Bill Gates has called for a “strategic pivot” in the effort against the climate crisis, writing that the world should shift away from trying to limit rising temperatures to instead focusing on efforts to prevent disease and poverty.
Writing on his Gates Notes website, the billionaire Microsoft co-founder criticized what he described as a “doomsday view of climate change” which is focusing “too much on near-term emissions goals”.
Gates’s memo comes a day after the UN said humanity had missed its target of limiting global heating to 1.5C, with the UN secretary general warning of “devastating consequences” for the world.
The first opposite-sex European bison twins born in the Stegaliai enclosure of Dzūkija National Park have been released into the wild, Lithuanian authorities announced Tuesday.
Along with the twins, two additional males and ten adult females were also released, according to the Vytautas Magnus University Academy of Agriculture.
The academy said the birth of these twins is a first in Europe. The animals have been registered in the European Bison Pedigree Book (EBPB), and it marks the first time in recorded history that twins of different sexes survived and were successfully released into the wild after strengthening in a controlled environment.
“The birth of European bison twins is an extremely rare phenomenon even on a global scale,” said Artūras Kibiša of the Vytautas Magnus University Academy of Agriculture. “There have been only a few cases in the entire modern history of monitoring the species.”
Since 2022, Lithuania has been carrying out a relocation program aimed at creating genetically strong and ecologically balanced herds of European bison living freely in the wild.
Over the past three years, a total of 46 young bison from free populations in Panevėžys, Kėdainiai, and Kaunas districts have been relocated to Dzūkija National Park. A specially equipped 103-hectare enclosure with quarantine and acclimatisation zones ensures the animals adapt smoothly before release.
Using the power density formula above, we find that solar has the lowest power density:
Nuclear fission: 494 ± 266 W/m²
Natural gas: 462.5 ± 277.5 W/m²
Coal: 65.8 ± 39.5 W/m²
Solar PV: 8.7 ± 2.9 W/m²
Thus, 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫 (at its best) 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 (at its worst).
Why is energy density important?
Because it is directly related to land requirements and overall reliability.
Solar PV farms take up more land than natural gas or nuclear do, yet power far fewer homes. Case in point, a single 1,000-MWe nuclear power plant occupying a single square mile of land produces enough electricity to power >770,000 American homes throughout the course of a year. To power the same number of homes with a solar PV farm, we would need 4× the installed capacity and 50× the land area.
This is a snippet from a longer piece available at the link above. ABN
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will begin its annual distribution of RABORAL V-RG®, an oral rabies vaccine (ORV) bait, in select areas in the eastern United States to prevent the spread of raccoon rabies into America’s heartland.
Rabies is a serious public health concern. While rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear, it also is 100% preventable. Human exposures can be successfully remedied if medical attention is sought immediately following exposure. Costs associated with rabies detection, prevention, and control may exceed $500 million annually in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 90 percent of reported rabies cases in the United States are in wildlife.
APHIS and its cooperators will begin distributing ORV baits on or about Aug. 13, 2025, across rural areas by airplane and in suburban or urban areas by helicopter, vehicle, and bait station. ORV baits are coated with a fishmeal attractant and are packaged in two-inch plastic sachets or one-inch square cubes.
The RABORAL V-RG® vaccine is safe for many animals, including domestic dogs and cats. Humans and pets cannot get rabies from contact with the baits but should leave them undisturbed if they are encountered. Dogs that consume many baits may experience a temporary upset stomach, but there are no long-term health risks. If people come in contact with baits, they should immediately wash the contact area with warm water and soap.
ORV baits will be distributed during the following time periods and based out of airports in the cities listed below:
In Northeast to Mid-Atlantic states during August:
The Houlton, Maine, project will cover parts of northern Maine and distribute approximately 713,000 ORV baits by airplane and vehicle.
The Brockport, N.Y., project will include areas in western New York and distribute approximately 100,000 ORV baits by airplane. In addition to RABORAL V-RG®, APHIS will distribute another ORV bait, ONRAB, in select areas of New York as part of an ongoing field assessment.
The North Lima, Ohio, project will involve distribution of approximately 729,000 ORV baits in parts of western Pennsylvania. Field assessment of ONRAB will also occur in western Pennsylvania at the same time.
The Buckhannon, W.Va., project will include portions of western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, distributing approximately 364,000 ORV baits by airplane and vehicle. ONRAB field assessment also will take place in select areas of West Virginia.
In Massachusetts from mid-September through mid-October:
The Cape Cod, Mass., project will cover parts of peninsular and mainland Massachusetts and distribute more than 74,000 ORV baits by helicopter, bait station, and vehicle.
In Southern states during October:
The Abingdon, Va., project will cover parts of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and a small portion of southern West Virginia, distributing more than 634,000 ORV baits by airplane, helicopter, and vehicle.
The Andrews, N.C., project will include areas in western North Carolina and north Georgia and will distribute 410,000 ORV baits by airplane, helicopter and vehicle.
The Dalton, Ga., project will cover areas in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, distributing approximately 690,000 ORV baits by airplane and helicopter.
The Gadsden, Ala., project will cover parts of northeast and central Alabama (including the Greater Birmingham area) and distribute approximately 718,000 baits by airplane, helicopter, and vehicle.
In recent years, global methane sources and sinks have received increased attention owing to the rapid increase in atmospheric methane over the past decade and the high warming potential of methane (~80 times CO2 over a 20-year period1). There is a continued gap between the measured increase in atmospheric methane and the total emissions predicted from currently known methane sources – this underpins global efforts to better understand potential methane release from sources with the highest uncertainties, including the ocean and coasts2. Polar regions are increasingly recognized as containing globally significant volumes of methane in subglacial and marine reservoirs, with research in the geologic record3,4 and the contemporary Arctic5,6,7 illustrating the climate sensitivity of these systems.
One such mechanism of release from these reservoirs is from seeps in the marine8,9,10,11,12,13 or terrestrial4,6,14 environment, in addition to direct subglacial flux5,7. Seeps are areas of the seafloor where there is seepage of fluids rich in hydrocarbons (e.g., methane) or other chemicals (e.g., sulfide), often creating distinct marine habitats. Tens of thousands of methane seeps have been identified in the Arctic to date, with linkages to ice mass loss since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)4,8,13,15,16 as well as more recent climate change impacts5,7,17. The degradation of cryospheric caps, such as glacial ice, permafrost, and gas hydrates (methane and carbon dioxide gas trapped in an ice matrix) has been attributed3,4,5,6,7,15 as drivers for changes in methane flux in these instances
Freeze and frost warnings are in place in the northern parts of New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has said summer temperatures will quickly drop into the 20s between 2am and 8am ET Saturday morning, potentially killing crops, outdoor vegetation, and possibly freezing outdoor pipes around homes and businesses.
A freeze warning is one of the most severe types of cold-weather alerts from the NWS, meaning that residents need to take immediate action because temperatures are about to fall below 32°F for an extended period of time.
Forecasters warned that temperatures which stay below 28°F for long stretches can kill most types of commercial crops and residential plants left outside.
The warning covers six counties in Maine, three counties in northern New York, Vermont’s Essex County, and New Hampshire’s Coos County.
Ben Davidson, founder of Space Weather News, told the Matt Beall Limitless podcast that a rapid magnetic pole shift, potentially triggered by a solar ‘micronova,’ could unleash tsunamis, climate chaos and mass extinction.
Though his speculative ‘micronova’ theory, a sudden solar explosion triggering a pole shift, lacks mainstream support, Davidson insisted the underlying geomagnetic cycle is ‘bulletproof’ science.
‘This is a near extinction-level event, and we are in the middle of it right now!’ Davidson said, emphasizing a cycle that occurs roughly every 6,000 years, with a more severe event every 12,000 years.
See also As the World Turns, which makes similar claims but for a different reason. Worst case is the earth’s axis flips some 127 degrees (if memory serves), causing mile high tsunamis that will wipe out almost everything. I’ve posted numerous article on this topic and, personally, find it credible. There is no way to prepare for an axial shift except move to the top of a tall mountain. ABN
American Buddhist Net 