COTW: Life Without Paris?

They achieved the nearly impossible in Paris, after a decade or more of effort: delegates from 186 nations agreed to do something significant about global warming. That incredible accord among 186 sovereign nations will now be put into jeopardy by one misguided man: Donald Trump. This chart shows what he will throw away:

INDCs are the national contributions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the agreement.  They are intended for review every five years and ratcheted upward to achieve a livable climate that may avoid most of the catastrophic effects of unchecked emissions. Donald Trump says "NOT" to all of that, despite being advised by his closest team members, businesses, investors and national allies to abide by the agreement.

A reactionary cabal of conservative senators led by Mitch McConnell who represents coal mining interests in Kentucky are pursuing a radical course against global agreement in a naked, immoral and destructive pursuit of profit at the expense of the planet. These deceitful politicians, handmaidens of Mammon, repeatedly pointed out China as the stumbling block to US participation in a global agreement. They cannot do that anymore because China signed the Paris accord. Blaming China was simply a smoke screen for their own entrenched opposition to saving the planet from a dystopian future.  They would rather line their pockets and those of their military-industrial-financial complex masters than do something about the gravest threat the United States faces in the 21st century and beyond. What boggles US Person's mind more than the duplicity of politicians* is that a majority of 'Mericans swallowed the toxic cool-aide dispensed by Trump during his campaign under the nonsensical rubric of 'making America great again'. In just over 120 days in office he has not made America great, but a rogue outsider among the community of nations.

*The extent of DC politicians' perfidy is epitomized by this historic nugget from the depths of the Cold War. President Eisenhower's Democratic critics accused him of allowing a "bomber gap" with the Soviets to develop during the 1950's. Later, the alleged lapse in defense policy was modified to suit presidential candidate Senator John Kennedy's purposes into a "missile gap". What was the actual factual basis for all these deadly "gaps"? In 1955 the Russians put on their usual May Day parade of military assets. A squadron of strategic jet bombers flew over Red Square as part of the show. Since the Russians only had ten of these bombers, their flyers were directed to circle around Moscow and pass in review several times to give observers the impression of a much larger jet bomber force on display. Always ready to ignore reality if it advances their political agendas, American war mongers accused fiscally conservative Eisenhower, the commanding general of victory in Europe, of being soft on the commies! The fact was that at the time the United States' nuclear arsenal was both larger and more advanced than the Soviet Union's. America has been at war in Afghanistan for fifteen years at the cost of billions of dollars, not to mention thousands of American lives. It still cannot assure the safety of Kabul's streets. Does it really want to, or is perpetual war the object?

Great Barrier Reef 'Doomed'

bleaching at Orpheus Island, credit G. Torda

The experts admit: Australia's Great Barrier Reef cannot be saved.  Already half of the Reef has been killed by record warm water temperatures for the second year in a row.  A 2015 official report concerned how best to preserve the Reef, but that optimism is no more.  The latest aerial surveys show a bleaching event almost as severe as the 2016 record when two-thirds of the Reef experienced bleaching due to high water temperatures.  Only the southern third of the Reef has escaped widespread bleaching. Bleaching occurs when coral eject pigmented algae in order to survive.

El Nino contributed to the bleaching last year, but this year there is no El Niño effect and the bleaching is almost as bad.  Dr. James Kerry of James Cook University, who undertook the aerial surveys said, “It takes at least a decade for a full recovery of even the fastest growing corals, so mass bleaching events 12 months apart offers zero prospect of recovery for reefs that were damaged in 2016." There has already been four severe events in the last eighteen years--1998, 2002, 2016, and now 2017. The rise in water temperatures due to global warming will continue to bleach the Reef. A reef expert who has focused on water quality told the Guardian that the federal government's efforts to improve the Reef's water quality have also failed. The loss of one of Nature's great wonders would mean the loss of one million visitors to Queensland, and drain $1b from its economy.

'Toontime: The "A" List

credit: Steve Sack, Star Tribune

BC Idonwanna sez: Duterte no get memo!

Der Speigle has nailed it after the gaff-filled Trump trip to Europe and the Mid East designed to distract the 'Merican public from his mounting problems within the Beltway.  The German newspaper's conclusion: Trumpster is a danger to the Republic. Perhaps the Washington elite is finally waking up to that fact. The United States cannot afford more enemies at this point in its checkered history, and the arrogance of its 45th talking head is alienating allies and encouraging enemies.  Just ask the President of Montenegro! Sure it is a speck on the Balkan map, but Montenegro is a member state of the European Union and astride the immigration route to Europe from the Middle East.  It would be nice to have their cooperation.  Trump is not starring in a "reality" TV show, he is supposed to be guiding a great nation-state, and cooperatively, the western world.  After 120 days in office, he is failing in that job.  If this were "The Apprentice" he would be fired.  In the words of one journalist covering Trump, "Trump behaves not unlike a small child that bites and scratches to get the loving attention it wants". Crazy?  Look whose setting up a bunker in the White House.  "Bad, very bad" to quote the Trumpet.

Birds Struggle to Cope with Climate Change

Spring is arriving late in the west and early in the east by as much as a day each year for the past decade; spring begins with a natural event: leaf out of trees and plants.  That is not good news for migrating birds who follow a strict schedule for their stressful journeys.  A new study in Scientific Reports says that 9 of 48 species studied were unable to adjust their internal clocks to coincide with local photosynthesis ("green-up").  Climate change is predicted to drive hundreds of bird species to extinction and curtail the range of others.  Fortunately, the majority of species seem to be able to cope with the new climate imposed by man.

This chart from the study sums up some of the findings. Arrival is getting earlier and later, but not synchronous with green-up arriving earlier in the east and later in the west:

The blue line indicates when arrival and green-up are synchronous.  Black is a linear regression of the data points. The variance in the line slopes is statistically significant.  Each symbol represents a different ecosystem and species.  The chart shows that earlier arrivals are not keeping up with altered photo-periods.  In the words of the study, "arriving too early at breeding grounds can bring risk of freezing (due to cold temperatures) and hatching chicks before peak resource abundance, whereas arriving too late can mean fewer nest sites, fewer mates with successfully guarded territories, and declining resource abundance. As such, the loss of synchron[icity] between insect emergence and migrant bird arrival phenology [timing] can be accompanied by negative fitness consequences" which result in declining populations.  The species that are most negatively impacted by climate change are Yellow Cuckoos, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Scarlet Tanagers, and Indigo Buntings.  The scientists used data collected by "citizen scientists"--birdwatchers--posted to the website, eBird.

Scientists Make Progress for Devil

No, not Satan, but the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) which is currently threatened by an outbreak of a virus caused cancer that is transmissible. {19.05.12} Devil facial tumor disease is horribly disfiguring and the tumors grow so large as to prevent the animal from feeding.  The disease is nearly 100% fatal.  It was first detected in 1996 and has decimated populations since then, wiping out more than 80% of Tasmania's iconic marsupial. Last year researchers found that the Devil is developing resistance to the virus.  After extensive laboratory work using immunotherapy, they have successfully shrunk and eliminated small tumors.  Their work is reported in the journal Scientific Reports.  These results give hope for the development of a vaccine.  Efforts are now focused on improving the Devil's response to immunization according to Dr. Cesar Tovar of Menzies Institute for Medical Research.  The existence of a vaccine is good news for captive bred Devils, who can now only be successfully released to the wild after immunization.

Articles Are A'Comin'

Yes, folks, as US Person posted months ago, the Donald appears to be headed toward the same proceedings as 'Liar Bill'.  Democratic Congressman Al Green told the press that Articles of Impeachment are being drawn up.  Under the Constitution impeachment proceedings must originate in the House and be tried by the Senate.  Green also revealed that he is receiving racists threats, but he is undeterred in his efforts to introduce a bill of particulars into the House.  The word "impeachment" has been bandied about on the Hill frequently since the firing of FBI Director Comey and Trump's apparent efforts to derail the Russian Connection investigation were revealed.  Any effort to impeach the President for obstruction faces long odds against success since both legislative bodies are controlled by Repugnants.  It takes a two-thirds majority to win a conviction in the Senate.  Bill Clinton won that vote easily with all Democratic Senators voting to acquit him of perjury and obstruction.

Democrats are accusing the Trump Circus of directing federal agencies not to respond to routine requests for information from Democratic members.  This lack of cooperation is a departure from long standing practice of previous administrations from both sides.  Two hundred written requests by Democrats have gone unanswered since Trump took office.  “The fact that they just turn their back on [congressional] oversight is part of a deeper syndrome, which is no respect for separation of powers, no respect for how the Constitution set up our government. It’s going to hurt the country, and it’s going to hurt them,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Tuesday.  Trump's cruel and extreme budget has been declared a non-starter, even by his own caucus in the Senate.  Trump's public approval rating is already low and likely to fall even lower:

COTW: Battery Boom

Close readers of this space know that US Person does not usually endorse products or companies.  The last products he did endorse were Nissan's Leaf and Chevrolet's Volt automobiles because the are proverbial steps in the right direction towards a sustainable, sun-driven economy. And he likes cars.

Visionary Elon Musk's Tesla Company has to be added to this short list with its electric car for the people, the Tesla Model 3.  Think of it as the 21st century's Model T.  Granted, it will not be as inexpensive in relative terms to Ford's mass produced breakthrough, but it will be cheaper than the luxury Model S and will still be on the cutting edge of electric transportation.  Interestingly, Tesla's cars will come with an optional solar cell roof that will enhance their range without struggling to find a still rare recharging station.  Electric cars first made their appearance at the turn of the 20th century, and might have captured the auto market from petrol driven cars except for the fact battery technology was primitive lead-acid which limited the auto's range and had a serious hazardous potential.

That is set to change with Tesla's gigafactory in the Nevada desert which will mass produce energy dense lithium-ion storage batteries.  This technology is essential to a successful transfer to non-fossil fuels and alternative energy supplying the grid.  All those gigawatts generated by wind, tide, and solar power have to be stored somewhere when environmental conditions are not favorable to power generation, but demand for energy is always current.  Tesla's visionary investment in advanced batteries got a comforting endorse from one of the leaders of Germany's technological establishment, AG Daimler. 

Chancellor Angela Merkle is scheduled to break ground today on a $543 million plant to make storage batteries for Daimler outside of Berlin. Given investment  in power storage by two dominant industries, the technology will drive battery prices down as it matures.  Experts estimate that by 2030 electric cars will be competitively priced with fossil fuel cars and a lot cleaner.  Plants are also planned for Poland, Sweden and Hungary and will cut the cost of lithium power packs by 43%.

Another exciting Tesla innovation is its solar home roof, a clever piece of materials engineering that uses glass tiles to transmit light energy to underlying solar panels without a significant loss of power.  These glass tiles can be made to resemble conventional tile, slate or asphalt, giving homeowners previously unavailable style options.  More importantly the tiles eliminate the need for unsightly frames to hold solar arrays.  The solar roofs look exactly like non-solar roofs and last longer while moving the homeowner closer to being their own utility company.  Look at this Bloomberg video for a preview of what is coming.  Yes, US Person has to say it, Green Kudos to Tesla, Inc.  There is a way if we choose to follow the sunlit path.