Will Climate Change Soon Make Airline Flight-Times Take Longer?

Though still dismissed by conservative Evangelical skeptics as a left-wing conspiracy, is there evidence that climate change will soon make airline flight-times longer?

By: Ringo Bones 

Ever since the neo-Conservatives successfully managed to seamlessly use both politics and organized religion to discredit the validity of the science behind climate change and global warming during the latter half of the 1990s, climate change concerns by the world’s poorest 99-percent were largely dismissed by right-wing Evangelical conservatives as nothing more than left-wing conspiracy to tax the world’s richest 1-percent. Sadly, it seems that the longer we ignore the signs of climate change and put off ways to mitigate and even reverse its worst effects on humanity, all of humanity will be doomed – just that the richest 1-percent will be the very last to feel its worst effects. But will the frequent-flying richest 1-percent be affected by the insidious effects of climate change in the form of longer flight times as they jet-set to their various dens of iniquities? 

Even though this will too affect the working-class frequent-flyers, flights from the U.K. to the U.S. could take longer due to changes in the climate, according to a new study. Global warming is likely to speed up the jet stream, say researchers and slow down airplanes travelling from the U.K. to the U.S. While eastbound flights from the U.S. to the U.K. will be quicker but overall roundtrip journeys will “significantly lengthen.” The University of Reading scientists believe the changes will increase carbon emissions and fuel consumption and potentially raise airline ticket prices. The study has been published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. 

High altitude jet streams in the northern and southern hemisphere are the powerful winds that help move weather systems around the globe. Air traffic normally tries to take advantage of these speedy flows of the Atlantic jet stream from west to east to reduce journey times on routes between Europe and North America. This is one of the world’s busiest air routes with around 600 flights every day. Previous studies have shown that climate change is likely to increase turbulence on these transatlantic flights. In this new study, researchers modelled how atmospheric winds would change given a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide. They fed the results into the same route algorithms that airlines routinely use to plan their transatlantic journeys. They found that winds in the New York to London route will become 15-percent faster on average. Flights from London to New York will become twice as likely to take over seven hours while the flights from New York to London will speed up and will become twice as likely to take under five hours and twenty minutes. While on average, flights will only gain and lose a few minutes each way, the cumulative impact is “significant” says the study. 

“If you look at the roundtrips, the eastbound flights are getting shorter by less than the westbound flights are getting longer.” Lead author Dr. Paul Williams from the University of Reading told BBC News. “So there is a robust increase in the roundtrip journey time, which means planes spending longer in the air, when you add that up for all transatlantic aircraft you get an extra 2,000 hours of planes in the air every year, with US$22-million extra in fuel costs and 70-million kilograms of carbon dioxide.” The researchers say the extra carbon dioxide generated is equivalent of the annual emissions of 7,000 British homes.

Should Christian Terrorists Be Allowed To Dictate Public Environmental Policy?

Given that they sincerely believed that the whole universe was created by some mystical magic-man with a white flowing beard 6,000 years ago, should Christian terrorist groups in America be allowed to shape or even dictate public environmental policy?

By: Ringo Bones 

Maybe it was just the current resulting escalation since the Fox News Network successfully convinced the conservative white supremacist Christian right back in the mid 1990s that climate change / global warming is a hoax perpetrated by left-leaning scientists, but the latest military adventurism by American Christian terrorists back in January 2, 2016 that resulted in the taking over of the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the U.S. state of Oregon supposedly as a “protest” to the treatment of two cattle ranchers convicted of arson only highlights the resolve of these Christian terror groups in the United States that they really mean serious business even if their core beliefs tend to more often than not clash with current scientific findings and will continue to do so as time goes on. Given that these white supremacist Christian militia groups in the United States – often dubbed by the mainstream media as “domestic terrorists” to appease the right wing of the US Republican party – sincerely believe that the entire universe was created 6,000 years ago by some mystical magic-man with a white flowing beard, are they really in a position to shape the U.S. federal government’s public policy when it comes to the environmentally sustainable use of public lands? 

From an environmental perspective, the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Preserve by these so-called white supremacist Christian terrorists / domestic terrorist / militia groups poses an immediate threat to the wildlife refuge given their “core beliefs” more often than not make them do things that treat these fragile ecosystems like an inexhaustible resource just by proclaiming that white supremacist Jesus will fix it after they done their callous ecological scorched-earth policies. The unlawful occupation also represents a larger movement by the conservative extreme right of America to put state and local authorities in charge of public lands, which often results in unregulated logging, minerals extraction and crude oil and natural gas drilling / fracking. What happened in the first few days of 2016 in Oregon may set a precedent for how federal lands will be protected and managed in years to come. 

The Audubon Society of Portland – based in the U.S. state of Oregon – issued a warning back in January 3, 2016 that the 188,000-acre refuge contains “some of the most important bird habitat on the Pacific Flyaway” and the unlawful occupation “violates the most basic principles of the Public Trust Doctrine and holds hostage public lands and public resources to serve the very narrow political agenda of the occupiers.” The Malheur National Wildlife Preserve is also home to one of the biggest wetland restoration efforts ever undertaken. 

The Christian terror group currently occupying the federally owned facility is lead by a 40-year-old Nevada rancher Ammon Bundy who also claims that he is a (self-styled?) Mormon Militia leader and is also one of the three sons of Cliven Bundy, who back in 2014 posted a video tirade on You Tube that has more N-word count than a typical late 1990s rap / hip-hop artist / performer often uses about how the federal government violated his rights. Despite the significant financial breaks the federal government already extends to ranchers, the Bundy Family has been refusing to pay land use fees for years. If these “Christian extremists” occupy the federal facility any longer, they could rename it as the “Ammon Bundy Preserve for the Armed and Cranky”. 

Why Is Mainland China Destroying Destroying The Philippines Coral Reefs?

Even though the BBC was brave enough to broadcast this investigative report, but will it be seen by everyone in the Philippines?

By: Ringo Bones 

The BBC’s intrepid field correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes was the first, and probably the only one, to uncover this tragic and wanton environmental destruction by Mainland Chinese fisherman-poachers of the Philippine coral reefs in the disputed South China Sea unprecedented since the late Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein ordered his Republican Guards to set the Kuwaiti oil fields afire and the port pipelines to leak crude oil into the Persian Gulf to choke the desalination plants of surrounding states. Brave and noble his act of journalistic bravado and environmental concern be, it is very likely that only a few, fortunate Filipinos have seen it during the past few days – i.e. those rich enough to afford cable and satellite TV subscriptions that carry BBC World broadcasts – because most major TV and radio stations in the Philippines are largely financed by Mainland Chinese companies’ advertising money. 

Even though Rupert Wingfield-Hayes probably heard of the “rumor” this wanton environmental destruction a few weeks before the December 15, 2015 broadcast of the finalized investigative report, “rumors” of illegal Mainland Chinese fisherman-poachers illegally encroaching into Philippine territorial waters had been a well known incident that’s only eye-witnessed by poor and lowly subsistence for years and way before the advent of “affordable” mobile smart-phones with video cameras. The BBC reporter was told by the mayor of one of the islands in Palawan that Mainland Chinese fisherman-poachers were deliberately destroying reefs near a group of Philippine-controlled atolls in the Spratly Islands, but he wasn’t initially convinced. 

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes initially didn’t take it seriously thinking that it might be just an anti-Beijing government bile from an over-achieving politician keen to blame everything on his disliked neighbor – especially a neighbor who claims most of the South China Sea as its own. But thanks to the BBC reporter’s curiosity and bravado, a first-hand visit to the area with everyday Filipino fishermen onboard on the same craft that they used to eek out a meager living, the intrepid BBC reporter finally saw with his own eyes and captured it on camera a bunch of Mainland Chinese fisherman-poachers illegally gathering protected coral reef fauna like giant clams and plowing the reefs using the anchors of their large boats to an extent that the reefs could take at least 10,000 years to fully recover. And the Filipino fishermen in the area even said that the Mainland Chinese troops occupying the region and building artificial islands are even actively protecting the illegal Mainland Chinese fisherman-poachers from being apprehended by the outgunned under-budgeted Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Navy. Given that probably none of the Philippine’s military top brass saw the BBC broadcast, talks of war with Mainland China is currently on the same level as a Gene Roddenberry science fiction work on the consciousness of most Filipinos oblivious to the incident. 

The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference: An Uphill Battle For Environmentalists?

Despite of promises that a “new deal” could be reach, does the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference just represents another uphill battle for dedicated environmentalists around the world? 

By: Ringo Bones 

With a climate change awareness rally in Paris, France swiftly dispersed by law enforcement agencies concerned in the name of anti-terror laws a few days ago no thanks to the recent Daesh terror attacks, many now are wondering whether the scheduled 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference that will take place in Paris, France from November 30, 2015 to December 11, 2015 is nothing more than a mere “environmental lip service” for the world’s powers-that-be as opposed to a genuine global platform to discuss pressing climate change issues. Despite of the promises, it not only highlights the uphill battle faced by environmentalists around the world with genuine climate change concerns but also of developing nations unable to wean themselves from large scale fossil fuel use because energy companies – especially those based in the United States that are run by conservative right-wing Evangelicals – are using politics, religion and even economics to maintain the status quo of large scale fossil fuel use. 

The “Paris Climate Change Conference” is the 21^st yearly conference where all of the world’s nations and their representatives gather to discuss on climate change issues. Philippine President Benigno Aquino, III is scheduled to attend the Paris climate conference but he admitted in a recent interview that despite of the Philippines being seriously affected by climate change, he sill gave the green light for the construction of 23 large scale coal fired power plants in the Philippines to meet the country’s current energy needs because the captains of industry in the United States has kept the costs of large scale wind turbines and solar photovoltaic and solar thermal energy generation schemes out of reach of developing countries like the Philippines. The same complains are also voiced by India and the African country of Malawi. 

Even though US President Barack Obama is attending the “Paris Climate Change Conference”, it is also unlikely that he will successfully initiate climate change policies that are as revolutionary as those reached by the 1960s era civil rights movement in the United States because almost all politicians in the United States are beholden by big fossil fuel corporations. Even Pope Francis’ recent environmental concerns are labeled as “leftist” by the right-wing Evangelicals running the big fossil fuel corporations in the United States. 

Are Diesel Engines More Environmentally Friendly Than Gasoline Engines?

With the recent Volkswagen emissions measurement scandal, are diesel engines really more efficient than gasoline engines? 

By: Ringo Bones 

Ever since German engineer Rudolf Diesel patented his diesel engine, the industrial world was quick to embrace it with open arms given that your typical diesel engine burn about 25-percent less fuel in comparison to a gasoline engine of similar horsepower rating, not to mention that diesel fuel, as a byproduct of crude oil refinement, is around 4 to 5 times cheaper than gasoline when a barrel of crude oil produces 19 gallons of gasoline and 12 gallons of diesel fuel when it is refined. And given this “ energy utilization efficiency”, diesel engines by their very nature only produce a quarter of the carbon dioxide produced in a typical gasoline engine – which is now of paramount importance in our increasingly climate change conscious world. But sadly, diesel engines are inherently way dirtier than gasoline engines when it comes to oxides of nitrogen and particulate emissions. 

The row over whether diesel engines – as in diesel fueled cars and trucks – are really more environmentally friendly than their gasoline engine counterparts recently came to light in the form of the recent Volkswagen emissions measurement scandal where the famed German automaker was caught by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency back in September 21, 2015 when Emissions Analytics, an internal combustion engine / automotive emissions testing lab recently uncovered that the latest models of diesel fueled Volkswagen cars sold in the United States employ a “cheating software” on its electronic engine management system that automatically reduces the engine’s power output and thus the resulting emissions output when it detect that the car is mounted on a tachometer – a device used to statically test the power output and combustion byproducts of cars under test. The Volkswagen “cheating software” allowed their late-model diesel cars to produce up to 40 times less oxides of nitrogen and particulates in a lab testing setting when compared to being actually driven on the road. 

Whether the “cheating” is deliberate or not, from a scientific viewpoint, diesel engines still produce less carbon dioxide – a potent greenhouse gas and the primary cause of the ongoing climate change – than their gasoline counterparts, but the oxides of nitrogen and particulates produced by diesel engines also have a deleterious effect on our environment and of human health. The oxides of nitrogen produced by diesel engines can promote the formation of smog and increases the acidity of rain and can also do nasty things to our lungs due to its corrosive nature. And also oxides of nitrogen, the same one that gives a nuclear blast mushroom cloud its orange-brown color, are usually produced by extreme high-temperature processes that occur in the earth’s atmosphere both man-made and natural like lightning and the since retired supersonic airliner Concorde’s Olympus jet engines which can also deplete ozone in the Earth’s ozone layer giving everyone a higher risk of getting skin cancer. Particulates that are the byproduct of diesel combustion can increase anyone with a compromised immune system to catch pneumonia. Diesel engines may be more fuel efficient and produce less carbon dioxide than gasoline engines, but clean they are not. Another “environmental fallout” of the recent Volkswagen Emissions Measurement Scandal is that it could empower climate change skeptics like the U.S. Republican Party which will eventually point out that the supposedly earth friendly commercial institutions – like the German automaker Volkswagen – cheated in order to bolster its green credentials.