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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>December 2, 2020</b></font></i></p>
[According to the Atlantic]<br>
<b>The Weekly Planet: The Best Way to Donate to Fight Climate Change
(Probably)</b><br>
These are the most effective carbon offsets and climate-advocacy
groups, according to a new evidence-based group.<br>
ROBINSON MEYER<br>
There are at least 461 nonprofits in the United States devoted to
environmental causes, according to the evaluator Charity Navigator.
Not all of them approach climate change effectively, or even do what
they claim to. The green-nonprofit world is a thicket, contained in
a morass, reachable only by slog...<br>
- -<br>
Giving Green advises people on how to fight climate change with
their donations in the most evidence-based way possible. It emerged
from beta and published new recommendations last month. Because
today is Giving Tuesday--the capstone of America’s ersatz Holy Week
and the only square on the calendar devoted to philanthropy--I
wanted to look at those recommendations.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/12/how-to-donate-to-fight-climate-change-effectively/617248/">https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/12/how-to-donate-to-fight-climate-change-effectively/617248/</a><br>
- -<br>
[Check for a donation target]<b><br>
</b><b>How can I fight climate change? </b><br>
Giving Green is an evidence-based guide to help donors and
volunteers fight climate change...<br>
Giving Green's mission is to direct donors and volunteers towards
evidence-backed projects that combat the climate crisis.<br>
<br>
Knowing that we don’t have a minute or dollar to waste, we provide a
guide to help people identify the highest-impact ways that they can
fight the climate crisis. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.givinggreen.earth/">https://www.givinggreen.earth/</a><br>
- -<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.givinggreen.earth/recommendations">https://www.givinggreen.earth/recommendations</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
[Melting permafrost giving up secrets]<br>
<b>The mystery of Siberia’s exploding craters</b><br>
By Richard Gray - 30th November 2020<br>
From the air, the freshly exposed dirt stands out against the green
tundra and dark lakes around it. The layers of earth and rock
exposed further inside the cylindrical hole are almost black and a
pool of water is already forming at the bottom by the time
scientists reach it.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/1600x900/p09017gy.webp">https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/1600x900/p09017gy.webp</a><br>
<br>
Among them is Evgeny Chuvilin, a geologist at the Skolkovo Institute
of Science and Technology, based in Moscow, Russia, who has flown
out to this remote corner of the Yamal Peninsula in north-west
Siberia to take a look. This 164-foot-deep (50m) hole could hold key
parts of a puzzle that has been bothering him for the past six years
since the first of these mysterious holes was discovered elsewhere
on the Yamal Peninsula.<br>
<br>
That hole, which was around 66ft (20m) wide and up to 171ft (52m)
deep, was discovered by helicopter pilots passing overhead in 2014,
around 26 miles (42km) from the Bovanenkovo gas field on the Yamal
Peninsula. The scientists who visited it - including Mariana
Leibman, chief scientist of the Earth Cryosphere Institute, who has
been studying the permafrost in Siberia for more than 40 years -
described it as an entirely new feature in permafrost. Analysis of
satellite images later revealed that crater - now known as GEC-1 -
formed sometime between 9 October and 1 November 2013.<br>
<br>
The latest crater was spotted in August this year by a TV crew as
they flew past with a team of scientists from the Russian Academy of
Sciences during an expedition with local authorities in Yamal. It
brings the total number of confirmed craters to have been discovered
on Yamal and the neighbouring Gydan Peninsula to 17.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/1600x900/p090189d.webp">https://ychef.files.bbci.co.uk/1600x900/p090189d.webp</a><br>
- -<br>
"Analysis based on satellite imagery shows that a blast makes a
giant hole in the place of a pingo, or mound," says Chuvilin. Pingos
are dome-shaped hills that form when a layer of frozen ground is
pushed up by water that has managed to flow underneath it and
started to freeze. As the water freezes, it expands to create a
mound. Also known in Russia by the local Yakut name "bulgunnyakhs",
they tend to rise and fall with the seasons. Some in Canada have
been found to be up to 1,200 years old. In most parts of the Arctic,
however, these mounds tend to eventually collapse in on themselves
rather than explode.<br>
- -<br>
Retracing the evolution of these mounds and how the gas gets there
is now an intense source of study. "It is intriguing that there
could be a new or previously unknown geochemical process happening
that we would never have imagined," says Natali.<br>
<br>
Researchers brave enough to abseil down into the craters have found
elevated levels of methane in the water pooling at the bottom,
suggesting the gas may be bubbling up from below. One leading theory
is that these deep deposits of methane gas under the permafrost find
their way up to the unfrozen pocket of ground beneath the icy cap.
Another idea is that high levels of carbon dioxide dissolved in the
water in these unfrozen pockets begins to bubble out as the water
starts to freeze, and the remaining water cannot hold onto the
dissolved gas...<br>
- -<br>
Regardless of the source, it is thought that the gas builds up in
the unfrozen pocket of ground, pushing the solid tabular ice cap
upwards by 16-19ft (5-6m) until it ruptures like a boil. (While
graphic, the furuncle analogy is not a bad one - much like internet
users are fascinated by videos of pimple popping, so some scientists
find themselves drawn to the Yamal craters. "It was the combination
of the unknown and risk related to these craters that attracted me,"
admits Natali.)<br>
<br>
When they finally burst, they certainly appear to be spectacular.
Mud and ice above the gas-filled pocket, along with much of the
material in the unfrozen section itself, is flung outwards up to
980ft (300m) away. The force is so great that blocks of earth up to
3ft (1m) across are thrown outwards, leaving a crater with a raised
parapet, a wide mouth and a narrower cylindrical hole - thought to
be the unfrozen pocket - is left behind. Local reindeer herders
reported seeing flames and smoke after one crater explosion in June
2017 along the banks of the Myudriyakha River. Villagers in nearby
Seyakha - a settlement about 20.5 miles (33km) south of the crater -
claimed the gas kept burning for about 90 minutes and the flames
reached 13-16ft (4-5m) high.<br>
- -<br>
Unravelling exactly how common these craters are is currently a slow
process. After their violent birth, most seem to disappear into the
landscape almost as quickly - the void left by the explosion near
Seyakha - which measured 70m (230ft) wide in places and more than
50m (164ft) deep - flooded with water in just four days due to its
proximity to the river. This transition from hole to lake seems to
be a rather innocuous end to a dramatic event.<br>
<br>
Other craters take longer to flood, but over a year or two the edges
of the dark, angry wound erode and they fill with water to become
almost indistinguishable from the thousands of other small round
lakes - known as thermokarst lakes - that dot the landscape. Exactly
how many of these lakes are the scars of gas emission craters is
still unclear...<br>
- -<br>
Finding out just how common these events are is driven by more than
simple curiosity. There are growing concerns that the appearance of
the craters in north-west Siberia might be related to wider changes
taking place in the Arctic due to climate change.<br>
- -<br>
Trapped inside the Arctic permafrost are huge amounts of carbon -
about twice as much as the amount currently in the atmosphere. It is
mostly in the form of the frozen remains of plants and other organic
material, along with methane that has become trapped inside ice
crystals - the gas hydrates that Chuvilin mentions earlier. As the
ground thaws, it allows microorganisms to break down the organic
matter, releasing methane and carbon dioxide as byproducts, while
the methane trapped in the ice also breaks free.<br>
As a potent greenhouse gas, this methane leaking out of permafrost
has the potential to accelerate global warming and so drive even
more melting.<br>
<br>
But in Yamal, the craters have raised the prospect of another
process that is adding even more uncertainty to the complex feedback
loop between rising temperatures, permafrost thaw and the release of
greenhouse gases. If it turns out that methane deposits trapped deep
underground by the permafrost are starting to seep upwards through
the normally impenetrable permafrost layers, it could be a sign that
the frozen ice cap over the tundra is becoming more permeable. This
could introduce new levels of uncertainty over how changes in the
Arctic are likely to impact wider global warming on the planet.<br>
<br>
"The craters are a very shocking indicator of what is happening in
the Arctic more widely," says Natali. "When you look at changes that
are happening across this landscape, some are occurring gradually
and others abruptly. Very few are occurring explosively, but it
brings attention to how all these changes contribute to the
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere."<br>
<br>
While the mystery of Yamal’s craters is still to be completely
solved, what has been unravelled so far suggests that perhaps we
should be watching them carefully in the future.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201130-climate-change-the-mystery-of-siberias-explosive-craters">https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201130-climate-change-the-mystery-of-siberias-explosive-craters</a><br>
<p>- -<br>
</p>
[proper framing]<br>
<b>Should it be called "natural gas" or "methane"?</b><br>
We are pleased to announce a new study of Americans’ perceptions of
natural gas. Natural gas is composed of 70-90% methane, a potent
greenhouse gas and major contributor to global warming. The American
public perceives "natural gas" much more favorably (76% favorable)
than other fossil fuels like oil (51% ) or coal (39%). They also
believe natural gas is much less harmful to human health than is
coal or oil. <br>
<br>
How much does natural gas benefit from its name, which includes the
word "natural"? To answer this question, we conducted an experiment
to investigate the public’s emotions and associations regarding the
terms "natural gas" and "methane." We randomly assigned respondents
to one of four conditions in which each respondent was asked to rate
their positive and negative feelings (affect) about one of the
following four terms: "natural gas," "natural methane gas,"
"methane," or "methane gas." <br>
<br>
We found that the term "natural gas" evokes much more positive
feelings than do any of the three methane terms. Conversely, the
terms "methane" and "methane gas" evoke much more negative feelings
than does "natural gas." <br>
- -<br>
Finally, the pattern of feelings about the four different terms is
similar for both Democrats and Republicans, although overall,
Democrats have relatively more negative feelings about all four
terms.<br>
<br>
Next, we asked respondents: "When you think of [natural gas /
natural methane gas / methane / methane gas], what is the first
[then second, then third] word or phrase that comes to your mind?"
Each participant could provide up to three such associations. <br>
<br>
Overall, "natural gas" generated the most associations to themes
like energy, clean, fuel, and cooking. <br>
<br>
By contrast, "methane," "methane gas," and "natural methane gas"
generated the most associations to themes like gas, cows,
greenhouse, global warming, and climate change.<br>
This experiment found that the American public has very different
feelings about and associations to "natural gas" than they do to
"methane" even though natural gas is composed primarily of methane.
"Methane" and "methane gas" generate much stronger negative feelings
and associations to pollution than does "natural gas" and this
effect is consistent across political parties. These findings
indicate that the terms used to communicate about this fossil fuel
can have dramatically different effects.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/should-it-be-called-natural-gas-or-methane/">https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/should-it-be-called-natural-gas-or-methane/</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[radical right social media site]<br>
<b>Parler is fertile ground for climate denialism, experts worry</b><br>
Corbin Hiar, E&E News reporter <br>
Published: Monday, November 30, 2020<br>
Democrats rigged the presidential election, Black Lives Matter
supporters worship violence and rolling lockdowns will continue
indefinitely, according to false and widely read posts on Parler, a
2-year-old social network that has exploded in popularity in recent
weeks.<br>
<br>
Misinformation about climate science is also present on the
conservative-dominated social network, although it's not a frequent
topic of discussion.<br>
<br>
But climate activists aren't ignoring Parler and the role it could
play in promoting disinformation and radicalization. The
Twitter-like site is growing exponentially and conspiracies that
start on niche social media networks have the potential to spread
into the mainstream, experts warned.<br>
<br>
"Everyone is preaching to the choir" on Parler, said Bridget
Barrett, who researches online political messaging at the University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. "Look for when the sermon changes."<br>
<br>
Parler can be used "as a bellwether to see if climate denial is
picking up," the UNC academic said.<br>
<br>
That's not easy to do. "The free speech social network," as Parler
describes itself, shows its content chronologically and the only
search tools it has for finding new or trending information on
topics like climate change are hashtags such as #climatescam. That's
one of only five climate-related hashtags that had been used more
than 1,000 times as of yesterday afternoon.<br>
<br>
By comparison, the election conspiracy hashtag #stopthesteal had
been affixed to over 324,000 parleys, as Parler refers to posts on
the site.<br>
<br>
The vast majority of the climate-tagged content reviewed by E&E
News was full of misinformation. That's even true for the other
popular and less obviously loaded climate hashtags: #climate,
#climatechange, #globalwarming and #climatecrisis...<br>
- -<br>
"We don't know how big it's going to be five years from now," said
Eric Heinze, a law professor at Queen Mary University of London. "We
don't know how it might start interfacing subtly with Twitter or
Facebook. There are so many unknowns. So I'd be cautious about
dismissing it."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2020/11/30/stories/1063719415">https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2020/11/30/stories/1063719415</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
[women at Extinction Rebellion in moderate conversation]<br>
<b>Impossible Human - Episode 1 | Extinction Rebellion UK</b><br>
Premiered Dec 1, 2020<br>
Extinction Rebellion<br>
Impossible Human: three conversations exploring change, vision,
surrender, and living with Earth<br>
<br>
Impossible Human is a look into visionary cultures and social
change. Delving into the potential of this liminal moment to ask how
we might respond to our times and face into the future together.
How can we light the path for the future and write a new story?<br>
<br>
Hosted by Skeena Rathor, Extinction Rebellion Co-Founder Vision and
Co-Liberation Team, and Social Change Journalist Kary Stewart<br>
<br>
Cassandra Vieten is a Scholar-in-Residence at the Arthur C. Clarke
Centre for Human Imagination, University of California, and a Senior
Fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. <br>
<br>
In this first episode of Impossible Human Cassandra speaks with us
about fear and panic and how it might be sabotaging Extinction
Rebellion as a movement. Could affirming a positive vision be the
most sophisticated action any of us can take right now? <br>
<br>
The way that we view the world, what we think is possible, what we
believe is possible, what we intend, what we pay attention to, these
all actually shape our perception of reality and in many ways shape
the future. <br>
Streaming on Extinction Rebellion Facebook & Youtube.<br>
#socialchange #skeenarathor #consciouness #evolvinghumans
#newparadigms #consciounessupgrade #xr #xrimpossiblehuman
#impossiblehuman<br>
More info: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.facebook.com/xrimpossible">https://www.facebook.com/xrimpossible</a>...<br>
And watch the trailer here: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://fb.watch/1--GlZIPgJ/">https://fb.watch/1--GlZIPgJ/</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS9a7aUJ00Y">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS9a7aUJ00Y</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Two old guys - revered experts fret]<br>
<b>Arctic Blue Ocean Event - Going, Going Gone</b><br>
Dec 1, 2020<br>
Facing Future<br>
Dr. Peter Wadhams, eminent exploratory ice scientist and emeritus
Cambridge professor of Polar Ice Physics, is with us again to
discuss the situation in the polar regions, and the approaching
Arctic #BlueOceanEvent (BOE), and some of its many ramifications.
The BOE is defined as less than 100,000 square km of ice in the
Arctic ocean at the annual low point, usually September. An
increasing number of estimates by scientific bodies places the first
BOE since humans have walked the Earth within the next few years.
After that, it's a downhill slide unless we can figure out how to
refreeze the Arctic.<br>
<br>
The Arctic may be far from where you and I live, but the
disappearance of Arctic ice will have vastly more far-reaching
impacts in space and time than that. It basically will knock us
silly, as it makes it progressively more difficult for humanity to
grow enough food to feed itself. Once BOE occurs in some not very
far away September, it will gradually spread to other months, and it
will constitute #ClimateFeedback of similarly huge consequences, the
flipping of the reflectance (or 'albeido') of the Arctic from net
reflector to net absorber of the sun's heating rays.<br>
<br>
We are, with our daily actions, creating a hell on Earth for our
children. We are aware of it, even those who deny it, but we are
locked into a system that ignores our imminent danger for the sake
of continuing our comfortable lifestyles, and participating in a
socio-economic system engineered to benefit the banks and the
wealthy few at the expense of the rest of us.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUzokM-WTZ0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUzokM-WTZ0</a><br>
<br>
<br>
[Digging back into the internet news archive]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming -
December 2, 1970 </b></font><br>
<p>The United States Environmental Protection Agency is established.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-history">http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-history</a><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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