Wednesday, November 05, 2025

Science grab bag - climate change

Sad but true.  Sara Schonhardt reports:

It’s been a decade since the U.S. and Europe pushed the world to embrace a historic agreement to stop the planet’s runaway warming.

The deal among nearly 200 nations offered a potential “turning point for the world,” then-U.S. President Barack Obama said. Eventually, almost every country on Earth signed the 2015 Paris Agreement, a pact whose success would rest on peer pressure, rising ambition and the economics of a clean energy revolution.
But 10 years later, the actions needed to fulfill those hopes are falling short.

The United States has quit the deal — twice. President Donald Trump is throttling green energy projects at home and finding allies to help him undermine climate initiatives abroad, while inking trade deals that commit countries to buying more U.S. fossil fuels.

Europe remains on track to meet its climate commitments, but its resolve is wavering, as price-weary voters and the rise of far-right parties raise doubts about how quickly the bloc can deliver its pledge to turn away from fossil fuels.

Paris has helped ingrain climate change awareness in popular culture and policy, led countries and companies to pledge to cut their carbon pollution to zero and helped steer a wave of investments into clean energy. Scientists say it appears to have lessened the odds of the most catastrophic levels of warming.

He destroys everything he touches.  I would compare him to a MARVEL movie villain but they can often be entertaining.  Outside of the minions of hell, no one is cheering Chump on. 



A report revealed that Earth has already passed one of the first catastrophic environmental tipping points: the large-scale decline of warm-water coral reefs. It says the planet is dangerously close to several other tipping points involving ice sheets, ocean currents, and the Amazon rainforest.
The Global Tipping Points report — led by the University of Exeter with contributions from 160 scientists across 23 countries — warns that coral reefs began their decline once global temperatures rose 1-1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. Today, the planet has already warmed by about 1.4 C, putting reefs in the danger zone.

Since January 2023, reefs have experienced the worst global bleaching event on record, with more than 80% of coral systems across 80 countries affected by extreme ocean temperatures. Now, scientists say we're in "uncharted territory," according to The Guardian.

Still, some experts say we shouldn't lose hope, noting that some reefs may adapt. Professor Peter Mumby of the University of Queensland explained that evidence shows some reefs could be viable at 2 C of warming. Mumby worries that people may "give up on coral reefs."
Coral reefs support a quarter of all marine species and sustain the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people. If they disappear, it would have ripple effects on food chains, economies, and biodiversity — especially in tropical nations already vulnerable to rising sea levels and extreme weather.

The report also warns that other critical systems — including the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, Atlantic Ocean circulation, and Amazon rainforest — are "perilously close" to similar tipping points. These shifts could speed up the planet's heating and reshape weather patterns for centuries.


Not good news at all.  Which brings up a science topic.  A number of e-mails asked me about Bill Gates.

I don't really turn to Bill Gates for truth or for science.  In fairness to him, he's one of the few who did not kiss Chump's ring.  But he's never been a hero of mine or anyone I followed.

As for what he says regarding climate change possibly being oversold or alarmist?  I don't believe him.  I think he's lying.  I don't think he's lying to be mean.  I think he's lying because he knows certain necessary dates have passed -- dates that we needed to have made real change by.  I think we've past the point and we'll see efforts to manage public perception.  They'll encourage us to avoid reality until we can't anymore.


I think the riveting mini-series YEARS AND YEARS is what's going to happen.  That was a great mini-series -- Russell Tovey, Emma Thompson, T'Nia Miller, Dino Fetscher, Lydia West, Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Jessica Hynes.  The luckiest one in the mini-series may be Lydia West's character.  She goes into digital form so she'll be alive as long as we have digital.  The rest?  Many are dying around them due to climate change and many more will die.

It's a six part mini-series.  I watched it on HBO either right before the pandemic or at the start of the pandemic. 

Okay, next item for this science grab bag post.  Emily Beament (INDEPENDENT) notes:

The future of coffee, chocolate and wine is at risk from climate change even with dramatic interventions to block sunlight from the Earth’s surface, a study warns.

Scientists have been exploring geoengineering as a way to cool the planet, including a hypothetical process to inject highly reflective particles into the stratosphere to cool the Earth’s surface.
The process – known as stratospheric sulphate aerosol injection (SAI) – could help to reflect some sunlight away from Earth, which is warming rapidly as carbon dioxide increases in the atmosphere because of human activities.

But climate scientists warned that even this strategy, which mimics the natural cooling effects of volcanic eruptions, may not be enough to save economically important crops such as wine grapes, coffee and the cacao beans that are used to make chocolate.
These crops require specific conditions and are increasingly vulnerable to the rising temperatures and worsening weather extremes of climate change, putting supplies of coffee, chocolate and wine at risk – and threatening the livelihoods of producers who depend on them for an income.


 "The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Wednesday, November 5, 2025.  The morning after big elections with results that should be a wakeup call to Republicans in Congress, Kash Patel sold Chump out to the grand jury (Rachel Maddown pointed that out Monday but no one seems to have paid attention), Bari Weiss requires three million dollars plus in security to do her 'job' at CBS NEWS, Chump's going after American's right to bear sandwiches, and much more.  


 MEIDASTOUCH NEWS this morning has Ben focusing on yesterday's election.

He makes many strong points.  I'm not repeating them.   If I don't have something to offer, I'd just post the video.  Democrats won and democracy won and that's great.  Ben notes that and he notes the sour defeat for Chump.  


So let's talk instead about Republicans in Congress. 


Chump couldn't have picked a worse night to take his crazy out for a walk on social media.  


Imagine you're a Republican in the House -- all up for re-election in November 2026 unless they're retiring -- or a Republican in the Senate up for re-election in November 2026.  


Every day you endure Chump's crazy and sometime his direct threats against you and you stay small and compliant because you think Chump's popular.  You lie to yourself that the polling must be wrong -- no one could be hated that much.


But yesterday's election results make clear that he is hated.  Loathed.  


And you've allowed yourself to be intimidated by him and by a tiny MAGA crew that astroturfs your offices and that do not really have the numbers.

Certainly not the numbers needed to save you.


You've deluded yourself.  But the results of yesterday's elections are reality.  


Markwayne Markwayne is probably too much of an idiot to grasp reality, but a lot of Republicans in Congress do get the message.  No daylight between themselves and Chump means a difficult re-election effort.  

As we noted months ago, Chump's already in his lame duck period.  He can't help the Republican Party and, honestly, when has he ever?  It's about building himself, not the party.

Republicans have played the fool and they continue to do so at their own risk.  He is sending people out of the party.  He's not building, he can't.  He only 'became' a Republican when he focused grouped and found out that they were the easiest group of voters to fool.  He's not a lifelong Republican.  He has no real connections -- even now -- to the actual party.


He's a con man.  


Were I a Republican, I would be celebrating last night's results because these results provide an opportunity for actual Republicans to take back their party.


Were I a Republican in Congress?  I'd be moving to restore the ACA subsidies immediately.  I'd grasp that Chump has no future so it doesn't matter what he does but that I want to be re-elected and attacking healthcare and depriving Americans of healthcare is not the way to win next year's mid-terms. 



In fact, they should be reading this press release from Senator Patty Murray's office:


REUTERS: Obamacare premiums double, adding post Halloween fright for US health insurance shoppers

ABC: Trump hosted ‘Great Gatsby’ Halloween party hours before SNAP funding lapsed

***WATCH: Senator Murray’s remarks***

Washington, D.C. –  Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks on government funding at this afternoon’s Senate Democratic leadership press conference on the thirty-fifth day of President Trump and Republicans’ shutdown.

Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:

“As we all know, right now, open enrollment is underway, and Americans are now seeing the true cost of the MAGA health care hike.

“And look, it’s not just the ‘MAGA health care hike’ because Republican leaders are refusing to do anything. Four out of five people who rely on the ACA enhanced premium health care tax credits live in states that Trump won. That is why it’s a MAGA health care hike.

“And over 80 percent of the people who will end up uninsured if these expire are in Trump states. That is why this is a MAGA health care hike.

“The five states with the largest percentage increases, where premiums are quadrupling? All Trump states. The next five, where premiums are tripling? All Trump states. The next five after that? You guessed it, all Trump states. That is why this is a MAGA health care hike. But Republicans won’t lift a finger.

“I have heard one painful story after the next. Dianne in Wenatchee said she is going to see her premium increase by fourteen hundred dollars a month. Damian told me his family faces a $2,000 monthly increase.

“And that’s just my state. A senior in Idaho told me his premium is increasing nearly eightfold. There’s a woman in Tennessee whose premium will jump from $10 a month to well over a thousand.

“Every day, the MAGA health care hike gets harder to fix. But the House is on vacation—seven weeks and counting! Republican leaders are openly saying, ‘Don’t look to us, we never wanted to lower health care costs in the first place.’

“As for President Trump, he’s throwing a blow-out Gatsby party down in Mar-a-Lago. He is pardoning people who helped terrorists launder money—all while he refuses to work on reopening the government, and actively chooses to break the law and ignore the courts to force 42 million Americans to go hungry.

“Remember, USDA had a plan to keep SNAP running longer, even before this shutdown started. Then Trump scrapped it, pulled it off their website. And now he’s proudly posting about blocking SNAP. I mean, he’s basically taking credit, promising it won’t go out.

“And as Speaker Johnson put it—they don’t want to release the ‘pressure.’ They are using the American people as leverage.

“Trump still has the funds to keep benefits going out in full and on time right now. He is choosing not to use them—all while he chooses to build himself a new ballroom.

“Do Republicans not realize that all those families who cannot afford to put food on the table, all those families facing the MAGA health care hike—they are watching as Trump guilds his office in gold and bulldozes the East Wing to build a fancy new ballroom. As he jacks up costs for working families with tariffs and shovels billions at Argentina. And as he showers goodies, pardons, and party favors on his friends, and Republicans shower tax breaks on billionaires.

“These families that are getting hurt are watching us. Their grocery bills rise, their premiums double, and the Republican lawmakers are doing nothing.

“Republicans need to get it into their head: families will not forget this, because they are going to be paying the cost of the MAGA health care hike. Every. Single. Month.

“So they need to get serious. They need to come to the table. And they need to work with us to stop the MAGA health care hike and reopen the government.”

###


Donald lied on social media pretending that the election results were not a reflection on him.  Of course they were a reflection on him.  And don't forget that he endorsed Cuomo and Andrew lost.  


Grasp that even if Andrew had also gotten Sliwa's votes, Andrew still would have lost.  NTY:

N.Y.C. Mayoral Election Results ›

Candidate Party Votes
Mamdani

Dem. 1,036,051 50.4%
Cuomo
Ind. 854,995 41.6
Sliwa
Rep. 146,137 7.1

91% of votes inSource: Associated Press


Zohran got 50.4% of the vote.  Cuomo and Silwa together got 48.7% of the vote.  This was a slaughter house election for Chump -- he's beaten and bloodied, exposed as the nothing he truly is.

I hope you already caught Mike's "Look out, America, Chump's coming for our sandwiches!" where he's raging against the stupidity of prosecuting someone for the 'crime' of throwing a sandwich.  Mike is rightly mocking it.  But grasp that this is what the useless and corrupt con man Donald Chump pursues these days: Federal charges against a person for the 'crime' of throwing a sandwich.  That's just how pathetic and corrupt and wasteful Chump is.  Mike's exactly right, at this point, Chump's coming for our sandwiches.


This while the government shutdown continues and Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson refuses to swear in Adelita Grijalva.-- 42 days after she was elected to Congress and he refuses to swear her in.  This is the disaster, corrupt government of Chump.  


And America rejected it last night.


In California, we won big. 

 

 

At stake was redistricting.  With Chump ordering Governor Greg Asshole to redistrict Texas to find him five more seats in the 2026 mid-terms, my state put it to the actual people.  We don't have a little coward as governor who fears the people.  So we put it on the ballot: Do we want to redistrict our state and stand up to Chump's attempts to rig the election?

That's what Proposition 50 was about and we had record turnout.  


It won by a landslide.  Not by a 'slim majority,' it won by a landslide.


63.8% of those who voted?  They voted for Proposition 50.  And those who voted against it?  They made up a tiny 36.2%


Can someone explain that to Idiot Chump?  


He and his stooges have lied that he got a mandate in the 2024 election and some insisting the results were a landslide.


No, he squeaked by.


And if DEMOCRACY NOW! and others working with Norman Solomon hadn't worked so hard to trash Kamala Harris in August, September and October, the results would probably be much different.


But it came down to Chump winning 49.8% of the popular vote and Kamala Harris winning 48.3% of the popular vote.  That's not a mandate, that's not a majority -- that's not even a slim majority.  He squeaked by.

And he's only grown more unpopular since. 


Last night was a landslide.  Someone might try educating Chump on what that term actually looks like.


Moving to a different topic.  It's always interesting to see what the media is going to glom on and what they are going to ignore.  Monday night, when I caught the  THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW (MN NOW), I thought Ka$h Patel would be the topic on everyone's list come Tuesday.


But no.  Not in terms of what Rachel addressed.


Alright.  So does that not matter.  Or is Laura Loomer the only one who pays attention to those who back stab the orange menace?  


Because what I hear is Patel went around on one media program after anothe defending Chump and insisting he had declassified a lot of stuff.  But, in fact, when the cameras weren't watching and Chump couldn't see him in front of the grand jury, Patel said something completely different.  Patel stabbed Chump in the back.  

One would expect this to result in Ka$h being shown the door.   But even GOOGLE AI missed it.




Around the 26 minute mark, Rachel quotes from INJUSTICE: HOW POLITICS AND FEAR VANQUISHED AMERICA'S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT by Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis:


On November 3, the tam stress-tested a possible Trump defense that had been tossed out by one of Trump's loyal foot soldiers.  They interviewed Kash Patel, a former Trump White House aide and Pentagon official., before a grand jury that day.  When the documents investigation first became public, Patel had claimed in media interviews that the probe was fatally flawed because he knew Trump had declassified broad sets of sensitive records.  After hours of testimony, prosecutors would later tell others in an update, Patel pulled back somewhat from his on-air statements, saying he only knew about Trump's efforts to declassify a specific set of documents, and didn't know about the larger expanse of records found at Mar-a-Lago.  


Rachel then points out, "So Kash Patel made great hay saying on TV there was no case -- no case here because he personally knew that Trump had totally declassified everything.  Kash Patel knew it first hand.  He knew all those documents were no longer classified.  Then when he got behind closed doors, before a grand jury, under oath, maybe he was not so sure about that after all."


And then the interview with Carol starts.  Maybe if MS NOW had clipped that segment and put it on YOUTUBE people would have caught it.


It's not minor.  To this days, Chump whines about that raid.  He's done so at least twice in the last four weeks.


And it turns out that his defender Patel told the public a lie -- no surprise there -- but wasn't willing to lie for Chump to the grand jury.  


Is Chump not aware of that?  Is Laura Loomer to busy on the Pentagon bet to tell the Mr. Drysdale to her Jane Hathaway that it's being reported that awful raid might not have happened if Patel hadn't told the truth to the grand jury? 


 In other news, the deranged idiot who is taking over PARAMOUNT+ already has a problem to explain to stock holders.  Bari Weiss.


The photographically challenged Bair has so many strikes against her and  Isabel Keane (INDEPENDENT) just reported another one:


The newly-appointed editor-in-chief of CBS News, Bari Weiss, reportedly has a security detail costing $10,000 a day — even after the network cut 100 staffers in a brutal round of layoffs.

Weiss, a former opinion writer who founded the center-right “anti-woke” digital outlet, The Free Press, has eight bodyguards assigned to her at all times, Page Six reported Monday.

The former New York Times columnist is driven around in a caravan of SUVs, similar to the president or vice president, with the cars and security detail costing the company an eye-watering $10,000 a day, according to the report.

News of the pricey security arrangement comes as the struggling network laid off 100 staffers last Wednesday, leading to the cancellation of two digital shows, the gutting of CBS News’ Saturday morning offering, and the disbanding of its race and culture unit. 


At ten thousand dollars a day, that's $3,650,000 a year.  They have that kind of money to waste while they're doing all these cut offs?  That kind of money to waste on someone who is not a reporter and has never been a reporter.  She writes opinion pieces.  S**ty opinion pieces.  Basically they read, "Sure I eat out my wife but  don't worry, I attack trans people so let me in on a pass right-wingers."


She is not journalistically qualified to hold the post she's been given but when you also factor in that she needs three million dollars a year in personal security costs?  David Rhodes didn't get that when he was president of CBS NEWS.  The fact that this glorified public editor requires it goes to just how unqualified she truly is.  Stockholders better monitor the new owner's actions very carefully. 

Let's note some coverage of the elections.


 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

And let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:


Warren: "Half a million people are starving in Gaza right now, and we need to do everything we can to help."

Video of Exchange (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. – At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Austin Dahmer, nominee to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities, on her concerns about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the need to ensure Palestinians get desperately needed aid without interference.

Following the declared ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli government, the Trump administration’s plan called for “full aid” to be sent to Gaza “without interference.” Senator Warren raised concerns about the U.S. government’s partnership with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an inexperienced and militarized organization that lacks experience in food distribution.

Mr. Dahmer was questioned about his support for the ceasefire, as he previously tweeted that providing aid to Palestinians makes “U.S. support for Israel look performative." He affirmed his support to Senator Warren for the current peace efforts in Gaza. When pressed about his stance on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's (GHF) inexperience and limited aid distribution, which led to over 1,000 deaths near aid sites, Mr. Dahmer refused to directly answer the question but acknowledged the need for experienced aid organizations to ensure successful aid delivery in Gaza.

Senator Warren concluded the hearing by calling for more effective aid efforts: “Half a million people are starving in Gaza right now, and we need to do everything we can to help.”

Senator Warren has been a strong advocate of requiring any recipient of U.S. military aid to follow U.S. laws prohibiting the restriction of humanitarian aid, as well as calling for more desperately needed supplies to be delivered to Gaza. She was the first Senator to open up an investigation into the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and has also been a vocal advocate against sending more weapons to the Netanyahu government.

Transcript: Hearings to examine the nominations of Austin Dahmer, of Arizona, and Robert Kadlec, of New York, both to be an Assistant Secretary, and Michael Borders, of Florida, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, all of the Department of Defense.
Senate Armed Services Committee
November 4, 2025

Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, right now we have a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, and we need to make it last. Following the October 7 terrorist attack, Prime Minister Netanyahu initiated a war that has cost nearly 70,000 Palestinians their lives. About a third of them were women and children. We need the ceasefire to put us on a path to peace. Now, one of the tenets of the ceasefire is that all parties must provide "full aid into Gaza" "without interference." This is powerfully important. For months, the Israeli government had a mere total blockade of food, medicine, and other critical humanitarian supplies, leading to half a million Palestinians in Gaza suffering from the first declared famine in the Middle East.

Now, Mr. Dahmer, you've been nominated to be the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities. If confirmed, you will advise the Secretary on how to align DoD resources to our national security strategy, including enforcing the conditions of this ceasefire.

Mr. Dahmer, do you support President Trump's ceasefire, including ensuring full aid goes into Gaza without interference?

Mr. Dahmer: Yes, Senator, I absolutely support the President's agenda, including his efforts at peace in Gaza.

Senator Warren: Okay, I'm glad to hear you believe that now in the past, you have tweeted that providing aid to Palestinians makes the U.S. "support for Israel look performative." But on top of continuing to limit aid, the U.S. government chose to work with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an inexperienced organization with no history in food distribution. It was created by management consultants and run by armed contractors. Previous ceasefires saw more than 400 aid distribution sites, but GHF limited distribution instead of 400 to 4 and on GHF’s watch, over a thousand starving Palestinians desperately seeking food near GHF sites were killed amid multiple reports that the IDF has been opening fire on them.

Mr. Dahmer, do you think the GHF has a record of success in delivering aid to Palestinians?

Mr. Dahmer: Well, Senator, I think President Trump has been clear not only that he's focused on peace, but that he expects both Israel and Hamas to abide by the ceasefire.

Senator Warren: Okay, I appreciate that, but I asked a very specific question. Do you think the GHF has a record of success in delivering aid to Palestinians? It's a yes or no question.

Mr. Dahmer: Senator, I don't have enough information about the specific organization.

Senator Warren: Don’t have enough information? Expertise is critical here, and I'm worried DoD's complete indifference to the experience in delivering aid will only cost more Palestinians their lives.

Now, on October 21 U.S. Central Command announced they had opened a civil-military coordination center where U.S. military personnel will help facilitate assistance from international counterparts into Gaza. The Netanyahu government promptly selected one of the architects of the GHF to be their representative at this U.S.-led center. Press reporting indicates DoD is considering replicating the GHF model, including limiting aid distribution to a handful of sites.

Mr. Dahmer, this is one of the most complex areas to deliver aid. Would DoD be more successful by partnering with experienced aid organizations that have had some real success in delivering that aid?

Mr. Dahmer: Senator, thank you for the important question. I would also note that U.S. Central Command released just a few days ago a video of Hamas actually looting an aid truck as it was being delivered—

Senator Warren: So, I appreciate that but that is not the question I asked. I have very limited time here. The chairman is very strict about our time. I'm asking you—this is a complex part of the world to deliver aid in. Would DoD be more successful if they partnered with somebody who actually had had some success in delivering aid in this region?

Mr. Dahmer: Senator, if confirmed, I would commit to always working, not only across the department, on our security cooperation efforts and humanitarian aid—

Senator Warren: Could I just have a yes or no on my question?

Mr. Dahmer: Senator, what? I'm sorry, what is this? What is the question?

Senator Warren: The question is, it's a complex area to deliver aid. Would DoD be more successful if it partnered with experienced aid organizations that have had success in delivering aid in this region?

Mr. Dahmer: Senator, I would agree that a demonstrated record of success would be a positive indicator of future success.

Senator Warren: Well, I appreciate that. Half a million people are starving in Gaza right now, and we need to do everything we can to help.

###



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