November 30, 2000
HOT Story of the Day! Nature's
Political Science - "A prestigious science journal is again using
junk science to inappropriately insert itself into a political controversy.
The British journal Nature is rushing to release a study by Canadian
researchers reporting that the butterfly ballot used in Palm Beach County,
Florida in the recent presidential election "appears to cause systematic
errors in the casting of votes."
Worthy cause: "'Sign
On, Save Children's Lives from Malaria!' Urges New Global Health
Coalition" - "November 29 2000 -- Save Children from Malaria
Campaign has launched a worldwide Internet petition drive (http://www.fightingmalaria.org)
to help save children and pregnant women from the ravages of malaria through
the limited use of DDT. According to the World Health Organization, malaria
affects some 500 million people each year and kills up to 2.5 million
annually, amounting to one child every 30 seconds. "Malaria is surging
worldwide, killing children and their mothers in Africa, Asia and Latin
America in skyrocketing numbers," said Dr. Roger Bate, chairman of the
Save Children from Malaria Coalition. "We are asking that DDT continue to
be used in homes to drive out mosquitoes and protect innocent lives." (FightingMalaria.org)
"Greens vs.
the World's Poor" - "Limited use of DDT could save
millions from malaria. So why are environmentalists and the U.N. hellbent on
ending its production?" (Ronald Bailey, Reason)
"DDT
Still Has Role To Play In Fighting Malaria: WHO" - "DDT
still has an important role to play in saving lives and reducing the burden of
malaria in some of the world's poorest countries, states the World Health
Organisation (WHO) as the international community considers phasing it out.
More than 120 governments, inter-governmental and non-government agencies are
meeting next week (December 4-9) in Johannesburg, South Africa, to finalize an
international treaty to reduce and/or eliminate the production and use of 12
persistent organic pollutants, including DDT." (UniSci)
"Poor
nations take lesser of two evils: DDT over malaria" - "A
coalition of public health advocates is rallying on behalf of an unlikely
cause: DDT, an environmental nemesis they say is the most effective weapon
ever found in the war against malaria." (USA Today)
"Herbal
products recalled because of kidney damage risk" -
"WASHINGTON -- An Oregon company is recalling two brands of Chinese herbs
because they may pose a serious health hazard: They were contaminated with a
chemical that can destroy the kidneys. ... The Food and Drug Administration
had ordered dietary supplement manufacturers to test botanical products for
aristolochic acid, a highly toxic chemical that can be found in some Chinese
herbs." (AP)
"Mobiles
and cancer risk issue may never be resolved: expert" -
"Scientists may never be able to prove whether or not using mobile phones
can increase the risk of cancer, a public health expert said today. Southeast
Sydney Public Health Unit Cancer Control Program head Bernard Stewart said
evidence from studies around the world linking radiation from phones to cancer
in animals was weak. But he said changes to the way mobile phones were made to
restrict the amount of radiation they emitted was likely to come about as
manufacturers responded to public fears, regardless of research
findings." (AAP) [Churches
cash in on phone boom (Telegraph)]
"GE sues to overturn
Superfund law" - "WASHINGTON, Nov. 29
— The General Electric Co. asked a
federal court Tuesday to declare the Superfund toxic waste cleanup law
unconstitutional. An Environmental Protection Agency spokesman called the
action “exceedingly curious” because it comes as the company faces up to
$1 billion in cleanup costs for hazardous chemical spills along the Hudson
River." (AP)
"'Hidden
benefit' of stomach bacteria" - "Bacteria normally linked to
stomach ulcers and even cancer may turn out to actually protect children from
dangerous infections." (BBC Online)
"Group
links nail polish to birth defects" - "WASHINGTON -- An
environmental group Tuesday warned women of childbearing age to avoid using
nail polish that contains a chemical that has been shown to cause birth
defects in laboratory animals." (CNN)
Sigh... EWG (or is that 'Ee-ugh!'?) out to terrorise
people with nonsense again. What a surprise.
"EC
calls for new BSE safeguards" - "RISING continental
panic has produced a European Commission proposal that anti-BSE measures used
in Britain should apply throughout the European Union." (The Scotsman) (Reuters)
"Europe's
Mad Cow Fight May Lead to New Food Scare" - "LONDON -
European measures to combat the spread of mad cow disease could open the gates
to a new food scare if genetically-modified soymeal replaces ground carcasses
in animal feed, UK environmentalists said on Wednesday." (Reuters)
"The
beauty and the horror of science" - "At a recent
international biotechnology conference in Vancouver, an industry spokesperson
made reference to the hundreds of protesters outside and suggested that
biotechnologists had obviously done a poor job convincing the public about the
benefits and safety of their products. Thus, she trivialized the opponents'
concerns as based on ignorance and not deserving serious attention."
(David Suzuki, Canoe)
Hmm... given that most of these 'concerns' are founded
on activist misinformation rather than science, 'she' was largely correct
about concerns based in ignorance (or misinformation). People queue for
medication from doctors - but they have little or no understanding of the
product, the content, or, the underlying science. Some current medications
and many of the more promising pending ones are the product of biotechnology
but people do not demonstrate against them nor organise consumer boycotts of
the companies involved. What makes consumers leery of foodstuffs yet not of
medications ingested or even injected, where they may bypass many of our
bodies' defences? Certainly an illogical and irrational position and one
which seems driven purely by activism. That 'she' considered protestors'
concerns 'not deserving of serious attention' is moot - biotechnologists may
have been blindsided by rabid activists' anti-biotech campaigns but they are
fully aware of how vulnerable science is to irrational fear campaigns.
Suzuki wanders off into the opiate-fogged realms of
Mary Shelly and mentions an early electro-neurologic experiment (of
significance, incidentally, to the understanding and treatment of motor
neuron disease and injury) but what does he add to the current debate? Two
irrelevant horror stories, one by Shelly and one icky, nasty tale that the
soft-hearted will relate to the purring lap-moggy they lavish so much
attention upon. No mention of the 2-billion-odd humans in the rice belt who
stand to have their lives and health so enhanced by the single biotech
artifice of Golden Rice though. No mention of the potential to increase
agricultural productivity while reducing inputs that offers more to
impoverished Third World farmers than any other group or demography on the
planet. No mention either of the benefits to the natural environment of
reducing synthetic toxin application nor of the significant preservation of
wildlands and wildlife habitat inherent in agricultural productivity boosts
(from any source). Of particular concern to me is that the most obvious
benefit of 'transgenics', the production of affordable, transportable and
storable vaccines and medicines that can be grown in impoverished regions
and simply administered by say, giving a kid a piece of fruit, doesn't rate
a mention either.
Tell us again Dave, who is basing things in ignorance
and not rendering deserved attention?
"Live
recombinant vaccine protects against fungal disease" - "For
the first time, scientists have used recombinant DNA technology to create a
live vaccine that protects against a fungal infection in mice. This new
vaccine is safer than live vaccines made without recombinant technology and
more effective than "killed" vaccines. Many fungal diseases are on
the rise in the United States, and this recombinant live vaccine approach
could be used to protect against them." (NIH)
?!! "U.S.
panel weighs whether GM corn StarLink is safe for people" -
"WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators, now in the midst of the biggest
biotech food fight in U.S. history, should not reward Aventis SA for illegally
contaminating the nation's corn supply with a variety that may be linked to at
least 35 illnesses, environmental groups said on Tuesday." [UPDATE
- Japan seeks details on US StarLink illness cases] (Reuters)
11 reported cases may be related to food
allergies but just which food, if any, is unknown. Given the minuscule
trace of Cry9C that could have been present in the taco shells then the
probability is high that no cases are, or ever will be related to StarLink™
corn in the food supply.
"GM
seeds won't wither without water" - "New Delhi - Indian
scientists have developed genetically modified mustard seeds that can
withstand drought and require much less water than ordinary seeds, reports
said on Wednesday. Scientists of the National Research Institute on Plant
Biotechnology (NRIPB) have genetically modified mustard seeds by introducing a
gene from a weed with the botanical name of Arabidopsis Thanana, the Indian
Express newspaper reported." (Sapa-DPA)
"US
to Consider if Rule Needed to Separate Bio-Crops" -
"WASHINGTON - Amid the debate over the bio-corn contamination that
triggered the recall of hundreds of foods, the U.S. Agriculture Department
said on Wednesday it was mulling what new regulations might be needed to
separate and monitor gene-spliced crops." (Reuters)
"Engineered
potatoes said to fight off fungus" - "WASHINGTON - A
borrowed alfalfa gene has helped potatoes fight off a fungus that causes one
type of potato blight, researchers said yesterday. They said it was the first
time a single gene had been shown to protect a plant as well as herbicides do,
and said they hoped they had found a way to use genetic engineering to protect
against a range of diseases." (Reuters)
"Plan
for Use of Bioengineered Corn in Food Is Disputed" -
"WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 — Hoping to avoid further product recalls linked
to a bioengineered corn, representatives of food, agriculture and
biotechnology industries urged the Environmental Protection Agency today to
approve the corn temporarily for human consumption. But critics said such a
move would bail out the corn's developer and the food companies at consumers'
expense." (NY Times)
"Biotechnology
Global Update (November 2000)" (TKC)
"Govt
Move To Ease Hybrid Seed Rules To Benefit MNCs" - "In a move
that could boost multinational seed companies, the government is set to allow
these companies to grow and process hybrid seeds on land owned or leased by
them instead of entering into contracts with farmers and growers."
(Economic Times)
"Laboratory
Heralds Agricultural Revolution" (Summary) - "According to
the Financial Times (UK), A host of African crops stand to benefit from
biotechnology research now being undertaken at the University of Legon,
Ghana." (TKC)
CoP6 rumbles on and on...
"Gore’s
global warming ideas get thumped" - "... But the real
message from the Hague is that an international agreement on global warming is
probably doomed to the same fate as the late, unlamented Law of the Sea
Conference: lots of visionary gab but no willingness to undertake the
“wrenching changes” that Gore has demanded. It is long past time for a
reconsideration of the subject." (Thomas J Bray, Detroit News)
"Multilateral
thinking" - "After the failure of international nerve at the
Hague, it is surely time to set up new global institutions" (says Larry
Elliot in The Guardian)
"1,000
flee as sea begins to swallow up Pacific islands" - "As
the world's wealthiest nations bickered about carbon dioxide credits in The
Hague last weekend, the inhabitants of a remote group of coral atolls on the
other side of the planet were watching the Pacific Ocean advance inexorably
towards their homes. ... The islands, together with neighbouring atolls such
as Takuu, home to a small community of "singing" Polynesians, are
likely to be the first to be engulfed by the effects of global warming."
(Independent)
Oh good grief! What utter nonsense! PacNews, echoed by
at least the LA Times, ran the real reason last November. Under News Briefs,
11/11/99, sub-headed, "Sinking Islands", here's what the LA Times
printed:
A group of islands in New Guinea is sinking into the Pacific at the
rate of 4 to 6 inches a year, and a team of government scientists has
recommended that their 20,000 residents be quickly relocated to a larger
island. The Duke of York Islands
are sinking not because of rising sea levels, but because of seismic
activity. In 1994, two volcanoes on opposite sides of one of the
islands erupted for four months. When the activity ceased, evacuees moved
back, but the regional news service Pacnews now reports that further
subsidence is forcing officials to move the inhabitants to the Gazelle
Peninsula on New Britain. Many buildings on the islands are already under
water.
Situated at the south-western end of the Pacific
"Ring of Fire", these islands are
not geologically stable and certainly do not make suitable platforms
from which to measure mean sea level. Australia is geologically stable, has
a huge Pacific shore and, according to National Tidal Facility data,
struggles to find sea level change in the order of one-half of one inch per
century. Tuvalu, further to the east and frequent howler about "sea
level rise", displays
no trend at the Funafuti tide gauge.
"The Mercury’s
Rising" - "Dec. 4 issue — You might
assume that “global warming” means what it says, involving nothing more
complex than a rise in the world’s temperature. But notice the penguins.
Over the last several months, hundreds of Magellanic penguins have been
washing ashore near Rio de Janeiro, 2,000 miles north of their usual haunts.
The wayward birds may be signs of a massive climate shift in the South
Atlantic: warming may have altered ocean circulation so as to nudge the
cold-water currents (which the penguins follow for chow) thousands of miles
off course." (Newsweek)
Ah, the penguins are chillin' in Rio so we're going to
have an ice age - caused by global warming - figures...
Couldn't have anything to do with the bitter southern
winter just passed either eh? You might recall some mention of it - little
things like people freezing to death in South Africa, Chile, Argentina...
After enduring an Antarctic winter a few penguins drop by Rio for some sun
and surf - obviously, not all penguins are bird brains.
Sundries:
November 29, 2000
"Negotiators
Focus on 'Dirty Dozen' Pollutants" - "Industrialization and
modern insect control have improved the quality of life around the globe, but
they have also added some 100,000 chemical compounds that, some scientists
worry, could affect the health of people and wildlife. These persistent organic
pollutants, known as POP's, have gone virtually unregulated since they were
developed more than 50 years ago. But now efforts are being made to control some
of them. The final of five meetings to draft a global treaty to restrict
production and use of 12 POP's is scheduled for next month in
Johannesburg." (NY Times)
To a significant extent, most of the chemicals involved
are no longer in production or use and it is largely irrelevant that
anti-chemical zealots want them banned. The key exception, of course, is
dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane - DDT
for short. Click here
to see the human cost of excessive restriction of this critically needed
compound.
"Study
finds pollution, death link" - "A study proving a strong link
between high air pollution and human mortality has been presented to an
international air quality conference in Sydney today. The landmark US study
tracked the lives of residents in six American cities over 15 years. (ABC News
Online)
There's quite a history to the infamous "six cities
study". See Show
me the data; Scientists
Challenge the Provision Opening Access to Research Data; Scientists
Reject Call for Full Disclosure of Health Data on Particulates; Pollution
Study Sparks Debate Over Secret Data; The
Right to the Research; Medical
Journals Give New Meaning To 'Political Science'; EPA's
Case of the Missing Data; EPA's
Peer-review Perversion; Clean
Air Skepticism; Letter
to the Lancet Editor
"Cancer
breakthrough" - "IN A world-first, Sydney researchers have
discovered a missing link in how cancer grows in the body. The research,
published in Nature Genetics December issue, represents a major step in
understanding how cancer cells avoid the normal controls on cell division. This
will then allow the development of an effective treatment." (Sydney Daily
Telegraph)
'Breakthrough' #54,791? Pardon my cynicism but we've been
down these 'miracle' paths before - with remarkably little result. The
majority of cancers are the natural result of aging and rates remain
stubbornly consistent. Inevitably, in my view, biotechnology will enable
humanity to overcome this affliction in time. Razzle-dazzle releases on
'breakthroughs' that 'will allow development of effective treatments',
however, habitually collapse into cruel false promises. This does nothing good
for either sufferers or science.
"'Fat-proof'
mice yield new anti-obesity drug target" - "HOUSTON—(Nov.
28, 2000)—Forget the fountain of youth. Scientists at Baylor College of
Medicine may have found something even more exciting--the secret to effortless
weight loss. The key is outsmarting perilipin, a protein that acts as a
“bodyguard” for fat cells." (BCM)
Another 'target'... so we can all now binge, confident in
a 'cure' that may one day become available? Terrific...
"Leading
Auto Insurer to Cut Rates for Drivers of Biggest Vehicles" -
"State Farm, the nation's biggest auto insurer, plans today to announce a
shift in its pricing policies that will cut rates for drivers of the biggest
cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles, based on claims data showing them to be
the safest for their occupants." (NY Times)
"Nicotine
linked to lung cancer" - "Nicotine, the chemical which causes
cigarette addiction, could be responsible for some lung cancers, suggest
researchers. While this may concern people using nicotine patches to wean
themselves off smoking, experts are keen to point out that the health benefits
of giving up would still vastly outweigh the risks - even if the link was
true." [emphasis added] (BBC Online)
"Oral
contraceptive use does not affect bone mass" - "Hershey, Pa.
--- New research from Penn State College of Medicine shows that oral
contraceptive pill (OCP) use by healthy teenage females does not affect their
peak bone mass, or their growth." (Penn State)
"Experts
at odds over iron in pregnancy" - "Pregnant women should not
be put off taking iron tablets, despite research linking high haemoglobin and
stillbirth, a leading UK doctor has maintained. Doctors in Sweden have found
that a high level of haemoglobin in early pregnancy may increase the risk of
stillbirth by up to four times, compared with women who have lower levels of
iron in their blood. But Dr Elizabeth Letsky, the UK's only consultant perinatal
haemotologist says the levels of haemogolobin the researchers described were so
high they would indicate that the mother had some underlying problem. "Most
women are fighting some degree of iron deficiency all their lives - the levels
described in this study are almost unheard of," she said." (BBC
Online)
"Lords
puncture myths of alternative medicine"
- "THERE is scant evidence to prove that alternative health remedies work,
a House of Lords report has found. Only osteopathy, chiropractic and acupuncture
are backed by scientific evidence, the report says. The evidence on herbal
medicine is mixed, and that on homoeopathy anecdotal." [Prince's
plea for 'new age' medicine] (The Times)
Bound to be popular with at least half the
population: "Have
Sex to Reduce Disease Risk, Researcher Says" - "SYDNEY - Men
can halve the risk of a major heart attack or stroke by having sex three or four
times a week, a specialist in cardiovascular disease said on Tuesday."
(Reuters)
"UNESCO
cleans house to invite the US back" - "One year into his term
as head of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), Koġchiro Matsuura has begun to turn the deficit- and
corruption-ridden agency around, but he is moving more slowly than his
supporters would like, according to diplomatic sources here." (CSM)
Given that IPCC and UNEP, two of the worst offending
anti-science organisations in the known world, operate under the UN umbrella,
why would the US consider returning to foot the bill for another bunch of
whackos?
"Country
moose, city moose" - "... What's more, a study examining the
levels of stress hormone in moose poop concluded that moose in Kincaid Park were
the most anxiety-ridden of three groups studied in Anchorage. The least
stressed, surprisingly, were the Midtown moose." (ADN) (Before
anyone asks, this one's here simply because I felt anyone trying to determine if
urban moose need prozac by examining stress hormone levels in moose poop
deserves the exposure)
"Why
"Frankenfood" Is Our Friend" - "Where's that talking
chihuahua when you need him? There was no one to calm, much less charm,
consumers when genetically altered corn approved for animals snuck into Taco
Bell taco shells. The fear that StarLink corn would cause us humans terrible
allergic reactions led to a major recall. So large grocery chains like Safeway,
Kroger, Albertson's and Food Lion made their corn products disappear."
(Michael Fumento, Forbes Magazine)
"Bio-Crop
Giant to Heed Critics" - "WASHINGTON - Agricultural
biotechnology giant Monsanto Co., accused of being tone deaf about the marketing
of its seeds, said Monday it supported more regulation of bio-crops and would
never put human genes into plants used as food. The ``New Monsanto Pledge'' was
unveiled by Hendrik Verfaillie, chief executive of Monsanto, an 85 percent owned
subsidiary of Pharmacia Corp. He said Monsanto was, ''knowingly and deliberately
taking a different path'' than in the past." (Reuters)
"Biotech
Questions Lead Monsanto To Delay One Crop" -
"WASHINGTON--Amid growing uneasiness about genetically engineered crops, a
major biotechnology company announced Monday it would restrict plantings next
year of a type of gene-altered corn and delay commercialization of another
variety until 2002." (AP)
"Companies
Seek Looser Rules on Labeling Genetically Altered Seed" -
"WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 — In wake of the latest incident of genetic crop
contamination, American seed companies are renewing a push to establish
standards that would allow a small amount of genetically engineered material in
bags of seeds and still have those seeds considered free of modification."
(NY Times)
"U.S.
Panel Probes StarLink Bio-Corn on Allergies" -
"WASHINGTON - A panel of independent physicians, biologists and other
scientists was set to wade into the biggest biotech food fight in U.S. history
on Tuesday and decide whether StarLink bio-corn is safe enough to allow in the
human food supply." (Reuters)
"EPA
Accused Of Rushing To Judgment On Biotech Corn Safety" -
"WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency is rushing its judgment
on whether a biotechnically engineered corn variety is safe for human
consumption, a coalition of consumer groups charged Tuesday." (DJN)
"44
Americans claim StarLink corn made them ill" -
"WASHINGTON, Nov 28 - Forty-four Americans have complained that they became
ill after eating foods containing StarLink bio-corn, but investigators may never
be able to pinpoint whether the genetically modified maize was to blame, federal
officials said on Tuesday." (Reuters)
"StarLink
Critic Chides Farmers and Eager GM Marketers" - Exclusive
coverage of the Farm Journal Forum for AgWeb.com
"Survey:
U.S. Food Consumption Unaffected by StarLink Fiasco" - "A new
survey conducted by a North Carolina State University sociologist concludes the
StarLink corn fiasco – including numerous food recalls – has done little to
change the way Americans choose their food. In fact, the author of the study
says the more the public becomes aware of ag biotechnology, the fewer concerns
they have." (AgWeb.com)
"UPDATE
- Korea to require prior ok on GMO imports" - "SEOUL - South
Korea would require importers of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and
processed foods containing them to receive prior government approval, the
state-run Regulatory Reform Committee said yesterday." (Reuters)
"France
to Allow Human Embryo Research" - "PARIS - French Prime
Minister Lionel Jospin said Tuesday his government was drawing up legislation to
allow research on human embryos to help correct genetic birth defects and fight
diseases." (Reuters)
Still we can't get clear of CoP6 ruminations and
enhanced greenhouse hot air - some rational pieces appearing though:
"Forget
Kyoto" - "THE HAGUE -- It was no surprise that negotiations
broke down Saturday at the son-of-Kyoto conference on climate change, and it is
just as well that they did. The evidence that the global warming recorded since
the mid-1970s is anything more than cyclical and natural (rather than worsening
and human-caused) remains inconclusive." (TCS)
"Sun's
warming influence 'under-estimated'" - "Scientists at Armagh
Observatory claim a unique weather record could show that the Sun has been the
main contributor to global warming over the past two centuries. The weather
observations, made almost daily since 1795, comprise the longest climate archive
available for a single site in Ireland." (BBC Online)
"Cooling
on warming" - "The latest international conference on global
warming, held in The Hague, broke down on the weekend as diplomats bickered over
who should bear the economic burden of cutting energy use. This impasse is good
news for the world economy, and particularly good for energy-hungry countries,
such as Canada, which, being both cold and big, has a greater need to burn
fossil fuels than most others." (National Post)
"The
good news on global warming" - "On Saturday, some good news
finally arrived: The "global warming" talks in The Hague collapsed
after bureaucrats working on enforcement mechanisms for the 1998 Kyoto Protocol
found themselves unable to reach agreement on the means by which the United
States and other countries would curtail their output of carbon dioxide and
other so-called "greenhouse" gasses." (Washington Times)
"NO
DEAL ON GLOBAL WARMING" - "Environmental activists
called last weekend's failure to reach a binding treaty on global warming a
tragedy. If so, it was one of their own making." (Chicago Tribune)
"Climate
control goes down the sink" - "The collapse of the United
Nation's climate change negotiations in The Hague is obviously a deep setback
for the global warming crusade. Insults are flying, nations are being vilified,
politicians are under attack. "The David Suzuki Foundation condemned Canada
today for its role in the breakdown of talks," said a typical news release
from Mr. Suzuki's organization. Britain blamed France, France blamed the United
States, environmentalists blamed everybody but themselves." (Terence
Corcoran, National Post)
"Norway
to approve more CO2 from gas-fired power - reports"
- "OSLO - Norway will approve construction on Wednesday of a new gas-fired
power plant, putting Norway behind many nations in a drive to curb greenhouse
gases, Norwegian media said on Tuesday." (Reuters)
November 28, 2000
"Updated
Report: Scientific Evidence Fails to Halt Silicone Breast Implant
Controversy" - "New York, NY—November 2000. The number of
epidemiological studies that provide scientific evidence supporting the safety
of silicone-gel breast implants continues to mount. Nevertheless, the Food and
Drug Administration's moratorium has been in effect since 1992, prohibiting the
sale and use of silicone-gel breast implants. The science has been ignored,
however, according to the American Council on Science and Health." (ACSH)
"Fickle
precaution" - "Ironically, perhaps, it is the Precautionary
Principle itself which should come with a health warning - a large sticker which
declares "This principle may set back the course of scientific progress to
the extent that lives will be endangered, medical innovations will be postponed
and reduction of famine word-wide will be delayed significantly." (Social
Issues Research Centre)
"Radioactive
"seed" treatment no threat to others" - "CHICAGO,
Illinois -- Radioactive "seeds" used to treat prostate cancer in men
pose no radiation risk to their wives or families, who would absorb more
radiation simply living in the high-altitude city of Denver, researchers said
Monday." (Reuters)
"Controversial
Poison To Be Used Against Mossies In Mpumalanga" - "A
controversial poison will be sprayed in rural homes in Mpumalanga this summer in
a bid to kill the mosquito that transmits malaria, according to deputy director
for vector-borne diseases in the national health department, Dr Rajendra Maharaj,
on Monday. He said dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT)
was effective in killing the malaria-carrying mosquito, Anopheles Funestus,
which transmits the disease all year round." (AENS) [100
Things You Should Know About DDT (Junkscience.com)] [African
Scientists Meet on Malaria, Seek Vaccine (Reuters)]
Uh-oh! "Volunteers
ingest pollutant for water study" - "SAN BERNARDINO,
California -- Volunteers in a drinking water study are being paid $1,000 each to
take pills containing an industrial pollutant found in rocket fuel. The
experiment, designed to determine if a pollutant called perchlorate interferes
with thyroid glands, will develop data that could influence the setting of
national and state drinking-water standards, the Los Angeles Times reported
Monday. Perchlorate is frequently found in drinking water." (AP)
EPA won't like this. They much prefer to throw out actual
human data on the grounds the studies are 'unethical' (besides, it's so much
more fun to beat up scares on the basis of extrapolated data from MTD [Maximum
Tolerated Dose] rodent studies).
"Gulf
War syndrome symptoms linked to brain damage" - "CHICAGO,
Illinois -- Symptoms such as memory loss and dizziness suffered by U.S. veterans
with Gulf War syndrome can be correlated to specific areas of the brain where
cells have died, probably from chemical exposure, researchers said on
Monday." (Reuters)
With all due respect to those who serve their countries,
and I do respect them, GWS just doesn't cut it for me. Doubtless these people
are suffering medical conditions but so do the rest of the population. The
distinction between rates suffered by Gulf veterans and personnel who never
set foot in the Gulf is simply not compelling. Mike Fumento has been following
the issue for years, here's a
list of his articles.
"A Hidden Health
Hazard" - "Sneezing and sniffling? Maybe the problem
isn’t a cold but mold. It’s more dangerous than you think." (Newsweek)
"West
Nile Side Effect: A Wealth of Data on Wildlife Death" - "...
But what the examinations did not turn up is probably as revealing as what they
did: in all the huge volume of specimens this year, relatively few animals, the
lab found, died from accidental pesticide exposure." (NY times)
Parenthetically, the vast majority of 'evidence' of
problems from synthetic pesticides is apocryphal and the bulk of the rest
anecdotal. For sure there have been accidental (and deliberate) wildlife
poisonings, human too, but nothing close to justifying Rachel Carson's bizarre
"fable of tomorrow" about which she waxed so lyrical in Silent
Spring. This is the first time we have really had significant
wildlife mortality data and poisonings are relatively rare. In the past,
wildlife toxicology has largely concentrated on mass poisonings in specific
locales and has almost always proven to be either misapplication (contrary to
manufacturers specification) or deliberate misuse (applied specifically at
toxic levels) to curtail perceived threat from burgeoning wildlife
competition. Quaint isn't it - so many laws, so much hysteria over 4 decades
and now we are gathering some useful data on wildlife mortality.
Must be coming up Christmas: "Sound
check in Toyland" - "WASHINGTON -- They beep, buzz and bleat.
They chatter, chirp and chime. They rattle and ring. And now, reports say, when
it comes to noise, many toys have way too much zing." (CNN)
PETA's
latest wacky claim: "Feeding
family burgers 'constitutes child abuse' - claim" -
"Feeding burgers to young family members is equivalent to child abuse,
animal rights campaigners have claimed." (Ananova)
"Air
pollution victims win suit" - "NAGOYA-The Nagoya District
Court this morning ordered 10 companies and the central government to pay a
total of 308 million yen to residents suffering from diseases, including
bronchial asthma, as a result of factory and vehicle emissions." (Asahi
News)
"Clean
Power: Measuring Costs" - "The utility industry was jolted
recently by news of a $1.2 billion clean-up agreement negotiated between a
Virginia power company and the Environmental Protection Agency. The settlement
intensifies pressure on utilities in Michigan and other Midwest states. But for
the sake of both ratepayers and shareholders, the utilities must balance costs
as well as benefits as they confront regulators’ demands." (Detroit News)
"Low
IQ 'linked to later dementia'" - "Lower childhood IQ may be
linked to development of dementia later in life, Scottish researchers believe. A
study based on school records of children born in 1921 has found that those with
the lowest scores in intelligence tests are significantly more likely to develop
dementia." (BBC Online)
"Who
people trust - by profession" - "A new poll suggests that
people esteem those seen to place others' needs above their own interests."
(CSM)
Check out the least-trusted list - newspaper reporters
are less-trusted than lawyers. Makes you wonder why people allow themselves to
be manipulated by all the B.S. scares (e.g. 'global warming') doesn't it?
"A Matter
Of Life Or Starvation" - "To ignore modern biotechnology as a
possible solution to pressing food security challenges would be most
unwise" (Bangkok Post)
"Biotech
booming as world food source" - "WASHINGTON -- From a
taco shell controversy to caterpillar experiments, genetically altered crops are
under fire. The government, meanwhile, is increasing its spending on
biotechnology -- not for food on American grocery store shelves or crops in
American fields, but for battling hunger in developing nations." (AP)
"Monsanto
Takes The Offensive In Addressing Biotechnology" - "ST.
LOUIS -- Monsanto Co. (MON) has the science of agricultural biotechnology down
pat and now the company is turning its attention to better explaining that
technology and its benefits through its own initiatives and working with others,
said Monsanto President and Chief Executive Hendrik A. Verfaillie." (DJN) [Monsanto
Chief Says Company Fully Committed to Biotech (AgWeb.com)]
"More
Firms Seen Adopting Bio-Food Labels" - "WASHINGTON -
Regardless of how the StarLink bio-corn safety debate plays out, more U.S.
foodmakers will likely begin voluntarily labeling products with gene-spliced
ingredients to give consumers more information, Agriculture Secretary Dan
Glickman said on Monday." (Reuters)
"Greenpeace
Ready to Rally Against StarLink" - "Nov 27 - Tomorrow,
in protest against Aventis’ request to approve StarLink corn for human
consumption, Greenpeace is calling on activists to join together. The rally is
planned from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Rosslyn Hotel, in
Arlington, Virginia." (AgWeb.com)
"Globalisation:
it's all or nothing" - "The green lobby wants to curb the
World Bank and the IMF yet expects the Hague climate summit to come up with
solutions. You can't have it both ways, says economics editor Larry
Elliott" (Guardian)
"Revival
hopes for threatened bird species" - "The
population of rare bird species resident in the UK has almost doubled over the
last 30 years largely thanks to milder winters... " (Ananova)
So... it's not all doom when the world's not quite so
cold?
Fallout from The Hague ... :
"A Collapse in The Hague"
- "The U.N. conference on climate collapsed this weekend at The Hague because the ecological zealots who hold the
French and German governments hostage rejected a desperate concession by the Clinton Administration. The world can breathe a deep
sigh of relief." (WSJ)
"Climate
Treaty Deadlock Shows Lack of Consensus and Common Sense" -
"... From the start, the U.N.’s Sixth Session of the Conference of the
Parties in The Hague was mostly about trying to make the United States look bad.
For reasons of both politics and economics, not environment, Europe pursued
remedies to the perceived risk of global warming that it knew from the start the
United States was bound to reject." (TCS)
"Judge
weighs jurisdiction over 'global warming' suit" - "CASPER, Wyo.
- As a U.N. climate conference in the Netherlands collapsed without an agreement
Saturday, a federal judge in Wyoming weighed whether he has jurisdiction over a
lawsuit that could put the global warming issue on trial in the United
States." (AP)
"Nuclear
power? Yes, please" - "... Environmentalism is not about
solving problems; it is about preaching problems from the pulpit. A failed
summit enables everybody to go away and do a lot more posturing about the end of
the world being nigh, and humankind's (especially America's) greed and arrogance
being responsible. A done deal would have been a disaster for Europe's
environment ministers." (Matt Ridley, The Daily Telegraph)
"Group’s
summary overheats warming threat" - "... But the reported jump
in predicted temperatures only appeared in the summary, not the underlying
Assessment Report, and it only appeared in the last six months, long after the
scientific review ended. Since the climate itself didn’t change radically in
the last six months, what accounts for the sudden increase in the
forecast?" (Ken Green, Detroit News)
"Rain
until Christmas, but it is not global warming" - "RAIN until
Christmas was forecast yesterday as experts declared this the wettest autumn
since records began nearly 350 years ago. Even with temperatures expected to
reach 63F (17C) today in some parts, the highest since 1979, a Meteorological
Office spokesman said no one should blame global warming. He said: "Weather
variations like this have never been uncommon. Records going right back, and
anecdotal evidence before that, show there are extremes from time to time."
(Telegraph)
Whoops! "South
Pacific battered by global warming" - "South Pacific island
nations have suffered more than US $1 billion in damages in the past 10 years
from rising sea levels and tropical storms, the World Bank said in a report on
the impact of global warming." (Reuters)
See 'The
Little Nation That Cried "Wolf!"' or perhaps:
"Dr Wolfgang Scherer, director of the National Tidal Facility (NTF) of
Flinders University, South Australia, which undertook the review, told BBC
News Online that the much larger increases in global sea level predicted by
some climate models were not apparent in their regional data. "There is
no acceleration in sea level rise - none that we can discern, at all," he
said." (BBC
Online)
?!! "Leave
US out of deal, propose greens" - "The complete collapse of
climate talks at The Hague sent shock waves round the world yesterday and left
all 160 nations which took part wondering how best to proceed when the only fact
on which they appear united is that climate change remains the most serious
threat facing mankind."
If "climate change remains the most serious
threat facing mankind" then all is indeed right with the world. We
are faced with two choices: adapt, as we have always done, to whatever climate
we get, or; cease adapting to the world's restless climate, in which case
we'll die. The one choice we most assuredly DO NOT HAVE is to change the
climate.
and sundries:
November 27, 2000
"Expert
witnesses 'pressured to change evidence'"
- "One in 10 expert witnesses has been pressured by
a lawyer into changing evidence before a case has gone to court, a survey has
revealed. The finding supports what many people have suspected for a long time
– that doctors, accountants and other professionals come under enormous duress
to alter their opinions to help the side that is paying for them."
(Independent)
"Experts
gather in Perth to discuss impotence" - "International experts
have predicted that in less than 50 years, more than $100 billion a year could
be spent worldwide to treat an epidemic of male impotence." (ABC News
Online)
"Tobacco
settlement hasn't had the expected impact" - "Two years after
states and tobacco companies reached the largest legal settlement in history,
health advocates give the deal a decidedly mixed report card, expressing
disappointment that it has not more radically changed cigarette marketing. ...
"The settlement has made a difference, and its full impact hasn't been felt
yet," says Matthew Myers, president of the National Center for Tobacco-Free
Kids. "But it's had nowhere near the impact that was hoped for."
(Baltimore Sun)
"Computers
'could disable children'" - "Children learning to use
computers are being put at risk of permanent injury, some health experts are
warning. They say thousands of children have already been damaged by medical
problems associated with computer use. These problems - neck, back and
repetitive strain injuries (RSI) - have long been recognised as being linked to
prolonged computer use and incorrect posture in adults." (BBC Online)
Hmm... funny how Australia's RSI 'epidemic' disappeared
as soon as employers were found not liable for it.
"Epidemic
feared as measles jab rate drops" - "London
is facing a measles epidemic that could strike at any time because of the low
level of immunisation among children in the capital." (Independent)
Never short of a scare, The
Independent moves smoothly from global warming to "Mobile
phones to carry government health warning"
- "Mobile phones sold in the run-up to Christmas
will carry a government health warning – despite the lack of definitive
evidence that they are harmful. Officials confirmed yesterday that they were
finalising a leaflet that would warn buyers about uncertainty over mobile
phones' potential health risks." [No
evidence of risk doesn't mean phones are safe] [Teenagers
hooked by bright covers and 'texting' craze] [Lend
an ear to government warnings on mobile phones] (Independent)
"Mad
cow disease makes its way to Germany" - "A wave of anger hit
Germany today over the arrival of mad cow disease, which political leaders and
farm experts had long said could not spread across its borders." [EU
Says Germany Made Mistakes on Mad Cow Disease] (Reuters)
"Pressure
mounts for beef ban" - "Food safety experts will decide
whether Britain should impose a ban on imports of French beef, Agriculture
Minister Nick Brown has said." [Warning
over BSE concessions] (BBC Online) [French
butchers battle mad-cow fears (AP)]
"Public
fears over genetic information" - "British people are keen to
see genetic breakthroughs that will benefit health but do not want their
employers or insurers to use the information against them." (BBC Online)
I want all the advantages (at minimal or no cost) but
none of this downside stuff though... Good grief.
"Biotech
Firm's Finger Joint in Landmark Transplant" - "FRANKFURT,
Germany - Germany's BioTissue Technologies AG said Sunday that Freiburg
University surgeons conducted the first ever finger-joint transplantation using
a complete joint engineered by the biotech company. BioTissue, which seeks to
list on Frankfurt's Neuer Markt for growth stocks on December 1, said the
operation followed the four-week reproduction of cells taken from a patient's
rib cartilage and hipbone." (Reuters)
"UNNECESSARY
SETBACK FOR BIOTECH CORN" - "Why did the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency offer any approval at all for StarLink corn if
it thought the genetically engineered corn might trigger allergies? The
potential for the corn to leak into human consumption was too great. It was a
regulatory bungle." (Dennis T Avery, Bridge News)
"Tacogate:
There Is Barely A Kernel of Truth" - "... With all the
hue and cry, you`d think a dangerous, if not deadly, ingredient had been
introduced into the U.S. and international food supply. But what`s the startling
discovery the alarm-raisers have made? Hold onto your seats, folks: Our corn, it
seems, has been contaminated by--corn!" (Washington Post)
"The
"Golden Rice" Tale" - "Golden Rice" is, to
date, a popular case – supported by the scientific community, the agbiotech
industry, the media, the public, the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), official
developmental aid institutions, etc., but equally strongly opposed by the
opponents of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)." (Turning Point
Article)
"China
Establishes Stem Cell Genetic Engineering Center"
- "Work on a State stem cell genetic engineering center has begun recently
in Tianjin,
a municipality in north China. This is part of the country's effort to promote
the genetic engineering industry." (People's Daily)
CoP6 recriminations, angst and the odd rational comment:
"Despite
stalemate at Hague, talks no futile exercise" - "Climate talks
wrapped up on Saturday without an agreement. But momentum builds for individual
action." (CSM)
Now this is naïve. Even amongst those who pretend to
believe the enhanced greenhouse hype, all jockeying is for political and
commercial advantage. The EU, far too small and with too little available land
for carbon credit schemes, is adamantly against their use because others
profitably can. The US, Canada, Australia and Japan, on the other hand, either
have sufficient room or can afford to buy them elsewhere and recognise that
this would usefully disadvantage competing industrialised regions while
minimising damage to their own industry base.
It is not because there is no physical problem extant but
rather because no industrialised group will yield manufacturing and trade
advantage to any other group that there will never be agreement on this
foolish and redundant protocol. We all know it, so why continue the pantomime?
"France
firm on no climate deal with US" - "THE French minister blamed
by John Prescott for the failure of a compromise on trying to curb climate
change said yesterday that offering America concessions would have been a
mistake. Dominique Voynet, environment minister, the
Green Party's sole representative in the socialist-led coalition cabinet,
criticised the proposed agreement on harmful emissions, brokered by Britain, as
"environmentally unacceptable". In an interview with Le Journal du
Dimanche, she backed the decision to offer no concessions to America as one of
the few successes of The Hague environment summit." (Telegraph)
Right Ms Voynet - but for all the wrong reasons.
Humanity's restoration of previously sequestered carbon to the atmosphere is a
significant net benefit to the biosphere - it is the Kyoto Protocol
that endangers humanity and the environment.
"Try
again on greenhouse" - "Enough heat to raise the global
temperature another notch or two, but after a couple of hundred (highly
polluting) jet plane journeys, dozens of hours of arguments and countless reams
of paper, virtually no light has been shed on the most serious environmental
problem facing the planet." (The Age editorial)
The Age still can't tell editorialising from
proselyting. Enhanced greenhouse is an article of faith, not science. 'All
science is numbers' and the numbers don't add up for the enhanced greenhouse
hypothesis. The environmental risk comes not from enhanced greenhouse but from
politician's belief that a problem exists or perhaps their pretence
that it does in order to garner votes.
"Prescott's
race to save deal on climate change" - "BRITAIN will make a
desperate final attempt to salvage an international deal on climate change
before President Clinton leaves office at the end of January. Amid
recriminations yesterday about responsibility for the collapse of the talks in
The Hague and the failure of a compromise brokered
by John Prescott, there was speculation that the Deputy Prime Minister's
position in Cabinet had been undermined. But Downing Street defended Mr
Prescott. Michael Meacher, the environment minister, said that the talks ran out
of time when ministers had been "inches away from a deal. It's all a muddle
and a tragedy, but we will recover. The world's got to have a deal, the storms
and floods are going to go on happening." (Telegraph)
Indeed, 'storms and floods are going to go on happening'
- that has nothing to do with the enhanced greenhouse hypothesis though.
"A
load of hot air" - "IT is, we are told, a disaster of
global proportions. We have condemned our children's children to death by
drowning, or possibly suffocation. The world's newspapers have almost all
concluded that the failure of talks in The Hague threatens, as The Independent
on Sunday reported, "a catastrophic change in the world's climate".
Before we get too carried away, it is worth looking at the scope of the
discussions." (Telegraph)
"Industry
breathes easier, for now"
- "Greens are calling it a disaster, but Australian resource and energy
industries won a significant reprieve at COP6, the UN climate change conference.
On the other hand, brokers and financial services companies will have to wait
longer for their carbon-trading bonanza to materialise." (AFR)
"The
Tree Trap: Envoys Could Not Agree on Value of Forests to World Environment"
- "THE HAGUE, Nov. 25 — In the end, the negotiators got lost in the
trees. After 11 days of draining and unwieldy bargaining by 170 countries over
the rules for a proposed treaty to fight global warming, by this morning all the
issues had been narrowed to just this one: How much credit should big forested
countries get for all that photosynthesis?" (NY Times)
"Industry
off hook as EU hardliners sink talks" - "Australian
industry has won a reprieve against hard-line green demands at the UN climate
change conference that would have added huge compliance costs over greenhouse
emissions. "This is a major victory for Australia," said an industry
observer as the conference broke up in acrimony after efforts to negotiate a
deal on emission control collapsed. "The European Union's attempts to
redefine the Kyoto Protocol have been rejected," said an Australian
negotiator." (AFR)
Hmm... "Market
warms to idea of global lead" - "WITH a plethora of
newspapers pumping out forests-worth of newsprint on the perils of global
warming, poll-watching politicians are keen to play up their green credentials
these days. Summiteers working into the night at The Hague last week in search
of a deal to agree a global plan to tackle the menace, clearly wanted to let the
voters know they were taking the problem seriously. There were few obvious
departures from the standard script in which smoke-belching businesses are seen
as despoilers of an innocent planet." (The Scotsman)
Uh-huh... "Firm
hopes drivers willing to pay to offset own greenhouse-gas emissions"
- "VANCOUVER -- B.C. motorists, already steamed at the prospect of a new
transit levy and possibly hefty gas-guzzler taxes, are being asked to
voluntarily tax themselves to combat global warming." (CP)
"Britain's
cars to get toughest MoT" - "MINISTERS are planning to
introduce what could be the world's toughest MoT test for all new cars as part
of the British commitment to reducing global warming gases" (The Sunday
Times)
"GLOBAL-WARMING
MEETING FAILS AFTER LAST-MINUTE DEAL CRUMBLES" - "...
Shell-shocked delegates to the 180-nation United Nations World Climate Change
Conference, many of whom have devoted years of work to the issue, agreed to try
again to reach an accord when they meet at Bonn in May as scheduled."
(Chicago Tribune)
November 26, 2000
"Scientist
Raises New Mobile Phone Fears" - "LONDON - Children who use
mobile phones risk suffering memory loss, sleeping disorders and headaches,
according to research published in the medical journal The Lancet."
(Reuters) [The Lancet: Physics
and biology of mobile telephony; Epidemiological
evidence on health risks of cellular telephones; Mobile
phones and the illusory pursuit of safety; Mobile
phones: blessing or curse?] [Disney
dumps kids' mobiles (SMH)]
"Lawyers
want to limit secret settlements" - "Spurred by reports that
Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. spent years negotiating secret settlements to
wrongful-death lawsuits while its tires continued to cause fatal accidents, a
national lawyers' group is pushing a new Massachusetts law banning legal
confidentiality agreements in cases involving dangerous products, business
practices, and other ''public hazards.'' (Boston Globe)
"HIV
in 1700s is the missing ape-man link" - "Brussels - A
predecessor of HIV may have been around in humans as early as the 17th
century, according to international researchers. (Reuters)
"Germany
sets emergency measures to fight BSE" - "German officials
have agreed on emergency measures to fight mad cow disease, including an
immediate ban on the use of meat and bone meal in all animal feed. The quick
agreement came after the first two German-born cows tested positive this week
for the disease. (Irish Times)
"EU
Refuses to Take Blame for BSE in Germany" - "BRUSSELS - The
European Union's health chief rejected accusations on Saturday that the EU was
to blame for the spread of mad cow disease in Germany and countered that
Berlin had been lax in adopting safety measures." (Reuters)
"French
farmers under siege as BSE fears grip continent" - "Evidence
that cows may have contracted BSE after controls to halt the disease were
imposed has fuelled a growing sense of panic" (Observer)
"Brain
Ages Well with Wine, Japan Research Says" - "TOKYO - Wisdom
comes with age but the odd glass of wine may also give senior citizens a boost
in brain power." (Reuters)
"Maryland
Village Endorses a Ban on Outdoor Smoking" - "CHEVY CHASE,
Md., Nov. 22 — Smoking outdoors will soon be outlawed in a small corner of
Maryland, except on private property, if the local Village Council gets its
way. In Friendship Heights, a neighborhood of about 5,000 residents in
Chevy Chase, just outside Washington, the Council is seeking county approval
for a ban on smoking in all public spaces that are maintained by the village.
Under the ban, smoking on sidewalks, streets, patches of grass or any other
area owned by the village would be punished with a $100 fine. Anyone
discarding tobacco products in those areas would also be subject to the
fine." (NY Times)
"BNFL
plans new nuclear power plants" - "British Nuclear Fuels is
lobbying for permission to build a new generation of nuclear power stations
which, it claims, would help fight climate change and cut the UK's plutonium
stockpile." (Observer)
"Britain's
flooding 'not caused by global warming', say scientists" -
"CLAIMS by Government ministers and the media that Britain's recent spate
of bad weather is caused by global warming will be dismissed as scientific
nonsense this week by leading climate experts. An international conference of
experts on the European climate will be told that the heavy rainfall and
flooding of recent months is entirely consistent with a well-known weather
system, and shows no signs of being linked to global warming."
(Telegraph)
CoP6 wrap - crashed and burned:
The Kyoto Protocol is as dead as a Monte Python parrot:
It's not pinin'! It's passed on! This protocol is no more! It has
ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! It's a stiff! Bereft
of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the trees it'd be
pushing up the daisies! Its metabolic processes are now 'istory! It's off
the twig! It's kicked the bucket, it's shuffled off its mortal coil, run
down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! THIS IS AN
EX-PROTOCOL!! (With apologies to the Monte Python team)
"Hubris
and nemesis" - "THE Hague conference on climate change,
which broke up yesterday in disarray, was surely this year's most elaborate
expression of both the vanity of politics and the hubris of science." (The
Sunday Telegraph)
"Climate
conference falls short of goal" - "THE HAGUE, Netherlands --
Resigned to failure in reaching a detailed deal to stem global warming,
delegates at a U.N. conference closed themselves in a room overnight to
negotiate a broad statement instead. Two weeks of talks fell far short of
agreement on a document setting the guidelines on how nations may reach targets
they accepted three years ago for reducing emissions of the greenhouse
gases." (AP)
Oops! "Climate
conference reaches greenhouse gas deal" - "A deal to cut
greenhouse gases causing global warming has been reached at the international
conference at The Hague, Environment Minister Michael Meacher says." (Ananova)
[Independent]
"Climate
talks collapse without a deal" - "International talks to save
the planet from the threat of climate change collapsed when European Union
ministers failed to reach a deal with the US." (Ananova)
'A
Realistic Definition of “Success”' - "Statement by Eileen
Claussen, President, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Netherlands Congress
Center, The Hague" (Pe-ugh! Center for Generating Climate Claptrap)
Trying for job security Eileen? Ever wonder how that
sits with the people whose lives and livelihoods you are trying to
destroy with this nonsense or have you no shame at all?
Oh no! Not this rubbish again!
"Takuu's
singing islanders pay the price for global warming" -
"The 400 inhabitants of the atoll off the coast of Papua New Guinea are
likely to be the first people in the world to lose their homeland to global
warming. The sea is inexorably rising around them, the gardens where they grow
their food are being flooded, and their sand dunes are being swept away."
(Independent)
See Tectonic
Setting and Volcanoes of Papua New Guinea, New Britain, and the Solomon
Islands for the real reason these islands are sinking,
providing the illusion that sea levels are rising.
"Parties
blame each other for failure of climate talks" - "THE HAGUE --
Two weeks of international talks on how to cut pollution that is warming the
planet ended in failure Saturday, leaving some environmental lobbyists in tears
and delegates promising to continue their work. Disappointed negotiators pledged
to meet again. But deep divisions between the two main bargaining blocs -- the
United States, Canada and Japan and the European Union -- cast doubt on the
prospects for a later agreement." (AP-CP)
"Climate
summit delegates support conference resumption in 2001" - "The
Hague--Nov. 25--Delegates at the U.N. global climate summit on Saturday
supported conference president Jan Pronk's suggestion that the negotiation round
at The Hague should be considered suspended rather than ended. Delegates
commended Pronk on his chairmanship and said they hoped he would continue to
chair the conference in its next session, which will likely take place in
May-June 2001 in Bonn, Germany." (Bridge News)
"Science
takes a back seat" - "If you'd been wanting to learn more
about the science of climate change, then The Hague this last week was certainly
not the place to be." (BBC Online's Alex "Global Warming" Kirby,
so expect an advocacy bent)
Sundries:
November 25, 2000
"So much for the
precautionary principle?" - "Speed limits 'threaten rail
safety'. Safety measures taken since the Hatfield train crash have
actually made rail travel more dangerous, it has been claimed. Government
ministers have been advised that speed restrictions imposed since the 17
October crash have disrupted drivers' routines and made errors more likely,
according to The Economist.
BBC."
(Social Issues Research Centre) [Independent]
- "ALBANY, N.Y.
- Environmentalists offered a ''reward'' Friday for the first person to reveal
the identity of groups behind a suit challenging restrictions imposed by New
York on where some pollution credits can be sold." (AP)
"New
curbs on mobile masts" - "Plans have been announced to
tighten the regulations on siting mobile phone masts in Scotland." (BBC
Online) [Tighter
mast controls (The Times)]
"Easy
to treat now, but not in 1900" - "... There is a
simmering international debate about whether GPs should prescribe antibiotics
for otitis media (the medical term for an infection behind the ear
drum). ... Although better hygiene and nutrition may have played a part in
eradicating chronic ear infections and their complications, it is also likely
that the treatment of middle-ear infections with antibiotics had a big
impact." (Independent)
"Rude
health is found to be in very bad taste" - "MANY foods that
taste bitter, acrid or astringent are good for you. Sprouts, grapefruit,
cabbage, kale, greens, spinach, dark chocolates and red wine contain dietary
"phyto-nutrients" linked with cancer prevention and other health
benefits, according to a review published yesterday. However, because of the
off-putting taste of these beneficial substances, the food industry has
devoted much effort to removing them, said Prof Adam Drewnowski, director of
the University of Washington Nutritional Sciences Programme in Seattle."
(Telegraph)
"Fat
lot of use, says food industry"
- "Australia's food manufacturers will be required to reveal the
percentage of the main ingredient and details of saturated fats and sugars in
their products under new laws agreed to by Australian and New Zealand health
ministers on Friday. The adoption of the new food labelling regime drew
concern from the Federal Government, with the Parliamentary Secretary for
Health, Senator Grant Tambling, claiming the new rules would impose an
"unjustified cost on industry"." (AFR) [Dow
Jones] [The
Australian]
"BSE
panic spreads across Europe" - "First cases reported in
Germany and Spain amid calls for UK ban on French beef" (Guardian) [Germans
panic over cases of BSE and CJD (Telegraph)] [Germany
hit by first CJD cases (The Times)]
"Blindness
among Indian children often avoidable" - "DELHI: A large
percentage of blindness among children attending schools for the blind in
India are due to avoidable causes, according to a study from the province of
Andhra Pradesh. ... Vitamin A deficiency was the major preventable cause,
occurring in 19 per cent, while cataract and glaucoma were the most common
treatable causes." (Times of India)
Odd that our 'caring and sharing' so-called
environmentalists are so adamantly opposed to biotech-enhanced Golden Rice
for example, which could do so much to address this tragedy.
"Biotech
Foods Can Help Defeat World Hunger - US Official" -
"ROME--If carefully regulated, the use of biotechnology and genetically
modified organisms can help defeat world hunger, A U.S. agriculture official
said Friday." (AP)
"GE
inquiry told of mistrust" - "Failure to tell people that
they were eating genetically modified food has resulted in a high degree of
mistrust and that attitude will be difficult to change, says a visiting
consumer scientist. Dr Lynn Frewer, a psychologist who heads the consumer
science division of Britain's Institute for Food Research, gave evidence
before the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification in Wellington." (NZ
Herald)
"Study
Says Bugs Don`t Develop Resistance to Insect-Proof Cotton" -
"In a study sure to rekindle debate on genetically modified crops,
University of Arizona researchers found that bugs didn`t develop widespread
resistance to the biotechnology industry`s insect-proof cotton. The research,
published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
was good news for the biotechnology industry because it proves wrong earlier
projections that the genetically engineered plants might quickly become
obsolete." (WSJ)
"Germany
meets biotech firms on restricting GM food" - "BERLIN,
Nov 24 - The German government held a second day of talks with senior
biotechnology industry officials on Friday, hoping to forge an agreement on
the planting of genetically modified (GM) crops until 2003, sources
said." (Reuters)
"Company
Says Tracing Problem Corn May Take Weeks" - "It might take
weeks to figure out how the insect-killing trait in genetically altered
StarLink corn migrated into a variety of corn that was not supposed to be
genetically modified, according to the Garst Seed Company, the producer of the
corn." (NY Times)
"The
Coming Electric Power Crisis" - "Recent events, particularly
in California, have made it all too clear that the U.S. power generating
system is short of the reserve capacity needed to prevent blackouts, and
perhaps more importantly, to provide for stable electricity prices under free
market conditions. My estimate is that an increase in the reserve margin of at
least 5 % is needed very badly." (W Kenneth Davis, former US Deputy
Secretary of Energy)
"The Week That
Was November 25, 2000 brought to you by SEPP" - "REBIRTH OF
NUCLEAR POWER; ENVIRONMENTALISTS FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY; PETITION; AN APPEAL"
(SEPP)
"Everest
is emigrating to China, say experts" - "Beijing - The
world's tallest peak is moving into China at a speed of six to seven
centimetres per year from its position on the Nepal-China border, Chinese
scientists have found." (Sapa-DPA)
Perhaps not too surprising given that the Himalayas are
the result of tectonic movement. Do you suppose this rather than claimed
global warming might be responsible for the claimed slight change in total
height of Mt Everest?
"Weirdest
UK weather since 1766" -
"London - Britain has been suffering the most abnormal weather since
rainfall records began more than 200 years ago, the Met Office said on
Thursday. A spokesman for the national forecasting body said the heavy rain
that has caused the worst floods for 50 years was expected to lash the country
into next week." (Reuters)
So the weather is changing like the, uh... weather? If
these are the worst floods for 50 years but records go back roughly 250
years they've experienced these events before then? Notably, before
significant use of fossil fuels could have changed atmospheric CO2
constituents? Can't point the finger at enhanced greenhouse then can we.
Interested in 'unusual' weather events? Try this
link.
CoP6 & enhanced greenhouse wrap-up (hopefully):
"Global
warming: the greens have the numbers" - "... COP6 has
been a battleground between those who see climate change as an environmental
problem with major economic implications, and those who see it as an
opportunity to entrench green influence at the heart of "global
governance", as the French President, Jacques Chirac, put it in his
address to COP6 on Monday." (AFR)
"Viewpoint:
The Sun and climate change" - "Natural processes involving
changes in the Sun could have at least as powerful an effect on global
temperature as increased emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)." (BBC Online)
"Global
warming becomes storm in 229m teacups" - "TEA and coffee
drinkers joined the Government's list of those responsible for global warming
yesterday." (Telegraph)
"Tuvalu
puts Fiji land purchase on hold" - "The plan to buy freehold
land in Fiji was based on concerns about the impact of adverse climate change
in Tuvalu and in particular, rising sea levels." (Radio Australia)
The stated reason is due to political instability in
Fiji. A more likely reason is that claims of dramatic sea level rise have
proven to be false. At the tidal facility in Funafuti no change can be
discerned beyond ENSO variation (positive and negative). Nor have the IPCC's
own contributing scientists been able to discern any acceleration in the
normal, and very slow, rise in sea levels due to ongoing retreat of the last
great glaciation. For a tiny country whose major income is derived from
leasing their .tv internet domain suffix to television stations and porn
sites, the capital cost of purchasing sufficient land to accommodate their
8,000-odd population elsewhere is an onerous burden on the national
treasury.
"No
Compromise on Warming" - "EU Delegates Say U.S. Compromise
Would Subvert Integrity" (AP)
Uh-huh... "Firms
Become 'Green' Advocates" - "THE HAGUE, Nov. 23 –– Many
American corporations say they are now persuaded by the perils of greenhouse
gases and have emerged as strong advocates of market-based solutions to cleanse
the atmosphere of pollutants that trap heat and raise the Earth's
temperature." (Washington Post)
"Negotiators
mull energy compromise" - "THE HAGUE — Negotiators from 180
nations worked overnight to piece together an agreement on global warming with
far-reaching consequences for the U.S. economy and environment. Any agreement
coming out of the U.N. negotiations here, which are slated to end today, could
require Americans to cut their energy use and emissions by as much as one-third
by 2012." (Washington Times)
"Green
light to increase emissions" - "AUSTRALIA'S alignment with the
US in this week's climate change talks appeared to have reaped rewards last
night after a draft agreement allowed a marginal increase in greenhouse gas
emissions." (The Australian)
"Global
warming bogeyman" - "European legends abound with tales of
"changelings" wherein trolls and other mythical beings secretly steal
newborn human offspring, exchanging them for misshapen, mentally inferior
creatures. Now this ancient curse is afflicting our scientific and public policy
processes, as political trolls replace careful analysis with grotesque, inferior
substitutes. Four years ago, a single author secretly altered a peer-reviewed
scientific summary by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He
deleted important conclusions and added a baseless claim that there had been a
"discernible human influence" on global climate." (Washington
Times)
Additional coverage:
November 24, 2000
"Media,
Activist Turkeys Ignore Butterfly Thanksgiving" - "The media
missed some major biotech corn-Monarch butterfly news last week. A casual
observer might conclude the media were too wrapped up in the butterfly ballot
controversy in Florida. But a more likely explanation lies in the unfortunate
media doctrine, 'good news isn’t news.'" (Steve Milloy at FoxNews.com)
"O'HARE
POLLUTION ISN'T WORSE THAN AREA'S, ILLINOIS EPA SAYS" -
"State environmental officials are finding that air pollution around O'Hare
International Airport is little different from that in other parts of the city,
midway through a six-month study. Wednesday's announcement by the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency appeared to be at odds with a study released
last summer by Park Ridge that called engine emissions from the airport a health
hazard. While the suburban study, touted widely by opponents of airport
expansion, included a controversial risk assessment, the state EPA project is
focused on measuring four toxic compounds generated by combustion."
(Chicago Tribune)
"One
in three get cancer before turning 75" - "CANCER will strike a
third of all Australians before they turn 75, new statistics reveal. In a
snapshot of the nation's health, researchers say 80,000 Australians can expect
to be diagnosed with cancer this year. Of those, more than 10,000 will develop
the disease because they have smoked cigarettes." (Sydney Daily Telegraph)
Again... "Medical
Experts Divided on Hazards of Mobile Phones" - "LONDON -
It's no wonder that the public are confused about the health hazards of mobile
phones. Even scientists are divided on how dangerous they may be."
(Reuters)
This debate will continue in its undefined state for
the simple reason that effects, if any, are so subtle that they cannot be
defined. EMFs (Electro-Magnetic Fields) are certainly not new to humanity,
in fact, as biological entities we generate and utilise weak EMFs ourselves.
For at least a half-century, urban residents in developed regions have been
liberally dosed with anthropogenic (human generated) EMFs and yet lifespans
and quality of life are still increasing. This suggests, but does not prove,
that effects are not of significant concern. As with all the potential
hazards in life, you pays your money and you takes your chance. If mobiles
are an important tool or convenience in your life then use them with
confidence, if not, and you suspect they may do you harm, then don't. Either
way, worrying about their potential hazard appears to be the greatest
health-risk faced by users.
"Weight
Extremes Influence Fertility - Study" - "LONDON - Women who
want to get pregnant should watch their weight because being too thin or too
fat could reduce their fertility, Australian doctors said on Friday. New
research by scientists at the University of Adelaide shows that women with the
best weight for their height and shape have a better chance of getting
pregnant than women who are skinny or obese." (Reuters)
So, women who are fittest and healthiest have a better
chance of conceiving... and someone got paid for this research?
"Warning
on garlic pills in surgery" - "A woman almost went blind after
haemorrhaging during a routine eye operation because she had taken
blood-thinning garlic supplements, a conference was told yesterday. The case,
believed to be the world's first report of garlic-induced bleeding during eye
surgery, should serve as a warning to consumers of naturopathic products,
opthalmologist Susan Carden said." (The Age)
"Pro-transgenic
meet to propagate GM crops" - "CALCUTTA: Farmers, scientists
and policy makers will get together in a pro-transgenic crops meet here on
December 8 to deliberate on what is hindering the entry of genetically modified
(GM) products into India and find ways to reach cutting-edge plant biotechnology
to the masses." (PTI)
"NZ
veterinarians warn against going GM - free" - "WELLINGTON -
New Zealand farming will suffer if the country goes GM (genetically modified)
free, the NZ Veterinary Association said yesterday. New Zealand is currently
holding a Royal Commission on Genetic Modification and the Veterinary
Association comments stemmed from its submission to the inquiry." (Reuters)
"Editorial:
Non-Thanksgiving Turkey" - "Corn -- or maize as the Indians
called it -- has been part of Thanksgiving traditions since the beginning. But
this year, many Americans have found that processed corn products, such as
cornmeal for stuffing or chips for dip, are difficult to find. They have a
regulatory turkey from federal regulators to thank. This completely wrong-headed
policy has three parts:" (Henry I. Miller, M.D., American Council on
Science and Health)
Speaking of turkeys, here's a beaut: "Thanksgiving
turkey? Think twice about the entree" (from ENN, apparently
sponsored by HSUS)
and what happens when animals are overprotected? This
AP piece offers a clue.
'Scientists
developing artificial "plants"' - "Australian
researchers are developing revolutionary technology that may help to combat
the Greenhouse Effect and create food and an alternative source of fuel at the
same time."
Apparently nothing has a hope of attracting
research funds unless 'greenhouse' is worked into the application somehow.
CoP6, enhanced greenhouse ad nauseam ...
Oh dear! "Climate
change will bankrupt the world"
- "Leading insurance expert warns conference that the
cost of damage caused by global warming will exceed all resources by
2065" (Independent) [BBC
Online]
Oldest (and shoddiest) subterfuge in the book. Using
fiscal value of storm damage provides no indication of the relative severity
of weather events. All that increasing damage claims tells you is that a
wealthier society is placing a greater value of structure/property in
high-risk regions - waterfront condos or whatever - because it is (usually)
a pleasant location and people who can afford to do so choose to live in
pleasant seaside or river valley locations (people like living near water).
The downside, of course, is that higher than average water levels cause
significant property damage and that is to be expected. After all, the water
is there because that is the natural drainage lie of the land.
Some events demonstrate greater destructive force due
to changes in land use and paving causing greater runoff rates than
traditionally occurred, that isn't an artefact of climate but rather poor
planning and engineering.
This sort of nonsense is easily countered by analysis
of wind strength and precipitation during extreme weather events, which has
shown a general slight, but statistically significant, decline during the
twentieth century. Some seasons will locally (or even globally) demonstrate
1 in 10-, 1 in 50-, 100- or even 500-year events but these are to be
expected because the geologic record tells that they do occur, albeit
irregularly, in that locale. Just because say, York, records flood levels
last recorded in 16-something doesn't indicate a major shift in climatic
conditions, merely it's a case of "Wow! Look at that! we've recorded
another instance of something that happened before."
With both the Pacific Decadal and North Atlantic
Oscillations apparently entering cool phases we could be in for some
extreme weather (cold conditions generally equate to greater severity of
weather events than do warm) but this would fit with global cooling
rather than warming.
"Protest
And Pollution: Climate Summit in The Balance" - "THE HAGUE,
The Netherlands, November 23, 2000 - Strategic climate policies could prevent
eight million deaths over the next two decades, according to the World Health
Organisation. Food for thought, as delegates enter the last 24 hours of the
6th Conference of Parties to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (COP 6)." (ENS)
Really? How many lives will be lost due to economic
suppression slashing development aid availability, health programs,
subsidised sanitation and reticulated water infrastructure, medical and food
aid... Factor in loss of available surplus finance and effort beyond simple
societal support and it should be fairly obvious that any attempt to
implement Kyoto, to not address a problem that doesn't exist outside
the virtual world of computer models, would be an unmitigated disaster for
humanity and the environment.
The SOLE demonstrated physical effect of elevating
atmospheric CO2 is increased phyto-productivity, a net benefit
for the entire biosphere. For this we should destroy the global economy and
and slash living standards? Oh puh-lease!
"It's
the worst weather since..." - "Today's weather isn't quite
what you think" (National Post)
"How
UN agenda drives The Hague" - "Despite uncertain science, the
politics of climate change guarantees developed nations will pay a big price for
global warming" (David Wojick, National Post)
"Movement
Seen at Climate Conference" (AP)
I don't doubt that - it's certainly giving me the s**ts!
"Bid
to break climate talks impasse" - "THE HAGUE, Netherlands --
The United States and European Union are poring over a last-ditch compromise
proposal as the deadline for an accord at U.N. talks on climate change rapidly
approaches." (Reuters)
Sigh... will this farce never end? "Deadlocked
UN climate talks go into extra time" - "THE HAGUE - -
Negotiators facing the spectre of failure at UN climate talks agreed to extend
the parlay by a day in hopes of clearing a thicket of disputes entangling an
agreement on fighting global warming. The negotiations on implementation of the
1997 Kyoto Protocol on global warming had been scheduled to wrap up on Friday
after a three-year marathon. But the deadline was pushed back by a day after
late-night haggling failed to resolve the most bitterly-fought disputes over how
to reduce the levels of so-called greenhouse gases that lead to global
warming." (AFP)
"Compromised
global warming treaty favours US" - "Efforts to broker a deal
on the United Nation's treaty on global warming have gathered pace, with a
proposed compromise by conference organisers that appears to offer significant
ground to the United States. ... But as delegations discuss the document,
environmental groups have decried it as a sellout, urging the European Union to
block it." (ABC News Online)
"Climate
Talks May Be Moot Amid Green Power Advances" - "NEW YORK -
Judging from the sound and fury emanating from the global climate talks in the
Hague this week, the world's politicians may be living up to their reputation
for being ten years behind the times. While their concerns about global
warming are justified, advances by private business in making fuel cells and
other green technologies financially viable could make all the political
hand-wringing redundant before too long, analysts say." (Reuters)
Usual wildly fanciful piece generated by RMI.
"Gas
guzzlers face $4,000 penalty" - "VICTORIA -- The provincial
government is floating the idea of a stiff new tax that could add up to $4,000
to the cost of vans, large pick-up trucks and sport utility vehicles."
(Vancouver Sun)
Sundries:
November 23, 2000
"Early
puberty: early obesity a likely cause" - "This letter was
written in response to an article Time published on October 30, 2000 that
discussed early puberty in girls and linked it to a variety of possible causes.
The condition of accelerated puberty in girls is more of a hypothesis than a
widely observed phenomenon—in spite of anecdotal reports. Your article seemed
to emphasize the vague possibility that a host of chemicals, those found in the
environment or in foods, could initiate early puberty. But the only
scientifically documented cause is the increase in childhood obesity, and the
demonstrated involvement of fat cell-derived leptin in initiating pubertal
events. Next time, I hope you will do your readers a favor by presenting such
stories in a more realistic context, rather than alarming them on the basis of
weak scientific evidence." (Ruth Kava, ACSH)
"Fat
is not a sin but an organ vital to survival" - "BODY fat is
good for the health, medical experts said yesterday. It boosts the immune
systems, produces hormones, plays an important role in metabolism and is
actually an organ performing vital bodily functions." (Telegraph)
"Coalition
Says DDT Needed to Control Malaria" - "WASHINGTON - Tropical
and subtropical nations facing a spiraling malaria crisis should be allowed to
use DDT to control the spread of the disease, a renowned malaria researcher said
here Tuesday. The press briefing was scheduled 2 weeks before a United
Nations-sponsored conference considers whether to ban the pesticide worldwide.
``DDT should not be used on a large scale on the environment,'' Dr. Donald R.
Roberts, professor of tropical public health in the Uniformed Services
University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, told Reuters Health.
``But DDT for malaria control is applied only to the inside of walls of houses
and in very minute amounts.'' (Reuters Health) [Malaria
toll]
"WHO
Plans Better World Water Supply to Cut Disease" - "RIO DE
JANEIRO - The World Health Organization (WHO) hopes to halve the numbers of
people without access to water supply and sanitation by 2015 and drastically cut
the planet's annual death
toll from water-borne diseases." (Reuters)
"Concerns
Grow Over Reactions to Lyme Shots" - "Federal health
authorities are investigating whether some people who received the vaccine
against Lyme disease later developed severe cases of arthritis and even Lyme
disease itself as a result." (NY Times)
"Mad
cows, Bretons and manganese" - "The French cases of BSE may
not have been spread from Britain" (Guardian [parenthetically, probably the
least irrational thing Monbiot's ever written])
"Swiss
Scientists Find New Way to Detect Mad Cow Disease" - "ZURICH -
Swiss scientists have discovered a new way to detect the presence of mad cow
disease or its human equivalent, which could be the basis for a cure and a way
to purify donor blood, they said Wednesday." (Reuters) [New
Scientist]
"Overreacting"
- "Repeated food scares have led us to this: Waukesha, Wisconsin elementary
schools are considering banning homemade treats and classroom cooking. The move
comes in response to an E. coli outbreak that caused 30 illnesses earlier this
year, which may have been caused by a sick child contaminating a food bar.
Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail and little Johnny will be able to bring in
a homemade sandwich and some of grandma's cookies. As University of
Wisconsin-Madison food safety scientist Michael Pariza puts it, "Kids have
been doing this for years, and the risks are pretty darn low."
(GuestChoice.com)
"Do
models really cause anorexia?" -
"Popular science links eating disorders to the fashion for thin models. But
new research suggests otherwise: genes, trauma and even religion may play a
part" [Eating
disorders: the latest theories] (Independent)
"Hospital
infections kill 5,000 every year" -
"Infections caught while in hospital kill about 5,000 people a year and
affect at least 100,000 people, a damning report by MPs warned yesterday."
(Independent) [BBC
Online]
Is it just my sloppy arithmetic or do mortalities
attributed to pollutants (e.g., vehicle emissions), smoking (voluntary and
"second hand"), hospitals (cross infection, "super-bugs",
poor treatment... ), "environmentally-induced cancer" (if any such
entity exists) etc., etc. actually exceed total mortalities? With a mean life
expectancy of 72 years you would expect a mortality rate of roughly 1.4% of
the population per annum and yet a quick review of the last year's scares and
releases suggests a UK rate of more than 2% from unnatural causes.
Doesn't anybody die of what used to be called 'natural causes' anymore?
"City levels
of pollution lower than Euro average" - "LEVELS of
cancer-causing pollution in the capital are lower than other major European
capitals according to the initial findings of new research. This is despite a
recent OECD report which warned that air pollution is far higher in Ireland than
the Euro average." (Irish Independent)
"Peers
warn of fatal blood clots on long journeys"
- "Long-distance travellers – whether by coach to Carlisle or by jumbo
jet to Johannesburg – should take precautionary measures to reduce the risk of
blood clots forming in their legs, a report said yesterday." [Airlines
rapped over passenger health] (Independent) [Perils
of cheap flights may force up prices (Guardian)] [Health
warnings may be included on international flight tickets (ABC News Online)]
"Gene
Therapy Used to Cure Rodents with Diabetes" - "LONDON -
Scientists said on Wednesday they have used a new type of gene therapy to cure
diabetes in mice and rats which could pave the way for new treatments for
millions of people with the disease." (Reuters) [New
Scientist]
"Gene
Increases Risk of Late-Onset Alzheimer's" - "NEW YORK -
Several genes have been identified that increase the risk of early-onset
Alzheimer's disease, but now scientists have identified a gene that may increase
the risk of Alzheimer's disease later in life." (Reuters Health)
"Organic
is 'good', even when the GM version is better" - "EARLIER this
month, scientists in Atlanta announced that a pesticide called Rotenone, which
is used by organic farmers and gardeners, can cause the equivalent of
Parkinson's disease in rats. That organic farmers use pesticides at all might
surprise some people. But how exactly is organic food defined?" (Telegraph)
"Lack Of
Antioxidants Behind Third World Kwashiorkor" -
"Mainstream America has been bombarded in recent years with advertisements
touting the health benefits of antioxidants such as vitamin E and beta carotene.
But a new study from the University of Florida and Washington University in St.
Louis suggests that they may be far more important to children in other parts of
the world who have a severe form of malnutrition called kwashiorkor." (UniSci)
Tell me again why Potrykus' Golden Rice is such a bad
thing.
"Sheep
thriving in GMO feeding trial" - "Increased wool growth and
live weight gain in Merino sheep are the results of a recent CSIRO feeding trial
using genetically modified lupins. The trial explored nutritional benefits of
lupin seeds genetically modified to incorporate a sunflower gene that stimulates
the production of a highly nutritious protein." (CSIRO)
"Consumers,
Industry At Odds Over Benefits Of Bio-Sugar" - "LONDON --
European consumers can`t see the benefits of genetically modified sugar, and are
calling for better labeling and clearer information, a European consumers group
officer said Tuesday." (Dow Jones)
"Public
opinion 'not a good GM guide'" - "A United States bioethicist
told the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification in Wellington yesterday that
public opinion should not be the basis of society's ethical decisions. Gary
Comstock, Iowa State University bioethics programme co-ordinator, had been asked
by Greenpeace cross-examiner Duncan Currie whether people should have the right,
if they wished, to be able to avoid genetically modified products. "One
hundred and fifty years ago, people said women shouldn't hold property or vote.
This was a view held even by women. "They were wrong. The fact that people
have an opinion is totally irrelevant to ethics." (NZ Herald)
"Drugs
on tap from morning dew" - "THE "sweat" of plants
could in future yield a rich harvest of drugs and chemicals. That is the hope of
researchers who have created tobacco plants that ooze foreign proteins from
their leaves each morning." (New Scientist)
"Corn
leaving bad taste in world markets as GMO worries build" -
"NEW YORK, Nov 22 - Corn, as American as apple pie, is leaving a bad taste
in many countries and opening up a new front in the war over so-called
Frankenstein food." (Reuters)
"Genetically
Altered Protein Found in Still More Corn" - "A
controversial genetically modified corn protein that isn`t approved for human
consumption has turned up in more corn than just the StarLink version,
indicating the exposure may be wider than previously known." (Dow Jones) [AP]
[Washington
Post]
"Farm groups
want Aventis held liable for bio-corn" - "WASHINGTON, Nov 21 -
A grassroots coalition of farmers worried about the costs of StarLink corn
contamination said Tuesday it wants state attorneys general to push for
legislation to make seed companies liable for any financial losses from
gene-altered crops." (Reuters)
Hmm... wanna make them beneficiaries of any profits too?
"Dismay
at official backing for GM crop trials" - "The Government's
interdepartmental committee on biotechnology favours developing the
controversial technology here and recommends that genetically modified crop
trials continue and that Government agencies encourage cultivation of GM
crops." (Irish Times)
CoP6, enhanced greenhouse, fraudulent climate
scaremongering...
Wackier by the day: "Melting
ice sheets 'would threaten millions'" - "Large areas of
the Earth's most densely population regions could be washed off the map by
future sea level rises, according to a report by climate scientists. The
process, partly caused by the melting of Greenland's ice sheet, may take 1,000
years or more but once under way will be "irreversible", it is
claimed." (Ananova) [New
Scientist]
Remember Conway
& Hall's research published in Science last year? The WAIS
(West Antarctic Ice Sheet) has been melting at a fairly consistent pace for at
least 7,000 years and, in just another 7,000 (without the onset of another ice
age), could be gone completely. There's no sign of that process accelerating
though.
How about the position
statement released by the Antarctic Cooperative Research Center,
predicting little change even under the scenario of a tripling of atmospheric
CO2?
There's also the equally-valid hypothesis that, should
the world warm, increased evaporation and polar precipitation would actually slow
the inexorable sea level rise occurring due to Earth's recovery from the last
major glaciation. Claims of a drowning world due to enhanced greenhouse are
pure propaganda, devoid of sound scientific basis.
"U.S.
in Dock at Climate Talks, Small States Fret" - "THE HAGUE -
Small islands threatened by rising sea levels are watching in dismay as U.N.
climate talks on global warming make tortuous progress ahead of a Friday night
deadline for sealing an agreement." (Reuters)
"'No
acceleration' in Pacific sea rise" - "If the burning of fossil
fuels is forcing the Earth to warm up, the rapid rise in sea levels that some
expect from the thermal expansion of the oceans has yet to show itself clearly.
... Dr Wolfgang Scherer, director of the National Tidal Facility (NTF) of
Flinders University, South Australia, which undertook the review, told BBC News
Online that the much larger increases in global sea level predicted by some
climate models were not apparent in their regional data. "There is no
acceleration in sea level rise - none that we can discern, at all," he
said.' (BBC Online)
"World
'has not got any warmer since 1940'" - "THE world has not
warmed since 1940, according to tree rings, coral reef and ice core boreholes,
one of the world's leading "global warming" sceptics told a meeting at
the climate change conference. Prof Fred Singer, a meteorologist at the
University of Virginia, used temperature data assembled by James
Hanson of Nasa, who first highlighted the problem of climate change, to
challenge the findings of the Inter-governmental Panel on the subject which
underpin the Kyoto climate treaty." (Telegraph)
"Science Not
Seated at Climate Conference" - "THE HAGUE, The Netherlands
– The assumption here at COP 6, the big United Nations climate change
conference, is that the science is settled. The planet is warming, humans are at
fault and the way to arrest an impending disaster is by reducing the production
of greenhouse gases by industry and individuals. ... But is the science
settled?" (TCS)
Groan... "Global
warming shrinking Mount Everest" - "Mount Everest, the world's
highest peak, was shrinking as a result of global warming, China's Xinhua news
agency reported today. Researchers at the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping
discovered that the thickness of snow on Everest's peak had decreased during the
last 30 years, the agency said." (AFP)
"U.S.
global warming stance prompts pie in the face" - "THE
HAGUE, Netherlands -- The top U.S. diplomat at a U.N. climate conference was
hit in the face with a pie on Wednesday, as activists and delegates alike
expressed frustration over unproductive talks meant to curb fossil fuel
emissions." (CNN) [Protests
fail to derail climate talks (BBC Online)]
About as rational discourse as can be expected at a
circus. Wisely, NET issued: U.S.
Environmental Groups Decry "Pieing" of Official
"The
Kyoto myth" - "... Under the terms of the Kyoto Protocol,
Americans would have to curtail their use of energy sufficiently that an overall
reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 5-7 percent below 1990 levels is
achieved. The reduction in industrial/economic activity needed to get to this
goal would entail massive new energy taxes or draconian rationing schemes; there
is simply no other means by which a reduction in CO2 of the magnitude demanded
by the Kyoto Protocol could be achieved. A reduction of economic/industrial
activity of that massive can be described simply, in one word —
depression." (Washington Times editorial)
"Uncertainty
renders Kyoto a COP-out"
- "Australia's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will stall unless
there was agreement on the implementation of the Kyoto protocol, the Environment
Minister, Senator Robert Hill, has warned." (AFR)
What the world really needs is a CoP-out campaign -
period.
"Warming
treaty ratification in limbo" - "THE HAGUE, Netherlands —
The Clinton administration has abandoned efforts to comply with a key demand of
the Senate that developing countries be included in the global-warming treaty,
top Clinton officials said here yesterday. Senate aides said the
administration's decision to stop lobbying developing countries to submit to
stringent emissions reductions like those required of the United States under
the treaty further jeopardizes prospects for ratification in the Senate.
"They'll have nothing to present to the Senate" if the treaty emerges
from negotiations this week without Third World countries on board, said Deb
Fiddelke, spokesman for Sen. Chuck Hagel, Nebraska Republican and a Senate
observer at the negotiations." (Washington Times)
"US
bubbly over carbon trade" - "At The Hague climate conference
this week, some envision a $500 billion market. Others see flaws." (CSM)
"Axworthy
goes to bat for Canada on climate" - "Tells summit at The
Hague that damaging effects of change already being felt as northern ice melts,
polar bears starve" (GAM)
"CO2
emissions to soar"
- "Carbon dioxide emissions, which are thought by scientists to contribute
to global warming, are set to increase by 60 per cent by 2020, a new study by
the Paris-based International Energy Agency has found. The IEA's annual World
Energy Outlook, published on Tuesday, says energy demand will grow by a steady 2
per cent a year, swelling carbon dioxide emissions by 2.1 per cent annually -
one third from power generation." (Financial Times)
"Chretien
hints feds may 'squeeze' greenhouse gas emission firms" -
"PRESCOTT, ONT - Oil and gas companies and other private sectors involved
in greenhouse gas emissions could start feeling the federal squeeze to clean up
their act, Prime Minister Jean Chretien hinted yesterday." (Canoe)
Yeah, big deal... "Global
Energy Demand and Emissions on the Rise" - "THE HAGUE, The
Netherlands, November 22, 2000 - Renewable energy will be the fastest growing
source of power over the next 20 years, according to the International Energy
Agency (IEA). The bad news is that the combined share of the energy mix from
solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy sites will rise to only
three percent by 2020 from its current level of two percent." (ENS)
"Poor
countries lash out at rich" - "The Hague - Poorer countries
that will bear the brunt of climate change took the lash to prosperous nations
at the global warming talks on Tuesday, accusing them of hypocrisy and
selfishness that had placed the world in peril. Efforts to build a UN treaty to
tackle atmospheric warming have been crippled by rich, polluting countries which
had caused the problem but were fighting desperately to avoid paying the bill,
they charged." (Sapa-AFP)
CoP6 sundries:
November 22, 2000
Much of the world's media seems transfixed by the possibility of the next US
president being chosen by 'pregnant chads,' (the result of people having a vote
but not penetrating), despite there being no controlling legal pregnancy.
Must be US Thanksgiving time:
"Holiday
Repast Contains Many Chemicals: Natural Ones" - "For the past
few decades, Americans have been manifesting a chronic condition best described
as "chemicalphobia." All around us, ads brag that products are
"100% natural" or "organic" or chemical free." Many
consumers think that "chemical" is the opposite of
"natural"—and the opposite of "good." Viewed in this
context, the 100-percent natural Holiday
Dinner Menu that the American Council on Science and Health publishes each
year comes as quite an eye-opener." (Ruth Kava, ACSH)
"Organic
Turkey Doesn't Fly" - "Would you pay up to $4 a pound for a
turkey that is no safer to eat and no tastier than one you could get for less
than a dollar a pound? That's what you'll be doing if you buy into nanny hype
and end up buying an "organic" turkey this Thanksgiving."
(GuestChoice.com)
"Make
food safety a holiday tradition"- "The same holiday tables
that groan with delightful treats also may harbor disease-causing bacteria. But
there are lots of strategies available to keep the celebration from leaving the
dining room for the hospital emergency room." (CNN)
"The
good bugs" - "Mounting evidence that some bacteria are good
for our health gives rise to a whole new kind of food" (Boston Globe)
Recycled B.S. scare du jour: "Asbestos
traces raise crayon concern" - "A best-selling brand of
children's crayons have been found to contain minute traces of asbestos by
independent tests. Officials in both Denmark and Norway have expressed concern
about the crayons, while the US authorities have already asked for the product
to be reformulated." (BBC Online)
Curse of the Killer Crayons -
"... Asbestos has proved to be a powerful carcinogen when inhaled in
massive amounts over a period of years by people whose job it was to install
it, mine it, or weave it into cloth. Even then, non-smokers had far less risk.
But neither the CPSC nor a separate lab hired by the crayon makers was able to
find a single asbestos fiber released from using crayons with asbestos in
them. "I don't think you could force a fiber from a crayon into the air
if you wanted to," says Lamb, who also sits on the Toxic Advisory Board
for the Art and Creative Materials Institute. Don't kids eat crayons, though?
Sure. But there is no evidence that any amount of ingested asbestos is
harmful. While the EPA gives inhaled asbestos its highest cancer rating, it
has no rating at all for ingested asbestos. That said, by law the EPA must set
a limit on how much asbestos we can be exposed to in drinking water. That
amount, according to Lamb, "is about equal to what a child would get from
consuming 3,500 asbestos-containing crayons a year." If your kid is
eating that many crayons, asbestos is the least of your worries."
(Michael Fumento)
"Malaria
Rising As DDT Use Falls, Scientist Says" - "WASHINGTON -
Malaria rates are climbing in poor countries that have stopped using the
pesticide DDT to control the deadly disease, a tropical diseases expert warned
on Tuesday." (Reuters)
100 things you should know about DDT;
Facts Versus Fears:
DDT
Mercury mania seems to be building to
self-sustaining panic pitch: "Mercury
thermometers taking heat for toxic risks" - "Once the talisman
of fretful parents and a tool of kids seeking a reprieve from school, the
mercury thermometer is being legislated out of existence in Boston and elsewhere
by environmentalists, health groups and government officials concerned about the
potentially lethal mercury contained within the thin glass rods." (USA
Today)
"ANALYSIS
- Batteries drive lead as environment fears recede" - "LONDON
- Batteries will remain the driving force behind lead demand, but the threat of
substitution, due to environmental concerns, has largely receded, analysts and
industry sources said." (Reuters)
"U.S.
study finds mentally ill are twice as likely to smoke" -
"CHICAGO, Illinois -- A report from the Harvard Medical School released
Tuesday estimated that people with diagnosable mental illness account for nearly
45 percent of the total cigarette market in the United States." (Reuters) [Smoking
and Mental Illness (JAMA) "Conclusions: Persons with mental
illness are about twice as likely to smoke as other persons but have substantial
quit rates."]
So, people of sound mind are less easily coerced to quit?
Submitted comment: "Is there any hypothesis about smoking that's
so absurd it won't get funded? Didn't think so." Actually Anne, I
think that's a given.
"Breast-feeding
may protect against asthma" - "NEW YORK: Breast-fed children
are less likely than others to have asthma or wheezing disorders, results of a
study of more than 5,000 Brazilian schoolchildren indicate." (Reuters)
"Scientist
who faked data loses funding" - "Dr. Evan Dreyer, a former
Boston vision researcher, has been slapped with a 10-year cutoff of federal
research funds for faking data in 1996 at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear
Infirmary. The penalty is one of the heaviest levied by the federal Office of
Research Integrity, its director, Christopher Pascal, said yesterday."
(Boston Globe)
"Results
of Yale study confirm aspirin helpful in preventing a first heart attack"
- "New Haven, Conn. – An overview by a Yale researcher of four studies
examining the use of aspirin and the reduction of heart attacks in persons with
no previous history of cardiovascular disease shows aspirin remains a good
preventive measure." (YU)
"Flight
syndrome 'affects all'" - "AIR passengers who travel first
class are in just as much danger as those in the cheap seats from the condition
misleadingly called "economy-class syndrome", according to the first
official investigation into the problem, published today." (Telegraph)
"Airlines
must warn of flight health risks"
- "AIRLINES will be told today to issue health warnings with long-haul
tickets, telling passengers about the danger of blood clots from cramped
conditions." (The Times)
"Snacking,
moving can decrease risk of flight-related blood clots" - "NEW
ORLEANS, Louisiana -- Take your next airplane flight with a little food and
drink, doctors advise. A snack or small meal and non-alcoholic beverage may
decrease the risk of what is being called "economy class syndrome," or
clot formation in the deep leg veins." (CNN)
"Addicted
to bodybuilding" - "Bodybuilders are particularly vulnerable
of becoming addicted to their sport - and the atmosphere in the gym may be to
blame." (BBC Online)
"Golden
Rice in a Grenade-Proof Greenhouse" - "ZURICH — In a quiet
village on the outskirts of Zurich, a genetically engineered strain of rice that
its creator says could save millions of children's lives is locked up in a
grenade-proof greenhouse as if it were the Frankenstein monster that some
critics contend it is." (NY Times)
"Some
Grain Companies Dissuade Farmers From Using Biotech Seed" -
"Bruised by recalls of food containing Starlink corn, some giant grain
processors are discouraging Midwest farmers from raising some other types of
bioengineered crops. The resistance from the processors, coming as the
seed-selling season is just ramping up, could hurt the crop biotechnology
industry." (WSJ)
"Pest
Resistance To Genetically Modified Cotton Not Seen" - "Results
of a new study published in today's issue of the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences may diminish fears about one of the potential pitfalls
of genetically modified crops. Bt cotton has a gene transferred from the
bacterium Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) that lets plants produce a natural
insecticide, thus reducing reliance on sprays of chemical insecticides. A major
concern is that pests could quickly evolve resistance to the Bt toxin in
genetically modified cotton. According to the new study, this has not
happened." (UniSci)
"Blair
Warns Against Anti-science Attitude" (Summary) - "The Daily
Mail, Daily Telegraph, Times of London and the Independent have all recently
reported that Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned GM food protestors, including
the Prince of Wales, against an anti-science agenda. During a speech made at the
European Bioscience Conference in London, Blair attacked "anti-science
attitudes" and warned that the Government would not allow blackmail and
physical assault to stand in the way of research. He also warned the public of
the dangers of slipping into "anti-science" attitudes which could
deprive Britain of the benefits of cutting-edge research and technology." [To
read Tony Blair's speech, click here] (TKC)
"FOOD
BIOTECHNOLOGY: Promising Havoc or Hope for the Poor?" -
"Despite its tremendous potential for safer and more nutritious foods,
biotechnology has become a major source of international contention."
(Proteus)
"For
The Children" - "Golden Rice" is genetically engineered
to deliver vitamin A, a lack of which the World Health Organization says causes
about 500,000 children to go blind and 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 to die each year.
"There are 3,500 children dying every day. I think we should not delay one
day," says Dr. Ingo Potrykus, commenting on the release of Golden Rice.
Nonetheless, anti-choice groups like Greenpeace,
Chefs
Collaborative, and the Organic
Consumers Association continue to oppose genetically engineered food and
play a part in preventing the release and widespread use of this life-saving
technology." (GuestChoice.com)
"Consumers,
industry spar over GM sugar benefits" - "LONDON - European
consumer resistance to genetically modified (GM) sugar and other food is growing
due to concern over potential risks to human health and the environment, a
European consumer food lobbyist said yesterday." (Reuters)
"Japan,
US finalise testing of food corn shipments" - "TOKYO - The US
Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Japan's Health Ministry have finalised
details of an agreement for testing corn shipped to Japan as food to ensure it
does not contain the genetically modified StarLink strain of grain, a US
official said yesterday." (Reuters)
CoP(6) this: "Chirac:
Kyoto 'First Step Toward Global Governance'" - "The Hague,
Netherlands, November 20, 2000 – French President Jacques Chirac electrified
this Sixth Conference of the Parties to the UN framework treaty on global
warming, praising that agreement as “the first step toward global
governance.” (Chris Horner, CEI)
Certainly there's no
surer path to world domination than seizing control of the energy supply.
"The
Best Laid Schemes of Mice and Men ..." - "As representatives
of the nations of the earth strive to hammer out an agreement to limit CO2
emissions to the atmosphere (ostensibly for the purpose of halting global
warming), great opportunities for wrecking economic and ecological havoc - both
unanticipated and, in some cases, actually planned - invariably raise
their ugly heads. Why invariably? Because money and power
tend to corrupt even the best of us; for we are, after all, only human.
And when we're talking about the global economy and the power to regulate
human activity on a planet-wide basis, one can be almost assured that the
best interests of the biosphere - including ours! - may not be well
served." (co2science.org)
"Scientists
Continue To Assail Climate Treaty" — In the midst of negotiations on how to
significantly reduce emissions from energy use, "dissident" scientists
are vocally objecting to the premise that individual and industrial human
activities influence Nature's dynamic processes, and the absence of a critical
debate." (Chris Horner, Cooler Heads Counsel)
"It's
official, America is full of hot air" - "Each American
emits three times more greenhouse gases than a Frenchman," the French
President, Mr Jacques Chirac, said on Monday." (AFR) [Chirac
targeting of US seen as unproductive by Senators (Earth Times)]
Good coverage of CoP6 available at Tech
Central Station - see ‘Walk
Away’ From ‘Useless Process’ at Hague, Says Rep. Emerson and an
interview with Sen Chuck Hagel - "The fact is, if you go back and
review the Byrd-Hagel resolution, which passed 95-0, and it is very clear, very
simple, very direct and it did such two things. The United States Senate would
not ratify any protocol, any treaty that did not, number 1, include all nations
of the world under the same kind of mandatory, legally binding conditions as
Europe or the United States. Number two, we would not ratify any treaty that
will do economic harm to the United States. Right now, of course, the first
condition of the Byrd-Hagel resolution is not even close to being complied with.
And as far as ratifying it, no industrialized nation has ratified the treaty
yet, and not one of the 134 developing countries have even indicated any
willingness to voluntarily abide by any of the protocols of nations’
stipulations." (TCS)
"Urban
Heat Islands of Small Towns" - "... Consequently, there is
ample opportunity for very large errors to occur in attempts to reconstruct true
non-urban temperature trends, as towns with as few as 1,000 inhabitants create a
warming of the air within them that is over twice as great as the
increase in mean global air temperature believed to have occurred since the end
of the Little
Ice Age. This fact casts a pall of uncertainty over claims that the globe
has warmed by even a fraction of a degree over the past century, and especially
over the last two decades." (co2science.org)
"CO2
emissions seen rising well above targets - IEA" - "LONDON -
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions which contribute to unwanted climate change will
grow at a rate of about two percent a year from now to 2020, despite efforts to
reduce them, the International Energy Agency said yesterday." (Reuters)
"Heading
for meltdown?" - "The Antarctic is shrinking, the Arctic is
thinning and the glaciers are melting. Are we all about to be swamped?"
(SMH)
"Nations
in standoff over issues at global warming conference" - "THE
HAGUE, Netherlands -- Delegates at a U.N. climate change conference
deadlocked Tuesday over commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as
industrial nations sparred with one another and developing countries complained
of being ignored." (Reuters)
"Commentary:
U.S. negotiators say agreement on climate details is important, but not at any
cost" - "THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Nov. 21 -- Relations grew
more strained between American negotiators and their constituents amid
allegations the U.S. team gave up too much, too fast during negotiations on
limiting emissions from energy consumption. As the first of two weeks of
bargaining lurched toward a belated finish, concerns emerged about how the U.S.
could regain any strength in the negotiating position with which it entered the
session." (UPI)
"US
rebuff hots up climate talks"
- "The political temperature of the climate change talks at The Hague rose
on Tuesday after the European Union emphatically rejected a compromise proposal
put forward by the US on one of the most contentious issues in the
negotiations." (Financial Times)
"Europe
pressures U.S. to cut emissions" - "THE HAGUE, Netherlands —
The United States and Europe clashed yesterday over how to carry out the
global-warming treaty, with two Republican senators warning that the pact is
endangered by European attempts to box the United States into deep energy
cuts." (Washington Times)
"Canada
called environmental dinosaur" - "Canada is being labelled a
dinosaur, and has captured three fossil-of-the-day awards from world environment
groups, for its stand as the climate summit goes into its second, critical week
in The Hague. That makes Canada one of the three least green of the 160
governments attending the summit, in the view of the international environmental
community. The worst offender is Japan, followed by Canada and the United States
third." (GAM)
"Canberra
'blocking Kyoto progress'" - "AUSTRALIA is blocking progress
in negotiations at the UN climate change conference in The Netherlands and
searching for loopholes, a senior European official has claimed." (The
Australian)
It's you, no, it's them, oh my goodness - it's us!
Haven't just seen Lesotho or Haiti blamed yet, but then, CoP6 doesn't end
'till Friday.
"Pakistan
minister calls for financial burden of global warming to be borne by
industrialised nations" - "ISLAMABAD (November 21) : Omar
Asghar Khan, Federal Minister for Environment, said here on Monday that
Pakistan, being an agricultural country, was contributing marginally to green
house gas emission, but suffered disproportionately from the ill-effects of
global climate change." (Business Recorder)
"Saudi
hits out at economic consequences of climate pact" - "THE
HAGUE - Saudi Arabia hit out yesterday at what it said was potential damage to
its economy from a United Nations pact to stop climate change under negotiation
this week." (Reuters)
"US
firms worried climate talks could limit options" - "THE HAGUE
- Several US firms said yesterday they were worried that climate change
negotiators will scrap market-based mechanisms to stop global warming laid out
by a three-year-old international pact." (Reuters)
"No
climate magic bullet"
- "With record floods across Europe (and NSW) and the signatories to the
Kyoto Protocol meeting at the Hague, global warming is enjoying a good run in
the media. Closer to home, the perennial issue of how much it would cost
Australia to meet its emissions target under the Protocol is now the cause for
spirited debate." (AFR)
"Reporter's
Notebook: Veterans of Kyoto 97' feel at home in the Hague" -
"... If nothing else, there is a refreshing honesty at The Hague. It's
interesting to see realism impose a different code of conduct. At Kyoto, there
were rumors that vice-president Gore would fly in and save the day. He did just
that, telling the US negotiating team to show "more flexibility,"
which everyone correctly understood to mean cave in to get a deal. They got the
deal, but transforming it into reality has been a different kettle of fish. With
things stalemated again, we are now told that President Clinton might stop by
The Hague on his return flight from Vietnam and give the talks a needed boost.
Another school of thought has it that Al Gore, fresh from his victory or defeat
in Florida (we still don't know which) will do at The Hague what he did at
Kyoto." (Bonner Cohen, Earth Times)
"If
you can't stand the heat, better stay inside" - "Weather:
Forecasts to warn of high temperatures that can kill" (Guardian)
Hypocrisy of the day: in the following list of sundry enhanced
greenhouse items you will find several items of British scaremongering, floods
caused by enhanced greenhouse type of thing... Meanwhile, despite demanding
everyone else reduce CO2 emissions and fossil fuel use and knowing
that jet aircraft are prodigious users of fossil fuel (and emitters of CO2),
the Brits are promoting: "Cheaper
flights hope" - "The UK Government has announced moves which
could lead to lower fares for flights to the US. The change in pricing policy
will mean that regional airports like Aberdeen and Manchester could offer
reduced transatlantic fares for passengers." (BBC Online)
November 21, 2000
"The
Results Are Finally In" - "The media may want to demand a
recount. As the spectacle of dueling news conferences, photo-ops and legal
filings has turned the Florida mess into the latest television miniseries, one
verdict in the endless presidential race is already in. Journalists, as judged
by the court of public opinion, are guilty of poor coverage and irresponsible
behavior." (Washington Times)
"Child
Respiratory Infection Has Genetic Link" - "LONDON - Babies
and small children who develop severe respiratory infections in winter
probably have a genetic susceptibility to the illness, British researchers
said on Monday." (Reuters) [BMJ
release]
"Parasitic
infection may protect children from allergies" - "A growing
body of research suggests that infections early in life reduce the risk of
allergies later on. However, most studies have focused on the role of viral
and bacterial infections, and not the parasitic infections that are endemic in
Africa, Asia and South America. But a new study of 520 children in Gabon shows
that Schistosoma parasites may indeed ward off allergies." (Reuters)
"Genes
Predispose Women to Cervical Cancers" - "NEW YORK - While most
cases of cervical cancer are linked to the sexually transmitted human
papillomavirus (HPV), growing evidence shows that genes play an important role
in cervical cancer risk." (Reuters Health)
"Air
crew 'cancer risk'" - "The World Health Organisation (WHO) is
calling for further research into cancer risks and flying after a new US cancer
study." (BBC Online)
"Formerly
Flawed Cancer Treatment Is Now Resurrected" - "Last
spring, researchers who had been advancing a promising cancer treatment for
years found a new obstacle looming when the international journal Nature
Medicine published a study that identified a fatal flaw: The anti-cancer
protein used in the treatment destroys healthy human liver cells. Now
researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered
a solution to that crucial problem, re-opening what the lead scientist in Penn's
efforts calls "a window of opportunity" for using this powerful
treatment against colon, breast, lung, ovarian and esophageal cancers." (UniSci)
"An
assessment of yourself as rich and powerful may keep you healthy, according to a
UCSF study" - "Scientists have known for decades that poverty
leads to higher rates of illness and mortality. More recent research led by UCSF
faculty has shown that these effects don't end at the poverty line. In fact,
health improves at each step of the social ladder." (UCSF) [APA
release]
"Mouse
Studies Shed Light on Obesity And Liver Disease" - "NEW YORK -
Obese people are at greater risk of liver disease and this may be due to
naturally-produced alcohol generated by bacteria in the intestines, according to
results of a study in mice." (Reuters Health)
"Economic
penalty of extra pounds" - "WASHINGTON, D.C.---Extra pounds
can be expensive for middle-aged women, according to University of Michigan
researchers analyzing data on more than 7,000 men and women in their 50s and
60s." (UM) [Fatter
women end up with thinner wallets (USA Today)]
"Women
couch potatoes risk heart attack" - "Almost two out of five
deaths from heart disease in women is due to lack of exercise, new figures
reveal." (BBC Online)
"Low doses
of aspirin-like drugs cut Alzheimer's risk" - "NEW YORK: Even
at low doses, aspirin and other anti-inflammatory drugs may stave off
Alzheimer's disease in the elderly, Australian researchers have found."
(Reuters)
"More
study is needed on DWP (driving while phoning)" - "THERE IS a
lesson in the decision by Brookline to ban cell phones while driving. We do not
write to criticize their decision. We are neither for nor against a ban on cell
phones while driving. We write to point out this example of how we often make
risk policy decisions based on an intuitive sense of precaution before we have
enough information to know how best to protect ourselves." (Boston Globe)
"France
seeks EU action to quell mad cow fears" - "France was set to
urge its European Union partners today to take joint action against mad cow
disease as it seeks to avoid isolation within the bloc and quell mounting
consumer panic at home." (Reuters)
"French
government tries to convince consumers to eat beef" - "PARIS -
The French government, caught in a growing crisis over mad-cow disease, has
launched a public relations campaign aimed at swaying consumers to start eating
beef again." (AFP)
"CJD
fears could lead to blood donor ban" - "The NHS is considering
banning anyone who has received blood transfusions from giving blood themselves
amid rising concerns that they may unknowingly pass on the fatal human variant
of BSE. Such a move could cut Britain's 1.9m volunteer donors by up to 10% and
create such huge shortages that transfusion services would struggle to meet
demand." (Guardian)
"Blair
pressed to ban unsafe French beef" - "TONY BLAIR was
under pressure last night to ban French beef products after a senior Cabinet
minister warned him that BSE-infected beef from France could have disappeared
into the food chain. " (The Times)
"SENSATION
SEEKERS MAY BE AT INCREASED RISK FOR BECOMING SMOKERS DUE TO GREATER INITIAL
SENSITIVITY TO NICOTINE, NEW STUDY FINDS" - "Washington - The
personality characteristic of sensation seeking (the tendency to seek varied,
novel, complex and intense sensations and experiences) is associated with a
greater risk of smoking, and a new study published by the American Psychological
Association (APA) provides evidence that this may be due to greater initial
sensitivity to nicotine." (APA)
"Mild
cigarettes deceptively dangerous" - "TORONTO -- A former
tobacco executive was back in court Monday for the start of his
David-and-Goliath trial against cigarette giant Imperial Tobacco that alleges
mild cigarettes are deceptively dangerous." (CP)
"Consumer
group targets genetically modified food" - "DURBAN Consumers
International, the world consumer watchdog body, has decided to advocate
accessible health care and strengthen its resolve against patents and
genetically modified food." (Business Day)
"Monsanto Says
Farmers Still Supportive of Biotech Crops in 2001" -
"Responding to a Wall Street Journal article today that states Roundup
Ready corn is causing a headache for Monsanto, Carl Casale, Monsanto Vice
President of North American Markets, says there's growing confusion regarding
the differences between StarLink and Roundup Ready corn. In addition, Casale
agrees with Hugh Grant, Monsanto chief operating officer, who said in the
article their own market research suggests an increasing number of biotech crop
acres in 2001." (AgWeb.com)
The things you see when you haven't got your
fowling-piece: "Fowl
play triumphs in dockside stunt" - "Greenpeace operation
springs a surprise on soya bean importers as lifesize 'Rhode Island reds' mix it
with disgruntled guards" (Guardian) [The
Times] [AFP]
"Science Be
Damned" - "Under pressure from activists, McDonald's last week
agreed
to stop using genetically modified animal feed in seven European countries.
This move comes despite the fact that the Federation of Animal Science
Societies, a federation comprising over 10,000 animal, dairy and poultry
scientists, has found all legitimate "research results conclusively
indicate that
there is no effect of feeding biotech crops to livestock and poultry on the
nutritional value or safety of meat, milk and eggs." (GuestChoice.com)
"Aussie gene
put in Indian wheat to resist weed killer" - "HYDERABAD:
India's three highest yielding wheat varieties have been genetically modified
using a gene brought from Australia to make them tolerant to herbicide,
scientists have reported. After the Indian cotton that was made pest resistant
by introducing the Bacillus Thuringiensis (BT) gene from Monsanto Corporation of
the US, wheat is the major crop that has been genetically modified." (Times
of India)
"NZ
Dairy Board: High Costs Of Ignoring GMO Opportunities" -
"WELLINGTON--There would be high costs to the New Zealand dairy sector if
the country turns its back on the opportunities offered by genetic modification
organism technologies, the Dairy Board said Monday. "If the dairy industry
is prevented from utilizing the opportunities bioscience offers, it will lose
its crucial efficiency advantage in low-cost production," Dairy Board chief
executive Warren Larsen told the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification. (Dow
Jones)
"Bt Corn
Monarch Fears Overblown: Risks Low to Butterflies According to New
Research" - "Fears that genetically modified (GM) corn is
killing monarch butterflies are not supported by new research, scientists
reported this week at a national meeting in which they shared results of their
long-awaited studies." (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
"Genetically
modified corn supplies require strict control" - "The ministry
revealed a complete lack of any sense of responsibility as the body in charge of
keeping such unapproved imports out of Japan." (Asahi Shimbun editorial)
"Wild anti-GMO
claims continue" - "11/20/00 - The No More Scares
effort and responsible journalism have succeeded in thwarting attempts by
anti-GMO activists and especially Fenton Communications to exploit a children's
holiday, Halloween, and stir up unfounded fears about conventional foods
produced using biotechnology. Untrue claims of fish, rat and insect genes in our
foods by Fenton's Genetically Engineered Food Alert (GEFA) campaign failed to
generate the threatened "viral" marketing and media impact. However,
the cheap, wild claims continue. Activist groups have launched yet another
effort to scare the public and raise money for themselves with an ad campaign --
including TV and newspaper ads, highway billboards, supermarket fliers and the
Internet -- that abuses the popular "Got Milk?" ad concept." (NoMoreScares.com)
"Despite
Starlink woes, Glickman sees GMO seed growth" - "WICHITA, Kan.
- U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said Monday he did not think the
current controversy over Starlink corn would have a long-term negative impact on
the use of bio-engineered grain seed in the U.S." (Reuters)
"Cautious
optimism for US corn sales to Japan" - "CHICAGO - Grains
analysts Monday were cautiously optimistic that US corn sales to Japan would
continue uninterrupted despite the current StarLink corn controversy."
(Reuters)
"Destructive
precaution" - "Variants of the precautionary principle (PP) --
that "no human technology should be used until it is proven harmless to
humans and the environment" -- have been incorporated into legislation in
Europe and North America, and into more than 12 international treaties,
including the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
and the 1992 Climate Change Convention. But, while it may sound reasonable in
theory, this principle would be disastrous in practice. One cannot prove a
negative. Every food, product and tool poses some risk. Without the use of fire,
automobiles, antibiotics, coffee, water, salt and chlorine, human life would be
brutish and short. Yet none of these existing "threats" to human
health and the environment passes the precautionary principle's standard."
(National Post)
"Calls to
curb global warming may throw caution to the wind" (PDF) -
"ST. LOUIS — November 10, 2000 — As the delegates to the Sixth
Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change assemble in the Hague on November 13-24, they will focus on making the
Kyoto Treaty acceptable to the United States and the other developed nations.
They will be urged to follow a "precautionary" approach of reducing
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions regardless of how well the predictions of global
calamity are established scientifically. But a report just released by the
Center for the Study of American Business at Washington University in St. Louis
finds that focusing scarce human and capital resources on aggressive GHG
reductions might slow economic growth and technological development, which might
retard improvements in life expectancy and mortality reduction, especially in
developing nations." (CSAB) [Report
(PDF)]
Naturally, enhanced greenhouse proselytisers have seized on Australia's
current rains as 'proof' of enhanced greenhouse-driven disaster, so, today's CoP6/greenhouse
coverage opens with comments from CBM chief forecaster, John Zillman:
"Torrential
rain to be expected"
- "The nations' most senior weather forecaster says the torrential rain
across much of eastern Australia is simply a reflection of the natural
variability in climate. The Director of the Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology,
Dr John Zillman says climate events like El Nino and La Nina will continue to
have a far greater influence than the greenhouse effect, which isn't to blame
for the current variation of drought in the west and floods in the east. Dr
John Zillman: No I don't think it has. I think it really is just a
reflection of the very large natural variability of climate we're subject to,
the impact here of El Nino and La Nina, and it's a natural variability which is
huge and we have to expect these sorts of weather systems. Over the long term
greenhouse may cause some areas to get a little wetter or a little dryer or a
little hotter or a little colder but no, the extreme events are not a direct
reflection of greenhouse at all." (ABC News Online)
not everyone is talking
about a "warming world" however: "Energy
crisis threatens a winter of discontent" - "THE wheels
are about to come off the international oil and gas juggernaut, threatening to
pitch the world into an energy crisis on a scale that has never been seen
before, and the US and Europe will suffer most. This dire prediction comes from
an American banker, one of the most respected on the circuit today. But few are
listening to Matt Simmons, who claims the oil and gas industry is in such a mess
that it has lost the ability to keep ahead of global demand." (The
Scotsman)
For those who are
inclined to believe the weather forecasts for 50-100 years' time, check out this
item: "After
November's washout, get ready for the January whiteout" -
"... The Met Office declared that the website's forecast, stretching more
than 45 days into the future, owed more to gambling than science. "We know
a guess when we see one," sniffed the spokesman. "We would love to
forecast that far ahead, but the weather is literally chaotic."
(Independent) 'nough said?
"Commentary:
Science not hot agenda item at climate summit" - "THE HAGUE,
Netherlands, Nov. 20 -- Before an advance phalanx of the several thousand
delegates and other participants in the Netherlands Congress Center, the
leader of the United Nations panel studying global warming sternly concluded
Nov. 15 that recent severe weather events are in some way attributable to
Man's activities, and more is to come. Completing his speech and with no
questions from delegates permitted, Dr. Robert Watson departed the forum, held
in cavernous "Plenary 1," and billed in various quarters as a
"hearing" on the relevant science. Thus ended the
"science" portion of this 12-day conference, alternately labeled as
either the "final step" in, or "last chance" for,
negotiations hammering out details filling in the broad parameters agreed to
by most of the world's nations in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997." (UPI)
"Climate
Change Participants Don’t Listen to Reasons for Uncertainty"
- " ... But many American observers are wondering exactly what all the
delegates are doing here. Is this a public relations exercise, a chance to
moralize and vent Luddite passions, or a real substantive discussion on the
future of the planet?" (James K Glassman, Reason)
"Forecasters
Say El Nino 2001 Storms Possible" - "QUITO, Ecuador - Heavy
storms called El Nino, that swirl out of the cyclical warming of ocean waters,
could pound South America's Pacific coast again in 2001, an oceanographer said
on Monday." (Reuters)
Hmm... maybe and such an event gets more likely with
each passing year because the ENSO cycle is in the range of 2-7 years (mean
frequency about 5 years at present). The SOI (Southern Oscillation Index),
however, has wandered firmly back into positive measure (La Niña pattern),
suggesting an El Niño event is unlikely in the short-term. Good background
and tracking graphs here.
"US
drops demand for 'get-out' on carbon emissions"
- "The United States made a dramatic gesture last night to try and break
the international deadlock over how to tackle global warming at the
International Climate conference in the Hague. It slashed its demands for
forests and farmland to be used as "sinks" to soak up the principal
greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, which European countries, including Britain,
have seen as a get-out clause for the Americans, allowing them to do much less
in their own industrial and transport sectors." (Independent)
"White
House Official Tells Tech Central Station COP-6 Environment Summit Will Not
Reach Passable Treaty" - "The current U.N. meeting on climate
change will not reach an accord the U.S. Senate could ratify, a White House
official and several members of Congress acknowledged today. The statements came
in interviews with James K. Glassman at the Sixth U.N. Conference of the Parties
on Climate Change (known as "COP 6") in The Hague, Holland. The
interviews are webcast at www.TechCentralStation.com."
(Business Wire)
"Axworthy
confident of emissions deal" - "Greenhouse gas meeting to
set 'basis for different kind of society' With the environment of the planet
at stake, this week's conference on global warming in The Hague will be a
turning point in world history, says the head of the Canadian
delegation." (Ottawa Citizen)
And that should tell you all you need to know about the
flakes and zealots involved in this circus. If you're interested in a little
more, see the new Stop Press items dated Nov. 20-21 here.
"An
unlikely threesome"
- "Strictly speaking, COP6 is not one, but three happenings: one official,
one green, and one business." (AFR)
"Life’s
still a gas for the eco-warrior superstars"
- "THE environmental white knights of showbusiness, the rock stars and
actors who are prepared to do their bit to crusade for the planet, are among
the worst polluters, with their use of jet travel." (The Scotsman)
Like - so what man? The PC publicity is really great
and it pushes sales through the roof to support our compulsive consumerism
that you shouldn't indulge in.
"Row
mars launch of online market" - "The
world's largest online marketplace for the trading of greenhouse gas
"permits" opens for business today amid a fierce row between Europe
and the US over whether this is the best way to combat global warming."
(Independent) [BBC
Online]
"Business
warns on emission protocols" - "Australian business is
pressuring federal government negotiators at the UN climate conference in the
Netherlands to resist moves to change protocols governing greenhouse
emissions." (AFR)
Sundry climate hand-wringing, greenhouse items and
whacko coverage by media groups:
November 20, 2000
"Herbal
remedies: overlooked cause of medical emergencies?" -
"Emergency-room physician Timothy Erickson has more to worry about these
days than patients with asthma, broken bones, gunshot wounds and heart attacks.
The Chicago doctor now sees occasional patients whose persistent headaches
appear to be connected to too much gingko or whose rapid heart rates may be due
to ephedra combined with caffeine. Once in a while, he said, the side effects of
herbal remedies have been life-threatening - such as the 15-year-old girl who
went into liver failure after drinking a tea made with pennyroyal." (Knight
Ridder)
"Scientists
search for food link in memory lapse" - "Mid-life memory
lapses could be linked to the foods people eat, scientists said today. South
Australian researchers have begun recruiting volunteers for a study examining
whether there was a relationship between food, health and psychological
well-being, including memory and concentration." (AAP)
"X-rays
may contribute to mental disorders" - "Subjecting unborn
babies to radiation during medical x-rays or intercontinental flights may
increase their risk of developing mental illness later in life, according to
German researchers." (NY Times)
"What
happens if cure is worse than disease?" - "WASHINGTON - Can
bacteria make meat safer? Scientists say the answer is yes - by using good
bacteria to drive out bad bacteria from the guts of food animals. To biologists,
the process is known as competitive exclusion. The Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), however, is not quite so sure that two bacteria products designed to
reduce the incidence of salmonella, the leading cause of food poisoning, in
chickens are harmless." (AP)
"Stomach
ulcers fight off antibiotics" - "Stomach ulcers are developing
increasing resistance to the antibiotics most commonly used to treat them. A
study by West Australian researchers published in the Medical Journal of
Australia today reveals that a third of patients are now resistant to
metronidazole, once the most frequently used antibiotic. One in 10 patients are
resistant to clarithromycin, a commonly prescribed treatment." (SMH)
"Frequent
weight loss and gain may lead to heart ailments" - "NEW DELHI:
Women who repeatedly gain and lose weight, especially those who are obese, have
lower levels of HDL or "good" cholesterol, posing a significant risk
for coronary artery disease, a research has suggested." (PTI)
"Hope
for risk-free hormone therapy" - "A FORM of hormone
replacement therapy that does not raise the risk of breast cancer could be
possible after an advance in understanding the female hormone oestrogen.
Oestrogen must bind with one of two receptors for the hormone, known as ERa and
ERb. An overactive ERa receptor appears to be the reason why oestrogen can raise
the risk of contracting cancers. Oestrogen drugs that target only the ERb
receptors may eliminate many of the risks." (The
Times)
"The
pill 40 years on: safe, effective, with unexpected benefits" -
"The oral contraceptive has proven to be a remarkably effective and safe
drug for long-term use by women without heart conditions, according to one of
Sydney's leading hospital professors." (AAP)
"Scientists
close in on 'Alzheimer's gene', leading to underclass fears"
- "Scientists are close to identifying a gene that
predisposes people to develop Alzheimer's disease in later life, it will be
announced today. The team of geneticists, led by Professor Mike Owen of the
University of Wales College of Medicine in Cardiff, will reveal the results of a
study on 429 pairs of siblings aged over 65 who have been diagnosed with
Alzheimer's." (Independent)
"Marine
pests offer help for human life"
- "A SLIMY marine pest can offer scientists a way of studying human
infertility while avoiding many controversial embryo experiments, British
researchers have discovered. The eggs, sperm and embryos of the sea squirt, an
invertebrate so common in British waters that it is regarded as a pest, are so
similar to those of people that they can be substituted for human samples in
many laboratory experiments." (The Times)
"Call
for debate over engineering humans" - "A leading British
fertility expert is calling for public debate over whether scientists should be
allowed to genetically engineer humans." (BBC Online)
"France
fights 'mad cow' fear with ads, hotlines" - "PARIS: The French
government launched an offensive against fears of "mad cow" meat on
Sunday, publishing a full-page newspaper advertisement and a free advice line
number that received over 600 calls by midday. But it was a difficult day to
assuage consumer panic, with media reports of another case of the human form of
the deadly brain-wasting bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)." (Reuters)
"McDonald's
bans use of meat from GM-fed animals" - "McDonald's,
the fast food chain, announced yesterday that it was phasing out the use of meat
fed on genetically modified feed." (Independent) [BBC
Online] [The
Times]
"Centre's
no to genetically modified food till proved safe" - "CALCUTTA:
Union agriculture minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday asserted that
genetically-modified seeds and food would not be allowed into the country till
their safety was scientifically proved." (Times of India)
With massive
effort underway to curtail fossil fuels it may be interesting to see what else
is going on in the energy sector:
"Japan
may re-open controversial reactor-media" - "TOKYO - Japan's
science agency chief will visit a closed fast-breeder reactor once seen as the
cornerstone for future fuel supply in the energy-poor nation to pave the way for
possibly re-opening the plant, local media said on Saturday." (Reuters)
"Finnish
PM urges Greens to stick with government" - "HELSINKI -
Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen on Sunday rebuked the Green Party for
threatening to leave the government if a motion to build a new nuclear power
plant were accepted in parliament." (Reuters)
"Nuclear
power unsustainable, EU Commissioner says" - "HELSINKI -
Increasing nuclear power is not a viable solution to reducing world-wide
greenhouse gas emissions, European Union Commissioner for environmental affairs
Margot Wallstrom said on Friday." (Reuters)
"Chernobyl
workers set to close plant, reluctantly" - "CHERNOBYL, Ukraine
- Shift master Viktor Kuchinsky pointed at a large white button on a huge
control panel. In a month's time, on December 15, a worker will press it, and
shut down the infamous Chernobyl power station for good." (Reuters)
"E.Europe
power faces German scrutiny under new law" - "FRANKFURT -
Germany's economics ministry may block electricity and natural gas flows from
eastern European countries if they originate from plants believed to be
sub-standard, a ministry spokesman said." (Reuters)
"Global
growth in oil set for dramatic surge" - "OIL companies
are poised for decades of growth as global demand for oil surges by 50% over the
next 20 years despite recent price rises." (The Scotsman)
CoP6 &
enhanced greenhouse items:
"Viewpoint:
Get off the global warming bandwagon" - (William M Gray,
Colorado State University)
"Climate
talks fail to close rift with US" - "There is a "huge
distance" between the US and the European Union after the first week of
talks .... Jan Pronk, the Dutch environment minister and president of the
conference, said: "We have made no progress in the first week. The only
good thing to say is we are no further apart." (Guardian)
"Hot
climate issue: Who pays?" - "In their second week, negotiators
at a conference in the Netherlands push hard political bargains." (CSM)
"US
Proposals Rebuffed At Global Warming Negotiations" — Just one month after the European
Parliament effectively condemned the United States Senate for not doing
something it in fact lacks the legal authority to do, European Union negotiators
at COP-6 very publicly slammed a door in the face of US officials." (CEI)
"UN
talks turn heat on auto industry" - "WASHINGTON -- As world
officials meet this week at the first major negotiation on a global warming
treaty since the 1997 Kyoto protocol, the stakes are rising for an increasingly
green auto industry." (Detroit News)
"Climate
conference will generate a lot of hot air" - "... In short,
the Hague agenda is largely false. Part of the blame for this must lie with a
largely silent, but surprisingly large, group of "greenhouse sceptic"
climatologists like myself. We have allowed the debate to be hijacked by
computer modellers unwilling to recognise that natural processes they cannot
model might be important in driving climate change and by simple wishful
thinking by the green lobby." (Professor David J Unwin, Letters, Guardian)
"U.S.
Senators Wary of Greenhouse Gas Pact" - "THE HAGUE - Global
warming is a serious issue, but the United States will not accept any mandate to
cut its greenhouse gas emissions that does not include action by developing
nations, two U.S. senators said Sunday. Republican Senators Chuck Hagel from
Nebraska and Larry Craig from Idaho also stressed that any emission cuts in
greenhouse gases ... must not damage the U.S. economy." [Interview]
(Reuters)
Accusations fly at CoP6:
Talk of 'deadlock':
November 19, 2000
"'Dirty'
bugs in fight on allergies" - "An
"anti-clean" bacterial vaccine to counteract the harmful effects of
the modern obsession with hygiene is to be tested on 100 asthma sufferers in the
UK." (Independent)
"Germ-free
childhood increases cancer risk" - "A GERM-FREE childhood in a
small family could expose young people to a higher than average risk of cancer,
according to new research" (Sunday Times)
"Television
chefs battered for setting unhygienic example" - "TELEVISION
chefs display an "irresponsible" attitude to food safety that sets a
bad example to viewers, the country's hygiene watchdog will warn the BBC in a
formal complaint." (Sunday Telegraph)
"Mad
cow mania in Europe" - "ROME -- Italy on Friday banned most
beef imports from France, a measure intended to prevent so-called mad cow
disease from spreading in the country. The decision comes after a European Union
meeting last week failed to take action against the spread of the fatal,
brain-wasting ailment. Italy has been lobbying for tighter EU controls."
(AP)
"Brain
drug reverses chronic Alzheimer's" - "The brain of a
70-year-old woman suffering from severe Alzheimer's disease has been brought
back to life by a new drug, leading scientists to believe that the illness could
be reversible." (Observer) [Sunday
Times]
"Study
backs blood clot fears" - "Air passengers may be at a greater
risk of suffering a fatal blood clot during a flight than first thought."
(BBC Online)
"Mercury
thermometers condemned as dangerous" - "Traditional
mercury thermometers, for decades the parents' standby, are being banned in the
US as dangerous to children and the environment. Several states and cities are
prohibiting their sale and the country's hospitals are beginning to phase them
out." (Independent)
"Battle
Lines Drawn Over Ergonomic Rules; Business Pitted Against Washington"
- "Washington wants American business to be ergonomically correct, but it
will have a big fight on its hands. After a decade in which many workers
complained of suffering back sprains, wrist pain and other injuries from
repetitive workplace tasks, the Clinton Administration issued one of the most
far-reaching set of labor regulations ever last week, saying the rules would
prevent 460,000 injuries a year." (NY Times)
"Heart
disease 'hits poor hardest'" - "People from the lower
socio-economic classes are more likely to suffer heart disease in their
thirties, researchers have found." (BBC Online)
"GM
taco corn in Canada; US reconsiders ban" - "HALIFAX - The taco
controversy in the United States has crossed the border. Last month, some U.S.
tacos were recalled because they contained corn intended for animal feed. The
taco shells were made by the food giant Kraft for Taco Bell fast food
restaurants. The shells contained a yellow corn called Starlink. It`s
genetically modified to be resistant to pests. The corn has only been approved
as animal feed. It was never meant for human consumption because of concerns
that it could cause allergic reactions. ... The United States government has
shifted gears and is now considering approving the corn for human
consumption." (CBC News)
"ConAgra
Pulled Some Items Last Month Due to Possible Presence of Starlink Corn"
- "ConAgra Foods Inc. has quietly pulled from distribution some flour, meal
and other commercial baking ingredients because they might contain Starlink
corn, the genetically modified crop unapproved for human consumption."
(WSJ)
"Paraguay
adopts GM labelling" - "Brazil`s rejection of a shipment
of Paraguayan corn on suspicion that it contained some GM corn has led Paraguay
to adopt a labelling program for its corn and cereal exports." (Justfood.com)
CoP6,
climate...
"Why the IPCC
has an Agenda" - "Question - How many scientists are on the
IPCC? Answer - none - it's a trick question." (David Wojick)
This essay by David Wojick should be required reading by anyone who still
believes that the IPCC Summary for Policymakers is a scientific document or
expresses a consensus of the scientists who worked on the IPCC report itself.
And, as we have pointed out many times, Article 2 of FCCC (expressing the
ultimate goal of the Treaty) has never been defined. Nobody can tell whether a
higher or lower level of atmospheric GH gases is more (or less) likely to
produce "dangerous interference with the climate system." -- S. Fred
Singer
"Global
warming exiles native species" - "As
temperatures rise, many familiar plants and birds are disappearing. Meanwhile,
Britain is becoming home to exotic newcomers from southern Europe."
(Independent)
There's been a series of items on 'new'/'returned'
wildlife in various regions and a lot featuring the UK and Europe over the
past few years. These range from changes in bird populations to fungi not seen
for a half-century, unexpected surges in fish populations in the North-east
Pacific to runs of massive bluefin tuna west of Ireland to jellyfish and
basking sharks in the Celtic Sea. These items pique my interest because the
general theme appears to be 'last seen' or 'most common' in the 1930s-1950s. I
haven't yet collated the material and so haven't determined whether these
'bio-indicators' may serve as a useful proxy for climate variation - there is,
however, a correlation between sunspots, climate and herring blooms
(bio-productivity). The timing is interesting because the period cited is the
last time global temperatures were similar to current and both the North
Atlantic and Pacific Decadal Oscillations were in the same phase as they appear
to be entering now. It may be pure coincidence or it may be that these events
can give us a clue about the current climate cycle. Anyway - it's time we had
another 'ice age cometh' scare, this 'global warming' nonsense is getting
really boring.
"'Too
late' to halt global warming" - "John Prescott has warned that
international efforts to curb greenhouse gases may only have a marginal effect
on global warming." (Observer)
That complete implementation of Kyoto can make no
discernible difference is true, it's just not news. Maximum potential 'saving'
has long been estimated at an irrelevant -0.07°C over 50 years. Powerful lot
of pain for absolutely no gain against a purely hypothetical problem.
"U.S.
clash on global warming" - "Nov. 17, 2000 | For the past few
days, people attending a United Nations conference on global warming in the
Hague have been approaching scientist Marilyn Brown. They want her to explain
one thing: the curious timing of her pivotal new Department of Energy report,
which was released on Wednesday." (Salon)
"Why
carbon sinks make sense" - "It has been a tough week at the
Hague. Canada and the United States are doing their darnedest to get innovative
ideas on to the table at the United Nations conference on climate change, but
the usual crew of enviro-sorts aren't interested in being argued with."
(Paul Kedrosky, National Post)
"Environmentalists lay
siege to talks" - "THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Nov. 18 —
Thousands of environmentalists laid siege to climate change talks on
Saturday to push for curbs on greenhouse gas emissions, building a sandbag wall
at the venue to warn of the risk of flooding posed by global warming."
(Reuters) [AFP]
"Article
on climate change was error-riddled, alarmist propaganda" - "I
am writing to express my dismay at the publication of an error-filled commentary
("Climate uncontrol: Britain's floods are a symptom of global changes that
need to be tackled urgently" by Celia Brayfield, Nov. 14) presented in the
guise of a news article." (Prof Timothy Patterson, letters, Ottawa Citizen)
"US
plays dirty as planet chokes" - "Squabbles as America fights
to avoid reducing emissions" (Robin McKie, Observer [same McKie who won the
"Big J" junk science reporting award October 22-23 (see archives) for
thinking enhanced greenhouse caused the volcanic activity and subsequent
meltdown of Breidamerkurjökull glacier])
November 18, 2000
Editorial comment
This week I've been
featuring a series of links to purported statistical analyses - some good, some
blatantly partisan and some truly shoddy. A few people have written wondering
why some of these items and supplementary commentary appeared on Junkscience.com.
To quote John Daly, "All science is numbers but not all numbers is
science." I led the series with a piece from Fienberg & Murray
(STATS), currently refeatured by Detroit News, Beware
dubious data dredging in Florida, warning people to treat 'statistics'
with care and scepticism. Data mining is an old trick of activists and junk
scientists - dredge data sufficiently and you will always find
"cancer clusters" or whatever - the significance is moot. As an
example of just how startling can be the result of 'shifting the goalposts' (or
redefining the data points) check this out (carefully selected to have nothing
to do with risk, hazard, partisanship, corporate culpability or advocacy):
"Norway
gains thousands of miles" - "OSLO, Norway -- Norway's already
long coastline just expanded by about 16,000 miles." (AP)
A 45% increase in total coastline may sound a lot but
merely reflects finer definition and the ability to process many more data
points, rather like the circumference of a circular saw blade may be say, 3
feet measured at the extremity of the saw teeth, while the actual peripheral
measure will be significantly different when tracing the tooth profile.
I'm also honest enough to state categorically that I view Vice President
Albert Gore as a major proponent of junk science - as an Aussie I can't vote in
US elections but surely I fear for science should Ozone Al become president of
the world's greatest democracy and most powerful economy. Having said that, I
can't think for Junkscience.com users, that's your problem. All I can do is
present news items here that I find noteworthy, interesting or even amusing.
Some readers undoubtedly miss Steve Milloy's presentation and analysis - fear
not, he will resume editorial duties shortly. In the interim, items selected for
posting reflect my view of what may be interesting to some (according to
strength of e-mail feedback) and a desire to provide broad-spectrum coverage so
that there is something here for most users - including junk, cutting-edge
science, items of simple interest or amusement and the simply bizarre.
Do my
selections reflect bias/belief? Naturally. For example, I'm appalled by the
current enhanced greenhouse circus. The enhanced greenhouse hypothesis
postulates potential surface warming in response to an atmosphere warmed
by increase in the minor so-called greenhouse gas constituents. Given that the
atmosphere is demonstrably not responding as modelled, despite a combined
increase in the minor greenhouse gases of more than 50% beyond the
pre-industrial-age levels, then I conclude that the models are faulty, not that
the world is so. By extension, both the models and the CoP6 circus are junk
and should be scrapped, not subsidised to the tune of billions of dollars.
Similarly, I look at the increasing life-span and quality-of-life of populations
in the industrialised world and the claims of horrendous risk from synthesised
chemical compounds, food supply, air and water quality etc. ad nauseam
and conclude that the risks are actually diminishing, it is the claims of
risk that are overstated. I make no secret of my position - I'm a sceptic and,
frankly, I despise misanthropes who extort donations by terrorising the
less-informed while acting against the best interests of humanity and the
environment. Consequently, I feature authors who, in my view, seek the facts
rather than the sensation.
Biased? I certainly am - I don't like flakes and
frauds. -- Barry Hearn
Cartoon of the day: "Henry
Payne's electoral comment"
"A
new look at cancer treatments" - "... Researchers, gathered
here for an international conference, predicted that gentler, more sharply aimed
new drugs such as Endostatin and a host of others in early human testing might
be safe enough to take for years - perhaps for a lifetime - enabling patients to
live in peaceful co-existence with their cancer." (Boston Globe)
"France
to Fight Risk of EU Isolation Over BSE" - "BRUSSELS - France
will urge its EU partners in tough talks next week to take unified steps against
"mad cow disease" and avoid unilateral moves that risk isolating the
country, a senior French government source said."[French
Authorities Deny Patient Suffering nvCJD] (Reuters)
"French
may charge the Tories over CJD deaths" - "French
families have filed a ground-breaking lawsuit in Paris which, in part, accuses
British Conservatives of spreading BSE" (Independent) [AP]
"French
victims of CJD sue Britain, France and the EU" - "FRANCE: As
France's scare over mad cow disease intensified yesterday, the families of two
victims of the human version, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), filed
suit against Britain, France and the EU for failing to take steps to contain the
epidemic." (Irish Times) [French
Lawsuit Filed As Mad Cow Scare Grips (Reuters)]
"German
Experts Call for British Blood Donor Ban" - "BERLIN - Experts
have advised Germany's Healt Ministry to bar people who have lived in Britain
from donating blood and plasma because of the threat posed by mad cow disease,
the ministry said on Friday." (Reuters)
"Worried
Greeks Mull Ban on French Beef" - "ATHENS - Greece might ban
the import of French beef if the European Union does not take satisfactory
measures to protect consumers from mad cow disease, officials said on
Friday." (Reuters)
"Blair
tells violent eco-warriors they can't stop science"
- "Tony Blair has sent a stark signal to animal welfare and environmental
groups that he will not allow "intimidation" to stand in the way of
scientific progress. The Prime Minister attacked "anti-science
attitudes" and warned that the Government would not allow blackmail and
physical assault to stand in the way of research." [Lab
workers live in fear of 'direct action' through the letterbox]
(Independent)
"CHINA
EMBRACES GM CROPS AS OTHERS DEBATE AND HESITATE" -
"Gene-modified crops are not terrifying," a headline in a Chinese
newspaper that focuses on science, technology and education said. The article
extolled the miraculous new crops as a viable shortcut to stable food supplies
and national prosperity for a country that struggles to feed a fifth of the
world's population on one-seventh of the world's arable land. The aim of such
proclamation is not to gather public support, as it may seem, but to demonstrate
China's positive outlook on genetic crops." (AgWeb.com)
"Conference
wants moratorium on genetically modified foods" - "DURBAN,
South Africa, Nov 17 - Delegates at the 16th World Congress of Consumers
International here Friday called for a moratorium on growing and marketing
genetically modified (GM) foods until they are subject to stricter safety
checks." (AFP)
"GM
protesters are 'no heroes'" - "Tony Blair has warned anti-GM
food and animal rights protesters that the government will not tolerate
"blackmail and intimidation". (BBC Online) [The
Times]
"Britain
could lose out because of 'anti-science' fears, warns Blair"
- "Tony Blair today warned that "anti–science" attitudes could
rob Britain of the huge benefits of new cutting–edge research and technology.
He told the European Bioscience Conference in London that there were
"legitimate concerns" about new technologies such as genetically
modified foods, but these should not prevent scientists carrying out research in
these areas." (Independent) [BBC
Online] [Telegraph]
"Britain’s
Anti-Biotech Food Lobby Loses Some Bite" - "Those campaigning
in Britain against genetically engineered food could be forgiven for expecting
the American Starlink corn episode to further their cause. The incident,
however, seems to have been of limited value to them." (Bridge News)
'Biotech'
is new darling of the stockmarket
- "BRITAIN’S biotechnology industry has a brief and erratic history,
punctuated in turn by the tremendous promise of scientific discovery and the
disappointment of clinical failure. There is only a small chance of an
innovative idea for a new drug succeeding in clinical trials and becoming a
commercial product. But even so the British biotechnology industry, which is
little more than ten years old, is finally beginning to deliver wonder
drugs." (The Times)
"No
Health Risk From Unauthorised Gm Ingredients In Tortilla Chips - Investigation
Continues" - "The Food Standards Agency announced today that
the levels of GM contamination alleged by Friends of the Earth to be present in
tortilla chips are far too low to pose a danger to human health. The FSA made
its announcement after receiving advice from its independent advisory committee,
the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP)." (UG)
"UK's
Blair Backs Biotech Industry on Stem Cells" - "LONDON - Prime
Minister Tony Blair waded into the ethical minefield of stem cell research on
Friday, backing the technology and vowing he would push for Britain to keep its
position as Europe's leader in biotechnology." (Reuters)
"Meat,
Milk And Eggs Are Safe From Livestock And Poultry Fed Biotech Crops, U.S.
Scientists Say" - "Are the meat, milk and eggs from livestock
and poultry fed genetically modified or biotech feeds, safe to eat? Yes, says
the Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS), a federation comprising over
10,000 animal, dairy and poultry scientists. FASS scientists have reviewed all
of the data available worldwide from research studies in which results have been
published in refereed, peer-reviewed journal articles. These research results
conclusively indicate that there is no effect of feeding biotech crops to
livestock and poultry on the nutritional value or safety of meat, milk and
eggs." (FASS)
"Soybeans
May Play a Role in Swine Odor Mitigation" - "A new patented
product— named Barrier— has been introduced to pork producers as a
mitigation aid to offensive odors associated with swine production facilities.
And it is based on new technology that relies on soybean byproducts. It is
marketed as a "soybean activated odor mitigation aid." (AgWeb.com)
More miraculous claims for soy product? Actually no, the
name gives a clue, they're using soy by-product as an anaerobic seal on sludge
pits.
"Norway
Blocks Scientists' Antarctic Kill Plan" - "TROMSO, Norway,
November 17, 2000 - A Norwegian plan to kill 80 seals and 90 seabirds in
Antarctica this summer to study their livers for the presence of pollutants has
been scrapped, apparently because of international pressure." (ENS)
"More
Fish Stories" - "Fenton Communications starts a new campaign
to push people away from eating commercially harvested fish. (See our headlines
from the 15th) The next day, the Los Angeles Time features a story on a new
American Fisheries Society report calling for commercial fishing restrictions.
Coincidence? Maybe, but the American Fisheries Society has
contributed information to Fenton's SeaWeb project (the group behind the unnecessary
"Give Swordfish A Break Campaign") and was a participant in a
Fenton produced press conference last year. (FNS Daybook, 4/12/99)"
(GuestChoice.com)
See also NoMoreScares.com
for more on Fenton's machinations.
"Soda-Drinking
Children End Up Lacking Nutrients" - "Children and adolescents
who drink large quantities of soda may be selling themselves short of several
important vitamins and minerals, results of a survey suggest." (Reuters)
"Rainforest
deal that Greenpeace rejects" - "Sir David Attenborough's new
television series urges us to care more about the extinction of wildlife through
the loss of tropical forest. The problem is, caring is easy; acting is hard.
Many of us wish rainforests were not cut down. But does anyone in the West
actually send cash to Brazil to buy a piece of forest for a native tribe? No.
When Sting did exactly that, it had the opposite effect: the tribe sold the
forest to loggers and bought a plane with the proceeds." (The Age [actually
it's an echo of Matt Ridley's column in The Telegraph but who's counting?)]
Enhanced greenhouse, Cop6, climate panic & posturing:
"Nature
Cops to Hague Parley" - "When the United Nations held its
second meeting of the "Conference of the Parties" (COP-2) in Geneva in
July 1996, the big question was whether or not our models of climate change were
good enough to support eventual restrictions on the combustion of fossil fuel.
Four days before the meeting began, the prestigious journal Nature
published a bombshell paper by federal scientist Ben Santer purporting that the
newest breed of climate models—which combined greenhouse effect warming and
sulfate cooling—indeed tracked the climate of a long period, from 1963 through
1987. At that meeting, Santer's paper was everywhere. Anyone who objected was
heckled down. The official U.S. representative to COP-2, Timothy Wirth (now head
of Ted Turner's global warming foundation), took the impolite step of slamming
U.S. citizens who disagreed with him from an international podium. Six months
later, Nature published a paper
showing that if Santer had used all the available data, his results would have
fallen apart." (GES)
"No
Global Rip-Off" - "The United Nations is holding talks in the
Hague, Netherlands, to finalize the Kyoto Treaty. If implemented, the treaty
would require nations to take costly steps to cut global greenhouse gas
emissions during the next decade. But the demand of some countries that the West
give them monetary compensation in return for ratification of the treaty is
likely to torpedo any final agreement. And that may be just as well given that
the treaty is shaping into a giant scheme for the redistribution of global
wealth." (Detroit News editorial)
"Hurricane
Drop Detected" - "A
science reporter's ominous voice intones, "Global warming
imminent..."as a parched desert landscape fills the screen.
"Industrial pollutants the cause of..."says the voice in
verb-deficient mediaspeak over footage of smokestacks spewing clouds of
particulate and water vapor (remember, CO2
is invisible). "...more severe storms, droughts, floods..."it
continues, as we see hurricanes crash into coastal homes. Scary? Sure. True?
Hardly. Hurricanes will not overwhelm the greenhouse-warmed world. There is no
trend toward more or more severe hurricanes in the North Atlantic, and in fact
published reports show wind speeds from landfalling storms have significantly
declined over time." (GES)
"Nuclear
Back on Europe's Energy Agenda" - "HELSINKI, Finland, November
17, 2000 - Finnish energy firm TVO has applied for permission to build a new
nuclear power station, marking the first solid proposal for new nuclear capacity
in western Europe since the mid-1980s. In its announcement Thursday - very
likely timed to influence opinion at the ongoing international climate talks in
The Hague - the company stressed the need for nuclear power to help reduce
greenhouse gas emissions." (ENS)
"Gore
made flip-flop on nuclear power use" - "Vice President Al Gore
made a last-minute concession to environmentalists just before the election to
oppose any increased use of nuclear power to comply with the global-warming
treaty. The change appears aimed not only at appeasing environmentalists, but
bridging differences with European nations who oppose the use of nuclear power
to comply with the treaty, which Mr. Gore was instrumental in drafting in Kyoto,
Japan, three years ago. Yet, by taking away one major option for American
companies to meet the stiff emissions cuts required under the treaty, Senate
aides say the move will only harden opposition to the treaty in the Senate,
where ratification has long been in doubt." (Washington Times)
"UPDATE
1-Climate talks stall over carbon 'sinks'" - "THE HAGUE, Nov
17 - Negotiators worked down to the wire late on Friday in a frantic bid to lay
the groundwork for an agreement on how to fight the threat of global warming.
Officials from some 180 countries remained sharply divided after a week of talks
at a United Nations-sponsored climate change conference in The Hague."
(Reuters)
"CO2
Packs Tropical Punch"
- "Ask anybody what environmental
issues they hear most about and many people will say "global warming."
If not, they might mention "the rain forests." Often, they'll utter
both phrases in the same breath. Burning Tarzan's trees not only releases
greenhouse gases in the process, they tell us, but also results in eliminating a
great greenhouse gas sink that takes up carbon dioxide and helps to keep our
global ecosystem in balance." (GES)
"Negotiators
Get Proposal Extension" - "THE
HAGUE, Netherlands — With debate still raging at a critical U.N. Climate
Conference, negotiators Friday got one more day — but no more — to draft
proposals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions." (AP)
"Sideshows
Outnumber Ministers at Hague Summit" - "THE HAGUE, The
Netherlands, November 17, 2000 - Hundreds of delegates are in The Hague to
negotiate the world's response to climate change and global warming, with more
government ministers expected to arrive today for the serious bargaining that
begins next week. Since the city is home to many of Europe's non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), the International Court of Justice, other United Nations
institutions and Dutch Royalty and government, it has long been the center of
the continent's lobby circuit." (ENS)
"VIRTUAL
CLIMATE ALERT #40" - "Sad to say, we’ve come to expect the
annual "hottest year on record" pronouncement even before twelve
months of data are available. But the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and its climatic offspring – the National Climatic Data
Center (NCDC) – have gone one better, this year." (GES)
November 17, 2000
"Global Warming COP-Out" - "President Clinton remains the cheerleader-in-chief for taking global warming seriously. But the Clinton administration’s position at COP-6 exposes the scare as a bunch of hot air." (Steve Milloy at FoxNews.com)
"The
Equal-Protection Clause: A Field Day For Misleading Statistics" -
"... First, some background. Hand counting always increases the number of
votes counted, because the human being will accept more ballots than the machine
accepts. For example, the chad in the punch card may not be completely punched
out, but the human eye will see that and count it. The hand count increases the
total for both candidates, but in a way that is statistically proportional to
the machine votes already cast. So it doesn't change the results, it only gives
Gov. Bush (who won the machine count) slightly more votes if there is a
complete, statewide human hand count." (CATO commentary)
"Statistics
point to more than random error in Florida vote" - "Economics
professor Tom Carroll began running statistical equations Thursday on the net
gains both Gore, who gained more than 2,200 votes, and Texas Gov. George W.
Bush, who added about 700 votes, have made in the recount. He found that the
statistical chances for such large and different totals to occur as a result of
random glitches was less than infinitesimal. "The probability of being
struck by lightning is about one in a million," Carroll said. "The
same person would have to be hit by lightning 30 times to compare with what
we've seen in this recount." (Las Vegas Sun)
"Explicit
statistical evidence of massive ballot tampering in Palm Beach, Fl"
- "... In 50 out of 67 counties in FL, the actual change in the recount was
5-7 votes, and in 63 out of 67 counties, the total change was less than 30 votes
either way. Further, in 63 out of 67 counties the "changes" were
somewhat evenly divided between ALL the candidates, in rough proportion to the
original number of votes. This is the statistically expected result, and
represents a true and legal recount of the ballots without any change in the
ballots themselves. This means that Palm Beach FL had an error rate in favor of
Gore more than 120 TIMES greater than any other county" (Robert A. Cook)
"What's
the Story? Drug-Supplement Interaction" - "At least 40% of all
Americans take some type of dietary supplement. Although people usually take
supplements in an effort to improve their health, some people may actually
endanger their health by using these products-especially if they also take
medicines." (ACSH)
"The
Jury's still out on soy" - ROCHESTER, MINN-- Despite studies that
indicate benefits of soy isoflavones, a report published by Mayo Clinic
physicians in the November edition of Mayo Clinic Proceedings finds insufficient
data to draw any definitive conclusions in the use of soy isoflavones as an
alternative to estrogen for hormone replacement in postmenopausal women."
(Mayo Clinic)
"Food
left out overnight is poisonous" - "Leaving takeaway food out
overnight can take bacteria levels to 64 times the safe level, new research has
revealed. According to the Food Safety Information Council, this dramatically
increased the risk of potentially fatal food poisoning, with symptoms including
diarrhoea, vomiting and kidney disease." (AAP)
"Report:
Mechanics at Risk From Asbestos in Brakes" - "SEATTLE -
Millions of brakes used in cars and trucks contain cancer-causing asbestos that
puts thousands of mechanics at risk of disease, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
newspaper said on Thursday." (Reuters)
"Smoking
Ups Gene Defect in Colon Cancer" - "NEW YORK - Heavy smokers
appear to be at increased risk of developing a genetic defect associated with
colon cancer, researchers report." (Reuters Health)
"OSHA's
bad timing" - "Nov. 16, 2000 - The Occupational Safety and
Health Administration picked a bad time to release sweeping new workplace
regulations involving repetitive motion injuries. The agency issued 1,600 pages
of new regulations Monday that will affect perhaps 100 million workers and six
million employers. By the agency's estimate, the new regulations may cost
employers $4.5 billion per year. Employer groups dispute the estimate,
calculating the cost at between $90 and $125 billion per year." (Denver
Post editorial)
More mercury mania: "Boston
bans thermometers containing mercury" - "BOSTON - Joining a
nationwide push to remove mercury thermometers as a threat to lakes and streams,
the Boston City Council voted Wednesday to prohibit their sale." (AP)
Oh no! Theo Ree takes HAA mania travelling as a
roadshow! "Chemicals
a threat to future generations" - "Theo Colborn, a U.S.
scientist known for her pioneering hypothesis about the threat endocrine
disruptors pose to organisms, recently visited Japan and argued that it is
necessary to study what she calls the "inner space" of the bodies of
pregnant women as a factor that may greatly affect their fetuses." (Daily
Yomiuri)
Click here or on the
"Our Swollen Future" icon on the main page to see Milloy's parody on
this garbage. I admire his enthusiasm - it's a damn-site more than I reckon
this B.S. chemophobia and blatant fear-mongering is worth.
"Virginia
utility agrees to cut emissions" - "A Virginia power company
will spend $1.2 billion to cut emissions from eight coal-burning plants by 70
percent to settle government lawsuits alleging the utility contributed to air
pollution in the Northeast, The New York Times reported today." (AP)
"90% of deaths
caused by air pollution take place in developing states" -
"Tehran, Nov 15, IRNA -- Director of the World Health Organization (WHO)
Eastern Mediterranean Region, Dr. Hussein Gezairy said here on Tuesday that out
of the estimated three million deaths due to air pollution worldwide each year,
developing countries account for some 90 percent. In his message to the first
regional workshop on air pollution and health, read by WHO representative in
Iran, he stressed that out of the total number, 2.8 million are related to
indoor exposure and only 0.2 million to outdoor exposure." (IRNA)
"FDA
framing new regulations for genetically-engineered foods" -
"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is taking steps to update its
approach to genetically modified food products but much work remains to be done
to address concerns over whether recent developments in biotechnology and
genetically modified organisms are leading to unsafe foods, according to a panel
of experts who discussed the topic Wednesday in a forum at Cornell
University." (UPI)
"StarLink
Scare Causes Japan To Cut Corn Purchases in Half" -
"TOKYO -- Japanese companies, the biggest customer of American corn
farmers, said they are delaying purchasing corn from the U.S. because of
lingering concerns over genetically altered StarLink corn." (WSJ)
"US
Exports Hurt by StarLink Bio-Corn Chaos" - "WASHINGTON -
American corn exports are feeling a backlash from overseas buyers who fear
shipments may be contaminated with an unapproved variety of biotech corn, U.S.
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said on Thursday." (Reuters)
"The
StarLink™ Event: Can It Help Us Better Understand Broader GMO Issues?"
- "There’s a really good chance you’re aware that the gene-altered corn
called StarLink™ was detected in certain taco shells and other yellow corn
products even though this corn is not approved for food use. Recent media
attention to this issue has fallen just short of presidential candidate
coverage." (JustFood.com)
"Aventis
Plans to Split Off Crop Unit In Deal That Could Fetch $6.86 Billion"
- "Shrugging off the threat of potential legal battles in the U.S. over
controversial StarLink corn, Aventis SA of France unveiled plans to divest its
crop-protection division in a strategic overhaul that could fetch as much as
eight billion euros ($6.86 billion)." (WSJ)
"McDonald's
asks suppliers to stop using GM feeds" - "LONDON - The British
arm of McDonald's Corp., the world's number one restaurant group, said yesterday
it had asked its suppliers to find sources of animal feed that did not contain
genetically modified products." (Reuters)
"CANADA:
Mcdonald`s stops using Genetically Engineered animal food in some European
countries - Canada calls for similar action"
- "Responding to pressure from Greenpeace, McDonald`s today announced that
by April 2001 all its restaurants in Germany, Denmark and Sweden will serve only
chicken raised on feed free of genetically modified (GM) ingredients." (JustFood.com)
[Greenpeace
Pressures Canadian McDonald's to Reject Biotech (AgWeb.com)] [McDonald's Urged to Extend GM-Free Pledge
(ENS)]
"Troublemakers"
- "The same people who caused so much trouble during last year's World
Trade Organization meeting in Seattle are planning
now to disrupt the Biotechnology
Industry Organization's meeting next year in San Diego. The
Ruckus Society is calling on members of the Genetic
Engineering Action Network (which includes Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace,
and the Mothers for Natural Law, and a host of other anti-choice nannies) to
sponsor a "biotech-specific Action Camp" to train activists in
"confrontational campaigning" in preparation for the meeting. Whatever
support Ruckus gets will be in addition to the over $115,000 Ted
Turner's foundation has given it in the last 4 years."
(GuestChoice.com) [Corporate
Saboteurs (Forbes)]
"Patenting
the painful price of saving lives" - "... SO WE have to make a
choice. If we want a cure for cancer, a general cure that will actually work
against the big killers of today, someone is going to have to do the research
and produce the drugs. They aren't going to do this unless they can smell the
profits at the end. If genes - by which we really mean the processes used to
isolate and copy these genes - cannot be patented, then no one will do the
work." (Daily Express)
"Scientists
Shed Light on a Genetic Engine of Cancer" - "PHILADELPHIA -
HATs and tails may sound more like formal wear than the stuff of cutting-edge
genetic research. But scientists on Thursday said both are critical to
deciphering the genetic secrets of certain cancers." (Reuters) [Winstar
Institute release]
"Stem
Cells Replace Damaged Liver Cells in Mice" - "NEW YORK - Stem
cells collected from bone marrow can be naturally transformed into healthy liver
cells that have the ability to repopulate damaged areas of the liver, according
to results of a study in mice." (Reuters Health)
"UK's
Blair to Tackle Stem Cell Dilemma" - "LONDON - Prime Minister
Tony Blair is expected to wade into the ethical minefield of stem cell research
Friday in a keynote speech to a biotechnology conference, industry sources
said." (Reuters)
"Genetic
Marker For Esophageal Cancer Found" - "TUESDAY, Nov. 14 --
Scientists have identified a genetic marker that points to the recurrence of
esophageal cancer, an aggressive and often deadly disease." (HealthScout)
"Americans
Uneasy About 'Designer' Kids" - "NEW YORK - The prospect of
expectant parents being able to choose between fertilized eggs to have a baby
who is intelligent, good-looking and talented leaves most of the US public
feeling uncomfortable, results of a new Harris Poll show." (Reuters Health)
CoP6 & enhanced greenhouse items:
"Pacific
sea level hardly rising atoll" - "This week's global
warming conference in The Hague, Holland, has lost one of its most colourful and
emotive elements. The scattered populations of the Pacific's atolls have
received some encouraging news: they're not going to drown any time soon. ...
"Personnel familiar with sea- level work were cautious to accept the
findings of the early numerical climate models, which triggered much of the
anxiety among coastal dwellers over the last two decades. "The hard facts
of sea level observations serve to confirm a more moderate view of trends."
(AFR)
"Climate
plague in The Hague" - "The United Nations conference on
global warming lumbered into session this week in The Hague, the greatest
massing of junk science, politics and economics in world history, or at least
since ecclesiastical experts gathered in 1616 to condemn Copernicus's planetary
theories and banish Galileo. The sun revolves around the Earth, they declared in
1616 -- the equivalent of the UN's declarations that man is the cause of Hell,
fire, global warming and killer mosquitoes." (National Post)
"Hot
air from the Hague" - "... At this very moment, world
bureaucrats are beavering away in the Dutch capital of The Hague — working out
the "implementation mechanisms" of the global warming treaty
negotiated at Kyoto, Japan in 1997. The so-called Kyoto Protocol establishes
"targets" for the reduction of so-called "greenhouse"
gasses, principally carbon dioxide, that are thought to be warming up the
planet. The question remains, however, as to whether the warming is a natural
trend — as many climate scientists believe it to be — or whether man-made
sources of carbon dioxide are a significant factor in relation to the much
larger outpouring of natural sources of this otherwise harmless, inert
gas." (Washington Times editorial)
"Cracking
the Hockey Stick" - "A theory called the 'Hockey Stick' has
given the climate change community new 'proof' of man-made global warming. But
history and science show the theory is offside, writes John L. Daly"
(National Post) [To access the complete report complete with graphs and
references click
here]
"Minister
backs new diesel after 'dirty' report" - "The Government has
backed ultra low sulphur diesel despite research that shows it may cause more
damage to the environment than traditional diesel. A report by scientists and
engineers from the University of Ulster, commissioned by the Road Haulage
Association, found ULSD produced up to 20 times more carbon dioxide than the
fuel it replaced." (Ananova)
"Colour
nuclear power green" - "As the world's leaders debate climate
change this week in The Hague, they must consider nuclear power, says OECD
secretary-general DONALD JOHNSTON" (GAM)
"Most
top UK firms doing nothing on global warming" - "LONDON - Four
in five leading UK companies are doing almost nothing to reduce their greenhouse
gas emissions, according to a survey published yesterday. The survey by Business
in the Environment (BiE) showed that 80 percent of all leading UK-listed
companies had either set no reduction targets at all or had targets which were
unspecified or very low." (Reuters)
"Only
market forces can save the climate" - "... In The Hague
this week, conflict is being fomented on a global scale. Use of fossil fuels has
become a flank in the supposed class war between rich and poor nations. America
is cast as villain: it churns out the most per head of greenhouse gases that are
blamed for global warming, and about a quarter of the total. Europe and Japan
hide behind America. The Netherlands, green-hued host of the conference, is
really Europe’s main offender. Developing nations pose as victims. Oil
exporters seek compensation. It is a depressing sight." (The Times)
"Climate
conference delegates scorn bicycles" - "An offer of free
bicycles was not enough to lure UN climate conference delegates onto a
pollution-free mode of transportation. Only six out of 2,000 conference
negotiators had made use by Thursday of one of 200 free bikes offered by the
city of The Hague for the two-week meeting on global warming, which began on
Monday." (Ananova)
November 16, 2000
Oh my! "Missing
Voting Mechanism Recovered" - "Nov. 15 — Several days after
presidential votes were tallied in what has become the hotbed of Florida’s
post-election confusion, police in Palm Beach County confiscated a ballot-box
mechanism from the car of a well-known local Democrat. The mechanism, called a
“Votamatic,” did not contain any ballots. It’s a device used on some types
of ballot boxes to punch votes through ballot cards, which are then tallied by
computers. According to a police report filed at the Palm Beach County
sheriff’s office and obtained by ABCNEWS, Irving Slosberg, 53, pulled the
mechanism from his car and handed it over to police on Nov. 11 after denying to
a county government employee that he had it." (ABCNEWS)
"The
Great Defender" - "It's a tossup as to what is most revolting
about Al Gore's determination to vote-rig his way into the White House. You
could argue that it is the daylight-brazenness; decent people know that this
sort of thing is done under cover--that's how Boss Daley, father of Gore's
campaign chief, Bill Daley, always did it. Then there is the utterly reckless
selfishness; the price of a Gore presidency will be a constitutional crisis, a
divided nation and a taint on the presidency. But we've been there before, and
as Gore's boss said at that time, the important thing is just to win."
(Washington post)
"Victory
for finality in a Florida court" - "Like a Florida swamp on a
hot summer's day, there is an air of damp decay around these last desperate
attempts to steal this presidential election for Al Gore. Things didn't go
Gore's way yesterday - not in at least two different Florida courts and most
certainly not in the court of public opinion." (Boston Herald editorial) [Henry
Payne's comment]
"Dubious Data Dredging in Palm
Beach" - "Countless data dredgers have weighed in on the
Presidential vote in Florida. Unfortunately, many of these analyses were
published and circulated online, from where they quickly made their way into the
spinning heads of sleep-deprived journalists and pundits. Numbers can be
remarkably pliable in crucial times like these, and not all statistical analysis
is created equal. So let’s consider two statistical questions: was the
original vote count in Florida biased in favor of George Bush and just how
unlikely was the number of votes received by Pat Buchanan in Palm Beach?"
(STATS)
"Election
night tough on media" - "Maybe NBC’s Tom Brokaw had the best
line on the media’s head-spinning call, miscall and no-call of the
presidential election. “We don’t just have egg on our face,” the veteran
anchorman observed, “we have an omelet.” Jokes aside, this is a time for
some sober reflection on the performance of television, radio and newspapers in
the dash to be first with the news of whether George W. Bush or Vice-President
Al Gore would be the next president of the United States." (Luther Keith,
Detroit News) [Queensland's Sunday Mail comment]
"You
think this is rough? If U.S. directly elected presidents, most counts would be
nightmarish" - "The presidential vote count started as a bad
dream and has morphed into a recurring nightmare -- kind of like the movies Groundhog
Day and Friday the 13th combined. Not surprisingly, it has led all
kinds of observers and actors to blame the Electoral College and call for its
repeal -- among the latest being Senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton. As
America moved in the mid-20th century more and more toward expanded suffrage and
democracy, calls for the repeal of the Electoral College expanded as well. Every
time we get a close election, especially one in which the popular-vote margin is
narrow and the possibility rises that the Electoral College winner will be the
popular-vote loser, repeal proponents renew their appeals." (USA Today)
"How green issues
fared with voters" - "Two high-profile initiatives intended to
defeat urban sprawl in Arizona and Colorado failed at the polls." (MSNBC)
"Last-Minute
Land Grab" - "... To some, the action -- which covers an area
the size of Oregon -- is historic. To others, the proposal is unreasonable,
skirts the authority of Congress, and could put thousands of Westerners out of a
job. "I don't think [the Clinton administration] cares how many jobs are
lost," says Mark Rey, a senior staffer for Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) who
works with the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "The economic
impacts will be much greater than it anticipates." [Hillary
Clinton vs. James Madison] (Cato Institute)
"Forest
Service to ban all logging in roadless national forest areas" -
"The Clinton administration wants to ban all commercial logging on nearly
60 million acres of roadless forest land, including parts of the country's
largest forest, Alaska's Tongass National Forest." (Seattle Times)
"Oregon
ski resort plan may melt to protect roadless areas" - "Snow
fell across the Klamath Basin on Monday but, barring Congressional action,
downhill skiers likely will never get a chance to schuss down the Klamath
County, Oregon, slopes. As expected, the U.S. Forest Service's proposal to
protect roadless areas includes no exception for the 5,200 acres on Pelican
Butte where Klamath Falls-based Jeld-Wen Inc. hoped to develop a $37 million ski
resort." (The Oregonian)
"Report
Blasts Decision to Cancel Tongass Logging Contract" -
"WASHINGTON, DC, November 15, 2000 - A 1994 federal decision to cancel a 50
year long Alaskan timber contract was an unwise "political" move that
will cost U.S. taxpayers some $750 million, concludes a Congressional report
released last week. The report accuses the Clinton Administration of siding with
"radical environmental groups" in terminating the contract."
(ENS)
Eco-myth deflation of the moment: "I am able to
heat my home with either fuel oil or wood. Which one is better for the
environment?" - "Under most circumstances, burning fossil
fuel is better for the environment than firing up your wood stove, says John
Kinsey of the EPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory." (ENN)
"U.S.
energy chief says world needs more crude oil" - "U.S. Energy
Secretary Bill Richardson said Tuesday that world markets needed more crude oil,
despite OPEC's decision not to increase oil production. "We still think
there's a supply problem," Richardson said in an interview on CNBC news
network. "We do think that more oil is needed on the market."
Richardson said current oil prices around $34 a barrel are too high, and the
Clinton administration would prefer crude to drop to the $20 to $25 price range.
He disagreed with OPEC's position that there is enough oil in the market to meet
demand. "We do think there is a supply problem still," Richardson
said." (Reuters)
"EC
backs fuel tax breaks for truckers with limits" - "BRUSSELS -
The European Commission gave its qualified blessing yesterday to diesel tax cuts
offered by some European Union governments to truckers to end recent price
protests, saying they should be limited to two years." (Reuters)
"Ergonomics
Rules Kill Jobs" - "The Clinton administration issued new
workplace standards on Monday to reduce so-called repetitive motion injuries.
Costly, complex and entirely untested, the rules represent the worst in
regulatory excess. They ought to be abolished by Congress." (Detroit News)
"Ergonomics,
schmergonomics" - "In its death throes, the outgoing Clinton
administration has issued new workplace "ergonomics" requirements
through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that will cost
American businesses at least $4.5 billion — by OSHA's own estimation. Business
groups, however, estimate the eventual cost could top $90 billion
annually." (Washington Times)
"Most
Canadians ignoring cancer fears" - "TORONTO -- Nearly two
thirds of Canadians are worried about getting cancer and many know preventative
strategies like healthy diets and exercise. But knowing and doing doesn't always
go hand in hand." (CP)
"Don't
get mad, get funny" - "One of the best ways to protect
yourself against a heart attack is to laugh often and exuberantly - even in
situations that many people would find unfunny or irritating - according to a
study presented today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions
2000 meeting. The study is the first to document that laughter and an active
sense of humor may help influence heart and artery disease." (AHA) [Laughter
is good for your heart, according to a new University of Maryland Medical Center
study]
Further to yesterday's 'shonky chefs' item, the
Guest Choice network have done their homework a little more thoroughly than I
did: "There's
Something Fishy Here" - "Fenton Communications, the group that
brought you the thoroughly debunked Alar-on-apples scare and the unnecessary
"Give Swordfish A Break!" campaign, is at it again. Fenton has
brought together several of his clients to push people away from eating
commercially harvested fish. As we told you a couple weeks ago, Chefs
Collaborative and Environmental Defense (Fenton
clients - see contact in their press release) have released a guide to
"responsible fish procurement" written by Francine Stephens (member of
Mothers & Others - a Fenton created group) and funded by the Packard
Foundation (a
Fenton client). The direct
beneficiary of the campaign seems to be a company called EcoFish (a sponsor
of the new seafood guide). EcoFish, which has 6 Chefs Collaborative members and
several other Fenton clients on its advisory board, promises, "Now fine
chefs from around the country can have premium quality sustainably harvested
seafood delivered direct to their restaurant's door within 24 hours!"
(That's an interesting idea considering Chefs Collaborative insists people
should use only local products.) Three Chefs
Collaborative board members, Ann Cooper, Stan Frankenthaler, and Nora
Pouillon even
endorse the company in its press release!" (GuestChoice.com)
"30
year fear for CJD" - "The long-term risk of developing vCJD
may be higher than thought, according to research among a Papua New Guinea
tribe. Scientists hope that only a few people with a particular genetic makeup
may be susceptible to the infectious agent, or prion, which is thought to be the
cause of the vCJD illness." (BBC Online) [BSE
crisis (New Scientist)]
"Fear
of Diseased Beef Deepens in France's Supermarket Aisles" - "LIMOGES,
France, Nov. 13 — At lunch time in a city-owned slaughterhouse here, employees
began spraying hot water and disinfectant across the bloodstained cement floors,
putting lids on the containers of identification tags taken from cows as they
were killed and sharpening knives so that work could begin again in the
afternoon. But for the last two weeks, an afternoon shift has not always been
needed. Orders at the slaughterhouse are down by 30 percent. At the Paris
wholesale meat market, business has been worse, with sales of beef dropping by
nearly 50 percent on some days. Television crews have shown farmers returning
home with their prize-winning cows, unable to sell them at any
price."" (NY times)
"UPDATE
- Byrne rules out EU meat/ bone meal ban for now" -
"STRASBOURG, France - Europe's food safety chief David Byrne said yesterday
he believed a total EU-wide ban on using meat and bone meal in animal feed would
not offer a magic solution to the mad cow disease problem." (Reuters)
"Risk
of breast cancer higher for tall and slim" - "Heavy women and
short women are less likely than lighter and taller ones to develop breast
cancer before menopause, while having a first baby briefly but substantially
increases breast cancer risk, according to new Australian research." (SMH)
"Questions
Arise About Internet's Public Records"
- "MARINA DEL REY, Calif. — As more individuals build their own Web
sites, some privacy advocates now question requirements that the site owners
disclose their personal contact information." (Fox News)
"Another
reason why chocolate is better than sex" - "Girls in Norway
think chocolate is better than sex during the long winter months, but in spring
it's a different story, a study has found." (AAP)
"The
kindest cut?" - "More evidence that circumcision could be
protecting men from HIV infection is revealed in the BBC's Horizon programme.
Laboratory experiments appear to demonstrate how the foreskin appear to be
especially vulnerable to attack by the virus, which has killed millions in
sub-Saharan Africa alone. While some argue that encouraging circumcision in
populations which have no historic tradition of the procedure amounts to
mutilation, many scientists are convinced that many lives could be saved this
way." (BBC Online)
"Polio
on the loose" - "FEARS that polio vaccination might be stopped
too soon have been heightened by the discovery of suspected wild-type polio in
sewage in the French city of Strasbourg." (New Scientist)
?! "Ruckus
Society leader vindicated" - "Nov. 15, 2000 | PHILADELPHIA --
A prominent activist said he felt vindicated after prosecutors dropped charges
against him for allegedly leading hundreds of demonstrators on a night of mayhem
during the Republican National Convention." (AP)
Biotech news:
"Physicians,
biologists on EPA panel analyzing bio-corn" -
"WASHINGTON, Nov 15 - The Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday
that Stephen Roberts, a University of Florida toxicologist, would head a
15-member science advisory panel that will analyze whether StarLink bio-corn can
cause allergic reactions in people." (Reuters)
"Aventis
Urges To Compensate Farmers" - "DES MOINES, Iowa -
Sixteen state attorneys general are pressing a genetically modified corn
producer to do more to compensate farmers and grain elevators hurt when the
strain showed up in the food supply." (AP) [Suggest that should read
"Aventis urged" rather than "Urges" UPI]
"GREENPEACE
SAYS MCDONALDS TO END GMO USE IN GERMANY" - "The McDonalds
fast food chain in Germany will from April 2001 no longer permit poultry it
purchases to be fed with genetically modified feed, the German branch of
environmentalist group Greenpeace said. Greenpeace said it has received a letter
from the German McDondalds headquarters confirming this." (AgWeb.com)
"Japan
Group Reviews Corn Screening" - "TOKYO - A Japanese consumer
group met with U.S. Embassy officials Wednesday to demand better screening to
prevent shipments of a gene-altered corn from entering Japan." (AP)
"Green
group criticises UK agency over gene ruling" - "LONDON -
Environmentalists criticised Britain's Food Standards Agency (FSA) yesterday,
describing as dangerous a ruling that people were not endangered by small
amounts of gene-modified material in tortilla chips. The FSA said on Tuesday it
had researched claims by Friends of the Earth that gene-modified (GM)
ingredients were used in tortilla chips on sale at supermarkets in Britain,
where officials are still testing whether to grow GM crops." (Reuters)
"Gene
patents get tougher" - "WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office is about to announce new rules aimed at making it more
difficult for researchers and biotech firms to obtain patents on human and
non-human genes. The new rules have been eagerly awaited by the growing, $22
billion-a-year biotechnology industry, which already has developed dozens of
tests for cancer and other diseases based on gene patents." (USA Today)
"Embryo
cloning for research is "premature," warns EU ethics panel"
- "PARIS, Nov 14 - Cloning embryos for research into stem-cell transplants,
one of the most ambitious yet controversial issues in medical science, would be
"premature," a European Union (EU) ethics panel warned Tuesday. The
recommendation coincides with a national debate in Britain about whether to
authorise so-called therapeutic cloning, something viewed with horror by the
Roman Catholic church and other moral groups." (AFP)
"First
French genetic baby born" - "The first French baby selected
genetically to be exempt from an incurable disease has been born at Clamart, a
southern suburb of Paris, the daily Le Parisien reported today. Monday's birth
was the result of pre-implantatory diagnosis, or genetic analysis and selection
of embryos." (AAP)
"Lab
Accident: Line Of Skin Cells That Just Won't Die" - "From
a routine study of the life span of human skin cells, a University of
Wisconsin-Madison research project gave rise to an astonishing accident: A line
of skin cells that simply wouldn't die. The research team witnessed a rare
"spontaneous mutation" when a small cluster of cells in a petri dish
continued to actively divide. The amazed scientists continued to grow this
unique cell line over the course of a year without the cells showing any signs
of slowing down. Today, this laboratory anomaly has proven to be more than skin
deep. The effort has grown into a patented product, a full-fledged commercial
venture and a series of new medical research pursuits." (UniSci)
A few
notable items from CoP6 and the day's enhanced greenhouse hysteria, fanciful
items & general garbage list:
"Third
World refuses to make greenhouse cuts" - "Developing
countries have moved swiftly to rule out any chance that COP6, the United
Nations climate change conference in The Hague, could require them to reduce
their greenhouse gas emissions. Developing countries "categorically reject
any move by developed countries to engage in a dialogue to expand participation
of developing countries - which means new commitments in one form or
another", said the chairman of the G77 & China group, Mr Sani Zangon
Daura from Nigeria." [Business
wants retrospective green credits] (AFR)
November 15, 2000
"Why He Won't
Quit" - "... As an environmental scientist specializing in
climatology, I have studied Gore intensively for two decades. Along the way he
has trashed the careers and reputations of dozens of scientists who, by his
logic, are “evil” and obstruct his vision of a “wrenching transformation
of society.” It was only a select few of us who had personally witnessed his
malignant ego. Now it is the entire world. But it is nothing new. He told us all
about himself in his book, published nine years ago." (Pat Michaels, Cato
Institute) [Henry
Payne's comment]
"A
run that fizzled – or a promising start?" - "Does the Green
Party and its - take your pick - exalted or reviled leader Ralph Nader have a
political future in the United States? Will Greens be in a position to wield
power as the nation's third-largest party, or will they slip back into their
traditionally fractured and marginal position?" (CSM)
Didn't do near well enough Ralph - should've kicked Al's
butt.
Jury pool
irrevocably poisoned by Disney? "Jurors
Negative About Business" - "To in-house lawyers and
outside defense counsel, the 2000 NLJ-DecisionQuest Annual Juror Survey
holds some disquieting results. Many of the potential jurors polled sound like
people who have just come from a double feature of "The Insider" and
"Erin Brockovich." In other words, they're not exactly inclined to
trust corporations. To start with, 76 percent of the 1,000 potential jurors
polled agreed either strongly (43 percent) or somewhat (33 percent) with the
statement, "Executives of big companies often try to cover up the harm they
do" -- a slight decrease from the responses to the same question in 1999,
but still sizable." (Law.com)
"Greens
turn protest tables on truck drivers" - "Fuel
demonstrators in London have found themselves the subject of protests by green
campaigners. Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas and supporters are at Hyde Park
brandishing yellow umbrellas bearing the slogan "Stop climate change
now". She said: "It's the height of irresponsibility for these drivers
to demand fuel price cuts when the country is being inundated by the worst
floods in 50 years. Calling for lower fuel prices is like turkeys calling for
Christmas." (Ananova)
Uh... how much room would be left for wildlife if we went
back to the horse-and-cart era with our current population? It takes a lot of
land to provide forage for all those beasts of burden. See The
importance of high farm yields to wildlife conservation.
People wanting a living margin from their enterprise
rather than giving it all to the highest fuel-taxing regime in Europe is like
'turkeys calling for Christmas.' Okay...
"US
concerns on nuclear power's role in climate" - "THE HAGUE -
The nuclear power industry's hopes for a major new role in combating global
warming were shaken yesterday by the distribution of comments by US Vice
President Al Gore that he opposed such a move. In a letter dated November 3
Gore, who is still awaiting the result of the US presidential election that
could put him in the White House, said nuclear should not be used as a means of
cutting "greenhouse gases". (Reuters)
"Tough
talk expected at climate conference" - "THE HAGUE A crucial UN
conference opened in the Netherlands yesterday, hoping to bridge sharp
differences on how to reduce greenhouse gases that threaten to force cataclysmic
changes in the earth's climate. Under the imperative banner "Work it
out", about 10,000 government bureaucrats, scientists, environmentalists
and members of the business community from 150 countries began two weeks of
meetings, lobbying and tough negotiations over how to comply with an
international treaty to roll back emissions of heat-trapping gases to less than
they were 10 years ago." (Business Day)
10,000 bureaucrats, assorted lobbyists and mixed nuts
along with a similar number of media and hangers-on - quite a circus isn't it?
"Diplomats
warn that climate change should not be ignored" - "HE
HAGUE--Dutch Environment Minister Jan Pronk warned Monday that unless the
international community acted speedily to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate
change, there would be an unprecedented planetary crisis of soaring
temperatures, rising sea levels and vast human suffering." (Earth Times)
Soaring temperatures... Since all the climate models
indicate the high latitudes and polar regions should warm the most (little or
no warming is predicted for tropical regions because the tropical atmosphere
is at or near saturation), and since all greenhouse gases combined are 50%
higher than pre-industrial levels, it is clear that these regions should show
strong positive signs of a greenhouse-induced warming by now. Since 1957,
scientists have been recording the temperature at Amundsen-Scott base (South
Pole): cooling; the most northerly permanently occupied outpost is Alert Base
(Ellesmere Island, Canada): "Analysis of half a century of
temperature readings collected since Alert's weather station opened in the
spring of 1950 show barely any changes in recorded temperatures, said Henry
Hengeveld, the science adviser on climate change for Environment Canada, a
federal government ministry based in Ottawa. Alert, he added, appeared to be
on a climatic fault line between the western Arctic, where recorded
temperatures rose slightly in the late 20th century, and the eastern Arctic,
where they fell slightly." You can see a lot of remote region
temperature tracks here
- no warming though. According to Serreze et al, (Climatic Change
46, 159-207) northern
high-latitude temperatures are the same now as they were in the 1930s.
While the heavily-corrupted (by urban heat island effect) 'surface record'
suggests a warming trend, neither the balloon
sonde nor the satellite MSU record demonstrate such an effect on the
free atmosphere.
Rising sea levels... South
Pacific sea levels seen needing more study -
"TARAWA, Kiribati Sea levels may be rising but there is no evidence yet
to suggest this is being accelerated by global warming, the director of an
environmental monitoring project for South Pacific islands said on Saturday.
... Scherer said he was confident a report by the U.N.-sponsored
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, due for release in February, would
also show no acceleration in sea change. "It will recognise that on the
historical data, even on a global basis, there is no evidence of
accelerations," he told Reuters following the briefing, adding that as a
contributor he had seen some sections of the report." Also: Testing
the Waters: A Report on Sea Levels; The
`Isle of the Dead': Zero Point of the Sea?
Vast human suffering... that I believe - if any attempt
is made to implement Kyoto, probably the greatest collective folly in
the history of humanity.
Oh good grief! "Famous
golf links 'threatened by rising sea levels'" - "SOME of
Britain's most famous golf courses, including part of the home of golf at St
Andrews and two courses which host the Open, are at risk from rising sea levels
because of global warming, says a report for the insurance industry."
(Telegraph)
"Dispute
burns over cure for hot air" - "... In the current Science,
Smith and colleagues release an analysis challenging a new ''alternative
scenario,'' a theory that many think threatens environmentalist emphasis on
cutting atmospheric carbon dioxide. The gas, released by burning fossil fuels,
absorbs sunlight and heats the atmosphere." (USA Today)
"Republicans
say US will not ratify Kyoto"
- "Leading American Republicans came out strongly against the US's
ratification of the Kyoto Protocol as COP6, a conference on the UN climate
change treaty, got under way in the Hague. "Under no conditions do I
see this Kyoto Protocol - and I think [US Democratic presidential candidate] Mr
Al Gore would agree with this - even come close to getting 67 votes in the US
Senate," Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel said on Monday." (AFR)
"The
world's virtual greenhouse" - "The global warming issues being
negotiated this week in The Hague depend on computer simulations" (National
post)
Hmm... "The problem, say climatologists, is that
CO2 molecules are particularly good at trapping heat in the atmosphere, much
as glass in a greenhouse traps the sun's warmth." Oops - no
climatologist worthy of their parchment would say such a patently ridiculous
thing. The glass in a greenhouse does not significantly absorb infrared
radiation (IR) but works by allowing infrared to pass through while
interrupting convection (atmospheric mixing). So-called greenhouse gases (GHGs),
on the other hand, do not interrupt mixing but do absorb IR. If the glass on a
greenhouse worked as do GHGs then the 'greenhouse' would become a shade house
and actively cool the volume so shaded. The misnamed 'greenhouse
effect' does exist and slows thermal dissipation to space but categorically
does not limit atmospheric mixing.
Herein lies the problem for enhanced greenhouse
advocates. In order to precipitate warming of the globe's surface, the
atmosphere must warm and be warmer than the surface but it patently is
not warming. Some have difficulty with this concept so just imagine trying to
heat your coffee to 75°C in a convection oven that is thermostatically
controlled at 50°C - regardless of the energy expended to maintain that 50°C
in the oven, your coffee will never absorb greater energy to rise above the
ambient temperature - end of story. So it is with the planet and atmosphere -
in theory, a warmer atmosphere could cause planetary warming - but first you
need a warmer atmosphere. If the atmosphere is sufficiently sensitive that it
reacts to the recent slight change in minor greenhouse gas constituents then
the response is immeasurably small and we have not been able to detect it. If
the planet is warming - and that is a matter of some conjecture since the
observed change appears to be measurement error - then we must look to other
causal mechanisms than atmospheric warming for we have independent and
mutually validating measures that show that not to be occurring.
"Cracks
emerge in climate talks" - "Cracks emerged between the United
States and Europe Monday over how to check global warming, threatening
U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at implementing a 1997 deal to cut emissions of
greenhouse gases." (Reuters)
"Big
Business Faces Bigger Challenges At Environment Conference"
- "THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Big business faced a seemingly insurmountable
task at the outset of a critical U.N. climate conference: combining earnings and
environmental protection." (AP)
"Greenhouse:
the real costs" - "How can economic modellers get it so
wrong for so long? The Business Council of Australia and the National Farmers
Federation are in a state of high agitation over greenhouse policy because they
believe the modellers' claims that cutting emissions will be economically
crippling." (Clive Hamilton, AFR)
Ol' Clive's at it again. Ostensibly of the 'Australia
Institute' (never heard of any other members besides Clive), he's our
principal anti-Australian who wants the country returned at least to its
pre-European settlement state and the last one out to erase all trace of human
presence. He also seems to think humans should never have discovered fire, let
alone any serious energy use. He recently quit as honorary chief whacko for
the Australian Democrats (fringe party not to be confused with a mainstream
party like the Democrats in America) - apparently they weren't loopy enough.
Rumour has it that he won't play with the Australian Conservation Foundation
any more for the same reason - and they're clinging to the left extremity of a
flat Earth by their fingernails.
"Unsuspected
Urban-Induced Warming" - "The putative warming of
non-urbanized areas of the planet over the past century is believed to be less
than 1°C. Urban-induced heating in large cities, on the other hand, may
be as great as 10°C. Hence, since nearly all long-term temperature
records have been obtained from sensors located in towns and cities that have
experienced significant growth over this time period, it is extremely important
that urbanization-induced warming - which can be a full order of magnitude
greater than the background trend being sought - be removed from the original
temperature records when attempting to accurately assess the true warming (or
cooling!) of the natural non-urban environment." (co2science.org)
"U.S.,
Europe battle at climate talks" - "THE HAGUE, Netherlands,
Nov. 14 — The United States charged ahead Tuesday with a plan that would
help it meet targets for cutting greenhouse gases but deepen its rift with the
European Union over how to check global warming. The United States, backed to
some degree by business, wants to rely on emission credits that could be traded.
Europe, backed by environmentalists, would rely more on government policies, not
market mechanisms." (MSNBC)
"New video
documents climate change impacts on High Arctic" - "Mosquitoes
find their way to the Arctic Circle; The permafrost is melting; A traditional
way of life is at risk" (International Institute for Sustainable
Development)
When didn't mosquitos burgeon in the summer Arctic? Prior
to drainage schemes and chemical suppression MALARIA was endemic to the Artic
Circle. Sheeeesh!
"Arctic
thunderstorms seen as latest signal of climate change" -
"OTTAWA -- Canada's Inuit are seeing something unknown in their oral
history -- thunder and lightning. Electric storms in the High Arctic are
among the evidence of climate change being reported in a new study by the
Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development." (CP)
Don't laugh - because their instruments don't show the
modelled warming the UK's looking to birdies and butterflies, and why not?
After all, Prince Charlie asks his flowers.
"U.S.
Position Threatens to Derail Climate Change Negotiations" -
"THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, November 14, 2000 - The United States has
taken a tough stance regarding the compromises it is willing to make in this
week's international climate change negotiations in the Netherlands. The U.S.
position threatens to alienate the support of some environmental groups, which
could be crucial to the successful implementation of the agreement." (ENS)
Way to go Guys!
"Canada's
game: climate charade" - "This week at The Hague, Ottawa is
quietly trying to gut international mechanisms to halt air pollution, says
environmental lawyer CHRIS ROLFE" (GAM)
"Climate
talks 'critical' for US" - "This week's United Nations meeting
on climate change at The Hague will be crucial in determining whether the United
States meets its future targets for reducing emissions, the leader of the
country's delegation has said. David Sandolow told the BBC that the meeting was
a critical opportunity for countries to come together and make real progress in
the "environmental struggle" (BBC Online)
"The
Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age in Switzerland" - "For
some time now the climate alarmists have been claiming that temperatures during
the latter part of the 20th century were the warmest of the past thousand years.
According to the authors of this paper, however, that claim is false. Not
only do their data indicate that this is so, but those of others
do as well. Citing Keigwin (1996), for example, they note that "sea surface
temperature (SST) reconstructions show that SST was ca. 1°C cooler than today
about 400 years ago and ca. 1°C warmer than today during the MWP."
And citing Bond et al. (1997), they note that the MWP and LIA are just
the most recent manifestations of "a pervasive millennial-scale coupled
atmosphere-ocean climate oscillation" that has absolutely nothing to do
with variations in the air's CO2 content."
(co2science)
From The Guardian's pet whackos:
"Confronting
the perils of global warming in a vanishing landscape" - "...
It is now nearly a decade since the IPCC accepted that human activities were
changing the world's climate. At that time it was assumed the world had 50-100
years to prepare. But already there are telltale signs; the time frames are
changing rapidly. We are perhaps a generation away from some of the worst
predictions." (Guardian)
Again: "Welcome
to the new world" - "Floods in Yorkshire. Millions facing
drought in China. Permafrost melting in Russia. Malaria spreading across Africa.
And that's just the start. Guardian writers on how global warming is wreaking
havoc around the world." (Guardian)
"Experts
discuss world climate at UN conference" - "NETHERLANDS:
Weather experts gathered yesterday in The Hague to discuss how to stop man-made
gases affecting world climate just days after widespread flooding, blamed on
global warming, hit Europe. Underlining the passions stirred by debate on
so-called "greenhouse gases", 20 people were arrested for trying to
stage a demonstration in the grounds of the conference, police said."
(Irish Times)
"US,
EU in forestry tangle as climate talks get down to business" -
"THE HAGUE - - European Union (EU) and US negotiators were locking horns
over the role of forests in combatting global warming, one of the toughest areas
of the still-unratified Kyoto Protocol." (AFP)
"Scientists
back El Niño network in Indian Ocean"
"Better climate prediction for the nations around the Indian Ocean would
improve the lives of billions of people," says the Chief of CSIRO Marine
Research, Dr Nan Bray. Patterns in the Indian Ocean which influence the strength
of regional rainfall have an impact on two thirds of the world's population,
according to climate researchers meeting in Perth, who are calling for an
international monitoring system." (CSIRO)
"Global
Warming Spawns New Business" - "THE HAGUE, Netherlands — In
Canada, a company spews heat-trapping gas from its smokestack. In Finland, a
power company switches to a fuel that produces fewer greenhouse gases. Thus, the
stage is set for a deal — not of power, but of pollution credits. Efforts to
check global warming have created a new commodity: pollution — or the lack of
it — that is being traded on the market like sugar or equities. And it is
producing a new breed of businessman, the pollution trader." (AP)
Just one teeny-weeny little problem with this idea - CO2
isn't 'pollution' but a highly advantageous, actually essential, trace gas
that supports the entire biosphere. A 'pollutant' increase that provides more
than 10% of human food needs and simultaneously preserves forests, wildlands
and wildlife habitat isn't such a bad thing really.
"The
Neglected Issue of the Global Change Debate: Food Security" -
"In the October 2000 issue of Plant Physiology, Norman Borlaug -
father of the Green Revolution and 1970 Nobel Prize Laureate for Peace - has an
important Editor's Choice article entitled "Ending World Hunger: The
Promise of Biotechnology and the Threat of Antiscience Zealotry." In
it, he describes the very real problem of potential food shortages that could be
faced by the world in the not too distant future." (co2science.org)
"Biotechnology
Could Solve Africa`s Food Problems" - "The Deputy
Under-secretary in the US Department of Agriculture, James Schroeder, has said
that Washington would support African scientists to use biotechnology to achieve
food security and reduce poverty." (PANA)
"Sri
Lanka calls for ban on pork insulin"
- "Colombo - Sri Lanka's health authorities have been asked by a senior
muslim minister to ban the import of pork insulin that is administered to
diabetic patients, officials said on Tuesday." (Sapa-AFP)
Hmm... don't get these problems with biotech product.
"Patenting
genes can be the best way to help us all" - "Patenting
"life", or at least gene sequences, has been widely criticised and
equally widely misunderstood. Some say it is morally repugnant, others argue
that it allows only the rich to benefit from the fruits of nature. A more
realistic criticism is that patenting can be too broadly applied, stifling
innovation by discouraging others from working in an area already tied up in
patents. The decision of Rosgen – the British licensee of two important breast
cancer tests – not to charge royalties to the National Health Service provides
an example of how such fears can be abated." (Independent)
"American
GM corn continues to flood into the nation" -
"Two-thirds of samples of imported U.S.-grown corn used as animal feed
tested positive to a genetically modified species (GM) known as "Starlink"
which is not authorized in the nation, the farm ministry announced on
Monday." (Mainichi Daily News)
"EPA:
Biotech corn poses low risk" - "WASHINGTON - The chance of
consumers eating an unapproved variety of biotech corn is "extremely
low," but unresolved questions remain about the possibility that it might
cause allergic reactions, the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday."
(AP)
"Court
clears Greenpeace activists" - "Athens - A court in eastern
Greece found 13 Greenpeace activists innocent on Monday of charges of forcing
their way into and occupying a factory which the environmental group accused of
importing genetically-modified soya." (Sapa-AFP)
"Why
GM food theatrics don't fool the crowd" - "They were all there
Friday night in Vancouver, a Who's Who of the big-is-bad bunch, offering up
warnings about the perils of genetically engineered foods in a so-called
teach-in, a sidelight to a biotech conference that's on this week. The same
tactics have been tried before, at home and abroad, but as the public discussion
matures to consider risks and benefits, these social actors are becoming
irrelevant, increasingly focused on theatrics rather than meaningful
input." (National post)
"Stormy
weather for northern spotted owl" - "... And now comes word
from the Pacific Northwest that, even if enough prime forest habitat is saved
for the threatened northern spotted owl, extreme weather conditions could lead
to a catastrophic population crash." (ENN)
Oh well - might as well get on with the logging then eh?
If they're threatened by everything from weather to hiccoughs they're cactus
anyway, so we might as well stop waiting for the inevitable and get on with
getting the timber out.
"Of
Soot, Birds, and the Law" - "Federal and state laws to clean
up the nation's air and water have been on the books for decades, and they've
been remarkably effective. But do these federal laws rest on constitutionally
shaky grounds?" (CSM editorial)
The Christian Science Monitor suggests that EPA should be
trusted since science runs in front of Congress and legislation - which would
possibly be acceptable if EPA used science or even listened to its own
scientific advisory committees. Since it patently does neither and is an
agency run amok it should be reined in or dismantled - there is no place in a
democracy for Ozone Al's dictatorial misanthropy brigade.
"Gas
prices act as brake on family budgets" - "Lean fuel supplies
have kept prices high, so consumers must cut back elsewhere." (CSM)
"Floods
bring cheap power to Scandinavians" - "OSLO - As Britain
attempts to recover from its worst flooding more than 50 years, many
Scandinavians have seen a direct benefit from the deluge which has swept across
northwest Europe in their cut-price electricity bills." (Reuters)
"Electricity
'does not cause child cancer'" - "UK researchers say
electrical power supplies are not linked to childhood cancer. The UK Childhood
Cancer Survey has looked at the effect of living close to all kinds of
electrical supply equipment, not just overhead power lines. It found no
association between living close to underground cables, electrical substations
and high-voltage lines and the development of cancers such as leukaemia. The
study reinforces research published by the group a year ago which provided
evidence that electromagnetic fields are not a cancer risk." (BBC Online)
"FEATURE
- Agent Orange seen a threat to US-Vietnam harmony" - "HO CHI
MINH CITY - Bill Clinton becomes the first US president to visit Vietnam since
the height of the Vietnam War this week and many hope he can help lay to rest
the legacy of a conflict that poisoned relations for decades. But if there is an
issue that could threaten the harmony, it is the question of Agent Orange, a
defoliant used by US forces and blamed by Hanoi for causing huge numbers of
birth defects and illnesses." (Reuters)
"AMA
business venture questioned" - "CHICAGO (November 13, 2000
5:47 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - An American Medical Association
business deal that sets up an online physician database for marketers is being
criticized as a way for pharmaceutical companies to target specific doctors for
advertising pitches. The AMA's joint venture with Acxiom Corp. of Little Rock,
Ark., was announced earlier this fall. A new Web-based business, HealthCarePro
Connect, combines Acxiom's software expertise in customer profiling and the
AMA's master list of 650,000-some physicians." (AP)
"Research
suggests tea might be good for the heart" - "NEW ORLEANS,
Louisiana -- A nice cup of tea might just be good for the heart, a study
sponsored by the tea industry suggests." (AP)
Hmm... "In
last days, Clinton begins environmental offensive" - "With the
clock ticking down on his presidency, Bill Clinton ordered that nearly one-third
of America's national forests be made off limits to logging, mining, and
road-building." (CSM)
Uh-huh... "Environmental
Defense Spins Off Private Firm" — Environmental Defense, a leading US non-profit
advocacy organization, today announced its spin-off of LocusPocus (www.locuspocus.com),
a for-profit internet services company. LocusPocus will help membership-based
organizations recruit, engage, and retain members, and will enable them to
leverage the power of their constituencies for online advocacy." (ED)
Today's shonky chefs item: "EcoFish
Launches Restaurant Direct Program as Nation's Top Chefs Join EcoFish in Support
of Sustainable Seafood" — Today EcoFish launched its Restaurant Direct Program, as eight of
the nation's top chefs who are leading proponents of sustainable food practices,
have joined EcoFish's Chefs Advisory Board. Now fine chefs from around the
country can have premium quality sustainably harvested seafood delivered direct
to their restaurant's door within 24 hours!" (EcoFish)
Swordfish revisited? Reprise
"Canada's
PCB Export Ban Could Cost Taxpayer Dear" - "OTTAWA, Ontario,
Canada, November 14, 2000 - A Canadian government ban on exports of
polychlorinated biphenyl waste breached international investment rules and could
cost the country US$20 million, according to a tribunal's decision this
week." (ENS)
B.S. bans come at a price? You don't say...
"High
cholesterol hinders the effectiveness of aspirin" - "A daily
dose of aspirin reduces the risk of a heart attack in 75 percent of people with
heart disease, but in about 25 percent of patients using it, aspirin offers no
protection. Researchers at the University of Maryland Medical Center in
Baltimore now think they know why some of the people who take aspirin are not
protected. Their study, presented at the 73rd Scientific Sessions of the
American Heart Association in New Orleans on November 14, shows that in those
patients, high cholesterol is hindering the effectiveness of the aspirin."
(UMMC)
"Study
links heavy meals, heart attacks" - "NEW ORLEANS - Looking
forward to a huge Thanksgiving dinner? Maybe you should think about some dietary
downsizing. A study released Tuesday suggests that an unusually heavy meal
increases the risk of a heart attack." (AP)
"Women
more vulnerable to effects of cigarette smoke than men" -
"Women seem to be more vulnerable to the damaging effects of cigarette
smoke than men, shows new research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community
Health. Over 65,000 people aged 20 and over were surveyed about their
respiratory health between 1995 and 1997. The survey was part of a larger health
study in the Nord-Trøndelag area of Norway." (BMJ)
"Mispackaging
Science" - "Not long ago, we
told you about Jeffrey Armour Nelson, of the Armour meatpackers, who now
makes his living bashing meat and promoting vegetarianism. At that time, Nelson
was attempting to incite fear by erroneously
linking meat and dairy consumption to an increased risk of developing
Alzheimer's disease. Now Armour is trying to tell us that the organic
pesticide Rotenone, which has been linked to Parkinson's disease, is NOT
used in organic farming. However, according to published reports, Rotenone
is used in "680 compounds marketed as organic garden pesticides."
Once again, Armour is using misinformation to promote his organic, anti-meat
agenda." (GuestChoice.com)
"Filtered
coffee may increase heart disease risk" - "NEW YORK: People
who enjoy several cups of filtered coffee each day may be putting themselves at
increased risk of heart disease, preliminary study findings suggest. Daily
consumption of a liter of paper-filtered coffee was associated with a roughly
20% increase in homocysteine levels after 2 weeks, according to the report
published in the November issue of the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition." (Times of India)
"France
bans animal-based feed, T-bone steaks" - "PARIS - France
announced Tuesday that it was suspending animal-based feed for all livestock and
banning T-bone steaks as part of a series of measures to reduce the spread of
mad-cow disease. Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said the temporary ban on the use
of animal-based feeds for all livestock - including fish, chicken and pork -
would take effect Wednesday." (AP)
"Panic
over BSE spreads to Italy" - "NORMALLY impervious to the fear
sweeping Europe over “mad cow” disease, Italy was gripped by sudden panic
yesterday as the Government ordered “immediate tests” on all beef cattle
more than two years old." (/the Times)
November 14, 2000
"Hand
counts will only deepen crisis" - "THE BRAZENNESS of the Gore
people is a wonder to behold. Before the election they were spending millions of
dollars to confuse Florida's voters. Bush wants to gut Social Security! Gore
will cover your prescription drugs! Now they are demanding that tens of
thousands of ballots in four heavily Democratic counties be recounted by hand
and examined one at a time because some Florida voters may have been -
confused." (Welcome back Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe)
"She
held up the ballot and she saw the light" - "One vote counts
and it belongs to Theresa LePore, a Democrat" (Mark Steyn, National Post)
"Bush
wins - now what?" - "The clock is ticking for the
president-elect. With a pending 327 vote margin of victory in Florida, and
likely support from overseas absentee ballots, probable President-elect George
W. Bush is losing valuable time each day the outcome is in limbo. ... The longer
the Democrats stimulate and prolong the controversy of the Florida vote, the
greater the difficulties they impose on Mr. Bush to implement the policy
proposals on which he ran. And that may be the point." (Michael Warder,
Washington Times)
"The
liberal elite's plan for a second civil war" - "... Well, now
we know. Mr Gore is the sort of person who is prepared to set fire to the
stadium because he has lost the game." (Janet Daley, Telegraph)
"Mountain-front
reservoirs control cycles of Great Salt Lake" - "Reno, Nev. --
Major cycles in the size and depth of Utah's Great Salt Lake are known from as
far back as the 19th century, but now a Penn State researcher suggests an
explanation for the seemingly odd behavior of the lake. "In the 1980s, the
Great Salt Lake was very high," said Dr. Christopher J. Duffy, associate
professor of civil and environmental engineering. "Twenty years earlier, in
the 1960s, the lake was so low that there was talk of it drying up." (Penn
State)
"Eco-park
evacuated after blade scare" - "A LEADING Northern Ireland
tourist facility had to be evacuated over fears that a massive blade could
plunge to the ground from a wind turbine, it emerged today. Staff at the £10m
Ecos Millennium Park in Ballymena shut down the centre because the turbine,
built to be powered by wind, became unstable on a windy day." (Belfast
Telegraph)
"OPEC
freezes oil output, sees prices easing" - "OPEC today ratified
an agreement on unchanged supply that will provide cold comfort for consumers
fretting over high fuel bills this winter." (Reuters)
"Sellafield
link to births dismissed"
- "CLAIMS that there was a link between radioactive fall-out from a fire at
the Sellafield nuclear installation and the birth of Down's Syndrome children in
the Republic of Ireland were dismissed by a report published yesterday."
(Telegraph)
"DOE
Squandered Billions on Useless Nuclear Waste Technologies" -
"WASHINGTON, DC, November 13, 2000 - The U.S. Department of Energy has
"squandered hundreds of millions of dollars" since the end of the Cold
War trying to develop innovative technologies for cleaning up the nation's
contaminated nuclear weapons sites, concludes a Congressional report unveiled
last week." (ENS)
"New
hope for heart failure patients" - "HOUSTON, Texas -- A
genetically engineered protein called Enbrel, approved last year for the
treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, is continuing to show promise against another
threat -- congestive heart failure." (CNN)
"Biotechnology’s
Greatest Challenge" - "Can the great potentials of
biotechnology be directed towards ensuring food security and economic
development in the developing world?" (Forum for Applied Research and
Public Policy)
"Study
Finds Biotech Plant Kills Bollworms, Spares Other Pests, Yields Better Health,
And Economic Benefits" - "The second trial of biotech giant
Monsanto's Bt cotton has confirmed the first study's results that the crop was
effective in killing bollworms but ineffective in fighting other pests. The
cotton's ability to kill bollworms also reduced the need for pesticides, leading
to higher counts of natural predators in Bt cotton than the normally grown Sri
Samrong 60 variety." (Bangkok Post)
"Biotech
in Brief" (TKC)
"EPA
Not Convinced on StarLink Bio-Corn Safety" - "WASHINGTON - New
scientific data submitted by the maker of StarLink corn does not dispel
government scientists' concerns that the gene-altered crop may cause allergic
reactions in humans, the Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday."
(Reuters)
"EPA
Outlines Bio-Corn Science Questions That Need Answers" -
"WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday laid out a
half-dozen questions that a science advisory panel will analyze in determining
if StarLink bio-corn can cause allergic reactions in some people."
(Reuters)
"Heirloom
gardeners outline GE risk to seeds" - "A group of pipe-playing
gardeners bearing flax baskets has urged the Royal Commission on Genetic
Modification to ban gene experiments before it is too late." (NZ Herald)
"What’s the
biggest threat to economic growth?" - "It’s not higher
oil prices, or turmoil in the Middle East, or monetary problems with Europe’s
new currency, the Euro, or even the divisions arising from the recent election.
The biggest cause for concern is politicians and regulators clinging to 19th and
early 20th Century models of how the economy ought to work and how it needs to
be regulated." (James K Glassman, Reason Online)
"Judge
rules on breast-implant settlement" - "DETROIT - A federal
judge on Monday ruled that women opposed to a $3.2 billion settlement over
silicone breast implants may not sue Dow Corning Corp.'s corporate
parents." (AP)
"Advisory:
U-M statement regarding book 'Darkness in El Dorado'" -
"Following is a statement from University of Michigan Provost Nancy Cantor
on the book, "Darkness in El Dorado," by Patrick Tierney, published by
W.W. Norton & Co. The supporting research was conducted by the offices of
the Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, Vice President for Research,
and General Counsel, and by the Medical School and Department of
Anthropology." (U-M)
"Attacking
the nation's No. 1 killer: statin and niacin treatment reduces risk of heart
attack by 70 percent, can reverse arterial buildup" - "NEW
ORLEANS (Nov. 13) -- Treatment with a combination of statin and niacin can slash
the risk of hospitalization for chest pain or a heart attack by 70 percent among
patients who are likely to suffer heart attacks and/or death from cardiovascular
problems, according to a study presented here by researchers at the University
of Washington School of Medicine." (UW)
"Moderate
Drinking Gives Only 'Slight' Heart Help" - "NEW ORLEANS -
Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol, previously reported to help people's
hearts, only slightly reduces the odds of having a deadly heart attack, Finnish
researchers reported on Monday. More noteworthy heart benefits occurred when
people had three to seven drinks per day, but doctors advise against that
because heavy drinking is associated with a host of problems, from liver damage
to impaired fertility." (Reuters)
"Smoking
mothers' kids prone to maladjustment" - "HEIDELBERG, Germany:
Children of women who smoke regularly tend to be more difficult to manage and
often resort to violence in adulthood, according to NEG studies released by the
German National Cancer Centre in Heidelberg." (Times of India)
"Tackling
teen smoking" - "Attleboro has started ticketing underage
smokers. And despite the grumbling from local teens, it's a policy that could
save lives. Attleboro is one of three Massachusetts communities to take this
step. Kids caught smoking, or in possession of tobacco products, will be
ticketed and fined - $25 for the first offense, $50 for the second and $100 for
a third." (Boston Herald editorial)
but: "Relationship
between smoking, alcohol and coffee consumption and Parkinson’s disease may
identify new risk factor" - "A new Mayo Clinic study shows
that the same underlying factors that cause people to seek out the behaviors of
coffee or alcohol consumption or smoking may also make them less likely to
develop Parkinson’s disease." (Mayo Clinic)
"Study
ties coffee use with lowered Parkinson's risk" - "ST. PAUL, MN
- Drinking coffee may reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease, according to a
study published in the November 14 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of
the American Academy of Neurology." (AAN)
Hmm... "Research
sheds light on heart valve disease caused by fen-phen" -
"Philadelphia, Pa. — The diet drug combination fenfluramine-phentermine,
better known as fen-phen, was removed from the marketplace in 1997 because it
was associated with acquired heart valve abnormalities. Now a research team led
by a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia physician has uncovered some of the
cellular events, apparently triggered by the neurotransmitter serotonin, that
may help explain the disease mechanisms that are involved." (CHP)
"Fat
as a target of antidiabetic drugs" - "Obesity is well known as
a risk factor for diabetes mellitus, but curiously, the complete absence of
adipose tissue is not protective, but actually causes diabetes. In humans with
lipoatrophy, as well as in mouse models of this condition, blood glucose is
abnormally high and physiological responses to insulin are blunted." (JCI)
"Heart
Association Recommends Eating More Soy" - "NEW ORLEANS - It's
official -- the American Heart Association wants you to eat soy. The giant
non-profit, which has for years preached the gospel of healthy diet and
exercise, says the scientific studies have shown that eating soy can lower
cholesterol and the risk of heart disease." (Reuters)
"High
blood pressure gene also linked to obesity" - "NEW ORLEANS,
Nov. 13 – A natural gene variation that is already linked to high blood
pressure may also predispose those who inherit it to obesity, according to a
study reported today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions
2000." (AHA)
"Obese
Kids at Higher Risk of Insulin Syndrome" - "NEW ORLEANS -
Obese children are 53 times more likely to have insulin resistance, a syndrome
that often precedes development of so-called "adult-onset" Type II
diabetes, according to a study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill." (Reuters)
"Molecular
clue to Alzheimer's mystery found" - "In cell biology studies,
researchers report "strong evidence" that a molecule called ubiquilin
controls levels of certain proteins that are central to the early development of
Alzheimer's disease." (UMBI)
"France
to announce mad cow measures" - "French Prime Minister Lionel
Jospin will announce a series of food safety measures on Tuesday in an effort to
ease public anxiety over the spread of mad cow disease, a spokesman said
today." (Reuters) [Telegraph]
"France
to Study Blood-Mad Cow Connection" - "PARIS - France has asked
scientists to study the possibility that mad cow disease can be transmitted by
blood transfusions or by red meat, the food safety agency Afssa said on
Monday." (Reuters)
"Mercury
in Lake Linked to Climate Change" - "USGS scientist N. Terence
Edgar will present evidence from a sediment core taken from Lake Tulane,
Florida, by the University of Maine, Orono, that shows a natural variation in
mercury levels that appears to correlate with changes in global climate. Mercury
accumulation appears to correspond to temperature proxies from cores drilled in
ice sheets in Greenland and Canada. It also appears to correspond to periods of
dryness around Lake Tulane as indicated by variations in oak and pine pollen
incorporated in the lake sediment thousands of years ago. A possible source of
the mercury is dust blown across the Atlantic from North Africa. If so, then the
dust may also be the source of mercury in the Everglades." (USGS)
"Helping
to Make Minnesota Mercury-Free: Hundreds of Mercury Thermometers Collected in
North Minneapolis"
— The "Mercury Thermometers and Family Health in Minnesota" project
got off to a phenomenal start today with more than 800 thermometers collected
even before the thermometer exchange officially began." (Health Care
Without Shame)
Alright, I've put it off as long as I can - here's the
CoP6-generated crapola, scare pieces, hand-wringing and the odd rational piece
thrown in for a novelty - enjoy.
"Pivotal
world conference on climate change gets under way" - "THE
HAGUE, Netherlands -- How much should forests count when it comes to helping the
Earth keep its cool? Should a country be able to make up for its greenhouse gas
emissions by paying to clean up pollution overseas? Delegates from about 180
countries will meet this week in The Hague to try and answer the many big
questions raised by the Kyoto Protocol negotiated in Japan in 1997. Right now,
it's the only worldwide strategy for dealing with global warming." (CNN) [ENN]
What
global warming?
Hmm... "Introducing
Science Into Discourse On Climate Change" - "To date, the
debate over climate change has generated much more heat than light. But science
may enter the discourse as a result of the international meeting that opens
today in The Hague. Experts in global climate change research will participate
in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the
Parties (COP-6) in The Hague, Netherlands, today through Nov. 24. Playing a
unique role, the scientists are part of a formal nongovernmental organization
(NGO) accredited to the negotiations process to provide objective science input
and to act as "honest brokers" in addressing scientific questions that
may arise within national delegations, media groups and other participating
organizations." (UniSci)
Who are these 'honest brokers'? They're certainly pretty
coy about their identities and position when it comes to perusing the linked
web sites. About the only thing revealed is that they are dubious about carbon
sinks and believe substantial emission cuts would be required. That doesn't
sound like 'honest broking' to me - it sounds like believers, advocates and
pro-Kyoto lobbyists trying to dress themselves up as 'neutral umpires.'
'Honest brokers' would surely highlight the discrepancy between atmospheric
temperature (not reacting to altered CO2 levels) and apparent
surface temperature (purportedly reacting violently) - along with the reasons
for believing the surface record seriously compromised - didn't see anything
of that. Didn't see anything about the dearth of evidential support for the
enhanced greenhouse hypothesis either. Hmm... again.
Pick of the current
scare-piece crop: "Crunch
meeting on global warming" - "... The problem they are
tackling is stark: cars, factories and power plants are pumping so much
heat-trapping gas into the air that it's changing the world's climate, causing
severe storms and droughts. New weather patterns threaten to wipe out animal
species, submerge coastal areas and low islands, and dramatically change
people's way of life." (Irish Independent)
Note the closing quote from Jennifer Morgan (WWF) about The
Protocol having to be in place by 2002. No it doesn't - ratified in 1997 or
2007 makes no difference, "emission limits" kick in between 2008-2012.
The real reason anti-energy freaks are in a panic to get the deal stitched up
now is that 2001 sees a recalculation of the 30-year global mean - the benchmark
against which trends are measured. It is this mean that appears as the zero line
on anomaly charts, currently it is the global mean 1961-1990. As of 2001we'll be
using the mean temperature from 1971-2000, which includes the anomalous 1997/98
El Niño event and will be a warmer reference point against which to measure
trends. How much warmer depends on the record used for calculation - use a
well-maintained record such as the
continental US and there will be little change, however, use of the
heavily-corrupted global met
composite would see the benchmark rise by more than +0.2°C. Given that the
current global mean temperature is just below the 1961-1990 mean, use of a
warmer benchmark will show the world as cooling (at least statistically) - most
embarrassing if you are trying to claim catastrophic global warming. And THAT is
what makes COP6 "the last chance," for warming advocates anyway.
"Warming
world faces crunch time" - "... Michael Meacher, the British
Environment Minister, warns that rich countries may have to cut pollution by
about three-quarters - about 15 times greater than the world is planning.
"The Kyoto protocol is only the first, rather modest, step," he said
at the weekend. "Much, much deeper cuts in emissions will be needed in
future. The political implications are mind-blowing." (The Age)
"Conflict
on the Agenda at Global Climate Meeting" - "THE HAGUE,
Netherlands — Participants in a United Nations conference on global warming
opening today are vowing to "work it out" in the face of conflicts,
controversy and a 3-year-old unratified treaty." (Fox News)
"Climate
summit strives to turn treaty into action" - "Diplomats from
more than 150 countries meet in The Hague, Netherlands, today for talks that
will play a major role in determining whether the world slows global warming
this decade -- and what the effort might cost U.S. consumers in the form of
higher gas, heating oil and electricity prices." (USA Today)
"Britain
seeks U.S. commitment on gas emissions" - "Britain urged the
United States today to commit itself to cutting greenhouse gas emissions at an
international meeting on climate change. Environment Secretary Michael Meacher,
speaking before the start of talks in The Hague today to hammer out policies to
curb global warming, said the world's economic superpower must set an
example." (Reuters)
So it must - tell 'em all to stop being so foolish and go
home.
"Europe
may seek emissions cuts without American cooperation" -
"WASHINGTON -- As officials from around the world gather today to figure
out how to fight global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a somewhat
reluctant and definitely conflicted United States could end up left out."
(Miami Herald)
"Climate
convention seeks wide backing" - "The Hague conference is a
make-or-break opportunity for climate change treaties,'' said Michael Zammit
Cutajar, the convention's executive secretary." (BBC Online)
The Beeb's better at this than they know - check the
graphic in this piece showing that 'polluting' ... water vapour rising from
cooling towers. Well, they're right - water vapour accounts for nine-tenths of
the so-called greenhouse effect. Should we install atmosphere driers to cool
the planet?
"Changes to
climate are not being ignored" - "INTERNATIONAL climate change
negotiations are resuming in The Hague today, and most environment ministers
from around the globe will be present to continue to press for effective action.
I, with my EU colleagues, will press for an environmentally sound outcome so we
can ratify the Kyoto Protocol as soon as possible, and certainly before 2002,
the 10th anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit when the first climate agreement
was reached." (Noel Dempsey, Irish Minister for the Environment and Local
Government) [Statement
by Environment Minister David Anderson in support of Canada's participation at
the Sixth Conference of the Parties (CoP 6) in The Hague, November 13-24, 2000]
"Pressure
to Ratify Kyoto Protocol Mounts" - "... It has been signed by
representatives of more than 100 countries, including the United States, but
cannot take effect until a substantial number of the industrial nations ratify
it. So far, none have done so. Most important would be the approval of the
United States, far and away the world's largest producer of heat-trapping gases,
and without whose participation, specialists say, the effort is bound to falter.
... In a Cato Institute book, "The
Satanic Gases: Clearing the Air About Global Warming," Patrick J.
Michaels and Robert C. Balling Jr. explain why global warming is vastly
overrated as an environmental threat. ... The first
and fifth chapters of
the book can be read online. In "Kyoto's
Chilling Effects," Michaels writes that the protocol has poor chances
of being ratified by the United States as "both Democrats and Republicans
can agree that Kyoto will wreck our economy, according to just about every
credible study that uses realistic policy assumptions." Director of Natural
Resource Studies Jerry Taylor agrees in "Hot
Air in Kyoto," stating that "impoverishing society today to avoid
a very uncertain problem tomorrow would harm, not help, future
generations." (Cato Institute)
Oh dear: "World's
Response to Climate Change Depends on Hague Summit" - "THE
HAGUE, The Netherlands, November 13, 2000 - "The evidence is mounting. The
greenhouse gases we produce are having a visible impact on the
environment." (ENS)
"The Hague Conference"
- "Another exotic city, another talkfest, the usual shrill cries that
"it's much worse than we previously thought". The Greenhouse hyperbole
has gone into overdrive in the last 3 months with not a shred of new physical
evidence to underpin any of it. But will the Kyoto Protocol make any difference
to climate if implemented in full? According to Greame Pearman, Australia's
senior climate scientist and head of it's climate research effort, not much. On
ABC `7.30 Report' last night (13th) he concluded - DR GRAEME PEARMAN: The
reality of the protocol as it is at the moment, is even if all of the nations
were able to achieve those targets, it would hardly make any difference."
(Still Waiting For Greenhouse) [7:30
Report transcript]
"Green
taxes urged at all costs" - "The Federal Government has
been urged to implement more reforms to the taxation system designed to protect
the environment, including measures that would increase the cost of fuel."
(AFR)
"U.S.
Accused at Climate Meeting" - "THE HAGUE, Netherlands —
Environmental groups accused the United States on Monday of seeking loopholes to
avoid cutting pollution, as a U.N. conference opened to set rules for reducing
harmful gases released into the atmosphere." (AP)
"Climate
talks told of 'mounting evidence'" - "The Americans in this
area are very much the villains of the piece. They've not gone along with Kyoto
and yet they are unquestionably the largest polluter with 4% of the world's
population and 25% of greenhouse gas emissions." (BBC Online)
"U.S.,
Europe clash over pollution rules" - "BRUSSELS, Belgium - A
bitter clash between the United States and Europe threatens to block agreement
on how to comply with an international treaty on global warming when
representatives from more than 150 countries gather today in The Hague."
(Washington Post)
"EU's
Targets May Not Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions" -
"Carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation by Member States of
the European Union could rise if a Directive on the promotion of renewable
energy technologies is adopted in its present form. That's the conclusion of a
report published today by the British Royal Society and the Royal Academy of
Engineering." (UniSci)
"OCTOBER
TEMPERATURES ABOVE NORMAL IN MUCH OF U.S., NOAA REPORTS" -
"The average October temperature, based on preliminary reports, was 55.8 F,
which is 1.0 F warmer than the 106-year average, making it the 25th warmest
October since records began in 1895. Temperatures were near normal for the
Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest, and West while the rest of the
country experienced above normal temperatures." (NOAA)
The 25th warmest eh? Imagine that... Is there any truth
in the rumour that fully half of the record is at or above/below the
average?
"Climate
Experts Seek to Check Global Warming" - "THE HAGUE - Cracks
emerged between the United States and Europe on Monday over how to check global
warming, threatening U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at implementing a 1997 deal to
cut emissions of greenhouse gases." (Reuters)
"Climate
change 'worse' for poor nations" - "Poor countries which bear
least responsibility for global warming may end up suffering most from the
problem, a new study says. The study, published to coincide with an
international climate change meeting, which opened on Monday in the Netherlands,
says temperatures will rise more in some countries than others." (BBC
Online)
Almost right - Kyoto worse for poor nations.
"Islands
Face Ruin Unless Global Warming Addressed" - "THE HAGUE - The
world's small islands, predicting a grim future of rising seas, hurricanes and
typhoons, called on industrialized nations on Monday to accept their moral duty
to cut emissions of greenhouse gases." (Reuters)
"Emissions
credits: Case for trees isn't clear-cut" - "The global
solution to combat climate change is far from being clear-cut. As 180 nations
gather to finalize a global climate change treaty in The Hague, Netherlands, in
the next two weeks, a controversial question will accompany them: Should forests
be used — and credited — for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by absorbing
carbon dioxide?" (ENN)
"Scientists
count carbon in global-warming fight; state trees may hold keys to pollution
credits" (Seattle Times)
"Gas Flaring
May Cause Health Problems In Niger Delta - Minister" - "...
The address which was made available to THISDAY, noted that gas flaring which is
associated with climatic change and related warming, deforestation and acid rain
with attendant impact on agriculture and other physical infrastructure, heat and
noxious gases may contribute to environmental health problems in the Niger Delta
region." (THISDAY)
?!! "The
Hague Talks to Tackle El Nino Weather Phenomenon" - "Ministers
and diplomats from 160 countries are beginning Monday in the Dutch city of the
Hague a meeting whose objective is to expedite global action on greenhouse gas
emissions and to be better prepared for the effects of the El Nino weather
phenomenon." (PANA)
"As
the climate warms, rivers and lakes may flood even in wintertime" -
"Finnish scientists, government officials, and power companies are
preparing for global climate warming." (Helsingin Sanomat)
"New WRI
Study Reveals Potential Benefits of Climate Protection Policies for U.S.
Farmers" - "WASHINGTON--Nov. 13, 2000--A new report released
today at the start of global negotiations on the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) finds that implementing policies to
address climate change will benefit U.S. farmers." (BUSINESS WIRE)
WRI says Kyoto is really cool - imagine that...
For a little perspective: "10
die of hypothermia in Moscow" - "MOSCOW - Ten people died of
hypothermia in the Russian capital last week, bringing the number of people who
have frozen to death this fall to 21, an emergency services official said
Monday." (AP)
November 13, 2000
"Gore,
Hungry for Power" - "So the Clinton-Gore era culminates with
an election as stained as the blue dress, a Democratic chorus complaining that
the Constitution should not be the controlling legal authority, and Clinton's
understudy dispatching lawyers to litigate this: "It depends on what the
meaning of 'vote' is." (George F Will, Washington Post)
"Al
Gore: Constitution is a technicality" - "Perhaps by the time
this appears, cooler heads will have prevailed. But Al Gore appears determined
to press the Florida vote situation to the wall. What a sad contrast to the
events Richard Nixon described in his memoirs after the 1960 election:"
(Thomas J Bray) [Henry
Payne comment] [Nolan
Finley] (Detroit News)
"The
law will prevail - and Mr Bush will go to Washington" -
"IN the end, George W Bush will prevail. He will prevail not because of any
outbreak of statesmanship on the part of Vice-President Al Gore or the
Democratic Party - on the contrary, it is alarming how few Democrats have been
willing to say for the record that the Florida result should be respected even
if it goes against them - but because of the solidity of the American legal and
constitutional system." (David Frum, this time appearing in The Daily
Telegraph)
"Can
Black Gold Ever Flow Green?"- "As ridged as crocodile skin,
the marshy coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge stretches 110
miles from the Canning River in the west to Alaska's border with Canada in the
east. ... The fate of this hushed span of tundra, like many other matters, may
hang on the outcome of the presidential election. If Gov. George W. Bush of
Texas is the new president, this plain and the oil deposits it covers may become
an unlikely proving ground for the kind of company BP Amoco is and what it
aspires to be: an oil company that is also a protector of the environment."
(NY Times hand-wringing over the ANWR)
"Precocious
Heart Attack and Coronary Disease Associated With Discovery of Novel Family of
Gene Mutation" - "CLEVELAND, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- A novel
family of gene mutations in thrombospondin, a protein that plays a role in blood
vessel structure and function, indicates a significant association with
precocious heart attack and coronary disease, according to a study to be
presented at the American Heart Association by researchers from the Cleveland
Clinic." (Cleveland Clinic Foundation)
Back on the trans fat trail: "Trans
fats losers in fat fight" - "NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 12 – A new
study sheds light on whether a dietary fat called trans fat, found in many baked
goods and fried foods, increases a person’s risk of heart disease, according
to researchers who presented their results at the American Heart Association’s
Scientific Sessions 2000." (AHA)
"Cancer
cases predicted to double in next decade" - "A specialist
predicts the number of less serious skin cancer cases will double within the
next ten years. The Cancer Society has released figures which show 67,000 cases
of non melanoma skin cancers were reported last year. Dermatologist Dr Marius
Rademaker says most skin cancers occur from exposure in early childhood and it
takes another 40 years for the damage to show up. He says it is going to be
around ten years before the real benefits of better sun protection start
occuring." (NZ Herald)
"New
research finds link between gum disease, acute heart attacks" -
"CHAPEL HILL -- Heart attack survivors who suffer advanced gum disease show
significantly higher levels of a protein in their blood called C-reactive
protein (CRP) than such patients without gum disease, new University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill research indicates." (UNC-CH)
"¡Ciao!
down: Mediterranean diet after a heart attack adds years to life" -
"NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 12 – For individuals who have already had a heart
attack, a “Mediterranean” style diet – rich in olive oil, fruit,
vegetables and fish – might be one of the best prescriptions for a longer
life, researchers report today at the American Heart Association’s Scientific
Sessions 2000." (AHA)
"Obscure
Gene Family Linked to Early Heart Disease" - "NEW ORLEANS -
Researchers on Sunday said they had identified mutations in three related genes
that significantly increase the odds of a person getting heart attacks and
developing diseased coronary arteries before age 50." (Reuters)
"Cell
treatment could help doctors make old hearts young again" -
"NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana -- People suffering heart problems associated with
old age and heart attacks may soon get relief with a new cell therapy that may
rejuvenate damaged hearts. Several new reports on the treatment were presented
Sunday at the annual scientific meeting of the American Heart Association."
(CNN) [AHA
release 1] [AHA
release 2] [BBC
Online]
"Doctor:
U.S. Restores Heart Gene Therapy Trials" - "NEW ORLEANS - Gene
therapy trials suspended in a government crackdown after a teen-age patient died
have been allowed to start again and will be up and running next week, the
researcher in charge said on Sunday. Dr. Jeffrey Isner of Tufts University and
St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Boston, who had been conducting three separate gene
therapy trials aimed at helping patients grow new blood vessels to alleviate
diseases of the heart and artery, said he hoped to re-start them this
week." (Reuters)
"Testicle
tissue could halt stroke damage" - "Transplanting cells from
the testicles into the brain could help some patients recover from strokes, say
researchers." (BBC Online)
"Pope
warns biotechnology may upset 'healthy balance'' - "VATICAN CITY -
On a day he dedicated to the world's farmers, Pope John Paul II on Sunday urged
developers of new biotechnologies to keep a "healthy balance" with
nature and avoid putting people's lives at risk." (AP)
"Bangalore
scientists make fruit-based rabies vaccine" - "BANGALORE: Two
Bangalore-based scientists have achieved a rare feat of germinating the rabies
vaccine in a muskmelon. The scientists claim that this would open up
possibilities of administering various vaccines into the human body through
fruit." (Times of India)
"Bid
to Grow Harmful GM Crop in South Africa" - "Aventis,
which has been denied entry of its products into Europe by the EU, has applied
to grow its genetically modified crop in South Africa. A company that has had to
remove about 300 food products from United States supermarket shelves because
they contain a genetically engineered maize that may cause human allergies now
wants to grow the crop in South Africa." (Mail and Guardian)
"South
Korea's StarLink recall said 'unnecessary'" - "CHICAGO - South
Korea jumped the gun with its recall of tortillas believed to be contaminated
with an unapproved gene-altered corn - the chips were made from wheat flour, the
US supplier said on Friday." (Reuters)
"Poor
nations can't afford debate on gene-altered crops" - "Recent
world conferences on agricultural biotechnology have made it unmistakably clear
that if governments foil the growth of this technology, mankind will be denied
solutions to a host of problems that plague many nations, particularly in the
developing world." (CSM)
Back in 1997, we had the question posed: "Will
Government's Crusade Against Tobacco Work?" - "Federal, state,
and local governments are crusading against tobacco." (CSAB) Perhaps we
now have an answer: "Anti-smoking
campaign failing, so cool it" - "The spirited crusade to
discourage smoking by young Americans is working just as research has indicated
it would. There has been a dramatic increase in U.S. teen-age smoking. That's
right. A recent analysis by the National Bureau of Economic Research says the
proportion of teen smokers has risen by one-third since a 15-year period of
decline ended in 1991. "We are in the alarming position of having a youth
smoking rate...roughly 50 percent greater than the (adult) smoking rate,"
say the study's authors, Jonathan Gruber and Jonathan Zinman." (Jerry
Heaster, The Star)
"Andro
may raise risk of health problems in older men" - "WASHINGTON
- Men who are past their prime muscle-building years cannot rely on
androstenedione to help them develop muscle, researchers say. The scientists
also say the supplement raises the risk of health problems." (AP)
"Florida
farmers look for alternatives to banned pesticide" - "Methyl
bromide, an ozone-depleting pesticide popular in the farming industry, must be
phased out by 2005. While the elimination of the chemical from regular use may
have positive effects on the environment, questions loom about what will be used
instead. With that in mind, about 140 agricultural researchers, chemical and
plastics company representatives and scientists toured a Manatee County research
facility Thursday, the last day of a four-day conference on methyl bromide. The
2000 annual International Research Conference on Methyl Bromide Alternatives and
Emissions Reductions started Monday in Orlando." (The Bradenton Herald)
Sieg Heil! Nature über alles! "Court
defines criteria for protected lands" - "LUXEMBOURG - The
European Court of Justice handed a victory to environmentalists this week when
it told European Union nations that a decision to identify land as part of a
pan-European wildlife habitat must be based on environmental criteria and not
economic concerns. "Member states
may not take economic, social or cultural requirements or regional or local
characteristics into account in order to delete sites of ecological
interest at national level from the list of proposed sites which they transmit
to the European Commission, whose task it is to create a coherent European
ecological network," the court ruled." (Reuters)
"Reactor
monitors may be key to solving red tide mystery" -
"Microscopic algae in the ocean need iron and normally don't receive an
ample supply, but the African dust is rich in iron and when it falls into the
ocean it causes the plants to bloom, Betzer said. "It actually does seem
that their occurrence is, in fact, tied to the arrival of the dust," Betzer
said, adding that the air samplers can serve as an early warning for onset of
African dust storms." (AP)
"Epicures
blanch at vegetarian caviar"
- "It is black, comes in a jar, and one whiff is enough to send food
purists into a dead faint. After two years of secret development, Cavi*Art, the
first vegetarian caviar, has been unveiled, to derision and applause in equal
measures." (Guardian)
"Japan
power firms plan own MOX processing by 2009" - "TOKYO -
Japan's major electric power companies decided on Friday to go ahead with plans
for Japan's first processing plant for plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel,
aiming to start operations by 2009, an industry group said." (Reuters)
WOW!! Here's an imaginative
piece of all-encompassing fear-mongering! "U.S.
IN HOT SEAT AS EXPERTS MEET FOR GLOBAL-WARMING TALKS"
- "LONDON -- The polar ice cap is melting. Glaciers around the world are
retreating by up to 5 miles. The ice sheet that covers Greenland is gradually
disappearing. Ocean levels are rising. In northern European waters, fish native
to the region are under threat because of rising sea temperatures. Millions of
trees in Alaska are turning a deathly gray or brown, killed by a pest that can
only live in warm weather. Malaria has made a comeback in Italy. Sensitive to
temperature changes that kill the algae on which they feed, coral reef are
dying. Long a subject of debate, global warming is no longer a threat. It is a
reality, with dire consequences for the world that are becoming increasingly
apparent. The four horsemen of this global Apocalypse are Thaw, Drought, Storms
and Floods, carrying in their wake hunger, disease, devastation and death."
(Chicago Tribune)
REALITY CHECK: sorry fellas, the world is no
warmer now than it was back in the 1930s. co2science.org says no
warming for 70 years, SEPP says the
climate hasn't warmed for 60 years - either way, humanity has been tracking
slight increase in atmospheric CO2 since 1959, during which period
the planet has cooled and recovered (without plunging into the 'impending' ice
age that caused so much angst back in the '70s). Significantly, the last step
warming in planetary temperature occurred from about 1890-1930 - before the
period of significant fossil fuel use - and has demonstrated no net warming
during the 'age of oil.' The European
250-year and the US
120-year records both show warming to the early 1930s, although there has
been negligible warming since. And what about the infamous 'Hockey Stick' graph
purporting to show a near-stable climate until mid-20th century? I'm glad you
asked:
"The
`Hockey Stick': A New Low in Climate Science"
- "... In 1999, a new paper published in `Geophysical Research Letters'
altered the whole landscape of how past climate history was to be interpreted by
the greenhouse sciences. It stood in stark contrast to the challenge posed by
the solar scientists. The infamous `Hockey Stick' was unveiled for the first
time." (John L Daly, Still
Waiting For Greenhouse)
"U.S.
heads to climate talks, despite election mess" - "The
uncertain outcome of presidential election will not affect the negotiating
stance of the United States at international climate change talks starting
Monday in The Hague, where 180 nations meet to finalize a treaty for cutting
greenhouse gas emissions, White House officials say." (Reuters)
"The
Next Round on Warming" - "AS U.S. negotiators head to The
Hague for a critical round of talks on global warming, they still don't know for
sure whether the next administration will be headed by a president who opposes
the Kyoto protocol or one who helped to draft it. But that doesn't alter the
challenge before them, which is to make sure that the talks produce enough
progress to sustain the international momentum for addressing climate
change." (Washington Post editorial)
"Clinton
Seeks to Regulate Common Gas to Clean Air" - "WASHINGTON, Nov.
11 — President Clinton called today for new federal regulations limiting power
plants' emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas thought to cause global climate
change, through a system similar to the rules now in place for pollutants that
cause smog and acid rain. It would be the first time that federal regulations
specifically controlled emissions of carbon dioxide, the main so-called
greenhouse gas." (NY Times)
"Too
little, too late" - "Britain’s floods are a symptom of
global changes that need to be tackled urgently, says Celia Brayfield" (The
Times)
"Old
springs revived by rising waters" - "SPRINGS and streams that
have been dry for decades are flowing again as water levels continue to rise,
with Britain facing the prospect of repeated flooding until April." (The
Times)
Uh... if these springs and streams used to flow then
presumably the place used to be about as wet as it is now - so much for
'unprecedented.'
"Hague
Talks Make-Or-Break for Kyoto Climate Goal" - "THE HAGUE -
Diplomats and interest groups kick off two weeks of talks in The Hague on Monday
to hammer out clear policies intended to cut greenhouse gas emissions agreed to
in Kyoto three years ago." (Reuters)
For the sake of the environment and humanity it has to be
'break.' Only wealthy societies can indulge in such luxuries as
environmentalism and Kyoto will destroy that ability.
"Greenhouse
Gases Focus of Conference" - "THE HAGUE, Netherlands - As some
10,000 people open a major U.N. conference to draft rules on slowing global
warming, differences remain vast on greenhouse gas emissions and there are
concerns that everything the parties have agreed to so far could unravel."
(AP)
"Greens
flex their muscles at 'last chance' climate summit" - "Green
activists have threatened to picket the world climate change talks in the
Netherlands, which some environmentalists describe as "the last chance to
save the planet". (SMH)
Another flight of fancy: "Climate
crisis: All change in the UK?" - "As ministers,
environmentalists and lobbyists from 180 countries gather in the Hague for the
UN Climate Change conference, BBC News Online looks at how global warming could
affect the UK." (BBC Online)
"All
together in the greenhouse" - "Scientists have finally agreed
upon what many of us have long suspected: global warming is already upon us, the
greenhouse effect is not a bogey of the future but a phenomenon that is
affecting us now. A summary of a 1000-page final draft of new research by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - a United Nations-sponsored group
composed of 2500 leading atmosphere scientists - was sent to governments in late
October." (The Age editorial)
Well, not exactly:
"CLIMATE
CHANGE 2001: THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS" - "THE SUMMARY FOR
POLICYMAKERS: AN APPRAISAL" (Vincent Gray)
Oops! "Pointing
the finger at the main villain" - "Most scientists now accept
that global warming is not a natural phenomenon, writes Deborah Smith, but they
remain divided about how best to tackle it." (SMH)
Deborah Smith apparently believes 'most scientists' think
Earth's emergence from the last great glaciation is 'not a natural
phenomenon.' Sorry Deb, but both global warming and global cooling are 100%,
all singing, all dancing, all natural events that have been occurring for as
long as the planet has had an atmosphere and is one way we define aeons. What
Ms Smith means is the enhanced greenhouse hypothesis, something for which no
one can find any evidence of its validity.
"A
meeting to adjust the world's thermostat" - "Diplomats begin
talks Monday as evidence grows that average temperatures may rise 10 degrees
this century." [Carbon
'Sinks' That Swim] (CSM)
"Time
for more than just words" - "A string of natural disasters has
given added urgency to this week's international talks on tackling the
greenhouse effect. However, writes Michael Millett, many developed countries,
including Australia, are reluctant to make the necessary sacrifices." (SMH)
Necessary? Try 'pointless,' 'irrelevant' or perhaps
'ludicrous' but there is no environmental gain to be had by committing
economic suicide.
Oh dear! "Clergy
brings global warming to the pulpit" - "Add a new lesson to
Sunday school in Oregon: global warming." (ENN)
"Should
polluters save the Amazon?" - "Brazilian environmentalists are
at odds with with their headquarters in the United States and Europe over a
proposal to use trade in pollution credits to save the Amazon, albeit by
allowing firms in industrialized countries to pollute more at home."
(Reuters)
Fascinating how far the indoctrination has progressed -
an essential trace gas, carbon dioxide is now commonly called a
"pollutant" when it most categorically is not. The biosphere
literally booms with higher atmospheric levels and declines with lesser
levels. All carbon liberated by the combustion of fossil fuels originally came
from the atmosphere and was sequestered by biological activity - thus denying
its availability to the biosphere and reducing biological viability. By
restoring some of the carbon to an available state we are actually encouraging
and actively supporting the biosphere. Strangely, the nature über alles
brigade never seem to mention that.
Chicken counting of the day: "Aust
Plantation, IBJ in carbon credit plan" - "SYDNEY - Australian
Plantation Timber Ltd (APT) said on Friday it had signed a memorandum of
understanding with Industrial Bank of Japan's Australian unit to develop a
carbon credit trade structure for international carbon emitters." (Reuters)
Hot air sale of the day: "Fortum
sells CO2 emission credits to Canadian firm" - "HELSINKI -
Finnish energy group Fortum said on Friday it had agreed to sell Canadian EPCOR
Utilities Inc 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction credits
for an undisclosed sum." (Reuters)
"Cabinet
finalises greenhouse stand"
- "The Federal Cabinet will fine-tune its position on a global emissions
trading regime on Monday, as crucial United Nations greenhouse talks get under
way in The Hague. The review of Australia's negotiating position on carbon
credits comes as environmental groups prepare to launch a stinging attack on the
nation's record, accusing the Government of using "smoke and mirrors"
to achieve its greenhouse target under the Kyoto Protocol." (AFR)
"Green
groups slam Fed Govt's greenhouse policy" - "The Australian
Government's policy to force developing nations to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions has been slammed by environmentalists. Environment Minister Robert
Hill is representing Australia at a meeting in the Hague, which aims to develop
global rules for meeting greenhouse gas targets set in Kyoto three years ago.
Australia will push for countries like China, India and Brazil to be included in
any agreement to lower emissions." (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
"Square
up for carbon deals"
- "Business often presents itself as a champion of globalisation. But many
in business are resisting the imposition of a global cost on greenhouse gases,
otherwise known as "carbon", by the Kyoto Protocol. COP6, the United
Nations conference on the protocol in The Hague this week, will give Australia a
better indication of that cost. Those resisting a cost on carbon have a point -
in fact, several points." (AFR)
November 12, 2000
"TIME
FOR SOME ORDER FROM THE COURT" - "A
judge's authority in the courtroom is considerable, but there are times when
those wielding the gavel seem to mistake it for a sledgehammer. For example,
there's DuPage County Associate Judge Edmund Bart, who has taken extreme offense
to Traffic Court visitors who allow cellular phones or pagers to ring when court
is in session. He has dealt with them extremely--by throwing those visitors
behind bars." (Chicago Tribune)
"Challenges
expected to new work rules on ergonomics" - "WASHINGTON - More
than 100 million Americans in all kinds of jobs would get extended protections
for work-related injuries caused by repetitive motion under government standards
to be issued Monday. The rules, more than a decade in the making, are stridently
opposed by the business community and are so contentious they helped derail
final budget negotiations between the White House and GOP lawmakers. Industry
groups promise to challenge the standard in court." (AP)
Interesting, Australia long ago decided that RSI, as we
call it, didn't exist and our 'epidemic' disappeared as soon as employers were
not liable for it.
Book review: "Inside
the navel academy"
- "Well, did they? Did Adam and Eve have bellybuttons, that is? This is the
topic of the lead article in science writer Martin Gardner's latest delightful
collection of essays debunking pseudo-science, exposing scientific charlatans,
and generally defending human rationality from all those who prefer comforting
half-truths, quarter-truths and no truth at all." (GAM)
"Alzheimer's:
A disease of the young?" - "Figures suggest that more and more
young people are being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease." (BBC Online)
"Cholesterol
drugs may protect from dementia" - "Drugs commonly used to
treat patients at risk from heart disease could help stave off dementia as well.
Statins reduce the amount of cholesterol in the bloodstream, thereby helping
keeping vital blood vessels unclogged." (BBC Online)
"Bridge
playing may boost health" - "The complex thought required to
play contract bridge may increase the number of useful immune cells in the body,
say researchers. The card game is the latest - and most bizarre - lifestyle
change to be advocated by immune system experts as a way of improving
health." (BBC Online)
"French
BSE crisis worsens" - "FEARS over the safety of French beef
rose again this weekend after the country's most senior scientific adviser on
BSE confirmed that large amounts of infected meat were still likely to be
entering the human food chain, putting anyone eating beef at risk of developing
variant CJD." (Sunday Times)
"Scientists
to recreate flu virus that killed 40m people" - "SCIENTISTS
are proposing to recreate the lethal 1918 flu virus in the laboratory, a move
that has divided the academic community. Those in favour of rebuilding the
virus, which killed 40m people worldwide in a single year, argue that it would
provide vital information that could prevent a similar catastrophe. They fear
that, without such research, the world is at risk of the recurrence of an
equally virulent strain, which could occur at any time." (Sunday Times)
"Smoking may
cause hearing loss" - "NEW YORK: It is common knowledge that
smoking is harmful to the lungs. Now researchers in Japan report that smoking
may damage hearing as well." (Times of India)
It doesn't say whether this loss was assumed because
smokers ignored the shrill warnings of anti-choice nannies or even if it could
have been caused by said shrill warnings.
Sigh... "Using
radon risk to motivate smoking reduction: evaluation of written materials and
brief telephone counselling" - "OBJECTIVE - Radon and
cigarette smoking have synergistic effects on lung cancer, even when radon
concentrations are relatively low. Working through an electric
utility company, we sought to reach smoking households with low radon
concentrations and motivate smoking cessation or prohibiting smoking
in the home." (BMJ)
Just what no one needs - a junk science-fuelled radon
scare to intimidate smokers. Here's a series of articles Michael Fumento did
on radon non-science beating up a non-hazard: The
EPA (Again) Turns a Blind Eye to the Radon Data; Radon's
Real Threat is to the EPA; Radon
Redux; Time to Overthrow the
Radonistas; The Cancer
Institute's Ridiculous Radon Redux; The
Radon Scare: When Scientists Oppose Science
"Hot coffee,
tea may raise cancer risk" - "NEW YORK: People who prefer
their lattes piping hot may have more to worry about than burning their mouth.
According to recent study findings, drinking very hot tea or coffee with milk
appears to raise the risk of esophageal cancer. The study in the November-15
issue of the International Journal of Cancer found that drinking these
beverages raised the risk of cancer by as much as four times." (Times of
India)
"Pacific
musicians get top billing at Climate Change Conference" -
"AUCKLAND - - This week's Climate Change Conference in The Hague is to be
entertained by Pacific Island music group Te Vaka, whose members hail from some
of the most far-flung islands on the planet." (AFP)
Great - the circus flies in its own entertainment to go
with their specially crafted IMAX movie, 1st-class air travel, all expenses
paid accommodation and knees-up. Some 20,000 of them are descending on The
Hague to determine how to lower our standards of living. Makes you proud
doesn't it?
What's wrong with this
picture? "Greenpeace
activists board Australian ship" - "Some 10 Greenpeace
activists have boarded an Australian ship carrying charcoal in Rotterdam to draw
attention to global climate changes. "Charcoal is the fuel responsible for
the most carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere, and that is why we
have chosen a ship carrying charcoal," spokeswoman Annette Cornelissen told
AFP." (AFP)
But... charcoal is a biofuel isn't
it? Aren't Greenpeace et al always exhorting the use of biofuels to reduce
the dreaded emission of beneficent CO2, the gas that enables growth
of forests and food crops? Isn't their argument that biofuels don't introduce
"new" carbon into the atmosphere but merely recycle that which the
plants took from the atmosphere during growth? (Actually, so do fossil fuels
but that carbon has been out of circulation a little longer.)
"Sermons
on science from a royal soapbox" - "... The difference between
William Blake and Prince Charles is that Blake was denouncing the scientific
principle per se and not, as the Prince and Mr Porritt are doing, suggesting
bogus science as an alternative to true science - and delivering their
pronouncements from the unanswerable heights of Highgrove. Meanwhile, Prince
Charles continues to annoy the inhabitants of Kensington by
chugga-chugga-chuggaing everywhere in his gas-guzzling helicopter." (Sunday
Telegraph)
Slick Willie does a Charlie: "Clinton
warns of global warming dangers" - "WASHINGTON -- Continued
global increases in greenhouse gas emissions could raise temperatures in the
United States from five to nine degrees, a newly released U.S. government report
said Saturday. President Bill Clinton, who unveiled the report during an
Internet Webcast, said such temperature changes have not occurred since the end
of the last Ice Age. The congressionally mandated three-year report was
conducted by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and assessed ways climate
change might affect the United States." (CNN) [AP]
[BBC
Online]
Said "new report" is better known as "the
national scare" about which Christy said: "I read the
Executive Summary and the following sections through page 9 -- 'Looking at
America's Climate.' I stopped at that point thinking, 'This must be some kind
of joke.' It seemed to me that this document was written by a committee of
Greenpeace, Ted Turner, Al Gore and Stephen King (for the horror lines). I saw
no attempt at scientific objectivity. This document is an evangelistic
statement about a coming apocalypse, not a scientific statement about the
evolution of a complicated system with significant uncertainties. As is, the
document will be easily dismissed by anyone with access to information about
the uncertainties of the issue." See Wojic's report on What
the Experts Say about the USGCRP National Assessment report "Climate
Change Impacts on the United States: The Potential Consequences of Climate
Variability and Change": Not
A Pretty Picture
"Global
Warming Treaty Dispute Heats Up" - "BRUSSELS, Nov. 11 – A
bitter clash between the United States and Europe threatens to block agreement
on how to comply with an international treaty on global warming when
representatives from more than 150 countries gather Monday in The Hague. ... In
response to critics who say Clinton has failed to live up to his promises of
waging an aggressive crusade against global warming, White
House officials say $2.4 billion has been allocated in the 2001 budget to combat
global climate change – an increase of 43 percent." (Washington
Post)
"Scientists
claim nothing will stop climate change" - "SCIENTISTS have
warned thousands of government officials and politicians gathering for
international climate talks in the Hague that the rise in global temperatures is
irreversible, and that the best they can hope for is to slow it down by a
fraction of a degree. Their research shows that even if delegates implement all
the proposals before them in full, this will cut only about six-hundredths of a
degree from a temperature rise that could be as much as 5C by 2100."
(Sunday Times)
"Carbon
trappers in new trade" - "... Some economists believe
that a fully fledged carbon emissions trade could channel billions of dollars
each year from the industrialised world to the poor, and its proponents see it
as a weapon in the war on global warming. Rising concentrations of greenhouse
gases, in particular carbon dioxide released by the burning of fossil fuels, are
thought to be causing a rise in temperatures. Forests soak up carbon, goes the
thinking, so let's use them to mop up the pollution." (Financial Times)
Interesting both in it's adherence to the current
surreptitious reclassification of the essential trace gas, CO2, as
a 'pollutant' and the obvious move to 'transfer' current wealth from regions
where living standards are adequate to regions where they are low. Rather than
taking from the 'haves' and nominally redistributing to the 'have nots,' we
should be assisting the 'have nots' to generate new wealth.
Unfortunately, trashing developed world standards of living is the whole
reason for existence of the enhanced greenhouse bogeyman. Sound like
right-wing paranoia? Check out this quote: "Isn't the only hope
for the planet that the industrialised civilizations collapse? Isn't it our
responsibility to bring that about?" -- Maurice Strong, head of the
1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and Executive Officer for Reform in the
Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations [Source: The
Environmentalists' Little Green Book].
"This
hysteria about global warming leaves me cold" - "Last August
The New York Times ran a story on its front page which in breathless tones told
its readers that visitors to the North Pole had found near-irrefutable evidence
of global warming. This was picked up by media the world over as though it were
the gospel truth." (David Quinn, Sunday Times)
Here's a junk science-fuelled
doomsday trilogy from The Independent on Sunday:
beginning with a prize-winning
panic piece: "The
most critical day yet for the world's climate"
- "Rainforests will dry up; the polar icecap will melt. The latest
predictions for global warming are the direst yet" (Independent)
... which was the lead for: "Ecological
disaster looms but how green will the politicians ever be?"
- "Unfortunately, there are so many vested interests that whatever action
is taken it will never go far enough" (Independent)
and just in case you haven't got
the eco-doom message: "North
Sea cod and sole stricken by sunburn"
- "Fish in the seas around Britain are suffering sunburn and blisters
caused by the thinning ozone layer, symptoms of a drastic change in environment
that threatens to wipe out species once common to our shores."
(Independent)
We'll all be ru'ned... slight problems with the
scenario in that the atmosphere is not responding to increased CO2 as
the models insist it should and no one has found a measurable increase in net UV
energy arriving at the surface but never let facts get in the way of a good
circulation-boosting scare.
Social re-engineering news: "'Massive'
pollution cuts needed" - "With the UN climate conference
delegates assembling in The Hague, a UK Government minister says rich countries
may have to cut pollution by around three-quarters. Environment Minister Michael
Meacher said this would probably be necessary to allow the developing countries
to raise living standards. His forecast, which he himself described as
"mind-blowing", would mean cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases about
15 times deeper than the world is planning." (BBC Online)
Presumably, the '15 times deeper' cuts needed is to make
it seem like a good deal signing up to Kyoto in it's current form.
"CLIMATE IS NOT
WARMING - HAS NOT WARMED IN 60 YEARS" - "Scientific
conclusions below follow mainly from our analysis of the draft Third Assessment
Report (TAR) of the UN- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as
well as the National Assessment of Climate Change (NACC) produced by the US
Global Climate Research Program (USGCRP)." (SEPP)
"Leaders
To Argue on Warming Costs" - "WASHINGTON — On the eve of
critical negotiations on global warming, the Clinton administration is preparing
to argue that measures to curb greenhouse gases must be cost-effective if a
climate agreement reached three years ago is to survive." (AP)
"Canada's
'Gentle Giants' Await Vanishing Winter" - "CHURCHILL, Manitoba
— Polar bears, their white coats tinged with yellow after a summer of fasting
on the tundra, are gathering here on the western shores of the Hudson Bay,
waiting for sea ice that once again will free them from land, allowing them to
hunt seals. Almost imperceptibly, this timeless tableau on treeless salt marshes
is changing: the "Lords of the Arctic," North America's largest land
carnivores, are 10 percent thinner and have 10 percent fewer cubs than they did
20 years ago. The culprit, scientists and residents here said, is climate
change." (NY Times)
Uh.. how did "Canada's 'Gentle Giants'" manage
through the Medieval Climate
Optimum if the last 20 years' non-event is supposedly reducing their
population? The Holocene (current interglacial period) has seen sustained
periods much warmer than now and yet the species is still here. Churchill is
about the same North latitude as Aberdeen (Scotland - no wild polar bear
population there though) - maybe the bears only penetrated so far south with
the LIA (Little Ice Age) and are due to withdraw from this extended range as
we get further from that unusually cool period.
"Blowing hot
& cold" - "If you thought this week's floods were bad,
wait until you see what global warming could have in store for us. Myles
McWeeney on a nightmare vision of a new Irish Ice Age" (Irish Independent)
"The Week That
Was November 11, 2000 brought to you by SEPP" - "With COP-6
about to begin, we bring you two views about Kyoto: one soft, the other hard.
Kind of makes us look reasonable." (SEPP)
"Trees
Create Carbon ‘Sink’" - "WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 — Letting
forests grow on abandoned farmland and logging grounds may do more than beautify
the countryside — they may be soaking up greenhouse gases blamed for global
warming, scientists said on Thursday." (Reuters)
Not too bad but neglects to mention that the cited 6
billion tonnes refers strictly to anthropogenic emissions and ignores the
90-odd billion tonnes each emitted by forests and oceans plus the, as yet,
unknown volume produced by volcanic fumaroles, natural weathering of the
crust... Humanity actually liberates a very small percentage of this essential
trace gas.
"Threat
to global warming talks" - "CRUNCH talks to save the planet
from global warming are under threat from the American presidential election
chaos. Negotiations between 180 nations start tomorrow in The Hague, with most
representatives desperate for Democrat Al Gore to win. He claims to be an
environ-mentalist, while Republican George W. Bush is a former oilman who has
declared his opposition to ratifying the Kyoto Protocol - the deal on cutting
greenhouse gas emissions struck by John Prescott in 1997. ... The prospect of
neither Bush nor Gore being declared president before the end of the week means
that the U.S. negotiating team at the Hague will operate in a political no-man's
land, unsure what sort of deal will be acceptable back home." (Daily
Express)
"Scientific
Debate on Global Warming Heats Up" - "LONDON - World
governments will meet this month to try to thrash out an agreement to cut
greenhouse gases, but not all scientists are convinced they are the cause of
global warming." (Reuters)
"OPEC
warns of 2001 oil supply glut" - "OPEC ministers have warned
that an oil glut could swamp the market early next year, sparking a collapse in
prices and forcing the 11-nation grouping to slash production. Gathering in
Vienna on the eve of a one-day meeting, oil ministers from the Organisation of
Petroleum Exporting Countries said they were worried that the market could be
swamped with excess supply next year, bringing prices tumbling down from current
levels well above $US30 a barrel." (AFP)
"Cutting
fuel by 10p in four (fairly) easy steps" - "Serious trouble
lurks. According to one version, favoured particularly by cyclists with PhDs, it
goes like this" (Observer)
November 11, 2000
"No
Media Skepticism of Fla. Ballot Challengers" - "Are the
plaintiffs demanding an unprecedented re-run of the presidential election in
Florida’s Palm Beach county really befuddled oldsters who were confused by a
two-column ballot? Or are they really sophisticated local activists who assume
that their protests against the election’s integrity is Al Gore’s last, best
chance to be awarded the White House? The national media have repeatedly relayed
citizens’ complaints about the supposedly baffling ballot, but the networks
haven’t looked at the backgrounds of the three plaintiffs who have put their
names on the lawsuit hanging over the presidential election. A Nexis search of
Florida newspapers shows all three plaintiffs — Abigail McCarthy, Lillian
Gaines and Andre Fladell — are savvy activists with political experience, not
the sort of voters who’d be stymied by a ballot layout." (Media Reality
Check)
"Changing
the rules after the game" - "Last week, when the final
pre-election polls showed a possible Gore win in the Electoral College and a
Bush win in the popular vote, the editor of the opinion page of a major American
newspaper received more than a dozen op-ed articles from prominent Democrats who
argued that the outcome should be decided according to the same rules by which
it had been fought. When the news arrived that the result was exactly the
opposite of what had been expected -- that Gore had (probably) won the popular
vote while Bush had (apparently) won the electoral vote -- every single one of
the writers suddenly telephoned demanding that his or her piece be yanked. About
face! is today's marching order for U.S. Democrats. Last week the Electoral
College was the finest achievement of the founders' wisdom. Today it is an
anachronism to which no respect need be paid -- "an unfair system,"
Yale law professor Akhil Reed Amar called it in yesterday's New York
Times." (David Frum, National Post)
"Mosquito
repellents may not be safe" - "HYDERABAD: Mosquito repellents
such as mats, liquids and even coils may not be safe. Though promoted as safe
products, they use a group of chemicals called pyrethroids that can cause health
problems. "Lots of people who have used pyrethroid based mosquito repellent
mats, liquids and coils have complained of irritation and allergic
reactions," Dr K Venu, superintendent of the Government Chest Hospital told
The Times of India." (Times of India)
"Endostatin
shown safely suspending growth of tumors" - "AMSTERDAM - The
hype surrounding the world's most talked-about cancer-fighting drug gave way to
the first real human test results yesterday, as researchers revealed that
Endostatin has halted some advanced cancers for awhile, and it seems free of the
side effects that make other treatments so debilitating." (Boston Globe)
"Norway
puts tobacco industry on trial" - "OSLO, Norway - A Norwegian
court ruled Friday the tobacco industry could not be held responsible for a
smoker's terminal cancer in the country's first tobacco compensation lawsuit.
The Orkdal District Court said the smoker, Robert Lund, continued to smoke even
after the dangers of smoking "became broadly known and accepted" and
said tobacco's addictiveness did not free him from responsibility for continuing
to smoke." (AP)
"Negotiations
Are Stalled in New York Smoking Suit, Lawyers Say" -
"Negotiations between smokers' lawyers and two major tobacco companies to
resolve a federal case in New York have stalled and may fall apart, lawyers
representing both sides said yesterday." (NY Times)
"Study:
Nicotine causes selective damage in brain" - "ATLANTA, Georgia
-- Scientists say cigarettes' most addictive component -- nicotine -- may also
lead to degeneration in a region of the brain that affects emotional control,
sexual arousal, REM sleep and seizures." (CNN)
"Estimating
the Numbers of Smoking-Related Deaths" - Exchange between Levy and
Thun in JAMA's letters section (JAMA)
"So-Called
Soft Drug Ecstasy Damages Everyday Memory" - "People who
take ecstasy on a regular basis are damaging their cognitive health, new
research carried out at the University of Northumbria has shown." (UniSci)
"No
Cheeseburgers In Paradise" - "Food choices around the world
are needlessly imperiled because of nannies' successful scare campaigns.
Italians are shaken to the point that they've declared only organic food can be
served in school cafeterias (see our headlines from yesterday). Now the Italian
Catholic church seems to be caught up in the hysteria. In a full-page ad in the
church bishops' newspaper, the church said that by eating fast food, Italians
have abandoned respect for "the holiness of food." Eating fast food,
wrote the newspaper, "is not Catholic." (GuestChoice.com) [Daily
Express]
"Urgent
appeal over French BSE outbreak" -
"An urgent appeal went out to European governments yesterday to step up
testing for BSE because of concern about "disturbing" levels of the
disease in France. A plea from David Byrne, the European commissioner for health
and consumer protection, advised member states to speed up the introduction of
random testing." (Independent)
"Adverts
'pose little threat to children'" -
"Television advertisements aimed at children are not a threat and do not
need further regulation, it was claimed yesterday. Despite multi-million pound
campaigns by advertisers, parents have far more influence over a child's
attitude to spending money, a new study suggests. Adrian Furnham, a professor at
University College London, says in his new book,Children & Advertising:
The Allegations and the Evidence, that there is no evidence to support calls
for stricter controls on the advertising of sweets, toys, music and other goods
aimed at children." (Independent)
"Amazon
vaccine claims disputed" - "An influential body of US
scientists has disputed claims that one of its members killed hundreds of
Yanomami Indians during experiments with a measles vaccine. The allegations are
contained in a book published this month." (BBC Online)
"Don't
blame high gasoline prices on SUVs" - "U.S. car drivers
concerned that gasoline-guzzling sport utility vehicles are pushing up fuel
prices and making the nation more dependent on foreign oil, might want to
suppress the urge to give SUV drivers a dirty look. The United States would save
an almost negligible 170,000 barrels a day of imported crude oil if SUV drivers
switched overnight to higher-mileage sedans, according to a study by a
researcher at Rice University in Houston." (Reuters)
"IEA
lowers estimated Q4 demand for Opec crude"
- "The International Energy Agency has lowered its fourth-quarter estimate
of demand for crude produced by members of the Organisation of Petroleum
Exporting Countries by 600,000 barrels a day, to 28.5m b/d. With October
production by Opec estimated at 29.52m b/d, the figures may suggest the oil
market is heading back towards a surplus faster than previously thought."
(Financial Times)
With COP6 due to kick off in a
couple of days at The Hague there's truckloads of global warming hype, myth
and hysteria to wade through - sorry. There are some good rebuttals amongst
them though:
"Global
warming summit billed as 'last chance' effort" - "LONDON -
More than 20,000 representatives from 180 countries will gather next week in
The Hague for a conference billed as the make-or-break battle in the war
against global warming." (National Post)
Quote of the day:
"Cold
shoulder for global warming pact"
- "The Kyoto Protocol on gas emissions is in danger of losing
support" (The Times)
"African
harvest of woe from West's greenhouse" - "Nairobi -
African countries, which do least to fuel global warming but will feel its
effects the most, must be given special consideration at next week's climate
change summit, a senior United Nations official said yesterday. Klaus Toepfer,
executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep), said
the meeting in the Hague must look at ways to help African nations deal with
new weather conditions." (IOL)
Uh... just what "new" weather conditions
would they be Klaus?
"Fossil
fuels addiction 'more lethal than crack'" - "A leading
economist is warning that the global economy's addiction to fossil fuels is
"more lethal than crack cocaine"." (Ananova)
"2000
Olympics-inspired "Greening" Riffs" - "... In the
process of generating, tuning, and testing their crop model, Alexandrov and
Hoogenboom assembled daily and monthly temperature records from 130 stations
across Bulgaria. Almost lost in the shuffle is their summation, "In this
study, we did not find a significant change in the mean annual temperature in
Bulgaria during the 20th century." We decided to crosscheck
their findings with Bulgarian temperature data for the same time period
(1901-1997) as provided by a different international "referee" – the
United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). These data are
provided as monthly temperature anomalies (departures from normal) for the two 5°
latitude by 5° longitude grid boxes that encompass Bulgaria. As seen in Figure
1, the widely used IPCC temperature data reveal a statistically significant
warming of 0.48°C (0.86°F) over the 97-year period. As we frequently have
discovered, there is a discrepancy between what researchers find when they
conduct an intensive temperature analysis of a particular part of the world and
how that area’s temperature trend is represented by the IPCC database. Much
has been made of the discrepancy between satellite and ground temperature data.
Here’s a new frontier for climate research: How to explain when local climate
experts analyzing the best data available to them find no warming in their study
area, while the IPCC temperature data for the same area and the same time period
show significant warming?" (Robert C Balling Jr., GES)
"Importing
out-of-season fruit adds to global warming" -
"THE growing fashion for flying in kiwi fruit from New Zealand, sugar snap
peas from Kenya and strawberries from South America is undermining the worldwide
effort to curb global warming, a report claims." (The Times)
"Nuclear
hopes for boost from Hague climate talks" - "BRUSSELS, Nov 10
- Nuclear power, which has fallen from grace since it was considered the 20th
century's energy miracle, may win a reprieve at a ``climate summit'' next week.
... While oil companies and auto makers fear possible anti-pollution measures
that could come out of the talks, the nuclear lobby sees a great
opportunity." (Reuters)
"Freight
'cancelling out' warming curbs" - "International trade growth,
with more use of aircraft and lorries, is making a mockery of attempts by world
leaders to curb global warming, according to economists. A report published
today reveals uncontrolled growth of greenhouse gas emissions from international
freight. According to the report, entitled Collision Course, emissions from the
transport sector will cancel out the benefits of reducing green house gas
emissions by more efficient use of fossil fuels elsewhere." (Guardian)
"Scientific
Debate on Global Warming Heats Up" - "LONDON - World
governments will meet this month to try to thrash out an agreement to cut
greenhouse gases, but not all scientists are convinced they are the cause of
global warming. As negotiators converge on the Hague for the U.N. climate change
conference on Monday, scientific opinion is still split on whether carbon
dioxide (CO2) and other so-called "greenhouse gases" in the atmosphere
are behind global warming." (Reuters)
"Panel
bids to cut transport pollution" - "An international business
organization working on sustainable development has launched a $10 million
project to find solutions to environmental problems resulting from air, land,
and sea transport by 2003, the group announced Thursday." (Japan Times)
"Trade
in filth may give business key climate role" - "BRUSSELS, Nov
10 - Business is learning to love the profit potential of an unlovely idea --
buying or selling the right to spew out filthy air. A successful market in
greenhouse gases would help rich countries curb air pollution and eventually
draw poor countries into the war against global warming, its advocates
say." (Reuters)
"Carbon-trading
in Bolivia" - "... A large section of forest next to the Noel
Kempff National Park was being worked by logging companies before a consortium
of two big American power corporations and the oil giant BP stepped in. They
have paid nearly $10m to buy out the loggers, and incorporate the area into the
park, giving it legal protection. In return, the corporations want to be able to
claim credits for the carbon dioxide which the rescued trees will absorb from
the atmosphere, and use them to achieve part of their targets for reducing
emissions if and when the Kyoto agreement comes into force." (BBC Online)
"Historic
Deal Is Based on Trees' Value in Environment" - "In a
landmark--though mostly symbolic--deal announced Thursday, a Northern California
conservation group has sold the air-cleansing capacity of trees on 5,000 acres
to a Texas energy company. The aim of the sale is to help deter global warming
and to win some public relations points for clean energy and old-growth
forests." (LA Times)
"Ontario
expands fight against smog and climate change" - "TORONTO,
Nov. 10 /CNW/ - Environment Minister Dan Newman today issued for consultation a
new draft regulation that would require the mandatory tracking of 358 airborne
pollutants. The regulation would make Ontario the first jurisdiction in the
world to require monitoring and reporting of a full suite of key greenhouse
gases." (Ontario Ministry of The Environment)
Pick nonsense of the day: "Science
and politics expected to clash at COP6" - "Scientists agree
that the Earth's atmosphere is getting warmer. There is consensus too that this
warming will be the paramount environmental threat in the next century, as
predictions see oceans swallowing beaches, tropical diseases spreading north and
more species facing extinction." (Japan Times)
"U.S.
Discusses World Climate Treaty" -
"WASHINGTON — Preparing for critical and probably contentious global
warming talks, the Clinton administration is warning that the world treaty on
climate change it agreed to three years ago may fall apart if the costs of
reducing so-called ``greenhouse'' gases are not contained. ... ``If we don't
have significant progress, ... we will have set back substantially the ability
of the nations of the world to meet their (Kyoto emission) targets,''
Undersecretary of State Frank Loy, who will head the U.S. delegation, said in an
interview." (AP)
Oh dear! "Scientist
Predicts Rise in Climate-Related Deaths" - "LONDON - More
people in Britain will die from heat waves, food poisoning and flood-related
illness as rising temperatures cause extreme weather patterns, a British
scientist warned on Friday. Professor Graham Bentham, of the Centre for
Environmental Risk at the University of East Anglia, told a medical conference
Britain will face severe health problems due to climate change. Instead of a
heat wave every 230 years, Britain could have one every four years if
predictions of global warming are right." (Reuters)
"Japan's
stance could hurt talks: campaigner" - "In the runup to
crucial climate change talks that open Monday in The Hague, nongovernmental
organizations have repeatedly slammed Japan's position on a number of
issues." (Japan Times)
"Climate
change glossary" - BBC Online's own "G. W." (for
"global warming") Alex Kirby, perhaps the world's leading enhanced
greenhouse dunce and hand-wringer extraordinaire, tries his hand at a glossary
for the even less informed (assuming there are any). A quick glance shows the
omission of the enhanced greenhouse hypothesis; no understanding that climate
change is the natural state of the planet while stasis would be abnormal; no
mention that water vapour is the major so-called greenhouse gas,
accounting for nine-tenths of the effect; no mention that "global
warming" has been occurring since the depths of the last major glaciation
and; no mention whatsoever of the MSU record, our only near-global atmospheric
temperature record and one which, significantly, shows no abnormal warming. Tut,
tut Alex - you still haven't done your homework. D-minus.
"Japan urged to
take lead at COP6 meet" - "Japan's position is incredibly
important," said Lars Georg Jensen, international coordinator of the
climate change campaign at World Wide Fund For Nature in Tokyo. "We expect
Japan, as the host of COP3, to be more interested than anyone else in making
this conference a successful one." (Daily Yomiuri)
"VIRTUAL
CLIMATE ALERT #38" - "The Dumb People Scenario" is how
Natural Research Council plant physiologist Paul Waggoner describes the
all-too-frequent assumption in the climate change debate that people won’t
adapt to slow changes in climate. We dummkopfs are soon to be at it again
when it comes to desert wildfires, it appears from Washington Post coverage
of a paper by Stanley Smith and several co-authors in the November 2nd
edition of Nature." (GES)
"Poll
reveals ignorance over global warming causes" - "Mobile
phones and aerosol sprays are among the things blamed for causing climate
change, according to a study for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
The RSPB found that three-quarters of those interviewed believe they and their
families will be affected by global warming over the next few decades, but there
is still widespread ignorance about the reasons for the problem." (Ananova)
"VIRTUAL
CLIMATE ALERT #39" - "His Royal Highness Charles, Prince of
Wales, blames "mankind’s arrogant disregard for the balance of
nature" as a source of storms battering the United Kingdom and Europe, and
the outbreak of mad cow disease – according to an Environmental News Service
report datelined London, November 7th. His royal proclamation is
perfectly timed, if errant." (GES)
"Use
of coal is the burning issue at Moneypoint" - "The State's
largest electricity generating station, at Moneypoint, Co Clare, will pursue all
avenues to make it more environmentally friendly, its manager has said. A recent
Government report includes a recommendation to cease burning coal at the plant.
The National Climate Change Strategy, produced by the Department of the
Environment, says "measures supportive of ceasing coal-firing in Moneypoint
by 2008" will be put in place." (Irish Times)
November 10, 2000
"Is the FDA's PPA Scare BS?" - "Ready, fire... aim" must be the Food and Drug Administration’s motto. The FDA again is using premature science to force from the market popular consumer health care products. The targets this time are cold medicines and appetite suppressants -- including such brand names as Acutrim, Alka-Seltzer, Comtrex, Contac,Dexatrim, Dimetapp, Robitussin CF and Triaminic -- that contain phenylpropanolamine (PPA). The move follows a new study by Yale University researchers reporting a slightly increased risk of stroke among young women who used PPA-containing products. But "plop-plop, fizz-fizz," oh what junk it is..." (Steve Milloy at FoxNews.com)
"Six
hours that defined a president"- "... Well, on the evidence
of yesterday's performance, Mr Bush appears effortlessly presidential: he
calmly summoned the cameras to his residence on Tuesday night to tell the
voters that he didn't believe the Florida exit polls. Thus he encouraged his
campaign team and stopped the Republican turn-out from collapsing on the West
Coast. By contrast, Al Gore fluffed his first great post-election test.
Believing that the pollsters and the American television networks could never
tell a lie, he followed his staffers' advice, conceded too early, then had to
retract. Not very presidential; not very smart." "Gore
finds a loophole" - "WELL, here's another first. Al Gore is the
first presidential candidate to rescind his concession. He now refuses to
concede that he ever conceded. It all depends what the definition of the word
"loser" is." (Daily Telegraph opinion pieces, Nov 9) [Trigger-happy
election calls (CSM editorial)]
Gore et al should have read Howard Fienberg and Iain Murray on
the dangers of placing too much faith in exit polls - for those who missed it:
Last Voter Out, Please
Turn Off the TV (Statistical Assessment Service) There's a topical update here
(JWR)
"Gore
campaign to fight election result in Florida" - "Democrat Al
Gore decided today to fight the results of Tuesday's presidential election in
Florida with campaign officials announcing a legal challenge and demanding a
recount by hand of ballots in four counties." (Reuters) [Gore's
choice (Daily Telegraph leader)]
"Urban
myth of the jungle" - "Despite its image, Amazonia has been
shaped by humans for centuries, writes Henry Gee" (Guardian)
"Doctors
baffled by 50% cancer rise since 1971" - "... Part of
the rise is because of the ageing of the population and to improved data
collection. Cancer is mainly a disease of the old and their numbers have grown
sharply since 1971. Only 6 per cent of cancers among men and 9 per cent among
women are in people under 45. However, when the effect of the ageing
population is taken into account, the figures show a real rise in the
incidence of cancer of 20 per cent among men and 30 per cent among women since
1971, which remains unexplained. Most of the increase has been in the elderly
– there has been little change in incidence in men under 65 and women under
55." (Independent) [BBC
Online]
"Cancer
risk linked to life in poverty" - "A strong link between
poverty and cancer was shown by government statisticians yesterday in a study
of how the disease grew over the past 50 years to become the biggest cause of
death in England and Wales. The office for national statistics said people in
the more deprived areas were at much greater risk of developing and dying from
10 of the main cancers, including those of the lung, stomach, oesophagus and
bladder." (Guardian)
There's a strong link between poverty and a plethora of
health risks, which is why Kyoto is such a danger to humanity -
particularly already impoverished regions - because it will destroy wealth
creation. It takes lots of spare finance to afford a healthy society and a
healthy environment.
"Treaty
now, say EU ministers"
- "The European Union and environment groups are stepping up their campaign
to limit the role of greenhouse "sinks", including carbon credits from
trees, in the emerging global carbon market before the COP6 UN conference on
climate change at the Hague next week." (AFR)
"Bush
could sink global warming treaty" - "Paris - European
environmentalists feared on Wednesday that a win by George W Bush in the US
presidential elections would wreck a marathon effort to build a treaty to stave
off global warming. UN talks resume next week in the aim of constructing the
machinery of the Kyoto Protocol, the most ambitious and arduously-fought
environmental agreement ever conceived. But Bush, an oilman like his running
mate Dick Cheney, has already declared his opposition to the protocol - a
position unlikely to be challenged by a re-elected Republican-majority Senate,
in charge of ratifying any deal." (Sapa-AFP)
"UK
Scientists: Global Warming Underestimated" - "LONDON—Global
warming is likely to make the world significantly hotter than current estimates
predict, as carbon dioxide is emitted from land, a team of British scientists
warns in the journal Nature on Wednesday, ahead of the United Nations conference
on climate to be held in The Hague from Monday." (National Geographic)
and "Forests
Could Accelerate Global Warming" - "LONDON, United Kingdom,
November 9, 2000 - Two reports released yesterday warn against relying on
carbon "sinks" to ward off climate change. Relying on forest
plantations to store carbon pollution from the atmosphere and combat climate
change could accelerate the destruction of old growth native forest around the
world, according to a report commissioned by Greenpeace and Worldwide Fund for
Nature." (ENS)
Uh-huh... and "Study:
Forests May Help Counteract Greenhouse Gas" - "WASHINGTON -
Letting forests grow on abandoned farmland and logging grounds may do more
than beautify the countryside -- they may be soaking up greenhouse gases
blamed for global warming, scientists said on Thursday." (Reuters) [Princeton
University release]
"Warming
world's winners and losers" - "UK scientists claim they can
predict how climate change will affect almost every country in the world this
century." (BBC Online)
Yup, just don't ask 'em what the weather is going to be
like a week from Tuesday. We don't even know what the oceans temperatures
are now, let alone what their trends are (or could be expected to be).
Oceans cover about 70% of Earth's surface and are hugely important factors
in weather modification. We're supposed to believe that their you-beaut
computer model can deliver long-term localised projections without knowing
anything of the bulk of the globe. Oh puh-lease!
"Greenpeace
mobilizes youth for climate change conference" - "Greenpeace
is sending some 200 young US students to an international conference on global
warming in The Hague November 13 through 24th to pressure US delegates and
generally keep an eye on negotiations, spokesmen said Wednesday." (Earth
Times)
"Kyoto
Greenhouse Gas Goals Face Tough Test in Hague" - "THE HAGUE -
Three years after the Kyoto agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions,
negotiators will begin talks next week on how to give it some teeth. ... The
Kyoto Protocol calling for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions was agreed in 1997.
But only about 30 states have ratified the protocol in their own governments,
and no major industrialized nation has legally bound itself to the
targets." (Reuters)
"Rising
seas imperil Pacific island nations" - "This month's global
conference on climate change in the Netherlands could be too little too late
for tiny Pacific islands and coral atolls at risk from rising sea
levels." (Reuters)
Twaddle! South
Pacific sea levels seen needing more study - "TARAWA, Kiribati Sea
levels may be rising but there is no evidence yet to suggest this is being
accelerated by global warming, the director of an environmental monitoring
project for South Pacific islands said on Saturday. ... Scherer said he was
confident a report by the U.N.-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, due for release in February, would also show no acceleration in sea
change. "It will recognise that on the historical data, even on a
global basis, there is no evidence of accelerations," he told Reuters
following the briefing, adding that as a contributor he had seen some
sections of the report." Also:
See the
latest sea level results as measured by the TOPEX-Poseidon satellite
system. (When the `AVISO' page opens, select the "Mean Sea Level
Monitoring" linked item to see the latest MSL chart.)
It currently runs from 1993 to June 2000. Sea levels globally are today
hardly different to what they were at the start of the satellite monitoring.
The 1997-98 El Niño caused a temporary rise in sea levels of about 2
centimetres (the TOPEX-Poseidon scientists themselves attribute this
temporary rise to El Niño), but MSL has since fallen back to pre-El Niño
levels. However, due to the El Niño anomaly over such a short data period,
the linear average for the period is +0.7 mm/year, well short of the +1 to
+2.5 mm/yr claimed by the IPCC for the whole of the 20th century, and even
more at odds with the +4.5 mm/yr which the IPCC predicts will characterise
the 21st century. The truth is out there. (John Daly, Still
Waiting for Greenhouse)
"Global
warming threat to dolphins" - "Global warming has been
blamed for the increasing number of dolphins found stranded on beaches in
Ireland. Warm water species of dolphin which were rarely sighted in the Irish
Sea and north Atlantic, have been turning up with increasing frequency,
according to experts." [A
fish out of African water] (BBC Online)
I wonder if occurred to anyone that warmer tropical
surface water during and subsequent to the 1997/98 El Niño may have had
some influence on the North Atlantic conveyor, the warm water stream that
prevents Western Europe from suffering the low temperatures found at similar
latitudes in Asia and Canada? It is very likely that water temperatures are
a little higher in the North Atlantic and that species preferring that
temperature band are travelling with it.
"More
Kilowatts, Please" - "THINK OF YOUR BRAIN AS A 1,400-WATT BULB
THAT never sleeps. Averaged out per capita and around the clock, that's how much
it takes to power our homes and businesses. Peak loads are higher, but most dumb
electrical devices are switched off much of the time." (Peter Huber,
Forbes)
"Low-Dose
Aspirin Carries Risk of Stomach Bleed-Study" - "LONDON -
People taking low-dose aspirin to prevent heart problems still have an increased
risk of stomach bleeding, British doctors said Friday. Aspirin, the 100-year-old
wonder drug used to relieve a range of ailments, has been shown to reduce the
risk of a heart attack and stroke in highly susceptible people. Taking low-dose
aspirins was thought to minimize serious side effects, including stomach
bleeding. But researchers at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford said neither the
dose nor modified release formulations cut the chance of internal
bleeding." (Reuters)
"Research
spells out Pill risks" - "The Pill scare in the mid-1990s
saved a handful of women from dangerous blood clots, researchers have found. But
the thousands of extra unwanted pregnancies due to women stopping taking their
contraceptives put many more at risk, say experts." (BBC Online)
"More
evidence of flying risk" - "Tests on volunteers exposed to the
same conditions as air passengers may help explain why some get dangerous blood
clots. The experiments, described in The Lancet medical journal, suggest the
sudden change in air pressure experienced within the cabin may be partly to
blame." (BBC Online)
"Forlorn Thanksgiving
Feast" - "Thanksgiving without turkey and with only organic,
locally grown, in-season vegetables? That's what some anti-choice activists like
EarthSave's Howard Lyman, the Organic Consumer's Association's Ronnie Cummins,
and Sustain's Jim Slama want you to have. They'll be discussing
their plans for you in Chicago on November 18th, one day after a Washington
press conference where the Center for Science in the Public Interest's Caroline
Smith-DeWaal will tell us how much "danger" we're in when we eat our
favorite holiday bird." (GuestChoice.com)
"ACSH HOLIDAY
DINNER MENU" - "The holiday season is a good time to remember
that the American food supply is by far the best in the world—and the best it
has been in the history of this country. It is the best not only in terms of its
abundance and variety, but also in terms of its safety. Our diet—like diets
around the world—is made up of water; macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins,
and fats); micronutrients (vitamins and minerals); and tens of thousands of
other naturally occurring chemicals." (ACSH)
"SEAFOOD INDUSTRY WANT PERMISSION TO USE IRRADIATION" -
"ARLINGTON, Virginia, November 9, 2000 - The National Fisheries Institute (NFI)
and others have petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow for
the voluntary use of irradiation treatment for crustacean seafood products,
including shrimp, crab, lobster and crawfish. "The use of irradiation to
control food pathogens has widespread scientific acceptance, and both consumers
and producers would benefit if it were available to use on crustaceans"
said Richard Gutting Jr., NFI's president. "Consumers should have the
option of choosing products that have an additional measure of safety if they so
desire." (ENS)
"French
officials insist meat is safe" - "PARIS - France's consumer
affairs minister said Thursday there is no scientific evidence to justify the
widening alarm gripping the country over mad cow disease. "Never was meat
as safe as today," Minister Francois Patriat declared. Health Minister
Dominique Gillot echoed the claim, saying that France's strict rules for meat
production were ample protection against the illness. "Nothing indicates
that red meat presents a risk to human health," she told LCI radio."
[Officials
fear possible French beef panic] (AP)
The French still maintain a ban on British beef though
don't they?
"Fat
Chance" - "YOU KNOW A HEALTH CRAZE HAS gone too far when
Johnson & Johnson rolls out a cholesterol-reducing margarine that sounds
more like an antihistamine than a spread." (Kelly Barron, Forbes)
"Lid
comes off organic oil scandal" - "The Australian
Financial Review has learned that the organic food industry was rocked
internally in 1998 by evidence suggesting more than 10,000 litres of olive oil
destined for both domestic and export markets may have been falsely sold as
organic." (AFR)
"The Spaghetti
Incident" - (GuestChoice.com) "Anti-choice activists have so
needlessly scared the Italian public that the government has decreed only
organic food can be served in Italy's schools. The Italian Agriculture
Minister said the decision was designed to keep "genetically-modified
foodstuffs from school meals." ("Italian schools must introduce
organic food," Agence France Presse, 11/8/00)
Actually, Italian ag science is in deep trouble - here's
an appeal from an Italian scientist seeking your help.
"Aventis
Says Cost of StarLink Recall Will Be Lower Than Original Reports"
- "PARIS -- Aventis CropScience, the agrochemicals unit of life-sciences
company Aventis SA, said Thursday that the financial impact of the recall of
StarLink genetically modified corn in the U.S. will be significantly lower than
the $1 billion recently reported in the press." (WSJ)
"Taiwan
buys U.S. corn as usual despite StarLink" - "TAIPEI - Taiwan's
grain importers said yesterday they will continue to buy U.S. corn for livestock
feed despite recent controversy over StarLink biotech corn banned for human
consumption but found in food products." (Reuters)
"U.S.
corn sales to Japan down, StarLink blamed" - "CHICAGO, Nov 9 -
Top customer Japan continues to buy U.S. corn but concerns that the genetically
modified StarLink variety could slip into shipments appears to have that country
buying less than in previous years, analysts said." (Reuters)
"US
Corn Exports Unaffected by StarLink" - "WASHINGTON - Despite
market jitters over the controversy surrounding StarLink gene-spliced corn, U.S.
corn exports for 2000/01 were unchanged from last month's projection of 57.79
million tons, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Thursday." (Reuters)
"Church
Calls For Moratorium On Genetically Engineered Food" -
"Cape Town, South Africa -- The Southern African Catholic Bishops`
Conference Wednesday expressed its concern over the utilisation of Genetic
Engineering or GE technologies in agriculture and food production. Tens of
thousands of hectares in South Africa have been planted with GE crops." (PANA)
"Fighting
Famine With Biotechnology" - "George McGovern, former U.S.
senator and current ambassador to the U.S. Mission of the United Nations
Agencies for Food and Agriculture in Rome (also a big Guest Choice supporter),
says genetically improved foods "must not be stymied by voices raised
against the hypothetical, while real disease and starvation threaten millions of
people." (GuestChoice.com)
"Gene
modified cotton use seen growing dramatically" - "CAIRNS -
Genetically modified (GM) cotton crops were likely to increase dramatically to
50 percent of the world crop in five to seven years, the International Cotton
Advisory Council (ICAC) plenary meetings were told." (Reuters)
"Where
new tobacco shops could go up in smoke" - "They've been booted
out of the workplace, restaurants, and bars. Now, smokers in San Francisco are
facing new restrictions not only on where they can light up, but where they can
buy tobacco in the first place. This city is weighing a new ordinance that
would, in effect, prevent any new tobacco retail outlets in the city."
(CSM)
November 9, 2000
"It
goes to your head" - "... This week there is more confusion
over whether hands-free accessories increase or decrease the amount of radiation
entering the head, and whether that radiation can be easily blocked (see p 7).
Let's get some proper national and international standards quickly, please. Just
remember all those "no evidence that . . ." statements at the
beginning of the BSE epidemic." (New Scientist editorial)
"EPA
bans many toxins in Great Lakes" - "The Great Lakes could be
spared up to 70,000 pounds of toxic chemicals each year because of new
regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency. The federal agency
has banned the disposal of hazardous substances like dioxin, PCPs and pesticides
through so-called "mixing zones." (CNN)
"U.S.
power generation expected to keep pace with demand" - "There
are enough power plant projects on the drawing board to satisfy the growing
demand for electricity in the United States, but according to a report released
Monday, a lack of new high-voltage transmission lines could make it difficult to
get the power to consumers." (UPI)
"Stash
or burn" - "BRITAIN should abandon its de facto moratorium on
nuclear power and build two reactors to "burn" its growing stockpile
of surplus plutonium, says the nuclear industry. Such a move would buck the
trend among most Western nations of turning away from nuclear power, and would
be bitterly opposed by environmentalists." (New Scientist)
"Court
Wary of Clean-Air Rules' Cost" - "WASHINGTON - Supreme Court
justices voiced skepticism Tuesday about ordering the federal government to
change decades of clean-air policy and begin considering compliance costs - not
just health benefits - in setting nationwide air quality standards." (AP) [Washington
Post & editorial]
[Washington
Times]
"Rein In the Regulators" -
"Congress and the Presidency may be up for grabs today, but over at the
third branch of government, it's business as usual. Well, not that usual, for
the business that the Supreme Court is conducting this Election Day doesn't come
before it very often. The Justices are looking at an important Constitutional
issue that they rarely take up: bureaucrats who grab power and legislators who
let them get away with it. Under our system of government, they aren't supposed
to do that. Constitutional scholars know this as the "non-delegation
doctrine." To the rest of us, it's the Way Washington Works." (WSJ,
Nov 7)
"Jonathon
Porritt" - "He is our tree hugger in chief, a self-righteous
prophet who now finds himself at the centre of things [and environment advisor
to British PM Tony Blair]. Sweet are the uses of environmental adversity. There
may be stormy weather ahead. Perhaps climate changes will enforce a grim nemesis
and later generations be forced to pay a price for their forebears'
heedlessness. Rainforests certainly totter and GM crops undoubtedly sway on land
where sheep had better graze sceptically - or not at all. But, Praise the Lord
and pass the New Environmentalist's Handbook. There are careers to be made out
of all this, sermons to preach and hours of broadcasting time to fill."
(New Statesman)
"Foreign
Office creates its own environment policy unit"
- "Robin Cook, the UK foreign secretary, will on Wednesday launch an
environment policy unit at the Foreign Office, in a move reflecting the
subject's growing importance in international affairs. The environment has risen
sharply up the foreign policy agenda as a result of concern over issues such as
climate change, genetically modified crops and the large numbers of refugees
fleeing natural disasters." (Financial Times)
"Environment
groups warn on EU funds use in E.Europe" - "BRUSSELS - Two
Green pressure groups warned yesterday that secretive management of European
Union financial aid to central and east European countries raised risks it would
be wasted on environmentally-unfriendly projects." (Reuters)
"'Moneybags'
ministry under fire" - "A report that the
Ministry of the Environment is unable to spend all its funds has caused uproar
from opposition politicians." (Copenhagen Post)
"Greenpeace
accused of fouling harbour" - "Nelson, New Zealand -
Greenpeace got a warning from New Zealand officials who said the environmental
group's flagship released polluted water into a city harbour. The Nelson City
Council gave Greenpeace an official warning after the Rainbow Warrior discharged
sewage while docked at the city's port." (Sapa-AP)
"British
greens slam Brown budget" - "LONDON - British
environmentalists accused Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown yesterday of
caving in to fuel tax protesters in his pre-Budget report." (Reuters)
"Brown
backs down" - "HE blinked. Right up to the last minute, we
were told that Gordon Brown could not possibly give way to the fuel protesters.
Schools and hospitals would close, ministers intoned; interest rates would soar;
and pensioners be left to shiver if fuel taxes were cut. And then, hey presto,
yesterday afternoon the Iron Chancellor suddenly found that he could afford not
just to match the Conservatives' suggestion of a 3p a litre cut in petrol duty,
but to go a penny better. For the hauliers who humiliated the Government in
September, there will be tax cuts equivalent, or so Mr Brown claimed, to a total
of 8p off a litre of diesel. So much for never giving way to pressure."
(Daily Telegraph)
"Brits
to cut fuel taxes" - "LONDON -- The British government, hoping
to head off a repetition of September's countrywide fuel blockades, announced
Wednesday it would cut taxes on cars, trucks and some grades of fuel." (AP)
"Greenhouse
madhouse" - "Floods and other outlandish weather in Europe are
finally driving home the message about global warming--just as the besuited
delegates from 180-odd countries meet for next week's global warming conference
in The Hague. But the well-intentioned hordes are in for a shock: the protesters
who ransacked Seattle, trashed burger joints and coffee shops, and lit up Prague
like nobody since the '89 revolution are planning to join in." (New
Scientist)
"Downer
calls for workable rules in Kyoto protocol" - "The Federal
Government will push strongly for carbon sinks and emissions trading to be
included in any agreement on the implementation of the Kyoto protocol."
(Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
"Australia
won't take unfair greenhouse burden - govt" - "CANBERRA -
Australia would not carry an unfair share of the burden to cut greenhouse gas
emissions, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday ahead of key
international talks in The Netherlands." (Reuters)
"Environment
groups criticise Tasmanian forestry practices" - "Environment
groups in Europe claim forestry practices in the Australian state of Tasmania
have revealed a giant loophole in the proposed Kyoto protocol to reduce global
warming." (Radio Australia)
"Carbon
sinks unacceptable" - "A top environmental agency does not
want "carbon sinks", where forests absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide,
endorsed under a UN convention on climate change. Saksit Tridech,
secretary-general of the Office of Environmental Policy and Planning (OEPP),
said the time was not right to back carbon sinks because of the ambiguity of
forest science." (Bangkok Post)
"EC
official says no to Japan’s CO2 sequestering plan" -
"Unacceptable! That is what a senior official of the European Commission,
the executive body of the European Union, said of Japan’s plan to factor in
forest absorption to attain up to 3.7% of its 6% Kyoto carbon dioxide (CO2)
reduction target." (Pollution Online)
"US
and EU at odds over climate change treaty" - "The UN climate
conference in The Hague is shaping up to be a Ryder Cup match between the
Americans and Europe--but in this case politicians can change the score in the
last round, and the bookies aren’t looking for a winner. The awkwardly named
Sixth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change, shortened to COP6, is supposed to bring to life the
eight-year-old Rio convention on climate and pollution and its three-year-old
Kyoto Protocol. “Unlikely,” says the normally diplomatic Nitin Desai, the UN
Under Secretary General whose Department of Economic and Social Affairs would
look after implementation of any agreement." (Earth Times)
"Hague meet
on climate change faces tense negotiations" - "NEW DELHI: With
barely a week to go for the start of the sixth conference of parties (CoP-6) to
the Kyoto protocol on climate change, the government is fine-tuning its stand
even as concerns are raised from a number of quarters about the outcome of the
meet." (Times of India)
"Death
ritual goes environmental" - "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. At
the end of the day, we're all compost. When the time comes, most Canadians
prefer to assist the process through cremation. In Britain, however,
environmentalists are opting for an emission-reduced exit." (Vancouver Sun)
"Global
warming business group cools its message" - "NEW YORK - The
Global Climate Coalition (GCC), a business group dedicated to questioning claims
that humans cause global warming, has softened its tone ahead of a global
meeting on the issue later this month in The Hague." (Reuters)
"Scientists
look to oceans for weather data" - "To forecast tomorrow's
weather, meteorologists look at the sky. To figure out what the next six
months will be like, it's better to look at the ocean. The 70 percent of the
globe that's covered with water is the primary engine driving long-term
climate trends, scientists say. But because there is no worldwide network to
monitor the oceans, there's still a lot of mystery about the way water and air
interact to create the planet's intricate — and often destructive —
climate patterns." (News Tribune)
Despite having sailed over the oceans for centuries we
have virtually no data about their temperature trends and cycles - which is
why climate models don't work and won't for decades while we gather some of
the missing data. Even when we have decades of data we still won't know what
to call a baseline because we don't know what phases they're in at the
moment or what phases they will naturally undergo during the cycles we know
must exist. This means it will be a very long time before we will be able to
tell 'natural' change from anthropogenic (induced by humans) - always
assuming that such a thing exists at all.
"The
Global Case For Tree-Hugging" - "There's more going on this
month than elections. Next week a conference begins at the Hague at which one of
the most important decisions ever made about the global environment will be
taken. The parties to the Convention on Climate Change will decide to what
extent trees and forests can be used to offset the growing concentrations of
greenhouse gases." (Washington Post)
"Growth
factor" - "A new climate model that incorporates realistic
plant life suggests much faster global warming than previously predicted."
(New Scientist)
Oh, so that explains why the planet cooled into the
Little Ice Age with the massive European and North American deforestation of
the 14th through 19th centuries then - plants cause global warming. Right...
"Not
convinced about global warming" - "... Even if we don't ask
why global warming isn't happening now, when we are burning more fossil fuels
every year, one fact won't go away. Carbon dioxide is a plant food. Every plant
in the world, including the ones we eat, uses more carbon dioxide to grow than
any other nutrient. So animals that eat plants are just as dependent on
it." (Indianapolis Star)
"Brazil
launches defense program for Amazon jungle" - "BRASILIA -
Brazil announced yesterday a far-reaching, $435 million program to free the
Amazon jungle from the grip of drug traffickers, loggers and miners operating
deep in the world's largest rainforest." (Reuters)
Of elections and hurricanes, floods and things, Alan Caruba's "Warning
Signs"
"Don't
blame the climate" - "Recent media reports of flooding in
south-east England have linked it to climate change. While there may be an
element of exceptional rainfall, new developments on floodplains have clearly
contributed to the catalogue of damage. Floodplains are meant to store water not
to be cluttered with houses." (Guardian)
"Intensive
farming blamed for swollen rivers" - "Farmers, green groups,
academics and the environment agency waded deeper into the flood debate
yesterday - pinning much of the damage of the past few weeks on intensive
farming and offering new ideas on how to avoid the same problems happening
again." (Guardian) [New
Scientist] [The
Times]
"A
searing future" - "THE Silk Road to Samarkand is hot and
dusty--and the devastating droughts and searing heat of this part of central
Asia are almost certain to get worse. In a blistering new analysis of global
warming's winners and losers, climate scientists warn that temperatures in the
region, which now regularly exceed 40 °C, are due for some of the biggest
increases in the coming century." (New Scientist proselytising about CCCR's
guesswork)
"Warming
'to melt Arctic ice by 2080'"
- "GLOBAL warming may suddenly accelerate over the coming decades, pushing
temperatures across the planet far higher than had previously been supposed,
British scientists said yesterday." (The Times)
"Brute force and
sandbags" - "SEVEN years ago it was people living along the
Mississippi who saw floods sweeping through their homes. Earlier this year it
was Mozambique, then the European Alps and Vietnam. Now it's Britain's turn to
see normally placid rivers in full spate, reclaiming their flood plains from the
high streets and car parks and backyards. But what is the cause?" (New
Scientist editorial on climate change)
"Autumn
is set to be wettest for centuries" - "Figures from The
Met Office showed that by November 5, with three and a half weeks of the autumn
season still to go, 14.4in (356mm) of rain had fallen in England and Wales, just
5in short of the highest ever autumn rainfall recorded in 1852. Since records
began in 1766, the average for the season, which runs from the start of
September to the end of November, is 10in (253mm)." (The Times)
"On
Charles, the preaching prince" - "... In recent days the
optimists' hope - that once the prince has taken on the formal role for which he
has so long been waiting, he will finally abandon his preaching career - has
grown increasingly forlorn." (Catherine Bennett, Guardian) [Scotsman]
"Tonsil
warning" - "... We work out that if there are 10,000 people in
Britain incubating [vCJD], then half the tonsilectomy sets are already
contaminated," says John Collinge, at the Medical Research Council's Prion
Unit at Imperial College School of Medicine in London." (New Scientist)
"No
answer found on CJD cluster" - "Doctors and health officials
investigating a cluster of five deaths from the human form of BSE have as yet
been unable to formulate a theory to link all the cases." (Guardian)
"BSE
crisis" - "France is gripped by fear as health minister
predicts dozens of people will die" (New Scientist)
"Voluntary
GM Labeling Introduced in Hong Kong" - "The Hong Kong Food and
Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has proposed guidelines on voluntary
labeling of Genetically Modified (GM) foods which have been passed onto the Hong
Kong Retail Management Association for comments." (AgWeb.com)
"Battle
over gene-altered foods set to escalate" - "The biotechnology
industry is bracing for a renewed campaign by consumer activists next year to
restrict the movement toward genetically modified foods. Biotech leaders
anticipate the pressure could begin when Congress reconvenes in January and
could extend to the US Food and Drug Administration. The issue in Congress will
be whether to require labeling of bioengineered foods, while the FDA will be
asked to give greater scrutiny to gene-altered food." (Boston Globe)
"Public
Funding For GM Crop Research Urged" - "New public sector
efforts are required for creating transgenic crops that benefit poor farmers in
developing nations and improving their access to food through employment,
according to a report prepared under the auspices of the Royal Society of
London, the US National Academy of Sciences, the Indian Science Academy, the
Brazilian Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Mexican
Academy of Sciences and the Third World Academy of Sciences." (Hindu
Business Line)
"Various
Firms Are Beginning To Utilize Biotechnology" - "There's
another biotech revolution going on. For most of its 20-year history,
biotechnology has focused on the workings of genes and proteins to cure and
treat diseases. But the same tools used to slice and dice DNA in the search for
new drugs are being adopted by all sorts of industries." (Knight Ridder)
"Myriad finds
6 proteins linked to heart disease" - "NEW YORK, Nov 7 -
Myriad Genetics Inc. on Tuesday said it has discovered six proteins associated
with a gene linked to heart disease and hopes to develop a new generation of
heart medicines by controlling the way the proteins interact." (Reuters)
"Brazil
researchers find rice makes nice cement" - "SAO PAULO - Rice
may soon become the preferred staple of the world's civil engineers, say
Brazilian researchers who are patenting a process for using the grain's husks to
make the highest quality cement." (Reuters)
"Anxiety
Seen in Teenagers Who Smoke" - "Contrary to the popular belief
that teenagers who smoke are nervous children who use tobacco to calm down, a
new study suggests that heavy smoking may have the opposite effect, and actually
increase their risk of developing certain anxiety disorders in late adolescence
or early adulthood." (NY Times)
"Super
rats pose threat to Britain" - "GROWING fat on junk food
litter, a new breed of super rats which are immune to modern poisons is
threatening Britain, pest controllers said yesterday." (Telegraph)
November 8, 2000
"Press
bias exposed online" - "Some time today, when the
result of the US presidential election is known, Al Gore might regret ever
inventing that damned internet." (AFR)
"Gore
says will form green alliance with Blair" - "LONDON - US Vice
President Al Gore was quoted as saying he would form a green alliance with
British Prime Minister Tony Blair if he won yesterday's presidential
election." (Reuters)
"Justices
study compliance costs for clean-air rules" - "WASHINGTON --
Hearing arguments in a major clean-air case, several Supreme Court justices
expressed doubts Tuesday about requiring the government to consider compliance
costs -- and not just health benefits -- in setting air-quality limits."
(AP)
"Clean Air
at Any Cost?" - "Nationwide clean-air standards are at stake
in a major environmental case that asks the Supreme Court whether the government
must consider compliance costs - and not just health benefits - in setting
air-quality limits, according to the Associated Press. Industry groups are
asking the justices to rule that the Environmental Protection Agency must weigh
the cost of reducing harmful emissions against the benefits of improved air
quality. The Clinton administration argues that the EPA is not supposed to
consider costs in setting the national air-quality standard. The government
wants the justices to reverse a lower court ruling that said the EPA went too
far in adopting tougher clean-air standards in 1997. In "The
EPA's Clean Air-ogance," Steven J. Milloy and Michael Gough, commenting
on air standards, show how "a close inspection of the EPA proposal shows
that it lacks a sound basis in science." In "Time
to Reopen the Clean Air Act: Clearing Away the Regulatory Smog," K.H.
Jones and Jonathan Adler make the case for revisiting the Clean Air Act to
reduce EPA regulations such as "mandatory carpooling and enhanced
inspection and maintenance programs to technology standards for factory
emissions and new emissions controls on lawn mowers, snow blowers, chain saws,
and the like." (Cato Institute)
"Parkinstein
Food?" - "A study published in Nature
Neuroscience and reported in some British newspapers has caused the
organic food movement some considerable distress. We well remember that when
Arpad Pusztai announced the results of his flawed and non-peer reviewed study on
the effects of genetically modified potatoes on rats, there was an immediate
media frenzy of sensational scare-mongering about so-called Frankenstein foods,
led in great part by the champions of 'natural' agricultural methods. Now,
however, research reported in a highly prestigious scientific journal suggests
that a pesticide recommended by the Soil Association for use on organic crops
may have the potential to cause Parkinson's disease." (Social Issues
Research Centre)
"Pesticides
and Parkinson's Disease in Rats A valuable study, overinterpreted."
- "Some scientists and environmentalists used this report to attack
pesticides, and environmental chemicals in general, as a cause of PD. The facts
do not so indicate, by any means." (Gilbert Ross, ACSH)
"French
mad cow disease food scare widens" - "President Jacques Chirac
urged drastic new precautions against mad cow disease today and a top health
official predicted more people would die as France's proud culinary tradition
took a hammering." (Reuters)
"UPDATE
- Chirac, Jospin at odds over meat/bone meal ban" - "PARIS -
Prime Minister Lionel Jospin yesterday rejected President Jacques Chirac's call
to suspend the use of meat and bone meal in animal feed amid growing fears about
the spread of mad cow disease." (Reuters)
"State
Beefing Up Vehicle Emission Curbs in 2004" - "The
Pataki administration adopted new emissions standards yesterday, giving New York
some of the most stringent vehicle pollution controls in the nation. The
regulations, approved by the state Environmental Board, are aimed at cutting
pollution levels generated by new cars and trucks offered for sale in the state
beginning with model year 2004." (New York Daily)
"Fla.
Decision Hurts Deal on Tobacco Suits" - "A proposed $8 billion
nationwide deal with two tobacco companies to settle punitive damages in class
action, sick-smoker lawsuits could be in jeopardy after a federal judge sent a
$145 billion Florida jury award back to a state judge who upheld the massive
award." (Washington Post)
"Europeans
Suing Big Tobacco in U.S." - "PARIS, Nov. 6 — The European
Commission said today that it had filed a civil lawsuit in the United States
against the Philip Morris Company and the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company seeking
damages for what it called their involvement with organized crime in smuggling
cigarettes into Europe." (NY Times)
"Saudi
hospital to sue tobacco firms for $2.6 bn" - "RIYADH: A
leading hospital in Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it was preparing to sue
international tobacco companies for, at least, 10 billion riyals ($2.6 billion)
to compensate it for the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses."
(Times of India)
"Study:
Virus linked to coronaries" - "People over 65 infected with
the virus that causes cold sores have twice the risk of a heart attack or death
from coronary heart disease, according to a study by University of Washington
researchers. "Most people who have an infection will not develop heart
attacks," said Dr. David Siscovick, a UW professor of medicine and
epidemiology. "But in the presence of other factors, it may increase
risk." (Seattle Times)
"United
Nations, World Bank approve environment grants" - "WASHINGTON
- The United Nations and World Bank's Global Environment Facility (GEF)
yesterday said it has approved $153.7 million in grants for 14 environmental
projects ranging from assessing the impact of climate change to harnessing wind
power in China." (Reuters)
"Schroeder
sees slow German change to green energy" - "BERLIN - German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in a speech yesterday the country's planned
transition towards new, cleaner energy sources would not be quick. The country's
present fuel mix, with hard coal, lignite and nuclear energy each contributing
major shares towards energy generation, was here to stay for some time, he said
during an event organised by carmaker DaimlerChrysler." (Reuters)
"Sanyo
may face criminal charge in solar cell issue" - "TOKYO -
Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) is considering
filing a criminal complaint against Sanyo Electric Co Ltd for allegedly
falsifying labels on its solar cell panels, the national Kyodo news agency said
yesterday." (Reuters)
"UPDATE
- De Palacio wants energy policy shift to EU level" -
"BRUSSELS - EU Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio said yesterday energy
policy decisions should be taken at European Community level in the long term
rather than by individual member states." (Reuters)
"Opposition
calls for action on global warming" - "The Opposition parties
are calling on the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, to act quickly in
relation to global warming in the light of the current bad weather and flooding.
The Labour Party environment spokesman, Mr Eamon Gilmore, said the Minister
should draw up a national strategy to cope with the threat of climate
change." (Irish Times) along with some raving from the Irish Independent: We
ignore these weather warnings at our peril & Why
scientists are warning that we're now living in the era of the super storm.
"The
IPCC Does it Again" - "It happened again. Just like in 1995,
someone sneaked the New York Times
some dramatic revelations from a draft version of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change's (IPCC's) as yet unapproved final assessment of the state of
global warming science. The report, which the IPCC produces every five years,
has this time dramatically increased the upper limit of its forecast of the 21st
century's temperature increase, from 4.5°C to 6.0°C, the Times
reveals. But the document the IPCC sent out for scientific peer review contained
no such number." (GES)
"Report
shows Aust has highest gas emissions in world" - "Australia's
attempts to meet its Kyoto greenhouse gas targets have been slammed by a Senate
committee. The environment committee's report on global warming says Australia
has the highest emissions per capita in the world and is already well over the
target set in Kyoto in 1997." (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
"Prince
denounced as 'arrogant and ignorant'"
- "THE Prince of Wales was branded “arrogant” and “ignorant”
yesterday by a leading scientist over a speech in which he blamed mankind for
the deadly storms and floods that have lashed Britain." (The Times)
"EU
agrees tough stance before climate change talks" - "BRUSSELS -
The European Union agreed yesterday to form a united front in demanding tough
rules for compliance with a global agreement to cut greenhouse gases in
high-level international talks that start next week." (Reuters)
"New
Confirmation of Strong Solar Forcing of Climate" - "The
IPCC stated in Climate Change 1995 that "forcing due to changes in the
Sun's output over the past century has been considerably smaller than
anthropogenic forcing." Estimates shown in a figure allotted about 10% to
solar forcing and 90% to forcing due to human greenhouse gas contributions.
IPCC's draft of the Third Assessment Report (TAR 2000) continues attributing to
the Sun a minor role in climate change." (Dr Theodor Landscheidt, Schroeter
Institute for Research in Cycles of Solar Activity)
"Kyoto
Protocol must advance toward ratification of its goals" -
"Carbon dioxide emissions cannot be drastically reduced quickly enough to
meet the objectives of the protocol if protracted negotiations were to delay its
adoption until just before the goal of 2008-2012 set by the developed nations
for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The effort to forestall global warming
continues Monday, Nov. 13, with the opening of the sixth session of the
Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change in The Hague to work out details of the protocol adopted three years ago
in Kyoto." (Asahi Shimbun)
"CO2
as Antifreeze" -
"Plants grow faster. Photosynthesis increases. Root systems improve. Yields
jump. Water-use efficiency rises. Drought resistance becomes stronger. Countless
stresses are minimized. An ideal biosphere? Maybe. An attainable one? You
bet." (GES)
"Arctic
Glaciers: Are They Succumbing to Global Warming?" - "... In
fact, in the words of the authors, "there is no compelling indication of
increasingly negative balance conditions which might, a priori, be
expected from anthropogenically induced global warming." Quite to the
contrary, they report that "almost 80% of the mass balance time series also
have a positive trend, toward a less negative mass balance." Hence,
although most Arctic glaciers continue to lose mass, as they have probably done
since the end of the Little
Ice Age, they are losing smaller amounts each year, in the mean, which is
hardly what one would expect in the face of what climate alarmists call
(falsely) the "unprecedented warming" of the latter part of the
twentieth century." (co2science.org)
"The sky
isn't falling!" - "Last week, scientists said a mysterious
space object had a good chance of striking the Earth. Now, in a case of
astronomic Chicken Little, they've taken back their warnings and say there is
very little threat." (Fox News) [Much
Ado about 2000 SG344 (NASA)]
"US
firms sell corn to Japan despite biotech fears" -
"WASHINGTON, Nov 7 - Japan, the single biggest buyer of American corn,
resumed its purchases with a 127,000 tonnes order days after the U.S. government
agreed to begin testing to prevent StarLink gene-spliced corn from tainting
exports, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Tuesday." (Reuters)
"Bio-technology
India 2000 to showcase breakthrough" - "NEW DELHI: The
advances made in the field of bio-technology and related sciences and their
applications in real life would be showcased during the three-day international
exhibition-cum-conference starting here on November 29, a release said. The 2nd
Bio-technology India, 2000 seeks to bring major industries like healthcare and
bio-pharmaceuticals, agriculture and food sector under one umbrella with a view
to promote India as the bio-technology investment destination." (Times of
India)
"Monsanto
Calls On Friends Of The Earth To Provide Test Data Results For Public
Validation" - "ST. LOUIS (Nov. 7, 2000) - Monsanto Company
today called on Friends of the Earth to make available for validation the data
and test methods used by its contract laboratory in alleging unapproved
varieties of corn were present in specific food products." (Monsanto)
"BRITISH
STORES WARNED OF GM FOOD FINES" - "Britain's supermarkets have
been reminded they face massive fines if they are found selling banned
genetically modified foods. Store bosses have also been warned that anyone
knowingly selling such outlawed foods risks up to two years in prison. The Food
Standards Agency on Britain moved following claims that Safeway, Asda, Sainsbury
and Tesco were all selling own- brand tortilla chips with banned GM maize. The
big four deny this. The claims have now prompted the agency to remind retailers
of their legal obligations." (AgWeb.com)
"Minister
rules out entry of `terminator technology'" - "HYDERABAD:
Union minister of state for agriculture Debendra Pradhan on Tuesday ruled out
the entry of `terminator technology' into the country, saying that it would
adversely affect the interest of the farmers. Inaugurating a two-day national
seminar here on `Transgenic crops and foods,' he said the terminator technology,
which triggered a major controversy among the farmers, would also check the
private sector from getting more value for investment." (Times of India)
"British
doctors defend embryo research" - "LONDON - Despite recent
advances toward using adult cells to fight illness, embryos provide the only
realistic hope for cell-based treatments in the near future, Britain's premier
scientific organization said Tuesday. Up to 10 percent of the population could
benefit from such therapy, but without research on embryos, development could be
delayed an extra 20 years, said Richard Gardner, a professor of zoology at
Oxford University and lead author of the report." (AP)
"Toad
Conservation Complicates Tanzania's Energy Plans" -
"Tanzania's large mining and tourism investments have pushed demand for
power in the country to over 550 megawatts, but output on the national grid
varies from 225 megawatts to 416 megawatts, so the Kihansi project is vital.
Standing in its way is the rare one inch Kihansi spray toad, which needs
waterfall spray to survive. The flow of water in the Kihansi river is just
enough to turn the three turbines, while to thrive, the toad is thought to need
seven cubic meters of water per second - enough to produce 52 megawatts of
electricity." (ENS)
"Court
upholds California's strict milk standards" - "SAN FRANCISCO -
The state Supreme Court ruled on Monday that California's tough milk enrichment
standards take precedence over federal guidelines. The top court upheld a
$696,000 fine against Arizona-based Shamrock Foods Co. for selling 70,000
gallons of milk in California that met federal rules but fell below state
requirements." (AP)
"Chinese
policeman invents lockable knickers" - "A Chinese policeman,
on a morality crusade, has invented a pair of lockable underpants. Authorities
are now studying whether the design qualifies for a global patent."
(Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
November 7, 2000
Ben & Jerry's and Dioxin on ABC's 20/20! ABC's "20/20" news magazine report on dioxin in Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Friday, November 3, 2000
is available online: Scoops
of Hypocrisy? RealVideo coverage is linked from the same page. (ABC
News)
"US
emissions deal troubles EU"
- "The US and much of Latin America have struck a landmark deal to push for
full-scale trading in greenhouse gas emissions as a solution to global warming.
The alliance between the developed and developing world is the first of its kind
and will put pressure on the European Union, which opposes emissions trading, at
this month's climate change conference in The Hague. Fourteen Latin American
countries will back the US bid to allow it to count the reduction of emissions
in poorer countries and the use of carbon "sinks" - the planting or
saving of forests - as part of its own quota under the 1997 Kyoto
protocol." (Financial Times)
"European
firms seek clear rules on climate agreement" - "BRUSSELS - The
European employers' federation said yesterday governments should not ratify an
international agreement to tackle climate change before the rules on how it will
work are clarified." (Reuters)
"Hill
wins flexibility in greenhouse talks"
- "Cabinet yesterday stuck by its long-standing declaration that
Australia would not agree to a global greenhouse regime which did not apply to
its developing country competitors and therefore gave them an unfair economic
advantage." (AFR)
"Cabinet
puts off greenhouse deal" - "Australia will hold out on
ratifying the Kyoto protocol to reduce greenhouse emissions unless the
agreement also applies to developing countries such as India and
China." (The Age, Nov 6)
However, China stated a week ago: "Beijing
will approach an international global warming conference in The Hague in
November ready to torpedo any proposal which seeks to impose restrictions on
developing countries' pollution emissions, as has been suggested by German
Environment Minister Juergen Trittin. "The issue of cutting developing
countries' carbon gas emissions should not be revived again," said a
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman." (Sapa-AFP)
This suggests that the 'flexibility' given to Hill to
take to The Hague is the diplomatic equivalent of extending your middle
finger and saying "Jam your stupid protocol!" - I didn't realise
that was called 'flexibility' these days. Meanwhile, naturally:
"Green
groups slam Kyoto stance" - "A row has broken out between
environment groups and the Howard Government over its stance on developing
countries and the Kyoto agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
(The Age)
The featured Ms Reynolds, wearing her 'Climate Action
Network' hat, has an interesting history of membership in and representative
of all manner of incestuous little conservation fronts, 'North Queensland
Conservation Council', 'Friends of Hinchinbrook', 'Save the Pink Elephants'
(or something like that) - the list is long but none too distinguished. The
common theme is 'Nature good - People bad'. Rumour has it that the total
combined membership is something under a dozen.
Whoops! "Get
serious on warming" - "Evidence that global climate change
is accelerating is more compelling than ever. Last month a panel of hundreds
of scientists sponsored by the United Nations said that over the next 100
years the planet could, at the present rate, heat up by as much as 6 degrees C
- nearly twice the same group's prediction five years ago. The scientists also
declared unambiguously that human activity has "contributed
substantially" to this warming trend." (Montreal Gazette)
The Gazette can't tell the difference between a
'leaked' political 'summary' and the 1,000 page TAR 2000 to which it bears
such little semblance. We do need to get serious about enhanced greenhouse -
an hypothesis devoid of empirical support and never likely to advance to a
theory. Derail the gravy train and put some effort to genuine problems - we
do have some you know.
"Climate
treaty 'robs the poor'" - "A UK climatologist has launched a
scathing attack on the developed world's "self-serving ideology" in
tackling climate change. The scientist, Dr Mick Kelly, accuses the rich of
patronising the poor, and seeking to save the climate on their terms alone. He
says they should be concerned with justice, not the free market. And he believes
they ignore urgent problems today because they are obsessed with a
"comparatively nebulous" future threat." (BBC Online)
"Ministers
protest too much before the fuel campaign has even started"
- "The message seems to be that these people embody all that is
unacceptable in Britain today. They are fat, selfish smokers who abuse the
Internet, are in league with the far Right and (far worse) the foxhunters, and
are to blame for everything from BSE to the bad weather. The eco-crusaders’
latest allegation, that catastrophic climate change is nature’s revenge for
the damage done by long distance lorries, sounds about as rational as the old
moral crusaders’ cry about Aids being God’s punishment for promiscuity. Yet
it has been entertained in serious liberal newspapers. We await the first
“Global warming: the truckers’ plague” headline." (Mick Hume, The
Times)
"In
EPA case, court weighs power of agencies" - "Three years ago,
the Environmental Protection Agency enacted tough air pollution standards to
reduce the amount of soot and smog in the atmosphere. Instead of ushering in an
era of cleaner air, it triggered an avalanche of legal challenges by industry
groups, complaining of costs of up to $150 billion a year. They question whether
the US Constitution permits unelected bureaucrats to wield the kind of
discretionary power that could, in theory, bring American industry to its
knees." (CSM) ['American
Trucking' Puts Agency Power at Issue (Law.com)]
"Judge
upholds $145 billion verdict against U.S. cigarette makers" -
"Kaye issued a comprehensive, 68-page order Monday rejecting tobacco
industry requests to reduce the award and conduct a new trial. Earlier in the
day, a federal court ruled it did not have jurisdiction in the case. Smokers'
attorney Stanley Rosenblatt said Monday's order means the tobacco companies
will have to go to an appeals court to pursue the case. "This is
terrific, and terrific he did it so quickly," Rosenblatt said."
(CNN)
"Armed
Virgin" - "VIRGIN, Utah, Nov. 6 — This tiny southern Utah
town has enacted an ordinance requiring a gun and ammunition in every home for
residents’ self-defense. Most of Virgin’s 350 residents already own firearms
so the initiative has lots of support, Mayor Jay Lee said. The ordinance was
passed June 15. Residents had expressed fear that their Second Amendment right
to bear arms was under fire so the town council modeled a similar measure passed
by a Georgia city about 12 years ago." (ABC News) [Crime,
Self-Defense, and the Right to Carry a Handgun]
"Jab
fears raise risk of measles" - "CHILDREN are growing up
without protection against potentially fatal infections because of scares over
MMR vaccine, the millennium medical conference in London was told
yesterday." (The Times)
"FDA
issues cold medicine warning" - "WASHINGTON -- The Food and
Drug Administration warned Americans Monday not to use dozens of
over-the-counter cold remedies or appetite suppressants until their makers
replace an ingredient that could cause hemorrhagic strokes, especially in
young women. The ingredient, called phenylpropanolamine or PPA, is found in
products ranging from Dexatrim to Triaminic." (AP) [CNN]
"Scientists
red flag popular supplement ephedra" - "ATLANTA, Georgia --
A study released Monday warned that popular dietary supplements containing the
ingredient ephedra can pose severe health risks and even kill in some cases.
Ephedra is found in many over-the-counter products designed to help people
lose weight or increase their energy." (CNN) [BBC
Online]
"Doctors
fearful as bird virus jumps to pigs" - "Researchers believe
they have found the first North American case of a bird virus crossing to
another animal species, raising concerns about the prospect of it spreading to
humans. A duck virus, for which there is no vaccine, has been found in pigs on
a southern Ontario farm, according to a study in the Journal of
Virology." (National Post)
A
new twist on drowning in paper: "Scents
or Nonsense?" - "... Smith and a small group of
people claim that the product, familiar to anyone who has filled out an office
form or signed a credit card slip, has ruined their health. And she has
battled relentlessly to prove it." (Law.com)
"Antibiotic
may help Alzheimer's disease, researcher says" - "NEW
ORLEANS - A researcher says that an antibiotic tested on mice genetically
designed to mimic the effects of Alzheimer's disease reduced and even
eliminated protein deposits that are a major feature of the disease."
(AP)
"Alzheimer's:
how mice beat it" - "The ability of mice to resist the
development of Alzheimer's disease could be harnessed to help humans fight the
disease, say scientists." (BBC Online)
"Less
meat for those brittle bones" - "Hormonal changes,
calcium deficiency and a lack of exercise have all been implicated in the
development of the disease, but now researchers point to a new alarming
possibility — people’s bones are dissolving in a tide of acid produced by
high-protein Western diets. Women who eat plenty of meat and cheese appeared
to be particularly at risk from fractures. The unpublished research
suggests that older women, the highest risk group for the disease, should
seriously consider replacing some of their meat intake with fruit and
vegetables." (The Times) [Emphasis added]
"Inside
Track - UK organic craze brings in the bucks" - "LONDON -
Chocolate, pizza, icecream, ketchup ... hardly the foods that spring to mind
when you think organic but Britain's supermarkets are licking their lips at
the prospect of taking the craze for organics even further. Not so long ago,
the only organic food sold in Britain's supermarkets was a small selection of
earth-dusted vegetables and fruit. A series of food scares later, and a
marginal product has become the fastest-growing sector in the UK grocery
market." (Reuters)
"Lord
Melchett: The Payoff And The Hypocrisy" - "Well, now we
know. After a vigorous few years attacking biotechnology, hiring
anti-GMO/pro-organic "marketing campaigners", and spreading fear
about conventional foods to help create a market for "organic"
products, Lord Melchett is leaving Greenpeace to go to work for organic
industry retail leader Iceland Foods. Consider the outcry and the claims of
pay-offs from activists were an NGO leader who supports biotechnology (like
Jimmy Carter or Norman Borlaug) to become a paid consultant to Novartis, or,
God forbid, Monsanto or Aventis ... Yet not a peep from them or the media with
the good Lord's new-found employment." (The Herald)
"Most
British Consumers Believe Their Food Supply is Safe"
- "In a recent survey of British citizens’ primary concerns, fears of BSE
rank below road safety, medical negligence, pollution and cigarettes. When the
international research group IGD examined how food safety compared to other,
more general worries, the group found that 76 percent of UK consumers are
“relatively to very confident” about the safety of their food." (AgWeb.com)
"Ministers
face poison charge for French CJD"
- "THE French State faced calls yesterday for a criminal investigation
against past governments for their alleged failure to take adequate measures
against BSE and for covering up the extent of the French epidemic. Demands for
legal action came from José Bové, the leader of the small farmers’ union,
and from the parents of a young victim of CreutzfeldtJakob disease (CJD), as
fears continued to spread over the safety of French beef." (The Times)
"Prince
blames floods on arrogance" - THE PRINCE OF WALES last night blamed
“mankind’s arrogance” for the violent storms and floods which yesterday
claimed two more lives and forced hundreds of people to flee their homes. In his
most powerful attack yet on the effects of global warming, the Prince said that
mankind needed to learn the lesson of the phenomenon so that “advances in
technology do not just become the agents of our own destruction”." (The
Times)
Not content with that, Charlie
throws in:
"Prince
Charles blames mankind for rain and BSE" - " Mad cow
disease and the storms lashing Britain can both be blamed on man's
"arrogant disregard" for the balance of nature, the Prince of Wales
said today." (The Times)
Hmm... see what Leanda de Lisle said about The
Prince of Wails February 4.
"INTERVIEW
- Brazil hopes cocoa genome will beat witch's broom" - "ITABUNA,
Brazil - Brazil hopes to use genome mapping to find a solution to the witch's
broom fungus that has hit cocoa output over the past decade." (Reuters)
"Dark
Clouds With Silver Linings?" - "Cultivation and consumption of
genetically modified organisms are already widespread in the US. Now the
question is what's to stop Thailand going with the flow?" (Bangkok Post)
"Taiwan
may give 5-yr grace period on GMO labelling" - "TAIPEI -
Taiwan's health department said yesterday it may give food manufacturers a grace
period of up to five years before requiring all products made from genetically
modified organisms (GMO) to be labelled." (Reuters)
"Court
to Decide on Online Stories" - "WASHINGTON –– Taking on an
Internet-age dispute, the Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether The New
York Times and other publications violate freelance contributors' copyrights by
putting their articles in electronic databases." (Washington Post)
"Govt
loosens control over genetic food trials" - "The commonwealth
has loosened its controls over genetic food and plant trials by conceding the
states and territories important opt-out rights. The Tasmanian government, which
has been leading the push for stronger rights under the proposed federal Gene
Technology Bill, said Monday the states and territories could now determine
their own future on genetically modified organisms (GMOs)." (AAP)
Oh dear! "Living
under the hole in the sky"
- "The citizens of Punta Arenas, Chile, are the subjects of a potentially
deadly experiment: What happens to people who live under the widening ozone
hole?" (Salon)
Simple answer? Nothing. See
maps of total ozone and UV levels on the day (yes, 'the' singular,
October 11) Punta Arenas was under the 'depleted' ozone region. On one day
the citizens of Punta Arenas experienced UV levels as high as residents of
say, Washington do on any normal spring or autumn day. Considering that the
day's maximum temperature was a searing 7.2°C (about 45°F) it isn't very
likely that anyone was sunbathing - not that doing so is a very popular
pastime at a latitude further south than the Falkland Islands and closer to
the Antarctic Peninsula than Detroit is to Washington.
November 6, 2000
"Europe:
global warming preview?" - "Shortly before a conference on
climate change is due to convene at The Hague, Netherlands, Western Europe is
receiving what some view as an early taste of global warming." (CSM)
From John Daly (Still Waiting
For Greenhouse): British Weather "Just how unusual are the British
floods and gales of recent days? According to history, not very.
1703 - (during the Little Ice Age) - `The Great Storm'. On record as the
worst storm ever to hit Britain, with 123 people killed on land and 8,000
sailors killed at sea.
1865 - 22nd July, hottest temperature ever recorded in Britain (in Kent), a
whopping 100.6°F or 38.1°C
1910 - Catastrophic floods all across Europe, including Britain, killing
over 1,000.
1913 - 6 people killed in Glamorgan, Wales by the most deadly tornado ever
to hit Britain.
1952 - 15th August, the disastrous Lynmouth flood, killing 34 people. ...
These extreme events occurred in years which were both warm globally, and
cold globally. ... As for 2000, the
satellites show the free atmosphere to be about the same mean temperature as
it was 21 years ago, so blaming `warming' on these recent storms is not
supported by the data and is cited only for political expediency to justify
the highest fuel prices in Europe.
Even The Guardian features the 1947
floods. Like they say - nothing new under the sun.
"Flood
defence inadequate, ministers told months ago"
- "The government was warned five months ago that it needed to increase
by at least 50 per cent the amount spent annually on flood defence, The
Independent has learnt. Without the extra money, the sort of chaos that is
gripping much of Britain was inevitable, according to a report to ministers
last June from Britain's leading flood experts. The report said the current
level of annual expenditure of approximately £200m needed to be raised to
between £300m and £340m. Without such an increase, annual flood damage would
be likely to treble from £600m to £1.8bn." (Independent)
Uh-huh... "Irish
beaches put heat on the Med" - "GLOBAL warming could turn
Ireland into one of Europe's premier destinations for tourists in search of
beach holidays with warm weather and balmy seas, a study has shown."
(Sunday Times)
and on Saturday... "Warming
up for the Ice Age" -
"Floods, storms, late Autumns, no chance of a white Christmas ...
that’s global warming, right? Wrong. We could soon be plunged into a long
deep freeze." (The Times)
"THE
CAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING" - "ABSTRACT: Three of the four
methods of measuring global temperature show no signs of global warming: Proxy
measurements (tree rings, sediments etc) for the past 1000 years; Weather
balloons (radiosondes) for the past 44 years; Satellites (MSU Units) for the
past 21 years. The fourth method, surface measurement at weather stations,
gives an averaged mean global rise of a mere 0.6°C over 140 years, but is
intermittent and irregular. Individual records are highly variable, regional,
and sometimes, particularly in remote areas, show no change, or even a fall in
temperature. It is concluded that temperature measurements carried out away
from human influence show no evidence of global warming. The small and
irregular rise shown by many surface stations must therefore be caused by
changes in their thermal environment over long periods of time, such as better
heating, larger buildings, darkening of surfaces, sealing of roads, increases
in vehicles and aircraft, increased shielding from the atmosphere and
deterioration of painted surfaces." (Vincent Gray)
"Get
tough on greenhouse: NFF"
- "Industry groups are urging the Federal Government to adopt tough
national interest guidelines on greenhouse gas emissions at a crucial meeting
on international climate change at The Hague this month. Federal Cabinet is to
finalise Australia's negotiating position today and the National Farmers
Federation has lodged a submission with the Government that seeks to protect
Australia's economic interests." (Australian Financial Revue)
"Cabinet
puts off greenhouse deal" - "Australia will hold out on
ratifying the Kyoto protocol to reduce greenhouse emissions unless the
agreement also applies to developing countries such as India and China.
Cabinet is today expected to finalise Australia's negotiating position to be
taken by Environment Minister Robert Hill to a meeting of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change in the Hague at the end of next
week." (The Age)
"Brown
will freeze duty on fuel" - "GORDON BROWN is to freeze the
duty on fuel at present levels next year, and possibly the year after. In a
gamble that risks a head-on clash with the fuel protesters the Chancellor and
Tony Blair have decided against across-the-board cuts in fuel taxes in the
Pre-Budget Report to be disclosed to MPs on Wednesday. The
Times has learnt that Mr Brown will
announce a cash freeze on fuel duties from April 2001 to April 2002 at a cost
to the Government of £600 million. He will also pledge that if the world
price of oil fails to fall as he expects he will order another year’s freeze
from April 2002 to April 2003." (The Times)
"Budget:
More for pensioners and inner cities, but Brown will not cut tax on
petrol" - "Gordon Brown will
pump £2bn into decaying inner cities and boost the incomes of pensioners this
week but his drive to tackle social exclusion and pensioner poverty will leave
no room for a cut in fuel prices." [Cutting
tax on petrol would mean less cash for key services, says Blair]
(Independent)
"UK
'could afford' fuel tax cut" - "The Confederation of British
Industry has added its voice to calls for the chancellor to announce a
reduction in fuel taxes in his pre-Budget statement on Wednesday. On the eve
of the CBI conference in Birmingham, the organisation's director-general,
Digby Jones, said the country could afford a £1.5bn cut, without putting the
stability of the economy at risk." (BBC Online)
"Embarrassed
by riches" - "Tony
Blair insisted yesterday that no matter how large the projected Budget surplus
might be, the Government would not “blow” the proceeds in pursuit of
short-term popularity. Although Gordon Brown has done his best to dismiss some
of the City experts’ more striking estimates of Treasury revenues, the
figure that he announces in his Pre-Budget Report on Wednesday will still be a
source of considerable political discomfort." (The Times)
"Big
Oil smells gas in Pakistan wildlife park" - "Green groups in
Pakistan are weighing legal action against transnational oil companies that
enjoy full support of the Pakistani government in their efforts to plumb the
country's largest wildlife national park for gas." (ENN)
"Junk
food blamed for huge rise in diabetes"
- "SCIENTISTS have blamed unhealthy Western lifestyles for an 11 per cent
rise in diabetes sufferers over the past five years. The number of adults
afflicted with the disease worldwide has risen to 151 million — five per
cent of the total population. Experts are predicting that the figure could
double by 2025 as Western eating habits and unhealthy living styles become
fashionable around the globe." (The Times)
"'Energy'
drinks may cut road deaths" - "ENERGY drinks could help cut
the number of road deaths caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel, a
study has found. Research showed that one can of an energy drink was effective
in reducing sleepiness during the "2pm slump", between 2pm and 5pm,
known to be a high-risk period for most drivers. Professor Jim Horne, of the
Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University, who led the study, used a
car simulator to test the driving ability of volunteers before and after an
energy drink. He found that one can of Red Bull, which contains 75mg of
caffeine, equal to a medium-strength coffee, markedly reduced afternoon
sleepiness for about an hour. Two cans almost eliminated the effects of
sleepiness among the sleep-deprived participants for two hours."
(Telegraph)
"Alert
over 'GM tortillas'" - "Tests on supermarket own-brand
tortilla chips suggest they may contain traces of genetically-modified
maize." (BBC Online)
See also:
Taco Terrorism
"Monsanto
Commits Support For Food Companies and Farmers Following Activist Allegations"
- "ST. LOUIS, Nov. 5 -- Monsanto Company today promised full support to
European food companies and regulatory agencies in response to unproven
activist allegations about the corn in taco chips and is acting to protect
markets for farmers and their grain. Hugh Grant, executive vice president and
chief operating officer of Monsanto, also urged food authorities in the United
Kingdom to obtain the data and samples used by an anti-biotechnology activist
group, the Friends of the Earth." (PRNewswire)
"US
won't donate StarLink corn to poor nations - USDA" -
"WASHINGTON - The tens of millions of bushels of StarLink biotech corn
collected from American farmers will not be donated to foreign countries as
part of federal food assistance programmes, a senior US Agriculture Department
official told Reuters on Friday." (Reuters)
"The
money pit: Drug costs rise from the depths of research, investments"
- "... Why are drug costs so high? The cost of daily medication makes
people nervous, and it should. But much of the political noisemaking ignores
the elemental fact that these products are the result of a long process of
science and business. The process is not cheap, and it cannot be made cheap
and still yield the safe and effective drugs that people want." (Seattle
Times)
"French
in panic over 'smuggled' British cattle feed"
- "FRENCH fears over the spread of “mad cow” disease grew amid
weekend reports that more than 1,000 tonnes of British meat and bonemeal had
been imported illegally in the 1990s. The claim fuelled concern that is
gripping the country after a sharp rise in reported cases of BSE in
cattle." (The Times)
"Benefits
of e-commerce for environment still uncertain" - "Is
shopping online better for the environment? Will discarded computers become
another landfill problem? Will businesses ultimately save on gas if they
network online? Will e-commerce lead to more consumption that impacts
environment adversely? If more people are working from home, does that help
reduce air pollution? Or is it changing society for the worse?" (Earth
Times)
"Singapore
seeks to control environment spending" - "SINGAPORE -
Affluent Singapore, well known for being clean and green, has called on its
citizens to maintain the environment, asserting it does not want to spend more
than S$400 million ($230 million) a year from government coffers. "Even
if we can afford to spend much more to collect and process waste, it may not
be the best use of our limited manpower, land and money," acting
environment minister Lim Swee Say said on Sunday." (Reuters)
"Bright
lights, blighted cities" - "Human beings, like all animals,
need habitat in which to live. Today, the most common human habitat is cities.
Far more people in the developed world now live in urban rather than rural
areas, and there's a rapid push toward urbanization in developing nations too.
But cities displace existing ecosystems and remove habitat for other
species." (Suzuki rant against sprawl)
"Experts
meeting to discuss protection of oceans" - "Experts from 24
United Nations bodies and intergovernmental organizations are descending on
Monaco next week to discuss how to better protect the world's oceans from the
impacts of the nearly 70 percent of the world's population that live within 50
miles of major bodies of water." (Earth Times)
November 5, 2000
"The
price of civilization" - "In the past decade the ``price of
civilized society'' (as Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. once
described taxes) climbed higher and higher. Americans now spend more for
``civilized society'' then on any other item in their family's budget. According
to the non-partisan Tax Foundation, this year's combined federal, state and
local tax burden is $10,447 for every man woman and child in the United
States." (Boston Herald editorial)
"Hague
prelude: emissions permits in America?" - "An international
community concerned about climate change and prepared to convene for a
conference in the Netherlands appears to be waiting for the United States, the
world's leader in carbon emissions, to come up with a plan to curb the
crud." (ENN)
Contains a snazzy little graphic with the caption
"Industrialized areas of the world create the bulk of carbon
dioxide emissions from energy production, industrial processes and
transportation." True? As far as it goes, yes - just neglects to
mention that anthropogenic emissions amount to less than 4% of the global
carbon budget and the rest is entirely 'natural'. Also misses the vital
point about how much good the atmospheric carbon does by boosting crop yield
and helping feed the world's human population while preserving wildlands and
wildlife habitat. These used to be ideals to which humanity aspired - wonder
what happened?
"Planned
`green' auto tax plan is neither green nor taxing" - "It will
not be easy to achieve the target set at the 1997 Kyoto conference on global
warming. It is therefore especially urgent that automobile emissions be
reduced." (Asahi News editorial)
"If
we don't act now, it'll be too late"
- "Global warming causes floods. And in a week's time the world's leaders
have a last chance to do something about it" (so says Indy on Sunday's
environment editor, Geoffrey Lean)
Too late for what Geoffrey? Could you mean too late to
use enhanced greenhouse as an excuse to engage in massive social
reengineering to suit the ultra-leftist worldview? That might be true for
the Earth does appear to be re-entering a cooling phase - most unfortunate
for anti-energy misanthropists and not particularly good news for life on
Earth.
With an insignificant total potential 'saving' of -0.06°C
over 50 years (assuming anthropogenic emissions do have the touted
effect), Kyoto is completely irrelevant where world climate is
concerned. It makes no difference to the world's weather regardless of
whether industrialised countries ratify Kyoto this year, in 2005,
2010 or 2050. Why the panic to stampede countries into ratification of a
completely useless protocol?
Again Geoffrey - too late for what?
"Winters
to get 5 degrees warmer in the next century" - "For those
who have been wondering at the obstinate refusal of the temperature in the
south of the country to go below freezing yet, even at night, this news will
come as no great surprise. According to a Swedish study, Finnish winters will
be getting warmer by at least 5 degrees Celsius by the year 2100. The change
is not expected to be as drastic for the summer months: in Northern Finland
temperatures will increase by over three degrees and in the southern parts
between 2 and 3 degrees Celsius. The forecasts are based on the results of the
Swedish Climate Modelling Programme (SweClim). "We are now able to
present more precise interpretations of climate development", says
Finnish researcher Markku Rummukainen, leader of the programme." (Helsingin
Sanomat)
"In sum, a strategy must recognize what is
possible. In climate research and modeling, we should recognize that we are
dealing with a coupled non-liner chaotic system, and therefore that the
prediction of a specific future climate state is not possible." --
Final chapter, Draft TAR 2000 (Third Assessment Report), IPCC
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).
"The forcings that drive long-term climate change
are not known with an accuracy sufficient to define future climate change."
-- James Hansen, whose alarmist presentation to congress more than a decade
ago set all this nonsense in train.
"The consensus is that major advances are needed in our modelling
and interpretation of temperature profiles ... and their analysis by the
scientific community worldwide." -- David Parker, Hadley Centre for
Climate Prediction and Research, Berkshire.
"The
heat is on for householders" - "'I think the world, for far
too long, has simply treated this issue of climate change as not sufficiently
important - well that's no longer an option,' Prime Minister Tony Blair said
last Thursday when touring inundated Bewdley in Worcestershire. To attack the
causes of climate change caused by global warming, Blair may well want to
focus on the main cause of it - Britain's 23 million houses." (Observer)
"Are
we to blame for this?" - "WHAT links the following:
tornadoes in Sussex, the worst floods in England for more than half a century,
and the highest global temperatures since records began? The Government at
least seems in little doubt. John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, told
the Commons that the devastating weather of the past few weeks is a
"wake-up call to everyone" over global warming. ... No sooner had
the Prime Minister voiced his suspicions, however, than climate scientists
were warning of the dangers of seeing patterns in the British climate that
don't exist. Researchers from the universities of Newcastle and Exeter
unveiled a record of British rainfall dating back to the Norman Conquest. It
showed that the bizarre weather of the past few years is entirely consistent
with the natural variations in the climate that have taken place over the past
1,000 years." (Telegraph)
"Science
tricked again on global warming" - "... The fact is, there
are dozens of computer models for climate change that do not use silly
"storylines" and other gimmicks. Those models predict warming of
about 2°C over the coming century, a number very near the bottom limit of
warming (1.5°C) predicted by the IPCC. On the other hand, to reach the
alarming projections described in the report leaked to the Times, one has to
be able to predict technological change better than anyone in human history,
believe an argument about sulfate cooling that does not stand the test of
reality, and trust a text altered after scientific review was complete."
Pat Michaels, National Post)
"Flooded
Britain: all down to the Ice Age?" - "Some scientists say
man-made global warming is responsible for last week's downpours. Others pin
the blame on nature's own long-term cycles. Robin McKie reports on a storm of
controversy" (Observer)
Marginally better than the hash McKie made of the
Breidamerkurjökull glacier story - see "Big J" junk science
reporting award, Oct 22.
"Mean Sea Level by
Satellite" - "See the
latest sea level results as measured by the TOPEX-Poseidon satellite
system. (When the `AVISO' page opens, select the "Mean Sea Level
Monitoring" linked item to see the latest MSL chart.) It currently runs
from 1993 to June 2000. Sea levels globally are today hardly different to what
they were at the start of the satellite monitoring. The 1997-98 El Niño
caused a temporary rise in sea levels of about 2 centimetres (the
TOPEX-Poseidon scientists themselves attribute this temporary rise to El Niño),
but MSL has since fallen back to pre-El Niño levels. However, due to the El
Niño anomaly over such a short data period, the linear average for the period
is +0.7 mm/year, well short of the +1 to +2.5 mm/yr claimed by the IPCC for
the whole of the 20th century, and even more at odds with the +4.5 mm/yr which
the IPCC predicts will characterise the 21st century. The truth is out
there." (John L. Daly, Still
Waiting for Greenhouse)
"The
Week That Was brought to you by SEPP" - "LETTER TO THE
EDITOR, NY TIMES, ON GLOBAL WARMING; IPCC DISTRIBUTES DRAFT REPORT; HOUSTON'S
AIR IS CLEANER THAN LOS ANGELES' -- AND OTHER CITIES'; POOR WOULD SUFFER FROM
KYOTO'S SUSPECT SCIENCE" (SEPP)
"Early
warning of April's fuel" -
"This Wednesday, Gordon Brown will deliver his pre-Budget report, a
half-term update on the state of the economy forewarning us of likely changes
in next April's Budget. There are plenty of tax measures expected this time
around, with finding a solution to the fuel crisis topping the agenda. This is
easier said than done, as fuel protesters are well aware that the UK has the
highest level of tax on fuel in Europe, made up of a fixed excise duty per
litre plus VAT on the fuel cost, including the duty. So as oil prices rise,
the Chancellor's VAT yield from fuel goes up. This means a litre of diesel
sold for 83.9p includes 50.2p duty and 12.5p VAT." (Independent)
"Oil
cartel threatens to cut output if prices drop" - "The
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will not hesitate to cut
production by as much as necessary if crude oil prices drop below $US22 per
barrel, according to Rilwanu Lukman, secretary-general of the cartel. "If
the prices fall below $US22 per barrel next year, there would be no magic
involved and we will cut production," Lukman said at a press conference
on the sidelines of an energy conference that opened Saturday in Tehran."
(AAP)
"Panel
seeks new legislation on diesel exhaust emissions" - "An
Environment Agency advisory panel wants the government to revise legislation
controlling nitrogen oxide emissions to include diesel exhaust particulate
matter, according to a copy of a report obtained by Kyodo News on
Saturday." (Japan Times)
Here's an interesting polling technique: "Journalists
smell a Bush victory" - "You can still find journalists
willing to speculate that Al Gore might yet win the presidency, but even the
most intrepid of them is taking the precaution of booking his Election Night
hotel room in Austin. The Four Seasons? Full. The Hyatt? Full. The Capitol
Marriott? Full too. Radisson, Renaissance, Day's Inn, Doubletree, Holiday Inn?
Full, full, full, full, full. There are plenty of rooms available in
Nashville, though." (David Frum, National Post)
"CJD
and eating beef 'not linked'" - "A study by leading BSE
scientists into 51 sufferers of vCJD has reportedly failed to produce a positive
link with eating beef. The report from the National CJD Surveillance Unit in
Edinburgh also found little evidence to support the theories that medical
treatments or victims' occupations could be a factor in developing the
disease." (BBC Online)
"GE
could be organic boon hearing told" - "Organic food could one
day be genetically engineered, the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification was
told this week." (NZ Herald)
Myth subsidy of the day: "UK
Funds Farmers Switching to Organic Production" - "LONDON,
United Kingdom, November 3, 2000 - The United Kingdom's organic farming
industry will receive a £20 million (US$29 million) a year boost from next
January following a government announcement today. ... Administered by the
Ministry of Agriculture, the Organic Farming Scheme is jointly funded by the
ministry and the European Union. The Scheme seeks to increase the area devoted
to organic farming because of the contribution that organic farming can make
to environmentally sensitive food production." (ENS)
Urban
Myths about Organic Agriculture
"There is a widespread belief that farming systems with lower yields
and lower use of inputs are more friendly to the environment, and more
sustainable than higher producing systems (10). Organic food is often viewed
as healthier and benign. However the information below rarely finds its way
into discussion on organic food but is essential for a critical assessment.
Compared to efficient conventional farming conducted with good agricultural
practices, organic farming has "no positive environmental aspects at
all" (41) and least sustainability (44 )." (Professor Anthony
Trewavas, Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology)
"Pesticide
Found to Produce Parkinson's Symptoms in Rats" - "NEW ORLEANS,
Nov. 4 — An organic pesticide widely used on home-grown fruits and vegetables
and for killing unwanted fish in the nation's lakes and rivers produces all the
classic symptoms of Parkinson's disease in rats that receive steady amounts of
the chemical in their bloodstreams, scientists said today." (NY Times)
"2
Nationwide Settlements Are Close in Smoking Cases" -
"Negotiators for two major tobacco companies are close to reaching two
nationwide settlements that would cover all individual smokers' claims for
punitive damages against them, people familiar with the negotiations said last
night. Together, the settlements could be worth $8 billion." (NY Times)
"Gulf
War campaigners gather" - "Veterans have gathered in the
latest stage of their campaign to seek recognition for so-called Gulf War
Syndrome." (BBC Online)
"Government
offers Korean vets Agent Orange testing" - "WASHINGTON - The
government is offering to examine troops who served in Korea more than thirty
years ago for possible exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange. In a
little-publicized initiative, the Veterans Affairs Department expanded a program
previously offered to Vietnam War veterans to include people who served in Korea
in 1968-69." (AP)
"US
acts to calm Japan fears of StarLink corn" - "WASHINGTON,
Nov 3 (Reuters) - In a concession to the biggest buyer of American corn
exports, the U.S. Agriculture Department will begin testing corn shipments
bound for Japan to prevent StarLink bio-corn from contaminating the food
supply there, a senior USDA official told Reuters on Friday." (Reuters) [AP]
"UK
environmentalists doubt rigour of GM crop tests" - "LONDON,
Nov 3 - Environmentalist group Friends of the Earth on Friday accused the
British government of having agreed to trials of genetically-modified (GM) maize
which had not been rigorously tested by scientists. The group quoted scientists
as saying that tests of the GM maize -- Aventis's herbicide tolerant Chardon LL
-- on chickens were inadequate and failed to investigate a
"suspicious" higher death rate among some birds during research."
(Reuters)
"Just
so you know: an asteroid could hit Earth on 21 September 2030" -
"For the first time ever, scientists are pinpointing the time of an
impact that could unleash a force 100 times greater than Hiroshima, writes
Robin McKie"
McKie again - figures...
"No
asteroid impact in 2030" - "Astronomers say reports that the
Earth could be struck by a small asteroid in 2030 are wildly exaggerated. Less
than a day after sounding the alert about asteroid 2000SG344, a revised analysis
of the space rock's orbit shows it will in fact miss the Earth by about five
million kilometres (three million miles)." (BBC Online)
"Chicken
soup really could be Rx against colds" - "Grandma may have
been right. Chicken soup appears to have ingredients that fight the common cold.
Specifically, the comfort-food staple seems to have an anti-inflammatory
mechanism that could ease symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections,
researchers have found. Scientists at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha found
that the soup inhibits white blood cells, which stimulate the runny noses and
coughs characteristic of colds. They presented their findings in the current
issue of the journal Chest, published by the American College of Chest
Physicians." (Scripps Howard)
"Calcium
vital during pregnancy" - "Scientists have uncovered evidence
proving just how important it is for women to consume sufficient levels of
calcium during pregnancy. A team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill found pregnant women who do not consume enough calcium in their diets or
through supplements run a risk that their bones will start to break down and
release potentially harmful substances into the blood." (BBC Online)
"What
makes us age?" - "Science is at last beginning to uncover some
of the secrets of ageing and the pace of research is hotting up. You may be
worried that research will produce a nightmare world in which we all linger
longer in a state of advanced decrepitude. In fact, the goal of most of this
research is to improve the quality of our later years. Already, we are living
longer than ever before." (BBC Health)
"Citing
Intolerance, Obese People Take Steps to Press Cause" - "Fat
hatred is being taught to our children," said Miriam Berg, president of the
Council on Size and Weight Discrimination, a national nonprofit group. "I
know from how children react to me: at age 1 1/2, babies love me and smile
at me; you come to 2 1/2 and already they look at me with fear; it begins
that young, unless they grow up in a household with people of different
sizes." (NY Times)
November 4, 2000
20/20 Message Board: Dioxin in Ben & Jerry's - John Stossel reported on dioxin in Ben & Jerry's ice cream last night on ABC's 20/20. Post your comments on the 20/20 message board.
"Hamburger
Report Not Well Done" - "Remember when Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory scientists used to make bombs? Now, they just publish
them." (Steven Milloy in Fox News)
"Heated
row over global warming claims" - "SOME commentators blamed
the spate of stormy weather earlier this week on global warning and once again
accusing fingers were pointed at the motor car. This rather ignores the fact
that the motor industry has dramatically reduced emissions from car exhausts in
recent years by fitting catalytic converters to all new vehicles and other
measures. But nothing beats an easy target and a quick story." (Belfast
Telegraph)
"We
must change our ways to save environment" - "The
gales and rain in the south of England were similar to recent television
coverage of extreme weather on the continent, and in other parts of the world.
These increasingly extreme weather patterns have been directly linked to changes
in our environment caused by manmade pollution. One of the greatest sources of
this pollution is motor vehicles." (The Scotsman)
"A
hard rain"
- "Politicians and the public should not rush to judgment over the damage
caused by rough weather in Britain this week" (The Economist)
"Consumer
Awareness Key to Curbing Greenhouse Gas Emissions" -
"ARLINGTON, Virginia, November 3, 2000 - Every time you open the
refrigerator, you are contributing to global warming. That is because in the
United States, major home appliances account for about one third of residential
electricity consumption, a principal source of greenhouse gas emissions. A
report released this week by the non-profit, non-partisan and independent Pew
Center argues that given the right incentives, the public could play a much
bigger role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions." (ENS)
PCGCC... that's the Pew Center for Generating Climate
Claptrap isn't it? Granted some call it the Pew Center on Global Climate
Change but that's still hardly 'non-partisan.' These people take enhanced
greenhouse and catastrophe as a matter of faith. They are also the sponsors of
Tom "Wriggly" Wigley's unreviewed 'report' incorporated into IPCC
'story lines.'
"Another October
Climate Surprise" - "Every five years, the U. N.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases its assessment of
global warming science. In the fall of 1995, The New York Times published
dramatic revelations from a draft version of the assessment that had yet to
receive final approval. Last week the report was leaked again, and this time the
big story is that the IPCC has increased the upper limit of its forecast for
this century’s climate change from 4.5 C to 6.0 C, or 8.1 F to 10.8 F."
(Pat Michaels, Cato Institute)
"Global
Warming Threatens Indonesia's Islands, Says Expert" - "JAKARTA
(Nov. 2) XINHUA via NewsEdge Corporation - Indonesia, with more than 17,
000 islands, could lose about 2,000 islands within 100 years if global warming
is not halted, an environmentalist warned. Global warming also has the potential
to put Indonesia's densely populated coastal areas underwater, the Indonesian
Observer daily Thursday quoted Agus P. Sari, executive director of Pelangi, a
non-governmental organization dealing with environmental affairs, as saying.
South
Pacific sea levels seen needing more study
TARAWA, Kiribati Sea levels may be rising but there is no evidence yet to
suggest this is being accelerated by global warming, the director of an
environmental monitoring project for South Pacific islands said on Saturday.
... Scherer said he was confident a report by the U.N.-sponsored
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, due for release in February, would
also show no acceleration in sea change. "It will recognise that on the
historical data, even on a global basis, there is no evidence of
accelerations," he told Reuters following the briefing, adding that as a
contributor he had seen some sections of the report.
"Climate
change may be down to farming" (Guardian) Extraordinary piece, this
one. Begins with a human interest angle, then promotes the 'leaked' political
summary (erroneously calling it the IPCC report [Third Assessment Report or TAR
2000] - which will not be available until next February) and finally getting
around to changes in land use and sensible flood mitigation. Bizarre!
"One
storm doesn't make global warming"
- "We have to accept that every so often, with or without global warming,
we will be hit hard." (Bill Burroughs, Independent)
"Heat,
but no light, on global warming" - "Every time I pause to
consider whether I have gone too far out on a limb, I look at the new facts that
continue to pour in from around the world and conclude that I have not gone
nearly far enough. -- Al Gore, 1992, Earth in the Balance" (The Age)
"Climate
plan hard to bring in Earthwatch" - "The Celtic Tiger's
"daily diet of massive amounts of high-emission fossil fuels" will
make it very difficult for the Government to implement its climate-change
strategy, according to Earth watch. The environmental group said the strategy
would require a widespread public education programme." (Irish Times)
"public education"? read
"indoctrination"
"Greens
to stage rival action in favour of high taxes"
- "Environmental groups are preparing to challenge the fuel protesters with
counter demonstrations at fuel refineries and on motorways. Friends of the Earth
are preparing to mount demonstrations with banners and placards to alert the
public to the "green benefits" of fuel taxes." (Independent)
Interesting hypothesis. How 'green' are societies in
deficit? What society can generate wealth in the face of oppressive and
frankly stupid taxation? Since wealth is THE overriding prerequisite for
environmental protection and repair then the corollary is that so-called
'green' taxes are anti-environment. Why do these flakes never look at the
world? Why can they not see that poverty and environmental degradation are
certain partners, as are wealth and environmental improvement? It appears they
are less interested in environmental improvement than they are in human
suppression.
"UK
lashed by more rain as Blair warns of climate change" -
"LONDON, Nov. 3 -- Britain braced for more rain-soaked misery and
escalating householder losses as Prime Minister Tony Blair warned the worst
floods in more than half a century highlighted risks posed by global
warming." (UPI)
"Blair
struggles to play down Brown's bounty"
- "TONY BLAIR insisted yesterday that Labour’s multibillion-pound budget
surplus would not be “blown” on tax cuts as he joined Gordon Brown in trying
to dampen expectations of a giveaway next week." (The Times)
"Farmers
seek compensation on emissions" - "The farming organisations
warned yesterday that any attempt to cut livestock levels by 10 per cent over
the next 10 years to reduce greenhouse gases will have to be accompanied by
national and EU aid to the farming community." (Irish Times)
"Kyoto
CO2 reduction goals must be adhered to: NGO" - "A Japanese
nongovernmental organization called on Environment Agency officials Thursday to
establish efficient domestic measures to meet reduction targets for carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases as stated in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, rather
than exploiting potential loopholes in the agreement." (Japan Times)
Environment news from Heartland - Forest
fires scorch seven million acres (related: A
decade of ignored warnings; CRS
backpedals on link between wildfires, logging; On
the fire line); A
report from Darby, Ohio; CFC
treaty fuels black market; New
York Times proves
there's more to fear than global warming itself; Poll
shows public doesn't fear global warming; Can
England reach the twenty-first century with Charles in charge?; "Don't
turn your back on science": An open letter from biologist Richard Dawkins
to Prince Charles; Water:
The lifeblood of healthy, productive communities; Anti-diesel
rhetoric ignores scientific reality.
"White
powder in Reichstag toilets, red faces in Berlin" - "How many
of our politicians are drug addicts?" was the headline in Berlin tabloid BZ
yesterday after traces of cocaine were discovered in toilets used by elected
officials and civil servants in Berlin's Reichstag parliament building. It was
more a case of red faces than white noses around the parliament yesterday after
the revelation by television station SAT1 that 22 of 28 toilets tested were
contaminated with cocaine." (Irish Times)
The Independent must feel that they are losing the public's
interest with interminable global warming scares (few people are prepared to
back the rhetoric with cash anyway and most sure aren't happy about the idea of
freezing to death in the dark to marginally alleviate some
one-in-so-many-trillion-off-chance that warming may really occur). Consequently,
the Indy is resurrecting their 'save the small furry animal' rhetoric: The
question for all dedicated followers of fashion: can they stomach the rage for
fur?; How
the leading designers fell for new adventures in the skin trade.
"The politics
of risk: the case of BSE" - "... Ministers and officials were
not wholly wrong in fearing an irrational reaction. Public attitudes towards
risk are often confused. Information about high risk activities may be
ignored, as the case of smoking shows. Information about low risks
may often lead to exaggerated responses. The way in which the media
pounce on, and headline, risk is often unhelpful. The examples of
oral contraceptives and measles vaccination show how easily - and
damagingly - information about risk may be translated into overreactions."
(Professor Rudolf Klein, BMJ)
"Corn-Recall
Cost Could Reach Into the Hundreds of Millions" - "The
recall of StarLink genetically modified corn could cost companies all along the
food chain hundreds of millions of dollars as they attempt to find, retrieve and
replace products that used the corn." (WSJ)
See
Taco Terrorism
"Small
California town worries about pollution and its health" -
"Titus and others in this northern California town billed as "The
Gateway to the Redwoods" believe a hydraulics plant that polluted the area
for more than 40 years before going bankrupt in 1995 is to blame for their
health problems." (AP)
Erin Brockovich - the sequel?
"Big Government Is
Back" - "Vice President Gore continues to assault Gov. George
W. Bush's $1.5 trillion tax cut plan on the grounds that it would "spend
all the budget surplus." But Gore's own federal spending promises are more
costly than Bush's tax cut, by a long shot." (Stephen Moore, Cato
Institute)
"Media
Promote Last-Minute Anti-Bush Hit Job" - "Erin Fehlau, a
reporter at WPXT-TV Channel 51 in Portland, Maine, was last night’s featured
guest on ABC’s Nightline. Earlier that evening, she triggered a feeding
frenzy by disclosing that George W. Bush was arrested and pleaded guilty to
drunk driving in 1976. Ted Koppel asked her to declare that her story wasn’t
what it obviously was: a late-campaign Democratic smear plot. "The way you
tell the story, it certainly sounds as though you just stumbled into something
and were smart enough to follow up on it," Koppel assured Fehlau. "But
you also heard Gov. Bush say several times, you know, he’s got his
suspicions." "I’m confident I wasn’t set up," Fehlau obtusely
replied, though she acknowledged her source was a lawyer who also was "a
delegate to the Democratic convention." She added that "I feel like if
I was being set up, he would probably have just handed me the information right
off the bat." Fehlau refused to name her source, but he quickly stepped
forward. Tom Connolly, the Democratic candidate for Governor in Maine’s last
election, under-mined Fehlau’s claim that she wasn’t set up. He told Fox
News on Friday that he hoped to plant the story with the Associated Press, and
told CNN that Fehlau got it only because Gore’s fax machine was busy."
(Media Research Center)
"Did Gore break
environmental vow?" - "WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 — Vice
President Al Gore, the self styled environmental candidate in this year’s U.S.
presidential race, reneged on his well documented 1992 campaign promise to shut
down a controversial hazardous waste incinerator in Ohio, according to sworn
testimony given to a federal investigator." (MSNBC)
"Roving
Burn 'Expert' Was False Witness" - "When he tried to testify
in the case of a scalded child in Manassas in February 1999, Gary S. Stocco said
he was an experienced burn investigator who was working on two degrees from a
Louisiana college. Five months later, officials said, he took the stand in Ohio
and told the court he was an expert in the epidemiology of burns with a
bachelor's degree and a master's degree from a university in London. From there,
Stocco went on to tout credentials and opinions in courtrooms in Massachusetts,
New Jersey and Indiana, testifying as the executive director of the National
Burn Victim Foundation. He has worked to gain convictions in some cases and to
help defendants go free in others. All for a fee." (Washington Post)
"U.S.
FDA approves claim for fish oil supplements" - "WASHINGTON --
Makers of fish oil supplements can claim evidence "suggests" they
might reduce the risk of heart disease, if the labels say the connection has not
been confirmed, U.S. health officials said Thursday. The Food and Drug
Administration approved a limited health claim for the products but rejected the
industry's bid to advertise that the omega-3 fatty acids in the supplements
could lower a person's likelihood to develop coronary heart disease."
(Reuters)
"Lawsuit
Challenges Constitutionality of New National Monuments" -
"WASHINGTON, DC, November 3, 2000 (ENS) - A coalition of environmental
groups has asked a judge for permission to come to the legal aid of President
Bill Clinton, who is being sued for using the federal Antiquities Act to create
five national monuments. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in
Washington, DC earlier this year, alleges that Clinton's creation of the
national monuments was unconstitutional." (ENS)
?!! "This
is what revolution sounds like" - "A recent dot.com music deal
spells the end of the market economy" (Guardian)
What can I say but the above from Jeremy Rifkin... The
market economy stands or falls according to Napster. Right...
"Unidentified
object could hit Earth in 2030" - "LOS ANGELES - Scientists
have spotted a small asteroid or a piece of space debris that they say has a
1-in-500 chance of colliding with the Earth in 30 years - far greater odds than
any similar object ever discovered." (AP) Comment
"Clinton
Says if He Can't Run, Gore Is the `Next Best Thing'" Oh well - that
oughtta help 'im!
"Only
Bush offers a real cut in taxes" - "For the first time in
decades, the federal government is collecting hundreds of billions of dollars
more in revenue than it intends to spend. That makes this year the first time it
is reasonable to ask for an across-the-board tax cut, not because of a need to
stimulate the economy, but simply because the government has more money than it
needs." (Seattle Times editorial)
November 3, 2000
Ben & Jerry's and Dioxin on ABC's 20/20! ABC's "20/20" news magazine is scheduled to report on dioxin in Ben & Jerry's ice cream Friday, November 3, 2000 at 10:00 pm EST. John Stossel
will be the reporter.
Junkscience.com conducted the original research on dioxin in Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Ben & Jerry's marketed it's ice cream by claiming that there was no safe level of exposure to dioxin. Junkscience.com tests reported that a sample of Ben & Jerry's ice cream contained about 200 times the level of dioxin the EPA said was safe. The enviros like to say that dioxin is the most toxic manmade substance.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute and Citizens for the Integrity of Science filed a deceptive marketing complaint against Ben & Jerry's with the Federal Trade Commission, which has yet to rule.
Click for my FoxNews.com column, "A Scoop of Debunkey Monkey."
"TV
Balances Liberals... with Ultra-Liberals" - "Does this sound
balanced to you? Last week Al Gore trumpeted a leaked UN report on the alleged
perils of global warming, so the CBS Evening News showed him pledging
"to protect the environment with all my heart and soul." Balancing
Gore on the October 26 newscast: Ralph Nader, the only other candidate who
thinks global warming is a real threat requiring immediate government
intervention in the free market. "Al Gore is suffering from election year
delusion if he thinks his record on the environment is anything to be proud
of," Nader twitted from Gore’s left. The only other on-camera source in
John Roberts’ report: a Greenpeace spokesman, who said of Gore: "The
promises are great, the rhetoric is great. Keeping the promises, doing what you
say — that’s our concern." CBS never told viewers of skeptical
scientists whose insistence on proof is plainly irritating to those who
impatiently wish to start re-shaping American society right away. Instead, the
pols, activists and journalists conducted a closed discussion that treated the
UN paper as irrefutable." (Media Research Center)
And the predictable hysteria:
"Vicious
cycle: Global warming feeds fire potential" - "Global warming
may greatly accelerate the fire cycle in the desert ecosystem of North America,
according to a study published today in the journal Nature." (ENN)
"The
threat of global warming" - "There is growing scientific
consensus on the reality of the threat posed by global warming. In the view of
many reputable specialists, the ferocious storms of the past number of winters,
which devastated large tracts of France and England and caused serious damage in
this country, are clear evidence of the phenomenon. Yesterday, the Minister for
the Environment, Mr Dempsey, said the situation was bad and becoming worse, with
hurricanes and extensive flooding threatening communities from Central America
to Europe and Asia. And he outlined a series of measures intended to reduce
carbon dioxide emissions in this country by the year 2010." (Irish Times)
"Full-time
flood warning for UK" - "SCIENTISTS
warned last night that the flooding which is gripping large parts of Britain
will be followed by further extreme weather caused by global warming." (The
Scotsman)
"Climate
change may switch off the Gulf Stream" - "Ireland's green
fields may be replaced by frozen tundra with severe storms and extensive
flooding, if predicted climate change takes place." (Irish Times)
"Irish
Put Celtic Tiger on a Greener Diet" - "DUBLIN, Ireland,
November 2, 2000 (ENS) - Already overseeing one of Europe's fastest growing
economies, the Irish government today released a climate change strategy that it
hopes will curb the country's insatiable appetite for high emission fossil
fuels. "Business as usual is no longer an option for Ireland," said
Environment Minister Noel Dempsey at the launch of Ireland's Climate Change
Strategy." (ENS)
Odd, the planet greens with rising atmospheric CO2
and yet they consider CO2 reduction green.
"Drive to cut
pollution will mean big hike in fuel taxes" - "CONSUMERS face
higher taxes on petrol and home heating oil as part of a new Government plan to
cut damaging emissions. New `green' taxes on fuels such as petrol, diesel and
oil, which produce carbon dioxide emissions, will be introduced on a phased
basis from 2002. The closure of the Moneypoint power station and a 10pc
reduction in the national herd are also signalled in the National Climate Change
Strategy." [Fuel
taxes to hit consumer] [Cleaning
up editorial] [Why
we must act before it is too late] (Irish Independent)
Some politicians and elements of the press are certainly
active in the propaganda stakes. Are they completely successful? Apparently not
- here's a group of budding young skeptics who'd like to share their perspectives
on the environment with you.
And these items seek a couple of good points despite
fanciful claims of clairvoyance:
"Not
all climate change bad, experts say" - "Southern and eastern
Europeans are likely to suffer from climate changes predicted over the next
century, while their northern neighbors are expected to reap advantages from the
shifts brought by global warming, scientists said Wednesday." (AP)
"Britain
'will gain from global warming'"
- "... Prof Parry said that the Kyoto climate agreement "would, if
successful, only reduce the rise of up to two degrees in temperature by 2050 by
around 0.06°C. So it is very likely that adaptation would be necessary."
He called for major changes in European policy, to adapt to the climate change,
including the reform of both the EU common agriculture and common fisheries
policies." (Telegraph)
Meanwhile, the Earth is happily
continuing with a mean
temperature hovering around the 1961-1990 average, with no net warming since
the 1930s.
"BSE
link to scrapie just a scare story, says Thorley"
- "CONSUMERS of lamb and mutton have nothing to fear, despite the
claims by the Food Standards Agency that there could be a tenuous link between
the sheep disease, scrapie, and BSE." (The Scotsman)
"As
lambs to slaughter: Britain's BSE phobia shifts to sheep" -
"Today, the more sensationalist media in Britain are amplifying a few
officials' comments on the possibility that "millions" of Britain's 40
million sheep may be destroyed -- possibly a total eradication. "That's
completely cockeyed," counters British organic dairyman Mark Purdey, who
has personally researched the entire epic of the prion-involved bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) since the panic of 1996. Purdey was the first to
show rational evidence that transmission by animal protein and bone meal
hypothesis is only a presumption, with no significant evidence. The U.K.
government's just-released inquiry formally acknowledges that for the first
time, commending Purdey for his scholarly research." (AgWeb.com)
"Why
the Government hates and fears the protesters" - "DAVID
HANDLEY, chairman of the People's Fuel Lobby, described himself to a House of
Commons committee yesterday as "a rat in a corner". The only thing a
trapped rat can do, he said, is fight back. [Straw
fuels the flames] (Daily Telegraph) [Straw:
We'll use emergency powers to keep roads open (Independent)] [Telegraph]
[The
Financial Times thinks fuel protesters are "astonishingly
arrogant"]
"UK
green groups urge fuel tax protestors to quit" - "LONDON -
Leading British green campaigners yesterday attacked plans for fresh fuel tax
protests calling them selfish and misguided. Environmental group Friends of the
Earth (FOE) called on fuel tax protesters to call off a five-day go-slow vehicle
convoy from the northeast to London next week. "It is time for the fuel tax
protesters to call off their plans for direct action," executive director
Charles Secrett said in a statement." (Reuters)
According to Charlie Secrett, fuel tax protesters are to
blame for the latest series of UK floods.
"Fuel
tax clouded by greenhouse gas" - "So imagine the surprise when
Mr Prescott told the House of Commons on Tuesday that climate change was, in
fact, behind this week's storms – the worst to hit Britain in more than a
decade. ... The Greens, of course, were delighted. Recognition at last! But more
cynical souls wondered whether Two Jags had another agenda. Could it be that his
boss, Tony Blair, was quite happy to have the perils of global warming talked up
when the Government is facing expensive demands to reduce petrol tax?" (The
Australian)
"German
power consumers attack costly energy laws" - "BERLIN - The
effects of energy laws and taxes are eating heavily into the savings offered to
German electricity consumers through deregulation of the sector, the association
of industrial power consumers (VIK) said. VIK chairman Horst Wolf at the
association's annual press conference attacked Germany's red-green governmental
coalition for what he called a "counterproductive and damaging energy
policy." (Reuters)
"Are
mobile phones reducing teenage smoking?" - "Is there a link
between the sharp decline in teenage smoking since 1996 and the dramatic rise in
mobile phone ownership among teenagers over the same period? A letter in this
week's BMJ argues that mobile phones may be competing successfully with
cigarettes to meet certain important teenage needs." (BMJ) [BBC
Online] [AP]
"Hands-free
phone safety questioned" - "The row over the safety of
hands-free mobile phones has restarted, with further tests suggesting they may
not protect the brain. There is no firm evidence that low-level radiowave
radiation from phones can cause damage to the brain." (BBC Online) [Reuters]
"Hands-free
phone warning is wrong, insists scientist"
- "The debate over hands-free mobile phone kits intensified yesterday as a
top scientist insisted that the Consumers' Association was wrong to claim that
the kits can increase the radiation received in the brain. The Department of
Trade and Industry also said it had "reservations" about the
reiterated claims by the CA, which first said in April that hands-free antenna
kits could actually act as an aerial and beam more energy into the brain than
simply holding the phone in the hand beside the head." (Independent)
"Translating
the language of risk" - "Perhaps one positive outcome of the
most recent BSE 'crisis' is the sign of increasing awareness of the difference
between scare stories and accurate information. There has been, understandably,
anger at the failure of bureaucrats to communicate what scientists were saying
about the risks posed by BSE in cattle. There have also been a lot of 'told you
so's from the right-on, but largely unelected and unaccountable, champions of
the 'consumer' and food correctness. But now there is also greater recognition
that yes, the world can be a risky place, but we must make the best of it and
get on with our lives." (Social Issues Research Centre)
"Dietary Guidelines Lawsuits" - "An animal rights group
called Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has sued the U.S.
Department of Agriculture twice over the 2000 revision of the Dietary
Guidelines. This group claims over 100,000 members but fewer than 5,000
physicians. However, the name implies that it represents physicians only. The
first lawsuit was based on the claim that the guidelines were racist because
they said milk consumption was okay for your health. Because non-Caucasians have
lower levels of lactase, the enzyme in the intestine that digests milk sugar,
PCRM made this claim. It was thrown out by a judge. The second suit was based on
the claim that USDA violated parts of the Freedom of Information Act in not
releasing the names of all scientific experts who were considered for the panel.
While many responsible nutritionists may differ with some of the points in the
dietary guidelines, there seems to be no benefit in releasing names and
credentials of those who were not chosen, and it may be an invasion of their
privacy.
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: PCRM has an agenda to eliminate the use of
animals for any purpose: no animal foods, no pets, no zoos, no leather, and no
animals in medical research. The Committee has not made progress by arguing
science, so it may be trying to intimidate people who may become involved with
the process in the future." (Nutritional News Focus)
"UK
Group to Focus on Soaring Number of GM Animal Experiments" -
"LONDON, United Kingdom, November 2, 2000 - A new government body has
announced one of its first tasks will be to investigate the soaring number of
animals used for experiments involving genetic modification." (ENS)
"300
taco, chip products recalled for gene-modified corn link" -
"Nearly 300 kinds of taco shells, tortillas, chips and tostadas were
recalled from U.S. grocery stores and restaurants because of suspected
contamination with a biotech corn not approved for human consumption, the Food
and Drug Administration said Wednesday. In the most detailed list published to
date, the FDA identified all the foods recalled by Mission Foods, a unit of
Mexican company Gruma, which has been hit hard by the discovery of StarLink corn
in its food products." (Reuters)
"CGA's
views on food use of Starlink" - "The National Corn Growers
Association released the following comments supporting the Aventis application
for limited-time waiver on food use of StarLink corn:" (AgWeb.com)
"New
biotech releases could fall victim to StarLink" - "The
StarLink controversy is already having ripple effects on agriculture research,
scientists and farm leaders say, and could delay the expected release of
millions of dollars worth of new products." (AgWeb.com)
"StarLink
lawsuit threat surfaces" - "Last month’s Kraft Foods and
subsequent Mission Foods recalls of taco and tortilla products using Aventis
Corp.’s genetically modified (GM) StarLink corn have spurred negative
headlines; long lists of recalled products; calls for studies, laws, technology
and grain segregation improvements…and at least one potential lawsuit."
(Bakery Online)
"The
Secrecy Legacy" - "WASHINGTON — President Clinton has until
Saturday to sign or veto a stealth attack on American freedom. On his desk is a
bill to prosecute any government whistle-blower who dares make public any
corruption or abuses of power any official stamps "classified." (NY
Times)
"Republicans
say Energy Department wasted 3.4 billion" - "WASHINGTON - Much
of the $3.4 billion the Energy Department has spent on new technology for
nuclear weapons waste cleanup in the past 11 years has been wasted, according to
a report of the House Commerce Committee's Republican majority. The report,
released Wednesday, said the DOE's Office of Science and Technology has
"squandered hundreds of millions of dollars on technologies that have not
proved useful" in the massive cleanup effort." (AP)
"Translate
this:" - "If you're planning on visiting the United States of
America from an English-speaking country, here are some local phrases you may
find useful over the next few days:" (Mark Steyn, National Post)
"Central
Kenya Farmers Embrace Biotech Farming" - "The use of
biotechnology to boost banana production is gradually gaining ground in Kenya's
agricultural based economy. According to experts, biotechnology, which was
little known a few years ago, is slowly revolutionising the future of banana
farming in a small community about 75 km north of Nairobi, in the country's
Central Province." (ANS)
"With
Asthma, Environment May Matter" - "THURSDAY, Nov. 2 -- Urban
doctors who see a lot of asthma patients may themselves be at high risk for the
breathing disorder, New York researchers say. The findings suggest that
environment, more than social or economic status, determines who develops the
condition." (HealthScout)
"Overeating
in pregnancy, entree to illness" - "WOMEN who "eat for
two" during the first trimester of their pregnancy have babies prone to
obesity, heart disease and diabetes in adulthood." (The Australian) [Dutch
men and women exposed to famine in utero have poor lipid profiles (AJCN)]
"Age
affects male fertility" - "A review of the scientific
literature revealed as myth the belief that male fertility was not affected by
age, a visiting expert said yesterday." (The Age)
"KENYA: IRIN
Focus On Dangers of Deforestation" - "Population growth is the
underlying cause behind deforestation in Kenya, according to the Kenya Forestry
Research Institute (KEFRI). It is a global phenomenon: 15 million hectares of
forest are lost worldwide every year due to their clearing for agricultural
reasons. In the 1980s, the Kenyan population grew at the rate of four percent a
year, thereby putting pressure on rich forest lands favourable to crop
cultivation." (AllAfrica.com)
"Malawi
Plans Crocodile Management Programme" - "BLANTYRE, Malawi,
November 2, 2000 - Crocodiles dwelling in Malawian lakes and rivers have become
a bone of contention between the government and indigenous people who live near
these water bodies. Both the people and their livestock regularly fall victim to
crocodiles, but the government insists that it is determined to protect the
crocodiles." (ENS)
"UC
Irvine study determines levels of ozone-depleting gases emitted by rice paddies
into atmosphere" - "Irvine, Calif. -- A UC Irvine study has
determined that the world's rice paddies emit a small but significant amount of
methyl halide gases that contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion, suggesting
that agricultural sources also play a role in this atmospheric phenomena."
(UCI) [Telegraph]
[BBC
Online apparently finds the greenhouse spin sexier]
"Seagulls
are attacking whales, says expert " - "Seagulls are
divebombing whales off the coast of Argentina and trying to eat them." (Ananova)
November 2, 2000
Pre-COP6 hype and posturing, mostly from unnamed
'experts':
"Global
warming to cause more flooding in Britain" -
"Temperatures will be too high in the Greek Islands for tourists to enjoy
summer holidays in July and August according to a climate expert." (Ananova)
"Global
warming 'will trigger more flooding'" - "Scientists say
Britain and Europe can expect more flooding but may benefit from reduced
energy needs as global warming takes hold of the climate." (Ananova)
"Climate
Changes Affect Europeans" - "LONDON — Southern and eastern
Europeans are likely to suffer from climate changes predicted over the next
century, while their northern neighbors are expected to reap advantages from
the shifts brought by global warming, scientists said Wednesday." (AP)
"Britain
in grip of worst floods for 50 years" - "Under water:
Widespread dismay as floods on a par with those of 1947" (Guardian)
"Europe
told there is no choice but to adapt" - "Climate shift:
Brussels report warns of deserts in south and storms in north" (Guardian)
"Forecast
Europe in 2050" - "UK: Cairngorms ski industry disappears;
Mild winters with heavy rain in bursts causing floods. Hot summers with
droughts every three years. Vineyards, sunflowers, soya become staple crops in
south. Fewer winter deaths from hypothermia and bronchitis." (Guardian)
"Scientists
forecast a century of rising floods for Britain while southern Europe battles
drought"
- "Greek islands far too hot for holidaymakers to endure at the height of
summer, southern Spain starting to resemble a desert, the salmon disappearing
from France's River Loire – such will be Europe affected by global warming
in the coming century, scientists said yesterday." (Independent)
"Europe's
climate forecast: hot and wet" - "A report on how Europe's
climate may change by 2100 suggests the impacts will vary starkly between
regions." (BBC Online)
"Climate
Change Poses New Challenges for EU-Report" - "LONDON -
Northern Europe and Britain can expect more flooding and torrential rains in
the years to come but southern Europe will bear the brunt of the impact of
global warming with water shortages, forest fires and desertification."
(Reuters)
"Flood
alert" - "Rivers in northern Europe such as the Thames in
Britain face a 20 per cent increase in peak flood flows. This is one of the
warnings given in a major new study of the future climate in Europe released
on Wednesday." (New Scientist)
"Too
darn hot" - "IT IS now certain that coral reefs are being
damaged by global climate change, the Bali meeting heard last week." (New
Scientist)
"Flood
crisis offers ideal chance to legislate for a changing climate"
- "STARING out of an office window at the rain beating
down on a wind-swept Glasgow, it is easy to accept Michael Meacher’s
admonitions that climate change is here to stay. It is prudent to make
pessimistic assumptions about trends over the next decade and to push flood
protection to the top of the political agenda." (The Scotsman)
"Climate
of change" - "Last week a symposium in Bali heard that more
than half the world's coral reefs had either been destroyed or were threatened
by global warming. And Greenpeace accused Australia of using last weekend's
South Pacific Forum to undermine the Kyoto Protocol, the UN treaty limiting
developed countries' emissions of the greenhouse gases - carbon - thought to be
causing global warming. Industry predictions about the cost of responding to
climate change are similarly disturbing. A recent study commissioned by the
Minerals Council of Australia concluded that complying with the Kyoto Protocol
could cut Australia's GDP by 1.9 per cent and employment in some regions of
Western Australia and Queensland by more than 10 per cent." (Nick Horden,
Australian Financial Revue)
"EPA HONORS EFFORTS AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING, OZONE DEPLETION"
- "WASHINGTON, DC, November 1, 2000 - Thirty-two individuals and
organizations from around the world received awards Tuesday from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for helping to reduce the health and
environmental risks of global warming and stratospheric ozone depletion."
(ENS)
How'd they do that without spending any money? Didn't
Congress set up some legal bar on EPA spending so much as a dime on global
warming?
Rounded off with a couple of letters to The Daily
Telegraph:
SIR - Am I being too facetious to mention that we now know the reason for
Noah's flood: global warming?" (JV Gray)
SIR - Thomas Turner, a shopkeeper at East Hoathly, Sussex, wrote in his
diary on Jan. 15, 1763: "I think to the best of my memory I never
remember so wet a time as the present, there having been hardly 48 hours of
fine weather for this two or three months past, it raining almost
continually." Only a few years ago the weather experts were advising that
the dried-up rivers would be unlikely to recover. There was even talk of
constructing very expensive underground pipeworks from the wet North-West to
the dry South. We should all be very careful before accepting the words of
experts on the subject of weather patterns. It is just too complicated to make
any far-reaching decisions on how to respond to extreme weather conditions,
particularly if they would have a damaging effect on our economy." (DJ
Steele)
Several correspondents have raised a query over
constant claim (by warming advocates) that COP6 is 'the last chance' to get Kyoto
ratified and made binding. In a sense they are quite correct in their claim.
Current LTA (Long Term Average) figures against which
we benchmark global temperature trends are established by taking the global
mean for the years 1961-1990 (it takes thirty years to establish a trend in
climatic terms in order to eliminate short-term trends induced by temporary
anomalies such as the 1997/98 El Niño). Each decade a new global mean (LTA)
is calculated and, as of the year 2001, the mean will reflect the period
1971-2000. Thus, the 97/98 El Niño-induced warm spike will enter the
average calculation while the decade 1961-70 (when the world was in it's
latest cooling phase) will drop out of calculation. Looking at the US
temperature record it is obvious that this will have some effect,
although nowhere near as much as if you use the IPCC's selective urban data
and resultant fanciful graph.
Current Earth temperature is slightly below the 1961-1990 mean. Unless it
rises by next year it will register as anomalously cool compared with
the 1971-2000 mean.
Given that the 1997/98 El Niño aberration will remain
in the mean calculation until 2030, and thus tend to inflate the global mean
benchmark, the chances of claiming rising global temperature over the next
three decades are somewhat diminished.
COP6 really is their last hurrah because,
statistically, the world is about to cool - whether the temperature changes
or not.
Britain's fuel tax fight:
"Keep
on truckin', folks - you've already won" - "IT'S a judgment,
yea, it's a judgment, say the eco-doomsters. If only we hadn't been so
exorbitant as to fill up our tanks. If only we weren't so selfish as to drive to
the supermarkets and to take our children to school by car! Because then the
evil gases would not have plumed to the heavens and encircled the planet like a
funeral winding sheet; then the temperature would not have risen over the past
few years, the ice caps would not have melted, the storms would not have been
unleashed over the Home Counties!" (Daily Telegraph)
"Brown's
duty to cut" - "... The only obstacles to doing so are
political - and party political at that. More than most chancellors, Gordon
Brown regards the receipts in the Exchequer as his own, in the sense that how
they are spent should be a matter for him, and him alone." (Daily
Telegraph)
"Tax
burden has reached a record high, says Hague"
- "... The leader of the Opposition told Mr Blair: "Is it not now
clear that you have given us the fastest rise in petrol prices, the biggest tax
rise for the least well off, the highest tax burden in the history of the
country?" (Independent)
"Fuel
protesters demand 15p tax cut"
- "Fuel protesters toughened their stance against the Government last
night, insisting that help targeted at hauliers was not enough and enlisting the
aid of fishermen to bring the country to a halt in protests planned for later
this month." (Independent)
"Blair:
'I will not be held to ransom'" - "The
Prime Minister has insisted that he will not allow fuel duty protestors to hold
the country to ransom with further blockades." (Independent)
"Blair
mounts fuel offensive" - "The government has stepped up its
efforts to win the war of words on fuel tax as the 14 November deadline for
action set by protesters approaches. Prime Minister Tony Blair told MPs that big
cuts in fuel duty would see the worst-off suffer, while Tory leader William
Hague accused the government of being responsible for the biggest rise in fuel
taxes in UK history." (BBC Online)
"Arctic
Drilling Proposal Sparks Heated Debate" - "WASHINGTON, DC,
November 1, 2000 - The debate over opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
to oil development came to the National Press Club in Washington today, as a top
Clinton Administration official and a powerful Republican Senator outlined two
very different views of the contentious election year issue." (ENS)
"US
senator says Alaska drilling will cut oil price" - "WASHINGTON
- U.S. crude oil prices would plunge by at least $10 a barrel if the federal
government decided to reverse course and allow exploration in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge, the Republican head of the Senate Energy committee
said yesterday." (Reuters)
"WORLD BANK URGED TO BAR FOSSIL FUELS PROJECTS" -
"WASHINGTON, DC, November 1, 2000 - In a letter to World Bank president
James Wolfensohn sent Monday, Friends of the Earth (FoE) international chairman
Ricardo Navarro called on Wolfensohn to declare a moratorium on World Bank
support of fossil fuel and mining projects. Navarro's letter follows up on
Wolfensohn's September pledge at the World Bank Annual Meetings in Prague to
work with FoE to examine the negative impacts of Bank investments in fossil fuel
and mining." (ENS)
"Australia
govt seeks fast renewable energy deal" - "MELBOURNE -
Australian Environment Minister Robert Hill said yesterday the government wanted
to resolve a deadlock over renewable energy legislation before a mid-November
international meeting on greenhouse gas emissions." (Reuters)
"Household
hazard" - "Exposure to low-frequency electromagnetic fields
from computers and fridges is a cause of female infertility, according to an
Italian research team. But the team's results have been rejected as
"spurious" by UK Powerwatch, an independent EMF monitoring
group." (New Scientist)
"'Key
discovery' in nerve repair" - "Scientists have made a
discovery that might one day allow the re-growth of damaged nerve cells such as
those severed in spinal cord injuries." (BBC Online)
"Hepatitis
antibody made from GM rice" - "A research team of the Science
University of Tokyo has succeeded in using genetically modified rice plants to
produce the hepatitis B antibody, which can be used to produce immunity to the
virus, it was learned Monday. Until now, blood from hepatitis B carriers has
been used to manufacture the products." (Yomiuri Shimbun)
"Corn
Rises as Worries Ease Over StarLink in Exports" -
"CHICAGO -- Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade reached nearly
two-week highs, with hopes that the controversy over Starlink corn won`t hinder
exports to Japan, the No. 1 buyer of U.S. corn. Corn futures have been under
pressure over the past week amid concerns Japan would shun the U.S. grain after
discovering traces of StarLink, a genetically modified variety, in food products
and animal feed." (WSJ)
Hmm... "EPA:
Consumers complaining of reactions to biotech corn found in food supply"
- "WASHINGTON -- Fourteen people have complained to federal officials of
adverse reactions after eating food products made from StarLink, a form of
bioengineered corn not approved for human consumption, an official at the
Environmental Protection Agency said Monday. The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are
investigating the "adverse event reports," said Susan Hazen, Deputy
Director of EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs." (CNN)
"Transgenic
Plants and Biosafety: Science, Misconceptions and Public Perceptions"
- "ABSTRACT: One usually thinks of plant biology as a non-controversial
topic, but the concerns raised over the biosafety of genetically modified (GM)
plants have reached disproportionate levels relative to the actual risks. While
the technology of changing the genome of plants has been gradually refined and
increasingly implemented, the commercialization of GM crops has exploded.
Concerns of ecological and food biosafety have escalated beyond scientific
rationality. While several risks associated with GM crops and foods have been
identified, the popular press, spurred by colorful protest groups, has left the
general public with a sense of imminent danger. An estimated 2.5 x 1012
transgenic plants have been grown in the US in the past 12 years, with over one
trillion being grown in 1999 alone. These large numbers and the absence of any
negative reports of compromised biosafety indicate that genetic modification by
biotechnology poses no immediate risks and that resulting food products from GM
crops are as safe as foods from conventional varieties. We are increasingly
convinced that scientists have a duty to not only conduct objective research,
but also effectively communicate the results especially pertaining to relative
risks and potential benefits." (BioTechniques 29:832-843)
"Urban
Myths about Organic Agriculture" - "There is a
widespread belief that farming systems with lower yields and lower use of inputs
are more friendly to the environment, and more sustainable than higher producing
systems (10). Organic food is often viewed as healthier and benign. However the
information below rarely finds its way into discussion on organic food but is
essential for a critical assessment. Compared to efficient conventional farming
conducted with good agricultural practices, organic farming has "no
positive environmental aspects at all" (41) and least sustainability (44
)." (Anthony Trewavas, Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology)
"One
of Clinton's last stands: ergonomic injuries" - "WASHINGTON
(November 1, 2000 7:17 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Regulations that
would cost employers from $5 billion to $80 billion a year to address hundreds
of thousands of potentially disabling workplace injuries have emerged as one of
President Clinton's last stands against a Republican Congress." (AP)
"DIOXIN REVIEW PANEL INCLUDES INDUSTRY SUPPORTED SCIENTISTS"
- "WASHINGTON, DC, November 1, 2000 (ENS) - Farmers, Vietnam veterans,
health and environmental groups issued a warning Tuesday that the dioxin
industry is funding six members of the review panel scheduled to review the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) reassessment of the chemical
dioxin today and Thursday." (ENS)
Ben & Jerry's trying to
bury the dioxin review?
"Federalism
Debate at Heart of Environment Case Before Justices" -
"WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 — The Supreme Court's great continuing federalism
debate came to rest today in an unlikely place: the site of an abandoned strip
mine in northeastern Illinois, dotted with dozens of small ponds where the earth
was scooped out more than 50 years ago, that a consortium of suburban Chicago
cities and towns proposes to use for a solid-waste landfill." (NY Times)
"Environmental
Cases May Have Ripples" - "Commerce
clause, nondelegation law could see big change" (law.com)
"Landowners
will fight 'save hen harrier' controls"
- "VAST areas of heather and grouse moor across Scotland and England are to
fall under tough conservation controls to protect the hen harrier. Landowners
stretching from the Yorkshire Dales up to Deeside in Scotland will be affected
by government moves to designate their estates and farms Sites of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Protection Areas (SPA) under European
laws. Seven new SPAs, covering a total of 230,000 hectares much of it privately
owned, are awaiting approval by the Scottish Executive and the Department of the
Environment." (The Times)
"TOO
HOT TO HANDLE" - "TRANSMISSION speeds from new GPRS cellphones,
due to be launched in Britain this year, will be held down to keep them within
radiation absorption guidelines and to stop them overheating, New Scientist has
discovered. Cellphone companies seem not to have learned from their massive
over-hyping of WAP services, and risk crippling the fledgling market for GPRS by
making hollow promises about speed. "We have known for ages about these
limitations," says Rainer Lischetzki of phone maker Motorola. "We
regret the sales talk and data rate exaggeration." (New Scientist)
"Marines warn parents
of bad water" - "WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 — The Marine Corps is
trying to notify the parents of an estimated 10,000 children born at Camp
Lejeune, N.C., between 1968 and 1985 that they may have consumed water
contaminated with compounds that have been linked to birth defects and childhood
cancers such as leukemia." (MSNBC)
"End of an era"
- "... But despite the vast scale of the report it contains only one truly
important message: secrecy and paternalism make for bad government and bad
science." (New Scientist)
"Highly
infectious: scare stories"
- "Has the country lost its marbles? From the newspapers that have crossed
my sickbed over the past 10 days (I have been recuperating from a minor op),
there has been an overwhelming stench of fear. Meat (whether beef, lamb or
French), vaccination (polio), rail travel (nationwide), air-travel (economy
class) – all, allegedly, threaten life and limb. Not to mention cold remedies
(containing an ingredient that causes strokes), electrical appliances (causing
infertility) and herbal medicines (can aggravate asthma)." (Independent)
"Liar,
liar" - "Perhaps the most persistent and outrageous media
conceit that has increased the indecision of the public is that Mr. Bush is not
smart enough to be president, while Mr. Gore is one of the nation's better
minds. Reporters who are graduates of Palooka College make fun of Mr. Bush, who
not only graduated from Yale, but gained a masters from Harvard Business School,
while Mr. Gore flunked out of divinity school and dropped out of law
school." (Tony Blankley, Washington Times)
"Emotional
Attitude Unrelated to Heart Disease-Study" - "BOSTON - Feeling
depressed? Lonely? Stressed? A new study finds those feelings won't affect your
chance of having a heart attack." (Reuters)
"Doctor-drug
conflicts of interests splashed across JAMA pages" - "ATLANTA,
Georgia -- A public dispute has erupted between the manufacturer of an HIV
medication and researchers who say the anti-HIV drug doesn't work. The fight,
between The Immune Response Corp. (IRC) and doctors at the University of
California at San Francisco, puts millions of dollars at stake." (CNN)
"How
fat SLOBS can help human race" - "A group of genetically
modified fat "SLOB" rats accidentally created by British researchers
could hold clues to the mysteries of the human beer gut." (The Age)
"Canadians
unlock cancer mystery" - "Canadian scientists have solved one
of the biggest mysteries in cancer research, opening the way for a breakthrough
in the treatment of the disease." (National Post)
"Moderate
alcohol consumption increases bone mineral density in elderly women"
- "In a study of 489 post-menopausal women, moderate drinkers had
significantly higher bone mineral density (BMD) than their nondrinking
counterparts, according to research by Rapuri et al. published in The American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition." (AJCN)
"500
million window blinds recalled over strangulation risk" -
"WASHINGTON (November 1, 2000 3:03 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - In
its largest-ever product recall, the government says some 500 million horizontal
window blinds sold over the last decade need their cords repaired because 130
babies and young children have been strangled since 1991. It is the second such
recall in the last five years." (AP)
"Don't
burn your bra just yet" - "Are recent
reports linking bras to breast cancer based on nothing more than a
misunderstanding of the results of a study carried out at a Bristol
hospital?" (Independent)
"Fruits
and vegetables don't protect against some cancers, study finds" -
"WASHINGTON (November 1, 2000 11:05 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - A
diet rich in fruits and vegetables helps protect against heart disease and
diabetes, but has no effect against colon and rectal cancer, a new study says.
Harvard researchers report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute
that studies involving more than 136,000 health professionals who were
repeatedly interviewed over 16 years found that eating fruits and vegetables had
virtually no effect on the incidence of colon and rectal cancer. This finding,
to be published Wednesday, is the opposite of dozens of studies over the last 20
years that reported some colorectal cancer protection from fruits and
vegetables." (AP)
Sigh... "Flipping
burgers cuts cancer risk" - "NEW YORK: While overcooking meat
has long been linked to cancer risk, new research shows that flipping burgers
may lower the odds. Frequently turning burgers on the frying pan seems to cut
the production of possible cancer-causing compounds called heterocyclic amines (HCAs)."
(Times of India)
"Halloween
blasted as 'evil'" - "Roman Catholic priests in France have
denounced Halloween as "devoted to Satan, ugliness and absolute evil".
In the Riviera resort of St Raphael, priests organised a protest, saying the
festival amounted to an attack on French culture." (The Age)
"Scientists
to check on toppling penguins" - "British scientists are
heading for the South Atlantic in an attempt to disprove claims that penguins
fall over backwards when aircraft fly overhead." (The Age)
November 1, 2000
"North-east
England hit hardest by the worst flooding in half a century"
- "Yorkshire, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear and were the worst
affected areas. They had largely escaped the worst of the weekend's storms but
after 85mm of rain fell in 24 hours, six severe flood warnings were issued
yesterday, with a total of 65 flood warnings and flood watches imposed."
(Independent)
85mm (a little under 3.5") of rain in 24 hours.
That's just over their record 30 minute total (1953), less than the 1 hour
record (1901) and less than one-third of the 1955 24 hour top [UK
Met Office: Extremes]. Since this is touted as the "worst in
half a century" then the implication is that events have been less
dramatic over the interim. And this purportedly indicates increasing
severe weather events due to global warming? Right... [NOAA
RELEASES CENTURY'S TOP WEATHER, WATER AND CLIMATE EVENTS]
Charlie Clover, The Telegraph's environment reporter,
recycled the pre-release of IPCC's political summary with Scientists
give new greenhouse gases warning - he should have read what
Ridley had in the same publication yesterday Weather
and climate are different things: "Overall, there is no
evidence that extreme weather events or climate variability has increased,
in a global sense, through the 20th century," says the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The evidence, says the World
Meteorological Organisation, "points to an expectation of little or no
change in global frequency [of cyclones]". Both these organisations
believe the evidence for man-made global warming, but admit that the
evidence for more extreme weather is not there." His comments
regarding Kyoto are worth reading again too: The
real cost of global warming
Is the globe really responding to changes in the minor
greenhouse gas (GHG) constituents? Good question, one even NASA answered
with a comprehensive shrug of the shoulders less than a fortnight ago: Earth's
fidgeting climate. Meanwhile, Earth's tropospheric
temperature demonstrates no clear correlation with GHG levels.
Ah, say proponents, but the models say that it will.
Certainly Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said
on Monday that confidence in projection of future climate was
increasing, noting also "While the accuracy of climate models is
impressive and increasing, the models still do not capture all the features
of the real climate system because it is difficult to fully simulate the
complexity of the real world climate system and build in extreme weather
events such as heavy rainfalls and cyclones."
Does this mean we have increased confidence in the
extreme scenarios mentioned by Revkin in his NYT
article last week? In a word - no. Saltzman, et al, (GRL,
v.27, no.21 p.3513, 1 Nov 2000) compared the 'predictions' of NCAR's CCM1
model (+3.5°C to 2125) with their more recent CCM3 (+1.6°C to 2125). Oops!
See 'Models Not So Super' on Still
Waiting For Greenhouse for more on this.
Oh dear! "Weather:
'action now essential'" - "Extreme weather events must now
be regarded as normal in Britain as global warming takes hold, and the
railways, power lines and flood defences must adapt to cope, John Prescott,
the deputy prime minister, said yesterday." (Guardian) [Independent]
More sensibly: UK's
Prescott to curb building in flood areas (Reuters)
"Storms
a 'wake-up call' for emergency plan" - "BRITAIN: Britain's
worst storm in 13 years should act as a "wake-up call" to ensure the
country's infrastructure is robust enough to withstand extreme weather, the
Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, said yesterday. He spoke as robust
tactics to counter the effects of global warming look likely to be written into
emergency weather plans." [Report
says flooding will increase] [Minister
blames global warming for British storms] (Irish Times) [Even
the normally rational Scotsman got into the act with Weather-proofing
as a national priority] [Regular
fight against floods is part of Britain's future (The Times)] [Global
warming strains old sewers: insurance board (Ottawa Citizen)]
"Global
warming vs plain old weather" - "Andy Yateman, of the Met
Office, said: "The weekend storms were within the boundaries of our
highly-changeable, British climate, even if at the extreme end. If over the next
few decades we see more and more weather events outside these boundaries then
you can start talking about blaming them on climate change." (Evening
Standard)
"Will
There Be Enough Food?" - "The authors determined that world
population will likely be 51% greater in the year 2050 than it was in 1998, but
that world food production will be only 37% greater if its enhanced productivity
comes solely as a consequence of anticipated improvements in agricultural
technology and expertise. However, they further determined that the
consequent shortfall in farm production can be overcome - but just barely - by
the additional benefits anticipated to accrue from the aerial
fertilization effect of the expected rise in the air's CO2
content, assuming no Kyoto-style cutbacks in anthropogenic CO2
emissions." (Idso & Idso on the net benefits of increasing
atmospheric CO2 levels)
"Prudence
Misapplied" - "In the 25 August 2000 issue of Science,
Philip H. Abelson introduces his Editorial on "Limiting Atmospheric CO2"
with the statement that "worldwide emissions of CO2
continue to increase, and prudence dictates that technologies be developed to
help limit this trend," whereupon he launches into a detailed discussion of
ways to achieve this goal. Unfortunately, his entire analysis is
moot." (co2science.org)
"Flatulent
sheep cause global warming" - "Scientists in New
Zealand are working to reduce the threat posed by one of the country's principle
causes of global warming - flatulent sheep." (Ananova)
"US
carbon dioxide emissions rose 1.3 pct in 1999-EIA" -
"WASHINGTON - U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, a major part of
++greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, increased 1.3 percent last year,
the U.S. Energy Information Administration said yesterday." (Reuters)
"Environmental groups
on blitz for Gore" - "SEATTLE, Oct. 31 — Voters here
and in other swing areas are getting hit with a last-week blitz by environmental
groups stressing that supporters should vote for Democrat Al Gore, not the Green
Party’s Ralph Nader. The push comes late in the campaign, but it’s strong
enough to create a nasty dispute between Nader and three groups that once called
him an ally." (MSNBC)
"Opec
to give output a boost - but oil prices rise once again" - "OIL
prices rose yesterday even after producers’ group Opec said it would increase
output for the fourth time this year. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting
Countries said it would increase output by 500,000 barrels a day today,
equivalent to about two per cent of its own production and about 0.7 per cent of
world production. However, analysts say the amount of extra fuel that will be
added as a result of yesterday’s announcement could be as little as 150,000
barrels a day." (The Scotsman)
"Environmentalists
say UK should not cut fuel levy" - "LONDON - Britain should
not cut fuel taxes in the pre-budget statement on November 8 as the levy is an
essential tool in tackling climate change, environmental pressure group
Transport 2000 said yesterday." (Reuters)
"U.S.
voters feel pinch of high energy costs" - "WASHINGTON - While
Americans are enjoying the strongest economy in a generation, it is hard to find
a voter who doesn't feel pinched by high energy prices this election season.
Indeed, the cost of a gallon of gas for the drive to the voting booth on Nov. 7
will cost 26 percent more than it did at the last presidential election.
Consumers - from soccer moms to truck drivers - are certainly no better off at
the gasoline pump than they were four, eight or even twelve years ago. Voters
focusing on energy and environmental issues will have a clear choice between
Democrat and Vice President Al Gore and Republican Texas Gov. George W. Bush on
policies to keep energy costs from busting the family budget." (Reuters)
"USDA
announces $300 mil. biofuels effort" - "USDA today announced
details of a new $300 million program to encourage expanded production of
environmentally-friendly fuels made from corn, soybeans and other crops. The
program will help expand markets for agricultural commodities and promote use of
bio-fuels like ethanol and soy-based biodiesel." (AgWeb.com)
"Fallout
widens over Arizona fuel fiasco" - "... Approved this year by
the Legislature, the expanded program offered people large incentives to use
cars that run on so-called clean fuels, such as natural gas or propane. It
proved unexpectedly popular: So many residents rushed to take advantage of the
tax breaks offered by the state that the program's costs have spiraled nearly
out of control. Thousands of Arizonans poured into dealerships to buy or convert
an estimated 22,000 vehicles, pushing the cost of the program to an estimated
$483 million. It was supposed to cost about $3 million when legislators passed
it earlier this year." (AP)
"Supreme
Court case could chart the future of gasoline" - "The Supreme
Court and the Clinton administration are being asked to make a decision soon in
a case that hasn't drawn much attention, but that could have a profound effect
on gas prices at the pump and on air quality. ... Thirty-four states and the
District of Columbia have filed a brief with the Supreme Court supporting the
major oil companies. An appeals court decision "potentially allows (the
California company) to monopolize the retail gasoline market, and significantly
increase the price consumers pay for gasoline," the states told the
justices." (UPI)
"Fight
is on against pesticide tax" - "THE farming industry
has introduced proposals to minimise the environmental impact of crop protection
chemicals. The farmers’ aim is to prevent any moves towards introduction of a
pesticide tax which could cost them an estimated £125 million a year."
(The Scotsman)
"Checking
Environmental Risk Factors And Breast Cancer" -
"Science-based information on the relationships between breast cancer and
environmental risk factors -- including pesticides and diet -- is offered at a
Cornell University-based website. The URL is http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/bcerf/"
(UniSci)
"Tobacco
king's eco-award comes under fire" - "The World
Wildlife Fund had shown contempt for "accepted standards" by
presenting business magnate Anton Rupert with two special environment awards,
says Ken Sheppard, an anti-smoking activist." (Sapa)
"Yo-yo
dieters show lower levels of "good" cholesterol, could pose heart
disease risk, say researchers from national W.I.S.E . study" -
"PITTSBURGH, Oct. 31 -- Women who repeatedly gain and lose weight,
especially if they are obese, have significantly lower levels of HDL or
"good" cholesterol than do women who maintain their weight, putting
the weight cyclers at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. These findings
were published in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of
Cardiology by researchers from four institutions conducting the Women’s
Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (W.I.S.E.) study, sponsored by the National Heart,
Lung and Blood Institute." (UPMC)
"Missing
Gene Prejudices Survival In Ovarian Cancer" - "Epithelial
ovarian carcinoma is the most lethal malignancy of the female genital tract.
Mortality trends in the U.S. have not exhibited any significant changes since
1979, with the rate remaining stable at 9.8 deaths per 100,000 women." (UniSci)
"Women
Gain Weight at Puberty, Pregnancy, Menopause" - "LOS ANGELES -
Several studies released on Tuesday show women are most vulnerable to putting on
pounds at puberty, after pregnancy and after menopause, giving doctors new
information to help reduce obesity among females." (Reuters)
"Welcome
to the Fat Slob Way of Life" - "There are many reasons
to take with an unhealthy pinch of salt the warning from Yvette Cooper, the
minister for public health, that the life expectancy of today's children will be
years lower than that of their parents. With a few exceptions - sub-Saharan
Africa as a result of the Aids epidemic, and Russia which has its own reasons -
there has not been a significant decline in life expectancy anywhere. Rather,
the great majority of countries have seen a continuous increase in the lifespans
of their populations for several decades. So what was the reasoning behind the
health minister's statement?" (Theodore Dalrymple, New Statesman)
"Compounds
also present in alcoholic beverages may explain chocolate cravings"
- "A Spanish researcher has a new clue to what motivates
"chocoholics": a group of chemicals that might contribute to the good
feelings associated with binging on the tasty treat. The finding is reported in
the current (October 16) issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food
Chemistry, a monthly peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the
world's largest scientific society." (ACS)
"Chocolate
a Health Food? Maybe, but Keep the Aspirin" - "Will chocolate
be as intensely craved and taste as richly luscious if it is no longer viewed as
a sinful treat, but, quite the contrary, a health food? Indeed, chocolate and
cocoa drinks, it turns out, contain an abundant dose of flavonoids, potent
antioxidants that have been found most notably in red wine, green tea and fruits
and vegetables, and have been associated with a decrease in the risk of coronary
heart disease and stroke." (NY Times)
"NHS
go-ahead for hyperactivity drug" - "The National Institute for
Clinical Excellence (NICE) has decided that a controversial drug should be
prescribed on the NHS to children with serious hyperactivity problems."
(BBC Online) [Ritalin
becoming school yard hustlers' newest product (CSM)] [Making
a Plus From the Deficit in A.D.D. (NY Times)]
"Castration
Most Cost-Effective for Prostate-Study" - "WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - Surgical castration is the most cost-effective treatment for
advanced prostate cancer, but it may be hard for many men to overcome their
horror of it, researchers said on Tuesday." (Reuters)
'Consultant:
GMO issues in Brazilian soybeans a "colossal mess"' -
"The U.S. StarLink hassle isn't the world's only confusion over GMO issues.
Consider Brazil, where RoundupReady beans were approved by the government, then
blocked in the courts, yet openly black-marketed from across the border with
Argentina and Paraguay. Two state ministers of agriculture in Brazil are
adamantly anti-GMO, while neighboring states shrug while their farmers plant
Roundup-Ready genetics. As we see it, importers who look to South America for
"GMO-free" soybeans will probably face the same uncertainties as those
trying to assure that corn from Iowa is "StarLink free." (AgWeb.com)
"EPA
Pledges Review of Biotech Corn" - "WASHINGTON - Pledging to do
a thorough review before allowing a variety of gene-altered corn in food, the
Environmental Protection Agency announced plans Monday for a 30-day public
comment period and formal consultations with scientists." (AP)
"Critics
slam new Monarch Bt-corn data" - "The world`s media are,
it seems, becoming immune to scare stories about the effects of GM crops on
monarch butterfly populations. The latest research published in the German
journal, Oecologia, following a two year study on small scale plots at Iowa
State University, predicts that pollen from transgenic corn expressing toxin
derived from Bacillus thuringiensis affects survival of monarch larval ``at
least 10 metres`` from the field border. Although the work still falls well
short of being a true field study, it is greatly more substantial than the
preliminary laboratory experiment published in Nature last year by researchers
at Cornell University (Nature 399, 214). Despite this, and despite the dearth of
real news in the media`s traditional ``silly season`` of August, the Iowa work
has attracted considerably less media attention than the earlier paper. Industry
commentators and a number of entomologists involved with a broad international
field survey to examine the effects of Bt corn on the monarch butterfly have
leveled detailed criticism at the Iowa work." (Nature Biotechnology)
'Kellogg’s
defiant despite growing concerns about dangers of "frankenfood."'
- "BATTLE CREEK, MI — Dozens of costumed activists converged outside
the headquarters of Kellogg’s today to denounce the cereal maker’s
continued use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their food. Members
of Michigan Resistance Against Genetic Engineering (MIRAGE) were joined by
Greenpeace activists carrying a giant 25-foot ear of corn with a
trick-or-treat bag that said, "Kellogg’s: Stop Using Scary Corn."
(Greenpeace)
So, the `peas have trotted out their PVC pet
again - want to have some fun with 'im? Name
that nightmare or Caption
this picture.
"Genetically
Modified 'Super Salmon' Is No Fish Story" - "Salmon has become
so popular among diners that raising the fish in captivity has become big
business, and the only way to meet a growing dinner-table demand. Now an
American-Canadian company has another fish to fry: a genetically engineered
"super salmon" bred to grow twice as fast — 1.5 years instead of 3
— and at half the cost." (Fox News)
"Food
Fears" - "A recent front-page story in The Post--" 'Frankenfish'
or Tomorrow's Dinner?" [Oct. 17]--illustrated how much society has to gain
from biotechnology and also just how much this valuable new food production tool
is being put at risk by the biotechnology industry's business-as-usual
attitude." (Washington Post)
"Newfound
Protein Touches Off Race for New Therapies" - "A long-elusive
protein that could have a serious impact in medicine has recently come to light
because of the availability of the human genome sequence. The protein
stimulates the cells of the immune system to grow and divide and to churn out
antibodies. The existence of such an agent has long been surmised, but until now
it has escaped detection." (NY Times)
"Study
Questions Ethics Rules for Research" - "CHICAGO - Ethics
policies governing conflict of interest for research at U.S. universities tend
to be vague, at a time when faculty members may be developing more complex ties
to industry, according to studies published on Tuesday." (Reuters)
"Patterns:
When Counseling Makes Matters Worse" - "Counseling sessions
known as debriefings, in which health professionals seek to lessen the effects
of traumatic events by encouraging emotional expression, have been increasingly
common. But an Australian study of the practice's effect on new mothers after
surgically assisted childbirth found no benefit, and some evidence suggests that
the debriefed mothers suffered slightly higher rates of depression later."
(NY Times)
"FDA
re-examines Lotronex after death reports" - "WASHINGTON -- The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration is again investigating Lotronex,
a popular new treatment for irritable bowel syndrome, after receiving reports
that five women have died after taking it. Although FDA officials warned it's
too early to say if Lotronex was to blame for the deaths, the consumer advocacy
group Public Citizen urged the agency to pull the drug off the market."
(CNN)
"Too
many vaccines for kids? Survey finds 25% of parents think so" -
"CHICAGO -- Roughly one-fourth of American parents have serious concerns
over the safety of vaccinations their children receive, a survey out Monday
shows. The findings ''are worrisome,'' says Vanderbilt University
infectious-disease expert Bruce Gellin. ''A sizable minority holds
misconceptions that have no basis in scientific fact.'' (USA Today)
"Millions
of U.S. students home alone" - "WASHINGTON -- Call it a scare
that working parents could do without this Halloween -- 2.4 million children
under the age of 12 are home alone before or after school, according to a report
released Tuesday by the U.S. Census bureau." (CNN)
"Court
hears broad challenge to federal authority in environmental case" -
"WASHINGTON
-- Hearing an environmental case that is nominally about ponds, birds and
garbage, several U.S. Supreme Court justices quizzed a government lawyer Tuesday
about the extent of federal control over matters that seem to be the concern of
just one state. The dispute over some boggy land where local Illinois
governments want to put a landfill could offer another opportunity for the
Supreme Court's conservative majority to further curb federal power over
states." (AP)
"Look
for a growing budget surplus" - "The press has had some fun
recently pointing to the scramble by members of Congress to dig into the federal
pork barrel to finance various projects in their districts." (CSM)
"GRAY
AREA: Beijing tightens air pollution controls, enacts skyline color scheme"
- "(31 October 2000) Borrowing a page from Henry Ford’s popular Model T
ad slogan: Beijing says you can have any color you want for a new
construction’s exterior color—as long as it’s gray. The choice, an
aesthetic one, would also camouflage the effects of the city’s rampant air
pollution. But Beijing is not trying to conceal air pollution; it is also
introducing aggressive new measures to combat air pollution this winter during
the peak season of home heating, from Nov. 1 through the end of March, reports
the Oct. 30 Zhongguo Xinwen She (China News Service)." (China Online)
"Cover-up
claim on incinerators" - "Civil servants were yesterday
accused by MPs of a cover-up, after they suppressed information on plans to
tackle a predicted rise in deaths and pollution-related illness caused by a new
generation of waste-burning incinerators." (Guardian)
"Scientists Urge
Caution in Mars Exploration" - "As humanity is on the brink of
establishing a continuous human presense in space, new concerns are arising
regarding safety. And DHMO is at the center of the controversy. In a turn of
events worthy of Orsen Welles and his famous 1938 "War of the Worlds"
radio broadcast of H.G. Wells classic tale of the same name, scientists now fear
that sub-surface Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) contamination of the "Red
Planet" may be cause for concern in continued exploration." (DHMO.org)
"Sheep
slaughter warning" - "A ban on eating British-reared lamb and
the slaughter of the country's entire sheep population could be imposed after
the food standards watchdog called for the monitoring of livestock other than
cattle for BSE." (Guardian)
"Scientist
Proposes Mad Cow Theory" - "LONDON - A veterinary scientist
has proposed a new theory for the origin of mad cow disease, saying he believes
it likely came from a wild animal commonly found outside Britain that was
chopped up for cattle feed in England." (AP) [Biologists
Say Hunters Should Beware of Brain Disease]