Environment
Hank |
There are expensive gambles we can make and none are in the forefront of cultural thought more than penalizing current businesses and subsidizing 'green' ones to protect the environment. California, with a deficit that can basically never be repaid and $100 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, still subsidizes hundreds of millions in green tech companies with no benefit to-date.
Pres. Obama thinks we should subsidize green companies also, to the tune of $2.3 billion in Recovery Act tax credits for green manufacturers.
But does breaking something to allow for something else to…
Illex argentinus, our old friend the Argentine shortfin squid, is not looking so good this year. To recap: the fishery crashed in 2009 and rebounded somewhat in 2010. Now it's down again at the beginning of 2011:
Argentina's fisheries yields showed a dramatic drop of almost one-third in the first two months of the year . . . The highest recorded landing in the period was for hake with 16,850 tons, which is 19.1 percent less than the same period a year ago. Squid followed with 5,696 tons, 69.8 percent less than in the first two months of 2010, with 18,859 tons.
So they're catching less than a…
Hank |
It is impossible today to get a 'treaty' ratified that would cause America to obey CO2 limits set by any outside body, for a number of reasons. So Democrats in Congress have been trying to make CO2 the purview of the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA), which gives it sweeping authority to regulate and penalize businesses.
Republicans, more skeptical than not on a CO2 basis for global warming, want that authority removed completely and have been trying to get the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 passed, which keeps the EPA from being able to unilaterally regulate American industry.…
As you may or may not know, I am a member of the Council of Canadians.http://www.canadians.org/index.html
The council is a privately funded "social watchdog" (if I may be blunt.) At the above site you will find all you could want to know about the council.
On march 8th I received an email from the council, it is summed up by the following quotation.I felt it worthy of sharing.
AbitibiBowater NAFTA settlement has privatized Canadian water, trade committee hears
Council
of Canadians Board member and trade lawyer Steven Shrybman presented
to Parliament’s Trade committee today…
Hank |
You've seen it everywhere by now - Earth's sixth mass extinction: Is it almost here? and other articles discussing an article in Nature (471, 51–57 doi:10.1038/nature09678) claiming the end of the world is nigh.
Hey, I like to live in important times. So do most people. And something so important it has only happened 5 times in 540 million years, well that is really special. But is it real?
Anthony Barnosky, integrative biologist at the University of California at Berkeley and first author of the paper, claims that if currently threatened species,…
Arctic Ice March 2011 - Update #1
Edited March 11 2011 - content added below ice prediction chart to address points raised in readers' comments.
The Arctic sea ice extent has grown a little recently. Ice extent as of March 10 2011 is 13749688 km2 (as reported by IJIS). Ice extent commonly grows until the end of March. But any ice which forms now will still be very young, thin, salty ice when the temperatures begin to rise - not forgetting that temperatures are already anomalously high over much of the Arctic.
While ice extent grew at average rates for February,…
Some people accept that the world's climate systems are changing, but try to argue that humans are too puny to be any part of the cause.
The reason for putting forward such an argument in the face of a wealth of historical and scientific data seems to be a matter of political agenda: if humans are too puny to cause climate change then they must surely be too puny to put matters right. It follows that 'right thinking people' should oppose any attempt to 'do something' about climate change - especially at the taxpayers expense.
Concern for the environment is not a ploy recently invented…
Nature provides "Teak " although its "Marwar Teak " for the desert people of Rajasthan . It was a common site to see this tree in the desert regions of Rajasthan and other parts of Rajasthan. In this month onwards one can see beautiful red, yellow , reddish yellow flowers on this tree. The flower color does not distinguish species of this plant and I cant give any reason for their different colors . However its wood is very valuable and comparable to teak wood (derived from Tectona grandis which requires better climatic conditions) . Due to its good quality wood this slow growing tree is…
Kadaya ( Sterculia urens) and Salar ( Boswellia serrata) are very typical in their habitat. They grow on slopes approaching hill tops or near hill tops ( but not on the hill tops ) if the water stream is flowing at the base of the the hills or hill range or there is a lake . This is litmus test to find the tree. In Ramgarh lake area and also in the stream flowing from the Ramgarh lake these two plants are found in abundance. Alas that for the greed of gum Katira ( high quality edible gum obtained by putting incision on the trees of Kadaya or Sterculia urens trees ) the trees are dying .…
Arctic Ice March 2011
In April 2010 a late upward blip in Arctic sea ice extent led some bloggers to write about 'recovery'. The blip was anomalous, hence there is no reason to expect a repetition this year. On the contrary, it is likely that ice extent will not increase by any significant amount before the 2011 melt season gets fully under way - if it is not under way already.
In my recent article Arctic Ice 2011 - Sail, Steam And Satellites I stated my expectation that NSIDC would report February ice extent as being the lowest in the satellite record. The NSIDC has just…