The rise in food allergies has nothing to do with GMOs. The increase number of people with fool allergies is mostly to do with good gut bacteria. Many children are not getting introduced to the bacteria needed to establish good gut bacteria. Many adults good gut bacteria is getting destroyed by diseases, such as, COVID. Reestablishing good gut bacteria is difficult. For instance, one of these bacteria can only be found in milk or meat from cud chewing bovine. There are an estimated 100 trillion “good” bacteria.
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bookmark_borderObtaining Net Zero: Can we use solar to electrify everything?
by Daniel Brouse
June 25, 2022
Q: What about solar energy? Can’t we use solar for everything?
A: Solar can provide all the energy we need for cars. Solar can provide around 50% of our overall electric needs. However, solar will not work for ships and jets… nor steel or cement. Solar could produce green hydrogen to do the job; however, it would be at the expense of providing electricity to the grid. (also green hydrogen is only a 40% efficient way to store solar power.) Some countries are using wind or nuclear to make the green hydrogen. Some countries are creating their green hydrogen in other countries (eg Germany > Australia) using solar, than importing their green hydrogen (hopefully, in green hydrogen powered ships.)
Q: Is hydrogen really “green” or is that green washing from fossil fuel companies? Essentially as I understand hydrogen is more of a form of energy storage- as the water. Also, I’m intrigued by mechanical batteries for long term terrestrial storage more than chemical batteries but exciting to see what chemistry we can come up with.
A: Green hydrogen that is made from solar or wind is green hydrogen. Natural gas (methane) that is used to make hydrogen is blue hydrogen. There is yet another method for transitioning… that is a mix of 80% natural gas (methane) and 20% hydrogen. The importance of all the above is getting from here to then. Most of Europe and the UK (and much of the USA) heat their homes with natural gas. The 80/20 mix can start to be used with the existing infrastructure. Long-term we will need to upgrade the infrastructure to go with pure hydrogen. The reason being — hydrogen is the smallest atom… it can even leak between copper or steel atoms that make a pipe. As for batteries, I’ve been involved with batteries and fuel cells for a long, long time, too. The most efficient batteries are based on membrane technology. There are quite a few other battery types that do not involve mining or exploitation of natural resources. These include underwater bladders that solar pumps up when the sun is out… air is let out to turn turbines when batteries are needed. Another method is buried rocks that are heated up by solar during the sunlight and geothermal energy is used for batteries. My favorite is the membrane based battery that can be 100% efficient and never losses it’s ability to hold a charge.
Q: Things have evolved rapidly in the solar space. 90% reduction in costs in less than a decade. Now we can truly scale this exponentially and power everything relatively cheaply and abundantly, can’t we?
A: Yes, solar and battery are coming down in price quickly. But, the problem you seem to be missing is — we can not power everything with electricity. You can not make cement with electricity. You can not make steel with electricity. A blast furnace requires blast. You can’t fly passenger or cargo jets with electricity. You can’t power a cargo ship with electricity. The storage size exceeds the vessel. You can’t heat Europe, the UK, and the USA on electricity. Neither the grid, the solar resources, nor storage capacity are currently available. We need to think beyond our electricity needs when it comes to solar. That is not our biggest threat. Are largest threats are industry (providing mass consumption fashion and goods emitting that result in greenhouse gases) and land use (eg damage of building dams for hydro, taking down trees to put up solar panels, using bio-fuels that emit more pollution than fossil fuels, etc.) The roles of residential solar and EV transportation are already going good. I’m skeptical we can get people to stop their mass consumption (eg look around). I have more optimism that we can change our land and soil usage. Stop mining 100% Stop drilling 100%. This is obtainable now.
How to go net zero now. Free and easy. Save thousands. Save the planet.
The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment
bookmark_border2022 Climate Refugees in the USA
Climate change will eventually cause most American’s real estate to become worthless and uninhabitable.
“Currently, we have crossed the tipping point when human induced climate change triggers a chain reaction of feedback loops. The Earth will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius (average global surface temperature over the surface of the earth for ten years) by the 2040’s and a societal collapse will ensue. For the most part, the Earth will be uninhabitable for humans by 2070 UNLESS immediate action is taken.” — Daniel Brouse and Sidd Mukherjee (climate scientists)
In an article entitled “A safer haven? How the Midwest can be a refuge amid climate change—if we prepare” the Detroit Business Journal reports:
In the early 21st century, global climate change is spawning a new kind of migrant to the Upper Midwest: “Climigrants” seeking refuge from the forest fires of Western states, flooding along the saltwater coasts and ever-rising temperatures causing drought in different corners of the continent.
The reason for their arrival here is as old as time: Humans reacting to a threatening change in the environment around them and seeking a more habitable place to live.
That’s because climate forecasts are grim. A new report from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration warns that the U.S. coastline will see up to a foot of sea level rise by 2050 due to climate change.
Many climigrants to the Great Lakes region would most likely come from eastern and southern coastal areas, from the drought-stricken Southwest and West, and from wildfire-vulnerable parts of California and the Pacific Northwest.
Some will leave ahead of disaster with enough resources to resettle comfortably.
Other climigrants may be devastated financially when their homes or businesses are destroyed and they lack flood or other insurance, raising social justice questions for the communities they might move to.
bookmark_borderHow to Go Net-zero and Beyond
by Daniel Brouse and Sidd Mukherjee
June 22, 2022
Reaching “net zero” is easy, cheap, and saves you thousands of dollars, not to mention, you can help save the planet. Here are some things I’ve done to reach net zero without sacrificing my standard-of-living. In fact, I’ve gone beyond net zero in an attempt to eliminate all my pollution. The easiest way to get started is to conserve energy. Don’t use what you don’t need. Turn things off. Unplug things. Buy low energy use products.
1) Electricity and heat are the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.
* choose an electric company that uses nuclear, solar, and/or wind generation
* insulate your house (Be careful not to over insulate. Indoor pollution is as large a health concern as outdoor pollution. An air-tight house needs an air exchange system with a rigorous filter maintenance program.)
* zone heat. In the winter, keep your main temperature at 50 degrees Fahrenheit and only keep the room you are occupying at a comfortable level (68 degrees). Wear warm clothes.
* an air to air heat exchanger and humidity exchanger (Note that humidity is as important as temperature.)
* plant shade trees and eliminate your need for central air
* plant windscreens, such as, evergreens
2) Food and land use is the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
* eat less meat
* reduce transportation of food by buying local
* grow your own garden and windowsill gardens
* plant trees, and more importantly, maintain old growth
* reduce impervious surfaces
3) Transportation is the third largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
* buy an EV or high MPG manual transmission (I get 50 MPG in a 4-wheel drive SUV with a 6 speed.)
* make fewer trips, take public transportation, avoid air travel
4) Invest in green technologies. Here are a few suggestions:
RYCEY — Rolls Royce / mini-nuclear plants
HDRO — Defiance Next Gen H2 ETF / green hydrogen
BE — Bloom Energy Corp / fuel cells, green hydrogen
BLDP — Ballard Power Systems Inc / proton exchange membrane fuel cell, green hydrogen
TOSYY — Toshiba Corp / mini-nuclear plants
BP — British energy / green hydrogen, solar, wind
BAESY — BAE Systems / mini-nuclear development
SIEGY — Siemens / wind, green hydrogen
Thank you. My life depends on it.
A song about The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment
bookmark_borderImmigration and the Wage Inflation Spiral
An important factor in our inflation situation is immigration.
The US has stagnant population growth (as does the UK, EU, etc. Japan has a declining population.)
During the Trump administration, the US drastically curtailed immigration. The Biden administration continues to do so today.
The result has been wage inflation. The wage inflation that started in 2018 began the overall inflation spiral that continues today.
A wage inflation spiral happens when the initial wage inflation is canceled out by the price inflation requiring further wage inflation to keep up with the price inflation… the increase prices require more wage inflation for employees to keep pace with the cost of living… the subsequent rise in wages results in the need to raise prices to pay the workers… and round and round we go.
The solutions are to either increase our population (through immigration) and/or increase our productivity by eliminating the need for humans.
How the Inflation Spiral Started: Immigration
The Trump administration’s policy on immigration and building The Wall have a devastating impact on the economy. The U.S. economy is a capitalistic system based on population growth. The birth rate in America is close to zero percent. In order to maintain the standard of living, the country needs to gain millions of people through immigration. The Trump policies have attempted to eliminate immigration.
— Daniel Brouse (2020)
* “Over the course of four years, the Trump administration set an unprecedented pace for executive action on immigration, enacting 472 administrative changes that dismantled and reconstructed many elements of the U.S. immigration system. Humanitarian protections were severely diminished. The U.S.-Mexico border became more closed off. Immigration enforcement appeared more random. And legal immigration became out of reach for many. All of this was accomplished nearly exclusively by the executive branch, with sweeping presidential proclamations and executive orders, departmental policy guidance, and hundreds of small, technical adjustments.” — Migration Policy Institute’s Four Years of Profound Change (2022>
* “After years of wage stagnation, we are finally seeing rising wages,” Donald Trump (State of the Union 2018)
“The Employment Cost Index, a measure of salary and benefit costs, registered a 2.6 percent gain for the full year, tied for the best since 2007.” — CNBC (January 31, 2018)
* From December of 2020 through January of 2022, nominal wages and salaries were up 4.5 percent, the fastest increase since 1983. — Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
ALSO SEE:
The True Costs (and Benefitlessness) of a Trump Economy
The Economic Monsters: Inflation and Interest Rates
bookmark_borderCost of Property Insurance in Florida
Florida Politics reports in their article, As climate in Florida sets ‘new normal,’ cost of property insurance will separate haves, have-nots:
“Insurers believe that due to climate change, this is the new normal. They’re finding that catastrophic and non-catastrophic weather events are increasing in severity every year,” said Paul Handerhan, president of the Federal Association for Insurance Reform, a national nonprofit advocacy organization based in Fort Lauderdale.
The consequences of climate change not only include catastrophic — and increasingly expensive — weather such as hurricanes and wildfires, but also more everyday events such as storms that pelt residential and commercial properties with straight-line wind and hail.
The actuarially sound way to respond to the new normal is to raise rates, reduce coverage, or throw in the towel, as eight property insurance companies in Florida have done since 2018. Just this week, three others asked state insurance regulators to approve hefty rate increases — as high as 49 percent on policyholders not among the tens of thousands who recently lost coverage altogether due to non-renewals.
Over time, Handerhan said, property insurance coverage will become so expensive that only the wealthiest of the wealthy can “afford to live in paradise.”
“This market is completely,100% out of control,” said Barry Gilway, president, CEO, and executive director of Citizens, during the board of governors meeting. “It all has to do with the total collapse of the overall Florida marketplace, and that collapse continues.”
More articles on Flood Insurance, Rising Sea Levels and Global Warming.
bookmark_borderObserved Increases in Well-mixed Greenhouse Gases
2021 saw the largest emissions of greenhouse gases in human history.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported:
The Current State of the Climate
* It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred.
* Observed increases in well-mixed greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations since around 1750 are unequivocally caused by human activities. Since 2011 (measurements reported in AR5), concentrations have continued to increase in the atmosphere, reaching annual averages of 410 parts per million (ppm) for carbon dioxide (CO 2), 1866 parts per billion (ppb) for methane (CH 4), and 332 ppb for nitrous oxide (N 2O) in 2019.6 Land and ocean have taken up a near-constant proportion (globally about 56% per year) of CO2 emissions from human activities over the past six decades, with regional differences (high confidence).
* Each of the last four decades has been successively warmer than any decade that preceded it since 1850.
* Human influence is very likely the main driver of the global retreat of glaciers since the 1990s and the decrease in Arctic sea ice area between 1979–1988 and 2010–2019 (decreases of about 40% in September and about 10% in March).
* It is virtually certain that the global upper ocean (0–700 m) has warmed since the 1970s and extremely likely that human influence is the main driver. It is virtually certain that human-caused CO2 emissions are the main driver of current global acidifcation of the surface open ocean.
Anthropological Climate Change and Pollution
bookmark_border1 in 6 deaths Worldwide Attributed to Pollution
* Pollution is the largest environmental cause of disease and premature death in the world today
* 1 in 6 deaths worldwide attributed to pollution
* 9 million people per year die from pollution
The Lancet Commission on pollution and health was updated for 2022:
Pollution and health: a progress update 2022 PDF
Key messages
• Over the past two decades, deaths caused by the modern forms of pollution (eg, ambient air pollution and toxic chemical pollution) have increased by 66%, driven by industrialisation, uncontrolled urbanisation, population growth, fossil fuel combustion, and an absence of adequate national or international chemical policy.
• Despite declines in deaths from household air and water pollution, pollution still causes more than 9 million deaths each year globally. This number has not changed since 2015.
• More than 90% of pollution-related deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries.
• Key areas in which focus is needed include air pollution, lead poisoning, and chemical pollution. Air pollution causes over 6∙5 million deaths each year globally, and this number is increasing. Lead and other chemicals are responsible for 1∙8 million deaths each year globally, which is probably an undercounted figure.
• Most countries have done little to deal with this enormous public health problem. Although high-income countries have controlled their worst forms of pollution and linked pollution control to climate change mitigation, only a few low-income and middle-income countries have been able to make pollution a priority, devoted resources to pollution control, or made progress. Likewise, pollution control receives little attention in either official development assistance or global philanthropy.
• The triad of pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss are the key global environmental issues of our time. These issues are intricately linked and solutions to each will benefit the others.
• We cannot continue to ignore pollution. We are going backwards.
Climate Change and Pollution Health Impacts
bookmark_borderFrequency of Flash Floods
As the climate warms, the air holds more moisture. Theoretically, there is a 7% increase in atmospheric water holding capacity per degree Celsius warming. A recent study published in Nature The conterminous United States are projected to become more prone to flash floods in a high-end emissions scenario suggests extreme precipitation might be increasing even more due to changes in storm structure, storm dynamics, and large-scale weather patterns resulting in even more severe flash flooding that previously projected.
“Flash floods are largely driven by high rainfall rates in convective storms that are projected to increase in frequency and intensity in a warmer climate in the future. US floods are becoming 7.9% flashier by the end of the century assuming a high-emissions scenario. The Southwest (+10.5%) has the greatest increase in flashiness among historical flash flood hot spots, and the central US (+8.6%) is emerging as a new flash flood hot spot. Additionally, future flash flood-prone frontiers are advancing northwards.”
More articles on Flood Insurance, Rising Sea Levels and Global Warming.
bookmark_borderHomeowners Insurance and Extreme Weather Events
Homeonwers insurance is becoming more expensive or even unavailable due to the increase frequency and intensity of extreme weather events caused by climate change.
NOLA newspapers reports:
Louisiana’s homeowners insurance market straining under weight of 600,000 claims
Two active Atlantic hurricane seasons in a row have made some insurers insolvent.
It’s the latest sign of a deepening crisis taking shape once again in Louisiana, where the legacy of Hurricane Katrina and other storms still looms large. As big national insurers pulled out of coastal areas in the southeast, homeowners increasingly relied on less-regulated regional insurance providers to make them whole in case of catastrophe. Now, even some of those companies — once willing to make a risky bet — are leaving.
In Calcasieu Parish, nearly three out of every four occupied homes filed an insurance claim after Hurricane Laura, according to a Times-Picayune analysis of state and census data. One in four filed claims again less than two months later after Delta made landfall about 10 miles west of where Laura came ashore.
Failures not ‘anomalies’
The flurry of storms was too much for some insurance companies to bear. The Department of Insurance has already seized control of three firms because they could not afford to pay claims.
“I wish I could say I thought they were anomalies, but I don’t,” said Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon. He said a fourth insurer that’s in dire financial straits will likely be placed under the care of the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association.
“I would say our property insurance market is in crisis,” said Jeff Albright, CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Louisiana. “The sad part of it is we’re reliant on these small, thinly capitalized companies instead of having large national carriers that have lots of assets and can weather the big storms.”
Donelon said five companies have withdrawn entirely from the state and another five or six have stopped writing policies. As a result, Donelon said he expects the number of policies under Louisiana Citizens to double this year as the state launches headlong into another hurricane season.
More articles on Flood Insurance, Extreme Weather Events and Global Warming.