Sunday, August 23, 2015

The 2015 July was the highest temperature on record.

So, was the CO2 of Earth's troposphere. 

Ya just can't make this stuff up.
III. DIALOGUE AND TRANSPARENCY IN DECISION-MAKING 

182. An assessment of the environmental impact of business ventures and projects demands transparent political processes involving a free exchange of views. On the other hand, the forms of corruption which conceal the actual environmental impact of a given project, in exchange for favours, usually produce specious agreements which fail to inform adequately and to allow for full debate.

183. Environmental impact assessment should not come after the drawing up of a business proposition or the proposal of a particular policy, plan or programme. It should be part of the process from the beginning, and be carried out in a way which is interdisciplinary, transparent and free of all economic or political pressure. It should be linked to a study of working conditions and possible effects on people’s physical and mental health, on the local economy and on public safety. Economic returns can thus be forecast more realistically, taking into account potential scenarios and the eventual need for further investment to correct possible undesired effects. A consensus should always be reached between the different stakeholders, who can offer a variety of approaches, solutions and alternatives. The local population should have a special place at the table; they are concerned about their own future and that of their children, and can consider goals transcending immediate economic interest. We need to stop thinking in terms of “interventions” to save the environment in favour of policies developed and debated by all interested parties. The participation of the latter also entails being fully informed about such projects and their different risks and possibilities; this includes not just preliminary decisions but also various follow-up activities and continued monitoring. Honesty and truth are needed in scientific and political discussions; these should not be limited to the issue of whether or not a particular project is permitted by law.

Why build an economy that is not environmentally sustainable?

184. In the face of possible risks to the environment which may affect the common good now and in the future, decisions must be made “based on a comparison of the risks and benefits foreseen for the various possible alternatives”.[131] This is especially the case when a project may lead to a greater use of natural resources, higher levels of emission or discharge, an increase of refuse, or significant changes to the landscape, the habitats of protected species or public spaces. Some projects, if insufficiently studied, can profoundly affect the quality of life of an area due to very different factors such as unforeseen noise pollution, the shrinking of visual horizons, the loss of cultural values, or the effects of nuclear energy use. The culture of consumerism, which prioritizes short-term gain and private interest, can make it easy to rubber-stamp authorizations or to conceal information.

The changes that have to occur in what is considered petroleum based economies have to be met with conscience of the future. There are too many short term gains without long term insight to the impact on the generations not given a voice by a majority vote.

185. In any discussion about a proposed venture, a number of questions need to be asked in order to discern whether or not it will contribute to genuine integral development. What will it accomplish? Why? Where? When? How? For whom? What are the risks? What are the costs? Who will pay those costs and how? In this discernment, some questions must have higher priority. For example, we know that water is a scarce and indispensable resource and a fundamental right which conditions the exercise of other human rights. This indisputable fact overrides any other assessment of environmental impact on a region. 

Pope Francis in the paragraph above proposes a methodology "of conscience" and I suggest those that govern use it. 

186. The Rio Declaration of 1992 states that “where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a pretext for postponing cost-effective measures”[132] which prevent environmental degradation. This precautionary principle makes it possible to protect those who are most vulnerable and whose ability to defend their interests and to assemble incontrovertible evidence is limited. If objective information suggests that serious and irreversible damage may result, a project should be halted or modified, even in the absence of indisputable proof. Here the burden of proof is effectively reversed, since in such cases objective and conclusive demonstrations will have to be brought forward to demonstrate that the proposed activity will not cause serious harm to the environment or to those who inhabit it.

The culture of the USA as it exists today doesn't value PRECAUTIONS. It is only after the fact Americans carry on about injustice. It is very strange how a culture that once valued agencies such as the EPA and the FDA to protect their lives and futures; allow impingement of the authorities of these agencies.

187. This does not mean being opposed to any technological innovations which can bring about an improvement in the quality of life. But it does mean that profit cannot be the sole criterion to be taken into account, and that, when significant new information comes to light, a reassessment should be made, with the involvement of all interested parties. The outcome may be a decision not to proceed with a given project, to modify it or to consider alternative proposals. 

There needs to be an additional balance sheet. It is the one where decisions today for the sake of profits are balanced against it's impact on the future and adversity of generations without the authority to effect measures of PRECAUTION. 

188. There are certain environmental issues where it is not easy to achieve a broad consensus. Here I would state once more that the Church does not presume to settle scientific questions or to replace politics. But I am concerned to encourage an honest and open debate so that particular interests or ideologies will not prejudice the common good.

Replacing trees where fires have destroyed them is paramount to helping the climate.

While forest fires are destructive and cause damage to life and property, replacing them is paramount to eliminating carbon from the troposphere.

I think of it this way. For as much as existing forests are important for their carbon sequestration, the replacement of trees is just as important in the case of wildfires. 

Young trees use far more carbon dioxide because they grow faster in their early years. That doesn't mean old growth forests should be sacrificed. The old growth forests in the USA are more valuable as ecosystems and climate stability methods than any young trees can offer.  

But, where forests are devastated by wildfires, being sure a young forest is started as soon as the ground cools to take back the CO2 lost to sequestration by the fire. Hydration will have to be provided to encourage the growth and root systems of forests. If a forest service can bring water from fresh water lakes to put out fires, the same process can provide water for the growth of the trees that replace the old forest. 

Little Known or Interesting Factoids About Tree Physiology (click here)
  • Trees both produce AND consume oxygen.
  • Young forests capture more carbon from the atmosphere than old forests.
  • Old forests have more stored carbon in the biomass than young forests.
  • The food that trees produce for themselves are sugars.
  • The purpose of photosynthesis is to capture and store energy.
  • Green light is the only part of the visible light spectrum that plants can’t use.
  • The timing of Autumn color change is largely controlled by lengthening nights.
  • Conifers lose needles each fall, just the same as broad-leaf trees.
  • Trees grow TWO rings each year, one in the spring and another during the summer.
  • Swamp trees don’t necessarily prefer swamps.
  • Tree species have highly variable requirements for light, nutrients, and moisture.
  • Oceans produce more oxygen and store more carbon than forests.
II. DIALOGUE FOR NEW NATIONAL AND LOCAL POLICIES 

176. There are not just winners and losers among countries, but within poorer countries themselves. Hence different responsibilities need to be identified. Questions related to the environment and economic development can no longer be approached only from the standpoint of differences between countries; they also call for greater attention to policies on the national and local levels. 

The Pope should have an easy time convincing the USA Republicans of that point. They don't like picking winners and losers. So, when he is speaking to a joint session of the US Congress the Pope should point out the equality of those effected and those polluting. Those polluting should not be causing an unfair burden to those most effected by that greenhouse gas pollution. The Clean Act of the USA dictates that states polluting neighboring states have to be responsible for that pollution and it's end and clean up. I don't know why that would not work in the real world regarding the climate crisis and it's unfair balance across the world.

177. Given the real potential for a misuse of human abilities, individual states can no longer ignore their responsibility for planning, coordination, oversight and enforcement within their respective borders. How can a society plan and protect its future amid constantly developing technological innovations? One authoritative source of oversight and coordination is the law, which lays down rules for admissible conduct in the light of the common good. The limits which a healthy, mature and sovereign society must impose are those related to foresight and security, regulatory norms, timely enforcement, the elimination of corruption, effective responses to undesired side-effects of production processes, and appropriate intervention where potential or uncertain risks are involved. There is a growing jurisprudence dealing with the reduction of pollution by business activities. But political and institutional frameworks do not exist simply to avoid bad practice, but also to promote best practice, to stimulate creativity in seeking new solutions and to encourage individual or group initiatives. 

Best practices. Interesting concept. That would mean the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act would once again have domain over abusive practices such as hydro-fracking. 

178. A politics concerned with immediate results, supported by consumerist sectors of the population, is driven to produce short-term growth. In response to electoral interests, governments are reluctant to upset the public with measures which could affect the level of consumption or create risks for foreign investment. The myopia of power politics delays the inclusion of a far-sighted environmental agenda within the overall agenda of governments. Thus we forget that “time is greater than space”,[130] that we are always more effective when we generate processes rather than holding on to positions of power. True statecraft is manifest when, in difficult times, we uphold high principles and think of the long-term common good. Political powers do not find it easy to assume this duty in the work of nation-building. 

Earth's troposphere is a lot older than short term returns of Wall Street. 

179. In some places, cooperatives are being developed to exploit renewable sources of energy which ensure local self-sufficiency and even the sale of surplus energy. This simple example shows that, while the existing world order proves powerless to assume its responsibilities, local individuals and groups can make a real difference. They are able to instil a greater sense of responsibility, a strong sense of community, a readiness to protect others, a spirit of creativity and a deep love for the land. They are also concerned about what they will eventually leave to their children and grandchildren. These values are deeply rooted in indigenous peoples. Because the enforcement of laws is at times inadequate due to corruption, public pressure has to be exerted in order to bring about decisive political action. Society, through non-governmental organizations and intermediate groups, must put pressure on governments to develop more rigorous regulations, procedures and controls. Unless citizens control political power – national, regional and municipal – it will not be possible to control damage to the environment. Local legislation can be more effective, too, if agreements exist between neighbouring communities to support the same environmental policies.

I might add, there is a real assault against local governments, communities and power in the expected trade agreements known as the TPP (Pacific) and T-Tip (Atlantic). It isn't just average people complaining, there are industries complaining. 

August 23, 2015
By Steve Chase

...In an August 20 letter (click here) to Canadian Trade Minister Ed Fast and his Mexican counterpart, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, the auto parts makers say they fear their sector would suffer serious damage if Ottawa and Mexico City fail to obtain a better deal.

“If this provision were to come into force, our companies and workers would be placed in a competitively disadvantaged [position] in the North American market. [It] would seriously compromise our operations in the North American region, and we may be forced to significantly reduce our operations,” write Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) in Canada, and Oscar Aldin, executive vice-president of Mexico’s Industria Nacional de Autopartes.

The United States, which is leading the Trans-Pacific negotiations among 12 countries stretching from Chile to Japan, provisionally agreed to Japan’s request before Washington’s NAFTA partners, Canada and Mexico, were consulted on it.... 

Ya know. The Nikkei is doing just fine compared to any other stock market. And the USA is suppose throw all financial favors to Japan while workers covered by NAFTA suffer yet again. Amazing. 

180. There are no uniform recipes, because each country or region has its own problems and limitations. It is also true that political realism may call for transitional measures and technologies, so long as these are accompanied by the gradual framing and acceptance of binding commitments. At the same time, on the national and local levels, much still needs to be done, such as promoting ways of conserving energy. These would include favouring forms of industrial production with maximum energy efficiency and diminished use of raw materials, removing from the market products which are less energy efficient or more polluting, improving transport systems, and encouraging the construction and repair of buildings aimed at reducing their energy consumption and levels of pollution. Political activity on the local level could also be directed to modifying consumption, developing an economy of waste disposal and recycling, protecting certain species and planning a diversified agriculture and the rotation of crops. Agriculture in poorer regions can be improved through investment in rural infrastructures, a better organization of local or national markets, systems of irrigation, and the development of techniques of sustainable agriculture. New forms of cooperation and community organization can be encouraged in order to defend the interests of small producers and preserve local ecosystems from destruction. Truly, much can be done! 

I have to agree, when it comes to effect governance of climate measures as well as economic growth the local governments are the best place for it to happen. But, in the USA where the federal EPA can provide federal laws that are helpful it should be done. It cannot be overlooked that local governments can be corrupt as well. Where federal legislation is needed to encourage movement by local governments it should exist. 

181. Here, continuity is essential, because policies related to climate change and environmental protection cannot be altered with every change of government. Results take time and demand immediate outlays which may not produce tangible effects within any one government’s term. That is why, in the absence of pressure from the public and from civic institutions, political authorities will always be reluctant to intervene, all the more when urgent needs must be met. To take up these responsibilities and the costs they entail, politicians will inevitably clash with the mindset of short-term gain and results which dominates present-day economics and politics. But if they are courageous, they will attest to their God-given dignity and leave behind a testimony of selfless responsibility. A healthy politics is sorely needed, capable of reforming and coordinating institutions, promoting best practices and overcoming undue pressure and bureaucratic inertia. It should be added, though, that even the best mechanisms can break down when there are no worthy goals and values, or a genuine and profound humanism to serve as the basis of a noble and generous society. 

There has to be a strong will by the people to change the form of energy pursued. Those ideas can come from strong leaders such as Pope Francis. His issuing of this Encyclical is a good step in the direction to empower the individual to demand more of their government in insuring the future of their children without a heating climate of Earth.

Contrails aren't all that.

There was a study that came out of Wisconsin post 911. On September 12, 2001 a scientist found an opportunity to measure the effect of jet exhaust on Earth's climate. The scientist noted the sky was brighter. In this three day study it was concluded jet exhaust contributed to Earth's climate in blocking sun from reaching Earth's surface. 

"W"rong!

...NARRATOR: For decades, (click here) nobody took much notice of the pan evaporation measurements. But in the 1990s scientists spotted something very strange, the rate of evaporation was falling.

PROF GRAHAM FARQUHAR: There is a paradox here about the fact that the pan evaporation rate's going down, an apparent paradox, but the global temperature's going up. 

NARRATOR: This was a puzzle. Most scientists reasoned that like a pan on the stove, turning up the global temperature should increase the rate at which water evaporated. But Roderick and Farquhar did some calculations and worked out that temperature was not the most important factor in pan evaporation.

DR MICHAEL RODERICK: Well it turns out in fact that the key things for pan evaporation are the sunlight, the humidity and the wind. But really the sunlight is a really dominant term there.

NARRATOR: They found that it was the energy of the photons hitting the surface, the actual sunlight, that kicks the water molecules out of the pan and into the atmosphere. And so they too reached an extraordinary conclusion.

DR MICHAEL RODERICK: You know, if the pan is going down then maybe that's the sunlight going down. 

NARRATOR: Was the fall in pan evaporation in fact evidence of Global Dimming? Somewhere in the journals, they felt, must be the hard numbers that could tie the two things together. 

DR MICHAEL RODERICK: And then one day, just by accident, I had to go to the library to get an article out Nature. As you do, I couldn't find it. And I just glanced at a, through the thing, and there was an article called Evaporation Losing Its Strength. Which reported a decline in pan evaporation over Russia, United States and Eastern Europe. And there in the, in the measurements, they said that the, the pans had on average, evaporated about a hundred millimetres less of water in the last thirty years....

...DR PETER COX: One of the real driving forces is that you leave an environment that is comfortable for your children. And we carry on going the way we're going, we're not going to do that, we're going to leave an environment that's much worse than the environment we lived in; and it will be down to what we did when we were using that environment, and that would be, um, tragic really, if that happened.

In this study published in the BBC the Wisconsin findings are noted, HOWEVER, there is a greater understanding of the effect of "Global Dimming."

Global Dimming is responsible for slowed water vapor production on Earth. Global Dimming is occurring due to contrails that prevent sun photons from reaching water sources to allow evaporation of vital water in the troposphere. How is Earth going to achieve normal balance if there is continued and profound Global Dimming?

Europe has the most comprehensive view of the world. It's beekeepers found the reason their hives were crashing when no one else could or should I say, no one else would. 

Yes, indeed. Europe has the most drag on profits of Wall Street. Europe just doesn't seem to get it. Take fracking for instance. The USA understands how important employment rates are to politics and looks the other way when water is polluted. The Great Dick Cheney and his energy committee said to the people of the USA, "Get Bottled Water."
173. Enforceable international agreements are urgently needed, since local authorities are not always capable of effective intervention. Relations between states must be respectful of each other’s sovereignty, but must also lay down mutually agreed means of averting regional disasters which would eventually affect everyone. Global regulatory norms are needed to impose obligations and prevent unacceptable actions, for example, when powerful companies or countries dump contaminated waste or offshore polluting industries in other countries. 

I agree. There needs to be an accounting of the progress or lack of it a country is making to reverse this very dangerous trend. 

174. Let us also mention the system of governance of the oceans. International and regional conventions do exist, but fragmentation and the lack of strict mechanisms of regulation, control and penalization end up undermining these efforts. The growing problem of marine waste and the protection of the open seas represent particular challenges. What is needed, in effect, is an agreement on systems of governance for the whole range of so-called “global commons” 

In seeking enforcement of environmental pollution of greenhouse gases, one has to realize the USA cannot simply be allowed to provide such an authority. It has to be a panel of accountability and I suggest the IPCC be such a governing organization. It is already organized in international cooperation and has the highest integrity in reporting on Earth's delicate balance. I suggest the IPCC, no different than the IAEA, can bring facts to an international stage to render whom is cooperating and whom is achieving in this race to save our planet. 

175. The same mindset which stands in the way of making radical decisions to reverse the trend of global warming also stands in the way of achieving the goal of eliminating poverty. A more responsible overall approach is needed to deal with both problems: the reduction of pollution and the development of poorer countries and regions. The twenty-first century, while maintaining systems of governance inherited from the past, is witnessing a weakening of the power of nation states, chiefly because the economic and financial sectors, being transnational, tends to prevail over the political. Given this situation, it is essential to devise stronger and more efficiently organized international institutions, with functionaries who are appointed fairly by agreement among national governments, and empowered to impose sanctions. As Benedict XVI has affirmed in continuity with the social teaching of the Church: “To manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result; to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace; to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration: for all this, there is urgent need of a true world political authority, as my predecessor Blessed John XXIII indicated some years ago”.[129] Diplomacy also takes on new importance in the work of developing international strategies which can anticipate serious problems affecting us all. 

It just seems to me there is a far more need for fair hearings and fines and/or prison. The world doesn't stand by when administering justice for genocide. The USA general assembly along with the IPCC's findings should conduct themselves no differently than any other method of killing innocent people.

The global community needs to get serious and in a hurry.  

August 22, 2015
By Joe McHale

LINCOLN, Neb.-- As Southeastern Nebraska (click here for video) prepares for potential severe weather Saturday night, numbers suggest people in the Cornhusker State are prepared.
According to the National Weather Service, Nebraska has fewer fatalities related to tornadoes each year compared to several other states in the Midwest.
"I would certainly like to think that prevention, that early warning when these storms do strike populated areas, people do get adequate notice," said Lincoln and Lancaster County Emergency Manager, Jim Davidsaver. "And they know that they need to seek shelter."
Davidsaver says he's not in a position to comment on the numbers, but believes Nebraskans are very prepared when it comes to severe weather.
Injuries related to tornadoes have increased in Nebraska in the last five years, but so have the number of twisters. (32 so far in 2015, 61 in 2014, 51 in 2013, 42 in 2012, 54 in 2011, and 36 in 2010).
In 2014 there were 21 tornado related injuries, and 19 in 2013. The last time numbers were that high were in 2007.
Even tough Nebraska averages more tornadoes each year than states including Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentucky, there are less tornado related deaths.
There were two tornado related deaths in Nebraska in 2014. You have to go back 10 years prior to find another recorded death. 


June 27, 2015
By James Samenow

The pair of violent tornadoes (click here) that ripped through Pilger, Nebraska June 16 did more than loft a house into the air and damage half the town. The twisters left a mark on the terrain visible 443 miles above the Earth from space.
NASA’s Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument aboard its Terra satellite attained the image below (from June 21, 2014) revealing the paths of the destructive tornado tandem....

The duration of the twin tornadoes ripped up the terrain. These tornadoes had an upper atmosphere system the size of the North American continent. The USA was very lucky this day. It occurred in flat lands with people were able to get away from the twin tornadoes. 





169. As far as the protection of biodiversity and issues related to desertification are concerned, progress has been far less significant. With regard to climate change, the advances have been regrettably few. Reducing greenhouse gases requires honesty, courage and responsibility, above all on the part of those countries which are more powerful and pollute the most. The Conference of the United Nations on Sustainable Development, “Rio+20” (Rio de Janeiro 2012), issued a wide-ranging but ineffectual outcome document. International negotiations cannot make significant progress due to positions taken by countries which place their national interests above the global common good. Those who will have to suffer the consequences of what we are trying to hide will not forget this failure of conscience and responsibility. Even as this Encyclical was being prepared, the debate was intensifying. We believers cannot fail to ask God for a positive outcome to the present discussions, so that future generations will not have to suffer the effects of our ill-advised delays.

The countries, such as the USA, that have ignored all the scientific findings and the responsibility that follows such information places the good of it's own people in peril as well as that of the global community. 

170. Some strategies for lowering pollutant gas emissions call for the internationalization of environmental costs, which would risk imposing on countries with fewer resources burdensome commitments to reducing emissions comparable to those of the more industrialized countries. Imposing such measures penalizes those countries most in need of development. A further injustice is perpetrated under the guise of protecting the environment. Here also, the poor end up paying the price. Furthermore, since the effects of climate change will be felt for a long time to come, even if stringent measures are taken now, some countries with scarce resources will require assistance in adapting to the effects already being produced, which affect their economies. In this context, there is a need for common and differentiated responsibilities. As the bishops of Bolivia have stated, “the countries which have benefited from a high degree of industrialization, at the cost of enormous emissions of greenhouse gases, have a greater responsibility for providing a solution to the problems they have caused”.[127] 

I agree the First World causes a great deal of problems for the Third World when it comes to global warming. There is no doubt the First World are the greatest offenders and the poor pay the highest price. Yet, we have seen greatest of the less wealthy countries. My favorite example is: 

Wangari Maathai (click here) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. In its citation, the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted Professor Maathai’s contribution to “sustainable development, democracy and peace.” The Committee further stated that Professor Maathai “stands at the front of the fight to promote ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development in Kenya and in Africa....

She came to mind when I realized a very precious lion had been killed. The people of this region of the world pride themselves for protecting the precious aspects of Earth for future generations. But, she found a way. In some ways, she had an easier path than those of up in the USA where corporations make it impossible at times to change the deadly paradigm. So, while the First World should be the sorriest for their excesses of pollution of greenhouse gases, the Third World has produced incredible leadership in conservation and environmental protection. 

171. The strategy of buying and selling “carbon credits” can lead to a new form of speculation which would not help reduce the emission of polluting gases worldwide. This system seems to provide a quick and easy solution under the guise of a certain commitment to the environment, but in no way does it allow for the radical change which present circumstances require. Rather, it may simply become a ploy which permits maintaining the excessive consumption of some countries and sectors.

I agree. Making up a Wall Street solution based in Wall Street principles that delivered the Climate Crisis as we know it today is hideous. The Chicago Climate Exchange (click here) is not completely incompetent or worthless. It has served to support some efforts, but, it is mostly Wall Street including derivatives and hedge funds.

We're helping shape the future of markets around the world. (click here) ICE Futures Europe is home to futures and options contracts for crude and refined oil, interest rates, equity derivatives, natural gas, power, coal, emissions and soft commodities. So, whether you're hedging against the future cost of jet fuel, petrol/gas prices at the pump, a change in interest rates or the cost of electricity, our markets provide a cost-efficient way to support your objectives.

The original purpose was to create a place where companies and people can come to purchase carbon credits to support rainforests and carbon sinks such as coral reefs. Considering the condition of rainforests and coral reefs there is little to no evidence of measures to protect them past that of governments.

 172. For poor countries, the priorities must be to eliminate extreme poverty and to promote the social development of their people. At the same time, they need to acknowledge the scandalous level of consumption in some privileged sectors of their population and to combat corruption more effectively. They are likewise bound to develop less polluting forms of energy production, but to do so they require the help of countries which have experienced great growth at the cost of the ongoing pollution of the planet. Taking advantage of abundant solar energy will require the establishment of mechanisms and subsidies which allow developing countries access to technology transfer, technical assistance and financial resources, but in a way which respects their concrete situations, since “the compatibility of [infrastructures] with the context for which they have been designed is not always adequately assessed”.[128] The costs of this would be low, compared to the risks of climate change. In any event, these are primarily ethical decisions, rooted in solidarity between all peoples.

1627 months of global records is the same as 135 and a half years.

August 23, 2015
By Matt Devitt

July 2015 (click here) was the warmest single month in 1627 months of global records that go back to January 1880, said NOAA.
The globally averaged temperature above both land and ocean surfaces was 1.46°F WARMER than the 20th-century average. This trumps the record for any month that was set in July 1998.

Here across the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry temperatures were 1.1°F WARMER than normal for the month…with an average high temperature of 93.5°. Our hottest temperature was on the 11th when we hit 99°.

July is normally the warmest month of the year globally because of midsummer conditions across the Northern Hemisphere’s extensive land areas. However record warmth through much of the Pacific and Indian oceans played a major role in July’s new global record.

July 2015’s warmth makes the year-to-date period (January – July) the warmest period on record....

Effective with this (May 2015) (click here) monthly climate report, NCEI transitions to updated versions of its land and ocean surface temperature datasets. When combined, these merged datasets are now known as NOAAGlobalTemp (formerly MLOST). This page provides answers to some questions regarding the updated data.


The facts that NOAA brings to the need for protects of Earth's people are all empirical. They are measured and compiled by professionals. These professionals do this without a second thought to it's importance. This is not populous in nature. Since the earliest reports over fifty years ago, the findings have always been empirical and conclusive. 

Today, we are realizing the results of lack of policy and commitment by major nations that can bring resolve to this trend of Earth's climate. It is easy to say this is far more than climate change, but, has become a climate crisis. This trend of Earth's climate has become dangerous and unpredictable. 

Introduction (click here) 

Temperature anomalies and percentiles are shown on the gridded maps below. The anomaly map on the left is a product of a merged land surface temperature (Global Historical Climatology Network, GHCN) and sea surface temperature (ERSST.v4) anomaly analysis as described in Huang et al. (2015). Temperature anomalies for land and ocean are analyzed separately and then merged to form the global analysis. For more information, please visit NCDC's Global Surface Temperature Anomalies page. The percentile map on the right provides additional information by placing the temperature anomaly observed for a specific place and time period into historical perspective, showing how the most current month, season or year compares with the past....
166. Worldwide, the ecological movement has made significant advances, thanks also to the efforts of many organizations of civil society. It is impossible here to mention them all, or to review the history of their contributions. But thanks to their efforts, environmental questions have increasingly found a place on public agendas and encouraged more far-sighted approaches. This notwithstanding, recent World Summits on the environment have not lived up to expectations because, due to lack of political will, they were unable to reach truly meaningful and effective global agreements on the environment.

Imagine what the world would be like without the ecological movement dating back decades. What if the liberals of the USA actually didn't exist to protect and advocate the voices of our scientists? 
 
167. The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro is worth mentioning. It proclaimed that “human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development”.[126] Echoing the 1972 Stockholm Declaration, it enshrined international cooperation to care for the ecosystem of the entire earth, the obligation of those who cause pollution to assume its costs, and the duty to assess the environmental impact of given projects and works. It set the goal of limiting greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere, in an effort to reverse the trend of global warming. It also drew up an agenda with an action plan and a convention on biodiversity, and stated principles regarding forests. Although the summit was a real step forward, and prophetic for its time, its accords have been poorly implemented, due to the lack of suitable mechanisms for oversight, periodic review and penalties in cases of non-compliance. The principles which it proclaimed still await an efficient and flexible means of practical implementation.

The United Nations imposes membership fees. Why are fines regarding negligence of our planet and it's livability any different?

168. Among positive experiences in this regard, we might mention, for example, the Basel Convention on hazardous wastes, with its system of reporting, standards and controls. There is also the binding Convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora, which includes on-site visits for verifying effective compliance. Thanks to the Vienna Convention for the protection of the ozone layer and its implementation through the Montreal Protocol and amendments, the problem of the layer’s thinning seems to have entered a phase of resolution.

The problem of global warming is absolutely no different than the dangers to our ozone layer. 

Currently, President Obama is seeking agreements from countries around the world to remove high levels of greenhouse gas. These efforts are not received well within the extremists in the USA that depend on the petroleum industry for financing their campaigns or otherwise. 

I would suggest while meeting this year is vital and should go well, there are always countries that will not handle their responsibilities when it comes to greenhouse gases. I cannot not emphasize enough the dire need for such measures. I am confident the IPCC would state the same. Countries should have a reason to protect this Earth beyond their own frailties and excuses by their political leaders.

The IPCC should have a recognizable presence at the meeting this year. They should be celebrated for their dedication beyond all the ridicule they receive. They are celebrities to many of us who value their work. There should be no doubt the moral content of the message of the IPCC and it's urgency to move forward.

Deash is not of god no matter the source. They are of hate from an invasion that cost Iraq the loss of many innocent people.

August 19, 2015
By Ben Hubbard

BEIRUT, Lebanon — For decades, (click here) he was the bespectacled caretaker of some of Syria’s greatest archaeological treasures. He explored the sprawling ruins in his hometown, named a daughter Zenobia after its ancient queen, and became so intertwined with its development that one historian called him “Mr. Palmyra.”

Now, months after his home fell to the jihadists of the Islamic State, Khalid al-Asaad, the retired chief of antiquities for Palmyra, has fallen, too.
After detaining him for weeks, the jihadists dragged him on Tuesday to a public square where a masked swordsman cut off his head in front of a crowd, Mr. Asaad’s relatives said.

His blood-soaked body was then suspended with red twine by its wrists from a traffic light, his head resting on the ground between his feet, his glasses still on, according to a photo distributed on social media by Islamic State supporters....

I dare anyone to find an average person within Daesh older than 40 years old outside of the immediate leadership. They don't value life. They value death, both others and their own.

April 24, 2015

By Denise Natali
The Islamic State (click here) (IS) in Iraq and Syria may effectively employ radical Salafist doctrine to mobilize core believers and foreign fighters, but it relies on complex networks led by former Iraqi Baathist officers to operate and control its so-called caliphate. Baathist leadership in IS, most recently noted in Christoph Reuter’s riveting article in Spiegel International, reinforces the political nature of IS and its Sunni Arab, Iraqi nationalist roots. Alongside or within IS’ aim to devise a "pure" Islamic society is a Baathist plan to run a meticulously calculating state able to monopolize power, control territory and eradicate potential threats through brutality and terror. Baathist influences are evident in the nature of IS terror operations — extensive security and spy networks, hierarchical bureaucracies, battlefield tactics and elaborate financial and logistical networks — similar to those used by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his Baathist circles for 35 years in Iraq.... 

Well. Depriving a person of the age of 40 is beneficial to their soul. The justification for suicide bombers and/or child soldiers.

The Quran (click here) sets the age of responsibility at 40 (46:15); that being when the human reaches full maturity. Anyone who dies before this age goes to Heaven. This is because God's Mercy dictates that this person died before reaching the age of full maturity and responsibility. If the person (who dies before 40) believed in God and benefitted from belief by nourishing and developing the soul, he or she goes to the High Heaven. Otherwise, the person goes to the Lower Heaven.

"We enjoined the human being to honor his parents. His mother bore him arduously, gave birth to him arduously, and took intimate care of him for thirty months. When he reaches maturity, and reaches the age of forty, he should say, "My Lord, direct me to appreciate the blessings You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and to do the righteous works that please You. Let my children be righteous as well. I have repented to You; I am a submitter." 46:15
It's Sunday Night

The reality of religion in the 21st Century is that it has survived to guide the millions. There is also the reality that others have moved on to a different understanding of life. Perhaps they entered that reality as a child raised by a family of the same basis of life.

The idea Pope Francis carries to all nations of people is that God is nondenominational. In his upcoming address in the USA to a large gathering of religious leaders this September, Pope Francis seeks to heal wounds and close the gap on hatred. He wants the world of diversity to find peace, a lasting peace that accepts all people as part of God's creation regardless of any personal differences. I find his message divine. God came long before religion. Religion is man-made and in realizing it is man-made; it is imperfect.

Pope Francis is not alone in his acceptance of diversity as a gift from God. 

Kahlil Gibran in "The Prophet" write of religion. (click here)

    And an old priest said, "Speak to us of Religion."
      And he said:
      Have I spoken this day of aught else?
      Is not religion all deeds and all reflection,
      And that which is neither deed nor reflection, but a wonder and a surprise ever springing in the soul, even while the hands hew the stone or tend the loom?
      Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations?
      Who can spread his hours before him, saying, "This for God and this for myself;
      This for my soul, and this other for my body?"
      All your hours are wings that beat through space from self to self.
      He who wears his morality but as his best garment were better naked.
      The wind and the sun will tear no holes in his skin.
      And he who defines his conduct by ethics imprisons his song-bird in a cage.
      The freest song comes not through bars and wires.
      And he to whom worshipping is a window, to open but also to shut, has not yet visited the house of his soul whose windows are from dawn to dawn.
      Your daily life is your temple and your religion.
      Whenever you enter into it take with you your all.
      Take the plough and the forge and the mallet and the lute,
      The things you have fashioned in necessity or for delight.
      For in revery you cannot rise above your achievements nor fall lower than your failures.
      And take with you all men:
      For in adoration you cannot fly higher than their hopes nor humble yourself lower than their despair.
      And if you would know God be not therefore a solver of riddles.
      Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children.
      And look into space; you shall see Him walking in the cloud, outstretching His arms in the lightning and descending in rain.
      You shall see Him smiling in flowers, then rising and waving His hands in trees. 


Gibron's "Prophet" is sometimes the first book a person reads to realize understanding the world is more about open mindedness than strict rules.
 

These so called "Human Capital" videos are tricks for their politics.

The 'talk' in this video by laypersons are people that who have no clue and it shows.

In fact in this article it is stated the videos have caused Jeb Bush to retreat from his participation in the Bloomberg Family Practice. He also states he defunded Planned Parenthood in Florida. That is where the state's interest ends, so why is it the political content so important? Because the right radicals want to outlaw abortions and return women to dangerous back street abortions without the benefit of contraception either.

In Florida, Planned Parenthood is a private company and is not respected as same. The videos are actually corporate spying/espionage. There is no telling what the repercussions will be now that Planned Parenthood has been deceived into discussing their product and their methodologies.

The anti-abortion extremists always believe they are above the law when they are not because they believe this have angelic principles that overrides US law. 

August 7, 2015
By Joshua Gillin

Former Gov. Jeb Bush (click here) is using the recent release of activist videos criticizing Planned Parenthood as a chance to advertise his own record on restricting abortion.
During the first Republican primary presidential debate on Aug. 6, 2015, Bush sidestepped a question from Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly about his time on the board of the Bloomberg Family Foundation, which has donated millions to Planned Parenthood. Instead, Bush reiterated he had a long history of opposing abortion.
"Here’s my record: As governor of Florida I defunded Planned Parenthood. I created a culture of life in our state," he said. (Watch the exchange in the video here.) Bush earlier this week said the federal government should do the same.
We’ve documented Bush’s opposition to abortion before, as well as his preference for abstinence-only education. But we wanted to check if he cut off state assistance for Planned Parenthood while governor, well before the current controversy. It turns out he did, long prior to recent calls to end federal funding for the group....

Planned Parenthood in Florida is self-funded and provides a service to medical research. They provide a product to the research. This is vital research if the USA and other countries are to solve genetic problems and provide QUALITY OF LIFE to all it's citizens. 

The issue of intact brains and beating hearts is not proof of cruelty. When there is no umbilical cord to the uterus, there is no life. There is no additional oxygen provided to the fetus except what might be in the placenta if it is still intact. 

A heart has it's own nervous system. That is why it is so difficult to kill a death row inmate at the time of their execution. It is why the methods of substituting narcotics as a methodology to death is very wrong in it's methodology and use.

3 March 2014
By Ryan Gorman

The future of medicine: This custom-fit membrane is woven with a network of electrodes that sense body movement and regulate blood flow - it might one day prevent heart attacks in humans.

Scientists (click here) have created an external membrane using a 3-D printer than can keep a heart beating virtually forever.
The thin membrane is elastic, designed to stretch over a heart like a glove, and is outfitted with tiny electrodes that monitor cardiac function – it was first demonstrated as a proof of concept on a rabbit heart.
Researchers at both the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University published the astonishing breakthrough in Nature, and hope it will someday help prevent heart attacks in humans....

The SA Node and the AV Node are the autonomous nervous system regulators of the heart. They operate without connection to the central nervous system. 

The heart has a potassium-sodium pump that causes contraction and relaxation of the unique heart cells comprising the human heart muscle. 

The SA Node regulates the heart beat with a normal rhythm at 60 to 100. The AV Node receives a signal from the SA Node that translates into a heart beat in the bottom unique muscles of the heart. The SA node and AV node creates the alternate beating of the top and bottom parts of the heart. The point is, the human heart can beat for a time without the body. That reality is what is being discussed in this video, albeit an uneducated view.

The fact of the matter is the fetuses don't belong to anyone other than Planned Parenthood post abortion. A woman, a citizen of the USA made a decision that her pregnancy was unwanted for whatever reason that might be. 

The people that have made these videos stole valuable information from Planned Parenthood and should be sued. The people making these videos treats the fetus as if they belong to someone else or to themselves. The fetus was unwanted, a safe abortion was performed and Planned Parenthood provides a vital source of fetal tissue.

It can be said, Planned Parenthood has added moral content to the decision regarding an abortion in tissue and/or organ preservation. This is no different than tissue or organ donation of an adult. It serves a purpose beyond what is realization of death.

Planned Parenthood is a vital company in the USA and has a right to their information. Planned Parenthood of Florida was deceived and there should be lawsuits filed and an investigation that has the potential for prosecution is something the company's Board of Trustees might want to pursue.
 

The press had to define his language?

"Anchor Baby"

"Do you have a better word?"
 

Why should the Vice President run for President?

The qualifications stand for themselves. Joe Biden has been a dedicated legislator for most of his professional life. He also is an advocate for the Middle Class. He brings his experience with leadership regarding the use of the US military.

But, one of the most important reasons Vice President Biden should run for the office of President, namely, the promotion and defense of the Obama agenda. As Vice President and a candidate he cannot get away from the Obama administration. The Veep has a significant amount of intelligence regarding the administration's successes and "oops, we could have done that differently." So, his candidacy is as much of his own legacy as that of President Obama.

Vice President Biden realizes the American middle class is assaulted daily by Wall Street. He also knows that Wall Street continually shoots itself in the foot every time it substitutes automation and digitization for American jobs.

A candidate can advocate for the middle class all the time, but, unless there are specifics to know what comprises a stable and thriving middle class, it is all hot air.

Vice President Biden is important to this political season and would make an incredible President, but, he also has what seems insurmountable loss of family. I hope he weighs all the issues before him and the needs of himself and his family to come to the best outcome for all.

North Korea is posturing to launch against South Korea and USA.

North Korea has about 70 submarines of which 15 or so are capable of serious damage. Kim continues to move toward war. This has been ongoing since the death of Kim Jong Il. 

North Korea has capacity to cause problems. I am sure the Western measures in the region are prepared for what is to come, but, the mass chaos North Korea can cause in the waters around the peninsula is considerable.

August 23, 2015
By Yonhap News

More than 50 North Korean submarines (click here) are apparently away from their bases for operations, a sign that the North is gearing up for combat while participating in high-level talks aimed at easing tension, an official here said Sunday.
“Seventy percent of North Korea’s submarines left their bases, and their locations are not confirmed,” the South Korean military official told reporters.
The North is known to have around 70 submarines.
North Korea has also doubled the number of its artillery troops on the border, with the command to be combat-ready, according to South Korea’s military.
The North’s conflicting signals underscored challenges in dealing with an unpredictable communist country, which has a track record of staging provocations against South Korea.
Six South Korean fighter jets, deployed to take part in the Red Flag Alaska exercise, returned home Sunday ahead of schedule. The F-16s were initially scheduled to fly back to the country later this week....

Russia is also moving medium range missiles within reach of Europe. This is more than another Cold War. Russia has serious economic problems and not necessary because of the sanctions due to issues with Ukraine. Even if there were no sanctions, Russia would have economic problems anyway simply because it depends on the sale of oil. The sanctions simply limit Russia's options to support their short fall.

August 21, 2015
By Bill Gertz

Russia is nearing deployment (click here) of a new missile capable of targeting all of Europe with nuclear or conventional warheads, according to defense officials.

Disclosure of the new SSN-30A missile (click here) threat comes as Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Thursday warned that Moscow under Vladmir Putin is reemerging as an existential security threat.
Russia “is a very, very significant threat,” Carter told reporters at the Pentagon. “And I think a point that they’ve made, but I would certainly make: Russia poses an existential threat to the United States by virtue simply of the size of the nuclear arsenal that it has.”
Regarding the SSN-30A, designated as the “Kalibr” missile, Pentagon officials said the new naval weapon can be equipped with both nuclear and conventional warheads and can reach most of Europe when fired from ships in the Black Sea....

Ever since the Axis of Evil speech and the invasion into Iraq the tensions are significant between The West and other nations that would consider them opposed to them. This is a global posture to protect from USA aggressions. One of the best aspects of any peace initiative by the USA is normalizing relations with Cuba. There have been significant tensions with near border countries to the USA ever since Iraq. Defusing those tensions by reengaging Cuba is important to hemisphere stability and peace.

Negotiations have resumed (click here) to defuse escalating tensions between the Koreas. But Seoul has accused North Korea of mobilizing ground troops and submarines. 

South and North Korea resumed talks Sunday afternoon to ease tensions after an exchange of artillery and mutual threats have renewed fears of open confrontation. The first ministerial-level meetings in a year began Saturday and went long past midnight in the border village of Panmunjom.
But even as the parlay resumed, South Korea's military is reporting that it detected unusual troop and submarine movements in North Korea that indicated Pyongyang gearing up for a possible strike.
Seoul's Defense Ministry says at least 50 of the North's 77 attack submarines had left their bases and were undetectable by the South Korean military as of Saturday. There were also reports of increased artillery deployments on its side of the so-called Demilitarized Zone, the most heavily-armed frontier in the world....

..."Our military and people are prepared to risk their lives in an all-out war, to defend the system our people choose," the Foreign Ministry said on the official Korean Central News Agency, shortly before the Panmunjom talks began.

I believe that is true, especially since the "TED Talk" of a young North Korean woman. The nationalism practiced by the North Korean government works.

February 2013

As a child growing up in North Korea, (click here) Hyeonseo Lee thought her country was “the best on the planet.” It wasn't until the famine of the 90s that she began to wonder. She escaped the country at 14, to begin a life in hiding, as a refugee in China....

Aggression by North Korea is also opportunistic to other countries that consider the USA a real problem for them. North Korea also counts on that fact in it's success to war. 

There is a very real reason for peace and a balance of power. The Non-Proliferation Treaty exists for a reason. That reason is to avoid the demise of nations of people BY ACCIDENT. A conventional war requires preparedness, nuclear war is already prepared. A nuclear war is the "go to game" if preparedness is not possible. 

The Non-Proliferation Treaty isn't about being a military dove, it is about the survival of humanity.