ExxonMobil, Rockefellers Face Off in Climate Battle

ExxonMobil is facing an onslaught from environmentalists and some shareholders alleging it hid what it knew about the effects of fossil fuels on climate change.

In an ironic twist: among the opponents is the Rockefeller Family Fund, built on the fortune amassed by John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil, which became Esso, then Exxon and then, in 1999, ExxonMobil.

The RFF met last January, in secret, in Manhattan with environmental nongovernmental groups "to establish in the public's mind that Exxon is a corrupt institution that has pushed humanity (and all creation) towards climate chaos and grave harm," according to an internal document on the meeting seen by AFP.

"We hosted a meeting with leading advocates to understand their thoughts on how to best respond to the outrageous conduct," Lee Wasserman, the director of RFF, said.

They adopted a strategy to attack ExxonMobil on legal grounds, by convincing authorities to launch investigations and by filing lawsuits. In other words, replicating the tactics used against the tobacco industry in the 1990s.

"This is a conspiracy to deliberately misrepresent the company position and to tear down the company,"  said Alan Jeffers, a spokesman for ExxonMobil.

According to a person close to the situation who requested anonymity, certain members of the Rockefeller family have privately expressed opposition to the campaign against ExxonMobil.

Bill McKibben, founder of the NGO 350.org who participated in the January meeting, has pushed for investigations into whether ExxonMobil broke the law.

"We want everyone we can think of to know it broke every kind of moral law," McKibben said in an email.

The ecologist led the ultimately successful opposition against the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have brought Canadian oil sands production from Alberta to the US Gulf states.

The ExxonMobil critics accuse the oil company of having, since 1977, research showing that fossil-fuel energy has a harmful impact on climate, but that it kept the information to itself.

Denouncing the critics charges as "inaccurate" and a "conspiracy", ExxonMobil insists that it had acknowledged the risks of  climate change as soon as it was possible, that is, in the 2000s.

Accusing the Rockefeller organization of influencing the media and the authorities, the Texas firm has pledged to publicly defend its positions, although until now it has maintained a certain discretion about the subject.

The change in attitude is due to the power of the Rockefellers, who not only have the colossal financial means to contest ExxonMobil on all battlegrounds, but also the influence of their powerful family name.
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Mitsubishi Admits to Manipulating Fuel Economy Test Data

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said it manipulated mileage test data for its minicars sold in Japan, resulting in 620,000 vehicles produced in the past three years being labeled more fuel efficient than they actually are.

The tests overstated fuel efficiency by 5% to 10%, and Mitsubishi Motors said it’s investigating who’s responsible. The company said the violation may result in the Japanese automaker having to pay back government tax rebates for the vehicles, of which 468,000 were supplied to Nissan Motor Co.

Mitsubishi Motors’ shares fell 15% for the biggest decline in more than a decade in Tokyo trading, cutting its market value to 721 billion yen ($6.59 billion). The company’s manipulation of tests will further intensify scrutiny of the auto industry after Volkswagen AG’s admission last year that it had rigged diesel models with software to meet U.S. emissions standards.

“This may be different from Volkswagen’s issue, but the market has become very sensitive to such kind of news,” said Seiji Sugiura, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center. “It may have a similar impact in terms of sales and the company’s reputation.”

The company said it tested the vehicles using tire and air resistance that yielded better fuel economy than the actual rates. The mishandling of the test data was “intentional,” said President Tetsuro Aikawa, who bowed in apology before a briefing in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Mitsubishi Motors is also checking whether the cheating affected overseas models and said it was unable to estimate the impact of the manipulation on its business at this point. Separately, the company said it has used a method to test mileage since 2002 that is not compliant with Japanese standards.

Nissan, which sells the eK model as the Nissan DayZ in Japan, had discovered the discrepancy in mileage. The company has suspended sales of the DayZ and DayZ Roox models Wednesday until Mitsubishi Motors provided further clarification, Nissan spokesman Jonathan Adashek said.

Mitsubishi Motors’s disclosure may cause further damage to consumers’ trust in car companies’ fuel economy claims. Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. agreed to pay fines and forfeit emissions credits in late 2014 to settle U.S. claims that they overstated mileage ratings. Ford lowered ratings for hybrid models in both 2014 and 2013.

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Bild: German Carmakers to Recall 630,000 for Emissions

A handful of German automakers, including Volkswagen AG and its Audi and Porsche division, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz unit and General Motors Co.’s Opel will recall 630,000 cars to fix diesel models’ emissions systems’ temperature setups, Bild newspaper reported, citing an unidentified German government representative.

The recall is meant to fix a device designed to turn off emissions controls at certain temperatures, Bild said.

Volkswagen AG CEO Matthias Mueller in happier times, as the head of Porsche back in 2014.

Sean Gallup, Getty Images

Transport minister Alexander Dobrindt is scheduled to reveal the findings of regulatory tests of cars’ diesel engines later Friday. Ministry spokeswoman Svenja Friedrich declined to comment when asked about the nature of Dobrindt’s planned announcement.

The German probe across a broad range of manufacturers and models was prompted by Volkswagen’s revelations in September that it had installed software on diesel motors designed to cheat on official emissions test. The German investigation showed no other models with illegal software, Bild reported.

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Daimler is among carmakers that have acknowledged the existence of a component that turns off controls at low temperatures, saying it’s legal and designed to protect the engine. Joerg Howe, a spokesman for the carmaker, declined to comment on any recall. Nico Schmidt, a spokesman for Opel, also declined to comment.

“The question is whether this number is just the start, or if there’ll be more,” said Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. “What’s clear is that there are legal tricks the whole industry is using. That might be legal, but it’s not a legitimate thing to do, and shines a negative light on the industry as a whole. This isn’t a good sign.”

Daimler is among carmakers that have acknowledged the existence of a component that turns off controls at low temperatures, saying it’s legal and designed to protect the engine. Joerg Howe, a spokesman for the carmaker, declined to comment on any recall. Nico Schmidt, a spokesman for Opel, also declined to comment.

“The question is whether this number is just the start, or if there’ll be more,” said Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. “What’s clear is that there are legal tricks the whole industry is using. That might be legal, but it’s not a legitimate thing to do, and shines a negative light on the industry as a whole. This isn’t a good sign.”

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Automakers Brace for Greater Scrutiny after Emissions Scandals

Carmakers have to be clearer about the way they certify their fuel-economy and emission ratings as regulators ramp up scrutiny over the gap between laboratory results and on-road conditions, according to Daimler AG Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche.

“You can only be transparent and if there’s any shortfalls anywhere, fix them and move forward,” Zetsche told Bloomberg News ahead of the Beijing auto show opening this week. “And then of course it will take some time” for the industry to be where they were before the Frankfurt motor show last year.

Revelations that Volkswagen AG (IW 1000/7) cheated on diesel emissions emerged days after the Frankfurt exhibition last September. Since then, government fraud investigators have raided French manufacturer PSA Group as part of broader checks into vehicle emissions. In Japan, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said last week it manipulated fuel-economy tests to mislead consumers.

Investigating Certification Process

Also last week, Daimler (IW 1000/15) said it had been asked by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the certification process of its cars. The internal probe follows U.S. class action suits that allege some of its cars violated emissions standards. Daimler has said it’s cooperating fully with authorities and that the suits are “baseless.”

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ExxonMobil Launches Venture for Low-cost Carbon Capture

ExxonMobil said on May 5 that it was starting a new venture that could make carbon-dioxide capture a more economically attractive way to fight global warming.

ExxonMobil said its new agreement with FuelCell Energy Inc.  aims to develop technology for capturing carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants using fuel cells.

The idea is that the fuel cells could generate the additional electricity needed for the carbon-capture process, eliminating at least part of what has been seen as a burdensome cost in the process.

"Carbon capture with carbonate fuel cells is a potential game-changer for affordably and efficiently concentrating carbon dioxide for large-scale gas and coal-fired power plants," said FuelCell Energy chief executive Chip Bottone.

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Majority of Canada's Oil-Sands Plants Emerge Unharmed from Wildfire

Canadian oil-sands facilities representing more than 90% of production taken offline during a wildfire in northern Alberta have emerged unscathed and are expected to restart within days to a couple of weeks.

Mines and drilling projects north of Fort McMurray are already bringing back some of the roughly 1 million barrels a day of supply that was curbed, Steve Williams, chief executive officer of the nation’s largest energy company  Suncor Energy Inc., said Tuesday, speaking for the industry. Facilities south of the energy hub that represent much less of the lost supply and were more affected by the fire may take longer, he said.

“It’s that quick -- some facilities are turning back up the volumes now,” Williams said at a media briefing in Edmonton, flanked by his peers at companies including Imperial Oil Ltd. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. Other projects to the south may take longer. “South, where there have been a few more direct impacts from the fire, we have to go in and evaluate and put the plans in place.”

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Decline of Air Pollution, Rising Abatement Costs

U.S. manufacturers have been highly successful in reducing pollution over the past two decades, yet their costs to shrink their environmental footprint continue to grow. They're being affected by the law of marginal returns and each new pollution regulation that EPA devises will be increasingly more costly to implement.

Two recent studies help bear this out. In one, the MAPI Foundation compared pollution abatement costs among manufacturers around the world and found that U.S. manufacturers have the highest bill -- roughly double that of Japan, three times as much as Germany, and about six times as much as Canada and Korea. MAPI Foundation Chief Economist Dan Meckstroth's analysis, which examined air pollution, greenhouse gases, waste disposal, and wastewater treatment, showed that U.S. manufacturers spend roughly $25 billion annually in pollution abatement costs, the highest for any country in the world. This amounts to about 1.2% of manufacturing value-added, comparable to what manufacturers experience in most other advanced economies, where strict regulations have also increased business costs. (Canada's manufacturers pay the most as a percentage of manufacturing GDP, at 2.2%, primarily because of the nation's preponderance of waste- and wastewater-intensive industries, such as pulp and paper, steel, and petroleum refining. Mexico's manufacturers pay the least, at 0.8%.)


When looking at air pollution abatement -- including the reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM) -- U.S. manufacturers spend $5.3 billion annually, more than the other eight countries in the study combined. As a percentage of manufacturing value-added, this amounts to 0.27%, which is higher than every other country except Canada.

Another study demonstrates U.S. manufacturers' resounding success in reducing their air pollution. Georgetown economist Arik Levinson shows that between 1990 and 2008, U.S. factory air emissions fell by two-thirds, even as the real value of manufacturing output grew by 35%. Dr. Levinson observed that advances in production techniques led to more than 90% of this cleanup.

This accords with a 2013 report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration that shows dramatic reductions in air pollutants from electric power plants over the past two decades. Two pollutants in particular, SO2 and NOx emissions, fell dramatically -- from about 16 million short tons of SO2 and 6 million short tons of NOx in 1990 to about 3.4 million and 1.8 million, respectively, in 2012.

The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments clearly incented industry to develop new technologies that have led to a far more efficient and cleaner manufacturing sector. So the question isn't one of effectiveness, it's one of efficiency -- that is, as we become a cleaner society, how do we reduce pollution without reducing U.S. manufacturers' competitiveness? It's a very relevant question: The law of diminishing returns tells us that as more resources are invested on a fixed resource, you'll eventually reach a point at which additional investments yield progressively smaller results. In pollution control this means it's becoming progressively more expensive for manufacturers to eliminate their remaining emissions.

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Climate impacts 'overwhelming' - UN

The impacts of global warming are likely to be "severe, pervasive and irreversible", a major report by the UN has warned.

Scientists and officials meeting in Japan say the document is the most comprehensive assessment to date of the impacts of climate change on the world.

Some impacts of climate change include a higher risk of flooding and changes to crop yields and water availability.

Humans may be able to adapt to some of these changes, but only within limits.

Scientists fear a growing impact of global warming on humans

An example of an adaptation strategy would be the construction of sea walls and levees to protect against flooding. Another might be introducing more efficient irrigation for farmers in areas where water is scarce.

Natural systems are currently bearing the brunt of climatic changes, but a growing impact on humans is feared.

Members of the UN's climate panel say it provides overwhelming evidence of the scale of these effects.

Our health, homes, food and safety are all likely to be threatened by rising temperatures, the summary says.

The report was agreed after almost a week of intense discussions here in Yokohama, which included concerns among some authors about the tone of the evolving document.

This is the second of a series from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) due out this year that outlines the causes, effects and solutions to global warming.

The mercury doesn’t lie: We’ve hit a troubling climate change milestone

This latest Summary for Policymakers document highlights the fact that the amount of scientific evidence on the impacts of warming has almost doubled since the last report in 2007.

Be it the melting of glaciers or warming of permafrost, the summary highlights the fact that on all continents and across the oceans, changes in the climate have caused impacts on natural and human systems in recent decades.

In the words of the report, "increasing magnitudes of warming increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts".

"Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change,'' IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri told journalists at a news conference in Yokohama.

Dr Saleemul Huq, a convening lead author on one of the chapters, commented: "Before this we thought we knew this was happening, but now we have overwhelming evidence that it is happening and it is real."

Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization, said that, previously, people could have damaged the Earth's climate out of "ignorance".

"Now, ignorance is no longer a good excuse," he said.

Mr Jarraud said the report was based on more than 12,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies. He said this document was "the most solid evidence you can get in any scientific discipline".

US Secretary of State John Kerry commented: "Unless we act dramatically and quickly, science tells us our climate and our way of life are literally in jeopardy. Denial of the science is malpractice."

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The mercury doesn’t lie: We’ve hit a troubling climate change milestone

Thursday, while the nation debated the relative size of Republican genitalia, something truly awful happened. Across the northern hemisphere, the temperature, if only for a few hours, apparently crossed a line: it was more than two degrees Celsius above “normal” for the first time in recorded history and likely for the first time in the course of human civilization.

That’s important because the governments of the world have set two degrees Celsius as the must-not-cross red line that, theoretically, we’re doing all we can to avoid. And it’s important because most of the hemisphere has not really had a winter. They’ve been trucking snow into Anchorage for the start of the Iditarod; Arctic sea ice is at record low levels for the date; in New England doctors are already talking about the start of “allergy season.”

DOMINIQUE FAGET/AFP/GETTY IMAGES/FILE 2015

This bizarre glimpse of the future is only temporary. It will be years, one hopes, before we’re past the two degrees mark on a regular basis. But the future is clearly coming much faster than science had expected. February, taken as a whole, crushed all the old monthly temperature records, which had been set in … January. January crushed all the old monthly temperature records, which had been set in … December.



In part this reflects the ongoing El Nino phenomenon — these sporadic events always push up the planet’s temperature. But since that El Nino heat is layered on top of the ever-increasing global warming, the spikes keep getting higher. This time around the overturning waters of the Pacific are releasing huge quantities of heat stored there during the last couple of decades of global warming.

And as that heat pours out into the atmosphere, the consequences are overwhelming. In the South Pacific, for instance, the highest wind speeds ever measured came last month when Tropical Cyclone Winston crashed into Fiji. Entire villages were flattened. In financial terms, the storm wiped out ten percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, roughly equivalent to fifteen simultaneous Hurricane Katrina’s.

This was followed by a few months of the highest wind speeds ever recorded in our hemisphere, when Patricia crashed into the Pacific coast of Mexico. And it joins all the other lines of misery: the zika virus spreading on the wings of mosquitoes up and down the Americas; the refugees streaming out of Syria where, as studies now make clear, the deepest drought ever measured helped throw the nation into chaos.

Second, since we’re in a hole it’s time to stop digging — literally. We’ve simply got to keep coal and oil and gas in the ground; there’s not any other way to make the math of climate change even begin to work. There is legislation pending in the House and Senate that would end new fossil fuel extraction on America’s public lands. Senator Sanders has backed the law unequivocally; Secretary Clinton seemed to endorse it, and then last week seemed to waffle. Donald Trump has concentrated on the length of his fingers.

No one’s waiting for presidential candidates to actually lead, of course. In May campaigners around the world will converge on the world’s biggest carbon deposits: the coal mines of Australia, the tarsands of Canada, the gasfields of Russia. And they will engage in peaceful civil disobedience, an effort to simply say: no. The only safe place for this carbon is deep beneath the soil, where it’s been for eons.

This is, in one sense, stupid. It’s ridiculous that at this late date, as the temperature climbs so perilously, we still have to take such steps. Why do Bostonians have to be arrested to stop the Spectra pipeline? Anyone with a thermometer can see that we desperately need to be building solar and windpower instead.

In a much deeper sense, however, the resistance is valiant, even beautiful. Think of those protesters as the planet’s antibodies, its immune system finally kicking in. Our one earth is running a fever the likes of which no human has ever seen. The time to fight it is right now.

Bill McKibben is the founder of the climate campaign 350.org, and the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College.

Source: Scientific American

Global Warming 'Hiatus' Is An Illusion, It Hasn't Even Slowed Down. And Here's Why.

A new study may shed some light on one of the most controversial aspects of the current global warming debate. The problem is frequently framed in headlines as a question, "Has Global Warming Stopped?"

Has Global Warming Stopped?" is probably one of those annoying questions that you constantly hear and debate, but never get an answer to. Well, a new study may shed some light on one of the most controversial aspects of the current global warming debate, The Street reported.


The short answer is and always has been "no," it hasn't stopped. It hasn't even slowed down.

Sea levels continue to rise inexorably. While Arctic Sea ice and Antarctic glacier cover continue their shrinking trends, weather patterns continue to change dramatically.

But let's go back in the past.

Since the outset of the Industrial Revolution, global surface temperatures have been rising more or less.

Presumably this rise in temperatures is linked to the correlating rise in CO2 and other heat-trapping gasses in the troposphere, the layer of atmosphere closest to the earth, The Street reported.

However, beginning about 2001, those surface atmosphere temperatures have flattened out in recent years for reasons scientists haven't been able to fully explain.

"Skeptics of global warming science love this: It seems to undercut the findings of the scientific mainstream and throw the whole question of long-term global warming into the trash heap," The Street reported. "If CO2 emissions were causing global warming, then surface temperatures should continue to rise. Since they haven't, global warming can't be real."

This change in global warming has been termed as a "pause" or a "hiatus" by skeptics.

As recently as Feb. 3, in Forbes, this anomaly in the data was being touted as evidence that climate scientists have "oversold" the risks of climate change.

But even while the anomaly in the data may pose no threat to global warming models generally, its cause remained a mystery.

Recently, equatorial trade winds that are much stronger than expected have been pushing the warmer surface in the Pacific westward, a team of scientists led by Australian Matt England found. The study was published in the most recent issue of Nature Climate Change, a scientific peer-review journal.

As the warmed surface water hits the western continental shelf, it is driven downward into the lower depths. By mixing the heat into the deep water, the action of the trade winds effectively cools the observable surface temperature, according to The Street.

"The oceans have this amazing capacity to suck up heat," England said in a phone interview from his home in Australia Wednesday. "The ocean absorbs 90 percent of the heat of the climate system, so if you're looking for global warming that's where you have to look."

While overall global warming predictions are panning out accurately, "I think we've discovered that the models are coming up short in terms of decadal variability," England said.

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Hell Will Freeze Over Before We Agree on the World's Hottest Place

Salt formations in Dallol, Ethiopia (Photo: Matej Hudovernik/shutterstock.com

Much like the question of where the geographic center of the United States is, the specific point on Earth that reigns as the planet’s hottest turns out to be a very complex, loaded question.

For one thing, “hottest” isn’t as empirical as it sounds: do we mean the place that reaches the highest temperature? The place with the highest average temperature? Or do we factor in humidity to come up with a place that is the most unpleasant for humans, climate-wise? And where are we getting this data from? Is it even reliable?

Every one of those questions has an answer, and every one of those answers can be argued, although the answer is probably not going to be “my apartment in July” unless you live in one of the world’s most remote places. Instead of trying to crown an individual hottest place, we investigated all of the viable contenders. 

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Why You Should Invest In Green Energy Right Now

It's no secret that the global energy demand continues to rise. Driven by emerging economies and non-OECD nations, total worldwide energy usage is expected to grow by nearly 40% over the next 20 years. That'll require a staggering amount of coal, oil and gas.

But it’s not just fossil fuels that will get the nod. The demand for renewable energy sources is exploding, and according to new study, we haven’t seen anything yet in terms of spending on solar, wind and other green energy projects. For investors, that spending could lead to some serious portfolio green as well.

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Global Warming Latest: Urban Vulnerabilities

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has published its Fifth Assessment Report, which presents the latest science about global climate change. Three separate groups of scientists split the effort and report separately, with Working Group II looking at the impacts climate change has and will continue to have on society. Here I summarize the highlights of Chapter 8, which examines the effects of climate change on the urban environment:

Many cities are located in areas where the largest temperature increases are predicted. These increases are in addition to the urban heat island effect, leading to longer and more intense heat waves. The resulting heat stress can be deadly for at-risk people like the elderly. In addition, those suffering from asthma and other respiratory illness are likely to be exposed to higher concentrations of ozone, a lung-damaging pollutant when found at ground level.
Coastal erosion and flooding due to increased sea levels will affect low-lying cities such as New York, Mombasa (Kenya), and Mumbai (India). Adding to the concern is the frequent presence of petrochemical industries near the water’s edge in many of the world’s coastal cities. Flooding of these facilities often leads to dangerous spills of toxic chemicals.

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Study: Global warming skeptics know more about climate science

File photo (REUTERS/Peter Andrews/Files )

Are global warming skeptics simply ignorant about climate science?

Not so, says a forthcoming paper in the journal Advances in Political Psychology by Yale Professor Dan Kahan. He finds that skeptics score about the same (in fact slightly better) on climate science questions.

The study asked 2,000 respondents nine questions about where they thought scientists stand on climate science.

On average, skeptics got about 4.5 questions correct, whereas manmade warming believers got about 4 questions right.

One question, for instance, asked if scientists believe that warming would “increase the risk of skin cancer.” Skeptics were more likely than believers to know that is false.

Skeptics were also more likely to correctly say that if the North Pole icecap melted, global sea levels would not rise. One can test this with a glass of water and an ice cube – the water level will not change after the ice melts. Antarctic ice melting, however, would increase sea levels because much of it rests on land.

Liberals were more likely to correctly answer questions like: “What gas do most scientists believe causes temperatures to rise?” The correct answer is carbon dioxide.

The study comes on the heels of a 2012 study that found that global warming skeptics know just as much about science; the new study specifically quizzed people on climate science.

Climatologists who are skeptical about the extent of man-made global warming say the results don’t surprise them.

“It's easy to believe in the religion of global warming.  It takes critical thinking skills to question it,” Roy Spencer, a climatologist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, told FoxNews.com.

Groups that are concerned about global warming say the study results really show that politics is blinding otherwise-reasonable people.

“Climate contrarians know what scientists have found but they’re choosing to reject those findings, usually for political reasons,” Aaron Huertas, a spokesman for the Union of Concerned Scientists, told FoxNews.com.

He added that things would get better if people heard more from conservatives who worry about climate.

“The public just doesn’t hear often enough from conservative politicians and advocacy groups that are engaging in constructive debates on climate policy,” he said.

The study’s author, Kahan, also says that the global warming debate has become so politically polarized that people pick their side based on politics rather than what they know about science.                                                                                                                    

“The position someone adopts on [global warming] conveys who she is – whose side she’s on, in a hate-filled, anxiety-stoked competition for status between opposing cultural groups,” Kahan writes in his paper.

Kahan says that if global warming believers really want to convince people, they should stop demonizing and talking down to their opponents, and instead focus on explaining the science.

“It is really pretty intuitive: who wouldn’t be insulted by someone screaming in her face that she and everyone she identifies with ‘rejects science’?”

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Global Warming and Security Risks

 In June 2014 the Department of Defense released a report outlining the military’s plan for adapting to climate change. This was the next logistical step after recognizing that climate change is an immediate risk to U.S. national security. On this topic, in 2013 Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel stated: 

“Climate change does not directly cause conflict, but it can significantly add to the challenges of global instability, hunger, poverty, and conflict. Food and water shortages, pandemic diseases, disputes over refugees and resources, more severe natural disasters – all place additional burdens on economies, societies, and institutions around the world.” [cited here]

The roadmap document released identifies efforts to maintain the Department of Defense ability to operate in the future without compromises to the military’s defense mission, while maintaining infrastructure and natural systems.

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North America's tallest mountain gets new name - and height

In this June 24, 2015, photo provided by Compass Data/USGS, Blaine Horner of CompassData probes the snow pack at the highest point in North America along with setting up Global Position System equipment for precise summit elevation data on top of Denali in Denali National Park, Ak. (Blaine Horner/Compass Data/USGS via AP)

North America's tallest mountain doesn't just have a new name. It also has a new elevation.

Denali, the Alaska mountain formerly known Mount McKinley, is now officially 10 feet shorter, measuring 20,310 feet at its highest point, the U.S. Geological Survey announced Wednesday.

The previous measurement of 20,320 feet stemmed from a 1953 survey that used the technology of the time, officials said. The new elevation is the result of data collected from the mountain by climbers in June using technology that didn't exist in the earlier survey, such as GPS instruments.

The change is part of an ongoing USGS program to update elevations in Alaska and elsewhere. The agency has a program that uses radar to collect more elevations over large areas in Alaska, but the Denali survey was unusual because it involved actual ground measurements, said Kari Craun, director of the USGS National Geospatial Technical Operations Center.

"It's a very visible and important point for North America," she said.

The climb to gather the data from Denali began June 15 and involved one climber from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and three climbers from the private survey company CompassData Inc., USGS spokesman Mark Newell said. During their 14 days on the mountain, the climbers pulled equipment and supplies on sleds.

The change comes just days after the Obama administration announced its decision to bestow the traditional Alaska Native name to the mountain on the eve of president's visit to Alaska this week. The change to Denali— an Athabascan word meaning "the high one" — replaces the name that honored the 25th president, William McKinley, who never set foot in Alaska.

"We think this revised elevation, with a more precise measurement, is a fitting tribute to the name Denali," Newell said.

Known for its majestic views, the mountain is dotted with glaciers and covered at the top with snow year-round. Powerful winds make it difficult for the adventurous few who seek to climb it. Each year, about 1,200 climbers attempt to summit the mountain, with only about half actually succeeding.

Using GPS instruments for the latest measurement provided more defined elevations than technology that was used in 2013 to calculate a slightly lower elevation. The 2013 calculation put the mountain at 20,237 feet, but it was done with the aerial radar measurements that fall short in pinpointing exact elevations, Newell said.

Elevation measurements taken outside Alaska involve a different aerial-based technology that is considered more accurate, Craun said.

The raw data collected in June was analyzed and processed to determine the new elevation. Officials said researchers had to take certain factors into account, including the depth of the snowpack at the summit.

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Stargazers have a chance to see bright green comet next week

When scientists started tracking Comet 252P/LINEAR, they figured it would pass Earth without a trace.

But then something strange happened. The icy object started brightening abruptly a few weeks ago and has become 100 times brighter than expected, according to the astronomy magazine Sky and Telescope. As a result, observers from the Southern Hemisphere have caught a glimpse of the comet that is believed to be about 750 feet in size. They have been able to see it with their naked eye and the comet appeared greenish in color.

Now, it’s the Northern Hemisphere’s turn.

Starting Tuesday, stargazers with their binoculars could spot Comet 252P/Linear in the sky – though the view isn’t expected to be as good due the glow of the Moon and natural light pollution.

Related: Two comets set to whiz past Earth this week

You’ll have to be out at least 90 minutes before sunrise and in a location as free of light pollution as possible. Once you have managed that, locate the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius low in the southern part of the sky. The comet is expected to move between those two constellations.

Another option is locating Saturn and Mars. They and the bright star Antares will be the first things you notice, forming a distinctive triangle a little smaller than your clenched fist held at arm’s length. The comet will be the dot climbing to the left of this trio and will be roughly in line with Mars and Saturn on the morning of March 29th and along a line connecting Saturn and Antares on March 31st.
“Don’t expect Comet LINEAR to be obvious with a long tail,” Sky & Telescope Senior Editor Kelly Beatty said in a statement. “Its light isn’t concentrated in a single point but instead is spread out in a soft round glow, larger than the Moon but many thousands of times dimmer.”

Related: Chaotic comet flyby blew away some of Mars' atmosphere

Astronomers aren’t sure how long it will remain visible, especially since it passed closest to Earth, just 3.3 million miles away, on March 21st. Now, it’s moving away from both Earth and the Sun.

This comet isn’t the only passing Earth this month.
Another comet, PanSTARRS (designated P/2016 BA14), passed even closer to Earth — about 2.2 million miles away — on March 22nd. It also crossing Earth’s skies but astronomers believe it is too fait to be seen unless you have a telescope.

It is also crossing our skies now but is too faint to be seen except with a backyard telescope.

Scientists have described both comets as virtual twins because they have similar orbits.

Related: NASA wants to send your art to an asteroid

Comet P/2016 BA14 was only discovered on Jan. 22 the University of Hawaii's Pan-STARRS telescope on Haleakala, on the island of Maui. Sixteen years ago, Comet 252P/LINEAR was spotted the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research survey.

Initially, scientists thought Comet P/2016 BA14 was an asteroid until observations by a University of Maryland and Lowell Observatory team with the Discovery Channel Telescope spotted the tail. But that wasn’t the only surprise offered up by the comet.

It turned out to have a very similar orbit to Comet 252P/LINEAR, which has scientists suggesting they are similar in nature. P/2016 BA14 is roughly half the size of comet 252P/LINEAR, raising the possibility that it might be a fragment that calved off sometime in the larger comet's past.

Source by: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/03/25/stargazers-have-chance-to-see-bright-green-comet-next-week.html?intcmp=ob_article_sidebar_video&intcmp=obinsite

North America's tallest mountain gets new name - and height

North America's tallest mountain doesn't just have a new name. It also has a new elevation.

Denali, the Alaska mountain formerly known Mount McKinley, is now officially 10 feet shorter, measuring 20,310 feet at its highest point, the U.S. Geological Survey announced Wednesday.

The previous measurement of 20,320 feet stemmed from a 1953 survey that used the technology of the time, officials said. The new elevation is the result of data collected from the mountain by climbers in June using technology that didn't exist in the earlier survey, such as GPS instruments.

The change is part of an ongoing USGS program to update elevations in Alaska and elsewhere. The agency has a program that uses radar to collect more elevations over large areas in Alaska, but the Denali survey was unusual because it involved actual ground measurements, said Kari Craun, director of the USGS National Geospatial Technical Operations Center.

"It's a very visible and important point for North America," she said.

The climb to gather the data from Denali began June 15 and involved one climber from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and three climbers from the private survey company CompassData Inc., USGS spokesman Mark Newell said. During their 14 days on the mountain, the climbers pulled equipment and supplies on sleds.

The change comes just days after the Obama administration announced its decision to bestow the traditional Alaska Native name to the mountain on the eve of president's visit to Alaska this week. The change to Denali— an Athabascan word meaning "the high one" — replaces the name that honored the 25th president, William McKinley, who never set foot in Alaska.

"We think this revised elevation, with a more precise measurement, is a fitting tribute to the name Denali," Newell said.

Known for its majestic views, the mountain is dotted with glaciers and covered at the top with snow year-round. Powerful winds make it difficult for the adventurous few who seek to climb it. Each year, about 1,200 climbers attempt to summit the mountain, with only about half actually succeeding.

Using GPS instruments for the latest measurement provided more defined elevations than technology that was used in 2013 to calculate a slightly lower elevation. The 2013 calculation put the mountain at 20,237 feet, but it was done with the aerial radar measurements that fall short in pinpointing exact elevations, Newell said.

Elevation measurements taken outside Alaska involve a different aerial-based technology that is considered more accurate, Craun said.

The raw data collected in June was analyzed and processed to determine the new elevation. Officials said researchers had to take certain factors into account, including the depth of the snowpack at the summit.

Source by: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015/09/02/north-america-tallest-mountain-gets-new-name-and-height.html?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_674003

FOUND: Lakes That Used to Be Mount Everest Glaciers

A supraglacial lake on Mount Everest (Photo: C. Scott Watson)

On one side of Mount Everest, the ice is melting so fast that lakes are forming on the surface of glaciers.

As the Washington Post reports, a team of British geologists recently traveled to Mount Everest's Khumbu Glacier, the highest glacier in the world, and found that "for the first time supraglacial ponds on the ice river's surface have coalesced into lakes the length of several football fields."

Elsewhere in the Himalayas, other glaciers have been melting down into lakes, too; the worry is that these lakes will become so large that they will start flowing down the mountain and flood the area below. As ponds and lakes form, they may also speed up the melting of the glacier, the team explains, as they transfer thermal energy from the sun to the ice below. At the Khumbu Glacier, scientists have found ponds in the past; now, the BBC writes, those ponds are joining up to form these larger bodies of water. 

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Rare Pink Dolphin Might Be Pregnant

Pregnancy rumors are swirling around one of the world's few pink bottlenose dolphins.

Affectionately named Pinky, the blush-colored creature was first spotted in 2007 in Louisiana's Calcasieu Lake by charter boat captain Erik Rue.

"It was absolutely, stunningly pink," Rue said in a 2009 interview. "I had never seen anything like it. It's the same color throughout the whole body. It looks like it just came out of a paint booth."

In the eight years that have since passed, Pinky has been spotted on multiple occasions, according to WGNO. It was only recently, however, that Rue said he witnessed Pinky engaging in mating behavior:

Source by: http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/wildlife/rare-pink-dolphin-might-be-pregnant/

Penguins and Whales At Risk from China’s Krill Harvest

Jeff Foott/DCI

From Discovery News

Conservation groups and scientists worry that China's push to boost its harvest of krill -- a shrimp-like creature used for aquaculture feed and human supplements -- may leave Antarctica's whales, seals and penguins struggling to survive.

China is one of several nations, including Norway, Korea and Chile, harvesting krill with massive factory ships dragging miles-long trawl nets through the productive cold waters of the Southern Ocean. The krill is quickly frozen and into processed into pellets for aquaculture and livestock operations, fish bait, and high-value "nutraceuticals" such as omega-3 dietary supplements.

China's leaders say they want a seven-fold increase in krill production, according to a recent report in the state-owned China Daily newspaper.

Source by: http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/wildlife/penguins-and-whales-at-risk-from-chinas-krill-harvest/

Scientists Pinpoint Possible Merging Supermassive Black Holes

Discovery Communications, Inc.

Astronomers at the University of Maryland have found evidence of a black hole binary, a theorized phenomena that occurs when two supermassive black holes that are so close that they are bound gravitationally.

As a black holes absorb matter, they emit electromagnetic energy that causes quasars, which astronomers describe as "some of the most luminous beacons in the sky". Researchers predict that two merging black holes would trade off absorbing adjacent matter, and their corresponding quasars would alternately brighten and dim.

In the new paper published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, astronomers detail the discovery one such "pulsing quasar". The team plans to track the development of the quasar and its associated black holes with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, a powerful telescope currently in development.

"These telescopes allow us to watch a movie of how these systems evolve," said UMD astronomy graduate student Tingting Liu. "What's really cool is that we may be able to watch the orbital separation of these supermassive black holes get smaller and smaller until they merge."

Source by: http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/space/scientists-pinpoint-possible-merging-supermassive-black-holes/

Heads Up: April Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight

SHSPhotography/Thinkstock

Top off your Earth Day with a picturesque gaze skyward: the April Lyrid meteor shower peaks this evening. Up to 20 meteors will be visible whizzing across the sky each hour.

"The Lyrids are really unpredictable," explains NASA's Bill Cooke. "For the 2015 shower, I'm expecting 15 to 20 Lyrid meteors an hour. Peak rates should occur after 10:30 p.m. on April 22 local time for observers in the northern hemisphere. For observers in the southern hemisphere, Lyrid rates are not significant until after midnight local time."

NASA will be live-streaming the shower for viewers whose vantage is obstructed by clouds or light pollution. Click here to watch NASA's live stream, whicource by: h will begin at 11:00 p.m. EDT.

The Lyrid Meteor shower happens annually in April as the Earth's orbit intersects the debris stream from Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher.

Source by: http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/space/heads-up-april-lyrid-meteor-shower-peaks-tonight/

Did Male and Female Dinosaurs Have Different Physical Characteristics? Study Says Yes

DCI

The iconic Stegosaurus is known for its large size and distinct rows of staggered plates along its back. It was widely accepted that specimens with different plates represented different species of the large herbivore; some had short, wide circular plates while other had taller, ovular plates.

Evan Saitta, an undergraduate researcher at Bristol University, is the first to provide compelling evidence that the physical differences in plate size corresponded to gender, a differentiation known as sexual dimorphism.

Saitta challenged traditional thinking after six consecutive summers excavating a Stegosaurus mjosi 'graveyard' in Montana. After examining several different specimens, Saitta was unable to locate any other skeletal characteristics that would have indicated a difference in species - apart from plate size. Sexual dimorphism is the most plausible explanation for the variations in place shape and size.

"As males typically invest more in their ornamentation, the larger, wide plates likely came from males. These broad plates would have provided a great display surface to attract mates. The tall plates might have functioned as prickly predator deterrents in females," posits Saitta.

Source by: http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/wildlife/did-male-and-female-dinosaurs-have-different-physical-characteristics-study-says-yes/

Nicotine-like Pesticide Gives Bees a Harmful, Addictive Buzz

rubenkh/thinkstock

A new study from Newcastle University shows that bees have a strong preference for pesticide-laced nectar.

Researchers focused on neonicotinoids, a popular class of insecticides that chemically resemble nicotine. When presented with sugar water and a sugar solution containing neonicotinoids, bees strongly preferred the pesticide-laced sugar solution.

A separate study by Lund University found that neonicotinoids had a "clear negative impact on growth and ability to reproduce in bumblebee colonies". In 2013, the European Union imposed a temporary ban on the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides so that further research could be conducted.

"The fact that bees show a preference for food containing neonicotinoids is concerning as it suggests that, like nicotine, neonicotinoids may act like a drug to make foods containing these substances more rewarding. If foraging bees prefer to collect nectar containing neonicotinoids, this could have a knock-on negative impact on whole colonies and on bee populations," said Professor Geraldine Wright.

Click here for more information from Newcastle University

Source by: http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/wildlife/nicotine-like-pesticides-gives-bees-a-harmful-addicting-buzz/

“Mr. Trash Wheel” Removes 6,700,000 Cigarettes from Baltimore Harbor

Adam Lindquist, Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore

A conservation group in Baltimore has employed this innovative water wheel, affectionalely known as Mr. Trash Wheel, to clean up the city's polluted Inner Harbor. In just 18 months, Mr. Trash Wheel has removed 350 tons of garbage from the harbor. That's nearly 200,000 bottles, 173,000 potato chip bags and a whopping 6.7 million cigarettes removed from a waterway so polluted that it failed its 2014 water quality report card.

The clean energy-powered wheel is equipped with a conveyer belt; as the belt turns, garbage and other debris travel up the belt and are deposited into a dumpster and disposed of accordingly.
This remarkable photograph shows just how much of an impact the water wheel has already had in its short life. The photo on the left was taken on April 30, 2014, after a torrential downpour washed a harrowing amount of garbage into the harbor. Just over a year later, a similar storm earlier had almost no recognizable impact on the Harbor.

Source by: http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/nature/mr-trash-wheel-removes-4000000-cigarettes-from-baltimore-harbor/

Thousands of Hungry Seals & Sea Lions Are Washing Up in California

Bill Hunnewell/Marine Mammal Center (Handout photo)

A marine mammal hospital in California has rescued a record number of stranded animals in 2015, prompting concerns about the health of fragile marine ecosystems.

The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California announced that it has rescued over 1,740 stranded seals and sea lions in 2015, shattering "nearly ever record in its 40-year history." In 2009, its previous busiest year, the organization rescued 1,631 animals, a record which was broken for the year by October.

Officials say that this year's increase in strandings is likely related to a large swath of warm water in the Pacific Ocean colloquially known as "the blob." Changes in water temperature (which have been exacerbated by this year's exceptionally strong El Nino) have impacted the distribution of fish populations, making it harder for seals to find food.

At times unable to feed themselves, mother seals have accordingly struggled to feed their pups. As a result, many of the stranded seal pups rescued by the Center are half of their regular size, veterinarians say.

Related: Seal Bonds With Diver Over Tummy Rub & Handshakes

"Our rescue trucks continue to arrive day after day with more starving pups in need of our care," Dr. Shawn Johnson, the organization's Director of Veterinary Science, said in a news release.

"As these conditions persist, we're increasingly concerned about what this could mean for the next generation of sea lion pups too."

The organization underscores the need for further research to better understand how both climatological phenomena like the blob and other human-driven factors -- such as pollution and overfishing -- impact marine ecosystems.

Source by: http://www.discovery.com/dscovrd/wildlife/thousands-of-hungry-seals-are-washing-up-in-california/

Climate change brings health risks to the world's most vulnerable communities.

As temperatures rise, so do the risks of heat-related illness and even death for the most vulnerable human populations.

In 2003, for example, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1,500 deaths in India. Scientists have linked the deadly heat waves to climate change and warn of more to come.

In addition to heat-related illness, climate change may increase the spread of infectious diseases, mainly because warmer temperatures allow disease-carrying insects, animals and microbes to survive in areas where they were once thwarted by cold weather.

Diseases and pests that were once limited to the tropics — such as mosquitoes that carry malaria — may find hospitable conditions in new areas that were once too cold to support them.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that climate change may have caused more than 150,000 deaths in the year 2000 alone, with an increase in deaths likely in the future.

Source by: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/global-warming-climate-change/threats-impacts/human-health.xml

Climate change is making floods, fires and droughts more frequent and severe.

Climate change is intensifying the circulation of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth — causing drought and floods to be more frequent, severe and widespread.

Higher temperatures increase the amount of moisture that evaporates from land and water, leading to drought in many areas. Lands affected by drought are more vulnerable to flooding once rain falls.

As temperatures rise globally, droughts will become more frequent and more severe, with potentially devastating consequences for agriculture, water supply and human health. This phenomenon has already been observed in some parts of Asia and Africa, where droughts have become longer and more intense.
Hot temperatures and dry conditions also increase the likelihood of forest fires. In the conifer forests of the western United States, earlier snowmelts, longer summers and an increase in spring and summer temperatures have increased fire frequency by 400 percent and have increased the amount of land burned by 650 percent since 1970.

Source by: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/global-warming-climate-change/threats-impacts/drought-fire-floods.xml

Sea level rise from climate change could displace tens of millions of people.

As the Earth heats up, sea levels rise because warmer water takes up more room than colder water, a process known as thermal expansion. Melting glaciers compound the problem by dumping even more fresh water into the oceans.

Rising seas threaten to inundate low-lying areas and islands, threaten dense coastal populations, erode shorelines, damage property and destroy ecosystems such as mangroves and wetlands that protect coasts against storms.

Sea levels have risen between four and eight inches in the past 100 years. Current projections suggest that sea levels could continue to rise between 4 inches and 36 inches over the next 100 years.

A 36-inch increase in sea levels would swamp every city on the East Coast of the United States, from Miami to Boston.

Worldwide, approximately 100 million people live within three feet of sea level. Sea level rise associated with climate change could displace tens of millions of people in low-lying areas – especially in developing countries. Inhabitants of some small island countries that rest barely above the existing sea level are already abandoning their islands, some of the world’s first climate change refugees.

Source by: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/global-warming-climate-change/threats-impacts/rising-seas.xml

One-fourth of the Earth's species could be headed for extinction by 2050 due to climate change.

Rising temperatures are changing weather and vegetation patterns across the globe, forcing animal species to migrate to new, cooler areas in order to survive.

The rapid nature of climate change is likely to exceed the ability of many species to migrate or adjust. Experts predict that one-fourth of Earth’s species will be headed for extinction by 2050 if the warming trend continues at its current rate.

Many species are already feeling the heat:

In 1999, the death of the last Golden Toad in Central America marked the first documented species extinction driven by climate change.
Due to melting ice in the Arctic, polar bears may be gone from the planet in as little as 100 years.
In the tropics, increased sea temperatures are causing more coral reefs to “bleach,” as the heat kills colorful algae that are necessary to coral health and survival.
Several U.S. states may even lose their official birds as they head for cooler climates — including the Baltimore oriole of Maryland, black-capped chickadee of Massachusetts, and the American goldfinch of Iowa.

Source by: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/global-warming-climate-change/threats-impacts/wildlife-at-risk.xml