[✔️] April 14, 2023- Global Warming News Digest | Coffee overheated, new beans, misinformation at education convention, plastic on fire, ocean plastic, Silent Spring

[Richard Pauli]

/*April*//*14, 2023*/

/[ Enjoy today -  BBC says a new bean - Liberica- will replace our 
over-stressed coffee bean  ] /
*The bean that could change the taste of coffee*
By Laura Heighton-Ginns
BBC business reporter
On the fertile slopes of Mount Kenya, an extinct volcano, smallholder 
coffee farmer Martin Kinyua has decided against planting new crops.

The seedlings, he says, will simply die in the heat...
- -
Arabica, the species Martin grows, accounts for the majority of coffee 
beans traded globally, some 70%. But it is highly sensitive to changes 
in both temperature and humidity. For the last two years, production has 
failed to meet demand.

The industry is now pinning hopes on another coffee species to sustain 
production - liberica. Native to western and central Africa, commercial 
cultivation is centred on the Philippines and currently accounts for 
only 2% of the global coffee bean harvest.
With a tougher bean that's tricky to process, and perceived as producing 
a less desirable flavour, liberica is now gaining renewed interest for 
its hardiness in changing climates.
- -
"For me, liberica is sweet-ish. And maybe nutty as well," says Mr Joseph.

Liberica has in the past been considered an inferior crop to arabica. 
Its large beans are harder to harvest and process due to their thick 
skin and pulp, and the taste is widely regarded as more bitter.

Like the world's second-most traded coffee bean, robusta, it is 
considered more of a supplementary species than the main act.

However, Dr Davis, and colleagues in Uganda and South Sudan, are 
focusing on a type of liberica with a smaller bean - called excelsa - 
which they believe has an improved flavour profile...
- -
Regardless, the spread of liberica may not be a matter of popularity, 
but necessity.

Coffee traders, middlemen connecting farms to retailers, are under 
immense pressure to meet rising demand. Volcafe is one of the world's 
biggest traders, handling roughly 600 million kilograms of coffee a year.

"We've seen global coffee consumption generally in the last decade 
increasing at a rate of 2% per year," says Hannah Rizki, global head of 
research...
- -
"It's a long term investment for the farmer, but it's also up to us to 
encourage that production and to give them a price incentive to try 
these new varieties."

"Without the farmers, we won't have a cup of coffee but we also won't 
have a business," she adds.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65189695

- -

/[research paper]/
17 February 2023
Sec. Technical Advances in Plant Science
*A review of the indigenous coffee resources of Uganda and their 
potential for coffee sector sustainability and development*

    Uganda is a major global coffee exporter and home to key indigenous
    (wild) coffee resources. A comprehensive survey of Uganda’s wild
    coffee species was undertaken more than 80 years ago (in 1938) and
    thus a contemporary evaluation is required, which is provided here.
    We enumerate four indigenous coffee species for Uganda: Coffea
    canephora, C. eugenioides, C. liberica (var. dewevrei) and C.
    neoleroyi. Based on ground point data from various sources, survey
    of natural forests, and literature reviews we summarise taxonomy,
    geographical distribution, ecology, conservation, and basic climate
    characteristics, for each species. Using literature review and farm
    survey we also provide information on the prior and exiting uses of
    Uganda’s wild coffee resources for coffee production. Three of the
    indigenous species (excluding C. neoleroyi) represent useful genetic
    resources for coffee crop development (e.g. via breeding, or
    selection), including: adaptation to a changing climate, pest and
    disease resistance, improved agronomic performance, and market
    differentiation. Indigenous C. canephora has already been pivotal in
    the establishment and sustainability of the robusta coffee sector in
    Uganda and worldwide, and has further potential for the development
    of this crop species. Coffea liberica var. dewevrei (excelsa coffee)
    is emerging as a commercially viable coffee crop plant in its own
    right, and may offer substantial potential for lowland coffee
    farmers, i.e. in robusta coffee growing areas. It may also provide
    useful stock material for the grafting of robusta and Arabica
    coffee, and possibly other species. Preliminary conservation
    assessments indicate that C. liberica var. dewevrei and C. neoleroyi
    are at risk of extinction at the country-level (Uganda). Adequate
    protection of Uganda’s humid forests, and thus its coffee natural
    capital, is identified as a conservation priority for Uganda and the
    coffee sector in general.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.1057317/full?amp;amp



/[ misinformation battle report ]/
*Climate misinformation group infiltrates convention of science teachers*
The CO2 Coalition signed up for a booth under false pretences at the 
event in Atlanta last month
Louise Boyle
Senior Climate Correspondent, New York

The CO2 Coalition, a group which denies that human-caused emissions are 
causing the global climate crisis, recently had its members ejected from 
a science teachers’ convention after signing up under false pretences.

The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) held a convention in 
Atlanta last month, attracting 6,500 science educators from kindergarten 
to high school and university level. The three-day event covered all 
areas of science education with 246 stalls and dozens of meetings and 
presentations.

On the second day, a teacher alerted NSTA staff that the CO2 Coalition 
was distributing a comic book about “Simon the solar-powered cat”. The 
comic’s ultimate message was that CO2 is a “miracle molecule” fuelling 
life on Earth because it is part of the photosynthesis process in plants.
While CO2 does help plants grow, the glaring omission is that 
overwhelming scientific evidence confirms carbon emissions, and other 
greenhouse gases caused by humans, are heating up the planet at an 
alarming rate with serious harm to both people and the natural world.

“It’s kind of like if you’re talking about cigarettes, and all you talk 
about is how cool they make you look,” Professor Andrew Dessler, a 
climate scientist at Texas A&M University, told The Washington Post, 
which first reported the story.
Along with the misleading comic book, CO2 Coalition also distributed a 
more explicit pamphlet titled “Challenging the National Science Teaching 
Association’s Position Statement on Climate Change”.

The front page included the Latin phrase, audiatur et altera pars, 
meaning “let the other side be heard as well”.

After the booklets came to light, CO2 Coalition was asked by the chief 
operating officer and head of exhibits to remove any materials which 
didn’t align with NSTA’s science-based positions.
“You can take down your literature or you can go home. It’s your 
choice,” NSTA chief operating officer Ryan Foley said, according to a 
video filmed surreptitiously and posted to YouTube by the CO2 Coalition.

When the group refused, Mr Foley responded: “All right, then you’re 
being kicked out. You should pack up and get out.”

The Independent has contacted the CO2 Coalition for comment.

The CO2 Coalition had applied for a booth at the convention by signing a 
contract for exhibitors which states what they will distribute aligns 
with NSTA position statements.

NSTA’s position on the teaching of climate science is that it "confirms 
the solid scientific foundation on which climate change science rests 
and advocates for quality, evidence-based science to be taught in 
science classrooms in grades K–12 and higher education".

Erika Shugart, executive director of the NSTA, told The Independent in a 
phone interview on Wednesday that up until this point, their “good faith 
effort” had been sufficient for convention applications.

“Moving forward, we’re looking at some of our policies to consider 
whether we will need to look at groups more closely," Dr Shugart said.

"This is a group that’s bringing political aspects into science 
education," she continued. "Science education is there to teach science, 
and we’re going to align with the best science there is. That includes 
climate science, and the fact that the climate is changing due to 
manmade factors."

A CO2 Coalition spokesperson claimed to The Post that the group was 
“overwhelmed by the positive response from the teachers at the convention".

Dr Shugart told The Independent: "Our experience was that was not the case."

She added: "Our members feel really strongly that their jobs as teachers 
is to prepare students to be educated consumers of science, so that they 
can make informed decisions about the world around them. To do that, we 
have to present concepts that support learning aligning with national 
and state standards, which include climate change. We know that climate 
change is grounded in the consilience of multiple lines of evidence as 
presented in peer-reviewed journals."

Dr John Cook, a professor at the Center for Climate Change Communication 
at George Mason University and founder of the Skeptical Science website, 
previously told The Independent that a defining characteristic of 
climate misinformation was the “attacks on scientists, and on the 
science itself”.

“The misinformation arguments are that people can’t trust scientists, 
can’t trust models, can’t trust climate data. It’s all about building 
doubt and undermining public trust in climate science,” he said.

The CO2 Coalition’s funding is shrouded in secrecy. Previous tax filings 
have revealed thousands of dollars in donations from major right-wing 
funders including the Mercer Family Foundation and Charles Koch 
Foundation, according to the Center for Media and Democracy.

In the US, more than 86 per cent of teachers and 84 per cent of parents 
support climate change education in schools, according to Columbia 
University’s Climate School.

In 2020, New Jersey became the first state to mandate teaching climate 
change in all subjects from kindergarten. Connecticut passed a law last 
year requiring that public schools start to incorporate lessons on the 
climate crisis into their science curriculum.

However there have been efforts to undermine and politicize science 
teaching. In Texas, for example, the Board of Education recently called 
for science textbooks to emphasize the “positive” effects of fossil 
fuels, the Washington Post reported.
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/climate-misinformation-teaching-convention-atlanta-b2318628.html 


- -

/[see the surreptitious video - 30 seconds ]/
*CO2 Coalition Booted from NSTA Conference*
CO2 Coalition
364 views  Mar 31, 2023
The CO2 Coalition attended the National Science Teaching Association's 
Annual Convention in Atlanta, GA in March 2023 and published a critique 
of the NSTA's position statement on the teaching of climate science. The 
NSTA promoted indoctrination and groupthink instead of critical 
thinking. They didn't appreciate that at all and threw us out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv2j4EMqRhc



/[  cough, cough... ]/
*Where There’s Plastic, There’s Fire. Indiana Blaze Highlights Concerns 
Over Expanding Plastic Recycling*
China’s ban on accepting most plastic waste may have led to a burning 
stockpile in eastern Indiana that sent black smoke billowing into the 
air—and local residents scrambling to safety.
By James Bruggers
April 12, 2023

The dense black smoke from a fire at a plastics recycler in Richmond, 
Indiana, that began Tuesday afternoon and continued burning on 
Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of 2,000 nearby residents, was  
dramatic, but far from an isolated incident in the world of facilities 
that store or recycle vast quantities of plastic waste.

There are hundreds of such fires in the United States and Canada every 
year and most of them never make the news, said Richard Meier, a private 
fire investigator in Florida who worked 24 years as a mechanical 
engineer in manufacturing, including in plastics companies.

“These plastics, most of them are derived from oil. They are 
petrochemicals and they have the same propensity for burning once 
ignited,” Meier said.

So far, in Richmond, in eastern Indiana between Indianapolis and Dayton, 
Ohio, local health officials say the biggest threat to the public is 
from breathing particulates in the smoke...
- -
“There can be a lot of nasty things that come along with burning 
plastics. Polyurethane can release hydrogen cyanide,” Meier said, 
referring to the chemical warfare agent.

“Dioxins come from burning plastics,” he said, referring to a group of 
highly toxic chemicals that can cause cancer, reproductive and 
developmental problems, damage to the immune system and interfere with 
hormones. ..
- -
“This is Richmond’s East Palestine moment,” he said, referring to the 
Feb. 3 train derailment in eastern Ohio and the controlled release and 
burning of five railcars of vinyl chloride, a cancer-causing chemical 
used to make PVC plastic.

At a Wednesday press conference, Christine Stinson, the executive 
director of the Wayne County Health Department, said air monitoring has 
revealed the biggest concern to be particulates in the smoke.

“Just standing here, you can see how close we are to the fire, my throat 
is starting to get a little sore,” she told reporters, several blocks 
from the charred and burning remains of the recycling business, with 
smoke still rising as a backdrop.

EPA officials said they will continue air monitoring for particulates 
and several types of chemicals, including volatile organic compounds, 
benzene, chlorine and hydrogen cyanide.

China’s National Sword policy rocked global recycling markets, including 
across the United States.

“I will bet there are almost a hundred of these facilities laying around 
the United States with giant stockpiles of plastics,” said Jane 
Williams, executive director of the environmental group California 
Communities Against Toxics. “There is no way to recycle it because it’s 
not recyclable.”

Since China adopted National Sword, a lot of plastic waste has been sent 
to landfills or burned in incinerators, said Jan Dell, a chemical 
engineer who has worked as a consultant to the oil and gas industry and 
now runs The Last Beach Cleanup, a nonprofit that fights plastics 
pollution and waste.

She’s been so concerned about fire threats from old and new stockpiles 
that she’s been tracking most of those plastic fires that actually do 
make the news.

She has counted 70 and mapped their locations in several countries since 
2019.

“This is a horrific problem because plastic waste is highly flammable 
and at these operations, not all of them have proper health and safety 
management,” she said. “They are sketchy operators.”

With the chemical and plastics industry promoting more recycling, and 
selling recycling to the public as “clean and green,” plastic fires at  
recycling plants illustrate a contradictory and, she said, more 
realistic image of the industry...
- -
The industry uses the term “advanced’’ to include recycling processes 
that convert plastic waste into chemical ingredients for new plastic 
products or fuel, using high heat and other chemicals. But these 
advanced recycling plants, which many environmentalists describe as 
essentially plastics incinerators, also typically stockpile waste 
plastics onsite.

In fact, a Brightmark advanced, or chemical, recycling plant in 
northeast  Indiana experienced a fire in 2021 that also sent a large 
plume of black smoke into the air, according to a local television 
station report.

Kansas on Monday became the 23rd state to pass such legislation 
categorizing advanced recycling as a manufacturing process, subject to 
far less regulation than waste disposal or incineration, according to 
the American Chemistry Council. Indiana lawmakers passed their own 
version of such a law, Senate Bill 472, in March, and on Wednesday the 
Indiana chapter of the Sierra Club urged Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb to 
veto it...
- -
The Richmond fire, and others at plastic recycling facilities, show that 
any increase in plastic recycling will need to be accompanied by an 
increase in fire prevention efforts, said Meier, the private fire 
inspector. Facilities that hold highly flammable materials like plastic 
will need, for example, more robust fire suppression systems, he said.

But Dell said she believes legislative efforts in mostly Republican 
states to classify advanced recycling facilities as manufacturing also 
have the potential to reduce safety requirements regarding fire 
prevention when officials should be taking steps to increase them.

“The fact that they are trying to (redefine) these as safe assembly 
plants is illegitimate,” Dell said. “It leaves communities holding the 
bag.”
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12042023/plastics-fire-richmond-indiana/

- -

/[ Woods Hole video meeting summarizes ocean plastic predicament ]/
*Ocean Encounters: Ocean Plastics*
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Streamed live April, 12, 2023
How harmful are they, and how do we know?
Plastics are one of the most common substances in everyday life, found 
in everything from toothbrushes to cell towers. Now they have spread 
throughout the ocean, with surprising–and costly–consequences for us and 
for our ocean planet.

    SPEAKERS
    SARAH DUNLOP - Head, Plastics & Human Health, Minderoo Foundation
    KARA LAVENDER LAW- Oceanographer, Sea Education Association
    JOHN STEGEMAN - Ocean toxicologist, WHOI

    VERONIQUE LACAPRA - Host and Director of Special Projects, WHOI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re3w61WXkjQ ( starts about 10 mins in )

- -

- personal notes -

/"We know what to do, we just have to do it. "/

/"We don't yet know the damage "
/

/So far  "We have no idea how much plastic is in the ocean"  -- 
estimates only  estimate = 20 million megatons per year.
   There is atmospheric plastic.
    Some plastic sinks. some floats
    Garbage patches accumulate floating microcurrents.
    plastics are everywhere.
    Lots in marine animals.  (if you eat fish, you eat plastic)
    Resin type  polyethene and polypropalent     types 2,4 and 5
    PROBABLY micro and nano plastics are most abundant
    Makes humans sick everywhere - from environmental exposures
    Fracking sights are killers

https://www.youtube.com/live/Re3w61WXkjQ?feature=share&t=2149

Nano plastic examination it gets down to the size of a virus

Lots of inferences
Oxidative stress, immune system,  metabolic disruptions
Deep ocean - interferes with copapods - and marine snow to ocean floor
Actually a fascinating video -- worth viewing - it's just that there is 
no good news.
Afraid I will probably not eat fish any longer.   Which fish are 
worst?   Unsure both feeding predators and filter feeders.
Big question about compounding the problems of plastic waste./
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re3w61WXkjQ



/[The news archive - looking back-  Where is the updated book?]/
/*April 14, 1964 */
April 14, 1964: Writer and biologist Rachel Carson, whose 1962 book 
"Silent Spring" galvanized a generation to take environmental concerns 
seriously, passes away at 56.

http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/10/05/reviews/carson-obit.html


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