Month: October 2020

Climate Science Denial Network Behind Great Barrington Declaration

Climate Science Denial Network Behind Great Barrington Declaration – Byline Times

 “There are countries who are managing the pandemic relatively well, including South Korea and New Zealand, and their strategies do not include simply letting the virus run wild whilst hoping that the asthmatic community and the elderly can find somewhere to hide for 12 months.”
It is consequently no wonder that some experts see this not as science, but as a form of predatory neoliberal economics in disguise.

New solar panel design could lead to wider use of renewable energy: Designing solar panels in checkerboard lines increases their ability to absorb light by 125%, a new study says

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Designing solar panels in checkerboard lines increases their ability to absorb light by 125 per cent, a new study says.

Researchers say the breakthrough could lead to the production of thinner, lighter and more flexible solar panels that could be used to power more homes and be used in a wider range of products.
The study — led by researchers from the University of York and conducted in partnership with NOVA University of Lisbon (CENIMAT-i3N) — investigated how different surface designs impacted on the absorption of sunlight in solar cells, which put together form solar panels.
Scientists found that the checkerboard design improved diffraction, which enhanced the probability of light being absorbed which is then used to create electricity.
The renewable energy sector is constantly looking for new ways to boost the light absorption of solar cells in lightweight materials that can be used in products from roof tiles to boat sails and camping equipment.
Solar grade silicon — used to create solar cells — is very energy intensive to produce, so creating slimmer cells and changing the surface design would make them cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

Polish chemical weapons cover-up threatens US interests in Europe

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 According to Terrance Long, founder of the International Dialogue on Underwater Munitions, the organisation was designed specifically to remove countries’ liabilities for dumping toxic munitions in seas throughout the 20th century.
30% of all fish tested in the Baltic Sea now contain warfare agents. This figure will only increase over time to almost 100% of the fish stocks, as such chemical weapons have a half-life of 5,000 years. EU consumers, plus the 16-20 million American citizens visiting Europe every year, would recoil in disgust, posing a serious financial problem as four of the seven largest European fish exporters come from the Baltic.

Indigenous ​activist Autumn Peltier vows to hold feds accountable for 61 boil water advisories​

 OTTAWA — A new documentary that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival has put a renewed spotlight on an Indigenous clean water advocate known as the “water warrior.”
Autumn Peltier is Anishinaabekwe and a member of Wiikwemkoong First Nation. In 2018, at the age of 13, she pressed world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on the issue of water protection.
Peltier is the focus of a new short film titled, “The Water Walker.” The film tracks her journey from Wiikwemkoong First Nation in northern Ontario to Manhattan where she spoke at UN headquarters for a second time in 2019 about the importance of universal access to clean drinking water.

We Can Partner With Nature To Food Everybody

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We Can Partner With Nature To Feed Everybody
 Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin is transforming the food system from the ground up by introducing poultry-powered, planet-cooling, regenerative agriculture. He talks about the need to rebalance humanity’s relationship with nature with Pip Wheaton, Ashoka’s co-lead of Planet & Climate.

I came into this because of people’s suffering. I’m an agronomist; I’m passionate about nature. I believe I understand how nature operates, and how we can be partners with nature to feed everybody. The current system isn’t doing that. As a consequence, the way people live, the quality of people’s lives because of the food they eat, is impacted. Consumers are sick from conventional foods; diet related diseases, diabetes, heart disease. Minorities are more severely affected because of the way food reaches minority communities all around the world. Whether it is indigenous communities in Guatemala and Mexico, or African Americans or Hispanic or other minorities in the United States, or minorities in other countries, they’re the ones at the tail end.

I Live On An Island And I cannot See The Ocean

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I Live On An Island and I Cannot See The Ocean 

I am an islander. A multi-generational islander. I was born on a very small island (23 square miles), I grew up on a medium sized island and have lived most of my life on a third island, Grand Cayman in the Cayman Island.

I woke up this morning and could hear the ocean roaring, calling to me, with a a loud voice of seas left behind by Hurricane Delta, which passed us yesterday. 

As I drove down the West Bay Road I would have enjoyed being able to see the state of the ocean with the waves rolling in, and changing its color, as it always does to,  to a wonderful light turquoise. 

Unfortunately, with all the hotels and condominiums that have been constructed over the last thirty years the ocean is invisible. 

In other islands, such as Hawaii, visitor accommodation has been sited on the landward side of the coast road allowing those of us who live on islands to enjoy the beauty of our homes. However, our leadership caters only to the developers and never to to those of us who are citizens.

Do we have a problem? Are citizens being overlooked by leaders concerned solely with Gross Domestic Product (GDP,) which is great for developers who are also given massive import duty consessions. We must ask the question ‘Who are we developing for?’.

Seagrass restoration speeds recovery of ecosystem services

Seagrass restoration speeds recovery of ecosystem services — ScienceDaily

 The reintroduction of seagrass into Virginia’s coastal bays is one of the great success stories in marine restoration. Over the past two decades, scientists and volunteers have broadcast more than 70 million eelgrass seeds within 4 previously barren seaside lagoons, spurring a natural expansion that has so far grown to almost 9,000 acres — the single largest eelgrass habitat between North Carolina and Long Island Sound.
Now, a long-term monitoring study shows this success extends far beyond a single species, rippling out to engender substantial increases in fish and invertebrate abundance, water clarity, and the trapping of pollution-causing carbon and nitrogen.
Published in the October 7th issue of Science Advances, the study was led by Dr. Robert “JJ” Orth of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, along with VIMS colleagues Mark Luckenbach, Ken Moore, Richard Snyder, and David Wilcox.