Global Warming Will Lead to Alien Invasions?

A recent study, “Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis,” released by the Pennsylvania State University Geography Department, contemplates extraterrestrial revenge due to man-made global warming. According to the authors, “….ecosystem-valuing universalist ETI may observe humanity’s ecological destructive tendencies and wipe humanity out in order to preserve the Earth system as a whole.”

source: mackinac.org

Farmers fuming about stinky tax

For farmers, this stinks: Belching and gaseous cows and hogs could start costing them money if the federal government decides to charge fees for air-polluting animals.

Farmers so far are turning up their noses at the notion, which they contend is a possible consequence of an Environmental Protection Agency report after the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that greenhouse gases emitted by belching and flatulence amounts to air pollution.

"This is one of the most ridiculous things the federal government has tried to do," said Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, an outspoken opponent of the fees.

The executive vice president of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, Ken Hamilton, estimated the fee would cost owners of a modest-sized cattle ranch $30,000 to $40,000 a year. He said he has talked to a number of livestock owners about the proposals, and "all have said if the fees were carried out, it would bankrupt them."

Sparks said Wednesday he's worried the fee could be extended to chickens and other farm animals and cause more meat to be imported.

EPA officials said the agency has not taken a position on any of the matters discussed in its response to the Supreme Court ruling. And John Millett, a spokesman for EPA's air and radiation division, said there has been an oversimplification of the EPA's document "to the point of distortion."

While farmers say fees would drive them out of business, an organization supporting the proposal hopes it forces the farms and ranches to switch to healthier crops. "It makes perfect sense if you are looking for ways to cut down on meat consumption and recoup environmental losses," said Bruce Friedrich, a spokesman in Washington for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

source: timesdispatch.com

More air pollution could help end global warming

From 1978-2006, temperatures in parts of Europe rose above the global land average, with prominent increases in the north, centre and eastern parts of the continent.

As much as 20 percent of Europe's warming during this time, according to the study, can be pinned on a reduction in fog, mist and haze, which -- because they are white -- reflect solar radiation and thus keep the ground cool.

The authors, led by Robert Vautard of France's Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), pored over data from 342 weather stations around Europe.

The phenomenon is closely linked to falling levels of atmospheric sulphur dioxide (S02), a byproduct of burning oil and coal that causes notorious "acid rain" that damages forests and lakes.

The temperature rise has been especially perceptible in Eastern Europe, where the end of the Communist system closed down innumerable sources of coal pollution.

However, the SO2 cleanup is now largely tapering off.

This means the fog reduction will probably stop and "the warming trend in Europe will not be so large in the coming years," Vautard told AFP.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -- the UN's paramount authority on global warming -- the global average temperature rose 0.74 degrees Celsius (1.33 degrees Fahrenheit) from 1906-2005, and the pace in the last 50 years was double that of the first half-century.

A blanket of fog can reduce local temperatures by some 2 C (3.6 F), according to figures quoted in the new study.

source: physorg.com

Home power bills may triple

Technology touted to capture carbon emissions and store them underground will require Alberta and Ottawa to kick in as much as $3 billion a year, while consumers' electricity bills may triple, says the head of a provincial blue-ribbon council.

On Friday, Alberta Energy released the panel's final report on carbon capture, which stresses billions more public dollars are needed before the technology can pay for itself.

As part of its effort to fight climate change, Alberta has already committed $2 billion to getting three large CCS projects off the ground. The federal government has pledged $650 million toward advancing the expensive technology, which critics contend is unproven.

source: calgaryherald.com

Eco-friendly wind turbine hit by UFO

Debris from a destroyed wind turbine which reports have claimed was hit by a UFO has been sent for forensic analysis in Germany.

A 65ft blade from the 290ft turbine fell off and a second was bent in the mysterious incident in Conisholme, Lincs, on Wednesday.

Hundreds of local witnesses claimed to have seen bright flashing spheres in the skies above the turbine, and many are convinced the damage was caused by a flying saucer.

source: telegraph.co.uk

Wind turbines kill Taiwanese goats

A large number of goats in Taiwan may have died of exhaustion because of noise from a wind farm.

A farmer on an outlying island told the BBC he had lost more than 400 animals after eight giant wind turbines were installed close to his grazing land. The Council of Agriculture says it suspects that noise may have caused the goats' demise through lack of sleep.

Before the wind farm was built about four years ago, farmer Kuo Jing-shan had about 700 goats. Shortly after the electricity-generating turbines were installed, the 57-year-old says his animals started to die. He now has just 250 goats left.

source: news.bbc.co.uk

Global warming blamed for killer lightning

Lightning killed almost 150 people last month across China, the highest number since records began in 2000, a state body has said.

According to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), 141 people died in lightning strikes in July.

China's top meteorological official blamed global warming for the extreme seasonal weather.

source: news.bbc.co.uk

Veteran Loch Ness monster hunter gives up

Legendary Nessie hunter Robert Rines is giving up his search for the monster after 37 years. The 85-year-old American will make one last trip in a bid to find the elusive beast.

After almost four decades of fruitless expeditions, he admitted: "Unfortunately, I'm running out of age." World War II veteran Robert has devoted almost half his life to scouring Loch Ness.

He started in 1971. The following year, he watched a 25ft-long hump with the texture of elephant skin gliding through the water. His original trip was to help another monster hunter with sonar equipment and quickly identified large moving targets.

He was smitten and returned the next year, which is when, he says: "I had the misfortune of seeing one of these things with my own eyes." Since then, he has been obsessed with tracking down the creature with a staggering array of hi-tech equipment. It was this gear that took the famous "flipper" picture that year which created a stir around the world.

Despite having hundreds of sonar contacts over the years, the trail has since gone cold and Rines believes that Nessie may be dead, a victim of global warming. He still wants to check almost 100 contacts on the floor of the loch, believing one may be the monster's remains.

source: dailyrecord.co.uk

Study Suggests Global Warming Bad News for Bigfoot

Bigfoot. Sasquatch. Whatever you want to call the legendary North American biped, it is likely the elusive beast will lose a portion of its existing habitat in the coastal and lowland regions of the northwestern United States as the climate warms. The good news? Bigfoot will be gaining a bunch of new land in the Rockies and up into Canada.

Biogeographers are among the many scientific disciplines that have been employing increasingly sophisticated computer algorithms to predict the ecological niche of species. The algorithms take information about sightings or recorded incidences of a species, find commonalities among those sightings against maps of other ecological data (i.e rainfall, forest type, presence of other species, etc.), and produce a geographic distribution for the target species.

source: ecoworldly.com