All posts by Roger Straw

Editor, owner, publisher of The Benicia Independent
Arctic sea ice, Keeping Watch on Earth News

NASA Time-Lapse Of the Disappearing Arctic Polar Ice Cap

Weekly Graph of Arctic Sea Ice Age: 1984 – 2019

YouTube – Beauty of the Planet Earth (from NASA – Scientific Visualization Studio), Dec 5, 2018

Arctic sea ice has not only been shrinking in surface area in recent years, it’s becoming younger and thinner as well. In this animation, where the ice cover almost looks gelatinous as it pulses through the seasons, cryospheric scientist Dr. Walt Meier of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center describes how the sea ice has undergone fundamental changes during the era of satellite measurements.

Editor’s note: This visualization incorrectly identifies the oldest ice as being 5+ years old, when it would be more accurate to say 4+ years old. An updated version of this visualization can be downloaded in HD here: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4510    [OR SEE BELOW…]

Newer version, without voice-over …

NASA Scientific Visualization Studio

Youtube  -NASA Scientific Visualization Studio, by Cindy Starr & Horace Mitchell, Sept 30, 2019

This visualization shows the age of the Arctic sea ice between 1984 and 2019. Younger sea ice, or first-year ice, is shown in a dark shade of blue while the ice that is four years old or older is shown as white. A graph displayed in the upper left corner quantifies the area covered sea ice 4 or more years old in millions of square kilometers.

One significant change in the Arctic region in recent years has been the rapid decline in perennial sea ice. Perennial sea ice, also known as multi-year ice, is the portion of the sea ice that survives the summer melt season. Perennial ice may have a life-span of nine years or more and represents the thickest component of the sea ice; perennial ice can grow up to four meters thick. By contrast, first year ice that grows during a single winter is generally at most two meters thick.

This animation shows the seasonal variability of the ice, growing in the Arctic winter and melting in the summer. In addition, this also shows the changes from year to year. A graph in the upper left corner the quantifies the change over time by showing the area covered by sea ice that is 4 years old or older in millions of square kilometers. This graph also includes a memory bar – the vertical green bar that indicates the maximum value seen thus far in the animation for the given week being displayed. For example, when viewing the sea ice age for the first week in September, the memory bar will display the maximum value seen for the first week of September in all prior years from the beginning of the animation (1984). In addition, a violet bar indicates the weeks’s average area covered by sea ice greater than 4 years of age during the the 20-year time period from 1984 through 2003.

Note that data for the sea ice age is not available along the coastlines. The region where data is not available is shown in a dark lavender color.

Visualizers: Cindy Starr (lead), Horace Mitchell
For more information or to download this public domain video, go to https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4750#27894
Electoral politics, National politics, Women

Encouraging study – women more involved in 2020 political process

[Editor: I got this in an email from Susannah Delano of Close the Gap California.  Too much BAD news these days – here’s one to get our hopes up.  Fascinating charts – especially Key Takeaway #1. – R.S.]

Stepping Up and Standing Out: Women’s Political Participation in 2020

Read the memo here, the blog post here, and the press release here. 

Women of all ages and political affiliations — particularly millennials and women of color—have become more politically engaged since 2016, a trend that is likely to continue in the 2020 cycle. Our new research gives further insights into what motivates women and how they plan to participate this year.

Key Takeaways:

1. The 2016 election marked a new era of women’s involvement in political issues and campaigns and they show no sign of stopping in the 2020 cycle.

  • Only 16% of all surveyed women voters said they have become less politically involved in the last few years, with more than half (55%) saying their involvement has stayed the same, and almost one third (29%) reporting increased involvement.
    • The survey shows that Democratic women have been especially motivated to actively participate in the political process, with 35% saying that they have gotten more involved in politics in the last few years, compared to 27% of Republican women and 23% of women who consider themselves Independent.
    • Increased participation is notable among two key voting blocs: 41% of millennial women (18-34 years old) and 36% of women of color say that they have gotten more involved recently.
  • Looking ahead to the 2020 election, the trend of increased involvement is likely to continue, with 31% of women saying they will become more involved and only 9% saying they will be less engaged.
    • Among Democratic women, 39% say they will be more involved this year along with 40% of millennial woman and 40% of women of color.

2. Women are engaging in a range of activities, but are particularly focused on encouraging friends or family to vote or get involved in a campaign or issue.

  • 42% of respondents said that they have encouraged friends or family members to vote or become involved in a campaign or issue—compared to just 35% of men.
  • Millennial women are leading the charge and taking to the streets— nearly one-fourth of them (23%) reported that they have attended a march, rally, or protest since 2016.
  • On every key political action, women of color report being more politically engaged than white women—they volunteer their time, donate to candidates, attend marches, sign petitions, and encourage their friends to get involved at higher rates.

3. Despite increased involvement in political issues, women voters identified time (i.e. being too busy working and/or taking care of family) as the biggest barrier to getting politically involved.

  • The survey asked voters to choose their top reason for not getting involved among a list of several potential barriers: 22% of women said they were too busy working or taking care of their families as the top reason they didn’t get involved compared to 12% of men who identified work or family obligations as their main barrier.

4. Confidence in their own political knowledge is also a barrier unique to women.

  • Despite comparable news consumption, women are 3 times more likely to choose “I don’t know enough about political issues to get involved” as their top reason for not getting involved in politics (15% of women vs. 5% of men).

5. Women, on either side of the political aisle, are primarily motivated by the aspirations they hold for the country.

  • We tested several reasons for why voters have gotten involved in politics in the past few years, and the top two are I want to make my country a better place and I want to make sure our country moves forward not backward.

6. Women are inspired by other women’s political involvement, especially when it comes to supporting women running for office.

  • Women are more likely to volunteer or donate to female candidates, especially Democratic and millennial women, as well as women of color.

The survey was conducted nationwide among 800 likely 2020 presidential voters (including 600 women and 200 men) during December 5-12, 2019.Full data report available here.

Clean water, Trump, Wetlands, Women

Trump alarm: assault on pregnant women, assault on protected wetlands

By Roger Straw, January 24, 2020

Well, I woke up early this morning, intending to get to work.  Then I saw the national headlines.

No, not the impeachment trial in the Senate.  Most of us continue to hope against hope there, while expecting the worst.

My attention was grabbed this morning by two historic and horrific attacks by the Trump administration.  While we are watching the impeachment, the wannabe dictator and his buds are quietly changing the world.  Sigh….  I can’t wait until November!

Today’s Xenophobia: US to Restrict Visas for Pregnant Women Entering the Country

The Mary Sue, By Jessica Mason, Jan 23rd, 2020

Arrow -- "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four" -- Image Number: AR808A_0100r.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): David Harewood as Hank Henshaw/J'onn J'onzz and Caity Lotz as Sara Lance/White Canary -- Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW -- © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. pregnant woman touches her belly

In case you thought the Trump administration was only using the impeachment proceedings to barf all over the Constitution, think again. The target now: Trump’s old nemesis, Birthright citizenship. They don’t want the “wrong” people getting it.

On Thursday the Associated Press reports that the Trump administration is imposing new rules aimed at targetting “birth tourism,” the supposed practice of foreign nationals traveling to the US to have children who will be US Citizens due to birthright citizenship.

Birthright citizenship is the constitutional provision that stipulates anyone born in the US is a citizen. It is born of the 14th Amendment to the Bill of Rights, which was ratified after the civil war and is the basis for most civil rights constitutional cases. It reads in the relevant part: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Donald Trump, who does not understand the constitution, law or executive orders has long wanted to end this because it, of course, provides a way for people he doesn’t like – the children of immigrants – to become citizens and also then extend that citizenship to their parents. “Birth Tourism” may well be an issue, but the real point of these regulations is xenophobia and a desire to keep people out of America.  [MORE…]

Trump creates new hurdles for pregnant women seeking U.S. tourist visas

Washington Post, by Abigail Hauslohner and Maria Sacchetti, Jan. 23, 2020

The Trump administration says it is cracking down on what it calls “birth tourism” and will instruct consular officers to assess whether women requesting visas to visit the United States are hoping to give birth here to obtain U.S. citizenship for the child.

Starting Friday, the State Department will no longer issue temporary visitor visas to women hoping to travel to the United States for the purposes of having a child, White House officials said in a statement Thursday. The visas — known as B-1/B-2 visas — provide for temporary travel to the United States for tourism, business or medical care.

The State Department said Thursday that consular officers cannot require pregnancy tests to make the determination but would not rule out that a woman’s physical appearance could be taken into consideration.  [MORE…]

This Will Be the Biggest Loss of Clean Water Protection the Country Has Ever Seen

EcoWatch, by Olivia Rosane, Jan. 23, 2020
Myakka River State Park outside of Sarasota, Florida on Dec. 30, 2016. The park is a small preserve of rare protected habitat along Florida’s Gulf Coast, a region that has seen intense development and population growth. Andrew Lichtenstein / Corbis via Getty Images
Trump Finalizes Clean Water Rule Replacement
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Today, the Trump administration will finalize its replacement for the Obama-era Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule in a move that will strip protections from more than half of the nation’s wetlands and allow landowners to dump pesticides into waterways, or build over wetlands, for the first time in decades.

President Donald Trump has been working to undo the 2015 rule since he took office, but his replacement goes even further, The New York Times explained. In addition to rolling back protections for some wetlands and streams that run intermittently or temporarily underground, it will also get rid of a requirement that landowners seek permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which had considered permits on a case-by-case basis before 2015.

“This will be the biggest loss of clean water protection the country has ever seen,” Southern Environmental Law Center lawyer Blan Holman told The New York Times. “This puts drinking water for millions of Americans at risk of contamination from unregulated pollution. This is not just undoing the Obama rule. This is stripping away protections that were put in place in the ’70s and ’80s that Americans have relied on for their health.”  [MORE…]

Trump Administration Cuts Back Federal Protections For Streams And Wetlands

NPR, by Scott Neuman and Colini Dwyer, January 23, 2020

The Environmental Protection Agency is dramatically reducing the amount of U.S. waterways that get federal protection under the Clean Water Act — a move that is welcomed by many farmers, builders and mining companies but is opposed even by the agency’s own science advisers.  [MORE…]

Benicia CA, Fair elections, Local elections

Times-Herald: Benicia City Council votes against district elections

Vallejo Times-Herald, by John Glidden, January 22, 2020

BENICIA — District elections won’t be coming to Benicia anytime soon.

The Benicia City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to keep its current election format in which the mayor and four councilmembers are elected by voters across the city.

City Attorney Benjamin Stock sought direction to see if the council desired to change its election format to district-based meaning each councilmember would represent a portion of the city and be elected by residents in that particular area.

“I think this is a very bad idea for the city,” councilman Steve Young said during the discussion about district-based elections. “I think there is no rational reason to move toward district elections. I would like to certainly wait until somebody make a persuasive argument that we’re in violation of the voter’s right act before we take some radical change that completely changes how we elect city councilmembers.”

In recent years, municipalities across the state, including Solano County, have received demand letters stating that the the at-large election method they use violates the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) because it “impairs the ability of a protected class to elect candidates of its choice or its ability to influence the outcome of an election.”

Stock said Benicia has yet to receive such a letter, but with the school district transitioning to district elections, he thought it was a good time to explore if the council wished to follow suit.

“The fact that we’re raising the issue now has more to do with the environment we find ourselves in with our neighboring jurisdictions having transitioned and our school district recently transitioned,” Stock told the council. “No one here is somehow endorsing the value of transitioning to a district-based election as somehow being a better form of an election system.”

He presented three options for the five-person council to consider: Immediately switch to district-based elections for the November 2020 elections, change to district-based elections following the 2020 Census, or not switch to district elections.

The city of Vallejo received such a demand letter in September 2018 from Southern California-based lawyer Kevin Shenkman, who argued the city’s at-large council election format violated the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) because there were no African American or Latino/a councilmembers.

The council eventually selected a new district map, which divides the city into six districts – with a councilmember in each district. The mayor will continue to be elected by the entire city.

Much of the discussion centered around costs to challenging a demand letter. By switching to district-based elections, Vallejo paid Shenkman $30,000. Other municipalities that have challenged Shenkman have all lost and have been forced to pay attorney’s fees in the millions.

Councilman Lionel Largaespada asked if the city council defend itself if it decided to fight a demand letter.

City Manager Lorie Tinfow said with a $44 million general fund, spending $1 million would be “a relatively large percentage of our total general fund budget.”

Vice Mayor Christina Strawbridge, the lone ‘no’ vote, said she had some concerns about the city being exposed to a challenge letter without knowing the total costs.

She also said that she doesn’t support district elections, but Strawbridge noted that as an elected official she is required to uphold the law.

“If we’re disenfranchising anybody out there – I have a real concern about that,” she said.

Largaespada said he was “torn” about transitioning to district elections, while Mayor Elizabeth Patterson said the best defense Benicia could use is getting more information and not rush into anything for the 2020 election. Patterson further said she wasn’t convinced districts would solve any disenfranchisement issues.

The maker of the motion, longtime councilman Tom Campbell, said he wanted Benicia to connect with other cities, in size and demographics, to lobby the legislature about fighting the CVRA.

He admitted that Tuesday’s vote makes Benicia a target for a demand letter.

“For a city like Benicia is diverse but at the same time, it also doesn’t have these little sort of ghettos or barrios or whatever you want to say that would constitute something where we are  disenfranchising some group,” Campbell added.