XPost: alt.global-warming   
      
   *Exxon Mobil's chief says it is 'supportive' of zero-emission goals   
   Clifford Krauss, The New York Times via Carbon Brief   
   The New York Times carries an interview with Exxon Mobil chief   
   executive Darren Woods, reporting: "He went so far as to promise that   
   Exxon would try to set a goal for not emitting more greenhouse gases   
   than it removed from the atmosphere, though he said it was still   
   difficult to say when that might happen." It quotes Woods saying:   
   "What society demands, and appropriately so, is affordable, reliable   
   energy that doesn't have the emissions associated with today's energy   
   systems...We're working on that evolution." The paper adds: "While that   
   might seem like a guarded statement, Mr Woods, a soft-spoken   
   electrical engineer from Wichita, Kansas, is clearly changing the tone   
   of the company, which he took over 4 years ago." The Wall Street   
   Journal reports that Exxon "had been pessimistic about [the] economic   
   prospects of the technology but now wants to commercialise carbon   
   capture and storage". Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Exxon has   
   "unveiled plans to grow dividends and curb spending", adding:   
   "Investor pressure has mounted for Exxon to cut costs, improve   
   financial returns and better prepare for the energy transition to   
   lower-carbon fuels." The Financial Times reports that Woods "continues   
   to rule out a net-zero target". It adds: "Resentment at Exxon's   
   perceived offhand treatment of shareholders and hostility to change,   
   coupled with the impression that it is not taking climate change risks   
   as seriously as investors do, is breeding discontent." Relatedly, a   
   comment for the Guardian runs under the headline: "Global oil   
   companies have committed to `net-zero' emissions. It's a sham."   
      
   --   
   Ice Age Testing Reveals Challenges in Climate Model Sensitivity   
   Eos, 02 Mar 2021   
   Increased reflection of incoming sunlight by clouds led one   
   current-generation climate model to predict unrealistically cold   
   temperatures during the last ice age.   
      
   Construction set to start on Australia's first lithium-ion battery   
   manufacturing plant   
   ABC Newcastle, 04 Mar 2021 06:41Z   
   Prime Minister Scott Morrison tours the site of what will soon be   
   Australia's first advanced manufacturing facility of lithium-ion batteries.   
      
   Thai sailors rescue abandoned cats from a burning, sinking ship   
   ABC News, 04 Mar 2021 07:40Z   
   Thai navy sailors brave choppy waters to perform a dramatic rescue after   
   discovering 4 cats abandoned on a sinking ship that caught fire off a   
   paradise island.   
      
   Australia's share of extinct animals rises as list of the lost updated   
   Sydney Morning Herald, 03 Mar 2021   
   Twelve more mammals, some of which disappeared more than 70 years ago,   
   have been added to Australia's official extinction ...   
   [Australia now has officially lost 100 species since 1788.  This is 10x   
   more than the 2nd-place].   
      
   NSW tenants will have 6 months to pay off rental arrears   
   ABC New England, 04 Mar 2021 01:42Z   
   Amid warnings of a looming wave of rental stress, the NSW govt   
   confirms tenants in arrears will not have to pay them down straight away   
   when an evictions moratorium expires at the end of March.   
      
   Concerns passengers onboard Qatar flight to Brisbane contracted COVID-19 via   
   'superspreader'   
   ABC News, 04 Mar 2021 04:40Z   
   Queensland's Chief Health Officer says she holds concerns for 6 people who   
   travelled on a Qatar Airways flight who may have contracted COVID-19 from a   
   "superspreader" with 3 travellers now confirmed to have the Russian variant.   
      
   Fake COVID-19 vaccine distribution networks uncovered in China, South Africa   
   ABC News, 04 Mar 2021 05:19Z   
   Police in China and South Africa seize 1000s of fake doses of COVID-19   
   jabs, global police organisation Interpol says, warning this represented   
   only the "tip of the iceberg" in vaccine-related crime.   
      
   More than 250,000 Utahns are now fully vaccinated   
   Salt Lake Tribune, 04 Mar 2021 02:20Z   
   Utah's latest coronavirus data released from the state Dept of   
   Health.   
      
   Wave Power Could Be Energy's Next Big Leap   
   Bloomberg Quicktake, 03 Mar 2021 22:18Z   
   Brazil is facing a spike in Covid-19 deaths and an overwhelmed health care   
   system. A more contagious variant of the virus may be part of the problem.   
      
   Why Blood Type May Matter for COVID Infection   
   WebMD, 03 Mar 2021 20:53Z   
   A new study provides further evidence that people with certain blood types   
   may be more likely to contract COVID-19.   
      
   Scientists find source of dangerous, high energy solar particles that could   
   threaten Earth   
   The Independent, 03 Mar 2021 19:53Z   
   Scientists have found the exact source of dangerous rays that are fired from   
   the Sun and threaten activities on the Earth.   
      
   One of the largest ecosystems on Earth lives beneath the seafloor and eats   
   radiation byproducts   
   ZME Science, 03 Mar 2021 17:51Z   
   Researchers at the University of Rhode Island's (URI) Graduate School of   
   Oceanography report that a whole ecosystem of microbes below the sea dines   
   not on ...   
      
   President Joe Biden slams governors for lifting mask mandates, calls it   
   'Neanderthal thinking'   
   CNBC, 04 Mar 2021 00:13Z   
   TX Gov. Greg Abbott and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, both Republicans,   
   announced Tue they would allow businesses to reopen at 100% capacity ...   
      
   Dutch Covid test centre hit by suspected bomb attack   
   The Guardian, 03 Mar 2021 11:42Z   
   Police have said they are working on the assumption that an explosion that   
   damaged a Dutch coronavirus test centre early on Wed was a deliberate ...   
      
   Myanmar: 18 People Killed During Anti-Government Protests   
   NPR, 03 Mar 2021 16:42Z   
   A crackdown on anti-junta protests in Myanmar showed no signs of letting up,   
   a day after after Southeast Asian foreign ministers issued a tepid call to   
   end to the ...   
   [Other reports say at least 33 killed].   
      
   House Oversight Committee reissues subpoena for Trump financial records   
   CNBC, 03 Mar 2021 16:41Z   
   Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., argues it remains vital for   
   Congress to see Trump's finances and other records in order to craft   
   legislative reforms.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)