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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>October 31, 2020</b></font></i></p>
[Washington Post Interactive data]<br>
<b>Trump rolled back more than 125 environmental safeguards. Here's
how.</b><br>
The administration has allowed more pollution, drilling and logging
while weakening protections<br>
for animals such as bees, bears and birds...<br>
- -<br>
A Washington Post analysis has found that as Trump's first term
winds to a close, he has weakened or wiped out more than 125 rules
and policies aimed at protecting the nation's air, water and land,
with 40 more rollbacks underway.<br>
<br>
The administration has accelerated its push to deregulate in the
weeks before the election, to ease requirements on power plants that
leak waste into waterways, weaken efficiency standards for
dishwashers, scale back oversight of mine safety and approve seismic
drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge.<br>
- -<br>
<b>About this story</b><br>
The Post assembled data on the Trump administration's environmental
regulatory rollbacks from several sources: the White House, the
Interior Department, the Energy Department, the Commerce Department,
the Transportation Department, the Justice Department, the EPA, the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Harvard Law School's
Environmental and Energy Law Program, Earthjustice, the Natural
Resources Defense Council and the Center for Biological Diversity...<br>
- -<br>
Democrats are already planning how they would revive environmental
regulation if they win the White House. Biden has pledged to take
executive action to block projects such as the Keystone XL oil
pipeline and Alaska's controversial Pebble Mine, and to rejoin the
Paris climate accord to help combat global warming. But overhauling
many of the rules altered under Trump would take years, and clawing
back oil and gas leases would be nearly impossible.<br>
<br>
If Trump wins reelection, however, he and his deputies will probably
try to shrink the federal government's environmental role further,
cement policy changes into law and finalize dozens of rollbacks they
are working on now, said Caitlin McCoy, a staff attorney at the
Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program.<br>
<br>
"Given the opportunity for a second term, they will initiate and
detonate everything they've set up," she said. "We will see even
more dramatic action now that all the groundwork is set."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/climate-environment/trump-climate-environment-protections/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/climate-environment/trump-climate-environment-protections/</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[The Economist promotes techno-fideism]<br>
<b>Innovation is an essential part of dealing with climate change</b><br>
More is needed<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/10/31/innovation-is-an-essential-part-of-dealing-with-climate-change">https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/10/31/innovation-is-an-essential-part-of-dealing-with-climate-change</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
[Noam Chomsky's latest book]<br>
<b>Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political
Economy of Saving the Planet </b><br>
<b>Climate change: watershed or endgame?</b><br>
In this compelling new book, Noam Chomsky, the world's leading
public intellectual, and Robert Pollin, a renowned progressive
economist, map out the catastrophic consequences of unchecked
climate change--and present a realistic blueprint for change: the
Green New Deal.<br>
<br>
Together, Chomsky and Pollin show how the forecasts for a hotter
planet strain the imagination: vast stretches of the Earth will
become uninhabitable, plagued by extreme weather, drought, rising
seas, and crop failure. Arguing against the misplaced fear of
economic disaster and unemployment arising from the transition to a
green economy, they show how this bogus concern encourages climate
denialism.<br>
<br>
Humanity must stop burning fossil fuels within the next thirty years
and do so in a way that improves living standards and opportunities
for working people. This is the goal of the Green New Deal and, as
the authors make clear, it is entirely feasible. Climate change is
an emergency that cannot be ignored. This book shows how it can be
overcome both politically and economically.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.amazon.com/Climate-Crisis-Global-Green-Deal/dp/178873985X?ots=1&tag=thneyo0f-20&linkCode=w50">https://www.amazon.com/Climate-Crisis-Global-Green-Deal/dp/178873985X?ots=1&tag=thneyo0f-20&linkCode=w50</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>[disinformation warning]<br>
<b>'God intended it as a disposable planet': meet the US pastor
preaching climate change denial</b><br>
October 12, 2020<br>
Paul Braterman - Professor Emeritus in Chemistry, University of
Glasgow<br>
<br>
Every so often you come across a piece of writing so extraordinary
that you cannot help but share it. One such piece is a sermon on
global warming by American pastor John MacArthur. Full of
beautifully constructed rhetorical flourishes, it is forcefully
delivered by an experienced and impassioned preacher to a large
and appreciative audience.<br>
<br>
For me, as a man of science, it is the most complete compilation
of unsound arguments, factual errors and misleading analogies as I
have seen in discussions of this subject. But it's important
because climate change is a big election issue this November in
the US, where there is a growing movement of evangelical
Christians who deny its existence, while Joe Biden promises a
"clean air revolution".<br>
<br>
The minister of the COVID-denying, law-defying Grace Community
Church in Sun Valley, California - which has encouraged
worshippers to congregate as normal despite state COVID-19
restrictions - MacArthur is an impressive figure whose Study Bible
has sold almost 2 million copies.<br>
<br>
He regards the infallibility of the Bible, from Genesis to
Revelation, as essential to his faith, and his sermon about global
warming can only be understood in that context. MacArthur's
rejection of the science is shared by other major US ministries
and organisations such as Answers in Genesis, Creation Ministries
International and the Discovery Institute.<br>
- - video <b>John MacArthur on Cal Tech and the Global Warming
Hoax </b><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://youtu.be/ZTlYl8E_B14">https://youtu.be/ZTlYl8E_B14</a><br>
In this sermon, MacArthur paraphrases "a scientist at Cal Tech"
(except not a scientist at all, but the novelist Michael Crichton,
best known for Jurassic Park), as saying in a lecture:<br>
<br>
Consensus science is the first refuge of scoundrels … invoked only
in situations where there is a political, social, financial agenda
but no scientific support.<br>
<br>
The reverend has the most serious reasons possible for rejecting
the scientific consensus concerning the age of the Earth, the
origins of humankind, the history and prehistory of the ancient
near East and the peopling of continents: it is totally
incompatible with the Genesis account of creation, Adam and Eve,
the flood and the dispersion of peoples from the Tower of Babel.<br>
<br>
<b>Error, denial and misunderstanding</b><br>
As for global warming itself, the reverend channels standard
climate change denial, but all his arguments are unsound and have
been convincingly refuted to the satisfaction of an overwhelming
consensus of climate scientists (see in-depth discussion at
Skeptical Science). He understates the amount of global warming,
incorrectly describes the full record as dating back only 30
years, and cites the Little Ice Age as evidence that the changes
currently taking place are natural. There's more:<br>
<br>
Here's the key, friends, this is the real deal. Legitimate science
recognises a close correlation between sunspots and climate change
… The sun is the source of temperature changes because of its
infrared variations. … There is absolutely no evidence that CO2
contributes to warming. On the contrary the opposite is true.
Warming produces CO2 … It's the other way round.<br>
<br>
Here we have a collection of half-truths and misunderstandings,
typical of denialists claiming to represent "legitimate science".
As the graph below shows, the 11-year sunspot cycle is a minor
deviation, and the temperature increase since 1980 has occurred
despite the fact that over that period the amount of solar energy
falling on Earth has gone down slightly. Incidentally, this solar
energy input is concentrated mainly in the visible, not the
infrared, region of the spectrum, and it is the roughly balancing
heat outflow from the Earth that is in the infrared.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362960/original/file-20201012-15-g2tmqa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1">https://images.theconversation.com/files/362960/original/file-20201012-15-g2tmqa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1</a><br>
MacArthur offers a false dichotomy between saying that CO2 warms
the oceans, and warmer oceans release more CO2. Unfortunately,
both these statements are true. There is a positive feedback loop:
human-released CO2 is the primary driver, but its effect is
amplified by the fact that yet more CO2 is then released from
non-human sources. Regarding CO2 itself, MacArthur seems to be
even more confused:<br>
<br>
By the way, plants produce CO2. What man produces is
marginal…Industry doesn't affect CO2 in the environment or
atmosphere.<br>
<br>
Plants do produce CO2 but they absorb more than they emit.
However, when it comes to humans, their activity may cause only a
small imbalance each year between CO2 emission and natural uptake,
but this imbalance is cumulative. CO2 levels are now 50% above
pre-industrial, and subtle atomic differences clearly show that
fossil fuel is the source. But according to MacArthur, "There is
no scientific reason to believe that ice caps are melting".<br>
- - video <b>Key Indicators of Arctic Climate Change 1971 2017</b>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://youtu.be/O9uunW_DBZE">https://youtu.be/O9uunW_DBZE</a><br>
Despite the Arctic Monitoring and Assement Programme's video on
this subject, the reverend does not think that the evidence for
ice-cap melting is scientific, and that other factors are at play:<br>
<br>
This is all political [and] financial agendas, class warfare,
class envy … By the way, US$100 billion has been spent to make a
case for global warming … driven by the socialist mentality … even
some of the feminist mentality that resents male success.<br>
<br>
All is now clear. Talk of global warming is part of a politically
motivated conspiracy. But US$100 billion? That's 600 years' worth
of all federal climate research spending. Clearly, those pesky
socialists and feminists are formidable fundraisers. However, none
of this matters because environmentalism is fundamentally
misplaced. As MacArthur puts it, citing Revelation and the
integrity of scripture:<br>
<br>
God intended us to use this planet, to fill this planet for the
benefit of man. Never was it intended to be a permanent planet. It
is a disposable planet. Christians ought to know that.<br>
<br>
And that is a statement that would leave anybody who cares about
this world speechless.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://theconversation.com/god-intended-it-as-a-disposable-planet-meet-the-us-pastor-preaching-climate-change-denial-147712">https://theconversation.com/god-intended-it-as-a-disposable-planet-meet-the-us-pastor-preaching-climate-change-denial-147712</a><br>
["Of all the ways to solve a problem, denial is the least
effective" - Psychotherapist Betty Merton ] </p>
<p>- -<br>
[How to]<br>
<b>How to debunk misinformation</b><br>
John Cook<br>
An effective rebuttal requires three elements. Fact. Myth.
Fallacy. This video to explain how to tie these together into a
cohesive debunking.<br>
<br>
First, you need to provide an explanation that neatly replaces the
myth in people's mental model. Your fact needs to be plausible and
it needs to fit all the causal links left by the myth. You also
need to make your facts sticky - communicate your fact in a way
that grabs people's attention and sticks in the memory. The golden
rule of debunking is fight sticky myths with stickier facts.<br>
<br>
Second, you do need to mention the myth when debunking, in order
for people to tag it in their mental model as false. But warn them
before mentioning the myth. This puts people cognitively on guard
so they're less likely to be influenced by the misinformation.<br>
<br>
Third, explain the fallacy or rhetorical technique the
misinformation uses to mislead. Help people resolve the conflict
between fact and myth by explaining how the myth distorts the
facts.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I37HD444aI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I37HD444aI</a><br>
<br>
<br>
</p>
[Halloween scare - contentious science]<br>
[methane release]<br>
<b>'Sleeping giant' Arctic methane deposits starting to release,
scientists find</b><br>
Exclusive: expedition discovers new source of greenhouse gas off
East Siberian coast has been triggered<br>
Scientists have found evidence that frozen methane deposits in the
Arctic Ocean - known as the "sleeping giants of the carbon cycle" -
have started to be released over a large area of the continental
slope off the East Siberian coast, the Guardian can reveal.<br>
<br>
High levels of the potent greenhouse gas have been detected down to
a depth of 350 metres in the Laptev Sea near Russia, prompting
concern among researchers that a new climate feedback loop may have
been triggered that could accelerate the pace of global heating.<br>
<br>
The slope sediments in the Arctic contain a huge quantity of frozen
methane and other gases - known as hydrates. Methane has a warming
effect 80 times stronger than carbon dioxide over 20 years. The
United States Geological Survey has previously listed Arctic hydrate
destabilisation as one of four most serious scenarios for abrupt
climate change.<br>
<br>
The international team onboard the Russian research ship R/V
Akademik Keldysh said most of the bubbles were currently dissolving
in the water but methane levels at the surface were four to eight
times what would normally be expected and this was venting into the
atmosphere.<br>
<br>
"At this moment, there is unlikely to be any major impact on global
warming, but the point is that this process has now been triggered.
This East Siberian slope methane hydrate system has been perturbed
and the process will be ongoing," said the Swedish scientist Örjan
Gustafsson, of Stockholm University, in a satellite call from the
vessel.<br>
- -<br>
The scientists - who are part of a multi-year International Shelf
Study Expedition - stressed their findings were preliminary. The
scale of methane releases will not be confirmed until they return,
analyse the data and have their studies published in a peer-reviewed
journal.<br>
- - <br>
The latest discovery potentially marks the third source of methane
emissions from the region. Semiletov, who has been studying this
area for two decades, has previously reported the gas is being
released from the shelf of the Arctic - the biggest of any sea.<br>
<br>
For the second year in a row, his team have found crater-like
pockmarks in the shallower parts of the Laptev Sea and East Siberian
Sea that are discharging bubble jets of methane, which is reaching
the sea surface at levels tens to hundreds of times higher than
normal. This is similar to the craters and sinkholes reported from
inland Siberian tundra earlier this autumn.<br>
<br>
Temperatures in Siberia were 5C higher than average from January to
June this year, an anomaly that was made at least 600 times more
likely by human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide and methane. Last
winter's sea ice melted unusually early. This winter's freeze has
yet to begin, already a later start than at any time on record.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/oct/27/sleeping-giant-arctic-methane-deposits-starting-to-release-scientists-find">https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/oct/27/sleeping-giant-arctic-methane-deposits-starting-to-release-scientists-find</a><br>
- -<br>
[more methane news]<br>
<b>Researchers Worry Methane Discovery in Arctic Ocean Could Signal
Dangerous New Climate Feedback Loop</b><br>
"Climate warming is awakening the 'sleeping giants' of the carbon
cycle," warned one researcher.<br>
An international team of researchers aboard a Russian research ship
has discovered evidence that frozen methane deposits in the Arctic
Ocean have been dispersing over a large area of Siberia, potentially
fueling a dangerous new climate feedback loop. <br>
<br>
The Guardian reports the International Siberian Shelf Study
(ISSS-2020) found that slope sediments spreading over much of the
continental shelf are rich in frozen methane hydrates that have been
detected to a depth of 1,150 feet in the Laptev Sea...<br>
- -<br>
The chief scientist aboard the vessel, Igor Semiletov of the Russian
Academy of Sciences, called the hydrate discharges "significantly
larger" than anything previously seen. <br>
<br>
"The discovery of actively releasing shelf slope hydrates is very
important and unknown until now," Semiletov told The Guardian. "This
is a new page. Potentially they can have serious climate
consequences, but we need more study before we can confirm that." <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/27/researchers-worry-methane-discovery-arctic-ocean-could-signal-dangerous-new-climate">https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/27/researchers-worry-methane-discovery-arctic-ocean-could-signal-dangerous-new-climate</a><br>
- -<br>
[Stockholm University Dept of Environmental Science]<br>
<b>The ISSS-2020 Arctic Ocean Expedition</b><br>
Investigating cryosphere-climate-carbon couplings on the East
Siberian Arctic Ocean Shelf<br>
The ISSS-2020 Expedition will contribute to further progress and
build on our research and findings to date of:<br>
- massive methane release from the sediments over extensive scales<br>
- thermal condition of subsea permafrost and new techniques to probe
the subsea permafrost table<br>
- importance of both coastal erosion and rivers in delivering
terrestrial organic matter from different land compartments,
including different permafrost regimes<br>
- the transport and degradation of terrestrial organic matter
(carbon and nitrogen cycling), as well as mercury and organic
contaminants, across the shelf seas<br>
- the severity of ocean acidification on the ESAS<br>
-the history of massive carbon remobilization during earlier periods
of warming and sea-level rise<br>
in addition to many other research topics (our Scope of Work
document detailing specific areas of scientific interest can be made
available on request).<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/client/q_glossy,ret_img,w_849/https://www.aces.su.se/aces/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/key-figure-849x999.png">https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/client/q_glossy,ret_img,w_849/https://www.aces.su.se/aces/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/key-figure-849x999.png</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.aces.su.se/research/projects/the-isss-2020-arctic-ocean-expedition/">https://www.aces.su.se/research/projects/the-isss-2020-arctic-ocean-expedition/</a><br>
- <br>
Other scientist limit the concertn<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://news.yahoo.com/climate-scientists-throw-cold-water-213900012.html">https://news.yahoo.com/climate-scientists-throw-cold-water-213900012.html</a><br>
<br>
<p> </p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Digging back into the internet news archive]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming -
October 31, 1978 </b></font><br>
<p>President Carter signs the National Climate Program Act into law.<br>
</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-92/pdf/STATUTE-92-Pg601.pdf">http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-92/pdf/STATUTE-92-Pg601.pdf</a></p>
<p> <br>
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