Could Hell Freeze Over?

(Good) Climate News, Beethoven's Doctor

We're not used to getting good news on the climate. Let's face it, we're not used to getting good news on anything these days. So let's take a detour from news that's stuck where the sun don't shine to some energy news related to where the sun does shine (and the wind does blow and the hydro does flow). "The world reached a huge milestone in 2023: Renewable sources accounted for 30% of global electricity for the first time. That’s the biggest takeaway from the annual report produced by the energy think tank where I work, Ember. The rapid growth in solar and wind power has brought the world to a crucial pivot point — likely this year — where fossil fuel-powered generation will start to decline at a global level." Semafor: The world has passed a turning point in the history of energy.

+ "California draws more electricity from the sun than any other state. It also has a timing problem: Solar power is plentiful during the day but disappears by evening, just as people get home from work and electricity demand spikes. To fill the gap, power companies typically burn more fossil fuels like natural gas." So how do you solve that problem? At the risk of getting too science-y, with some big-ass batteries. NYT (Gift Article): Giant Batteries Are Transforming the Way the U.S. Uses Electricity.

+ Some people aren't waiting around for the future to suck, they're sucking the future. The ‘world’s largest’ vacuum to suck climate pollution out of the air just opened. Here’s how it works.

+ The stories above show promising trends. But this is no time to chill. We've established that humans can make big strides toward cleaner energy. What we don't know is whether we can do it fast enough. Most experts don't think we can. The Guardian: World’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target. "Many of the scientists envisage a 'semi-dystopian' future, with famines, conflicts and mass migration, driven by heatwaves, wildfires, floods and storms of an intensity and frequency far beyond those that have already struck. Numerous experts said they had been left feeling hopeless, infuriated and scared by the failure of governments to act despite the clear scientific evidence provided. 'I think we are headed for major societal disruption within the next five years,' said Gretta Pecl, at the University of Tasmania. '[Authorities] will be overwhelmed by extreme event after extreme event, food production will be disrupted. I could not feel greater despair over the future.'" I know, I know, this started out as good news about the climate and then things reverted to the norm. At least scientists see a future that is only semi-dystopian.

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The New World Border

The history of the Middle East crisis has been dominated by talk of borders. But today, I want you to ignore borders, and instead, separate the various factions in the region and around the world into those who want peace, co-existence, and a better life for their children vs those who want chaos, destruction, and the sustainment of personal power. When you look at it this way, you realize that Netanyahu and Hamas have something in common, and more importantly, so too do millions of citizens on both sides of the conflict who just want to live their lives. Yes, Israel's tactics during the war have cost way too many innocent lives and been what Biden called "over the top." And yes, Hamas is a murderous terror group that has no interest in protecting the lives of ordinary Gazans. Thomas Friedman touches upon these and other important points as they relate to what we're seeing and hearing on college campuses. NYT (Gift Article): Why the Campus Protests Are So Troubling. "I am intensely both anti-Hamas and anti-Netanyahu. And if you oppose just one and not also the other, you should reflect a little more on what you are shouting at your protest or your anti-protest. Because no one has done more to harm the prospects of a two-state solution than the codependent Hamas and Netanyahu factions. Hamas is not against the post-1967 occupation. It is against the existence of a Jewish state and believes there should be an Islamic state between the river and the sea. When protests on college campuses ignore that, they are part of the problem. Just as much as Israel supporters who ignore the fact that the far-right members in Netanyahu’s own coalition government are for a Jewish state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea." (It's a complex situation that is being wildly oversimplified at the very institutions we expect to be able to analyze complex situations.)

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Gee, Your Hair Smells Morbific

"At 7 p.m. on May 7, 1824, Ludwig van Beethoven, then 53, strode onto the stage of the magnificent Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna to help conduct the world premiere of his Ninth Symphony, the last he would ever complete. That performance, whose 200th anniversary is on Tuesday, was unforgettable in many ways. But it was marked by an incident at the start of the second movement that revealed to the audience of about 1,800 people how deaf the revered composer had become." Two hundred years later, we're beginning to understand why Beethoven lost his hearing. Gina Kolata in the NYT (Gift Article): Locks of Beethoven’s Hair Offer New Clues to the Mystery of His Deafness. "Using powerful technologies, scientists found staggering amounts of lead and other toxic substances in the composer’s hair that may have come from wine, or other sources." (In addition to everything else, Beethoven invented hair metal.)

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News Travels

"When Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made history by reaching the summit, a courier named Ten Tsewang Sherpa ran 200 miles to Kathmandu to deliver the news. He died a few weeks later. His story has never been told—until now." Outside Mag: The Man Who Raced to Tell the World That Mount Everest Had Been Climbed.

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Extra, Extra

Delayed Adjudication: A day after Judge Aileen Cannon indefinitely delayed the the classified documents trial, a Georgia appeals court said it will review decision on Trump case DA, bringing another delay. (If Trump loses in November, all the trial delays go away and he faces the justice that he deserves and the country so desperately needs. If he wins, don't be surprised if, among other crimes against democracy, we witness the swearing in of Supreme Court Justice Aileen Cannon. There's always been only one jury that matters, one jury that can save the union: Us.)

+ Bombs A Wait:"The Biden administration paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that the country was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the United States, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday."

+ Banana Republic: Here's a lede: "The families of men and women killed by Colombian terrorists are finally facing off against the corporate giant accused of financing their loved ones' murder: Chiquita Brands International." Trial against Chiquita, accused of helping terrorists kill thousands, finally begins.

+ Writer's Schlock: "Remember that AI company behind Sports Illustrated's fake writers? We did some digging — and it's got tendrils into other surprisingly prominent publications." Meet AdVon, the AI-Powered Content Monster Infecting the Media Industry.

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Bottom of the News

Meanwhile, in other election 2024 news, RFK Jr. says worm ‘got into my brain and ate a portion of it.' (This is just one more reason why anyone who would vote for this guy oughta have their head examined.)