The Week That Was: 2020-01-25 (January 25, 2020)

Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)

The Science and Environmental Policy Project

Quote of the Week: “There are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them.” – George Orwell

Number of the Week: 50 Million Gallons of drinking water per day at a cost of 0.5 cents per gallon.

THIS WEEK:

By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)

The Gathering – Davos: Generally, TWTW ignores political speeches because, regardless of political faction, today, they are usually a collection of sound bites having little meaning. They lack the careful logical reasoning of the speeches by Abraham Lincoln. This week, an exception occurred at the meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Perhaps Walter Russell Mead writing in the Wall Street Journal summarized the Davos meeting best:

“There is something inescapably ridiculous about a gathering this self-important; certainly Marie Antoinette and her friends dressing up as shepherdesses to celebrate the simple life has nothing on the more than 100 billionaires descending, often by private jet, on an exclusive Swiss ski resort for four days of ostentatious hand-wringing about the problems of the poor and the dangers of climate change.”

As discussed in the January 11 and 18 TWTWs the data compiled by “Our World in Data” and others indicate that our era is the best experienced by humanity in recorded history. Over the past 30 years extreme poverty in Asia has diminished dramatically. Largely thanks to the reduction of government control and traditional customs over the economies and the use of fossil fuels. Life expectancy, child mortality, hunger, access to clean water, sanitation, and energy use are greatly improving the human condition. Some areas need to be addressed, particularly in sub-Sahara Africa, but overall the dire conditions of subsistence living are being significantly reduced.

Despite the evidence of vast improvement, the UN and other international groups are declaring a climate crisis, or climate emergency. with little or no physical evidence to substantiate their claims. Despite flimsy evidence, the World Economic Forum (WEF) created a report claiming the failure to act on the largely imaginary climate crisis is a greater threat to humanity in likelihood and impact than weapons of mass destruction – nuclear war (about the same impact but low likelihood). The report contained a chapter titled “A Decade Left: Confronting Runaway Climate Threat” which claims many stresses on ecosystems from runaway climate change. With little physical evidence, the chapter relies on describing political meetings and calls for a green social contract.

To bolster claims of runaway climate, WEF invited Greta Thunberg to speak, pleasing those who believe teenage fears and anxieties replace mature, reasoned judgement based on experience. Thus, the stage was set for demands for global governance, the goal of the internationalists, and the failure of global governance was included as a global risk in the WEF report.

Many things can be said of Donald Trump but being shy is not one of them. He spoke about US economic growth, employment growth, low unemployment, increasing wages, benefits of the energy revolution, improvements in clean air, food, water, and other issues. Then, he stated the key issue:

“This is not a time for pessimism; this is a time for optimism. Fear and doubt are not a good thought process because this is a time for tremendous hope and joy and optimism and action.

“But to embrace the possibilities of tomorrow, we must reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse. They are the heirs of yesterday’s foolish fortune-tellers — and I have them and you have them, and we all have them, and they want to see us do badly, but we don’t let that happen. They predicted an overpopulation crisis in the 1960s, mass starvation in the ’70s, and an end of oil in the 1990s. These alarmists always demand the same thing: absolute power to dominate, transform, and control every aspect of our lives.

“We will never let radical socialists destroy our economy, wreck our country, or eradicate our liberty. America will always be the proud, strong, and unyielding bastion of freedom.

“In America, we understand what the pessimists refuse to see: that a growing and vibrant market economy focused on the future lifts the human spirit and excites creativity strong enough to overcome any challenge — any challenge by far.” [Boldface added]

According to reports, in a subsequent speech, George Soros stated:

“the United States, China and Russia under President Vladimir Putin — were ‘in the hands of would-be or actual dictators and the ranks of authoritarian rulers continued to grow.’”

The claim about Trump is highly questionable. His administration has reduced or is attempting to reduce Washington’s control of oil and gas drilling, pipelines, use of private lands under so called navigable waters of the United States, the regulatory and legal morass called the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which prevented what the Obama Administration called “shovel-ready jobs.” In general, dictators and authoritarians expand control over the public and / or the economy. But as an internationalist, perhaps Soros has difficulty stating that Trump is a champion of economic liberty.

See Article # 1 and links under Change in US Administrations, Expanding the Orthodoxy, Communicating Better to the Public – Use Children for Propaganda and Funding Issues,

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Additions and Corrections: Several readers corrected a significant error in last week’s TWTW stemming from one letter which changed the meaning of a key paragraph under the heading The Greenhouse Effect – Different Results. The corrected paragraph, with the wrong word crossed out and the correct word in boldface reads:

“The measured temperature trend of the atmosphere, as measured by satellite using all data from the launch of the program in December 1978 until the present, is a rise of 1.3 ºC per century. What is now NOT known is how much of that warming is due to natural causes, and how much is due to increasing atmospheric CO2. The Transient Climate response (TCR) is the predicted (i.e., modeled) temperature rise that would occur by the time the amount of CO2 has doubled, but before the longer time required for the oceans to heat up.”

It is amazing how large a little error can become. There is a great deal we do not understand about natural variation. Since the UN ignores natural variation, climate modelers who cater to the UN are no help.

Other readers questioned the Number of the Week: +/- 0.003⁰C. The purpose of mentioning this small amount was to illustrate the false precision of a paper on Ocean Heat Content (OHC) derived from calculations using huge numbers, in this case Zettajoules (ZJ) (10 raised to the 21^st power, or one power of 10 less than the solar energy hitting the earth’s surface each day.) We neglected to mention in TWTW, that the number was estimated by Paul Homewood who used data from the OHC paper in question. In 2010 the claimed temperature uncertainty was +/- 0.003⁰C, which is impossible to measure from the surface to a depth of 2000 meters. Interestingly, the co-authors of the paper include Kevin Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Michael Mann of Penn State and John Fasullo of NOAA. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and Defending in last week’s TWTW.

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Model Mysteries – EEI: Last week TWTW discussed the Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI) as measured by satellites. Estimating EEI is difficult because it involves estimating the difference between two huge numbers. A small percentage error in either one of the two huge numbers can result in a wildly incorrect EEI.

Recognizing that major errors are possible and that satellite measures of the EEI have been available for less than 20 years, last week TWTW discussed that over the 2000–2018 satellite record the EEI appears to have a downward trend of −0.16 ± 0.11 W/meter squared per decade. As with the pause following the 1998 El Niño warming, a decline in EEI gives great difficulty to climate modelers who follow the lead of the IPCC. Another difficulty the modelers have is the lack of a pronounced warming over the tropics, the so-called distinct human fingerprint which is yet to be found in the satellite and balloon records.

As Frank Bosse wrote in Climate Etc., efforts by climate modelers to do away with the failure of models to describe what is occurring in the atmosphere are summarized in a paper by Femke, Nijsse, Cox, and Williamson that is available in preprint. They claim that the newest set of earth system models (ESMs), CMIP6, constrain the temporary, transient climate response (TCR) to a doubling of CO2. Yet, the modelers calculate greater equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS), which may require a thousand years.

This effort appears to be a clever gimmick by modelers. But with no ability to test the ECS against physical evidence, there is no reason for followers of the scientific method to accept the results of the models any more than the results of models used that the world would run out of oil by the early 21^st century. That which cannot be tested against physical evidence is of little value in a practical world.

What is interesting in the Femke, et al. paper is the estimates by the various US modeling groups using their new CMIP6 models. The Department of Energy E3SM Project produces a TCR (transient climate response) of 2.99 K, and an ECS (equilibrium climate sensitivity) of 5.38 K with a doubling of CO2. These are the highest in the US group. Even the transient (temporary) response requires a warming rate far greater than what is occurring in the atmosphere.

The NSA-GISS, GISS-E2-1G model produces a transient response of 1.72 K, and an equilibrium sensitivity of 2.70 K. The GISS-E2-1-H model produces a transient response of 1.89 K, and an equilibrium sensitivity of 3.09 K. Both are surprisingly low given the claims made by NASA-GISS in the past.

The NCAR CESM2 model produces a transient response of 2.08 K, and an equilibrium sensitivity of 5.17 K. The NCAR-WACCM model produces a transient response of 1.92 K, and an equilibrium sensitivity of 4.90 K.

The NOAA GFDL, GFDL-CM4 model produces a transient response of 1.97 K, and an equilibrium sensitivity of 4.09 K.

It is very interesting that the estimates by the models of National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) depart greatly from atmospheric temperature trends by the University of Alabama, Huntsville (UAH) using satellite measurements. Apparently, NCAR does not believe we can successfully estimate atmospheric temperature trends using satellites independently verified by weather balloons.

Also, it will be interesting to explore the rationale used by these modeling groups to increase the equilibrium sensitivity greatly above transient response, in many cases more than doubling it. Could this be some form of pixie dust? See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.

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Benefits of Carbon Dioxide: Several models have been used to estimate the so-called social costs of carbon (SCC). Generally, these studies have ignored the benefits of adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, particularly the benefits to agriculture. Carbon dioxide is necessary for green plants to exist.

Writing in Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Kevin D. Dayaratna, Ross McKitrick & Patrick J. Michaels use the Framework for Uncertainty, Negotiation, and Distribution (FUND) model to estimate these benefits. They base the calculations on the probability distributions of three different estimates equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS): The calculations of Christy and McNider (2017), Lewis and Curry (2018) and Roe-Baker (2007). They conclude that recognizing the fertilization benefits of increasing CO2 changes the social cost of carbon calculations, depending on which ECS is used. What is calculated to be a cost may actually be a benefit.

Also interesting in the report is Fig. 2 “Probability density functions of equilibrium climate sensitivity distributions used to estimate the social cost of carbon.” This graphic compares the probability of error distributions of the three estimates. The Roe-Baker has a long distribution tail indicating the “science is settled” argument cannot be correct.

The Christy – McNider distribution is very tight, a positive sign. While discussing the paper last week, TWTW failed to mention that the data in the Christy – McNider paper start after the sudden shift in temperature trends from a cooling, about 1940 to 1975, to a warming after 1975. At the time, no one was able to identify why, but advocates of an oncoming ice age, such as Stephen Schneider, changed to dangerous global warming. Using simultaneous equations, some researchers have demonstrated that the shift may be from a change in phases in the Pacific Ocean from a trend of cooling La Niñas to a trend of warming El Niños. Such a shift may come from changing solar influences. See links under Social Benefits of Carbon Dioxide and Challenging the Orthodoxy.

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Relaxing Washington’s Controls: As suggested above, the Trump Administration is reducing Washington’s control of the economy, particularly in the permitting process for major development projects and federal prohibitions against private landowners from building on their property. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has been a major stumbling block for needed development. Before Katrina, it was used by environmental organizations to prevent the Corps of Engineers from building a movable barrier system along Interstate 10 to protect New Orleans from flooding from Lake Pontchartrain.

In many parts along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico land is subsiding due to groundwater extraction. Thanks to technology developed in Israel, desalination is a practical option for coastal cities such as the Norfolk region of Virginia, with the largest Naval Base in the world.

The Carlsbad Desalination Plant, proposed in 1993, took nearly 14 years to permit, design, and build – only three years to build. Construction began in December 2012 and was completed late 2015. Five lawsuits were brought against the plant, including by Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Coastkeeper, and the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation, but none was successful. The costs of delays in permitting are not clear. Needed projects should not be stopped for a decade or more under dubious claims of environmental protection.

Similarly, under the vague term “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) development of private property has been stopped or delayed even though there is no water nearby. Often the regulators played games, with the Corps of Engineers using one set of rules and the EPA using another set. Local regulators use such claims to extract money from property owners, as former EPA administrator Carol Browner is well aware. See links under EPA and other Regulators on the March.

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Number of the Week: 50 Million Gallons of drinking water per day at a cost of 0.5 cents per gallon. Using 100 million gallons of saltwater, the “Claude ‘Bud’ Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant is the largest, most technologically advanced and energy-efficient seawater desalination plant in the nation. Each day, the plant delivers nearly 50 million gallons (56,000 acre-feet per year (AFY)) of fresh, desalinated water to San Diego County – enough to serve approximately 400,000 people and accounting for about one-third of all water generated in the County.” https://www.carlsbaddesal.com/

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NEWS YOU CAN USE:

Censorship

German “Speech Police” Announce 2019’s Defamatory Word Of The Year: “Climate Hysteria”!

By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Jan 19, 2020

https://notrickszone.com/2020/01/19/german-speech-police-announce-2019s-defamatory-word-of-the-year-climate-hysteria/

Suppressing Scientific Inquiry

Critics Face Harsh Climate When It Comes To Expressing Dissent – Especially When It Comes To Science

Tough Times for Critics

By Die kalte Sonne (Translated by P. Gosselin), No Tricks Zone, Jan 22, 2020

https://notrickszone.com/2020/01/22/critics-in-germany-face-harsh-climate-when-it-comes-to-expressing-dissent/

Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC

Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science

Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2013

https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-II/CCR-II-Full.pdf

Summary: http://www.nipccreport.org/reports/ccr2a/pdf/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf

Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts

Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2014

http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-biological-impacts/

Summary: https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-IIb/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf

Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels

By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019

http://store.heartland.org/shop/ccr-ii-fossil-fuels/

Download with no charge:

http://climatechangereconsidered.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Climate-Change-Reconsidered-II-Fossil-Fuels-FULL-Volume-with-covers.pdf

Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming

The NIPCC Report on the Scientific Consensus

By Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, and S. Fred Singer, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Nov 23, 2015

http://climatechangereconsidered.org/

Download with no charge:

https://www.heartland.org/policy-documents/why-scientists-disagree-about-global-warming

Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate

S. Fred Singer, Editor, NIPCC, 2008

http://www.sepp.org/publications/nipcc_final.pdf

Global Sea-Level Rise: An Evaluation of the Data

By Craig D. Idso, David Legates, and S. Fred Singer, Heartland Policy Brief, May 20, 2019

https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/publications/SeaLevelRiseCCRII.pdf

Challenging the Orthodoxy

Alarmist Claim Rebuttals

By Joseph D’Aleo, Acresearch, Accessed Jan 25, 2020

https://alarmistclaimresearch.wordpress.com/

Link to Fifth Supplement to Petition for Reconsideration of Endangerment Finding

By Concerned Household Electricity Consumers Council, et al., No Date

https://thsresearch.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/ef-cpp-fifth-supplement-to-petition-for-recon0d0a-final020918.pdf\

Climate sensitivity in light of the latest energy imbalance evidence

By Frank Bosse, Climate Etc. Jan 10, 2020

https://judithcurry.com/2020/01/10/climate-sensitivity-in-light-of-the-latest-energy-imbalance-evidence/#more-25636

Link to paper on what may be used in the next generation models: An emergent constraint on Transient Climate Response from simulated historical warming in CMIP6 models

By Femke J.M.M. Nijsse, et al., Earth System Dynamics, Preprint January 6, 2020

https://www.earth-syst-dynam-discuss.net/esd-2019-86/esd-2019-86.pdf

Satellite bulk tropospheric temperatures as a metric for climate sensitivity

By John Christy and Richard McNider, Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, November 2017

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13143-017-0070-z

Davos Doom-Mongers Herald A New Dark Age For Climate Science

By Sherelle Jacobs, Daily Telegraph, Via GWPF, Jan 23, 2020

https://www.thegwpf.com/davos-doom-mongers-herald-a-new-dark-age-for-climate-science/

“Some researchers are chilled by the shift from scientific endeavour based on theory and evidence to reliance on IPCC-endorsed predictive modelling. Here the cult of managerialism and the mania of eco-catastrophism have dangerously intersected – as university bureaucrats push for research projects which pull in mouth-watering computer-based investment.”

The Catastrophe Question

Video, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 15, 2020

https://climatediscussionnexus.com/videos/climate-catastrophe/

1913

By Tony Heller, Real Climate Science, Jan 24, 2020

https://realclimatescience.com/2020/01/1913/

Video

[SEPP Comment: Shows NOAA’s temperature tampering and other misinformation.]

Defending the Orthodoxy

World Economic Forum: Top global risks all climate-related

By Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, Jan 15, 2020

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/478407-climate-change-dominates-top-five-global-risks-world-economic-forum

Link to: The Global Risks Report 2020

By Staff, World Economic Forum, In partnership with Marsh & McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group. 2020

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Risk_Report_2020.pdf

10 energy and climate issues to watch in 2020

By Amy Harder, Axios, Jan 6, 2020

https://www.axios.com/energy-climate-issues-to-watch-2020-915d5837-51c0-4510-8deb-637f715d99ce.html

Arctic sea ice can’t ‘bounce back’

Press Release, University of Exeter, Jan 21, 2020

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/uoe-asi012020.php

Link to paper: Natural drivers of multidecadal Arctic sea ice variability over the last millennium

By Paul R. Halloran, et al., Scientific Reports, Jan 20, 2020

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-57472-2

[SEPP Comment: The past ice ages did not occur?]

Questioning the Orthodoxy

Top and Bottom of the Atmosphere

Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach, WUWT, Jan 20, 2020

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/01/20/top-and-bottom-of-the-atmosphere/

New Study: 3°C Cooling In The Last 200 Years, 7°C Warmer ~7800 Years Ago In France

By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Jan 23, 2020

https://notrickszone.com/2020/01/23/new-study-3c-cooling-in-the-last-200-years-7c-warmer-7800-years-ago-in-france/

Link to paper: Early Holocene Thermal Maximum record by branched teraethers and pollen in Western Europe (Massif Central, France)

By Céline Martin, et al. Quaternary Science Reviews, Jan 15, 2020

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379119307905?via%3Dihub

From abstract: “The Lake St Front data, in agreement with other regional records, confirm the occurrence of the HTM as a general warm period during the early Holocene followed by mid-Holocene cooling in Western Europe and suggest that seasonal biases are not the main explanation of the Holocene conundrum — the disagreement between model simulations and proxy-based temperature reconstructions for the northern hemisphere.”

After Paris!

Spain declares climate emergency, signals move to renewables

By Staff Writers, Madrid (AFP), Jan 21, 2020

http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Spain_declares_climate_emergency_signals_move_to_renewables_999.html

Change in US Administrations

Remarks by President Trump at the World Economic Forum

Press Release, The White House, Jan 21, 2020

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-world-economic-forum-davos-switzerland/

In Davos Facts Trump The Fears

By Adam Creighton, The Australian, Via GWPF, Jan 22, 2020

https://www.thegwpf.com/adam-creighton-in-davos-facts-trump-the-fears/

NEPA Reforms a Big Step toward Correcting Worst Abuses of Environmental Permitting Process

Press Release, By Myron Ebell and Ben Lieberman, CEI, Jan 9, 2020

https://cei.org/content/nepa-reforms-big-step-toward-correcting-worst-abuses-environmental-permitting-process

Social Benefits of Carbon Dioxide

Climate sensitivity, agricultural productivity and the social cost of carbon in FUND

By Kevin D. Dayaratna, Ross McKitrick & Patrick J. Michaels, Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Jan 6, 2020 [H/t Cooler Heads]

file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/10.1007_s10018-020-00263-w.pdf

Problems in the Orthodoxy

Merkel urges dialogue between skeptics and believers to tackle climate change

By Joseph Nasr, Reuters, Jan 23, 2020

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-davos-meeting-merkel/merkel-urges-dialogue-between-skeptics-and-believers-to-tackle-climate-change-idUSKBN1ZM1ZY

Seeking a Common Ground

An obvious solution to the climate policy crisis

By Larry Kummer, Fabius Maximus website, Accessed Jan 20, 2020 [H/t WUWT]

https://fabiusmaximus.com/2020/01/18/solution-to-the-climate-crisis/

[SEPP Comment: The author misses a critical step. During Manhattan and Apollo projects, emphasis was given to testing of concepts and models against physical evidence.]

Science, Policy, and Evidence

Uh-oh, we just had the best decade ever

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 22, 2020

https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/01/22/uh-oh-we-just-had-the-best-decade-ever/

“The real threat would be if we give in to alarmism and embrace extreme climate policies that stall economic progress. Then it would be time to panic.”

On the Climate Road to Serfdom

By Robert Bradley, Jr. WUWT, Jan 20, 2020

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/01/20/on-the-climate-road-to-serfdom/

Learning The Lessons From The Waroona Bushfires

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 22, 2020

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2020/01/22/learning-the-lessons-from-the-waroona-bushfires/

“For a fire to burn, you must have three things oxygen, heat and fuel.…of these three elements, in the natural environment fuel is the easiest to modify or remove.”

“Figure 7.1 shows that since the 1960s the decline in areas subject to a hazard reduction correlates to an increase in the area burnt by bushfire.’

[SEPP Comment: Summary of important findings after a special inquiry on bushfires about 100 km, 60 mi, south of Perth, in western Australia including the failure to reduce fuel loads.]

Six shades of fire-lighters in Australia

By Viv Forbes, American Thinker, Jan 23, 2020

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/six_shades_of_firelighters_in_australia.html

[SEPP Comment: Interesting take on the problem.]

Want to know what climate change will do in your back yard? There’s a dataset for that

By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Jan 20, 2020

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/01/20/want-to-know-what-climate-change-will-do-in-your-back-yard-theres-a-dataset-for-that/

Review of Recent Scientific Articles by CO2 Science

The Interactive Effects of Temperature and CO2 on Powdery Mildew Disease of Eight Melon Cultivars

Souza Araújo, A., Angelotti, F. and Ribeiro Junior, P.M. 2019. Severity of melon powdery mildew as a function of increasing temperature and carbon dioxide concentration. Revista Brasileira de Coemcoas Agrárias 14: e6916, 2019, doi: 10.5039/agrarian.v14i4a6916. Jan 23, 2020

http://www.co2science.org/articles/V23/jan/a8.php

The Interactive Effects of Elevated CO2 and Tidal Flooding Duration on Two Mangrove Species

Jacotot, A., Marchand, C., Gensous, S. and Allenbach, M. 2018. Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 and increased tidal flooding on leaf gas-exchange parameters of two common mangrove species: Avicennia marina and Rhizophora stylosa. Photosynthesis Research 138: 249-260. Jan 21, 2020

http://www.co2science.org/articles/V23/jan/a7.php

Models v. Observations

Clouds as a factor influencing the climate

By Staff Writers, Hamburg, Germany (SPX), Jan 20, 2020

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Clouds_as_a_factor_influencing_the_climate_999.html

Model Issues

Sensitivity training for climate models

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 22, 2020

https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/01/22/sensitivity-training-for-climate-models/

Measurement Issues — Surface

Hotter than the hottest thing ever

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 22, 2020

https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/01/22/hotter-than-the-hottest-thing-ever/

[SEPP Comment: Explaining the high-school math concept of spurious (bogus) precision that John Kerry apparently never understood.]

Down And Up: 2019 Global Temperature

By David Whitehead, GWPF, Jan 20, 2020

https://www.thegwpf.com/down-and-up-2019-global-temperature/

Rewriting America’s History

By Tony Heller, Real Climate Science.com, Jan 23, 2020

https://realclimatescience.com/2020/01/rewriting-americas-history-3/

[SEPP Comment: How NOAA and NASA are distorting the US historic temperature record. Carbon dioxide is not the cause of extreme weather. Estimated temperatures from computer models are not measurements. Using a computer model different from reality would be prosecuted in the business world but is rewarded in the government world.]

Changing Weather

It’s not really winter out your way

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 22, 2020

https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/01/22/its-not-really-winter-out-your-way/

[SEPP Comment: Will January be balmy in Manitoba?]

Unprecedented hail, phenomenal damage in Canberra: 1871, 1877, 1897, 1919, 1936, 1956, 1963

By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Jan 21, 2020

http://joannenova.com.au/2020/01/unprecedented-hail-phenomal-damage-in-canberra-1871-1877-1897-1919-1936-1956-1963/

Changing Weather – Australia Bushfires

ABC says Arson = 1%. NSW police say 42% of fires are man-made. 9% are “natural”. Rest unknown. (So far)

By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Jan 24, 2020

http://joannenova.com.au/2020/01/abc-says-arson-1-nsw-police-say-42-of-fires-are-man-made-9-are-natural-rest-unknown-so-far/

57 Bushfire Inquiries isn’t enough. We need one more for leaders to hide behind

By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Jan 20, 2020

http://joannenova.com.au/2020/01/57-bushfire-inquiries-isnt-enough-we-need-one-more-for-leaders-to-hide-behind/

Australian wildfires: pressure for a nice tidy story

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 22, 2020

https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/01/22/australian-wildfires-pressure-for-a-nice-tidy-story/

Link to data: 2019-20 Australian bushfire season

By Staff, Global Fire Emissions Database, Jan 3, 2020

https://globalfiredata.org/pages/2020/01/03/2019-20-australian-bushfires/

“…But updated satellite data from Globalfiredata.org shows that while fires in Victoria and New South Wales were well above average, just north of that in Queensland they have been below average. Surely climate change isn’t that localized.”

Climate change is the excuse to hide an Inferno of Incompetence — heads must roll for the billion dollar bushfire mistakes

By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Jan 19, 2020

http://joannenova.com.au/2020/01/climate-change-is-the-excuse-to-hide-an-inferno-of-incompetence-heads-must-roll-for-the-billion-dollar-bushfire-mistakes/

Fight fires with facts – not fake science

Eliminate fuel, prevent ignition, stop arson, end irresponsible land management policies

By Paul Driessen & Duggan Flanakin, WUWT, Jan 19, 2020

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/01/19/fight-fires-with-facts-not-fake-science/

Changing Climate

Global warming could have a negative impact on biodiversity generation processes

This is one of the conclusions of an international study focused on the causes of the evolutionary success of Carex, one of the genera of flowering plants with the highest number of species in the world

Press Release, Universidad Pablo de Olavide UPO, Jan 23, 2020 [H/t WUWT]

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/updo-gwc012320.php

“During this process, Carex has been clearly favoured by the cold global climate sustained for the past 10 million years.”

Changing Climate – Cultures & Civilizations

Because we never used to have climate

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 22, 2020

https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/01/22/because-we-never-used-to-have-climate/

Changing Seas

Leaning on the Lookouts, at the Great Barrier Reef

By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Jan 25, 2020

https://jennifermarohasy.com/2020/01/leaning-on-the-lookouts-at-the-great-barrier-reef/

“What I learnt from a diver and her photographs is that white and bleached coral is not necessarily dead coral. The zooxanthellae — unicellular algae that give coral its colours and normally feeds it with energy from the sun via photosynthesis — were expelled, as the corals were stressed by the exceptionally warm waters during the summer of 2015 – 2016.

“But the corals at this dive site did not die.

“Coral polyps also have tentacles, and these tentacles were used to feed on small animals and plankton and also to clean away bad algae that would otherwise settle and smoother it.

“So, corals are not necessarily totally dependent on zooxanthellae, they can be omnivorous.”

New York Times Wants To Build A Wall

By Tony Heller, Real Climate Science.com, Jan 22, 2020

https://realclimatescience.com/2020/01/new-york-times-wants-to-build-a-wall/

[SEPP Comment: Tidal gages show slow, modest sea level rise at New York.]

North Atlantic Sea Levels Have Been Falling At A Rate Of 7.1 mm/yr Since 2004…In Tandem With 2°C Cooling

By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Jan 20, 2020

https://notrickszone.com/2020/01/20/north-atlantic-sea-levels-have-been-falling-at-a-rate-of-7-1-mm-yr-since-2004-in-tandem-with-2c-cooling/

Link to paper: North Atlantic Ocean Circulation and Decadal Sea Level Change During the Altimetry Era

By Léon Chafik, et al. Nature, Scientific Reports, Jan 31, 2019

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37603-6

From the abstract: “Regional sea-level rise is characterized by decadal acceleration and deceleration periods that typically stem from oceanic climate variability. Here, we investigate decadal sea-level trends during the altimetry era and pin down the associated ocean circulation changes.”

Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice

NASA Data: 13 Of 13 Antarctic Peninsula, Island Stations Show Cooling Trend Over Past 21 Years!

By Kirye and Pierre Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Jan 24, 2020

https://notrickszone.com/2020/01/24/nasa-data-13-of-13-antarctic-peninsula-island-stations-show-cooling-trend-over-past-21-years/

No Alarm: NASA Data Show Antarctica Temperature Trends Undergoing Nothing Unusual

By Kirye and Pierre Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Jan 21, 2020

https://notrickszone.com/2020/01/21/no-alarm-nasa-data-show-antarctica-temperature-trends-undergoing-nothing-unusual/

[SEPP Comment: The map of Antarctica pinpoints the 19 stations used. It has vast blank areas where NASA-GISS claims warming.]

Acidic Waters

Coral ‘helper’ stays robust under ocean acidification

By Staff Writers, Brisbane, Australia (SPX), Jan 24, 2020

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Coral_helper_stays_robust_under_ocean_acidification_999.html

Link to paper: A coralline alga gains tolerance to ocean acidification over multiple generations of exposure

By C. E. Cornwall, Nature, Climate Change, Jan 20, 2020

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0681-8

Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine

Climate sensitivity, agricultural productivity and the social cost of carbon in FUND

By Kevin D. Dayaratna, Ross McKitrick & Patrick J. Michaels, Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Jan 6, 2020 [H/t Cooler Heads]

file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/10.1007_s10018-020-00263-w.pdf

Agricultural Irrigation Helps Shield the Tropics from Global Warming

Press Release, Australian National University, Jan 17, 2020 [H/t WUWT]

https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/irrigation-helps-beat-the-heat-of-global-warming

Link to paper: Warming of hot extremes alleviated by expanding irrigation

By Wim Thjiery, et al., Nature Communications, Jan 15, 2020

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-14075-4

[SEPP Comment: But the tropics are not warming significantly.]

Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?

Newspapers: Betrayers of the Public’s Trust

By Donna Laframboise, Big Picture News, Jan 22, 2020

https://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2020/01/22/newspapers-betrayers-of-the-publics-trust/

What’s polluting Colorado’s air? 125 million tons a year of heat-trapping and hazardous gases

State leaders say current level of pollution is unacceptable, some major polluters are taking action

By Bruce Finley, Denver Post, Jan 19, 2020

https://www.denverpost.com/2020/01/19/colorado-air-pollution/#

[SEPP Comment: Great photo of clear skies above a coal-fired power plant.]

The Meat Wars: JAMA Stirs the Pot

By Kip Hansen, WUWT, Jan 20, 2020

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/01/20/the-meat-wars-jama-stirs-the-pot/

Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?

Rats, climate change

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 22, 2020

https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/01/22/rats-climate-change/

“Well, the Australian government thinks most of the vegetation might have been washed away and ‘This inundation event may be caused by strengthening in the intensity of La Niña conditions until at least 2012, which has been linked to anthropogenic climate change, specifically the increase in global mean temperature’. May be… linked to… it’s the dance of the seven vagues again.” [Boldface added]

Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.

New Video : Demonizing Our Cleanest Energy

By Tony Heller, Real Climate Science, Jan 23, 2020

https://realclimatescience.com/2020/01/new-video-demonizing-our-cleanest-energy/

[SEPP Comment: Exposing more non-science from NOAA and NCAR playing games with graphs – chartsmanship. Also explaining radiation transmitted by the atmosphere by type of greenhouse gas. With water vapor and oxygen, which combines with methane, in the atmosphere, the influence of methane is negligible.]

Nature Predicts Worsening Climate Driven Forest Fires – Burning What?

By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 23, 2020

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/01/23/nature-predicts-worsening-climate-driven-fires-burning-what/

Link to article: Australia: show the world what climate action looks like

The fires are a wake-up call. The country’s leaders must now act on overwhelming evidence and public opinion.

Editorial, Nature, Jan 21, 2020

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00152-y

“Just one problem with this prediction – what exactly would these “more extreme fires” burn?”

[SEPP Comment: No doubt the editors of Nature can argue the CO2 enrichment creates more bush, thus the potential for more fires. But this would require admitting the beneficial effects of CO2 emissions.]

Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda on Children

Terrifying Our Children with Doom Mongering Propaganda on Climate Change is Nothing Less Than Abuse

By Douglas Murray, The Mail on Sunday, Via GWPF, Jan 22, 2020

https://www.thegwpf.com/terrifying-our-children-with-doom-mongering-propaganda-on-climate-change-is-nothing-less-than-abuse/

“It is time we called this what it is: an abuse of children on a massive and unforgivable scale. Something that the generations that will succeed us will look upon with shame.”

New Video: Protecting Children From Climate Fraud

By Tony Heller, Real Climate Science, Jan 23, 2020

https://realclimatescience.com/2020/01/new-video-protecting-children-from-climate-fraud/

[SEPP Comment: More fear promoted by the UN, contrary to evidence.]

Communicating Better to the Public – Use Children for Propaganda

Greta Hectors Davos: Why Are Elitists Thrilled To Be Lectured By A Child Who Knows Nothing?

By I & I Editorial Board, Jan 22, 2020

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/01/22/why-is-greta-thunberg-allowed-to-address-influential-institutions-when-shes-so-wrong/

“’2019 was probably the year in which children were least likely to die, adults were least likely to be illiterate and people were least likely to suffer excruciating and disfiguring diseases,’ [New York Times columnist Nicholas] Kristof writes.

“’Every single day in recent years, another 325,000 people got their first access to electricity. Each day, more than 200,000 got piped water for the first time. And some 650,000 went online for the first time, every single day.’”

Expanding the Orthodoxy

Net-Zero at Davos

By Jules Kortenhorst, Project Syndicate, Jan 24, 2020

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/davos-2020-net-zero-emissions-by-jules-kortenhorst-2020-01

Soros pledges $1bn to battle ‘would-be and actual dictators’

By Stuart Williams, Davos, Switzerland (AFP) Jan 23, 2020

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Soros_pledges_1bn_to_battle_would-be_and_actual_dictators_999.html

“’We live at a transformational moment in history. The survival of open societies is endangered and we face an even greater crisis: climate change,’ said the Hungarian-born billionaire.”

Shipping’s Decarbonization Target Seen Costing At Least $1 Trillion

By Staff, Reuters, Via gCaptain, Jan 20, 2020 [H/t James Buell]

https://gcaptain.com/shippings-decarbonization-target-seen-costing-at-least-1-trillion/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gcaptain+%28gCaptain.com%29&goal=0_f50174ef03-6297ec21b3-170016613&mc_cid=6297ec21b3&mc_eid=0a8a25c4c4

“U.N. shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), aims to reduce the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050, a target that will require the swift development of zero or low emission fuels and new ship designs using cleaner technology.”

[SEPP Comment: For the UN, it is easier to bury the costs in bureaucracy than allow open discussion.]

Climate change: Lake District facing ‘dramatic’ soil erosion–Latest Junk Science

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 23, 2020

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2020/01/23/climate-change-lake-district-facing-dramatic-soil-erosion-latest-junk-science/

Climate Assembly UK

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 24, 2020

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2020/01/24/climate-assembly-uk/#more-43212

Kiribati Man is Back: UN Rules Climate Refugees Cannot Be Rejected

By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 21, 2020

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/01/21/kiribati-man-is-back-un-rules-climate-refugees-cannot-be-rejected/

How Green Zealots Take Over Councils

By Tony Thomas, Quadrant, Jan 23, 2020

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/tony-thomas/2020/01/how-green-ratbags-take-over-councils/

Ozone-depleting substances caused half of late 20th-century Arctic warming, says study

Implicated in a third of overall global warming at the time

Press Release, by Staff, Earth Institute at Columbia University, Jan 20, 2020 [H/t WUWT]

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/eiac-osc011720.php

Link to paper: Substantial twentieth-century Arctic warming caused by ozone-depleting substances

By L.L. Polvani, et al., Nature, Climate Change, Jan 20, 2020

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0677-4

Questioning European Green

European Green Deal: 120 silly demands

By Lubos Motl, The Reference Frame, Jan 23, 2020

https://motls.blogspot.com/2020/01/european-green-deal-120-silly-demands.html

Link to: European Parliament resolution of 15 January 2020 on the European Green Deal

By Staff, European Parliament, Accessed Jan 24, 2020

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0005_EN.html

In objecting to the EU’s claim of a “fundamental right to a stable climate” Motl states: “In 10,000 years, it will probably be much warmer or much cooler than today, because of totally natural forces, but the math makes it almost guaranteed that there will be a massive ice age around 60,000 AD: the global mean temperature will be almost 10 °C cooler than it is now.”

[SEPP Comment: Stop the Milankovitch cycles now!]

EU Threatens China with Carbon Pricing Import Duties

By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 24, 2020

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/01/24/eu-threatens-china-with-carbon-pricing-import-duties/

Questioning Green Elsewhere

“The Intellectual Godmother of the Green New Deal Movement” (Naomi Klein speaks)

By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, Jan 23, 2020

https://www.masterresource.org/climate-exaggeration/naomi-klein-the-intellectual-godmoter-of-the-green-new-deal-movement-in-her-own-words/

[SEPP Comment: Seeking political control.]

Funding Issues

Davos financiers pump $1.4tn into fossil fuels: Greenpeace

By Patrick Galey, Paris (AFP), Jan 20, 2020

http://www.oilgasdaily.com/reports/Davos_financiers_pump_14tn_into_fossil_fuels_Greenpeace_999.html

The Political Games Continue

Trump draws battle lines against Democrats and ‘prophets of doom’ at Davos

By Rupert Darwall, The Hill, Jan 23, 2020

https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/479422-trump-draws-battle-lines-against-democrats-and-prophets-of-doom-at

Warren calls on big U.S. banks for steps on climate risk

By Ann Saphir and Lindsay Dunsmuir, Reuters, Jan 22, 2020

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-warren/warren-calls-on-big-u-s-banks-to-disclose-preparation-for-climate-risk-idUSKBN1ZL1VQ

[SEPP Comment: CO2-caused climate risk is minimal; economic risks of abandoning fossil fuels are huge!]

Litigation Issues

Another Of The “Stupidest Litigation” Contenders Dies — But Just Barely

By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Jan 18, 2020

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2020-1-18-another-of-the-stupidest-litigation-contenders-dies-but-just-barely

[SEPP Comment: Outlining how, by agreeing to questionable assertions of “fact” about the future, the Obama administration tried to use the courts to stop the use of fossil fuels. This led to a Federal judge to claim that climate change “will destroy the United States as we currently know it…’”and “’[g]iven the self-reinforcing nature of climate change, the tipping point may well have arrived, and we may be rapidly approaching the point of no return. . . .’”

Kiribati Man is Back: UN Rules Climate Refugees Cannot Be Rejected

By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 21, 2020

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/01/21/kiribati-man-is-back-un-rules-climate-refugees-cannot-be-rejected/

Subsidies and Mandates Forever

Let them eat nothing

By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 22, 2020

https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/01/22/let-them-eat-nothing/

“The simple truth is that things that work make money and things that don’t die without subsidies. And when rich arrogant people bend their ingenuity and financial muscle to obstructing that truth, people in other countries die.”

Wind Farms Paid £136m To Switch Off Last Year

By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 21, 2020

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2020/01/21/wind-farms-paid-136m-to-switch-off-last-year/

“But. regardless of the specific issues around Scottish wind farms, restraint payments will inevitably mushroom in years to come, if wind capacity increases in line with targets. This is because there will be far too much capacity at times when it is windy, or demand is low.

“It is a problem the government quickly needs to get to grips with, by making clear that restraint payments will be not be tolerated in future.”

EPA and other Regulators on the March

Secret Science Under Attack — Part 2

By Kip Hansen, WUWT, Jan 24, 2020

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/01/23/secret-science-under-attack-part-2/

Critics question data used in rule replacing Obama-era waterway protections

By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Jan 24, 2020

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/479816-critics-question-data-used-in-rule-replacing-obama-era-waterway

“The new rule limits the small streams and waterbodies covered by the Clean Water Act, raising fears that an increased amount of pesticides and other industrial chemicals will be able to enter streams, wetlands and underground water sources.”

EPA and Army Deliver on President Trump’s Promise to Issue the Navigable Waters Protection Rule – A New Definition of WOTUS

Press Release, EPA, Jan 23, 2020

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-and-army-deliver-president-trumps-promise-issue-navigable-waters-protection-rule-0

EPA fails to provide scientific evidence backing claim climate change damage was ’50 to 75 years out’

By Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, Jan 23, 2020

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/479520-epa-chief-did-not-rely-on-scientific-evidence-to-claim-climate

[SEPP Comment: There is no scientific evidence that CO2-caused climate endangers humanity today or in 75 years.]

Energy Issues – Australia

Sydney on blackout watch, people told to close windows and doors, turn off non-essential

By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Jan 24, 2020

http://joannenova.com.au/2020/01/sydney-on-blackout-watch-people-told-to-close-windows-and-doors-turn-off-non-essential/

“In the largest city in a country with 300 years of coal left, yesterday the government asked a few million people to pull down the blinds on a midsummers day, to turn off the pool pumps, and not run the dishwasher from 4 – 8pm if they could avoid it. It was 42 degrees C [108ºF].

“Remember the good old days when the nation could afford to run the air con? Here in metropolis Australia, some days it’s better to bunker down in a few dark rooms with the air con at survival mode.

“Welcome to Renewable World. What’s wrong with all those solar panels? Between dust storms and bushfires and the hail in Canberra, possibly they are covered in dust or soot, or perhaps, holes.”

Energy Issues — US

Have You Heard of MOPR?

By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Jan 24, 2020

https://ddears.com/2020/01/24/have-you-heard-of-mopr/

“As a result, wind and solar are assumed to be ready and able to provide electricity to the grid even though they may not be able to do so.”

[SEPP Comment: How politicians have rigged the electricity market against the consumer.]

Gasoline prices have not gone up despite tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Why?

‘It’s a different world today,’ as oil supplies are plentiful and demand is lower for now

By Rob Nikolwski, San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan 16, 2020

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/story/2020-01-16/gasoline-prices-have-not-gone-up-despite-tensions-between-the-us-and-iran-why

Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?

Another Bogus News Story on Energy

By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Jan 21, 2020

https://ddears.com/2020/01/21/another-bogus-news-story-on-energy/

Why Unlocking More Oil and Gas is Good for Every American – And the Environment

By Ryan Sitton, Real Clear Energy, Jan 17, 2020

https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2020/01/17/why_unlocking_more_oil_and_gas_is_good_for_every_american_-_and_the_environment_110507.html

OPEC sees growing supply threat from rivals beyond U.S. shale

By Grant Smith, World Oil, Jan 15, 2020

https://www.worldoil.com/news/2020/1/15/opec-sees-growing-supply-threat-from-rivals-beyond-us-shale

“The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries boosted forecasts for growth in output from non-members in 2020 by 180,000 barrels a day to 2.35 million a day, as offshore projects once seen unfeasible in an era of lower oil prices take off. While the outlook for the U.S. was lowered, America will still account for almost two thirds of the new output.”

Return of King Coal?

Coal Demand Holds Steady From Africa’s Biggest Export Terminal

By Paul Burkhardt, Bloomberg Green, Jan 23, 2020

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-23/coal-demand-holds-steady-from-africa-s-biggest-export-terminal

Nuclear Energy and Fears

PG&E nuclear plant closure would cause electric bills to rise

By J.D. Morris, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan 13, 2020

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/PG-E-nuclear-plant-closure-would-cause-electric-14972261.php

“Becker said her group [Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility]is ‘pleased that our multi-year pursuit of those concerns will also keep costs lower for ratepayers as we bear witness to the end of nuclear power in our state.’”

[SEPP Comment: There is no group advocating reliable, affordable electricity?]

Three Mile Island and the Exaggerated Risk of Nuclear Power

The Three Mile Island accident caused no physical harm, but the event changed public perception of the risks of nuclear energy.

By Paige Lambermont, Foundation for Economic Education, Jan 14, 2020

https://fee.org/articles/three-mile-island-and-the-exaggerated-risk-of-nuclear-power/

Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind

Renewable Energy Is a Hoax; Alarmist Claim Fact-Checks

Progressive Eco-Group Admits It: Renewable Energy Is a Hoax that Benefits its Greenie Elmer Gantries like Al Gore

By John Eidson, ICECAP, Jan 21, 2020

http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog/alarmist_claim_fact_checks1/

New Molecule Harnesses 50 Percent More Solar Spectrum Than Ever Before

And it quickly turns that solar energy into hydrogen.

By Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, Jan 23, 2020

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a30646417/rhodium-molecule-solar-energy/

Link to paper: Single-chromophore single-molecule photocatalyst for the production of dihydrogen using low-energy light

By T. J. Whittemore, et al., Nature Chemistry, Jan 20, 2020

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-019-0397-4

More than 13.9 million trees felled in Scotland for wind development, 2000–2019

By Staff, Scottish Forestry, Via National Wind Watch, Jan 21, 2020 [H/t GWPF]

https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/more-than-13-9-million-trees-felled-in-scotland-for-wind-development-2000-2019/#.Xii1DHjlfRh.wordpress

Link to Document: REQUEST UNDER THE ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (SCOTLAND)

By Staff, Scottish Forestry, Jan 16, 2020

https://docs.wind-watch.org/Scottish-Forestry-FoI-19-02646.pdf

[SEPP Comment: Not including trees on private lands.]

Green Madness: Wind Farms Paid Up To £3 Million Per Day To Switch Off Turbines

By Staff, Sunday Telegraph, Via GWPF, Jan 19, 2020

https://www.thegwpf.com/green-madness-wind-farms-paid-up-to-3-million-per-day-to-switch-off-turbines/

Energy & Environmental Newsletter: January 20, 2020

By John Droz, Jr. Master Resource, Jan 20, 2020

https://www.masterresource.org/alliance-for-wise-energy-decisions/energy-environmental-newsletter-1-20-2020/

Route for Wind Farm Cable Faces Opposition in N.Y.

By Johanna Knapschaefer, Engineering News-Record, Jan 15, 2020

https://www.enr.com/articles/48524-route-for-wind-farm-cable-faces-opposition-in-ny

[SEPP Comment: Are industrial solar and wind opponents adopting the tactics used by fossil fuel opponents?]

Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other

Land prep for palm oil plantations does the most environmental damage

By Brooks Hays, Washington DC (UPI), Jan 21, 2020

http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/Land_prep_for_palm_oil_plantations_does_the_most_environmental_damage_999.html

http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/Land_prep_for_palm_oil_plantations_does_the_most_environmental_damage_999.html

California Dreaming

Scientists recommend removing barred owls from Sierra Nevada to protect them

By Brooks Hays, Washington DC (UPI), Jan 22, 2020

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Scientists_recommend_removing_barred_owls_from_Sierra_Nevada_to_protect_them_999.html

[SEPP Comment: After their influence in driving out Northern Spotted Owls in Oregon was ignored in the green effort to destroy the logging industry?]

California files lawsuit to remain a National Security Risk

By Ronald Stein, WUWT, Jan 22, 2020

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/01/22/california-files-lawsuit-to-remain-a-national-security-risk/

Health, Energy, and Climate

Climate Change Deaths

Drownings, car accidents, and violence that spike during unusual weather could be on the rise

By Justine Calma The Verge, January 21, 2020

https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/13/21063690/climate-change-injuries-deaths-weather-violence-drowning-accidents

Anomalously warm temperatures are associated with increased injury deaths

By Robbie M. Parks, Nature, Medicine, Jan 13, 2020

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-019-0721-y

“These would comprise increases in deaths from drownings, transport, assault and suicide, offset partly by a decline in deaths from falls in older ages.”

[SEPP Comment: Warm weather makes adolescent males do crazy things!]

Other Scientific News

British Scientists May Have Found Cure For Cancer. By Accident.

By Hank Berrien, Daily Wire, Jan 22, 2020

https://www.dailywire.com/news/british-scientist-may-have-found-cure-for-cancer-by-accident?itm_source=parsely-api?utm_source=cnemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=012320-news&utm_campaign=position1

Link to paper: Genome-wide CRISPR–Cas9 screening reveals ubiquitous Tcell cancer targeting via the monomorphic MHC class I-related protein MR1

By Michael D. Crowther, et al., Nature, Immunology, [First page accessed Jan 24, 2020]

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-019-0578-8.epdf?referrer_access_token=kFu_NrWFIkpIHCkKGRnOl9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NjOoBZR7tEtwlsa1xeSU1tSn9OqKp9tJ7vTk8p7vCmAQ8qq7tpdMDkkCOdHvdAnN49xW6X-XeBi6gqyGM3xYT8dkedMZCypj-TFzhNCGomCoo_SlMlW12mWlhHFh5Mw

Early humans revealed to have engineered optimized stone tools at Olduvai Gorge

By Staff Writers, Kent UK (SPX) Jan 13, 2020

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Early_humans_revealed_to_have_engineered_optimized_stone_tools_at_Olduvai_Gorge_999.html

Link to paper: Raw material optimization and stone tool engineering in the Early Stone Age of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania)

By Key, Proffitt, and de la Torre, Journal of the Royal Society Interface, Jan 8, 2020

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2019.0377

New research finds Earth’s oldest asteroid strike linked to ‘big thaw’

Curtin University scientists have discovered Earth’s oldest asteroid strike occurred at Yarrabubba, in outback Western Australia, and coincided with the end of a global deep freeze known as a Snowball Earth

Press release, Curtin University, Jan 22, 2020 [H/t WUWT]

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/sip-nrf012120.php

Link to paper: Precise radiometric age establishes Yarrabubba, Western Australia, as Earth’s oldest recognised meteorite impact structure

By Timmons Erickson, et al. Nature Communications, Jan 21, 2020

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-13985-7

Other News that May Be of Interest

Malaysia says won’t be ‘garbage dump’ as it returns waste

By Staff Writers, Butterworth, Malaysia (AFP), Jan 20, 2020

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Malaysia_says_wont_be_garbage_dump_as_it_returns_waste_999.html

Stranded Whales Were Deaf – Raising More Questions Over Offshore Wind Farms

By Jason Endfield, Observations from a life in progress, Jan 14, 2020 [H/t Paul Homewood]

http://jasonendfield.weebly.com/home/stranded-whales-were-deaf-raising-more-questions-over-offshore-wind-farms

Link to article: Beached whales’ hearing badly damaged: agency

DISCONCERTING FINDINGS: Scans on nine dead pygmy killer whales showed abnormal shadows in their middle ears, and they all had blackened livers

By Lin Chia-nan, Taipei Times, May 12, 2019

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2019/05/12/2003714999

[SEPP Comment: Coincidence? Are there other possibilities such as disease? Is Greenpeace investigating?]

BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:

National Weather Service issues alert for falling iguanas

By Justine Coleman, The Hill, Jan 21, 2020

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/479253-national-weather-service-issues-alert-for-falling-iguanas

[SEPP Comment: And not the first time!]

97K gallons of red wine spill into Sonoma County river in threat to fish population

By Kaelan Deese, The Hill, Jan 24, 2020

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/479723-97k-gallons-of-red-wine-spill-into-sonoma-county-river-in-threat-to

[SEPP Comment: White wine goes better with fish.]

Bike Riding May Be Gentle On Climate But Remains Extremely Dangerous To Health And Life!

By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Jan 18, 2020

https://notrickszone.com/2020/01/18/bike-riding-may-be-gentle-on-climate-but-remains-extremely-dangerous-to-health-and-life/

[SEPP Comment: Perhaps not, if one calculates only the limited range for most people and how many injuries per day.]

ARTICLES

1. All Aboard the Crazy Train

Or at least that’s how populism’s rise feels to those at the World Economic Forum.

By Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, Jan 20, 2020

https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-aboard-the-crazy-train-11579554512?mod=opinion_lead_pos9

TWTW Summary: After discussing the burdens and profits to this small village in the Alps from hosting the World Economic Forum, the author states:

“There is something inescapably ridiculous about a gathering this self-important; certainly Marie Antoinette and her friends dressing up as shepherdesses to celebrate the simple life has nothing on the more than 100 billionaires descending, often by private jet, on an exclusive Swiss ski resort for four days of ostentatious hand-wringing about the problems of the poor and the dangers of climate change. This year an earnest young aide at registration told me that, to reduce the event’s carbon footprint, no paper maps of the town were being distributed; one could almost feel the waves of relief from the nearby Alpine glaciers at this sign of green progress.

“Yet smirk as one may, and sometimes as one must, this year’s WEF arrived at a difficult time for the Davoisie—those who are at home in the thin air of this global gathering. Leaders the world over are now having to come to grips with a new age of populism, nationalism and protectionism.

“For the Davoisie the rise of populism is a huge problem. A world increasingly separating into rival blocs as supply chains begin to decouple isn’t a hospitable environment for global governance, Third Way capitalist reform and their many other hopes and projects.

“This is particularly true of the cause that dominates the agenda here: climate change. The conventional Davoisie wisdom says that climate change can be handled only by international agreements and global institutions like those envisioned in the Paris Agreement. The goal is to get the nations of the Earth to limit their use of fossil fuels and make the enormous changes required to reach ‘net zero’ emissions in time to avoid the most devastating consequences. The solution requires a massive shift of power from national governments to global institutions.

“Yet the rise of geopolitical competition among the U.S., China and Russia has bled power from transnational institutions as national governments prioritize their own interests. China has no intention of allowing a superstitious reverence for the Law of the Sea Treaty to limit its territorial claims in the South China Sea; President Trump has deliberately blocked new judges at the World Trade Organization to paralyze its appeals process; Russia isn’t going to give Crimea back to Ukraine because some international lawyers have written a compelling legal brief. And if some of the most powerful countries in the world flout international rules, why should others follow them?

“Populism makes global governance even harder. Politicians from Mr. Trump to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi won over their electorate in part by promising to protect the unique cultural heritage of the nations they rule from dilution by the outside world. A jealous regard for national sovereignty and a suspicious and skeptical attitude toward global institutions and their laws come very naturally to these leaders—and garners applause from their supporters.

“None of this augurs well for the Davoisie. If the WEF has a single guiding vision, it is the belief that technocratic competence plus a modicum of goodwill can find win-win solutions to the increasingly complex problems of our time. This has been true for many disputes between nations; it has been true for disputes between business and civil society. Over the decades, the WEF has sought with some success to be a place where these conversations take place.

“But does that logic still hold? All the panels in the world can’t stitch up the rift between the U.S. and China, integrate Mr. Putin’s Russia into the West, or even deter Turkey from acting on its neo-Ottoman aspirations.

As the millionaires, billionaires and Greta Thunberg assemble in Davos this week to debate the future of the world, they face a crisis of relevance. What if, with all of their competence, experience, cosmopolitan vision and, yes, goodwill, the Davoisie are merely passengers, comfortably ensconced in first-class seats, on a train whose route they do not know and cannot control?”

*********************

2. Climate Change—and Ideas for Tackling It—Dominated Davos

While few delegates challenged assumptions about the impact of carbon emissions on the environment, there wasn’t agreement on how best to bring down global output

By Stephen Fidler and Elena Cherney, WSJ, Jan 24, 2020

https://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-changeand-ideas-for-tackling-itdominated-davos-11579896026?mod=hp_listc_pos4

TWTW Summary: With out discussing Meade’s assertion of the crisis of relevance attendees at Davos face, the reporters state:

“The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos showed climate change has become a top issue for many businesses and governments, but also demonstrated a yawning gap between how they view the scale of the challenge and what can be achieved without significant new policies.

“It was a year in which the issue, which many people here believe has contributed to extreme weather-related events such as the Australian bush fires, appeared to shift from a fashionable talking point to a matter that is beginning to have real-world consequences for many banks and businesses.

“‘Davos turned into a climate-change conference this year,’ Jason Bordoff, director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, said Thursday. But he said ‘the massive gap between ambition and concrete action to change the emissions trajectory remains glaring.’

“A large majority of climate scientists attribute the rise in global temperatures to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and blame human activity for much of it. They recommend temperature rises should be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) from preindustrial times to minimize the probability of major economic damage and to do that carbon emissions must be cut.

“But while few delegates—representatives of the Trump administration aside—challenge those assumptions, there wasn’t agreement on how best to bring down carbon output.”

The reporters then continue with bland comments from attendees.