Sunday, December 18, 2022
Computer modelling predicts climate change causing cascading animal 'co-extinctions'
Computer modelling is a wonderful thing. You can get so many things out of it. I am wondering if this is called the "pigs might fly" model
Computer modelling has shown the variety of vertebrate animal species found in locations across the globe could be cut by 27 per cent by the end of the century.
The simulation conducted on one of Europe's most powerful supercomputers also found that one extinction caused a cascade of extinctions that have been coined "co-extinctions".
The tool found that under the worst climate change prediction, 34 per cent more species would become extinct than would be predicted when not considering co-extinctions.
The study by European Commission scientist Giovanni Strona and Flinders University professor Corey Bradshaw was published on Saturday in the journal Science Advances.
Predictions for climate change caused by carbon emissions were put into the computer model, along with forecast land use changes.
Professor Bradshaw said it was clear from the research that carbon emission reduction policies needed to focus on the planet as a whole.
"Biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation really go hand-in-hand," he said.
"It also works the other way round: if we save more species, we're going to have more capability in reducing climate change over the next century or so."
Professor Bradshaw said neglecting the effect of co-extinctions had caused people to be overly optimistic about how many species would be lost.
"We have to be realistic about what our trajectories are suggesting," he said.
"Now we’ve given that framework that scientists can use to look at whether or not a particular policy is going to save more species versus another one."
To produce the study, the scientists created synthetic Earths complete with virtual species and more than 15,000 food webs to predict the interconnected fate of species.
The modelling found the areas of the world with the most biodiversity now — such as South America, Africa and Australia — would suffer the most from the effects of climate change and land use changes.
Carnivores and omnivores would be particularly affected by the loss of other species where they live.
The study did not look at insects or plants.
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John Podesta Made a Fortune Consulting for Green Energy Billionaires. He Now Oversees a Federal Fund That Could Make Them Rich
John Podesta, the powerful Democratic consultant who President Joe Biden tapped to oversee a multibillion-dollar climate investment fund, discussed those investments with an environmental group that had him on the payroll just months before, according to a new financial disclosure.
Galvanize Climate Solutions, a green energy investment firm founded by billionaire Tom Steyer, participated in an Oct. 31 meeting with Podesta and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to discuss how to best use the $369 billion in federal funds. Galvanize paid Podesta $84,000 in advisory fees from December 2021 through August 2022, financial disclosures show. Ethics watchdogs say Podesta hasn’t technically violated any laws but hosting his former employer at the meeting was ethically dubious.
"Alas, it's a similar story these days, sophisticated players checking the necessary boxes to avoid clear violations while still appearing to advance the interests of former employers and clients," said Michael Chamberlain, the director of the ethics watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust.
Podesta’s net worth has skyrocketed since he last served in the White House as counselor to former president Barack Obama. His net worth ranged between $4.6 million to $9.2 million in 2014, according to his financial disclosure that year. By 2022, his net worth ballooned to between $9.3 million to $28.4 million, according to a copy of his latest financial disclosure obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Steyer was jubilant after Biden tapped Podesta to lead the $369 billion fund, which was created as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The billionaire said Podesta was the perfect choice to "champion" the climate investment fund in a gushing statement issued Sept. 9. Days later, on Sept. 13, Steyer said the fund represented a "transformative, revolutionary, unprecedented" investment opportunity for the clean energy industry.
Steyer isn’t Podesta’s only billionaire patron with a stake in the green energy industry. He reported receiving payments from the HJW Foundation, a private foundation established by Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss. Wyss has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to leftist groups in the United States, including dark money juggernauts the Sixteen Thirty Fund and New Venture Fund. Wyss is also a founding member of the Center for American Progress, a leftwing think tank Podesta founded in 2003 and chaired from 2017 through September 2022.
It’s not clear exactly how much Podesta received from Wyss’s foundation before joining the Biden administration. While Podesta identified the HJW Foundation as a source of compensation exceeding $5,000, he didn’t disclose the exact amount he received from the Swiss billionaire.
Podesta also raked in $140,000 in consulting fees from the Sandler Foundation, a charity founded by multibillionaire banker Herbert Sandler that funds leftwing groups including Podesta’s Center for American Progress, the ACLU, Earthjustice, and the Sierra Club. Sandler died in 2019.
China hawks on Capitol Hill have raised concerns that Podesta could steer resources from the climate fund to America’s top adversary. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) and Ted Cruz (R., Texas) have noted that Podesta has urged the United States and China to "align" on renewable energy policy, and that the longtime Democratic consultant once urged Chinese businesses to directly invest in the American economy.
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Biden Undertakes 'Greatest Regulatory Overreach in American Maritime Law' -- to protect whales
President Joe Biden’s administration has done plenty of federal overreach in the 50 states and numerous territories under U.S. control. Now, he’s extending the long arm of bureaucracy to the high seas.
According to Fox News, the Biden administration is proposing limiting the speed of certain motorboats along the Atlantic coast in what one boating expert called “the greatest regulatory overreach in American maritime law.”
The move is intended to protect an endangered species of whales — although federal officials admit only five of those whales have been killed by boats covered under the regulation in the past 15 years.
As per an October news release from the National Marine Manufacturers Association, “the proposed rule would broaden the current 10-knot (11.5 mph) speed restriction to include vessels 35 feet and larger (down from 65 feet); expand the go-slow zones from discrete calving areas to essentially the whole Atlantic Coast and out as far as 90 miles from shore; and extend these zone restrictions for as long as seven months a year.”
The area covered by the restriction would reach from Florida to Massachusetts. Fox reported the proposal was “put forward by the U.S. Commerce Department under the auspices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.”
“This would be the greatest regulatory overreach in American maritime law,” said Frank Hugelmeyer, president of the NMMA. “Not only are they creating a serious safety issue, they are creating a massive negative economic impact.”
As for the safety issue, Chris Edmonston, president of the Boat Owners Association of the United States, said boats usually can’t get on what’s known as a “plane” if they’re under 10 knots.
Being on a plane means the bow of the boat can lower and pass through waves — at a fast enough speed, of course. Under that speed, the boat is tossed about.
“The boats are designed to ride on top of the waves,” Edmonston said. “This is going to make them wallow in the waves — up and down, side to side, pitching. … It’s going to be hard to maintain control. You can take waves over the side.”
Also, larger boats covered by the restrictions will have issues going through channels near the shore. “They can’t maintain steerage [at 10 knots],” he said. “If you’re going that speed you’re going to [run] aground.”
As for the economic impact, pilot boat captain Trey Thompson said it will back up port traffic and render boats unusable.
“The crew will be thrown around, tossed around, injured,” Thompson said, speaking from the stern of one of his pilot boats — traveling at 35 knots. “If we run at slow speeds, any side swell is going to make these boats roll.”
It’s one of two 64-foot boats Thompson said he has purchased in the past year — both of which would be unusable under the new Biden administration restrictions.
And then there’s the question of traffic. “The port will be closed any day it’s rough [or] windy. Not just this port. All the ports on the East Coast,” Thompson said.
So, why enact a policy with so many downsides? It has to do with the endangered right whale, which, according to an NOAA spokesman, only has an oceanic population of 350.
“This rule is designed to reduce the risk of mortalities from vessel strikes and afford the species a greater opportunity to recover,” the spokesman said.
The problem? Only five of the whales have been killed in collisions with the vessels covered by the restrictions in the past 15 years.
“It’s stupid,” said Jeff Angers, president of the Center for Sportfishing Policy. “It’s not what government is supposed to do.”
“This overreach is going to basically all but halt fishing off the East Coast of the United States,” said Glenn Hughes, president of the American Sportfishing Association. “It will just keep people from fishing.”
“Instead of getting to a [fishing] destination in an hour, you’re talking about something that’s going to take three to four hours both ways,” he added, making day fishing trips “impossible.”
And then there’s the boat-building industry, which Pat Healey, owner of Viking Yachts, says would be “devastate[d]” by the regulations; all but one of his boats would be affected.
“It’s going to have a tremendous impact on our employment,” he said. “1,600 boat builders. It’s going to wipe them out.”
But what do you expect?
With the stroke of a pen, Biden killed the Keystone XL Pipeline. He tried to wipe out billions in student loan debt, leaving those who paid their loans or never took them out in the first place to foot the bill.
Do these people think trifles like their livelihoods and safety will stop the Biden administration? Get real.
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More big batteries storing renewable energy to be built around Australia
A joke. They run for a couple of hours and then go flat. So what use are they in any serious power shortage?
It is estimated the batteries will lead to a tenfold increase in storage capacity, with Mr Bowen saying it would revitalise the energy market.
"Some people say the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow and that's true, but we can store renewable energy for when we need it," he told reporters outside the Transgrid battery in Western Sydney.
Where will the battery projects be located?
The batteries will come online by 2025 and together would be big enough to power Tasmania for about three hours.
Three will be in Victoria - at Gnarwarre, Moorabool and Mortlake - while one will be at Liddell in NSW.
Queensland will be home to two, at Mount Fox and Western Downs, while South Australia will also have two, at Bungama and Blyth.
They range from 200-300 megawatts each and will have grid-forming inverter technology, which provides stability to the grid usually offered through coal and gas.
The government estimates the total value of the projects at $2.7 billion.
Mr Bowen said the projects would be some of the biggest batteries rolled out in Australia in the near future. "Renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy, the more renewable energy we have in the system, the cheaper bills will be," he said.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the batteries could underpin the transition to renewable energy in Australia.
"This pipeline of grid-forming projects will help move us closer to an electricity grid that can support 100 per cent renewable energy in the (National Energy Market)," he said.
Energy price relief bill passed by parliament
15 Dec 2022, 6:00 pm
Energy price relief bill passed by parliament
It came as the federal government unveiled further details about 58 community batteries to be rolled out in regional and urban areas, worth up to $500,000 each.
Electricity providers will use them to store energy generated by solar panels on residential homes, which could then be used by other nearby households.
An extra 342 will be rolled out after consultation.
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My other blogs. Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM )
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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Jim Hansen and his twin
1 comment:
Wind Turbines and solar Panels are not that good and not enviromenrtaly friendly
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