XPost: alt.global-warming   
      
   An interesting new paper has estimated the number of corals across   
   the Pacific at 1/2 tr.   
   This is a surprisingly large number, outnumbering birds and animals   
   by 1000s to 1.   
   The number puts into perspective efforts that are hoping to grow 100s   
   of 1000s of new corals to replant in the wild.   
   The paper's authors argue the large number means while reefs may   
   disappear it's very unlikely any coral species is threatened by   
   climate change, and conservation efforts might best be spent   
   trying to save animals that depend on reefs rather than corals themselves.   
      
      
   Half a tr corals: World-first coral count prompts ...   
   phys.org, 01 Mar 2021 17:55Z   
   "In the Pacific, we estimate there are roughly half a tr corals," said   
   the study lead author, Dr. Andy Dietzel from the ARC Centre of Excellence   
   for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook ...   
      
   --   
   [Game Changer:]   
   Rolls-Royce develops its own electric plane in pivotal moment for aviation   
   The Telegraph, 01 Mar 2021 09:29Z   
      
   It's Not Just TX. The Entire Energy Grid Needs An Upgrade For Extreme Weather   
   NPR, 28 Feb 2021 12:42Z   
   The TX blackout is a reminder that climate-driven extreme weather   
   stresses the US's power system in many ways. Much is needed to harden the   
   grid for the ...   
      
     TX electricity firm files for bankruptcy citing $1.8 bn in claims   
     from grid operator   
     Yahoo Finance, 01 Mar 2021 07:41Z   
     Brazos Electric Power Cooperative Inc is one of dozens of electricity   
     providers facing enormous charges stemming from a severe cold snap last   
   month.   
      
   Tropical Cyclone Niran could become category 3 as technical issues take   
   Townsville radar offline   
   ABC News, 01 Mar 2021 02:10Z   
   Tropical Cyclone Niran is expected to form tomorrow morning and could reach   
   category 3 strength, but the weather radar in Townsville is currently out of   
   action, and could remain offline for days.   
      
   [Not The Bananas!]   
   Banana crops 'devastated' as Tropical Cyclone Niran brings powerful winds,   
   heavy rainfall to north Queensland   
   ABC News, 1 Mar 2021 at 7:58pm   
   A low off the north Queensland coast intensifies into Tropical Cyclone Niran,   
   bringing powerful winds, heavy rainfall and potential flooding to coastal   
   communities.   
      
   [Superbug!]   
   Poo-loving superbug grown to treat sewage water in Australian first   
   ABC News, 1 Mar 2021 at 8:06pm   
   They're the poo-loving superbugs that are greening Queensland's sewage   
   systems with their big appetite. Now a Brisbane wastewater plant has farmed   
   enough Anammox bugs to fill 10 swimming pools.   
      
   Honey yields down 40 per cent for beekeepers in disappointing summer season   
   ABC/SA Country Hour, 1 Mar 2021 at 9:23pm   
   The honey season is more bitter than sweet for Australia's honey producers   
   as cool, dry weather and the ever-present challenge of climate change take a   
   toll.   
      
   [Probing:]   
   'Great psychological pain': Japan asks China to stop performing anal swab   
   tests for COVID on its citizens   
   ABC News, 1 Mar 2021 at 9:45pm   
   Foreign govts are expressing concerns over anal testing as Beijing   
   claims the controversial practice is more accurate than nasal or mouth swabs.   
      
   Five strikes and you're out: Twitter clamps down on COVID-19 misinformation   
   ABC News, 1 Mar 2021 at 10:06pm   
   Twitter will apply warnings to tweets that contain misleading information   
   about COVID-19 vaccines and implement a strike system that could see users   
   permanently banned for repeat violations.   
      
   Royal commission finds Victoria's mental health system has 'catastrophically   
   failed to live up to expectations'   
   ABC News, 1 Mar 2021 at 11:07pm   
   Victoria's mental health system operates in crisis mode, has   
   "catastrophically failed to live up to expectations" and must be rebuilt, a   
   damning report from the state's mental health royal commission finds.   
      
   Investigation into secret trial of Witness J restarted   
   ABC News, 02 Mar 2021 0:52Z   
   An investigation into the top secret trial, sentencing and jailing of a   
   former military intelligence officer is restarted by the national security   
   watchdog.   
      
   Like 'jackhammers in a maternity ward': Concerns for whales amid causeway   
   demolition at Victor Harbor   
   ABC Radio Adelaide, 02 Mar 2021 01:34Z   
   Approval is granted to demolish and replace Victor Harbor's heritage   
   causeway despite concerns that construction works will drive the region's   
   whales away, which arrive to breed and calve between May and Nov annually.   
      
   A 1990s iMac Processor Powers NASA's Perseverance Rover   
   Gizmodo, 01 Mar 2021 20:03Z   
   As we watched NASA put a rover on Mars last month, it definitely seemed like   
   the agency had to be using some sort of high-tech processor in its machine.   
      
   When should you end a conversation? Probably sooner than you think   
   Science Magazine, 01 Mar 2021 21:03Z   
   While studying for his master's degree at the University of Oxford, Adam   
   Mastroianni confronted a fear common to many party goers: Would he get stuck   
   in a ...   
      
   GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE: Vital Signs of the Planet   
   NASA, March 2021   
   Carbon Dioxide Concentration   
   Jan 2021 numbers are in: Earth's global average concentration of   
   atmospheric carbon dioxide was about 415 parts per mn, a 32% rise   
   since direct measurements began in 1958 and a 48% rise since   
   pre-industrial levels (1850).   
   Sea Level   
   Global average sea level continues to rise at a rate of 3.3 mm (0.13   
   inches) per year, which is like adding 2.5 times the water in Lake   
   Erie to the ocean every year, or about 25 times that amount per decade.   
   Ice Sheets   
   Greenland and Antarctica have been losing ice mass at a combined   
   average rate of 428 bn metric tons (BMT) per year since 2002.   
   (One BMT is about the weight of 14.7 bn people, or about twice   
   that of everyone alive today.)   
      
   Six cases of Brazilian variant of Covid-19 found in the UK   
   Channel 4 News, 28 Feb 2021 20:33Z   
      
   Meet the swirlon, a new kind of matter that bends the laws of physics   
   Livescience.com, 01 Mar 2021 12:32Z   
   Fish school, insects swarm and birds fly in murmurations. Now, new research   
   finds that on the most basic level, this kind of group behavior forms a new   
   kind of ...   
      
   Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption, sentenced to   
   three years in jail   
   ABC News, 01 Mar 2021 13:24Z   
   A French court finds former president Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of trying to   
   bribe a judge and influence peddling.   
      
   Argentinian titanosaur may be oldest yet: Study   
   Al Jazeera English, 01 Mar 2021 08:24Z   
   The 20-metre lizard, discovered in Argentina in 2014, roamed what is now   
   Patagonia some 140 mn years ago.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)