Month: May 2017

Uncategorized 11 May 2017

Climate “Dismissive”: The New PC Term for “Denier”

via Watts Up With That?
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Climate “Dismissive”: The New PC Term for “Denier” | Watts Up With That?

Climate Scientist Katharine Hayhoe has noticed that calling someone a “denier” tends to end the conversation. Her solution – call them an evidence “dismissive” instead.

There Must Be More Productive Ways To Talk About Climate Change

May 9, 20175:03 AM ET

Rachel Martin talks to climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, who stresses how unproductive it is to label someone a “climate denier.”

With the White House threatening to pull out of the Paris accord, environmentalists are speaking up more strongly than ever about the need for policies that help reduce the effects of climate change. This is getting personal. When Scott Pruitt was tapped to leave the Environmental Protection Agency he was labeled a climate denier, and that has become the go-to phrase for anyone who expresses skepticism about climate science.

…

MARTIN: What do you think about the term climate denier? What does it conjure up for you?

HAYHOE: Climate denier is a good way to end the conversation. So if our goal is to label and dismiss whoever it is that we are speaking with or to, then that word will do it. What I use instead is a word I think is actually more accurate, as well as having less baggage associated with it, and that is the word dismissive. I use that. It comes from the six Americas of global warming, which separates people into a spectrum of six different groups depending on how they feel about climate change science and solutions.

The group starts with people who are alarmed. And then there’s people who are concerned. And then those who are cautious, which are actually the biggest group. Then there’s people who are disengaged, those who are doubtful. And then at the very end we have about 10 percent of the population who is dismissive.

And I think that’s the perfect term because a dismissive person will dismiss any evidence, any arguments with which they’re presented because dismissing the reality of climate change and the necessity for action is such a core part of their identity that it’s like asking them to, you know, almost cut off an arm. That’s how profound the change would be for them to change their minds about climate change.

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Sun sets on Europe’s biggest solar company

via Tallbloke’s Talkshop
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H/T GWPF

Is solar power in terminal decline in Europe, as subsidies and public enthusiasm dwindle?

Germany’s SolarWorld, once Europe’s biggest solar power equipment group, said on Wednesday it would file for insolvency, overwhelmed by Chinese rivals who had long been a thorn in the side of founder and CEO Frank Asbeck, once known as “the Sun King”.

SolarWorld was one of the few German solar power companies to survive a major crisis at the turn of the decade, caused by a glut in production of panels that led prices to fall and peers to collapse, including Q-Cells, Solon and Conergy.

SolarWorld was forced to restructure and avoided insolvency thanks to a debt-for-equity swap and the support of Qatar, which took a 29 percent stake in the group four years ago through Qatar Solar S.P.C.

A renewed wave of cheap Chinese exports, caused by reduced ambitions in China to expand solar power generation, was too much to bear for the group, which made its last net profit in 2014.

“Due to the ongoing price erosion and the development of the business, the company no longer has a positive going concern prognosis, is therefore over-indebted and thus obliged to file for insolvency proceedings,” SolarWorld said in a statement on Wednesday.

Frankfurt-listed shares in the group last traded down 77 percent at 0.81 euros.

Source: Europe’s Biggest Solar Company Goes Up In Smoke | The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF)

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May 10, 2017 at 09:39PM

Uncategorized 11 May 2017

Giant Lava Flows – Video

via Ice Age Now
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In this fascinating episode of “Nick on the Rocks,” geology professor Nick Zentner takes us to “ground zero” where the Columbia River basalts originated.

More than volcanic 300 eruptions between 15 and 17 million years ago flooded much of the inland Pacific northwest.

These lava flows – some of the largest lava flows in the world – are known as the Columbia River basalts because the Columbia River has cut deeply enough to expose some of the flows.

In some cases these orange rivers of molten rock traveled more than 300 miles, totally burying more than a third of what is now Washington state.

The lavas erupted from giant cracks that can still be found today, and Nick takes you there.

Nick discusses the rich volcanic soil of eastern Washington – more than 100 feet deep in places – and shows us “spatter,” a kind of basalt that he describes as looking “almost like butter.” (I fail to see the likeness, but maybe I’d change my mind if I saw the “butter” in person.)

Nick Zentner is the science outreach and education coordinator for the Department of Geological Sciences at Central Washington University. He has produced more than 40 short videos about Central Washington geology.

Note:
I’ll be posting more fascinating episodes of “Nick on the Rocks” in the days to come.

The post Giant Lava Flows – Video appeared first on Ice Age Now.

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May 10, 2017 at 09:10PM

Uncategorized 11 May 2017

Europe’s Biggest Solar Company Goes Up In Smoke

via The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF)
http://www.thegwpf.com

Germany’s SolarWorld, once Europe’s biggest solar power equipment group, said on Wednesday it would file for insolvency.

source: Bloomberg Markets, 11 May 2017

A renewed wave of cheap Chinese exports, caused by reduced ambitions in China to expand solar power generation, was too much to bear for the group, which made its last net profit in 2014.

Frankfurt-listed shares in the group last traded down 77 percent at 0.81 euros.