Ten Stories Media Ignored: Dahr Mentions Paul and Methane

Posted on October 22, 2015 by paulbeckwith

Ten Big Stories News Media Ignored:  Some of the biggest news of the past year never went public.  Methane and arctic warming’s global impacts, article 6, at the above link.  Nice menton:

‘Dahr Jamail, writing for Truth-out, notes … A 2013 study, published in Nature, reported that a 50-gigaton “burp” of methane is “highly possible at any time.” As Jamail clarified, “That would be the equivalent of at least 1,000 gigatons of carbon dioxide,” noting that, since 1850, humans have released a total of about 1,475 gigatons in carbon dioxide. A massive, sudden change in methane levels could, in turn, lead to temperature increases of 4 to 6 degrees Celsius in just one or two decades – a rapid rate of climate change to which human agriculture, and ecosystems more generally, could not readily adapt.

Jamail quoted Paul Beckwith, a professor of climatology and meteorology at the University of Ottawa: “Our climate system is in early stages of abrupt climate change that, unchecked, will lead to a temperature rise of 5 to 6 degrees Celsius within a decade or two.” Such changes would have “unprecedented effects” for life on Earth.

A huge story? Apparently not. The major news media have written at length about the geopolitics of the arctic region, but there’s been very little mention of the methane monster.’

hgghghghgh

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Canadian Election Results: Figures and CBC 3D View

Posted on October 21, 2015 by paulbeckwith

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Click here, for nice 0:34 video, ‘CBC News election night results in 3D‘

Elections Canada Data 2015

Registered electors: 25,638,379
Voted: 17,559,353
Percentage voted: 68.5%
Record high (1993): 70.9%

Percentage voted (2011): 61.1%
Percentage voted (2008): 58.8%

Party breakdown for voters in 2015:
Liberals: 39.5% (184 seats)
Cons: 31.9% (99 seats)
NDP: 17.9% (44 seats)
Bloc: 10 seats
Green: 1 seat

Party breakdown for voters in 2011
Cons: 39.6%
NDP: 31%
Liberals: <19%

Although Liberals won with 39.5% of the popular vote, this translates to about 27% of registered voters (39.5 x .685).

Perhaps Cons will be calling for proportional representation now?
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Addendum, ‘Americans can’t stop talking about how hot our new prime minister is‘ (4:20 pm Wed)

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Fired from Elections Canada Voting Day: Using A Washroom Without Permission

Posted on October 19, 2015 by paulbeckwith

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I was fired from Elections Canada voting day for using the washroom without permission?

The gerrymandering is the word that readily springs to mind, but shenanigans is probably more apt:

I am an engineer, physicist, and usually a climate scientist and part-time professor. Today, Election Day in Canada (Monday October 18th) I was a polling clerk in the Ottawa Centre riding, Polling Station #77 at Rochester Towers (280 Rochester Street).

At least I had this Elections Canada job (for which I had 3 hours of training in early October) until I was fired by the Central Poll Supervisor (CPS) at about noon for going to the washroom without permission. Actually, there were no voters at the polling station at the time, and I mentioned to the Deputy Returning Officer at my table that I needed to dart out to the washroom. Apparently, the Supervisor took offence for not being in the loop, and they told me they were calling Elections Canada. About 30 minutes later, they informed me that I had to leave my post and the polling station. I think that is being fired.

Was the reason really a washroom break without permission? I did not know that rule. I had pointed out that now that I knew it, that I would abide by it. I note that they had arrived about 15 minutes late in the morning (everybody was supposed to be there at 8:30 am). It did not help that my Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) was sick, my replacement DRO had not trained for that position, and a replacement of the replacement arrived just before opening time. Fortunately, there was only a trickle of voters at opening. Maybe all this stress put the CPS over the top. Or maybe it was something else…

It is standard Election Canada procedure that the ballot boxes must be sealed with tape along each of the edges before the voting started at 9:30 am. Not only that, the seal numbered and logged on a form. To protect the integrity of the ballot to ensure a fair election. For my Station #77 the DRO and myself started to seal our box and we were told not to by the CPS. Same with the other two ballot boxes in the room.

The CPS said that the boxes were not taped in the advance polls that she was at, and we were not to do this. We got busy with lots of voters and let it slide, but when we had a lull around 11:30 am we went ahead on our own accord and sealed the ballot box, and told Station #76 to do so also. Following that, the CPS was very annoyed at us. And then my bathroom trip may have pushed them over the edge, or they were waiting for an opening?

Was I really fired? As I was waiting at the entrance trying to discuss my situation via phone with the main Elections Office in this riding, two very pleasant Elections Canada people arrived, and I explained things to them. Since a replacement for me had already arrived at that station, they drove me to the main office. The office did find a different location/position for me, starting at 8:30 pm tonight. So maybe I was not fired? We shall see.

Addendum:  Story continues. I arrived at a different polling station at 8:30 pm as requested, and no work yet; thus my message…

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Forecasts for Canadian Election 42

Posted on October 18, 2015 by paulbeckwith

Quickly. Paul:  Now, I think the voters will abandon GPC, Bloc and even more in NDP to reach a final voting result (big assumption of fair election)…

My forecast:  #LPC 50 #CPC 27 #NDP 18 #GPC 3 Bloc 2.  And for good measure, an academic forecast, by fellow activist, student.  Excellent thesis topic:  ‘Forecasts for election 42

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‘Inspired by the Forecasting Project by the STREAM research group in the Biomedical Ethics Unit at McGill, I have decided to elicit forecasts regarding the 42nd Canadian federal election. This is a personal project, and not in any way affiliated with STREAM or McGill.’  From la .myrf at twitter.
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Addendum–Paul, 12:40 am, Mon 19-Oct-2015.  ‘Election Results 2015: A political crystal ball, BY CHRISTOPHER MAJKA | OCTOBER 18, 2015′

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Scientific Voices in the Wilderness Speaking Climate Change

Posted on October 18, 2015 by paulbeckwith

Here is a fine note to Guy McPherson and I tonight, written by Dave Campbell at Facebook. This is really quite good.  Every parent loves to show photos of his or her children, but sometimes a child REALLY is truly exceptionally beautiful.  Fact of life.  Please allow me to share a bit of quality reCognition.  Please do not think of this as MINE but, rather, the photo of a lot of hard work by a really lot of persons on a constant basis.  This is all of us who care, know, and see.

The clock is ticking, we all can agree.  The fuse has been lit.  Page down here for:  “This is a holy shit moment.” “It’s not ‘holy shit’; it’s worse than that.” Preview of HBO ‘Vice: Our Rising Oceans with Eric Rignot‘. Then he says, “We are not ready for this”.

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‘Years ago when myself and other were referring to a tiny number of scientific voices in the wilderness speaking climate change we were mocked and ridiculed and labelled some pretty unflattering things.

As little as 1 or 2 years ago, competent world class scientists and educators such as Dr. Guy McPherson and Paul Beckwith from the University in Ottawa were still being slandered or ignored as extremists and faux-scientists and a significant number of government and banking shills wrote false articles debunking their work and reassuring the populace that everything was fine.

We were told over and over again that there might be some climate “changes” in the near future but we had nothing to be alarmed about.  We were treated to publications from seemingly solid scientific organizations that what was happening was normal, and anyways -our ability to right wrongs in carbon emissions would take care of everything.

‘That’s how it was for years for those lone voices that got more negative attention than anything else, that is -till this year. Maybe it is a combination of extreme ‘once in 1000 year storms’ or the ‘mass die-offs’ of birds and creatures on the land and seas, or maybe it was the warnings about ‘rising ocean levels’ that suddenly got headlines in MSN outlets.

‘…but one things for sure, peoples interest in global climate change was growing, along with MSN news articles that started using words like ‘extinction’ and ‘habitat loss’ and ‘the end of life as we know it’ in their regular news publications.’ Is there a consciousness level growing amongst the global human family?  Dr. David Suzuki asked that question today on his website. Is it fear of possibly losing our homes?  

This week reputable scientific bodies warned Miami will likely be submerged by 2030! Fifteen years from now!  Maybe it was all the unhappy property owners in California looking at their dirty brown dead lawns they couldn’t water because of drought watering restrictions.  Maybe it was the multiple warnings from indigenous groups that something was very wrong, that the elders said something bad was happening to the planet.

‘Whatever it was it’s undeniable now, people all over the world are waking up and taking notice of this news. So if that’s you, and you’re not sure where to go next with this -what can you do?

‘Should you ‘do’ anything? I’d say educating yourself is where you could start. Our planet is dying and our extinction is imminent. We have now in 2015 loads and loads of good solid information to look at.

‘Start with “NTHE” and ‘6th Mass Extinction’, Paul Beckwith, Guy McPherson.

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China’s Pollution Has Reached Apocalyptic Levels

Posted on October 18, 2015 by paulbeckwith

‘China is the most populous country on the planet, but also the most polluted. This video shows how bad China’s pollution problem has become’. It has reached apocalyptic levels. // Published on Feb 4, 2015

‘9 out 10 cities in China have failed government pollution standards according to China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection. A quarter of million Chinese die every year from pollution, rivers turn blood red, and by 2030, China will be COMPLETELY OUT OF WATER! These are just a few of the signs that China’s pollution has reached apocalyptic levels, and it’s having a global effect on climate change. To find out the rest, watch this episode of China Uncensored‘.
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‘Climate change on pace to occur 10 times faster than any change recorded in past 65 million years, Stanford scientists say (click link, immediate abv for full article):

‘Not only is the planet undergoing one of the largest climate changes in the past 65 million years, Stanford climate scientists Noah Diffenbaugh and Chris Field report that it’s on pace to occur at a rate 10 times faster than any change in that period. Without intervention, this extreme pace could lead to a 5-6 degree Celsius spike in annual temperatures by the end of the century.

BY BJORN CAREY, Courtesy of Stanford University

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Two ‘heat maps’ depicting aspects of climate change

‘The top map shows global temperatures in the late 21st century, based on current warming trends. The bottom map illustrates the velocity of climate change, or how far species in any given area will need to migrate by the end of the 21st century to experience climate similar to present. 

‘The planet is undergoing one of the largest changes in climate since the dinosaurs went extinct. But what might be even more troubling for humans, plants and animals is the speed of the change. Stanford climate scientists warn that the likely rate of change over the next century will be at least 10 times quicker than any climate shift in the past 65 million years.’

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Flash Flood, SR58 Cameron Canyon Road

Posted on October 18, 2015 by paulbeckwith

I am not laughing.  Hope you are not.  Yet at the same time, this is a small taste of what is to come.  We cannot go one as we are.  Striking 2:41 video at link.  Get out of car to certain death, or stay in, possibly insuring entombment then drowning?   Talk about instant decisions.   From which there is no return.  And no map?  You cannot practice or get experience, and life happens…

‘TEHACHAPI, Calif. – Watch as a car full of people are swept away in the flash flood that overtook miles of SR58 near Cameron Canyon Road.

Rhonda Trott said that as she was traveling home from Mojave to Tehachapi, the car she was traveling in was caught in the middle of flash flood along SR58.’
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out this amazing video of mud and debris in Southern


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A truck driver traveling on Highway 58 near Tehachapi captured this unbelievable video // Oct 16, 2015

‘Jose Vargas can be heard asking someone to call 911 as the road in front of him is suddenly transformed into a rushing river powerful enough to sweep away cars.’
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h/t from Kevin Hester at Facebook, to use his term, ‘the great unraveling‘: ‘California mudslides leave state reeling as hundreds of cars remain stuck‘.  ‘A section of southern California found itself waist-deep in mud as the weekend arrived, and a highway overtaken by flowing debris looked like a buried junkyard of hundreds of cars that would likely take days to dig up.

‘The worst of the thunderstorms had passed, but the continued chance of rain could dampen cleanup and relief efforts in northern Los Angeles County’s Antelope Valley, where the most serious slides occurred.

‘On Friday, rescuers and those stranded in the highway debris flow described a chaotic scene that somehow left no reported injuries or deaths.’

“It was terrifying,” 51-year-old Rhonda Flores of Bakersfield told the Associated Press. “It was a raging river of mud. I’ve never experienced anything like it, ever.”

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Movie: on Fermi’s Paradox, Climate Change, Capitalism, Collapse

Posted on October 9, 2015 by paulbeckwith

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Great documentary, ‘The Cross of the Moment‘, from Jacob Freydont-Attie. 1:24:11 long. h/t Robert Leasure at Facebook, Time to Kill?’  Thank you Robert.

‘Fermi’s Paradox, climate change, capitalism, and collapse are among the subjects discussed in this feature length documentary on the environmental crisis. Interviewees include Bill McKibben, Gary Snyder, Derrick Jensen, Peter D. Ward, Jill Stein, Bill Patzert, Guy McPherson and other top academics, scientists and public intellectuals’.

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Paris, Paris. Paris!

Posted on October 7, 2015 by paulbeckwith

It appears that my accreditation is being sponsored by a party in Paris as to helping to further my work.  Its good to be materially engaged by others, so that we can further spread this work and message.

Posted in Engagements, Planned | Tagged , | 2 Comments