Contrary to this request, the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine reported in October 1999,
December 20, 2000
"Handheld
cellular telephone use not associated with risk of brain cancer"
- "CHICAGO -- The use of handheld cellular telephones does not appear to
be associated with the risk of brain cancer, but further studies are needed to
account for longer induction periods, especially for slow-growing tumors,
according to an article in the December 20 issue of The Journal of the
American Medical Association (JAMA)." (AHF)
"Landmark
school-based 'social influences' smoking-prevention program found not to
work" - "SEATTLE - The most ambitious, school-based
smoking-prevention study of its kind has found that teaching youth how to
identify and resist social influences to smoke - the main focus of
smoking-prevention education and research for more than two decades - simply
doesn't work." (FHCRC) [Failure
of anti-smoking plan leaves researchers baffled (AP)]
"Drinking
and smoking views under fire" - "MOST Australians believe
regular consumption of alcohol and tobacco smoking is okay, while few approve
of regular illicit drug taking, a new study has found. An Australian Institute
of Health and Welfare report says 60 per cent of adults approve of regular
drinking of alcohol, and about 40 per cent approve of regular tobacco
smoking." (news.com.au)
"Scientists
sceptical of Phillips’ BSE theories" - "SCIENTISTS
at Moredun animal diseases research centre yesterday rejected, some more
robustly than others, the Phillips’ inquiry conclusion that BSE was the
result of a prion protein mutation in cattle in the 1970s." (The
Scotsman) [Mad
About Sheep (New Scientist)]
"Voodoo
medicine lives!" - "Just a few days ago, Dr. Patricia
Marchuk saw a new mother who had brought in her three-month-old baby for a
routine checkup. The baby was already late for her first set of shots.
"I'm not going to give them to her," proclaimed the mom. "I'm
terrified of them." She had it on good authority that immunizations are
dangerous, and can cause crib death, allergies, asthma, even autism and
juvenile delinquency." (GAM)
"The
myth-buster" - "A Seattle comedian, mocking a rival
station's alarmist consumer reports, made up a typical headline: "What
you don't know about gravy can kill you." This got a big laugh,
but the (unintentionally) funny thing is that many in his audience were
probably thinking: "Gravy, huh?" Ever since the World Health
Organization announced in the 1970s that most cancers were due to
environmental causes, everything in our environment has been seen as a
threat." (REPORT)
"Don't
shoot the analysts" - "Maybe it's the holiday season, but we
seem to be fielding an inordinate quantity of off-the-wall material. Over the
weekend, for example, the vice-president of research at the University of
Waterloo, lamenting an alleged shortage of basic research in Canada, came up
with the darndest warning: "We could simply run out of ideas."
(Terence Corcoran, National Post)
Paul Ehrlich - still wrong: "The
bomb's still ticking" - "Paul Ehrlich wants to know whether
anyone has brought sawdust to soak up the blood that might be spilt this sunny
afternoon in Richmond at the biennial conference of the Australian Population
Association. The Stanford University professor, who more than 30 years ago was
shot to Nostradamus-like prominence when he predicted everything but the end
of the world - ''The battle to feed all of humanity is over . . . hundreds of
millions of people are going to starve to death,'' he boomed in his famous
tome, The Population Bomb - is about to tell a bunch of the Australian
demographers that their country, indeed their planet, is well on the way to
environmental, ecological, terrestrial, epidemiological ruin." (The Age)
"One-Child
Policy Doesn't Stop China's Population Growth" - "According
to the Associated Press, China hopes to cap its population at 1.6 billion by
mid-century by persuading women to have fewer children and bear them later in
life, a government policy paper said Tuesday. China's one-child policy has
already slowed growth of the population, currently the world's largest at 1.26
billion and growing by 10 million a year, according to the paper. "If we
relax our work in this regard, it is highly possible that this work will be
undone," said Zhang Weiqing, director of the State Family Planning
Commission. In "Defusing
the Population Bomb," Stephen Moore shows how an increased population
has not led to the doomsday scenarios predicted in the 60's and 70's and how
quality of life is continually improving." (Cato Institute)
"Survey
finds Indian fertility rate declining" - "MUMBAI: In what
would sound music to family planning officials in a year when the population
crossed the one billion mark in May, the latest national family health survey
says fertility rate among Indians is declining." (Times of India)
"World
Use Of Genetically Modified Crops Up 11% In 2000" -
"MANILA-- The total global area tilled with genetically modified crops
hit 44.2 million hectares in 2000, up 11% from 39.9 million hectares in 1999,
the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications
said Tuesday. The ISAA is an independent international agency that monitors
the global use of biotech crops." (DJN)
"US
exports not hurt by StarLink incidents-embassies" -
"WASHINGTON, Dec 19 - Japanese and South Korean diplomats said on Tuesday
the discovery of StarLink bio-corn in cargoes destined for their countries`
food and animal feed supply would not impact future U.S. corn exports. Two
separate U.S. corn shipments destined for Japan`s food supply and South
Korea`s animal feed industry were found on Tuesday to be tainted with the
genetically-altered StarLink corn." (Reuters)
"Tests
to block blight of GE seed imports" - "Border checks will be
in place by March to test for genetically engineered material in imported seed
shipments. Until now there has been no compulsory testing of imported seeds
for GE contamination. The New Zealand move comes at a time when there are no
international standards for quality assurance or border tests." (NZ
Herald)
"BIO:
U.S./EU Biotech Report Contains Positive Consensus" -
"This morning, the EU/U.S. Biotech Consultative Forum report on
biotechnology was released. In the report, biotech experts said the U.S.
government should tighten control of biotech crops and food by establishing
“content-based’ labeling." (AgWeb.com)
"EU
says GMO "ban" to stay until at least mid-2001" -
"BRUSSELS - The European Union will not lift an effective ban on new
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) until well into next year at the
earliest, Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom said on Tuesday."
(Reuters)
"European
Perception of Biotech Foods Skewed by 15 Years of Food and Medical Technology
Scares" - "There's a new French paradox when it comes to
dining today, but it is not related to wine consumption. Though a product of
biotechnology, wine pales by comparison to the products of modern
biotechnology in terms of paradoxical views on behalf of French and other
European consumers. Wine is also unequivocally accepted. Pierre Deloffre,
general manager of Bonduelle, a French fruit and vegetable product
manufacturer, discussed what he called "a confused and irrational
story" about biotech foods in Europe at the American Seed Trade
Association's (ASTA's) Corn & Sorghum Seed Research Conference in Chicago
on Dec. 8." (ASTA)
"U.N.
Agency: World Still Gripped by Warming Trend" - "GENEVA -
The warming trend that has gripped our climate for the past 20 years will make
2000 one of the hottest years since 1860, despite La Nina's cooling effect on
the tropical Pacific and other anomalies, the United Nations weather agency
said Tuesday." (Reuters) [AP]
One of myriad "It's really hot" releases
currently proliferating. Using a rather dubious near-surface daily
temperature amalgam, WMO is citing 2000 as being roughly +0.3°C above the
1961-1990 average. What does this mean? Here's
the long-term graph of the contiguous US meteorological station composite,
probably the best financed and most accurately maintained set in the world.
The zero line is the 1961-1990 average and the red worm track is the 5-year
running mean. Obviously, "the warming trend that has gripped our
climate for the past 20 years" assumes much less importance when you
can see that it is merely a recovery from the cooling subsequent to 1930
(always assuming that the warming is real and not an artefact of data
corruption). The Goddard/CRU
global temperature amalgam appears rather different from the US,
suggesting a pronounced contemporary warming. There is an increasing
divergence between surface amalgam sets and atmospheric temperatures
measured by balloon and satellite. The satellite-measured tropospheric
mean shows 2000 has been mostly cooler than the 1961-1990 mean.
Some of the coverage being given this release is quite
extraordinary. In The Guardian - "Extremes
included the first thunderstorm ever recorded on the northern tip of
Alaska..." Hmm... maybe but in the Journals
of Captain Franklin "... They reached the mouth of the
Mackenzie on 30 August in a violent gale with thunder, lightning and
torrents of rain." This was in 1826 and the mouth of the
Mackenzie is about the same latitude, roughly 20° east of Alaska's Point
Barrow - perhaps high latitude thunderstorms are not quite so novel after
all.
To return to the original lead, how can a warming
atmosphere warm the planet when the atmosphere is not warming? While it may
be ideologically desirable for some to insist that the atmosphere must
be warming because the surface amalgam proves warming is occurring,
this is an exercise in circular reasoning. Given that two diverse and
mutually verifying methods show that atmospheric warming is not actually
occurring as computer game oracles insist, the suspect must then become the
measurement technique which is out of step with the other two - especially
when it is known that this third technique is plagued by significant
interference from urban heat island effect, closure of rural recording
points, very limited sampling of the Earth's surface and quite extraordinary
variance in data quality. Has there been any net warming since the 1930s?
That seems very doubtful.
"VIRTUAL
CLIMATE ALERT #44" - "One month and four Virtual Climate
Alerts ago, we were dismayed that the National Climate Data Center’s by
now predictable annual announcement of "the hottest year on record"
(often made before a full year’s data is available) jumped the gun at
October’s end and proclaimed the first ten months of 2000 to be the
warmest since record-keeping began. It was projected that if the trend
continues, 2000 would become the hottest year on record. November’s data
is in. Were this an AAAU track meet, we’d see NCDC climatologists waddling
back to the starting line, blushing ear-to-ear at their over-eagerness.
Preliminary data from NCDC reveals November 2000 to be the second-coldest
November on record." (GES)
"UPS AND
DOWNS MARK YEAR IN WEATHER FOR 2000, NOAA SAYS FORECASTERS UPDATE WINTER
2000-01 OUTLOOK" - "December 19, 2000 — The year began
with a record warm winter, but 2000 is ending with a record cold winter and a
legacy of topsy-turvy weather events during the months in between, including a
deadly F-4 tornado in Alabama over the weekend. At a news conference today in
Washington, D. C., NOAA officials said the
recent blast of cold air that broke several records last week is a preview of
what the nation can expect for the rest of the winter. "Generally, while
we experienced above-average temperatures in 2000, colder-than-normal
temperatures emerged later, especially during November," said NOAA
Administrator D. James Baker, adding that November was the second coldest on
record." (NOAA)
Sigh... "Sahara
jumps Mediterranean into Europe" - "Global warming threatens
to create dust belt around the globe" (Guardian)
A few months ago, the same areas cited as drying were
the fault of excessive water diversion and groundwater extraction to
support huge numbers of Mediterranean tourist resorts in traditionally
desert or near-desert regions (valued for the purpose by virtue of their
consistently fine and warm weather conditions). Same 'problem' now seconded
to support the global warming scare.
"Sweden
makes climate deal top priority" - "BRUSSELS, Belgium --
Sweden is to make the signing of a global deal on greenhouse gas emissions a
priority during its presidency of the European Union." (CNN)
"Pew
report: Warming trend could wipe out familiar U.S. species" -
"Planetary climate warming induced by human activities will cause
ecological havoc in the United States, as plants and animals migrate in a
desperate search of new habitats where they can survive, according to a new
study." (CNN)
I was told the other day that PCGCC does not
stand for Pew Center for Generating Climate Claptrap - if the
hat fits...
"Man-made
fires can worsen drought in Africa" - "SAN FRANCISCO,
California -- Fires made by humans for cooking and other reasons in the
African tropics slow down rainfall and can contribute to drought on the
continent, according to a new report. Scientists studying the world's tropical
rainfall determined that a storm over a populated area in Africa may generate
only half the rain as the same kind of storm over the ocean. A main reason is
smoke pollution, according to lead scientist Daniel Rosenfeld, a professor of
meteorology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem." (CNN) [New
satellite-generated rain maps provide improved look at tropical rainfall
(NASA/GSFC)]
December 19, 2000
"Removal
of EPA Investigator Called Political Revenge" - "WASHINGTON,
DC, December 18, 2000 - A federal investigator whose revelations about the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were damaging to Al Gore's unsuccessful
bid for the White House was relieved of his duties last week by a political
appointee of the outgoing Clinton administration." (ENS)
"Beer,
in moderation, cuts risk of cataracts and heart disease" -
"HONOLULU, Dec. 17 - When you're planning for that Super Bowl party next
month, be sure to include a six-pack of your favorite antioxidants. That's
right, antioxidants! Turns out that beer - in moderation, of course - is
chock-full of healthy stuff that can reduce the risk of cataracts and heart
disease, according to research presented here today at the 2000 International
Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies." [Abstracts are available
by clicking here,
here,
and here.]
(ACS)
"Soya
'may reduce cancer risk'" - "Teenagers eating soya products
may help prevent them getting breast cancer in later life, say experts.
Hawaiian researchers have suggested a long-term diet rich in soya could reduce
risk by up to 50%." (BBC Online) [Click here
for abstract.]
"Can
Theology Of Environment Change Old Trends?" - "A book
entitled, Earth and Faith, published by UNEP details how the religious
approach to environmental conservation can save the already threatened six
thousand years of life on earth. The theology of environment; that is
environment on pulpits and shrines of worshiping is founded on the tenet that
man's spiritual assignment is to make sure that God's creation is not
interfered with, and must be respected." (ACIS)
Nothing new here - modern "environmentalism"
is purely a matter of faith (Gaia worship?) and has no foundation in science
or even simple common sense.
"'Vegan'
Iceman had a taste for wild goat" -
"NEOLITHIC man was a carnivore and not, as American scientists have
claimed, a vegan, according to a new study led by a British researcher."
(The Times)
Biofuel not a panacea? "Fuelwood
Accounts for 80 Percent of Energy Supply in DRC" - "Fuelwood
accounts for about 80 percent of domestic energy consumption in the Congo DR,
according to a senior official, who also condemned the poor management of
forests in the country. Addressing a press conference in Kinshasa at the
weekend to mark 25 years of the creation of the Environment Ministry,
Permanent Secretary Dosithe Hadelin Mbusu Ngamani, noted that coal accounted
for 10 percent of DRC's energy supply, hydro- electricity four percent, and
hydrocarbons, nine percent. He said the poor management of forest resources is
the root cause of environmental degradation in the country, where forests have
virtually disappeared around major cities." [Fuelwood
Depletes Zambia's Forests] (PANA)
"Science
declares rare species a bum steer" - "An elusive and
incredibly rare species of wild steer native to the mist-shrouded highlands of
Cambodia and Vietnam is likely to be taken off the list of endangered fauna -
never to return. The reason: the creature never existed at all." (AFP)
"Annan
Urges Commitment On Treaties" - "UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan, has urged the international community to give equal attention to all
Conventions negotiated or signed in relation to the 1992 "Earth
Summit," in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil." (PANA)
Certainly they are deserving of equal treatment - scrap
the lot for the sake of the planet and humanity.
"Dr.
Strangelunch" - Or: Why we should learn to stop worrying and
love genetically modified food "Ten thousand people were killed and 10 to
15 million left homeless when a cyclone slammed into India’s eastern coastal
state of Orissa in October 1999. In the aftermath, CARE and the Catholic
Relief Society distributed a high-nutrition mixture of corn and soy meal
provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development to thousands of
hungry storm victims. Oddly, this humanitarian act elicited cries of
outrage." (Ronald Bailey, Reason)
"Mad
Cow Reality Confronts Phony Biotech Scare" - "Have
Greenpeace protesters finally thrown up one barricade too many against
biotechnology and the benefits it offers? ... Instead of GM's dangers, though,
these activities offer a wake-up call about Greenpeace as a threat to health.
For the day after Greenpeace spread its phony fears about imports of GM
soybeans, the British science weekly Nature warned of something truly
frightening. The report, by epidemiologist Christi Donnelly of London's
Imperial College School of Medicine, found that as many as 9,800 French cattle
had become infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as
mad-cow disease. Worse, still, some of their meat has entered the human food
chain." (Duane D. Freese, TCS)
"Biotech
corn risk to butterflies appears minimal" - "WASHINGTON --
Life in genetically engineered corn fields may not be as dangerous to monarch
butterflies as once feared, say scientists who studied the insects this
summer. Pollen from the corn can be toxic to the butterflies, whose favorite
food, milkweed, grows in and around corn fields. But the research to be
published next year suggests the risk is low, the scientists say. The
federally subsidized research is the first comprehensive effort to determine
the impact of biotech corn on monarchs." (AP)
"Study
Validates Safety of Bt Crops" - "Yet another study
supports previous evidence that Bt (Bacillus thuringienisis) crops are just as
safe as conventional plant varieties, and because they provide protection
against insects, they also provide significant benefits. However, the study
was carried out by Monsanto, a seed company known for its Bt products. The
study appears in the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Regulatory Toxicology
and Pharmacology." (AgWeb.com)
"Pioneer
postpones 6 hybrids for 2001 that aren't cleared in EU" -
"Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., will postpone sales of six
Pioneer(R) brand corn hybrids that contain a combination of the YieldGard(1)
gene and LibertyLink(2) gene for the 2001 growing season. In a statement, the
firm says the move is to minimize confusion in the marketplace for its
customers." (Pro Farmer)
"Texas
Researchers Clone Calf for Disease Resistance" -
"Researchers at Texas A&M University (TAMU) have successfully cloned
a calf that may provide the genetics to develop disease-free cattle. The
month-old black Angus calf, which was named 86 Squared, was cloned using cells
that were frozen for 15 years. The cells came from Bull 86, which was
naturally resistant to brucellosis. In laboratory conditions, Bull 86 was also
resistant to tuberculosis and salmonellosis." (AgWeb.com)
"New
potato glows green to ask for water" - "LONDON, England --
Scientists have pioneered a genetically modified "super potato"
which glows when it needs water, the head of the project said on Monday.
Researchers at Edinburgh University injected potato plants with a fluorescence
gene borrowed from the luminous jellyfish aequorea victoria, which causes
their leaves to glow green when dehydrated." (Reuters) [AFP]
"French
drug maker faces $164m GM corn payout" - "Aventis SA,
France's largest drug maker, is facing a payout of 100 million euros ($A164
million) to cover costs relating to the recall of its StarLink strain of
genetically engineered corn. The 100-million-euro figure is "currently
the best estimate that we can provide," said Aventis chief financial
officer Patrick Langlois in a statement faxed to news agencies on the weekend.
The charge won't "alter the earnings outlook on a full-year basis."
(The Age)
"Protection
of crops given new approach" - "A FRESH approach to
crop protection technology was unveiled by one of the biggest multinationals
in the field yesterday. This is aimed at linking the demands of the end user -
processor, retailer or consumer - with the agronomic needs of the primary
producer. It will bring together specific crop treatments, including an
enhanced biological control approach, with highly customised seeds and in time
a strong biotechnology, or genetically modified, bias." (The Scotsman)
"The
Cartagena protocol on diversity" - "The first
intergovernmental meeting aiming to minimise the potential risks to the
environment and human health posed by biotechnology and its movement between
countries takes place this week in Montpellier, France." (The Guardian,
Dec 15)
"Govt to
promote biotech in farm, food sectors" - "NEW DELHI: The
government will soon take several steps to popularise the use of biotechnology
in the agriculture and food processing sectors. It will also establish ``more
functional biotechnology parks'' to trigger a revolution in biotech
industries, Union HRD and science minister Murli Manohar Joshi said on
Monday." (Times of India)
"Panel
Wants Tighter Biotech Control" - "WASHINGTON - A committee
formed by the United States and the European Union recommended tighter
controls Monday on genetically engineered foods, including mandatory labeling
of products with biotech ingredients." [US,
Japan To Test for Biotech Corn] (AP) [Panel
Backs Stronger Rules for Some Food (NY Times)]
"Effect
of Climate on Ancient Societies Debated" - "Radical climate
change might ravage civilization -- but it won't be the first time, scientists
say. The world is littered with the weedy ruins of ancient societies like the
Mayans -- peoples that once thrived, then collapsed because they failed to
endure sudden climate shifts, researchers said yesterday at the conference of
the American Geophysical Union." (San Francisco Chronicle)
"Scientific
ignorance blinds leaders to global warming say panel" - "A
panel of scientists says the world's leaders suffer from scientific
illiteracy, which makes them blind to increasing evidence of global warming. A
professor of meteorology at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San
Diego, California, Richard Somerville, says this ignorance is routinely seen
at various conferences investigating recent worldwide climate changes."
(Radio Australia)
Double-edged sword - if not for scientific illiteracy
there wouldn't be an enhanced greenhouse scare to begin with and there'd be
no UNFCCC or IPCC either. This whole farce is enabled only because
politicians don't know that climate change is the normal state of the world
- climate stasis would be most alarming by introduction of a new and
abnormal state.
Sensibly: "U.S.
rejects fresh climate talks" - "BRUSSELS,
Belgium -- Hopes of restarting international talks aimed at reaching
agreement on greenhouse gas emissions have been dashed after the United States
rejected a new meeting with European leaders. EU environment ministers had
hoped to resume the talks -- which broke down last month in The Hague -- later
this week, but a French government spokeswoman said on Monday that the U.S.
had turned down an invitation to attend. The so-called "U.S. umbrella
group," consisting of Canada, Australia, Japan and New Zealand, also
rejected the invitation to travel to Oslo, Norway for the talks." (CNN) [EU
Says U.S. Rejects Oslo Meeting on Climate Change; U.S.
declines new climate talks with Europe (Reuters)] [EU
fails in bid to broker climate deal (Guardian)] [Last
chance for an emissions deal before Mr Bush steps in; Americans
dash hopes of climate change deal (Independent)] [US
'spurns' global warming talks (BBC Online)] [Hopes
fade of climate talks deal (Financial times)] [Climate
talks 'are over until Bush arrives' (Telegraph)]
Even if there were any merit in the enhanced
greenhouse hypothesis, it is absolutely scandalous to contemplate such an
elitist clique meeting without the developing world's participation. Then
there's the little matter of how utterly pointless it would be without China
and India, who will shortly be the world's most prolific emitters of the
gases supposedly of concern.
"A
November to Remember" - "Cultural historians will remember
November 2000 for its 30 days of cable Tee-Vee talking heads reporting on a
Presidential election, 24 hours per day, with the caption "Breaking
News—Florida still too close to call" running for 30,000 hours
straight. That news story broke about as quickly as "Act Now—Global
Warming on It's Way!" The blessing in disguise is that, thus distracted,
the U.S. media completely and almost unilaterally ignored the global warming
treaty negotiations in the Hague. So let us fill you in. At the meeting, the
same folks who have been chanting, "Save the Planet, Plant a Tree"
for 30 years suddenly started sounding remarkably like strip-mall developers.
The United States proposed that we eat up a bunch of our emissions by planting
trees and the greens said no, thank you." (GES)
"Robot
sub to find secrets of Antarctic krill" - "... Krill are
small, shrimp-like creatures that graze the underside of sea ice. 'They are
crucial to all wildlife in the southern oceans,' said Brierley, of the British
Antarctic Survey. 'Krill eat a form of algae called phytoplankton, and in turn
are eaten by everything else - fish, seals, polar bears. If krill die out, so
would all these creatures.' Researchers have recently discovered that krill
thrive in climatic extremes. When winters are severe and sea ice is thickest,
then the crustaceans do well. In warm, iceless periods, they decline. ... 'It
is crucial that we find out exactly what is going on, however - for if global
warming continues, and sea-ice shrinks as we expect, then the world's krill
could die out, taking out all creatures that feed on them.'" (The
Guardian)
Quite apart from the simple fact that there has been a
net increase in Antarctic sea ice area since the 1950s (which is as long as
we have been observing it), current evidence indicates that Antarctic
denizens prosper in milder Antarctic seasons. For example, in
February, AAP echoed this AFP bulletin: Fine weather and abundant food
have led to a penguin "baby boom" near Japan's Showa Antarctic
expedition base, Japanese researchers said today. The number of Adelie
penguin chicks which left a nesting area some 25 kilometers south of Showa
Base this season jumped 40 percent from a year earlier to 215, according to
a Japanese pool press report from the base. ... "Fine weather has
prevailed this season and ice did not close up holes through which food is
caught," said Yutaka Watanuki, associate professor at Hokkaido
University. Watanuki has led the one-and-a-half-month research of penguin
population growth. He said that krill, tiny planktonic crustaceans, which
are the main source of food for penguins, had been abundant this nesting
season. ... Record growth was registered in the 1997-1998 nesting season [during
the period of extraordinary El Niño-induced warmth] when 356 chicks
left their nests as strong winds pushed ice away from the sea around the
nesting site, enabling the parents to catch food in a short time. ... In the
1998-1999 season, bad weather covered the sea with thick ice, and many
chicks starved to death as their parents were forced to travel long
distances in search for food.
"Cats
and Dogs, Models and Reality"
- "We don’t know how to explain this, but it seems there are an awful
lot of universal polarities. Cats and dogs do not get along. Neither do
Republicans and Democrats. Nor, most of the time (it seems), do men and women.
Likewise for scientific modelers and data gatherers. Indeed, we have often
joked that the very creative people who design and tinker with general
circulation models (GCMs)—which form the basis for the Kyoto Protocol and
other major greenhouse concerns—seem to thrive in a data-free
environment." (GES)
"2000 IN
REVIEW: THE YEAR BEGAN WITH RECORD WARMTH IN THE U.S. AND ENDS WITH COLDER
THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES ACROSS MUCH OF THE COUNTRY" -
"Annual U.S. and Global Temperatures Remain Well above Average"
(NOAA)
Really? NOAA's own CPC provides this
map for November temperature departure from normal (latest available),
showing most of the US to be distinctly below normal, in fact the second coldest
since 1895. Their Sep-Nov
three-month average also seems to indicate mostly sub-normal
temperatures while the annual
mean departure map shows most of the US within about 1°F of long-term
mean (neither here nor there in terms of normal interannual climatic
variation). Tropospheric
mean temperature shows the world is actually a little on the cool side.
"Historic
records reveal links between El Niño, coastal erosion, and shifting sands of
beaches in central California" - "SAN FRANCISCO, CA--Erosion
of seacliffs, damage to coastal structures, and the comings and goings of
beach sand along California's central coast are all closely linked to the
intense winter storms associated with El Niño. Two new studies by researchers
at the University of California, Santa Cruz, reveal the connections between
this climatic heavy hitter and the processes that shape the coastline of
California." (UCSC) [The
Oregonian]
Couldn't resist the global warming-induced sea level
rise - despite IPCC-sponsored studies finding absolutely no supportive
evidence for such a contention. Sigh...
"West
Antarctic Ice Sheet may be a smaller source of current sea-level rise"
- "The West Antarctic Ice Sheet’s contribution to global sea-level rise
may be much slower today than it was in the past. New evidence indicates that
the size of the ice sheet thousands of years ago has been overestimated and
the ice sheet may not have been as big or as steady a source of sea-level rise
as scientists thought. ... "Our previous best estimates that the ice
sheet is adding 1 millimeter per year to global sea level are almost certainly
too high," says Bindschadler. ... "The portion of the West Antarctic
Ice Sheet we have focused on for the past ten years appears to be in stage of
near-zero retreat now," says Bindschadler, "but what it will do in
the future is still uncertain." (NASA/GSFC)
December 18, 2000
In the "Oh!" zone: "Study:
Despite efforts, ozone layer will take long time to heal"
-
"SAN FRANCISCO, California -- For decades we've been cutting out use of
aerosol cans and foam cups because the chemicals in them -- CFCs -- harm the
atmosphere. Now there's new science that says recovery of the ozone layer may
take not just several years, but perhaps half-a-century or more. In a study
presented this week at the American Geophysical Union conference in San
Francisco, scientists say they were stunned by findings that up to 70 percent
of the ozone layer over the North Pole has been lost." (CNN)
Hmm... I believe these results were derived from THESEO
2000 (NASA's cooperative effort going under the label "SOLVE"): THESEO 2000 (Third
European Stratospheric Experiment on Ozone) media
release. The release reads, in part "Ozone losses of over 60% have
occurred in the Arctic stratosphere near 18km altitude during one of the
coldest stratospheric winters on record. These losses are likely to affect
the ozone levels over Europe during spring. This is one of the most
substantial ozone losses at this altitude in the Arctic." Sounds
very dramatic doesn't it? Let's look at a little more of the release. Buried
further down, below the emphasised section, we find: "The effect on
column ozone was slightly mitigated by the fact that ozone loss was less
dramatic above 20 km altitude... The average polar column amount of ozone
for the first 2 weeks of March was 16% lower than observed in the
1980's." So, instead of Arctic ozone depletion of over 60%, as the
press has dutifully reported, for two weeks it was actually about 16%
"low" - the 60-70% 'loss' figure apparently applies to 'at 18km
altitude.' On the whole, not very exciting in the context of normal
variability. Check out the massive ozone levels in the Northern Hemisphere
compared with the Southern during this 'depletion event' - here's the global
total ozone maps, March
1; March
8 and; March
15 - the period eliciting such concern. Some two-thirds of total global
ozone seems to be in the Northern Temperate and Arctic zone during this
period. How's it compare with before and after views? Here's the February
8 and April
8 shots (there's nothing magical about the 8th, I just
arbitrarily chose that as the middle of the THESEO-mentioned 'first two
weeks' with a calendar month offset before and after). The near-complete archive of Earth Probe TOMS images since July 25, 1996
can be
accessed here.
So, is this 'depletion' definitely the result of
aerosol can propellents and refrigerant gases? Actually, theories abound -
try this one, if for no other reason than novelty value: Moscow Times, March
24, 1999 - Scientist
Calls for Curb on Harmful Rocket Launches - "... Alexei Yablokov,
head of the Center for Environmental Policy, said that pollution from rocket
fuel was a major cause of damage to the earth's ozone layer ... Chief among
the dangers, Yablokov said, are the clouds of hydrogen and carbon dioxide
left hanging in the atmosphere for weeks after launches. He attributed 50
percent of the shrinking of the earth's ozone layer to rocket
launches." So much more interesting than hairspray and refrigerators
isn't it? For a little more variety try: Sun
to blame for ozone hole, not people claim scientists - "...
The hole in the ozone layer in the South Pole is due to the Sun, not people,
according to research by a Chinese scientist, Xinhua news agency said today.
Yang Xuexiang, a professor of geological sciences at Changchun University of
Technology, believes the damage is caused by solar winds, a current of
high-energy particles, rather than the use of freon, the official news
agency said." Of course, the European Space Agency says ozone is not depleting
but actually increasing due to increased solar UV irradiance and the simple
fact is that no one knows what it 'should' be or what cycles can and should
be expected in Earth's conceptual 'ozone layer.'
So take your pick, Earth's ozone is
decreasing/stable/increasing and this is caused by surface use of
heavier-than-air gases/volcanic activity/rocket launches/solar activity.
Not having the vaguest
notion of whether or not the Earth's ozone layer has a boo-boo, we're going to
'fix' it - it's just going to take a lot longer (and much, much more taxpayers'
money) than we first thought.
"The
New Uncertainty Principle" - "For complex environmental
issues, science learns to take a backseat to political precaution"
(Scientific American)
David Appell promotes the Precautionary Principle
in Scientific American. Curiously, The Principle is ill
defined, often misquoted and almost invariably misapplied. Principle 15 (the Precautionary
Principle) from The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992),
reads: Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack
of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing
cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.
I read that as meaning: Where there is reasonable
certainty of a cause-and-effect relationship resulting in significant harm
from a specific, well-defined activity, absolute proof should not be required
to initiate cost-effective remedial action. At face value that would
seem simple common sense. Regrettably, that is not how the misanthropist
anti-science fraternity cite or wish to apply The Principle. What they
wish to do is corrupt The Principle to something along the lines of: No
activity must be permitted where there is an absence of proof of absolute
safety. Obviously such a condition is impossible to satisfy and becomes
a situation in which any enterprise or activity of which any ideologue
disapproves may be disallowed on those grounds.
See also the Social
Issues Research Centre's Fickle
precaution: Ironically, perhaps, it is the Precautionary
Principle itself which should come with a health warning - a large sticker
which declares "This principle may set back the course of scientific
progress to the extent that lives will be endangered, medical innovations will
be postponed and reduction of famine word-wide will be delayed
significantly."
"Belgian
Expert Bemoans EU Panic Over BSE" - "BRUSSELS - Belgium's
top mad cow expert joined others on Saturday in warning that the European
Union's latest attempts to stem the spread of the disease smacked of panic and
could exacerbate risks to human health. "The European Union has played
panic football under pressure from the consumer," Emmanuel Vanopdenbosch
of Belgium's Centre for Veterinary and Agrochemcial Research said in an
interview with the newspaper De Standaard." (Reuters)
"Mad
cow disease waning in Europe, say experts" - "Swedish
experts said Friday that mad cow disease is on the wane in Europe, with new
slaughtering and animal feed production rules combining with intensified
quality controls to make EU beef safe. "BSE as a problem is becoming
extinct," Stig Widell, a senior official at the animal department of the
national board of agriculture told a seminar on bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, or BSE, the brain-wasting cattle disorder commonly called mad
cow disease." (Reuters)
"Sun-loving
doctors ignore cancer risk" - "DOCTORS and nurses are
ignoring their own warnings on the dangers of sunbathing and putting
themselves at risk of skin cancer, according to a new study. Members of the
medical profession do not apply their knowledge about the risks of sun
exposure to themselves and are just as likely to get sunburned on holiday as
their patients, researchers at Dundee University found." (Sunday Times)
"WHAT
ON EARTH?" (Washington Post)
Dita Smith delicately reproduces the usual misinformation
(cited as coming from WWF and WWI) on POPs, including the perennial favourite,
male alligators with physical abnormalities and difficulty reproducing.
The ol' 'alligators with small phalluses' line again eh? Mike Fumento did a
piece Hormonally
Challenged last year, well worth the read but if you're in a hurry
just scroll down to the cute 'worried gator' graphic for the section on Alligator
angst and wildlife woes.
"UK
reveals why cod have had their chips" - "The British
government has revealed the real truth behind the disappearance of cod from
the North Sea — they just can't swim very well." (Reuters)
"Ecology
takes a beating with increasing mouths to feed" - "MANGALORE:
Meeting the food requirement for the increasing world population could be
ascribed as one of the major causes for converting forest land into agricultural
production. And this could be the mother cause for most of the environmental
deterioration, said V.R. Patil of Rallis Research Centre, Bangalore here, on
Thursday." [Science
congress has food for thought on hand] (Times of India)
How inconsiderate that people are not willing to starve
for some wealthy nation's conservation ideal.
"Weathermen
find that life is wetter in the suburbs" - "... The
British rain research – carried out, aptly enough, in Manchester, and
published in the journal Atmospheric Research – suggests that both the
shape of cities and the way they heat up the air around them swells rain clouds,
which are then blown by the wind to drop their contents nearby."
(Independent)
Gosh, they've discovered UHIE and local weather
generation. New Scientist ran a feature Totally
Tropical Tokyo on the same thing back in September. The
significance to the wider debate about enhanced greenhouse is, of course, that
surface temperature recordings are becoming increasingly biased to urban
recording sites - meaning that we are wrecking the temperature record by
reading cities' microclimates (less than 1% of the planet's surface) rather
than what is happening in the real world. This is the most likely reason for
urban-biased readings suggesting dramatic warming while analysis of long-term
rural and remote stations and the balloon and satellite readings show little
or no net warming since the 1930s. With the much-touted surface warming very
likely purely illusory as a result of data bias we hit the major hurdle for
the computer games (climate models). Much has been made in recent days about a
model able to (supposedly) reproduce the last century's mean temperature
track. Big problem - if it's reproducing a recent warming trend which does not
exist in reality then it is guaranteed to produce projections of future
warming which will not exist either. Basing global policy decisions on
illusions is a very bad idea.
CoP6 I(c)? "Final
bid to stop warming" -
"Ministers will this week launch a last-ditch bid to save the world's
battle against global warming, in the wake of last month's disastrous summit
in the Hague. European environment ministers, who failed to reach agreement in
the Dutch capital, will tomorrow try to hammer out a joint position and, if
successful, will then fly to Oslo for an emergency summit on Wednesday."
(Independent)
December 16-17, 2000
"Studies
show normal children today report more anxiety than child psychiatric patients
in the 1950's" - "WASHINGTON — Two new meta-analytic
studies involving thousands of children and college students show that anxiety
has increased substantially since the 1950's. In fact, the studies find that
anxiety has increased so much that typical schoolchildren during the 1980's
reported more anxiety than child psychiatric patients did during the 1950's.
The findings appear in the December issue of the American Psychological
Association's (APA) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology." (APA)
Wonder if this is something of which the press and whacko
brigade is particularly proud? Despite significantly increased lifespans,
quality of life, health, standards of living, demonstrably improving
environment, air and water quality etc., etc., kids are being effectively
terrorised and have higher anxiety levels than those of 50 years ago
(when global thermonuclear war was seen a genuine and pressing threat).
Greenpeace, Sierra, Pew, Suzuki et al, take a bow for scaring kids
witless with your utter nonsense - you must be proud. The blathering
left-of-centre press deserves much credit for so aiding and abetting the
B.S. campaigns too. Well done, so very well done. Regrettably, they are not
the only ones:
"Panel
Says Estrogen a Cancer Agent" - "WASHINGTON - Estrogen, the
so-called female hormone, should be listed as a known cancer-causing agent,
government advisers said on Friday. The hormone, which has long been
associated with breast and uterine cancers, should be added to the latest
report on cancer-causing agents, the advisers to the National Toxicology Panel
(NTP) said." (Reuters)
Well isn't this just Jim Dandy! Estrogen, naturally
produced or otherwise, is a carcinogen. So mothers' milk, naturally
containing estrogen, is a noxious carcinogen. By extension, compounds which
bind to estrogen receptors will be considered likely carcinogens by activity
class. I'm trying to imagine some foodstuff which doesn't contain
animal or plant estrogens but I just haven't got any entries on my list yet.
So all foods should be considered carcinogenic?
Pray, why would we terrorise the general populace by
placing on the 'nasty' list compounds which we know do significant good and
suspect of doing much more of enormous value? We are already noting health
problems with people avoiding essential UVB exposure to the point
where they are not synthesising sufficient vitamin D and so enhancing their
risk of bone disease, cancer, etc., so why are we doing this?
Where is the health advantage in terrifying people with
negligible risk possibilities when there are definite benefits in
consumption or exposure? The NTP appears to be the greater hazard.
"Survey
shows drop in smoking by teens; use of drug Ecstasy up" -
"WASHINGTON -- Teenage drug use held steady in 2000, the fourth straight
year it has either fallen or stayed the same, the federal government reported
Thursday. Smoking dropped significantly but use of the club drug Ecstasy
climbed for the second year in a row." (AP)
Oh well, there's a dazzlingly good risk exchange -
let's devote a few more billion to convert even more of our kids from
potential smokers to junkies.
"Cell-phone
ban omitted in BLM wilderness areas" -
"Dec. 15, 2000 - WASHINGTON - The Clinton
administration has decided not to ban cellular telephones or other hand-held
electronic instruments, such as the increasingly popular global positioning
devices, from the 5.5 million acres of wilderness controlled by the Bureau of
Land Management." (Denver Post)
Not banning safety equipment? That's very nice of them.
"Govt
grants $1.2m to mobile phone health research" - "The federal
government today signed off on a $1.2 million research project into possible
links between mobile phone use and cancer. Health Minister Michael Wooldridge
said the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) project was
prompted by public concern about the possible health risks of mobile phones.
The funding will support a special research program to investigate whether the
electromagnetic energy from mobile phones has any harmful effects on
people." (AAP)
On and on it goes... I used to think the only plausible
mechanism left for human harm from cell phones was having one fall on you
from a great height but it was recently pointed out to me that they are
becoming so small now that they may be an ingestion risk.
"Phone
tower fears ignored" - "Health issues alone should no longer
be grounds for rejecting cellphone tower sites, says the Ministry for the
Environment. Guidelines the ministry released yesterday say that the health
risks from radio frequency transmitters are negligible as long as they comply
with the New Zealand standard." (NZ Herald)
"Traces
of Environmental Chemicals in the Human Body: Are They a Risk to Health?" — All living organisms are continually exposed to
foreign chemicals, also known as "xenobiotics." These chemicals
include substances that are natural (e.g., toxins produced by molds, plants,
and animals) and man-made (e.g., drugs, industrial chemicals, pesticides, and
pollutants). ... For more information and a complete version of the
publication, please refer to the following link: http://www.acsh.org/publications/booklets/traceChem.pdf"
(ACSH)
"Let
Them Eat Fat" - "You know that
to stay healthy you should eat a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet. But should you
feed your children the same way? Not when they're newborns, says the Instituto
de Nutricion y Tecnologia de los Alimentos at the University of Chile." (HealthScout)
"Did
genetically modified foods reach India?" - "AFTER the
brouhaha over cheap Chinese imports, the focus has now shifted to genetically
modified foods. Stung by the criticism that genetically engineered foods may
have "unknowingly" found their way into India as part of US aid and
relief to the Orissa flood victims, the government has begun the process of
looking into the issue." (Economic Times)
This
is a result of Vandana Shiva (pictured) et al whingeing that Orissa
cyclone survivors had been 'subjected' to 'biotech contaminated' grain
'dumped' by the US. The alternate explanation is that survivors received
part of the normal US grain supply, which includes a range of approved
biotech-improved varieties, donated in their time of need. Shiva does not
appear on intimate terms with starvation, although I suspect this has more
to do with her stipend as a physics professor at an obscure Indian
university than it does her organic garden. One of Shiva's claims to fame
(or do I mean infamy?) is the assertion that the green revolution is
responsible for starvation and that the world, particularly India, would be
awash with surplus food if only everyone switched to organic agriculture. I
make no secret of my opinion that Vandana Shiva is an A-grade flake.
"Organic
food for thought" - "In June,
the food chain Iceland announced that all future own-brand frozen vegetables
would be organic but that their price would not increase – organic food
often costs up to twice as much as conventionally-produced food. A leader in
challenging GM foods, Iceland is now moving to make organic food available to
more consumers (although it may well remain beyond the incomes of the quarter
of the British population living in poverty). But ironically the company's
announcement raises other health and environmental concerns." (Health
Matters)
Note also that organic accounts for just 1% of the UK
market while the 3% of UK agriculture devoted to its production can supply
only one-fourth of that. Implied then is that organic agriculture's
footprint is an order of magnitude greater than that of conventional
agriculture. How 'environmentally friendly' is that?
"THE
CANADIAN BIOTECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE RELEASES BACKGROUND PAPERS ON
GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS, PATENTING OF HIGHER LIFE FORMS, GENETIC PRIVACY
AND ETHICS" - "Ottawa, December 15, 2000 - The Canadian
Biotechnology Advisory Committee (CBAC), today released ten background papers
on key biotechnology issues. The papers were commissioned by CBAC to assist
the Committee in its shaping of advice to government on public policies
relating to biotechnology. ... These papers, which are posted on the CBAC
website (cbac-cccb.ca) were released in
accordance with CBAC's commitment to openness." (Canadian Biotechnology
Advisory Committee)
"Gene-Altered
Corn: The Furor Is Unwarranted" - "The bottom line on corn
products recalled because they contain StarLink, a genetically improved corn
variety approved only for animal consumption, is that not one person has been
or is likely to be harmed by eating StarLink corn (front page, Dec. 11).
Exhaustive testing has revealed no allergic reactions, toxicity or any other
problem with StarLink. ..." (Henry I Miller's letter to the NY Times)
"EU
Says Preparing New GMO Labeling Rules" - "BRUSSELS - The
European Commission (news
- web
sites) confirmed on Friday it was preparing a raft of new legislation
designed to reassure consumers about the safety of food made from genetically
modified crops (Reuters)
"Rockfeller
grant for rice molecular breeding scheme" - "COIMBATORE: The
Rockfeller Foundation of the US has sanctioned a Rs 52-lakh research scheme
for rice molecular breeding to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU). The
grant would be utilised to conduct research in the development of strategies
in three key areas of rice molecular breeding to augment the conventional
plant breeders to speed up their development process, a TNAU release said on
Thursday." (Times of India)
"A
nuclear debate" - "Sometimes, environmental disagreements
come down to a single troubling question. Today's is: Can you live without
electricity?" (GAM)
"The
Greens need to think again about nuclear power"
- "We talk about the weather at the drop of a hat, but for once we are
justified: it has been a remarkable autumn. More than that, an extreme one:
the wettest ever, with heavier rainfall than any since records began in the
18th century. December, moreover, is likely to be one of the warmest on
record, with strange consequences in the natural world, as we report today.
Although neither of these facts can be directly linked to global warming, they
do fit the predictions that scientists have been making about climate change,
so now is perhaps a good time to think again about the options available to
tackle this most pressing of worldwide problems." (Independent) [Nuclear
power is back in fashion with the Finns (The Times)]
"Scientists
Study Threat of Huge Volcanic Eruptions" - "SAN FRANCISCO -
Scientists said on Friday they were stepping up research into the global
threat posed by massive volcanic eruptions -- devastating and inevitable
explosions of magma, ash and gas that promise to have severe and lasting
impact on the world's climate. ... Hans Graf of the Max Planck Institute for
Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany, said a drive was underway to establish a
clearer understanding of the effects of volcanic explosion on the atmosphere,
which range from venting huge amounts of ozone-damaging chlorine and bromine
compounds to filling the skies with aerosol droplets that can absorb solar
heat." (Reuters)
"Nature
blooms in mysterious ways during a British winter that thinks it's a
spring" - "... Summers may not be much hotter, but
winters are certainly less cold." (Independent)
The Indy takes a whole column to get around to
the real crux of enhanced greenhouse warming prediction - less severe cold
events and that is exactly how misnamed greenhouse warming would work, it
should be called global less-colding but that doesn't have the same scary
connotations.
Three-fourths of estimated increase in global mean
temperature is made up from the super cold air winter masses of Siberia and
Canada descending to less-severe extremes and has nothing to do with
increase in maximum temperature at all. Whether this is a trend or whether
it is simply an artefact of cycles we don't yet recognise remains to be
seen. THESEO 2000 reported increased Arctic ozone destruction this year due
to, you guessed it, particularly cold winter air mass. Most unfortunately
for Mongolia, last winter they suffered through their 'Zud' - an especially
harsh winter following summer drought - and this year looks like being a
repeat performance (please consider making the Red Cross/Red Crescent
Societies' Mongolian Relief Appeal one of your charitable donation
recipients this year). Canada and the US, most people will be aware, are
suffering heavy snow and ice storms fairly early in the season as successive
breakouts of cold Artic air occur. A year or two's events do not make a
trend in climatic terms but these will tend to suppress the mean temperature
trend significantly - making our global less-colding virtually non-existent.
Meanwhile:
"Scientists
Suggest New Threat to Antarctic Ice" - "SAN FRANCISCO - The
West Antarctic ice sheet, closely watched as an indicator of the impact of
global warming, may be imperiled by a different threat -- a slowing of the
"ice streams" which nourish the massive shelf. Scientists told a
meeting of the American Geophysical Union on Friday that new research
indicated the ice streams could be slowing because of the gradually changing
shape of the ice sheet over the past 10,000 years. Slawek Tulaczyk, an
assistant professor of Earth Sciences at the University of California, Santa
Cruz, said the new model proposed that the ice streams -- fast, river-like
flows which move ice out into ice shelves floating on the sea -- were slowing
and in some cases stopping altogether. "In the most extreme case, some
models suggest that these changes could result in a shift from the current
interglacial climate to another glacial period," Tulaczyk said."
(Reuters)
Maybe, certainly cooling is evident in the South Pole
record measured at the Amundsen-Scott
Antarctic scientific base.
"Recovery
of Arctic ozone layer may take longer than expected" -
"Scientists expect that recovery of the Arctic ozone layer may be slower
than previously expected because of unusually low stratospheric temperatures.
... These panelists have worked on the joint SAGE III Ozone Loss and
Validation Experiment (SOLVE) and Third European Stratospheric Experiment on
Ozone (THESEO 2000) and obtained comprehensive measurements of halogen
compounds (chlorine and bromine) that have given them a better understanding
of how human-produced compounds destroy the ozone layer. These observations
have shown how factors other than CFCs and halons contribute to winter ozone
decreases." (NASA/GSFC)
Another shock, simplistic notions of anthropogenic gas
emission = ozone depletion don't work out in the real world. Translation: there
will be 'a delay in repair of the ozone layer' because the Montreal Protocol
is a farce, the conceptual ozone layer isn't actually broken and we need to
defer expectation of promised result from our solution to a non-problem to a
point far enough in the future that we'll be safely retired and expired
before people are sure how wrong we are.
"'Raining'
electrons contribute to ozone destruction" - "Scientists
involved in the study of Solar-Atmospheric Coupling by Electrons (SOLACE) will
report on this finding at the Fall American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in
San Francisco, December 15-19, 2000. They have determined that this coupling
can create a significant amount of nitrogen oxides highlighting a new aspect
of natural ozone destruction." (NASA/GSFC)
Gasp! You mean those who have been pointing to solar
wind variations coupling with ozone destruction events may know what they
are talking about after all? Imagine that...
"President
gives farewell warning on global warming" - "President Bill
Clinton used his last big foreign speech yesterday to focus on the plight of
the developing world, especially the devastation caused by Aids and by climate
change." (Guardian)
Yep, here's
the track of the atmospheric warming we're not having.
"Global
Warming Could Make Water A Scarce Resource" - "OAKLAND,
California, December 15, 2000 - Global warming could have serious impacts on
water resources in the United States, and some of those effects are already
being felt, a new report released today concludes. To counter those effects,
government and water management officials must act now - a prescription that
may be a hard sell under the new George W. Bush administration." (ENS)
Amazing. General Circulation Models rely absolutely
on massive positive feedback because even a trebling of CO2 and
all the other minor greenhouse gases combined are known to be incapable of
producing anything like the desired catastrophic warming. This positive
feedback takes the form of significant increase in the only major
greenhouse gas - water vapour. And what would we expect from significant
increase in atmospheric water vapour but increased precipitation (duh!).
What effects would we expect from increased precipitation? Well, increased
fresh water supplies for one. Another point so-often overlooked is that
increased precipitation would also mean increased polar
precipitation, with associated increase in land ice in the major ice shields
- which would slow or even reverse sea level rise. Of course, increase in
the major ice sheets would have associated increase in albedo - meaning that
more solar radiation would be reflected back to space and thus would have a
cooling effect on the Earth, damping rather than exacerbating postulated
enhanced greenhouse warming as a significant negative feedback. Oops!
Not to worry - just don't mention such little flaws and
crank up the hysteria another notch - the press will run any scare if you
hype it enough.
"Hotter
Earth is confirmed by computer" - "THE most sophisticated
computer simulation of the world's climate is published today, and concludes
that recent global warming is man-made and will continue. For the first time,
scientists have combined the most important human and natural factors in one
model to create what they claim is the most comprehensive simulation of
20th-century climate." (Telegraph) [We’re
to blame for the weather (The Scotsman)]
Moral: don't live in a computer - try the real world
instead. Now for an admission of just how much we don't know about
predicting weather:
"Cold?
Blame the Hudson Bay Vortex" - "There is an unpredictable
monster sitting above Hudson Bay and it's being blamed for this week's snow
chaos and cold temperatures, and could be responsible for more to come. The
polar vortex, recently dubbed the Hudson Bay Vortex, is a mass of low pressure
spinning in the Arctic. Its counter-clockwise motion is pushing cold arctic
air south, making things chilly in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba." [It's
not been so white in 21 years] (Toronto Star)
"Climate
treaty looks shaky" - "Paris - Hopes for implementing a key
UN treaty to fight the threat of global warming look at best uncertain after
George W. Bush's election win, analysts say. Under a Bush presidency, the US
is likely to delay or even reject the Kyoto Protocol, leaving the European
Union (EU) and other parties to try to make the treaty work without the
country which is the biggest source of the problem." (Sapa-AFP)
They couldn't stitch together anything like an
agreement at CoP6 (or at CoP6 I a and CoP6 I b either) and this is
president-elect George Walker Bush's fault?
December 15, 2000
"Gagging
on Statistical Pollution" - "You don't have to be able to
smell or see air pollution to die from it." That's that how the
Associated Press reported news of the latest study on air pollution (see "Study:
Tiny Particles Do Increase Deaths"). The study in the New England
Journal of Medicine (Dec.14) claims to be "consistent evidence that
the levels of fine particulates in the air are associated with the risk of
death from all causes and from cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses."
"The findings should squelch criticism that earlier research at the
Environmental Protection Agency, Harvard and elsewhere was inconclusive, said
James H. Ware, dean of the Harvard School of Public Health," reported the
AP. Hardly. The study is simply statistical flim-flammery." (Steve Milloy
in Fox News)
"Talc
Removed From Cancer List" - "WASHINGTON — A federal
scientific panel wrestled over the safety of talc powder on Thursday before
finally deciding that it shouldn't be added to the nation's list of
cancer-causing substances. Some studies have associated the use of talc in
feminine hygiene products with ovarian cancer. But after a daylong debate, the
scientists voted 7-3 that the evidence wasn't convincing enough that talc
powder was a carcinogen. The committee of scientists advises the National
Toxicology Program, a branch of the National Institutes of Health that every
two years updates the federal list of proven and suspected cancer-causing
substances. Still facing scrutiny as the panel concludes its meeting Friday
are estrogen — the types used for birth control and post-menopausal
treatment — and inhaled wood dust. On Wednesday, the panel voted to add
ultraviolet radiation — those sunburn-causing rays long known to cause skin
cancer — to the official carcinogen list." (AP)
Score half-point for rationality - lose fifty points
for lunacy. Just who, might one ask, would someone sue for "excess solar
irradiance," for example? ("Pardon me Lord, but I have a summons
for you"?) Do we go after trees for producing carcinogens later found
in sawdust? How about fruit and vegetables for containing phytoestrogens?
Does the term "bureaucracy gone mad" ring any bells?
Let's be brutally honest shall we? Talc is, well...
natural. Sunlight is, uh... natural. Environmental exposure to plant and
animal hormones is, you guessed it, natural. Guess what? Cancer is natural
too. It is the absence of carcinogens that is unnatural. You
don't have to like them but you sure can't regulate your way to freedom from
them.
Groan! Must everything be "someone
else's" fault? "DVT
actions could encompass train, coach trips" - "Litigations
relating to "economy-class syndrome" could encompass long-distance
train and coach travel after a report that a woman died following a journey on
the Indian Pacific, a Perth solicitor said today. A middle-aged woman died
after a Perth-Sydney trip on the trans-Australian train about five years ago,
indicating long road trips could result in deep vein thrombosis (DVT), said
lawyer Murray Posa from legal firm Hoffmans. As well as leading lawyers Slater
and Gordon, Hoffmans is investigating possible litigation on behalf of people
who have suffered DVT, or blood clotting reported after long plane
rides." (AAP)
A pox on lawyers, I say! In life (and death), you pays
your money and you takes your chance - and it's about time to take
responsibility for your own actions. I'm not certain about taxes but death is
inevitable and businesses don't try to kill paying customers (no profit
margin or repeat business in it). Gimme a break!
"Gunmakers
not about to run up white flag" - "Lawsuits may have forced
Big Tobacco to buckle - first one company and then, like dominoes, the rest.
But the same see-you-in-court tactic does not seem to be working, at least so
far, with the nation's gun manufacturers. True, Smith & Wesson, America's
largest gunmaker, agreed nine months ago to make significant changes in the
way it makes and markets its products. And the company settled a major lawsuit
this week with Boston, one of dozens of cities across the US that have gone to
court to try to force gunmakers to help pay for the costs of gun-related
violence. But smaller gunmakers, heeding the advice of the National Rifle
Association (NRA), have remained strong in their resolve to fight such
lawsuits. "Other gun manufacturers are still doing things by the old
rules, winning lawsuit after lawsuit," says Robert Pugsley, professor of
criminal law at Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles.
"The NRA has played a very major role," he adds, taking "a hard
line in front of what is likely to be intense pressure." (CSM)
"EU fails
to back tougher cigarette health warnings" - "BRUSSELS,
Belgium: European Union health ministers declined on Thursday to endorse
European Parliament proposals for bigger, more graphic health warnings on
cigarette packages, saying they will seek to tone these down in negotiations
with the EU assembly. In a related development, EU Health Commissioner David
Byrne told the ministers he will propose a new bill to curb tobacco
advertising to replace EU legislation the European Court of Justice voided in
October saying it was legally flawed." (AP)
"Deaths
prompt fears of new CJD cluster" - "Health officials are
investigating a possible link between the deaths of two men from the human
form of BSE. Steven Lunt, 34, and Paul Dickens, 28, one of the latest victims
believed to have died from variant CJD, both lived in Adswood, Stockport,
Greater Manchester. Their proximity is bound to raise fears of a new
"cluster" such as those already being examined in Leicestershire.
There have been five victims in the county, four with links to the village of
Queniborough, and three victims from Armthorpe, near Doncaster, south
Yorkshire. The Leicestershire investigation is concentrating on the
preparation and sale of meat products locally in the 1980s. But although
infected beef is prime suspect for the entire vCJD epidemic, there is still no
proof." (Guardian)
Gasp! "U.S.
finds little health benefit in organic foods" - "More than
10 years after a law required the federal government to issue standards on
organic food, the Department of Agriculture is about to release rules that say
such products are neither safer nor more nutritious than conventional
foods." (AP via Bergen Record)
"U.S.
sets environmental guidelines for future trade pacts" -
"WASHINGTON -- In a bid to clean up the image of free trade, the Clinton
administration on Wednesday issued final guidelines for assessing the impact
future trade agreements could have on the environment." (Reuters)
Let's be unambiguous and unequivocal - free trade
promotes wealth generation and wealth generation is the prerequisite
for environmental protection and repair. Anything interfering with
free trade, including warm and fuzzy baggage in trade agreements, hampers
said environmental protection and repair and should be expunged for the sake
of the environment. Slick Willy's quest for a 'legacy' should be impeached
too.
"Robert
Kennedy Jr. And 650,000 Americans Urge President Clinton To Designate Arctic
Refuge Coastal Plain A National Monument" - "Standing next
to sacks holding more than 650,000 petitions, Robert Kennedy Jr. and members
of the Alaska Coalition today called on President Clinton to designate the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain a national monument."
(INTERNET WIRE)
Lemme see, Bob endorsed, uhm... Nader wasn't it? But
second choice is to have Slick Willy harm American citizens because Ozone Al
has missed his big chance to do so?
"Foolish
Fat Tax Reappears" - "The Center for Science in the Public
Interest's (CSPI) Michael Jacobson continues his crusade for a "Twinkie
tax" on high-calorie food in this month's CSPI newsletter. Jacobson says
the reason for the tax is to "fund health campaigns," but that's not
really what's behind this movement. The real thinking behind the "Twinkie
tax," as expressed by Yale Professor and Center for Science in the Public
Interest board member Kelley Brownell who first proposed the tax, is to
sharply increase
the cost of high-calorie foods so they will be priced out of reach."
(GuestChoice.com)
"GE
'vital' for treating haemophilia" - "New Zealand must
continue to make genetically altered therapies available to patients with
haemophilia and other genetic bleeding disorders, the royal commission
investigating the technology was told yesterday." (NZ
Herald)
"Biotechnology
ready to grow But critics would shuck it all, even the less-fatty fries"
- "With the first wave of genetically engineered foods -- crops with
built-in pesticides or herbicides -- biotech companies in the '90s focused on
farmers, promising to reduce the cost and labor of repeated applications of
chemicals. With the second wave now starting, many experts say they're hoping
to appeal to the rest of us. Genetically modified crops in development promise
better tasting, more nutritious and less expensive food. The new wave also
promises to bring plants that can produce pharmaceuticals and fuels."
(USA Today)
"Threat
that never was" - "A laboratory study
which suggested that GM crops harmed butterflies provoked protests across
Europe. Now environmentalists are having to backtrack. Mark Henderson
reports" (The Times)
"Gene
map will revolutionise farming" - "Thalecress is a weed
but it promises to trigger a new agricultural revolution: for the first time,
scientists have unravelled the complete DNA blueprint of a plant. Some 300
scientists across the world have spent £50m on a six-year hunt to identify
the 116m ``base pairs`` that make up the genetic code of Arabidopsis
thaliana, a cabbage relative. According to a report in the journal Nature,
researchers now have a toolkit with which to understand the planet`s huge
array of flowering plants. The information has been placed in a public
database, free to researchers everywhere." (Guardian)
"Protesters
at French Biotech Talks" - "MONTPELLIER, France --
Greenpeace activists dumped tons of genetically modified soy meal onto a U.S.
flag on Wednesday at a protest outside a biotechnology conference in France.
The activists oppose the U.S. policy of exporting genetically modified crops,
which they say pose health risks." (AP)
"Biotech Is
Answer to, Not Cause of, Food Allergies" - "Where's that
talking Chihuahua when you need him? If he hadn’t been sent to the old dogs
home with Benji and Spuds Mackenzie, he’d be shaking his head at the furor
over Aventis’ StarLink corn and saying, "Drop the baloney!"
(Michael Fumento)
"Italian
Scientists Blast GMO Restrictions" - "COPENHAGEN--While
plant scientists around the world celebrate the complete sequence of the
genome of the mustardlike plant Arabidopsis thaliana (see p. 2054),
embattled colleagues in Italy are protesting new rules that bar all field
trials involving genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The researchers hope
to turn the prevailing tide by bringing their plight to the attention of
colleagues around the world and exerting pressure on their government through
a petition drive." (Science)
"Analysis:
Victory sends tremors through Europe" - "... European
leaders will be worried by Bush’s allegedly robust views on such issues such
as global warming and climate change following the rows between the United
States and the Europeans at the recent Hague conference, which broke up in
acrimony. Al Gore had a reputation to defend as an environmental enthusiast,
and although American politicians tangle with the gas-guzzling U.S. lifestyle
at their peril, Europeans would have expected him to be more co-operative than
Bush in seeking a compromise on greenhouse gases." (CNN)
The world has much to be grateful for in the
7:2 non-partisan decision of the Supreme Court. [The
partisanship myth] [Landslide
Bush]
"Generators
of the electricity mess" - "Windmills and candles and warm
woolen mittens. Staticky sparks from the fur of small kittens. Campfires and
solar panels and thermal paddings. These are a few of the favorite things that
radical environmentalists would rather rely on for warmth, light, and
electricity than the modern power plant. To the delight of eco-Luddites,
energy shortages in California and the Pacific Northwest are forcing residents
to live like 17th-century peasants." (Michelle Malkin, Washington Times)
"African
Countries Commended For Ozone Layer Protection" - "The
Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Dr. Klaus
Topfer, Tuesday night officiated at the launch of a prospectus paying tribute
to African countries, parties to the Montreal protocol, international
organisations and bilateral partners. Titled "Model of success: Africa
and the Montreal Protocol", the pamphlet enumerates Africa's
accomplishments within the framework of the fight against substances that
deplete the ozone layer." (PANA)
Tðpfer is the very same whacko expecting
the planet to go to water wars in the near-future ("the next
war in the world will be not
