Sunday, March 20, 2016

This is the end of the Kyoto Protocol, next week the Annexes.

Article 26 

No reservations (qualification to an expression of agreement or approval) may be made to this Protocol.

There is no pre-qualification for a country or organization to ratify the protocol. 

Article 27 

1. At any time after three years from the date on which this Protocol has entered into force for a Party, that Party may withdraw from this Protocol by giving written notification to the Depositary

2. Any such withdrawal shall take effect upon expiry of one year from the date of receipt by the Depositary of the notification of withdrawal, or on such later date as may be specified in the notification of withdrawal. 

3. Any Party that withdraws from the Convention shall be considered as also having withdrawn from this Protocol. 

Self-explanatory.

On December 15, 2011, (click here) the Government of Canada officially notified the UNFCCC that Canada would exercise its legal right to formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol. To fulfill its obligations under the Protocol, Canada would have had to purchase a significant and costly amount of international credits using funds that could be invested here, in Canada, on domestic priorities, including the environment....

Article 28 

The original of this Protocol (click here), of which the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. DONE at Kyoto this eleventh day of December one thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven. IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized to that effect, have affixed their signatures to this Protocol on the dates indicated.

The USA disappointed the global community on this day. I sincerely believe the USA lost some of it's luster.

Now is not the time to feel pessimistic. Now is the time to lean into climate.

Countries should be monitoring each other's progress. The commitments are important and support to achieve them or more should be a matter of international morality. Recognition of achievements by countries and people alike should be center stage. Every country should be doing it's part.

16 March 2016
By John Vidal

Falling coal use in China (click here) and the US and a worldwide shift towards renewable energy have kept greenhouse gas emissions level for a second year running, one of the world’s leading energy analysts has said.
Preliminary data for 2015 from the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed that carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector have levelled off at 32.1bn tonnes even as the global economy grew over 3% .
Electricity generated by renewable sources played a critical role, having accounted for around 90% of new electricity generation in 2015. Wind power produced more than half of all new electricity generation, said the IEA....

Article 25 

1. This Protocol shall enter into force on the ninetieth day after the date on which not less than 55 Parties to the Convention, incorporating Parties included in Annex I which accounted in total for at least 55 per cent of the total carbon dioxide emissions for 1990 of the Parties included in Annex I, have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

The calculation for Kyoto Protocol was a bit simplistic. It asked for 55 percent of carbon dioxide to be considered enough for ratification. But, 45 percent was still unmitigated. Among that 45 percent was the USA which has been and continues to be the biggest greenhouse gas polluter on Earth. As other countries lowered their carbon footprint, others didn't even try to contain it. 

Kyoto Protocol was expected to have participation by the USA. The USA at the time the protocol was developed in Japan was a moral participate on a global stage. Greenhouse gas emissions was considered and still is more than ever a moral issue for the global community. When the USA did not ratify the protocol the rest of the world could not understand. They still don't understand why it took until 2015 for the USA to be the moral leader is has always been, especially in environmental matters. 

2. For the purposes of this Article, “the total carbon dioxide emissions for 1990 of the Parties included in Annex I” means the amount communicated on or before the date of adoption of this Protocol by the Parties included in Annex I in their first national communications submitted in accordance with Article 12 of the Convention.

The carbon dioxide was recorded after Russia was the final country to bring a total of 55 percent to bear in eliminating high amounts of CO2 from Earth's troposphere. 

Yes, Russia. Russia became a moral leader for Kyoto, not the USA. It was large enough and able to sequester carbon dioxide in it's vast northern forests.

22 October 2004
By Nick Paton Walsh

The Russian parliament yesterday (click here) voted to ratify the Kyoto treaty, bringing the international climate change protocol to within months of coming into effect.
The lower house of the parliament, or duma, yesterday voted 334-73 to approve the treaty. This means that the protocol's 126 signatories have eight years to cut their emissions of six greenhouse gases to 5.2% below their 1990 levels.
The treaty needs 55 industrialised nations, representing 55% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, to sign it before it can come into effect.
The United States, responsible for 36% of emissions in 1990, and Australia, have already refused to sign up to the measure, meaning Russia had to ratify the treaty to save it from collapse. The move will be seen as a sign that Moscow is keen to curry favour with Brussels after the bruising attacks on human rights abuses by the EU in recent months....

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. 

Just less than eight years had passed from the time it was adopted to the point where it came into force. That was a long time and such length in ratification was not anticipated. The member countries that first adopted Kyoto expected quick ratification with the USA included. Eight years later after unmitigated pollution there was more CO2 than expected and the USA was not interested in ending it's pollution. The people. The average citizen made sacrifices and acted to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions than the US government would pass as law. It was all greed, all the time and the world was not to be considered as important over a Bush economy and an illegal.

3. For each State or regional economic integration organization that ratifies, accepts or approves this Protocol or accedes thereto after the conditions set out in paragraph 1 above for entry into force have been fulfilled, this Protocol shall enter into force on the ninetieth day following the date of deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession

4. For the purposes of this Article, any instrument deposited by a regional economic integration organization shall not be counted as additional to those deposited by States members of the organization. 

3 and 4 of article 25 are self-explanatory.

The air is dry. The dew point map at the bottom of the entry shows an interior USA with very little water vapor.

The Weather Channel
Current Temperature Map
20 March 2016
1445 GMT

The swing in temperatures over the USA today is absolutely ridiculous, with the exception of Florida because it is surrounded by ocean on three sides.

The Weather Channel
Current Temperature Map
20 March 2016
2345 GMT

The change in temperature over southern California and Arizona is astounding.
March 20, 2016
By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

A portion (click here) of the southern United States will face the return of severe thunderstorms and flooding downpours at midweek.
The severe weather will erupt as a cold front slices into the surge of warmth set to bring a dramatic upswing in temperatures during the first half of this week.
The warmth will erase the frost and freeze threat closing out the weekend.

Without water vapor the change in temperature is rapid. Water vapor is the buffer that provides for comfortable climate. The olive green color over most of the USA is near the 'very dry' side. The coastal areas of comfortable, but, not very humid at all.



Article 24 

1. This Protocol shall be open for signature and subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by States and regional economic integration organizations which are Parties to the Convention. It shall be open for signature at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 16 March 1998 to 15 March 1999. This Protocol shall be open for accession from the day after the date on which it is closed for signature. Instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall be deposited with the Depositary.

Simply where and when a party can find the Protocol and sign it having ratified it within the government of the country or otherwise.

2. Any regional economic integration organization which becomes a Party to this Protocol without any of its member States being a Party shall be bound by all the obligations under this Protocol. In the case of such organizations, one or more of whose member States is a Party to this Protocol, the organization and its member States shall decide on their respective responsibilities for the performance of their obligations under this Protocol. In such cases, the organization and the member States shall not be entitled to exercise rights under this Protocol concurrently. 

The USA recognizes regional economic integration organizations under Title 15, Commerce and Trade, Section 88, International Antitrust Enforcement Assistance.

An example:

The European Union (EU), (click here) through the European Community (EC), is the only regional organisation that has the declared policy to pursue both the objectives of economic growth and environmental protection.

The organization can decide how best to address their commitment, but, no one state can act alone.

3. In their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, regional economic integration organizations shall declare the extent of their competence with respect to the matters governed by this Protocol. These organizations shall also inform the Depositary, who shall in turn inform the Parties, of any substantial modification in the extent of their competence

The decisions an organization such as the EU makes in regard to compliance with the Protocol is to be reported to the Depositary. And, is the organization able (competent) to carry out such compliance. Basically, will one or more country of the organization strike out on it's own and even refuse to cooperate.

The Ozone Holes are expanding at both the north and south poles.

Nacreous clouds, sometimes called mother-of-pearl clouds, are rare but once seen are never forgotten. They are mostly visible within two hours after sunset or before dawn when they blaze unbelievably bright with vivid and slowly shifting iridescent colours. They are filmy sheets slowly curling and uncurling, stretching and contracting in the semi-dark sky. Compared with dark scudding low altitude clouds that might be present, nacreous clouds stand majestically in almost the same place - an indicator of their great height.

They need the very frigid regions of the lower stratosphere some 15 - 25 km (9 -16 mile) high and well above tropospheric clouds. They are so bright after sunset and before dawn because at those heights they are still sunlit.

They are seen mostly during winter at high latitudes like Scandinavia, Iceland, Alaska and Northern Canada. Sometimes, however, they occur as far south as England.   They can be less rare downwind of mountain ranges. Elsewhere their appearance is often associated with severe tropospheric winds and storms. 


Rare nacreous clouds over Belfast, Ireland, recently.
February 10, 2016
By Eric Hand

Lingering atmospheric (click here) pollutants and a blast of frigid air have carved an unusually deep hole in Earth’s protective ozone layer over the Arctic, and it threatens to get deeper. Atmospheric scientists are analyzing data from weather balloons and satellites for clues to how the ozone will fare when sunlight—a third factor in ozone loss—returns to the Arctic in the spring. But they are already worrying about how extra ultraviolet light might affect humans and ecosystems below and wondering whether climate change will make such Arctic holes more common or severe.
Record cold temperatures in the Arctic stratospheric ozone layer, 15 to 35 kilometers up, are the proximate cause for this year’s losses, because they help to unleash ozone-destroying chemicals. “This winter has been stunning,” says Markus Rex, an atmospheric chemist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Potsdam, Germany. By next week, about 25% of the Arctic’s ozone will be destroyed, he says.
This time of year, the stratosphere tends to warm up with the breakdown of the polar vortex, a cyclone that traps cold air. But if a strong vortex persists another month as light returns to the Arctic after the dark winter, ozone losses will get much bigger, Rex says. Conditions are ripe for losses to surpass a record Arctic ozone hole observed in the spring of 2011, he adds.
At Earth’s surface, ozone is a caustic chemical and a health hazard. But in the stratosphere, it shields the planet from ultraviolet light.
Article 22 

1. Each Party shall have one vote, except as provided for in paragraph 2 below. 

2. Regional economic integration organizations, in matters within their competence, shall exercise their right to vote with a number of votes equal to the number of their member States that are Parties to this Protocol. Such an organization shall not exercise its right to vote if any of its member States exercises its right, and vice versa.

There is no double vote, numbers of state votes by the organization as well as the vote of the state autonomously. 

Article 23 The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall be the Depositary of this Protocol. 

2015 Antarctica Ozone Hole

October 29, 2015
By NASA

The 2015 Antarctic ozone hole (click here) area was larger and formed later than in recent years, said scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
On Oct. 2, 2015, the ozone hole expanded to its peak of 28.2 million square kilometers (10.9 million square miles), an area larger than the continent of North America. Throughout October, the hole remained large and set many area daily records. Unusually cold temperature and weak dynamics in the Antarctic stratosphere this year resulted in this larger ozone hole. In comparison, last year the ozone hole peaked at 24.1 million square kilometers (9.3 million square miles) on Sept. 11, 2014. Compared to the 1991-2014 period, the 2015 ozone hole average area was the fourth largest.

Article 21 continued...

4. The Parties shall make every effort to reach agreement on any proposed annex or amendment to an annex by consensus. If all efforts at consensus have been exhausted, and no agreement reached, the annex or amendment to an annex shall as a last resort be adopted by a three-fourths majority vote of the Parties present and voting at the meeting. The adopted annex or amendment to an annex shall be communicated by the secretariat to the Depositary, who shall circulate it to all Parties for their acceptance.

It erases controversy. There is nothing to say scientists always agree. Their studies are mostly held at different places on the planet. But, scientific principle is defined with little confusion or disagreement. Where there is disagreement, the principle is run through tests by repeating research to establish facts by reconstructing the study(ies). The three quater's vote is reassurance that nothing will change until consensus is clear.

5. An annex, or amendment to an annex other than Annex A or B, that has been adopted in accordance with paragraphs 3 and 4 above shall enter into force for all Parties to this Protocol six months after the date of the communication by the Depositary to such Parties of the adoption of the annex or adoption of the amendment to the annex, except for those Parties that have notified the Depositary, in writing, within that period of their non-acceptance of the annex or amendment to the annex. The annex or amendment to an annex shall enter into force for Parties which withdraw their notification of non-acceptance on the ninetieth day after the date on which withdrawal of such notification has been received by the Depositary.

Six months after an agreement regarding an annex or amendment has to pass until it is enforced. It provides time for everyone to be notified. Kyoto Protocol is a structured scientific agreement to reduce greenhouse gases in the troposphere. There has to be consistent standards for it's success. It is rather grueling to make changes to the protocol and/or annexes. Rightfully so.

Even after there is a vote to accept an annex or amendment there is still the autonomy to refuse (non-acceptance) same.

There is also a provision for those that withdraw their refusal. After there is a reversal of position the annex or amendment will go into effect 19 days following. 

Scientists have the right to feel confident about their decisions and the practice of their science.

6. If the adoption of an annex or an amendment to an annex involves an amendment to this Protocol, that annex or amendment to an annex shall not enter into force until such time as the amendment to this Protocol enters into force.

Really wordy stuff, huh? Amendments carry more weight than an annex or an amendment to the annex. So, if an annex OR an amendment to an annex INVOLVES  AN AMENDMENT TO THE PROTOCOL, the amendment has to enter into effect BEFORE the annex and amendment effecting the amendment can take effect. 

If A + B = C; A has to be in place before B can be added to equal a full understanding in C. (A) Amendment to Protocol. (B) annex or amendment to an annex. (C) the desired and complete definition. B cannot be placed before A is added, otherwise there would be no clear definition to C.

7. Amendments to Annexes A and B to this Protocol shall be adopted and enter into force in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 20, provided that any amendment to Annex B shall be adopted only with the written consent of the Party concerned. 

Reading of Annexes A and B to follow.

The Mendanhall Glacier is in Juneau, Alaska. Or better said, what's left of it.


December 16, 2015
By AP

U.S. Forest Service (click here) officials have awarded 15 companies with lucrative rights to bring tourists into the Mendenhall Glacier National Recreation Area.
The Juneau Empire reports that among the companies announced Friday are Admiralty Excursions, World Cycling Tours and Alaska Weddings on Ice, which allows couples to get married on top of the glacier.
The Forest Service manages the Mendenhall area to support about 465,000 tourists each year.
The agency changed the way it offers its permitted “service days” to Juneau tour providers this summer by soliciting requests for its 239,000 service days. A service day is one tourist visiting the glacier for one day. The agency received almost 640,000 requests spread among 18 companies.
The Forest Service selected companies based on several factors, including their past performance and application quality.

I think most tourists will be having a difficult time finding the top of the glacier this year.

Kyoto Protocol

Article 21

1. Annexes to this Protocol shall form an integral part thereof and, unless otherwise expressly provided, a reference to this Protocol constitutes at the same time a reference to any annexes thereto. Any annexes adopted after the entry into force of this Protocol shall be restricted to lists, forms and any other material of a descriptive nature that is of a scientific, technical, procedural or administrative character. 

It is to reassure the authors and the countries involved, there will be not cherry picking of information. That is what was so appalling a few years back when a British professor's email was hacked. To begin, it was hacked and illegal, but, there is an understanding that partial information is not information at all.

2. Any Party may make proposals for an annex to this Protocol and may propose amendments to annexes to this Protocol. 

Procedural. There is nothing stopping a complete record to be made.

3. Annexes to this Protocol and amendments to annexes to this Protocol shall be adopted at an ordinary session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to this Protocol. The text of any proposed annex or amendment to an annex shall be communicated to the Parties by the secretariat at least six months before the meeting at which it is proposed for adoption. The secretariat shall also communicate the text of any proposed annex or amendment to an annex to the Parties and signatories to the Convention and, for information, to the Depositary. 

Judicial. The notification of any annexes and/or amendments is to be six months before the meeting. It obviously is to give sufficient time to clarify the document and/or agree with it or not.

Winter Storm Regis

March 20, 2016
By Staff Report

Welcome to the first day of Spring, (click here) with more of a winter forecast than most would probably like.

The National Weather Service is still calling for snow, mostly after 5 p.m. or so when temperatures cool down to just about freezing.  But the snow should be minimal in the immediate Philadelphia region.  
It could be heavier, from two to four inches, south and east of the I-95 corridor and closer to the Shore. North and west of the corridor will see little snow, if at all.
Here's the breakdown for today:
Look for dry conditions in the morning, followed by a chance of rain after 1p.m. and a high of about 42. Then, rain could mix with snow this evening around dinnertime.  Total daytime snow accumulation should be less than half an inch....
It's Sunday Night

Spring 2016 arrived on Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 12:30 AM EDT


“A man has every season while a woman only has the right to spring.” — Jane Fonda (click here)

"Spring Fever" by Elvis Presley (click here for official website - thank you)

A little bird, he told me so
He said come on, get on the go
Open your eyes the sky is full of butterflies
The blossoms on the trees stir up the honey bees
Spring makes my fever right

Spring fever, Spring is here at last
Spring fever, my heart's beating fast
Get up, get out spring is everywhere

Well if you feel the wanderlust
Just grab a car or hop a bus
In every town there's excitement to be found
So much is happening
Don't miss the joy of spring
The world's in love just look around

Spring fever comes to everyone
Spring fever, it's time for fun
Get up, get out spring is everywhere

Spring fever, it's Spring fever time
Spring fever, watch that fever climb
Get up, get out spring is everywhere

Spring is everywhere

The United States is finally making relationships it deserves in it's own hemisphere.

President Calvin Coolidge and his wife, first lady Grace Coolidge (left in picture) are shown with the President of Cuba General Gerardo Machado y Morales and his wife, Elvira Machado, walk on the estate of President Machado in Havana, Cuba, Jan. 19, 1928.

The deteriorating relationship between the two countries occurred when the coupe occurred in 1959.

...Relations between the United States and Cuba (click here) had been steadily declining since Castro seized power in early 1959. U.S. officials were soon convinced that Castro’s government was too anti-American to be trusted, and they feared that he might lead Cuba into the communist bloc. Early in 1960, following Castro’s decision to sign a trade treaty with the Soviet Union, the Eisenhower administration began financing and training a group of Cuban exiles to overthrow the Cuban leader. Castro responded by increasing his program of nationalizing foreign property and companies. In return, the United States began to implement cutbacks in trade with Cuba. The diplomatic break on January 3, 1961 was the culmination of an increasingly acrimonious situation....

The US intelligence was correct, in that Fidel Castro would nationalize the private sector throughout Cuba. It was after that the first Cuban refugees came to the USA. They were displaced business people and academicians. They had assets they brought with them. Their experience with the USA was very different than the Cubans that occasionally travel by boat to southern Florida.


But, Cuba under Castro turned to communism and Russia. Nikita Khrushchev (click here) would become fast friends with Fidel Castro. Khrushchev over estimated the ease of which Russia could establish their most western nuclear site. He made his decision May 1962 in Bulgaria where he spoke about possibly losing Cuba and the spread of Marxism and Leninism.

President Kennedy called the Russians on their nuclear missiles (click here) and the Cuban Missile Crisis was over. But, the relations with Cuba had never healed since. It has been bizarre to say the least to think dissidents were in Cuba and exist to establish freedom since 1962. That is 54 years and the dissidents were never successful. Why then have them believe democracy would return all those decades? It is the worst USA blunder since the cold war; holding dissidents as example of USA power in the hemisphere and never doing anything except fly a hot air balloon over the island country in hopes a Spanish channel would be seen on Cuban televisions.

Amazing.

Then, there were the submarines that traveled to near shore locations of Cuba under "W" to use a radar (click here) that exploded the ears of marine mammals. But, that was the only time dissidents thought they were exonerated in their suffering. They and "W" must have had a good chuckle over the idea a USA submarine could get that close to Cuba. What a waste of lives for them to hold false hopes all those decades.


Today, the First Family arrived in Cuba under a cloud of drizzle for a historic trip that should improve the relationship between the two countries. 

May 20, 2016
By Alexander Mallin 
President Obama and the first family (click here) have arrived in Cuba, for the first visit to the island nation by a sitting U.S. president in nearly 90 years.
The visit comes just 15 months after the announcement that the U.S. and Cuba would be restoring diplomatic ties.
As Air Force One was still on the runway, Obama tweeted that he was "looking forward to meeting and hearing directly from the Cuban people."...

The people are always the place where USA foreign policy should focus. The dissidents have existed because of false promises that the USA never delivered on. The people of Cuba have suffered enough and need an economy be returned to them.

I am proud of my President and the First Family to represent the United States of America in a new relationship that will improve the lives of Cubans and seek a better relationship with country's leadership. I hope the First Family enjoys their visit to this country that is still primarily a mystery to most Americans.

What happened economically this week?

Why did the DOW regain it's 2016 losses this week?

No one is paying attention, right? There is no clue among candidates or their constituencies to what occurred this week, right? Was there any discussion of the rebound of Wall Street this week?

Even CEOs didn't know what happened this week. They are delighted their stock prices are moving higher and they don't care what happened this week. Believe me when I state CEOs are nobody. They make stupid decisions and those decisions only benefit them and short term profits at the cost of quality of life of every human being on Earth except the top earning 0.01 percent.

So, what happened this week?

Why is Wall Street smiling as if they have caught a leprechaun and a pot of gold?

The US Dollar dropped in value after the stabilizing of interest rates by the Fed. The job numbers and strengthening of the labor market meant nothing. NOTHING. Wall Street hates labor and is a bit dismayed with labor stability because it takes profits (or so they think) away from their BONUS CHECK.

The US Dollar softened, the stock prices softened and became the place to scoff up stocks because of the stability of those long lived stocks and their ability to return profits even in poor economic times.

March 20, 2016

US stocks are opening slightly lower (click here) despite a raft of generally positive economic reports as investors await the Federal Reserve's comments on the state of the economy later in the day. "A range of recent indicators, including strong job gains, points to additional strengthening of the labour market", it said. "They are obviously volatile ... they only need to stabilize at a higher level", she said. Fed policymakers had been expected to leave short-term interest rates unchanged while signaling that a rate hike is not too far off as long as the job market and inflation continue to improve. However, Janet Yellen, the US Federal Reserve Chair, indicated in her press conference, that the US economy is strong in spite of the global slowdown and global developments will be monitored....

Once again, the stock were purchased during soft prices and escalated with the new purchases and Wall Street returned to it's beginning of the year levels.

This past week PROVES it is a "Bear Market."

Global Hysteria. Why does no one fear Ted Cruz?

Donald Trump is not a Hitler or Mussolini. He isn't interested in war. The Republican Establish should be feared. It is where "W" came from and the threat of war lives with them. Cheney's first response to any question was war and torture. The Global Community actually believes the CONTINUED fear mongering of the USA media which is designed for exploitation by Wall Street. It's propaganda. Honestly.

The sky is not falling. Does everyone in power in the global community actually want a repeat of 2008?

He is interested in fair trade, not free trade so I suppose Wall Street is up in arms since the free trade agreements are designed for high Wall Street profit and impoverishment of global communities.

No one is asking what Globalists think of the fair trade policies of Donald Trump.

Is there a difference between free trade and fair trade? Does one promote the quality of life for citizens of the countries involved? Is Wall Street expecting disproportionate profits with these agreements? Why are free trade agreements necessary when other trade agreements such as the WTO exist?

When is the globalist movement going to take on the challenge of addressing trade and quality of life? Is quality of life where the middle class lives? Can the middle class afford health insurance?

What happens to the COST of education at Charter Schools when the public schools disappear off the map? Who then will receive formal education at any grade?

Globalization and Fair Trade - Lesson Plan (click here)