Climate campaigners win appeal to block new Heathrow runway

Yahoo – AFP, February 27, 2020\

.Opponents welcome an appeal ruling against building a controversial third
runway at London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest. (AFP Photo/Niklas HALLE'N)

London (AFP) - Britain's Court of Appeal on Thursday ruled in favour of green campaigners who oppose the building of a third runway at London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest.

The court said the UK government -- which in 2018 approved the Heathrow extension -- had failed to take into account its commitments to the Paris Agreement to limit climate warming.

The legal action against the approval was brought by various London councils, environmental groups including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan. They lost at an original hearing in May.

In a summary, judge Keith Lindblom said the Conservative government under then-prime minister Theresa May gave no explanation of how it took into account the 2015 Paris accord -- which seeks to cap climate warming to less than two degrees Celsius.

"The Paris Agreement ought to have been taken into account... and an explanation given as to how it was taken into account, but it was not," Lord Justice Lindblom said.

The judge added that the government did not oppose its declaration -- and had not sought permission to appeal to London's Supreme Court.

In 2015 while he was London mayor, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to "lie down in front of... bulldozers and stop the construction" of a third runway, citing environmental as well as aesthetic concerns.

Johnson may still have to make an official decision on scrapping the project, however, after Heathrow airport -- which is owned by a consortium led by Spanish construction giant Ferrovial -- declared it would appeal Thursday's ruling.

Khan welcomed news of Thursday's landmark legal victory.

"We won! Today we blocked the Tory government plans to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport," the London mayor said.

"Today's judgement is a major victory for all Londoners who are passionate about tackling the climate emergency and cleaning up our air."

John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, called on Johnson to now formally axe the plans.

"Boris Johnson should now put Heathrow out of its misery and cancel the third runway once and for all. No ifs, no buts, no lies, no U-turns," Sauven said.

Prior to the ruling, building of the third runway had been expected to start in 2022 and take four years.

Johnson, who wants big infrastructure projects to help drive Britain's post-Brexit economy, earlier this month gave his backing to the high-speed railway link HS2, dismissing soaring costs.

Climate protesters block Geneva's private jet terminal

Yahoo – AFP, November 16, 2019

The activists said they were protesting the 'absurd' mode of luxury transport
(AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

Geneva (AFP) - Dozens of climate activists blocked access to the private jet terminal at Geneva airport Saturday, demanding a halt to the "absurd" mode of luxury transportation.

Around 100 people took part, organised by pressure group Extinction Rebellion, large groups sitting in front of three entrances to block access to the building for several hours.

Extinction Rebellion describes itself as an international movement using non-violent civil disobedience "to achieve radical change in order to minimise the risk of human extinction and ecological collapse".

As musicians played, protesters wearing armbands with the Extinction Rebellion logo sang songs and danced around with white, cloud-shaped placards and banners with slogans like "Be part of the solution, not pollution".

"We are facing a total climate emergency," Extinction Rebellion spokesman Micael Metry told AFP.

Activists block an entrance at Geneva airport's private jet terminal, during a protest 

by the climate change action group Extinction Rebellion (XR) in Geneva, Switzerland 

(AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

"Private jets emit 20 times more CO2 per passenger than normal airplanes," he said.

"It is very important for us to denounce this completely absurd and unjust means of transportation, which is used by a tiny fraction of the population."

Sonia Ediger, who said she had come from Lausanne to take part in the protest, called on the "powerful people of the world" who fly private jets "to come down out of the clouds".

"We are seeing the world collapse around us, we see catastrophe after catastrophe, ever bigger, ever more frequent, all around us," she told AFP, insisting that "radical change" was needed.

A large number of Geneva police, some in riot gear, assembled to monitor the unauthorised protest, but kept their distance for several hours.

At mid-afternoon, police asked the demonstrators to identify themselves and then leave in small groups, which they did peacefully.

Police spokesman Silvain Guillaume-Gentil told the ATS news agency they had not yet decided whether to bring charges.

Dutchman ends 'world's longest electric car trip' in Australia

Yahoo – AFP, April 7, 2019

Wiebe Wakker took just over three years crossing 33 countries in his 95,000 km
journey by electric car (AFP Photo/PETER PARKS)

Sydney (AFP) - A Dutchman completed an epic 95,000 kilometre (59,000 mile) journey by electric car in Sydney Sunday in a bid to prove the viability of such vehicles in tackling climate change.

Wiebe Wakker drove his retrofitted station wagon nicknamed "The Blue Bandit" across 33 countries in what he said was the world's longest-ever journey by electric car.

The trip from the Netherlands to Australia took just over three years and was funded by public donations from around the world, including electricity to charge the Bandit, food and a place to sleep.

Wakker drove across a variety of countries and environments including Turkey, Iran, India, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia, with the route determined by the offers he received on his website.

"I wanted to change people's opinions and inspire people to start driving electric by showing the advantages of sustainable mobility," Wakker said.

"If one man can drive to the other side of the world in an electric car, then EVs (electric vehicles) should definitely be viable for daily use."

Wakker said before the car was modified, it would have used 6,785 litres (1,800 US gallons) of petrol to complete the journey.

The modified vehicle can travel 200 kilometres on a single charge, with Wakker saying he spent just US$300 on electricity, much of it in the remote desert Outback of Australia.

Floods in Qatar as almost a year's rain falls in one day

Yahoo – AFP, October 20, 2018

Motorists at the entrance to a flooded tunnel in the Qatari capital Doha after
heavy rainfall, on October 20, 2018 (AFP Photo/STRINGER)

Doha (AFP) - Qatar was hit by widespread flash flooding on Saturday as the desert state received almost a year's worth of rainfall in one day.

Roads became impassable, air traffic was disrupted and homes were flooded, while shops and universities closed.

Qatar broadcaster Al Jazeera's senior meteorologist, Steff Gaulter, tweeted that one part of the capital Doha had experienced almost a year's worth of rain on Saturday.

"Abu Hamor (a suburb) now reporting 59.8mm. (Doha average annual rainfall is 77mm.)," she wrote.

By early evening it was estimated that 61mm of rain had fallen.

Qatar Airways was forced to divert some flights, creating logistical headaches, as neighbours Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are among states that do not allow Doha to use their airspace, due to an ongoing diplomatic rift.

Some Qatar-bound flights were forced to divert to Kuwait and Iran and the airline warned its passengers to expect further problems.

A man shields himself with a plastic bag as he walks along a flooded street in the 

Qatari capital Doha, during heavy rainfall on October 20, 2018 (AFP Photo/STRINGER)

"Due to weather conditions over Doha, flights are subject to delays for departure and arrivals," Qatar Airways said on Twitter.

Qatar's public works authority issued a warning to drivers to avoid tunnels because of the flooding.

Social media in Qatar showed cars almost completely submerged under water, after thunderstorms over Doha.

Other footage showed rainwater running downstairs inside buildings as workers desperately tried to mop up.

Qatar's National Library, not yet a year old, was forced to close and said it would remain shut on Sunday to ensure the "safety of our users".

The US embassy also said it would be closed on Sunday, "due to weather conditions".

The extent of the flooding may cause concern for the authorities who have spent billions on major infrastructure projects ahead of hosting the World Cup in 2022.

Some sought to downplay the disruption, joking online there was now no need for Saudi Arabia to dig a canal around Qatar -- an apparent threat made by Riyadh as part of the continuing political tensions -- because the flooding had done the neighbouring power's job for it.

Faced with global warming, aviation aims to turn green

Yahoo – AFP, Pierre-Henry DESHAYES, April 8, 2018

A computer generated image of the hybrid-electric regional aircraft being developed
by Zunum Aero, a start-up partly financed by US aeronautics group Boeing that could
enter service as soon as in 2022. (AFP Photo)

Oslo (AFP) - Will we someday be able to fly without the guilt of causing environmental damage? A handful of firms and regulators hope that the electric revolution in cars will also take to the skies, helping the industry cope with an expected boom in travel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"Many people say that we must get rid of air transport because we will never be able to deal with emissions and noise, but this is an outdated approach," said Norwegian Transport Minister Ketil Solvik-Olsen, who recently hosted an aviation conference in Oslo.

Norway, the largest oil and gas producer in western Europe, is paradoxically a pioneer in the field of electric transport. The Nordic nation aims for all new vehicle registrations to be zero emission by 2025 and launched a first electric ferry in early 2015.

After land and water, the northern kingdom is now turning to the sky with the goal of electrifying all short haul flights in just over 20 years.

"In my mind, there is no doubt: by 2040 Norway will be operating totally electric," said Dag Falk-Petersen, head of the country's public airport operator, Avinor.

Tesla of the skies?

Air transportation's impact on global warming is estimated at around five percent through CO2 emissions and other substances, including nitrogen oxide and water vapour.

As the number of air passengers is expected to almost double by 2036 to 7.8 billion per year, according to the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) projections, aviation's impact is on a course to increase substantially if nothing is done.

Meanwhile, the airline industry aims to cut its CO2 emissions in half by 2050 from 2005 levels.

Zunum Aero hopes that cheaper operating costs will entice airlines to
go electric (AFP Photo)

While the international umbrella group Climate Action Network (CAN) says these goals are unrealistic, some airlines are beginning to look at electric-powered aircraft as an answer.

The small regional carrier Wideroe Airlines, operating in Norway's far north, plans to renew its fleet of twin-engine Bombardier Dash 8 planes with electric-powered aircraft by 2030.

"Aircraft producers see that they have to do it because otherwise there will be a new Tesla taking their positions," said Falk-Petersen, referring to how the upstart US electric car manufacturer has shaken up the traditional automobile industry.

Both of the major manufacturers of large passenger aircraft, Airbus and Boeing, are exploring the viability of electric planes.

Airbus aims to develop a hybrid model called E-Fan X, and has teamed up with British engine maker Rolls Royce and German industrial group Siemens. The first flight is planned for 2020.

"One of the biggest challenges is electricity storage," Glenn Llewellyn, general manager for electrification at Airbus, told AFP.

As with cars, the performance of batteries is a critical element, with the added problem that they are heavier than fuel and carrying them into the air is the most-energy intensive part of the flight.

"But at the same time battery technology is probably the technology in the world which has the most investment. So it will evolve," added Llewellyn.

'Any place in the world'

Zunum Aero, a start-up partly financed by US aeronautics group Boeing, meanwhile plans to bring a 12-seat hybrid plane to the market by 2022.

"The price that we're targeting is very much in line with the current aircraft but the operation cost is just a fraction, it's literally 60 to 70 percent lower than an equivalent aircraft in operation right now," said the startup's founder Matt Knapp.

The expected lower operating costs of electric planes, both due to cheap electricity and simpler motors, means that the highly competitive airline industry could end up adopting them quickly.

Airbus offered several years ago updated aircraft with 15 percent fuel savings, and as jet fuel is a major cost for airlines, they quickly placed orders for thousands as they tried to get ahead of rivals.

The transition to electric could also provide another advantage: they are much quieter, meaning they may win exceptions to restrictions imposed due to noise near residential areas.

Combined with the fact that electric planes don't need such long runways, they could be used at some smaller airports close to city centres.

Avinor said switching to electric would also help airlines avoid any climate change related penalties that regulators could impose, such as higher taxes and flying restrictions.

Norway sees itself as a good test bed for electric planes.

"There are a lot of issues to deal with, with icy conditions, with heavy winds," says Widero CEO Stein Nilsen.

"But if we can do that here in Norway, I'm certain that this air plane will cope with any conditions in any place in the world."

Related Article:

Google guru Page tests flying taxis in New Zealand

Aviation industry agrees deal to curb carbon emissions

The international airline industry has reached deal on limiting carbon emissions, billed as the first such worldwide deal for a single sector. Critics say aspects of the plan are unfair - or just too little, too late.

Deutsche Welle, 7 Oct 2016

The agreement to set limits was adopted by the overwhelmingly by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) at a meeting in Montreal on Thursday.

The deal was approved by a meeting of the ICAO's 191 member states.

Airlines that exceed limits, as most are expected to do, will have to buy credits from other industries to offset their emissions.

To avoid them having to do so, the ICAO - a UN agency - is pushing for great use of fuel-efficient engines that run on biofuels, lighter aircraft materials and route optimization.

"It's a document arising from compromises and consensus," said Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, president of ICAO's governing council.

Malaysia's aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, who chaired the session said the deal - to cap carbon-dioxide emissions at 2020 levels by 2035 - was "historic."

The first phase of the airline agreement - which is voluntary - covers 2021 to 2027, while participation will become mandatory from 2028 through to 2035.

Responsibility for putting the agreement into effect will fall onto individual nations.

India and Russia sit out voluntary phase

More than 60 states - representing some 8 percent of global air traffic - will participate in the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation.

Russia and India have already said they will not join the voluntary phase, and said the deal placed an unfair burden on emerging countries. However, China - which also expressed reservations - said it would take part.

The system is the first global emissions pact to cover a single, specific industry. However, there has been criticism that the arrangement will fail to sufficiently reduce emissions from commercial flights.

The fact that the initial phase is a voluntary one, and that exceptions are in place to protect smaller aviation markets, has led environmentalists to suggest that the scheme will not achieve its aims.

"This agreement is a timid step in the right direction when we need to be sprinting," said Greenpeace UK Chief Scientist Doug Parr.

rc/bw (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Flood Warnings and Clean-Up as Australia Recovers From Twin Cyclones

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Feb 21, 2015

This image obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
 (NOAA) shows VIIRS infrared imagery from Tropical Storm Marcia as it approaches
the eastern coast of Australia on Feb. 19, 2015. (AFP Photo/NOAA/NASA/RAMMB/CIRA)

Australia was Saturday assessing the damage from two severe cyclones that left a trail of destruction, wrecking hundreds of homes and cutting electricity to thousands as authorities warned of more flooding and gusty winds.

Tropical Cyclone Marcia barrelled through the northeastern state of Queensland Friday at the highest-rated category five, ripping apart houses, uprooting trees and bringing down power lines.

The severe system hit hours after category four Tropical Cyclone Lam slammed into the Northern Territory, causing extensive damage to remote Aboriginal communities near Elcho Island, some 500 kilometers east of the capital Darwin.

Despite the destruction, authorities have so far not received reports of serious injuries, missing people, or deaths.

“Everyone is breathing a deep sigh of relief that there has been, to this date, no loss of life,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters Saturday.

Both cyclones have since eased to tropical lows, but the Bureau of Meteorology warned of flooding, heavy rains, damaging wind gusts and dangerous surf.

Parts of southeast Queensland, which has already been saturated by a separate weather system bringing hundreds of millimetres of rain to the region since Thursday, could be hit by flooding as Marcia tracks south before moving out to sea later Saturday.

Residents in the small towns of Jambin and Goovigen south of Rockhampton in central Queensland were evacuated from their homes as the Callide river flooded.

Flood warnings have also been issued for northeast New South Wales state just below Queensland.

Palaszczuk said preliminary reports showed “a couple of hundred homes” in Yeppoon and Rockhampton had structural damage.

“The biggest issue that we are currently facing is power outages,” she said.

“We have around 60,000 homes without power.”

The Australian military is assisting with the damage assessment and clean-up, with two aircraft set to be deployed to central Queensland Saturday, weather permitting.

In the Northern Territory, a state of emergency has been declared for areas hardest hit by Lam.

The territory’s Police and Emergency Services Minister Peter Chandler said the measure would help communities that have suffered from power, telecommunications and water outages.

Queensland has been smashed by several major storms and cyclones over the past few years with Cyclone Oswald, also a category five, flooding parts of the state in 2013, racking up insurance claims of some Aus$977 million (US$765 million).

Agence France-Presse

Francis thrills in Philippines with 'jeepney' popemobile

Yahoo – AFP, 18 Jan 2015

Pope Francis waves to people as he leaves in his "popemobile" after attending

a mass at a park in Manila on January 18, 2015 (AFP Photo/Giuseppe Cacace)

Manila (AFP) - Pope Francis made a triumphant entrance for a mass with millions in the Philippines on Sunday aboard a "popemobile" styled after the nation's iconic, flamboyant and much-loved "jeepney" minibus.

The pontiff, standing in the elevated open body of the uniquely Filipino version of his popemobile, travelled through the streets of the capital Manila for the main event of his five-day visit.

Wearing a thick plastic yellow poncho over his vestments, the 78-year-old pontiff smiled and waved to hundreds of thousands who had lined the route to the venue for the mass.

The rectangular vehicle with a distinctive giant grille repeatedly stopped so he could reach into the cheering masses and pick up babies to kiss and bless them.

The pope rode the jeepney popemobile to Rizal Park where millions had gathered to hear him celebrate mass, in one of the world's biggest papal gatherings.

The jeepneys are regarded by many Filipinos as a symbol of national ingenuity. Locals created them from surplus US military jeeps after American forces left at the end of World War II.

The bodies of the jeeps were extended, seats were added and a fixed roof put in place. The vehicles were then painted with colourful and Catholic designs.

They proved to be strong vehicles with decades-long lifespans, and can be seen ferrying people through city streets and animals on mountain roads.

However the diesel-powered vehicles are also one the nation's chief air pollution culprits.

Francis's jeepney was an all-white popemobile. It had no doors, after the pope told local organisers he did not want a bulletproof vehicle so he could reach out and touch his followers.

Pope Francis (top L) kisses a child as he arrives to celebrate a mass

at a park in Manila on January 18, 2015 (AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)

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Pope Francis, wearing a plastic raincoat, waves to well-wishers after

a mass in Tacloban, on January 17, 2015 (AFP Photo/Johannes Eisele)

Tropical Storm Leaves 54 Dead as It Exits Philippines

Jakarta Globe – AFP,  Jan 01, 2015

Philippine Airlines (PAL) planes are seen parked on tarmac in Manila International
Airport in Pasay city, metro Manila Sep. 9, 2014. (Reuters Photo/Romeo Ranoco)

Manila. Tropical storm Jiangmi exited the Philippines Thursday, leaving at least 54 dead and 13 missing from floods and landslides as officials admitted that more extensive warnings could have saved more lives.

The storm’s death toll was nearly triple that of the last major storm — Super Typhoon Hagupit, which hit the Philippines last month and wreaked less havoc than expected thanks to timely precautionary measures.

Jiangmi, which at one point packed winds of 80 kilometres per hour, weakened into a low pressure area as it moved west into the Sulu Sea with winds of about 30 kilometres per hour, the government weather station said.

Civil defence chief Alexander Pama admitted Thursday that more frequent warnings could have been aired in broadcast media.

“Probably we did not put [enough warnings] out in the media,” he told DZMM radio.

He said some people had ignored the warnings and refused to evacuate or went out to sea despite the storm.

“Maybe this will drive home the point to our countrymen that things are different now. Maybe now, when people are asked to evacuate, they will not resist,” he said.

Jiangmi hit the southern and central Philippines earlier this week, affecting areas that were once untouched by the frequent weather disturbances that batter the country.

The storm affected more than 120,000 people, more than 80,000 of whom were evacuated.

The Philippines is battered by about 20 storms every year, many of them deadly.

Last year Super Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest ever to hit the country, left 7,350 people dead or missing in central regions as it stirred up tsunami-like waves, wiping out entire towns.

Agence France-Presse

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"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Weather

Let's talk about the weather. We retreat to exactly what we told you before in this very chair. The water cycle is a cooling cycle, not a heating cycle. You're going to have more severe winters and storms. It's going to get colder. But it gets warmer before it gets colder. That is the cycle, and it has always been the cycle. You can see it in the rings of the trees and the cores of the ice. Don't let your scientists pull the political wool over your eyes for their own purposes. Start seeing these things for what they are. It's a recurring cycle based on four Earth alignment attributes, including the wobble (the precession). You're in this cycle. Prepare.

The beginnings of it will be with you from now at least until the end of the 2012 36-year window, and you can watch it work. The first thing that happens is that the ice melts at the poles, but not completely. It's the way it has happened before. As the redistribution of weight from the poles to the oceans of the earth takes place, the weight is redistributed to the crust, and that creates earthquakes. And the earthquakes that will be the most powerful are the ones that are closest to the poles. We told you that some time ago. So it's not a mystery that suddenly you have some of the most powerful earthquakes that you've ever had. Not only that, but a cooling ocean creates larger storms.

What do the conspiracists do with all this? "See? We're doomed. Here it comes," they say. "Here it comes! The end is here!" Twenty-two years ago, we gave you the information that is happening today. We told you about the weather. We told you to get ready for it, but we still haven't told you why the water cycle is needed. We've hinted at it since it is very controversial, and we'll lose many readers right here and now. Here's the prediction: The scientists are going to laugh and biologists are going to scratch their heads and roll their eyes.

The Refreshing of the Cycle of Life

When you change the temperature of the waters of the planet, it changes the life cycle of the ocean and it eventually renews itself. The life cycle of the planet has a limit to its viability over time. There has to be a refreshing of the very cycle of life, and this is what the water cycle does. Are there any places you've seen too many fish lately? Yes. Millions of salmon in the north. Odd that it was in Alaska, isn't it? Alaska is very close to the poles where the water temperature is being felt first. Oh, again the experts will tell you that this is not the reason. It's about hatcheries and rivers. But nobody predicted this, did they? Science is fast to give you reasons, but slow to give you logic in advance. They always seem to be surprised.

We are saying things we haven't said before. Again, watch for this, an actual change in the life cycle of the planet's oceans because of the water temperature shift. Biologists are going to have to start redesigning the paradigm of how everything works, including reefs, ocean bottoms, and how plankton survive and reproduce. Listen, this is not the first time that the life cycle has been refreshed! But again, this may take generations of humanity to complete. In the process, you may again lose species. This is normal. Gaia is slow, and Humans are impatient. Your textbooks may someday tell of how naive humanity was back in 2011 when they tried to blame weather changes on everything but a natural cycle. Now you know why there is a water cycle.

So what does that tell you about Gaia? Gaia is beginning the cycle of refreshing life on over-fished oceans. It tells you that in the cracks, there is love and caring about the Humans who live on the earth. There's a reason you're here. There's a plan here, and a benevolent Universe and quantum energy with intelligent design. All is there for you, precious, sacred Human Being. …”

British Columbia salmon return one of largest seen in region (Sep 2013)

Pink salmon, shown in a file photograph, 

have a lifespan of two years

Jakarta Temperature Drops in Line With Freezing Australia

Jakarta Globe, SP/Ari Supriyanti Rikin & Arientha Primanita, Jul 15, 2014

Bemos make their way past an overpass on Monday, July 14, as cold southerly
winds sent temperatures down into the low 20s. (Antara Photo/Vitalis Yogi Trisna)

Jakarta. Extraordinarily cold weather across parts of Indonesia and Australia over the last week could be repeated if southerly winds from Antarctica were to return, the Indonesian meteorology agency said on Tuesday.

The temperature dropped four to eight degrees Celsius from the July average over the weekend, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

BMKG head Edvid Aldrian said that the temperature dropped as much as eight degrees in Serang, Banten province.

“As late as Monday morning the temperature in Curug was at 23 degrees Celsius while Jakarta recorded 25 degrees on Monday evening,” he said on Monday.

Edvin said that Indonesia’s colder-than-usual temperatures were commensurate with the record-breaking lows felt across parts of Australia, with chilly southerly winds sending temperatures in Brisbane below freezing. July 11 was the coldest day in the Queensland state capital for 103 years.

Indonesia has seen an unusually late start to its dry season, with meteorology chiefs agreeing that the rainy season had lagged well into July.

“There is a small chance that such cold weather will happen again. It was because on Sunday there was low pressure in the Sunda Strait which caused more clouds at the western part of Indonesia, especially West Java and South Sumatra,” he told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.

Edvin said that Greater Jakarta was only now beginning to see the start of the dry season, but added that isolated showers were still a possibility. He said that the rainy season will start again around September.

Fasten seatbelts for bumpier flights: climate study

Google – AFP, 8 April 2013 

A plane prepares to land at Frankfurt airport, western Germany, on

November 22, 2011 (DPA/AFP/File, Frank Rumpenhorst)

PARIS — Flights will become bumpier as global warming destabilises air currents at altitudes used by commercial airliners, climate scientists warned Monday.

Already, atmospheric turbulence injures hundreds of airline passengers each year, sometimes fatally, damaging aircraft and costing the industry an estimated $150 million (115 million euros), scientists said.

"Climate change is not just warming the Earth's surface, it is also changing the atmospheric winds ten kilometres (six miles) high, where planes fly," said study co-author Paul Williams of the University of Reading's National Centre for Atmospheric Science in southeastern England.

"That is making the atmosphere more vulnerable to the instability that creates clear-air turbulence," he told AFP by email.

"Our research suggests that we'll be seeing the 'fasten seatbelts' sign turned on more often in the decades ahead."

Turbulence is mainly caused by vertical airflow -- up-draughts and down-draughts near clouds and thunderstorms.

Clear-air turbulence, which is not visible to the naked eye and cannot be picked up by satellite or traditional radar, is linked to atmospheric jet streams, which are projected to strengthen with climate change.

The study authors used supercomputer simulations of the North Atlantic jet stream, a strong upper-atmospheric wind driven by temperature differences between colliding Arctic and tropical air.

The jet stream affects traffic in the aviation corridor between Europe and North America -- one of the world's busiest with about 300 eastbound and 300 westbound flights per day.

They found that a doubling of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere from pre-industrial levels, predicted within 40 years, would cause turbulence to be 10-40 percent more forceful at typical cruise altitudes.

"Turbulence strong enough to make walking difficult and to dislodge unsecured objects is likely to become twice as common in transatlantic airspace by the middle of this century," said Williams.

"As well as making flights bumpier and less comfortable, this could also increase the risk of injury to passengers and crew" -- especially in winter when Northern Hemisphere clear-air turbulence is thought to be most intense.

Williams said CO2 causes non-uniform warming, which increases the jet stream winds.

"A stronger jet stream means the atmosphere is less stable, which creates more turbulence," he explained.

The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, said planes already spent about one percent of their cruise time in strong clear-air turbulence.

Frequent flyers have reported bumpiness to be on the rise, but this is the first study to actually measure the projected impact of climate change, said the authors.

"Flight paths may need to become more convoluted to avoid patches of turbulence that are stronger and more frequent, in which journey times will lengthen and fuel consumption and emissions will increase," they wrote.

"Aviation is partly responsible for changing the climate in the first place," added Williams.

"It is ironic that the climate looks set to exact its revenge by creating a more turbulent atmosphere for flying."

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"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism, Higgs Boson), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version) 

"...The Weather... Again

My partner has been "against the grain" in the past years, giving you what I have channelled about the weather. Is it global warming? No. Is it going to get better? No. This is a two-generation cycle. There will continue to be earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and storms. This is a recalibration of life in the ocean, and humanity must go through this in any way they can. This is a cycle, a known and expected one, but since you haven't gone through it in modern times, it's not well understood yet. ..."

“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

“… So now we've refreshed that which we have said before, a review. You are in the middle of a cycle that will bring cooling to the planet. It is not a heat cycle, but rather a cooling cycle. But it always starts with a short heat cycle. It has been here before. It will come again. It is a long cycle - one generation plus five years. That's how long it's going to last. It starts with the melting of the ice caps, which is far more than any of you have seen in your lifetime or those of your ancestors. It is a cycle whose repetition is thousands of years long, but one that has not yet been recorded to the books of Human record. But it's definitely been recorded in the cores of the ice and in the rings of the trees.

Thousands of years old, it is, and it happens in a cyclical way. It's about water. It starts with that which is the melting of the ice caps to a particular degree, which has a profound effect on the planet in all ways. You can't have that happen without seeing life change as well as Gaia change and you've seeing it already. What happens when you take that which is heavy on the poles [ice] and you melt it? It then becomes cold water added to that which is a very, very gentle and finite balance of temperature in the seas of the planet (1). The first thing that happens is a redistribution of the weight of water on the thin crust of the earth from ice at the poles to new water in the seas. The results become earthquakes and volcanoes, and you're seeing them, aren't you? You are having earthquakes in places that are not supposed to have earthquakes. Volcanoes are coming to life in a way that you've not seen before on a regular basis. There will be more. Expect them.

Is it too much to ask of a Human Being that if you live by a volcano that you know might erupt, maybe you ought to move? Yet there will be those who say, "It hasn't erupted in my lifetime or my parents' lifetime or my grandparents' lifetime; therefore, it won't." You may have a surprise, for all things are changing. That is what is happening to Gaia. ….“

THE RELATIONSHIP TO GAIA - April 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

New Mini Ice Age

"The weather you have today, and all the alarming attributes of it, is a scenario of what was scheduled to happen on Earth anyway. I review again that the weather changes you are seeing prophesied by myself, 21 years ago, are not a surprise. The changes are not caused by the pollutants you put in the air. You call it global warming and that's a nice phrase, and perhaps that will get you to put less pollutants in the air – a very good thing. But what you are seeing in the weather shift today was not caused by Humans putting things into the air. It would have happened anyway in about 300 years."

"We've called this process the water cycle, since it's all about water, not about air. The water is the predominant attribute of Gaia and of the weather cycle you're seeing. More predominant is the temperature of it. The cycle is ice to water and water to ice, and has been repeated on this planet over and over and over. It is not new. It is not exceptional. It is not frightening. But it's a cycle that modern humanity has not seen before, and it's a long cycle that is beyond the life span of a Human Being. Therefore, it tends to be overlooked or not seen at all !"

"In the days of the Lemurians, the water level of the Pacific Ocean was almost 400 feet lower, and that's only 50,000 years ago. [Kryon invites science to check this out – the water level at that time.] That was a water cycle working, and the reason it was lower was due to so much of the water being stored as ice. Today you're going through another water cycle that will eventually lead to cooling. The last one was in the 1400s."

"Science sees that at about 1650. As mentioned, they are so slow there is no remembrance that a Human has of them except in past writings and in the rings of the trees. The time span of the changes is so great that environmental record keeping does not exist in the form that it does today. But you can still look at the rings of the trees and at the striations of the rocks and can generally figure out that a few hundred years ago, you had a mini-ice age. Now you're going to have another one."