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<font size="+2"><i><b>December 25, 2021</b></i></font><br>
<br>
<i>[ BBC on the disinformation battlegrounds ] </i><br>
<b>Climate change: Small army of volunteers keeping deniers off
Wikipedia</b><br>
By Marco Silva - Climate change disinformation specialist<br>
<br>
Wikipedia has for so long been plagued by climate change denial. But
a group of dedicated volunteers around the world is working
tirelessly to keep the deniers at bay...<br>
- -<br>
The point of Wikipedia is that anyone with an internet connection
can edit it. But that also makes it vulnerable to manipulation, and
those who deny the climate crisis know it.<br>
<br>
They've been waging an editing war to get their views across, and
subtlety is not always their forte.<br>
<br>
On one occasion, someone added a sentence wrongly suggesting climate
scientists worldwide are in the pocket of a secretive Communist
organisation.<br>
<br>
Another user peppered paragraphs with the word "alleged", wrongly
suggesting that basic climate science is far less settled than you
might think.<br>
<br>
And, in a rather mischievous twist, one time the entire text of an
article on climate change was turned into a hyperlink. Users
clicking on any of it would immediately be taken to an article about
hoaxes.<br>
<br>
Those kinds of stunts don't last long, though.<br>
<br>
"That might stay up for a few minutes or an hour or so," David says.
"But usually, one of the editors will spot it."...<br>
- -<br>
"Editors recognise all of the common climate denial myths, and most
editors have a good feeling for misinformation red flags, including
use of unreliable sources, of emotive words," she says.<br>
<br>
"The most satisfying editing for me is the removal of
misinformation."<br>
<br>
Femke is clinical in her debunking of bad science, and a stickler
for Wikipedia's rules.<br>
<br>
In October, a user tried to add a sentence to the climate change
article, wrongly suggesting that stopping the world from using
fossil fuels would make no difference to global warming. Femke
dismissed the edit, but not before explaining that such a statement
would have to be backed by reliable sources.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-59452614">https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-59452614</a><br>
<p>- -</p>
<i>[ BBC audio production of 8 different shows ]</i><br>
<b>The Denial Files</b><b><br>
</b><b>6. How bad information polluted the climate debate</b><br>
Released On: 27 Nov 2021 - Available for over a year<br>
Setting the record straight on some of the most common misleading
narratives and tactics to explore what future climate change
battlegrounds might look like. We look at how fossil fuel interest
groups use division as a distraction: either stoking fear that
action to tackle climate change will hurt the poor, or attacking the
messengers who raise the alarm. And we take you back to the start of
2021, when blackouts in Texas which killed hundreds were
misleadingly blamed on wind turbines. The idea that renewables, like
solar or wind power, are dangerously unreliable has been a common
theme. What’s the truth behind the claim? And how does bad
information surface after extreme weather events and times of
climate crisis?<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct2yqp">https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct2yqp</a><br>
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<p><br>
</p>
<i>[ Regardless whether you see it alone or see it in a group -- be
sure to eat food after viewing ]</i><br>
<b>Don’t Look Up is a hellishly unfunny ride through The Discourse</b><br>
Even wildly talented actors can’t save a movie that repeats
arguments we have every day<br>
By Joshua Rivera Dec 23, 2021<br>
There’s dark credibility to Don’t Look Up, director Adam McKay’s
gallows humor Netflix comedy about the end of the world. In it,
scientists discover that a planet-killing comet is heading directly
for Earth, and our window for averting extinction is incredibly
narrow. When this urgent news is brought to the United States
government, the response is one that is extremely plausible: doing
nothing.<br>
<br>
This isn’t so much a profound insight as a reasonable conclusion
drawn from current events. Recurring gun violence, civil rights
crises, or the ongoing pandemic response are all proof positive for
a political reality defined by inaction, where needles only move
when lawmakers’ careers — or private sector profits — are at stake.
Don’t Look Up has little to offer beyond this, and even fewer
laughs...<br>
- -<br>
Don’t Look Up doesn’t have as clear of a target, so instead it
swings at everyone. Its worst parts are when it stops to show people
on their phones. They tweet inanity, they participate in dumb viral
challenges, they tune into propaganda and formulate conspiracy
theory. At no point does Don’t Look Up’s script demonstrate an
interest in why these people do these things, or what causes these
online phenomena. Despite this being a central aspect of his story,
McKay doesn’t seem to think it worthy of consideration. There’s a
word for that: contempt. <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.polygon.com/reviews/22850873/dont-look-up-netflix-review">https://www.polygon.com/reviews/22850873/dont-look-up-netflix-review</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<i>[ Alternate motivations ] <br>
</i><b>Manchin’s strategy isn’t climate denial — it’s craftier</b><br>
By Chelsea Harvey | 12/23/2021<br>
- -It’s not a unique position. Acknowledging the problem of climate
change, while simultaneously advocating for the continued burning of
fossil fuels, is a common stance among lawmakers, industry groups
and corporations alike.<br>
<br>
Some scientists have begun to refer to it as the “new climate
denial.”<br>
<br>
“We see the classic ‘delayist’ tropes here,” said Pennsylvania State
University climate scientist Michael Mann in an email. Mann has
described the push to delay climate action as a new brand of denial
in his recent book, “The New Climate War,” and in recent interviews
and op-eds.<br>
<br>
Arguments like Manchin’s “have a veneer of credibility but quickly
collapse upon scrutiny,” he says.<br>
<br>
Other experts also note that outright climate denial — challenging
the existence, causes or impacts of climate change — is quickly
shrinking from the public discourse. Other tactics aimed at
protecting the fossil fuel industry are taking its place.<br>
<br>
“Fossil fuel companies — and politicians who need the support of
Democratic, Independent, and moderate Republican voters — have
realized delay is a safer and more effective strategy than climate
denial in the court of public opinion,” said Ed Maibach, director of
George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication,
in an email.<br>
<br>
Manchin, he added, “is both a fossil fuel company owner and a
politician who needs support of Democratic, Independent and moderate
Republican voters. His delay tactics are an attempt to have his cake
and eat it too.”...<br>
- -<br>
The effects of climate change on the grid have become increasingly
stark in recent years. Manchin referenced recent blackouts in
California and Texas as a cautionary tale — yet these disasters are
a direct testament to the risks of climate change.----<br>
Manchin: National debt a bigger threat than climate change<br>
In reality, climate change is a major national security concern. And
it’s costing the U.S. more and more money over time...<br>
- -<br>
According to NOAA, the number of “billion-dollar” weather disasters
— disasters causing at least $1 billion in damages — is increasing
over time. Between 1980 and 2000, the average was just 3.7
billion-dollar disasters each year. Between 2000 and 2019, that
average more than doubled to about 8.5 events.<br>
<br>
As of October, 18 billion-dollar disasters had occurred in the U.S.
this year alone. They’ve cost the country more than $2 trillion.<br>
<br>
Countless scientific studies indicate that extreme weather events
are already worsening as the climate warms, and that they’ll
continue to grow more severe in the future.<br>
<br>
Meanwhile, experts say that climate change is a growing national
security threat. An October report from the Pentagon concluded that
climate change has “significant implications for U.S. national
security and defense.”<br>
<br>
“Increasing temperatures; changing precipitation patterns; and more
frequent, intense, and unpredictable extreme weather conditions
caused by climate change are exacerbating existing risks and
creating new security challenges for U.S. interests,” the report
found.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/manchins-strategy-isnt-climate-denial-its-craftier/">https://www.eenews..net/articles/manchins-strategy-isnt-climate-denial-its-craftier/</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
<i>[ FEWS Net is Famine Early Warning Systems Network ] </i><br>
Global Weather Hazards<br>
<b>Below-average rainfall continues to exacerbate dry conditions in
southeast Africa</b><br>
December 23, 2021<br>
Download -
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://fews.net/sites/default/files/documents/reports/Global-Weather-Hazards-2021.12.24..pdf">https://fews.net/sites/default/files/documents/reports/Global-Weather-Hazards-2021.12.24..pdf</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://fews.net/global/global-weather-hazards/december-23-2021">https://fews.net/global/global-weather-hazards/december-23-2021</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
<i>[ New Mexico more drought ] <br>
</i><b>Forecasters: New Mexico should brace for worsening drought</b><br>
The last three months have been very dry in New Mexico and it’s
going to get worse<br>
By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press<br>
December 23, 2021,<br>
Stream flows? Soil moisture levels? Mangham said it's the same story
and it doesn't look good heading into the next year.<br>
<br>
“Everything is just getting drier," he repeated.<br>
- -<br>
“It's very seldom you go and not get hardly any measurable
precipitation this time of year so it’s very concerning,” he said.
“It’s possibly devastating and it sure has everyone’s attention.”<br>
<br>
For Copeland, who serves as a regional vice president with the New
Mexico Cattle Growers Association, doing more with less is a key
part of the equation that has helped to keep the family ranch
humming for four generations.<br>
<br>
“It's part of the evolution,” he said. “... So being able to pass
this along to the children and grandchildren and sustain our
operation as we’ve done for so long is extremely important to us.”<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/forecasters-mexico-brace-worsening-drought-81917300">https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/forecasters-mexico-brace-worsening-drought-81917300</a><br>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
<i>[ Whaaatt??? -- Not very smart ]</i><br>
<b>How the Building Industry Blocked Better Tornado Safeguards</b><br>
Engineers know how to protect people from tornadoes like the ones
that recently devastated parts of Kentucky, but builders have headed
off efforts to toughen standards...<br>
- -<br>
Building codes are a state responsibility in the United States. And,
rather than each state devising its own building codes from scratch,
the International Code Council issues a series of model codes for
residential and commercial building, plumbing, electrical and even
wildfire safety. States can then adopt those codes, modifying as
needed...<br>
- -<br>
“I’m concerned that this is just not the fix,” said Jonathan Humble,
a director of construction codes and standards at the American Iron
and Steel Institute...<br>
- -<br>
“There’s a lot of building codes in this country that are based on
hope: We just hope it won’t be that bad,” Mr. Fugate said. “And
people die.”...<br>
- -<br>
Evidence suggests that tornado-resistant building standards don’t
add significantly to the cost of a home. After a tornado devastated
Moore, Okla., in 2013, the city imposed new regulations to reduce
damage from future tornadoes. Those changes added about $3,000 to
the cost of a new home, according to Elizabeth Weitman, the city’s
community development director.<br>
<br>
“It is well worth the money,” Ms. Weitman said.<br>
<br>
Even so, the American Society of Civil Engineering decided to be
cautious. When its new tornado standards were released on Dec. 1,
they applied only to a narrow group of buildings, such as hospitals,
fire stations and police stations.<br>
<br>
They don’t include apartment buildings, warehouses, most
manufacturing plants or houses. Mr. Scott said he hoped that would
happen eventually.<br>
<br>
“It’s a political issue more than anything else,” Mr. Scott said.
“Many different organizations within the building code do not want
to increase the cost of a home.”<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/22/climate/tornadoes-building-codes-safety.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/22/climate/tornadoes-building-codes-safety.html</a><br>
<p><br>
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<p><br>
</p>
<i>[The news archive - looking back]</i><br>
<font size="+1"><b>On this day in the history of global warming
December 25, 2014</b></font><br>
December 25, 2014: The New York Times reports:<br>
<blockquote>"A plunge in oil prices has sent tremors through the
global political and economic order, setting off an abrupt shift
in fortunes that has bolstered the interests of the United States
and pushed several big oil-exporting nations — particularly those
hostile to the West, like Russia, Iran and Venezuela — to the
brink of financial crisis.<br>
<br>
"The nearly 50 percent decline in oil prices since June has had
the most conspicuous impact on the Russian economy and President
Vladimir V. Putin. The former finance minister Aleksei L. Kudrin,
a longtime friend of Mr. Putin’s, warned this week of a
'full-blown economic crisis' and called for better relations with
Europe and the United States."<br>
</blockquote>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/25/world/europe/oils-swift-fall-raises-fortunes-of-us-abroad.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/25/world/europe/oils-swift-fall-raises-fortunes-of-us-abroad.html</a><br>
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