Ban Ki-moon thinks Kiribati is sinking - Study says it is growing!

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:

Regarding climate change, he urged sceptics to visit the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, where rising sea levels are a very real threat.
The impoverished nation was facing a bill of $947 million just to protect infrastructure from the effects of climate change, and had yet to come up with viable ways to relocate some of the population.
Ki-moon added the country was running out of time and hoped Australia would lead the way "for your own good as well as well as that of the planet".

Read the entire article here

Study:

A new geological study has shown that many low-lying Pacific islands are growing, not sinking.

The islands of Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia are among those which have grown, because of coral debris and sediment.
One of the authors of the study, featured in the magazine the New Scientist, predicts that the islands will still be there in 100 years' time.

Read the entire article here

PS
So, no need to make flight reservations to exotic Kiribati - although it would be nice to visit the island state and other Pacific islands now, when summer is over in Europe and the US (as the Secretary General is doing now). A little bit of reading, instead of  the constant traveling could do good for Ki-moon. That would also reduce his huge carbon footprint!  

Former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer calls for a federal Europe

European concerns about sovereignty loss are "almost amusing"
Joschka Fischer

Former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer (green party) called for a federal Europe at a gathering of federalists:

"We need to hand over some budget prerogatives to the EU ... we need similar pension ages ... we are going to have to draw all the threads together ... [and] future integration steps need a political Europe," he said.

Read the entire article here

What Fischer really wants, is a federal United States of Europe, led by its biggest and most powerful state, Germany. Even if many European political leaders admire the German economic success story, most of them - and their electorates - would probably not want to become citizens of Fischer´s new "green" German Europe.

Nord Stream pipeline launched - but its future does not look great

 Former KGB spy Vladimir Putin, former chancellor Gerhard Schröder and former Stasi agent Matthias Warnig smiling. (Schröder is Chairman of the Nord Stream AG Shareholders’ Committee and Warnig is Managing Director of Nord Stream AG.  Both men have  to thank their "friend" Putin for their lucrative jobs.

A former KGB spy, a former Stasi agent and a former German Chancellor were hand on former Finnish territory (The Finnish name of Portovaya is Satamalahti) in order to launch the Nord Stream pipeline, which will start pumping gas to Germany and a couple of other countries, next month.

Although the smiling Putin was bullish about future gas deliveries, the long term prospects for the Nord Stream are less than good. The combined effects of the shale gas and the LNG revolutions will before long seriously weaken Gazprom´s ability to dictate prices in Europe, as well as elsewhere.

Swiss USB bank scaremongering about euro breakup

The Swiss bank USB is scaremongering about the effects of a breakup of the euro zone:

A breakup of the euro zone would have grim, long-lasting social and political consequences that extend far beyond its economic costs--an ugly risk that is widely underestimated, according to UBS AG (UBS).
The Swiss bank warned that the economic cost of a breakup should in many ways be the least of investors' concerns.
"The economic costs of breaking up the euro are high, and extremely damaging. The political costs of breaking up the euro, even in part, are too great to quantify in bald cash terms," Stephane Deo, an economist at UBS, said in a note to clients Tuesday.
Following a breakup, euro countries would barely have a whisper on the world stage, Deo said. What is more, past instances of monetary union breakups tend to spark either an authoritarian response from the government or create social disorder and civil war.
While UBS isn't seriously suggesting that euro-zone states will inevitably descend into social chaos and civil war if the currency union were to break up, it warns that "monetary union breakup is not something that can be treated as a casual issues of exchange rate policy."
Sovereign default, corporate default, collapse of the banking system and international trade are just some of the problems a seceding peripheral euro-zone country would have to face, said UBS. That could entail an initial cost of around EUR9,500 to EUR11,500 per person in that country followed by an annual cost of EUR3,000 to EUR4,000 per person.
Even if a stronger country like Germany were to leave, UBS still thinks it is going to set every German back by about EUR6,000 to EUR8,000 in the first year and then around EUR3,500 to EUR4,500 per person in every year thereafter. A stronger euro-zone country wouldn't face sovereign default but it is still vulnerable to corporate default, recapitalization of the banking system and a collapse of international trade.

Read the entire article here

It appears clear that the USB´s Stephane Deo - who is speaking for the endangered banks - is clearly exaggerating the effects of a possible euro breakup. And in addition, nowhere does Deo seem to define what kind of breakup he(she?) is talking about. As there are many scenarios, it is rather populistic e.g. to talk about setting "every German back by about EUR6,000 to EUR8,00".

In this case, I prefer the opinion of the eminent economist/historian, professor Hans-Joachim Voth, who in a recent interview said:

I believe that the consequences of ending the euro have been overstated. Not every dumb economic idea needs to be defended to the bitter end. Europe is infinitely more than the European Union, and the European Union is infinitely more than the euro.

In addition, professor Voth (together with Dr. Jacopo Ponticelli) has a fresh paper out (Austerity and Anarchy: Budget Cuts and Social Unrest in Europe, 1919-2009), which shows that austerity measures have tended to go hand in hand with politically motivated violence and social instability.
This is something we should really be worried about, as the EU leaders continue on the austerity track in dealing with the euro crisis.

"Green jobs" - A total failure in Germany as well

Green jobs turning to Green Hell in Germany

News about the total failure of the "green energy jobs" ideology are coming in almost daily now. This report by Der Spiegel makes somber reading for the greenies, who have been touting the success of  "green jobs" in Germany:

Green energy used to be Germany's great hope for its economic future. But now the German solar industry is in trouble amid huge losses, job cuts and the threat of bankruptcies. Chinese firms are gaining an ever greater share of the German market -- and are benefitting from German subsidies for renewable energy.

The situation is desparate in town of Bitterfeld-Wolfen, once nicknamed the "German Solar valley":

One photovoltaic manufacturer after another located in the area. The clean, future-oriented industry generated jobs and income, employing as many as 10,000 people in its heyday.
But now Q-Cells is struggling to survive. The company made a heavy loss in the second quarter of 2011. It doesn't take a business degree to recognize the desperate situation in which the company, once the world's largest solar cell manufacturer, now finds itself.
Solar Valley threatens to turn into a vale of tears. Mayor Wust fears that her town is heading toward another historic watershed. This time the fates of 3,000 workers are at stake
---
The outlook has turned bleak for the entire solar industry. Companies that were the darlings of the stock market and the political world until recently are now experiencing a sharp downturn. Their share prices have plunged, as they downsize and write off millions in losses.

Only a few months ago leading German politicians were boasting that Germany´s manufacturers of renewable energy systems would be among the winners of the so-called energy revolution:

"Germany is the global market leader in the renewable energy sector," German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen recently crowed. "If we expand this position, it will enhance the competitiveness of our industry and our country." Meanwhile, Chancellor Angela Merkel said she anticipated "opportunities for exports, development, technology and jobs."
Now, of all times, the green industries of the future are faltering. The goal of developing a new leading industry with global aspirations has become a distant hope. German players play only a secondary role in global markets and are steadily losing market share -- despite being heavily subsidized. Or maybe the industry is ailing precisely because of the billions in government aid.
Hardly any other industrial sector has received such generous political support as the producers of green electricity, especially the solar industry.

The Chinese manufacturers are now cashing in:

Chinese competition is now more likely to benefit from the billions in feed-in tariffs in Germany than domestic producers. To a substantial degree, German electricity consumers are helping to fund the rise of Chinese solar producers. According to the Rhenish-Westphalian Institute for Economic Research, the average German household pays about €123 a year to subsidize green electricity.

Read the entire article here

PS
And, as we reported earlier, the German (and other EU taxpayers) are now also asked to finance a huge solar power project in bankrupt Greece!

Finally proven: Humans behind decline of Greenland glacier

"Iluliaq Original Iceberg Water is the ideal water for distinctive gourmets and fine liquor amateurs. It will pair beautifully with the best wines too". 

Finally, there is definitive proof , (that even sceptics must accecpt) for the alarmists´ claims that Grenland glaciers are declining because of human activities. Trendhunter magazine reports:

You thought Evian was expensive, the Iluliaq Iceberg Water will make it look like a second rate brand.
According to the company, this water comes from the Sermeq Kujalleg glacier in Greenland. In other words, it’s pure, it’s icy, and it’s likely reserved for the rich and famous. This high-end drink is packaged in a crystal clear bottle that even comes with a glass cork. The Illuliaq Iceberg Water will set you back $50 so at that price it’s bound to be good… right?

More info from the producers:

It began as snow, falling from an ice age sky onto what is now the Greenland ice cap. There it remained preserved, untouched and pristine throughout the millennia. Located north of the Arctic Circle on the west coast of Greenland, the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier has been a protected site on UNESCO's (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage List since 2004.

PS

This human induced decline of the glaciers should be good news for the climate alarmists, too: The more you drink of this unique water, the less likely the catastrophic rise of  sea levels becomes.

The only problem is that the iceberg water is so damned expensive, that only Al Gore and a few of his friends can afford it. But this need not be a serious setback: The European Union could use a tiny part of its multi million euro climate aid package to subsidise the Illuliaq. Instead of wasting money on all kinds of  more or less useless climate projects, these subsidies would make the Greenland iceberg water availaible everywhere, even the "sinking" Maldives. Something for EU climate change commissioner Connie Hedegaard to consider!

World leaders in New Zealand for climate talks (read: Rugby World Cup)

Ban Ki-moon: "In rugby, you lose teeth. In diplomacy, you lose face"


United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, US Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma, China's Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao ....

Why are these, and a great number of other international top leaders suddenly in Auckland, New Zealand?

Official reason: 
They are all participating in the Pacific Islands Forum in order to discuss climate change

Real reason:
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the forum's final day had been deliberately planned to coincide with the opening match of the Rugby World Cup as a way to attract more international guests to the Pacific summit.

"It was a conscious strategy to make this a magnet for big multilateral organisations whose presence could only enhance the standing of the forum but also provide practical support (read: money) for its initiatives," he told the NZ Herald.

PS
Already on his arrival in Auckland, Ban Ki-moon showed his knowledge of rugby by giving the following unforgettable statement:

"In rugby, you lose teeth. In diplomacy, you lose face"

EU Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, who - like to other dignitaries - was welcomed by traditional songs and ukuleles, did not comment on the World Cup. But already before his arrival Barroso let it be known that his intention at the meeting is to announce even more "climate change" aid to the (not) "sinking" islands:

I will reemphasise the key role the EU intends to play as the region’s second largest donor to promote sustainable development and in helping to mitigate the impact of climate change in the region."