly to fortnightly that has got residents concerned.
Mr Sweeney said he was worried about the potential health risks of having the red bin only collected every fortnight, especially from items like nappies and bones that can’t be considered green waste.
Council’s community and natural resources director Tracey Stinson said the new system would reduce the amount of waste the shire produces.
“By separating and sorting our waste correctly into the new 3 Bin System, we can significantly increase how much waste we recycle and reuse, rather than the increasingly expensive process of burying it in landfill,” Ms Stinson said.”
. . .
Alright, who reading this can see the green stupid?
1. Rate payers will not produce less red-bin waste, and trucks will still pick up same tonnage, just every 2 weeks.
2. If ratepayer fills up red-bin before collection, throw extra in green waste bin.
3. Why not put more waste in green bin, as council will never know who did it.
4. Council needs to police ratepayers filling bins correctly, costing ratepayers more money.
5. Feral neighbours filling hated neighbours bins incorrectly.
6. Which council member spent time smelling bins full of used nappies after two weeks in the sun, and how much ratepayer money was spent on this?
7. The great recycling myth:
“Everybody involved in the waste industry knows this simple fact: all rubbish can be sorted much more efficiently by machines without the need for any human intervention.”
http://www.spectator.co.uk/2014/01/why-kerbside-recycling-is-just-slave-labour-for-councils/
That just sucks.
61
Oops.
Missing link: Council to explain new bin system
https://www.tweeddailynews.com.au/news/council-to-explain-new-bin-system/3148349/
11
Where my mother lives the recycling bins are emptied into the same truck as the regular bins.
10
1 Mar: Sacramento Bee: Dan Walters: California’s cap and trade auction another washout
Results for last week’s auction were posted Wednesday morning, revealing that just 16.5 percent of the 74.8 million metric tons of emission allowances were sold at the floor price of $13.57 per ton.
The proceeds are supposed to be spent on public programs to slow climate change.
February’s auction is being closely watched by market analysts because the last three quarterly auctions in 2016 posted sub-par results.
Almost all of February’s proceeds went either to California’s utilities, who sell allowances they receive free from the Air Resources Board, or the Canadian province of Quebec, which offers emission allowances through California. Both are first in line when auction proceeds are apportioned.
The ARB was offering 43.7 million tons of state-owned emission allowances, but sold just 602,340 tons of advance 2020 allowances, which means the state will see only $8.2 million, rather than the nearly $600 million it could have received from a sellout.
The paltry auction revenues will likely stall Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2017-18 budget plan to spend $2.2 billion on a variety of climate-related programs and projects, including $800 million on his bullet train project…
“Today’s anemic auction results demonstrate that the state’s landmark cap and trade program is in need of reform and the kind of market certainty that only the Legislature and governor can provide via statute,” Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León said in a statement…
FROM COMMENTS:
Yup thats what California needs is more regulations what a joke!…
There is no industry left in California. Who does Governor Brown think is going to buy these credits?…
Uh-O! No money for Jerry’s Choo-Choo.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article135781558.html
11
27 Feb: CNBC: Warren Buffett says global warming is not impacting the way Berkshire writes insurance
by Tom DiChristopher
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett on Monday said he has not yet seen sufficient evidence that climate change is affecting weather events to a degree that would make him change the way his conglomerate’s insurance businesses write policies.
???Events such as Hurricane Sandy have raised concerns that global warming is increasing the intensity and frequency of so-called superstorms.
“I have not seen anything yet that would cause me to change the way we look at evaluating quakes, tornadoes, hurricanes by atmosphere. Now, that may happen some day,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
He added that the frequency of Florida hurricanes has been “quite low” for roughly the last decade compared to historical trends, and storms in the Sunshine State, Texas and the U.S. Southeast have been “remarkably benign.”
Buffett delivered a similar assessment in last year’s annual letter to shareholders.
That caused rates for super-catastrophe insurance to fall, leading Berkshire to back away from the products, according to Buffett. Costlier and more frequent “super-cats” would actually likely benefit Berkshire’s insurance business, he wrote…
Research shows it is premature to conclude greenhouse gas emissions from human activities “have already had a detectable impact on Atlantic hurricane or global tropical cyclone activity,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA added human-caused global warming is likely to make tropical cyclones around the world more intense by the end of the century…NOAA also says research shows “better than even odds” that warming will increase the frequency in some — but not all — parts of the world.
For his part, the Oracle of Omaha seems to preach both caution and skepticism…
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/27/warren-buffett-global-warming-not-impacting-berkshires-insurance-biz.html#pt0-239323
11
Did you notice that the number of bakers interviewed was precisely zero?
I’m a chef not a baker, but I have baked enough bread in my life to know that if they asked anyone who knew the slightest about baking they’d get laughed at.
1) Most bread that is eaten is soft white bread, which calls for r’regular’ ‘plain’ flour which is ~10% gluten anyway.
2) When you get into ”hard’ or ‘bread’ flours (~12 to ~14% gluten) the variety of flour has more effect on taste than gluten%
3) Most importantly what the baker does has a bigger effect on the taste han variety or gluten% proving times, yeast variety, number of rises etc.
And on top of that ithe authors sem to think that humanity has never managed to cultivate new strains, or grow old strains in new places, and that’s before thinking about GMO and the like.
A room full of experts, and learned projections but no one thought to ask a farmer or a baker about reality.
171
Pauly, I really appreciate your detailed knowledge on this. Great points. Ivory towers?!
91
High protein flour is used in making stiffer European style breads and pasta. If you want to make a proper baguette, ciabbata or sourdough you need high protein flour. This gives you the thick ropes of bread and large airholes, any basic baking book can explain the details better yhan I can. Softer flours make spongey brads and cakes. Cake flour aka soft flour is about 8% gluten.
So if I wanted to be uncharitable ithe article is worrying about a first world problem, i.e. My fancy expensive boutique bread that Ihave on the side of my decaf soy latte is going to be affected, but the plebs and their mass produced white bread will never know what they are missing.
10
Do any scientist nowadays do any science that hasn’t been linked to climate change. I’m sure there are and I’m sure what there is has a far bigger benefit to society rather than the endless climate change stories. You know the ones, male birds get uglier due to climate change etc…
30
Liberator
At 4.1 above, Ian is maybe, perhaps, pointing to the possibility, almost 97% certain, that you may soon be able to buy an app that can link any known or unknown situation in life with climate change and or CO2.
What A conversation enhancer that would be for cool guys and politicians to show their concern for the environment.
KK
10
Everyone has had to contend with liars- lies to support lies to support lies. One day, you pick an inconsistency, or an outright lie or the narrative is just becoming too fantasmagorical to believe. You have woken up, the penny has dropped- the whole lot was a load of rubbish from day one, based on a half truth.
You want to say “please explain”. When Pauline Hanson says “please explain” it is code for “we see through the lies.” Why do we continue falling for the constant diet of crap? We hear nothing but crap and lies – seem to be the new normal. As Stalin said- “The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of a million is a statistic” It is beginning to become- One trivial lie is a scandal, a sea of lies is normal.
Time to wake up with the “climate change” fantasies- if it sounds too apocalyptic to be true, it probably is. BTW, the term “climate change” is totally meaningless without qualification- 2 nouns together (bit like a gay couple) without knowing what sort makes it meaningless. Is it getting warmer, cooler- which? How daft are people to fall for this?
31
28 Feb: CNBC: AP: EU budget chief: could use part of oil tax to finance EU
EU Budget Commission Guenther Oettinger said in an interview Tuesday with his native Germany’s Handelsblatt daily that it’s worth considering setting aside “a small part” of oil tax revenue for the EU, perhaps one or two cents per liter.
He argued that it would allow countries such as Germany to reduce their direct contributions to the EU budget — and use the money they save for tax cuts at home.
***Oettinger also suggested that money gained from an increase in the cost of carbon dioxide emissions trading certificates could be put into the EU.
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/28/the-associated-press-eu-budget-chief-could-use-part-of-oil-tax-to-finance-eu.html
July 2016: PDF: 76 pages: The Greens/European Free Alliance: Green Budget Europe
GREEN TAXES AS A MEANS OF FINANCING THE EU BUDGET: POLICY OPTIONS
by Dr Constanze Adolf & Klaus Röhrig
Study commissioned by MEP Helga Trüpel, The Greens/European Free Alliance
P3: Green taxes: tools to transform the EU budget and help Europe reach its environmental goals
The EU needs to secure a frontrunner position in the fight against climate change – a green financing model for the EU itself could play an important role in achieving that. If the main revenue streams for the EUR 143 billion EU budget were shifted to green tax-based instruments, there is a huge potential to direct investments towards more sustainable and environmentally-friendly market behaviour.
Green tax-based instruments are the smartest candidates for new own resources. They could greatly enhance European advances in environmental tax reform and also help to overcome the deficiencies apparent in the current system of financing the EU budget. They are a win-win for the environment and for the future financing of the European Union’s budget…
In order to prevent an unfair or unequal burden on different member states due to a large diversity of
current tax levels and tax regimes, a decision to move towards environmental taxes would also favour
advances towards tax harmonisation across Europe. This could ultimately reduce tax competition and
lead towards a better allocation of resources and more effective taxing of environmental “bads”. Thus,
also the polluter-pays-principle would be further strengthened…
This report examines a range of potential environmental market-based instruments and presents four concrete policy options as candidates for future green own resources…
1 Road fuel taxes…
2 Carbon taxes
In terms of environmental impact, carbon taxes deliver the most promising value added as a source of
revenue for the EU budget. They would directly address the necessary reductions in the 55% of GHG
emissions not covered under the EU ETS…
3 Energy taxation…
4 Fines imposed by the Court of Justice of the European Union…
http://www.org.umu.se/digitalAssets/188/188734_4b2_rihrig_paper.pdf
11
Our children’s children will not know what real supermarket bread tastes like .
Thought I’d get in before Flannery .
50
“Our children’s children will not know what real supermarket bread tastes like”
And how is that a bad thing ??? 😉
31
Lucky children.
20
read all:
2 Mar: Daily Caller: Michael Bastasch: Trump Orders EPA To ‘Zero Out’ Global Warming Programs
The cuts are laid out in a letter sent by William Becker, the executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA), to his group’s member state and local regulators. Becker said NACAA received the “pass back” budget information sent from OMG to EPA Monday, according to InsideEPA (LINK)…
Here are all the programs NACAA said OMB wants “zeroed out”: LIST
http://dailycaller.com/2017/03/02/trump-orders-epa-to-zero-out-global-warming-programs/
11
Oh noes…..more govt is always the answer!
/sarc
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-03/renationalising-electricity-grid-could-fix-failure-of-system/8320910
“A publicly owned electricity grid is the only way to put a cap on costs, keep energy competitive and solve the country’s energy crisis, according to an economics expert.
Professor John Quiggin says the creation of the National Electricity Market has been a failure, and governments should start buying back electricity transmission networks.
He argues without the need to generate private rates of return, public ownership of the electricity grid would push costs down, leading to cheaper prices for consumers.
“It’s about the failure of the electricity network as a whole to deliver the kind of outcomes that have been promised for the last 25 years or so,” Professor Quiggin said.
“The starting point for fixing things is a proper, publicly owned national grid.”
10
State grid.
National would reduce accountability.
00
I have noted over many decades how not efficient governments are running what should be private enterprise businesses.
An example is the NSW Government Chullora Railway Workshops circa 1980s, before the Coalition Greiner Government closed them down and put railway work out to tender. At a district meeting of employers Railway management admitted that absenteeism every day on average was 60 per cent, 6 out of every 10 employees absent on sick leave or other reason.
When NSW Labor sold half of the government owned electricity businesses for far less than estimated valuation lowest value, sold for $5.9 billon with a minimum loss of $6.1 billion, it was reported that management in each government owned private company set their own wages, travelled extensively overseas on study trips and enjoyed other well above average for private sector benefits.
And by the way, when the $5.9 billion sale monies were received and debts hidden in the private company accounts, off government budgets, monies used to pay government extra “dividends”, all that was remaining was $800 million. I understand that most state governments have private companies operating. NBNCo is a federal example where debt is not accounted in government budgets.
In my view governments should not be in business.
30
Good comment Dennis.
For too long all levels of government have been bled by the unscrupulous, whether, unions, management or politicians.
Every dollar that has left government “care” has been authorized by someone in a position of responsibility and these have failed in their duty to the tax payer.
It doesn’t really matter whether infrastructure is run by government or other, the problem is always that we need to stop and punish corruption.
KK
20
I would disagree, government can run businesses if they keep politics out of them Australia Post up until recently was a reasonably well run GBE. The problem comes when socialist ideology tries to hijack the business from its primary objective to become some sort of sheltered workshop.
We could be relieved of a lot of our tax burden if the government ran some well managed, desirable services that the public would willingly pay for. It would also gain by having a public service that has a modicum of knowledge of life outside an ivory tower. Also governments are in a position to incubate industries like china has with microelectronics. We miss out on a lot because there’s government refuses to bear risk on behalf of the economy. Government businesses are not counterproductive to capitalism.
50
I agree with your comment Bob but the issue of abuse of trust by government enterprise has often been a serious but hidden issue.
Private provision of the same services can also be an issue as witness the costly shambles with electricity in NSW.
I would prefer publicly run utilities but the history says be careful.
KK
30
Currently working for AusPost I’d agree with its hamstrung performance, over the past 30+ years it delivered a tidy dividend to the government every year after running costs, with the inevitable decrease in mail (letter) volumes due to digital communication technologies the focus went to parcels with the purchase of startrack express in speculation of the future internet shopping market.
Unfortunately the fundamentals that the public have come to expect from AusPost were dropped with local mail sorting shut down and taken away hundreds of kilometers from the town/city creating job losses and longer delivery times for local people and businesses, in vic the average wait for a standard letter is 7 to 9 days compared to 2 days or quicker with the old system.
Cost cutting practices like this compounded by grossly overpaid CEO’s and board members have done little to improve the public image.
50
Oh sure it would. Hasn’t he ever heard of State governments demanding bigger ‘dividends’ from utilities owned by the public?
20
Hunter water.
Did you mention Hunter Water.
How Many ways can you steal from an unsuspecting population?
Jobs for the boys, dividends, sell off unnecessary land bought for future dams.
Public utilities just keep on giving; and taking.
KK
30
2 Mar: WashingtonTimes: Ben Wofgang: EPA reverses course, won’t seek emissions, equipment data from drillers
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday reversed an Obama-era plan to collect massive amounts of data from oil-and-gas companies — information that ultimately would’ve been used as the basis for new federal regulations on methane.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said the requests made by the prior administration constituted unnecessary burdens on the energy industry. His action also seems to signal that the EPA will not pursue any new methane regulations anytime in the foreseeable future…READ ON
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/2/epa-wont-seek-emissions-equipment-data-drillers/
11
This piffling deficiency of protein could readily be compensated for by adding extra gluten to the bead dough. Gluten is already commonly used by bakers as a dough improver.
These climate bozos are not only bog ignorant about the mechanics of climate functioning, but are equally ignorant of practical baking!
30
done a bit of bread making myself… d[gluten] changes the texture and consistency of the bread. So you are saying change eating qualities of the bread? People wont like that?
11
Gluten is the protein in wheat and related grains. If,hypothetically,the protein ratio was reduced by arch enemy CO2, adding extra gluten would be maintaining the eating qualities.
30
And?
12
If anyone is really worried, grind a bug or three up in the flour. Probably a few (or their bits) in there already, so adding a little more will only enhance the protein.
10
The climate changes and always has and each country has to deal with that change, no matter what the reason. Australia will make more money/do better/ be happier compared with other nations (no need to invoke aliens) if it adapts and deals with the change relatively better than other nations. That is a public policy issue – translating good ideas into action.
41
‘…adapts and deals with the change relatively better than other nations. ‘
A food bowl and quarry, we can’t fail.
20
quite but, and this applies to monitoring and understanding the climate on the broad and local scales no matter what the mechanism, if we (Australia that is) don’t keep collecting data and improving our understanding of how change affects agricultural production, we will have a dust bowl and a quarry.
21
I agree Gee. We need to let botanists do their work without political pressure from so-called climate scientists.
51
The U.S. Had a dust bowl 85 years ago.
If only we could stop the earth spinning maybe we could prevent dust bowls?
KK
30
Yeah… it never would have happened if one side of the earth was permanently dark and the other sunny
12
Assuming that global cooling has begun we can expect to see monsoon failure in the foreseeable future.
02
Are you turning into OKM?
21
There is an El Nino lurking in the wings and the future looks grim for the Denialati, if temps don’t fall this year I’ll be joining the lukewarmers.
Back on topic, I see a bright future for the Australian food bowl, no matter what the weather.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-04/farmers-grow-crops-in-greenhouses-prevent-climate-change-effects/8321720
10
‘Last year’s unexpectedly good seasonal conditions had aligned with soaring livestock prices, pushing the gross value of the big crop yields, horticulture, dairy, fibre and saleyard prices above $60 billion in 2016.
‘Although global grain and milk product values have been badly depressed, results from most other commodity categories propelled farming’s gross earnings about 16pc higher than the average figure for the preceding five years according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics and Sciences.’
Farm Weekly
10
So yes
00
The sooner Washington DC becomes a dust bowl, the better.
11
If The Donald succeeds in draining the swamp, that could be on the cards!
00
Off Tropic
Just in South Australia
Torrens Island Gas Turbine power plant has a fire
One 120MW turbine out!
Blackouts limited so far!
10
AN ABSOLUTE MUST-READ…LENGTHY:
2 Mar: LifeSiteNews: Jeanne Smits: Population controllers to Vatican: ‘Responsible parenthood’ has failed. Use ‘taxes and regulations’ to reduce population
They suggested that the only way to stop the exhaustion of “humanity’s natural capital” is by imposing a system of “taxes and regulations” that would help modify “social norms of behaviour.”
This week’s Vatican symposium on Biological Extinction, sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences was a closed-door event. Speaking at the event were two controversial figures, Paul Ehrlich and Partha Dasgupta (read their paper here)…
They also make the environmentalists’ agenda perfectly clear: They want population control and a general contraction of living standards in a more and more socialized world.
Environmental Health News described their speech as a “moral revolution,” the very words used by the Vatican event’s sponsors in their presentation. In Pope Francis’ Laudato si’, the appeal for an “ecological conversion” is much the same.
Many of the 15 pages of Ehrlich and Dasgupta’s lengthy conference address are devoted to catastrophic predictions about the “Sixth Biological Extinction,” as well as warnings that the future of “civilization is utterly dependent” on the global ecosystem.
But the most important part of their presentation aims at creating a sort of moral code that would serve to put a halt to “over-exploitation” of the Earth’s resources, as well as reducing “pollution.”
Agriculture, in their eyes, is one of the main destroyers of life on earth…
Ehrlich and Dasgupta advocate negative growth to put an end to over-exploitation of the Earth’s resources. They put it like this: … READ ALL
https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/population-controllers-to-vatican-responsible-parenthood-has-failed.-use-ta?utm_content=buffer2a6d8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=lifesitenews%2Btwitter&utm_campaign=buffer
21
I had trouble putting together why a large ( allegedly ) Christian organization would back in effect pagan earth worship. The reality is simple but profound – if you read especially the Council of Trent ( Session 6, Chapter 9 ), you see the Roman church actively says to be a Roman Catholic you must reject the very *cornerstone* of Christian faith , salvation through faith alone in Jesus Christ ( Sola Fide ). This reality, which can be found in the Vatican’s own writings, sets the scene for this article ( above ).
As such, it is perfectly reasonable for a *pagan* organization to embrace population reduction/control.
And this is what we in effect see the Vatican doing.
Under Christianity there is a God-given directive very early on to go forth and subdue and replenish the world and have children ( Gen 1:28 ). In effect, all animals and plants were given to humans to eat/use and humans are shown to be clearly above animals in importance ( Gen 1:26 ), at odds with the new pagan earth-based/green religion.
There was also a directive from God to be a good steward of the earth too ( Gen 1:26 & other verses ), so there is a balance to be struck. However, nowhere is there any directive to force people into vegetarianism or to cull humans via medical/covert means, nor via birth control, although under Christianity people have a choice in the number of children they have and are not under any obligation to not use birth control.
Private property and liberty are in essence right wing conservative Christian values, not like the Socialist left wing ( and now Vatican ) endorsed view which fits closer to objectives of the hard-core green Left wingers , the same who advocate culling of humans and “control” measures which are extremist.
Any church who goes along with the green agenda beyond a few token acts like planting a few trees, is misguided. Any of them who embrace the lie climate change are ignorant nor misguided or both, but become part of the problem and should be avoided.
In the Last Days in the bible it talks of massive deception and leading people away from proper understanding of God. As such, I could see this act by the Vatican as 100% in line with its true heart and core values. The anti-Israel stance by the UN and the Vaticans embrace of the UN-enabled NWO anti-christian occult agenda also further lend more cred to the Vaticans true core ( un-Christian & anti-christian )values.
I hope this might put it into context for people.
00
Sorry,. typo:
“and are not under any obligation to not use birth control.”
should read :
“and are not under any obligation to use birth control.”
00
Given the evidence placed before the Royal Commission on child abuse, the moral revolution the Vatican really needs is against the industrial scale of kiddie fiddling among the priesthood and the cover ups by the hierarchy.
00
A Friday evening laugh ( esp. for farmerbraun!). How to deal with protesters
http://defiantamerica.com/farmer-sprays-poop-emma-thompson-trespassing-land/
40
Well they wanted it to be about ecology….the farmer was obviously wanting to improve the land with extra natural fertilizer….how could the protesters complain about that? Coming home smothered in poop should be a badge of honour….
00
3 Mar: Australian: Matt Chambers: Rio Tinto aluminium smelter to slash jobs as power prices bite
Rio Tinto’s Boyne aluminium smelter in Gladstone is set to slash more than 100 jobs and about 80,000 tonnes of annual production — worth $US160 million at current prices — because it has been unable to secure economically-priced power from state power providers.
The production and job cuts are almost double those flagged in January, when Rio Tinto (RIO) said it would cut 8 per cent of production, or 45,000 tonnes, and about 30 jobs because power price spikes were hitting production cuts.
The wider cuts are a result of Boyne being unable to negotiate power contracts that will let it run profitably…
“Boyne Smelters has been working hard to secure a competitive energy deal. Both parties have been negotiating in good faith but ultimately could not reach agreement,” the spokesman said…
Boyne gets about 85 per cent of its power from the Gladstone power station, in which it has a 42 per cent stake and 810MW of power supply locked in until 2029.
The rest of the power needs to be sourced from the market, something Rio now says it is not able to do economically…
Rio owns 59.4 per cent of Boyne…
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/rio-tinto-aluminium-smelter-to-slash-jobs-as-power-prices-bite/news-story/b22c667e1b48e759eb9c5576b56e0f72
31
Same thing happened with the kurri kurri smelter.
It’s finished.
30
Off to China, the aluminium smelting goes.
Won’t that be great for the world environment !! NOT !!
41
Let us just play the same silly games we hear from the alarmists.
Since we are the so called 3rd worst polluters PER CAPITA, let us look at rainfall. Australia just happens to have the 3rd highest rainfall PER CAPITA so we have no concerns here. We have been reclassified as a very wet country, and will therefore not feel the results of this nonsense
Hopefully the current inter glacial Milankovitch cycle will come to an end in my lifetime and we can get back to some real science
10
OT , just watching local news (Albury) and apparently UNSW have discovered that Koalas are drinking water because of climate change , their not exactly sure but think that there’s less moisture in the leaves making the koalas thirsty .
Apparently they think that it’s unnatural for koalas to drink water and therefore it must be climate change wot dunnit.
They made emphasise on the fact their study was during winter ( wonder why) , perhaps they should have consulted someone ,anyone who had even basic knowledge of koalas , then they wouldn’t have had to make shitup.
20
So it must be during the last bad ( naturally occurring ) bushfires when koalas approached people to get a drink of water, that act was caused by climate change too?
00
3 Mar: SMH: AAP: Federal Court reserves Adani decision
The Australian Conservation Foundation must wait to learn if its latest challenge against the controversial Adani coalmine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin has been successful.
The ACF appeared before the Federal Court in Brisbane on Friday to appeal a decision last year that gave the huge Carmichael project the green light.
But the full bench reserved its judgment after it heard submissions from the environmental group, federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg and Adani…
The full bench of the Federal Court will hand down its decision at a later date.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/federal-court-reserves-adani-decision-20170303-guq2gd.html
3 Mar: Guardian: Ian Dunlop: ‘Clean coal’, CCS and CSG will not save fossil fuels – their game is up
As the Finkel review submission deadline arrives it’s time to accept the inevitable and fix the shambles that is our energy policy
Climate change has moved from the twilight phase of much talk and relatively limited impact. It is now turning nasty. Events are moving faster than expected as irreversible climate tipping points are crossed. The economic and social costs of inaction can no longer be swept under the carpet, with regulators here and overseas demanding action to head off a climate-induced financial crisis.
The only way we can avoid catastrophic climate impact now is to initiate emergency action, akin to being on a war footing…
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/mar/03/clean-coal-ccs-and-csg-will-not-save-fossil-fuels-their-game-is-up
11
Ot but SA news just said we lost half? Our gas generation…… Load shed ahead, brace, brace, brace
40
But surely the sun is shining 24 hours a day in the City of Churches and the wind is a constant 15 knots also for 24 hours each and every day?
10
9 Jan: Spiked: James Heartfield: We’re doomed!
Another eco-doomsday claim is proven wrong
In the summer of 2008, Andrew Simms of the British think-tank the New Economics Foundation launched his doomsday clock at the web address onehundredmonths.org.uk. It had a stark message: ‘We have 100 months to save our climate.’…
It was a campaign backed by the Guardian. For each of the hundred months that followed, the Guardian hosted a blog by Simms…
If these doom-laden conclusions were true, was the Guardian not sitting on the story of the century, or of the millennia?…
The problem with Simms’ climate clock was that the longer it ticked, the less seriously it was taken…READ ON
http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/were-doomed/19170#.WLkasJLaviM
in fact, Simms simply stopped writing on the blog with this piece:
22 Dec: Guardian: 100 months to save the world: Andrew Simms: What can a medieval climate crisis teach us about modern-day warming?
One month to go
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/22/what-can-a-medieval-climate-crisis-teach-us-about-modern-day-warming
was that the end of Simms at The Guardian? not at all. they simply published him elsewhere, without a word of explanation on the blog or anywhere else, it seems:
19 Jan 2017: Guardian: Andrew Simms: ‘A cat in hell’s chance’ – why we’re losing the battle to keep global warming below 2C
A global rise in temperature of just 2C would be enough to threaten life as we know it. But leading climate scientists think even this universally agreed target will be missed. Could dramatic action help?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/19/cat-in-hells-chance-why-losing-battle-keep-global-warming-2c-climate-change
11
So we lost 300 mW from Torrens island tomorrow and beyond we might not have enough power until it is fixed, what happens when Hazelwood closes?
Supplementary question, can you run a car race without Power?
51
When Hazelwood closes the wind will pick up in SA because there will be less Co2 and the weather will always be perfect for you South Aussies , now don’t you worry about anything we at the guvermint have your best interests at heart and have our best and brightest people on the case .
Trust us , we know what we’re doing !
40
I am not an south Aussie I just unfortunately live here. :-))
30
But Glorious Leader ways we will have victory over engineering reality and power our homes with Socialist pixie dust….
10
Red thumb for asking questions what a loser you are
31
1 Mar: Bloomberg: Coal Trucks Block South African Capital in Power-Accord Feud
by Ana Monteiro and Paul Burkhardt
Coal-truck drivers brought traffic to a standstill on roads surrounding South Africa’s capital on Wednesday as the state-owned power utility said it won’t renew their contracts because of an electricity surplus…
Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., which supplies about 90 percent of the country’s power, won’t renew agreements with 48 transport companies because weak demand, slow economic growth and the introduction of renewable-energy supply from independent producers has resulted in a 3 million metric-ton coal surplus, Acting Chief Executive Officer Matshela Koko told the Johannesburg-based broadcaster. The company will be closing its Camden, Grootvlei, Hendrina and Kriel coal-fired plants by the end of March 2020, resulting in as many as 20,000 job losses, he said…
Eskom uses coal to generate more than 90 percent of its supply to Africa’s most-industrialized economy. President Jacob Zuma said last month that the company must sign agreements to buy power from private producers, which the utility had stalled. The company said it no longer requires additional renewable energy, arguing that it’s expensive, isn’t always available during peak demand periods and will push up prices for consumers.
About 40 million tons of coal is delivered by truck from mines to power stations, a figure that will drop to 30 million tons by 2021, Phasiwe said by phone. Eskom uses about 120 million tons of the fuel a year.
‘Unintended Consequences’
Government has to own up to the unintended consequences of the renewable IPP program.”…
The renewable-power program has drawn 194 billion rand ($14.8 billion) of investment, and 2,200 megawatts have been connected to the national grid from 44 projects. Developers have been waiting for Eskom to sign offtake agreements on another 37 projects worth 58 billion rand that will generate 2,354 megawatts. There are also plans to get electricity from independent producers using coal and liquefied natural gas.
“We’re going to sign the renewable-energy projects,” Phasiwe said. “It’s a done deal. So the issues really are between government and the truckers as to how they’re going to resolve them. From our side, we’re implementing a government decision.”…
“There’s not much we can do,” Phasiwe said. “They’re protesting a government decision. If government says maybe we should reduce the scale and pace in which we are signing the renewables, then that will be a new decision that we will implement.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-01/coal-trucks-block-south-african-capital-s-roads-in-contract-feud
1 Mar: BizCommunity: WWF petition urges Eskom to back renewable energy
In a petition, WWF South Africa is calling on Eskom to expedite the use of renewable energy in the country as part of this year’s Earth Hour campaign…
This year, WWF-SA has decided to go one step further for Earth Hour by asking citizens to sign a petition addressed to Eskom, which has been stalling over the implementation of renewable energy contracts…
Since 2016, Eskom has refused to sign further contracts under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) which would put more renewable energy on the grid.
***Renewable energy will not only reduce carbon emissions, but can also be scaled up and deployed quickly to match the country’s need for energy – far quicker than large coal and nuclear new builds…
http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/702/158433.html
11
XOM witch hunt update:
http://dailycaller.com/2017/03/02/dem-ags-stonewall-gop-efforts-to-subpoena-anti-exxon-crusade/?utm_campaign=atdailycaller&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social
Democratic attorneys general in New York and Massachusetts refused Wednesday to comply with a congressional subpoena demanding they disclose information related to their investigation into ExxonMobil’s climate research.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypAU28t5Ya0
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2 Mar: Vatican: Final communiqué of the seminar “Biological extinction: Extinction is Forever: How To Avoid It
A study week was convened at the Casina Pio IV in the Vatican on February 27-March 1, 2007, by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences to review what we know about biological extinction, its causes and the ways in which we might limit its extent. The participants concluded, based on comparisons with the fossil record, that the current rate of loss of species is approximately 1,000 times the historical rate, with perhaps a quarter of all species in danger of extinction now and as many as half of them may be gone by the end of the present century. Since we depend on living organisms for the functioning of our planet, our food, many of our medicines and other materials, waste absorption and the mediation of our climate, and for much of the beauty of the earth, these losses will inflict incalculable damage on our common prospects unless we control them. We have discovered and described less than one fifth of the species that are estimated to exist, and so we’re throwing away unknown potential and threatening the basic functioning of our planet…
By two hundred years ago, we had grown to one billion people for the first time, and then to two billion in 1930 and shooting upward to the 7.4 billion of today. Since 1950, world GDP has grown 15 times while the world population has tripled. This five-fold increase in per capita income has brought huge gains to the contemporary human condition.
Aside from threatening millions of species with extinction, this enormous increase in economic activity based on profit and on the use of fossil fuels is putting huge strains on the earth’s capacity to function sustainably. The most obvious associated signs include global climate change and the concomitant damages to the earth’s system that it brings in its wake, such as sea level rise as well as ocean acidification and anoxia, these feeding back on biological extinction directly…
http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2017/03/02/0132/00313.html#en
2 Mar: Vatican: Final communiqué of the seminar “Biological extinction. How to save the natural world on which we depend”
The speakers were Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, and Professors Werner Arber, president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Peter Hamilton Raven, academic of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and Partha Sarathi Dasgupta, academic of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2017/03/02/170302b.html
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decided to post some background on the Vatican speaker, Peter Hamilton Raven:
Wikipedia: Peter H. Raven
Raven is possibly best known for his work Butterflies and Plants: A Study in Coevolution published in the journal Evolution in 1964 which he coauthored with Paul R. Ehrlich…
He serves on the advisory council of ***CRDF Global…
***Wikipedia: CRDF Global
CRDF Global was authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1992 under the FREEDOM Support Act and established in 1995 by the National Science Foundation…
CRDF Global is based in Arlington, Virginia…
Between 1995 – 2010, CRDF Global awarded nearly 3,000 grants to more than 13,000 scientists—including 2,500 former weapons researchers—and has committed more than $105 million in total support. In addition to its own funds, CRDF Global has been able to leverage more than $42 million in additional support from foreign governments; as well as cash and in-kind contributions from participating American businesses…
The initial funding for the foundation was $5 million from the US Department of Defense and a matching donation from philanthropist ***GEORGE SOROS. The National Science Foundation provided $300,000 for start-up activities…
Advisory Council
includes: Google, Dr. Peter Raven etc
Raven is in the news today:
3 Mar: National Geographic: Will Africa’s Big Five become extinct in the wild?
Posted by David Maxwell Braun
#WorldWildlifeDay
World Wildlife Day, today, March 3, is the anniversary of the signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)…
Half of all wildlife extinct within 80 years?
World Wildlife Day coincides this week with the Joint Workshop of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and of Social Sciences on “Biological Extinction,” at the Vatican. Helping organize the workshop was ***Peter Raven, Chairman of the National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and Exploration and President Emeritus of Missouri Botanical Garden. “By the beginning of the next century we face the prospect of losing half our wildlife,” Raven told the Biological Extinction workshop. “Yet we rely on the living world to sustain ourselves. It is very frightening. The extinctions we face pose an even greater threat to civilisation than climate change – for the simple reason they are irreversible.” (Read the Guardian’s news report: Biologists say half of all species could be extinct by end of century)…
http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/03/will-africas-big-five-become-extinct-in-the-wild/
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Thanks for the post, Pat.
I met and had a long discussion with Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven at Galveston, TX in 2002. He is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
That year an undergraduate, Erin Miller, presented a paper at the Sigma Xi Conference on NEUTRON REPULSION, the source of “powers beyond the dreams of scientific fiction“ that Aston first discovered and reported in ordinary atoms in the last paragraph of his 1922 Nobel Lecture.
We now know neutron repulsion is the source of energy in cores of
1. Heavy elements like Uranium,
2. Gaseous planets like Jupiter,
3. Ordinary stars, like the Sun, &
4. Galaxies like the Milky Way.
Here’s Erin Miller and me after an unsuccessful attempt to convince Dr. Raven of the importance of neutron repulsion.
http://www.omatumr.com/index_files/fe-sun.jpg
Figure 3 of this paper shows irrefutable evidence of neutron repulsion in ordinary atoms.
http://ierj.in/journal/index.php/ierj/article/view/409/386
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Finally an explanation for that giant sucking sound. (/sarc). Cheers –
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Here is a little something interesting. Fake news apparently.
http://business.financialpost.com/news/greenpeace-admits-its-attacks-on-forest-products-giant-were-non-verifiable-statements-of-subjective-opinion
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I have to stop reading this stuff first thing in the morning, when my eyes are still a little blurry. When I saw the headline yesterday:
I thought at first it read:
and thought: “They got funding for that? Is this a great country or what?”
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Nice graphs. I think they show something. If you turn them 90 degrees they are way cool. I think they are affecting my taste buds and my mind. What about the taste of butter?
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CERN Bulletin and Dennis Avery report on Svensmark’s cosmoclimatology theory with test results.
This adds weight to climate sensitivity estimates used in climate models that must be further revised downwards.
See post, here:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/02/19/how-imminent-is-the-uah-pause-now-includes-some-january-data/
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