XPost: alt.global-warming   
      
   TX is a rich state in a rich country, and look what happened   
   Ezra Klein, The New York Times via Carbon Brief   
      
   The fallout continues from the extreme cold and power blackouts that   
   hit TX last week. In the New York Times, columnist Ezra Klein   
   writes that "this was not the worst weather imaginable and this was   
   not the worst outcome imaginable". And yet, he says, "this is what it   
   looks like when we face a rare-but-predictable stretch of extreme   
   weather, in a rich state in a rich country". He continues: "It is not   
   just our energy infrastructure that is unprepared for climate   
   change. It is our political infrastructure. It is our social   
   infrastructure. It is our psyches. There's long been a hope that   
   repeated climate crises will force Republicans to enlist in the fight   
   to stop, or slow, climate change. How can you ignore the crisis when   
   it is your constituents who are frozen, your home that is underwater?   
   But what we saw in TX is the darker timeline - a doom loop of   
   climate polarisation, where climate crises lead, paradoxically, to a   
   politics that's more desperate for fossil fuels, more dismissive of   
   international or even interstate cooperation."   
      
   A feature in the Economist says "with most of the state shut down for   
   a week, the disaster will probably become the costliest in TX's   
   history, eclipsing the toll of even the worst hurricanes". The outlet   
   asks whether the crisis will "prompt a broader reckoning about the   
   limits of TX's anti-govt, low-regulation   
   philosophy?". Answering its own question, it says: "Despite the   
   reasons to think it should, that is unlikely." The are 3 reasons   
   for this, the outlets says: "First is the flow of people and   
   businesses to TX, which has no state income tax. Failing at   
   something as essential as heating and electricity may tarnish its   
   image in the short term, but it is not likely to be a permanent   
   setback#A second reason to doubt that bigger change will come is that   
   there is no effective opposition to usher it in#[And] a third factor   
   is the political ambition of TX's current leaders and their desire   
   to differentiate themselves from the Biden administration."   
      
   Elsewhere, Dan Gearino - clean energy reporter at Inside Climate News   
   - looks at the "right and wrong lessons from the TX crisis". Larry   
   Zulch - CEO of Invinity Energy Systems plc - writes in City AM that   
   "TX was a cascade failure of energy infrastructure, not   
   renewables". And the Financial Times reports that the head of the   
   country's top independent power producer has said that TX was let   
   down by its natural gas delivery system. (For more, see Carbon Brief`s   
   piece covering the media reaction throughout the - literal and   
   figurative - storm.)   
      
   --   
   [Miniflu!]   
   Amid COVID-19 pandemic, flu has disappeared in the US   
   The Associated Press, 25 Feb 2021 05:59Z   
   New York. Feb is usually the peak of flu season, with doctors' offices   
   and hospitals packed with suffering patients. But not this year. Flu has ...   
      
   NASA wants to play a big part in the development of electric aircraft   
   Engadget, 24 Feb 2021 12:57Z   
   NASA is working with the aviation industry to develop Electrified Aircraft   
   Propulsion tools and designs in a bid to introduce the systems to commercial   
   flights by ...   
      
   Brisbane ratepayers spend $132 mn buying back bus depot they used to own   
   ABC Radio Brisbane, 26 Feb 2021 03:38Z   
   Brisbane City Council has spent $132 mn purchasing a bus depot in   
   Sherwood, after selling the land in 2009 for $21 mn and leasing a   
   purpose-built depot from its private owners ever since.   
      
   Mick Gatto loses defamation case against ABC over Lawyer X article   
   ABC News, 26 Feb 2021 03:37Z   
   The well-known Melbourne identity loses a defamation lawsuit against the ABC,   
   with the Supreme Court rejecting claims he had unfairly been labelled   
   "one of Australia's most violent criminals" by the public broadcaster.   
      
   'Long and difficult' journey with handcar out of North Korea for Russian   
   diplomats   
   ABC News, 26 Feb 2021 05:34Z   
   A group of Russian diplomats used a hand-pushed rail trolley to leave North   
   Korea this week, amid Pyongyang's strict anti-coronavirus measures.   
      
   Nature reserve opened on Kangaroo Island following devastating bushfires   
   ABC News, 26 Feb 2021 05:34Z   
   The Western River Refuge spans almost 370 hectares and is ringed by a   
   six-foot tall electric fence to provide a safe habitat for vulnerable species,   
   including the critically endangered Kangaroo Island dunnart.   
      
   We Finally Know Why Dinosaurs Were Either Humongous or Tiny, Unlike Modern   
   Animals   
   ScienceAlert, 26 Feb 2021 0:40Z   
   A team of US scientists has demonstrated that the offspring of huge   
   carnivorous dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex, who grew from the size of   
   house cats to ...   
      
   [Cult!]   
   Fealty to Trump is the one litmus test at conservative conference   
   Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb 2021 0:38Z   
   GOP officials disagree intensely over the party's future. But no sign of   
   debate will be visible when conservatives gather this weekend for CPAC's   
   festival of ...   
      
   New coronavirus variant in NYC has vaccine-evading mutation   
   Livescience.com, 25 Feb 2021 22:03Z   
   The variant, dubbed B.1.526, is on the rise in the city.   
      
   The influence of juvenile dinosaurs on community structure and diversity   
   Science Magazine, 25 Feb 2021 19:02Z   
   Modern carnivore communities include species that span a range of body sizes.   
   For example, on the African savannah, there are small species (mongooses), ...   
      
   Germans Clamor for Covid Vaccines, but Shun AstraZeneca's Offering   
   The New York Times, 25 Feb 2021 20:59Z   
   Berlin. At the start of the year, many Germans were complaining about a   
   shortage of coronavirus vaccines that could free them from onerous lockdowns   
   and ...   
      
   A Huge Red Flag Just Popped Up in a Little-Studied Region of Antarctica   
   Gizmodo, 25 Feb 2021   
   Glaciers in Antarctica are turning the concept of "glacial pace" on its head.   
   A new study of a little-observed area on the continent finds that rising   
   heat is making ...   
      
   Atlantic Ocean circulation at weakest in a millennium, say scientists   
   The Guardian, 25 Feb 2021 21:57Z   
   Decline in system underpinning Gulf Stream could lead to more extreme   
   weather in Europe and higher sea levels on US east coast. Fiona Harvey   
   Environment ...   
      
     A Major Ocean Current May Be Hurtling Towards Collapse   
     Gizmodo, 23 Feb 2021 19:57Z   
     The ocean may have less time than we thought before massive, irreversible   
     shifts take place. A new study finds that a crucial ocean system may reach   
     its "tipping ...   
      
   EU leaders feel the pressure over handling of coronavirus pandemic   
   POLITICO.eu, 25 Feb 2021 04:33Z   
   As European Council convenes for a summit, Commission has no major   
   breakthrough on vaccine rollout.   
      
   Snakes insert their heads into living frogs' bodies to swallow their organs (   
   because nature is horrifying)   
   Livescience.com, 25 Feb 2021 16:32Z   
   In 2 new studies, researchers identified more snakes that disembowel frogs   
   to eat their organs, a gruesome habit that was only recently discovered.   
      
   Pilot reports unknown missile-like object flew over plane during flight to   
   Phoenix   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)