#PANSPERMIA 

Water and organic materials found on the surface of an ASTEROID

Ryan Morrison For Mailonline 3/4/2021

© Provided by Daily Mail

The materials essential for life on Earth including organic matter and water have been discovered on the surface of an asteroid for the first time, a study shows.

Planetary scientists from Royal Holloway University of London examined a single grain of dust returned to Earth from asteroid Itokawa by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as part of its first Hayabusa mission in 2010.

The water and organic matter originated on the asteroid itself, rather than arriving as part of a collision, suggesting it evolved chemically over billions of years.

It is the first time such material has been found on the surface of an asteroid, according to the British team behind the new study.

This is a major discovery that could 're-write the history of life on our planet,' scientists claim, as it is so similar to the evolution pathway on the early Earth.

'Although the organic matter is not directly suggesting life is carried on the asteroid, it tells us the asteroid carries the same raw materials that provided initial feedstock for the origin of life on Earth,' lead author Dr Queenie Chan told MailOnline

© Provided by Daily Mail Planetary scientists from Royal Holloway University of London examined a single grain of dust returned to Earth from asteroid Itokawa by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as part of its first Hayabusa mission in 2010

© Provided by Daily Mail The water and organic matter originated on the asteroid itself, rather than arriving as part of a collision, suggesting it evolved chemically over billions of years

ITOKAWA: A NEAR EARTH ASTEROID VISITED BY JAXA

The 'near-Earth' asteroid Itokawa is about 330 metres in diameter and shaped roughly like a peanut.

It orbits between 0.9 AU and 1.7 AU - with 1 AU the distance between the Earth and the sun.

It was the first asteroid to be the target of a sample return mission - that is a spaceflight to take bits of rock and bring them back to Earth.

In 2005 the Japanese Hayabusa probe collected dust particles from the asteroid and returned them to Earth.

It has been extensively studied and findings have shown evidence of water and organic material 'native' to the asteroid itself.

The asteroid has been slowly incorporating the liquid and organic materials in much the same way the Earth does, according to the researchers.

Itokawa has been constantly evolving over billions of years by incorporating water and organic materials from foreign extra-terrestrial material, just like the Earth.

In the past, the asteroid will have gone through extreme heating, dehydration and shattering due to catastrophic impact, the study authors explained.

However, despite this, the asteroid came back together from the shattered fragments and rehydrated itself with water that was delivered via the in fall of dust or carbon-rich meteorites.

This study shows that S-type asteroids, where most of Earth's meteorites come from, such as Itokawa, contain the raw ingredients of life.

'S-type asteroids – the 'stony' type asteroids – might not contain as high abundance of carbon rich material as the carbonaceous asteroids, however, their chemistry and water content evolved in a similar way to our prebiotic Earth,' Chan told MailOnline.

'If other systems elsewhere in the wider universe had the same favourable conditions like the early Earth, these raw ingredients that carried by these asteroids could have kick-started life elsewhere.'

The analysis of this asteroid changes traditional views on the origin of life on Earth which have previously heavily focussed on C-type carbon-rich asteroids.

Dr Chan said this shows the value of bringing samples of space rock back to Earth.

'After being studied in great detail by an international team of researchers, our analysis of a single grain, nicknamed 'Amazon', has preserved both primitive (unheated) and processed (heated) organic matter,' she said.

'The organic matter that has been heated indicates that the asteroid had been heated to over 600°C in the past.

'The presence of unheated organic matter very close to it, means that the in fall of primitive organics arrived on the surface of Itokawa after the asteroid had cooled.'

Dr Chan, said studying the 'Amazon' sample allowed them to better understand how the asteroid constantly evolved by adding new water and organic compounds.

'These findings are really exciting as they reveal complex details of an asteroid's history and how its evolution pathway is so similar to that of the prebiotic Earth.'

© Provided by Daily Mail It is the first time such material has been found on the surface of an asteroid, according to the British team behind the new study

© Provided by Daily Mail This is a major discovery that could 're-write the history of life on our planet,' scientists claim, as it is so similar to the evolution pathway on the early Earth

DIFFERENT TYPES OF ASTEROIDS FROM THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Asteroid classification has proved controversial, with a number of letter-based systems developed.

According to NASA the three main types are labelled C, S and M.

C-type (chondrite) asteroids are the most common in the solar system and likely consist of clay and silicate rocks.

They are darker than other asteroids and the most ancient objects in the solar system - dating back to its birth.

S-type (stony) asteroids are made of silicate materials as well as nickel-iron and are the most common visitors to the Earth of the asteroid types.

M-type (nickel-iron) asteroids vary depending on how far from the sun they formed.

Some are partly melted with iron sinking to the centre and forcing volcanic lava to the surface.

Chan said the findings were both surprising and not particularly surprising at the same time - in part due to observations from 2005 of Itokawa.

Surprising because S-type asteroids generally contain very few water and organic material chemicals, she explained to MailOnline.

'In a mission like Hayabusa, which picked samples up from the asteroid surface by quick touchdowns, it would be difficult to sample carbonaceous material.

'Researchers have been attempting to look for organic matter from Hayabusa samples in the past, and it was very difficult to prove that the organic material was indigenous to the asteroid,' she told MailOnline.

'Only one group of scientists managed to find water in Hayabusa sample in 2019, but they did not look at the organic content.'

It wasn't particularly surprising to her that they found the material as the mission observed a 'huge black boulder' on the surface of the space rock in 2005.

'Scientists think that this big boulder is a huge carbonaceous meteorite, but never get to prove it. So, we expected that there would possibly be carbonaceous material on the surface of asteroid Itokawa,' she said.

The success of this mission and the analysis of the sample that returned to Earth has since paved the way for a more detailed analysis of material returned by missions such as JAXA's Hayabusa2 and NASA's OSIRIS-Rex missions.

These are other sample-return missions, with Hayabusa2 returning larger amounts of rock samples from the asteroid Ryugu in 2020 and OSIRIS-Rex expected to return samples of the asteroid Bennu in 2023.

'Both of these missions have identified exogeneous materials on the target asteroids Ryugu and Bennu, respectively,' said Chan.

'Our findings suggest that mixing of materials is a common process in our solar system,' adding studying more samples will hopefully confirm those findings.

The findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PANSPERMIA 

Biden DOJ urges Supreme Court to dismiss 'sanctuary city' cases

By Caroline Kelly, CNN 3/4/2021

The Biden administration told the Supreme Court on Thursday that it should dismiss pending cases concerning "sanctuary cities," which limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.

In letters filed with the court in all three cases related to sanctuary cities, the Justice Department said it had come to an agreement with the parties on the issue. Under President Donald Trump, the department had won one and lost two of the challenges.

The legal filing is the latest from the new Biden Justice Department changing positions from those taken by the Trump administration. Lower courts had divided over a Trump policy that directed the Justice Department to withhold federal grant funds from jurisdictions that limited their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

A federal appeals court ruled in February last year that the Trump administration could withhold federal money from seven states, as well as New York City, over cooperation on immigration enforcement.

The decision by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling that blocked the Justice Department from withholding a key law enforcement grant the department said was available only to cities that complied with specific immigration enforcement measures.

The Trump administration fought a lengthy feud with "sanctuary cities," taking measures like barring New York residents from enrolling in certain Trusted Traveler programs, such as Global Entry, last year. In April, as states sought federal support to combat the coronavirus, Trump teased withholding aid to cities that limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, resorting to one of his long-standing immigration issues in the throes of the pandemic.

In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said local police departments should not have their decisions overridden by the federal government.

"We're pleased that despite the Trump administration's attempts to exact revenge on cities and states through vindictive policies and continued litigation that we were able to work with the Biden administration to dismiss this case in the Supreme Court," James said. "We look forward to continuing to work with the administration to ensure state and localities never have to choose between protecting their autonomy and protecting the public's safety."

The issue dates back to early in Trump's presidency. In July 2017, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that applicants for Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants would have to comply with federal immigration enforcement. States pushed back and sued over the move.

Lower courts blocked the Justice Department from adding new requirements for the policing grants. In April 2018, the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling in favor of the city of Chicago.

Five Eyes alliance urged to forge ties with Greenland to secure minerals

© Reuters/HANS KRISTIAN SCHONWANDT Aerial view of the Kringlerne 

rare earth deposit, near the town of Narsaq

LONDON (Reuters) - The intelligence sharing alliance known as Five Eyes should forge ties with Greenland to boost supplies of critical minerals and cut dependence on China, a think tank said on Thursday.

Greenland has huge deposits of rare earths, a set of 17 minerals used in a myriad of applications from electric vehicles to defence goods, a report by the London-based Polar Research and Policy Initiative said.

China controls about 90% of the supply of rare earths.

The Five Eyes grouping of Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, should expand its framework to include "resource intelligence, technical collaboration, major project financing and supply chain integration for minerals and materials critically important to national and economic security", the report said.

It is natural for the Five Eyes to target Greenland for its mining and rare earth potential because two thirds of the 41 licence holders in Greenland's mining sector were linked to Britain, Canada and Australia, the report added.

"Greenland’s vast critical minerals reserves and the sheer number of British, Canadian and Australian companies operating in Greenland make it a new frontier for Five Eyes," said the report, made available to Reuters ahead of its release on Friday.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said last month it will review key U.S. supplies, including rare earths, to ensure other countries cannot weaponise them against the United States.

Two Australia-based mining companies are racing for approval for mines in Greenland to dig into what the U.S. Geological Survey calls the world's biggest undeveloped deposits of rare earth metals.

"The UK, Canada and Australia have remained relevant to Greenland over recent decades as home to some of the world’s leading clusters of energy and mining expertise," the report said.

The head of the think tank, Dwayne Menezes, is also the director of the secretariat of Britain's all-party parliamentary group for Greenland.

(Reporting by Eric Onstad;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

3/4/20-21

UCP BUDGET HARMS CAPITOL CITY
Edmonton council disappointed with cuts to public sector, post-secondary in new Alberta budget

Natasha Riebe CBC 3/4/2021

© Natasha Riebe/CBC Edmonton will feel public sector and post-secondary jobs losses the most, councillors say of provincial budget.

Edmonton's mayor and city council are giving a thumbs down to the provincial government's budget, which cuts millions of dollars in infrastructure money to municipalities and post-secondary institutions.

At a meeting Thursday, Mary Persson, Edmonton's chief financial officer, gave council the initial lowdown on how the cuts may impact the city's plans and economy.

The provincial budget released last Thursday highlights projects that the government says will create thousands of jobs.

But post-secondary institutions are expected to lose the equivalent of 750 full-time positions in 2021 and 2022, although the breakdown by school isn't available yet, Persson said.

Mayor Don Iveson said cuts to colleges, universities and the public sector spell bad news for Edmonton.

"It may very well be a jobs budget for Alberta, but it ain't a jobs budget for Edmonton," Iveson said Thursday after a council meeting.

Coun. Ben Henderson said the forecast doesn't look good for the city.

"I am really worried about the cuts to post-secondary in this city, which is very much part of what makes our city tick."

The province plans to reduce the government workforce by 7.7 per cent over four years, with many of those positions in Alberta's capital city.

The public sector is expected to lose more than 300 jobs next year.

"I'm deeply puzzled by how this budget can be seen as a job creation budget," Henderson said during the meeting. "It does not look like that to me, sitting here in the city of Edmonton."

The province says the budget will support more than 50,000 direct and 40,000 indirect jobs through to 2024.

This includes new funding for 41 projects around the province totalling nearly $826 million over three years, the budget release says.

The province's Treasury Board and Finance branch said municipalities will receive about 25 per cent less in Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding over the next three years.

Charlotte Taillon, the Treasury Board and Finance's press secretary, said Edmonton will receive $235 million in total MSI funding in 2021-22.

"We recognize grant funding is an essential part of municipal capital plans and budgets," Taillon wrote in an email to CBC News. "We're asking municipalities to keep working with us as we transition to the Local Governance Fiscal Framework in 2024-25."

MSI cuts 

UCP IS A REHASHED PC GOVERNMENT WHICH RULED FOR THE PAST 44 YEARS

Persson said that means the city faces a net loss of $30 million in 2022 in MSI funding, and $120 million in 2023-24 when the new fiscal framework replaces MSI.

The cuts may limit the city's ability to renew facilities and 325 km of arterial roads, she said.

"Difficult decisions will be ahead as we plan for the 2023 to 2026 capital budget cycle," Persson said.

Instead, the city will likely be limited to maintaining existing projects already on the books.

The city was eyeing green initiatives, affordable housing, infrastructure renewal including industrial and arterial roads, facilities and open spaces with that money, she noted.

"These potential opportunities are no longer realistic with the current budget cuts," Persson said.
Broken promises

It's not just the United Conservative government that council blames.

The province now collects more than $2 billion in education property tax, Iveson noted, a source of funding once promised to municipalities.

Several years ago, the province said it would give municipalities the equivalent of what it collects in education tax, in infrastructure funding, Iveson said.

"We never once got the full amount," he recalled.

Iveson said when times were tough, the funding was cut. Every time the economy came back, Iveson said promises were made about funding increases that never happened.

"It's actually just a declining staircase that continues in this budget of cuts to municipalities, and promises made and promises broken by successive governments."

Less funding makes it difficult for the city to plan for new initiatives, retain talent and invest in areas that keep companies growing, Iveson said.

City councillors directed administration on Thursday to take a historical deep dive at the years of what they call broken promises.

They passed a motion to get a summary of cuts to operating and capital funding, back to the beginning of MSI in 2007.

The finance branch is asked to report its findings during spring supplemental budget talks in April.

Advocacy group launches letter-writing campaign to address period poverty in Alberta

Kashmala Fida CBC

3/4/2021

© Kate Bueckert/CBC No Woman Without is an organization that started as a donation drive for menstrual products and is now doing advocacy work and raising funds so women everywhere in Canada can have access to clean tampons and pads.

To whom it may concern, I am on my period.

That's the beginning of every letter Scarlet Bjornson hopes women in Alberta send to their local MLAs and MPs every time they are menstruating to raise awareness about period poverty — the lack of readily accessible menstrual products for people who need them.

Bjornson, who is from Edmonton, is the founder of No Woman Without, an organization that started as a donation drive for menstrual products and is now doing advocacy work and raising funds so women everywhere in Canada can have access to clean tampons and pads.

Although Canada lifted federal tax on menstrual products in 2015, Bjornson said the letter-writing campaign, launched March 1, focuses on policy change to make tampons and pads available everywhere.

The idea is "to make sure they're available and free at all government buildings, all areas where people in general public access buildings," Bjornson said Thursday on CBC's Edmonton AM.

"We go into a public washroom. We always assume there will be toilet paper there. Tampons and menstrual products, those should be there as well."

No Woman Without has also started a fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $25,000 for the year. As of Thursday, the campaign had raised $400.

In Canada, menstruation typically begins between the ages of 11 and 14, and ends at menopause, around the age of 50, according to My Health Alberta. It's estimated the average person who menstruates will spend $6,000 in a lifetime for menstrual products.

A 2018 survey conducted by Always, a brand of menstrual and hygiene products, found that one in seven Canadian girls have missed school because they couldn't access menstrual products.

Bjornson said there is no local data available on period poverty but from her work at the Bissell Centre she has seen firsthand how women have to choose between groceries or personal hygiene.

"You have to consider how many folks that we have living on support, such as AISH [Assured Income for Severely Handicapped] ... and you have to consider after they pay rent and utilities, often when you're looking at their budgets, they don't even have additional funds for food," she said.

"When you need to take $20 … you're literally needing to choose between purchasing food or purchasing tampons or pads or whatever product you use."

Inadequate hygiene supplies can also be detrimental to a woman's health.

Women who use the same tampon for a prolonged time can develop infections that lead to toxic shock syndrome, a potentially fatal condition, according to a 2015 study published by the U.S.-based National Center for Biotechnology Information.

The study found that unsanitary measures during menstruation can lead to an increase in infections of the lower reproductive tract.

Bjornson said people experiencing homelessness face a lot of challenges when it comes to accessing products.

"You're risking your health, you're risking your dignity. There are so many problems that come along with it, especially if you're not using a clean or a proper product," she said.

"It's just very frustrating

Thursday's letters: Texas power crisis a harbinger for Alberta

Edmonton Journal 3/4/2021

Re. “Texans facing $5K electric bills after storm,” Feb. 22

© Provided by Edmonton Journal KILLEEN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 18:

 Icicles hang off the State Highway 195 sign on February 18, 2021 in Killeen, Texas.

Texans are now receiving alarmingly high invoices for their electricity, even though the system failed.

This is a harbinger of what could happen in Alberta. During the Klein era, companies like Enron lobbied the government to replace a perfectly functioning regulated system which provided the lowest power rates in North America with a free-market system where power producers sell electricity to the power distributors at a price determined by an hourly bid process.

Allegedly, this was to create competition but we soon had high prices. The province originally protected Albertans from the Texas scenario by placing a price cap of $100 but has since decided this price ceiling was not required.

Now, if there is a shortage, prices can be driven sky-high. We are somewhat protected by an integrated continental system but that has its drawbacks. If another jurisdiction bids up prices, we will see our prices affected.

In Texas, there are calls for the government to pay the bills. But there is no mention yet of a refund of the vast profits the power producers will have made from this natural disaster. Isn’t it wonderful how deregulation always looks after those poor old corporations and forgets about the little guy.

Don Davidson, Edmonton

FOR MY HISTORY OF ELECTIRCAL AND OTHER DEREGULATION

IN ALBERTA GO TO:

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Power Failure 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: The Wild West Buyout 

SCHADENFRUEDE
SpaceX Starship prototype sticks landing, then explodes

William Harwood 

3/4/2021

A SpaceX Starship prototype blasted off from southern Texas on Wednesday, climbed to an altitude of six miles, tipped over on its side as planned and plunged back to Earth in a high-altitude swan dive, flipping back vertical and then successfully landing near the launch pad. A few minutes later it exploded in a spectacular fireball.

© LabPadre 030321-launch4.jpg
SpaceX rocket successfully lands in test, then explodes




It was the company's third high-altitude Starship test flight and its first successful landing. But the rocket came to rest with a slight tilt and a fire could be seen at its base near the engine compartment. Moments later, the unpiloted prototype — SN10 — blew up, showering the pad with flaming debris.

© Provided by CBS News A few minutes after touchdown, the Starship prototype exploded, blasting the rocket's upper section away in a spectacular conflagration. / Credit: LabPadre webcast

Despite the explosion, the successful landing marked a major milestone for SpaceX founder Elon Musk in his drive to develop a fully reusable heavy lift rocket, even as it showed the risks that come with an aggressive test program.

"SpaceX team is doing great work! One day, the true measure of success will be that Starship flights are commonplace," Musk tweeted.




Speaking just before SpaceX wrapped up its launch webcast — and before the rocket exploded — company commentator John Insprucker said, "third time's the charm, as the saying goes."

"We've had a successful soft touchdown on the landing pad, capping a beautiful test flight of Starship 10," he said. "As a reminder, a key point of today's test flight was to gather the data on controlling the vehicle while reentering, and we were successful in doing so."

He closed by congratulating the Texas launch team, saying "they've steadily increased the test launch cadence over the course of the program and have delivered some of the most exciting test flights many of us have seen in a long time."

Given three dramatic launches and explosions in a row, few would argue.

© Provided by CBS News Starship prototype No. 10 blasts off from SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas, flight facility for a short up-and-down test flight to an altitude of about six miles to test the rocket's propulsion, steering and landing systems. / Credit: SpaceX webcast

Mirroring the two earlier unsuccessful test flights, the Starship prototype, known as serial number 10 or SN10 for short, blasted off from SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas, launch site at 6:14 p.m. ET and climbed away through a mostly clear sky using three SpaceX-designed Raptor engines.

Liftoff came about two hours after the engines ignited for an initial launch attempt, but shut down on computer command an instant later. Musk said software engine thrust limits were "slightly conservative," engineers made an adjustment and the team pressed ahead with a second launch attempt.

Burning liquified natural gas and liquid oxygen, the ascent appeared to go smoothly, and as the rocket gained altitude, one engine, then two, shut down as planned.

Reaching maximum altitude of about six miles four-and-a-half minutes after liftoff, the third engine shut down and the Starship promptly tilted over on its side and began plunging back toward Earth.

© Provided by CBS News The Starship flips horizontal after engine shutdown, relying on fins fore and aft to provide stabilization and control. / Credit: SpaceX webcast

Using computer-controlled fins at nose and tail to help maintain its orientation, the Starship carried out a horizontal dive, tracked all the way by powerful cameras operated by SpaceX and multiple independent space enthusiasts.

As it neared the ground, the Starship's engines restarted and the rocket flipped back to vertical as programmed for a tail-first touchdown using a single engine. Despite a slight tilt and the flame briefly seen at the base of the rocket, the test flight appeared to be a complete success.

"As we approached the landing pad, we successfully lit the three Raptor engines to perform that flip maneuver and then we shut down two of them and landed on the single engine as planned," Insprucker said. "A beautiful soft landing of Starship on the landing pad at Boca Chica."

He said Starship SN11 is "ready to roll out to the pad in the very near future. It's an inspiring time for the future of human space flight.

© Provided by CBS News The prototype fired up its three engines for a tail first landing. / Credit: SpaceX webcast

The rocket launched Wednesday is a prototype for the second stage of a giant rocket made up of a 230-foot-tall "Super Heavy" first stage generating 16 million pounds of thrust with 28 Raptor engines, more than twice the power of NASA's legendary Saturn 5 moon rocket. A first-stage prototype has not yet been completed.

The rocket's 160-foot second stage, also confusingly known as Starship, will use a half-dozen Raptor engines capable of boosting 100 tons of payload to low-Earth orbit. For comparison, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket can put about 30 tons to orbit.

As with the two most recent test flights of Starships, SN10 was a prototype of the Starship second stage, this one using just three Raptor engines.

At least three versions of the Starship are envisioned: one for carrying heavy payloads to Earth orbit, the moon or Mars; one designed to carry propellants for orbital refueling operations; and one capable of carrying up to 100 passengers at a time.

Remember the pandemic greenhouse emissions drop? 

It's nearly gone

Global emissions of heat-trapping gases fell dramatically last year as the pandemic forced much of the world to a halt. But new data has shown they are bouncing back -- fast

.

© Kevin Frayer/Getty Images Smoke billows from a large steel plant in Inner Mongolia, China.

Lockdown measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus caused a 7% drop in CO2 emissions over the course of 2020 -- the biggest drop ever recorded -- a study published Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change estimates.

But its authors warn that unless governments prioritize green investment in their attempts to boost their struggling economies, the world is going to see a strong rebound in emissions -- with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Corinne Le Quéré, one of the authors of the study and a professor of climate change science at the University of East Anglia, said the big, pandemic-induced drop in emissions in April was short-lived.

Once lockdowns started to lift, emissions bounced back strongly.

"Because nothing has changed around us," she said. "The confinement measures are a forced behavior change, they are not lasting."

And while the world's battle with Covid-19 is far from over, emissions have already recovered.

New data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) published on Tuesday showed global energy-related emissions were actually 2% higher in December 2020 than they were in the same month a year earlier -- and that was despite parts of the world still experiencing lockdowns.

Fatih Birol, the IEA's executive director, said the rebound in carbon emissions was "a stark warning that not enough is being done to accelerate clean energy transitions worldwide."

"If governments don't move quickly with the right energy policies, this could put at risk the world's historic opportunity to make 2019 the definitive peak in global emissions," he said in a statement.

The burning of fossil fuels in cars, planes and power plants -- as well as through other human activities -- releases CO2 into the atmosphere, where it accumulates like a blanket and traps in radiation that would otherwise escape into space. This causes temperatures on Earth to rise, which is linked to more extreme weather, ice melt and a rise in sea levels. And the more carbon emitted into the atmosphere, the more the planet will warm.

Under the 2015 Paris Climate Accord, the majority of the world's governments agreed to try to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

Experts have repeatedly warned that exceeding the threshold will contribute to more heatwaves and hot summers, greater sea level rise, worse droughts and rainfall extremes, wildfires, floods and food shortages for millions of people.

According to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global CO2 emissions must drop by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 for the world to have a chance to hold warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. To achieve this, the world needs to reduce emissions by between 1 gigaton and 2 gigatons each year between now and 2030.

Those drops are similar in size to the one seen last year: Le Quéré and her co-authors estimate global emissions fell by 2.6 gigatons in 2020 to 34 gigatons -- but this drop was temporary and came at a huge cost to the economy.

They key going forward is to figure out how to achieve such significant drops without hurting the economy. To do that, the authors say investment in renewable energy and a green recovery is vital.

"It's a crucial year for tackling climate change, not only because we're already in 2021, but in addition, we're doing all these post-Covid investments and if they go to the wrong place, it could really lock us into a very fossil (fuel)-intense trajectory, whereas if we put them in the right place, it could bend the emissions curve," Le Quéré said.

She added that while many countries have adopted ambitious goals of cutting emissions to net zero by 2050 or 2060, what's lacking are many details on how they plan to get there.

Despite the pledges, there's growing evidence that the world's governments are not taking sufficient action.

According to the Greenness of Stimulus Index, which was developed by the economic consulting group Vivid Economics and tracks G20 countries' economic plans, the vast majority of the money committed to the post-Covid recovery is going into projects that are either outright bad for the climate or neutral, at best.

Read more: The pandemic gave the world a golden opportunity to fix the climate crisis. We're about to waste it.

The group found that of the total stimulus of $14.9 trillion injected so far, only $1.8 trillion has gone into green projects, while $4.6 trillion has gone directly into sectors that have "a large and lasting impact on carbon emissions and nature."

The new IEA data also backs up the idea that much of the recovery is being fueled by polluting sectors and that, in some cases, the emissions reductions seen in the first half of 2020 were more than made up for by dramatic increases later on.

China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, saw a 12% drop in emissions in February 2020, compared with the same month in 2019, according to the IEA.

But emissions bounced back quickly after the country's economy returned to growth in April 2020, and for the rest of the year, monthly emissions were on average 5% higher compared with 2019 levels. This rebound meant that despite the big drop in February, emissions in China actually rose by 0.8% for the whole of 2020.

"China is so big, well over a quarter of global emissions, so whatever happens in China leaves a big fingerprint on the global total," said Glen Peters, research director at the CICERO Center for International Climate Research.

Peters said the strong rebound in emissions shows how challenging it will be for China to reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2060. "That's quite ambitious for China given its heavy dependence on coal," he said.

China isn't the only trouble spot. Emissions in India were back above 2019 levels from September 2020 onward. In Brazil, they surpassed the 2019 levels throughout the final quarter, the IEA data shows.

And while emissions in the United States fell by 10% in 2020 overall, they started to bounce back later in the year. In December, US emissions were approaching the level seen in the same month a year earlier, the IEA said.

Global CO2 emissions need to decrease tenfold, scientists warn

Jonathan Chadwick 

For Mailonline

3/3/2021

© Provided by Daily Mail MailOnline

Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions still need to decrease tenfold to avoid a climate emergency, scientists warn, despite a global fall in 2020 due to Covid-19.

An international team of experts has performed a 'global stocktake' of humanity's progress towards the Paris Agreement – which aims to keep the global average temperature rise to well below 3.6ºF (2°C), compared to pre-industrial levels.

They found global CO2 emissions fell by around 2.6 billion tonnes in 2020, a decrease of about 7 per cent from 2019 levels.

This fall – the largest decrease observed to date – was due to reduced human activity under the lockdowns intended to curb the spread of coronavirus.

While 2020 has been an effective 'pause button' as far as CO2 emissions are concerned, Covid-19 alone would not result in the required long-term emission reductions, even if lockdowns lasted the rest of the decade.

Strategies such as the large scale deployment of renewable energy and completely phasing coal and other fossil fuels worldwide will be necessary, the authors say.

© Provided by Daily Mail Global CO2 emissions declined sharply in 2020, but with a rebound expected in 2021 efforts must be intensified if the world is to reach the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement. Completing phasing out coal and other fossil fuels worldwide will be needed. Pictured, oil refineries polling the air in Corpus Christi, Texas

WHAT IS A CLIMATE EMERGENCY?

The climate emergency is 'a situation in which urgent action is required to reduce or halt climate change and avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage resulting from it', as defined by Oxford Dictionaries.

The term was declared the 'word of the year' by Oxford Dictionaries after its usage soared by over 10,000 per cent in 2019.

The UK declared a climate emergency for the national government and devolved administrations of Scotland and Wales in May 2019.

It was largely a symbolic move in recognition of urgency needed to combat the climate crisis.

The motion did not change the government’s legally binding targets under international accords.

In Britain, there is steady progress – last year we set a record-breaking run without coal-generated power and generated more electricity from renewable sources than from fossil fuels for the first time.

However, more countries need cut their CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels to stem the 'climate emergency', which eventually could manifest itself as flooded coastal cities, unbearable temperatures and irreparable damage to ecosystems.

The new research, which is based on multiple studies and recent monthly energy data, has been conducted by experts at the University of East Anglia (UEA), Stanford University and the Global Carbon Project.

'Countries' efforts to cut CO2 emissions since the Paris Agreement are starting to pay off,' said Professor Corinne Le Quéré, Royal Society Professor at UEA's School of Environmental Sciences.

'But actions are not large-scale enough yet and emissions are still increasing in way too many countries.

'The drop in CO2 emissions from responses to Covid-19 highlights the scale of actions and of international adherence needed to tackle climate change.'

The authors analysed emissions trends in different countries since the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, accounting for the massive changes caused by coronavirus, as well as pre-pandemic.

While emissions decreased in 64 countries, they increased in 150 countries between 2016 and 2019 – and also increased worldwide overall.

CO2 emissions decreased by 0.16 billion tonnes on average each year among the 64 countries where emissions decreased.

This is a tenth of the 1 billion to 2 billion tonne cuts needed at the global level to meet the Paris Agreement climate goals.

Globally, emissions grew by 0.21 billion tonnes of CO2 per year between 2016 and 2019, compared to 2011 and 2015.

Results also revealed that in the group of high-income countries, emissions had declined by 0.8 per cent per year on average since the Paris Agreement, with a further decrease of 9 per cent in 2020 due to Covid-19. 

© Provided by Daily Mail Photo from last year shows climate protest placards in front of the Reichstag building, home of the German federal parliament, in Berlin, Germany

BRITAIN SETS RECORD-BREAKING RUN WITHOUT COAL

In June 2020, Britain completed a record-breaking run without coal-fired power.

The run came to an end on June 16, after 67 days, 22 hours and 55 minutes since April 9.

This made it the longest run without coal for Britain since 1882, when the world’s first coal-fired power station, the Edison Electric Light Station, opened in London.

The coal-free run ended due to a coal power unit running tests after essential maintenance at Drax power station in north Yorkshire, which added some power to the grid.

By the time it ended, the coal-free run had far outstripped the previous record for the length of time Britain had gone without the fossil fuel – 18 days, 6 hours and 10 minutes, set in June 2019.

This record was broken at 6:10am BST April 28 2020 - but the run kept on going until June.

Britain is steadily turning away from carbon-belching sources of energy generation - most notably coal and gas.

Two coal-powered plants were retired at the end of March 2020 after they burned all their remaining fuel.

There are just three coal plants left in Britain, including Drax's coal unit in North Yorkshire that is set to close in March 2021.

Of the 36 high-income countries, 25 saw their emissions decrease during 2016 and 2019 compared to 2011 and 2015, including the US (-0.7 per cent), the EU (-0.9 per cent) and the UK (-3.6 per cent).

Emissions decreased even when accounting for the carbon footprint of imported goods produced in other countries.

In the group of upper-middle-income countries, growth in emissions had also slowed by 0.8 per cent per year since 2015, but declined by 5 per cent in 2020.

In this category, 33 out of 99 saw their emissions decrease between 2016 and 2019 compared to between 2011 and 2015.

Mexico (-1.3 per cent) was a notable example in that group, while China's emissions increased 0.4 per cent, which was at least an improvement on the 6.2 per cent annual growth of between 2011 and 2015.

Lastly, in the group of lower income countries, emissions had been increasing by 4.5 per cent per year since 2015, and decreased by 9 per cent in 2020.

Looking to a 'post-Covid-19 era', global annual reductions of somewhere between 1 billion and 2 billion tonnes of CO2 per year are essential throughout the 2020s and beyond.

Only this will be the key to limiting global warming to well below 3.6ºF, in line with the Paris Agreement.

Unless the Covid-19 recovery directs investments in clean energy and the green economy, emissions will likely start increasing again within a few years, the study authors warn.

Governments should hasten the large-scale deployment of electric vehicles and encourage walking and cycling in cities, they say.

Not only would this cut emissions from diesel and petrol vehicles, but it would also improve public health.

'Now we need large-scale actions that are good for human health and good for the planet,' said Professor Le Quéré.

'It is in everyone's best interests to build back better to speed the urgent transition to clean energy.'

The study, which has been published today in Nature Climate Change, comes ahead of the 26th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, which will be held in Glasgow in November.

COP26 was delayed from November last year due to Covid-19.

'The growing commitments by countries to reach net zero emissions within decades strengthens the climate ambition needed at COP26 in Glasgow,' said study co-author Professor Rob Jackson of Stanford University.

'Greater ambition is now backed by leaders of the three biggest emitters – China, the US and the European Commission.

'Commitments alone aren't enough. Countries need to align post-Covid incentives with climate targets this decade, based on sound science and credible implementation plans.

The Biden era of climate-aware forest policy
Mike Dombeck and Jim Furnish, opinion contributors 

3/4/2021 THE HILL

One of the most egregious acts of the previous administration's public lands agenda was the October decision to revoke protections for 9 million acres of Alaska's Tongass National Forest, one of the world's largest intact temperate rainforests.

© The Hill Mendenhall Glaier under cloudy skies in Tongass National Forest in Alaska. Proglacial lake with chunks of ice floating on it's surface forms at the glacier's base

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that, among other things, identified the Trump administration's elimination of the Tongass roadless rule as one of the actions that would be reviewed.

The Roadless Rule is one of America's hallmark conservation policies and safeguards pristine and near-pristine forests in 40 states, from Alaska to New Mexico. These are areas with remarkable ecological value that could be quickly degraded by development, including the construction of roads. This historic policy celebrated its 20th anniversary in January.

In the Tongass, the rule safeguarded ancient trees, critical salmon habitat and Indigenous homelands, enjoying widespread support among Southeast Alaska residents - including commercial fishermen - and from a majority of Americans polled.

Biden's climate plan calls for permanently restoring protection of areas impacted by the previous administration's short-sighted attack on federal lands and waters. To this end, Biden has already signed a series of executive orders focused on climate policy, recommitting the U.S. to the Paris Agreement and requiring that federal agencies, including the Department of Agriculture (DOA) and the Forest Service, address climate change.

As the nation's largest carbon sink - sequestering 8 percent of all annual U.S. carbon emissions - reinstating Tongass protections is essential to the Biden climate agenda, which calls for protecting 30 percent of U.S. land and ocean by 2030. As the U.S. works to update our commitments under the Paris Agreement into a formalized document, known as our Nationally Determined Contribution, the Tongass must be included as a natural pathway for carbon reductions alongside the other actions we have planned. Doing so will send a signal that protecting our critical natural resources isn't just good for the flora and fauna but also for our global climate stability.

These protections have been well-supported from the start and the motivations for rolling them back under the previous administration were fueled only by a few corporate special interests at the expense of us all. The roadless rule attracted more than 1.6 million comments that endorsed protecting our most pristine areas in national forests from commercial logging and new roads. Indigenous communities living in the Tongass for millennia reminded us of why this land is so important to them with their filing of a petition to create a Traditional Homelands Conservation Rule to identify and protect the traditional and customary uses of Indigenous peoples in the Tongass.

The previous administration's decision, if left standing, would overturn a decade-long effort on the part of local community leaders and the Forest Service to phase out old-growth logging in roadless areas of the Tongass and supply future timber needs with abundant smaller, second-growth trees. Logging roads built deep into many national forests carry costs that far outweigh their benefits. Roadbuilding increases the chance that these ancient trees will fall victim to costly, subsidized commercial timber harvest and it destroys critical wildlife habitat and degrades watersheds, critical to clean drinking water.

Economically, revoking the protections makes little sense. Timber provides less than 1 percent of[ southeastern Alaska's jobs, compared to 26 percent for fishing and tourism combined. Further, over the past four decades, timber sales in the Tongass have cost American taxpayers $1.96 billion while generating only $227 million in revenue - a loss of more than $40 million a year - according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Two decades later, we stand proud of the roadless conservation policy. It significantly reduced the federal government's negative balance sheet from timber operations while providing land managers with the flexibility they needed to adapt to changing circumstances. And it recognized that habitat, watershed protection and carbon stores have long-term value far greater than that provided by money-losing timber sales.

Decisions that affect Americans' shared land should reflect those values and be informed by strong science. Restoring roadless protections to the Tongass is how we keep the forest protected. As a new day dawns on the White House, we call on Biden to reinstate roadless protections in the Tongass and ensure a sound future for all those who depend on this rare and pristine ecosystem for their wellbeing and livelihoods.

Mike Dombeck was chief of the United States Forest Service from 1997 to 2001. Jim Furnish was the agency's deputy chief from 1999 to 2002.