The Global Warming Thread

[hitbyambulance]

bad on top of bad:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... story.html

The Trump administration on Monday took another step to opening Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling for oil and gas, potentially fulfilling a decades-long dream for Republicans.

[Isgrimnur]

ars technica

Something as simple as black paint could be the key to reducing the number of birds that are killed each year by wind turbines. According to a study conducted at a wind farm on the Norwegian archipelago of Smøla, changing the color of a single blade on a turbine from white to black resulted in a 70-percent drop in the number of bird deaths.
...
Estimates from the US Fish and Wildlife Service calculated that approximately 300,000 birds were killed by wind turbines in 2015 (which is probably two orders of magnitude fewer than die as a result of colliding with electrical power lines each year), and bird deaths from turbines are trending down as the industry moves to larger turbine blades that move more slowly.
...
At the Smøla wind farm, regular checks of four particular wind turbines—each 70m tall with three 40m-long blades—found six white-tailed eagle carcasses between 2006 and 2013. In total, the four turbines killed 18 birds that flew into the blades over those six years, along with five willow ptarmigans that are known to collide with the turbine towers rather than the blades. (Another four turbines selected as a control group were responsible for seven bird deaths, excluding willow ptarmigans, over the same timeframe.)

And so, in 2013, each of the four turbines in the test group had a single blade painted black. In the three years that followed, only six birds were found dead due to striking their turbine blades. By comparison, 18 bird deaths were recorded by the four control wind turbines—a 71.9-percent reduction in the annual fatality rate.

Digging into the data a little more showed some variation on bird deaths depending upon the season. During spring and autumn, fewer bird deaths were recorded at the painted turbines. But in summer, bird deaths actually increased at the painted turbines, and the authors note that the small number of turbines in the study and its relatively short duration both merit longer-term replication studies, both at Smøla and elsewhere.

[Enough]

ars technica

Something as simple as black paint could be the key to reducing the number of birds that are killed each year by wind turbines. According to a study conducted at a wind farm on the Norwegian archipelago of Smøla, changing the color of a single blade on a turbine from white to black resulted in a 70-percent drop in the number of bird deaths.
...
Estimates from the US Fish and Wildlife Service calculated that approximately 300,000 birds were killed by wind turbines in 2015 (which is probably two orders of magnitude fewer than die as a result of colliding with electrical power lines each year), and bird deaths from turbines are trending down as the industry moves to larger turbine blades that move more slowly.
...
At the Smøla wind farm, regular checks of four particular wind turbines—each 70m tall with three 40m-long blades—found six white-tailed eagle carcasses between 2006 and 2013. In total, the four turbines killed 18 birds that flew into the blades over those six years, along with five willow ptarmigans that are known to collide with the turbine towers rather than the blades. (Another four turbines selected as a control group were responsible for seven bird deaths, excluding willow ptarmigans, over the same timeframe.)

And so, in 2013, each of the four turbines in the test group had a single blade painted black. In the three years that followed, only six birds were found dead due to striking their turbine blades. By comparison, 18 bird deaths were recorded by the four control wind turbines—a 71.9-percent reduction in the annual fatality rate.

Digging into the data a little more showed some variation on bird deaths depending upon the season. During spring and autumn, fewer bird deaths were recorded at the painted turbines. But in summer, bird deaths actually increased at the painted turbines, and the authors note that the small number of turbines in the study and its relatively short duration both merit longer-term replication studies, both at Smøla and elsewhere.

Finally, I have been hoping for some potential reduction, but seasonal painting sounds like a pita, maybe they can make them changeable from the ground? Now on to saving the bats that get shredded by wind farms, guessing this doesn't help them.

[Defiant]

Never heard of blue ammonia before.

The world’s first shipment of blue ammonia is on its way from Saudi Arabia to Japan, where it will be used in power stations to produce electricity without carbon emissions.

Saudi Aramco, which made the announcement Sunday, produced the fuel, which it does by converting hydrocarbons into hydrogen and then ammonia, and capturing the carbon dioxide byproduct. Japan will receive 40 tons of blue ammonia in the first shipment, Aramco said.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/saudi-ar ... 11461.html

[Smoove_B]

It case you're mainlining sadness today, a reminder that we've officially withdrawn from The Paris Agreement:

“The U.S., as a global economic leader moving toward renewable energy, sets a vitally important example for the rest of the world,” he told The Nation’s Health. “And our exit from the agreement and adopting anti-science policies sets an equally awful example for other countries to do the same.”

Rising global temperatures are already contributing to extreme weather, such as worsening hurricanes and droughts. People in low-income and minority communities are being disproportionately harmed by those effects.

“It’s important that we recognize the synergism that worsening climate change has on health, especially recognizing the disproportionate impact on Black and brown communities,” he said.

In practice, the U.S. government has been ignoring the obligations of the Paris agreement since the 2017 withdrawal announcement. But the formal Nov. 4 exit still matters, Miller said.

[Zaxxon]

I just can't.

[Isgrimnur]

I'd say it's been a good run, but we really are a shit species.

[NickAragua]

Well, maybe the sentient rats or cockroaches will get it right next time.

[Little Raven]

So good news, because of COVID - emissions are way down this year, with France leading the way. But the US actually did quite well, reducing our emissions by almost 12%.

Bad news - China weathered COVID remarkably well, so the research team involved in this study actually estimates that China has increased it's year over year emissions, though they're not yet sure by how much.

Still, mixed news is better than just bad news.

[hitbyambulance]

Bad news - China weathered COVID remarkably well, so the research team involved in this study actually estimates that China has increased it's year over year emissions, though they're not yet sure by how much.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/worl ... imate.html

[Zaxxon]

A political obituary for Donald Trump.

I don't agree that obituary is the right word, as he's not disappearing anytime soon. But the overall piece I found solid.

[Grifman]

Massive iceberg is potential ecological disaster:

https://graphics.reuters.com/CLIMATE-CH ... dvxjrbzvx/

[malchior]

A political obituary for Donald Trump.

I don't agree that obituary is the right word, as he's not disappearing anytime soon. But the overall piece I found solid.

I have an issue with one passage. I still don't understand why people give him credit for this. He doesn't calculate. He rages. Where are all the accounts of his strategic brilliance from insiders? They don't exist. Instead what we've always heard from all the Trump whisperers was talk about how he is misunderstood and/or just kidding around. He has no impulse control. He is almost certainly mentally ill. He has no strategic capability. We saw that in the last 4 years. He literally played out the same campaign and hoped it'd work out. He doesn't adjust. He doesn't learn. All the things that endear him to his base are because of this set of traits.

And I find this narrative troubling because we need to understand what actually happened to be able to have a chance to stop it. It doesn't help to hang this solely on some belief that his magical secret strategy just didn't pan out this time because the system held. Instead, we need to realize that the system failed so badly that someone like him was able to wield power and we simply lucked out that he wasn't more competent, The election could have been vastly different and the likely end of Democracy if the turnout happened to be just slightly different. Either in his ability to bulldoze the system if it was a single state in play or outright winning. It was razer close.

The most mendacious of Trump’s predecessors would have been careful to limit these thoughts to private recording systems. Trump spoke them openly, not because he couldn’t control his impulses, but intentionally, even systematically, in order to demolish the norms that would otherwise have constrained his power.

[Zaxxon]

And apparently I posted that link in the wrong thread. Sorry, all.

Or is it that Trump's bloviating contributes significantly to climate change?

[Isgrimnur]

We just need to feed them more seaweed:

Seaweed

Professor of aquaculture at James Cook University in Townsville, Rocky De Nys, has been working with the CSIRO studying the effects seaweed can have on cow's methane production.

OZ

A company commercialising a CSIRO-developed, seaweed feed product, which slashes the amount of greenhouse gases cattle burp and fart into the atmosphere, has won a $1 million international prize for its work reshaping the food system.
...
"We think we can tackle the dairy and the feedlot part of that pretty simply, which may be 5 megatons in Australia and globally 500 megatons of emissions," Dr Battaglia said.

"That's equivalent to taking 100 million cars off the road.

"But in the long run, if we can start to think about ways to deliver this into grass-fed sectors, the impact is 10 to 100 times more than that."

[Smoove_B]

https://twitter.com/rebleber/status/1349362625361149953

Trump today is finalizing a surprise rule that bars the EPA from regulating oil and gas and refineries, deeming them "necessarily insignificant" sources of greenhouse gas pollution. The idea Trump is finalizing these short-lived rules only to “to clog up the works and slow the Biden administration down" is sounding more likely every day

Because of course.

[Zaxxon]

At this point, if he doesn't push out an executive order banning electric vehicles and requiring everyone to keep their thermostat set to 76 in the winter and 62 in the summer, I'll consider it a win.

[coopasonic]

At this point, if he doesn't push out an executive order banning electric vehicles and requiring everyone to keep their thermostat set to 76 in the winter and 62 in the summer, I'll consider it a win.

My wife would likely sponsor the second half of that (and possibly the first as well... BEV + car sickness = bad news).

[Zaxxon]

We're baaaaccckkkk...

[Blackhawk]

A statement by A. Blinken.

Spoiler:

[Jaymann]

This guy explains why the poles are warming faster than other areas and why Alaska was warmer than southern Texas. Also the climate change deniers pivoting from denial to: it's too late to do anything so why bother.

[hitbyambulance]

defeatism seems to be the defining life motto of reactionaries. 'it's God's will' or 'it's a natural disaster, nothing to be done about it' or 'it's just the flu, there's nothing you can do about it'

[Isgrimnur]

Canadia

Conservative delegates at the party's policy convention have voted to reject adding green-friendly statements to the policy book — including a line that would have stated the party believes "climate change is real" and is "willing to act."

The Portneuf—Jacques—Cartier riding in Quebec, which proposed the policy change, also asked delegates to recognize that "Canadian businesses classified as highly polluting need to take more responsibility" and "reduce their GHG emissions."

The policy proposal also included a call to support "innovation in green technologies" so that Canada can become "a world-class leader" in an emerging industry.

Delegates issued a rebuke to climate-minded Conservatives and rejected the policy shift by a margin of 54 per cent to 46. In fact, it was one of only four policy proposals or modifications on a list of 50 pitched by electoral riding associations (EDAs) that were voted down by the delegates.

While delegates from each of the Atlantic provinces and Quebec embraced the "climate change is real" proposal — 70 per cent of delegates from New Brunswick and Quebec were onside with it — those from every other province and the territories voted against the change.

In B.C., the "no" side had just a two-point edge, while the vote was much more lopsided in Saskatchewan (73 per cent against), the territories (69 per cent opposed), Alberta (62 per cent opposed) and Ontario (58 per cent opposed).

[Jaymann]

Right wing dinks tried to start a kerfuffle that Biden was coming to take away their hamburgers. While the report was bogus, it does serve to raise awareness that red meat is bad for global warming.

[Smoove_B]

Is...Gohmert really suggesting the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management can look into changing the moon's orbit????

https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/statu ... 4555044864

[ImLawBoy]

That's funny, but I think he's saying that climate change is due to changes in orbits (and maybe solar flares?), so unless BLM or the forest service can do something about that, we should all throw our hands up in the air on the issue.

[Smoove_B]

Even if that's true (and honestly, I can't really tell what he's getting at), this man believes that the National Forestry Service or the Bureau of Land Management could in any way comment or guide policy on the rotation of the Earth or Moon? This man sits on the Natural Resources Committee??? He's an elected official with the power to vote on national policy????

Like, if his whole position is "well, things are rotating out in space so tell me how we fix that" then I give up.

[Zaxxon]

Even if that's true (and honestly, I can't really tell what he's getting at), this man believes that the National Forestry Service or the Bureau of Land Management could in any way comment or guide policy on the rotation of the Earth or Moon? This man sits on the Natural Resources Committee??? He's an elected official with the power to vote on national policy????

Like, if his whole position is "well, things are rotating out in space so tell me how we fix that" then I give up.

You may be surprised to learn that politicians are often not entirely competent in the areas for which they are responsible.

[stessier]

Even if that's true (and honestly, I can't really tell what he's getting at), this man believes that the National Forestry Service or the Bureau of Land Management could in any way comment or guide policy on the rotation of the Earth or Moon? This man sits on the Natural Resources Committee??? He's an elected official with the power to vote on national policy????

Like, if his whole position is "well, things are rotating out in space so tell me how we fix that" then I give up.

The comments (yes, I read them) suggest it was part of a larger conversation around regulating oil to improve global warming. He came back with the fact that the moon and sun are contributors and asked if there was a way to fix that (suggesting they were the biggest issue). He was being snarky. Still incredibly stupid, but for a different reason.

[ImLawBoy]

Even if that's true (and honestly, I can't really tell what he's getting at), this man believes that the National Forestry Service or the Bureau of Land Management could in any way comment or guide policy on the rotation of the Earth or Moon? This man sits on the Natural Resources Committee??? He's an elected official with the power to vote on national policy????

Like, if his whole position is "well, things are rotating out in space so tell me how we fix that" then I give up.

The comments (yes, I read them) suggest it was part of a larger conversation around regulating oil to improve global warming. He came back with the fact that the moon and sun are contributors and asked if there was a way to fix that (suggesting they were the biggest issue). He was being snarky. Still incredibly stupid, but for a different reason.

Exactly. He doesn't think they can do anything about it, but he'll reconsider if it turns out they can. He's an idiot, but not for this. This is just a case of him not having a very good delivery for his attempted snark.

[Smoove_B]

Ah, so this was really about how much he dislikes that everyone hates Ted Cruz so much - he wants to get in on being a widely hated politician as well? I'm not just dumb, I can also say sarcastic, useless things?

[Isgrimnur]

https://twitter.com/replouiegohmert/sta ... 4182676483

[stessier]

Ah, so this was really about how much he dislikes that everyone hates Ted Cruz so much - he wants to get in on being a widely hated politician as well? I'm not just dumb, I can also say sarcastic, useless things?

He's playing to his strengths.

[hitbyambulance]

supposed to hit 105F in Seattle this weekend, which would be an all-time record breaking high

[Unagi]

supposed to hit 105F in Seattle this weekend, which would be an all-time record breaking high

That’s nuts.

[Alefroth]

supposed to hit 105F in Seattle this weekend, which would be an all-time record breaking high

110 on Monday. The hottest metro center in the country, including Las Vegas and Phoenix.

[malchior]

An Exxon exec was tricked by fake headhunters (backed by BBC Channel 4 news and Greenpeace) into admitting the shady ways they combatted climate change legislation and science. So obviously there is the chance it is a bit of boasting but his storytelling grounds it into something with something behind it. Another aspect is that while it is not overtly corrupt but the way he talks about his interactions with senators such as Manchin is brazen to say the least.

https://twitter.com/AnthonyAdragna/stat ... 0611260417

[malchior]

Paired post with above

Bloomberg

Here is the CEO flat out trying to sell the public the Brooklyn bridge of PR dumps. The executive in charge of Federal lobbying somehow doesn't reflect the company's policy. That's an interesting idea.

Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods says the company is “deeply apologetic” over comments caught on camera in a secret filming by Greenpeace that show one of the oil giant’s lobbyists saying a carbon tax the company has promoted for years is unlikely to happen.

Unearthed, Greenpeace U.K.’s news division, had an investigator pose as a headhunter when speaking with lobbyist Keith McCoy last month. Other researchers were involved in the work, which also included an interview with a former Exxon lobbyist.

“Comments made by the individuals in no way represent the company’s position on a variety of issues, including climate policy and our firm commitment that carbon pricing is important to addressing climate change,” Woods said in a statement Wednesday after the Greenpeace footage was aired by the U.K.’s Channel 4 News.

...

In the Greenpeace footage, McCoy also appeared to suggest that Exxon joined “shadow groups to work against some of the early efforts” on climate change. “There’s nothing illegal about that,” he said, while also describing how the oil giant is pushing to dilute climate provisions in President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Bill, Channel 4 reported.

“We condemn the statements and are deeply apologetic for them, including comments regarding interactions with elected officials,” Woods said.

“They are entirely inconsistent with the way we expect our people to conduct themselves. We were shocked by these interviews and stand by our commitments to working on finding solutions to climate change.”

[Unagi]

I think best in analogy.

This is like a man that grabs a stranger’s breast and says, “What my hand is doing, goes against everything I stand for.”

[malchior]

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/stat ... 4827983874