Antarctica's 'Sleeping Giant' Might Flood the World. Here's How to Stop It

Tony Ho Tran
Wed, August 10, 2022 

David Merron via Getty

Are you a fan of the 1995 film Waterworld starring Kevin Costner? Great news: There’s a distinct possibility that it’ll become a reality in the future if humanity can’t get its act together to prevent climate catastrophe!

In a new paper published August 10 in the journal Nature, a team of Australian scientists found that sea levels could rise a staggering five meters by the year 2500 if we fail to meet the goals set in the Paris Climate Agreement. Specifically, the ice melt would come from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS), one of two massive ice sheets on the southernmost continent that scientists have ominously dubbed a “sleeping giant” due to its potential to wreak havoc on sea level rise.

The Paris Agreement’s goal is to limit global temperature rise to two degrees Celsius or below (ideally 1.5 degrees Celsius). If it rises any higher, things could get very dicey, very quickly.


“The EAIS is 10 times larger than West Antarctica and contains the equivalent of 52 meters (170.6 feet) of sea level,” Nerilie Abram, an earth scientist at Australia National University and co-author of the paper, said in a press release. In other words, the ice shelf has more than enough water to flood the world well into “Waterworld” territory if it completely melts.

“If temperatures rise above two degrees Celsius beyond 2100, sustained by high greenhouse gas emissions, then East Antarctica alone could contribute around one to three meters (three to 10 feet) to rising sea levels by 2300 and around two to five meters by 2500,” Abram explained.

There is some glimmer of hope, though. If we manage to keep global warming in check and meet the Paris Agreement targets, then the sleeping giant ice shelf is only expected to contribute less than half a meter of sea level rise by 2500. That’s not nothing, but it’s certainly a lot less than the 16 feet rise that would spell disaster to coastline communities and ecosystems across the globe.

An illustration showing regions of the Americas that would be completely flooded if sea levels rose by five meters.
ROWLEY ET AL. 2007

The Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed on August 7, is also expected to be the largest investment by the U.S. in fighting global warming to date. With a $369 billion investment in clean energy, it’s slated to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. By the end of the decade, emissions could be reduced by as much as 50 percent.

However, our timeline to accomplish this is shrinking faster than an ice cube under the summer sun. In fact, compounding issues related to climate change including sea level rise due to ice melt elsewhere and warming ocean waters are exponentially increasing the chances of the EAIS melting faster.

“We used to think East Antarctica was much less vulnerable to climate change, compared to the ice sheets in West Antarctica or Greenland, but we now know there are some areas of East Antarctica that are already showing signs of ice loss,” Abram said. “This means the fate of the world’s largest ice sheet very much remains in our hands.”

Fate of the world's biggest ice sheet is in our hands, scientists say

by Durham University

Mountains protruding above the surface of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Credit: Jan Lenaerts

The fate of the world's biggest ice sheet still rests in our hands if global temperature increases are kept below the upper limit set by the Paris Agreement on climate change.

A new study led by Durham University, UK, shows that the worst effects of global warming on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) could be avoided if temperatures do not rise by more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

Staying below this limit would see the EAIS—which holds the vast majority of Earth's glacier ice—contribute less than half a meter to sea level rise by the year 2500, the researchers say.

However, they add that if warming continues to increase beyond the 2°C limit, we could potentially see the EAIS contribute several meters to sea-level rise in just a few centuries.

The research team, which included scientists from the UK, Australia, France and the U.S., has published its findings in the journal Nature.

To assess the sensitivity of the EAIS, they looked at how the ice sheet responded to past warm periods, as well as examining where changes are currently occurring.

They then analyzed a number of computer simulations made by previous studies to examine the effects of different greenhouse gas emission levels and temperatures on the ice sheet by the years 2100, 2300 and 2500.

Scientists overlooking the edge of Mawson Glacier, East Antarctica. Credit: Richard Jones

Lead author Professor Chris Stokes, of the Department of Geography, Durham University, UK, said: "A key conclusion from our analysis is that the fate of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet remains very much in our hands.

"This ice sheet is by far the largest on the planet, containing the equivalent of 52 meters of sea level and it's really important that we do not awaken this sleeping giant.

"We used to think East Antarctica was much less vulnerable to climate change, compared to the ice sheets in West Antarctica or Greenland, but we now know there are some areas of East Antarctica that are already showing signs of ice loss. Satellite observations have revealed evidence of thinning and retreating, especially where glaciers draining the main ice sheet come into contact with warm ocean currents."

The team's analysis shows that if warming continues beyond 2100, sustained by high emissions, then East Antarctica could add several meters to global sea level rise over the coming centuries. This would add to the substantial contributions from Greenland and West Antarctica and threaten millions of people worldwide who live in coastal areas.

Iceberg towers calved from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Credit: Nerilie Abram

Professor Stokes added: "Restricting global temperature increases to below the 2°C limit set by the Paris Climate Agreement should mean that we avoid the worst-case scenarios, or perhaps even halt the melting of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, and therefore limit its impact on global sea level rise."

When world leaders met at the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, they agreed to limit global warming to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit the rise to 1.5°C.

According to the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, published last year, human activity has already increased global mean temperatures by about 1.1°C since pre-industrial times.

The Durham-led study showed that with dramatically reduced greenhouse gas emissions and only a small rise in temperature, the EAIS might be expected to contribute around two centimeters of sea level rise by 2100—much less than the ice loss expected from Greenland and West Antarctica. Indeed, some research shows that snowfall has increased over East Antarctica in the last few decades and, if this continues, it will offset some of the expected ice losses over the next century.

Scientists drilling a shallow ice core at the surface of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. 

Credit: Nerilie Abram

If the world instead continues on a pathway of very high greenhouse emissions, the researchers could not rule out the possibility of the EAIS contributing nearly half a meter to sea levels by 2100, but viewed this as very unlikely.

If emissions remain high beyond 2100 then the EAIS could contribute around one to three meters to global sea levels by 2300, and two to five meters by 2500.

Crucially, if the target of the Paris Agreement is met, significant ice loss from East Antarctica could be reduced or even prevented, with the EAIS's contribution to sea-level rise remaining below half a meter by 2500.

The researchers also reviewed how the ice sheet responded to past warm periods, when carbon dioxide concentrations and atmospheric temperatures were only a little higher than present.

They said that unlike the very rapid and extreme warming that we have experienced over the last few decades, that can only be explained by greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, past warming occurred over much longer timescales and was largely caused by changes in the way the Earth orbits the Sun.

A field camp on the surface of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, Princess Elizabeth Land.

Credit: Nerilie Abram

For example, the last time that carbon dioxide concentrations exceeded the current value of 417 parts per million was during a period known as the mid-Pliocene, around three million years ago. Temperatures were only 2-4°C higher than present at that time—in the range of the temperature changes we could experience later this century—but global mean sea level eventually reached 10-25 meters higher. Worryingly, evidence from sea-floor sediments around East Antarctica indicates that part of the ice sheet collapsed and contributed several meters to sea level rise during the mid-Pliocene.

Even as recently as 400,000 years ago, not that long ago on geological timescales, there is evidence that a part of the EAIS retreated 700 km inland in response to only 1-2°C of global warming.

Sky over Vanderford Glacier, Wilkes Land, East Antarctica. Credit: Richard Jones

Professor Nerilie Abram, a co-author of the study from the Australian National University in Canberra, said: "A key lesson from the past is that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is highly sensitive to even relatively modest warming scenarios. It isn't as stable and protected as we once thought.

"We now have a very small window of opportunity to rapidly lower our greenhouse gas emissions, limit the rise in global temperatures and preserve the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

"Taking such action would not only protect the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, but also slow the melting of other major ice sheets such as Greenland and West Antarctica, which are more vulnerable and at higher risk.

"Therefore, it's vitally important that countries achieve and strengthen their commitments to the Paris Agreement."

The terminus of Vanderford Glacier, Wilkes Land, East Antarctica. Credit: Richard Jones

The research was led by Durham University working with King's College London, and Imperial College, London (UK); the Australian National University, University of New South Wales, University of Tasmania and Monash University (Australia); Université Grenoble Alpes (France); the University of Colorado Boulder, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Columbia University (U.S.).Antarctic ice's deep past shows it could be more vulnerable to warming

More information: Chris Stokes, Response of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet to past and future climate change, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04946-0. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04946-

Journal information: Nature 

Provided by Durham University 

East Antarctic Ice Sheet could raise sea levels by up to 16 feet

Fiona Jackson For Mailonline - 

An ice sheet that holds about 80 per cent of the world's glacier ice has the potential to cause global sea levels to rise by up to 16 feet (five metres) by 2500.

Scientists have predicted that melting of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) will result in this increase if temperatures continue to rise at the current rate.

This warming of about 0.32°F (0.18°C) per decade is the result of humanity's increase in greenhouse gas emissions since the Industrial Revolution.

Researchers from Durham University modelled the effects different temperatures and levels of emissions would have on the ice sheet in the next few centuries.

If no change is made to slow the warming, the EAIS could contribute up to ten feet (three metres) to global sea levels by 2300.

The melting could be limited significantly if emissions targets are met that see global temperature rise limited to 3.6°F (2°C) above pre-industrial levels.

The EAIS could then only contribute about 0.8 inches (two centimetres) of sea level rise by 2100, and 1.6 feet (0.5 metres) by 2500.


Thickness of ice in Antarctica, showing the location of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (red outline), which holds the equivalent of 52 metres of sea level rise (alongside the UK and Ireland at the same scale). Wilkes Land (highlighted) has been referred to as East Antarctica’s ‘weak underbelly’, where some glaciers appear to be thinning, retreating and losing mass due to warm ocean currents


Scientists have predicted that melting of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) will result in this increase if temperatures continue to rise at the current rate. Pictured: Ice cliff at the terminus of Vanderford Glacier, Wilkes Land, East Antarctica

WHY IS CURRENT GLOBAL WARMING DIFFERENT TO HOTTER PERIODS IN HISTORY?

Previous periods of warming, that are similar to what the Earth is experiencing today, occurred over hundreds of thousands of years.

About 300,000 years ago, during the mid-Pliocene, temperatures were only between 1.3°F and 3.6°F (2°C and 4°C) higher than present.

This period of warming occurred gradually over 300,000 years and is thought to have been caused by changes in the way the Earth orbits the sun.

However, evidence of today's global warming indicates it just under 200 years ago.

The Earth's average surface temperature has increased rapidly by about 1.8°F (1.0°C) since the late 1800s.

This can be explained by the increase in our greenhouse gas emissions since the industrial revolution.

Lead author Professor Chris Stokes said: 'We used to think East Antarctica was much less vulnerable to climate change, compared to the ice sheets in West Antarctica or Greenland, but we now know there are some areas of East Antarctica that are already showing signs of ice loss.

'Satellite observations have revealed evidence of thinning and retreating, especially where glaciers draining the main ice sheet come into contact with warm ocean currents.

'This ice sheet is by far the largest on the planet, containing the equivalent of 52 metres of sea level and it's really important that we do not awaken this sleeping giant.'

Ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica were already predicted to lose ice in the centuries to come.

Greenland is far away from the North Pole so is exposed to warm air, and West Antarctica is affected by warm ocean currents as it sits below sea level.

However the EAIS is home to the staggeringly cold South Pole, and it is located on land that shields it from the sea's warmth, so it was widely assumed to be more solid.

But in 2020, evidence was found that a part of the EAIS retreated 435 miles (700 km) inland just 400,000 years ago - not that long ago on geological timescales.

This was in response to only 1.8-3.6°F (1-2°C) of warming.

In the study, published today in Nature, researchers from the UK, Australia, France and the USA examined how the EAIS responded to periods of warmth and high carbon dioxide concentrations in the past.

Around three million years ago, during the mid-Pliocene, temperatures were only between 3.6°F and 7.2°F (2°C and 4°C) higher than present.

This range of temperature change is one we could experience later this century.

However, global sea levels in the mid-Pliocene were between 33 and 82 feet (10 and 25 metres) higher than they are now.

Evidence from sea-floor sediments around East Antarctica indicates that part of the ice sheet collapsed and contributed several metres to this.

Carbon dioxide concentrations in that period also only slightly exceeded the current value of 417 parts per million.

This period of warming occurred over a very long timescale - about 300,000 years according to NASA - and is thought to have been caused by changes in the way the Earth orbits the sun.

However current global warming has only been felt for the last few decades, which can only be explained by greenhouse gas emissions from human activity.

Next, the team analysed computer simulations made by previous studies to examine what effects different levels of emissions and temperatures would have on the ice sheet.

If warming continues at its current rate, sustained by high greenhouse gas emissions, the EAIS could contribute nearly half a metre to sea levels by 2100.

Additionally, if it continues beyond 2100, it could contribute around three to ten feet (one to three metres) to global sea levels by 2300, and 7 to 16 feet (two to five metres) by 2500.

This would add to the substantial contributions from Greenland and West Antarctica and thermal expansion of the ocean, threatening millions of people worldwide who live in coastal areas.

In 2020, evidence was found that a part of the EAIS retreated 435 miles (700 km) inland just 400,000 years ago - not that long ago on geological timescales. This finding suggested it was at risk to retreating further as a result of current climate change. Pictured: Scientists drilling a shallow ice core at the surface of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet


 Professor Nerilie Abram, from the Australian National University, said: 'We now have a very small window of opportunity to rapidly lower our greenhouse gas emissions, limit the rise in global temperatures and preserve the East Antarctic Ice Sheet

However, in 2015 new targets were agreed upon by world leaders that attended the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris.

They agreed to limit global warming to well below 3.6°F (2°C) and pursue efforts to limit the rise to 2.7°F (1.5°C) by reducing their countries' greenhouse gas emissions.

The international researchers found that, if these targets are met, the worst effects of global warming on the world's largest ice sheet could be avoided.

The EAIS might be thus expected to contribute only about 0.8 inches (two centimetres) of sea level rise by 2100 and 1.6 feet (0.5 metres) by 2500.

Some research shows that snowfall has increased over East Antarctica in the last few decades and, if this continues, it will offset some of the expected ice losses over the next century.

However the researchers say sea levels will still rise due to unstoppable ice losses from Greenland or West Antarctica.


If the Paris Agreement targets for global temperature increase are met, the worst effects on the world's largest ice sheet could be avoided. The EAIS might be thus expected to contribute only about 0.8 inches (two centimetres) of sea level rise by 2100 and 1.6 feet (0.5 metres) by 2500. Pictured: Iceberg towers from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet

Professor Nerilie Abram, a co-author of the study from the Australian National University in Canberra, said: 'A key lesson from the past is that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is highly sensitive to even relatively modest warming scenarios. It isn't as stable and protected as we once thought.

'We now have a very small window of opportunity to rapidly lower our greenhouse gas emissions, limit the rise in global temperatures and preserve the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

'Taking such action would not only protect the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, but also slow the melting of other major ice sheets such as Greenland and West Antarctica, which are more vulnerable and at higher risk.

'Therefore, it's vitally important that countries achieve and strengthen their commitments to the Paris Agreement.'

Professor Stokes added: 'A key conclusion from our analysis is that the fate of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet remains very much in our hands.'

Startling satellite images show 'spike melt' of ice in Greenland over three days


Greenland experienced a 'spike melt' from July 15 through 17, which saw its massive ice sheet lose enough water to fill 7.2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The dramatic event was captured in a satellite image that reveals how 18 billion tons of runoff water completely changes the landscape.

The European Union's Copernicus satellite captured the the climate change-induced melt that shows areas of blue water flowing along the bedrock surface.

It was due to a heatwave gripping the country that enveloped the area in a steady 60 degrees when temperatures are typically no more than 50 degrees around this time of year, according to CNN that first reported on the matter.

Although there have been numerous melts in previous years, the recent one is two times the larger than normal and experts warn it has greatly contributed to an increase in the global sea level.

Read more here

Greenland's dramatic melt that took place on July 15-17 was captured in a satellite image. The shades of blue are actually melted ice that is making its way through the bedrock surface and out to sea

Companies continued to 'pay workers

more to produce less' in Q2, data shows

PRODUCTIVITY IS THE 

TENDENCY OF THE RATE OF PROFIT TO FALL

Dani Romero

·Reporter

Wed, August 10, 2022 

The Federal Reserve has another problem on its hands as companies put another quarter in the books amid sky-high inflation: falling productivity.

U.S. non-farm labor productivity, as measured by the Labor Department, fell in the second quarter at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4.6%. That was the biggest year-over-year drop dating back to 1947 and the weakest back-to-back reading following a 7.7% drop in the first quarter, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE).

Meanwhile, employers spent more on wages and benefits. Analysis by Wells Fargo highlighted that unit labor costs (ULC) — the cost of labor adjusted for productivity — grew at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 10.8% in the second quarter.

"This marks the second consecutive quarter of double-digit gains and suggests businesses continued to pay workers more to produce less," Wells Fargo economists Sarah House and Shannon Seery explained in the report.

Although House and Seery cautioned that productivity readings can be volatile from quarter to quarter, they stressed that unit labor cost growth "is still way too strong even when smoothing over a year or two."

This creates another challenge for the Fed's plan to stem inflation while not tipping the economy into a recession.

"The trend in productivity growth has worsened compared to prior to the pandemic," the economists wrote, "and the surge in unit labor costs makes the Fed's challenge of getting inflation back down to its 2% target all the more challenging."

Fed, companies grapple with declining productivity

Over the past year, labor conditions have caused employers to offer more compensation to attract scarcer workers, which has pressured "real" labor costs for employers to run well-above levels consistent with the Federal Reserve's goal of 2% inflation over the long run.

Since labor costs are many businesses' largest expense, the economists cautioned that "if labor costs continue to soar amid falling productivity, businesses will be forced to shed labor to protect the bottom line. They may also increasingly seek to invest in labor-saving technology to boost productivity."

Construction workers help direct traffic outside a residential and commercial building under construction at the Essex Crossing development on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

That, in turn, could reshape the Fed's expectations. The central bank has been increasing interest rates in an effort to raise borrowing costs, slow economic growth, and tamp down inflation.

"The Fed simply can't get to 2% inflation with this sort of productivity and wage growth," the economists said. "Labor costs tend to be a stickier contributor to inflation, thus the Q2 productivity data position the Fed to continue on its tightening path until it sees wage growth subside and inflation moving meaningfully lower."

PIIE noted that "productivity will not continue to decline like it did in the first half of 2022" and laid out two scenarios that could lead to more stable productivity.

Output could increase quickly "because the economy’s weaknesses were all in volatile components like inventories and net exports," PIIE nonresident Senior Fellow Jason Furman and research analyst Wilson Powell III wrote in the analysis.

Data refer to nonfarm business sector productivity. Optimistic adjusts output by the ratio of real GDI to real GDP. Pre-pandemic trend is average growth rate from Q4 2007 to Q4 2019 for official productivity.

Additionally, they added, employment could worsen "as employers rapidly shed labor that they determine they no longer need in an economy with much lower output."

In the long run, however, questions remain about how companies will grapple with productivity and filling vacancies.

"Will businesses be able to deploy pandemic-era innovations, including work from home, to operate at a sustained higher level or growth rate of productivity?" the PIIE experts asked. "Will other advances, like artificial intelligence, finally start to sustainably boost productivity growth? Or will the economy return to the relatively weak productivity growth of the pre-pandemic period or perhaps even something worse?"

Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @daniromerotv

RUSSIAN TAXPAYER 

Steven Seagal, as Russian Spokesman, Pushes Conspiracy That Ukrainians Massacred Themselves

Wren Graves
Wed, August 10, 2022

The post Steven Seagal, as Russian Spokesman, Pushes Conspiracy That Ukrainians Massacred Themselves appeared first on Consequence.

In his new role as a spokesman for Vladimir Putin and Russia, Steven Seagal visited the site of a notorious massacre of more than 50 Ukrainians to push the conspiracy that Ukraine committed war crimes against its own citizens.

On July 29th, in Russian-controlled territories of eastern Ukraine, an explosion ripped through the Olenivka detention center, killing 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war died and injuring 70 others. No Russian deaths were reported.

Via Military Times, Seagal’s tour of the wreckage of the Olenivka prison was covered by the Russian outlet TVZVEZDA. In the video, the action star surveyed the damage and held up shrapnel to the cameras. The volume was turned down on his actual words, replaced with a Russian dub.

“It definitely looks like a rocket,” Seagal reportedly said, echoing the Kremlin talking point that a Ukraine-launched, US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, had caused the blast. “If you look at the burning and other details, of course it’s not a bomb… This is where HIMARS hit, 50 people were killed, another 70 were injured.”

Russia has released varying, perhaps even contradictory, reports on Ukraine’s purported reason for the alleged launch. But Kremlin-backed news outlets have often pushed the story that Ukraine was either trying to deter defectors, or killing a high-ranking Ukrainian Nazi who was set to collaborate with Russian investigators.

For its part, Ukraine has cited satellite imagery to accuse Russia of moving the POWs to the site of the blast just days before it happened. Spokespersons for Ukraine have said that Russia set off “a thermobaric explosion” — also called an aerosol bomb or vacuum bomb– “from the inside.” To back up its claim, Ukraine shared satellite photos that show only one building in the complex damaged, and even that was hardly affected on the outside.

Seagal has been a Putin ally for years, receiving a Russian passport in 2016. The next year, he was banned from entering Ukraine as the country labelled him a national security threat. Earlier this year, misinformation on social media suggested the 70-year-old had actually taken up arms against Ukraine, and the rumors were enough to fool Joe Rogan. But he can probably do more damage in front of a camera than holding a gun. Check out video of his visit

Steven Seagal appears in Ukraine, serving as a Russian spokesperson


Sarah Sicad
Tue, August 9, 2022 

Early reports from the Russian invasion of Ukraine suggested that President Vladimir Putin’s military had deployed, of all people, actor Steven Seagal alongside its troops. And while the outlandish information released at the time turned out to be false, a Russian outlet did publish a video Tuesday that showed the former action star standing among the wreckage of eastern Ukraine’s Olenivka prison, where a recent attack left dozens of Ukrainian POWs dead.

Russia and Ukraine are each casting blame for the prison’s destruction, meanwhile, with Moscow alleging that Ukrainian forces used U.S.-made ordnance—a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS—to bring the building down, according to the Washington Post.

In a video posted to Russian news site TVZVEZDA, Seagal, who is identified as a special representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Relations between Russia and the U.S., appears to serve as a spokesperson against Ukraine’s use of HIMARS.

“It definitely looks like a rocket,” Seagal is reported to have said. “If you look at the burning and other details, of course it’s not a bomb. Not to mention the fact that Russia really has a lot of artifacts from HIMARS. This is where HIMARS hit, 50 people were killed, another 70 were injured.”

According to the Russian site, Seagal added a conspiracy angle by suggesting that HIMARS was used by Ukrainian troops because the country’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wanted to silence a “Nazi” being held at the prison.

“The interesting thing is that one of the killed Nazis is a Nazi who just started talking a lot about Zelensky,” Seagal added, “and that Zelensky is responsible for the orders about torture and other atrocities that violate not only the Geneva War Convention, but are also crimes against humanity.”

The Post, however, indicated that the images from the attack on Olenivka prison are not consistent with HIMARS.

“The experts could not definitively say what caused the damage, but they pointed to a lack of shrapnel marks and craters and only minimal damage to internal walls in the available visuals of the aftermath,” the Post reported. “Instead, there were visible signs of an intense fire, which is at odds with damage caused by the most common HIMARS warhead.”

TVZVEZDA reported that Seagal was among a number of representatives to visit the prison.

“Media representatives from France, Italy, Germany, Serbia, Nicaragua, North Korea got acquainted with the evidence that the strike was carried out by Ukrainian militants and from HIMARS, and also saw with their own eyes all the destruction at the site of this barbaric shelling,” the news site reported.

Open-source intelligence analyst Oliver Alexander weighed in on the veracity of the Seagal footage and indicated its authenticity.

Imagery of the prison from BBC appears to match elements of Seagal’s surroundings as he gave his statement. The same imagery was also matched with a scene in which the action star is positioned on a bench with blast artifacts, footage taken two weeks after the area was originally photographed, Alexander suggested on Twitter.

“[That’s] not how I would expect this ‘smoking gun’ evidence to be handled if Russia, 1. believed it was actual evidence and 2. had any intention of letting UN investigators to the site,” Alexander told Military Times.

Odessa Journal also verified the visit.

Seagal is known for his pro-Russian stature. In particular, he showed strong support for Putin’s plan regarding the annexation of Crimea. In 2016, the actor was given Russian citizenship.

ANTI-FEMINIST FASCISM
'Woman, mother, Christian' guides Italian far-right to brink of power

Gaël BRANCHEREAU
Wed, August 10, 2022 


Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy, has sought to detoxify the country's post-fascist movement and in doing so has brought it to within touching distance of power.

With her party topping opinion polls and Meloni herself enjoying the highest ratings of any party chief, she has put herself forward as prime minister if Brothers of Italy finishes first in September 25 elections.

Small in stature with poker-straight blonde hair, a deep voice and forceful delivery, the 45-year-old has wooed Italians with her motto of "God, country and family".

In 2018 elections, her party won just over four percent of the vote, but is now polling around 23 percent and leading her right-wing alliance comprising Matteo Salvini's League and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia.

She has brought together many voters dissatisfied with the status quo, the "diktats" from the European Union, the high cost of living and the limited opportunities available for Italy's young people.

Meloni has pledged to cut taxes and bureaucracy, raise defence spending, close Italy's borders to protect the country from "Islamisation", renegotiate European treaties to return more power to Rome and fight "LGBT lobbies".

She also wants to reverse the decline in Italy's population by encouraging birthrates -- but not by allowing immigrants to naturalise, having warned in 2016 of an "ethnic replacement" underway in Italy.

"In general terms, Meloni represents a point of reference for protest, disaffection," said Sofia Ventura, professor of political science at the University of Bologna.

And with Italy's other main anti-establishment parties, the Five Star Movement and the League, having joined Prime Minister Mario Draghi's government last year, she is the only one entering elections with a clean slate.

- Fascism in history -

Meloni's party, which takes its name from the first line of the national anthem, is a political descendant of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), formed by supporters of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini after World War II.

They share the same symbol of a flame in the national colours of green, white and red -- an image also used by the former National Front in France.

But Meloni has sought to reassure the moderate voices in her movement, knowing she needs to widen her base to win power.

"The Italian right has handed fascism over to history for decades now," she said in a video message this week aimed at her international critics.

Mussolini made "several mistakes", notably the racial laws and his entry into World War II, she said in 2016, adding: "Historically he also produced a lot, but that does not save him."

Within Brothers of Italy, she clarified last year, "there is no room for nostalgic attitudes of fascism, for hypotheses of racism and anti-Semitism".

- Christian, Italian mother -

Born in Rome on January 15, 1977, Meloni grew up in the working-class neighbourhood of Garbatella and was steeped in politics from early on.

As a teenager, she joined the youth wing of the MSI, Fronte della Gioventu, and went on to be national head of Student Action, part of the far-right Alleanza Nazionale (National Alliance), which replaced the MSI.

In 2006, she was elected to the lower parliamentary house, the Chamber of Deputies, and became vice-president.

Two years later Meloni was named minister for youth in Berlusconi's government, at 31 the youngest minister in post-war Italy.

She founded Brothers of Italy in 2012 and her youth and confidence -- and the fact that she was a woman -- made her stand out.

As she grew older, and had a daughter in 2006 with her TV journalist partner, Meloni tapped her personal life to sell her national brand.

"I am Giorgia, I am a woman, I am a mother, I am Italian, I am Christian," she declared at a 2019 rally in Rome, which went viral after it was remixed into a dance music track.

Hers was the only main party to refuse to join Draghi's national unity government in February 2021, an opposition stance that has helped shoot her poll ratings skyward.

Meloni opposed Draghi's tough coronavirus measures, notably the so-called Green Pass requiring workers to be vaccinated.

Unlike Salvini and Berlusconi, who have long had ties with Moscow, she backed Draghi's strong support for Ukraine following Russia's invasion.

But she is sharply critical of the European Union, and is president of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Party, which includes Spain's Vox and Poland's Law and Justice parties.

gab/ar/ams/bp

Leader of Italy’s post-fascist party says she has ‘shared values’ with British Tories

OF COURSE SHE DOES

Nick Squires
Wed, August 10, 2022

Giorgia Meloni, the leader of Brothers of Italy - AFP

The frontrunner to become Italy’s next prime minister has said she has “shared values” with the British Conservatives as she insisted her party and country has consigned facism to history.

Giorgia Meloni has been dogged by fears that among her supporters are neo-fascists, extremists and apologists for the Mussolini regime, which imprisoned political opponents, persecuted Italian Jews and dragged Italy into the Second World War as an ally of Hitler.

She has called for a “naval blockade” of Italy’s coasts to stop migrants and refugees arriving by boat from North Africa.

“The Italian Right has handed fascism over to history for decades now, unambiguously condemning the suppression of democracy and the ignominious anti-Jewish laws,” she said in a video message recorded in English, French and Spanish and sent to foreign correspondents who cover Italy.

The 45-year-old politician, an admirer of Viktor Orban in Hungary as well as the hardline Vox party in Spain, leads the Brothers of Italy party, the descendant of Italy’s post-war fascist movement.

The party has forged an alliance with the centre-Right Forza Italia, led by Silvio Berlusconi, and the hard-Right League, led by Matteo Salvini.

Matteo Salvini, the leader of the hard-right League party - Reuters

Together they are expected to win around 44 per cent of the vote when Italy holds a general election on September 25, easily beating the squabbling, fractured centre-Left.

The election had to be called after several parties withdrew their support for a broad coalition led by Mario Draghi, the prime minister.

Ms Meloni, 45, has a good chance of becoming Italy’s first female prime minister after the three parties struck a deal which says that the one that takes the most votes will get to nominate the premier.

Brothers of Italy is comfortably ahead of the other two parties, with polls suggesting it will attract around 24 per cent of the vote, while the League is on 12 per cent and Forza Italia around 8 per cent.

Sitting behind a desk, with an Italian flag at her shoulder, Ms Meloni claimed she had been unfairly portrayed as a far-Right extremist.

She described Brothers of Italy - Fratelli d’Italia in Italian - as “conservatives” who have much in common with Britain’s Tories, Republicans in the US and Likud in Israel.

“I have been reading that the victory of Fratelli d'Italia in the September elections would mean a disaster, leading to an authoritarian turn, Italy's departure from the euro and other nonsense of this sort. None of this is true.”
Described as a 'danger to democracy'

She said she had been described as “a danger to democracy, to Italian, European and international stability.”

She dismissed accusations that Brothers of Italy would “jeopardize” the spending of around 200 billion euro in post-pandemic recovery funds that Italy is due to receive in loans and grants from the EU.

Ms Meloni reiterated her support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion and said that if elected to government she would be pro-EU and pro-NATO.

“She herself is not a neo-fascist and she’s trying to do all she can to eliminate that element from her party,” said Francesco Galietti, an analyst from Policy Sonar, a political risk consultancy.

“She’s very aware that it is a liability. There are many layers to her party and clearly there is a layer of nostalgics (for Mussolini and fascism). But I’m not convinced it’s the bulk of the party.”

Meanwhile, Silvio Berlusconi announced that he hopes to be reelected to parliament in the election next month, despite approaching his 86th birthday and having a chequered history of sex scandals and financial impropriety.

He may be of an age at which most people occupy themselves with doting on their grandchildren, some light gardening and perhaps the odd cruise, but the billionaire businessman’s appetite for power is unabated, decades after he first burst onto Italy’s political scene.

The octogenarian grandfather, who has been prime minister of Italy three times, said he will stand for the Senate, the upper house of parliament. The national vote will be held just four days before he turns 86.

Silvio Berlusconi hopes to be elected to the Senate - AFP

“I think that, in the end, I will be present myself as a candidate for the Senate, so that all these people who asked me will finally be happy,” he said on Wednesday.

Mr Berlusconi’s past would have sunk the careers of politicians in many countries. A decade ago he was embroiled in the “bunga bunga” scandal, in which he was accused of cavorting with escorts and showgirls at his residences in Milan and Sardinia.

Trials relating to the scandal are still dragging on, with Mr Berlusconi accused of bribing young women to give false testimony about the nature of the gatherings.

He was expelled from parliament in 2013 after being convicted for tax fraud and was banned from participating in elections for six years.

He put himself forward to become Italy’s new president earlier this year but in the end the incumbent, Sergio Mattarella, remained in office.

Mr Berlusconi dismissed suggestions that he is worried about Ms Meloni becoming prime minister.

But he did urge Italians to vote for his party in order to make the right-wing coalition more moderate.

“Every vote for Forza Italia will strengthen the moderate, centrist profile of the coalition,” he told Il Giornale, a daily newspaper which is owned by his family.

Cuba fuel depot blaze 'under control'

A Mexican firefighting vessel, the "Bourbon Artabaze", and helicopters battle to contain the days-old fire, on Aug 10, 2022. PHOTO: AFP

MATANZAS, CUBA (AFP) - Firefighters on Wednesday (Aug 10) declared that a days-old blaze engulfing a fuel depot has finally been brought under control, although not yet extinguished.

The fire, which started on Friday after lightning struck one of the tanks at the depot outside the western city of Matanzas, left a 60-year-old firefighter dead and 14 colleagues missing, feared dead, according to authorities.

"We can now say that the fire is under control," said deputy fire chief Alexander Avalos Jorge.

Four of the eight tanks at the site - each with the capacity to hold 50 million litres of fuel - collapsed during the blaze that injured more than 100 people, with 22 still receiving hospital treatment.

"Today we feel more calm," said Avalos, although he revealed there were still some fires burning and that they will not be put out on Wednesday.

Cuba has received support from Venezuela and Mexico, who both sent firefighters, fuel fire experts, equipment and materials.

Earlier on Wednesday, the crew of a Mexican helicopter battling the blaze had said it was beginning to be controlled.

Images supplied by the helicopter crew showed less smoke coming from one of the burning tanks than on previous days, while the crew said the flames engulfing another tank had practically gone out.

From the city of Matanzas, some 4km from the depot, less smoke and flames were visible than on previous days, AFP reporters noted.

The fire left a 60-year-old firefighter dead and 14 of his colleagues missing, feared dead. 

PHOTO: AFP

On Tuesday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel told reporters that once the flames have been extinguished and the temperature has dropped "we will be able to go in and recover the victims," in reference to the missing firefighters.

"It will be a very tough moment. We will have to be prepared to support these families."

The Matanzas depot, built in the 1980s and modernised several times, supplies the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the largest in the communist nation.

The plant resumed activities on Wednesday after a two-day shutdown due to contaminated water caused by the depot fire.

The disaster comes at a time when Cuba - with an outdated energy network and persistent fuel shortages - has faced mounting difficulties in meeting energy demands.

Worst blaze in Cuba’s history finally under control at oil depot

Fire destroyed 40% of island’s main fuel storage facility over five days and caused blackouts
Firefighters work to put out a deadly firein Matanzas, Cuba, on 9 August.

 Photograph: Yamil Lage/AP


Reuters in MatanzasTue 9 Aug 2022

Firefighters have finally overcome what officials described as the worst blaze in Cuba’s history that over five days destroyed 40% of the Caribbean island’s main fuel storage facility and caused blackouts.

Raging flames that ravaged a four-tank segment of the Matanzas super tanker port had died down on Tuesday and the towering plumes of thick black smoke streaming from the area were diminished and now mostly gray.

Matanzas is Cuba’s largest port for receiving crude oil and fuel imports. Cuban heavy crude, as well as fuel oil and diesel stored in Matanzas in 10 huge tanks, are mainly used to generate electricity on the island.

Lightning struck one fuel storage tank on Friday evening. The fire spread to a second by Sunday and engulfed the four-tank area on Monday, accompanied by huge explosions and despite efforts by local firefighters supported by more than 100 Mexican and Venezuelan reinforcements.

Firefighter Rafael Pérez Garriga told Reuters on the steaming outskirts of the disaster that he worries the fire would impact the power situation in the country.

“The situation is going to be more difficult. If the thermoelectric plants are supplied with that oil, we are going to have the whole world affected, it is electricity and it affects everything,” he said.

The communist-run country, under heavy US sanctions, is all but bankrupt. Frequent blackouts and shortages of gasoline and other commodities already had created a tense situation with scattered local protests following last summer’s historic unrest in July.

On Tuesday, more helicopters joined the effort to put out the fire, along with two fireboats sent by Mexico along with heavy firefighting equipment.

“We have not yet been able to access the impact area due to the conditions. There is combustion and so we cannot risk our lives for now,” Pérez said around noon.

Later in the day firefighters for the first time were entering the area and spraying foam and water on the still smoldering remains.

“Today we have managed to control the fire,” Rolando Vecino, head of transport for the ministry of the interior, said on state-run television from the scene.

Officials have not said how much fuel has been lost in the fire which destroyed all four tanks. Authorities stated that no oil had contaminated the nearby Matanzas Bay. Still they warned residents as far away as Havana to wear face masks and avoid acid rain due to the massive plume of smoke the fire generated.

One firefighter died and 14 went missing on Saturday when the second tank blew up, authorities said on Tuesday, correcting an earlier figure of 16 missing. Five others remain in critical condition.

Mario Sabines, governor of the Matanzas province, about 60 miles (130km) from Havana, quipped the flames spread like an “Olympic torch” from one tank to the next, turning each into a “caldron”.

RIP

Beluga whale lost in French river euthanized during rescue

A beluga whale that became a French celebrity after a wrong turn took it up the Seine River had to be euthanized Wednesday after experiencing health complications during an urgent rescue operation, authorities said. The sparkling white marine mammal appeared deep inside France last week, having accidentally veered off the normal ocean migration route that takes belugas to and from Arctic waters.

 

 

Mexico says rescuers close to entering mine where workers trapped

Wed, August 10, 2022 

Rescuers hope to enter a flooded coal mine in northern Mexico soon to search for 10 workers who have been trapped for a week, authorities said Wednesday.

"We are very close to being able to enter," civil defense national coordinator Laura Velazquez said.

"All rescuers have the necessary equipment to be able to enter at any time, hopefully today," she told reporters in Mexico City by video link.

Hundreds of soldiers and other rescuers using 25 pumps and two underwater drones are taking part in the operation in Agujita in the northern state of Coahuila.

The focus so far has been on pumping out water from the 60-meter (200-feet) deep mine, where desperate relatives have gathered waiting for news.

The water in the shafts has fallen significantly, from more than 30 meters initially, but needs to be reduced by several more meters before it is safe to enter, Velazquez said.

According to authorities, the miners were carrying out excavation work when they hit an adjoining area full of water.

Five workers managed to escape from the crudely constructed mine in the initial aftermath of the accident on August 3, but there has been no contact with the others.

Coahuila, Mexico's main coal-producing region, has seen a series of fatal mining incidents over the years.

The worst accident was an explosion that claimed 65 lives at the Pasta de Conchos mine in 2006.

Last year, seven miners died when they were trapped in the region.

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