ANONYMOUS - OUR VOICE

Wildfires in Australia caused an explosion of sea life thousands of miles away

Two years ago, in the southern Pacific Ocean, an explosion of algae grew to more than 2,000 miles wide — about the width of Australia.
Giant <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/8/4/22606025/florida-red-tide-dead-fish-beach-algae-bloom">algal blooms</a> are often tied to land pollution such as runoff from farmland, which is full of nutrients like nitrogen that these plant-like organisms need to thrive. But there were no nearby farms or factories here in the middle of the ocean.
The sprawling bloom was fueled instead by something faraway and unexpected: wildfires thousands of miles to the west.
In a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03805-8">landmark new study</a> published in the journal Nature, researchers conclude that smoke rising from Australia’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/12/30/21039298/40-celsius-australia-fires-2019-heatwave-climate-change">historic 2019 wildfires</a> drifted out to sea and fertilized vast communities of algae. The smoke, which contained the nutrient iron, gave rise to algal blooms that were together larger than Australia, the authors write.
“We know that these fires have catastrophic impacts on local ecosystems,” said Nicolas Cassar, a study co-author and professor of biogeochemistry at Duke University. But by spreading nutrients, he said, “they also impact ecosystems that are thousands of kilometers away.”
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1631735671_6528_18241" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22849608,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mCYFYCaiIjxmTA-OpruDH5FZxwo=/0x0:1881x940/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9luszJ8fr88kbxNrmOH27e6JeVo=/0x0:1881x940/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/g4h49WZh0r6nHsw2x2WWi_KHdjY=/0x0:1881x940/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oH_t2kEfmf-khgAwCaOd-J9Zosg=/0x0:1881x940/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Dihsj4SlnIeWeo3Qll1plLRCkHQ=/0x0:1881x940/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_PoT4Fve_R67hroqYSDm741EyWY=/0x0:1881x940/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7rlm_7XHM36xmTxwqOjk3U0iV9Y=/0x0:1881x940/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pZWFqNJRLuPOnZnCl0jMnsBf2-o=/0x0:1881x940/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QYZu-aZJm8JOjMWfA5j9Hq1WPb4=/0x0:1881x940/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="1881" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eRY4tTDubQLO9PUN_KrkZRv2ACU=/0x0:1881x940/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/obCKKANqYx9jF1579PWAwKIgLLE=/0x0:1881x940/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Fx2R5eG_md7eE4zypK79WUHgQjI=/0x0:1881x940/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/C768gAKHcKxTo1oCiv3wgyvA1rM=/0x0:1881x940/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VDeNrGcGJ2IXfHUJKstM4g6eiqI=/0x0:1881x940/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6f_qAK2xv1unQpKMFhvw6qWhD3Q=/0x0:1881x940/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ey9uhGGVzA0cUPyhREh0zcdmzNk=/0x0:1881x940/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UfG2ObSnyBAVUEgbJMhERwgKynM=/0x0:1881x940/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/R9okA9rcTvZX8BXZY-L6IC6km0Q=/0x0:1881x940/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_lMrHD2ZXGa2hEcTsXH9YtbOAdE=/0x0:1881x940/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1881x940):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849608/Satellite_image_2.png 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>A satellite captured this image showing a red-colored plume of smoke and ash over the ocean emanating from Australia’s wildfires in early 2020.</figcaption>
<cite>Courtesy of Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communication Technology</cite></figure>
As regions from the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22652678/dixie-caldor-wildfire-california-sierra-nevada-drought-climate">American West</a> to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/13/summer-of-fire-blazes-mediterranean-more-extreme-weather-forecast">Mediterranean</a> grapple with another devastating wildfire season, the study adds a new dimension to our understanding of how climate-fueled disasters are transforming the planet. We’re learning that the impacts of fires go well beyond the human death toll, the leveled homes, and the charred forests. Extreme wildfires are also altering underwater ecosystems far from the flames.
As anyone living in the US West knows, wildfire smoke is full of all kinds of stuff that’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/21451219/wildfire-2020-california-oregon-washington-health-air-quality">toxic to inhale</a>, including carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. Dirty air is one of the most serious public health threats and is known to <a href="https://www.axios.com/air-pollution-global-life-expectancy-report-fb6a821c-95aa-4671-8005-caac8be0e69b.html">shave years off of life expectancy</a>.
But while harmful to humans, wildfire smoke — which typically contains nutrients like iron and phosphorus — can help algae and plants grow, just as fertilizer might help rescue a wilted house plant. Some of those nutrients come directly from burning forests or grasslands, while others are in dust that fires suck up and loft into the air, said Douglas Hamilton, a researcher at Cornell University who led a <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-marine-031921-013612&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1631639155271000&usg=AOvVaw0cc4O8C1mwVJk1QiZ8vh7m">recent review</a> on how aerosols affect ocean biogeochemistry.
<figure class="e-image"><img alt="" class="c-dynamic-image" data-cdata="{"asset_id":22849693,"ratio":"*"}" data-chorus-optimize-field="main_image" data-cid="site/dynamic_size_image-1631735671_7329_18242" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAUEBAAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs" /> <img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849693/giphy__2_.gif" />
<figcaption>Satellite data shows soot from the 2019 wildfires spreading west from Australia.</figcaption>
<cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03805-8" target="_blank">Weiyi Tang et al.</a>/Nature</cite></figure>
In some cases, smoke settles over the land — as is common in the US, where the wind tends to blow smoke rising from western states toward the East Coast. That’s why <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/20/us/wildfire-smoke-new-york-city.html">the sky above New York was hazy</a> this summer while wildfires were raging in California and Oregon.
In other regions, however, air currents send it out to sea. That’s what happened during Australia’s devastating wildfire season that began in 2019, according to the study. Smoke emanating from the fires — which burned <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/25/unprecedented-globally-more-than-20-of-australias-forests-burnt-in-bushfires">21 percent</a> of the country’s temperate and broadleaf forests — traveled west into the southern Pacific Ocean, where it settled in waters with relatively low iron levels. There, any large source of iron is thought to be “an essential driver of oceanic primary production,” the authors wrote.
As a result, the researchers argue, the smoke spurred enormous algal blooms — concentrated in patches south of Australia and far off the western coast of South America. The blooms, shown in red in the below map, peaked in January 2020 and lasted for about four months, the authors said.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1631735671_300_18243" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22851650,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/R_6ZW70xKq58OoARVZyOfkI3m6g=/0x0:2465x1028/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BmFgA5jRd9tDywGy2krYd0A1crc=/0x0:2465x1028/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tK-ypbyFn3YMBn1my8p2B1pV75w=/0x0:2465x1028/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-XTna1_-B8cowxsuo1ZHI6zcs2Q=/0x0:2465x1028/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZwjLXqt2NHKPRTxeSviZTItSgfw=/0x0:2465x1028/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gp6-Yw1dIdh1lwMeF66ktnOi1eg=/0x0:2465x1028/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZJNVRBRTSXDIAFAOuFB2MpeqcGA=/0x0:2465x1028/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/g0Za_HFdb0Y8SFIw4UKoGJKdTxs=/0x0:2465x1028/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VDun_2oA5vgsxU3dbyPUGV3wIZY=/0x0:2465x1028/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="2465" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QwFgZrB1Iiq-I2ZGz4JeekbBsyE=/0x0:2465x1028/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rP6NTHoIbuJ1c-1g8rA8SUEK41Q=/0x0:2465x1028/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/571y-wjWi45w1KNUrkMnzABfKlY=/0x0:2465x1028/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XPtqf7Sn7sO3lzLX7sOWLqFPpRY=/0x0:2465x1028/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/w8tF2ZofBa7D-aSMqXetPFY4ACQ=/0x0:2465x1028/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Wi-9HlW77-NJqNgk-Vwn26ckkek=/0x0:2465x1028/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/B18-tg8RLRVchirhRsf1kKQop74=/0x0:2465x1028/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7PfusGYm70LbTHwRfy3XYYrUTt4=/0x0:2465x1028/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UUriwHKpt738AP_EhBNYJXVi_Mg=/0x0:2465x1028/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FbLizal3vEgFppd-NNgURf9HHtg=/0x0:2465x1028/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2465x1028):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851650/Fig.1d.png 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>Wildfires in Australia in 2019 fueled large algal blooms, shown in dark red.</figcaption>
<cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03805-8" target="_blank">Weiyi Tang et al.</a>/Nature</cite></figure>
The results are especially surprising considering that in a typical year, the abundance of algae in these regions is actually lower during Australia’s summer (North America’s winter), according to the study.
Scientists have known for years that dust carried by the wind is a source of nutrients for algae, Hamilton said, but they had only an “inkling” that fire played a major role, too. This study is the first to connect large fires to large blooms, they said, which is what makes the work “groundbreaking.”
Massive wildfires have already burned hundreds of thousands of acres in <a href="https://www.vox.com/22652678/dixie-caldor-wildfire-california-sierra-nevada-drought-climate">California</a>, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2021/8/27/22639885/amazon-rainforest-fires-climate-change-2021">Brazilian Amazon</a>, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/11/siberia-fires-russia-climate/">Siberia</a> this year. They’ve destroyed homes, wiped out wildlife, and flooded the air with greenhouse gases. Will they also change the biology of nearby oceans? That depends on several factors, experts say, such as the size of the blaze and the direction of the wind.
On occasion, for example, smoke from western wildfires will travel out over the Pacific Ocean. That’s what happened during the 2017 Thomas Fire in Southern California, then the largest in the state’s history. Smoke wafted over the Santa Barbara Channel, and <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020JC016851">research</a> suggests it may have altered the marine ecosystem there. When the authors tested the water during the fire, they found an abnormally high number of certain marine algae called dinoflagellates, said Sasha Kramer, the study’s lead author and a doctoral student at the University of California Santa Barbara. It’s not clear what, exactly, that means for the health of the ecosystem, but different kinds of algae are known to be better or worse at sequestering the carbon they absorb, she said. (The authors didn’t find more algae overall.)
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1631735671_9475_18244" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22849637,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5oInblyWtwQjTnOpZuNuMXR4ozc=/0x0:2800x1841/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/f2cS68ec_mvoMc99ke6Hvv8JxGQ=/0x0:2800x1841/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EsEf8zhEn-sM3_2Wyb9Vm-1BahA=/0x0:2800x1841/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GmSQPQTn0PIYINScP_6jgmJF1h8=/0x0:2800x1841/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/huGOR91zdgHIwGKCPP3aJZCw6uE=/0x0:2800x1841/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gdDcEIyhtR6uv0Zyx3BzG2HwZMU=/0x0:2800x1841/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SF_c77gpyXyXVuM1H_hVeOlk9v4=/0x0:2800x1841/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/csWvWIsmFG0YzPpZf6AeAEpoKdY=/0x0:2800x1841/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ogh0vGfEqoD67X8PD9ooMVWJ-GU=/0x0:2800x1841/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="2800" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jilBjO9ZkOu8Xt5VPTOozwk7fb0=/0x0:2800x1841/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gJ0PNGiEGBtiYNtNENgd4sXnohY=/0x0:2800x1841/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EM39aqDaRwCy5JIEZAs80owYq-8=/0x0:2800x1841/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DluOwNoeadV5pf1Ra9sKDSN1soE=/0x0:2800x1841/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FD63Xn3bMF5evSnawmDqQh62GCA=/0x0:2800x1841/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8abtalZGlriyIpvL09BwAgdZZhQ=/0x0:2800x1841/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qS173yR3byPsyomgyGljYmaSHc8=/0x0:2800x1841/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xRSVp7Glnwlkj8Zy_6fdVDNho0Q=/0x0:2800x1841/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PF_JWbMFWhbm34ZR1t1b6LWthDU=/0x0:2800x1841/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/z8MqeS3jljU7rCRNk6ZYwIfc1MU=/0x0:2800x1841/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2800x1841):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849637/GettyImages_889874744.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>A huge cloud of smoke rises from the Thomas Fire, as seen in Ventura, California, in December, 2017.</figcaption>
<cite>Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</cite></figure>
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1631735671_8775_18245" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22849681,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/P5ZiQWnp5oe-N6ixXgSDkbLDd80=/0x0:1250x565/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/z5aJNflla9s9NEtpph_pqL3BIBs=/0x0:1250x565/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/stYbpqpG8iOboOzvrtMsxzAXUgM=/0x0:1250x565/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7-PfRrv1EXVVw2VOisInRAfPqNI=/0x0:1250x565/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CEsZ9M9UHrozGMe1vPHptkR1QsI=/0x0:1250x565/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gT2Gi1q-1Xn8YY9lkexrmommDYQ=/0x0:1250x565/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ySHu5QklBod9fJB2TN6QpCgwrmI=/0x0:1250x565/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TjrBvR45Caeb0c86NXKb80swYDE=/0x0:1250x565/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WA_TvgvM4jkRkqJg1tQB61NPFVY=/0x0:1250x565/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="1250" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Qet8xppzvDcTqqEQGbTdD8AtYqI=/0x0:1250x565/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/k5YMsoMflSWBS7nBIk0hT4OmAtA=/0x0:1250x565/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IRrNQzsUNfc8ErbXaH-j7e4ioVk=/0x0:1250x565/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hs0B1EbbA8ppO_yHWtjxMnxSlCg=/0x0:1250x565/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Vu3jFgTMcRMyicfQ3ZbbUohSDAs=/0x0:1250x565/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ITZabOlK4xNjlaKbJZrFoK0PW64=/0x0:1250x565/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xViaJwe0hSjWFcSCk-2LbY9de8g=/0x0:1250x565/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QZkb0ey0_YBeZM3Pyh485tHpFMo=/0x0:1250x565/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EXOqkjeBfN5oU5Krg9mRHxbWdT4=/0x0:1250x565/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IEC3hP0IVC11cGwJAEaKmWZeIaU=/0x0:1250x565/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1250x565):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849681/Sasha_forBenji.pptx__1_.png 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>Two of the many species of marine algae researchers detected in Southern California during the 2017 Thomas Fire.</figcaption>
<cite>Courtesy of Sasha Kramer</cite></figure>
Elsewhere in the world, research has found a stronger connection between fires and phytoplankton. In 2003, a particularly <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3834840">notable paper</a> linked a 1997 red tide — which choked a coral reef in Sumatra of oxygen, killing fish and the reef itself — to wildfires in Indonesia. “Iron fertilization by the 1997 Indonesian wildfires was sufficient to produce the extraordinary red tide,” the authors wrote, “leading to reef death by asphyxiation.”
Wildfire smoke can also <a href="https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/f03-049">cause algae to balloon</a> in freshwater rivers and lakes. “It usually causes a really big bloom response because [the algae] is just sitting there getting fertilized in the sun,” Kramer said. In these cases, however, it’s typically phosphorus rather than iron that the algae need to bloom, Hamilton said.
Smoke from wildfires has even been shown to fertilize plants on land. One <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/33/16216">remarkable study</a> from 2019 found that phosphorus from fires burning in southern Africa traveled all the way to the Amazon Basin, where it fertilized the rainforest.
While wildfires are becoming more frequent and severe <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/7/25/22592004/wildfires-climate-change-reconciliation-bill">due to climate change</a>, scientists still aren’t sure what that means for the future of our oceans.
As the Nature study shows, fires can spur large algal blooms, but a lot depends on the local environment. If the ecosystem already has plenty of nutrients, for example, an influx of iron or phosphorus might not produce a bloom.
Even if there is a bloom, it’s not always clear if it’s good or bad. Phytoplankton, like plants, are photosynthetic, absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) as they grow. In a basic sense, more algae mean fewer carbon emissions. That’s why some people <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2008.0139">have proposed</a> fertilizing the ocean with iron as a way to combat climate change. But even big algal blooms may not absorb enough carbon to offset the CO2 stemming from the wildfires that fuel them. Some kinds of algae are also likely to release the carbon they store back into the atmosphere when they decay, whereas others, such as diatoms, are more likely to lock it up permanently, Kramer said.
“The best thing is to not rely on this carbon drawdown from phytoplankton, but to stop emitting CO2 in the first place,” Hamilton said.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1631735671_984_18246" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22852299,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SIZf9rL65iuYskT9DzYuabvSv6M=/0x0:5392x3595/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nBX6UEvzh38JLyigevvARNVuNuE=/0x0:5392x3595/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sXyXkn6x2j35omB9putESNR9pIg=/0x0:5392x3595/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/U6jFw-iUE9NsgTu5u-_G-KILgTA=/0x0:5392x3595/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mZ0ucIAgt_E_JyfVLsWQsofp7DM=/0x0:5392x3595/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pAiXoG5o_IehZpT-xiO0XXirwrc=/0x0:5392x3595/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZkVLzxmkLdFE-Pr-XXC_1MXvRiU=/0x0:5392x3595/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BK_uYn62kFb0rc8KJT3Ll0IvIag=/0x0:5392x3595/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3zLfHAnrFVm_kKlLRawVVL7QdW0=/0x0:5392x3595/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="5392" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uJY-ehXgpzJL-7lB4iICegxKL_k=/0x0:5392x3595/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NM8uJHhbxg2pxZn2uChCX4MEAw8=/0x0:5392x3595/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zFDV1du7DTvIS0fKZQtaxyGK02E=/0x0:5392x3595/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-X5NdLJ5atcGqHXwm75Tb_bm2CY=/0x0:5392x3595/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/U1zmFUh2Ztu97_ykX6a8iUuFsxU=/0x0:5392x3595/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jhhhp-Jqlg86m6ME_ENm4KmlN48=/0x0:5392x3595/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lX15oruBUpfqaHlRIr7Oiip2SSE=/0x0:5392x3595/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oBz1Kw3HD1imu5TX_KrwqYuFZA0=/0x0:5392x3595/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CcjpNejVCkcfMb0T92iW_Ot-rt4=/0x0:5392x3595/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OUkD4x3MJt0tReYfvblUjTg_sLk=/0x0:5392x3595/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5392x3595):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852299/GettyImages_1188985703.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>A firefighter in New South Wales, Australia, sprays water on a controlled burn during the country’s devastating 2019 wildfire season.</figcaption>
<cite>David Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images</cite></figure>
Algal blooms can also wreak havoc on wildlife and throw ecosystems off balance. Blooms in Florida, for example, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/8/4/22606025/florida-red-tide-dead-fish-beach-algae-bloom">have killed thousands of fish</a>, and even manatees. They have also caused “dead zones” around the world, including in parts of the Gulf of Mexico and the Chesapeake Bay, where there’s not enough oxygen for animals to survive. If nothing else, they’re likely altering the food chain, Hamilton said.
This research raises a lot of new questions, such as how fire-fueled phytoplankton affect ocean biology and carbon sinks, and stands to further complicate future climate models. It also highlights an uneasy juxtaposition: We can be both amazed by the science of catastrophe and gravely worried about what it tells us. It’s mind-boggling that fires in Australia are fertilizing oceans off the coast of South America — and troubling to think of what it might mean for the marine animals that live there.
<div class="c-article-footer">
<hr class="p-entry-hr" />
<a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">We have a request</a>
In moments like this — as people grapple to understand variants and vaccines, and kids head back to school — many outlets take their paywalls down. Vox’s content is always free, in part because of financial support from our readers. We’ve been covering the Covid-19 pandemic for more than a year and a half. From the beginning, our goal was to bring clarity to chaos. To empower people with the information they needed to stay safe. And we’re not stopping.
In the next 30 days, we’re aiming to add 2,500 individual contributions to help keep our coverage of the Covid-19 crisis free for everyone who needs it. As each of us is only as healthy as our sickest neighbor, it’s essential that people can access clear information on the pandemic for free. <a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">Will you help us reach our goal by making a contribution to Vox with as little as $3?</a>
</div>
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2021/9/15/22672480/wildfires-oceans-algae-blooms-climate-change-australia">https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2021/9/15/22672480/wildfires-oceans-algae-blooms-climate-change-australia</a>

vox Wildfires in Australia caused an explosion of sea life thousands of miles away

Two years ago, in the southern Pacific Ocean, an explosion of algae grew to more than 2,000 miles wide — about the width of Australia. Gian...

The best $34.32 I ever spent: My white cane

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VR6GEmJw0NgyXqXFXdSKmjP_igI=/0x78:4000x2172/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22849531/Cane__1_.jpg" /></div>
I touched down in Denver, made my way through the airport, and got an Uber to a restaurant a friend had recommended. I had made a reservation in advance, walked right in, and was seated at the bar. I enjoyed an entrée and a cocktail and caught up on podcasts while I ate my meal. Later, I paid my bill, then took another Uber to my hotel.
This all sounds pretty mundane. As a 35-year-old professional, I had gone on a million business trips before, but as a newly minted openly blind person, it was a huge first for me. Checking in with the hostess, ordering the dinner I selected in advance after perusing the menu online, and being just another patron amid the chatter and clinking of dishes in the hip, busy downtown spot made me feel powerful and present in a way that was entirely new — and frankly, the meal was quite delicious.
As I settled into my hotel room that night, I thought about the object that made this whole trip possible: my white cane. Wielding the cane in the airport, at the restaurant, and in the hotel made me feel powerful and in control, but I recalled a time when that was not the case. I remembered when pulling out the white cane filled me with shame. It was the symbol of my failure to be sighted.
I was born with a genetic, degenerative eye condition that meant the cells in my retina responsible for light perception were either severely damaged or nonfunctional. I was effectively “night blind,” but I had pretty good daytime vision, depth perception, and acuity. As a child and then a young adult, I could mostly “fake it” as a sighted person. With eyes that appeared to track the world around me and no white cane or guide dog to mark me as blind to sighted people, my disability was well hidden. And, surrounded by a sighted family, classmates, and teachers, that’s what I was encouraged to do.
I went through life without interacting much at all with other blind people, except for the mobility instructors that my mom arranged for me through our state’s blind services agency starting when I was in elementary school. They would pull me out of regular classes during the day to train me on how to use a white cane.
My pretty good daytime vision, however, made it hard for me to see the benefits of the cane, and I spent most of these sessions making sure none of my classmates saw me with this strange device. Whenever I practiced with the instructor, I felt awkward and somewhat like a fraud — I could still see well, and I feared people would think I was faking being blind.
Still, I did absorb much of what these mobility instructors, some of whom were blind themselves, taught me. I learned different cane strokes, swiping across the ground in front of me or using the “two-point touch” to tap at shoulder-width intervals. I learned how to navigate stairs and avoid bumping into obstacles in my path. I mastered street crossings, listening carefully for parallel traffic as the signal that it was safe to cross. By middle school, I had the cane skills pretty much down pat.
But even at that young age, I subconsciously understood <a href="https://www.today.com/tmrw/what-ableism-t212462">ableism</a> and loathed the idea that people who saw me with the cane would think I was weak, deserving of pity, or worse, an amazing inspiration simply because I was able to move at all. At school, I tried to avoid things like dropping a pencil on the ground. As I’d feel around for my fallen writing implement, I would hear the jeers of the boys in my class as they laughed and called me “blindy.”
At the time, I thought, how dare they lob this horrible slur at me? It makes sense now, considering neither they nor I had learned anything in school about disability. I never saw characters that experienced the world like I did in the literature we read or the history we learned. My blindness was invisible to everyone, and I participated in the game of sweeping it under the rug.
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside><q>I remembered when pulling out the white cane filled me with shame. It was the symbol of my failure to be sighted.</q></aside>
</div>
Those feelings persisted into my teenage years and young adulthood. In college, my cane remained tucked away, out of sight in my bag. The one time I tried to use it, walking down Broadway in New York City (where I went to school), some kid yelled out, “Why’s she using that, she’s not blind!” This instantly pulled me back into my shell of secrecy and shame, reacting to the dissonance created by my partial sight and use of the cane. It would be years before I tried displaying the outward trappings of my disability, instead opting for the more discreet, albeit less convenient, approach of holding onto other people’s arms for guidance when I couldn’t see.
I began to lose vision rapidly in my late 20s, and that loss defined how I navigated life. I set limits on where I would go, I turned down social invitations, I was afraid to venture out by myself at night. Still, my desire to obscure what was happening to me was paramount, even above my own physical safety. It took some serious brushes with calamity — including falling into the train tracks at Penn Station because I wasn’t using a cane and missed the edge of the platform — that led me to wake up and realize that if I didn’t change my attitude, I could seriously harm myself, or even lose my life. My denial of disability was starting to look more like a death wish.
I didn’t want my vision loss to be the end of me. I found a new mobility instructor as a free service through the state commission for the blind and learned to navigate New York City. For one hour every week, an extremely kind, patient woman walked beside me while I felt my way through subway stations and navigated intersections. Gradually, she started walking behind me, forcing me to feel more comfortable being seen alone with the cane. One day, she gave me an address to travel to on my own and said she would meet me there. That was the first time I walked the streets and rode the subway with my cane and felt completely fine about it; there was no twinge of shame or embarrassment. When I found my instructor at our designated meeting spot, I had a huge grin on my face. I learned, bit by bit, not to care who was looking at me or what they were saying.
Once I began to tune all of that out, I started to understand how this 54-inch length of graphite was changing my orientation to the world. I could go anywhere at any time. I wasn’t constrained by shame and fear. The cane, I came to accept, was my best tool to participate in the world on equal footing with my sighted peers.
According to the 2018 National Health Interview Survey, an estimated <a href="https://www.afb.org/research-and-initiatives/statistics#content">32.2 million adults in the US</a> (or about 13 percent of the adult population) reported either having trouble seeing even with glasses or contact lenses, or being partially or completely blind. The way people deal with it varies: Some prefer to only walk with sighted assistance, some use white canes, others prefer guide dogs. Canes give you a lot of advanced information when walking; you can feel bumps in the sidewalk, curbs, and abandoned scooters that people dump in the middle of the sidewalk. The cane offers a wealth of information in each swipe, and for me this made it indispensable.
Up until that point, I had relied on a series of free canes given to me by various mobility instructors at various points in my life. When I moved to Washington, DC, and started hanging out with more blind people, I discovered the world of cane variety. There are <a href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/Europa-Folding-Cane-w-Reizen-Marshmallow-Hook-Tip-58-in/181815483">marshmallow tips</a> (a big ball at the end of your cane that literally looks like a giant marshmallow) and <a href="https://www.maxiaids.com/ambutech-hilites-blue-4-sec-52-in-aluminum-folding-cane-pencil-tip">pencil tips</a> and <a href="https://www.maxiaids.com/ambutech-alum-6-sec-folding-cane-white-ball-56-in">roller tips</a>. People even get cool bling for their canes, like sparkly charms with rhinestones that you can hang from the hand strap.
Suddenly, I felt that my tattered, beat-up, free cane from the New York State Commission for the Blind was just not up to par.
So I invested in my first white cane. I chose a 59-inch <a href="https://ambutech.com/collections/graphite-mobility-folding-canes">graphite folding cane from Ambutech</a> with a marshmallow tip, as recommended by another blind friend. It cost $34.32, and I was so excited when it arrived in its fresh plastic wrapping. This was the first time I had been able to pick out the cane I wanted. I selected the length and chose an accent color — a cheerful, bright-pink strip at the bottom to complement the white body of the cane.
By buying the cane with my own money and in consultation with other cane users, the experience of blindness was no longer a burden I bore alone; it was a cultural marker that bound me closer to a community I had begun to fall in love with. It was my first true investment into my identity as a blind person — an object that would unmistakably mark me as disabled — and I was proud and delighted. I felt incredible joy in joining the ranks of my blind friends, all of us forming a crowd of white canes and guide dogs.
I now have multiple canes for all occasions and needs, and I swap between them like outfits in my closet. Gone are the days of hiding my cane away, folded in the depths of my purse. When it’s in my hand, I feel seen. I am unabashedly present in a world that perpetually wants to erase me and my disabled community. Now, wherever I’m going, that cane is coming with me, and I’m up for whatever solo adventure comes my way.
Qudsiya Naqui is a lawyer, disability justice activist, and host of the podcast <a href="https://www.downtothestruts.com/episodes/season-2-law-policy-disabled-immigrants">Down to the Struts</a> about disability, design, and intersectionality.
<div class="c-article-footer">
<hr class="p-entry-hr" />
<a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">We have a request</a>
In moments like this — as people grapple to understand variants and vaccines, and kids head back to school — many outlets take their paywalls down. Vox’s content is always free, in part because of financial support from our readers. We’ve been covering the Covid-19 pandemic for more than a year and a half. From the beginning, our goal was to bring clarity to chaos. To empower people with the information they needed to stay safe. And we’re not stopping.
In the next 30 days, we’re aiming to add 2,500 individual contributions to help keep our coverage of the Covid-19 crisis free for everyone who needs it. As each of us is only as healthy as our sickest neighbor, it’s essential that people can access clear information on the pandemic for free. <a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">Will you help us reach our goal by making a contribution to Vox with as little as $3?</a>
</div>
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22673510/best-money-white-cane-blindness">https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22673510/best-money-white-cane-blindness</a>

vox The best $34.32 I ever spent: My white cane

I touched down in Denver, made my way through the airport, and got an Uber to a restaurant a friend had recommended. I had made a reservati...

Inaction on climate change can worsen the crisis in Afghanistan

After decades of foreign intervention and violent conflict, the American mission in Afghanistan has ended and the Taliban have <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/7/taliban-announce-acting-ministers-of-new-government">announced a new government</a>. But for millions of Afghans, human-induced climate change has only magnified the strife.
Most of Afghanistan is dry and hot for much of the year, and from 1950 to 2010, the landlocked country warmed <a href="https://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/Afghanistan/UNEP_AFG_CC_Science_perspectives.pdf">1.8 degrees Celsius — about twice the global average</a>, but it is only responsible for a <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/afghanistan#what-share-of-global-co2-emissions-are-emitted-by-the-country">tiny fraction</a> of greenhouse gas emissions.
The combined impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, war, and prolonged drought <a href="https://www.nrc.no/resources/briefing-notes/running-out-of-time/">threaten millions of Afghans with food insecurity</a>. Although rainfall in Afghanistan has long varied, certain farming regions in the east, north, and central highlands are seeing up to <a href="https://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/Afghanistan/UNEP_AFG_CC_Science_perspectives.pdf">40 percent less rain</a> during the spring, when the largely rain-fed crops will need water most. A majority of Afghans earn some income from farming.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1631736116_7493_48355" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22851006,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YgCDKjzLUvCGMlH4_PrvF6AtvgQ=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JWgS-YoV8r9OHdDa2iAjnnyvAjg=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IGNiwFA7tVxSc6gf-cZOssQPatU=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/iOQhPYTzSaGxSmnRCsdJJVHnY1M=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/45L8fYnm268IqdI_AB0jlMi7i4Q=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZWcr3M2mHfaHjfAe93JvV1bMf2M=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zqQFJ1vsGxkye_DlkjuZvetgZmo=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Syf2B5biG3mWyoqR1AvNnFR-4YE=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nF1JuLRg4VlxGDcnOHma58FAVuk=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fvhaMTxmm-cTCF9lgAMt6atFJ98=/0x0:3000x2000/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/72seqLtiMMd6S-i7EHwsQOw4N0I=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rnAqLTzka6EdhELNyy9Jzwqttl4=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/t1saUFDh5AdEekBjOVgxx942UAM=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dkM_pp_zPZ-33hxSoCZNK1YrQnw=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CQC8XU4GoOHOwxIrDsLUnOGB7R4=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DnksmmSPqwMnYIhuBjPt_KvQLnE=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ixaxprhr01a-U4jt_p7nPMIeJx0=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/efGgE5Ks9dGVtEhM8C7CC4QKXYA=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ok5Ab3Log_2CoeRviNaJa6CrKhA=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22851006/GettyImages_1228225301_copy.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>The death toll was said to have hit over 100, with hundreds of homes destroyed, as a result of floods in Afghanistan in late August.</figcaption>
<cite>Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</cite></figure>
To avoid the most devastating impacts for Afghanistan, experts have stressed that the US and the international community must commit to deeper cuts to carbon emissions and help developed countries to become more resilient in the face of environmental calamities.
At the <a href="https://ukcop26.org/">United Nations Climate Conference</a> (COP26) in Glasgow this November, nearly 200 world governments have the chance to make good on their commitments to keep global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, in line with the 2016 Paris climate agreement. Developing countries are already <a href="https://powershiftafrica.org/cop-26-a-five-point-plan-for-solidarity-prosperity-and-fairness/">asking some of the world’s top economies</a> to further slash emissions, and to provide financial help with adapting to climate change and transitioning to clean energy through mechanisms like the <a href="https://www.greenclimate.fund/">Green Climate Fund</a>.
Before the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/8/15/22626082/kabul-capital-fall-afghanistan-government-taliban-forces-explained">Taliban took over</a>, Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency planned to submit its updated climate pledge at the conference. It planned to ask for more financial assistance for projects to improve water management, as well as <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/114/24/6148">smart agriculture</a> implementations to improve farm productivity and reduce environmental harm.
<a href="https://ozone.unep.org/node/2899">Ahmad Samim Hoshmand</a> was set to represent Afghanistan at COP26. But now he’s one of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/evacuations-afghanistan-by-country-2021-08-26/">the thousands of Afghan people</a> to flee, as the Taliban swept through major cities and assumed power. As national ozone officer for the United Nations Environment Program, Hoshmand’s work to enforce the global ban on <a href="https://www.state.gov/key-topics-office-of-environmental-quality-and-transboundary-issues/the-montreal-protocol-on-substances-that-deplete-the-ozone-layer/">ozone-depleting substances</a> made him an enemy of people trading them. Having already worked a risky job in Afghanistan, Hoshmand now fears retribution as a refugee.
But despite the security threats facing him and his home country, Hoshmand stresses, “If we don’t address climate change, conflict and violence will only get worse.”
Members of the Taliban have said <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/seeking-world-recognition-taliban-vows-help-fight-terror-climate-change-1622239">they want recognition from the international community</a> and to work together to tackle shared concerns like global warming. But how?
For help answering this question, I called Hoshmand, who was in Tajikistan. Our discussion, edited for length and clarity, is below.
This interview was conducted in late August, prior to the announcement of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22665508/taliban-afghanistan-prime-minister-supreme-leader-hassan-haibatullah">new Taliban-formed government</a>.
<h4>Jariel Arvin</h4>
What are the major ways climate change is currently affecting Afghanistan?
<h4>Ahmad Samim Hoshmand</h4>
Afghanistan is among the most vulnerable countries in the world when it comes to climate change, based on its geography, sensitivity to, and ability to cope with global warming. I’m 100 percent sure that when you add conflict to those criteria, Afghanistan is the most vulnerable country in the world.
Various data shows that the country is facing food insecurity, water scarcity, drought, and flash floods. All these issues are connected to climate change, and in recent years, we have witnessed the situation get even worse. We’ve had extreme weather like floods in the north, while at the same time, we’ve experienced drought in the southern part of Afghanistan.
But there are also indirect impacts of climate change on Afghan society. Violence, conflict, human rights abuses, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/26/climate-change-creating-generation-of-child-brides-in-africa">underage marriage</a> are <a href="https://berghof-foundation.org/news/climate-and-conflict-as-a-vicious-cycle-the-case-of-afghanistan">linked</a> with climate change. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Afghanistan/Agriculture-and-forestry">Eighty-five percent of Afghanistan’s economy</a> depends on agriculture. So when farmers lose their livelihoods, they will do whatever they can to survive. In a fragile country like Afghanistan, the alternatives are often dangerous.
<h4>Jariel Arvin</h4>
What was Afghanistan doing to address climate change before the Taliban took over?
<h4>Ahmad Samim Hoshmand</h4>
In recent years, we’ve been actively engaging in a multilateral process to fight climate change with the aim of enhancing equality, knowledge sharing, and partnership with countries across the world. We’ve been especially focused on engaging with countries who share common interests of socioeconomic development and sustainable growth. Afghanistan has taken a number of actions at the national level, policy and planning level, and international level.
<h4>Jariel Arvin</h4>
Are there any specific policies or actions you can point to?
<h4>Ahmad Samim Hoshmand</h4>
We have taken lots of practical actions, like developing a <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/22447/Report_CC_Governance_Afghanistan_EN_v2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">climate change strategy and action plan</a>. We also completed a <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/6317285_Afghanistan-BUR1-1-NIR-AFG-Final_TK_MN_TK_20200228.pdf">greenhouse gas inventory</a> for the first time in the history of Afghanistan, which was a very big achievement for us.
We secured more than <a href="https://www.greenclimate.fund/project/fp129">$20 million in grants and financing</a> from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), to support the development of renewable energy. At the same time, we’ve also improved our <a href="https://unfccc.int/process/the-paris-agreement/nationally-determined-contributions/ndc-spotlight">national climate targets</a> in accordance with the 2016 Paris agreement. We were planning on submitting them at COP26.
<h4>Jariel Arvin</h4>
Do you have any idea what the updated plan will be?
<h4>Ahmad Samim Hoshmand</h4>
Not at this stage. I hope my colleagues can participate, but given the current situation it is quite difficult to arrange everything.
At the very least, I’d like to see space for Afghanistan at COP26. There should not be an empty chair. There should be someone representing the country, and that person should share at the leadership level that Afghanistan is the most vulnerable country in the world, and we need financial support to cope with climate change shocks, for the sake of our children and the next generation.
<h4>Jariel Arvin</h4>
Are you still going?
<h4>Ahmad Samim Hoshmand</h4>
I was on the list. And if the situation calms down, and if my colleagues resume office, then I will participate. I’d love to represent my country.
<h4>Jariel Arvin</h4>
Let’s say the Taliban didn’t take over this year. How would you have worked to address climate change if you were still a part of the government?
<h4>Ahmad Samim Hoshmand</h4>
My colleagues from the National Environmental Protection Agency who remained in Kabul are still working to go to COP26. Everyone is waiting for the government to be announced. Once we have a government, then I’m sure that climate experts will go to the Taliban and tell them the urgency and the importance of sending a delegation to COP26.
<h4>Jariel Arvin</h4>
I’ve read reports that the Taliban are seeking international recognition and that they want to work with other countries to fight climate change. Do you believe them?
<h4>Ahmad Samim Hoshmand</h4>
A decade ago, when someone in Afghanistan spoke about climate change, it was something that you had to imagine. Now it’s visible. So governments have to work with each other in order to survive. You can’t stop drought, floods, or landslides. In order to survive, governments have to address the problem. There’s no choice but to deal with climate change.
<h4>Jariel Arvin</h4>
So are you saying that since climate change is an existential issue that threatens the future of Afghanistan, the Taliban’s commitment can be taken seriously?
<h4>Ahmad Samim Hoshmand</h4>
I hope so. If they know that there are very serious issues we’re facing, and that we cannot do something about them without the support of the international community, then of course they will come up with some good decisions in this regard.
<h4>Jariel Arvin</h4>
How might the international community work with the Taliban on climate change?
<h4>Ahmad Samim Hoshmand</h4>
Climate change is different from internal issues, economic issues, or even peace and sustainability. It is a matter of life and death — of a community, of government, of a people. My family is still there. If climate change is not managed well, they might flee Afghanistan one day — not because of war but because of climate-related disasters.
Despite other political issues, the international community needs to help the people of Afghanistan. There are very remote communities where most people don’t know about climate change. They don’t know why there are floods, why there is drought, why there is uncertainty with national disasters. And it is the climate expert’s mandate to take care of them.
<h4>Jariel Arvin</h4>
So you’re saying that most people in Afghanistan, like farmers and people who are working in the agriculture sector, aren’t aware of climate change?
<h4>Samim Hoshmand</h4>
Absolutely not. They’re aware that something has changed in nature. They know that today’s situation is not like previous decades, but they don’t know the cause. They’re religious people, and they aren’t knowledgeable about the science of climate change. It is the duty of the international community to support Afghanistan in adapting to climate change shocks and impacts.
<h4>Jariel Arvin</h4>
How would you spend aid from the international community? What’s the best way to bring the most relief to people in Afghanistan? What kind of projects?
<h4>Ahmad Samim Hoshmand</h4>
If I’m very optimistic, we can implement projects in very remote areas, which we have not accessed in previous years. That would also be an opportunity to somehow adapt to the climate change shocks in Afghanistan, and implement projects in very remote and foreign and unsecure places.
Projects that help limit risk and exposure to natural disasters, investing in smart agriculture and adaptation projects for ecosystem restoration and reconstruction. We also need projects that improve early warning systems and water management.
<h4>Jariel Arvin</h4>
Some reports have suggested that climate change has helped the Taliban. Do you think that’s a fair assessment?
<h4>Ahmad Samim Hoshmand</h4>
When people lose their ability to farm, which is their main source of income, they become more willing to work with opposing entities to regain their livelihoods. When people are hungry, they will do anything to make ends meet.
If we don’t address climate change, the conflict and violence will only get worse.
<div class="c-article-footer">
<hr class="p-entry-hr" />
<a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">We have a request</a>
In moments like this — as people grapple to understand variants and vaccines, and kids head back to school — many outlets take their paywalls down. Vox’s content is always free, in part because of financial support from our readers. We’ve been covering the Covid-19 pandemic for more than a year and a half. From the beginning, our goal was to bring clarity to chaos. To empower people with the information they needed to stay safe. And we’re not stopping.
In the next 30 days, we’re aiming to add 2,500 individual contributions to help keep our coverage of the Covid-19 crisis free for everyone who needs it. As each of us is only as healthy as our sickest neighbor, it’s essential that people can access clear information on the pandemic for free. <a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">Will you help us reach our goal by making a contribution to Vox with as little as $3?</a>
</div>
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22650188/taliban-climate-change-drought-flood-afghanistan">https://www.vox.com/22650188/taliban-climate-change-drought-flood-afghanistan</a>

vox Inaction on climate change can worsen the crisis in Afghanistan

After decades of foreign intervention and violent conflict, the American mission in Afghanistan has ended and the Taliban have announced a n...

Newsom won. California’s recall system could use reform.

California Gov. <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/2/22/22291140/gavin-newsom-california-governor-recall-campaign-covid-19-vaccination-school-closure-caitlyn-jenner">Gavin Newsom</a> (D) has beaten back an attempt by Republicans to recall him from that office. Many votes remain to be counted in the state, but Newsom’s lead looks solid — well <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/09/14/us/california-recall-election-newsom">over 60 percent</a> of votes on the recall question are for keeping Newsom in office.
The result is a vindication of Newsom’s strategy of framing the contest as between himself and the leading Republican candidate to replace him, conservative talk radio host Larry Elder. But the tumultuous and <a href="https://abc7news.com/ca-recall-election-cost-of-gavin-newsom/11021178/">expensive</a> road here shows that the recall system remains a ticking time bomb for Democrats, even if it didn’t go off this time.
The recall attempt was born out of conservative frustration with Newsom’s governance. The strategy of pushing the recall now rather than waiting for the ordinarily scheduled governor’s race next year was an attempt to essentially hack California’s electoral system, because the bizarrely designed recall system gave conservatives an unusually high chance of winning.
If Newsom had failed to top 50 percent of the vote on the recall question, he would have been <a href="https://www.vox.com/22617048/california-recall-gavin-newsom-larry-elder">ousted</a>. Then whoever came in first place in the crowded field of candidates running to replace him would have become governor — even if they got far less than 50 percent of the overall vote. Newsom was prohibited from running as a replacement candidate himself.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1631736687_7214_43803" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22850971,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/s_FcFH-7ieZ-Vtf74_cIiKtdOcU=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VVWAmaQMPjeokugM-qKNKwtuX3s=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zaecpUx3AMPri2-ffTm4hHqYymo=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KLULzgoM6MoogFbx_Mlxfi6KXSA=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gNWQgZ_g0QtIY_RpIvsWK8-SWDQ=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KxxgYPxXQhJjewvhR-Vu0_K54CQ=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/a1WzhRTe6lSKNSB6M5SCdtZhIDU=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZPaSnwfPmaiIni1Q6y2HQB1z_HY=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UqLNvsmT7nDysabSQoFjzMMk9qE=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/P-BFXANvz50xjZxXpFFdvzRZeRU=/0x0:3000x2000/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5NWF1D-m89tI4gHZFqObSHaWqTI=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ahUSNLrxdMoGRpiMgwxfrIpgDO8=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/aubwgtMxo72iUY4uSuXONeHwJY8=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1a87SJDlVcmgDoN7UROB0I_OEmQ=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nKboxbtK3zkm9SfVtRpzHXJNMfk=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/srUEmM78YQmUyEwv0znAKVXQMaI=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rEF2aJ1IZ1xILNhswzOoOUDF0aw=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8EDsMHnB7pI6GHONZW5Biot-fVA=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/t76Npyl13ABDy0zQUqly_Dz-5v0=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850971/AP21232043353649_copy.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>Conservative radio talk show host Larry Elder (center) seen with supporters during a campaign stop in Norwalk, California, on July 13.</figcaption>
<cite>Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP</cite></figure>
So there was a strange asymmetry: Newsom needed a majority on the recall question to stay in office, but his replacement could have won with a small slice of the vote. This thrilled conservatives, since a conservative candidate has little chance of <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/gavin-newsom-larry-elder-governor-california-recall-lockdowns-taxes-crime-11628265859">winning a typical two-candidate California election</a>. And for a while this summer, this outcome looked somewhat plausible in polls — the Democratic base was disengaged, and some polls on the recall question <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/california-recall-polls/">were nearly tied</a>.
Newsom’s strategy to prevent this was to ensure no credible Democrats entered the race as replacement candidates, and then to frame voters’ choice as really being about Newsom or Elder, who he argued was far too conservative to be governor. That wasn’t just clever spin — once the field took shape, that choice quickly did become the reality voters faced, as shown in the polls reflecting Republican voters’ preferences.
Elder <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/california-recall-polls/">led nearly every poll</a> of the replacement question since July, and most by double digits. The other Republican candidates, like 2018 governor nominee John Cox, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, and celebrity Caitlyn Jenner, <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2021/governor/ca/2021-california-governor-recall-election-replacement-candidates-7380.html">had far less support</a>. Much of the Republican base simply flocked to the bombastic and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2021-08-24/larry-elder-california-recall-race-past-essential-california">controversial</a> talk radio host. Republican voters chose to make him the preeminent Republican candidate.
But Elder’s share of the vote <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2021/governor/ca/2021-california-governor-recall-election-replacement-candidates-7380.html">never came close to topping</a> 50 percent, even with many Democrats abstaining from the replacement question. So when Newsom pointed out that Elder could become governor with far less than a majority of the vote unless Democrats turned out en masse to keep him, he was telling the truth.
Overall, the recall drive has reemphasized just how easy it can be to get a recall on the ballot. Conservative activists just needed to get signatures of 12 percent of the voters who turned out in the last governor’s election. And even in California, 38 percent of voters backed Newsom’s GOP opponent last time around, so with the proper shoe leather and funding, that wasn’t a difficult threshold to meet.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1631736687_3631_43804" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22850988,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UkEoPQXcQwyXTmDe6HVZpaY0wBs=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qjQilw5Se7Dl2yIEkLPVTYAtzIA=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cN6YfZCNNrBcYHwCxhM8YPqjJOY=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3m-e5-iNP4Ns3z_vNKWENEQPwrk=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CIwaXpYVX4-0uBxzM0_DeoQsLrM=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/26TSYlLxSntEEjH6kK2quKPhfoI=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JbZZvp6lf7O7EkSu4L5RBG0uAP8=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pMYAViCaCJw1Nzz70UeRoUTAA68=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pvNUYc0t07PUC4ezY5iFA8aTavI=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pSaq7zh4whiHc29ScLxu67F9VuY=/0x0:3000x2000/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mrLMkR5tMP5l8aQqkmxLKw0k_vA=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TPrFQmIVF7Bz10VqKxgBkD2Qxfk=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZzYpaLm4oszCWZmShZ22MgD7z-o=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bJnBgGqThqX39CqCMe5-tJ2FPfU=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/j4gx0ov2JjOO5AdWXmdHwFvbzGo=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/i1MY9R-paqkLgQE6H3DbPoLkJVs=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/j7sFnwUJ3Go2Y_YY16-h48jonJo=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VsMI1X8qYuBeTNRK1-fBUUzs5Os=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_H-6emjsN7wcSlueMELEFgT1ZWM=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850988/GettyImages_1235256054_copy.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>People cast ballots in the California gubernatorial recall election in Beverly Hills on September 14.</figcaption>
<cite>Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images</cite></figure>
So with conservatives seemingly unable to win ordinary statewide elections in California, expect future attempts to try to dislodge Democrats through the recall. This time around, the strategy didn’t work out. But in 2003, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-08-me-recall8-story.html">it did</a>, and perhaps in the future it could again, given the right circumstances.
Even if Democrats are hesitant to try to eliminate the recall altogether (voters generally don’t like power being taken away from voters), <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/14/us/california-recall-constitutional-amendment.html">reforming its bizarre asymmetrical structure</a> seems like a no-brainer for them.
Possibilities include allowing the incumbent to run as a replacement candidate, using <a href="https://www.vox.com/22443775/ranked-choice-voting-explained-new-york-strategy">ranked-choice voting</a> for the replacement question, or ditching the replacement candidates altogether and just have the lieutenant governor take over in case of recall. Any change would have to get voters’ approval, but perhaps that would be doable with the specter of Gov. Elder still looming large in many minds.
<div class="c-article-footer">
<hr class="p-entry-hr" />
<a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">We have a request</a>
In moments like this — as people grapple to understand variants and vaccines, and kids head back to school — many outlets take their paywalls down. Vox’s content is always free, in part because of financial support from our readers. We’ve been covering the Covid-19 pandemic for more than a year and a half. From the beginning, our goal was to bring clarity to chaos. To empower people with the information they needed to stay safe. And we’re not stopping.
In the next 30 days, we’re aiming to add 2,500 individual contributions to help keep our coverage of the Covid-19 crisis free for everyone who needs it. As each of us is only as healthy as our sickest neighbor, it’s essential that people can access clear information on the pandemic for free. <a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">Will you help us reach our goal by making a contribution to Vox with as little as $3?</a>
</div>
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/9/15/22662487/newsom-wins-california-recall-elder">https://www.vox.com/2021/9/15/22662487/newsom-wins-california-recall-elder</a>

vox Newsom won. California’s recall system could use reform.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has beaten back an attempt by Republicans to recall him from that office. Many votes remain to be counted ...

Mayor Demands School Board Resign or be Charged Over Dissemination of “Child Pornography” Material

Movie director Mel Gibson has spoken out against the targeting of Catholic priests by the church establishment for merely trying to uphold the faith, describing it as a “very deep sickness.”
Gibson said he personally knew many priests who had been “cancelled,” but not for anything that actually deserved condemnation.
“And who’s persecuting them? asked Gibson. “Well, their own bishops. How’s that?”
The movie director went on to describe such individuals as “a pack of men who generally passively sit by and tolerate any kind of nonsense but if one of their priests utters something that resembles orthodoxy, well they spring into action, they reprimand them, and they bully him and do their best to cancel him and they succeed.”
Gibson called such behavior “a great injustice,” describing it as an example of “white martyrdom.”
The targeting of priests who merely try to uphold the central tenets of the Catholic faith is “a symptom…of a very deep sickness that afflicts the Church,” said Gibson.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="6.6842105263158">
Mel Gibson released this video. Says that there is a "sickness" afflicting the Church <a href="https://t.co/zEQ15KqU8a">pic.twitter.com/zEQ15KqU8a</a>
— MeI Gibson fan 70 (@MeIGibsonFan70) <a href="https://twitter.com/MeIGibsonFan70/status/1437130000373846017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2021</a>
</blockquote>
The film maker admitted that he was “sinful” and “venal” but that he knew the difference between a “shepherd” and a “hireling,” asserting that “a vast majority of these bishops are just a bunch of hirelings.”
“My question is, who’s hiring them?” asked Gibson. “I don’t think it’s Jesus, is it Francis, who’s hiring Francis – is it Pachamama?”
Pachamama is an Earth Mother goddess in Inca mythology, with Gibson possibly referring to Pope Francis’ fixation with man-made global warming.
Gibson finished his rant by quoting Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò and suggesting there is a “parallel counterfeit church set up to eclipse the real one.”
As we have repeatedly highlighted, Pope Francis is a dyed in the wool globalist who has done little to defend the faith and everything to destroy it – primarily by advocating for the flooding of Europe with Muslim migrants as white Christian countries continue to suffer devastating demographic decline.
Francis has also aggressively pushed the globalist mantra of climate change, another issue that has been exploited to accelerate the centralization of power and the move towards world government.
The Pope has also completely ignored the innumerable attacks on Christian churches throughout Europe, countless of which have been destroyed by deliberately set fires.
Cardinal Robert Sarah, a deeply devout Catholic who has bravely spoken out against the new world order and the attacks on Christianity on all manner of subjects, was <a href="https://summit.news/2021/02/22/catholic-cardinal-who-warned-about-death-of-western-civilization-removed-by-pope/">removed</a> as head of the Vatican’s office for liturgy by Pope Francis.
Sarah previously warned that the “west will disappear” as a result of mass migration, adding that “Islam will invade the world” and “completely change culture, anthropology, and moral vision.”
The Cardinal has also routinely savaged modernity, highlighting how westerners have lost faith in the knowledge of God due to the temptations of the material world and that “western civilization is in a profound state of decadence and ruin.”
SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:
Follow on Twitter:
———————————————————————————————————————
Brand new merch now available! Get it at <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/">https://www.pjwshop.com/</a>
<a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><img alt="PJW Shop" border="0" height="600" src="https://cdn.summit.news/2021/07/merch.jpg" width="348" /></a>
ALERT!
In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch.
I need you to sign up for my free newsletter <a href="https://summit.news/newsletter">here</a>.
Support my sponsor – <a href="https://bit.ly/TURBOFORCE">Turbo Force</a> – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.
Get early access, exclusive content and behinds the scenes stuff by following me on <a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/">Locals</a>.
———————————————————————————————————————
 
 
source <a href="https://summit.news/2021/09/15/mayor-demands-school-board-resign-or-be-charged-over-dissemination-of-child-pornography-material/">https://summit.news/2021/09/15/mayor-demands-school-board-resign-or-be-charged-over-dissemination-of-child-pornography-material/</a>

revolution summit Mayor Demands School Board Resign or be Charged Over Dissemination of “Child Pornography” Material

Movie director Mel Gibson has spoken out against the targeting of Catholic priests by the church establishment for merely trying to uphold t...

Climate Protesters Blocking Road Cause Pile-Up, Woman Airlifted to Hospital

Technocrats are preparing “mandatory” personal carbon allowances that would introduce rationing into every area of your life via an app that would record your travel, heating expenses and even the food you eat.
Yes, really.
The proposal was presented in the science journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00756-w">Nature</a> by four environmental “experts” as a means of reducing global carbon emissions.
Everyone would be issued with a ‘carbon allowance card’ “that would entail all adults receiving an equal tradable carbon allowance that reduces over time in line with national [carbon] targets.”
The authors make it clear that the program would be a “national mandatory policy.”
Carbon units would be “deducted from the personal budget with every payment of transport fuel, home-heating fuels and electricity bills,” and anyone going over the limit would be forced to purchase additional units in the personal carbon market from those with excess to sell.”
This means that the private jet-flying rich could simply bypass the system entirely (which they would part-own via investments anyway) by simply buying carbon credits and carrying on living their luxurious lifestyle.
The proposal makes clear that the means of measuring a person’s uptake of carbon units for travel would function “on the basis of the tracking the user’s movement history.”
The authors note how the normalization of contact tracing via COVID-19 apps will ensure a similar system could be used for keeping track of carbon credits with minimum fuss.
“Recent studies show how COVID-19 contact tracing apps were successfully implemented with mandatory schemes in several East Asian countries such as China, Taiwan, and South Korea,” states the article.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="8.0530973451327">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GreatReset?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GreatReset</a>: Personal <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/carbon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#carbon</a> allowances (PCAs) could play a role in achieving <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/climate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#climate</a> targets linking personal action w/ carbon reduction goals. All adults would receive a tradable carbon allowance that reduces over time in line with national targets. <a href="https://t.co/Fn4gFmmval">https://t.co/Fn4gFmmval</a>
— Geopolitics & Empire (@Geopolitics_Emp) <a href="https://twitter.com/Geopolitics_Emp/status/1435797787363454976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 9, 2021</a>
</blockquote>
“In these countries, the apps assessed the user’s travel history and health status, playing a key role in tracking infection.”
Indeed, the authors specifically note how mass unquestioning compliance with COVID lockdown regulations has greased the skids for further intrusive tyranny and that, “people may be more prepared to accept the tracking and limitations related to PCAs to achieve a safer climate” as a result.
The increasing sophistication of artificial intelligence technologies would also “make it possible to easily track and manage” people’s “food-and-consumption-related emissions.”
In other words, eating what Big Brother deems to be an excess of red meat or anything else deemed “harmful” to the planet will result in a carbon credit reduction.
Just stick to eating UN-recommended bugs and worms though and you’ll be sure to keep within your ration limit.
“We still have the power to thwart rule by experts through democratic means,” <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/personal-carbon-allowances-pushed-to-fight-global-warming_3988432.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge">writes Wesley Smith</a>. “But if we lack the courage, if we acquiesce—again—to significant liberty constraints in the name of protecting health, the soft totalitarianism we will have facilitated will not be their fault. It will be ours.”
As we previously highlighted, the idea of “climate lockdowns” is also being normalized in light of the mass compliance to pandemic lockdowns.
And they still claim that the ‘Great Reset’ is an “unfounded conspiracy theory.”
[embedded content]
SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:
Follow on Twitter:
———————————————————————————————————————
Brand new merch now available! Get it at <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/">https://www.pjwshop.com/</a>
<a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><img alt="PJW Shop" border="0" height="600" src="https://cdn.summit.news/2021/07/merch.jpg" width="348" /></a>
ALERT!
In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch.
I need you to sign up for my free newsletter <a href="https://summit.news/newsletter">here</a>.
Support my sponsor – <a href="https://bit.ly/TURBOFORCE">Turbo Force</a> – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.
Get early access, exclusive content and behinds the scenes stuff by following me on <a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/">Locals</a>.
———————————————————————————————————————
 
 
source <a href="https://summit.news/2021/09/15/climate-protesters-blocking-road-cause-pile-up-woman-airlifted-to-hospital/">https://summit.news/2021/09/15/climate-protesters-blocking-road-cause-pile-up-woman-airlifted-to-hospital/</a>

revolution summit Climate Protesters Blocking Road Cause Pile-Up, Woman Airlifted to Hospital

Technocrats are preparing “mandatory” personal carbon allowances that would introduce rationing into every area of your life via an app that...