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Rolla Peace News May 28, 2023 |
Dear Friends:Editor's notes:In this newsletter is: 1. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) From Our Readers: Landmines b) Global Warming Enters Mainstream Consciousness c) 1.5°C Temperatures Coming Soon d) The Downside of Solar e) Who Suffers Most from Global Warming? f) How to Get Admitted into the European Union g) Beware Brits Bearing Gifts h) War is NOT Green From Our Readers: Landmines Our reader writes" “In regard to unexploded mines---it's not just military forces that leave them. I was in former Yugoslavia in 1995 and was warned not to enter any abandoned houses, places vacated by their owners because of the war. Home owners sometimes planted mines at the entrances to their dwellings to discourage prowlers or to kill them if they refused to be discouraged.” Global Warming Enters Mainstream Consciousness When Dolly Parton writes and performs a song about global warming, you know it has entered the mainstream consciousness.“Liar, liar, the world's on fire. If you are, like me, a Dolly Parton fan, listen to her sing World on Fire. If you're not a Dolly Parton fan, listen to it anyway. You may become a Dolly Parton fan. 1.5°C Temperatures Coming Soon With the likely return of El Niño conditions this summer, the World Meteorological Society (WMO) has predicted that there is a 66% chance that global temperatures will break the 1.5°C above pre-industrial times barrier for at least one year in the next five. This was not supposed to happen for another decade or so. Not mentioned is that during the very strong 2014-2016 El Niño episode, global temperatures broke the 1.5°C barrier for two months (Feb. and Mar. 2016) albeit by no more than 0.02°C. It should not have been difficult to predict that the next strong El Niño would likely bring more months of temperatures above the 1.5°C mark. In fact, some did predict it as early as 2017. The Downside of SolarNote: NOAA recently included monthly temperature estimates going back to 1850 in its Climate at a Glance section. This makes it easy to compute temperature estimates relative to the 1850-1900 period which the WMO and many others consider a proxy for pre-industrial times. Desert biomes, like old-growth prairie, through extensive underground root systems, sequester carbon under ground. These fragile ecosystems are being destroyed to make way for industrial size solar farms, and in the process, releasing their carbon back into the atmosphere. Nature does it best. Destroy Nature, destroy ourselves. Who Suffers Most from Global Warming? The WMO also reports that over the past 51 years, 90% of all deaths from extreme weather events occurred in the Third World (Global South). And while 60% of economic losses occurred in developed countries, extreme weather events cost the least developed countries a far greater percentage of their GDP. While developed countries are most responsible for global warming, less developed countries suffer far more from its effects. How to Get Admitted into the European Union When I first read this article in Russia Today, I thought it was a spoof; but it turned out to be real. I had to go all the way to Türkiye to find corroboration. It seems that Josep Borrell, European Union foreign policy chief, told the Serbian delegate that if they wanted to join the European Union, they should stop being so friendly with Russia and be more like the Ukraine. In other words: If you provoke Russia into destroying your country, we might let what's left of it into our exclusive club. Such arrogance is hard to come by. Beware Brits Bearing Gifts And here is one from Russia Today that I have NOT been able to corroborate. According to the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, Russia destroyed an ammunition depot in the city of Khmelnitsky in western Ukraine that contained depleted uranium weapons, a “gift” from the UK. Radioactive particles from the destroyed depot have been, according to Patrushev, detected as far away as Poland. Poland denies the story. Whether true or not, this should serve notice that Europe, including Russia, is in the process of destroying itself (AGAIN!) and perhaps much of the world with it. Lets negotiate an end to this war, before it's too late. Jeffrey Sachs, in this well-researched article, discusses how knowledge of the roots of this war might help in negotiating its end. War is NOT Green The Russo-Ukrainian War appears to have been a wake-up call for many self-proclaimed environmentalists who have been ignoring how militarism is feeding a warming climate. When the war causes a sharp spike in global military spending and fossil fuel development, the connection becomes difficult to ignore. This short article by Julia Conley details some of the most harmful environmental effects of the Russo-Ukranian War. Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesdays (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Rollaites for Peace: near the top of rightmost column).Wage peace, Tom yushasager (at) yahoo.com |