Earth Intelligence – Page 216 – Public Intelligence Blog

2012 Rising Sea Levels Seen as Threat to Coastal U.S. (New York Times, 13 March 2012)

About 3.7 million Americans live within a few feet of high tide and risk being hit by more frequent coastal flooding in coming decades because of the sea level rise caused by global warming, according to new research.

By far the most vulnerable state is Florida, the new analysis found, with roughly half of the nation’s at-risk population living near the coast on the porous, low-lying limestone shelf that constitutes much of that state. But Louisiana, California, New York and New Jersey are also particularly vulnerable, researchers found, and virtually the entire American coastline is at some degree of risk.

map of sea level vulnerability — Click on Image to Enlarge

2011 Rising Seas Will Affect Major US Coastal Cities by 2100, New Research Finds

2007 Nation Under Siege: Sea Level Rise at Our Doorstep [2030 Impact Study Best Use of Google in Color to Depict 1 Meter, 3 Meter, and 5 Meter Rise in Sea Level]

2003 (est) Does Sea Level Rise Matter to Transportation Along the Atlantic Coast?

2000 Maps of Lands Vulnerable to Sea Level Rise Modeled [Best for close-up vulnerability maps]

1989 The Effects of Sea Leavel Rise on U.S. Coastal Wetlands

Phi Beta Iota: There are multiple bottom lines on this continuing saga.

Continue reading “Reference: Flooding of the USA Coasts — Where, When?”

2012/03/062012/03/06

Mini-Me: 15+ Potentially Massive Threats to US Economy

02 Infectious Disease, 03 Environmental Degradation, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 09 Terrorism, Blog Wisdom, Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence

Huh? Here are Mini-Me's post-November 2012 nightmare events:

01 End of all federal grants to all universities

02 By law, all option years on all federal contracts eliminated.

03 30% federal employee Reduction in Force (RIF)

04 Industrial chemical accident of historic proportions (e.g. the really really big rusted chlorine tank above the NJ Turnpike right outside NYC blows)

05 One of NYC's two 1920's water mains blows, followed by a firestorm

06 Our own biological agent used (Forced Population Reduction) across the poorest sectors of the south (“useless eaters” according to Henry Kissinger).

07 Radiological event (dirty bomb) closes down a major transit hub for the next 20 years. Having fun yet?

15 Potentially Massive Threats To The U.S. Economy Over The Next 12 Months

We live in a world that is becoming increasingly unstable, and the potential for an event that could cause “sudden change” to the U.S. economy is greater than ever.

There are dozens of potentially massive threats that could easily push the U.S. economy over the edge during the next 12 months. A war in the Middle East, a financial collapse in Europe, a major derivatives crisis or a horrific natural disaster could all change our economic situation very rapidly.

In the list below, you will find some “sudden change” events that are somewhat likely and some that are quite unlikely. I have tried to include a broad range of potential “black swan events”, but there are certainly dozens more massive threats that could potentially be listed. (List only — links and text at the article.

01 War with Syria
02 War with Iran
03 Disorderly Greek Debt Default
04 Economic Collapse in Spain
05 Price of Gasoline
06 Student Loan Debt Bubble
07 State and Local Debt Crisis
08 Collapse of a Major US Bank
09 Derivatives Crisis (Credit Swaps Collapse)
10 Fall of the Japanese Economy (and government)
11 A Solar Megastorm (1 in 8 chance)
12 Major West Coast Earthquake and/or Volcanic Eruption
13 Tornado Damage to Major US Cities
14 Severe Drought in the United States
15 Asteroid Strike in February 2013

2012/03/042012/03/04

Koko: Iowa passes outrageous law demanding total secrecy over factory meat filth and cruelty practices

01 Agriculture, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Earth Intelligence, Government, IO Impotency

Iowa passes outrageous law demanding total secrecy over factory meat filth and cruelty practices

Ethan A. Huff

Natural News, 4 March 2012

(NaturalNews) Capturing undercover footage of extreme animal abuse at factory farms is soon to be illegal in Iowa, thanks to the passage of a new bill that squelches First Amendment protections for agricultural whistleblowers. In one of the fastest legislative rush-throughs in history, the “American Heartland” state's House and Senate recently passed House File 589, also known as the “ag-gag” bill, which redefines undercover filming and various other whistle-blowing activities as “agricultural production facility fraud” punishable under the law.

Prior to the passage of the bill, which now sits on Republican Governor Terry Branstad's desk for signing, exposing the horrific conditions in many of Iowa's factory farms was a legally-protected free speech right. Once signed into law, however, H.F. 589 will make Iowa the first state in America to actively muzzle individuals from exposing the ugly truth about what takes place at chicken farms, animal processing plants, and even behemoth genetically-modified (GM) crops farms across the state.

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota: The truth at any cost lowers all others costs. This is the worst possible step Iowa could take.

2012/03/042012/03/04

Reference: The Predicament of Mankind: A Quest for Structured Responses to Growing World-Wide Complexities and Uncertainties (Original Proposal to the Club of Rome).

Advanced Cyber/IO, Collective Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, White Papers

Ozbekhan, H. (1970) The Predicament of Mankind: A Quest for Structured Responses to Growing World-Wide Complexities and Uncertainties Proposal to the Club of Rome.

Club of Rome Original Proposal 1970

Phi Beta Iota: The Club of Rome considered two proposals. Limits to Growth, a top-down micro-management approach won. The losing proposal focused on educating people and assuring public buy-in to achieve implementable and sustainable reforms.

2012/03/032012/03/03

John Steiner: Ivory Trade Again Endangering Elephants

03 Environmental Degradation, 07 Other Atrocities, Earth Intelligence, Law Enforcement

Dear All,

Below is EarthAction's monthly current Action Alert on global environment, peace, and justice issues. This one is most important, and timely action is needed.

Protect Africa's Elephants

Despite the international ban on the trade of Elephant Ivory in 1989, it is estimated that every year 38,000 elephants are killed for ivory sales on the black market. Poachers sell raw ivory for around $20 per pound. Most of this ivory eventually makes its way to China, where it is resold at $700 per pound‹or more.

This means that a single tusk from a full-grown bull elephant can fetch upwards of $50,000 on the black market. The poaching of elephants for their ivory tusks requires the death of some of the most beautiful and endangered animals on our planet. Unless action is taken soon, many of the gains made in recent decades to protect the great elephants of Africa may be undone.

In 1989 elephants were initially listed as an Appendix 1 species by CITES (the Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna), banning any and all trade of ivory. In 1997 they were downgraded to an Appendix 2 species, allowing the trade of ivory with regulation. Many nations do not have the capacity to strictly monitor the flow of ivory through their borders, nor are measures in place to effectively monitor the global ivory trade. Disguising illegal ivory as a legal product requires only an artificial aging process.

Read full alert with links for taking action.

2012/03/012012/03/01

Event: 1 March DC Perspectives on Limits to Growth – Challenges to Building a Sustainable Planet

Earth Intelligence

Permanent Record Podcast:

http://www.si.edu/consortia/limitstogrowth2012

JORGEN RANDERS: Decision delays killing us. Have all the technology we need to address all these problems. Economists killing us by not factoring in true costs over time. Mention Norwegian citizen council, decision to use roughly 1% of Norwegian GNP to solve all these problems, citizens agree.

Citing Jeff Immelt, CEO GE August 2010: we know the solution but we don't like it.

Capitalism will not solve these problems – it demands profit, defines profit in financial terms of the time only.

Regulation is an option but US Congress has demonstrated that a majority will never agree on doing the right thing for the long term. Democracy is hopeless if one wants to solve a long-term problem. Voters are short-term and so are politicians.

Need to find a way, as Dennis has suggested, to connect policy decision to short-term goods, but even that does not work.

Better way: look for success stories. European Commission and Communist Party of China. Chinese government has more legitimacy with its own public because it is focused on eliminating poverty.

Rather blunt call for stronger government, higher taxes, tougher regulations. No attention to inherent corruption. Actually contemplates authority being transferred to the IPCC.

Phi Beta Iota: Educating the public to take the long view is harder, but more sustainable and more agile.

Symposium: Perspectives on Limits to Growth: Challenges to Building a Sustainable Planet

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the launching of Limits to Growth, the first report to the Club of Rome, a joint symposium entitled “Perspectives on Limits to Growth: Challenges to Building a Sustainable Planet” will be hosted in Washington, DC by the Club of Rome and the Smithsonian Institution’s Consortium for Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet. Please see the attached program statement.

The symposium will be held on Thursday March 1st, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. in the Rasmuson Theater of the National Museum of the American Indian at 4th Street and Independence Avenue, SW on the National Mall. A reception will follow. If you are interested in attending, please contact Consortia@si.edu for more information.

Program Page Below the Line

Continue reading “Event: 1 March DC Perspectives on Limits to Growth – Challenges to Building a Sustainable Planet”

2012/02/27

Chuck Spinney: When Lies for a Cause Destroy Science

Academia, Corruption, Earth Intelligence, Government

Why It Is Time to Clean the Augean Stables of Climate Science

Lying for the Cause?

by FRANKLIN C. SPINNEY, Counterpunch, 27 February 2012

(Note: This differs slightly from the original because I have corrected a few typos and grammatical errors and added one short clarifying string of words in [ ]'s.)

On 24 February, the Scientific American carried a revealing blog by John Horgan entitled, Should Global-Warming Activists Lie to Defend Their Cause? Horgan is the Director of the Center for Science Writings at the Stevens Institute of Technology. He analyzes his question in the context of a discussion he held in a freshman humanities class. The subject was the morality of Dr. Peter Gleick’s use of identity theft to steal documents from the Heartland Institute. Horgan is a promoter of the theory of anthropogenic global warming (AGW), and he is clearly at pains to rationalize the implications of Gleick’s caper. Included in Gleick’s distribution was a forged document, although Gleick denies any connection to its fabrication. Of particular interest to this essay is Horgan’s last sentence, because it unintentionally places the politicization of the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) debate into sharp relief.

Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: When Lies for a Cause Destroy Science”