The New Normal (part 14): third tropical cyclone to hit China in less than a week

No, nothing to worry about at all as hundreds of thousands are evacuated:

If you have problems with the video, try this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGQ7nRrFvBg

This is a record by the way.

Age of Carbon? Fall of empires, the rise of Hitler, the collapse of Communism and rising temperatures: stunning NASA maps chart the emergence of the “new normal”

Temperature anomalies from NASA on a decade-by-decade basis since 1880.

The world as it was.

1880-1889

… the decade of the First World War, the collapse of Austrian-Hungarian, Russian, Chinese and German empires, Einstein publishes his theories, Picasso paints “Mademoiselles d’Avignon, the Battle of the Somme:

1910-1919

A short time later, the British Empire reaches its greatest territorial extent, the Japanese wage war in China, Ghandi is active in India, Hitler begins his rise to power, the first television broadcast, the Great Depression, and in 1939 Hitler invades Poland:

1930-1939

The Battle of Britain, the invasion of Russia by Hitler, the Holocaust, atomic weapons developed and dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, D-Day, the Bikini is invented:

1940-1949

The 1950s, a golden age? DNA is discovered, Castro comes to power, colour television, the Suez crisis, and NASA is founded:

1950-1959

The 1970’s… the fall of South Vietnam, Watergate, the “Oil Price” shock, Pink Floyd, Raging Bull and the God Father. Margaret Thatcher comes to power, ushering in the “neo-liberal” revolution:

1970-1979

A few decades later… 9/11, the Iraq War, the Global Financial Crisis, Facebook, the iPod and the rise of China:

2000-2009

Historians of the future will write of the “Age of Carbon”, when our empires and dreams were fuelled by fossil fuels.

Decline and fall: in the US they’re building Noah’s Ark, in China they’re building the future

The animals went in two, by two...

Two recent announcements reflect the decline of America and the rise of China.  

The Governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshear, has announced a new “tourist attraction” for the state. 

A creationist themed park that includes a full-scale version of the Noah’s Ark:   

Gov. Steve Beshear announced plans Wednesday morning for a new tourist attraction in Northern Kentucky that will include a wooden ark and a theme park. The governor made the announcement Wednesday morning during a news conference at the Capitol Building in Frankfort. Representatives of Answers in Genesis, which opened the Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky about three years ago, will partner with other investors in the project.

The park, called the Ark Encounter, will be on 800 acres off Interstate 75 in Grant County and is expected to be complete by 2014.

The park is being built by Answers in Genesis, a group that believes the world is less than 10,000 years old. The Government is giving them nearly $40m in tax breaks to help cover the estimated $150m to build it.  

Beshear is very proud of the job creating possibilities of the Ark… never mind it helps support ignorance and scientific illiteracy.  

Perhaps as sea levels rise that Ark may become handy?  

Let’s hope the thing can actually float and is “fit for purpose”! 

In contrast, China announces ambitious plans cut carbon emissions and invest in green technology: 

In November 2009, China promised to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels, while increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 15 percent by 2020.

At a press conference unveiling the report, Xie Zhenhua, deputy director of NDRC, China’s top economic planner, said great effort has been made by China in energy-saving and greenhouse gas emission reductions in recent years.

During the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) period, China’s investment in energy-saving and emission-reduction projects reached about 2 trillion yuan ($301 billion), more than 200 billion yuan (13.2 trillion) of which came from the Chinese Government, according to NDRC statistics.

In the US, elected government officials are throwing money at creationists. 

In China, they’re investing billions in technology that will create jobs and push them to the forefront of technology innovation.  

Ladies and gentlemen, in case it was not apparent, the 21st century belongs to China.