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<p><i><font size="+1"><b>August 5, 2021</b></font></i></p>
[fire]<br>
<b>Fire engulfs Northern California town of Greenville, leveling
businesses</b><br>
By Associated Press - August 5, 2021 |<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://nypost.com/2021/08/05/northern-california-wildfire-engulfs-town-of-greenville-levels-businesses/amp/">https://nypost.com/2021/08/05/northern-california-wildfire-engulfs-town-of-greenville-levels-businesses/amp/</a><br>
<p>- -</p>
[video BBC]<br>
<b>Greece wildfires force people to flee island by boat</b><br>
Scores of people on the Greek island of Evia were forced to flee by
boat as wildfire spread rapidly, destroying homes in its wake.<br>
The blaze on the island, north of Athens, forced villages to be
evacuated.<br>
Fires also threatened the outskirts of Greece's capital.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-58093275">https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-58093275</a><br>
<p>- -</p>
[Moscow Times]<br>
<b>Russia Sees Record Wildfire Spread as Siberian Blazes Rage On</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/08/04/russia-sees-record-wildfire-spread-as-siberian-blazes-rage-on-a74695">https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/08/04/russia-sees-record-wildfire-spread-as-siberian-blazes-rage-on-a74695</a><br>
<p>- -<br>
</p>
[widespread fires]<br>
<b>Turkish power plant overtaken by wildfires | DW News</b><br>
Aug 5, 2021<br>
DW News<br>
A thermal power plant on Turkey's Aegean coast was evacuated
Wednesday as it was overtaken by wildfires. Workers at the site had
previously emptied cooling tanks filled with hydrogen as a
precaution. The AFP news agency reported firefighters, police and
workers fleeing the scene as flames roared into the site. "Flames
have entered the Kermekoy thermal power plant," said Mayor Muhammet
Tokat of the town of Milas, in southwestern Turkey. The plant uses
coal and fuel oil to produce electricity. Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan was in the middle of a televised interview when the
evacuation began, saying, "the power plant is at risk of burning,"
and adding, "There has been a tremendous wind. Otherwise, it would
have been easier to contain."<br>
<br>
Fires in Turkey have been raging for more than a week, destroying
large areas of forest along the country's Aegean and Mediterranean
coasts, displacing thousands and killing eight. On Wednesday,
Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said temperatures
in Marmaris on the Aegean coast had shattered records, hitting 45.5
degrees Celsius (114 degrees Fahrenheit). "We are fighting a very
serious war," he told reporters, "I urge everyone to be patient."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTIMKbdGT4k">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTIMKbdGT4k</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[Top opinion today]<br>
<b>Our leaders look climate change in the eyes, and shrug</b><br>
Hamilton Nolan - - 4 Aug 2021<br>
It is not good to be too pessimistic on the climate crisis. That
said, it sure does seem like we’re screwed...<br>
- -<br>
It is easy to imagine that a real live existential threat to our way
of life would prompt any society to assume war footing and marshal
everything it has to fight for survival. Unfortunately, this
response only takes hold in actual war situations, where the threat
is “other people that we can shoot and kill in glorious fashion”.
When the threat comes not from enemy people, but from our own
nature, we find it much harder to rise to the occasion. Where is the
glory in recognizing the folly of our own greed and profligacy?
Leaders are not elected on such things. We want leaders who will
give us more, leading us ever onwards, upwards and into the grave...<br>
- -<br>
The G20 is a perfect model of our collective failure to build
institutions capable of coping with deep, long-term, existential
problems that cannot be solved by building more weapons. On the one
hand, the head of the United Nations says that there is no way for
the world to meet its 1.5C warming goal without the leadership of
the G20; on the other hand, a recent analysis found that G20 members
have, in the past five years, paid $3.3tn in subsidies for fossil
fuel production and consumption. The same group that claims to be
bailing out humanity’s sinking ship with one hand is busily setting
it aflame with the other hand. It is not good to be too pessimistic
on climate change, because we must maintain the belief that we can
win this battle if we are to have any hope at all. That said, it
sure does seem like we’re screwed.<br>
<br>
As overwhelming and omnipresent as the climate crisis is, it is not
the core issue. The core issue is capitalism. Capitalism’s
unfettered pursuit of economic growth is what caused climate change,
and capitalism’s inability to reckon with externalities – the
economic term for a cost that falls onto third parties – is what is
preventing us from solving climate change. Indeed, climate change
itself is the ultimate negative externality: fossil-fuel companies
and assorted polluting corporations and their investors get all the
benefits, and the rest of the world pays the price. Now the entire
globe finds itself trapped in the gruesome logic of capitalism,
where it is perfectly rational for the rich to continue doing
something that is destroying the earth, as long as the profits they
reap will allow them to insulate themselves from the consequences.<br>
<br>
Congratulations, free market evangelists: this is the system you
have built. It doesn’t work. I don’t want to lean too heavily on the
touchy-feely, Gaia-esque interpretation of global warming as the
inevitable wounds of an omniscient Mother Earth, but you must admit
that viewing humanity and its pollution as a malicious virus set to
be eradicated by nature is now a fairly compelling metaphor. Homo
sapiens rose above the lesser animals thanks to our ability to wield
logic and reason, yet we have somehow gotten ourselves to a place
where the knowledge of what is driving all these wildfires and
floods is not enough to enable us to do anything meaningful to stop
it. The keystone experience of global capitalism is to gape at a
drought-fueled fire as it consumes your home, and then go buy a
bigger SUV to console yourself...<br>
- - <br>
Of course we need a price on carbon. Of course we need extremely
strict emissions regulations, massive green energy investments, and
a maniacal focus on sustainability fierce enough to radically change
a society that is built to promote unlimited consumption. But, to be
honest, there is little indication that we will get those things any
time soon. The path we are on, still, is not one that leads to a
happy ending. Rather, it is one that leads to the last billionaire
standing on dry land blasting off in his private rocket as the rest
of us drown in rising seas.<br>
<br>
Capitalism is a machine made to squeeze every last cent out of this
planet until there is nothing left. We can either fool ourselves
about that until it kills us, or we can change it.<br>
Hamilton Nolan is a writer based in New York<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/04/climate-change-crisis-environment-politics">https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/04/climate-change-crisis-environment-politics</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
[New Yorker audio and text interview]<br>
<b>John Kerry on the Unfathomable Stakes of the Next U.N.
Climate-Change Conference</b><br>
Ahead of a major summit, the first special Presidential envoy for
climate discusses the diplomatic tightrope he faces post-Trump, and
the best outcome he can hope to achieve.<br>
David Remnick -- August 03, 2021<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/john-kerry-on-the-unfathomable-stakes-of-the-next-un-climate-change-conference/amp">https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/john-kerry-on-the-unfathomable-stakes-of-the-next-un-climate-change-conference/amp</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
[information battleground - we are not surprised]<br>
<b>Shell sponsored a museum exhibit on climate solutions. There were
strings attached</b><br>
The exhibit centers on technologies that oil and gas companies say
will allow them to keep selling fossil fuels<br>
By EMILY PONTECORVO - - AUG 3, 2021<br>
<br>
The day the Science Museum in London opened its latest exhibition on
climate change in May, a group of scientists from the climate
activist group Extinction Rebellion locked themselves inside in
protest. Their gripe? The exhibit, called "Our Future Planet," which
highlights the promise of technologies to suck up carbon dioxide
from the air or from industrial smokestacks, was sponsored by the
oil and gas giant Shell.<br>
<br>
The sponsorship first sparked outcry when it was announced in April.
"We condemn the Science Museum's decision to accept this sponsorship
and provide Shell with an opportunity for brazen green-washing," the
U.K. Student Climate Network wrote in an open letter at the time.
The Science Museum Group's director defended the exhibit and the
sponsorship, saying "we retain editorial control."<br>
<br>
But on Thursday, new evidence emerged showing that the money Shell
offered for the exhibit was not unconditional. Culture Unstained, an
activist group whose aim is "to end fossil fuel sponsorship of
culture," obtained Shell's sponsorship contractwith the Science
Museum under freedom of information act laws. The contract
stipulates that the museum could not take any action that would be
seen "as discrediting or damaging the goodwill or reputation of the
Sponsor."...<br>
- -<br>
Shell has made a commitment to reduce its emissions to net-zero by
2050, but its plan is to keep selling oil and gas while relying
heavily on carbon capture and storage, as well as so-called
nature-based solutions, like planting trees, to offset its
emissions. In May, a Dutch court ruled that Shell's plans were not
in line with the Paris Agreement and ordered the company to cut
emissions more quickly. Shell is appealing the verdict.<br>
<br>
A museum exhibit that teaches people about carbon capture and carbon
removal could be seen as a good thing, since research has shown the
public is still largely confused about what these terms mean. But I
would hope that it also invites visitors to think about the risks
and challenges of these solutions in addition to their promise. I
haven't been to the exhibit myself, but a critic writing in the
magazine New Scientist concluded, "The exhibition mostly gets the
balance right between pessimism and optimism, although it could have
gone further in showing how expensive and small scale this stuff
is."<br>
<br>
A Shell spokesperson told Channel 4 News, "We fully respect the
museum's independence. That's why its exhibition on carbon capture
matters and why we supported it. Debate and discussion — among
anyone who sees it — are essential."<br>
<br>
For what it's worth, in a blog post on the museum's website,
exhibition advisor Bob Ward said the world faces an "urgent task" to
reduce emissions and that "this will mean a fundamental shift away
from fossil fuels as our primary source of energy." Ward
acknowledges that there are large uncertainties around the solutions
presented in the exhibit, and the concern that counting on them
could reduce ambition to cut emissions more rapidly. But he adds
that "we are more likely to make a rapid and orderly transition to a
zero-carbon economy if oil companies play a genuinely committed and
active role."<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.salon.com/2021/08/03/shell-sponsored-a-museum-exhibit-on-climate-solutions-there-were-strings-attached_partner/">https://www.salon.com/2021/08/03/shell-sponsored-a-museum-exhibit-on-climate-solutions-there-were-strings-attached_partner/</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
[So can I get a first class ticket??]<br>
<b>Will These Places Survive a Collapse? Don’t Bet on It, Skeptics
Say.</b><br>
A pair of English researchers found that New Zealand is best poised
to stay up and running as climate change continues to wreak global
havoc. Other scientists found flaws in their model.<br>
By Heather Murphy<br>
Aug. 3, 2021<br>
Will civilization as we know it end in the next 100 years? Will
there be any functioning places left? These questions might sound
like the stuff of dystopian fiction. But if recent headlines about
extreme weather, climate change, the ongoing pandemic and faltering
global supply chains have you asking them, you’re not alone.<br>
<br>
Now two British academics, Aled Jones, director of the Global
Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge,
England, and his co-author, Nick King, think they have some answers.
Their analysis, published in July in the journal Sustainability,
aims to identify places that are best positioned to carry on when or
if others fall apart. They call these lucky places “nodes of
persisting complexity.”<br>
<br>
The winner, tech billionaires who already own bunkers there will be
pleased to know, is New Zealand. The runners-up are Tasmania,
Ireland, Iceland, Britain, the United States and Canada.<br>
<br>
The findings were greeted with skepticism by other academics who
study topics like climate change and the collapse of civilization.
Some flat-out disagreed with the list, saying it placed too much
emphasis on the advantages of islands and failed to properly account
for variables like military power.<br>
<br>
And some said the entire exercise was misguided: If climate change
is allowed to disrupt civilization to this degree, no countries will
have cause to celebrate.<br>
<br>
Professor Jones, who has a Ph.D. in cosmology — the branch of
astronomy focused on the origins of the universe — is broadly
interested in how to make global food systems and global finance
systems more resilient. He says he is also intrigued by the ways in
which collapse in one part of the world, whether caused by an
extreme weather event or something else, can lead to collapse in
another part.<br>
<br>
He does not feel certain that climate change will cause the end of
civilization, he said, but it’s on track to create a “global shock.”<br>
<br>
“We’ll be lucky if we can withstand it,” he added.<br>
- -<br>
New Zealand comes out on top in Professor Jones’s analysis because
it appears to be ready for changes in the weather created by climate
change. It has plenty of renewable energy capacity, it can produce
its own food and it’s an island, meaning it scores well on the
isolation factor, he said.<br>
<br>
Tasmania, an Australian island state located around 150 miles south
of the mainland, emerged as second, Professor Jones said, because it
has the infrastructure to adapt to climate change and is
agriculturally productive.<br>
- -<br>
Iceland ranks well, Professor Jones said, because of its
agricultural and renewable energy capacities as well as its
isolation. Additionally, even as the climate changes, it’s not
expected to force a major shift in how the country’s society
functions.<br>
<br>
Justin Mankin, a professor of geography at Dartmouth, disagreed.<br>
<br>
“The spatial pattern of global warming-caused extreme weather and
other hazards will undoubtedly deeply affect places like the U.K.,
New Zealand, Iceland and Tasmania,” he said.<br>
<br>
This one surprised even Professor Jones.<br>
<br>
“We always put the U.K. down for not doing enough on climate
change,” he said. But being an island gave it a huge boost in its
capacity to survive an apocalypse, he said.<br>
<br>
The United States and Canada tied for sixth place. One factor
holding them back, Professor Jones said, is their shared land
border. His model assumes that it would be more difficult for a
country to maintain stability if masses of desperate people can rush
across a border.<br>
- - <br>
Professor Jones says people may be misinterpreting his intentions.
He’s not suggesting that people with the means to do so should start
buying bunkers in New Zealand or Iceland, he said. Rather, he wants
other countries to study ways to improve their resilience.<br>
<br>
Heather Murphy is a general assignment reporter who often writes
about advances in DNA technology. @heathertal<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/us/collapse-of-civilization-study-new-zealand.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/us/collapse-of-civilization-study-new-zealand.html</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
[video webinar 6 months ago]<br>
<b>OMEGA - Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly
Future</b><br>
Jan 31, 2021<br>
Stanley Wu<br>
We are joined by Paul Ehrlich, Joan Diamond, Gerardo Ceballos, Nate
Hagens, Bill Rees and others. The conversation will be hosted by
Michael Lerner to discuss the recently published scientific article
entitled Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly
Future.<br>
<br>
An international group of 17 leading physical and social scientists,
including OMEGA Advisory Board member Joan Diamond, have produced a
comprehensive yet concise assessment of the state of civilization,
warning that the outlook is more dire and dangerous than is
generally understood. <br>
<br>
The paper has generated over a thousand media articles and
interviews which suggests that public interest is extremely high
despite competing news-- insurrection, inauguration, and pandemic. <br>
<br>
This Ghastly study has been covered in media organizations
including: CNN World, Reuters, The Guardian, International Business
Times, Taipei Times, The Irish Times, and the University of
California among many others. <br>
<br>
The formal session will last an hour with an additional half hour
for those who can stay. We hope you will join us for this
thought-provoking discussion.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq-pYBe2mKk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq-pYBe2mKk</a>
<p>- -</p>
[Be sure to see Nate Hagens 5 min talk]<br>
<b>"ghastliness, metabolism and emergence"</b><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq-pYBe2mKk&t=1590s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq-pYBe2mKk&t=1590s</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
[science from 150 years ago]<br>
<b>This woman was the first scientist to chart the physics of
climate change—in 1856</b><br>
Eunice Foote discovered that carbon dioxide absorbs heat, and
theorized that if the Earth’s air filled with more CO2, the planet’s
temperature would rise.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90658442/this-woman-was-the-first-scientist-to-chart-the-physics-of-climate-change-in-1856">https://www.fastcompany.com/90658442/this-woman-was-the-first-scientist-to-chart-the-physics-of-climate-change-in-1856</a><br>
- -<br>
[from the image of the original document]<br>
<b>"On the Heat in the Sun's Rays"</b><br>
<b></b>
<blockquote> "An atmosphere of that gas would give to our earth a
high temperature; and if as some suppose at one period of its
history they air had mixed with it a larger proportion than at
present an increased temperature from its own action as well as
from increased weight must have necessarily resulted.<br>
<br>
On comparing the sun's heat in different gases I found it to
be in hydrogen gas, 104°; in common air, 106°; in oxygen gas, 108°
and in carbonic acid gas, 125°." <br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a2614102278e77e59a04f26/t/5aa1c3cf419202b500c3b388/1520550865302/foote_circumstances-affecting-heat-suns-rays_1856.pdf">https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a2614102278e77e59a04f26/t/5aa1c3cf419202b500c3b388/1520550865302/foote_circumstances-affecting-heat-suns-rays_1856.pdf</a>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
[The news archive - looking back]<br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming
August 5, 1996</b></font><br>
<br>
August 5, 1996: The New York Times profiles climate scientist Ben
Santer, who had just become the target of a lavishly-financed
defamation campaign by the fossil fuel industry. <br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/120197believe.html">http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/120197believe.html</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<p>/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------/</p>
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