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<font size="+2"><i><b>December 23, 2022</b></i></font><br>
<br>
<i>[ OK, here's some YouTube comedy jokes about global warming -
rare subject ] </i><br>
<b>7 Minutes of Climate Change Jokes | Netflix Is A Joke</b><br>
Oct 14, 2022<br>
Can climate change be funny? Turns out, it can be hilarious. Watch
these comedians tackle a tough subject while inspiring us to act.
Marc Maron, Jack Whitehall, Joel Kim Booster, Jen Kirkman, Judah
Friedlander and Wanda Sykes's specials are now streaming on Netflix.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAXfqOHcnMc">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAXfqOHcnMc</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<i>[ VOX gives some positive spin ]</i><br>
<b>7 reasons our planet might not be doomed after all</b><br>
Surprise! This environmental story is actually not depressing.<br>
By Benji Jones@BenjiSJones Updated Dec 20, 2022...<br>
<br>
Scientists estimate that around 1 million species are at risk of
extinction, some within decades, and populations of major animal
groups, including birds and fish, have declined on average by nearly
70 percent in the last half-century. A new study, appearing in the
journal Science Advances, found through modeling that the planet
could lose as much as 10 percent of its plant and animal species by
2050.<br>
<br>
But while it’s hard to ignore the warning signs, there are plenty of
reasons to still have hope for our planet’s future — starting with
what happened at COP15. In Montreal, I asked roughly a dozen
experts, from Western scientists to Indigenous leaders, about what’s
inspiring them...<br>
- -<br>
<b>1) People are finally talking about biodiversity</b><br>
The term “biodiversity” isn’t perfect. And like much of the jargon
in the environmental movement, it tries to encapsulate too much — in
this case, the world’s species, the ecosystems they’re a part of,
and the diversity of genetic material they contain.<br>
<br>
But more and more, people are talking about this word, and that’s a
good thing in itself, said Masha Kalinina, a senior officer for
international conservation at the Pew Charitable Trusts. “The fact
that we’re having a conversation about the environment as a whole,
and not just climate, is a huge success story,” she said...<br>
- -<br>
<b>2) There’s more recognition that what’s good for wildlife is good
for us</b><br>
It can be hard to convince everyone to care about animals like
birds, said Amanda Rodewald, senior director of the Center for Avian
Population Studies at Cornell’s Laboratory of Ornithology. If that
was her objective, she “would not feel particularly optimistic,” she
told me. “However, when we look at what needs to be done for birds,
it’s the same things we need to be doing for human health and
well-being,” she said.<br>
<br>
Restoring wetlands in coastal New York, for example, benefits the
threatened saltmarsh sparrow, but it can also minimize the damage to
homes and buildings during storms, Rodewald said. Regrowing coral
reefs around Miami and the Florida Keys can also protect beach-side
towns from severe hurricane impacts. Meanwhile, many scientists
point out that protecting forests reduces the risk that zoonotic
diseases will spill over into human populations...<br>
- -<br>
“Our well-being has always been aligned with conservation,” Rodewald
said...<br>
- -<br>
<b>3) There are more tools than ever to track plants and animals</b><br>
The primary goal of COP15 was to get countries that are party to the
Convention on Biological Diversity, a UN treaty, to agree to more
than 20 environmental targets. But even if they do, they then have
to measure success or failure...<br>
- -<br>
<b>4) Many species and ecosystems are actually recovering</b><br>
Most major wildlife stories of the last decade were about animals in
decline — 23 species declared extinct in the US, one-fifth of
reptiles under threat, big boats killing whale sharks — but there
are a number of species that are starting to recover, according to
Caleb McClennen, president of the nonprofit group Rare.<br>
<br>
“There are some species that have been declining our whole lifetime
and we’re finally hearing that these populations are beginning to
come back,” he told me...<br>
- -<br>
<b>5) Financial institutes are paying attention — and understanding
that declining ecosystems hurt their investments</b><br>
Roughly half of the world’s total economic output is dependent on
ecosystems and wildlife in some way, according to the World Economic
Forum. Insects pollinate commercial crops, wetlands purify water,
and natural services like these help drive economic growth. So what
happens as nature declines?...<br>
- -<br>
<b>6) Indigenous people and local communities are finally getting
the spotlight</b><br>
A statistic that comes up over and over again at COP15 is that
Indigenous people protect 80 percent of the world’s remaining
biodiversity.<br>
<br>
It’s a stunning data point that underpins a major shift in the
environmental movement. Historically, some Indigenous groups were
kicked off of their land by environmentalists who saw nature as a
pristine wilderness, absent of human life. Now, however, most
environmental advocates acknowledge that Indigenous groups are often
the best conservationists — and that nature and people can
coexist...<br>
- -<br>
<b>7) More than 190 countries agreed on a landmark deal to help save
nature</b><br>
But perhaps the largest reason for hope is that, in the final days
of the COP15 conference, more than 190 countries adopted a global
deal to halt the decline of species and ecosystems. It commits them
to 23 targets including 30 by 30, a goal to conserve at least 30
percent of the world’s land and oceans within the decade.<br>
The deal, known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity
Framework, also commits rich countries to pay developing nations $30
billion a year by 2030 for conservation — a tripling of existing
aid. The funding pledge is part of a broader financing commitment of
$200 billion a year by 2030...<br>
- -<br>
(You can learn more about the landmark deal
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2022/12/19/23515099/cop15-montreal-biodiversity-climate">https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2022/12/19/23515099/cop15-montreal-biodiversity-climate</a>.)<br>
- -<br>
The agreement is not legally binding like the Paris climate accord
(which seeks to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius). It
also leaves out a handful of numeric targets that environmental
advocates say are essential for stemming the unprecedented rates of
extinction. Yet the deal is still historic, according to Brian
O’Donnell, director of the research and advocacy group Campaign for
Nature.<br>
<br>
“I am still kind of taking this all in,” O’Donnell, a key force
behind the 30 by 30 pledge, told me in Montreal right after the
agreement was adopted. “It seemed impossible just a couple of years
ago — and now we have a global agreement<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/23511348/cop15-montreal-biodiversity-experts-hope-environment">https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/23511348/cop15-montreal-biodiversity-experts-hope-environment</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<i><br>
</i><i> [ The US may have the most effective opinion manipulation
and persuasion industries ]</i><br>
<b>Sowing Doubt: How Big Ag is Delaying Sustainable Farming in
Europe</b><br>
New analysis sheds light on key industry lobbying tactics at a
decisive moment for the future of agriculture.<br>
ANALYSIS<br>
By Clare Carlileon Dec 21, 2022 <br>
In the spring of 2020, the European Union announced an ambitious
plan to overhaul farming practices in fields and valleys across the
continent. Named Farm to Fork, it calls for less fertiliser and
pesticide use, and more organic production.<br>
<br>
Veteran sustainable food and farming experts welcomed the strategy
as one that just might have a genuine shot at transforming the
agriculture sector and result in better public health, contribute to
ending the vertiginous decline of biodiversity, and lower greenhouse
gas pollution...<br>
<b>- -</b><b><br>
</b><b>A Liveable Future at Stake</b><br>
The battle over agrochemical regulation is not new. Pesticides and
fertilisers have transformed agriculture over the past 70 years, and
environmentalists have protested the ecological damages they cause
in step. <br>
<br>
But now Europe is poised to enact laws that would not only recognise
the harms of chemical-intensive agriculture, but also to ensure that
synthetic pesticide and fertiliser use is significantly reduced. The
targets are steep: to cut pesticides by 50 percent and fertilisers
by 20 percent by 2030. <br>
<br>
As the Farm to Fork strategy begins to crystallise into law,
campaigners believe that the agrochemical and other farm-related
industries are increasingly desperate to control the conversation
before European farming is irreversibly redefined. ..<br>
- -<br>
<b>A Liveable Future at Stake</b><br>
The battle over agrochemical regulation is not new. Pesticides and
fertilisers have transformed agriculture over the past 70 years, and
environmentalists have protested the ecological damages they cause
in step. <br>
<br>
But now Europe is poised to enact laws that would not only recognise
the harms of chemical-intensive agriculture, but also to ensure that
synthetic pesticide and fertiliser use is significantly reduced. The
targets are steep: to cut pesticides by 50 percent and fertilisers
by 20 percent by 2030. <br>
<br>
As the Farm to Fork strategy begins to crystallise into law,
campaigners believe that the agrochemical and other farm-related
industries are increasingly desperate to control the conversation
before European farming is irreversibly redefined. ...<br>
- -<br>
A full data set of the evidence behind this table is available on
request from DeSmog. It can also be viewed in DeSmog’s Agribusiness
database, which includes profiles of all the above listed companies.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/DuWFWDxkkyqFylRyz7hLD3YNeUJBQjVB292oWPGpTGARwcnpFG7og7E0-ALz9Jnxagrb0TJXb5KjxNY7ImhLz36xS0W2uniHFOt0Tu4OlHT1XJ5ksTsr3zd4xlbBkVVJJ_8-e5VSa-J0FRHDdRfQvhtcaWxHMfenQWlrcQWEUTw9k3TlYrQjvKrCiiihmQ">https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/DuWFWDxkkyqFylRyz7hLD3YNeUJBQjVB292oWPGpTGARwcnpFG7og7E0-ALz9Jnxagrb0TJXb5KjxNY7ImhLz36xS0W2uniHFOt0Tu4OlHT1XJ5ksTsr3zd4xlbBkVVJJ_8-e5VSa-J0FRHDdRfQvhtcaWxHMfenQWlrcQWEUTw9k3TlYrQjvKrCiiihmQ</a><br>
- -<br>
The four largest pesticide firms employed over 40 lobbyists last
year. Companies also use their vast resources to employ multiple
“lobby outfits”, Nina Holland from Corporate Europe Observatory told
DeSmog. <br>
<br>
One of these is public relations firm Hume Brophy, which previously
lobbied for Peabody Energy – a coal company linked to climate
science denial – and the World Coal Association. Hume Brophy has
lobbied on various elements of the green farming strategy for
clients that include Bayer and Euroseeds. <br>
<br>
Members of the industry also club together through trade bodies and
associations. Groups like CropLife Europe, Fertilizers Europe,
Euroseeds, and Cefic enjoy significant clout in EU spaces, and are
regularly invited to speak at major conferences and provide their
expertise as part of advisory groups that guide the commission on
everything from fertiliser products to its soil strategy for 2030. <br>
<br>
US academic Jacquet told DeSmog that arms-length trade bodies help
companies create multiple and contradictory narratives – allowing
them to support green reforms, while simultaneously opposing action.
“The companies say ‘we are pro-science, we are pro-policy, we are
pro-public health’, but then they fund the trade groups to do the
dirty work,” she said. <br>
<br>
With just a handful of the same companies dominating the seed,
fertiliser and pesticide sectors, the membership of these trade
bodies overlap. That means that the preferred messages of a few
companies are heard many times over in a decision making process.
For example, members of advisory bodies that assist the European
Commission to draft and implement legislation – called “Expert
Groups” – sometimes represent a much smaller range of voices than it
appears.<br>
<br>
Earlier this month, DeSmog revealed that 80 percent of the members
and observers of the “Expert Group on the European Food Security
Crisis Preparedness and Response Mechanism” – a multi-stakeholder
group convened by the European Commission – were from industry. Four
of the trade associations in this group represent BASF, three
represent Bayer, and two represent Syngenta and Corteva. Members of
the Expert Group have repeatedly advocated for “slower”
implementation of the EU’s green farming plans during advisory
meetings. <br>
<br>
Trade associations like CropLife Europe and Euroseeds have
affiliates in countries across the world. When the interests of
their members are threatened, they have ready-made local alliances
ready to speak up on their behalf. So while 89 business associations
from across Europe responded to the EU’s September consultation on
the new pesticide laws, one in every eight groups represented Bayer.
<br>
<br>
When not speaking to decision-makers directly, these industry groups
have access to an array of different platforms to get their message
out in the press, on social media and at high-profile events.<br>
<br>
CropLife Europe pays for sponsored op-eds in the Brussels press;
Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta and Yara secured speaking slots alongside
European officials as sponsors of major events such as Politico’s
2022 Future of Farming Summit last September. And social media
channels are a useful platform to spread ideas for lobby groups such
as Euroseeds, which shared a Facebook post in January 2022 that
stated Farm to Fork would lead to an extra 3.6 billion tons of
greenhouse gas emissions before 2040.<br>
<br>
<b>‘Deadlock’ for Green Farming Reforms </b><br>
With green reforms moving at a snail’s pace, industry arguments seem
to be finding their mark.<br>
<br>
The EU has already twice delayed key elements of its green farming
plans following industry demands.<br>
<br>
The European Commission has just complied with calls by 20 member
states for new pesticide laws to be reassessed – a demand repeatedly
made by industry since the new targets were first announced in 2020.
<br>
<br>
This has effectively stalled negotiations over pesticide-reduction
targets for individual member states until further notice.<br>
<br>
“The number one call industry makes is always for more research,”
said US academic Jacquet, who recognizes this as a tactic of Big
Oil. “It buys more time to prevent regulations”.<br>
<br>
EU countries are also making arguments against targets that are
startlingly similar to the industry’s five delay narratives, citing
concerns over the war in Ukraine, potential decreases in yields, and
referencing “widely shared concerns” about the bloc exporting its
pollution abroad.<br>
<br>
According to Tjerk Dalhuisen from campaign group Pesticide Action
Network Europe, not only the agrochemical regulations are at stake.
If they are jettisoned, he said, “it could derail” other legislation
in the EU’s sustainable farming plans. <br>
<br>
Delays in implementing green laws can be as valuable to industry as
all-out opposition. Many green campaigners and politicians fear that
if the sustainable farming measures are stalled beyond the election
of the new European Commission in 2024, they may be forgotten
entirely. <br>
<br>
With pollinator numbers plummeting and soil health in collapse,
experts say that major reforms are needed to ensure that the land
can produce enough food in the decades to come. <br>
<br>
Jacquet expressed confidence that Europe could still make these
reforms. “Industrial farming was once a whole new way of doing
things: we can reinvent ourselves again,” Jacquet told DeSmog. “I
worry only about the time.”<br>
<br>
<b>Additional research by Michaela Herrmann.</b><br>
<br>
DeSmog has published new profiles in its Agribusiness Database,
which inform this investigation. The entries, which collate company
and lobby groups’ positions on climate and biodiversity, include:
the Agri-Food Chain Coalition, the American Chamber of Commerce to
the EU, EuroChem, the European Carbon+ Farming Coalition, Euroseeds,
FNSEA, Hume Brophy, International fertiliser Association and
Wageningen University and Research.<br>
<br>
We have also updated our profiles on BASF, Bayer, COPA-COGECA,
Glyphosate Renewal Group, Syngenta and Yara.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.desmog.com/2022/12/21/sowing-doubt-how-big-ag-is-delaying-sustainable-farming-in-europe/">https://www.desmog.com/2022/12/21/sowing-doubt-how-big-ag-is-delaying-sustainable-farming-in-europe/</a><br>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<i>[The news archive - looking back]</i><br>
<font size="+2"><i><b>December 23, 2015</b></i></font> <br>
December 23, 2015:<br>
On MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports," Bill Nye discusses 2015's
record heat.<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.msnbc.com/andrea-mitchell-reports/watch/bill-nye-reveals-the-science-behind-warm-winter-weather-590808131544">http://www.msnbc.com/andrea-mitchell-reports/watch/bill-nye-reveals-the-science-behind-warm-winter-weather-590808131544</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<p>======================================= <br>
<b class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag">*Mass media is
lacking, many </span>daily summaries<span class="moz-txt-tag">
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--------------------------------------- <br>
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