Search for Shackleton’s lost Endurance ship defeated by bad weather and bad luck

Antarctica [credit: Wikipedia]

It’s hard to be too surprised by this news even though it’s well into the Antarctic summer.

A British-led expedition to find the Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, has been defeated by horrendous weather and pack ice – the very conditions that trapped the explorer’s vessel in Antarctica more than a century ago, reports the Daily Telegraph.

The expedition was called off on Thursday after “extreme weather conditions” led to the loss of an autonomous robotic submarine that, it was hoped, would have located the wreck.

California nixes plans for high-speed LA-SF rail line

So much for trains replacing planes in line with current US ‘green’ ideology? The UK equivalent is the HS2 project which is also under pressure from various quarters. Both eye-wateringly expensive.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Tuesday that he was abandoning plans to build a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, citing the high cost and the time it would take, reports Phys.org.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Tuesday that he was abandoning plans to build a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, citing the high cost and the time it would take.

Seattle receives the most snow in 70 years

Two feet of snow in Seattle?

Yes it’s winter, but this is way beyond normal weather for this region as CBS News reports.

Some areas around Seattle received more than 10 inches of snow Saturday, the most in 70 years, the National Weather Service said, and more is on the way as two more storm systems close in on the area.

‘End of the road’ for UK citizens’ climate case rejected by appeal court

Case dismissed

Another attempt to get judges to override Government policy in the name of disputed climate theories falls by the wayside.

The case, brought by 11 members of the public and the NGO Plan B argued the UK’s 2050 climate target was not in line with the Paris Agreement, reports Climate Home News.
– – –
A UK citizens’ lawsuit over the government’s 2050 climate target hit “the end of the road” this week after an appeals court refused to hear the case, the climate legal group Plan B announced.

The UN’s Global Green Law is going nowhere for now

It may have taken a knock, but it’s by no means the last we’ll hear of it, as CFACT explains.

The first major meeting of the UN’s (take a breath) “Ad hoc Open-ended Working Group towards a Global Pact for the Environment” or simply OEWG, convened on Monday, 14 January 2019 at the United Nations Environment Program offices in Nairobi, Kenya.

During the week-long session, delegates considered the report of the United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG), titled “Gaps in international environmental law and environment-related instruments: towards a global pact for the environment.”

This is the newly hatched grand green dream, for a binding set of new global laws that both encompasses and surpasses all of the existing multinational environmental treaties and agreements (MEAs). I am not making this up.

Latest buzz in Arctic tourism is a floating city

Arctic Ocean

Sounds like a cruise ship that doesn’t go anywhere.

Developers in Singapore intend to ship thousands of Asians to a tourism machine in Arctic waters, reports the Barents Observer.

«People want to visit new places and experience something different,» says Aziz Merchant. He is Executive Director of the Keppel Offshore & Marine Technology Centre, a unit under the powerful Keppel Group, and participated in this week’s Arctic Frontiers in Tromsø, Norway.

«From the Asian perspective, tourists want new challenges, they want to explore areas that has not been explored before. Like with space tourism,» Merchant said in an address delivered at the conference.

Scotland: ‘ancient’ stone circle turns out to be from the 1990s

Easter Aquhorthies recumbent stone circle (genuine) in north-east Scotland [image credit: Wikipedia]

As a local official commented: “These types of monument are notoriously difficult to date.” And fakes can be difficult to spot, it seems.

Archaeologists in Scotland were disappointed to discover a stone circle they believed was centuries old only dates back to the 1990s, reports Newsweek.

Researchers descended on the monument in Leochel-Cushnie, Aberdeenshire, in Scotland, when the current landowner reported the site to authorities.

Archaeologists heralded the site as authentic, adding it to the list of “recumbent stone circles”—a rare type of circle found in the local area.

Do You Live on the Coast of California? They’re Coming for You!

.
.
The latest over-the-top climate policy from the American west coast.

American Elephants

The California Coastal Commission is set to empower local governments to pursue eminent domain to take 1,100 miles of coastline in order to prepare for sea level rise. Local jurisdictions will implement a “managed retreat” policy that will allow taking and demolishing coastal homes and businesses.

This will allow communities to dismantle and relocate power plants, 250 miles of highway, 1,500 miles of roads and 110 miles of railway.

This battle is going to be fun, when the state tries to take Environmentalist Tom Steyer’s coastal property, in the name of saving the rest of California from the horrors of global warming and its sea level rise.

Scientists are not sure that there is any rise in sea level at all. What little discrepancy they see may simply be coastline shrinking.

Roy Spencer PhD. noted recently that “Climate Models are warming the Global Lower Atmosphere 67% Faster than the average…

View original post 23 more words

UK: £1bn subsidies given to firms for burning wood could be scrapped

Drax power station [credit: drax.com]

Such massive subsidies probably couldn’t suddenly disappear, but might be scaled back or even phased out. Contrary to the report, carbon dioxide contributes nothing to air pollution..

Controversial subsidies for burning wood in power stations could be scrapped in the drive to clean up Britain’s air.

Firms across the UK that burn wood pellets currently receive about £1billion a year because, unlike coal, these are considered renewable sources of energy, says the Daily Mail.

Hitachi ‘to pull the plug’ on Anglesey’s Wylfa Newydd nuclear power project next week

Proposed new nuclear plant, Anglesey [image credit: walesonline]

Nuclear projects seem recently to have become an endangered species in the UK.

The future of the planned Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station on Anglesey is shrouded in uncertainty after Hitachi responded to a report that construction would be suspended by saying that “no formal decision” had been taken.

The Nikkei Asian Review reported that Hitachi plans to put the project on hold because funding negotiations with the UK Government have “hit an impasse”, says Wales Online.

More winter storms sweep across southern Germany and Austria

Bavarian snow scene [credit: BBC]

They’re now reporting ‘the heaviest snowfalls in 20 years’ as the weather chaos continues. The sheer weight of snow is a big problem. Greece and Turkey have also been badly hit.

Meters more snow are forecast to fall on southern Germany and Austria over the next week, says DW.com.

A child hit by a tree in Bavaria was the latest person to die in weather-related events.

Earth’s magnetic field is acting up and geologists don’t know why

Arctic region

At last – something that can’t be blamed on Brexit! Just joking of course, and wandering poles can be a serious matter for navigators.

Erratic motion of north magnetic pole forces experts to update model that aids global navigation.
– – –
Something strange is going on at the top of the world, a Nature article says.

Earth’s north magnetic pole has been skittering away from Canada and towards Siberia, driven by liquid iron sloshing within the planet’s core.

The magnetic pole is moving so quickly that it has forced the world’s geomagnetism experts into a rare move.

Barking mad: Will insect-eating dogs help climate change?

Insects?

This is too silly for words of course, and we only post it to show how far climate brainwashers are willing to go to promote their phoney aganda. The story was featured on BBC radio’s morning news.

A pet food manufacturer says switching to a dog food made of soldier flies will protect the environment, as BBC News reports.

Do you fret that your pet pooch is blamed by environmentalists for turning rainforests into poo in the park?

Have no fear – you can now fatten Fido on black soldier flies instead of Brazilian beef.

Oil exploration in North Sea ‘to bounce back’ in coming year

North Sea oil platform [image credit: matchtech.com]

Demand for oil shows no signs of fading away any time soon, despite the negativity from climate obsessives.

Oil exploration in the North Sea is expected to begin a bounce back over the coming year, according to analysts Wood Mackenzie.

Drilling in the UK sector in 2018 was at its lowest level since the 1960s, says BBC News.

Deadly snowfall wreaks havoc across Europe

Snow in Bavaria [image credit: BBC]

It seems that rumours of the end of snowy European winters have been greatly exaggerated. Countries as far south as Greece have been badly affected.

Winter storms have killed several people across Europe, including in Germany, reports DW.com.

While conditions have improved in some parts, meteorologists predict it’s just the calm before the next storm.

UK’s first battery-powered hotel now operational in Scotland

Risky business [image credit: safetysource.co.nz]

Well, partly battery-powered to be more exact. Government subsidies play a part in the economics of this, as the article shows. Battery purchase and installation costs are not stated, nor is the expected lifetime. Then there’s the insurance bill for a lot of fire-prone lithium in or next to a building.

The Gyle Premier Inn in Edinburgh is trialling a new 100kW lithium-ion battery supplied and installed by E.ON at its 200-room site in a bid to improve energy efficiency, secure power supply and enable onsite energy cost savings.

The battery is 3m3 in size and weighs approximately five tonnes, reports PEI.

It can run the hotel – including powering meals cooked at its restaurant – for up to three hours.

Trump’s Science Adviser Confirmed And His Views On Climate Change Are Refreshing

Small believer maybe? [image credit: businessinsider.com / CNN]

Science is a general term, and opinions about what is or isn’t good science can, and regularly do, differ so talking about ‘the science’ is a bit risky. The new adviser seems to have recognized this but the we-know-it-all climate crowd, who have been used to getting their own way, are unlikely to be impressed.

OU meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier has been confirmed to be President Trump’s top science adviser, the first time the position was held by a climatologist, says Climate Change Dispatch.

The Senate used a voice vote — an expedited process for uncontroversial nominees — to approve Droegemeier on Wednesday night, the final night of the current Congress.

Drone or no drone? The question baffling UK police

Image credit: yournewswire.com

From the ‘you couldn’t make it up’ department.

‘Who’s heading this investigation? Inspector Clouseau?’ Twitter pokes fun at police claims there may not have been a drone flying over Gatwick with hilarious memes.

Flights were suspended for more than 36 hours from Wednesday, causing Christmas travel chaos at Gatwick airport in Crawley, West Sussex, reports the Daily Mail.

But police said the drone may never have existed.

Firefighters work 16 hours to put out fires in Tesla Model S

Another Tesla fire

The car was only three months old, and as the owner said, if it had happened at home the house could have been set on fire.

A Tesla Model S ignited three times in one day, a northern California car owner and firefighters told ABC News.

While driving on a highway on Dec. 18, the driver got a tire pressure warning indicating a flat tire, and had the car towed to the nearby Los Gatos Tire and Auto Repair, Santa Clara County Fire Captain Bill Murphy told ABC News.

Poland signs 20-year liquefied natural gas deal with US

Sabine Pass LNG Terminal, Louisiana [image credit: naturalgasnow.org]

As well as wanting to avoid dependency on Russian gas, Poland has no intention of freezing in the dark to appease so-called climate activists.

Poland is seeking to reduce its dependence on Russia and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline for its LNG supplies, says DW.com.

The deal should provide for 15 percent of Poland’s daily gas needs over the next 20 years.