Friday, February 28, 2020

Friday Sundries

US stock markets were down $4.0 trillion this week (-11.6%), going by the Wilshire 5000, whose number is approximately equal to the worth of US markets in billions of dollars.

Wow: Bushfires burned a fifth of Australia's forest. [Phys.org]

A "truckload" of plastic enters the ocean every minute.

National Review is whining about Michael Mann again. Just a thought, but maybe their know-nothing writer shouldn't have libeled him in the first place.

The West Coast is turning blue. Onward to Ecotopia.

In the Florida Keys: In a presentation shown to Monroe County Commissioners last week, the Army Corps of Engineers outlined a $3 billion strategy to protect the Keys. The only new construction measure considered is adding additional rocks on either side of U.S. in six key spots. The rest of the plan is a combination of elevating homes, businesses and essential buildings and "retreat" in the form of government-funded buyouts.

A key question, of course, is how long will this solution last for, since sea level is only going to keep rising, faster and faster. I understand why those living in the Florida Keys (or anywhere) don't want to give up their homes, but they need to know (and probably do, in the back of their minds) that it's inevitable. I think it's pretty clear that the US government, viz. taxpayers, will eventually buy out the value of their homes -- which will likely become uninsurable first. After they lose insurance they'll be forced to take what the government is offering, which I don't think will set them back any.

Did you know -- Martin Luther King Jr's mother was also assassinated?

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