Something to keep in mind…

President Trump and the legislators in Congress who are complicit in supporting his views through silence and prevarication, claim that they are not anti-Semitic. After all, Trump has a daughter who converted to Judaism and a Jewish son-in-law, and he supports Israel against the Palestinians.

Whether Trump is personally anti-Semitic or not, however, is not the point. His words and actions have purposefully encouraged violence which has led to attacks against Jews and others.

How is this so? Trump’s primary strategy since he became President, especially in the run-up to the mid-term elections, has been to energize his base in order to push them to vote.

He does this mainly through stoking fear about immigration. Instead of a measured conversation about limiting immigration in some way, he manipulates people’s fear and distrust of immigrants.

He does this by inciting anger and paranoia through words of encouragement for violent acts, in his rallies, in his tweets, and in his policies (separating migrants from their children at the border, trying to build a wall, and so on). After the Charlottesville incident, he praised ‘people on both sides’, which included neo-Nazis specifically marching against and threatening Jews and ‘others’.

These groups, which are given implicit permission to act out their beliefs, tend to center around white nationalism. White nationalists have a comprehensive agenda, not just limited to keeping Hispanic immigrants out of the country. Their belief package includes intense hatred for Jews and African Americans, in addition to Muslim and Hispanic immigrants. The marchers in Charlottesville were chanting ‘Jews will not replace us.’

So, by encouraging and giving permission (from the highest authority in the land) to white nationalists, Trump is backing their entire philosophy, a key element of which is ‘Death to the Jews’.

We cannot separate these beliefs among white nationalist groups. It is a package deal!

Trump also encourages violence in general. ‘Lock her up’, ‘I support candidates who physically attack reporters’, ‘The press is the enemy to be feared and opposed’, including reporters at his rallies. By doing so, he is giving moral permission for white nationalists and others to act out their anger.

Not only is violence being encouraged, but a level of violence is being purposefully stirred up, which serves to acclimate people to chaos and confusion. The hounds are being blooded. The public sympathetic nervous system is being triggered and a flight or fight reaction ensues. Ultimately people will become desensitized to the pain and suffering of others, more fearful of the world around them, and more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways. Either people are angry or they are overwhelmed and thus paralyzed into inaction. This serves not only to distract from the ongoing dismantling of our country and our lives, but it also prevents an organized and cohesive response to the orchestrated Societal Breakdown.

Stoking fear and encouraging violent acts is also a powerful distraction from the real issues we need to confront, including and most importantly Climate Breakdown.

HOT AIR NEWS ROUNDUP

Dramatic changes to Yukon glaciers a warning for the planet, researchers say
Eye on the Arctic October 30, 2018

“We as Canadians are stewards of about a third of the world’s mountain glaciers and ice caps, so this is our responsibility,” Flowers says.
The dramatic changes to the glaciers in the Yukon are an early warning of what climate change could mean for the rest of the planet, researchers say. And Flowers sees lots of reason for concern reflected in the state of the ice.
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The research boils down to an inescapable conclusion: The glacier can’t compensate for the volume it’s losing now each year.
The radar box Flowers tows on skis is specifically adapted for ice, and sends signals deep into the glacier’s core, bouncing off the bedrock. In places, the team has found ice more than 800 metres deep.
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In the Kluane First Nation communities of Burwash and Destruction Bay, the shoreline retreated, restricting boat access to traditional fishing spots. Previous spawning areas for whitefish and trout have popped up above the water line.
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The team’s research shows the ice is rapidly thinning, however, losing about a half metre a year, says Flowers. And the enormous glacier is retreating.

Global Warming Is Real. The Threat Is Real. Ecocide Is On The Horizon
Information Clearing House October 26, 2018 by Paul Craig Roberts

It is important to understand that the tobacco companies with their policy of creating doubt and controversy only endangered the lives of smokers. But the carbon industry is endangering the life of the planet itself. This is what the authors mean by their book title, Unprecedented Crime. It is unconscionable that corporations are so determined to extract the last dollar from their oil and coal reserves that they knowingly endanger the life of the planet.

It is difficult to comprehend the risks that the carbon energy industry and its propagandists are willing to take with the life of the planet. The corporations know about the Greenhouse Effect and its danger. The President of Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Mr. E. E. David, Jr., explained it to a meeting of scientists: “The critical problem is that the environmental impacts of the CO2 buildup may be so long delayed. A look at the theory of feedback systems shows that where there is such a long delay the system breaks down unless there is anticipation built into the loop.”

High Sea Level Rise Projections and the IPCC
Global Research October 29, 2018

A prime example is the question of sea level rise, estimated by the IPCC 2007 to reach 50 cm by 2100. At that stage the IPCC stated no reliable estimates existed for the breakdown of the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets, despite reports of increased Greenland melt in 2005. This is contrasted to sea level rise of several meters projected by James Hansen, consistent with paleo-climate observations of a rise of sea level of 7-9 meters during the Eemian, 125 thousand years ago, when temperatures were similar to current temperatures. This implies lag effects of ice sheet melting and a major sea level rise, possibly this century.
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The consequences of Eemian-like 7-9 meters sea level rises around the world would include flooding of large heavily populated and food producing delta plains

Rallies Planned for Cities Nationwide to Back Climate Youth Battling Trump in #TrialoftheCentury
Common Dreams October 25, 2018

"All of us have a responsibility to double down in supporting the young people holding the U.S. government responsible for perpetuating climate change and threatening our collective future."

'Like a Small War Just Passed Through': Super Typhoon Yutu Leaves US Islands in Pacific 'Mangled'
Common Dreams October 25, 2018

The powerful storm struck overnight, with the eye of the storm passing over the island Tinian around 2 a.m. local time on Thursday, and brought with it 20-foot waves and 180mph winds—meaning the typhoon was comparable to a Category 5 hurricane. At least one person was killed.

Graphics and animation…

The planet’s hidden climate change
Reuters October 30, 2018

Those rising temperatures are creating an epic underwater refugee crisis among marine life.

Venice Flooding Is Worst in a Decade; Severe Weather in Italy Kills at Least 11
NYT October 30, 2018

Violent thunderstorms, small tornadoes that blew roofs off homes, and winds equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane lashed Italy from Piedmont to Sicily early this week, leaving at least 11 people dead, many injured, and firefighters and other rescue workers scrambling to respond to emergency calls.

In Venice, ferocious winds drove the high tide to more than 61 inches, or 156 centimeters, above average sea level on Monday, one of the highest levels ever recorded, plunging much of the city under water. It was the highest flood in a decade in Venice, though far short of the record, more than 76 inches above level, set in November 1966.
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Winds reached 112 miles per hour in Liguria, on Italy’s northwest coast, one of the hardest-hit regions. The Italian news agency ANSA described a “massacre of yachts” in the town of Rapallo, near Genoa, where dozens of boats moored in the port broke loose and crashed against the shore or were driven out to sea.

A storm destroyed the provincial road to Portofino, isolating the picturesque coastal town and stranding residents and tourists.

Bitcoin can push global warming above 2 degrees C in a couple decades
Science Daily October 29, 2018

The electricity requirements of Bitcoin have created considerable difficulties, and extensive online discussion, about where to put the facilities or rings that compute the proof-of-work of Bitcoin. A somewhat less discussed issue is the environmental impacts of producing all that electricity.

Melting Glaciers Dramatically Alter Canada's Yukon
EcoWatch October 20, 2108

Researchers have determined that the rapidly retreating Kaskawulsh Glacier in the Yukon's St. Elias Mountain region cannot compensate for the volume it is losing now each year.

In the 2018 report, State of the Mountains, experts estimated that the glaciers in the St. Elias Mountains are losing more ice than any other alpine area in the country. The mountain range runs from British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska, and is part of the largest ice field in the world outside of Antarctica and Greenland.

Climate change to bring North Texas longer droughts, heavy rains, 120-degree temps within 25 years
Dallas News October 12, 2018

Last year hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria; the wildfires and floods in California; and tornado outbreaks in the Midwest and the South delivered $306.2 billion in damages, more than any year in history when adjusted for inflation.

Texas is particularly vulnerable to a changing climate. It has had more costly weather-related disasters than any other state, and those events will happen more often as air and ocean temperatures climb, scientists say.

Climate Adaption

Reuters has suddenly started writing about Climate Breakdown. Here is another a comprehensive article…

Zero carbon at sea? Rotterdam port eyes a greener future
Reuters October 22, 2018

It has introduced financial incentives for fume-belching ships and other port facilities to invest in renewable power, with the aim of slashing the port’s carbon dioxide emissions from shipping and industry by 49 percent by 2030.

By 2050, emissions would fall 90 percent, in line with national targets, according to the plan.

Cooper sets global warming goal to cut NC greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent
News Observer October 29, 20018

He noted that Hurricane Florence, which soaked the state last month, was the third 500-year flooding event in the state in the past 19 years and the second in the past 23 months.

Pension Funds Point Finger at Lobbyists of Polluting Companies
Bloomberg October 28, 2018

A group of pension funds that control $2 trillion are pushing for 55 large European energy, mining and transportation companies to scale back their anti-climate lobbying.
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A study by Drexel University showed that the oil and gas industry spent $2 billion between 2010 and 2016 to try to influence the U.S. government on climate legislation.
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Central banks are warning financial institutions that climate risk isn’t adequately priced in to asset valuations.

Whitehaven Coal: activist shareholders to force vote on climate strategy
The Guardian October 25, 2018

Activist shareholders in Australia’s largest independent coalminer are expected to vote in record numbers on Thursday to demand Whitehaven Coal aligns its long-term company strategy with the Paris climate agreement.
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Any substantial level of support would be significant, considering Whitehaven is a pure-play coalminer.

The company released a statement to the ASX on 5 October that indicated it would consider climate risk reporting in 2019, a move interpreted as a concession to activist shareholders.

Finally, a robust fuel cell that runs on methane at practical temperatures
EurekAlert October 29, 2018

Fuel cells have not been particularly known for their practicality and affordability, but that may have just changed. There's a new cell that runs on cheap fuel at temperatures comparable to automobile engines and which slashes materials costs.

Though the cell is in the lab, it has high potential to someday electrically power homes and perhaps cars, say the researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology who led its development. In a new study in the journal Nature Energy the researchers detailed how they reimagined the entire fuel cell with the help of a newly invented fuel catalyst.

The catalyst has dispensed with high-priced hydrogen fuel by making its own out of cheap, readily available methane.

In 'Historic Moment' for Climate Action, Wales Pledges to Leave Its Remaining Coal in the Ground
Common Dreams October 22, 2018

Wales' new proposed plan to reject all future coal mining applications is set to be finalized by the end of the year, a … new energy strategy which will aim to ensure that 70 percent of Wales' energy is derived from renewable sources by 2030.

Wildlife & the Environment

Climate change is 'escalator to extinction' for mountain birds
BBC October 29, 2018

Researchers have long predicted many creatures will seek to escape a warmer world by moving towards higher ground.

However, those living at the highest levels cannot go any higher, and have been forecast to decline.

This study found that eight bird species that once lived near a Peruvian mountain peak have now disappeared.

… "The way to deal with it is to maintain protected habitat corridors that stretch across large elevational gradients."

Deforestation triggered mass extinction of endemic animal species in Haiti
EurekAlert October 29, 2018

The loss of more than 99 percent of primary, virgin forests in Haiti is triggering an ongoing mass extinction of reptiles, amphibians, and other species. This deforestation is the main threat to species globally, more than disease, climate change or invasive species.

'Warning Bells Going Off' as NOAA Forecasts Entire Great Barrier Reef at Risk of Coral Bleaching and Death
Common Dreams October 26, 2018

Delivering yet another "wake-up call" after recent studies have shown that heat stress from anthropogenic global warming has killed half of the Great Barrier Reef's corals since 2016, a new analysis from U.S. scientists warns that the entirety of world's largest coral system is at risk of bleaching and death as Australia enters it summer months.
NOAA's new forecast for bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef is "very consistent with what the IPCC 1.5 degree report told us," concluded Hoegh-Guldberg. "It's extremely important that politicians and our leaders stand up and make the changes we need to make so we don't tread down an even more dangerous path."

Coral bleaching changed 'rules of engagement' for feisty butterflyfish
Sunday Morning Herald October 22, 2018

Mass coral bleaching not only battered reefs but also altered the behaviour of species such as butterflyfish, a finding that identifies an early signal that fish populations are in trouble, researchers say.

A study across 17 reefs spanning the Indo-Pacific region examined 5259 encounters involving 38 butterflyfish species before and after a severe global bleaching event in 2015-2016

Study: Increasing frequency of ocean storms could alter kelp forest ecosystems
EurekAlert October 30, 2018

A large-scale, long-term experiment on kelp forests off Southern California brings new insight to how the biodiversity of coastal ecosystems could be impacted over time as a changing climate potentially increases the frequency of ocean storms.

Climate Studies

Alterations to seabed raise fears for future
Science Daily October 29, 2018

The ocean floor as we know it is dissolving rapidly as a result of human activity. The seabed plays a crucial role in controlling the degree of ocean acidification by neutralizing the acidity of the water. But due to human activities, the level of CO2 in the water is so high, and the water so acidic, that the calcite on the ocean floor is simply being dissolved.

How Earth sheds heat into space
MIT News September 24, 2018

They observed that Earth emits heat to space from the planet’s surface as well as from the atmosphere. As both heat up, say by the addition of carbon dioxide, the air holds more water vapor, which in turn acts to trap more heat in the atmosphere. This strengthening of Earth’s greenhouse effect is known as water vapor feedback. Crucially, the team found that the water vapor feedback is just sufficient to cancel out the rate at which the warmer atmosphere emits more heat into space.

How soil bacteria are primed to consume greenhouse gas
Science Daily October 29, 2018

New research has revealed that some soil bacteria are primed ready to consume the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide when they experience life without oxygen in the environment.

Beyond 1984: Narrow focus on wildfire trends underestimates future risks to water security
EurekAlert October 29, 2018

…we need to view wildfire as an inevitable part of the future in the western U.S. Drying of western forests due to climate change coupled with the buildup of excess vegetation after decades of fire suppression have led to exceedingly low amounts of fire. This perspective will shift our assessment of fire liabilities and prevention and mitigation plans.

Meteorologist expects severe drought and heavy rain events to worsen globally
Science Daily October 25, 2018

"The Caribbean and Central America will have more extreme droughts and the north and northeast of North America can expect more extreme heavy rain events. Around the world, some places will see droughts and heavy rain events become more intense, longer lasting and more frequent. For the agriculture and related industries, this is particularly important."
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"The Caribbean and Central America will have more extreme droughts and the north and northeast of North America can expect more extreme heavy rain events. Around the world, some places will see droughts and heavy rain events become more intense, longer lasting and more frequent. For the agriculture and related industries, this is particularly important."

Study sheds light on why a warmer world may equal a wetter Arctic
EurekAlert October 20, 2018

The research finds evidence that in this ancient time, western Greenland became more humid, a trend that's often linked to increased precipitation. The study further shows that two different climactic processes may have contributed to this elevated humidity. The processes are:
• As the Arctic heats up, sea ice melts, exposing regional waters to sun, air and increased evaporation.
• As the planet warms, humidity increases more in regions closer to the equator. This creates an imbalance in global humidity, and eventually, moist air from lower latitudes is drawn into the drier Arctic.

Global Warnings

QMS: Time to disconnect greed from the welfare of earth, if survival means anything. I like trees.

Paul Beckwith: "I declare a global climate change emergency to claw back up the rock face to attempt to regain system stability, or face an untenable calamity of biblical proportions."

Kevin Hester: "There is no past analogue for the rapidity of what we are baring witness to. There has been a flood of articles ... 2C is no longer attainable and that we are heading for dangerous climate change"

Guy McPherson: "The recent and near-future rises in temperature are occurring and will occur at least an order of magnitude faster than the worst of all prior Mass Extinctions. Habitat for human animals is disappearing throughout the world, and abrupt climate change has barely begun."

me… We need to turn on a dime at mach nine!

Enjoy!