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Thursday, October 15, 2020

Is the World in Environmental Trouble?, Random Stuff, and More

- if you didn't already know there are a lot of people who are saying that the planet is in trouble. That the Earth may be reaching a point of "no return" where humans will suffer a massive drop in living standards if they do not protect the environment. The latest group to become active in this area is Extinction Rebellion
On Contact - Extinction Rebellion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfXqq888HPY
Subway Protests - Extinction Rebellion Fumbles, Chile Shows How It's Done (TMBS 111)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHM2iXOzRUw
~222~ TRILLIONS Still Missing At Pentagon, Mexico's Leftist President, Extinction Rebellion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrAdBYbXHZ8
[139] Rebelling Against Human Extinction w_ Rory Varrato
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxdGlku1pxY
Impossible to ignore - Inside Extinction Rebellion _ earthrise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4ouNvCNe-0
On Contact - Climate Emergency with Roger Hallam, Extinction Rebellion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9MQGRI8N48
Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a global environmental movement[4][5] with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse.[1][6][7]
Extinction Rebellion were established in the United Kingdom in May 2018, with about one hundred academics signing a call to action in support in October 2018.[8] At the end of that month, XR was launched by Roger Hallam and Gail Bradbrook, along with other activists from the campaign group Rising Up!.[9] In November 2018, five bridges across the River Thames in London were blockaded as a protest.[10] In April 2019, Extinction Rebellion occupied five prominent sites in central London: Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, Marble Arch, Waterloo Bridge, and the area around Parliament Square.
Citing inspiration from grassroots movements such as Occupy, the suffragettes,[10] and the civil rights movement,[10] Extinction Rebellion wants to rally support worldwide around a common sense of urgency to tackle climate breakdown[10][11] and the ongoing sixth mass extinction.[12] A number of activists in the movement accept arrest and imprisonment,[13] similar to the mass arrest tactics of the Committee of 100 in 1961.
The movement uses a stylised, circled hourglass, known as the extinction symbol, to serve as a warning that time is rapidly running out for many species.[14][15]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_Rebellion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Humans
https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/the-clean-farming-revolution/
https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/world-global-coal-power-capacity-has-fell-in-2020/12523904
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/29/australia-joins-us-china-and-russia-in-refusing-to-sign-leaders-pledge-on-biodiversity
- to put things into perspective the Earth is suffering from massive extinctions of species at the moment
Animal populations have plunged an average of 68% since 1970, as humanity pushes the planet's life support systems to the edge
Wildlife populations are in freefall around the world, driven by human overconsumption, population growth and intensive agriculture, according to a major new assessment of the abundance of life on Earth.
On average, global populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles plunged by 68% between 1970 and 2016, according to the WWF and Zoological Society of London (ZSL)'s biennial Living Planet Report 2020. Two years ago, the figure stood at 60%.
The research is one of the most comprehensive assessments of global biodiversity available and was complied by 134 experts from around the world. It found that from the rainforests of central America to the Pacific Ocean, nature is being exploited and destroyed by humans on a scale never previously recorded.
The analysis tracked global data on 20,811 populations of 4,392 vertebrate species. Those monitored include high-profile threatened animals such as pandas and polar bears as well as lesser known amphibians and fish. The figures, the latest available, showed that in all regions of the world, vertebrate wildlife populations are collapsing, falling on average by more than two-thirds since 1970.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/10/humans-exploiting-and-destroying-nature-on-unprecedented-scale-report-aoe
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/10/up-to-48-species-saved-from-extinction-by-conservation-efforts-study-finds-aoe
- pollution such as plastics are becoming more a problem. One strange and disturbing issue are animals who are eating plastic and ultimately dying because of it? This applies to land, sea, and air based animals
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/1651428931951/drowning-in-plastic
At least 14m tonnes of plastic pieces less than 5mm wide are likely sitting at the bottom of the world's oceans, according to an estimate based on new research.
Analysis of ocean sediments from as deep as 3km suggests there could be more than 30 times as much plastic at the bottom of the world's ocean than there is floating at the surface.
Australia's government science agency, CSIRO, gathered and analysed cores of the ocean floor taken at six remote sites about 300km off the country's southern coast in the Great Australian Bight.
Researchers looked at 51 samples and found that after excluding the weight of the water, each gram of sediment contained an average of 1.26 microplastic pieces.
Microplastics are 5mm or less in diameter and are mostly the result of larger plastic items breaking apart into ever smaller pieces.
Stemming the tide of plastic entering the world's waterways and ocean has emerged as a major international challenge.
Dr Denise Hardesty, a principal research scientist at CSIRO and a co-author of the research published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, told the Guardian that finding microplastic in such a remote location and at such depths "points to the ubiquity of plastics, no matter where you are in the world".
"This means it's throughout the water column. This gives us pause for thought about the world we live in and the impact of our consumer habits on what's considered a most pristine place," she said.
"We need to make sure the big blue is not a big trash pit. This is more evidence that we need to stop this at the source."
The cores were drilled in March and April 2017 between 288km and 349km from the coast, at depths of between 1,655 metres and 3,016 metres.
Hardesty said it wasn't possible to know how old the pieces of plastic were, or what sort of object they had once been part of.
But she said the shape of the pieces under a microscope suggested they were once consumer items.
For the study, the researchers extrapolated the amount of plastic found in their core samples and from research from other organisations to conclude as much as 14.4m tonnes of microplastic was now on the ocean floor globally.
While this may seem a large figure, Hardesty said it was small compared to the amount of plastics likely entering the ocean each year.
In September, a study estimated that in 2016 between 19m and 23m tonnes of plastic found its way into both rivers and ocean.
A previous study in the journal Science has estimated about 8.5m tonnes of plastic ends up in the oceans every year.
Another study has estimated there is 250,000 tonnes of plastic floating on the ocean surface.
In the latest paper, the authors note their estimate of the weight of microplastics on the ocean floor is between 34 and 57 times what may be at the surface.
Hardesty said there were imperfections in the estimates, but they were based on the best available information.
"It is useful to give people a sense of the scope and scale that we are talking about," she said.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/06/more-than-14m-tonnes-of-plastic-believed-to-be-at-the-bottom-of-the-ocean
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/02/how-worried-should-we-be-about-microplastics
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/16/fish-confusing-plastic-debris-in-ocean-for-food-study-finds
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/15/queensland-moves-to-ban-single-use-plastic-straws-and-plates-in-bid-to-save-marine-life
indisposable waste global trend
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/how-the-world-is-fighting-plastic-pollution/
https://www.epa.gov/report-environment/wastes
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/13/waste-plastic-food-packaging-recycling-throwaway-culture-dave-hall
Oluvil, Sri Lanka
Elephants forage for food at a rubbish dump encroaching on their jungle habitat. Examination of dead elephants has revealed undigested polythene and other plastic waste.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2020/oct/03/20-photographs-of-the-week
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/1651428931951/drowning-in-plastic
- desertification is becoming a big problem. One of the main causes is chopping down of forests to make wood for products and burning for heat
world desertification map
Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly more arid.[2] It is the spread of arid areas caused by a variety of factors, such as through climate change (particularly the current global warming)[3] and through the overexploitation of soil through human activity.[4]
Throughout geological history, the development of deserts has occurred naturally; however, when deserts emerge due to unchecked depletion of nutrients in soil that are essential for it to remain arable, then a virtual "soil death" can be spoken of,[5] which traces its cause back to human overexploitation. Desertification is a significant global ecological and environmental problem with far-reaching socio-economic and political consequences.[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification
Arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas are known collectively as "drylands". These are, unsurprisingly, areas that receive relatively little rain or snow each year. Technically, they are defined by the UNCCD as "areas other than polar and sub-polar regions, in which the ratio of annual precipitation to potential evapotranspiration falls within the range from 0.05 to 0.65".
In simple terms, this means the amount of rainfall the area receives is between 5-65% of the water it has the potential to lose through evaporation and transpiration from the land surface and vegetation, respectively (assuming sufficient moisture is available). Any area that receives more than this is referred to as "humid".
You can see this more clearly in the map below, where the world's drylands are identified by different grades of orange and red shading. Drylands encompass around 38% of the Earth's land area, covering much of North and southern Africa, western North America, Australia, the Middle East and Central Asia. Drylands are home to approximately 2.7 billion people (pdf) – 90% of whom live in developing countries.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-desertification-and-the-role-of-climate-change
https://wad.jrc.ec.europa.eu/yieldsgaps
Risk of Human-Induced Desertification Map
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/use/worldsoils/?cid=nrcs142p2_054004
- it's surprising how big of a problem access to fresh water is?
https://www.smh.com.au/national/you-bastards-sacked-me-when-the-climate-sceptics-arrived-20200626-p556nn.html
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-oil-in-the-machine-of-politics-the-importance-of-staffers-20200828-p55q7q.html
https://www.theage.com.au/national/sukkar-helped-install-factional-operatives-in-kevin-andrews-office-20200825-p55p1b.html
world water supply breakdown
Summary
Unsafe water is responsible for 1.2 million deaths each year.
6% of deaths in low-income countries are the result of unsafe water sources.
666 million (9% of the world) does not have access to an improved water source.
2.1 billion (29% of the world) do not have access to safe drinking water.
https://ourworldindata.org/water-access
Water Facts - Worldwide Water Supply
Water covers about 71% of the earth's surface.
326 million cubic miles of water on the planet
97% of the earth's water is found in the oceans (too salty for drinking, growing crops, and most industrial uses except cooling).
320 million cubic miles of water in the oceans
3% of the earth's water is fresh.
2.5% of the earth's fresh water is unavailable: locked up in glaciers, polar ice caps, atmosphere, and soil; highly polluted; or lies too far under the earth's surface to be extracted at an affordable cost.
0.5% of the earth's water is available fresh water.
If the world's water supply were only 100 liters (26 gallons), our usable water supply of fresh water would be only about 0.003 liter (one-half teaspoon).
In actuality, that amounts to an average of 8.4 million liters (2.2 million gallons) for each person on earth.
This supply is continually collected, purified, and distributed in the natural hydrologic (water) cycle.
https://www.usbr.gov/mp/arwec/water-facts-ww-water-sup.html
ground water depletion global trend
https://gracefo.jpl.nasa.gov/resources/48/map-of-groundwater-storage-trends-for-earths-37-largest-aquifers/
https://gracefo.jpl.nasa.gov/resources/73/for-15-years-grace-tracked-freshwater-movements-around-the-world/
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/trend/archive/spring-2019/a-map-of-the-future-of-water
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/trend/archive/spring-2019/groundwater-the-resource-we-cant-see-but-increasingly-rely-upon
rainfall global trend
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/change/#tabs=Tracker&tracker=timeseries
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/change/about/global_rain_trendmaps.shtml
Long-Term Rainfall Trends and Future Projections over Xijiang River Basin, China
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/amete/2020/6852148/
haarp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-frequency_Active_Auroral_Research_Program
https://www.livescience.com/45829-haarp-shutdown.html
what reacts with frozen water
global rainfall map
Total Rainfall
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/global-maps/TRMM_3B43M
https://www.eldoradoweather.com/climate/world-maps/world-annual-precip-map.html
http://www.waterandclimatechange.eu/rainfall/average-monthly-1985-1999
https://www.mapsofworld.com/world-maps/precipitation-rain-and-snow-enlarge-map.html
groundwater global map
https://www.livescience.com/52965-groundwater-resources-map.html
https://www.whymap.org/whymap/EN/Home/gw_world_g.html
http://www-naweb.iaea.org/napc/ih/documents/WAVE/Struckmeier.pdf
https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2015/12/21/scientists-map-hidden-groundwater-reserves-around-world/#511f130f1ee2
https://wad.jrc.ec.europa.eu/groundwater
geology underground water
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/geo/chapter/reading-groundwater-2/
https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/how-do-hydrologists-locate-groundwater
https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/aquifers-and-groundwater
http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/water/groundwater/understanding-groundwater-resources/groundwater-processes
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-two-processes-responsible-for-purifying-water-evaporation-and-condensation
distillation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distillation
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-distillation-601964
- access to fresh water is exacerbated by droughts, fires, and climate change?
drought statistics
Drought is a prolonged dry period in the natural climate cycle that can occur anywhere in the world. It is a slow-onset disaster characterized by the lack of precipitation, resulting in a water shortage. Drought can have a serious impact on health, agriculture, economies, energy and the environment.
An estimated 55 million people globally are affected by droughts every year, and they are the most serious hazard to livestock and crops in nearly every part of the world. Drought threatens people's livelihoods, increases the risk of disease and death, and fuels mass migration. Water scarcity impacts 40% of the world's population, and as many as 700 million people are at-risk of being displaced as a result of drought by 2030.
Rising temperatures caused by climate change are making already dry regions drier and wet regions wetter. In dry regions, this means that when temperatures rise, water evaporates more quickly, and thus increases the risk of drought or prolongs periods of drought. Between 80-90% of all documented disasters from natural hazards during the past 10 years have resulted from floods, droughts, tropical cyclones, heat waves and severe storms.
80-90%
of disasters
80-90% of natural disasters in the last 10 years are from floods, droughts and severe storms.
Drought
https://www.who.int/health-topics/drought#tab=tab_1
Where is drought this week?
September 23-29, 2020
35.8%
of the US land area.
67.3 million
people are experiencing drought.
https://www.drought.gov/drought/
global temperature map
australia bushfire
Australia fires: A visual guide to the bushfire crisis
Before European settlement
According to Tim Flannery (The Future Eaters), fire is one of the most important forces at work in the Australian environment. Some plants have evolved a variety of mechanisms to survive or even require bushfires (possessing epicormic shoots or lignotubers that sprout after a fire, or developing fire-resistant or fire-triggered seeds), or even encourage fire (eucalypts contain flammable oils in the leaves) as a way to eliminate competition from less fire-tolerant species.[8] Early European explorers of the Australian coastline noted extensive bushfire smoke. Abel Janszoon Tasman's expedition saw smoke drifting over the coast of Tasmania in 1642 and noted blackened trunks and baked earth in the forests. While charting the east coast in 1770, Captain Cook's crew saw autumn fires in the bush burning on most days of the voyage.[9]:50–51
The fires would have been caused by both natural phenomenon and human hands. Aboriginal people in many regions set fire to grasslands in the hope of producing lusher grass to fatten kangaroos and other game and, at certain times of year, burned fire breaks as a precaution against bushfire.[9]:59 Fire-stick farming was also used to facilitate hunting and to promote the growth of bush potatoes and other edible ground-level plants. In central Australia, they used fire in this way to manage their country for thousands of years.[10]
Flannery writes that "The use of fire by Aboriginal people was so widespread and constant that virtually every early explorer in Australia makes mention of it. It was Aboriginal fire that prompted James Cook to call Australia 'This continent of smoke'." However, he goes on to say: "When control was wrested from the Aborigines and placed in the hands of Europeans, disaster resulted."[11] Fire suppression became the dominant paradigm in fire management leading to a significant shift away from traditional burning practices. A 2001 study found that the disruption of traditional burning practices and the introduction of unrestrained logging meant that many areas of Australia were now prone to extensive wildfires especially in the dry season.[12] A similar study in 2017 found that the removal of mature trees by Europeans since they began to settle in Australia may have triggered extensive shrub regeneration which presents a much greater fire fuel hazard.[13] Another factor was the introduction of gamba grass imported into Queensland as a pasture grass in 1942, and planted on a large scale from 1983. This can fuel intense bushfires, leading to loss of tree cover and long-term environmental damage.[14][15]
- indigenous are way better at environmental protection then Great Powers are?
indigenous environment
Comprising less than 5% of the world's population, indigenous people protect 80% of global biodiversity. Their role is under discussion by world leaders this week.
The Australian government, for example, expanded its Indigenous Protected Areas program to five new areas in 2018. The program leaves these areas’ management to the aboriginals, allowing them to apply their knowledge about nature to preserve and protect the ecosystems. It is one of the greatest environmental conservation partnerships in the world, and Australia now counts 10,000 protected areas that cover almost 17 percent of its landmass.
In the Earth’s green lung, the Amazon, indigenous populations are also asked for help in preserving the lush rain forest facing a dual threat of climate change and industrial deforestation. NGOs like the Nature Conservancy have formed strong partnerships with local communities over many years providing them with the resources to design and implement measures to protect vital resources. Such partnerships have produced notable successes. But under Brazil’s president Bolsonaro, support for such cooperation – and environmental protection in general – has notably waned, locking the Apurina and Aruak Baniwa communities, among others, in a long-winded fight with the government
Back at Argyle, the general manager of the former diamond mine Andrew Wilson said the closure and rehabilitation process would take five years to complete, followed by a further period of monitoring, before the land is handed back to its traditional custodians.
The Gelganyem Trust manages the funds and assets under the Argyle Participation Agreement on behalf of traditional owners.
The Indigenous Land Use Agreement, registered in 2005, provides for the transfer of the lease to traditional owners at the completion of mining operations and for the recognition of native title rights over the area.
Returning the land to its former glory is a legacy Kolya Sampi is proud to establish for future generations.
"The land coming back to life … I hope I'm still around to see that," he said.
"It will take a while but my kids and grandkids will actually see that, and I hope they appreciate that too."
- loss of islands, people's homes, and  is another problem. Repatriation to Australia has been mentioned as a solution for Pacific Islanders?
loss of pacific islands rising sea levels
At least eight low-lying islands in the Pacific Ocean have disappeared under rising seas. Sea levels are currently climbing by an average of 3 millimetres per year around the world due to climate change.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2146594-eight-low-lying-pacific-islands-swallowed-whole-by-rising-seas/
https://www.sciencealert.com/pacific-islanders-are-in-a-climate-crisis-as-rising-sea-levels-threaten-water
https://theconversation.com/sea-level-rise-has-claimed-five-whole-islands-in-the-pacific-first-scientific-evidence-58511
https://www.businessinsider.com/pacific-islands-stunning-photos-sea-levels-way-of-life-climate-2020-1
loss of islands rising sea levels
https://climateanalytics.org/blog/2019/home-by-the-sea-new-science-shows-more-sea-level-rise-impacts-on-small-islands/
venice sea wall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOSE_Project
https://www.businessinsider.com/venice-mose-flood-gates-storms-2018-11
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/how-venices-plan-to-protect-itself-from-flooding-became-a-disaster-in-itself/2019/11/19/7e1fe494-09a8-11ea-8054-289aef6e38a3_story.html
island dredging sea level rising
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/10/kiribatis-presidents-plans-to-raise-islands-in-fight-against-sea-level-rise
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/11/rising-seas-force-marshall-islands-relocate-elevate-artificial-islands/
https://thediplomat.com/2020/08/kiribati-announces-plans-to-raise-islands-above-rising-seas/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/this-entire-island-may-have-to-be-raised-up-to-counter-rising-sea/
https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/rising-sea-levels-and-alternative-strategies
- one thing I didn't realise is that very few countries are genuinely food secure? Food production exceeding population growth but hunger and undernourishment being a big problem still?
How Coronavirus Has Exposed the Myths of Free-Market Capitalism (Leigh Phillips)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M70umqo5bGs
food self sufficiency by country
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_food_self-sufficiency_rate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_and_Agriculture_Organization
global food hunger trend
https://www.worldhunger.org/world-hunger-and-poverty-facts-and-statistics/
gobal population trend
https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth
https://ourworldindata.org/future-population-growth
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/17/worlds-population-is-projected-to-nearly-stop-growing-by-the-end-of-the-century/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth
https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/population/
https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2019.html
https://www.unfpa.org/world-population-trends
food secure countries
https://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com/Index
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-world-s-best-countries-for-food-security.html
https://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com/Country
https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2020/03/23/the-worlds-top-countries-for-food-security-infographic/#2f0081d732aa
https://ceoworld.biz/2017/10/02/these-are-the-50-most-food-secure-countries-in-the-world-for-2017/
http://www.foodsecurityportal.org/countries
is australia food secure
Food security relates to the stable availability of food and individuals' ability to access it. It relies on the capacity of interconnected social, economic and biophysical systems to meet the nutritional requirements of a growing global population. ... Australia produces close to 93% of its own food.
https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/time-to-rethink-australias-food-security/
https://www.foodbank.org.au/hunger-in-australia/the-facts/
https://www.foodbank.org.au/hunger-in-australia/the-facts/?state=vic
https://www.caritas.org.au/learn/global-poverty-issues/food-security-and-sustainable-agriculture
global food production map
https://ourworldindata.org/land-use
http://www.coolgeography.co.uk/A-level/AQA/Year%2012/Food%20supply/Patterns%20and%20intro/Patterns%20of%20food%20supply.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Australia
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-solving-the-global-food-problem/
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/13/481586649/a-map-of-where-your-food-originated-may-surprise-you
hunger by country
https://www.globalhungerindex.org/results.html
Summary
11% of the world's population are undernourished – this means they have a caloric intake below minimum energy requirements.
820 million people globally are undernourished.
22% of children younger than five are 'stunted' – they are significantly shorter than the average for their age, as a consequence of poor nutrition or repeated infection.
9% of the world population – around 697 million people – are severely food insecure.
One-in-four people globally – 1.9 billion – are moderately or severely food insecure.
https://ourworldindata.org/hunger-and-undernourishment
https://www.wfp.org/publications/2019-hunger-map
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Hunger_Index
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_security
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Percentage_population_undernourished_world_map.PNG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Food_production_per_capita.svg
cattle vs human population growth
So let’s turn to a population crisis over which we do have some influence. I’m talking about the growth in livestock numbers. Human numbers are rising at roughly 1.2% a year, while livestock numbers are rising at around 2.4% a year. By 2050 the world’s living systems will have to support about 120m tonnes of extra humans, and 400m tonnes of extra farm animals.
Raising these animals already uses three-quarters of the world’s agricultural land. A third of our cereal crops are used to feed livestock: this may rise to roughly half by 2050. More people will starve as a result, because the poor rely mainly on grain for their subsistence, and diverting it to livestock raises the price. And now the grain that farm animals consume is being supplemented by oil crops, particularly soya, for which the forests and savannahs of South America are being cleared at shocking rates.
This might seem counter-intuitive, but were we to eat soya rather than meat, the clearance of natural vegetation required to supply us with the same amount of protein would decline by 94%. Producing protein from chickens requires three times as much land as protein from soybeans. Pork needs nine times, beef 32 times.
A recent paper in the journal Science of the Total Environment suggests that our consumption of meat is likely to be “the leading cause of modern species extinctions”. Not only is livestock farming the major reason for habitat destruction and the killing of predators, but its waste products are overwhelming the world’s capacity to absorb them. Factory farms in the US generate 13 times as much sewage as the human population does. The dairy farms in Tulare County, California, produce five times as much as New York City.
Freshwater life is being wiped out across the world by farm manure. In England the system designed to protect us from the tide of slurry has comprehensively broken down. Dead zones now extend from many coasts, as farm sewage erases ocean life across thousands of square kilometres.
Don't Do Your Own Research!!! - #PropagandaWatch
food growth rate vs population growth rate
Does population growth affect food production? Does this effect vary across regions? Scholars have proposed food insecurity as one of the threats that society will endure during this century. Global population has grown exponentially. Current numbers are estimated around 6,692,030,277(World Bank, 2009) and are expected to rise 9.3 billion in 2050. The world’s population will double in the next 50 years, if the current growth rate of 1.3 percent continues (Kendall and Pimentel 1994:198). However, world cereal yields and agriculture production have declined since 1961 (Harris and Kennedy, 1999). According to FAO, per capita food production declined in 51 developing countries, while rising in only 43 between 1979 and 1987 (Sadik, 1991).
Global population growth means that food production needs to increase by 70% by 2050, placing pressure on food quality standards. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) forecasts that global food production will need to increase by 70% if the population reaches 9.1bn by 2050.
The US-based Population Institute suggests that this forecast could even “underestimat” future need. “The FAO's forecast does not take into account any increase in agricultural production for biofuels. Earlier reports by FAO projected that biofuel production by 2030 will require 35m hectares of land--an area about the size of France and Spain combined. In the developing world, where the population is expanding at a faster clip, production will need to double, the FAO predicted. But developed regions like Europe will also need to increase their output in order to feed populations that are being boosted by longer life spans and immigration. 
The population in the European Union is forecast to grow by 3.9% through to 2040, according to figures from Eurostat. While some countries – such as Greece, Latvia and Bulgaria – are expected to see a drop in population size, markets like Sweden, Austria and Ireland are predicted to rise 23.1%, 17.6% and 16.6% respectively.
The agri-food sector will have to overcome additional challenges as it works to increase in food production. These include groundwater depletion, climate stress, soil degradation and loss of farmland to urbanisation.
- so called, "Dead zones" in animal and plant life are occuring in greater frequency? Areas where no possible organic growth is possible?
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/black-market
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/black-market-dispatches
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=black+market+vice
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=black+market+dispatches+vice
animal extinction map
Shrinking fish stocks raise tensions in the South China Sea _ Counting the Cost
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcDLvmK_3E8
wild fish depletion trend
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimated in a 2018 report that 33.1% of world fish stocks are subject to overfishing. ... The fraction of fish stocks that are within biologically sustainable levels has exhibited a decreasing trend, from 90% in 1974 to 66.9% in 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overfishing
The name of our planet is misleading. We call it Earth, yet over 70% of its surface is covered by the ocean. Sometimes we forget how essential the ocean is for the water we drink, the air we breathe, for human activity and for life. Year after year, we have been pushing the boundaries of the ocean's sustainability, and in so doing, challenging our own.
The list of the ocean's troubles is long, but one item demands immediate attention: harmful fisheries subsidies. Nearly 90% of the world's marine fish stocks are now fully exploited, overexploited or depleted. There is no doubt that fisheries subsidies play a big role. Without them, we could slow the overexploitation of fish stocks, deal with the overcapacity of fishing fleets, and tackle the scourge of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Fish accounts for 17% of all animal protein consumed in the world, and 26% of that consumed in the poorest and least developed countries. The ocean is also an important source of income; nearly 60 million people work in fisheries and aquaculture, and an estimated 200 million jobs are directly or indirectly connected with the fisheries sector. Fish remains one of the most traded food commodities worldwide, and 54% of this trade comes from developing countries. For these countries, the fish trade generates more income than most other food commodities combined.
The sustainability of fisheries is therefore essential to the livelihoods of billions of people in coastal communities around the world, especially in developing countries, where 97% of fishermen live. But if we stay on our current course, we will push one of the planet's prime food sources to the limit and compromise our ambitions for a better world by 2030. The subsidies that do harm to fisheries, and which have underpinned the dramatic decrease of fish stocks in the last 40 years, must be withdrawn by 2020. Only then can we begin to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Harmful fisheries subsidies are estimated to total more than $20 billion a year. Not only do they fuel overexploitation, they disproportionately benefit big business. Nearly 85% of fisheries subsidies benefit large fleets, but small-scale fisheries employ 90% of all fishermen and account for 30% of the catch in marine fisheries. The value of these subsidies could be instead used to invest in sustainable fisheries, aquaculture and coastal community livelihoods, reducing the pressure on fish stocks.
Fisheries subsidies come in many forms, and sometimes they are not easy to identify. One of the main sources is fuel subsidies. These result in the retail price of marine gas oil varying wildly across countries and regions, with many countries selling for below the global average price.
Sustainable Development Goal 14, which concerns the ocean, contains a target that calls on World Trade Organization (WTO) members to "prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing; eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; and refrain from introducing new such subsidies" by 2020.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/07/fish-stocks-are-used-up-fisheries-subsidies-must-stop/
Depleted fish stocks require recovery efforts
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2005/100095/index.html
dead zone animal life global map
https://www.sciencealert.com/dead-zones-in-ocean-quadrupled-since-1950s-killing-marine-life
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/44677/aquatic-dead-zones
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/deadzone.html
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/oceanic-dead-zones-spread/
global forest map
https://ourworldindata.org/forests
https://news.mongabay.com/2014/10/researchers-create-global-map-of-worlds-forests-circa-1990/
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/77637/global-forest-heights-take-two
https://earthzine.org/mapping-a-decade-of-change-in-the-earths-forests/
Prosperity is a primary driver of CO2 emissions, but clearly policy and technological choices make a difference.
Many countries in the world still have very low per capita CO2 emissions. In many of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa – such as Chad, Niger and the Central African Republic – the average footprint is around 0.1 tonnes per year. That’s more than 160 times lower than the USA, Australia and Canada. In just 2.3 days the average American or Australian emits as much as the average Malian or Nigerien in a year
ocean dead zone
- biodiversity may become a bigger problem because disease and illness tends to increase as biodiversity goes down
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/09/ancient-astronautsmythologyarchaeologys_24.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-evolution-vs-creationism-debate.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/12/mental-illness-and-human-mind-control.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/10/human-like-animal-behaviours-and.html
EP.879: Dr. Jane Goodall on Coronavirus: We Brought This on Ourselves by Disrespecting Nature!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdYqex8MT_g
biodiversity loss trend
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/
https://www.iucn.org/regions/mediterranean/our-work/mediterranean-species-programme/biodiversity-status-and-trends
https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/media-uploads/2018/11/infografia_uicn_med_a3_nov29.pdf
A major report, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, released in March 2005 highlighted a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth, with some 10-30% of the mammal, bird and amphibian species threatened with extinction, due to human actions. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) added that Earth is unable to keep up in the struggle to regenerate from the demands we place on it.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) notes in a video that many species are threatened with extinction. In addition,
At threat of extinction are
1 out of 8 birds
1 out of 4 mammals
1 out of 4 conifers
1 out of 3 amphibians
6 out of 7 marine turtles
75% of genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost
75% of the world's fisheries are fully or over exploited
Up to 70% of the world's known species risk extinction if the global temperatures rise by more than 3.5°C
1/3rd of reef-building corals around the world are threatened with extinction
Over 350 million people suffer from severe water scarcity
https://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-and-extinctions
deforestation disease
disease vs population density
brazil bhp mine recover
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_dam_disaster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajka_alumina_plant_accident
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brumadinho_dam_disaster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Certej_dam_failure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merriespruit_tailings_dam_disaster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Polley_mine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_di_Stava_dam_collapse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Baia_Mare_cyanide_spill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do%C3%B1ana_disaster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_and_anthropogenic_disasters_by_death_toll#Flood_disasters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famines
famines global trend
https://ourworldindata.org/famines
https://sites.tufts.edu/wpf/famine/
https://ourworldindata.org/famine-mortality-over-the-long-run
disease outbreak frequency trend
A 2014 study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, “Global Rise in Human Infectious Disease Outbreaks,” examines the global changes in the frequency of outbreaks of infectious disease between 1980 and 2013. In all, the dataset covered 12,102 outbreaks of 215 diseases, with 44 million individual cases in 219 countries around the world. The researchers, based at Brown University, sought to examine the relationship between the location and timing of disease outbreaks and the characteristics of outbreak sites, such as the presence of certain animals that transmit disease to humans.
The study’s findings include:
The number of outbreaks, and the number of kinds of disease, have both increased significantly since 1980.
While the number of outbreaks appears to be increasing over time, the data suggest that per-capita outbreak cases are declining: “Despite an increase in overall outbreaks, global improvements in prevention, early detection, control and treatment are becoming more effective at reducing the number of people infected.”
During the study period, 31% of all human-specific infectious diseases represented 80% of all outbreaks.
Stomach flu (viral gastroenteritis) caused the greatest number of cases of infectious disease, 15 million, while salmonellosis — an infection typically contracted from consuming food containing salmonella bacteria — was responsible for the greatest number of outbreaks, 855.
In the data analyzed, 65% of the diseases, making up 56% of all outbreaks, were “zoonoses,” meaning that they were transmissible to humans by animals, insects and other vectors. These include Ebola, HIV, the bubonic plague and Lyme disease.
Zoonotic diseases have been becoming increasingly diverse over time, but only a small number cause the majority of outbreaks in each decade: “From 1980 to 1990, 80% of all zoonotic disease outbreaks were caused by only 25% of potential zoonoses in the dataset, and only 22% and 21% of zoonoses from 1990 to 2000 and from 2000 to 2010, respectively.” The authors caution that zoonotic disease cases may be undercounted in the nations affected the most because of limited infrastructure and health resources.
“In contrast to zoonoses … human-specific diseases are declining in diversity and in the impact they have through outbreaks (in terms of per-capita cases).”
Trends in infectious diseases (JRSI)
The scholars control for the possible confounding role of the Internet, starting in 1990, but note that “it is beyond the scope of this report and our current dataset to determine the role the Internet has played in outbreak detection and reporting.” However, they state that “it is becoming increasingly clear that the Internet can improve disease reporting by supplementing formal surveillance with publicly generated digital disease surveillance.”
- the interesting thing about climate change issue is the temperature range that a lot of life operates at?
fish life temperature range
Water Temperature and Fish Health
Fish Tanks and Water TemperatureIt's important to keep our aquariums within a certain temperature range to make sure the fish and other aquatic creatures we keep are happy and healthy. Too high or too low, and our aquatic pets will suffer.  The temperature range that's best for each creature depends on what part of the world they're native to. Tropical fish, for example, do best between 75° and 80°F, goldfish and other "cold-water" species prefer temperatures below 70°F, and temperate fish can be found in habitats that overlap tropical and cold-water realms.  
Fish are cold-blooded – aka ectothermic or poikilothermic – animals, meaning they cannot control their body temperature. Instead, they rely on the temperature of their environment to regulate their metabolisms and activity levels. When it's too cold, they're less active, their appetite is reduced and their immune systems are compromised, making them more susceptible to disease.  
When it's too warm, their metabolisms and breathing speed up, and they use more oxygen. The problem is, as water warms up it holds less oxygen, which further stresses the fish. Once again, they become more susceptible to disease, and in extreme cases, they can experience organ damage or even suffocate. Making matters worse, above 90°F, the beneficial bacteria that maintain balance in an aquarium begin to die, creating the potential for dangerous ammonia and nitrite spikes.  
In the Wild
It's safe to say that the water temperature in nature isn't always constant. In fact, it can fluctuate quite a bit. Some days are sunny, some are cloudy. There may be seasonal changes as you get further away from the equator. Sometimes it rains, which can cool things down considerably. The water near the surface is usually quite a bit warmer than just a few feet below. And what happens when the sun goes down at night?  
There are two major differences between natural habitats and our aquariums when it comes to temperature. First, fish in the wild can usually move to a more desirable spot if they don't like the temperature. And second, temperature changes tend to occur gradually in nature due to the massive volumes of water involved, so fish have time to adapt, or move. Not so in an aquarium.  
https://www.aqueon.com/articles/fish-tanks-and-water-temperature
Key points:
The scientists named the ideal temperature "Umes" (pronounced yoo-mez)
The Umes is different for all organisms, for example, E.coli's is 35 degrees Celsius
It could be used to work out how close to a maximum temperature an organism can live
...
Examples of Umes:
E. coli grows fastest at 41C, but its Umes — the point in which it grows fastest and most efficiently — is 35C
Salmonella grows fastest at 39C but its Umes is 34C
Lactobacillus — which can digest lactose and is involved in making cheese — grows fastest at 41C but its Umes is 38C
Dr Corkrey said 42C is the temperature at which the fastest known growth possible occurs, with growth rates declining after this peak
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-07/what-is-umes-the-ideal-temperature-for-life/10786632
life temperate range
Scientists have pinpointed the lowest temperature at which simple life can live and grow.
The study, published in PLoS One, reveals that below -20 °C, single-celled organisms dehydrate, sending them into a vitrified – glass-like – state during which they are unable to complete their life cycle.
The researchers propose that, since the organisms cannot reproduce below this temperature, -20 °C is the lowest temperature limit for life on Earth.
Scientists placed single-celled organisms in a watery medium, and lowered the temperature. As the temperature fell, the medium started to turn into ice and as the ice crystals grew, the water inside the organisms seeped out to form more ice. This left the cells first dehydrated, and then vitrified. Once a cell has vitrified, scientists no longer consider it living as it cannot reproduce, but cells can be brought back to life when temperatures rise again. This vitrification phase is similar to the state plant seeds enter when they dry out.
https://phys.org/news/2013-08-lowest-temperature-life.html
Temperature is one of the limiting factors which can determine the presence of life on Earth. There is a diverse array of living organisms found on earth, across a broad range of temperatures – ranging from -70 degrees (at the poles) to 55 degrees (in deserts) and 350 degrees (near ocean vents). There is an enormous variation in temperature on land (-80 to 60) compared to temperature changes in water (-2 to 30), these great variations have allowed for diversification of organisms.
Much like enzymes, species have an optimal range of temperature in which they can function – this tends to be a relatively narrow temperature range. The temperature range in which an organism can survive is known as its tolerance range – few organisms can survive in broad temperature ranges.
Examples : the Pompeii worm can withstand an enormous temperature range (80 to 20 at any one time) this is due to bacteria on the worms back which have a symbiotic relationship with the worm - in which the worm provides food for the bacteria and the bacteria protect the worm from temperature changes. The Sahara desert ant can maintain its core temperature of 56 degrees, even though the external environment is at 70 degrees – this is also useful as the desert environment experiences great temperature differences between day and night.
https://nsb.wikidot.com/identify-the-broad-range-of-temperatures-over-which-life-is
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-07/what-is-umes-the-ideal-temperature-for-life/10786632
cow temperature range
Normal body temperatures
Animal Normal Temperature °C Animal Normal Temperature °C
Cattle 38.5 Calf 39.5
Buffalo 38.2 Goat 39.5
Sheep 39.0 Camel* 34.5-41.0
Llama, alpaca 38.0 Horse 38.0
Donkey 38.2 Pig 39.0
Chicken 42.0 Piglet 39.8
https://vikaspedia.in/agriculture/livestock/general-management-practices-of-livestock/body-temperature
https://www.drovers.com/article/using-body-temperature-diagnose-sickness-stocker-cattle
fever
Fever is a rise in body temperature above the normal temperature, usually caused by infection. Normal body temperature is around 37°C (give or take a degree, depending on individual differences). There may also be minor fluctuations over the course of the day and night. Contrary to popular belief, the severity of fever isn't necessarily related to the seriousness of the illness – for example, life-threatening meningitis might only cause a small temperature rise.
The fever triggered by a viral or bacterial infection is caused by chemicals produced by the immune system, which reset the body's thermostat to a higher level. Most cases of mild fever resolve by themselves within a couple of days. A mild fever (up to 39°C) can actually help the immune system to get rid of an infection. In children between the ages of six months and six years, fever can trigger convulsions. A fever of 42.4°C or higher, particularly in the elderly, can permanently damage the brain.
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/fever
core temperature during fever
Normal human body-temperature is the typical temperature range found in humans. The normal human body temperature range is typically stated as 36.5–37.5 °C. Human body temperature varies. Wikipedia
Normal: 36.5–37.5 °C (97.7–99.5 °F)
Fever: >37.5 or 38.3 °C (99.5 or 100.9 °F)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_body_temperature
https://www.healthline.com/health/what-is-normal-body-temperature#fever-symptoms
plant life temperature range
Optimum temperature for plants
Flowering stage, the ideal temperature/ humidity ratio is 28 degrees C/ 50%. When temperature levels exceed 30 degrees Celsius, plants' enzymes don't perform at optimum rates and the photosynthesis process stops.
https://www.londongrow.com/blogs/grow-tips/understanding-optimum-temperature-and-humidity-for-plants
https://www.botany.one/2017/12/plant-life-temperature-limit/
Minimum Soil Temperatures for Seed Sowing and Germination:
35°F: lettuce, onion, parsnip, spinach.
40°F: beet, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, collards, Asian greens, Chinese cabbage, fava beans, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, arugula, radish, Swiss chard, turnip, pea, radish, rutabaga.
50°F: asparagus, celery, celeriac, corn, tomato.
60°F: bean, cucumber, eggplant, muskmelon, pepper, pumpkin, squash, watermelon.
 Soil Temperature Needed for 70% Germination:
45°F: beets, lettuce, parsley, spinach.
50°F: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, collards, Asian greens, Chinese cabbage, fava beans, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, arugula, radish, Swiss chard, turnip, pea, radish, rutabaga.
55°F: cabbage, corn, Swiss chard, tomatoes.
65°F: cucumbers, peppers.
70°F: beans, cantaloupe, melons, squash.
75°F: eggplant, okra, pumpkins.
Optimal Soil Temperature for Germination (near 100% germination):
65°F: parsnip.
70°F: spinach.
75°F: asparagus, lettuce, onion, parsley.
80°F: bean, carrot.
85°F: beet, cabbage, eggplant, pepper, radish, Swiss chard, tomato, turnip.
90°F: muskmelon.
95°F: corn, cucumber, pumpkin, squash, watermelon.
https://harvesttotable.com/vegetable-planting-and-soil-temperature/
Necrotic lesions on leaves grown at non-permissive temperature. Rice leaves overexpressing NRKe, a gene encoding a kinase related to known disease-resistance kinases that induce necrosis in response to infection, are grown for 10 days at 24°C (the two blades on the left) and then for 3 days at 35°C (the two blades on the right). At 35°C, the non-permissive temperature, the leaves develop necrotic lesions. Taken from Figure 2b of Zhang et al. [4].
How plants cope with temperature stress
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3219733/
Rough guide for the lowest temperatures
Tender plants: 60°F (15°C)
Half hardy (many indoor plants): 50 - 55°F (10 - 13°C)
Hardy: 45°F (7°C)
The easiest and most accurate way to identify the correct temperatures for each plant is to look at the specific guidance for each one.
https://www.houseplantsexpert.com/indoor-plants-temperature-guide.html
https://www.euronews.com/living/2020/10/14/growing-vegetables-in-seawater-could-be-the-answer-to-feeding-billions
global temperature trend
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_temperature_record
http://www.longrangeweather.com/global_temperatures.htm
- the strange thing about attempts to save things is the seeming lack of urgency, technical issues, etc? For instance, the fake meat market. You need more research because there are core problems such as taste, cost, nutrition, there is lack of investment, etc... It's obvious that if things travel the way they have life will survive on Earth but things will/may get very ugly
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/black-market
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/black-market-dispatches
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=black+market+dispatches
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=black+market+vice
disease outbreak fish farm frequency
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256677298_More_rapid_and_severe_disease_outbreaks_for_aquaculture_at_the_tropics_Implications_for_food_security
https://www.worldfishcenter.org/pages/fish-disease/
https://www.animal-ethics.org/diseases-suffered-fish-farms/
Fish farming is the practice of raising and killing fishes and other animals (such as crustacea and amphibians), mainly for food. Fish farming has been growing significantly for many decades. Between 1970 and 2006 the industry grew at a rate of 6.9% per annum,1 and in recent years close to half of the marine animal products eaten by humans has been farmed fish.2 These fishes are also used to feed other animals: more than 2.5 millon tons of fishes are used to produce cat food every year.3
It has been estimated that between 37 and 120 billion fishes are killed every year,4 which does not include the other sentient animals who are also killed in aquatic farms, either by being raised there for human consumption or by being fed to other animals. Crustacea raised on fish farms are commonly fed molluscs which have been passed through grounding mills that destroy their shells, as well as fishing subproducts including rests of fish.
Many species of fish are bred in farms; however, some are bred in greater quantities than others. The most prevalent are carps, tilapias, sturgeons, salmons and catfishes.5 As for crustacea, most species of them cannot be raised in farms due to their small size and to diseases they suffer in fish farms. Those that are bred in farms are pacific white shrimp and giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon).
Those who defend fish farming say that it will solve the problem of the scarcity of fishes and other aquatic animals due to fishing. This defense does not take into account the fishes' capacity to suffer or their interest in staying alive. It considers the benefit to humans of the exploitation of aquatic animals. The aim of fish farming is to achieve the maximum production of fishes and other animals for consumption at the lowest cost. This leads to a disregard of the interests of the exploited aquatic animals, resulting in uncomfortable or miserable lives and early, often painful deaths.
It is not possible to keep animals in fish farms without causing them harm. Fishes are routinely moved out of water to be measured, their tanks are cleaned with harmful chemicals, and their lives are made generally unpleasant by manual handling and habitat disturbance. Furthermore, by definition, raising animals in farms for consumption means they are eventually killed.
https://www.animal-ethics.org/fish-farming/
fake meat reviews
https://www.choice.com.au/food-and-drink/meat-fish-and-eggs/meat-substitutes/buying-guides/plant-based-meat
https://www.buzzfeed.com/gyanyankovich/popular-fake-meat-substitute-review
US start-up Eat Just said Wednesday that its meat had been approved for sale in the city-state as an ingredient in chicken nuggets.
The news marks a "breakthrough for the global food industry", said the company, as firms increasingly try to find less environmentally harmful ways of producing meat.
"I'm sure that our regulatory approval for cultured meat will be the first of many in Singapore and in countries around the globe," said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just.
Consumption of regular meat is an environmental threat as cattle produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas, while logging forests to make way for animals destroys natural barriers against climate change.
Demand for sustainable meat alternatives is rising due to growing pressure from consumers about the environment and animal welfare, but other products in the market are plant-based.
There were concerns that lab-grown varieties would be too expensive, but a spokesman for Eat Just said the company had made "considerable progress" in lowering the cost.
"Right from the start, we will be at price parity for premium chicken at a high-end restaurant," he told AFP.
He did not reveal the price of the nuggets but said they would be launched soon at a Singapore restaurant before other products -- including chicken breasts with lab-grown meat -- are rolled out.
Eat Just hopes to bring down the cost to below that of conventional chicken in the coming years, the spokesman added. 
- Soaring meat consumption -
The company conducted more than 20 production runs in 1,200-litre bioreactors to make the chicken alternative, and checks on safety and quality showed that its "cultured" product -- the term for meat grown in labs from animal cells -- met food standards.
Meat consumption is projected to increase more than 70 percent by 2050, and lab-grown alternatives have a role to play in ensuring a secure food supply, Eat Just said. 
"Working in partnership with the broader agriculture sector and forward-thinking policymakers, companies like ours can help meet the increased demand for animal protein as our population climbs to 9.7 billion by 2050," said company CEO Tetrick.
The Singapore Food Agency, the city-state's regulator, confirmed it had approved the sale of Eat Just's lab-grown chicken in nuggets after concluding it was safe for consumption.
The high-tech city-state has become a hub for the development of sustainable foods, with start-ups producing goods ranging from lab-grown "seafood" to dumplings made with tropical fruit instead of pork.
William Chen, a Singapore-based scientist and member of an expert panel that advises the regulator, said food security was a key concern in the city-state's drive for developing meat alternatives.
Singapore "has virtually no agriculture, we import more than 90 percent of our food from overseas," said Chen, director of Nanyang Technological University's food, science and technology programme.
"Finding ways to enhance food availability locally would be one very sustainable, viable option."
Advocates for the technology argue that if cultured meat can become affordable it will be revolutionary, and not just in its potential to end, or at least significantly cut back, the meat trade. Cultured meat requires no antibiotics or drugs.
Critically, one study suggested it could potentially be produced with 96% lower greenhouse gas emissions and 99% less land – although some animal rights activists argue it perpetuates an unhealthy obsession with eating animals.
...
Similar to other patties, such as the McChicken, the burger is not just meat but heavily supplemented with other ingredients to add texture and flavour. Roughly 50% is plant-based proteins, with added seasonings.
And like the chicken it serves, the restaurant is not fully fledged. There is still no regulation around cultured meat in Israel, meaning SuperMeat cannot charge customers. However, it intends to invite members of the public to try its dishes, to create a buzz. A waiver agreeing to “voluntarily assume any and all risks” must also be signed.
Savir says the aim is to take cultured meat from a scientific “dream” to reality, adding he believes it will be one or two years before he can sell it.
“This is our platform to have the first engagement,” he says. As well as the public, potential clients from food companies wanting to expand into cultured meat will be invited.
The industry was given a significant boost this week when Singapore became the first state to approve the sale of cultured meat for a “chicken bites” product, which is made using similar techniques. The US-based company that makes the nuggets, Eat Just, said they would be selling to an unnamed restaurant in Singapore.
Savir says the production cost of his chicken burger is $35, which seems high but is dramatically less than it was a few years ago. In 2013, a Dutch pharmacologist, Mark Post, made history by eating the first lab-grown beef burger. It cost about £225,000.
SuperMeat anticipates cultivated meat will get cheaper as the industry grows, possibly reaching cost parity with farmed meat in six to seven years. Reducing the price of the “feed” is vital, Savir says, which accounts for about 70% of costs, similar to conventional meat.
Even if people were to reject it, cultured meat advocates say it could be used for other purposes. In the US, dogs and cats are estimated to eat around a quarter of all meat. Perhaps the biggest hurdle, however, is the “yuck” factor. For many, the idea of lab-grown flesh remains unenticing, or even blasphemous.
“We’re not interfering. We’re just doing it in a different way,” says Savir. “Ice made in a freezer is not interfering with God – it’s using technology to do it more efficiently.”
As well as scouring the forest floor, especially in autumn when fungi most-commonly fruits, Mr Ford has exhaustively searched for knowledge of Indigenous use of forest fungi.
He laments he has found little.
"Sadly we've lost most of the Indigenous knowledge around fungi and fungi edibility," he said.
"That particularly goes for southern Australia and eastern Australia, so it's something that we're trying to rediscover."
Propagating exotic mushrooms can be fickle; growers have to try to exactly mimic nature.
Most mushrooms are grown in tightly sealed shipping containers with exact climate control.
"There's no handbook, no blueprint for growing a lot of these gourmet and exotic mushrooms," Mr Ford said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-29/first-indigenous-commercialised-mushroom-hit-with-top-chefs/12597012
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/whats-the-carbon-footprint-of-your-food/12592232
coconut cappuccino review
https://www.productreview.com.au/listings/moccona-cappuccino
https://www.amazon.com/ArchCafe-Coconut-Cappuccino-Single-Sticks/product-reviews/B07DP6ZTZN
meat replacement industry growth
https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/meat-substitute-market
https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/meat-substitute-market
https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/press-release/global-meat-substitute-market.html
sugar replacement market
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/sugar-substitute-market-1134.html
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/05/19/2035777/0/en/Sugar-Substitutes-Market-Size-Worth-USD-10-27-Billion-by-2027-Rising-Demand-for-Artificial-Sweeteners-Will-Aid-Growth-says-Fortune-Business-Insights.html
https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/sugar-substitute-market
https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/sugar-substitutes-market-100261
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/sugar-substitutes-market
https://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/sugar-substitutes-market
coffee plant based drink replacement review
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/10-plant-based-coffee-alternatives/
https://www.chatelaine.com/food/vegan-milks-coffee-canada/
https://perfectdailygrind.com/2019/01/which-is-the-best-non-dairy-milk-for-specialty-coffee/
https://michaelkummer.com/health/diet/vegan-meal-replacement/
plant based drink market growth
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/plant-based-beverage-market-34414144.html
https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/plant-based-beverage-market
https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/plant-based-beverages-market
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/plant-based-beverages-market
Increasing vegan population across the world especially in the U.K., U.S., and other developed countries, is promoting the demand for plant-based beverages in the market. For instance, according to the statistics provided by 'The Vegan Society', the vegan population in the U.K. has increased fourfold from 2014 to 2019 and reached 600,000. These market trends are anticipated to boost the demand for plant-based beverages over the forecast perio
https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/plant-based-beverages-market-6516
vegan market growth
https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/vegan-food-market
According to Euromonitor, between 2015 and 2020 Australia is projected to continue as the third-fastest-growing vegan market in the world at 9.6% growth.
https://www.playmr.com.au/blog/fmcg-trends-adapting-to-plant-based-consumer-demand
General
If the world went vegan, it could save 8 million human lives by 2050, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two thirds and lead to healthcare-related savings and avoided climate damages of $1.5 trillion. Source
If the UK population was killed at the rate farmed animals are killed around the world, it would end in just 11 hours. Sources: [1], [2], [3]
Over a billion farmed animals in Britain are killed each year in slaughterhouses. Source
Over 10 million pigs, 15 million sheep, 14 million turkeys, 15 million ducks and geese, 982 million broiler chickens, 50 million 'spent hens', 2.6 million cattle, 4.5 billion fish and 2.6 billion shellfish are killed in the UK each year - over 8 billion animals. Source
Interest in 'veganism' increased seven fold in the five years between 2014 and 2019, according to Google trends. It now gets almost four times more interest than vegetarian and gluten free searches.
https://www.vegansociety.com/news/media/statistics
https://www.livekindly.co/australia-vegan-market-growth/
Mention "lab-grown meat" or tissue-engineered, cultured or cultivated meat 2.0 and food lovers of all ages will typically recoil. In 2019, US food advocacy group the Good Food Institute conducted a consumer survey and settled on two preferred terms: "safe" and "clean". Clean won out, primarily because lab-grown meat is still meat – with the same protein and fat profiles. It's not an eat-all-you-want sort of product, which is what "safe" implies. Using animal-sourced starter cells and a nutrient cocktail, companies are literally growing animal muscle in controlled environments.
At the moment the output is chicken nuggets, fish sticks, beef patties and the like – but the ambition is to grow a whole chicken breast or a fillet steak. So is cultured meat really a mass-market, environmentally sound food fix – as it's been touted – or just another food tech fad? When I set out to make the podcast A Carnivore's Crisis I started with the question: must meat and dairy die in order for the planet to live? It ultimately led my producers Nicola Harvey and Naima Brown to a laboratory in San Francisco where mung-bean eggs and cultured chicken nuggets are being created.
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/jul/29/petri-dishes-is-lab-grown-meat-a-mass-market-environmentally-sound-food-fix
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/29/energised-by-disruption-2020-sows-a-new-way-forward-for-food
renewable energy investment trend
https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-investment-2020/key-findings
Global energy investment stabilised after 3 years of decline
Energy investment remained at USD 1.85 trillion in 2018 while a rise in fossil fuel supply investment offset lower power and stable efficiency spend. Despite the shift, power was the largest sector for the third year in a row.
https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-investment-2019
The amount of water lost through theft, and inadequate laws to combat it, is particularly relevant as governments grapple with the next stage of the Murray-Darling Basin plan.
The last stage of the plan involves spending billions of dollars on water efficiency programs – an expensive way to reclaim water for the environment while there may still be low-hanging fruit through tackling theft.
"Much of the world's focus right now is on water efficiency investments, which might achieve [at best] between 10% to 20% savings for water managers," Loch said.
"But if we can recover 30% to 50% of 'lost' water, targeting those who steal for profit-making, then that would be good for our water supply, and good for us."
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/up-to-half-of-worlds-water-supply-stolen-annually-study-finds/ar-BB18oLre
fossil fuel subsidies by country
The largest subsidizers in 2015 were China ($1.4 trillion), United States ($649 billion), Russia ($551 billion), European Union ($289 billion), and India ($209 billion).
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2019/05/02/Global-Fossil-Fuel-Subsidies-Remain-Large-An-Update-Based-on-Country-Level-Estimates-46509
https://www.iea.org/topics/energy-subsidies
https://www.iisd.org/gsi/what-we-do/focus-areas/energy-subsidies-data
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_subsidy
EVERY MINUTE 5 CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 5 DIE FROM MALNUTRITION . . . EVERY CHILD MATTERS . . . LOCAL PLANTS SUIT LOCAL CONDITIONS
When agricultural scientist Bruce French was teaching agriculture in Papua New Guinea, his students had a strong message for him.
Key points:
In 54 years Bruce French has catalogued 31,170 edible plants
Native plants' nutritional qualities are often overlooked
Information from the vast database is available for free
They were sick of being taught about western plants and wanted to learn more about their native produce.
"I knew nothing about those, so I had to learn them," Mr French said. "And I just kept going. What about the next country, and the next country?"
In the five decades since, Mr French has created a database of more than 31,000 edible plants, which is almost every plant from every country on earth.
...
"As an agronomist, I've been involved in trying to grow crops in places where they weren't suited to or meant to be," Mr Green said.
"But Bruce's work is about, 'What plants grow best in this location and what are the plants that are most appropriate for nutritional needs of the people?'"
He said farmers and agronomists produced fresh, safe, healthy food but often did not consider the nutritional value.
"You go and talk to western-trained agronomists and say, 'Here's a number of plants, can you rank them in terms of their concentration of different nutrients? Which one would have the highest zinc and which one would have the lowest zinc?' Most of them wouldn't have any idea."
gas emission type by country
australia carbon emissions breakdown
The Australian government estimates that Australia's net emissions in 2017 were 556.4 million tonnes CO
2-equivalent, to which the sectoral contributions were approximately as follows: electricity, 33%; transport, 18%; stationary energy (excluding electricity), 17%; agriculture, 13%; fugitive emissions, 10%; industrial processes, 6%; waste, 3%.[4] This includes about 13% for non-electricity residential use.[5]
Of the 190 million tons emitted for Electricity in 2017, 20 million tons was for primary industry, 49 million tones for manufacturing (which might include aluminum smelting), 51 million tons Commercial, Construction and Transport, and 33 million tons Residential.[5]
Kazakhstan carbon emissions breakdown
fake meat monk experiments
Whether it be tofu sausages, mushroom burgers or dairy-free ice cream, the market for non-animal products is huge.
But is there an appetite for lab-grown meat?
Well apparently not for those aged between 18 and 25. A new study by the University of Sydney and Curtin University has found more than 70 per cent of Generation Z participants don't want to go near the stuff.
- the thing I didn't realise is that most of the problem is accruing at the very top? The reason why it feels like things aren't getting better outside of a small number of nations or people is that there literally isn't enough to go around. If you do analysis on basics like fresh water, food, acquatic deadzones, desertification, pollution, population growth rate, etc... and not GDP then you realise what the problem is and why simply changing economic inequality won't/can't change things? Life in the US/West would literally drop off a cliff if they just tried to redistribute and even then I suspect they wouldn't be able to make up for everyone on the planet? Moreover, if the rest of the world lived like the US/West the planet would be in serious genuine trouble (check food security, water security, pollution, emissions, etc...)? The solutions have to come through better science/technology not better politics? It's starts to make sense why many religious scientists were interested in alchemy now? If you can create a surplus of quality necessities safely then you can live how you like?
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/06/history-of-hate-and-supremacy-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/05/education-or-indoctrination-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/03/religion-vs-uswestern-leadership-random.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/07/bible-codes-random-stuff-and-more.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/05/mexican-drug-cartel-background-random.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/03/religion-vs-uswestern-leadership-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/02/is-society-filtering-for-fairnessmerit.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/09/thinking-like-political-elite-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2018/01/capitalism-analysis-religion-23-and-more.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/05/is-western-leadership-required-more.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/08/neo-colonialism-and-neo-liberalism.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/06/religious-conspiracies-is-capitalism.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/01/conspiracy-theories-understanding.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/07/social-engineeringmanipulation-rigging.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/07/neuroscience-in-psyops-world-order.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/02/shadow-government-key-players-and-more.html
[308] Big Green Is Lying About Climate Change
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9XgrMUSKFo
COVID-19 hunger _ The virus is triggering a food crisis – Oxfam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my-g6N4DVk4
Richest 1% cause more than double CO2 emissions of poorest half of humanity – Oxfam
https://www.rt.com/business/501251-richest-double-emissions-of-poorest/
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200918-why-some-deadly-viruses-vanish-and-go-extinct
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200917-what-makes-strangers-click
https://galusaustralis.com/2020/09/1012817/the-eus-fault-people-flee-where-the-west-fails-politics/
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2020/09/21/worthless-religious-leadership/
https://www.abc.net.au/life/how-to-tell-a-new-partner-about-your-past-sexual-trauma/12549452
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-21/christian-science-religion-prayer-vaccination-covid-medicine/12678764
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201006-india-why-bangalore-is-digging-a-million-wells
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/brad-wilmouth/2020/10/08/pbs-still-pumping-out-hatred-humanitys-negative-imprint-planet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Study_Memorandum_200
https://tradingeconomics.com/china/population
https://tradingeconomics.com/india/population
age of countries list
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_date_of_formation
population growth rate country list
Population growth rate
https://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=24
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_growth_rate
All Countries and Economies
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
"I am making this move... because, as we all know, the world is in trouble," he said in his first video message on the social media platform.
"Continents are on fire. Glaciers are melting. Coral reefs are dying... The list goes on and on," he continued.
Within an hour of his first post, he had more than 200,000 followers, and by 16:15 BST he had 1.2m followers.
"Saving our planet is now a communications challenge," the veteran broadcaster said.
Sir David Attenborough joins Instagram to warn 'the world is in trouble'
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-54281171
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2020/sep/22/the-coalition-can-choose-not-to-revert-to-trickle-down-economics-in-the-budget
In an effort to shift towards more sustainable packaging options, Woolworths has launched new recyclable paper meat trays across some of its own brand of beef cuts.
It's the first step in a plan to make all of its own brand red meat trays recyclable over the coming months, with the supermarket planning to introduce more sustainable packaging across its products.
The new packaging uses 75 per cent less plastic than the previous packaging and will eliminate 2.2 tonnes of plastic from the supply chain each year.
The paper tray can be thrown into the kerbside recycling bin, while the vacuum fresh seal film can be discarded or recycled through the Woolworths REDcycle bins.
"Over the last three years we've embarked on a sustained program to rethink our own packaging across a wide range of categories," Woolworths head of sustainability Adrian Cullen said.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/woolworths-launches-new-recyclable-paper-meat-trays-in-sustainability-move/news-story/dab34169b3ef65a3094d45f280184a24
atmospheric composition trendatmospheric composition trend
4.2 Changes in Atmospheric Composition
https://www.e-education.psu.edu/meteo300/node/606
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/atmospheric-composition
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide
global starvation map
https://www.wfp.org/publications/2019-hunger-map
https://ourworldindata.org/hunger-and-undernourishment
global homeless trend
https://ourworldindata.org/homelessness
political stability global map
https://www.marsh.com/us/insights/research/political-risk-map-2020.html
https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/wb_political_stability/
global oil map
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_proven_oil_reserves
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_reserves
global religion map
http://www.geocurrents.info/cultural-geography/religion/wikipedia-difficulties-mapping-world-religions-bizarre-map
https://joshuaproject.net/global/religions
https://www.pewforum.org/2018/06/13/how-religious-commitment-varies-by-country-among-people-of-all-ages/
global terrorism map
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_terrorist_incidents_by_country
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/global-terrorist-attacks-past-20-years-in-maps-2017-5?r=US&IR=T
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Fragile_States_Index
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fund_For_Peace
global refugee map
The number of displaced people is at its highest ever — surpassing even post-World War-II numbers. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), global refugee movement and fatalities are on the rise and a little under 1% of the total global population today is either "an asylum-seeker, internally displaced or a refugee". Many of these people take long dangerous routes to escape from wars, terrorism, autocratic dictators, or plain poverty, in search of safer places. A significant number also lose their lives in the process.
https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/global-refugee-movement-and-fatalities/
- this is what I suspected? Ecosystem destruction is accelerating due to incompatibility of human technology with bio-organics. They say human technology can save humans but in reality it's not that simple? If you understand how ecosystems and habitats work then you'll understand that there are "cliff points", points at which is very difficult to bring things back? The technology reminds me of naturally occurring and assembling Lego? One obvious method of reboot is biosolids and impregnation of it with random seedlings?
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/09/regrowing-food-fruit-and-vegetables.html
species destruction trend
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/5/140529-conservation-science-animals-species-endangered-extinction/
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/extinction/
https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation
One-fifth of the world's countries are at risk of their ecosystems collapsing because of the destruction of wildlife and their habitats, according to an analysis by the insurance firm Swiss Re.
Natural "services" such as food, clean water and air, and flood protection have already been damaged by human activity.
More than half of global GDP – $42tn (£32tn) – depends on high-functioning biodiversity, according to the report, but the risk of tipping points is growing.
Countries including Australia, Israel and South Africa rank near the top of Swiss Re's index of risk to biodiversity and ecosystem services, with India, Spain and Belgium also highlighted. Countries with fragile ecosystems and large farming sectors, such as Pakistan and Nigeria, are also flagged up.
Countries including Brazil and Indonesia had large areas of intact ecosystems but had a strong economic dependence on natural resources, which showed the importance of protecting their wild places, Swiss Re said.
"A staggering fifth of countries globally are at risk of their ecosystems collapsing due to a decline in biodiversity and related beneficial services," said Swiss Re, one of the world's biggest reinsurers and a linchpin of the global insurance industry.
"If the ecosystem service decline goes on [in countries at risk], you would see then scarcities unfolding even more strongly, up to tipping points," said Oliver Schelske, lead author of the research.
Jeffrey Bohn, Swiss Re's chief research officer, said: "This is the first index to our knowledge that pulls together indicators of biodiversity and ecosystems to cross-compare around the world, and then specifically link back to the economies of those locations."
The index was designed to help insurers assess ecosystem risks when setting premiums for businesses but Bohn said it could have a wider use as it "allows businesses and governments to factor biodiversity and ecosystems into their economic decision-making".
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/12/fifth-of-nations-at-risk-of-ecosystem-collapse-analysis-finds
Two in five of the world's plant species are at risk of extinction as a result of the destruction of the natural world, according to an international report.
Plants and fungi underpin life on Earth, but the scientists said they were now in a race against time to find and identify species before they were lost.
These unknown species, and many already recorded, were an untapped "treasure chest" of food, medicines and biofuels that could tackle many of humanity's greatest challenges, they said, potentially including treatments for coronavirus and other pandemic microbes.
More than 4,000 species of plants and fungi were discovered in 2019. These included six species of Allium in Europe and China, the same group as onions and garlic, 10 relatives of spinach in California and two wild relatives of cassava, which could help future-proof the staple crop eaten by 800 million people against the climate crisis.
New medical plants included a sea holly species in Texas, whose relatives can treat inflammation, a species of antimalarial Artemisa in Tibet and three varieties of evening primrose.
"We would be able not survive without plants and fungi – all life depends on them – and it is really time to open the treasure chest," said Prof Alexandre Antonelli, the director of science at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, in the UK. RBG Kew led the report, which involved 210 scientists from 42 countries.
"Every time we lose a species, we lose an opportunity for humankind," Antonelli said. "We are losing a race against time as we are probably losing species faster than we can find and name them."
The UN revealed last week that the world's governments failed to meet a single target to stem biodiversity losses in the last decade.
The researchers based their assessment of the proportion of species under threat of extinction on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List. But only a small fraction of the 350,000 known plant species have been assessed, so the scientists used statistical techniques to adjust for biases in the data, such as the lack of fieldwork in some regions.
They also used artificial intelligence to assess little-known areas. "We now have AI approaches that are up to 90% accurate," said Eimear Nic Lughadha, a senior research leader at RBG Kew. "These are good enough to say, 'this area has a lot of species that haven't been assessed but are almost certainly threatened'."
In 2019, Nic Lughadha reported that 571 species had been wiped out since 1750, although the true number was likely to be much higher.
The 2016 State of Plants report found one in five were threatened, but the new analysis reveals the real risk to be much higher. The main cause of plant losses is the destruction of wild habitat to create farmland. Overharvesting of wild plants, building, invasive species, pollution and, increasingly, the climate crisis are also important causes of losses.
Billions of people rely on herbal medicines as their primary source of healthcare, but the report found that 723 species used as treatments are threatened with extinction. These include a type of red angel's trumpet in South America used for circulatory disorders that is now extinct in the wild and an Indian pitcher plant traditionally used for skin diseases.
"Only 7% of [known] plants have documented uses as medicines and therefore the world's plants and fungi remain largely untapped as potential sources of new medicines," said Melanie-Jayne Howes, a research leader at RBG Kew. "So it is absolutely critical that we better protect biodiversity so we are better prepared for emerging challenges to our planet and our health."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/30/world-plant-species-risk-extinction-fungi-earth
- there are some fascinating options for planetary reboot and research? If you watch other planets (the gas planets of this particular Solar System are interesting because they act almost like wind tunnels. The differences in colour highlight particular systemic patterns) and Earth you'll notice that the weather is semi-static/semi-dynamic (there's a lot of clutter but there are highly persistent patterns in the weather. If you note a global map of hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes, wind, etc... you'll see that they tend to band around the equator and then flow out from there. What's interesting is if you understand the Earth as a giant closed aerodynamic system then you may be able to reduce the incidence/intensity of natural disasters even if the temperature rises by making changes around the equator? If you've seen wind tunnel testing a little can change a lot (aircraft and car testing are the easiest to study and find examples of. Study air flow around the floor area of a Formula 1 car reminds me of this issue sometimes. If you think about wind flow in cities where it's buffety versus clean flow in rural areas it's an example where further research isn't required)? Previous tests of nuclear bombs yielded very large craters (we can reproduce effects of this in hypersonic weapons ear without fallout). Could strategic placement of craters, mountains, trees, etc... (viable in this age if you eamine this post and other science in further detail?) reduce incidence of major catastrophic weather anomalies? Maybe we can redirect rain into drought areas and vice versa? Ancient Earth was obviously very different based on most models? Temperature, spin of Earth, gaseous/liquid nature of Earth, etc... create perfect conditions for what people call weather? Active weather manipulation not easy. Go with the rhythm. Lots of little moves to bring about big changes?
most explosive reactions water
The alkali metals (Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and Fr) are the most reactive metals in the periodic table - they all react vigorously or even explosively with cold water, resulting in the displacement of hydrogen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-reactive_substances
tornado water analysis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado
sea water evaporation rate by temperature
https://www.eso.org/gen-fac/pubs/astclim/espas/pwv/mockler.html
https://www.seriouseats.com/2010/08/how-to-boil-water-faster-simmer-temperatures.html
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/09/14/does-waters-boiling-point-change-with-altitude-americans-arent-sure/
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Evaporation-capacities-with-regard-to-evaporation-temperature_fig3_322999596
evaporating hurricane
How do hurricanes form step by step?
For one to form, there needs to be warm ocean water and moist, humid air in the region. When humid air is flowing upward at a zone of low pressure over warm ocean water, the water is released from the air as creating the clouds of the storm. As it rises, the air in a hurricane rotates.
https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/storms/how-hurricanes-form
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/hurricanes/
hurricane zone global map
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/weather/tropical-cyclones/facts
https://www.thegeographeronline.net/hazards-and-disasters---risk-assessment-and-response.html
http://www.un-spider.org/links-and-resources/data-sources/daotm-flood-web-maps
hurricanes global map
https://scijinks.gov/hurricane/
https://www.mapsofworld.com/answers/disasters/difference-between-hurricane-typhoon-cyclone/
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutrsmc.shtml
forest global map
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Mapping_the_world_s_forests
https://ourworldindata.org/forests
aircraft frequency map
hurricane frequency by time
most common rainfall areas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_rainfall_climatology
https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/climatic-extremes
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/change/about/rain_averagemaps.shtml
most explosive reactions water
The alkali metals (Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and Fr) are the most reactive metals in the periodic table - they all react vigorously or even explosively with cold water, resulting in the displacement of hydrogen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-reactive_substances
gas giant planets
A gas giant is a giant planet composed mainly of hydrogen and helium.[1] Gas giants are sometimes known as failed stars because they contain the same basic elements as a star. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of the Solar System. The term "gas giant" was originally synonymous with "giant planet", but in the 1990s it became known that Uranus and Neptune are really a distinct class of giant planet, being composed mainly of heavier volatile substances (which are referred to as "ices"). For this reason, Uranus and Neptune are now often classified in the separate category of ice giants.[2]
Jupiter and Saturn consist mostly of hydrogen and helium, with heavier elements making up between 3 and 13 percent of the mass.[3] They are thought to consist of an outer layer of molecular hydrogen surrounding a layer of liquid metallic hydrogen, with probably a molten rocky core. The outermost portion of their hydrogen atmosphere is characterized by many layers of visible clouds that are mostly composed of water and ammonia. The layer of metallic hydrogen makes up the bulk of each planet, and is referred to as "metallic" because the very large pressure turns hydrogen into an electrical conductor. The gas giants' cores are thought to consist of heavier elements at such high temperatures (20,000 K) and pressures that their properties are poorly understood.[3]
The defining differences between a very low-mass brown dwarf and a gas giant (estimated at about 13 Jupiter masses) are debated.[4] One school of thought is based on formation; the other, on the physics of the interior.[4] Part of the debate concerns whether "brown dwarfs" must, by definition, have experienced nuclear fusion at some point in their history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_giant
https://www.space.com/30372-gas-giants.html
https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/G/gas+giant+planet
The Great Red Spot is a persistent high-pressure region in the atmosphere of Jupiter, producing an anticyclonic storm, the largest in the Solar System, 22 degrees south of Jupiter's equator. Observations from 1665 to 1713 are believed to be of the same storm; if this is correct, it has existed for at least 360 years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Red_Spot
nuclear bomb crater
https://academo.org/demos/nuclear-craters/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Chagan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Explosions_for_the_National_Economy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Plowshare
hurricanes global map
https://scijinks.gov/hurricane/
https://www.mapsofworld.com/answers/disasters/difference-between-hurricane-typhoon-cyclone/
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutrsmc.shtml
http://www.coolgeography.co.uk/GCSE/Year11/Managing%20Hazards/Tropical%20storms/tropical_storms.htm
which way does earth spin
Earth rotates eastward, in prograde motion. As viewed from the north pole star Polaris, Earth turns counterclockwise. The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_rotation
https://www.livescience.com/62405-what-if-earth-rotation-reversed.html
https://socratic.org/questions/which-way-does-the-earth-rotate-and-why
earth bulge spin
An equatorial bulge is a difference between the equatorial and polar diameters of a planet, due to the centrifugal force exerted by the rotation about the body's axis. A rotating body tends to form an oblate spheroid rather than a sphere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equatorial_bulge
https://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Srotfram1.htm
https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-Earth-bulge-around-the-equator
wind speed average global
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/global-wind-speed-average/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-worlds-winds-are-speeding-up/
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/1824/global-wind-speed
https://phys.org/news/2017-10-stilling-global.html
https://globalwindatlas.info/
https://www.climate.gov/maps-data/dataset/average-wind-speeds-map-viewer
forest ancient earth map
https://deeptimemaps.com/
https://mymodernmet.com/ancient-earth-map/
https://www.livescience.com/1130-maps-ancient-earth-revising.html
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-27/map-fills-500-million-year-gap-in-earth-history/8655196
global hurricane zone
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/hurricanes/location
https://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/hurricanes/1b.html
https://gpm.nasa.gov/education/articles/how-do-hurricanes-form
https://www.mapsofworld.com/hurricane/distribution/spatial-distribution.html
global wind flow
https://earth.nullschool.net/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevailing_winds
wind tunnel
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-are-wind-tunnels-k4.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_tunnel
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wind+tunnel+testing
Smoke Lifts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_WgkVQWtno
Basics of Aerodynamics: Wind Tunnel, Eddy Currents, Wind Resistance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNO3bZtZ4tY
Flow visualization around simple building shapes in wind tunnel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEgk2Bgz16s
bernoulli effect
In fluid dynamics, Bernoulli's principle states that an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in static pressure or a decrease in the fluid's potential energy. The principle is named after Daniel Bernoulli who published it in his book Hydrodynamica in 1738.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernoulli%27s_principle
nuclear bombs weather manipulation
A weather modification (also known as weather control) is the act of intentionally manipulating or altering the weather. The most common form of weather modification is cloud seeding, which increases rain or snow, usually for the purpose of increasing the local water supply.[1] Weather modification can also have the goal of preventing damaging weather, such as hail or hurricanes, from occurring; or of provoking damaging weather against the enemy, as a tactic of military or economic warfare like Operation Popeye, where clouds were seeded to prolong the monsoon in Vietnam. Weather modification in warfare has been banned by the United Nations under the Environmental Modification Convention.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_modification
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Popeye
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Stormfury
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Cumulus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conspiracy_theories#Weather_and_earthquake_control_projects
https://theconversation.com/this-is-why-nuking-a-hurricane-will-not-work-mr-trump-122398
https://history.aip.org/climate/RainMake.htm
- we know that domestic/semi-domestic animals can be trained to live in the wild if need be. Possible to create the equivalent of Orangutan Jungle School, Chimp School, Bilbie School, etc... for release back into the wild. Only viable if reboot of planet can work (possible via strategic use of weapons, some intelligence, what I call "Life Bombs", etc...)? Would be interesting to see whether the Earth can be returned to a genetically pristine state by examining fossils? Reason why I'm curious is if I understand the coding right the gene pool will be technically better and they'll be less problems with disease, robustness, etc?
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/10/human-like-animal-behaviours-and.html
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/accelerating-evolution-greater-bilbies-will-be-trained-to-fear-cats-20200923-p55yhb.html
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2020/sep/29/planetary-safety-net-could-halt-wildlife-loss-and-slow-climate-breakdown-aoe
"Many of the most important countries in the world that are causing climate change due to their emissions of greenhouse gases, and/or are destroying their biodiversity, are not signatures to this pledge. Without countries such as the USA, Brazil, China, Russia, India, and Australia we cannot succeed in achieving the Paris climate goal or halting and ultimately reversing the loss of biodiversity," he said.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/29/australia-joins-us-china-and-russia-in-refusing-to-sign-leaders-pledge-on-biodiversity
- I suspect that if Earth (and life on it) was created by a different race then their will likely be epicentres where the origins of life are much older and then they band outwards like tree rings? It'll show up in DNA, fossils, etc...
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/09/ancient-astronautsmythologyarchaeologys_24.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-evolution-vs-creationism-debate.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/12/mental-illness-and-human-mind-control.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/10/human-like-animal-behaviours-and.html
tree rings
https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2540/tree-rings-provide-snapshots-of-earths-past-climate/
https://climatekids.nasa.gov/tree-rings/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrochronology
tokra crystals
https://stargate.fandom.com/wiki/Tok%27ra_tunnel
https://www.gateworld.net/wiki/Crystal_tunnels
wraith technology stargate
https://stargate.fandom.com/wiki/Wraith_technology
https://stargate.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Wraith_technology
farscape ship
https://farscape.fandom.com/wiki/Moya
https://farscape.fandom.com/wiki/Leviathan
https://farscape.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Vehicles
star trek genesis
Project Genesis was the code name for a classified scientific research project within the United Federation of Planets whose goal was to develop a process whereby uninhabitable planets could be made suitable for humanoid life through a subatomic transformation. While the project was intended in part to combat overpopulation, the project became controversial when its destructive power became known. Ultimately, the project was deemed unfeasible.
The head scientist for the project was Dr. Carol Marcus who managed a large team including her son Dr. David Marcus on the station Regula I. There, they developed the Genesis Device, a torpedo-like technology which was the delivery mechanism that triggered the transformation dubbed the "Genesis effect" by the team. The process involved reducing the target space body to subatomic particles, then reassembling them, according to the pre-programmed Genesis matrix.
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Project_Genesis
The Rainbow Serpent or Rainbow Snake is a common deity often seen as a creator god,[1] known by numerous names in different Australian Aboriginal languages, and a common motif in the art and religion of Aboriginal Australia.[2] Not all of the myths of the ancestral being link a rainbow with the snake and not all describe the being as a snake, but there is usually a link with water or rain.[3] Some scholars have suggested that the link between the two suggests the cycle of the seasons, for example blue (winter), red (summer), yellow (spring) and orange (autumn), and the importance of water in human life.[4] When the rainbow is seen in the sky, it is said to be the Rainbow Serpent moving from one waterhole to another and the divine concept explained why some waterholes never dried up when drought struck.[3]
There are many names and stories associated with the serpent, all of which communicate the significance and power of this being within Aboriginal mythology. It is viewed as a giver of life through its association with water, but can be a destructive force if angry. The Rainbow Serpent is one of the most common and well-known Aboriginal stories and is of great importance to Aboriginal society.[5] It is one of the oldest continuing religious beliefs in the world[6] and continues to be a cultural influence today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Serpent
While lab-grown meat shows promise for sparing animals from slaughter, wood still comes entirely from trees that are cut down. That may not always be the case, though, as scientists are now working on growing it in a lab, too.
Led by PhD student Ashley Beckwith, researchers at MIT started by extracting live cells from the leaves of a zinnia plant. These were placed in a liquid growth medium, where they started reproducing. The resulting batch of cells was then transferred to a three-dimensional gel matrix, where they continued to proliferate.
The addition of the plant hormones auxin and cytokinin triggered the cells to produce lignin, which is an organic polymer that gives wood its firm consistency. This process allowed the scientists to ultimately grow a small wood-like rigid structure, in the shape of the gel matrix.
Additionally, by varying the levels of the two hormones, it was possible to control how much lignin the cells produced, thus letting the researchers tweak the structural characteristics of the "wood."
- if you've been tracking my blog for a while I've been investigating "Life Bombs". Something from which a complete ecosystem can be created from scratch to re-populate or maybe populate an entire planet. Simple life/plant bomb could simply be seedlings in treated sewerage/soil? Drop from cargo planes, drones, etc? Else pump sewage straight into dead lakes, craters, etc... along with seeds? It's obvious that only a small part of the Earth is being used? If you can expand the livable space, and make human technology compatible with bio-organics, then the urgent need to go to outer space diminishes. The good thing about Hypersonic weapons is that we can produce similar power/crater size without nuclear fallout? If I understand bio-organics properly (my prototypes/models match up against current bio-organic technology on Earth) then Earth can support many times more people then it currently does without causing too many problems?
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/06/history-of-hate-and-supremacy-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/03/prophetsgenesisterraforming-mars-seek.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/10/medicinebuilding-human-body-from.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/10/human-like-animal-behaviours-and.html
treated sewage fertilise soil
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-07/sydney-waste-turned-biosolids-fertiliser-helps-nsw-drought-soil/9931664
https://www.melbournewater.com.au/community-and-education/about-our-water/what-sewage/energy/biosolids
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/10/sewage-sludge-as-fertilizer-safe/
https://www.biosolids.com.au/info/what-are-biosolids/
treated sewerage as fertiliser
Biosolids – primarily dead bacteria – from sewage plants are usually dumped into landfills. However, they are rich in nutrients and can potentially be used as fertilizers. But farmers can't just replace the normal fertilizers they use on agricultural soil with these biosolids.
https://theconversation.com/microwaving-sewage-waste-may-make-it-safe-to-use-as-fertilizer-on-crops-128776
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-07/sydney-waste-turned-biosolids-fertiliser-helps-nsw-drought-soil/9931664
drone planting
The drones work by flying across a specified area, collecting data about soil conditions and determining the prime locations for planting. They then fire biodegradable pods, filled with a germinated seed and nutrients, into the ground.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/treeplanting-drones-could-help-restore-world-s-forests-a4116376.html
At the recent ForestTECH 2019 series run for New Zealand and Australian foresters, a US company, DroneSeed, outlined their work with forestry companies using swarms of drones for both planting and spraying. Trials with planting have just been completed in New Zealand.
Another company has also been working behind the scenes on a similar concept. Two drone enthusiasts have devised a new invention that allows drones to plant large numbers of seeds in minutes. South African Andries Louw and Australian Andrew Walker built a pneumatic firing module that shoots seeds into soil.
It can spit out two seeds per second at velocities of anywhere between 150 and 300 metres per second. This is faster than the cruising speed of a passenger jet. The module, called it Podder, can attach to the bottom of popular drone models.
Louw and Walker estimate that a team of two, flying 2 drones, can plant up to 40,000 seeds into the ground in a day. In just ten minutes they can plant what the average human can plant. They have built a pneumatic firing module capable of shooting 8,000 seeds into the ground in a day, ten times faster than the average human can plant them.
The first module was built in a garage in Hermanus, but since then Louw, a certified drone pilot, and Walker, a mechanical engineer based in Sydney, have founded a company called AirSeed Technologies, and hope to use their technology to address deforestation.
It's not the first-time seed-planting has been done by air, but the success rate of germination is low. Drones have also been used, but Louw says payloads have been limited to 150 seeds per flight due to the weight of the seeds, which also needed to be pre-germinated.
https://foresttech.events/drones-to-plant-hundreds-of-trees-in-minutes/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-25/the-plan-to-plant-nearly-100,000-trees-a-day-with-drones/8642766
https://www.fastcompany.com/90504789/these-drones-can-plant-40000-trees-in-a-month-by-2028-theyll-have-planted-1-billion
https://www.fastcompany.com/90329982/these-tree-planting-drones-are-firing-seed-missiles-to-restore-the-worlds-forests
global flight map
https://www.flightradar24.com/
https://www.flightconnections.com/
https://flightaware.com/live/map
https://www.airlineroutemaps.com/
paratrooper plane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_forces
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_C-130J_Super_Hercules
2 Operational history
2.1 Military
2.2 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
2.3 Hurricane Harvey (2017)
2.4 Aerial Firefighting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_C-130_Hercules
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embraer_C-390_Millennium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaanxi_Y-9
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaanxi_Y-8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-12
- extermination of native populations makes research more difficult? Native people may have best historical knowledge of original animal life and fauna? I've noticed that unlike Western civilisation many original inhabitants lived way further inland in a lot of countries? It's because their way of life is simpler, less wasteful, etc? Hence, resources such as rivers, wildlife, plants, etc... are less impacted?
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/09/ancient-astronautsmythologyarchaeologys_24.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/06/history-of-hate-and-supremacy-random.html
https://www.miragenews.com/portfolio-of-marine-reserves-enhances-fish-populations/
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/human-evolution-and-climate-change/12714726
"What the story of quinine shows is that biodiversity and human health go hand in hand," Schlagenhauf said. "People often think of plant-based remedies as 'alternative medicine', but it is to plants that we owe some of the major medicinal breakthroughs in human history.
https://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200527-the-tree-that-changed-the-world-map
https://www.msn.com/en-au/money/markets/indigenous-leaders-appalled-after-being-granted-access-to-illawarras-whale-cave-for-first-time-in-decades/ar-BB19CvXu
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/1709726275941/When-The-River-Runs-Dry
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/first-contact
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/rise
"Indigenous plants and trees are valuable ecologically and socially as they conserve soil and water, thus allowing rich biodiversity of wild edibles and minor forest produce that are used by locals," says Negi. "The loss of natural wealth translates into much more than a monetary one for our socio-cultural fabric."
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200915-the-himalayan-invention-powered-by-pine-needles
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200131-why-and-how-does-future-planet-count-carbon
speed up tree growth
The team discovered two genes, PXY and CLE, that control outward growth in the tree trunk. By they manipulated these genes in poplar trees so they would over-express, they found they could coax the trees into growing twice as fast as normal. The result were poplars of a certain age that were taller, wider, and had more leaves. “Our results demonstrate that the PXY-CLE pathway has evolved to regulate secondary growth and manipulating this pathway can result in dramatically increased tree growth and productivity,” the researchers write.
Fast-growing trees may have a number of practical applications. First, scientists may be able to use them as a prolific source of renewable source of biofuels. They could also be used for ultra-productive plantations that could produce the same amount of timber or pulp on half the land.
If corresponding genes are found in other species, modified trees could be used around the globe to more rapidly lock up CO 2 emissions. Those trees could then be left standing, used in construction, or burned in a biomass power plant with carbon capture and sequestration equipment (CCS), which would allow us to permanently store the tree’s stored carbon beneath the Earth’s surface . (CCS is still in development, though, with engineers working on refining the technology.)
The biggest trees capture the most carbon: Large trees dominate carbon storage in forests
- some fascinating attempts at energy harvesting, efficient, omni-combustion engines, and alternative fuels? Multi-fuel engines were attempted in US and other places already with limited succcess?
energy harvesting
Energy harvesting is the process by which energy is derived from external sources, captured, and stored for small, wireless autonomous devices, like those used in wearable electronics and wireless sensor networks. Energy harvesters provide a very small amount of power for low-energy electronics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_harvesting
This technology had started to gain traction in India in 1994, when the engineer S Dasappa and his team at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore started working on improving biomass gasifiers in collaboration with the engineering company Dasag, based in Switzerland. They experimented not with pine needles, but with agricultural waste like rice husks, leaves and coconut shells as feedstock, heated to over 1,000C in a reduced oxygen environment. In those conditions, the needles gave off a mixture of gases, including carbon monoxide, methane and hydrogen. These gases were further cleaned of dust and tar and burned to power an electric generator.
Dasappa's design has since been improved further and patented. There are currently about 30 units operating in villages of Karnataka, India. "With abundant agricultural and forest biomass available in India, it is a low-cost energy source that has lower impact on the environment than fossil fuels," says Dasappa. It has caught on elsewhere too, with uptake in countries including United States, Switzerland and Japan.
But Rajnish says his suggestion to utilise pine needles for biomass gasification was met with resistance and rejection from government officials and researchers at the time in 2007. They argued that even though highly combustible, the density of pine needles was not enough to be used as an energy source for gasification. They were not the only ones with questions. "The villagers thought I was out of my mind," recalls Rajnish. "They did not know about biomass gasification, and generating electricity from pine needles seemed an alien concept."
The idea, however, intrigued the Volkart Foundation, set up by Swiss brothers in 1953 to support NGOs working for poor communities, and they invested in the pine needle experiment. A few trials later, Rajnish struck on the idea of chopping the pine needles into smaller pieces to increase the density before feeding to the gasifier – and it worked. In 2009, he succeeded in setting up the world's first 9 kWh pine needle power plant. Today, the electricity generated by the small plant is used to power the Avani workshop, while leftover carbon powder produced is bound together with locally made glue and made into briquettes to burn as a sustainable form of cooking fuel.
...
The emissions from travel it took to report this story were 0kg CO2. The digital emissions from this story are an estimated 1.2g to 3.6g CO2 per page view. Find out more about how we calculated this figure here.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200915-the-himalayan-invention-powered-by-pine-needles
full cycle electric car vs combustion car
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_aspects_of_the_electric_car
https://thedriven.io/2020/04/27/life-cycle-emissions-of-electric-cars-are-fraction-of-fossil-fuelled-vehicles/
https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-how-electric-vehicles-help-to-tackle-climate-change
Electric vehicles (EVs) seem very attractive at first sight. But when we look more closely, it becomes clear that they have a substantial carbon footprint and some downsides in terms of the extraction of lithium, cobalt and other metals. And they don't relieve congestion in crowded cities.
...
The increasing use of lithium-ion batteries as a major power source in electronic devices, including mobile phones, laptops and electric cars has contributed to a 58% increase in lithium mining in the past decade worldwide. There seems little near-term risk of lithium being mined out, but there is an environmental downside.
The mining process requires extensive amounts of water, which can cause aquifer depletion and adversely affect ecosystems in the Atacama Salt Flat, in Chile, the world's largest lithium extraction site. But researchers have developed methods to recover lithium from water.
Turning to climate change, it matters whether electric cars emit less carbon than conventional vehicles, and how much less.
...
The increasing use of lithium-ion batteries as a major power source in electronic devices, including mobile phones, laptops and electric cars has contributed to a 58% increase in lithium mining in the past decade worldwide. There seems little near-term risk of lithium being mined out, but there is an environmental downside.
The mining process requires extensive amounts of water, which can cause aquifer depletion and adversely affect ecosystems in the Atacama Salt Flat, in Chile, the world's largest lithium extraction site. But researchers have developed methods to recover lithium from water.
Turning to climate change, it matters whether electric cars emit less carbon than conventional vehicles, and how much less.
...
In 2018, Australia's share of renewables in electricity generation was about 21% (similar to Greece's at 22%). In contrast, the share of renewables in New Zealand's electricity generation mix was about 84% (less than France's at 90%). Using these data and estimates from a 2018 assessment, electric car upstream emissions (for a battery electric vehicle) in Australia can be estimated to be about 170g of CO₂ per km while upstream emissions in New Zealand are estimated at about 25g of CO₂ per km on average. This shows that using an electric car in New Zealand is likely to be about seven times better in terms of upstream carbon emissions than in Australia.
The above studies show that emissions during the use phase from a fossil-fuelled compact sedan car were about 251g of CO₂ per km. Therefore, the use phase emissions from such a car were about 81g of CO₂ per km higher than those from a grid-recharged EV in Australia, and much worse than the emissions from an electric car in New Zealand.
...
The recycling phase
The key processes in the recycling phase are vehicle dismantling, vehicle recycling, battery recycling and material recovery. The estimated emissions in this phase, based on a study in China, are about 1.8 tonnes for a fossil-fuelled car and 2.4 tonnes for an electric car (including battery recycling). This difference is mostly due to the emissions from battery recycling which is 0.7 tonnes.
This illustrates that electric cars are responsible for more emissions than their petrol counterparts in the recycling phase. But it's important to note the recycled vehicle components can be used in the manufacturing of future vehicles, and batteries recycled through direct cathode recycling can be used in subsequent batteries. This could have significant emissions reduction benefits in the future.
So on the basis of recent studies, fossil-fuelled cars generally emit more than electric cars in all phases of a life cycle. The total life cycle emissions from a fossil-fuelled car and an electric car in Australia were 333g of CO₂ per km and 273g of CO₂ per km, respectively. That is, using average grid electricity, EVs come out about 18% better in terms of their carbon footprint.
Likewise, electric cars in New Zealand work out a lot better than fossil-fuelled cars in terms of emissions, with life-cycle emissions at about 333 g of CO₂ per km for fossil-fuelled cars and 128g of CO₂ per km for electric cars. In New Zealand, EVs perform about 62% better than fossil cars in carbon footprint terms.
https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-the-environmental-footprint-of-electric-versus-fossil-cars-124762
https://www.msn.com/en-au/money/news/joint-venture-looks-to-invest-billions-in-natural-capital-projects-to-help-combat-climate-change/ar-BB18oLrl
lpg vs petrol greenhouse gas
LPG is a lower carbon alternative to petrol and diesel. The LPG molecule has less carbon and releases less carbon when it is used in your vehicle. ... Diesel CO2 emissions are 29.2% higher than LPG whilst petrol is 26.8% higher than LPG.
http://www.unigas.com.au/why-autogas-is-better-for-the-environment/
Is LPG better for the environment than petrol?
We all see the cheaper cost of LPG compared to Petrol of Diesel but is it better or cleaner to the environment than Petrol or Diesel. ... LPG produces 33% less CO2 emissions than petrol and 45% less CO2 than diesel. LPG vehicles produce up to 82% less Nitrogen Oxide pollutants than petrol and 99% better than diesel !
https://www.dynamicassetrecovery.com/whats-best-lpg-petrol-or-diesel
methane gas
Methane (CH4) is a colorless, odorless, and highly flammable gas composed of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. It can be produced naturally and synthetically, and when burned in the presence of oxygen, it produces carbon dioxide and water vapor.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a28858699/what-is-methane/
methane combustion
When methane burns in the air it has a blue flame. In sufficient amounts of oxygen, methane burns to give off carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). When it undergoes combustion it produces a great amount of heat, which makes it very useful as a fuel source. Methane is a very effective greenhouse gas.
https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/education/info_activities/pdfs/CTA_the_methane_cycle.pdf
https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Methane
vegetable oil fuel emissions
Vegetable oils are increasingly used as a substitute for fossil fuels. Vegetable oils are the basis of biodiesel, which can be used like conventional diesel. Some vegetable oil blends are used in unmodified vehicles, but straight vegetable oil needs specially prepared vehicles which have a method of heating the oil to reduce its viscosity and surface tension. Another alternative is vegetable oil refining.
The availability of biodiesel around the world is increasing, although still tiny compared to conventional fossil fuel sources. There is significant research in algaculture methods to make biofuel from algae.
Concerns have been expressed about growing crops for fuel use rather than food and the environmental impacts of large-scale agriculture and land clearing required to expand the production of vegetable oil for fuel use. These effects/impacts would need to be specifically researched and evaluated, economically and ecologically, and weighed in balance with the proposed benefits of vegetable oil fuel in relation to the use of other fuel sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable_oils_as_alternative_energy
"Green hydrogen" made with wind and solar electricity could become the cheapest form of what the Australian government has described as a "transformative fuel" much faster than expected, analysts believe.
Chinese manufacturers have reported making systems to create hydrogen with renewable energy for up to 80% less than official Australian estimates from just two years ago.
Energy analysts said it suggested green hydrogen was likely to leapfrog hydrogen made with gas and coal as the most cost-effective form of the energy before the end of the decade, and by the time an industry could be developed at scale.
The government has nominated "clean hydrogen" as a priority low-emissions technology that could eventually help replace fossil fuels in transport, electricity and in industrial processes as the world moves to cut greenhouse gas emissions. But it has not defined what "clean hydrogen" would mean in terms of emissions.
Its recent low-emissions technology statement forecast the cheapest way to produce it in the short-term might be to use gas or "coal gasification" with carbon capture and storage (CCS). It said production methods using renewable energy would become cheaper as demand grew.
But an analysis by BloombergNEF has found electrolysers used in China could already be as little as a fifth of the cost estimated in a CSIRO roadmap released in 2018, which has been used as the basis for government estimates. The consultancy suggested green hydrogen could cost less than $2 a kilogram – the "stretch goal" nominated by Angus Taylor, the energy and emissions reduction minister, at which the fuel would become competitive with existing technologies – before 2030.
"We think electrolysers can get much cheaper much sooner than most expect," said Kobad Bhavnagri, BloombergNEF's Sydney-based global head of industrial decarbonisation.
"The way we see it is there is very little demand for hydrogen from fossil fuels with CCS. It doesn't fit the scale-up model for an emerging industry."
The International Renewable Energy Agency last year also acknowledged in a report last year that Chinese manufacturers had claimed electrolysers were already available for a cost that had been considered a best-case scenario for 2040.
The government estimates hydrogen could create more than 8,000 jobs and generate about $11bn a year in GDP by 2050. Major economic powers including Germany and Japan are eyeing Australia as a potential source of hydrogen as the world moves away from fossil fuels, in line with the goals of the Paris agreement.
Germany has dedicated more than A$15bn of Covid-19 stimulus spending to developing a domestic hydrogen industry, and has agreed with Australia to undertake a joint feasibility study into its potential as an energy source. The European Commission recently launched a strategy that positions green hydrogen as central to the continent's goal to reach "climate neutrality" – net zero emissions – by 2050.
In Australia, the most ambitious proposal to date is for what is known as the Asian Renewable Energy Hub. Planned for the Pilbara, its scale is extraordinary: 1,600 large wind turbines and a 78 sq km array of solar panels working to power 14 gigawatts of hydrogen electrolysers.
Speaking at an online summit hosted by the Smart Energy Council this week, the hub's executive director, Alex Hewitt, said the scale of the proposed development – which he described as the world's largest power plant – meant it could create green hydrogen for less than the government's benchmark of $2 a kilogram. "That's the beauty of very intense, massive, properly correlated renewable energy," he said.
The hub plans to largely use the hydrogen to create "green ammonia", effectively replacing gas in the ammonia production process. Hewitt said ammonia was "a great way to ship hydrogen" as transporting it as a liquid was likely to be both logistically challenging and much more expensive.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has written to the CSIRO asking it to update its 2018 analysis on the basis that recent contract prices for green hydrogen are already about 50% less than the best-case scenario the science agency had projected for 2025.
Bandt said CSIRO was not at fault – the green hydrogen industry has developed rapidly – but he was concerned the government would neglect the zero emissions option in its plan in favour of fossil fuels and miss economic opportunities if forecasts were not updated.
"With green hydrogen, Australia can export our sunlight," Bandt said. "There is no point having a technology roadmap if the figures are all wrong. Up-to-date estimates are critical to making policies that benefit users and support the job-creating industries of the future."
A spokesperson for Taylor responded: "Why would the government listen to Adam Bandt over CSIRO and the chief scientist?"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/03/green-hydrogen-from-renewables-could-become-cheapest-transformative-fuel-within-a-decade
biofuel aircraft
Aviation biofuel is a biofuel used for aircraft. It is considered by some to be the primary means by which the aviation industry can reduce its carbon footprint. After a multi-year technical review from aircraft makers, engine manufacturers and oil companies, biofuels were approved for commercial use in July 2011.[1] Since then, some airlines have experimented with using biofuels on commercial flights.[2] The focus of the industry has now turned to second generation sustainable biofuels (sustainable aviation fuels) that do not compete with food supplies nor are major consumers of prime agricultural land or fresh water. NASA has determined that 50% aviation biofuel mixture can cut air pollution caused by air traffic by 50–70%.[3]
The sustainable aviation fuels certification and production pace seems insufficient to meet the International Air Transport Association target of halving the CO2 emissions by 2050.[4]
The first flight using blended biofuel took place in 2008. Since then, more than 150,000 flights have used biofuels. Only five airports have regular biofuel distribution today (Bergen, Brisbane, Los Angeles, Oslo and Stockholm), with others offering occasional supply.[5] Trials of using algae as biofuel were carried out by Lufthansa, and Virgin Atlantic as early as 2008, although there is little evidence that using algae is a reasonable source for jet biofuels.[6] By 2015, cultivation of fatty acid methyl esters and alkenones from the algae, Isochrysis, was under research as a possible jet biofuel feedstock.[7]
As of 2017, there was little progress in producing jet fuel from algae, with a forecast that only 3 to 5% of fuel needs could be provided from algae by 2050.[8] Further, algae companies that formed in the early 21st century as a base for an algae biofuel industry have either closed or changed their business development toward other commodities, such as cosmetics, animal feed, or specialty oil products.[9]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_biofuel
Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary area of research that seeks to create new biological parts, devices, and systems, or to redesign systems that are already found in nature.
It is a branch of science that encompasses a broad range of methodologies from various disciplines, such as biotechnology, genetic engineering, molecular biology, molecular engineering, systems biology, membrane science, biophysics, chemical and biological engineering, electrical and computer engineering, control engineering and evolutionary biology.
Due to more powerful genetic engineering capabilities and decreased DNA synthesis and sequencing costs, the field of synthetic biology is rapidly growing. In 2016, more than 350 companies across 40 countries were actively engaged in synthetic biology applications; all these companies had an estimated net worth of $3.9 billion in the global market.[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_biology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_aviation
navy biofuel
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/21/us-navy-launches-first-biofuel-powered-aircraft-carriers
After bursting on the scene as a new frontier in sustainability, biofuels have come under some criticism in recent years over their inefficiency and use of food crops and large areas of farmable land.
But scientists at the Naval Air Warfare Center's Weapons Division have developed and secured a newly issued patent on a unique form of biofuel that is derived from more sustainable crops while providing higher quality ratings than comparable diesel fuels.
Dr. Ben Harvey and Heather Meylemans at the NAWCWD in China Lake, California have been working on the novel technology for several years. Navy test pilots have previously flown on 100-percent biofuel, but the pair wanted to improve on the fuel's sourcing and efficiency.
The new process, outlined in the patent issued Tuesday, involves taking lignocellulosic biomass — essentially any naturally occurring plant matter: grass, trees, crops, etc. — and breaking it down into pure dioxolanes using acid-catalyzed condensation of the food-grade flavor enhancer 2-tridecanone.
The 2-tridecanone is the key to the whole operation. Conventional biodiesel is often generated from plant or animal-derived triglycerides, but 2-tridecanone is a cheap and easy-to-produce alternative that simplifies the entire process.
The end result is a fuel product that, according to Harvey and Meylemans patent, has "comparable net heats of combustion (NHOCs) to conventional biodiesel, while maintaining derived cetane numbers between 82-91, values which are 20–30 units higher than conventional biodiesel and 40–50 units higher than petroleum-derived diesel fuel."
The initial findings point to the potential for this type of fuel to act as a lower cost, a more sustainable alternative for use in military vehicles, and for the public.
https://techlinkcenter.org/news/navy-biofuel-breakthrough-could-mean-cheaper-more-efficient-travel
https://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/biofuels/u-s-navy-to-power-a-great-20160818
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-defense-greenfleet-idUSKCN0UY2U4
gas byproducts sewerage
The primary components of sewer gas include:
hydrogen sulfide
methane
ammonia
carbon dioxide
While sewer gas isn't dangerous in small amounts, these compounds contribute to sewer gas toxicity at high levels.
Hydrogen sulfide is the primary gas in sewer gas. According to researchTrusted Source, hydrogen sulfide has shown to be toxic to the oxygen systems of the body. In high amounts it can cause adverse symptoms, organ damage, or even death.
Ammonia is a well-known compound that's often used in cleaning chemicals, such as Windex. It has a distinctive odor.
Exposure to ammonia can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation. At higher levels, ammonia is toxic to humans. It can cause organ damage or death.
Methane and carbon dioxide are both relatively nontoxic greenhouse gases. However, in large amounts, methane gas is extremely flammable.
Paired with the flammability of ammonia, this mixture makes high levels of sewer gas a fire hazard.
https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-home-guide/sewer-gas
atmosphere mars
Average surface pressure: 610 Pa (0.088 psi)
Oxygen: 0.174%
Carbon dioxide: 95.32%
Carbon monoxide: 0.0747%
Water vapor: 0.03% (variable)
Nitrogen: 2.6%
Argon: 1.9%
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Mars
Creating fuel from thin air with artificial leaves
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54390932
- invasive species has been a problem for as long as long range navigation and travel has been possible? The more you learn about animals and understand their base programming the less of a problem this would be?
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/09/ancient-astronautsmythologyarchaeologys_24.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/06/history-of-hate-and-supremacy-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/05/education-or-indoctrination-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/03/religion-vs-uswestern-leadership-random.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/07/bible-codes-random-stuff-and-more.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/05/mexican-drug-cartel-background-random.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/03/religion-vs-uswestern-leadership-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/02/is-society-filtering-for-fairnessmerit.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/09/thinking-like-political-elite-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2018/01/capitalism-analysis-religion-23-and-more.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/05/is-western-leadership-required-more.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/08/neo-colonialism-and-neo-liberalism.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/06/religious-conspiracies-is-capitalism.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/01/conspiracy-theories-understanding.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/07/social-engineeringmanipulation-rigging.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/07/neuroscience-in-psyops-world-order.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/02/shadow-government-key-players-and-more.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/10/prototype-neural-interface-transfer.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/10/medicinebuilding-human-body-from.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-evolution-vs-creationism-debate.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/12/mental-illness-and-human-mind-control.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/10/human-like-animal-behaviours-and.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toad
disaster species transfer
An invasive species is a non-native species that spreads from the point of introduction and becomes abundant.[2]
The invasive species label attaches only to populations of species whose impact upon introduction has altered their new environment.[3] Although this impact can be beneficial, the term as most often used applies to introduced species that affect the invaded habitats and bioregions adversely, causing ecological, environmental, or economic damage.[4] This includes plant species labeled as "exotic pest plants" and "invasive exotics" growing in native plant communities.[5][6][7] The term is also used by land managers, botanists, researchers, horticulturalists, conservationists, and the public for noxious weeds.[8]
The term "invasive" is poorly defined and often very subjective,[9] and some broaden the term to include indigenous or "native" species that have colonized natural areas[9] – for example deer considered by some to be overpopulating their native zones and adjacent suburban gardens in the Northeastern and Pacific Coast regions of the United States.[10] The definition of "native" is also sometimes controversial. For example, the ancestors of Equus ferus (modern horses) evolved in North America and radiated to Eurasia before becoming locally extinct. Upon returning to North America in 1493, during their human-assisted migration, it is debatable as to whether they were native or exotic to the continent of their evolutionary ancestors.[11]
Invasion of long-established ecosystems by organisms is a natural phenomenon, but human-facilitated introductions have increased massively the rate, scale, and geographic range of invasion. For millennia, humans have served as both accidental and deliberate dispersal agents, beginning with our earliest migrations, accelerating in the age of discovery, and accelerating again with international trade.[12][13] Notable examples of invasive plant species include the kudzu vine, Andean pampas grass, and yellow starthistle. Animal examples include the New Zealand mud snail, feral pig, European rabbit, grey squirrel, domestic cat, carp, and ferret.[14][15][16] Some popular reference sources now name Homo sapiens, especially modern-age humans, as an invasive species,[17][18] but broad appreciation of human learning capacity and our behavioral potential and plasticity argues against any such fixed categorization.[19][20]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_pollution
Key points:
Fire ants have been in Australia since 2001 and are considered a "super pest"
A $400 million national program is working on eradication of the pest
The ants affect more than 52 different agricultural crops and can cause death in humans
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-10/fire-ant-victory-in-se-qld/12740836
"A total 95% of forest fires are the result of human intervention," a recent report from the Argentinian government's national fire management service asserts.
And in Paraguay Luis Recalde, an environmental consultant, says the key causes of the fires are the impact of regional deforestation on the climate, the use of fire to clear land for agriculture and illegal marijuana plantations, and the state's extremely poor enforcement of environmental laws.
"It's rare for the rules to be followed," he says. Paraguay's wildfires have been concentrated in its Gran Chaco region, which has some of the world's highest deforestation rates, largely driven by cattle ranching.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/09/a-continent-ablaze-why-fires-are-tearing-across-south-america
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201008-palmyra-how-tropical-islands-got-rid-of-their-rats
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200929-how-wolves-and-bison-are-returning-to-europe
- one thing I'm curious is whether you can create better food, yield rates, etc... by crossing or else building (from scratch atom by atom, molecule by molecule) food.  It would be genuinely interesting how much of the planet could be rebuilt if there was the desire and impetus?
norman borlaug
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/apr/01/norman-borlaug-humanitarian-hero-menace-society
https://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/apsnetfeatures/Pages/NormanBorlaug.aspx
https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2020/04/norman-borlaug-legacy-documentary/
Keiser Report - Chlorinated chicken Eugh! (E1356)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf_-TGOzkII
Morgan Spurlock - Exposing the 'Big Chicken' Industry (Super Size Me 2 - Holy Chicken!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9Llgjx6HQg
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=supersize+me
Supersize Me in 7 mins How too much of McDonald's will make you feel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9__23-zjhM
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=yes+men
Yes Men - Post Consumer Waste Recycling Program (WTO)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP_nNemsNT8
meat like fruit
https://www.allrecipes.com/article/jackfruit-popular-vegetarian-meat-substitute/
What fruit is used as a meat substitute?
Jackfruit
Jackfruit is a very large tropical fruit often used as a meat substitute. It packs some nutritional wallop, and the fact that you can cook, chunk or shred it like chicken or pork makes it a go-to main ingredient in many vegetarian and vegan dishes. Its flavor is neutral, and it takes to all kinds of seasonings.
https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/jackfruit-fruit-cooks-chunks-shreds-meat-ncna1127471
Jackfruit (see our recipe for Jackfruit Tacos)
Mushrooms
Cauliflower
Hearts of Palm
Lentils
https://tryveg.com/food/5-fruits-veggies-taste-like-meat/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-02/poachers-threaten-rare-meat-eating-plant-on-wa-south-coast/12723336
- the age of hypersonics and better human understanding of science opens up very interesting possibilities. Can you build artificial rivers/lakes, increase efficiency of existing ones, etc literally overnight? If you know what to look for you can tell where fresh water is likely to accumulate or form if there is a sufficient push?
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201006-india-why-bangalore-is-digging-a-million-wells
composition riverbed
Taking the typical wandering section of river from Baihe to Yiluo outfall as the example, cone penetration tests were carried out and indoor tests were worked out. Firstly, huge data about composition and mechanical characteristic of riverbed are achieved, it shows that the main components of riverbed in lower Yellow River are silty clay, silty loam, sandy loam, sand and so on. Secondly, physical and mechanical indexes of riverbed soil keep strong regularity. Finally, formation cause and change trend are achieved through the basic data of riverbed soil, thus it will improve the development of technology of (Line No. 1) physical model and numerical method for river research (Line No. 2).
Composition and mechanical characteristic of riverbed soil in lower Yellow River
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169131713000380
Composition and Mechanical Characteristic of Riverbed Soil about Wandering River Section in Lower Yellow River
https://www.computer.org/csdl/proceedings-article/isdea/2013/06456617/12OmNvAiSGf
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-08-28/where-did-earths-water-come-from/12598198
seabed composition
Sediments in the seabed vary diversely in their origin, from eroded land materials carried into the ocean by rivers or wind flow, waste and decompositions of sea animals, and precipitation of chemicals within the sea water itself, including some from outer space.[3] There are four basic types of sediment of the sea floor: 1.) "Terrigenous" describes the sediment derived from the materials eroded by rain, rivers, glaciers and that which is blown into the ocean by the wind, such as volcanic ash. 2.) Biogenous material is the sediment made up of the hard parts of sea animals that accumulate on the bottom of the ocean. 3.) Hydrogenous sediment is the dissolved material that precipitates in the ocean when oceanic conditions change, and 4.) cosmogenous sediment comes from extraterrestrial sources. These are the components that make up the seafloor under their genetic classifications.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabed
https://www.wur.nl/en/Research-Results/Research-Institutes/marine-research/Research/Projects/PRODUS-Sustainable-shellfish-culture/Effects-on-nature/Composition-and-structure-of-the-seabed.htm
salt content top vs bottom sea
https://www.quora.com/Is-the-water-saltier-at-the-top-or-bottom-of-the-ocean
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_bottom_water
Is the bottom of the ocean saltier than the top?
Deep ocean water (DOW) is the name for cold, salty water found deep below the surface of Earth's oceans. Ocean water differs in temperature and salinity. Warm surface water is generally saltier than the cooler deep or polar waters; in polar regions, the upper layers of ocean water are cold and fresh.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_ocean_water
https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/686-ocean-salinity
https://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=24631&t=salt-concentration-vs.-water-depth
https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/17530/why-does-the-salt-in-the-oceans-not-sink-to-the-bottom
https://news.agu.org/press-release/new-study-solves-mystery-of-salt-buildup-on-bottom-of-dead-sea/
clay chemical composition
Clay minerals are composed essentially of silica, alumina or magnesia or both, and water, but iron substitutes for aluminum and magnesium in varying degrees, and appreciable quantities of potassium, sodium, and calcium are frequently present as well.
https://www.britannica.com/science/clay-mineral
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_mineral
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material that contains hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates (clay minerals) that develops plasticity when wet.[1] Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure. Clays are plastic due to particle size and geometry as well as water content, and become hard, brittle and non–plastic upon drying or firing.[2][3][4] Depending on the soil's content in which it is found, clay can appear in various colours from white to dull grey or brown to deep orange-red.
Although many naturally occurring deposits include both silts and clay, clays are distinguished from other fine-grained soils by differences in size and mineralogy. Silts, which are fine-grained soils that do not include clay minerals, tend to have larger particle sizes than clays. There is, however, some overlap in particle size and other physical properties. The distinction between silt and clay varies by discipline. Geologists and soil scientists usually consider the separation to occur at a particle size of 2 μm (clays being finer than silts), sedimentologists often use 4–5 μm, and colloid chemists use 1 μm.[2] Geotechnical engineers distinguish between silts and clays based on the plasticity properties of the soil, as measured by the soils' Atterberg limits. ISO 14688 grades clay particles as being smaller than 2 μm and silt particles as being larger. Mixtures of sand, silt and less than 40% clay are called loam.
...
Clay minerals typically form over long periods as a result of the gradual chemical weathering of rocks, usually silicate-bearing, by low concentrations of carbonic acid and other diluted solvents. These solvents, usually acidic, migrate through the weathering rock after leaching through upper weathered layers. In addition to the weathering process, some clay minerals are formed through hydrothermal activity. There are two types of clay deposits: primary and secondary. Primary clays form as residual deposits in soil and remain at the site of formation. Secondary clays are clays that have been transported from their original location by water erosion and deposited in a new sedimentary deposit.[5] Clay deposits are typically associated with very low energy depositional environments such as large lakes and marine basins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humus
ion charge table
https://www.thoughtco.com/element-charges-chart-603986
http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~edudev/LabTutorials/PeriodicProperties/Ions/ions.html
http://digipac.ca/chemical/reftables/ioncharge.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_number
what does water react with
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-reactive_substances
brazil natural resources
Jump to Natural resources - Natural resources include: bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, clay, rare earth elements, uranium, petroleum, hydropower and timber.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Brazil
russia natural resources
Russia is one of the world's richest countries in raw materials, many of which are significant inputs for an industrial economy. Russia accounts for around 20 percent of the world's production of oil and natural gas and possesses large reserves of both fuels. This abundance has made Russia virtually self-sufficient in energy and a large-scale exporter of fuels. Oil and gas were primary hard-currency earners for the Soviet Union, and they remain so for the Russian Federation. Russia also is self-sufficient in nearly all major industrial raw materials and has at least some reserves of every industrially valuable nonfuel mineral--even after the productive mines of Ukraine, Kazakstan, and Uzbekistan no longer were directly accessible. Tin, tungsten, bauxite, and mercury were among the few natural materials imported in the Soviet period. Russia possesses rich reserves of iron ore, manganese, chromium, nickel, platinum, titanium, copper, tin, lead, tungsten, diamonds, phosphates, and gold, and the forests of Siberia contain an estimated one-fifth of the world's timber, mainly conifers (see fig. 8; Environmental Conditions, ch. 3).
The iron ore deposits of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly, close to the Ukrainian border in the southwest, are believed to contain one-sixth of the world's total reserves. Intensive exploitation began there in the 1950s. Other large iron ore deposits are located in the Kola Peninsula, Karelia, south-central Siberia, and the Far East. The largest copper deposits are located in the Kola Peninsula and the Urals, and lead and zinc are found in North Ossetia.
http://countrystudies.us/russia/59.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Russia
clay reserves by country
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_bauxite_production
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_bentonite_production
river bed composition
A stream bed or streambed is the channel bottom of a stream or river, the physical confine of the normal water flow. The lateral confines or channel margins are known as the stream banks or river banks, during all but flood stage. Under certain conditions a river can branch from one stream bed to multiple stream beds.[1] A flood occurs when a stream overflows its banks and flows onto its flood plain. As a general rule, the bed is the part of the channel up to the normal water line, and the banks are that part above the normal water line. However, because water flow varies, this differentiation is subject to local interpretation. Usually, the bed is kept clear of terrestrial vegetation, whereas the banks are subjected to water flow only during unusual or perhaps infrequent high water stages and therefore might support vegetation some or much of the time.
The nature of any stream bed is always a function of the flow dynamics and the local geologic materials, influenced by that flow. With small streams in mesophytic regions, the nature of the stream bed is strongly responsive to conditions of precipitation runoff. Where natural conditions of either grassland or forest ameliorate peak flows, stream beds are stable, possibly rich, with organic matter and exhibit minimal scour. These streams support a rich biota. Where conditions produce unnatural levels of runoff, such as occurs below roads, the stream beds will exhibit a greater amount of scour, often down to bedrock and banks may be undercut. This process greatly increases watershed erosion and results in thinner soils, upslope from the stream bed, as the channel adjusts to the increase in flow. The stream bed is very complex in terms of erosion. Sediment is transported, eroded and deposited on the stream bed.[2] The majority of sediment washed out in floods is "near-threshold" sediment that has been deposited during normal flow and only needs a slightly higher flow to become mobile again. This shows that the stream bed is left mostly unchanged in size and shape.[3]
Beds are usually what would be left once a stream is no longer in existence; the beds are usually well preserved even if they get buried, because the walls and canyons made by the stream usually have hard walls, usually soft sand and debris fill the bed. Dry stream beds are also subject to becoming underground water pockets (buried stream beds only) and flooding by heavy rains and water rising from the ground and may sometimes be part of the rejuvenation of the stream.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_bed
https://icm.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/land/Riverbedsubstratecharacterisation.asp
http://nwrm.eu/measure/riverbed-material-renaturalization
salt content nile river different points
Mapping soil salinity in the East Nile Delta using several methodological approaches of salinity assessment
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110982318301339
largest craters worldwide
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vredefort_crater
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_impact_craters_on_Earth
largest dried lakes
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/03/drying-lakes-climate-change-global-warming-drought/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_drying_lakes
https://www.britannica.com/list/7-lakes-that-are-drying-up
https://www.treehugger.com/worlds-th-largest-lake-is-now-dried-up-pics-video-4858036
nuclear bomb crater
https://www.usgs.gov/centers/eros/cold-war-craters?qt-science_support_page_related_con=0#qt-science_support_page_related_con
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedan_(nuclear_test)
https://www.ctbto.org/specials/testing-times/6-july-1962-sedan-massive-crater-massive-contamination
Sedan Crater
The Sedan Crater, located in Nevada's Area 51 Test Site, USA, was formed on July 6, 1962, by a 104 kiloton nuclear explosion. Instead of testing for warfare purposes, the bomb was intended to test the feasibility of using nuclear explosions for civilian purposes, such as facilitating mining. The crater now has an observation deck and has become a tourist attraction in its own right, attracting over 10,000 visitors every year.
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Lake Chagan
On January 15, 1965, the Chagan Test in Kazakhstan was carried out, for peaceful purposes, in an attempt to form an artifical lake. A channel was built to the nearby river and water successfully pooled in the crater forming the lake we see today.
https://academo.org/demos/nuclear-craters/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Chagan
A canal between the Pechora and the Kama was part of a plan for a "reconstruction of Volga and its basin", approved in November 1933 by a special conference of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Research in that direction was then conducted by Hydroproject, the dam and canal institute led by Sergey Yakovlevich Zhuk (Russian: Сергей Яковлевич Жук). Some design plans were developed by Zhuk's institute, but without either much publicity or actual construction work.[1]
The canal plan was given a new life in 1961 during Khrushchev's premiership. Now it was part of an even grander scheme for "Northern river reversal", which also included similar river water diversion projects in Siberia.
Unlike most other parts of the grand river rerouting scheme, the Pechora to Kama route did not just stay on the drawing board. It saw actual on-the-ground work done of the most unusual kind: on March 23, 1971, three 15-kiloton underground nuclear charges were exploded near the village of Vasyukovo in Cherdynsky District of Perm Oblast, some 100 km (62 mi) north of the town of Krasnovishersk. This nuclear test, known as Taiga,[2] part of the Soviet peaceful nuclear explosions program, was intended to demonstrate the feasibility of using nuclear explosions for canal construction. The triple blast created a crater over 600 m (2,000 ft) long. Later on, it was decided that building an entire canal in this fashion, using potentially several hundreds of nuclear charges, would not be feasible, and the use of nuclear charges for canal excavation was abandoned.[3][4]
The Northern river reversal plan was completely abandoned by the government in 1986.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pechora%E2%80%93Kama_Canal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagan_(nuclear_test)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Explosions_for_the_National_Economy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peaceful_nuclear_explosions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_crater_lake
molten anti tank weapons
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-explosive_anti-tank_warhead
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armor-piercing_shell
https://military.wikia.org/wiki/High-explosive_anti-tank_warhead
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/russias-new-anti-tank-weapon-aimed-armys-m1-abrams-102157
prompt global strike crater
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prompt_Global_Strike
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avangard_(hypersonic_glide_vehicle)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DF-ZF
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HYFLEX
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercontinental_ballistic_missile
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic_missile
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-ballistic_missile
The volume of gold reserves can be calculated more accurately than resources, although this is still not an easy task.
The below-ground stock of gold reserves is currently estimated to be around 50,000 tonnes, according to the US Geological Survey.
To put that in perspective, around 190,000 tonnes of gold has been mined in total, although estimates do vary.
Based on these rough figures, there is about 20% still to be mined. But this is a moving target.
New technologies may make it possible to extract some known reserves that aren't currently economical to access.
The most recent innovations include big data, AI, and smart data mining, which can potentially optimise processes and bring down costs.
Robotics are already being used at some sites, and are expected to increasingly become standard technologies in mine exploration.
How much gold is there left to mine in the world?
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54230737
Although not harmful in and of themselves, the worms are the secondary host for C. Shasta, a parasite to which juvenile chinook salmon have proven particularly vulnerable. Belchik says that the Klamath’s lowest dam, Iron Gate, has created overcrowded conditions that are ripe for the spread of C. Shasta. The salmon that don’t go into the hatchery – a man-made spawning facility – spawn just below the dam. The many juvenile salmon that then gather closely here are prone to picking up the parasite.
“[These] are all the ingredients necessary to put together a runaway out of control disease problem that is now wiping out of 80 or 90% of our fish,” says Belchik. “Anytime you have fish that have limited genetic diversity and limited geographic area, you invite catastrophe to take out your fish, whether it's a fish disease or a flood.”
The reservoirs behind the dams are also responsible for a significant build-up of toxic algae – which thrives in warm, nutrient-rich stagnant water. In sufficient quantities it becomes harmful to human health. In the autumn, water containing toxic algae is released and sent downstream towards the Klamath’s mouth where the Yurok reservation is.
“We have just received our almost yearly announcement that the toxic levels of microcystin in the river and blue-green algae are now at unhealthy levels,” says Frankie Myers, vice-chairman of the Yurok tribe. This doesn’t just make fishing hazardous. “There are pieces of our culture and our spiritual practices that we cannot do now without risking the health and safety of our people,” he explains. “The place we go to pray, the place we go to heal, the place we go to do our medicine will make you sick. That has a psychological impact on our communities.”
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With over 1,700 dams removed in the US – including 90 last year, according to American Rivers’ database – there is a growing list of examples illustrating the benefits to ecosystems, especially for imperilled fish populations. The removal of two smaller dams and fish passage improvements on the Penobscot River in Maine, which were completed in 2016, have restored 2,000 miles of habitat for Atlantic salmon and other species, compensating for lost power by improving output from other dams. The project led to a rebound in numbers returning to spawn: this year 1,426 salmon returned, compared to only 248 in 2014. Other migratory fish have benefitted too: alewife and blueback herring returns have surged to 1.9 million compared to just 2,000 in 2011.
...
“We have been surviving off the river’s resources and living symbiotically with it since time immemorial,” says Cordalis. “Our creation story talks about how the creator made the river, the land, the animals, the plants, and then made the people and said to the people, ‘This will all be here for you and you won't want for anything as long as you live in a sustainable way with the natural environment, and as long as you don't take more than you need to support your family.’ That initial religious principle informs how we interact with the river, how we interact with all of its resources and the natural world.”
- the possibilities available via bio-organics is really interesting? One thing I've been wondering is whether you can literaly grow homes or building materials (like a plant)? There are plenty of types of trees that would be interesting to experiment with. You just need to create a hollow middle section, increase growth rate, etc... (more on this later)
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/09/ancient-astronautsmythologyarchaeologys_24.html
baobab
Adansonia is a genus made up of eight species of medium to large deciduous trees known as baobabs (/ˈbeɪoʊˌbæb/). Previously classified within the family Bombacaceae, they are now placed in the Malvaceae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa[2] and Australia.[3] Trees have also been introduced to other regions such as Asia.[2][4][5] The generic name honours Michel Adanson, the French naturalist and explorer who described Adansonia digitata.[6] The baobab is also known as the "upside down tree", a name that originates from several myths.[7] They are among the most long-lived of vascular plants[8] and have large flowers that are reproductive for a maximum of 15 hours.[9] The flowers open around dusk; opening so quickly that movement can be detected by the naked eye and are faded by the next morning.[9] The fruits are large, oval to round and berry-like and hold kidney-shaped seeds in a dry, pulpy matrix.
In the early 21st century, baobabs in southern Africa began to die off rapidly from a cause yet to be determined. Scientists believe it is unlikely that disease or pests were able to kill many trees so rapidly, and some speculated that the die-off was a result of dehydration from global warming.[10][11]
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Description
General
Baobabs are long-lived deciduous, small to large trees with broad trunks and compact crowns. Young trees usually have slender, tapering trunks, often with a swollen base. The trunk is made of fibrous wood arranged in concentric rings. Tree diameter fluctuates with rainfall so it is thought that water may be stored in the trunk.[9] Baobab trees have two types of shoots – long, green vegetative ones, and stout, woody reproductive ones.[9]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_digitata
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_kilima
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_grandidieri
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_gregorii
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_madagascariensis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_perrieri
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_rubrostipa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_suarezensis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adansonia_za
Oceanic dispersal is a type of biological dispersal that occurs when terrestrial organisms transfer from one land mass to another by way of a sea crossing. Often this occurs via large rafts of floating vegetation such as are sometimes seen floating down major rivers in the tropics and washing out to sea, occasionally with animals trapped on them.[1] Dispersal via such a raft is sometimes referred to as a rafting event.[2]
Colonization of land masses by plants can also occur via long-distance oceanic dispersal of floating seeds.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_dispersal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allopatric_speciation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_dispersal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia
https://stargate.fandom.com/wiki/Tok%27ra_tunnel
While lab-grown meat shows promise for sparing animals from slaughter, wood still comes entirely from trees that are cut down. That may not always be the case, though, as scientists are now working on growing it in a lab, too.
Led by PhD student Ashley Beckwith, researchers at MIT started by extracting live cells from the leaves of a zinnia plant. These were placed in a liquid growth medium, where they started reproducing. The resulting batch of cells was then transferred to a three-dimensional gel matrix, where they continued to proliferate.
The addition of the plant hormones auxin and cytokinin triggered the cells to produce lignin, which is an organic polymer that gives wood its firm consistency. This process allowed the scientists to ultimately grow a small wood-like rigid structure, in the shape of the gel matrix.
Additionally, by varying the levels of the two hormones, it was possible to control how much lignin the cells produced, thus letting the researchers tweak the structural characteristics of the "wood."

Random Quotes:
- "On Thursday, January 7 [1999], Raven threw 10 darts (not including numerous misses) at a dartboard of 133 Internet related companies. Both Roland Perry, editor of the Internet Stock Review and David Allsberry, animal trainer with Boone's Animal For Hollywood in Castaic, Calif., were on hand for the dart throwing.
"As Raven did not have prior knowledge of how any particular Internet related companies have been performing, we took his ten picks and dated the prices back to the beginning of the year to provide easier year-to-date comparisons with the more traditional market indexes such as Standard & Poor's 500," stated Roland Perry. "It was a pleasure working with Raven," he added.
"He has talents far beyond what we ever dreamed possible and we feel certain that his picks will surprise many on Wall Street. We will launch a special Web site, www.monkeydex.com, in the near future to monitor the progress of his picks. Only time will tell how his picks pan out, but this much we can say — he is storming right out of the gate with picks like CMGI, which is up 95% in six trading days (… way to go, Raven)."
https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2020/09/11/raven-thorogood-the-stock-market-chimp-that-smoked-wall-street-investing/
Now, a study in Science describes the molecular structure of cGAS, a protein that triggers the alarm, bound to the nucleosomes that hold genetic material together. The new data explain how this unique packaging prevents cells from targeting their own DNA during cell division.
Last year Christian Zierhut, a Rockefeller research associate in the lab of Hironori Funabiki, started unraveling this puzzle by showing that cGAS molecules are held captive by nucleosomes. In this new study, Funabiki's team and researchers at the University of Tokyo obtained a detailed molecular map showing that all three of cGAS's DNA binding sites are blocked or repurposed when in complex with a nucleosome, preventing cGAS from binding DNA and sounding the alarm.
The findings may finally explain how cells target rogue DNA without inadvertently tagging their own healthy DNA for destruction. "It's a very basic question, how our own DNA is not constantly setting off the immune system," says Funabiki, "and we finally have a good answer."
https://phys.org/news/2020-09-cells-false-virus-alarms.html
- Broadly speaking, a harambee can be anything from a fundraising event to emotional support to a simple favour. Whenever an individual is facing a significant rite of passage or life event – such as a wedding, educational opportunity, serious illness or a relative's funeral – and needs help, they will contact an elder family member or tribal leader. This leader will then call a meeting with other elders, and if the issue is deemed significant enough to warrant the strength of the community, they will share the issue with the individual's family, friends and co-workers and organise a harambee. Those in attendance often contribute money, services or emotional and physical support, and expect nothing in return.
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The idea of harambee was nothing new. According to Patrick Moseti, a lecturer of world history and civilisation at Strathmore University in Nairobi, many pre-colonial African societies were governed by philosophies that ensured societal harmony and cohesion. Everything was shared and everyone safeguarded the wellbeing of the greater good; parenting, disciplinary action and food were communal.
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20201004-harambee-the-kenyan-word-that-birthed-a-nation?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2F
- Following the sleep-out protest, hundreds are expected to participate in a "march on billionaires" that will end at Cuomo's Manhattan office on Friday.
The AOC-sponsored bill is aimed at taxing the unrealized capital gains of the state's 119 billionaires to help make up for some of the state's $13 billion budget shortfall and free up funds to help those most-impacted by the pandemic.
It is just one of three 'Robin Hood' bills to take from the rich and give to the poor to be presented in a rare July sitting of the state legislature on Monday.
Cuomo and his budget director, Robert Mujica, said such measures would drive out the city and the state's wealthy and severely impact the tax base. New York already has among the highest tax rates for the wealthy, with the top two percent of high earners picking up half of the state's tax liability.
https://www.rt.com/usa/495024-workers-protest-bezos-nyc-aoc/

TPE SD2000i Inverter Petrol Power Generator Repair, Random Stuff, and More

- I recently got a TPE SD2000i Inverter Petrol Power Generator for a cheap price ~$50 at a local market. Apparently, it was purchased and us...