Global rainbow distribution under current and future climates
Is this a spoof?
Abstract
Rainbows contribute to human wellbeing by providing an inspiring connection to nature. Because the rainbow is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that results from the refraction of sunlight by rainwater droplets, changes in precipitation and cloud cover due to anthropogenic climate forcing will alter rainbow distribution. Yet, we lack a basic understanding of the current spatial distribution of rainbows and how climate change might alter this pattern.
To assess how climate change might affect rainbow viewing opportunities, we developed a global database of crowd-sourced photographed rainbows, trained an empirical model of rainbow occurrence, and applied this model to present-day climate and three future climate scenarios.
Results suggest that the average terrestrial location on Earth currently has 117 ± 71 days per year with conditions suitable for rainbows. By 2100, climate change is likely to generate a 4.0–4.9 % net increase in mean global annual rainbow-days (i.e., days with at least one rainbow), with the greatest change under the highest emission scenario. Around 21–34 % of land areas will lose rainbow-days and 66–79 % will gain rainbow-days, with rainbow gain hotspots mainly in high-latitude and high-elevation regions with smaller human populations.
Our research demonstrates that alterations to non-tangible environmental attributes due to climate change could be significant and are worthy of consideration and mitigation.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095937802200142X
****************************************************Biden Administration Holds Up Major Oil Refinery Despite Looming Fuel Crisis
President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on November 17 that it would not reopen a key U.S. oil refinery in the Virgin Islands, despite a coming national shortage in diesel fuel that could prove catastrophic to the country.
According to the Daily Caller, the St. Croix refinery was first shut down in June of 2021 after the administration demanded a “Prevention of Significant Deterioration” permit, required by the Clean Air Act, that would prove the refinery’s capabilities of reducing air pollution if reopened. The refinery is owned by West Indies Petroleum Limited and Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation, LLLC.
The St. Croix refinery, one of the largest oil refineries in the world, was capable of producing over 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day, processing that oil into gasoline and heating oil, which is a form of diesel. Heating oil is now 65 percent more expensive in October of 2022 than it was in October of 2021, according to Bloomberg.
The U.S. currently has only about 26 days left of diesel fuel in commercial inventories, with the Energy Information Administration (EIA) admitting that one gallon of diesel now costs $1.58 more than it did in November of last year. In addition, Biden’s EPA is considering another anti-diesel plan that would make prices even worse, by forcing oil companies to store a mandatory minimum amount of diesel in their fuel tanks.
“I am committed to prioritizing the health and safety of underserved and overburdened communities across this country and holding polluters accountable,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. “This will ensure protections for St. Croix by requiring the refinery to operate in compliance with environmental laws designed to protect people’s health and the environment.”
The counterproductive move by the Biden Administration reflects its far-left “green energy” approach to energy policy, which has included shutting down the sale of all oil leases on federal land, as well as stifling domestic oil production in favor of so-called “renewable” forms of energy such as wind, solar, and electric. These policies led to the spike in gas prices earlier in 2022, a crisis that was subsequently exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Although Biden has turned to raiding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as a means of temporarily reducing gas prices in order to improve his public image, gas prices have continued to rise after a brief drop, and the coming diesel shortage could spell disaster for the United States if truck drivers are no longer able to transport food and other goods across the country.
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Protests Erupt After Irish Govt Bans Peat, A Natural, Abundant Fuel
Protesters gathered in front of a shuttered power station on Sunday to demonstrate against the Irish government’s banning of a natural and abundant fossil fuel just in time for the winter energy crisis.
A large group of mostly rural individuals gathered at the closed West Offaly Power Station [pictured] in Shannonbridge on Sunday afternoon to protest against the Irish government’s continued green agenda drive in the face of the ongoing energy crisis.
The station was closed back in 2020 as part of an EU-supported government drive to drastically reduce the use of turf [peat] in Ireland, a natural fossil fuel that can be easily obtained using a shovel from bogs throughout the country.
As part of this green drive, the government has now outright banned the commercial sale of peat on the island entirely, drastically curtailing the ability of ordinary citizens to obtain locally sourced traditional fuel at a time when fuel bills are rising dramatically.
“We are demonstrating to maintain our right to continue to cut turf so we can heat our homes and cook our meals,” Mick Cantwell, a member of the organization that hosted the protest, told local paper the Athlone Advertiser.
“We are also of the view that Shannonbridge Power Station should be reopened, preventing extreme poverty for all living through this present energy crisis.”
Also present at the demonstration was Carol Nolan, an independent elected representative within Ireland’s national parliament, as well as Shane Lynam of the Irish Freedom Party, who addressed the crowd.
“The current regime we are up against wants nothing more than to destroy Irish culture and the Irish way of life,” Lynam said in a speech at the event, during which he frequently criticized the EU’s involvement in the restrictions on the harvesting of turf, as well as its “hollow promises of globalism”.
Coming into force on Halloween this year, the ban on the commercial sale of turf in Ireland comes amid fears that the island nation — like many other EU members — will see rolling blackouts this winter.
Despite the island sporting a wide variety of both onshore and offshore deposits of fossil fuels, top-down climate change laws imposed at the national and European Union level have largely prevented the country from utilizing them, resulting in Ireland obtaining a large amount of its natural gas from abroad.
The country also lacks any in-use gas storage facilities, a fact that leaves it far more vulnerable to disruptions in supply compared to the likes of Germany.
As a result of these factors, the country’s national grid operators may be forced to cut off certain parts of the country from their electricity supply in order to keep the grid stable, while one senator has now described rolling blackouts as being a “very real prospect” facing Ireland over the coming months.
Ireland is not the only country where the national governments have banned a cheap and easy-to-use home heating fuel just in time for the national gas and electricity grid to come under pressure, with energy prices for those commodities soaring.
The UK has banned the sale of house coal, citing environmental concerns, a legacy of the Boris Johnson era of radical green politics.
https://climatechangedispatch.com/protests-erupt-after-irish-govt-bans-peat-a-natural-abundant-fuel/
************************************************Australia: Greenie hatred of sheep and cattle
Having flown to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (Cop 27) in Egypt, Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has been at pains to point out the Albanese government’s commitment to US President Joe Biden’s international pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.
The pledge will impel greenhouse gas-intensive industries like agriculture which, owing to the digestive systems of sheep and cattle is responsible for about half of Australia’s methane emissions, to curb their methane output.
If the target is legislated, the door would open for punitive regulatory measures to be placed on graziers running cattle and sheep.
Across the ditch, New Zealand is planning to impose a ‘burp tax’ on farmers by 2025 which, according to its own modelling, would force an estimated 20 per cent of cattle and sheep farmers and 5 per cent of dairy farmers out of business.
Such a policy in Australia would have the same result, with farmers compelled to de-stock, leading to a decline in food production and a skyrocketing of meat and dairy prices. The inevitable farm closures would devastate regional communities.
Why the Albanese government would commit to any measure that risks destabilising Australia’s agricultural industry beggars belief.
In the current geopolitical climate, the lesson could not be clearer: food security is inextricably linked to national security – a point emphasised in a recent report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute which outlines that ‘robust and resilient food and fibre production systems are critical to political and social stability’.
One need only look as far as Ukraine to see the horrific results when food supplies become weapons of war. By mercilessly blockading Ukrainian cereal exports, Vladimir Putin has plunged millions in chronically malnourished regions in Africa and the Middle East into food scarcity and starvation.
Fortunately, Australia is one of the most food-secure nations on earth. Our $83 billion agricultural industry produces enough food every year to feed Australia threefold. Surplus supplies go to our neighbours in the Indo-Pacific region – home to half of the world’s undernourished people.
The war in Ukraine, therefore, is a salutary reminder that, in any crisis to come closer to home, Australian farmers will play a crucial strategic role in bolstering not only our national resilience but peace and stability in our region.
The ASPI report argues that government and policymakers should take heed of ‘Putin’s war on global food security’ and examine how ‘national security can be threatened as well as enhanced by how we approach agriculture policy, investment and production’ in Australia.
Despite its strategic importance, few industries are as demonised by the urban green lobby or as burdened by environmental regulation as Australian agriculture, particularly the livestock sector.
Even before the methane pledge, Australian farmers were up to their neck in cumbersome environmental regulation.
Recent research from the Institute of Public Affairs has shown that the weight of Commonwealth environmental red tape, known as ‘green tape’, that farmers are forced to wade through, has grown 80-fold since 1971.
The effect has been to stifle the efficiency and productivity of Australian farmers.
IPA research shows that the Commonwealth’s environmental bureaucracy has grown at nearly three times the rate of the agricultural sector since 2000. In the same period, for every one job created in the environmental bureaucracy, 14 jobs have been lost in agriculture.
The excessive regulatory burdens placed on our farmers border on the ridiculous. To build a single irrigation pivot on private land requires no less than eight different permits.
Excessive green tape risks hampering our food security which, in times of crisis, is one of the most critical requirements to national resilience.
All of this reflects the growing tendency among policymakers to place lofty climate ambitions above the practical needs of our nation.
Despite paying for our social services, healthcare, and infrastructure, farmers – like miners – are increasingly enemy-number-one for the green climate lobby who paint them as environmental vandals. This despite the seemingly obvious fact that sustainable land management is unquestionably in the interest of every single farmer.
The reality in modern Australia is that fewer and fewer Australians have any connection to farming, agriculture or our rural regions. Worse still, few recognise that Australia is a secure, stable and safe nation largely thanks to the efforts of our farmers, both past and present. Not to mention peace in our region.
Our agricultural industry sits at the heart of our nation.
Recognising this, the Albanese government should act to cut unnecessary green tape, commit to no new taxes on farmers and, most importantly, celebrate the noble work our farmers do, not only feeding and clothing their fellow citizens but millions around the world as well.
This is now a national security priority. Just as Australia was built on the sheep’s back, so too will we rely on our farmers in any dark times to come
https://spectator.com.au/2022/11/australian-notes-324/
***************************************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
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