As West Antarctica melts, the urgency for climate change adaptation rises; but the decline of democracy gets in the way

My sister, Delwyn, sent me the article below about the increasing rate of loss of Antarctic ice.  Its scary.  Just about every major city stands to be inundated within 50 to 100 years and countries like bangladesh are threatened with oblivion.  Cities like London, Miami, New York, Brisbane and Jakarta face catastrophe.  And, it appears the collapse of Antarctic ice has passed the tipping point, meaning that sea level rise in the magnitude of meters is inevitable.  There is nothing we can do.  But that does not mean there is nothing we can do to at least slow the rate of sea level rise and mitigate the social and environmental damage.

You might wonder why there has been little in the way of actual change?  After all, we are continuing to burn fossil fuels more than ever and there is no sign of letup in the next 50 years.  Why, despite all the evidence that burning fossil fuel is the number one culprit leading to global warming?  Why is it that the climate change denialists, like the tobacco industry, have managed to hold so much sway over decision makers in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence?  

The reason: because we, the people of the World, have little or no influence over what our Governments actually end up doing.  Wealth, power and influence is concentrated in the hands of about 1% of the population - they have the say.  Don't believe me?  Well the science is there proving that we are run by oligarchies - not democracies.  I have linked an article below from Princeton University on the subject.  Even countries like New Zealand, which are supposedly more democratic than most, have recently been rocked by revelations of wealthy individuals receiving favoured attention by Ministers of the Crown.  New Zealand is now more like an oligarchy than a democracy.

Its time to hit the Governments' Reset Buttons to restore democracy to one citizen - one vote, while banishing the buying of  political influence while severely clipping the wings of snooping agencies such as the NSA which have clearly exceeded their role of securing our safety and freedom.  Do these and we might just see some real action on the things that really do matter to the majority of people.

Please read the two articles below and you are welcome to add your comments to this blog, thanks.

As West Antarctica melts, the urgency for climate change adaptation rises

Posted by kcompton

By Lexi Shultz, Director of Public Affairs at the American Geophysical Union
and Kat Compton, Public Affairs Intern

As if the recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the National Climate Assessment (NCA) weren’t enough of a reminder of the ways in which human actions are changing our planet, new research published in the current edition of Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) presents evidence that part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has passed a tipping point. The glaciers in the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica are melting at an unprecedented rate, they’ll be gone within the next few centuries, and there’s nothing we can do to stop their disappearance. These glaciers contain enough ice to raise the global see level by 4 feet (1.2 meters), and even if it takes two centuries, that’s still one foot of sea level rise every 50 years. These are the sorts of findings that take your breath away, or at least they did ours.

Rest of article here (Incidentally, the scientist,Eric Rignot, who is quoted in this article, works with my sister Delwyn Moller):

http://thebridge.agu.org/2014/05/12/west-antarctica-melts-urgency-climate-change-adaptation-rises/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=west-antarctica-melts-urgency-climate-change-adaptation-rises

Princeton Concludes What Kind of Government America Really Has, and It's Not a Democracy

A new scientific study from Princeton researcher Martin Gilens and Northwestern researcher Benjamin I. Page has finally put some science behind the recently popular argument that the United States isn't a democracy any more. And they've found that in fact, America is basically an oligarchy.

An oligarchy is a system where power is effectively wielded by a small number of individuals defined by their status called oligarchs. Members of the oligarchy are the rich, the well connected and the politically powerful, as well as particularly well placed individuals in institutions like banking and finance or the military.

For their study, Gilens and Page compiled data from roughly 1,800 different policy initiatives in the years between 1981 and 2002. They then compared those policy changes with the expressed opinion of the United State public. Comparing the preferences of the average American at the 50th percentile of income to what those Americans at the 90th percentile preferred, as well as the opinions of major lobbying or business groups, the researchers found out that the government followed the directives set forth by the latter two much more often.

It's beyond alarming. As Gilens and Page write, "the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy." In other words, their statistics say your opinion literally does not matter.

That might explain why mandatory background checks on gun sales supported by 83% to 91%of Americans aren't in place, or why Congress has taken no action on greenhouse gas emissions even when such legislation is by the vast majority of citizens.

Rest of article here:

http://www.policymic.com/articles/87719/princeton-concludes-what-kind-of-government-america-really-has-and-it-s-not-a-democracy

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Candida and Fungal Infections? Gary Moller recommends you explore this programme: Click Here!

Delwyn Moller: Gathering data about climate change

Glaciers like the one in the Wrangell mountains visible in the lower right of the photo above were one of the targets of the GLISTIN-A radar imaging mission flown by NASA's C-20A over Alaska April 24-27. (NASA / JPL Delwyn Moller)
› View Larger Image

Gary:
 Here's another article about the work my sister, Delwyn, is doing.  She sent it to me because it has a nice photo of a glacier that she flew over recently.  I used to think "remote sensing" was clairvoyance.

I don't know about you (readers of this blog) but all this research into climate change has me very worried: Are we documenting Man's destruction of life on Earth.  Yes we must measure what we are doing to the planet! But when are we going to do something serious about it?  Have we left things too late? I suspect we have.

Here in NZ, we are in the process of opening up our entire oceans to oil and gas exploration while making grand official statements of becoming carbon neutral in a few years from now!  Its madness.  Its global suicide.

By the way you are doing a great job, Delwyn, documenting the demise of the planet.  Your family is in awe of you (Well, I am, ha ha!).
___________________________

NASA Radar Collects GLISTIN Ice and Glacier Data

04.30.13

The NASA Dryden flight crew that supported the C-20A deployment to Alaska included (from left) mechanic Gary Carlson, C-20A project manager John McGrath, avionics technician Carlos Meza, operations engineer Brittany Martin, and pilots Dean Neeley and Tim Williams. (NASA) › View Larger Image Glaciers, sea ice and snow were the focus of a recent airborne Earth science study using NASA's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR). The UAVSAR is mounted in a pod under the belly of NASA's Dryden-based C-20A research aircraft that flew over Alaska, the Beaufort Sea and the Sierra Nevada range during this data collection mission.

The UAVSAR uses a technique called interferometry to detect and measure very subtle deformations in Earth's surface. For this mission, the UAVSAR was adapted for single-pass interferometry for measuring ice-surface topography.

The research is part of the Glacier and Ice Surface Topography Interferometer – Airborne (GLISTIN-A) effort conducted by scientist Delwyn Moller of Remote Sensing Solutions at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The UAVSAR initially collected UAVSAR Ka-band data in 2009 with a focus on ice research, and this mission recorded the first science data since the UAVSAR system was recently upgraded.

"Now we have a wealth of data to work with that promises to be very exciting on multiple fronts," remarked Moller. "The flights went smoothly and the vistas were truly awe-inspiring!"

The C-20A and science team departed its home base at NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., April 24, returning April 27. During the deployment, the aircraft flew five missions for a total of 26.3 flight hours. The aircraft flew from Eielson Air Force Base south of Fairbanks, Alaska, while collecting data over the Arctic. The April 27 flight of more than five hours was the 600th flight for the C-20A, a military version of the Gulfstream III aircraft, since it was acquired by NASA.

NASA Dryden's C-20A carrying JPL's UAVSAR radar system taxis by a large hangar and control tower April 25 at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The aircraft was stationed at Eielson during its four-day GLISTIN-A radar survey mission to record data on the topography of glaciers and ice sheets in areas like the Beaufort Sea north of Barrow, Alaska. (USAF / Sr. Amn. Zachary Perras) › View Larger Image

Beth Hagenauer, Public Affairs
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Interview with Delwyn Moller, NASA Glacier and Ice Surface Topography research scientist

Delwyn, flanked by Lorraine and Gordon (2009)

My Gosh!  The things people from Putaruru get up to....

Help!  Is there someone out there who can post a plain English summary of this article for the rest of us, thanks.
_________________

by Senior Airman Zachary Perras
354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

5/2/2013 - EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- A team of researchers from the NASA Airborne Science Program recently visited Eielson to assemble topography of glaciers and ice sheets in Alaska April 25 to 27, 2013.

Due to some of the research taking place in the Beaufort Sea, Eielson's location provided NASA with necessary personnel and equipment to achieve mission objectives.

"This NASA mission is just another example of how Eielson's unique location, capacity and support infrastructure can be leveraged to support and enable a myriad of [Department of Defense] and federal organization's missions," said Robert Cologie, 354th Operations Support Squadron current operations flight commander. "The NASA support distinctly captures the cornerstone essence of Team Eielson's prepare, enable and deploy skillset."

NASA's team developed a radar system capable of generating wide-swath, precise digital elevation models of glaciers and ice sheets. Aptly named GLISTIN-A, Glacier and Ice Surface Topography Interferometer-Airborne, this sensor collects glacier measurements and sea ice observations.

"Specifically, the GLISTIN-A sensor ... contributes high accuracy, high resolution swath measurements in targeted regions that are topographically and dynamically complex," said Delwyn Moller, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "The sea ice acquisitions are a test of the sensor's capabilities and potential to measure freeboard and are the first measurements of this kind."

To obtain images from the sensor, GLISTIN-A is attached to a NASA C-20A aircraft. The aircraft, obtained from the Air Force in 2003, has been structurally modified and instrumented by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center to serve as a multirole, cooperative research platform.

The mission to Alaska focused primarily on tidal glaciers, which have a more direct contribution to sea level rise, in order to potentially seed larger-scale observations in other campaigns for climate change science, Moller said.

"Sea ice is just one factor in studying climate change, but it is a major indicator of a warming climate," she explained. "GLISTIN-A has a potential to map and monitor the distribution and mass of the sea ice in a way not currently available through alternate space-borne or airborne sensors."

With the success of the mission to Alaska and the support received from the Iceman Team, members of the C-20A crew are excited to return to the Interior in the future.

"We spend a lot of time at Air Force bases and international airports across the globe, receiving the necessary ground support that is needed to make our missions a success," said John McGrath, C-20A project manager. "The help we have received from everyone here at Eielson is by far the best we have ever experienced and has made our lives very easy and our mission a success, and we are looking forward to coming back up here again."

Source: http://www.eielson.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123346885

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Here is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen

Not only is the movie "Home" the most stunning cinematography I have seen, its message is deeply disturbing. There are simply far too many people on this planet and we are heading for Hell in a handbasket.

There is reference in the movie about the potential catastrophe of melting of the Siberian permafrost. I fear their concerns are an understatement: Warming of the permafrost will release massive volumes of methane. The way things are going this melt could happen within a matter of years, rather than decades.

When the permafrost melts, we will have Global Warming on Steroids!

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Goodbye to the nation of Kiribati and its unique culture

Cycling around the beautiful South Seas islands of Samoa is as close to Heaven I will ever get. However; the pleasure is tinged with several causes of sadness as the unpleasant incursions of Western civilisation threaten a unique culture and pristine environment.

90% of all the reefs I swam in Samoa are as good as irreparably dead from the combinations of increasingly ferocious and frequent cyclones, pollution, over-fishing and deadly high water temperatures.

As the reefs die, the waves make their way inshore. The photo (Above left) of a Samoan resort shows why investment in such ventures is not a wise way to use your money nowadays! One elderly Matai (chief) complained that he had lost the best part of 40 meters of prime coastal land to the ocean over the last decade or so.

As tropcial water heats it expands: Combine just a fraction of a percent expansion of a huge body of water with a cyclonic storm surge and you have catastrophe!

Kiribati

With an average 2 metre height above sea level, Kiribati is one of the “frontline” nations whose continued existence is threatened by the twin effects of Global Warming - Sea level Rise and Climate Change. The 5 minute video below is an outline of what Kiribati people face, their diminishing options, and a heartfelt appeal to the world community." It was made by a friend of a friend of ours and I have agreed without hesitation to publicise it.

A question for the people of Kiribati and their leaders:  

After viewing this video I have some questions.... Why all the cars on these flat tiny islands?  Isn't it time to stop contributing to your own demise?  Why not become a beacon of hope for the rest of the World - Isn't it time to get over your addiction to the motor car?  Isn't it time to become self-sufficient once more?  

This can be done without having to give up the comforts of modern life.  Why not return to traditional foods and recipes and stop importing rubbish food that only makes your people lethargic, fat and sick?  Why not use bicycles to get around your tiny island?  Why not install wind turbines and solar collectors and use electric motors for additional motive power?  (The Premier's limo could be an electric assisted recumbent bicycle).  Why not use coconut oil to make the little fuel your country will need ?

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Climate Change? Not convinced: Take a look at the New Zealand bush

If we were a day earlier starting our winter hike of the 80km Heaphy Track of the North Western corner of the South Island, we might not have made it through in the five days that were set aside.  Storms just days before had felled swathes of mature forest, uprooting and destroying whole sections of the track.

Fortunately for us, the storms had passed and cleanup crews had cleared most of the fallen trees and completed makeshift repairs to the track.

Futher along the track there was evidence of how even milimeters of sea-level rise can translate into huge storm surges that sweep deep into seldom swamped areas.

Sure, the storm like the one we suffered in August was a "one in 50 year occurence" but these now seem to be "once a year occurences".  Many of these trees take hundreds of years to mature: How many will still be standing in 100 years from now?  And how high above sea level will the tracks have to be rebuilt?

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Latest News About Global Warming

George Bush denies it, US Government scientists are not allowed to use the term "global warming" when referring to glacial recession and extreme weather events like Hurrican Katrina. Australian PM, John Howard still claims that the jury is still out on the influence of man on global warming. Meanwhile, his country burns and its cities begin to run out of water. Can we afford to be so selfish and complacent in the face of what is overwhleming evidence of the hand of Man in accelerated warming of the planet? I think not.

Keep informed and up to date with developments that might see the end of civilisation as we know it. Better still, act locally as well as globally by reducing your environmental footprint.

Product Review: iRule Motus Adventure Racing Shorts

When Daryl of iRule fame offered me a pair of his company's new adventure racing shorts to review, I jumped at the opportunity to replace my tatty old cycling shorts.

Photo One: Alofa doing her typical arse-rattling daily Mtb commute to work in Wellington City.

They duly arrived and I eagerly unpacked them. "They look very nice, can I borrow them?" asked my partner, Alofa, who was about to head off to work. Of course she could borrow them. Well, that was a big mistake: I was supposed to be test running these flash new shorts; but opening the courier pack has been the closest I have got to wearing them. A couple of months have passed and she won't give them up!

Photo Two: Alofa looking out over Cook Strait, Wellington before attempting the infamous death-drop to the coastline below.

I am not one to argue with her about this matter of ownership. Besides; she looks great in them (And I reckon she knows it). She commutes to work daily on her mountain bike. The Motus shorts have small pockets that are handy for carrying library and security cards, so she does not have to fiddle with a back pack to get her ID.

Another quality of the shorts worth mentioning is the way high quality shock absorbing, super hygienic butt chamois is fashioned and shaped. You don't look and feel like you are wearing bulky nappies when you are off your bike. Alofa assures me they are very good to run in as well. I'll take her word on that.

Photo three: Alofa viewing the memorial to all those cyclist who went before her and never returned. (Note my smart Motus shorts)

At $NZ 129 the price is about right for a high quality pair of shorts that also look damn good. For the technical, pricing and purchasing details here is the direct link.

Commute your way to fitness

If you want to get really fit and time is against you, commuting to work under your own steam is the solution.

My partner, Alofa, is very fit. By commuting to and from work, she has reduced her resting pulse from 80 beats per minute to 40 beats per minute. That’s an extra 40 beats to play with when running, meaning she can run with ease a lot faster and longer. She either rides her mountain bike to and from work or she runs with a small back pack. At the beginning of each week, she takes her clothing and her breakfast (muesli) to work where her employer has supplied a wardrobe and shower. This is good time management.

She gets to work early, faster than driving or taking the bus, has a quick shower and breakfast and then she is down to work. No need to waste time with makeup due to the healthy start to the day!

If you live too far to commute and you think you can get out of it, think again; use public transport to travel only part of the distance, then run the remainder of the journey. Extend the distance run as fitness improves. There should be no whimping out when the weather is foul. There is no such thing as bad weather – just bad choices of clothing.

Commuting disciplines you into a twice daily workout that quickly builds enduring fitness. It makes very good use of time that is otherwise wasted on mindless and stressful commuting. It can save you thousands of dollars per year and is good for the environment. When building fitness by commuting, all you need do further in training is a long run on Sundays with the occasional race thrown in here and there.

Will bombing Iran ruin your quality of life?

Two headlines dominate our papers today; escalating oil prices and news that Iran has developed uranium enrichment technology.

During the Iran-Iraq war (September 1980 to August 1988), Israel bombed Iraq's fledgling nuclear programme. This air strike signaled to countries like Iran that they should not put everything in one place. If The USA or its proxy, Israel, were to do another bombing, including the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons, the task is no longer simple and is likely to escalate to be widespread and prolonged. The consequences will be absolutely disastrous for our way of life.

Here are some interesting facts and specualtions that I obtained from reading an investment newsletter:

• Iran, awash with petrodollars, has been arming itself to the teeth as a response to the US invasion of its neighbour, Iraq. Its arsenal includes shiploads of sophisticated missiles
• If Iran was attacked it could easily shut off the narrow Strait of Hormuz which stops most of the oil from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and all of Kuwait's and the Arab Emirates.
• If it shuts off its own production, that means a total of 20 million barrels per day are taken off the market
• This would be catastrophic on a scale that will dwarf any of the previous oil shocks
• Oil will rise to more than US$120 per barrel overnight and many countries will simply have to go without!

Zimbabwe, here we come!
If this happens, many people will be wishing they had still that spare bicycle in the garage propped next to the SUV. Higher energy costs impact on every aspect of our lives and we can expect this knock-on effect to be catastrohic and to go way beyond just the extra cost of a tank of fuel. While we have to adapt to escalating energy costs and shortages, we need time. Bombing Iran at any time would be downright stupid.
When the US invaded Iraq and then began talking tough about Iran, it was hardly a surprise that the Iranians responded by escalating their big defense spend, including getting closer to developing nuclear weapons. Iran, unlike Iraq, really does have a proper army that is armed to the teeth with modern weapons. Taking on the Iranians is not going to be any kind of pushover. Invading Iraq will probably go down as the dumbest Presidential act in US history; attacking Iran would be even dumber.
If you value your way of life, urge your politicians to lobby for moderation on this issue. It is time to exercise diplomacy and not to talk up the situation, or in any other way to add heat to an already tense situation.