Russian officials arrested for not alerting residents to oncoming flood weather which prevented people from evacuating to safe terrain-BBC

7/22/12, "Officials in southern Russia held over floods," BBC

"Russian police have arrested three officials in the southern Krymsk region accused of failing to warn residents of disastrous flooding earlier this month.

The former head of Krymsk district, who had already been fired for his handling of the floods, and the mayor of Krymsk town are among those held.

The floods claimed the lives of 171 people, mostly in the town of Krymsk.

The floods hit the region overnight, catching many residents unawares, and were blamed on torrential rain.

The town of Krymsk was devastated as thousands of houses were almost completely submerged by rising water.

Many residents were forced to take refuge in trees or on rooftops.

"Essentially ignoring the weather service forecasts, the suspects did not inform the population about the looming danger and did not take steps to evacuate people," spokesman for the Investigative Committee said to Russian TV, according to the AFP news agency.

The floods were the first major disaster of President Vladimir Putin's third term in office, and federal authorities have been eager to show they are heeding criticism of the official response, which has been voiced even in normally pro-government media outlets.

Russian federal authorities launched an investigation shortly after the floods into possible negligence.

Mr Putin flew to the region himself in the immediate aftermath of the floods.

Local officials had said flood warnings were given using sirens, SMS messages and loudspeakers. But many people were asleep when the floods hit and did not hear them."

------------------------------------------

7/22/12, "Russia arrests officials after deadly floods," Ahram.org

-----------------------------------------

2010 Pakistan floods were forecast at least 10 days before they happened but the information was withheld by a London company and by Pakistan itself, which resulted in deaths. Profiteers used photos of the flood in an attempt to blame global warming rather than focusing on actual crimes that led to deaths.

1/31/11, "Pakistan flood warning 'not passed on'," BBC

"A study has suggested that the effects of last year's floods in Pakistan could have been less catastrophic if European weather forecasts had been shared with Pakistan.

The American Geophysical Union said the forecasts could have given up to 10 days' advance warning of the floods.

The study said this could have allowed the authorities in northern Pakistan to take preventative measures.

• The monsoon floods affected 20 million people and one fifth of the country.

At least 1,500 people died in the deluge.

The American Geophysical Union said the information

did not reach Pakistan because of a "lack of cooperation between the forecasting centre and Pakistan".

Pakistan's own weather agency also did not forecast the floods, the organisation added.

"This disaster could have been minimised and even the flooding could have been minimised," said Peter Webster, a professor of earth and atmospheric science at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and lead writer of the study.

"If we were working with Pakistan, they would have known eight to 10 days in advance that the floods were coming."

The study, which used data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF), found that the floods could have been predicted if the data had "been processed and fed into a hydrological model,

• which takes terrain into account".

The London-based ECMWF, however, said it did not

• "give out weather forecasts and weather warnings to the general public
  
• or media".

ECMWF scientist Anna Ghelli was quoted as saying that the organising provided forecasts to its members and co-operating states and

• "they are responsible to prepare forecasts for the public and advise the authorities in their own countries"."

====================

8/18/10, "Illegal logging by Pakistan's timber mafia increased flooding devastation," Treehugger.com, Matthew McDermott

------------------------------------

Ed. note: So it wasn't America's fault.





.

Greenpeace sold fraudulent Arctic campaign against Shell Oil and journalists fell for it

7/19/12, "Journalists beware: Shell Arctic hoax signals move from subtle spin to activist deception," Poynter.org, Jeff Sonderman

"Consider this video posted to YouTube in June, purporting to show an unauthorized taping of a Shell corporate party celebrating its newest Arctic oil rigs. The event goes horribly wrong when a miniature oil well drink dispenser has an uncontrolled blowout all over the guest of honor.

The event falls apart. The videographer is ushered out by security, reinforcing the impression that this was a huge spontaneous embarrassment to the oil company and giving fuel to a #shellfail meme that spread the video around the Web.

Just one problem: None of it is true.

It was the beginning of an elaborate hoax by Greenpeace and a group called the Yes Men.

Not only was the video fake, but journalists who wrote about the video received followup emails (also fake) from “Shell” calling the video a hoax and directing them to a company website. But that Arctic Ready website, it turns out, was yet another hoax.

So, activists produce a fake viral video, get journalists to write about it, send journalists a fake email admitting the video hoax but steering them to yet another Web hoax.

The website poses as a Shell corporate site with believable yet unflattering information about its Arctic drilling activities, including how the company is excited to take advantage of the “tremendous opportunities” of climate change.

Even a journalist who tried to do some due diligence by diving deeper into the site might be misled.

Links to corporate Web pages are diverted to a “temporary site maintenance” page that tells users “our corporate website is momentarily offline while we add new features as part of our new Let’s Go! Arctic campaign. Please check back later.”

There are fake article headlines, a fake Twitter account, a “just for kids” page with an “Angry Bergs” game that encourages you to “help Shell get Arctic oil” by melting icebergs, and an “ad contest” that has users create and share ads about the Arctic.

This week, as Forbes reports, the creators launched a new fake Twitter account impersonating Shell and using a little reverse-psychology by asking people to stop sharing the “subversive” or “negative” ads.

From here on it’s just hoaxes all the way down."...

--------------------------------------------

7/18/12, "Shell Oil's Social Media Nightmare Continues, Thanks To Skilled Pranksters Behind @ShellisPrepared," Forbes

via Tom Nelson

.

Vast aquifer of clean water found in Namibia good for 400 yrs., farming can increase

7/20/12, "Vast aquifer found in Namibia could last for centuries," BBC, McGrath

"A newly discovered water source in Namibia could have a major impact on development in the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa.

Estimates suggest the aquifer could supply the north of the country for 400 years at current rates of consumption.

Scientists say the water is up to 10,000 years old but is cleaner to drink than many modern sources.

However, there are concerns that unauthorised drilling could threaten the new supply.

For the people of northern Namibia water is something that they either have too much of or too little.

The 800,000 people who live in the area depend for their drinking water on a 40-year-old canal that brings the scarce resource across the border from Angola.

Over the past decade the Namibian government have been trying to tackle the lack of a sustainable supply in partnership

• with researchers from Germany and other EU countries.

They have now identified a new aquifer called Ohangwena II, which flows under the boundary between Angola and Namibia.

On the Namibian side of the border it covers an area roughly 70 km by 40 km (43 miles by 25 miles).

According to project manager Martin Quinger, from the German federal institute for geoscience and natural resources (BGR), it's a substantial body of water.

"The amount of stored water would equal the current supply of this area in northern Namibia for 400 years, which has about 40 percent of the nation's population."

"What we are aiming at is a sustainable water supply so we only extract the amount of water that is being recharged.

"What we can say is that the huge amount of stored water will always be enough for a back up for an area that is currently supplied only by surface water."

This region is dependent on two rivers for its water supply. But this has restricted agricultural development to areas close to these water sources. Mr Quinger says that the new aquifer has great potential to change the nature of farming in the area.

"For the rural water supply the water will be well suited for irrigation and stock watering, the possibilities that we open with this alternative resource are quite massive." he explains.

As well as providing a new source for agriculture in a region the aquifer will augment existing potable supplies. Martin Quinger says the discovery may be up to 10,000 years old but it is still good to drink.

"If the water [has spent] 10,000 years underground, it means it was recharged at a time when environmental pollution was not yet an issue, so on average it can be a lot better than water that infiltrates in cycles of months or years."

The natural pressure that the water is under means that it is easy and cheap to extract. But because a smaller salty aquifer sits on top of the new find it raises the possibility that unauthorised drilling could threaten the quality of the water.

Martin Quinger says that random drilling into the aquifer could be dangerous.

"If people don't comply with our technical recommendations they might create a hydraulic shortcut between the two aquifers which might lead to the salty water from the upper one contaminating the deep one or vice versa."

One of the biggest advantages of the new aquifer could be in helping people cope with climate change.

The researchers estimate that it could act as a natural buffer for up to 15 years of drought.

As well as identifying the new water source a key aim for the researchers involved is to develop the capacity among young Namibians to manage their country's water resources before the funding from the EU runs out."

.

Bill McKibben has great life via fossil fuel billions but doesn't want you to have that chance, he also seems to deny science that US CO2 has plunged

McKibben and his oil billionaire partner David Rockefeller's job is done in the US. Congratulations on your success! The science says the US has lost much of its CO2 and is on track to lose more. Other countries' CO2 hasn't dropped--despite billions spent on cap and trade and extra taxes. It sounds like Mr. McKibben hadn't factored in the possibility that he'd achieve his goal of CO2 reduction in the US so soon. Or perhaps he's denying the science. Climate "terror" is over, Bill!

8/2/2012, "Global Warming's Terrifying New Math, Three simple numbers that add up to global catastrophe - and that make clear who the real enemy is," Rolling Stone, by Bill McKibben

"We have met the enemy and they is Shell."...(2nd to last parag.)

----------------------------------------------------------------

Press release announcing the Rockefeller-Bill McKibben merger:

4/21/11, "1Sky and 350.org: Stronger as One," rbf.org, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Jessica Bailey

"This month marked the exciting marriage of 1Sky and 350.org—two grantees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s Sustainable Development program....

The announcement to merge 1Sky and 350.org—two of the biggest movements on climate—into a single organization under the banner of 350.org, gives me hope that we just might build a people-powered movement strong enough to protect this planet. 1Sky and 350.org were born around the same time and involved many of the same leaders. Bill McKibben, who has been a 1Sky board member and will chair the new 350.org board.... 1Sky was founded to support ambitious environmental action in the United States that would keep emissions targets to scientifically defendable levels, stop new coal-fired power plants, and build a green economy strong enough to create

• five million new green jobs."...

---------------------------------------------------------------

Forbes profile, David Rockefeller, Sr., net worth "$2.5 billion," "Source of Wealth: Standard Oil, Banking"

--------------------------------------------------------------



Exxon was created from the Standard Oil Company of John D. Rockefeller:

"A Guide to the ExxonMobil Historical Collection, 1790-2004: Part 1," University of Texas at Austin

"With the merger of Exxon and Mobil in 1999, the newly formed Exxon Mobil Corporation brought together a shared history that dates back over 120 years to their origins as part of the Standard Oil family of companies.

John D. Rockefeller and partners formed the Standard Oil Company of Ohio in 1870."...

-------------------------------------------------------

David Rockefeller liked how Chairman Mao dealt with the masses:

David Rockefeller: "The social experiment in China under Chairman Mao's leadership is one of the most important and successful in history.""...

Aug. 10, 1973, "From a China Traveler," NY Times, by David Rockefeller, Chairman Chase Manhattan Bank. Article link at scribd.com

=====================

"Republicans Who Care was established in October 2002"

Board includes David Rockefeller:

"Tom Davis
Amory Houghton, Jr.
Pete Peterson
David Rockefeller
Brent Scowcroft
John Whitehead
Robert Ziff"

(Sure pal, you 'care,' fine.)

-----------------------------------------------

4/4/12, "Arctic Shatters More Records," Real Science, Steve Goddard

"Arctic ice extent is the highest in nearly a decade, and has again set the record for both the latest peak and the longest winter. Normally it has been melting for almost a month already." (NORSEX, SSM/1)

--------------------------------------------------

As of Feb. 2012, no Antarctic ice lost in past 30 years per AGU, American Geophysical Union:

Feb. 21, 2012, "A new, high-resolution surface mass balance map of Antarctica (1979–2010) based on regional atmospheric climate modeling," J. T. M. Lenaerts,1 M. R. van den Broeke,1 W. J. van de Berg,1 E. van Meijgaard,2 and P. Kuipers Munneke1, American Geophysical Union, Geophysical Research Letters

Received 17 January 2012; accepted 21 January 2012; published 21 February 2012.

page 4. "3.4. Trend

[15] We found no significant trend in the 1979–2010 ice
sheet integrated SMB components, which confirms the
results from Monaghan et al. [2006]....

------------------------------------------------

6/26/12, "The Incredible Shrinking Carbon Pollution Forecast - Part 2," switchboard.nrdc.org, Dan Lashof

--------------------------------------

6/29/12, "US Carbon Output Forecasts Shrink Again," American Interest, Walter Russell Mead

--------------------------------------

6/4/12, "Climate change stunner: USA leads world in CO2 cuts since 2006," Vancouver Observer, Saxifrage

-------------------------------------

6/22/12, "U.S. cuts greenhouse gases despite do-nothing Congress," CNN, Steve Hargreaves

"Even factoring in a stronger economy, forecasters see greenhouse gas emissions continuing to fall."...

=============================

4/21/12, "Why [CO2] Emissions Are Declining in the U.S. But Not in Europe," by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, newgeography.com

"As we note below in a new article for Yale360, a funny thing happened: U.S. emissions started going down in 2005 and are expected to decline further over the next decade."

------------------------------------

7/2/12, "CO2 Emissions Will Likely Fall This Year to 1991 Levels," Carpe Diem, Mark J. Perry

======================

11/23/11, "Europe's $287 billion carbon 'waste': UBS report," The Australian, by Sid Maher

"SWISS banking giant UBS says the European Union's emissions trading scheme has cost the continent's consumers $287 billion for "almost zero impact" on cutting carbon emissions."...EU CO2 trading provided "windfall profits" to participants paid for by "electricity customers.""

----------------------------------------

4/23/12, "'I made a mistake': Gaia theory scientist James Lovelock admits he was 'alarmist' about the impact of climate change," UK Daily Mail, L. Warren

----------------------------------

A 2011 report noted EIA results through 2009, US CO2 emissions dropped steadily since 1999. If, hypothetically, US temperatures have been on the increase, they couldn't possibly be related to US carbon dioxide emissions:

4/14/11, "Biggest Drop in U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions," World Climate Report

"In 2009, greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. experienced their biggest drop since the U.S. Energy Information Administration began tracking them during the 1990-2009 timeframe.

The EIA’s latest numbers on greenhouse gas emissions can be found in their just released report “Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2009.”...

------------------------------------------------

The US has been converted into a "climate action" machine. For example:

At least 13 federal agencies are tasked with climate "action." $68 billion has been spent on 'climate' just in the past 4 yrs. Global Warming action was institutionalized in US government in 1990 by George Bush the 1st.

------------------------------------------------

Rolling Stone article on carbon trading:

7/02/09, "The Great American Bubble Machine: How Goldman Sachs has Engineered Every Major Market Manipulation Since the Great Depression," Rolling Stone, by Matt Taibbi

"A groundbreaking new commodities bubble,

• disguised as an "environmental plan"

• called cap-and-trade.

The new carbon-credit market is a virtual repeat of the commodities-market casino that's been kind to Goldman,

• except it has one delicious new wrinkle:

If the plan goes forward as expected, the rise in prices

• will be government-mandated.

• Goldman won't even have to rig the game.

It will be rigged in advance."...

==============================

Photo at top of Bill McKibben speaking on Democracy Now television show.







via Tom Nelson

Some Chinese teams say London is too cold, will finish Olympic training elsewhere-BBC

7/17/12, "London 2012: China's Liu Xiang leaves 'cold' London," BBC

"Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang is to avoid London's "wet and cold" weather until he competes at the Olympic Games, his coach says.

Sun Haiping said Liu, one of China's top sporting heroes, would train in Leverkusen in Germany.

He had arranged to train at St Mary's University College in Twickenham.

Liu won gold in Athens in 2004, but pulled out of the 2008 Beijing Games ahead of his much anticipated race, an action which shocked China.

"Other Chinese teams have also chosen to move their base thanks to London's cold weather, so Liu Xiang is not the only one," Mr Sun was quoted as saying by the China Daily.

Liu Xiang left London for Leverkusen after pulling out of the Diamond League London Grand Prix final on 13 July - his 29th birthday - due to muscle pain.

But Sun Haiping said Liu Xiang "will be sure to fight to the end".

The men's 110m hurdles events will be held on 7 and 8 August. Mr Sun said Liu Xiang would not move into the London Olympic Village until early August.

Before heading for Leverkusen - just north of Cologne - Liu Xiang's coaching team also considered Leeds, which China has chosen as its training base, according to the Shanghai Morning Post.

But feedback from fellow teams suggested that conditions at the Leeds training camp "did not quite fit what Liu Xiang needs either", said the report."

.

Berry and Mann use eliminationist climate rhetoric, must not know US CO2 has dropped drastically and is headed lower! No need for 'blood' speech

Berry and Mann should be happy because they won! US CO2 has dropped drastically since at least 2006 and is going lower!

7/17/12, "Michael Mann points us to a link that claims that trace amounts of CO2 are already killing people, and that politicians who don't buy into the hoax "already have blood on their hands"," Tom Nelson

Bill Berry: Climate change denying pols put lives at risk

Every major science academy in the world has reported that global warming is real. Still, the deniers persist, and human lives are lost. Many more are at risk. Let’s be clear about this: Politicians like Johnson bear full responsibility. They already have blood on their hands. They are doing anything but upholding their constitutional duty to promote the general welfare of the people.

Bill Berry of Stevens Point writes a semimonthly column for The Capital Times. billnick@charter.net

Twitter / SaveUsNowDotOrg: .@MichaelEMann Shouldn't t

[retweeted by Mann] .@MichaelEMann Shouldn't this fact be openly publicized? Climate change denial is immoral, human lives are being lost. [links to above Bill Berry piece] http://m.host.madison.com/ct/news/opinio …""

----------------------------------------------

It appears Berry and Mann don't realize they won. They should congratulate themselves! Either that or they deny science that the US has lost much of its CO2 and is on track to lose more. 13 federal agencies are tasked with climate "action," $68 billion has been spent on 'climate' just in the past 4 yrs. Global Warming action was institutionalized in US government in 1990 by George Bush the 1st.

4/4/12, "Arctic Shatters More Records," Real Science, Steve Goddard

"Arctic ice extent is the highest in nearly a decade, and has again set the record for both the latest peak and the longest winter. Normally it has been melting for almost a month already." (NORSEX, SSM/1)

--------------------------------------------------

As of Feb. 2012, no Antarctic ice lost in past 30 years per AGU, American Geophysical Union:

-------------------------------------------------

2/8/12, "The Himalayas and nearby peaks have lost no ice in past 10 years, study shows," UK Guardian, Damian Harrington

---------------------------------

6/26/12, "The Incredible Shrinking Carbon Pollution Forecast - Part 2," switchboard.nrdc.org, Dan Lashof

---------------------------------

6/29/12, "US Carbon Output Forecasts Shrink Again," American Interest, Walter Russell Mead

--------------------------------------

6/4/12, "Climate change stunner: USA leads world in CO2 cuts since 2006," Vancouver Observer, Saxifrage

--------------------------------------

6/22/12, "U.S. cuts greenhouse gases despite do-nothing Congress," CNN, Steve Hargreaves

"Even factoring in a stronger economy, forecasters see greenhouse gas emissions continuing to fall."...

=============================

4/21/12, "Why [CO2] Emissions Are Declining in the U.S. But Not in Europe," by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, newgeography.com

"As we note below in a new article for Yale360, a funny thing happened: U.S. emissions started going down in 2005 and are expected to decline further over the next decade."
=================

The climate industry has made the rich richer and the poor poorer:

11/23/11, "Europe's $287 billion carbon 'waste': UBS report," The Australian, by Sid Maher

"SWISS banking giant UBS says the European Union's emissions trading scheme has cost the continent's consumers $287 billion for "almost zero impact" on cutting carbon emissions."...EU CO2 trading provided "windfall profits" to participants paid for by "electricity customers.""

---------------------------------------------

4/23/12, "'I made a mistake': Gaia theory scientist James Lovelock admits he was 'alarmist' about the impact of climate change," UK Daily Mail, L. Warren

=========================

2011 report notes EIA results through 2009, US CO2 emissions dropped steadily since 1999. If, hypothetically, US temperatures have been on the increase, they couldn't possibly be related to US carbon dioxide emissions:

4/14/11, "Biggest Drop in U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions," World Climate Report

"In 2009, greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. experienced their biggest drop since the U.S. Energy Information Administration began tracking them during the 1990-2009 timeframe."...

=======================

If you seek "climate action" from the US:

Global Warming "action" was institutionalized in US government in 1990 by George Bush the 1st. Today at least 13 federal agencies are tasked with climate "action," $68 billion has been spent on 'climate' just in the past 4 yrs.

US CO2 is now a moot issue. CO2 alarmists won. The US has led the world in dropping CO2 since 2006. Other countries' CO2 hasn't dropped--despite billions spent on cap and trade and extra taxes. Not that CO2 was a problem to begin with. But for those who thought CO2 was bad, congratulations, you won, the US has lost much of its CO2 and is on track to lose more.

via Climate Depot

US government National Interagency Fire Center says 2012 US fires are lowest for the date since 2003

.
7/17/12, "A Reminder Of How Incredibly Clueless Our Global Warming Friends Are," Steven Goddard

"The National Interagency Fire Center now reports that there are no large fires in Colorado, and that the number of fires in the US has been the lowest for the date since 2003."

"National Interagency Fire Center "(scroll down)

=========================

8 US government agencies comprise the NIFC. From its website, NIFC.gov:

"Welcome to the Nation's Logistical Support Center

The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), located in Boise, Idaho, is the nation's support center for wildland firefighting. Eight different agencies and organizations are part of NIFC. Decisions are made using the interagency cooperation concept because NIFC has no single director or manager.

History

The Boise Interagency Fire Center (BIFC) was created in 1965 because the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and National Weather Service saw the need to work together to reduce the duplication of services, cut costs, and coordinate national fire planning and operations. The National Park Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs joined BIFC in in the mid 1970s. The US Fish and Wildlife Service later joined in 1979. The Center's name was changed in 1993 from the Boise Interagency Fire Center to the National Interagency Fire Center to more accurately reflect its national mission. The US Fire Administration-FEMA joined NIFC in 2003."

via Tom Nelson