The key to tackling Florida's coral crisis might just be found off the shores of Honduras
This is all a lot of nonsense. "Bleaching" is not the death of coral. It just means that the coral has expelled its algal symbionts. Australian corals regularly undergo bleaching and bounce back with no human intervention.
And if more heat-tolerant species are really needed, there are already plenty in the Red Sea and Northern Australia. Australia's warmest waters are in the Torres Strait which is in the mid tropics. And that is where corals flourish most abundantly in Australia. Like most living things, corals LIKE warmth. Even people do, as Boca Raton shows.
Most bleaching is in fact caused by fluctuating water levels. Corals are close to the surface and do NOT like dessication
Scientists from the University of Miami are collaborating on an effort to address Florida's coral crisis as last summer's record-breaking marine heatwave severely impacted coral reefs in the Florida Keys, pushing them to the brink.
Axios reports that researchers are studying elkhorn coral colonies to develop solutions to the rising ocean temperatures caused by climate change and have suggested an unlikely solution: the research team plans to breed the Honduran corals with Florida's surviving corals to produce offspring capable of withstanding warmer temperature. The report details the process further:
"Led by Andrew Baker, director of the Coral Reef Futures Lab at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School, a team collected the elkhorn fragments from a reef in Tela Bay off the northern coast of Honduras, where the corals have somehow thrived in the same extreme heat affecting Florida's population. They hope to breed them with Florida's surviving corals — a technique called "genetic rescue" — to produce offspring able to survive warmer temperatures, Baker said in a news release.
The extreme heat last summer resulted in the complete destruction of one reef and widespread coral bleaching, a phenomenon where corals turn white due to stress. This die-off led scientists to move thousands of corals to laboratories to protect them until temperatures normalized. As the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service reported back in August:
Essentially, corals around Florida are experiencing extreme levels of heat stress that have never been recorded before. All of the Florida Keys are at Alert Level 2 for bleaching conditions, which means severe, widespread bleaching and significant mortality are likely. Some sites have already been exposed to two times greater the amount of heat stress than when mortality is expected to begin, and so far, the most extreme heat stress is in the lower and middle Florida Keys.
Five years ago, the The Florida Aquarium's Coral Conservation and Research Center in Tampa participated in a coral cross-breeding project using elkhorn corals from Curaçao and coral sperm from Florida. Although the effort produced hundreds of offspring, they could not be released onto Florida's reefs due to genetic differences.
According to experts, the Honduran corals are more closely related to Florida corals, and scientists hope that the offspring from this current experiment will meet regulatory requirements for release into the sea.
Coral reefs are critical, as they provide shelter for a quarter of ocean animals and drive significant tourism in Florida.
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The Titanic Scale Of Floating Wind Turbines Quantified
The global warming craze reaches a new height of insanity
Written by David Wojick on July 19, 2024. Posted in Current News
My regular readers know that I have often referred to the huge size of floating wind turbine assemblies.
They are much bigger than fixed offshore wind turbine assemblies because there is a big float attached. This makes floating wind far more expensive than fixed wind, which is already far more expensive than reliable fuel-fired electric power.
Simple physics says that if you want to put a 2,000-ton generator on top of a 500-foot tower with three 300-foot wings attached on a boat and have it still stand up in hurricane-force winds, it will have to be a mighty big boat.
Happily, Philip Lewis from strategic analyst Intelatus has put some numbers on this nonsense in Offshore Engineer.
See https://www.oedigital.com/news/504812-addressing-the-challenges-of-developing-floating-wind-at-scale
And https://www.oedigital.com/news/514835-preparing-for-floating-wind-leveraging-the-oil-gas-supply-chain
Of course, these are just estimates based on proposed designs, not measurements. Keep in mind that no one, anywhere, has ever built one of these Titanic monsters. Governments are setting huge targets for a technology that does not exist.
Based on UK permit applications, we are looking at a colossal individual floater footprint of around 160,000 square feet. That is roughly three football fields, so a mighty big float. And the UK does not get anything like hurricane-force winds. Maybe 100 mph, but never 160.
Weight-wise, Lewis suggests up to 5,000 tons of steel or 20,000 tons of concrete per float. Mind you, 5,000 tons of steel floaters will not keep 2,000 tons on a tall pole upright. These designs are what are called “semi-submersible”. This means the Titanic float is something like half full of water.
There is enough air to float it but also a lot of water to hopefully weigh it down. I have yet to see the math on all this and have my doubts about its viability, but this is what is reported.
Of course, these huge floaters make floating wind power extremely expensive. The guess is at least three times as much as the already ridiculously expensive fixed-bottom offshore wind power. It could be a lot more.
These enormous numbers are based on 15 MW turbines, which are the biggest built today, although none has yet been installed and operational offshore. But bigger are coming with 18 MW on order and 20 MW advertised. Floater size and weight scale exponentially with turbine weight and height, so the above huge numbers may actually be quite small.
As an engineer, I would build a few of these monster floating assemblies and run them through a few hurricanes to see how they did, especially if they survived. Of course, the hell-bent Biden folks and green States are doing nothing like that.
For example, next month, Biden’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is selling 15,000 MW of floating wind leases in the Gulf of Maine. California just announced a 25,000 MW floating wind target with 5,000 MW already leased by BOEM.
Just to play with numbers, this 40,000 MW of floaters would take just under 3,000 of these monster 15 MW floaters. In addition to filling up a lot of surface ocean, each has to be anchored to the sea floor with at least three mooring cables, more likely around eight each. Plus each has a live wire cable transmitting its energy output.
Lewis says the depths involved are like this: “In the U.S., the first commercial-scale projects will be off California (500-1,300 meters). Future activity is planned off Oregon (550-1,500 meters), the Gulf of Maine (190-300 meters), and the Central Atlantic (over 2,000 meters).” A mile is roughly 1,600 meters.
So we have many millions of feet of mooring cables and hot wires filling the ocean between the floaters and the sea floor. This is a whole new form of harassment that needs to be authorized (or not) under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
What is really funny is I see no plans for building these thousands of Titanic floating wind assemblies. I recently pointed out that the Biden Transportation Dept was illegally diverting almost a billion dollars to build floating wind fabrication facilities in Maine and California. But, neither facility design has what it would take to actually make this stupendous semi-submersible junk, starting with dry docks.
I strongly suggest we put a big hold on leasing and funding floating wind technology. Let’s first see how and if it works and at what cost.
https://principia-scientific.com/the-titanic-scale-of-floating-wind-turbines-quantified/
***************************************************Global use of coal rises as nuclear power poised to hit record highs
The global use of coal is expected to rise this year, while nuclear power is expected to hit record levels in 2025, the International Energy Agency reports
The IEA said global coal use for producing electricity is expected to increase by just shy of 1 per cent, following growth of 1.9 per cent in the previous year. The IEA said it had expected coal power generation to contract this year but while there had been declines in Europe – growth in Asia would see global usage increase.
While much of the increases in Asia were driven by strong electricity demand growth in China and India, the IEA also noted US coal-fired generation is also expected to remain robust in 2024 amid rising electricity demand and reduced coal-to-gas switching.
The findings underscore the global challenge of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, a pledge supported by nearly all countries
The IEA said global nuclear generation is on track to reach a new high in 2025, surpassing its previous record in 2021. Nuclear generation is forecast to rise globally by 1.6 per cent in 2024, and by 3.5 per cent in 2025. This growth is supported by a steady increase in output by the French nuclear power fleet as maintenance works are completed, by the restarting of reactors in Japan, and by new reactors coming online in various markets, including China, India, Korea and Europe.
Both Europe and Asia are increasingly turning to nuclear power as they attempt to wean themselves of fossil fuels amid a global energy crunch. Europe had been reliant on gas for much of its electricity generation but has in recent years sought to wean itself off Russian supplies amid sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.
Japan, a major user of coal, has been forced to restart its nuclear fleet in a bid to meet its net zero commitment.
Keisuke Sadamori, director of energy markets and security at the IEA said electricity demand is growing globally and while the transition to zero emissions sources is capturing an ever larger share – it remained insufficient.
“It’s encouraging to see clean energy’s share of the electricity mix continuing to rise, but this needs to happen at a much faster rate to meet international energy and climate goals,” Mr Sadamori said.
Australian households and businesses pay some of the world’s highest electricity bills and delays in establishing new sources of energy threaten to increase pressure.
The IEA said Australia’s wholesale electricity price – the cost of generating the power – held steady during the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period one year earlier.
The IEA said steady prices of coal and increased renewable energy generation were the catalyst for the flatline wholesale price, which will be a relief to the government, which must return to the polls by May 2025.
While recent high electricity bills have hit the standing of the Labor government, the IEA’s data illustrates one small benefit – an increase in rooftop solar as households and businesses look for some relief.
Australia has some of the world’s highest proliferation rates for rooftop solar, aiding the government’s aspirations to develop zero emission energy sources.
But the IEA noted the toll on retailers of Australia’s soaring rates of rooftop solar.
The IEA said in South Australia – where rooftop solar is at its highest levels in Australia – the proliferation is causing economic harm to retailers.
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Record five-year jail term for Just Stop Oil’s founder
The founder of Just Stop Oil has received the longest-ever jail sentence for nonviolent protest under new laws designed to crack down on public disruption.
Roger Hallam, 58, was jailed for five years for co-ordinating the protests that disrupted the M25 in London over four days in 2022. Forty-Five protesters climbed gantries on the motorway, forcing police to stop the traffic.
Daniel Shaw, 38, from Northampton, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, 35, from Derby, Louise Lancaster, 58, from Cambridge, and Cressida Gethin, 22, from Hereford, were each sentenced to four years after being found guilty of conspiring to cause a public nuisance.
The sentences, handed down at Southwark crown court in London, were longer than those given to Just Stop Oil activists who scaled the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge over the Dartford Crossing in October 2022. They were condemned as a “gross miscarriage of justice” by environmental campaigners last night (Thursday).
The group were sentenced under controversial legislation introduced by the previous government to get tougher on disruptive tactics used by environmental protesters, including blockading roads and attacks on sporting events. A 13-week campaign by Just Stop Oil (JSO) last summer cost the Metropolitan Police more than pounds 7.7 million, the equivalent cost of 23,500 officer shifts.
The legislation, which provides for stiffer sentences for protesters who block roads, was backed by Sir Keir Starmer, now the prime minister. But it was condemned by the United Nations human rights commissioner as “deeply troubling” and “disproportionate”.
Last night (Thursday) prominent environmental campaigners, including the millionaire Labour donor Dale Vince and the broadcaster Chris Packham, criticised the sentencing of the so-called Whole Truth Five.
Vince, who has donated almost pounds 1.4 million to the party since 2014, said it “can’t be right” that protesters were jailed in the same week that it was announced that prisoners would be released early to ease the crisis in the country’s prisons. He said that the sentence made the UK akin to “North Korea or Russia”.
The court was told that the M25 protests caused economic damage of pounds 765,000, while the cost to the Metropolitan Police was over pounds 1.1 million.
The protests are also said to have affected more than 700,000 vehicles, and left the M25 “compromised” for more than 120 hours.
Jocelyn Ledward KC, for the prosecution, told the court that the five defendants had joined a Zoom call in which they discussed the planned protests and were aiming to recruit others.
An undercover reporter for The Sun who joined the call pretending to be interested in the protest recorded part of the discussion and passed this to the police, who then arrested the activists.
In sentencing, Judge Christopher Hehir told the activists: “The plain fact is that each of you some time ago has crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic. You have appointed yourselves as sole arbiters of what should be done about climate change.”
Judge Hehir told Hallam: “You are the theoretician, the ‘ideas’ man. In my judgment, you sit at the very highest level of the conspiracy.”
In a statement on his website Hallam said that the sentence was the work of a “kangaroo court”.
The trial was criticised by Michel Forst, the UN’s Special Rapporteur for Environmental Defenders, who described the threat of a long sentence against Daniel Shaw as potentially unlawful. Speaking on the eve of the first day of the trial, Forst warned: “The imposition of such sanction is not only appalling but may also violate the United Kingdom’s obligations under international law.”
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All my main blogs below:
http://jonjayray.com/covidwatch.html (COVID WATCH)
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)
https://immigwatch.blogspot.com (IMMIGRATION WATCH)
http://jonjayray.com/short/short.html (Subject index to my blog posts)
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Jim Hansen and his twin
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