75% Of Scientists Questioned Are Thinking Of Leaving The U.S.

From Nature.com. 

Open Letter From Russian Scientists And Science Writers

The following oped letter in opposition to the invasion of Ukraine, published at eureporter.co, is from Russian scientists and Science writers: 

“We, Russian scientists and scientific journalists, declare a strong protest against the hostilities launched by the armed forces of our country on the territory of Ukraine. This fatal step leads to huge human losses and undermines the foundations of the established system of international security. The responsibility for unleashing a new war in Europe lies entirely with Russia.

“There is no rational justification for this war. Attempts to use the situation in Donbass as a pretext for launching a military operation do not inspire any confidence. It is clear that Ukraine does not pose a threat to the security of our country. The war against her is unfair and frankly senseless.

“Ukraine has been and remains a country close to us. Many of us have relatives, friends and scientific colleagues living in Ukraine. Our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought together against Nazism. Unleashing a war for the sake of the geopolitical ambitions of the leadership of the Russian Federation, driven by dubious historiosophical fantasies, is a cynical betrayal of their memory.

“We respect Ukrainian statehood, which rests on really working democratic institutions. We treat the European choice of our neighbors with understanding. We are convinced that all problems in relations between our countries can be resolved peacefully.

“Having unleashed the war, Russia doomed itself to international isolation, to the position of a pariah country. This means that we, scientists, will no longer be able to do our job normally: after all, conducting scientific research is unthinkable without full cooperation with colleagues from other countries. The isolation of Russia from the world means further cultural and technological degradation of our country in the complete absence of positive prospects. War with Ukraine is a step to nowhere.

“It is bitter for us to realize that our country, which made a decisive contribution to the victory over Nazism, has now become the instigator of a new war on the European continent. We demand an immediate halt to all military operations directed against Ukraine. We demand respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state. We demand peace for our countries. Let's do science, not war!”

Global Climate Change Could Be Worse Than We Were Told

(Cartoon image is by Chan Lowe in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.)

The original predictions of climate scientists were that the Earth could warm by a couple of degrees centigrade. That would raise the sea level by about two to four feet, and increase the devastation caused by weather events (drought, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, etc.). That would make the Eath's climate far less hospitable for humans. And sadly, we are already starting to see some of the negative effects of that global warming (global climate change).

But now we learn that it could be far worse than originally predicted. A team of international scientists has published a new study in the publication of the National Academy of Sciences. They say the warming could be as much as six to eight degrees, and sea levels could rise between 30 and 200 feet. That would make the planet virtually uninhabitable.

Why could that happen? Here's what Will Steffen, the study's lead author, had to say:

"Our study suggests that human-induced global warming of [3.6 degrees] may trigger other Earth system processes, often called 'feedbacks,' that can drive further warming — even if we stop emitting greenhouse gases."

Unfortunately, the United States is doing nothing to prevent this, since we have climate deniers in the White House and in control of Congress.

Did Global Warming Make Hurricane Harvey Worse ?

(Image of Hurricane Harvey is from NASA.)

Global warming (i.e., global climate change) did not create Hurricane Harvey. But did it make that hurricane worse? Yes, according to scientists. Consider this article by Sara Peach at Yale Climate Connections:

If Hurricane Harvey is unprecedented, does that mean it was caused by climate change? Not quite: After all, it’s normal for hurricanes to form during hurricane season.

But climate change could have played a role in worsening the storm. Here’s why.

As Kevin Trenberth, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, explains in this video, the rise in Earth’s temperature now serves as the background for weather.

“The environment in which all events occur these days is different, so in fact every storm is different, every event is actually different. It has to be,” Trenberth says. “The air, being warmer, means it can also hold more moisture. There’s more moisture in the air, especially coming off of the oceans.”

That extra moisture matters, adds climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe of Texas Tech: “So when that storm comes along, as it always does, there’s more water vapor sitting up there for that storm to pick up and dump on us.”

arm water is fuel for hurricanes. In fact, Harvey had weakened to a tropical depression as it crossed the Yucatan Peninsula days before it made landfall in Texas. But then it hit the unusually hot waters of the Gulf of Mexico and quickly reorganized into a powerful hurricane.

As scientist James Elsner of Florida State University explained to YCC in 2016, “With warmer oceans caused by global warming, we can expect the strongest storms to get stronger.”

When a hurricane makes landfall, its winds push seawater ashore, creating a dangerous storm surge. Adding sea-level rise to storm surge can make that flooding even worse than it was in the past.

In places like Miami, flooded streets and houses now flood routinely, even in the absence of a hurricane.

“The water is here. It’s not that I’m talking about some sci-fi movie here. No. I live it. I see it, it’s tangible,” South Beach resident Valerie Navarrete told YCC in February 2017. She said her garage floods about once every other month, and she often has to wear rain boots just to get to her car. As sea levels continue to rise, low-lying coastal areas will grow even more vulnerable to hurricanes. . . .

Climate scientists are sure to study Harvey closely for many years to come. But climate scientist Michael Mann at Penn State University has already offered an initial assessment in The Guardian: “We cannot say climate change ’caused’ Hurricane Harvey (that is an ill-posed question), we can say is that it exacerbated several characteristics of the storm in a way that greatly increased the risk of damage and loss of life,” he wrote. “Climate change worsened the impact of Hurricane Harvey.”

Will Trump Block The New Gov. Climate Change Report ?

The charts and quotes above are from a new report by the federal government on global climate change. The scientists writing the report have no doubt that global climate change (global warming) is real -- and it is caused by human activity. The report was leaked to the New York Times.

Why was the report leaked? Because scientists are worried that the Trump administration will block release of the report to the American public. They know that Trump doesn't believe global climate change is real. His withdrawing this country from the Paris Agreement removed any doubt about that.  And they don't want Trump to be able to hide the truth from the American people.

Trump / Pruitt Purge The EPA Of All Its Scientists

 (These caricatures of Donald Trump and Scott Pruitt are by DonkeyHotey.)

Donald Trump has said he would protect the environment, but that is just another of his many lies.

We know that because of his withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on global warming, his executive orders repealing Obama's clean air and water efforts, and his appointment of Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- a man with a history of opposing EPA actions. While Trump mouths environmental platitudes, it is obvious that what he really wants to do is let corporate polluters off the hook. Now we find that its gotten even worse.

Trump and Pruitt are actively removing all the scientists from the EPA -- those people who tell the truth about pollution and global climate change. They will be replaced with lobbyists and sycophants who mirror Trump's own corporate polluter friendly views.

Here is what Mark Sumner at Daily Kos has written about the purge of scientists:

Scott Pruitt had already moved to replace much of the scientific review boards at the EPA with industry lobbyists. 

The Environmental Protection Agency has dismissed at least five members of a major scientific review board, the latest signal of what critics call a campaign by the Trump administration to shrink the agency’s regulatory reach by reducing the role of academic research.
 

And with that minor test run over, Pruitt has moved on to a wholesale purge of scientists from his supposedly scientific agency.

The Environmental Protection Agency has given notice to dozens of scientists that they will not be renewed in their roles in advising the agency, continuing a scientific shake-up that has already triggered resignations and charges from some researchers that the administration is politicizing the agency.

With climate change data hidden or destroyed, Pruitt directly working to raise funds for Republicans, and actions that go beyond accepting climate change to denying basic science, it’s no doubt inconvenient to have people around who know what the hell they’re doing. So that is being remedied. Pronto. And just in case any of those scientists were thinking about saying something Pruitt wouldn’t like, he made sure that wouldn’t happen—at least not on EPA grounds.

None of the subcommittees will have a chair or vice chair, and all committee meetings scheduled for late summer and fall have been cancelled.

Pruitt’s actions completely wipes out the existing Board of Scientific Counselors. It means the whole board can now be reappointed, filled with industry lobbyists and science deniers, and the EPA can then go forward on the basis that “its scientific advisers” tell it that carbon dioxide is good for plants, only God can change the climate, and Donald Trump is nature’s bestie.

President Trump has directed Mr. Pruitt to radically remake the E.P.A., pushing for deep cuts in its budget — including a 40 percent reduction for its main scientific branch — and instructing him to roll back major Obama-era regulations on climate change and clean water protection. 

No clean water. No clean air. Certainly no scientists.

It seems pretty clear that neither Trump nor Pruitt understand what “protection” means. They certainly don’t understand “environmental.”

70 Nobel Prize Winners Endorse Hillary Clinton For President

The open letter above is from 70 Nobel Prize laureates. They all signed the letter with their name, the field in which they won the prize, and the year. These brilliant people know that this is a very important election, and they say that they "strongly and fully support Hillary Clinton to be President of the United States".